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a credit card reader and Nook e-reader; a lark alarm clock and a GHD hairdryer; and products bearing the logos of Nokia, Kobo and others you'd recognise. "We're doing $10bn (£6bn) of merchandise, with $1bn of revenue,"
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Casey says at his desk, surrounded by his framed 2007 Ernst &
Young Entrepreneur of the Year certificate, low-cost Chinese mass-produced modern paintings and a heavily annotated copy of
The Wired World in 2014. "But there's a dilemma -- we can't talk about what we do." The world's most successful hardware company, at least, has acknowledged working with PCH: "Apple disclosed their components supplier list last year, which we're on; this year they had seven suppliers on their list of final-assembly companies and we're the only non-Taiwanese one. We don't talk about what we do for them. Beats by Dre also disclosed at the Web Summit in Dublin that they work with us -- more on the packaging and logistics, a little manufacturing. Mostly brands ask us not to disclose." The Chinese handset company Xiaomi is known to be working with PCH. Casey acknowledges that Foxconn "is a customer, a supplier and a competitor".
At his office desk, he pulls apart a GHD AIR10 hairdryer and explains the importance of modelling airflow and thermal analysis, and simulating the impact of a heavy drop. "We bring our experience working in the past on products like this for clients. We'll identify the supplier with the core capability and work closely with them." He has three iPhones on his desk, all with leather cases, testament to the global nature of his business: the red phone is his China number, blue his US number, and the green is for Ireland, where the business is still based. From its birth in Cork in 1996, it has grown to ten offices around the world, including Seoul and Sydney, and 1,189 factories in its supplier network.
Revenues have risen from $152m in 2009 to $413m in 2010, to $710m in 2011 and $815m in 2012, before heading towards $1bn last year.
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Liam Casey, Founder of PCH International Chris Crisman
PCH -- named after California's Pacific Coast Highway, which Casey remembers fondly from a sojourn in his twenties -- wants to be a full-service company for hardware partners. Its product development team helps with anything from electro-mechanical design to packaging; its ChinaFlo database connects clients to suppliers best suited to the delivery of their project; PCH Enterprise Solutions offers fulfilment and e-commerce; its TNS Group distributes products directly to retailers (including the Apple Store). "And I'm CEO," Casey says. "Chief entrepreneurial officer."
ChinaFlo is "Alibaba with brains", in Casey's words: its dashboard on his Sony laptop lists 1,189 specialised factories, 488 products made by PCH, and detailed maps and order histories. Its TrackFlo software monitors web orders in real time. "This is big data -- I can see real-time trends. I can spot the move from desktop to mobile just on power-supply sales."
And yet he has built his business speaking no Mandarin, having no Chinese work papers, and with no home here beyond a year-round suite at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Shenzhen. "It's been like being in a silent movie for 18 years, but there's a huge advantage in not speaking Chinese," he says. "You sit in a meeting here, you watch behaviour, you listen, you think, yeah yeah, this is bullshit. Your other senses become extra strong if you don't speak the language. It's also got me access to the more senior people -- they're the ones who speak English, either the assistant to the boss or the boss."
Westerners have three misconceptions about doing business in China, he says. "Number one, you have to speak the language. I don't. Number two, you need guanxi [a Chinese business term for 'connections']. We don't have guanxi. And three, you need to throw big banquets with them. And I don't drink.
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Chinese people just want to do business."
'There's a huge advantage in not speaking Chinese. Your other senses become extra strong'
The San Francisco Bay Guardian, the city's 48-year-old radical news weekly, persistently raised hell from 135 Mississippi Street until Union Property Capital, a key player in the gentrification wave that the paper so despised, paid just $6.5m for the 2,500m<sup>2</sup> HQ in April 2012. Today, the Potrero Hill building -- PCH's new American headquarters -- hosts what Liam Casey calls "the engine for creating innovation": an incubator for early-stage hardware startups known as Highway1.
When Wired visits in May 2013, Casey is passing through San Francisco en route to Hong Kong, then Beijing, then London, Monaco and Cork. The site, stripped to its shell, is being re-engineered for classes, workstations, a rapid-prototyping facility, a demonstration stage and a development and engineering area. By October, when the building opens, an inaugural class of 11 incubator companies will move in for a four-month educational programme, with access to prototyping tools, engineering and designing mentors, PCH's wider network of contacts, a talks series, and a two-week intensive tour of Shenzhen. As Brady Forrest, who runs Highway1, puts it: "Hardware is hard. Our goal is to de-risk hardware. We want hardware to be as easy as software."
Startups apply via AngelList for two annual intakes; PCH takes three to six per cent equity in exchange for injecting up to $20,000 in seed capital. Casey expects that most graduating companies will subsequently join the PCH Accelerator to bring their products to market. "The equity is not the big play for us," he says. "The play is to create the understanding of what's possible and to make sure we are the go-to platform the talent comes to. We know we will create hardware startups of the future here.
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Geography's history, but Silicon Valley is still the best place to get the right kind of investor for tech startups. I've been asked to set up incubators in Saudi, Cairo, Singapore, even Shenzhen, but there will always be a margin in San Francisco."
A packaging assembly line PCH International
PCH has been busy acquiring companies that can help create what Casey calls "the App Store for hardware". In June 2012, it bought Kurt Dammermann and Andre Yousefi's San Francisco product design company Lime Lab to work with the talent; in January 2014 it added Toronto-based e-commerce platform ShopLocket to sell their products directly. "I'm inspired by Netflix," Casey says. "We want to build that platform for hardware, outsourcing the innovation to startups.
We have a huge advantage over the Samsungs and Sonys: they have fixed processes to make things. They think like factory owners. We don't want to be tied to the big factory -- but to use the best factory when we need it. Think cloud manufacturing, Amazon Web Services for hardware. We do all the manufacturing, packing, distribution, logistics. We guarantee you a sales channel. We're working on a programme where we can give you the first order for maybe 10,000 units, so you're not waiting for your Kickstarter. And TNS becomes your global distributor. It's a one-stop solution."
For Ayah Bdeir, founder of littleBits, a partnership with PCH let her company scale when demand for its modular-electronics kits flew off the charts. "I'd launched the company in 2011, had found a factory, made a prototype, raised money," she says. "We had a product by December. At CES in January 2012, Aymerik [Renard, who was running the PCH Accelerator] said he'd help us scale. But I was totally arrogant -- I thought we'd solved it ourselves." she says.
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And then, in February, littleBits won Best of Toy Fair 2012; and in March her five-minute TED talk went online. "Suddenly demand shot up 1,000 per cent. We were barely staying afloat, and kept running out of stock. I faced a choice -- stop everything else and build up an international operations team to boost the supply chain; or find an external partner. I reached out to Liam."
They partnered just as littleBits was closing its Series A funding round. By November, PCH was making the product -- which so far has sold hundreds of thousands of units in 70-plus countries. "They're excellent at identifying top-of-the-line manufacturers, at designing for manufacture, at fulfilment," she says. "They fulfilled 5,000 orders in 24 hours. What doesn't work as well is introducing new products -- doing it in China with PCH adds overheads, but that's why they launched the incubator." PCH's track record has also proved useful in raising finance, Bdeir says. "Investors are afraid of hardware. One I pitched to said, 'I love it, but it's too much of a real business for us.' We have shipping times, taxes, boats -- reality sets in. You don't just add servers to scale -- you need to throw a lot of money at it. And PCH has scaled with so many companies."
Julie Uhrman faced a higher-profile challenge after 63,416 Kickstarter backers pledged $8,596,474, nine times the goal, for her hackable OUYA gaming console in August 2012. Delivery was initially estimated at March 2013; by June, Uhrman was apologising to backers: "I am pissed," she wrote. "We are working to resolve this." As backers took to online forums to vent their anger, Ken Stephens, OUYA's head of operations, blamed delays on a Hong Kong shipping partner.
But OUYA was facing numerous challenges. "As a startup, you don't have the history or order volume to excite, or even interest, some of the larger original design manufacturers," Uhrman tells Wired. So she partnered with PCH to rethink the supply chain from manufacture to delivery. "PCH International allows you to bring your idea to market quickly, without over-investing in inventory," she says. "They care about what you care about -- building a great product for less and getting it into your customers' hands as quickly as possible."
The greatest barrier for many hardware startups can be the upfront cash demanded by factories. "Working capital has been the biggest challenge, and the support they offer has been the most valuable thing," says Emily Brooke, who launched her laser-enhanced Blaze bike light on Kickstarter in November 2012. "I don't have to pay them for stock until it's shipped." With 782 backers, Brooke attracted £55,000 in pledges, more than twice her target. She was introduced to Casey in March 2013; she has just returned from her fifth visit to Shenzhen in a year, to oversee the second batch of 2,000 lights that PCH has helped manufacture. "We could have done it ourselves, found a small factory -- but it would have been a bloody nightmare," Brooke tells Wired from Shenzhen. "I've never done this before. PCH is not perfect -- they mostly work with large clients, and are very process driven, so you've got to change their mindset. But the engineering expertise is really underestimated. I've just been with ten guys in a meeting, and it felt like they were part of Blaze -- and we're just a five-person startup in Shoreditch. I adore them. They're changing the nature of starting a hardware business."
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During a lunchbreak at the F.ounders conference in New York last March, Casey -- just off a plane from Hong Kong -- is explaining that a disruptive entrepreneur's greatest asset is curiosity, plus a refusal to accept the status quo. "Growing up on a farm in Donoughmore, in County Cork, two of my greatest attributes were being dyslexic and having ADD," he says. "John Chambers of Cisco is dyslexic, Branson is dyslexic... It means you see the end game, then you think, 'What do I need to do to achieve that?' And the ADD means I don't get into the detail, but I understand the bigger picture."
Workers at PCH's fulfilment centre PCH International
He left school at 18 and spent a decade in the garment trade with companies such as Tricot Marine and Alan Best Menswear. But it was after his short-lived move to California that, in 1996, he decided there might be opportunities in helping western companies get stuff -- from computer cords to phone covers -- made in China.
So he took a flight and lived off his wits. "I worked alone for the first two years -- if I'd had staff I'd have gone out of business ten times. You just have to believe in something, that's the real test."
He began by swapping business cards at a Taipei computer trade fair. Then he'd visit the village factories and meet whoever he could, ideally finding the raw materials suppliers -- because they sold to everybody and could map out the supply chain. "From the factory doing assembly you'd find the guy making the PCBs, and from him you'd get to the salespeople; then you'd ask the salespeople which is the best assembly company. There'd be one person who spoke English there -- who we usually hired."
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A big early order with a Taiwanese-owned factory in Shenzhen almost collapsed after the bank pulled financing over a paperwork discrepancy. "I was in Ireland and needed $100,000 to pay the factory," Casey says. "So I flew over, spent two days negotiating with the factory to release the shipment. I needed 30 days' credit.
I got them to release the shipment by giving them my passport and staying in China for two months. The factory owner thought it was crazy -- no Taiwanese would ever hand over their ID. But for me, the dyslexia, the ADD -- I just saw the bigger picture."
Three things got Casey through. "I had no money, so I had nothing to lose. I had no experience, so there was no fear. And third, I had a shitload of luck." A decade ago, as he saw knowledge about factories becoming more accessible through portals such as globalsources.com and madeinchina.com, he took the risk of opening PCH's own engineering, manufacturing and packaging facilities.
Success was by no means assured. "We spent a million dollars that we barely had on our first factory in 2003. We got a licence for the business, and for the building -- but couldn't get a licence for the product as we weren't adding enough value." It was a million-dollar mistake. "The guy we'd outsourced our finance to called me in June 2008 and said, 'You're going to have to pull the plug, you're losing $1m a month.' I said no, we now had the story. I said, 'Seamus, there's a Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan which opens with him going off a cliff on a motorbike while chasing an aeroplane. In the aeroplane there was no pilot, yet he managed to get in the plane halfway down, and he landed the plane.' Seamus said, 'Yeah, yeah, Die Another Day*, so what?' I said, 'Seamus, we left the cliff in January.' There was silence, and then he said, 'I get it.' Then on September 12 2008, we raised $21m from three Silicon Valley VCs.
Seamus called me in the morning and said, 'I think we landed it.'
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You have to believe in something. You can't get that at Stanford." "Guys in the Valley want to make app-cessories. Guys in Europe want to make accessories. Guys in China want to make phones. Guys who make phones want to make cars. Guys who make cars want to make rockets. China is far more aggressive, far more entrepreneurial, far less restricted by their distribution channels."
Casey is racing through Shenzhen's International Industrial Design Fair with Christina Zhang, Chinese employee #1, on the hunt for hardware talent. Among the me-too 3D printers, open-source buggies from the OSVehicle car company and a few medical devices, not much gets his attention -- until he spots a poster showing a man strapped to a rocket. "That's the Chinese approach."
Shenzhen has much to teach western tech companies, he says. "Like the model [phone-maker] Xiaomi developed -- controlled supply, limited editions. Sold out is great. It creates an aftermarket. All you need to do is get TechCrunch to write about your accelerator companies when they're about to launch with just 10,000 pieces."
The tour continues with Shenzhen's vast new airport and oversized public library, the seven-storey SEG Electronics Market, an artist-themed development called OCT Loft. "Martin Sorrell said chaos is the right theme for today -- be comfortable with it,"
Casey says as we walk. "The rules have changed: there are no rules.
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Look at Nokia, HP, Dell -- they get over-processed, innovation gets stifled. You have to keep entrepreneurship alive -- that's why I mix with the founders. "More and more, every corporate will need an incubator or an accelerator. You don't hear what's going on in the market. With our accelerator business, we have eight CEOs that call us all the time, that shout at us, tell us we're crazy, useless. I tell our guys, just listen. The accelerator is our gym: it challenges us, it hurts, it forces us to think different, but it's making us far more nimble as an organisation. We're comfortable being uncomfortable.
We'd pay McKinsey an awful lot of money to get all that feedback.
And it wouldn't be as accurate."
For a man valued by the Irish Independent's recent rich list at
€200m (£165m), Casey shows no interest in owning a home or a car.
He is unmarried and professes to having no hobbies -- well, apart from the 600,000km he says he flew in 2013. "I've done 2.5 million
[miles] with Cathay, and I only started using them in 2000." So how does he switch off? "Golf doesn't do it for me. Work is what it's all about. If I need a break, I might hop on a flight on Friday to go to Koh Samui in Thailand. Travel is the greatest educator of all. You see trends."
When Wired runs into Casey in Dublin, at the F.ounders conference in November, in his hand are two airline tickets for the following day: one to Hong Kong, the other to San Francisco. He has yet to decide which he will take. "The cabin crew on Cathay's Hong Kong flight must know you by your first name," Wired suggests. "Of course not," Casey says with an impish grin. "How would they? They're not on that flight nearly as often as me."
It's January 28, 2014, and Highway1 has invited 200 venture capitalists, investors, mentors and guests to its first demo day in San Francisco. Those pitching include Ringly, whose connected jewellery includes a women's ring with built-in sensors; Birdi Smart Air, which monitors air quality; Wearhaus, making socially enabled headphones; and Emily Brooke's Blaze bike light. "You're looking for the next Tony Fadell, Hosain [Rahman] from Jawbone, Jimmy Iovine from Beats," Casey says. And his ambition is for PCH to be their "end-to-end platform", solving the distribution problem -- so much so that retail stores serve simply as demonstration spaces for hardware you'll buy through his commerce platform.
Doesn't he worry about being an outsider relying on China to leave alone his ever-more-influential business? "We grew up inside the country," he says. "We didn't come to China with a big brand, with lots of cash. Last week we were in the local newspaper as a great success story for Shenzhen. We're almost a protected species there." Besides, China still has the experienced, skilled workforce that gets things done. He picks up his lunch cutlery. "In London it will take you ten days to get a factory tooled up to make this knife and fork. I can do it in Shenzhen in a day. It will take me ten days in China to get the packaging right, but London will do it in a day. [Using London and China,] PCH can get both done in a day."
So there's no downside to doing business in China? "We do business," he interjects sharply. "We don't categorise it as China.
We make."
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David Rowan is the editor of Wired magazine. He wrote about WhatsApp in 04.14
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This article was taken from the June 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.the games you can't stop playing
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Then show your appreciation by playing them!Lidström, captain of the Detroit Red Wings, is one of the best defensemen in NHL history and will be appearing in his 12th all-star game.
The Red Wings are noted for its roster knee-deep in talent from Sweden, dubbed the Swedish embassy on ice and the Ikea Express, that has helped it win four Stanley Cups in the last 15 years, most recently in 2008.
Current Swedish players in its lineup include alternate captain Henrik Zetterberg, defencemen Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall, left winger Johan Franzén and right winger Tomas Holmström.
Lidström will face off against a team selected by Canadian forward Eric Staal, the captain of the host Carolina Hurricanes who is making his fourth all-star appearance. He was chosen the most valuable player of the all-star game three years ago.
The status of the NHL's leading scorer Sidney Crosby is in doubt for the game. The Pittsburgh Penguins star remains sidelined with a concussion. If Crosby can't play, it will mark the third time he's missed an all-star game because of injury. He appeared in his only all-star game four years ago.
Staal told a Canadian television station last week that he'd like to use his first pick in the draft to take his Carolina teammate and Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward. His brother, Rangers defenseman Mark Staal, is also up for grabs.
The captains will select their teams in a live draft two days prior to the game. The only rules governing the draft are that goaltenders must be taken after each team's 10th pick and defencemen have to be gone by the 15th selections. That leaves forwards to pick up the slack late.
Some notable names that were left off the all-star roster are the Philadelphia Flyers' Daniel Brière (24 goals, 40 points) and Dallas Stars forward Brenden Morrow (18 goals). Morrow was a member of Canada's 2010 gold medal-winning Olympic team.
Brière has 10 more goals than American forward David Backes, who was the lone player chosen to represent the St. Louis Blues. With the new format, someone has to face the indignity of being the final selection.
Asked about potentially being the last pick, Backes, known more as a checker than a scorer, said, "I think I got a little more steam in my engine than that."
The annual all-star game will be held on January 30th in Raleigh, North Carolina.It looks like a just another Sydney cafe, but beneath the bread boards and beyond the quinoa is the latest McDonald’s incarnation – a testing lab
Would you like fries with your pulled pork and Asian slaw salad?
McDonald’s has opened a hipster cafe called The Corner in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Camperdown. Described by the fast-food titan as a “lab,” it will serve as a test run for new menu items which may then start being sold in other stores. It is the only one of its kind in Australia.
While the staff are dressed in chambray shirts and dark jeans – a far cry from the usual McDonald’s uniform of high pants in surgical green, it still looks like a McDonald’s which is trying not to be a McDonald’s. The hipster touches include tiled walls and a herb garden – and the food is served on those awfully impractical wooden sandwich boards. What will come next? Green juice in Mason jars?
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The interior of The Corner.
The only McDonald’s branding evident is a tiny “McCafe” logo in small font on the takeaway bags. The logo is minuscule on the sign outside, which in black lettering on a white background proclaims The Corner.
Cold drip coffee (though they were out when I swung by on a Tuesday morning), quinoa salads and one of the biggest ingredients of 2014, pulled pork, are on the menu.
It could be the only cafe in Sydney’s inner west not to offer macchiatos – possibly to get around any Mac-squared name – and there’s the porridge with poached pear to give you and your university-educated friends the extra frisson of some alliteration with your grains-based breakfast.
The coffee is actually very, very good. I had the cold espresso with milk in it and it was strong, with not a hint of a burnt bean in the aftertaste. I also picked up a pre-packaged tomato, bocconcini and pesto salad which was fine though the pesto did taste like those sold by a supermarket chain.
I was in there in the morning before the lunch menu kicked in at 11am so brought back the breakfast menu items and tiny $4 takeaway salads for my esteemed colleagues to review.
Michael Safi: bacon and egg roll on brioche bun, $6
There’s nothing like heading down to that little cafe on the corner for breakfast and a morning coffee. You know the one – where the barista knows your name, and the multibillion-dollar food conglomerate owner is obscured behind a haze of quinoa and chambray-shirt clad workers.
On one hand, the last thing Australia’s thriving cafe industry needs is McDonald’s muscling into the market. On the other, my egg and bacon roll with spinach and chutney on a brioche bun was pretty tasty. The fried egg was perfectly runny and the bacon crispy and lean. They could have lathered on more chutney, and the spinach was missing in action, but on the whole, no complaints.
What was interesting was the residual McDonald’s-ness the meal couldn’t shake. Lay it alongside 10 other burgers, in some kind of delicious criminal burger line-up, and you would easily pick it as the McDonald’s product. It’s something about the perfectly symmetrical sugary bun with an inside too white to be produced by nature.
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise was that the roll felt composed of actual, real-life food. That dirty feeling you get after scoffing a McDonald’s burger? Non-existent.
Nancy Groves: four-cheese toastie, $6
Even for someone who eats McDonald’s more often than I should, the four-cheese toastie was a disappointment. I couldn’t identify one variety, let alone four – the sourdough bread was an improvement on a sugary burger bun, I guess, but I don’t go to McDonald’s for a health kick. Even in a brown paper bag.
Give me their basic, tastier and (at $2.45) cheaper cheeseburger any day. Macca’s classic fare already does just fine catering for the munchies, midnight snacks and hangovers in hipster neighbourhoods. It doesn’t need to wear the clothes, too.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The four-cheese toastie. Photograph: Nick Evershed for the Guardian
Adam Brereton: chorizo and egg roll on a brioche bun, $6
After initial failed forays into healthy “meals” – salads and other nonsense – McDonald’s realised that what the punters want is the fantasy of health and quality, mediated through fancy lettuce and dusty sourdough buns, not the sour apples-in-bags terror of the real.
Maccas breakfast didn’t follow this logic as the chain went through its own transformation. Unlike the purpose of the “real choices” healthy daytime range – to announce ever more loudly our slobbering appetite for the “false choices” of regular McDonald’s products – breakfast time is when we are allowed to wallow gleefully in our sausage and egg-inflected depravity.
Now McDonald’s has opened The Corner, which is a kind of cafe/restaurant arrangement with table service and chips served in wire baskets. I had a chorizo breakfast burger thing. It had two big round slices of “chorizo” and an egg, on a slimy brioche bun.
It wasn’t bad, but I found myself longing for the genuine article: a rubbery sausage pattie and a circular slab of egg on a gritty English muffin. Brioche buns are definitively not for breakfast; you can’t feel guilty about a brioche bun, only angry.
In its attempts to be “realer” than the McDonald’s breakfast range – one of the greatest inventions of western civilisation – The Corner may well compromise the greasy truth of McDonald’s itself.
Nick Evershed: egg and bacon roll on brioche bun, $6
It’s much fancier than what you’d normally get at Maccas. Chutney instead of sauce. Brioche instead of the normal white roll. Some baby spinach wedged in as a token nod to health.
But it can’t shake its intrinsic McDonald’s-ness. Take the bun, for example. While it’s different to the normal burger buns, it’s still very McDonald’s. Sweet, soft and a bit too moist. The bacon has the same generally undercooked feel that you get in the egg and bacon McMuffins. Even the wrapper itself is McDonald’s in style, albeit with different branding.
Overall it was pretty tasty, but it’s really just the textures that fall down compared with something you’d get from your local cafe. I’d take crispy bacon on a good, solid crusty roll over this fancy stealth-McDonald’s fare any day.
Brigid Delaney: chorizo and egg roll, $6; pre-packaged brown rice and quinoa with fresh vegetables salad, $4
The bun was brioche – but tasted more like a hamburger bun. It was very soft and sugary, with the barbecue-flavoured sauce soaking through the bun – giving it a damp texture.
The McDonald’s taste was tempered by fresh rocket and tasty, well-cooked chorizo. It was good – but nothing more special than you would find in a sandwich shop or deli.
I can’t remember the last time I had McDonald’s for breakfast and lunch, but the new healthy menu means you can indulge in double dining without the guilt. I had small salad which contains some of 2014’s most zeitgeist-y ingredients (quinoa, coconut). There were several large, fresh spinach leaves in the small tub and a good serving of the grains, with grated carrots.
The salad had a refreshing coconut crunch – and tasted legitimately healthy. I’m Loving It.An odd little poll turned up the other day. Even odder, that is, than most political polls, such as the ones indicating Justin Trudeau remains the most popular party leader in Canada, which should be no surprise given that the other two main parties are in the process of picking new leaders. (News flash: in a contest between Trudeau and Trudeau, Trudeau wins hands down).
This particular poll found that almost half the respondents don’t believe Premier Kathleen Wynne will lead her party into the next Ontario election. A full 49% think she will quit before the vote, which was supposed to be held in October 2018 but has been moved forward to June 7 to avoid clashing with municipal elections.
Wynne, after less than four years in office, has plummeted even further than McGuinty managed in a decade as premier.
The poll was carried in the Toronto Star, which is significant because the Star is the closest thing Liberals have to a BFF. Lorne Bezoff, president of pollster Forum Research, told the Star: “I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking or just realistic thinking…They’ve really turned on her, that’s for sure.”
To suggest Ontarians have “turned on” the premier may be misleading. It implies there was a time when she was wildly popular. She did win a surprise majority in 2014 after replacing former premier Dalton McGuinty, but plenty of people would argue the Liberals didn’t so much win that vote as the Progressive Conservatives fumbled it away. Tim Hudak, the PC leader at the time, thought it would be a good strategy to announce in mid-campaign that a Tory government would take an axe to the civil service, firing 100,000 people. With public sector unions already pouring millions into ads demonizing the Tories, the declaration was like a torpedo aimed at a rubber raft. The only question was how quickly the Conservatives would sink.
However dubious their victory, the Liberals have done a great deal to make themselves unpopular since. McGuinty stepped down when his support fell to less than a third of the province, making him one of the least popular premiers in the country. Wynne, after less than four years in office, has plummeted even further than McGuinty managed in a decade as premier. Wynne ranks dead last in the latest rankings of premiers, with just one in five Ontarians approving her performance
Her Liberals have lost a string of byelections, are struggling against an outpouring of anger over electricity costs and have been forced to abandon a lucrative fundraising program in which “donors” were pressed into hefty “contributions” in return for exclusive access to Wynne and her senior cabinet members. New restrictions will also prevent the unions from once again spending heavily on attack ads against Liberal opponents in the next campaign, as they have in the past.
Wynne’s government shows every sign of being unnerved by the situation. The premier has been campaigning heavily in advance of a November byelection in Ottawa-Vanier, which should be the safest seat in the province. Before the date was even announced she had already made numerous appearances, and announced $1.5 million for new daycare spaces in the riding. The Liberals used a throne speech to launch a costly rebate on electricity bills, and have been running ads congratulating themselves on party programs, after removing auditor general Bonnie Lysyk’s ability to restrict such ads on the basis of partisanship.
Nonetheless, stumbling blocks keep popping up. The government got into a new spat with Lysyk this month when she argued the provincial deficit is $1.5 billion higher than the government claims. Worried that a report on its troubled eHealth program will be highly critical, officials have launched an advance operation to undermine its findings. Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault was forced to admit last week that the $12 million budget to launch a low-income electricity plan was spent almost entirely on consultants and advertising.
In another boondoggle, the government was ordered to pay $25 million after abruptly cancelling a wind turbine project, just weeks after scrapping $3.8 billion in renewable energy projects which have acted as a lightning rod for voter discontent. Still looming is the introduction of a cap-and-trade carbon plan in January, expected to push up household bills further and add 4.3¢ a litre to pump prices. Income from the program was |
banquet, the fairy banquet which is a banquet that is abundant but you should never eat from it which is the Pale Man’s banquet and so forth, etcetera, etcetera. You know, there’s many, many more to use, picking from fairy tales that you deduct. The beauty of fairy tales is that they were not created for kids. They were created by itinerant travelers that seek shelter in castles and houses and in exchange for a meal on a fire, they would regale these stories, that’s why there are so many versions of the same tale. Most of those guys that traveled from city to city were cobblers and tailors. That’s why so many stories are about cobblers and tailors —
GALLOWAY: Oh, right. Yes.
DEL TORO: — or soldiers. That’s why there are so many soldiers returning from war in these tales. But they are tales that were addressed to adults so they have very gory, very difficult, very brutal elements and those get lost in the sanitation of the tale. But in the original reception, that’s why The Shape of Water was The Shape of Water, a fairy tale for troubled times because these are troubled times right now.
GALLOWAY: Is there one fairy tale that most haunts you?
DEL TORO: There are several.
GALLOWAY: Tell me about one.
DEL TORO: Well, there’s variations of a tale called The Iron Shoes and this may have to do with the bottle caps, I don’t know. It’s a princess or a prince that were very proud and it varies the origin of that pride. They wear iron shoes and singing for their lover, their lost beloved. And they run through the world until those shoes wear down which I think is a very beautiful image, very, very haunting to me. And there are probably at least 100 male and female variations of Beauty and the Beast.
GALLOWAY: There’s now the 101st variation because Shape of Water is very influenced by Beauty and the Beast.
DEL TORO: Very influenced, very contrary to it.
GALLOWAY: Because you haven’t seen it, the premise of Shape of Water is a young woman…
DEL TORO: Mute, mute cleaning lady, yeah.
GALLOWAY: Go ahead, tell us the premise.
DEL TORO: No, you, you. You are the host.
GALLOWAY: A mute young woman works a secret government facility where she discovers they have kept an amphibious humanoid that she begins to fall in love with. What’s extraordinary is it’s such a daring premise.
DEL TORO: Well, what is weird is you know as a storyteller, that’s why it’s so painful for me to see Hellboy or Cronos, because I see what I was doing, which is very different than the craft the way I understand it now. And I think that you come to recognize almost the pressure points of a story where it’s going to breathe or not. And there is a crucial moment in Shape of Water, I don’t know if it’s about, we are going to see or not, but it’s the moment the creature surfaces from the water and for the first time it blinks, because that’s the hinge. If you don’t buy that moment, if you, as a director don’t execute that moment precisely — the lens needs to be at the right height, it needs to be the right lens, the creature needs to emerge, the performer needs to emerge just so. And then if you buy that moment, you are in.
GALLOWAY: Shockingly, I have that clip to show.
[LAUGHTER] [CLIP] [APPLAUSE]
GALLOWAY: What was the genesis of this? You love Creature From the Black Lagoon.
DEL TORO: Yeah, when I was a kid watching it, I thought they would end up together, the girl and the creature. And they didn’t. But it’s beyond that. It’s to me we are right now in a very dangerous time in which I don’t want to go into very specifics. They are in the headlines every day. They’ve been in the headlines for many months, if not a couple of years. The ideologies that are dividing us are becoming very pernicious. And social sort of disease that tells you, you have two choices as to why the world is unequal to everyone. Choice number one is 1 percent of the population owns 99 percent of the wealth or choice number B or two is it’s them, whoever them may be, immigrants, a race, a creed, a sexual preference, whatever, they blame it on them. And the illusion, the ideology that creates the illusion of them makes a lot of people invisible and allows you to mistreat, hate, blame. And that’s the difference. The first option, 1 percent owns, that makes you responsible, “What are you going to do about it?” Second option, “I’ve told you, you’ve nothing to do with it, it’s them. You’re cool.” And most people take that and take the hatred that comes with that and hate whatever they perceive as different. There’s no us and them, it’s only us. There isn’t. We need to fabricate them to hate. And the idea with this creature was can I make a fable I would love that doesn’t sound disingenuous, that is not cynical, that is beautiful and that sort of restores like the Kintsugi, what has been broken. And I really made it almost like a remedy for these times. And to say let’s get all the invisible people, the people without a voice, come together and save something beautiful. I don’t want to spoil anything. That was the idea.
GALLOWAY: What was the toughest part of making the film?
DEL TORO: The movie is a $65 million movie made for $19.5 million. The scope is huge and yet we had only $19.5 million, because what I learned with Crimson Peak that was extremely painful for me is that I made that movie for $55 million, therefore I forced the studio’s hand to market it like a horror movie which it wasn’t. It was a gothic romance. And they couldn’t market it and rose the money they wanted so they market it like a scary horror movie which I never wanted it to be. So, people went saying what is this, this is not what I wanted, you know. If you give a person a Gucci bag to mow the lawn, they can barely fit any leaves in there. It’s a Gucci bag, yeah, but I want to fit more leaves. It’s not what it says in the box. And I felt there was a huge disappointment with that. And I said I’ll do it for the number that allows them to market it for what it is which is a very peculiar, very beautiful, delicate thing.
GALLOWAY: You were going to do it in black and white at one point.
DEL TORO: Well, I tried. Don’t tell the studio because they are here! But sometimes you go to a poker game with a few chips you are willing to lose so you can look reasonable.
GALLOWAY: [To an audience member:] Angela, do not repeat this to your bosses.
DEL TORO: I was completely prepared to lose that. Yeah, it was a pawn sacrifice [LAUGHS] you know, I was never going to win that one. It’s like when you go to the MPAA.
GALLOWAY: Yes. Was there a pawn you sacrificed here for the rating?
DEL TORO: No, there wasn’t. The movie is exactly as I cut it because we knew we wanted an R, you know. In other instances, you do leave an extra little thing and then you take it out. Don’t tell anyone, please. Somebody in the MPAA, please…
GALLOWAY: This was a real actor playing…
DEL TORO: I’m a nice guy.
[LAUGHTER]
GALLOWAY: This was a real actor playing the creature.
DEL TORO: Yeah.
GALLOWAY: How do you work with him? What conversations do you have?
DEL TORO: With Doug Jones? You know, with actors you try to be very specific. If it’s a physical performer like Doug, you think the page speaks for itself and then you say you are going to need to be innocent. You are going to need to be powerful because the range is very, very great. What you saw, the micro gestures of the face are so beautiful. And then what we did is we animated digitally…
GALLOWAY: The blinking…
DEL TORO: We created sort of a Zorro mask that we could fade in and out so sometimes it was the makeup for one, two beats, the gesture came and then we went back to the makeup. So, your eye didn’t go oh, CG. You were actually retro-projecting the surface into the 3D mask. It was a very creative way of doing it but don’t need it to convey everything with his body. So, sometimes, you know, we developed a very short code. I would say when he raises in the water, I would say, “Raise as you were a 25-story creature, raise with the weight. And then when you get up, stand like a bull fighter. Center everything on your pelvis.” This is very easy to understand. And then you can give him small instructions that would be pertinent if people saw the movie but be innocent, you have never seen a bathtub, you have never seen a tile. You don’t know where you are. He’s in an alien, complete… The way I see Creature From the Black Lagoon is a home invasion movie you know. [LAUGHTER] The poor guy is pattering around his house and these bastards came in a boat and broke in. He goes, hey, hey, oh. And they chain him and take him to a lab, you know. It’s a home invasion.
GALLOWAY: OK, we’re going to have questions.
QUESTION: I’m in film production. I’m wondering if any of your monsters scare you because they certainly terrify most people and if not then what fictional creatures are you scared of if any?
DEL TORO: All right. Well, the one that scared me is the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth because originally the sculpture was a sculpture of a very old man, face, very regular face. And then I was thinking something was not right. And I saw a photo of the belly of a manta ray which I’ve seen in the past as a kid and it was so creepy, the little mouth with the little nostrils that look like eyes. And I thought I’m going to take out the face. And I called the company, DDT, and I said erase the face. I’m sending you a doodle which is in Cabinet of Curiosities, a doodle of what the face needs to look like. It’s going to be flat and with a mouth, with the eyes are going to be the nostrils. And they got so angry. They got so angry with me. You have no respect for the work of the sculptor. I said absolutely, I have no respect whatsoever because I want that face, you know. But that scared me because that face, the belly of the manta ray gives me the creeps. So, that’s one that scared me. The rest I like. The rest I think they’re super cute. You know, they’re adorable.
QUESTION: Hello, I’m a screenwriting major. And my question was so over the course of your career you’ve worked in many different genres and worked in different languages and now more recently you worked in different mediums working on projects like Death Stranding with Hideo Kojima. And my question was after experiences like that, do you see yourself working more with games and VR in the future and what is it about these user-driven mediums that intrigue you to tell stories?
DEL TORO: OK, I’ll try to be brief. What happens is 10 years ago and when Pan’s Labyrinth came out, I said, “I’m going to write a book. I’m going to develop a TV series. I’m going to produce animation. I’m going to design a video game and one more.” It was five things I wanted to learn as a storyteller, because each of these are different ways of telling the story. Video games, when people say well, video games are like movies, you want to… what, what, again? You know. No. No. [LAUGHTER] They’re not like movies, not like movies. Go back, you know. Same way with animation, the learning, for example the animation, we were trying to animate mistakes, failed act, to give the animation a little more weight. Learning on video games that the way you basically create a mandala, not a linear drama with three acts, you need to create a mandala that gives the player the sense of freedom and then reroutes that layer back and again into the narrative you want. So, it bifurcates, rejoins. It was really a great exercise. And you learn. Now Alejandro Inarritu recently created this wonderful VR experience, Carne y Arena, you know. And it’s an amazing new language, VR. Now I haven’t learned it and I want to learn it. And it’s only because I think that the more nimble you are in all those disciplines, the better you are the one you choose to exercise. I think that if you are a narrator, read. You know, read as much as you can. And to me video games, the good ones are reading. The really, really good ones, the dense ones are like reading. They have a literary value. They have an amazing production design, sound design. And when I say read books, read movies. A lot of us don’t read movies. You know, how you will write better movies? Reading better the movies, if you read a movie profoundly, in every single aspect that it has to offer, you will come out of that experience a better narrator. So, you know, that’s all I can say.
QUESTION: I am a second-year graduate production student. And I wanted to ask, my good friend Antonio who went here had a film at Cannes this year so we got to see Alfonso Cuaron’s, a talk that he gave when you were there and he told me to watch it later and one thing that really, really struck me about something he said was that early in his career, he was very, very concerned with shaking off, you know, the influence of other people having his own cinematic voice and he said that he thinks he lost 10 years trying to be just really, really original sort of just developing as a filmmaker. So, my question is at our stage, we’re really trying to develop our own voice but we’re also trying to find ways to just be better filmmakers and grow. You know, you worked your way up…
GALLOWAY: And you must get to the question.
DEL TORO: I know the question, I know what it is.
GALLOWAY: Go ahead, Guillermo.
DEL TORO: Can I answer it? Because I know where you’re going.
GALLOWAY: But briefly.
DEL TORO: I’ll be briefly. [LAUGHTER] Yes. No, what happens is on the one thing you cannot prevent is being who you are. You know, I think, there’s a saying in psychology that says that which we don’t speak about controls us. You know, I think that what you need to do is take yourself, be completely yourself, and by that understand one rule that is out of your defects, will come your virtues. You know, there’s no other way to get to your virtues and frankly your defects.
QUESTION: Like you said about —
DEL TORO: Exactly but like if you talk about the things you are most ashamed of, you will tackle the subjects that you will find most intimate, that you don’t want to talk in public, that’s what your stories need to be about. Because if you don’t, you are offering an imitation, it’s a cover for a song. We want your song. We don’t want to hear your cover of The Beatles. We want to hear you composing. So, your voice is there. Now you can never avoid having it. What you can do is let it free and that does take years. And in all respect to everything, and I know Alfonso, we all spend 10 years trying to find our voice. That’s why it’s so hard to see these movies because you see glimpses of this, glimpses of that. But you don’t know your range. You know, you’re like a baby rattlesnake. You don’t control the venom, you go [GESTURES] you know, you kill everything you bite. In 25 years, you go [GESTURES] I just want to do this. It’s a little better with time. There’s a tabulation, arrogance and experience. When you are young, you have to have a lot of arrogance because you have very little experience. And then that goes the other way.
GALLOWAY: I love that. Let’s see, two more questions and then we’ve got to stop. Last one, oh, great, perfect.
QUESTION: Hi, I’m a junior screenwriting major.
DEL TORO: I thought you were going to say I’m a genius screenwriter. Oh, my God, it’s your accent.
QUESTION: And I was just wondering if you could briefly discuss your thoughts on the relationship between social and political issues and their relationship with cinema and for example, would you ever make a film on the present day violence and Mexico and if so, what would your approach be?
DEL TORO: Look, each of us, we do what we do. We are like trees, right? I give pears. I don’t give pineapples, you know, that’s it. I’m not going to tackle a pineapple because that’s not in my roots. It’s not in my sap. It’s not in my branches. I’m not going to give a pineapple. You do what you do. And from that forum, you can choose to be an interested human being. You know, when the purpose of a film is purely political, then that’s a particular genre. It can be propaganda or it can be a drama that tackles that. You have to say look, we are a concert of voices. We are a banquet. If your role is to play dessert, be dessert, you know. That’s what you are, or if your role is to be the hors d’oeuvres, the entrée, that’s it. I mean we, in a cultural symphony, you don’t say I’m going to be this. Your art shapes you and you shape your art. It’s very organic like I care. I have empathy. I care deeply about what happens and Shape of Water is a reaction to what is happening right now, you know, that I think is we fear and feel rage to the other and who the other is, I tell you, every day it’s going to get so divided that we’re going to soon hate the person next to us. You know, because you start with the big ones, the big divisions, political, religious, whatever, and you end up with the small divisions. Intolerance is an incredibly fine art. So that’s what I am preoccupied with. So, the answer is not only I want to do it, I’ve been doing it. Everything is a political act when you are narrating, everything. To tell the same story in Shape of Water from the point of view of a scientist or a government agent, that’s a political choice. To tell the story from a cleaning woman’s point of view, it’s a political choice. To open the movie, sorry… cover your eyes. OK, wow. To open the…
GALLOWAY: We have a very young guest. Hi.
DEL TORO: How are you? Well, everything is a political choice. I’m going to constrain myself. And I think when you tell the story from a woman’s point of view, it’s a political choice and you choose not to go with the square jaw, the eye, you know, everything. When I do Pacific Rim, I made clear what I wanted to do. I said I don’t want any country in charge of those robots. I want the world in charge of those robots. I want a Japanese girl, a black leader, an Australian team, you know. But easily we could have made it Team America. That’s a political choice. So, do not fool yourself in that. Everything you do is political. You just have to say does this represent who I am? And in the case of myself, as ashamed as I am of formal mistakes or youth, every movie I’ve ever done does represent me.Vote on this article to affect its rank!
MCAs in Kisumu are proposing harsher penalties for rapists including either castration or stoning of the perpetrators of the criminal act to death.
The proposal constitutes part of stringent punishment proposed by the MCAs to curb rising cases of rape in the county.
The MCAs on Wednesday debated at length a Motion by nominated MCA Faridah Salim which sort to find ways of fighting sexual violence especially against children.
Their harsh recommendations follow concerns raised by Members of the County Assembly and the Children’s Department over increased cases of rape, defilement and sodomy in the region.
South West Kisumu Ward Representative Joseph Abiola Otiende expressed his disappointment at fathers who turn against their own children and defile them.
“Parents who rape their children should be lined up and stoned to death because what they are doing are beastly acts,” said Mr Otiende.
He added that the same should be done to those parents who hide and collude with perpetrators at the expense of their children’s suffering.
Deputy Speaker Pamela Jossy had another recommendation that startled the Assembly but was supported by many who saw the need of getting rid of rapists completely.
“Let all the men who defile young girls be castrated because that is the only way to stop them,” said Ms Jossy.
However, the Speaker, Anne Adul, took her to task to recommend an action that is to be taken against women who also do the same to young boys especially house maids.
Jossy in response stood her ground claiming that she has never heard of a woman raping a small boy.
Nominated MCA Lydia Odhiambo and her Kajula Ward counterpart Simba Opepo supported Jossy’s proposal but stated that there was need for parents to closely monitor and spend more time with their children to keep them of rapists.
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-JEROME OMONDIUntil recently, holding your hand to your temple to manipulate a small touchpad was how you had to use Gear VR headsets. Bluetooth gamepads allowed some Gear VR games to support more input options, but the incorporation of natural movement into the VR experience was missing.
In April 2017, Samsung released the Gear VR controller with built-in sensors that track orientation. In apps that take advantage of the controller’s degrees of freedom, the controller becomes a part of the VR experience, as a pointer, a gun, a magic wand, a golf club, a flight stick, or any other device that relies on rotation. You can see the functionality of the Gear VR controller in the Oculus Home app. When the controller is paired, and you are in the Oculus Home environment, you’ll see an image of the controller that rotates as you rotate the controller in your hand.
Once the Gear VR controller is paired, you don’t need to modify your apps to be able to use the basic touchpad functionality. However, to fully utilize the controller’s features, you will need to make some changes to your projects. Oculus provides the scripts and prefabs you will need in the Oculus Utilities for Unity package.
In this tutorial, we will use the Oculus Utilities package to create a shooting game that demonstrates controller functionality.
Source Code Files
You can download the complete project here. This project was created in Unity 5.6.1.
Setting Up the Project
Download Oculus Utilies for Unity 5 from https://developer.oculus.com/downloads/package/oculus-utilities-for-unity-5/ and unpack the zip file on your computer.
Create a new project in Unity. I named my project ShooterWithController. Import Oculus Utilities by selecting Assets -> Import Package -> Custom Package and choosing the package you extracted. If you are prompted to update the package, follow the prompts to install the update and restart Unity.
A directory named OVR will be added to your project’s assets.
To prepare your project to be built, navigate to File -> Build Settings. Select Android as the platform.
Click on Player Settings to load PlayerSettings int the Inspector panel. Set a company name and project name. Under the “Other Settings” heading, select “Virtual Reality Supported.” Add Oculus under Virtual Reality SDKs. Select Android 4.4 Kit-Kat (API Level 19) in the Minimum API Level field under the “Identification” heading. This is the minimum version of Android that supports the Gear VR.
Create the directory Assets/Plugins/Android/assets in your project, and copy your phone’s oculussig file to this directory. See https://dashboard.oculus.com/tools/osig-generator/ if you don’t have an oculussig file for your phone.
Using OVRCameraRig
Let’s take a look at the OVR directory that was imported into the Assets folder of your project. In Assets/OVR/Prefabs, OVRCameraRig is a prefab that replaces the default main camera.
To use OVRCameraRig, drag the OVRCameraRig prefab to the scene. Delete the MainCamera that was created by default.
Another prefab, GearVRController, represents the controller. One of its components is a model of the controller itself. When active, the controller will be visible in the VR app.
Drag the GearVRController prefab to both LeftHandAnchor and RightHandAnchor under OVRCameraRig.
Select the instance of GearVRController under LeftHandAnchor. In the Inspector pane, set the Controller field of the OVR Game Controller script to “L Tracked Remote.” Set the Controller field of the GearVRController under RightHandAnchor to “R Tracked Remote.”
Which GearVRController is active depends on how you set up your controller when pairing it with your phone. If you set the controller to right-handed mode, the controller under RightHandAnchor will be active. In your app, it will appear on the right-hand side. If your controller is left-handed, the controller under LeftHandAnchor will be active.
To see the controller in action, save the scene and select File -> Build and Run. When the app is running, you should see a controller that rotates as you rotate the controller in your hand.
Understanding GearVrController
In actual games, you probably want the image of the controller to look different. We can customize the controller’s appearance and behavior by building our own controller prefab based on the GearVRController prefab provided in the Oculus Utilities package. Let’s take a look at the GearVRController prefab in Assets/OVR/Prefabs.
The script Assets/OVR/Scripts/Util/OVRGearVrController.cs is attached to GearVRController. Open OVRGearVRController.cs :
public class OVRGearVrController : MonoBehaviour { /// <summary> /// The root GameObject that should be conditionally enabled depending on controller connection status. /// </summary> public GameObject m_model; /// <summary> /// The controller that determines whether or not to enable rendering of the controller model. /// </summary> public OVRInput.Controller m_controller; private bool m_prevControllerConnected = false; private bool m_prevControllerConnectedCached = false; void Update() { bool controllerConnected = OVRInput.IsControllerConnected(m_controller); if ((controllerConnected!= m_prevControllerConnected) ||!m_prevControllerConnectedCached) { m_model.SetActive(controllerConnected); m_prevControllerConnected = controllerConnected; m_prevControllerConnectedCached = true; } if (!controllerConnected) { return; } } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 public class OVRGearVrController : MonoBehaviour { /// <summary> /// The root GameObject that should be conditionally enabled depending on controller connection status. /// </summary> public GameObject m_model ; /// <summary> /// The controller that determines whether or not to enable rendering of the controller model. /// </summary> public OVRInput. Controller m_controller ; private bool m_prevControllerConnected = false ; private bool m_prevControllerConnectedCached = false ; void Update ( ) { bool controllerConnected = OVRInput. IsControllerConnected ( m_controller ) ; if ( ( controllerConnected!= m_prevControllerConnected ) ||! m_prevControllerConnectedCached ) { m_model. SetActive ( controllerConnected ) ; m_prevControllerConnected = controllerConnected ; m_prevControllerConnectedCached = true ; } if (! controllerConnected ) { return ; } } }
m_model is the physical manifestation of the controller. In the inspector, its value is set to the object Model that is nested under GearVrController. m_controller is an instance of an enumerated type, OVRInput.Controller, that is defined in OVRInput.cs. The enumerators of OVRInput.Controller are all the valid controller types. For the Gear VR controller, we are only concerned with left tracked remote or right tracked remote. When you set up instances of GearVrController, you need to populate the m_controller field with “R Tracked Remote” or “L Tracked Remote” in the inspector. The boolean m_prevControllerConnected keeps track of whether this controller was active.
Update() checks if m_controller is connected by calling OVRInput.IsControllerConnected(). If the resulting boolean has changed since the last update, m_model is activated or deactivated depending on whether m_controller is connected. For example, if the Gear VR controller is right-handed, when you start the app, the instance of OVRGearVrController set to “R Tracked Remote” will detect that its m_controller is connected. The image of the right-handed remote will become visible in the app. The instance set to “L Tracked Remote” will detect that its m_controller is not connected, and its m_model will not be activated. The left-handed remote will not be visible.
Creating a Gun
Now that we’ve explored the default GearVrController prefab, let’s create our own prefab that will turn the Gear VR controller into a gun. But first, let’s create a ground where the gun’s projectiles can fall.
Create a plane and rename it “Ground.” Drag the OVRCameraRig up along the Y axis so that it is above the ground. Create a new material in Assets/Materials named “GroundMaterial.” Set its albedo to a brown color.
To prepare the gun, create a new material for it, Assets/Materials/GunMaterial. Set the albedo color in the inspector and adjust the metallic slider to make the material look more realistic.
Create a cube in the scene named GunModel. Drag GunMaterial to this cube to apply it. Resize GunModel to a long, thin shape that’s small enough to look like a handheld controller. When the transform widget is selected, make sure the darker blue axis lines up with the long side. The blue axis aligns with the forward face of the cube.
Then create an empty object in the scene and name it VrGunController. VrGunController will be our replacement for GearVrController. Nest GunModel under VrGunController by dragging and dropping.
Next, we’re going to create a bullet that can be fired by the gun. Create a sphere and resize it until it looks small enough to reasonably be fired by the gun. Rename it Bullet. Create a new material for it in Assets/Materials, and apply the material by dragging it to Bullet.
Add a Rigid Body to the bullet, which will allow us to set a velocity and apply kinematics to it. Note that the bullet already has a sphere collider around it. Check the box next to “Is Trigger.” We will use this field later to implement shooting enemies.
Drag Bullet to Assets/Prefabs, and remove the original bullet you created in the scene. The Bullet prefab will be used to initialize bullets when you fire the gun.
Now we’ll add scripts to VrGunController and GunModel. Add the script Assets/OVR/Scripts/Util/OVRGearVrController to VrGunController. This allows VrGunController to be used as the Gear VR controller. Drag GunModel to the Model field. For now, don’t populate the Controller field. We will set the handedness of the Controller when we assign an instance of VrGunController to one of the anchors in OvrCameraRig.
Create a new C# script, GunController, in Assets/Scripts :
using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; public class GunController : MonoBehaviour { public GameObject projectilePrefab; // Use this for initialization void Start () { this.transform.forward = Camera.main.transform.forward; } public void ShootProjectile(float projectileSpeed) { GameObject projectile = GameObject.Instantiate(projectilePrefab); projectile.transform.position = this.transform.position; Rigidbody rb = projectile.GetComponent<Rigidbody>(); rb.velocity = this.transform.forward * projectileSpeed; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 using System. Collections ; using System. Collections. Generic ; using UnityEngine ; public class GunController : MonoBehaviour { public GameObject projectilePrefab ; // Use this for initialization void Start ( ) { this. transform. forward = Camera. main. transform. forward ; } public void ShootProjectile ( float projectileSpeed ) { GameObject projectile = GameObject. Instantiate ( projectilePrefab ) ; projectile. transform. position = this. transform. position ; Rigidbody rb = projectile. GetComponent < Rigidbody > ( ) ; rb. velocity = this. transform. forward * projectileSpeed ; } }
Start(), called when the GunController is initialized, points the GunModel in same direction as the camera. Subsequent orientations are set by the player moving the controller.
ShootProjectile(projectileSpeed) is called when the Gear VR controller’s trigger is pulled. ShootProjectile() instantiates an instance of the projectile prefab and fires it in the same direction the gun is pointing with a speed determined by projectileSpeed.
Drag GunController to the GunModel object to add it as a component. In the inspector, set “Projectile Prefab” to Bullet.
Let’s add the code to detect a trigger pull to Assets/OVR/Scripts/Util/OVRGearVrController, which we’ve attached to VrGunController. Open the script and add the following lines to the end of the Update() method:
if (OVRInput.GetUp(OVRInput.Button.PrimaryIndexTrigger)) { if (m_gunController!= null) { Debug.Log ("OVRGearVrController: Shooting projectile"); m_gunController.ShootProjectile (projectileSpeed); } else { Debug.Log ("OVRGearVrController: m_gunController is null"); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 if ( OVRInput. GetUp ( OVRInput. Button. PrimaryIndexTrigger ) ) { if ( m_gunController!= null ) { Debug. Log ( "OVRGearVrController: Shooting projectile" ) ; m_gunController. ShootProjectile ( projectileSpeed ) ; } else { Debug. Log ( "OVRGearVrController: m_gunController is null" ) ; } }
Also add the following data members to the OVRGearVrController class:
public GunController m_gunController; public float projectileSpeed = 20f; 1 2 public GunController m_gunController ; public float projectileSpeed = 20f ;
In the inspector panel, set the “Gun Controller” field to GunModel. GunModel’s GunController component will be the value of m_gunController. When the Gear VR controller’s trigger button is pressed and released, if m_gunController is active, ShootProjectile() is called with a speed of projectileSpeed, which can also be set in the inspector. From trial and error, 20 is a reasonable speed.
Drag VrGunController to Assets/Prefabs, and remove VrGunController from the scene for now. We will add the prefab back to the scene in the next step.
You should still have an instance of OVRCameraRig in your scene. Remove GearVrController from OVRCameraRig -> TrackingSpace -> LeftHandAnchor and OVRCameraRig -> TrackingSpace -> RightHandAnchor. Then drag and drop VrGunController from Assets/Prefabs twice, once to nest under LeftHandAnchor, and once to nest under RightHandAnchor.
Select the VrGunController under LeftHandAnchor. In the inspector, set Controller under “OVR Gear Vr Controller (Script)” to “L Tracked Remote.”
Similarly, set the VrGunController instance under RightHandAnchor to “R Tracked Remote.”
When you build and run the project on your phone with the controller paired, you should see an image of the GunModel that you can rotate by rotating your controller. When you click the trigger button, bullets will be fired from the gun.
Adding Enemies
Now let’s add enemies we can target with the controller-enabled gun. The attached project includes a Blender model, Assets/Models/GhostModel.fbx, that can be used as the prefab model for our enemies. Copy this file to into your project’s Assets/Models folder.
Create a new GameObject, Ghost. From the Tag dropdown in the inspector, select “Add Tag” and apply it to Ghost.
Drag GhostModel to the Ghost object to nest it.
In the scene view, use the rotation widget to rotate GhostModel until it is upright, and scale it to a size that looks reasonable in the scene. Add a capsule collider to Ghost. Click “Edit Collider” and resize the green capsule until it approximately encloses the ghost.
Create a new C# script, Assets/Scripts/EnemyController, and attach it to Ghost. EnemyController will control the ghost’s movement:
using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; public class EnemyController : MonoBehaviour { float speed = 2f; // Update is called once per frame void Update () { transform.Translate (-1 * Vector3.forward * speed * Time.deltaTime, Space.World); } public void SetSpeed(float newSpeed) { speed = newSpeed; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 |
beach image available from Shutterstock.Seriously, you’re not a loser. Noah Brand explains why.
As boys, we get told that there are winners and losers in this world, and it’s important to make sure you’re a winner. As men, we discover that that’s impossible. There’s always some metric by which we’re inadequate, always some ideal we’ve failed to meet. And so the labels of “loser” and “failure” creep in, become the nouns we define ourselves by. Inevitably, once those words become nouns, they begin poisoning us.
Our society likes to grade men hierarchically by worldly success, what I like to call the Success Myth. Consequently, if you’re not on the absolute top, you are, to at least some degree, a loser. Conceivably there’s some phenomenally handsome, rich, charismatic, athletic, sexually superhuman, generally all-round perfect guy out there who’s at the top of this imaginary hierarchy. That guy can stop reading this article now.
The success myth is wrong, but it’s pervasive, a set of unspoken assumptions that are too often taken for granted. That means that a lot of the men reading this feel like losers, like failures. We don’t have the right career, we don’t have the right relationship, we’re too fat or too short or too something. We turn on TV and see ridiculously handsome and successful men, heroic leaders and brilliant wits and erotic demigods, and then we look back at ourselves and we see a loser. We look back on our lives with hindsight and see mistakes, missed opportunities, plans that didn’t pan out and dreams that didn’t come true, and we look at our present selves and we see a failure.
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The thing is, it’s a lie. It’s a lie the world tells us and we believe, it’s a lie we tell ourselves and never question. We are not losers. I am not a loser. Neither are you. And I can prove it.
The Good Men Project was founded by Tom Matlack, who from the outside, anybody would call a success, a winner. He made millions in a difficult and competitive field. He was rich, handsome, popular, successful by any measure you could name. And he felt like a loser. He felt inadequate. He felt like he didn’t know how to be a good man. He started The Good Men Project out of that sense of inadequacy, that feeling of not being good enough.
The fact is, if Tom Matlack isn’t one of life’s winners, nobody is. Indeed, there’s strong evidence that nobody is. When you look at the personal lives of enormously successful men, you often find that same hollowness at the center, that same feeling of quiet, personal failure. Doesn’t matter how well they’ve done, how much acclaim and respect they’ve accrued, the feelings inside don’t change.
So when we feel like losers, like failures, we share those feelings with almost all of our personal heroes. Nobody is a winner. And if everyone’s a loser, then nobody is. The label becomes meaningless.
You may have problems. You may have issues or setbacks. But that doesn’t make you a loser, it makes you a guy with a problem. Problems are solvable; labels aren’t. When you begin to shed the label, the identity, of a loser, you can begin to see how much you really have going for you. I don’t claim it’s easy or that brilliant success will naturally follow. I don’t know what individual circumstances anyone reading this article might be facing, I don’t know what the future holds for anyone. There’s really only one thing I know for certain:
You are not a loser.
Photo by istolethetv/Flickr.CLOSE Donald Trump doubled down on claims that the "media is against" him while speaking at a rally in St. Augustine, Florida on Monday. (Oct. 24) AP
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally Monday in St. Augustine, Fla. (Photo11: Evan Vucci/AP)
Donald Trump believes the windmill farms north of Palm Springs and visible from Interstate 10 are "the worst thing you've ever seen."
The Republican presidential candidate was talking Tuesday on Herman Cain’s radio show when the topic turned to coal and alternative energy sources. The problem with wind, Trump said, is that it’s “very, very expensive” and “only works when it’s windy,” although he clarified that he’s not opposed to renewable sources on principle.
Instead, Trump complained that America is “destroying our energy companies with regulation” and asked Cain if he’d “ever been to Palm Springs, California — it looks like a junkyard.”
Cain said he had.
Trump continued: “Each one is made by a different group from, all from China and from Germany, by the way – not from here. And you look at all these windmills, half of them are broken, and they’re rusting and rotting. You know, you’re driving into Palm Springs, California, and it looks like a poor man’s version of Disneyland. It’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen."
READ MORE: Candidate Donald Trump, the man who hates our windmills
He then complained about birds and eagles that have been killed by the turbines. “You know, they put you in jail if you kill an eagle. And yet these windmills [kill] them by the hundreds.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told The Desert Sun in 2014 that it had confirmed just two golden eagle deaths in the San Gorgonio Pass area over the previous 17 years. It wasn’t clear how those birds had died. Officials also estimated at the time that about 20 golden eagles are killed each year by the region’s wind turbines, out of about 120 golden eagle deaths annually at California wind farms.
More of the Trump interview transcript is available through the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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The candidate has been complaining about the Palm Springs skyline for years. In 2012, he said the city had been "absolutely destroyed" by the windmills. "Very very sad!"
In 1993, he golfed in the local Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which has been more recently named the Humana Challenge. He later entered into a deal with the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians to manage the Spotlight 29 Casino and was fired.
READ MORE: How Donald Trump got fired by a California casino
This article is part of the Insider column, a weekly roundup of political and public policy news. The full column runs every Sunday in The Desert Sun. Reach the author at jesse.marx@desertsun.com and @marxjesse on Twitter.
Read or Share this story: http://desert.sn/2eOfx1SDark matter, the mysterious substance that may account for nearly 25 percent of the universe, has so far evaded direct observation. But researchers from UCLA, Columbia University and other institutions participating in the international XENON collaboration say they are now closer than ever before.
Their new results, announced April 14 at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, where the XENON experiment is housed deep beneath a mountain 70 miles west of Rome, represent the highest-sensitivity search for dark matter yet, with background noise 100 times lower than competing efforts.
Dark matter is widely thought to be a kind of massive elementary particle that interacts weakly with ordinary matter. Physicists refer to these particles as WIMPS, for weakly interacting massive particles. The XENON researchers used a dark-matter detector known as XENON100 -- an instrumented vat filled with over 100 pounds of liquid xenon -- as a target for these WIMPs, which are thought to be streaming constantly through the solar system and Earth.
And while the XENON100 experiment found no dark matter signal in 100 days of testing, the researchers' newly calculated upper limits on the mass of WIMPs and the probability of their interacting with other particles are the best in the world, said UCLA physics professor Katsushi Arisaka, a member of the international collaboration.
XENON100 looks for a primary flash of light that occurs when a particle bounces off a xenon atom inside the detector and a secondary flash when an electron knocked free from a xenon atom by a collision is accelerated toward the top of the device by an electric field, said UCLA physics researcher Hanguo Wang, who works closely with Arisaka. With this configuration, a WIMP will generate a signal fundamentally different from that of cosmic radiation or emission from the equipment itself, making it possible to identify background readings that could be mistaken for a positive detection, he said.
Even though the experiment did not detect a WIMP, the progress sets the stage for an ambitious next-generation project called XENON1T, which will use a much larger, one-ton liquid xenon instrument with highly specialized light-detectors developed at UCLA that make it 100 times more sensitive than XENON100, said David Cline, a UCLA professor of physics and founder of UCLA's dark matter group.
The search for dark matter
Ordinary matter, which makes up the stars, planets, gas and dust in our galaxy, emits or reflects light that can be observed using telescopes on Earth or in space. However, the effect of dark matter, according to several theories, can be observed only indirectly by the gravitational force exerted on the more visible portions of the galaxy around us, Cline said.
Despite the differences between ordinary and dark matter, cosmologists believe the two have been linked since the beginning of the universe, with dark matter playing a key role in the coalescing of particles into stars, galaxies and other large-scale structures after the Big Bang.
Though dark matter exerts a tangible force on the galaxy as a whole, individual WIMPs have proved far more difficult to detect. Because these particles interact only very weakly with normal matter, the small signal that might come from a WIMP detection above ground would be drowned out by the cosmic radiation that constantly bombards Earth's surface, Cline said.
To eliminate the majority of this background noise, the XENON100 experiment is buried beneath almost one mile of rock in the Gran Sasso lab, the largest underground facility of its kind in the world. While dark matter particles can travel easily through the vast expanse of stone and pass through the detector, only the most energetic particles from space are able to follow, Arisaka said.
Next steps
Because the XENON100 experiment is shielded by large amounts of rock, as well as by several tons of copper, lead and water, the largest source of background detections is actually the radiation coming from the instrument itself, Arisaka said.
In an effort to address this issue, Arisaka and Wang, working in collaboration with Hamamatsu Photonics in Japan, have developed the Quartz Photon Intensifying Detector (QUPID), a new light-detector technology that emits no radiation. The XENON group hopes to incorporate this breakthrough technology into the future XENON1T experiment.
"We have developed a detector to be used in future experiments based on new photon-detector technology," Wang said. "We invented, tested and demonstrated its operation in liquid xenon in our laboratory at UCLA."
In addition to Arisaka, Cline and Wang, UCLA's XENON group includes postdoctoral scholars Emilija Pantic and Paolo Beltrame and graduate students Artin Teymourian and Kevin Lung. Two students, Ethan Brown and Michael Lam, received doctorates last year through this experiment.
Elena Aprile, a professor of physics at Columbia University, is the XENON collaboration's principal investigator and spokesperson.
The XENON collaboration consists of 60 scientists from 14 institutions in the U.S. (UCLA, Columbia University, Rice University); China (Shanghai Jiao Tong University); France (Subatech Nantes); Germany (Max-Planck-Institut Heidelberg, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Willhelms Universität Münster); Israel (Weizmann Institute of Science); Italy (Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, INFN e Università di Bologna); the Netherlands (Nikhef Amsterdam); Portugal (Universidade de Coimbra); and Switzerland (Universität Zürich).
XENON100 is supported by its collaborating institutions and federally funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as by the Swiss National Foundation; France's Institut national de physique des particules et de physique nucléaire and La Région des Pays de la Loire; Germany's Max-Planck-Society and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; Israel's German-Israeli Minerva Gesellschaft and GIF; the Netherlands' FOM; Portugal's Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia; Italy's Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; and China's STCSM.What on earth has descended upon the Middle East?
Why such an epic explosion of violence? It feels strange to ask these questions of Dr Bouthaina Shaaban, one of President Bashar al-Assad’s close advisers and former translator to his father, Hafez. Her office is spotless, flowers on the table, her female secretary preparing a morning round-up of the world’s press on the Middle East, the coffee hot and sweet. At one point, when she spoke of the destruction in Syria and the mass attacks on the region’s Arab armies, it was difficult to believe that this was Damascus and that a few hundred miles to the east Isis have been cutting the throats of their hostages. Indeed, Shaaban finds it difficult even to define what Isis really is.
Not so with America and the war in Syria. “Right from the beginning of this crisis, I never truly felt that the issue was about President Assad,” she says. “It was about the weakening and destruction of Syria. There has been so much destruction – of hospitals, schools, factories, government institutions, you name it. I think the Americans take their battles against leaders and presidents – but only as a pretext to destroy countries. Saddam was not the real target –it was Iraq. And it’s the same for Libya now – America told everyone it was about Gaddafi. The real issue is about weakening the Arab armies, whoever they are. When the Americans invaded Iraq, what was the first thing they did? They dissolved the Iraqi army.”
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Shaaban, of course, reflects Syria’s regime. Thus she calls the war a “crisis” and does not choose to reflect on the regime’s responsibility for this – or the numbers killed by the regime forces as well as by the rebels. What she does have is a very clear analytical brain which can shape an argument into coherence however much you disagree with her. She showed this in her research through Syrian presidential and foreign-ministry archives when she was writing a remarkable book about Hafez al-Assad’s peace negotiations with the Clinton administration, in which the old “Lion of Damascus” turns out to be a lot shrewder than the world thought he was –and his betrayal by America much deeper than we suspected at the time. She talks on about the destruction of the Iraqi army, the losses in the Syrian army, the massive suicide attack against Egyptian troops in Sinai and the killing of Lebanese troops in the Lebanese city of Tripoli. And you have to listen.
“Now all Arab armies are targeted – and the purpose is to change the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab-Israeli conflict is the crux of all that is going on in the Middle East. I am not saying these tactics will work. I am saying ‘they’ are targeting the Arab armies. The Egyptian army is very strong. It is a logical army that is defending its country. And then it received this huge attack in Sinai. It’s my opinion that the target is to eliminate the threat that Arab armies represent for the liberation of Gaza and the West Bank and Golan and to make Israel’s occupation easier and less costly. This is a major dimension of the cause of the ‘Arab Spring’. In fact I call it an ‘Israeli Spring’.”
Of course, it’s not difficult to argue with this. Why should the West – presumably the author of these Arab military calamities – want to weaken an Egyptian army which is, by proxy (or directly) protecting Israel itself? Why would the West want the new Iraqi armies to be crushed by Isis – which Shaaban, even though she is speaking in English, naturally refers to by its Arab acronym of ‘Daesh’? Why, indeed, would the West be bombing Isis if it wished to weaken the Syrian army?
“The Americans are the major power in the world and they are weighing this power. But what is ‘Daesh’? I feel it could be the thing it is now without financial and political help from leaders. How does it sell its oil and get its money? In Syria, we are under sanctions and we cannot transfer a penny through New York. So how does ‘Daesh’ get financed in such a huge way? Let me ask you something. When Mosul fell to ‘Daesh’, the Americans did nothing. The Americans intervened only when Kurdistan was threatened – which means the US supports the partition of Iraq. So the US move against ‘Daesh’ is a political move for other objectives. It’s interesting that the Syrian people in Ain al-Arab” – this of course refers to the Syrian Kurds in the Isis-besieged town they call Kobane – “have been more successful in fighting ‘Daesh’ than the Americans.”
Shaaban looks at me sharply. There is no mention of the constant US air strikes against Isis around the town. But she is also contemplating the darkness of that throat-cutting institution, the woman stoned to death in Idlib, the extraordinarily effective propaganda campaign which it runs. “This is propaganda made by very professional experts. There are professional media people involved. It is being ‘directed’ by professionals. And once those who are behind ‘Daesh’ achieve their goals, then they can dispense with it, take off the black clothes and become a ‘moderate’ opposition.”
Shaaban laughs. She knows this is a clever conceit – the Middle East has been littered with monstrous “terrorist” organisations– the PLO, the Muslim Brotherhood, Abu Nidal – which have either been turned into pussycats or eliminated themselves. The next line I was waiting for. “And by the way, what is this ‘moderate’ opposition which is supposed to exist here in Syria? ‘The moderate armed opposition’, they say. How can someone who is armed and puts a gun to your head be a ‘moderate’? Our army is defending our people.” I interrupt. The world would say that civilians have a right to bear arms when they are killed by the government’s forces. No reply. The people of Syria fight for their president, she says, morale is high, the destruction of their enemies – to the health and education systems and to the architectural heritage – is enormous. And so it goes on. President Bashar al-Assad, needless to say, gets a clean bill of health.
But then Shaaban turns to Saudi Arabia, the “Takfirist”curricula in Saudi schools, the culture of head-chopping criminals in Saudi Arabia, its support for the Taliban. “It is a culture very similar to the ‘culture’ of ‘Daesh’. So why was ‘Daesh’ created?” But as an Arab nationalist, does Shaaban want to restore the old Sykes-Picot colonial border between Syria and Iraq which Isis symbolically destroyed?
“I hope the new generation of Arab nationalists will break these borders and help to create a new Arab identity, the emergence of a different reality, to be a real player in international politics. I hope young Arabs will not cling to these borders. Why should Lebanese and Syrians have to stop at their border when the terrorists can move freely across? As Arabs, we should sit down and think how we can face these challenges together. There is a master-plan, a ‘maestro’ – yes, I know people say that this is a ‘conspiracy theory’. But what I’m saying is that the the conspiracy is no longer a ‘theory’ – it is a reality we must confront together.”
This was a bit like the end of a long symphony concert, the rousing send-off as Arab nationalism is reborn. Surely that is what the original Syrian Ba’ath party was supposed to be about. Shaaban condemned Turkey for its “lies” and President Erdogan’s desire for another “Ottoman military hegemony” in the Middle East. She takes comfort from the ease with which Sunni refugees from Idlib and Aleppo have settled among Alawites and Christians around Lattaki and Tartous – although she at no point names these religious groups. And she talks about the vast number of families who have lost loved ones – no blame attaching to anyone at this point – but then she utters an irrefutable truth. “When you kill a member of a family, you kill the whole family.” And there really is no answer to that one.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
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Subscribe nowHow can we ensure that artificial intelligence provides the greatest benefit to all of humanity?
By that, we don’t necessarily mean to ask how we create AIs with a sense of justice. That's important, of course—but a lot of time is already spent weighing the ethical quandaries of artificial intelligence. How do we ensure that systems trained on existing data aren’t imbued with human ideological biases that discriminate against users? Can we trust AI doctors to correctly identify health problems in medical scans if they can’t explain what they see? And how should we teach driverless cars to behave in the event of an accident?
The thing is, all of those questions contain an implicit assumption: that artificial intelligence is already being put to use in, for instance, the workplaces, hospitals, and cars that we all use. While that might be increasingly true in the wealthy West, it’s certainly not the case for billions of people in poorer parts of the world. To that end, United Nations agencies, AI experts, policymakers and businesses have gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, for a three-day summit called AI for Good. The aim: “to evaluate the opportunities presented by AI, ensuring that AI benefits all of humanity.”
That is, of course, a broad and open-ended mission. It’s also unfair to suggest that AI hasn’t been put to good use already. Facebook has developed machine-learning software to work out from aerial imagery exactly which parts of the world are inhabited, in a bid to deliver the entire world Internet. Amazon has worked with satellite providers to use AI to identify and track, say, the growth of shantytowns. And IBM has experimented with using artificial intelligence to ease China’s smog problems.
Even so, those are small projects when you’re considering global issues such as inequality. Indeed, during the first day of the summit, Yoshua Bengio, a computer scientist at the University of Montreal, argued that a key priority of using AI for good is to utilize it to redistribute wealth and reduce inequalities within and between nations.
That, he suggested, could be achieved by focusing on research that benefits everyone—such as improving the environment, or building services available to anyone with a phone. That final point chimes nicely with a growing endeavor in Silicon Valley, as the likes of Apple, Google, and Facebook all push to develop new AI software that can run faster and more efficiently on mobile devices, rather than requiring expensive Internet connections to haul data back and forth to the cloud.
Of course, incentivizing organizations to build systems that benefit the greatest number of people isn’t itself straightforward—after all, where's the money? And to that point, cognitive scientist and ex-Uber AI researcher Gary Marcus floated an intriguing idea at the summit: a CERN for AI. For physics, CERN provided a forum in which researchers could build equipment and test theories that would further humanity’s understanding, and yet would never have been funded by regular industry or academia. Marcus wonders whether something similar could be true for AI. Perhaps such an organization would produce software that always sought to improve the lives of the many rather than the few?
If that sounds like a pipe dream, the message delivered at the same event by Salil Shetty, Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International, may be worth bearing in mind. "If we base AI on the way the world works today, it will be riddled with historical biases,” he explained. “We can do better."
(Read more: Nature, "Tech Giants Grapple with the Ethical Concerns Raised by the AI Boom," "Why We Should Expect Algorithms to Be Biased," "Can This Man Make AI More Human?")Posted on November 7, 2012
Chris Matthews: "I'm So Glad We Had That Storm Last Week"
CHRIS MATTHEWS: I am so proud of the country. To reelect this president and overcoming -- not because of the partisanship or even the policies. Here's an African-American guy with an unusual background -- part immigrant background, part African-American background -- with all this assault on him from day one. From Mitch McConnell, from the clowns out there that will never be elected, never will be to anything.
And the way he took it, as someone said, with coolness and charm and dignity and took it and took it and kept moving forward and doing his job. And the American people, and I know we look at these percentage, 40% of white vote. Fine. That's about right among Democrats in the last couple cycles, three cycles or four. Good work for them. Good work for him. A good day for America.
I'm so glad we had that storm last week because I think the storm was one of those things. No, politically I should say. Not in terms of hurting people. The storm brought in possibilities for good politics.
UPDATE: Chris Matthews Apologizes For Saying He Was "Glad" For Hurricane SandyContinue Reading Below Advertisement
Hollywood is making these gigantic movies not just for American audiences but for the rest of the world, too. Mostly China. Pacific Rim is getting a sequel in 2018, even though it only recouped $101 million domestically of its $191 million budget. But then it made $114 million in China, with a grand total of $411 million worldwide. Warcraft was a colossal failure by American standards, making only a pathetic $46 million domestically on a budget of $160 million... and it's more than likely getting a sequel after it reeled in $376 million worldwide, with $156 million of that coming from China alone. It beat out the box office totals of The Force Awakens and every Marvel movie. The American film industry is going to keep pumping out gigantic movies, even if they suck terribly and their predecessors bombed here, because nothing gets lost in translation when the movie you're trying to sell overseas is about robots punching monsters.
Warner Bros.
From left to right: Whiskey Dick, Shit Kicker, Wolf Embolism, and Scum.
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The lesson here is that studios are learning to not give a shit if a hugely expensive movie sucks. The reason for that goes deeper than just overseas box office returns. Summer blockbusters are spreading out into every other month on the calendar, partly because every studio either has or desperately wants their own mega-franchise that can launch 1,000 smaller franchises that will generate ancillary revenues from now until the end of the (cinematic) universe. The idea isn't new, but it's recently been taken to its logical extreme.
According to shady Hollywood accounting, every movie by Marvel Studios up to the first Avengers movie actually lost money. About $50 million each. That's considered a failure if you only think of them as individual movies and not as a small piece of a sprawling multimedia empire of geeky shit with dozens of parts that prop each other up. People aren't buying tickets to a single comic book movie. They're watching a dozen movies, a handful of TV shows, and buying the DVD and Blu-ray box sets. Toys and action figures and apps and theme park tickets and Iron Man-shaped dildos and life-sized Hulk fist butt plugs all play a big part of that too, but they aren't nearly as important as the development of a franchise. The same could be said for pretty much everything under the Disney banner, from Star Wars to Frozen to anything made by Pixar. One new movie in a theater is an excuse for a studio to make a fortune on ancillary revenues that flip a failure into a success because the meta-franchise is doing OK. And it's not just Disney. It's Paramount with Transformers. It's Warner Bros. with the DC cinematic universe and Harry Potter. It's Universal with Fast And The Furious. And Universal with their weird monster movie shared universe. And Universal with Jurassic Park. Universal needs an intervention. They're out of their goddamn minds.
Universal Pictures
"More monster pictures from the 1930s and '40s!" - a Universal executive just after claiming he "gets" today's teens.
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According to corporate strategy consultant Matthew Ball (whose three-part investigation into the failures that result in spectacular successes of this mega-franchise trend is a must-read), all of these movies with hyper-inflated budgets that are a part of Hollywood's obsession with blockbusters have been eating into each other's box office revenues for some time, often resulting in huge movies that never turn a profit but get a sequel/spinoff anyway. He predicts blockbusters will soon start eating into each other's ancillary revenues as well, negating each other's safety nets. So, what happens when studios, who are heavily relying on ancillary revenues to spin their losses into profits, have chewed away each other's back-up plans? I don't know. But we'll find out in 2018.
Luis is lobbying to do the motion capture for? Pacific Rim's newest mech, Infinite Dong. In the meantime, you can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Facebook.
Get an inside look at how producers ruin your favorite movies in 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck, and learn why reality TV is no better in 5 Depressing Realities Behind Popular Reality TV Shows.
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In the muggle world, we're not given the opportunity for a magical hat to tell us which school we should go to. Usually we just have to go to the high school closest to where we live or whatever college accepts our SAT scores and personal essay. This month, our goal is to determine what would be the best fictional school to go to.
Join Jack, Daniel, and the rest of the Cracked staff, along with comedians Brandie Posey, Steven Wilber, Riley Silverman, and Alison Leiby as they figure out if it's a realistic school like Degrassi or West Beverly High; an institution from a fantasy world like Hogwarts, with its ghosts and dementors; or Bayside High, haunted by a monster known only to humans as "Screech." Tickets here!
More BlogsBERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande spoke about the situation in Syria on Friday and want to continue efforts to hold Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to account for “criminal acts”, a statement from Berlin said.
The United States early on Friday fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase from which it said a chemical weapons attack was launched this week.
“President Assad alone is responsible for this development,” the German government said in a statement after the French and German leaders spoke by phone on Friday morning.
It said Assad’s repeated use of chemical weapons and crimes against the Syrian people should result in sanctions.
“Germany and France call on the international community.... to campaign together for a political transition in Syria,” Germany said in the statement.The cause of the crash is under investigation, but no fighting was reported at the time.
A CH-47 Chinook helicopter lifts off after dropping off soldiers in Zabul province in 2005, the same location of today's crash. (Photo: Tomas Munita, AP) Story Highlights Zabul was the location of the U.S. crash
Helicopter reportedly had engine trouble
One person on board the aircraft was injured and survived, officials said
WASHINGTON — Six U.S. troops were killed in a helicopter crash Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, making it one of the deadliest days for coalition troops in recent months.
The crash is under investigation, but in a statement the NATO coalition said there was no enemy activity at the time of the crash. They did not release any further details pending "casualty notification procedures."
The deadly crash came as U.S. casualties in the war have dropped to one of their lowest levels in years. The helicopter crash would bring the total number of U.S. service members who have died in Afghanistan this year to 119, down from 294 last year, according to a USA TODAY database.
The number of American forces has declined to less than 43,000 from a peak of about 100,000. Afghan forces this year are leading most operations against the Taliban and coalition forces are increasingly in a support role.
Helicopter crashes have have caused some of the largest U.S. death tolls in Afghanistan. The single deadliest day of the war for Americans was in August 2011 when Taliban militants shot down a helicopter killing 38 people, including 30 Americans.
Helicopters are used frequently to ferry troops and supplies around the mountainous country. Weather can be treacherous.
Tuesday's crash apparently occurred in Zabul province. The deputy governor of southern Zabul province, Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, said a NATO helicopter crashed in the remote district of Shajau.
One person on board the aircraft was injured and survived, two U.S. defense officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook, Paul Overberg and The Associated Press
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/JCY9gZCore voters are so “pissed off” with the Liberal Democrats after four years in government that the party should resort to campaigning on local “dog poo” issues, a member of its frontbench has said.
In a candid – and perhaps messy – assessment of the party’s predicament, the new government whip Lorely Burt said that the Lib Dems will only re-engage with natural supporters if they focus on dog fouling and other elements of pavement politics.
Burt, who made her remarks at a Lib Dem fringe meeting at the party’s annual conference in Glasgow last month, said the party can win back the “pissed off” but only if they pound the pavements – with care.
Audio of the meeting records Burt, who was promoted from the backbenches by Nick Clegg in this week’s mini-reshuffle, saying: “They are our core vote and they are pissed off with us because we’re in government, but it doesn’t mean to say that we can’t re-engage them. And we re-engage them through our traditional – you know, it might not be rocket science, but that’s what it is, it’s our messaging, it’s our listening, it’s our working.
“It’s that dog poo on that piece of pavement, it’s that light that’s not working, it’s that bit of road, it’s that crossing that they want, that’s what we are, you know. That may not be very glamorous, but that’s what we are as Liberal Democrats, and we must stay true to what we believe in, and stay true to the service and the care and the love that we give to our constituents. And then hopefully, when they realise Ukip are full of hot air, they will come back to us.”
The Lib Dems laughed off the recording of Burt’s remarks. A party spokesman said: “This is the kind of pavement politics the Lib Dems have always been about. The point Lorely Burt was making is that we will work hard all year round to tackle the problems people want sorting out in their local areas no matter how big nor small.”
Burt won the marginal seat of Solihull from the Tories with a majority of 279 in 2005, falling to 175 in 2010, after running a campaign that was heavily focused on local issues. The former assistant prison governor, who is a popular figure in the party, donned a Nigel Farage mask to appear on stage at the party’s spring conference this year with a pint of beer to launch the traditional appeal for funds.
The light-hearted nature of Burt’s remarks illustrate a serious point for the Lib Dems, who are struggling with support at around 10% in the polls – less than half the 23% they won in the 2010 general election. The party is relying on a “fortress strategy”, running the equivalent of a series of locally based byelections, to hold on to about 32 of the 57 seats it won in 2010.
There are fears that if the Lib Dems lose nearly half of their seats they could lose all their seven female MPs. Tim Farron, the Lib Dem president, told another fringe meeting it was a “disgrace” that the party had so few female MPs and no MPs from a black or minority ethnic (BAME) background.
A transcript of the fringe quotes Farron as saying: “There’s no point whatsoever defending the party’s current representation. Particularly on gender, but actually even more when it comes to ethnic background, we are a wholly white parliamentary party, and only seven of our 57 are women. Now that is a disgrace, and no point trying to defend that. All we need to do is roll up our sleeves and fix this.”
Gloria De Piero, the shadow minister for women and equalities, said: “Women have fled the Lib Dems because Nick Clegg has weakly propped up David Cameron’s Tory government. This is a cutting condemnation of Nick Clegg’s leadership from the man who wants to replace him, but Tim Farron or any other Lib |
tuple_to_list(Tup); convert(L = [_|_]) -> list_to_tuple(L).
When reading the code, it is obvious to us that the two last calls to convert/1 will fail. The function accepts a list and returns a tuple, or a tuple and returns a list. If we run Dialyzer on the code though, it'll find nothing.
That's because Dialyzer infers a type signature similar to:
-spec convert(list() | tuple()) -> list() | tuple().
Or to put it in words, the function accepts lists and tuples, and returns lists in tuples. This is true, but this is sadly a bit too true. The function isn't as permissive as the type signature would imply. This is one of the places where Dialyzer sits back and tries not to say too much without being 100% sure of the problems.
To help Dialyzer a bit, we can send in a fancier type declaration:
-spec convert(tuple()) -> list(); (list()) -> tuple(). convert(Tup) when is_tuple(Tup) -> tuple_to_list(Tup); convert(L = [_|_]) -> list_to_tuple(L).
Rather than putting tuple() and list() types together into a single union, this syntax allows you to declare type signatures with alternative clauses. If you call convert/1 with a tuple, we expect a list, and the opposite in the other case.
With this more specific information, Dialyzer can now give more interesting results:
$ dialyzer convert.erl Checking whether the PLT /home/ferd/.dialyzer_plt is up-to-date... yes Proceeding with analysis... convert.erl:4: Function main/0 has no local return convert.erl:7: The pattern [_, _] can never match the type tuple() done in 0m0.90s done (warnings were emitted)
Ah, there it finds the error. Success! We can now use Dialyzer to tell us what we knew. Of course putting it that way sounds useless, but when you type your functions right and make a tiny mistake that you forget to check, Dialyzer will have your back, which is definitely better than an error logging system waking you up at night (or having your car keyed by your operations guy).
Note: some people will prefer the following syntax for multi-clause type signature: -spec convert(tuple()) -> list() ; (list()) -> tuple(). which is exactly the same, but puts the semi-colon on another line because it might be more readable. There is no widely accepted standard at the time of this writing.
By using type definitions and specifications in that way, we're in fact able to let Dialyzer find errors with our earlier discrep modules. See how discrep4.erl does it.
I've been writing a queue module, for First In, First Out (FIFO) operations. You should know what queues are, given Erlang's mailboxes are queues. The first element added will be the first one to be popped (unless we do selective receives). The module works as explained in this image we've seen a few times already:
To simulate a queue, we use two lists as stacks. One list stores the new elements and one list lets us remove them from the queue. We always add to the same list, and remove from the second one. When the list we remove from is empty, we reverse the list we add items to and it becomes the new list to remove from. This generally guarantees better average performance than using a single list to do both tasks.
Here's my module, with a few type signatures I added to check it with Dialyzer:
-module(fifo_types). -export([new/0, push/2, pop/1, empty/1]). -export([test/0]). -spec new() -> {fifo, [], []}. new() -> {fifo, [], []}. -spec push({fifo, In::list(), Out::list()}, term()) -> {fifo, list(), list()}. push({fifo, In, Out}, X) -> {fifo, [X|In], Out}. -spec pop({fifo, In::list(), Out::list()}) -> {term(), {fifo, list(), list()}}. pop({fifo, [], []}) -> erlang:error('empty fifo'); pop({fifo, In, []}) -> pop({fifo, [], lists:reverse(In)}); pop({fifo, In, [H|T]}) -> {H, {fifo, In, T}}. -spec empty({fifo, [], []}) -> true; ({fifo, list(), list()}) -> false. empty({fifo, [], []}) -> true; empty({fifo, _, _}) -> false. test() -> N = new(), {2, N2} = pop(push(push(new(), 2), 5)), {5, N3} = pop(N2), N = N3, true = empty(N3), false = empty(N2), pop({fifo, [a|b], [e]}).
I defined a queue as a tuple of the form {fifo, list(), list()}. You'll notice I didn't define a fifo() type, mostly because I simply wanted to be able to easily make different clauses for empty queues and filled queues. The empty(...) type specification reflects that.
Note: You will notice that in the function pop/1 that I do not specify the none() type even though one of the function clauses calls erlang:error/1. The type none(), as mentioned earlier, is a type that means a given function will not return. If the function might either fail or return a value, it is useless to type it as returning both a value and none(). The none() type is always assumed to be there, and as such, the union Type() | none() is the same as Type() alone. The circumstances where none() is warranted is whenever you're writing a function that always fails when call, such as if you were implementing erlang:error/1 yourself.
Now all the type specifications above do appear to make sense. Just to make sure, during code reviewing, I ask you to run Dialyzer with me to see the results:
$ dialyzer fifo_types.erl Checking whether the PLT /home/ferd/.dialyzer_plt is up-to-date... yes Proceeding with analysis... fifo_types.erl:16: Overloaded contract has overlapping domains; such contracts are currently unsupported and are simply ignored fifo_types.erl:21: Function test/0 has no local return fifo_types.erl:28: The call fifo_types:pop({'fifo',nonempty_improper_list('a','b'),['e',...]}) breaks the contract ({'fifo',In::[any()],Out::[any()]}) -> {term(),{'fifo',[any()],[any()]}} done in 0m0.96s done (warnings were emitted)
Silly me. We've got a bunch of errors showing up. And curses, they're not so easy to read. The second one, 'Function test/0 has no local return', is at least something we know how to handle — we will just skip to the next one and it should disappear.
For now let's focus on the first one, the one about contracts with overlapping domains. If we go into fifo_types on line 16, we see this:
-spec empty({fifo, [], []}) -> true; ({fifo, list(), list()}) -> false. empty({fifo, [], []}) -> true; empty({fifo, _, _}) -> false.
So what are said overlapping domains? We have to refer to the mathematical concepts of domain and image. To put it simply, the domain is the set of all possible input values to a function, and the image is the set of all possible output values of a function. Overlapping domain thus refer to two sets of input that overlap.
To find the source of the problem we have to look at list(). If you remember the large tables from earlier, list() is pretty much the same as [any()]. And you'll also remember that both of these types both also include empty lists. And there's your overlapping domain. When list() is specified as a type, it overlaps with []. To fix this, we need to replace the type signature as follows:
-spec empty({fifo, [], []}) -> true; ({fifo, nonempty_list(), nonempty_list()}) -> false.
or alternatively:
-spec empty({fifo, [], []}) -> true; ({fifo, [any(),...], [any(),...]}) -> false.
Then running Dialyzer again will get rid of the warning. However, this is not enough. What if someone sent in {fifo, [a,b], []}? Even if Dialyzer might not complain about it, it is somewhat obvious for human readers that the type specification above doesn't take this into account. The spec doesn't match the intended use of the function. We can instead give more details and take the following approach:
-spec empty({fifo, [], []}) -> true; ({fifo, [any(),...], []}) -> false; ({fifo, [], [any(),...]}) -> false; ({fifo, [any(),...], [any(),...]}) -> false.
Which will both work, and have the right meaning.
On to the next error (which I broke into multiple lines):
fifo_types.erl:28: The call fifo_types:pop({'fifo',nonempty_improper_list('a','b'),['e',...]}) breaks the contract ({'fifo',In::[any()],Out::[any()]}) -> {term(),{'fifo',[any()],[any()]}}
Translated into human, this means that on line 28, there's a call to pop/1 that has inferred types breaking the one I specified in the file:
pop({fifo, [a|b], [e]}).
That's the call. Now, the error message says that it identified an improper list (that happens to not be empty), which is entirely right; [a|e] is an improper list. It also mentions that it breaks a contract. We need to match the type definition that is broken between the following, coming from the error message:
{'fifo',nonempty_improper_list('a','b'),['e',...]} {'fifo',In::[any()],Out::[any()]} {term(),{'fifo',[any()],[any()]}}
The issue can be explained in one of three ways:
The type signatures are right, the call is right and the problem is the return value expected. The type signatures are right, the call is wrong and the problem is the input value given. The call is right, but the type signatures are wrong.
We can eliminate the first one right away. We're not actually doing anything with the return value. This leaves the second and third option. The decision boils down to whether we wanted improper lists to be used with our queues or not. This is a judgment call to be made by the writer of the library, and I can say without a doubt that I didn't intend improper lists to be used with this code. In fact you very rarely want improper lists. The winner is number 2, the call is wrong. To solve it, drop the call or fix it:
test() -> N = new(), {2, N2} = pop(push(push(new(), 2), 5)),... pop({fifo, [a, b], [e]}).
And running Dialyzer again:
$ dialyzer fifo_types.erl Checking whether the PLT /home/ferd/.dialyzer_plt is up-to-date... yes Proceeding with analysis... done in 0m0.90s done (passed successfully)
That now makes more sense.
That is all very well. We have types, we have signatures, we have additional safety and verifications. So what would happen if we wanted to use our queue in another module? What about any other module we frequently use, things like dict, gb_trees, or ETS tables? How can we use Dialyzer to find type errors related to them?
We can use types coming from other modules. Doing so usually requires rummaging through documentation to find them. For example, the ets module's documentation has the following entries:
--- DATA TYPES continuation() Opaque continuation used by select/1 and select/3. match_spec() = [{match_pattern(), [term()], [term()]}] A match specification, see above. match_pattern() = atom() | tuple() tab() = atom() | tid() tid() A table identifier, as returned by new/2. ---
Those are the data types exported by ets. If I had a type specification that were to accept ETS tables, a key, and returns a matching entry I could define it maybe like this:
-spec match(ets:tab(), Key::any()) -> Entry::any().
And that's about it.
Exporting our own types works pretty much the same as we do for functions. All we need to do is add a module attribute of the form -export_type([TypeName/Arity]).. For example, we could have exported the card() type from our cards module by adding the following line:
-module(cards). -export([kind/1, main/0]). -type suit() :: spades | clubs | hearts | diamonds. -type value() :: 1..10 | j | q | k. -type card() :: {suit(), value()}. -export_type([card/0])....
And from then on, if the module is visible to Dialyzer (either by adding it to the PLT or analyzing it at the same time as any other module), you can reference it from any other bit of code as cards:card() in type specifications.
Doing this will have one downside, though. Using a type like this doesn't forbid anyone using the card module from ripping the types apart and toying with them. Anyone could be writing pieces of code that matches on the cards, a bit like {Suit, _} =.... This isn't always a good idea: it keeps us from being able to change the implementation of the cards module in the future. This is something we'd especially like to enforce in modules that represent data structures, such as dict or fifo_types (if it exported types).
Dialyzer allows you to export types in a way that tells your users "you know what? I'm fine with you using my types, but don't you dare look inside of them!". It's a question of replacing a declaration of the kind:
-type fifo() :: {fifo, list(), list()}.
by:
-opaque fifo() :: {fifo, list(), list()}.
Then you can still export it as -export_type([fifo/0]).
Declaring a type as opaque means that only the module that defined the type has the right to look at how it's made and make modifications to it. It forbids other modules from pattern matching on the values other than the whole thing, guaranteeing (if they use Dialyzer) that they will never be bit by a sudden change of implementation.
Don't Drink Too Much Kool-Aid:
Sometimes the implementation of opaque data types is either not strong enough to do what it should or is actually problematic (i.e. buggy). Dialyzer does not take the spec of a function into account until it has first inferred the success typing for the function. This means that when your type looks rather generic without any -type information taken into account, Dialyzer might get confused by some opaque types. For example, Dialyzer analyzing an opaque version of the card() data type might see it as {atom(), any()} after inference. Modules using card() correctly might see Dialyzer complaining because they're breaking a type contract even if they aren't. This is because the card() type itself doesn't contain enough information for Dialyzer to connect the dots and realize what's really going on. Usually, if you see errors of that kind, tagging your tuple helps. Moving from a type of the form -opaque card() :: {suit(), value()}. to -opaque card() :: {card, suit(), value()}. might get Dialyzer to work fine with the opaque type. The Dialyzer implementers are currently trying to make the implementation of opaque data types better and strengthen their inference. They're also trying to make user-provided specs more important and to trust them better during Dialyzer's analysis, but this is still a work in progress.
Back in Clients and Servers, we've seen that we could declare behaviours using the behaviour_info/1 function. The module exporting this function would give its name to the behaviour, and a second module could implement callbacks by adding -behaviour(ModName). as a module attribute.
The behaviour definition of the gen_server module, for example, is:
behaviour_info(callbacks) -> [{init, 1}, {handle_call, 3}, {handle_cast, 2}, {handle_info, 2}, {terminate, 2}, {code_change, 3}]; behaviour_info(_Other) -> undefined.
The problem with that one is that there is no way for Dialyzer to check type definitions for that. In fact, there is no way for the behaviour module to specify what kind of types it expects the callback modules to implement, and there's thus no way for Dialyzer to do something about it.
Starting with R15B, The Erlang/OTP compiler was upgraded so that it now handles a new module attribute, named -callback. The -callback module attribute has a similar syntax to spec. When you specify function types with it, the behaviour_info/1 function gets automatically declared for you, and the specifications get added to the module metadata in a way that lets Dialyzer do its work. For example, here's the declaration of the gen_server starting with R15B:
-callback init(Args :: term()) -> {ok, State :: term()} | {ok, State :: term(), timeout() | hibernate} | {stop, Reason :: term()} | ignore. -callback handle_call(Request :: term(), From :: {pid(), Tag :: term()}, State :: term()) -> {reply, Reply :: term(), NewState :: term()} | {reply, Reply :: term(), NewState :: term(), timeout() | hibernate} | {noreply, NewState :: term()} | {noreply, NewState :: term(), timeout() | hibernate} | {stop, Reason :: term(), Reply :: term(), NewState :: term()} | {stop, Reason :: term(), NewState :: term()}. -callback handle_cast(Request :: term(), State :: term()) -> {noreply, NewState :: term()} | {noreply, NewState :: term(), timeout() | hibernate} | {stop, Reason :: term(), NewState :: term()}. -callback handle_info(Info :: timeout() | term(), State :: term()) -> {noreply, NewState :: term()} | {noreply, NewState :: term(), timeout() | hibernate} | {stop, Reason :: term(), NewState :: term()}. -callback terminate(Reason :: (normal | shutdown | {shutdown, term()} | term()), State :: term()) -> term(). -callback code_change(OldVsn :: (term() | {down, term()}), State :: term(), Extra :: term()) -> {ok, NewState :: term()} | {error, Reason :: term()}.
And none of your code should break from the behaviour changing things. Do realize, however, that a module cannot use both the -callback form and the behaviour_info/1 function at once. Only one or the other. This means if you want to create custom behaviours, there is a rift between what can be used in versions of Erlang prior to R15, and what can be used in latter versions.
The upside is that newer modules will have Dialyzer able to do some analysis to check for errors on the types of whatever is returned there to help.
Oh boy, what a section title. If you've never heard of polymorphic types (or alternatively, parameterized types), this might sound a bit scary. It's fortunately not as complex as the name would let us believe.
The need for polymorphic types comes from the fact that when we're typing different data structures, we might sometimes find ourselves wanting to be pretty specific about what they can store. We might want our queue from earlier in the chapter to sometimes handle anything, sometimes handle only playing cards, or sometimes handle only integers. In these two last cases, the issue is that we might want Dialyzer to be able to complain that we're trying to put floating point numbers in our integer queue, or tarot cards in our playing cards queue.
This is something impossible to enforce by strictly doing types the way we were doing them. Enter polymorphic types. A polymorphic type is a type that can be 'configured' with other types. Luckily for us, we already know the syntax to do it. When I said we could define a list of integers as [integer()] or list(integer()), those were polymorphic types. It's a type that accepts a type as an argument.
To make our queue accept only integers or cards, we could have defined its type as:
-type queue(Type) :: {fifo, list(Type), list(Type)}. -export_type([queue/1]).
When another module wishes to make use of the fifo/1 type, it needs to parameterize it. So a new deck of cards in the cards module could have had the following signature:
-spec new() -> fifo:queue(card()).
And Dialyzer, if possible, would have tried to analyze the module to make sure that it only submits and expects cards from the queue it handles.
For a demonstration, we decided to buy a zoo to congratulate ourselves on being nearly done with Learn You Some Erlang. In our zoo, we have two animals: a red panda and a squid. Granted, it is a rather modest zoo, although that shouldn't keep us from setting the entry fee sky high.
We've decided to automate the feeding of our animals, because we're programmers, and programmers sometimes like to automate stuff out of laziness. After doing a bit of research, we've found that red pandas can eat bamboo, some birds, eggs, and berries. We've also found that squids can fight with sperm whales, so we decided to feed them just that with our zoo.erl module:
-module(zoo). -export([main/0]). feeder(red_panda) -> fun() -> element(random:uniform(4), {bamboo, birds, eggs, berries}) end; feeder(squid) -> fun() -> sperm_whale end. feed_red_panda(Generator) -> Food = Generator(), io:format("feeding ~p to the red panda~n", [Food]), Food. feed_squid(Generator) -> Food = Generator(), io:format("throwing ~p in the squid's aquarium~n", [Food]), Food. main() -> %% Random seeding <<A:32, B:32, C:32>> = crypto:rand_bytes(12), random:seed(A, B, C), %% The zoo buys a feeder for both the red panda and squid FeederRP = feeder(red_panda), FeederSquid = feeder(squid), %% Time to feed them! %% This should not be right! feed_squid(FeederRP), feed_red_panda(FeederSquid).
This code makes use of feeder/1, which takes an animal name and returns a feeder (a function that returns food items). Feeding the red panda should be done with a red panda feeder, and feeding the squid should be done with a squid feeder. With function definitions such as feed_red_panda/1 and feed_squid/1, there is no way to be alerted by the wrong use of a feeder. Even with run time checks, it's impossible to do. As soon as we serve food, it's too late:
1> zoo:main(). throwing bamboo in the squid's aquarium feeding sperm_whale to the red panda sperm_whale
Oh no, our little animals are not meant to eat that way! Maybe types can help. The following type specifications could be devised to help us, using the power of polymorphic types:
-type red_panda() :: bamboo | birds | eggs | berries. -type squid() :: sperm_whale. -type food(A) :: fun(() -> A). -spec feeder(red_panda) -> food(red_panda()); (squid) -> food(squid()). -spec feed_red_panda(food(red_panda())) -> red_panda(). -spec feed_squid(food(squid())) -> squid().
The food(A) type is the one of interest here. A is a free type, to be decided upon later. We then qualify the food type in feeder/1's type specification by doing food(red_panda()) and food(squid()). The food type is then seen as fun(() -> red_panda()) and fun(() -> squid()) instead of some abstract function returning something unknown. If you add these specs to the file and then run Dialyzer on it, the following happens:
$ dialyzer zoo.erl Checking whether the PLT /Users/ferd/.dialyzer_plt is up-to-date... yes Proceeding with analysis... zoo.erl:18: Function feed_red_panda/1 will never be called zoo.erl:23: The contract zoo:feed_squid(food(squid())) -> squid() cannot be right because the inferred return for feed_squid(FeederRP::fun(() -> 'bamboo' | 'berries' | 'birds' | 'eggs')) on line 44 is 'bamboo' | 'berries' | 'birds' | 'eggs' zoo.erl:29: Function main/0 has no local return done in 0m0.68s done (warnings were emitted)
And the error is right. Hooray for polymorphic types!
While the above is pretty useful, minor changes in your code can have unexpected consequences in what Dialyzer is able to find. For example, if the main/0 function had the following code:
main() -> %% Random seeding <<A:32, B:32, C:32>> = crypto:rand_bytes(12), random:seed(A, B, C), %% The zoo buys a feeder for both the red panda and squid FeederRP = feeder(red_panda), FeederSquid = feeder(squid), %% Time to feed them! feed_squid(FeederSquid), feed_red_panda(FeederRP), %% This should not be right! feed_squid(FeederRP), feed_red_panda(FeederSquid).
Things would not be the same. Before the functions are called with the wrong kind of feeder, they're first called with the right kind. As of R15B01, Dialyzer would not find an error with this code. This is because Dialyzer does not necessarily keep information regarding whether the anonymous function is being called at all in the feeding functions when some complex module-local refinement is being done.
Even if this is a bit sad for many static typing fans, we have been thoroughly warned. The following quote comes from the paper describing the implementation of success typing for Dialyzer:
A success typing is a type signature that over-approximates the set of types for which the function can evaluate to a value. The domain of the signature includes all possible values that the function could accept as parameters, and its range includes all possible return values for this domain. However weak this might seem to aficionados of static typing, success typings have the property that they capture the fact that if the function is used in a way not allowed by its success typing (e.g., by applying the function with parameters p ∈/ α) this application will definitely fail. This is precisely the property that a defect detection tool which never “cries wolf” needs. Also, success typings can be used for automatic program documentation because they will never fail to capture some possible — no matter how unintended — use of a function.
Again, keeping in mind that Dialyzer is optimistic in its approach is vital to working efficiently with it.
If this still depresses you too much, you can try adding the -Woverspecs option to Dialyzer:
$ dialyzer zoo.erl -Woverspecs Checking whether the PLT /home/ferd/.dialyzer_plt is up-to-date... yes Proceeding with analysis... zoo.erl:17: Type specification zoo:feed_red_panda(food(red_panda())) -> red_panda() is a subtype of the success typing: zoo:feed_red_panda(fun(() -> 'bamboo' | 'berries' | 'birds' | 'eggs' |'sperm_whale')) -> 'bamboo' | 'berries' | 'birds' | 'eggs' |'sperm_whale'zoo.erl:23: Type specification zoo:feed_squid(food(squid())) -> squid() is a subtype of the success typing: zoo:feed_squid(fun(() -> 'bamboo' | 'berries' | 'birds' | 'eggs' |'sperm_whale')) -> 'bamboo' | 'berries' | 'birds' | 'eggs' |'sperm_whale' done in 0m0.94s done (warnings were emitted)
This warns you that in fact, your specification is way too strict for what your code is expected to accept, and tells you (albeit indirectly) that you should either make your type specification looser, or validate your inputs and outputs better in your functions to reflect the type specification.
Dialyzer will often prove to be a true friend when programming Erlang, although the frequent nags might tempt you to just drop it. One thing to remember is that Dialyzer is practically never wrong, and you will likely be. You might feel like some errors mean nothing, but contrary to many type systems, Dialyzer only speaks out when it knows it's right, and bugs in its code base are rare. Dialyzer might frustrate you, force you to be humble, but it will be very unlikely to be the source of bad, unclean code.
Note: While writing this chapter, I ended up having some nasty Dialyzer error message when working with a more complete version of the stream module. I was annoyed enough to go complain on IRC about it, how Dialyzer was not good enough to handle my complex use of types. Silly me. It turns out (unsurprisingly so) that I was wrong, and Dialyzer was right, all along. It would keep telling me my -spec was wrong, and I kept believing it wasn't. I lost my fight, Dialyzer and my code won. This is a good thing, I believe.
So hey, that's about it for Learn You Some Erlang for great good! Thanks for reading it. There's not much more to say, but if you feel like getting a list of more topics to explore and some general words from me, you can go read the guide's conclusion. Godspeed! You Concurrent Emperor.Facing a firestorm of criticism, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., sent a letter Sunday night to Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asking how the final tax bill ended up including a special tax cut provision experts say would particularly benefit investors in real-estate related LLCs. The letter follows an International Business Times investigative series showing that Corker, President Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan and a handful of key GOP lawmakers overseeing the tax bill have multimillion-dollar ownership stakes in such LLCs, meaning they could be personally enriched by the provision, which was added to the final tax legislation released on Friday.
Corker this week could decide the fate of the entire $1.5 trillion tax bill in the closely divided U.S. Senate. He cast the lone Republican vote against the original Senate bill, which did not include the provision, but on Friday he announced he would support the final version of the legislation after GOP leaders added the provision to the final bill. Economist Dean Baker estimated that based on his financial holdings, “Corker could be saving as much as $1.1 million from this late addition to the tax bill.”
Under fire for switching his position after a personally lucrative provision was added to the legislation, Corker demanded to know how the language got into the final bill.
“Because this issue has raised concerns, I would ask that you provide an explanation of the evolution of this provision and how it made it into the final conference report,” he wrote to Hatch, who is the chairman of the Senate panel that wrote the tax bill. “I think that because of many sensitivities, clarity on this issue is very important and hope that you will respond in an expeditious manner.”
Photo: Getty Images
Corker is not a member of the Senate Finance Committee that wrote the bill, and he was not one of the Senate conferees who negotiated the final bill with House counterparts. In his letter, Corker said Republican aides insisted to him that the provision was not new -- an assertion that drew a swift rebuke from experts who have been tracking the legislation.
“This new language can't be found in either the House-passed or Senate-passed bills,” said Matt Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which has opposed the legislation. “Someone on the conference committee decided, behind closed doors, that neither the House nor the Senate bill gave a big enough tax break to businesses with few employees and lots of assets. We can't know that the unknown author of this amendment had real estate investors like Senator Corker, or President Trump, in mind when this egregious giveaway was added to the bill, but it's hard to see another obvious explanation."
A Debate Over Pass-Through Income
At issue is so-called “pass-through” income generated by entities such as LLCs, partnerships and S-corporations which don’t pay corporate taxes. Since reducing the tax burden on businesses has been a central tenet of the Republican tax reform effort, House and Senate Republicans passed bills that would both reduce the corporate tax rate and give a new tax break to pass-through businesses.
The House version of the tax bill included a sweeping tax cut for income from such entities, imposing a 25 percent cap on the taxation of pass-through income. The Senate bill that Corker voted against, however, used a 23 percent deduction to reduce levies on pass-through businesses. The Senate bill also included language designed to prevent the tax cut from being utilized by pass-through entities which do not pay wages -- a provision which Congressional Republicans say helps ensure that this particular form of tax relief goes to job creators.
But in the conference committee that drafted the final reconciled bill, negotiators created a novel provision that was not in the House or Senate bills. They adopted the Senate framework of the bill, including its restrictions, but crafted special new language to allow partnerships with depreciable assets that pay little or no wages to still take advantage of the bill’s 20 percent deduction on pass-through income. It is unclear which legislator added the provision to the final conference report.
Speaking to IBT on Saturday, Corker said he didn’t have any knowledge of the provision, and admitted he had not read the final tax bill before switching his vote from “no” to “yes.” Just hours before the final bill was publicly released Friday, Corker issued a statement announcing he would support the bill, which he called “far from perfect.”
“Left to my own accord, we would have reached bipartisan consensus on legislation that avoided any chance of adding to the deficit and far less would have been done on the individual side with items that do not generate economic growth,” Corker said in a statement.
“But after great thought and consideration, I believe that this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make U.S. businesses domestically more productive and internationally more competitive is one we should not miss.
“Senator Corker’s Understanding Is Wrong”
Corker is under intense pressure: since reversing himself and announcing he would support the bill, he has faced a wave of outrage — including the Twitter hashtag #CorkerKickback — for switching his vote. In his letter, Corker suggested the provision was not a new last-minute addition to the final bill, as IBT reported, but instead an extension of the House-passed tax bill.
“My understanding from talking to leadership staff today is that a version of this provision was always in the House bill — from the Ways & Means markup, through House floor consideration — and in reconciling the divergent House and Senate approaches to pass-through businesses this House approach stayed in the final conferenced version,” he wrote.
That characterization was disputed by experts contacted by IBT.
“Senator Corker’s understanding is wrong: the House bill allowed lower rates for income from pass-through businesses, but did not have a wage guardrail,” Steve Rosenthal of the Senior Urban-Brookings Tax Policy told IBT. “The Senate bill allowed lower rates for income from pass-through businesses, but added a wage guardrail, to limit, for higher-income taxpayers, the lower rates to income from businesses with substantial payroll. The conferees generally followed the Senate bill, but lifted the wage guardrail for real estate and, perhaps, other businesses without substantial payroll. The House bill did not have any wage guardrail to lift.”
David Kamin, a New York University law professor and former special assistant to the president on economic policy, said the final bill did create a new provision — one that would specifically benefit real-estate-related LLCs.
“In the House, there was never any requirement that firms pay wages in order to get the benefit of the pass-through tax cut, but the Senate bill required firms to pay wages to get the tax cut, with only a few exceptions,” said Kamin, who served in the Obama administration. “The conference committee included many of the Senate limits, but then created a new provision that made sure the final bill gave LLCs and other partnerships with no wages access to the tax cuts. Real estate partnerships and others with property but few employees would be the beneficiaries of this new provision.”
Corker’s letter came hours after ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, why the provision was added to the bill. Cornyn said : “We were working very hard. It was a very intense process. As I said, the Democrats refused to participate. And what we've tried to do is cobble together the votes we needed to get this bill passed.”What started in the 60's by a Nudist couple, we have tried to maintain throughout the years. A safe, family friendly, clothing-optional environment. Our values are strong in the preservation of the land, and all the natural beauty inside our gates.
Michael Losacco, my Father, purchased the land in 1971 with the idea of building a summer home. The already established business and it's many members came with the deal, and the price was too good to pass up. My parents were Italian born immigrants, moved to the United States for a better life, and not Nudists', My father was in construction and my mother a homemaker raising |
of three years. After escrow, his 2015-16 salary drops by 16.0% to $5.04m. So what would have been an equivalent salary at 13.8% escrow? $5.85m. Essentially, as long as the cap escalator allowed Green to make at least an extra $150k, then he has benefited from the cap escalator. And his benefit is matched by his peers on continuing contracts losing a little bit more salary every year to escrow.
This applies to any player signed in the summer 2015. Even the less-talented individuals on small deals can benefit. For example, a player who was given a $625k deal would have an “equivalent un-escalated salary” of $608k. So a raise of more than $17k as a result of the cap escalator is beneficial to that player.
As mentioned previously, the cap escalator allowed for at least an extra $55.0m of extra salary in 2015-16, almost all of which went to benefit the big signings prior to that season. And almost all of that $55.0m came at a cost of guys on continuing contracts. It’s easy to understand why the NHLPA would be increasingly split on this issue over the years. A hundred guys or so each year are taking money from hundreds of their peers.
How This May Be Addressed In The NEXT CBA
The present CBA is legally valid until 2022…unless either the NHL or NHLPA decide to terminate it early as soon as 2019. We may be only three years away from another set of discussions about escrow, the structure of the salary cap system, and various other fun details.
Before moving on to the 2019 CBA discussions, it’s worth noting that the deals that helped trigger the 2012-3 CBA discussions (e.g., Kovalchuk, Luongo, Hossa, etc.) are currently making this escrow issue worse. Across all contracts, there is $85.2m more in collective salary being paid to players than collective cap hits (which I will call “collective cap advantage”). Right now, there are only 19 pre-2013 front-loaded deals still in the league, but those 19 deals contributed $19.9m to the collective cap advantage of the entire league making them the most significant contracts for increasing escrow. However, by 2017-18 those deals will mostly be in their back-diving phase. Together they will be contributing -$2.2m to the collective cap advantage and will thus start to drive escrow down.
I suspect the 2019 CBA will seek to reduce or eliminate the cap escalator. The cap escalator creates an artificial increase to the salary cap limits without actually backing it up with increase HRR. This encourages salary inflation, especially as more and more teams are spending above the midpoint. And ultimately, this inflation only benefits players signing onto new deals while simultaneously reducing the effective salaries of everyone else in the league already under contract. Every year, the NHLPA should be about 80% against the cap escalator if they decide to vote out of personal benefit.
Lastly, I expect the salary cap limits calculations to change. If the league reduces the amount that the ceiling is over the current “Midpoint of the Salary Cap Range”, then escrow will be reduced and salaries on new contracts will be in line with a lower escrow world. I would personally maintain the relative size of the range, which would mean the Midpoint would instead become a “Set Point.” I figure making the limits 80% and 110% of the Set Point would be a step in the right direction. That change would likely drop escrow down by about a third.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the main thing to take away from this topic is that the salary cap system is incredibly complicated. The flexibility of the cap system creates a system where the players could be paid too much money, in which case escrow Is needed to adjust their earnings. And it’s by pushing escrow increasingly higher that players signing newer contracts can make a little extra money at the expense of their fellow players who are committed to older, long-term deals.
This leads to a situation where some amount of in-fighting among the players is beginning as more and more players become dissatisfied with this situation. We should expect to see this contention brought up in the next round of CBA negotiations. But in the end the changes should not have much effect on how any of us enjoy or understand the game. It is mostly a backstage dilemma to us fans.It has been more than three years since the Spurs made Kyle Anderson the 29th pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich still doesn’t know what to do with the versatile forward known as “Slo-Mo.”
Popovich has made it something of his new season resolution to finally find it out.
“I’m going to try real hard for his sake,” Popovich said. “He deserves it. I’ve been remiss about figuring it out sooner.”
Anderson, 24, enters his fourth season facing a career at a crossroads.
Barring a contract extension before the Oct. 17 deadline, Anderson will become a free agent next summer.
He could use a big season, which means he could use a defined role.
At 6-foot-9, with the ball-handling and passing skills of a point guard, Anderson is capable of playing a variety of positions. So far, he has stuck at none.
“I know it can go up and down,” Anderson said of his role in the season to come. “There’s going to be moments when I’m active in the rotation and moments when the rotation doesn’t need me. I’m ready for anything, pretty much.”
With All-Star Kawhi Leonard sidelined with a quadriceps injury, Anderson has served as the Spurs’ starting small forward to start the preseason, which continues Friday with a rematch against Sacramento at the AT&T Center.
In the Spurs’ 100-96 road loss to the Kings earlier this week, Anderson turned in a typical, understated-but-productive “Slo-Mo” line: seven points, four rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes.
Anderson senses opportunity in Leonard’s absence.
“Whenever a key guy is out like that, it’s a ‘next-man-up’ mentality,” he said. “Be ready. Stay ready. Try to make some noise.”
That has been Anderson’s approach throughout a career that has so far been one of fits and starts.
In three seasons, he has appeared in 183 games, averaging 3.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Project those numbers per-36 minutes, and it offers a glimpse of the box-score stuffer he was at UCLA: 9.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
In Anderson’s last game that counted — the series finale against Golden State in last season’s Western Conference finals — he had 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and four steals off the bench.
“He’s a hell of a player,” veteran guard Manu Ginobili said. “He can give us a lot of things, with or without Kawhi. I’ve always trusted him.”
For Anderson, earning Popovich’s trust hasn’t always been as easy.
In a way, the versatility that made Anderson a potential draft-day steal has at times worked against him.
Popovich hasn’t been sure whether to use him at point guard, small forward or power forward. When Danny Green was hurt during training camp last season, Anderson became the Spurs’ opening-day starter at shooting guard.
The NBA’s small-ball revolution might at last turn in Anderson’s favor. With the Spurs seeming bent on employing more small-ball lineups this season, Anderson and newcomer Rudy Gay could share minutes at power forward in them.
In that, Anderson’s arc might mirror that of Boris Diaw, whose career didn’t take off until he moved to Phoenix and coach Mike D’Antoni made him a small-ball big man.
“A lot of teams are playing four smalls, and we have Rudy and him to play the four,” Ginobili said. “Kyle is a big key, because he can take people off the dribble and he can pass. He’s a very good player all around.”
Anderson spent the offseason working on a plethora of positions.
He worked on his catch-and-shoot game, which manifested itself in a confident corner 3-pointer in Monday’s preseason opener. He worked on his ball-handling and defense.
“I prepared to be successful,” Anderson said. “That’s not just me focusing on what I’ve got to do. It’s what I’ve got to do to help the team. That’s what comes first.”
That diligence has caught the eye of Popovich, who calls Anderson “a coach’s dream.”
Now it is up to Popovich to live up to his vow to find Anderson some kind of stability in the Spurs’ rotation.
Anderson knows this could be a make-or-break season for him. He is aiming for the former, head coach willing.
“It’s time,” Anderson said. “It’s a big year for me, definitely. I’m prepared for it, so I’m going in with confidence.”
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAENWhen one of my favorite local craft-beer bars shut its doors last month, I started to think about a fear that I've been hearing more and more of lately. Is the craft-beer industry in a bubble, and if so, how far can it continue to grow before the bubble bursts?
Owners of Crum's Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg said the bar was felled by a broken (and exorbitantly expensive to repair) air-conditioning system, rather than market oversaturation. But if it had stayed open for a few more months — during which no less than six new craft beer bars and breweries are slated to open in St. Pete alone — there's no doubt Crum's would feel the pinch. There soon will be much more craft beer flowing from the taps of bay-area bars, but are there enough people to drink it?
On average, a new craft-brewing operation opens every day in the United States. According to figures released in May from the Brewer's Association, there are more than 1,500 breweries in the planning stages, which — when compared with the 2,400-odd craft breweries currently in operation — represents a massive increase in output on the horizon. It doesn't take much number-crunching to realize that this represents a potentially significant dilution of profits within the industry.
Charlie Papazian, founder of the American Homebrewer's Association and president of the Brewer's Association, is optimistic about such growth, predicting that craft beer will continue to displace larger segments of the market currently held by big-time, corporate beer. Papazian predicts that, by 2017, craft beer will make up 10 percent of the U.S. beer market in volume; in 2012, it held only 6.5 percent of the domestic market in volume.
But on a local scale, it's hard to imagine that the thirst for craft beer among the general public is fast enough to match the speed with which new operations are sprouting up. In St. Pete, Cycle Brewing and Green Bench Brewing are almost ready to open their doors, while in Tampa, Zeke's Brewing is up and running, with Ybor City's Coppertail Brewing following closely behind, complete with a full-scale bottling and canning operation. That doesn't even count the myriad craft beer-centric bars on the way, such as the Brass Tap, Yard of Ale and the Amsterdam — all set to open in downtown St. Pete this year.
I don't think this spells a doomsday scenario, though. In my opinion, the elements that made craft beer so huge will go a long way in helping to maintain it through such rapid growth. That's not to say that things can continue to grow at the current rate without a few changes to the status quo.
Clearly, quality and distinctiveness will become much more important as the market continues to grow. Gone are the days when a brewery could make waves simply by releasing a hop-bomb IPA; breweries will have to start setting themselves apart from the competition, and a reputation for quality will be absolutely crucial. Beer bars will need to offer something unique to bring in business.
Though uniqueness will be a must, cooperation and collaboration will also continue to play a major role in the culture. This isn't like other markets, where overcoming the competition is the prime directive; instead, a sense of community is common, with local breweries and bars working together, supporting each other, and collectively fostering growth within the local beer-drinking community.
Are we in a bubble? It's hard to say, and even if we are, no one knows just how far it can expand. But if the brewers and bars that make up the business side of the craft-beer boom are up to the task of keeping quality high and making innovation a priority, then we may not have to worry about any bubbles bursting in the near future.
Call it cautious optimism, but I'll be watching along with Papazian, waiting for our little niche of the beer world to pass that 10-percent mark.
— [email protected]IMAX
The foyer of a Manchester cinema will be the home of IMAX's first virtual reality centre in the U.K.
Twelve medium-sized pods will be placed in Manchester's Odeon and allow people to step inside, strap on a custom VR headset, watch short movies and play games. Richard Gelfond, the CEO of the American visuals firm, told WIRED the capsules will be opening for paying customers by the end of 2016.
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"You go into these pods, each one will have a headset in, you'll put it on and we will have varied programming. When we open one of the things we will have is the Walking Dead," the CEO who has been in charge of IMAX since 2009 says.
For content, Gelfond says the firm is working with a number of partners to produce experiences for those inside the pods. These include gaming firms as well as those producing movies and film.
Read next The IMAX debut of Inhumans is the future of the big screen The IMAX debut of Inhumans is the future of the big screen
The Manchester Printworks ODEON, which will be home to IMAX's VR experience Getty Images / Loop Images / Contributor
"Over time the plan is to have content that is related to a movie that's showing there," Gelfond, who earned $14.5 million (£11.8m) in 2015 says. "You could do it before you go to the movie, after you go to the movie, or never go to the movie"
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The Manchester Printworks Odeon will be one of six "pilot centres" around the world. The first IMAX VR centre – which, will be a separate facility not in a cinema – will be completed in Los Angeles in the next two weeks.
For the project IMAX is working with StarBreeze VR to use its headsets within the pods. The firm's technology has a 210-degree field of view (larger than the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive) and will be manufactured by Acer.
Within the enclosed space the headset will be tethered to a PC controlling the experiences, but there will be space for the wearer to move around and, eventually, interact with objects.
Read next Bond and Star Wars boost UK cinemas to biggest box office ever Bond and Star Wars boost UK cinemas to biggest box office ever
While there is no set pricing structure, Gelfond says his firm is looking at setting the cost of each experience at around £8-£10.
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Each of the sessions will last from anywhere between five and 15 minutes (depending on the content and video footage needed). As they develop, Gelfond says the duration of VR films isn't likely to match full-length feature films.
Starbreeze
Along with the UK branch, there will be another based in Europe, one in North America, and two in Asia. The exact locations of these have not been announced by IMAX yet, although he says one is likely to be in China.
Overall the CEO, a former investment banker, estimates it will cost $300,000-$500,000 (£244,000-£406,000) to "fit out" 15 VR pods in a space. These pods, if a company wished, could be bought by a third party and installed in their own locations – although, he says, IMAX has no plan to do this itself.
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"If we fail, the reason will be we are too early. If you scale it, then it doesn't have to be too early," he says. "We're trying to do it in a measured way"
Despite a measured approach, there are plans for fast expansion if the scheme is successful. He says: "If it keeps working then we will have 30-50 by the end of next year; if that still worked then I think 2018 would be an aggressive time for us."
Bringing its VR centre to the UK is part of a wider move from IMAX, which is also developing VR cameras. Working with Google the firm is making a "consumer grade" 360-degree video camera and separately is making a professional level camera for filmmakers.Source: 23 degrees
The last several weeks have been a very difficult period for our company as owners of the Trek World Racing program. Despite the fact that on August 9 of last year, Aaron Gwin signed a legally binding Letter Of Intent with our team for the next three seasons, his agent wrote an email to the team in mid-December stating he had decided to race for another bike brand. Mr Gwin confirmed his agreement with our team in public statements, and he and his agent repeatedly confirmed the existence of, and commitment to, the agreement in written correspondence with us. Yet, only weeks before the team was required to submit the official team roster to UCI, Mr Gwin informed the team that he was abandoning TWR in total disregard of his contractual obligations.The team reached out on several occasions in December in order to try and remedy whatever concerns Mr Gwin had, but these were ignored until the team received a letter from his Attorneys on December 27 stating he would not ride for our team. In the interests of the team and our sponsors, we are actively pursuing all options open to us at this point, including legal action, and remain completely surprised by Mr Gwin's unprofessional actions.Team Director Martin Whiteley says: "Okay. I admit it. I am not funny enough to come up with that line. I stole it.
So Trump was right, it would be Democrats to do it. https://t.co/j2kbRGHMZu — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 12, 2016
If you aren’t following this guy on Twitter you are missing some fun.
On to our story.
Donald Trump supporters have filed a lawsuit challenging the eligibility of one of his primary rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), to run for president. The lawsuit, filed Feb. 3 at a district court in Alabama, seeks a judgment “declaring that Rafael Edward Cruz is ineligible to qualify/run/seek and be elected to the Office of the President of the United States of America” due to his Canadian birth. Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada, to an American mother. The five plaintiffs — Sebastian Green, Shannon Duncan, Kathryn Spears, Kyle Spears and Jerry Parker — are all backing Trump in the Republican primary, according to AL.com. The lawsuit cites Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, which rules that “no person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president.” Under that clause, the plaintiffs claim, “Cruz is not a ‘natural born’ citizen of the United States of America.” “Plaintiffs allege that at the time of Mr. Cruz’s birth, the United States could not confer citizenship upon him under any law or legal theory that exists,” the lawsuit states. “‘Natural-born’ means native born within the United States or its dominions/territories,” it continues. “Canada is not a territory of the United States.”
I’m not going to get into the legal part of this argument beyond saying that John McCain and George Romney and, maybe, Chester A. Arthur, all had the same problem. Ultimately, this is a political issue and I would expect that the suit will be tossed for lack of standing. Quite honestly, if the House of Representatives certifies the election of President Cruz then he is a natural born citizen.
What is illustrative here is that Trump was really right. The Democrats in this race would file this lawsuit and they have. And they still threaten to.
If @TedCruz doesn’t clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2016The EPA is raising the radiation threat level by a factor of 350. That may sound unbelievable but it is assuredly a good thing: The previous limits were far lower than science justified and caused hundreds of billions of dollars of economic loss to America and the world.
The trigger for the change was the government recognizing the ramifications of two things. The first is the reality of nuclear terrorism. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) has recently insisted that the EPA establish realistic limits in accordance with the latest science. Under the old limits, a tiny “dirty bomb” explosion in an American city would have meant evacuating hundreds of thousands of people.
The second is Fukushima. After the catastrophic meltdown at the Japanese nuclear power plant in 2011, some 130,000 people were forcibly removed from their homes in accordance with strict radiation standards. This resulted in the unnecessary and unfortunate deaths of some 1600 elderly and ill persons. Yet no residents died—or even became ill—from the radiation. Even so, Japan closed down 48 nuclear plants and Germany announced it would close all of its plants. The cost to their citizenry in higher electricity prices—and higher carbon emissions—is staggering.
The cost to U.S. citizens is staggering as well. Ultra-low limits have delayed and prevented the construction of new nuclear power plants, added billions to the cost of refurbishing old reactors and Superfund clean-up sites, scared Nevada residents into opposing the opening of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facilities, and triggered panic whenever there has been a slight increase in radiation almost anywhere for any reason. One remembers the Three Mile Island nuclear leaks, where residents were exposed to less radiation than they got from the granite building blocks at the Senate hearing room when they testified.
Fortunately, the EPA is making changes that acknowledge the shortcomings of ultra-low radiation limits. The EPA has now asked for public comment on changing its standards for nuclear power plants. The deadline was June 4.
Further, in Florida, the EPA has given up on enforcing a very expensive radiation cleanup under the old rules. This is a tremendous move that has nevertheless come under attack from environmental extremists who promised to resist the new rules even if “health effects prove reliable.” Some 100 watchdog groups have joined the attack.
Much of the reason for the EPA’s prior low exposure fears comes from a theory in computer models that the cancer risk is directly proportional to the dose of radiation. This is untrue below the 10 REM threshold of exposure as is well detailed in a Forbes article. Yet the theory, called LNT (linear no-threshold model), has done untold damage to America. (Further explanation and links are available in my earlier article Terrorism and Radiation.) The EPA change specifically refers to one time events, although its historic 15 millirem limit barely distinguished between short and long term exposure. Nuclear workers with prolonged exposure face a different risk. The first ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) recommended a “tolerance dose” of no more than 70 REM per year (0.2 roentgen per day), but more research needs to be done in this area, e.g. a 40 hour work week of exposure compared to continuous exposure. EPA’s limit was a maximum 5 REM over a full year.On Tuesday, reports surfaced that a new kind of malware was spreading around Europe. The apparent ransomware which researchers are calling Bad Rabbit bubbled up in Russia and Ukraine and appears to also be affecting Turkey and Germany, though spread isn’t fully known at this time.
Initial targets include Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Kiev’s public transportation system. The Russian news service Interfax also issued an official update stating that it had been hacked and that it was working to restore its systems. Kaspersky reports that Russian news group Fontanka.ru was also affected and focuses on the trend of targeted media outlets in its initial analysis. So far, Kaspersky and ESET have both noticed ties to the malware known as NotPetya or ExPetr.
“Our researchers have detected a number of compromised websites, all news or media sites,” the Russian security company, now embroiled in controversy, writes on its blog. “Based on our investigation, this is a targeted attack against corporate networks, using methods similar to those used in the ExPetr attack. However, we cannot confirm it is related to ExPetr.”
Unlike other recent malware epidemics which spread through more passive means, Bad Rabbit requires a potential victim to download and execute a bogus Adobe Flash installer file, thereby infecting themselves. Security researchers have come up with an early “vaccine” against the malware, which should inoculate systems from becoming infected.
Vaccination for the Ukraine round 2? Wanna stop #badrabbit?
Create a file called c:windowsinfpub.dat and remove all write permissions for it. This should keep the malware from encrypting. Testing it now… pic.twitter.com/3MSSH8WKPb — Amit Serper (@0xAmit) October 24, 2017
Whoever created Bad Rabbit appears to be a Game of Thrones fan, as the malware makes reference to Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons and Grey Worm, a beloved character who is definitely not the skin disease known as greyscale.
BadRabbit creates two scheduled tasks, named after the dragons from Game of Thrones. Also a reference to GrayWorm, the skin disease in GoT. pic.twitter.com/BfQxGrMwC0 — Kevin Beaumont (@GossiTheDog) October 24, 2017
Computers infected with the malware direct the user to a.onion Tor domain where they are asked to pay.05 Bitcoin or roughly $276 USD in exchange for their data. A countdown on the site shows the amount of time before the ransom price goes up. While this year has seen some instances of destructive malware disguised as ransomware, it’s not yet totally clear if Bad Rabbit actually collects a ransom and decrypts the goods in all cases, though one researcher had some luck in testing.
As always, anyone infected is discouraged from paying the ransom. For one, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the data back but importantly, refusing to pay the ransom discourages future ransomware attacks.
Bad Rabbit joins NotPetya and WannaCry, 2017’s two other major ransomware-style malware outbreaks.Kevin Bacon wasn’t footloose enough.
The Hollywood star tried to chase down a thug who swiped his BlackBerry at a Seventh Avenue subway station Thursday, sources told The Post. The brazen mugger managed to escape and was at large yesterday.
Now the thief is a lot less than six degrees of separation away from a coveted cache of A-list celebrities and boldface names likely programmed into Bacon’s ‘Berry.
The robber boldly swiped the “Footloose” star’s cell at 10:50 a.m. Thursday at the B, D and E station at 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue, sources said.
Bacon didn’t give up the BlackBerry easily. The star took off after the crook, but lost track of him as he raced through the station’s crowd, the sources said.
The numbers for Bacon’s wife, Kyra Sedgwick — who plays a cunning detective on the hit TV drama “The Closer” — is no doubt stored in the phone, possibly along with dozens of other box- office stars who have graced the big screen with Bacon.
But this isn’t the first time Bacon was robbed. He and Sedgwick were swindled by Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff, who pleaded guilty to running a $65 billion fraud in March.
NYC Transit officials said no subway personnel were told about the crime, although sources said Bacon did call police.
NYPD officials couldn’t confirm yesterday that a report was filed concerning the robbery.
Often in cellphone robberies the device is simply resold on the street or the crook will use it himself if he has the same wireless service, law-enforcement officials said.
Bacon has long been a cultural touchstone beyond his movie career. He is also famous as the subject of the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” trivia game, in which players try to connect any actor to Bacon through six or fewer common co-stars.
Bacon was traveling yesterday with his band, the Bacon Brothers, and could not be reached for comment, his spokesman said.
The spokesman wouldn’t say whose numbers were in the phone.
Cellphones were the prime target in 37 percent of the 823 robberies committed in the subway system last year, NYPD Transit Bureau records show.
larry.celona@nypost.comA class-action lawsuit was filed against Duke Energy Florida and Florida Power & Light Co. alleging the monopoly electricity providers force millions of Florida customers to pay unlawful charges in connection with their electricity rates to fund the companies' nuclear power plant projects, some of which have been abandoned.
The suit was brought Monday by the law firm Hagens Berman in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. It accuses Duke Energy Florida and FPL of overcharging through unconstitutional price hikes that increase customers' electricity bills in order to fund nuclear construction costs.
The issue ranks among the most controversial in recent Florida history, forcing customers of monopoly utilities to take on the financial risk of building nuclear power plants, projects prone to extreme cost overruns. Such utility projects historically have been financed by banks and Wall Street, with the risks borne by Duke and FPL shareholders, not by ratepayers.
The suit claims Duke Energy Florida, which provides the bulk of electricity to the Tampa Bay and west-central Florida areas, unlawfully charged customer higher rates to cover more than $1.2 billion in expenses at its Crystal River nuclear power plant in Citrus County and at its proposed (and now shelved) Levy County nuclear plant site. Similar claims are made in the suit against FPL, Florida's largest utility, for expenses tied to its nuclear power plants, including two new ones proposed at its Turkey Point site in South Florida.
At the core of this dispute, according to the lawsuit, are nuclear costs imposed on ratepayers by orders of the Florida Public Service Commission under a law passed in 2006 by Florida legislators and approved by then-Gov. Jeb Bush. That law created a nuclear cost recovery system that, the suit states, "makes ratepayers into involuntary investors in nuclear projects, charges them interest on their own money, and never returns their 'investment.' When the projects are abandoned, the utilities keep the money and collect even more."
"These two utilities have racked up huge expenses with nuclear power plant projects — some of which they completely abandoned — and have left ratepayers holding the bag," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Seattle-based Hagens Berman. "We believe the consumers in this instance are being forced to pick up the tab for Duke Energy Florida and FPL in violation of their constitutional rights."
Berman served as a special assistant attorney general and lead counsel for the largest settlement ever — $206 billion — against the tobacco industry, as well as counsel for major antitrust, ERISA (pension) and U.S. securities cases. He recently represented 20 million class members against Toyota for its sudden unintended acceleration defect and subsequent economic loss to vehicle owners. The result was the largest settlement ever, $1.6 billion, against an automotive company.
The suit against Duke Energy and FPL seeks relief for anyone who is a customer of either of the utilities, including reimbursement from the companies for costs passed on to the customers to fund the companies' nuclear projects. It also seeks to nullify as unconstitutional the nuclear cost recovery system and all nuclear cost recovery orders issued by the PSC. And it seeks an order enjoining defendants from further unlawful charges.
Duke Energy, in a statement Tuesday, said it believes the lawsuit should be dismissed.
"Four other lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Florida's nuclear cost recovery statute have been found to be without merit and rejected by Florida courts. Duke Energy is evaluating this lawsuit and will respond based on the facts and applicable law."
Two plaintiffs represent the proposed class action lawsuit. One is Clearwater resident and Duke Energy Florida customer Bill Newton, who serves as deputy director of the Florida Consumer Action Network. The other is Naples resident and FPL customer Noreen Allison, a retired worker with the U.S. National Park Service.
Contact Robert Trigaux at [email protected] Follow @venturetampabay on Twitter.The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football.[1] The award has been presented since the 1973–74 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA). The first winner of the award was Ipswich Town defender Kevin Beattie. The current holder is Leroy Sané, who won the award for his performances throughout the 2017–18 campaign for Manchester City.
Although the award is open to players at all levels,[1] all winners to date have played in the highest division of the English football league system. As of 2017, only Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli have won the award on more than one occasion. Only five players from outside the United Kingdom have won the trophy,[2] compared with nine winners of the main PFA Players' Player of the Year award. Although they have their own dedicated award, players aged 23 or under at the start of the season remain eligible to win the Players' Player of the Year award, and on three occasions the same player has won both awards for a season. In 2018 Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham became the first player from outside the top division of English football to be nominated for the award.[3]
A shortlist of nominees is published in April and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the PFA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in London a few days later.[4] The players themselves consider the award to be highly prestigious, because the winner is chosen by his fellow professionals.[5]
Winners [ edit ]
The award has been presented on 45 occasions as of 2018, with 41 different winners.[6][7][8] The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in English football, namely the PFA Players' Player of the Year award (PPY),[7][8][9] the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award (FWA),[10] and the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY).[11]
Wayne Rooney was the third player to win the award in two consecutive seasons.
Breakdown of winners [ edit ]
By country [ edit ]
By club [ edit ]Gas company Metgasco has won its case against the state government to reinstate its drilling licence at Bentley after it was suspended last year.
However, Justice Richard Button said that while the suspension process undertaken by the government was not lawful, the judgement did not reflect the merits or otherwise of the suspension itself.
Metgasco’s licence was suspended in May last year after a large community campaign against its plans to drill for unconventional gas at Rosella, about 15 kilometres from Lismore.
Metgasco had wanted to test for gas in conventional and tight gas rocks. Residents opposed to the project organised a months-long protest camp at Bentley and blockaded the entrance to the site, preventing drilling equipment from entering.
NSW energy minister Anthony Roberts suspended Metgasco’s licence for failing to “undertake genuine and effective consultation with the community” just days before 900 NSW police had been ordered to break up the camp and escort a drill rig onto private property.
Roberts also asked the Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate whether the licence, first granted in 1996, was granted “entirely properly and without any undue interest or influence”.
Powerful industry body the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association backed Metgasco’s appeal, saying at the time that the government’s decision was a “significant concern” and had set a “damaging precedent”.
Gasfield Free Northern Rivers regional coordinator Dean Draper said on April 24 that if Metgasco is successful in its demand for compensation “more public money is going to be thrown at a dangerous and unpopular industry”.
“This mess is a result of the NSW government’s failure to act decisively to create a watertight legislative means to cancel the Northern Rivers unconventional gas licence.
“There is now an urgent need for new legislation to enable the government to cancel mining titles on public interest grounds, without compensation, and to make the Northern Rivers permanently gasfield free, as the community wants.”
Like the article? Subscribe to Green Left now! You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.Brian Reynolds (born 1967) is an American videogame designer who now designs online social games (e.g. on Facebook). Reynolds has designed at SecretNewCo, Zynga, Big Huge Games, Firaxis Games, and MicroProse and has been chairman of the International Game Developers Association. He has played a major part in designing a number of multi-million selling games including Civilization II, Rise of Nations, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and FrontierVille. He has also founded or co-founded three game companies, SecretNewCo, Big Huge Games, and Firaxis Games.
Early life [ edit ]
Reynolds made his first game sale with Quest 1 to SoftSide magazine, its August 1981 cover feature. He was a gamer in high school, and a SysOp on Randolph School's (Huntsville, Alabama) PDP-11 mainframe computer.[1] A 1990 graduate of the University of the South, Reynolds briefly pursued graduate studies in Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.[citation needed]
Career [ edit ]
Reynolds initiated his game career with the now defunct MicroProse where he worked as lead programmer for a number of graphic adventure games. These included Rex Nebular in 1992 and Return of the Phantom and Dragonsphere in 1993.
It was at MicroProse where Reynolds first worked with Sid Meier and the two collaborated on |
Tom DeMark calls for 11% stock market tumble
Buffett said Trump’s campaign threats to impose tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and China were a “very bad idea, but I’m not going to say it would cause a recession.”
Such moves would be almost certain to invite retaliation, Buffett said, but expressed doubt that Trump’s calls to tear up past trade agreements would pass muster in Congress despite Republicans controlling both the House and Senate.
“He has to get support on it. This is not exclusive to Donald Trump, there are a lot of things said in campaigns that don’t happen after the election,” he said.
Buffett backed Clinton’s presidential bid and, during the campaign, challenged Trump to release his tax returns.
Buffett, in the interview, repeated criticism of Trump’s business record, noting multiple bankruptcies.
“I would say he understands business, but his record has been better at licensing than putting up his own capital,” Buffett said.
Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.While a Dungeon Master knows that they shouldn’t set up overly imbalanced scenarios designed only for the purpose of murdering the party, many DMs go to the opposite direction and make their encounters too easy, which is just as much of an abuse to players as Killer DMing is. It isn’t that they intend to create them that way, typically they are following the rules, but what they aren’t doing is running the monsters to their full potential.
The DM is expected to be an impassive witness to the game; unfortunately, when a DM doesn’t understand that he is also expected to actually role-play his monsters, then he isn’t bringing his best to the table, nor the best out of his players. Some DMs assume that players are running through encounters because they are so good at it, and choose to over-compensate by throwing more power monsters at the players, which they don’t role-play either.
Your intent while running the encounter should be to keep your monsters alive and to kill all of the players while still following the rules. We aren’t telling stories, we are running an encounter, and if we do a good job running it, then the players will see a story in it. We want to make each and every encounter as dangerous as we possibly can with the tools that we have. This applies for both Module adventures as well as the encounters which we create ourselves. If we stick to the rules of creating balanced encounters, we can really bring a lot of danger to each one.
ROLE-PLAYING MONSTERS EFFECTIVELY
Intelligence is clearly listed in the Monstrous Manual, and we need to observe it. Naturally a 0 INT character is going to be a machine: A zombie does not care if it is going to get hurt, an Iron Golem is going to work only as it was designed to, and a deadly pudding is going to satisfy its hunger. 0 INT creatures will never stop until they are dead.
Creatures with INT of 1-2 are animals. If they are untrained, they may or may not try to run away once they realize that their lives are in danger. We can run this randomly by applying Morale checks every round. Animals should act like animals.
Creatures with normal Intelligence are far more dangerous then you might be giving them credit for. They won’t just feed themselves to a meat grinder, they need to be role-played and they should hatch plots and value things that they enjoy. Thinking of motivations for them should be fun for the DM, though it would be a waste of time to figure out specific motivations for each and every creature living in a lair, we can assign a group motivation and have one or two that have alternative motives, typically having something to do with personal ambitions.
The boss of an area should be more thought out; he is the most dangerous thing in the lair because of his mind. He is leading a small army, and he should have a personal goal assigned to him, in particularly keeping his army alive and his personal power intact.
KEY IS THE KEY
Many modules tell the DM what the monsters are doing, this in no way implies that they won’t investigate noises unless the key specifically says that they won't. The key takes for granted that the party isn’t standing around arguing about which direction to go, or who has the right to take the magical item, and all of the other stuff that players like to complain about. Once the alarm is tripped, things shouldn’t go so good for the players; all of those monsters should be free to start roaming the dungeon.
You and your monsters need a solid plan. Prior to play you should really study your map, and pick out good ambush spots where you can surround the players, or sneak up behind them. Once an intruder is detected, word should spread around really fast, and all monsters should report to their battle stations.. A patrol will be sent out to locate the invaders, and try to identify the nature of the party; instead of attacking, they’ll do their best to report this information to their allies.
MONSTER TACTICS
The MM holds clues about tactics of each monster, but it is up to the DM to really bring them to life and keep them as safe as possible. Survival is key! The lower the monsters HD, the less likely they’ll engage in direct combat. Instead, they’ll prefer ranged combat and the use of traps, only entering direct combat if they have no other options. These are complex creatures and the encounters with them starts with the planning stage. They will use their lairs to their advantage, setting up traps that they’ll trigger themselves, else know how to avoid. What they won’t do is all go rushing out of their lair to defend it. The lair itself is their preferred weapon and it is defensively superior to any melee weapons that they have.
Same goes for wilderness encounters; they will set up traps and do their best to catch their intended victims, namely merchants. If a caravan looks too dangerous they’ll probably let it go unless they are really in need of supplies, then they will become braver, and this is when they are most likely to encounter PCs. They should have plans set in place to favor them, and keep them from having to engage in direct combat. This should also include a great escape route, because lets face it, bravery and overt boldness are two different things.
MONSTERS AND THEIR TREASURE
DMs like to hide treasure around their dungeons, but if a monster is aware of it, and knows how to use it, he most certainly will, and it might not just be the head boss that has the treasure, if you were an underling with ambition for better things, would you tell your boss that you have found a Ring of Protection, or a Sword+3? If you are into telling stories, this is where you should hide it. Is the party even going to notice the ring on a dead gnoll’s finger? What would his peers think about the gnoll not knowing his secret? Maybe a couple of them do know and have been looking for an opportunity to take it from him? This is role-playing! And while it won’t stop the players from beating you, it will slow them down and they won’t get anything for free, which will make the encounter more special to them in the long run.The Washington Post wrote on Friday that President-elect Donald J. Trump “fired” the commanding General of the D.C. National Guard who is heading up the military presence during the coming inaugural event — in the middle of the oath of office ceremony. Yet a second story on Saturday did not contain the claim.
The Post’s original report set off a wave of stories across the world, causing raised eyebrows over Trump’s “extremely unusual” decision to fire a general in the middle of the presidential oath of office ceremony, especially during these dangerous times.
The paper reported that Major General Errol R. Schwartz, who has commanded the D.C. National Guard since his appointment to the position by George W. Bush, was told to vacate his office the moment Trump says his “I dos” to the oath of office. The decision was presented to readers as unfathomable, if not dangerous, by a president who doesn’t know what he is doing.
In an interview, General Schwartz told the paper that his firing was strange. “The timing is extremely unusual,” the general said.
“My troops will be on the street,” Schwartz continued. “I’ll see them off, but I won’t be able to welcome them back to the armory.” The general added he would “never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle.”
The paper went on to quote Democrat D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson as saying, “It doesn’t make sense to can the general in the middle of an active deployment.”
The paper concluded its speculation, saying, “Schwartz said that he has not been told why he was asked to step down. ‘I’m a soldier,’ he said, noting that he was following orders and has no regrets. ‘I’m a presidential appointee, therefore the president has the power to remove me.'”
An earlier version of the story can still be seen at Stars And Stripes.
The fact is, of course, that the commander of the D.C. National Guard serves at the pleasure of the president and is not put in place by the Pentagon or any of the federal branches of the military.
But the Post’s early reporting on the “firing” of General Schwartz contains no statements from the Trump transition office and also leaves out key points such as the fact that the general of the D.C. National Guard traditionally supplies his letter of resignation to every new president who is about to take office.
Subsequent to the publishing of the paper’s story making Trump appear incompetent, news emerged that the incoming Trump administration offered to let General Schwartz keep his position through inauguration day, but it was the general himself who refused the offer, preferring instead to quit at 12 noon on January 20, the hour Trump takes his oath of office.
The general then ran straight to the media to “argue his case in the press,” as a recent Fox News report noted.
In essence, while the incoming Trump White House did accept General Schwartz’ resignation, it did not “fire him” in “the midst of the presidential ceremony,” as the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Meanwhile, on the day after its initial publication, the Post made material edits to its story. And as of press time, the paper had not added any notice that it had made the alterations.
The current version of the story now on the paper’s website added two important paragraphs that change the flavor of its earlier story.
Among other changes, one of the paragraphs added makes it clear that it is customary for such generals to submit their resignation, and in this case Trump accepted it. The paragraph also tries to cover for the paper’s poor reporting by insisting that the Trump team “provided contradictory versions” of the general’s situation — another fact not in the original story.
Despite its changes, the Washington Post story did not contain the statement — aired by Fox News on Saturday — that the transition had asked the general to stay until inauguration day was over, but it was the general who decided to quit. According to the Fox News report, “It appears the general would rather argue his case in the press.”
Schwartz, who started his Army career in 1976 but has never seen a deployment to a theater of war, was appointed to head the D.C. Guard by George W. Bush in 2008. According to his bio page, he was first commissioned in 1979 and has served his entire career in the D.C. Guard. Schwartz has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Business Management.
This is far from the first time the paper made a big splash with a story only to quietly rewrite it the next day when it found its assertions in question. The Washington Post recently courted charges of “fake news” when it published the shocking story that the Russians hacked and infiltrated the computer systems of a Vermont power plant. By the next day, the paper completely rewrote its story, disavowing that any hack took place.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.The best deal we've ever seen for the Ring Video Doorbell Pro was $185, and it typically sells for closer to $240. Multiple retailers will be offering it for the $200 price point on Black Friday, and the non-pro version will be going for $100. That means you get the pricing of the basic Ring Doorbell, but the enhanced features of the Pro one, how do you beat that?
For just $100 you can be the proud owner of Ring's Video Doorbell Pro, but you'll need to enter now for your chance to be able to buy one at this steep discount.
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With this doorbell, you can see, hear, and speak to anyone at your door using your smartphone, tablet, or computer. It has a built-in wide-angle lens, microphone, and speaker. No more wondering who is at your door - just use your free Ring app and you'll be able to see them. It connects to your existing doorbell connection and home Wi-Fi network, and you can use it with Alexa devices as well. This is the most advanced model that Ring makes. Thanks to the motion detection and infrared vision, you'll even be able to see if someone nefarious comes along. It features four interchangeable faceplates to match your home decor, and your purchase is protected for life.
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It's got 4 out of 5 stars based on over 9,000 customer reviews and it's the #1 bestselling doorbell kit on Amazon.
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Team Thrifter has been planning this for weeks. We have a limited quantity available for this promotion. We know this deal will be popular, and we'd like for our dedicated readers to be able to purchase it. In an effort to prevent eBay scalpers and drive-by sales from depleting stock in the blink of an eye, we decided the fairest way to distribute the doorbuster is to choose buyers at random..
Fill in the widget above if you're interested in getting in on this deal. You can enter now! We will stop accepting entries at the end of the day on Thursday, November 16th. The morning of Friday the 17th, we'll randomly draw a selection of people. If your name is drawn, you'll receive an email from us with a unique coupon code. Head to this listing at B&H Photo to redeem your promo code. After you receive your email, you'll have until the end of the day on Friday, November 17th to use your coupon; if it isn't used, it will be voided and we'll draw a new winner for your spot! That means if you aren't part of the first batch of names drawn, you'll be placed on a waitlist. We'll randomly draw names from the waitlist as needed and notify winners via email until our supply is depleted.
Getting your name into the pool is super simple. You'll just need to subscribe to our awesome daily newsletter (which you already are, right?!). Since this is such a hot deal and the demand will be high, there is a strict limit of one doorbuster per person.
We hope you're just as stoked as we are about this doorbuster! After you put your name in the virtual hat below, keep an eye on your email the morning of the 17th! Make sure you check out the rest of the doorbusters, deals, circulars, and shopping news over at Thrifter's Black Friday headquarters. Good luck!When the neonatal staff at Poole Hospital in Dorset, England heard about groundbreaking research showing that snuggling crocheted octopuses might make their preemies feel safer and fare better, they were naturally intrigued.
According to the Poole Hospital website, the idea originated in Denmark, where researchers found that preemies who cuddled up with these cute octopus lovies in their incubators had more regular heartbeats, better breathing, and higher levels of oxygen in their blood. Not only that, but these babies were also less likely to pull out their monitors and tubes.
And here’s why: The tentacles of the octopus apparently remind these babies of their mom’s umbilical cords, and the soft knit bodies of the cuddly creatures are said remind them of the womb.
Poole Hospital decided to give it a go, and has started a project where they will be gifting these crocheted octopuses to their littlest patients. Each preemie family will receive a special gift-wrapped octopus, along with an instruction card explaining what the project is and the octopuses’ proper use and care.
“When we heard about the difference a cuddly octopus can make to our tiny babies we were impressed and, after research, eager to introduce them to our little patients,” Daniel Lockyer, a neonatal services matron at the hospital, shared on its website. “It’s incredible that something so simple can comfort a baby and help them feel better.”
And the parents of their preemie patients are seeing what a difference the octopuses are making for their sweet babies. Kat Smith, who gave birth to 28 week old twins this past November, says that her babies have found great comfort in the knitted cuties.
“It’s a very scary time. You can’t comprehend just how small and fragile they are. The staff have been absolutely phenomenal,” Smith told her local paper, Bournemouth Echo.
Smith said her babies quickly fell in love with their gifted octopuses, and that she sees the positive effects they have on her babies. “One of the nurses brought in the octopus and explained about the idea,” Smith shared, “The girls absolutely love them. When they are asleep they hold onto the tentacles tightly. Normally they would be in the womb and would play with the umbilical cord so the octopuses make them feel grounded and safe. They really are beautiful.”
Additionally, Smith feels confident that these octopuses have contributed to her babies’ good health. “My miracle girls are now two weeks old and though they have a few conditions associated with premature birth, they are doing really well,” Smith tells Bournemouth Echo.
The hospital says it is in need of more crocheted octopuses and is accepting donations. The hospital has a crochet pattern in mind for their babies (found here), and specifies that the dolls must be 100% cotton with tentacles no longer than 22 cm. The hospital will sterilize each octopus before giving them to their babies.
The hope is to have cuddly octopuses for each and every one of their preemies — and so far the donations seem to be pouring in.
“We’re very grateful for all donations of crochet octopi and we’re sure the families who use our service will be too,” the hospital states on its website, adding that crocheted octopuses can be delivered to the reception area of the maternity unit at the hospital.
Article Posted 2 years AgoThe backpack–part of a new line of boots, bags, and t-shirts made by Timberland–looks like it’s made from canvas. But the material is 50% recycled plastic, sourced from a place that both has excess trash and a desperate need for jobs.
“It just so happens that we have this enormous resource that exists, and it just seems to be locked up in some of the toughest parts of the world,” Ian Rosenberger, CEO of Thread, the certified B Corporation that creates the fabric used in the collection, tells Co.Exist.
In Haiti, for the fabric made for Timberland, more than 1,300 people collected plastic bottles, and sold them to 50 Haitian-owned and operated collection centers that Thread partners with.
The process to turn a bottle into fabric is fairly simple: the plastic is mechanically broken down into flakes, put through something that looks like a Play-Doh extruder, and then rolled and manipulated into bales that can be spun into fabric. Plastic bottles are made from oil; so is polyester. When a bottle is recycled into fabric, the end result looks the same as if it had come from fossil fuels (it can also be recycled into other products, such as printer cartridges).
“It is the same as virgin polyester,” says Rosenberger. “But because it comes from these areas, it’s actually helping people as opposed to destroying the environment. It puts us in the position where we can talk about some of the amazing things it’s providing for folks, namely jobs.”
The polyester can also be blended with cotton, as in the case of the Timberland products.AP Photo Bernie Sanders does an impression of Donald Trump
Bernie Sanders took a moment during an interview with the Des Moines Register's editorial board on Thursday to give his best impression of Donald Trump.
The Vermont senator, in response to a question about whether Trump could also say he's waging a political revolution, said that he and the Republican presidential candidate didn't actually have much in common.
Story Continued Below
"Not really," Sanders said. "Is Donald Trump bringing big crowds? Yes, he is."
And then Sanders went into his Trump voice.
"But essentially what Trump is saying is, 'Hey, I'm the smartest guy in the history of the world and I'm tough and anyone who disagrees with me I'm going to take on, even the Des Moines Register here,'" Sanders said, sparking chuckles from some of the editorial board.
"Kareem Abdul Jabbar, you may have noticed this just the other day," Sanders continued, referring to an article in the Washington Post. "And Kareem was making the point, and Trump confirmed the point — he starts personal attacks against Kareem Abdul Jabbar because Kareem disagreed with him. And that is a profound difference."
Sanders then got a bit more serious.
"What I am saying is, I can't do it alone," Sanders continued. "Don't just vote for me. I appreciate your vote [but] you've got to be with me the day after the election because there are some very powerful people and institutions we have got to take on," Sanders continued. "What Trump is saying [is], 'Hey, I'll take care of it. I can do it all myself. That's a pretty profound difference, I think."I’ve had the ML implementation for a heap around for a bit but I hadn’t had time to post it. So this blog post will go through it and some of the main ideas. As usual the complete.sml can be found at the symfun github repo
What is a heap?
Let’s get started by discussing a heap, which we briefly mentioned (but not really) when we talked about priority queues. First off: we are discussing the data structure called heap, not the name given to a portion of memory.
You can start thinking about the heap as a tree. Each node can have at most 2 children (we can call these the left and right children) and, with the exception of the root node, 1 parent. Now, the interesting part about heaps is that these nodes aren’t just placed willy-nilly in our heap, but rather, they maintain what is called the “heap property”. There are 2 kinds of heaps, min-heaps and max-heaps, each with a slight variant of the property. The max-heap property states that a parent node must be larger than either children nodes, and similarly, the min-heap property states that a parent node must be smaller than either children node. Now, something we had not yet mentioned, but is critical, is that the children of a given node are themselves heaps and thus guaranteed to hold the heap-property (as long as we are careful about insertion etc).
So we get a couple of nice things “for free” in a heap, for example, we obtain some information regarding ordered statistics, meaning we have some sense of where the largest, second largest, third largest elements etc (in the case of a max-heap) lie within our heap. Let’s assume we have a max-heap. We know that the largest element MUST be at the root. Why is that? For the heap property to hold, all parents must be larger than their children. Given that their children are heaps as well, this in turn implies that an ancestor node is larger than all it’s descendants.
Let’s assume we number our nodes as follows: our root node is 0, its left child is 1 and its right child is 2. We can guarantee that the second largest element in the heap is in position 1 or 2, but we cannot state for certain which one. Unlike a binary tree, the heap imposes no restrictions in terms of sibling nodes. As long as the relationship to the parent node holds, the children node can be equal, or one larger than the other but with no guaranteed position. This in turn implies that while we have information along a path in the heap, we do not have information to compare 2 separate branches.
Things are slightly more interesting if we want to think about the possible positions for the third largest element. We know for sure it cannot be at position 0, as that is reserved for the largest element. Now, by the argument we made in our prior paragraph, the third largest element could be in position 1 or 2 (and the other position would be occupied by the second largest element). Note that the third largest element could also be a child of the second largest element (which means it could be in either children of node 1 or either children of node 2). More generally, we can see that the nth largest element must be in a node within the first log2(n) “levels” of our tree (the root being considered level 0), excluding the root node (unless n=1, in which case that is its only possible position).
Why are heaps interesting?
The interesting part about heaps is that they allow certain operations to take place with a reduced complexity when compared to other data structures. For example, we can add elements to our heap and remove elements from it in O(log N), which can be faster than what is achievable in other structures (for example, recall that our linked-list priority queue implementation had linear time insertion). How does the heap accomplish this? Well, it is mainly the result of 2 of its characteristics.
First: our heap is structured as a tree where each node (with the exception of the leaves) has 2 children. Now, what does this mean in practical terms? Consider the following, let’s say we number our tree starting from the root (0) and progressing in a breadth first manner, meaning, we number elements at each “level” before progressing to the next level. So the children of 0 would be 1 and 2. Now the children of 1 would be 3/4 and those of 2 would be 5/6, and so forth.
Now, let’s say we had a linked list and want to reach element number 6 and we must begin our search at the first element (the root 0), how many steps does it take to reach our target? 0->1->2 ….->6 that is 6 steps. Now, let’s assume our data is not structured as list but rather as a tree (as it is in a heap), how many steps does it take now? 0->2->6, that’s 2 steps! That is a hell of a speed up. Now, this of course assumes that our tree is balanced, which informally means we didn’t create a super deep branch but rather “spread” out the data across the branches, filling each “level” before we progress to the next.
Second: we now have information about the underlying data in our structure. We know that each parent is larger than its children. We know the largest element is at the root (in a max-heap).
The effect of these 2 factors will be clear when we walk through the ML implementation.
ML: heaps heaps heaps
We take advantage of ML’s rich type system to create our own type, called a heap. We do so using a datatype called heap, which has 2 data constructors: Empty and H of … Our H data constructor takes 4 elements: an int, an element for our heap and 2 children, which in turn are heaps.
datatype 'a heap = Empty | H of int * 'a * 'a heap * 'a heap;
We have that int at the start to keep track of the number of nodes under a given branch in our heap. We need this to make sure we keep our tree balanced. In an imperative implementation (as we will do in java), we might have our heap be an array and thus we could simply keep track of next open slot where we should be putting elements, however, in our functional implementation we don’t have this and must gain this information as we traverse our heap to find the empty slot.
We have a simple “constructor” for a a heap node. It takes an element e and wraps it in our data constructor.
(* construct a node for the heap *) fun make_node e = H(1, e, Empty, Empty);
We include a simple function to extract the count of descendants from a node (the int in our H of quadruple). While we could have simply used pattern matching for this in our code, having a quick function made the implementation cleaner.
(* how many elements are in the tree rooted at x *) fun get_size Empty = 0 | get_size (H(n, _, _, _)) = n ;
Let’s start with an insertion.
Under a traditional, array-based implementation, one possible way of inserting an element is to put it into the current available slot (which you keep track of as you add more elements). You then let the element “float up”, meaning, you swap it with its parent if the heap property does not hold and you continue to do so until it arrives at a spot where it holds. The complexity of this operation is log N. Why is that? Consider that if you for some reason inserted the largest possible (or smallest possible in the case of a min-heap) element in a heap, you might have to swap all the way to the root! How many steps would that be? Well, we know that each parent can have 2 children, right? So if we are node index X, we can count the number of steps to the node by figuring out what “level” of the tree that node is in. We can very simply do that by dividing repeatedly by 2 until we get to 1. And we have a quick way of stating that: log base 2! I confess that I didn’t really “get” log until I started dealing with trees and then it became apparent how useful it is for daily activities.
Our functional implementation starts at the root instead, as we have no “marker” for the next available spot. We then float down the element to the appropriate slot (so we must reach a leaf for an empty spot, so our implementation is always log N, not just log N in the worst case scenario), performing any swappings necessary along the way
(* insert a value into the heap *) fun insert lte e Empty = make_node e | insert lte e (node as H(n, r, left, right)) = let val bal_ins = insert0 (get_size left <= get_size right) lte (* insert into branch with less elems, to keep balance *) in if lte(e, r) then bal_ins e node else bal_ins r (H(n, e, left, right)) end and insert0 in_left lte e (H(n, root, left, right)) = if in_left then H(n + 1, root, insert lte e left, right) else H(n + 1, root, left, insert lte e right) ;
Our function takes a predicate lte (so that we are not restricted to a specific type), which compares whether the first argument is less than the second argument (we can simply provide a greater than operation if we wanted a min-heap instead). It also takes the element we wish to insert and a heap into which we want to insert it. We define a local operation called bal_ins (short for balanced insert) which decides whether we will insert into the left or the right branch by comparing the number of nodes underneath each and choosing the one with less nodes (or the left if both have an equal number). This in turn makes use of a mutually recursive function called insert0. Finally, we compare the new element to this root and make sure our insert maintains the heap property. We continue inserting e down the tree if the heap property holds otherwise we make e the new root and recursively insert the old root instead.
The next natural operation would be to take something out of our heap. We will implement a remove function that returns the root element and a heap without that root.
fun rem lte Empty = (NONE, Empty) | rem lte (heap as H(_, r, _, _)) = (SOME r, move_up lte heap) ;
In the case of an empty heap we return the option NONE as we have done before and the empty heap. If the heap is non-empty, then we return the root and a new heap which has been manipulated to make sure the heap property holds. In a traditional imperative implementation, one would traditionally store the root value in a variable, then swap the last element in the heap with our root, decrease the valid size of the heap (ie move our “next slot” marker) and then apply a recursive procedure at the root to make sure the heap property is maintained. This recursive procedure has a worst-case complexity of log N, as we might have moved up the smallest element in a max-heap and need to let it “float down” to a leaf.
Our functional implementation is a similar idea, however, it always has complexity log N, not just in the worst case scenario, as we effectively “move” one of the branches in our heap up, which means we swap up log N nodes.
(* if we remove the root of a subnode, we need to move one of the branches up to replace *) fun move_up lte Empty = Empty | move_up lte (H(_, _, Empty, Empty)) = Empty | move_up lte (H(n, _, left as H(_, le, _, _), Empty)) = H(n - 1, le, move_up lte left, Empty) | move_up lte (H(n, _, Empty, right as H(_, re, _, _))) = H(n - 1, re, Empty, move_up lte right) | move_up lte (H(n, _, left as H(_, le, _, _), right as H(_, re, _, _))) = if lte(le, re) then H(n - 1, re, left, move_up lte right) else H(n - 1, le, move_up lte left, right) ;
If our heap is empty or a leaf, the result of “moving up” the branch is just the empty heap. Now, if our heap has only 1 branch, then we simply move that branch up. Note that we decrease the count of nodes underneath. Now, if we have 2 children, both non-empty, we need to compare the value of the left and right nodes and move up the larger (if we’re working with a max-heap) of the 2 to become the root and recursively move up its descendants.
Now making a heap is quite easy, we can start with an empty tree and fold over a list, inserting each into the heap using our insert function.
fun make_heap lte ls = foldl (fn (e, h) => insert lte e h) Empty ls;
We won’t go into why, but the complexity of this function is not N*log N as one might expect (that is a valid upper bound but we can tighten it up). It’s actually O(N).
Heap sort in turn is consists of constantly removing elements from the root and maintaing the heap.
fun heapsort0 lte Empty = [] | heapsort0 lte heap = let val (SOME e, new_heap) = rem lte heap in e::heapsort0 lte new_heap end; fun heapsort lte ls = heapsort0 lte (make_heap lte ls);
We build the heap and then apply the “heavy lifting function” heapsort0. Heapsort0 takes the root element, gives us a new heap without that element and then recursively applies the heapsort0 function to the new heap, and “conses” the element to the result. This means that our heapsort returns a decreasing ordered list for a max-heap and an increasing-ordered list for a min-heap.
- heapsort op>= [4,7,1,0, ~10]; val it = [~10,0,1,4,7] : int list - heapsort op<= [4,7,1,0, ~10]; val it = [7,4,1,0,~10] : int list
Finally, for funnsies, we have a quick print heap function that performs depth-first traversal and prints out the element at each node a heap. It takes a toString function that creates a string representation of our heap elements (Int.toString does just fine for our int heap) and a heap.
fun print_heap0 spaces toString Empty = TextIO.print(spaces ^ "*
") | print_heap0 spaces toString (H(_, root, left, right)) = let val next_print = print_heap0 (spaces ^ " ") toString in (TextIO.print (spaces ^ toString root ^ "
"); next_print left; next_print right ) end ; fun print_heap toString heap = print_heap0 "" toString heap;
Note that there are various pitfalls to this implementation. Namely, our comparison function is provided anew for each (or most) functions relating to heaps. This is not only a nuisance but also dangerous. There is no guarantee that we give it the same function in each call, and we could thus wreck havoc on the structure. In real life, we would implement heaps using a functor, that would take a type variable and a comparison function, which we would then make sure to use for all functions in the structure outputted. Additionally, we might want to hide the data constructors associated with out heap datatype. We only want valid heaps to be built with those constructors, exposing them lets others use them arbitrarily.
I really like how the ML code is clear (or at least clearer than other implementations). The polymorphism is great (we can put anything we want in our heap). And it was quite simple to write.
That’s it for now. I’ve coded up the Java version but haven’t cleaned it up so that might have to wait a week or so.
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they slept.[1] She closed the curtains, turned out the lights, and returned to bed.[5]
At 1:00 a.m., Jennie was again awakened by a sound of an object hitting the house's roof with a loud bang, then a rolling noise.[1] After hearing nothing further, she went back to sleep. After another half hour she woke up again, smelling smoke. When she got up again she found that the room George used for his office was on fire, around the telephone line and fuse box.[7] She woke him and he in turn woke his older sons.[2]
Both parents and four of their children—Marion, Sylvia, John and George Jr—escaped the house. They frantically yelled to the children upstairs but heard no response; they could not go up there as the stairway itself was already aflame.[4] John Sodder said in his first police interview after the fire that he went up to the attic to alert his siblings sleeping there, though he later changed his story to say that he only called up there and did not actually see them.[7]
Efforts to find, aid, and rescue the children were unexpectedly complicated. The phone did not work, so Marion ran to a neighbor's to call the fire department. A driver on the nearby road had also seen the flames and called from a nearby tavern; they were unsuccessful either because they could not reach the operator[4] or because the phone there turned out to be broken. Either the neighbor or the passing motorist was eventually successful in reaching the fire department from another phone in the center of town.[6]
George, barefoot,[5] climbed the wall and broke open an attic window, cutting his arm in the process. He and his sons intended to use a ladder to the attic to rescue the other children, but it was not in its usual spot resting against the house and could not be found anywhere nearby. A water barrel that could have been used to extinguish the fire was frozen solid. George then tried to pull both of the trucks he used in his business up to the house and use them to climb to the attic window, but neither of them would start despite having worked perfectly during the previous day.[1]
Frustrated, the six Sodders who had escaped had no choice but to watch the house burn down and collapse over the next 45 minutes. They assumed the other five children had perished in the blaze. The fire department, low on manpower due to the war and relying on individual firefighters to call each other, did not respond until later that morning.[2] Chief F.J. Morris said the next day that the already slow response was further hampered by his inability to drive the fire truck, requiring that he wait until someone who could drive was available.[6]
The firefighters, one of whom was a brother of Jennie's,[8] could do little but look through the ashes that were left in the Sodders' basement. By 10:00 a.m., Morris told the Sodders that they had not found any bones, as might have been expected if the other children had been in the house as it burned.[1] According to another account, they did find a few bone fragments and internal organs, but chose not to tell the family;[2] it has also been noted by modern fire professionals that their search was cursory at best.[8] Nevertheless, Morris believed that the five children unaccounted for had died in the fire, suggesting it had been hot enough to burn their bodies completely.[1]
Aftermath [ edit ]
The chief told George Sodder to leave the site undisturbed so the state fire marshal's office could conduct a more thorough investigation. However, after four days he and his wife could not bear the sight anymore, so George bulldozed 5 feet (1.5 m) of dirt over the site with the intention of converting it to a memorial garden for the lost children. The local coroner convened an inquest the next day, which held that the fire was an accident caused by "faulty wiring".[4] Among the jurors was the man who had threatened George Sodder that his house would be burned down and his children "destroyed" in retribution for his anti-Mussolini remarks.[1]
Death certificates for the five children were issued December 30.[6] The local newspaper contradicted itself, stating that all the bodies had been found, but then later in the same story saying that only part of one body was recovered. George and Jennie Sodder were too grief-stricken to attend the funeral on January 2, 1946, although their surviving children did.[7]
Family questions about the official account [ edit ]
Not long afterward, as they began to rebuild their lives, the Sodders started to question all the official findings about the fire. They wondered why, if it had been caused by an electrical problem, the family's Christmas lights had remained on throughout the fire's early stages, when the power should have gone out. Then they found the ladder that had been missing from the side of the house on the night of the fire at the bottom of an embankment 75 feet (23 m) away.[6]
A telephone repairman told the Sodders that the house's phone line had not been burned through in the fire, as they had initially thought, but cut by someone who had been willing and able to climb 14 feet (4.3 m) up the pole and reach 2 feet (61 cm) away from it to do so. A man whom neighbors had seen stealing a block and tackle from the property around the time of the fire was identified and arrested. He admitted to the theft,[5] and claimed he had been the one who cut the phone line, thinking it was a power line, but denied having anything to do with the fire. However, no record identifying him exists, and why he would have wanted to cut any utility lines to the Sodder house while stealing the block and tackle has never been explained.[4] Jennie Sodder said in 1968 that if he had cut the power line, she and her husband, along with their other four children, would never have been able to make it out of the house.[5]
Jennie Sodder also had trouble accepting Morris's belief that all traces of the children's bodies had been burned completely in the fire. Many of the household appliances had been found, still recognizable, in the ash,[1] along with fragments of the tin roof.[6] She contrasted the results of the fire with a newspaper account of a similar house fire that she read around the same time that killed a family of seven; skeletal remains of all the victims were reported to have been found in that case.[5] She burned small piles of animal bones to see if they would be completely consumed; none ever were. An employee of a local crematorium she contacted told her that human bones remain even after bodies are burned at 2,000 °F (1,090 °C) for two hours, far longer and hotter than the house fire could have been.[1]
The Sodders' trucks' failure to start was also considered. George Sodder believed they had been tampered with, perhaps by the same man who stole the block and tackle and cut the phone line. However, one of his sons-in-law told the Charleston Gazette-Mail in 2013 that he had come to believe that Sodder and his sons might have, in their haste to start the trucks, flooded the engines.[7]
Some accounts have suggested the wrong-number phone call to the Sodder house might have also somehow been connected to the fire and disappearance of the children.[6] However, investigators later located the woman who had made the call. She confirmed it had been a wrong number on her part.[8]
Subsequent developments [ edit ]
As spring approached, the Sodders, as they had said they would, planted flowers in the soil bulldozed over the house. Jennie Sodder tended it carefully for the rest of her life.[7] However, further developments in early 1946 reinforced the family's belief that the children they were memorializing might, in fact, be alive somewhere.[6]
There was evidence that supported their belief that the fire had not started in the electrical system and was instead set deliberately. The driver of a bus that passed through Fayetteville late Christmas Eve said he had seen some people throwing "balls of fire" at the house.[4] A few months later, when the snow had melted, Sylvia found a small, hard, dark-green, rubber ball-like object in the brush nearby. George, recalling his wife's account of a loud thump on the roof before the fire, said it looked like a "pineapple bomb" hand grenade or some other incendiary device used in combat. The family later claimed that, contrary to the fire marshal's conclusion, the fire had started on the roof, although there was by then no way to prove it.[6]
Other witnesses claimed to have seen the children themselves. One woman who had been watching the fire from the road said she had seen some of them peering out of a passing car while the house was burning. Another woman, at a rest stop between Fayetteville and Charleston, said she had served them breakfast the next morning, and noted the presence of a car with Florida license plates in the rest stop's parking lot as well.[1]
The Sodders hired a private investigator named C.C. Tinsley from the nearby town of Gauley Bridge[1] to look into the case. He learned that the insurance salesman who had threatened them with a fire a year before over George's remarks about Mussolini had been on the coroner's jury that ruled the fire an accident, and told this to the Sodders. He also learned of rumors around Fayetteville that despite his report to the Sodders that no remains had been found in the ashes, Morris had found a heart, which he later packed into a metal box and secretly buried it.[1]
Morris had apparently confessed this to a local minister, who confirmed it to George Sodder. Sodder and Tinsley went to Morris and confronted him with this news. He agreed to show the two where he had buried it, and they dug it up. They took what they found inside the box to a local funeral director, who after examining it told them it was in reality beef liver, very fresh, that had never been exposed to fire. Later, more rumors circulated around Fayetteville—that Morris had afterwards admitted the box with the liver had indeed not come from the fire originally. He had supposedly placed it there in the hope that the Sodders would find it and be satisfied that the missing children had indeed died in the fire.[1]
1949 excavation [ edit ]
George Sodder did not wait for reports of sightings to come in. Sometimes he made them himself. After seeing a girl in a magazine picture of young ballet dancers in New York City who looked like one of his missing daughters, Betty, he drove all the way to the girl's school, where his repeated demands to see the girl himself were refused.[1]
He also tried to interest the FBI in investigating what he considered a kidnapping. Director J. Edgar Hoover personally responded to his letters. "Although I would like to be of service", he wrote, "the matter related appears to be of local character and does not come within the investigative jurisdiction of this bureau." If the local authorities requested the bureau's assistance, he added, he would of course direct agents to assist, but the Fayetteville police and fire departments declined to do so.[1]
In August 1949, George was able to persuade Oscar Hunter, a Washington, D.C. pathologist, to supervise a new search through the dirt at the house site. After a very thorough search, artifacts including a dictionary that had belonged to the children and some coins were found. Several small bone fragments were unearthed, determined to have been human vertebrae.[1]
They were sent to Marshall T. Newman, a specialist at the Smithsonian Institution.[7] They were confirmed to be lumbar vertebrae, all from the same person. "Since the transverse recesses are fused, the age of this individual at death should have been 16 or 17 years", Newman's report said. "The top limit of age should be about 22 since the centra, which normally fuse at 23, are still unfused". Thus, given this age range, it was not very likely that these bones were from any of the five missing children, since the oldest, Maurice, had been 14 at the time (although the report allowed that vertebrae of a boy his age sometimes were advanced enough to appear to be at the lower end of the range).[1]
Newman added that the bone showed no sign of exposure to flame. Further, he agreed that it was "very strange" that those bones were the only ones found, since a wood fire of such short duration should have left full skeletons of all of the children behind. The report concluded that the vertebrae had, instead, most likely come from the dirt that Sodder had bulldozed over the site.[1] Later, Tinsley supposedly confirmed that the bone fragments had come from a cemetery in nearby Mount Hope, but could not explain why they had been taken from there or how they came to be at the fire site.[4] The Smithsonian returned them to Sodder in September 1949, according to its records; their current location is unknown.[7]
The investigation and its findings attracted national attention, and the West Virginia Legislature held two hearings on the case in 1950. Afterwards, however, Governor Okey L. Patteson and state police superintendent W.E. Burchett told the Sodders the case was "hopeless" and closed it at the state level.[1] The FBI decided it had jurisdiction as a possible interstate kidnapping, but dropped the case after two years of following fruitless leads.[4]
Continuing family investigation [ edit ]
With the end of official efforts to resolve the case, the Sodders did not give up hope. They had flyers printed up with pictures of the children, offering a $5,000 reward (soon doubled) for information that would have settled the case for even one of them. In 1952, they put up a billboard at the site of the house (and another along U.S. Route 60 near Ansted[4][6]) with the same information. It would in time become a landmark for traffic through Fayetteville on U.S. Route 19 (today State Route 16).[1][2][7]
Their efforts soon brought another reported sighting of the children after the fire. Ida Crutchfield,[8] a woman who ran a Charleston hotel, claimed to have seen the children approximately a week afterwards. "I do not remember the exact date", she said in a statement. The children had come in, around midnight, with two men and two women, all of whom appeared to her to be "of Italian extraction". When she attempted to speak with the children, "[o]ne of the men looked at me in a hostile manner; he turned around and began talking rapidly in Italian. Immediately, the whole party stopped talking to me". She recalled that they left the hotel early the next morning.[1] Investigators today do not, however, consider her story credible as she had only first seen photos of the children two years after the fire, five years before she came forward.[8]
George Sodder followed up leads in person, traveling to the areas from where tips had come. A woman in St. Louis claimed Martha was being held in a convent there. A bar patron in Texas claimed to have overheard two other people making incriminating statements about a fire that happened on Christmas Eve in West Virginia some years before. None of those proved significant.[1] When George heard later that a relative of Jennie's in Florida had children that looked similar to his, the relative had to prove the children were his own before George was satisfied.[8]
In 1967, Sodder went to the Houston area to investigate another tip. A woman there had written to the family, saying that Louis Sodder had revealed his true identity to her one night after having too much to drink. She believed that he and Maurice were both living in Texas somewhere. But Sodder and his son-in-law, Grover Paxton, were unable to speak with her. Police there were able to help them find the two men she had indicated, but they denied being the missing sons. Paxton said years later that doubts about that denial lingered in Sodder's mind for the rest of his life.[7]
Photograph received by the family in 1967, believed by them to be an adult Louis
Another letter that they received that year brought the Sodders what they believed was the most credible evidence that at least Louis was still alive. One day Jennie found in the mail a letter addressed to her, postmarked in Central City, Kentucky, with no return address. Inside was a picture of a young man around 30 with features strongly resembling Louis's, who would have been in his 30s if he had survived. On the back was written:
Louis Sodder I love brother Frankie Ilil boys A90132 or 35[5]
They hired another private detective to go to Central City and look into the missive, but he never reported back to the Sodders and they were unable to locate him afterwards.[1] The picture nonetheless gave them hope. They added it to the billboard (leaving Central City out of it and any other published information out of fear that Louis might come to harm) and put an enlargement of it over their fireplace.[1]
George Sodder admitted to the Charleston Gazette-Mail late the next year that the lack of information had been "like hitting a rock wall—we can't go any further". He nevertheless vowed to continue.[5] "Time is running out for us", he admitted in another interview around that time. "But we only want to know. If they did die in the fire, we want to be convinced. Otherwise, we want to know what happened to them".[1]
George died in 1969. Jennie and her surviving children—except John, who never talked about the night of the fire except to say that the family should accept it and get on with their lives[8]—continued to seek answers to their questions about the missing children's fate. After George's death, Jennie stayed in the family home, putting up fencing around it and adding additional rooms. For the rest of her life, she wore black in mourning and tended the garden at the site of the former house. After her death in 1989, the family finally took the weathered, worn billboard down.[1]
The surviving Sodder children, joined by their own children, continued to publicize the case and investigate leads. They, along with older Fayetteville residents, have theorized that the Sicilian Mafia was trying to extort money from George Sodder and the children may have been taken by someone who knew about the planned arson and said they would be safe if they left the house.[1] They were possibly taken back to Italy.[2] If the children had survived all those years and were aware that their parents and siblings had survived too, the family believes, they may have avoided contact in order to keep them from harm.[1]
As of 2015, Sylvia Sodder Paxton, the youngest in the family, is the only one still alive of the surviving children who were in the house on the night of the fire, which she says is her earliest memory. "I was the last one of the kids to leave home", she recalled to the Gazette-Mail in 2013. She and her father often stayed up late, talking about what might have happened. "I experienced their grief for a long time". She still believes that her siblings survived that night, and quietly assists with efforts to find them and publicize the case.[7] Her daughter said in 2006: "She promised my grandparents she wouldn't let the story die, that she would do everything she could".[6]
In the 21st century, those efforts have come to include online forums like websleuths.com in addition to media coverage.[4][6] The increase in the latter has led some who have examined the case to believe that the children did, in fact, die in 1945. George Bragg, a local author who wrote about the case in his 2012 book West Virginia's Unsolved Murders, believes that John Sodder was telling the truth in his original account, when he said he tried to physically awaken his siblings before fleeing the house. He allows that that conclusion may still not be correct. "Logic tells you they probably did burn up in the fire, but you can't always go by logic".[7]
Stacy Horn, who did a segment on the case for National Public Radio around its 60th anniversary in 2005, also believes the children's death in the fire is the most plausible solution. In a contemporaneous post on her blog with material she had to cut from her story for time, she noted that the fire had continued to smolder all night after the house collapsed and that two hours was not enough time to search the ash thoroughly. Even if it had been, the firefighters may not have known what to look for. "However", she said, "there is enough genuine weirdness about this whole thing... that if someday it is learned that the children did not die in the fire I won't be shocked".[8]
See also [ edit ]Starting line of the 117th running of the Boston Marathon, in Hopkinton, Mass., Monday, April 15, 2013.
Local, state and federal agencies were on hand to unveil the latest security measures that will be in place for the Boston Marathon.
Runners are asked to drop gear off, such as a change of clothing, on Boston Common the morning of the marathon in a B.A.A.-provided clear plastic bag before getting on a bus to Hopkinton. However, the B.A.A. says runners can still have a fanny pack and standard "fuel belt."
Spectators along the route of the April 21 event are discouraged from bringing backpacks, over-the-shoulder bags and large coolers to the event. Personal items should be carried in small, clear plastic bags, officials said.
Several new policies have already been released, including checkpoints for spectators and prohibiting unregistered "bandit" runners from joining the race.
Three people were killed when two bombs went off near the finish line during last year's marathon. The blasts injured more than 260.
Twice as many police officers as last year will line the route in eight municipalities. There will be at least 3,500 officers. Police are expecting about 36,000 runners and up to a million spectators.The Australian government has dropped the contentious system of ranking academic journals and assessing academics based on their ability to publish in the top-ranked publications.
Previously, journals were ranked either A*, A, B or C.
The decision was announced as part of a review of the way the next Excellence of Research in Australia (ERA) exercise would be conducted by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
The ERA is the method by which academic units are assessed and helps informs which research projects receive funding.
Here is a range of expert views on the changes:
Kim Carr, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (in a statement to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee)
I have approved a set of enhancements recommended by the ARC that deal substantially with those sector concerns while maintaining the rigour and comparability of the ERA exercise. These improvements are:
The refinement of the journal quality indicator to remove the prescriptive A*, A, B and C ranks;
The introduction of a journal quality profile, showing the most frequently published journals for each unit of evaluation;
Increased capacity to accommodate multi-disciplinary research to allow articles with significant content from a given discipline to be assigned to that discipline, regardless of where it is published (this method was successfully trialed in ERA 2010 within Mathematical Sciences);
Alignment across the board of the low volume threshold to 50 outputs (bringing peer-reviewed disciplines in line with citation disciplines, up from 30 outputs);
The relaxation of rules on the attribution of patents, plant breeders’ rights and registered design, to allow those granted to eligible researchers to also be submitted; and
The modification of fractional staff eligibility requirements to 0.4 FTE (up from 0.1 FTE), while maintaining the right to submit for staff below this threshold where affiliation is shown, through use of a by-line, for instance).
I have also asked the ARC to continue investigating strategies to strengthen the peer review process, including improved methods of sampling and review assignment.
There is clear and consistent evidence that the rankings were being deployed inappropriately within some quarters of the sector, in ways that could produce harmful outcomes, and based on a poor understanding of the actual role of the rankings. One common example was the setting of targets for publication in A and A* journals by institutional research managers.
In light of these two factors – that ERA could work perfectly well without the rankings, and that their existence was focussing ill-informed, undesirable behaviour in the management of research – I have made the decision to remove the rankings, based on the ARC’s expert advice.
The journals lists will still be of great utility and importance, but the removal of the ranks and the provision of the publication profile will ensure they will be used descriptively rather than prescriptively.
These reforms will strengthen the role of the ERA Research Evaluation Committee (REC) members in using their own, discipline-specific expertise to make judgments about the journal publication patterns for each unit of evaluation.
Professor Les Field, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of NSW, Chair of the Deputy Vice-Chacellors Group of the Go8 Universities
In the past, the ARC have published a ranked list of journals (about 30,000 entries) where Australian researchers publish their work. The ARC have decided to scrap the journal rankings - there will be no more A*, A, B or C rankings for journals.
The journal rankings have been one of the most contentious parts of the ERA.
The ARC have decided that they will not be the custodians of the official list of ranked journals. There was probably too much angst, too much pressure and an enormous responsibility to maintain the list. The lobbying around the journal rankings has been very strong.
This will be welcomed in the sector. The journal rankings have (not unexpectedly) also driven some very perverse behaviour within institutions, including:
(i) It was providing incentives to publish in the listed journals rather than in the most appropriate outlets for the disciplines.
(ii) There was pressure to move away from publishing books or in books and towards the listed journals since this is what was being measured and captured by the ERA.
The ARC have opted for more responsibility for their expert review panels. The members of the panels will have the discretion, wisdom and judgement to determine what are the strong, medium or weak research outputs appropriate for the discipline.
There will be concern in some parts of the sector that this moves some of the quality “criteria” for the ERA behind the closed doors of the panels. It places a lot more discretion and responsibility on the panel chairs and the panel members and removes one level of transparency from the process.
This move will actually put a lot more responsibility on the panels. The challenge for the ARC will be to ensure that the panels are well-constituted and to build the confidence of the sector in the panels and their ability to make good judgments in their respective disciplines.
The panels will probably have to expand to ensure that they have expertise and coverage of the disciplines at a finer granularity.
It is not obvious whether there will be feedback or a report or guidance from the panels to indicate what they considered the strongest or weakest of the research outlets in their disciplines.
For all of the criticism levelled at the ERA, the journal rankings did introduce a new level of awareness of the “quality” of research that has been conducted and published in Australia. Until the ERA raised its head, most Australian research metrics simply picked up the volume or quantity of research output. Researchers are now much more conscious of the need to focus on quality (rather than simply volume or quantity) and directly and indirectly, this has shifted the mindset of Australian researchers.
The minister also announced that the minimum (full time equivalent) FTE for staff to be included in the ERA has now been defined as 0.4. That means that a staff member must work at least 2 days a week at an institution for their research output to be counted.
This is a necessary change to prevent some gaming of the system, however it will probably be controversial since we know that there are fractional appointees who do make a very real contribution to our research effort.
Setting this minimum threshold will mean that we really are counting the staff who are seriously committed to the institution.
Professor Bob Williamson, Australian Academy of Science Secretary for Science Policy.
In our recent submission to the Australian Research Council, the Australian Academy of Science argued strongly that key areas such as interdisciplinary research and new research were seriously disadvantaged by journal ranking.
This affected not only areas of science and technology, but also interactions between the sciences and the humanities.
It has been very distressing to see some universities using publications in highly ranked journals as the basis for funding, promotions, and even staff appointments.
The ranking of a journal as A* does not mean every paper in it is first rate, and some very good papers may appear in smaller journals.
People whose work is very relevant to Australian issues rather than internationally, and those in new fields or collaborating between several universities, have been particularly disadvantaged.
We welcomed most features of the ERA, and (the) announcement has removed the single biggest problem.
The integrity of science relies upon this type of peer review. The Academy commends Minister Carr for recognising that this process also should be integral to assessing the quality of Australian research.
Joshua Gans, Professor of Management, Information Economics at University of Melbourne and author of this analysis criticising the changes
There was nothing wrong with focusing on top quality publications. The system was ditched because the government decided they didn’t want that.
Minister Carr announced that the ERA was effectively dead. The journal rankings will be replaced by a new ranking based on “frequency of publication.”
This is so useless a measure I read it as giving up. Of course, I could be wrong and the Government may reward universities based on it, in which case it is one of the most insane measures ever put forward.
What does “frequency of publication” mean? Lots of issues? More Australians publishing there? Either way, how is that a good thing to encourage? Any interpretation sounds crazy.
So they will not say which journals are good but will list where people in a university department publish. How is that different from just reporting publications? What performance is it measuring?
Professor Margaret Sheil, CEO of the Australian Research Council
The journal rankings were just one indicator we looked at in the ERA process.
We know a lot about how to do research assessment and in fact we listened to the committees (that assess academic units) and watched what they do and we asked them about the sort of information they need.
Under the old system, the system used in 2010, say the committee has got a profile saying 10% of this unit group’s journals are in A* and A and 5% are in B and so on. They would also have a lot of other information like peer reviews that they used.
That was a broad metrics that they used, and journals were one indicator.
What they are going to have in the new system is they will have a list of what those top 20 journals are in terms of frequency of publication.
(Frequency of publication) means how often that unit publishes in a journal. For example, (the unit may publish) 40 papers in Australian Law Review and 10 papers in the Journal of International Law and so on.
If you are a scientist and you see a unit that has 20 papers in Science and 10 papers in Nature, you do actually know a lot about the quality (of research being produced by that unit).
The assessments made by the ERA are based on an incredibly rich set of information. What we are doing now is giving them better and more nuanced information.
The sorts of analysis about frequency of journals and how often people are publishing, that’s a conversation that happens in every grant assessment process. It happens in every promotion committee in the country. People say, ‘Where are they getting their work published and is that appropriate for this type of work?’
If you know, which most people working in the field do when they assess journals and grants, you know where this sort of work could get published and the sort of work that has to be at the cutting edge breakthrough to get published in a different type of journal.
The committees know, because they are experts, which journals are higher quality or prestigious.
So, for example, Nature and Science are like the gold standard in science but there are certain areas of science that never get into Nature and Science because they are not of general enough interest.
We at ARC have always said we are open to consultation. We think, for many reasons this will be better. It will be slightly more difficult for universities to predict their outcomes at a whole-of-university level because they don’t have the benefit of a list they can tick off but will be an improvement on balance.
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (in a statement)
The Social Science Academy strongly endorses government’s decision to drop prescriptive journal rankings in the ERA assessment exercise.
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia welcomes the announcements by Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Senator Kim Carr, and Australian Research Council CEO Professor Margaret Sheil who jointly withdrew support for the problematic ranking of journals for the purposes of assessing research contributions of universities and their scholars.
Importantly, this action clears the way for Australian political scientists, legal scholars, economists, demographers and regional studies experts in the social sciences to continue to employ their skills in the interest of Australia in its regional and world context. The ranking of publication outlets based on international prestige had threatened to drive productive researchers away from an Australian research focus in favour of research that would be of interest to countries, or regions, where the highest ranked publication outlets are found. That would not be in the interest of Australia.
In addition, their announcements will now strengthen the incentives for publishers to provide the forums where Australian scholars can attend to the crucial debates regarding immigration and population, taxation and public good, education and health, and the host of other issues that are of national importance.
Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
The process of ranking journals was almost universally condemned by humanities researchers – not only for the contentious rankings of particular journals, but also because of the implications for the conduct of research in the humanities.
The Academy is aware of several institutions who were directing staff to publish only in top ranked journals, despite the fact that the scholarly monograph remains the pre-eminent form of publication in some disciplines.
Given the potential impact on disciplinary research practice, the decision to end the journal ranking system is therefore a significant change for the humanities research community.
It will be vital for the ARC to continue to consult widely across the research community when it develops new indicators of quality in research.
The announcement to end the journal ranking system will help restore the integrity of the ERA process, and the confidence of the sector that the Government remains receptive to the expert advice from the Australian research community.Streamlined Topology Performance
The Streamlined Topology is the ‘hot new thing’ with regards to SharePoint topologies. While the guidance is written for SharePoint 2013, it can be used with SharePoint 2010 as well, with the exception of the Very Low Latency tier. The explanation of this topology is that it provides better performance with low latency for end-user facing services. Let’s demonstrate the Streamlined Topology performance!
This scenario should apply to most Service Applications that are designed to run on the Low Latency tier within the Streamlined Topology. Here, I’m using SSRS simply because it provides an easy-to-access render time (or, end user performance) within the Execution Log.
The key number we’ll be looking at is the TimeRendering value. This value will change depending on which server is processing the report. In this example, SP04 is the Low Latency tier – that is, the server running the Foundation Web service that end users are accessing. The other server is SP05, or Batch tier server. While for example purposes, it also has SSRS installed, it is not the SharePoint server end users are directly interfacing with. This means that the Low Latency tier, SP04, must communicate with the Batch tier in order to gather data to render the Report.
The report created is basic. It includes a Bing Map, a Tablix, and a Matrix. All three are attached to a Data Source with data coming from a SharePoint List on the same Web Application.
With the exception of the default Service Instances and SQL Server Reporting Services, there are no other Service Instances or services running on the SharePoint servers. The virtual machines are running on the same SSD, with the SharePoint 2013 Service Pack 1 VMs allocated 8GB vRAM and 4 vCPUs, while the SQL Server is set with dynamic memory, 2GB startup and 1 vCPU. All servers are running Windows Server 2012 R2 with Update 1.
This example uses the following query against the Reporting Services database in order to collect the performance data.
SELECT InstanceName, TimeStart, TimeEnd, TimeDataRetrieval, TimeProcessing, TimeRendering FROM ExecutionLog3 WHERE ItemPath LIKE '%CountyReport.rdl' AND Source = 'Live' ORDER BY TimeStart DESC
To get a better gauge of performance, each time the Service Instance is moved from one server to another, an Iisreset is performed. In addition, the first three rendering results of each run are discarded due to JIT’ing of assemblies. The Report is not cached and does not have snapshots enabled.
The test will start with the Service Instance SQL Server Reporting Services started on SP05, the Batch Tier, and stopped on SP04, the Low Latency tier.
Using Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 8.1 Update 1 and navigating to the Report directly, the Report is refreshed with Ctrl-F5 in the browser (or, force reload). Again, the first three results are discarded, while keeping the five remaining results.
Here is the raw data for the run on SP05:
Next, the reverse test is performed, starting SSRS on SP04, the Low Latency tier, and stopping SSRS on SP05, the Batch tier.
When SP04 is running SSRS, there is an average reduction in render times of roughly half a second, or 936.8 ms on SP05 versus 574.4 ms on SP04, a difference of 362.4 ms. While this number may not appear to be significant, the Report rendering time feels much faster with SSRS running on SP04. And how a page feels is extremely important for the end user!
This example Report used in this test is basic, but consider more complex reports that you likely have in your environment where the delta would be even higher where rendering performance is crucial.
While the Streamlined Topology model should be a serious consideration, it also requires appropriate allocation of hardware (or virtual machines). |
Niagara Falls. One drives from Huntsville. That's not counting the large number that commute on flights."TORONTO -- At the beginning of the Web era, many search queries were only a few keywords in length. Times change, and Web users are now searching by using longer queries of more than three words.
As Web searching habits are changing, so is search engine giant Google -- with serious implications for how businesses' sites are ranked as well.
At a keynote presentation at the Search Engine Strategies (SES) Toronto conference, Maile Ohye, senior developer programs engineer at Google, explained how Google's "May Day" update -- which actually began impacting search results on April 28 -- changed the way Google indexes so-called 'long-tail" queries, in which a user enters multiple keywords for a search.
The impact of the May Day update has caused the displacement of countless numbers of websites from Google's search index as the relevancy algorithms changed. But Ohye explained to the capacity crowd that Google does hundreds of updates to its search algorithms every year, and that the May Day update was a necessary one to better tackle the long tail of search.
"Some people weren't developing quality content on long search terms," she said. "It wasn't a violation of our guidelines, but it wasn't what we wanted. So for long-tail queries, we now just consider them as all other queries and place as much value on them as we do into shorter queries."
Ohye added that simply having boilerplate copy -- even for longer length keyword searches -- isn't acceptable on websites, as users still want relevance.
"In a nutshell, content is king," Ohye said, adding that the May Day update was just one of many updates Google is working on to improve the relevancy of its algorithm for ranking long-tail content queries.
May Day Versus Caffeine
The May Day update came just ahead of Google's recent Caffeine update to its overall infrastructure, and while both can have a dramatic impact on search rankings, the two efforts differ significantly.
Ohye explained that May Day is a pure ranking change effort to make long-tail queries more relevant, whereas Caffeine is about the actual indexing infrastructure: With Caffeine, Google can take its Web index and have the ability to update one document at time.
As an analogy, Ohye said that before Caffeine, updating the index was like having to do a full load of laundry. With Caffeine, she said, it's like having the ability to wash just a single shirt.
"Caffeine increases document freshness by at least 50 percent," Ohye said. "On a per-document basis, we can now attach more metadata, which provides a deeper way to look at content and can lead to ranking updates more quickly for Google."
Metadata and Social Links in SEO
On the topic of metadata, Ohye said that Google is now once again pulling its search index descriptions, or snippets, from website metadata description information. Ohye noted that for several years, Google considered metatags as a spam technique, but are now again considering meta description information when determining overall search relevancy.
She also addressed how an organization's use of social media to help promote their search engine ranking might help, but it's not the primary route to get better rankings
"It's great to have a Twitter account and a blog to attract readers," Ohye said. "But right now, it's better for webmasters to prioritize and having a great website first."
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.Visitors to MTV’s new online music video site can listen to songs with plenty of crass and vulgar lyrics, but may be surprised to find that certain other language had once been deemed too nasty for broadcast — that is, the names of the file-sharing sites Morpheus, Grokster, Limewire and Kazaa, all of which have been the bane of the music industry.
The foul-mouthed musician swept up by MTV’s speech code is Weird Al Yankovic, whose lyrics to “Don’t Download This Song,” a tongue-in-cheek complaint about file-sharing first released in 2006 included those so-called offensive terms. (Since then, two of those sites — Grokster and Morpheus — have become inactive.)
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In an e-mail message on Sunday, Mr. Yankovic wrote that he had bleeped out the names to the file-sharing sites in his song two years ago, after MTV “told me that they would refuse to air my video” otherwise. “Instead of subtly removing or obscuring the words in the track,” he wrote, “I made the creative decision to bleep them out as obnoxiously as possible, so that there would be no mistake I was being censored.”
He complied, “because I was proud of the song and the accompanying Bill Plympton video, and I wanted to do everything I could to maximize exposure for it.”
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All of this would have been largely forgotten, if not for the introduction last week of mtvmusic.com, a project like Hulu — a partnership among companies including MTV’s parent, Viacom — to wrest control of the delivery of entertainment videos from sites like YouTube. The MTV music site has nearly 20,000 music videos available — once the network’s stock in trade — to play, browse or imbed on other sites.
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The site is still in “beta,” or introductory phase, and perhaps that is why a visitor to the site can quickly search for music lyrics cruder than even the usual litany of gangster rap bravado. Patti Smith, for example, sings a song with a title that can’t be printed and introduces it with an expletive.
A visitor looked up Mr. Yankovic’s song there, heard the bleeps, passed it on to online technology sites like TechDirt blog, and the censorship battle ensued.LAKELAND – The Florida Tropics SC will hit the road for their last weekend of regular season action in the Major Arena Soccer League with three games in three nights Feb. 24-26 and a berth in the post-season potentially on the line.
Florida will play bac- to-back games in Harrisburg Friday and Saturday night, and finish off their first-ever regular season at Syracuse on Sunday.
Should either Harrisburg or Florida sweep the two games, that would lock up a playoff spot for the winner. Should the two split, Florida would have to win against Syracuse, and have Baltimore beat Harrisburg on March 5, the final regular season weekend in the MASL, for the Tropics to earn a playoff berth.
The Tropics and Heat are both 8-9. If the two teams ended with identical records, the first tie breaker would be head-to-head play. The Heat already own wins of 7-4 and 6-2 over Florida this season. All the league playoff information can be found at maslsoccer.com/playoffs.
Florida will head into the weekend after being idle last weekend, and off a sweep of the Syracuse Silver Knights Feb. 10 and 12. The Tropics opened the doubleheader with a tight 3-2 win, and then set a team record for most goals in a game in a 12-10 triumph. Ricardo Diegues had five points in the game (three goals and two assists), and Freddy Moojen also added a hat trick. He also set a team record for fastest goal to start a game, getting the Tropics on the board nine seconds into the first quarter.
Florida is 3-0 against Syracuse this season, including a 7-6 win Nov. 26 triumph, the team's first-ever road win. The Silver Knights come into the weekend with a record of 7-11. The first- place Blast can clinch the regular season eastern division crown by winning any one of their three remaining games. Syracuse still has an outside shot at the playoffs if Harrisburg and Florida split their two games.
Moojen leads the Tropics with 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists), followed by Diegues (13 goals, six assists). Ricardo Carvalho tops the Heat with 22 points (13 goals, nine assists), while Kenardo Forbes and Slavisa Ubiparipovic lead Syracuse with 34 points each (16 goals, 18 assists for both.)
All three games will be broadcast live at www.masl.tv. Tropics fans are invited to special “watch party” at Winner's Circle Sports Bar and Grill (4215 South Florida Ave.) in Lakeland starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday.Cranberry Bliss Cookies
Easy 50 mins
‘Tis the season for cool mornings, warm coffee, and one of my other winter favorites — Cranberry Bliss season at Starbucks!
If any of you have ever tried their heavenly cranberry bliss bars laced with white chocolate and cranberries, you know the reason why these treats fly off the pastry shelves each day. So for my fall baking season this year, I decided to experiment and try translating this favorite into a cookie. Hence the name, “Cranberry Bliss Cookies”!
I started with one of my favorite chewy cookie bases, filled with lots of vanilla, white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Then topped it with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with more cranberries, and drizzled with more white chocolate. I mean seriously — what’s not to love?!?
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Sure enough, they were nothing short of heavenly. Quite sweet, but the extra tart of the cream cheese and cranberries gives just the perfect tart touch to leave you craving just one more. Perfect for dessert, or even a morning treat with your coffee. And definitely…blissful. :)
5 / 5 ( 5 Reviews
Leave a review » Did you make this recipe? Cranberry Bliss Cookies Classic cranberry bliss bars are turned into cookies! Ingredients: For The Cookies: 3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries For The Frosting: 1 (8 oz.) bar cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave or double-boiler
1 tsp. vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
2 cups powdered sugar For The Topping: 1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave or double-boiler Directions: To Make The Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt until well-blended. Set aside. Using an an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating in between to incorporate. Add the vanilla, then reduce the speed to low, and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium, and continue beating until well-combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips and cranberries, and mix until just-combined. (Do not overmix.) Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour. Then place dough by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto a baking sheet that has been prepared with parchment paper, at least 2.5-inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges. Remove pan, and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until cool. Repeat with remaining dough until all cookies are baked. Wait until cookies reach room temperature before adding frosting and toppings. To Make The Frosting: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the cream cheese and melted white chocolate until combined. (**Be sure that your cream cheese REALLY is at room temperature before adding the white chocolate. Otherwise the chocolate could seize up.) Add in the vanilla and mix until combined. Then reduce speed to low and add the powdered sugar. Mix until incorporated. Then use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat once more for 1 minute on medium speed until the frosting is smooth. You can add more powdered sugar for a thicker frosting. Spread the frosting on the cooled cookies. Then immediately sprinkle the frosted cookies with the chopped dried cranberries. And use a fork to drizzle on the frosting, swishing it back and forth over the cookies. All images and text © Gimme Some Oven
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #gimmesomeoven. I'd love to see what you cook!Usually when the latest US labor data is released, it gets hastily boiled down to one figure for handy consumption in the news cycle. However, there is a lot more going on in this data that can be revealed by statistical analysis.
Non-parametric analysis can help assimilate raw government data into insights that make sense of how the economy is changing. Take the data for this March, that details the nation’s twelve major metropolitan areas and the amount of jobs that were created in different sectors. This data is typically release-delayed versus the national aggregate tables.
It is true that these cities generally grew less quickly than the rest of the US, and hence they only accounted for about 30% of the national job growth. But to analyze city-level idiosyncrasies we can explore just this segment of jobs and see what patterns emerge. For example, there were recently 41.9 million workers between these 12 metro areas (up 614,000 from a year prior)
Using the non-parametric statistical model of Chi-square (χ^2) against this raw data, we can tease out the significance of these changes over a one-year period (looking again at the 120 city/industry combinations sum to the net of 614,000 jobs gain). While the test shows not to be very significant, it does provide the groundwork to reasonably sort the data and check for other characteristics.
What this reveals is that there were annual job losses of several thousand government workers (colored blue) in each of a few east coast cities, amounting to an outright recession for those people and others in the lower-right cavity of the chart.
Similarly we notice that the left-hand side of the chart represents the faster growing half-dozen of the twelve cities. They are all the more southern and sunnier locations. The three farthest to the right, New York, Detroit, and Washington, were the ones at the apex of the financial crisis and bailout.
Also, what does it tell us about the ‘frozenomics’ excuse for job recovery and slow growth in the early winter of 2014? Well construction jobs were amongst the fastest growing jobs in the past year in most parts of the country.
Sure the data is all there in the raw format presented at the top of this article. It’s just that without statistical analysis of the economic data it is nearly impossible to make sense of the maze of cross-sectional data. And in particular, notice these patterns.Katara
Avatar the Last-Airbender is one of the animation series I watched as a child that left a lasting impression on me. So much so that every once in a while I re-watch it just like I did now.
I love how this American made series has so much of both American and Japanese influence which is visible in both the characterization and the surrounding. The first book is mostly a series of character introductions where the characters don't evolve much while from the second book forward the story development really kicks in to gear.
I always love it when there are distinct 'houses' where all the characters belong to. In the avatar world that being the elements Earth, Water, Air and Fire. Just look at Katara and Toph both being Water-Tribe and Earth-Kingdom respectively. Just that alone tells so much about the characters and makes it easy to go deeper in to the characters personality because you already know a bit how most people of their respective element are. This makes it even more awesome when they break away from those distinct personality traits later on or your view of the personality traits belonging to an elemental nation changes. The best example of this is the Fire element, the Fire-Nation is depicted as cold hard killers with a fiery personality fueled by rage and anger with a short fuse while later on in the series the fire element gets explored as the element of inner strength, calmness and determination to accomplish tasks and desires. This makes for interesting character development within the series, sometimes by changing your perception of a character instead. Allot of this also has to do with people from the nation they belong to having to deal with how other people in the world see the nations and trying to break away from that.
Overall I really love this animated series and with well paced action, fun moments and sincere moral questions this show stays awesome even after watching it multiple times.It’s like you’re in an alternate universe in which Al Gore was president and Sanjaya won American Idol.
Peter Steinfels writes all about it in The New York Times.
Phil Zuckerman spent 14 months in Scandinavia, talking to hundreds of Danes and Swedes about religion. It wasn’t easy. Anyone who has paid attention knows that Denmark and Sweden are among the least religious nations in the world. Polls asking about belief in God, the importance of religion in people’s lives, belief in life after death or church attendance consistently bear this out.
Zuckerman writes all about his findings in the book Society Without God.
How weird is this alternate non-religious universe?
Thoughtful, well-educated Danes and Swedes reacted to Mr. Zuckerman’s basic questions about God, Jesus, death and so on as completely novel. “I really have never thought about that,” one of his interviewees answered, adding, “It’s been fun to get these kinds of questions that I never, never think about.” This indifference or obliviousness to religious matters was sometimes subtly enforced. “In Denmark,” a pastor told Mr. Zuckerman, “the word ‘God’ is one of the most embarrassing words you can say. You would rather go naked through the city than talk about God.” One man recounted the shock he felt when a colleague, after a few drinks, confessed to believing in God. “I hope you don’t feel I’m a bad person,” the colleague pleaded.
Are you shitting me? This is so not fair. In my world, religion has the power and we still have to argue about evolution and gay marriage.
We find out that Scandinavia was “a society — a markedly irreligious society — that was, above all, moral, stable, humane and deeply good.” We find out “many of his interviewees spoke of death, without fear or anxiety, and their notable lack of existential searching for any ultimate meaning of life.”
They didn’t like the word “atheist,” though. And why would they? Why would they need a word to describe something that is so obvious to everyone? It’s what Sam Harris was alluding to a couple years ago in his remarks at the Atheist Alliance International conference when he said we need to drop the “a-word” label.
Scandinavia has kept some of the cultural aspects of religion — baptisms and marriages in church — but without any of the superstitious beliefs that go along with them. I’m ok with that.
How long will it take for America to become more like Sweden and Denmark? (And why do I even have to ask that question?)
(via Secular Right)Being the world’s premiere online racing simulation service isn’t something that happens overnight.
For iRacing, that process began in 2004 and is constantly evolving as developers work not just to keep up with, but also to utilize the latest innovations in technology.
As a racing sim, iRacing prioritizes the realism of racing’s key ingredients: surfaces, environments, sounds, controls and, perhaps most importantly, cars. Developing digital cars that look like real racers is a collaborative effort, one that requires input from artists, engineers and industry professionals alike.
Greg Hill, vice president of art and production for iRacing, recently sat down with NESN Fuel’s Rachel Holt to talk about how the sim’s developers design digital racers. Whether it’s by using laser scanning technology or computer-aided designs (CAD) provided by manufacturers, the people at iRacing are doing some pretty impressive work under the hood.
As you can see, the digital renderings of these racers are pretty complex. But as Hill mentioned, they’re far more advanced than they were when iRacing was just getting started.
If technology continues to advance as it has over the past decade, it’s pretty amazing to think how complex these cars could be 10 years down the road.Etymology and regional names Edit
The fruit was first mentioned in the records of 13th-century Chinese monks in Guangxi in the region of Guilin.[3] The difficulty of cultivation meant the fruit did not become part of the Chinese herbal tradition which depended on more readily available products. Luóhàn (羅漢) is a shortened form of āluóhàn (Chinese: 阿羅漢), which is an old transliteration of the Indian Sanskrit word arhat (prakrit: arahant). In early Buddhist traditions, a monk who becomes enlightened is called an arhat who attains the "fruition of arhatship" (Sanskrit: arhattaphala).[3] This was rendered in Chinese as luóhàn guǒ (羅漢果 literally "arhat fruit") which later became the Chinese and western commercial designation for this type of sweet fruit.[5] It may also be called la han qua (from Vietnamese la hán quả), Buddha fruit, or longevity fruit (also used for other fruits).[5]
History and distribution Edit
The first report in England on the herb was found in an unpublished manuscript written in 1938 by G. Weidman Groff and Hoh Hin Cheung.[3] The report stated the fruits were often used as the main ingredients of "cooling drinks" as remedies for hot weather, fever, or other dysfunctions traditionally associated with warmth or heat (i.e. inflammation).[3] The fruit was taken to the United States in the early 20th century. Groff mentioned that, during a visit to the American ministry of agriculture in 1917, the botanist Frederick Coville showed him a luo han guo fruit bought in a Chinese shop in Washington, DC. Seeds of the fruit, which had been bought in a Chinese shop in San Francisco, were entered into the botanic description of the species in 1941.[3] The first research into the sweet component of luo han guo is attributed to C. H. Lee, who wrote an English report on it in 1975, and also to Tsunematsu Takemoto, who worked on it the early 1980s in Japan (later Takemoto decided to concentrate on the similar sweet plant, jiaogulan). The development of luo han guo products in China has continued ever since, focusing in particular on the development of concentrated extracts.[3]
Description Edit
The vine attains a length of 3 to 5 m, climbing over other plants by means of tendrils which twine around anything they touch. The narrow, heart-shaped leaves are 10–20 cm long. The fruit is round, 5–7 cm in diameter, smooth, yellow-brownish or green-brownish in color, containing striations from the fruit stem end of the furrows with a hard but thin skin covered by fine hairs. The inside of the fruit contains an edible pulp, which, when dried, forms a thin, light brown, brittle shell about 1 mm in thickness. The seeds are elongated and almost spherical. The interior fruit is eaten fresh, and the rind is used to make tea. The monk fruit is notable for its sweetness, which can be concentrated from its juice. The fruit contains 25 to 38% of various carbohydrates, mainly fructose and glucose. The sweetness of the fruit is increased by the mogrosides, a group of triterpene glycosides (saponins). The five different mogrosides are numbered from I to V; the main component is mogroside V, which is also known as esgoside.[3]
Cultivation Edit
Germination of seeds is slow and may take several months. It is grown primarily in the far southern Chinese province of Guangxi (mostly in the mountains near Guilin), as well as in Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan, and Jiangxi.[3] These mountains lend the plants shade and often are surrounded by mists which protect the plants from the sun. Nonetheless, the climate in this southern province is warm. The plant is rarely found in the wild, so it has been cultivated for hundreds of years.[3] Records as early as 1813 mention the cultivation of this plant in the Guangxi province. Most of the plantations are located in Yongfu County and Lingui County. Longjiang Town in Yongfu County has acquired the name "home of the Chinese luohanguo fruit"; a number of companies specialised in making luohanguo extracts and finished products have been set up in the area. The Yongfu Pharmaceutical Factory is the oldest of these.
Traditional processing Edit
Siraitia grosvenorii fruit cut open, with the seeds removed Driedfruit cut open, with the seeds removed Luohan guo is harvested in the form of a round, green fruit, which becomes brown on drying.[3] It is rarely used in its fresh form, as it is hard to store. Thus, the fruits are usually dried before further use and are sold in this fashion in Chinese herbal shops. The fruits are slowly dried in ovens, preserving them and removing most of the unwanted aromas. However, this technique also leads to the formation of several bitter and astringent flavors. This limits the use of the dried fruits and extracts to the preparation of diluted tea, soup, and as a sweetener for products that would usually have sugar or honey added to them.[6]
Commercial manufacturing Edit
The process for the manufacture of a useful sweetener from luo han guo was patented in 1995 by Procter & Gamble.[7] The patent states that natural luo han guo has many interfering flavors, which render it useless for general applications, and describes a process to remove them. The offending compounds are sulfur-containing volatile substances such as hydrogen disulfide, methional, methionol, dimethylsulfide, and methylmercaptan, which are formed from amino acids that contain sulfur, such as methionine, S-methylmethionine, cystine, and cysteine.[7]
Sweetening agent Edit
References EditWith finals coming up right around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the topic of managing being a student and a summoner. League of Legends is an amazing game that can provide hours of endless fun. But in the end, you need to remember that it is just a video game and it shouldn't interrupt your real life obligations.
League can be such a time sink that distracts you from work. "One win then I'll start my paper," turns into "I just want first win of the day," then again turns into another excuse to play again, and so on and so on. You get so sucked into the League paradox that you just no longer have motivation to work.
As a collegiate player, and a college student, I would like to tell you how I manage balancing both being a student and player.
1. The first thing is that, as I previously said, League is just a game. Its outcome doesn't effect me besides maybe a little salt in my attitude. On the other hand, failing a class is far more terrifying. I am far more scared of having my parents angry at me than I am losing a game. Take a break from playing League. If you take yourself away to study, League will feel more rewarding and fun.
2. Practice self-control. I never reach for program blockers. I don't use them for two reasons: they are unsafe, and they're useless. It doesn't matter if you block League or Facebook or Tumblr, you will still find distractions to get you away from studying. You may as well just use this time to teach yourself discipline by not giving into the temptation of League while you're trying to study. In fact I use League as a type of reward which leads into:
3. Take breaks. It's important to take breaks away from studying. The concept of "tilt" doesn't apply only towards video games. You can tilt with anything that you're doing. If you study for long periods of time, your brain will take in less and less of the information. Taking a break from studying will help rejuvinate yourself and let you back with a fresh mindset.
4. Leave your computer. I for one am at my least productive when I am around my desktop. To combat this I leave my room and go to a study area and use my laptop which cannot run games. This allows me to get rid of any distractions and be productive. Although some people do not have both a desktop and a laptop, you can still gather all your studying supplies and just leave the room to avoid any unnecessary distractions.
5. The last tip I can provide is to finish your work first. This is probably my most efficient method to getting my work done. I divide up the amount of work for the day and grind it out within a few hours while only taking quick breaks to go to the bathroom and stretch. I find this my personal most efficient method because when I take a break to play League of Legends, sometimes I find it very difficult to switch back into my studying mentality. With all your work finished, you will feel far less guilty for playing a lot.
If you don't currently have the self-discipline to balance out both League and academia, don't worry. Gaining self-discipline is a process. But you definitely need to remember that League should be a secondary priority and your real life needs to be your first priority. It may be a sign that you have an addiction if you are skipping work, school, or even life events in order to play more League.
League is a fun game. Some people play to enjoy it with friends, and others play it to be competitive. No matter what your reason to play, you need to learn how to balance out your academic life and League life in order to avoid stress and anxiety.
I hope that by sharing my studying habits that I provided new ideas to help you get through school. If you have any studying habits that you would like to share feel free to tweet them to me @gShouranF. I am always looking for new ways to study and would love to hear what you guys do to get on track.An EU’s “anti-propaganda” resolution targeted Russian media. According to political and legal experts across the Atlantic, this was because it allowed western dissidents’ voices to be heard – something corporate mainstream media and “crazy war hawks” are unhappy with.
On Wednesday, members of the European Parliament approved the “proposal for resolution on the strategic communication from the European Union to counter propaganda against third parties.”
Read more
The proposal, drafted by a Polish MEP is supposed to be a response to what the EU says is Russian “propaganda and misinformation.” The document singles out RT and Sputnik news agency as being particularly devious tools of propaganda, and puts Russian media in the same basket with the Islamic State.
Russian media has become a platform for political dissidents, who for various reasons do not receive mainstream western media coverage, US Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein told RT. She said that putting them in line with Islamic State is ridiculous.
“I can speak to my experience here in the US, where so many political dissidents like myself who are basically are locked out of our corporate media coverage. We looked at RT for access to the American public,” Stein said.
“Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of options for being able to speak to the American public. Charging Russian TV with being a dangerous ISIS-type threat – I don’t really get that.”
Mike Papantonio, American attorney and radio show host, who is set to host a legal show on RT America, said that big corporations might be uncomfortable with Russian media highlighting unwanted stories, which could motivate the EU parliament’s resolution.
Papantonio believes “there’s always a money trail,” and one should look into “the backstory” of such actions.“It has to do with not just politics. You have war hawks out there, they want to sell more weapons, they love the intrigue of another Cold War,” Papantonio told RT.
“Then you have corporate media, and in corporate media part of that is mega corporations around the world.”
“The woman who came forward with that proposal. Look at her history, she was with the World Bank, she has all these connections to corporations all over Europe. There’s always a money trail on something like this.”
The whole “propaganda” spin is nowadays far from some pure politics, but always involves money.
Read more
“Now think about this. Let me tell what the real propaganda is. If I call ABC, or CBS, or NBC, and I say ‘Will you please do a story about a drug that is killing thousands of women every day? And by the way the drug is manufactured by Pfizer, or whatever, or some advertiser.’ They’ll say ‘No we can’t do the story, because our advertiser won’t let us.’That’s what Jill Stein was just talking about – you can’t get the stories out in corporate media,” Papantonio told RT.
“I’ve been a commentator for RT for years. Not one time, not one time I’ve been asked to say anything other than what the truth of the story was. But I’ve also been in NBC where I was told I could do no more stories because I talked about one of the advertisers and they got mad. That’s the contrast,” Papantonio added.
Apart from strong corporation interests, the still empowered Cold War generation of western politics is responsible for such hostile and “ridiculous“ actions, according to Papantonio.
“We still have baby-boomers around. And if you talk to baby boomers, they were all for invading Syria, invading Libya. They’re a fearful type. And until the baby-boomer Cold War types move through, we’re going to have these ridiculous conversations,” said Papantonio.
“This is just about crazy baby boomer war hawks, or the crazy DNC that wants to blame Russia for everything.
"But there’s another side to this, it has to do with corporate media and American corporations not liking what Russian television does. They tell stories, the corporate media can’t tell because their advertisers won’t let them tell the story. They’ll say 'if you tell the story, we’re going to pull the ad money.' And some cat on the 50th floor, some MBA guy, is making a decision whether they can tell the stories.”
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LISTEN MORE:When I was editor there, The Onion was located in the heart of Manhattan and the one person manning our front entrance was our petite, tattooed office manager, Jessie. She was the definition of unthreatening, and we used to joke that she was the only thing standing between us and some heavily armed radicals, should any ever become enraged by something we put in print. Right now, that joke makes me sick to my stomach.
Twelve people were murdered at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, today, apparently for doing the very thing The Onion does: satire. These people – including one guest and one police officer – are dead. They were cartoonists and editors and humorists. People whose job in life was to point at hypocrisy and laugh at it; to ridicule hate; to make us all try to see our own failings as humans. And they were killed for it.
For those who would trivialize the idea, this was what an actual attack on freedom looks like.
Our joke at The Onion was, like most of our jokes, borne out of some reality. We received hateful letters and emails on a semi-regular basis. I’ve personally spoken on the phone with at least two individuals who threatened to rape me and kill my family. At one point, we even had to call the police. But I never could have imagined anything like this.
Related: Shooting at Paris magazine kills 12, manhunt underway
I admit: it scares me. This is radical ideology taken to an abhorrent new low. The footage and photographs that have so far emerged depict several armed men, dressed in tactical black. It looks like a highly organized attack, but an attack, ultimately, on what? An idea? You cannot kill an idea by murdering innocent people – though you can nudge it toward suicide.
That is the real threat: that we’ll allow our fear, or our anger, to kill ourselves.
“You cannot kill an idea by murdering innocent people — though you can nudge it toward suicide.” Joe Randazzo
If it turns out that members of Al Qaeda or some other radical “Islamic” sect carried out this attack, the saddest, most profoundly ironic thing about it will have been that the satire worked. It did its job. It so threatened its target, cut so deeply at the truth, that it resorted to the most cowardly, most offensive and despicable form of lashing out.
Satire must always accompany any free society. It is an absolute necessity. Even in the most repressive medieval kingdoms, they understood the need for the court jester, the one soul allowed to tell the truth through laughter. It is, in many ways, the most powerful form of free speech because it is aimed at those in power, or those whose ideas would spread hate. It is the canary in the coalmine, a cultural thermometer, and it always has to push, push, push the boundaries of society to see how much it’s grown.
Photos: Paris mourns after Charlie Hebdo attack
Our society is possibly the freest that humankind has yet produced and that freedom is predicated on one central idea: the right to speech. That right is understood as a natural extension of our very existence. In America, free speech is so important that the men who wrote our Bill of Rights put it first, but followed it up with our right to bear arms. To me, that’s always been a pretty strong message: Say what you want and, here, take some guns to make sure no one tries to stop you. But in this state of widespread social change – probably the most profound in centuries – we need to make sure that the ideal of the second amendment never, ever trumps the power of the first. That brute force never negates ideas.
This is a loss for all of humanity. The victims, people who believed with passion and intellect that humankind can be better, were struck down in the birthplace of the Enlightenment, the movement from which the modern world emanates.
The Charlie Hebdo gunmen also shot a police officer in the head as he lay dying on the sidewalk. These people are not just enemies of |
73m (£47m), was announced last year by Seoul and is led by a Chinese consortium.
Challenging operation
Preparatory work was completed early on Sunday morning, with the lifting of the bow section- seen as the most challenging part of the operation- to be conducted over two days.
The 6,825-ton ferry lies more than 40 metres (130 feet) beneath the surface of the water, off the south-western island of Jindo.
Image copyright EPA Image caption The incident was one of the worst maritime disasters in South Korea in decades
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The families of the victims are closely watching the operation
Officials have said that the main hurdle will be lifting it from the seabed without it breaking up.
"The [lifting of the bow] operation takes up about 70% of the overall salvage project," Jung Seong-Wook, who is acting as a representative for the families of the victims, told AFP.
Once the bow is lifted 18 lifting beams will be placed underneath the ferry.
The Sewol may be raised by late July if the lifting operation goes smoothly, authorities have said.
Image copyright AP Image caption The majority of the victims were high school students who were on a school trip to the island of Jeju when the ferry sank
In April last year, South Korean President Park Geun-hye promised that the vessel would be raised at the earliest opportunity.
The disaster was blamed on a combination of illegal redesigns, the overloading of cargo, the inexperience of the crew member steering the vessel, and lax government regulations.
The Sewol was carrying 476 people when it sank. The passengers included 325 students aged between 16 and 17 who were on a school trip to the holiday island of Jeju.Who’s That Guy is an ongoing Grantland series and an orientation tool to use in the vast sports landscape. And, hey, baseball is part of that landscape!
Who is he? Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson, whom the Arizona Diamondbacks selected no. 1 overall in the MLB draft on Monday night.
Where is he from? Marietta, Georgia, by way of Vandy, where he became the Commodores’ second no. 1 overall pick, following David Price in 2007.
2015 MLB Draft Get to know top draft pick Swanson
Two key MLB draft trends to watch
12 players to get to know this year
Your 2015 MLB draft prep kit Has anyone ever had a better 15 minutes than Swanson had on Monday? Maybe? I don’t know. For those of you who aren’t up on the latest college baseball news, here’s what happened this weekend: Vanderbilt, the defending national champion, visited the University of Illinois for a best-of-three super regional, with the winner going to Omaha for the College World Series. After a 13-0 win on Saturday and a rainout on Sunday, Vanderbilt punched its ticket to Omaha at 6:02 p.m. local time, thanks in part to Swanson going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and a stolen base, primarily off Illinois super-lefty Tyler Jay. By 7 p.m., Swanson went no. 1 overall to Arizona, Jay went sixth to Minnesota, and Swanson’s roommate, starter Carson Fulmer, went eighth to the White Sox. Later that night, another Vanderbilt pitcher, Walker Buehler, went no. 24 overall to the Dodgers. I covered this game for D1Baseball.com and was able to catch up with Swanson afterward, which allowed him to answer the question “Who’s that guy?” at least partially in his own words.
So how about those incredible 15 minutes?
“I say you couldn’t have scripted it any better,” says Swanson, who stopped for a hug and mutual congratulations with both Jay and Fulmer during the interview. “To have a great team win and be able to celebrate, and when you get done, watch it on the phone with my parents, my brother and sister. David Price was here, who was the no. 1 pick. Former players Jared Miller and Navery Moore, those guys are here. Fan base sticks around, best friends, teammates, all right next to me. And it all happened at one time, it’s just this huge … Wow.”
David Price was there? Yeah, the Cy Young winner had an off day, and the Tigers are in Chicago today, so he came down to Champaign and sat in the stands, cheering like a normal person would when his alma mater does something good in sports. He and Swanson have struck up a friendship, and Price was on the field celebrating with the Commodores when Swanson was picked. And while Swanson is going to be Price’s adversary in a year or two, he’s enjoying having the Tigers ace on his side right now.
“I think it’s sick,” Swanson says. “It’s one of those things where people are like, ‘Wow, David Price!’ But when it comes down to it, he hangs out with us. We’re cool with him, we’re friends with him, he’ll do anything for us.”
Did going through this process alongside Fulmer help Swanson? Players as good as Fulmer and Swanson, on teams as good as Vanderbilt, find themselves spending May and June caught mentally between the draft and the playoffs, and Swanson says the two leaned on each other heavily this year.
“It’s just one of those things that’s good to get off your chest with somebody who’s going through the same thing,” Swanson says. “It’s kind of like your getaway, because you don’t really want to talk about it with everybody on the team, because they’ll think all your focus is on that, so it’s good to have that outlet.”
What kind of a name is Dansby? “It’s my mom’s maiden name,” Swanson says. If and when he makes the bigs, he’ll become the first Dansby ever to play in the major leagues, though the exquisitely named Leonidas Dansby played four seasons in the minors in the 1950s. (According to Swanson’s Vanderbilt bio, his dad goes by “Cooter,” so it could be worse.)
His game in 37 words: Says Swanson: “Just trying to do the basic things right. I think we, often times, get wrapped up in tools and all that, but if you can play the game of baseball, you can play the game of baseball.”
His game, described by someone who isn’t Dansby Swanson: He’s a good defensive shortstop who can hit for power and run like crazy. Physically, Swanson grades out as average or better at pretty much everything. Statistically, he hit.350/.442/.661 with 15 home runs and 16 stolen bases in 65 games in what’s probably the best amateur baseball league in the world, the SEC. Factor in that there are at most 10 to 15 guys on the planet who can be even a competent defensive shortstop and an average major league hitter at the same time, and you begin to appreciate why Swanson went no. 1 overall. He’s the player I’d have picked, particularly in a draft that lacked a talent like Bryce Harper or Stephen Strasburg.
What’s his walk-up music? “Out Here” by Mike Stud. “It kind of gave me a good vibe when I go up to hit,” Swanson says. “I don’t like to get too pumped up or too mellowed out. Honestly, I like to be happy when I go to hit, because it makes me just lock in.”
Since I’m old and therefore have no idea what the kids are listening to, I’d never heard of this song, but having now listened to it, I can vouch for it striking that balance between pumped-up and mellowed out. Also, I’m going to insist that from now on, everyone must call me Mike Stud.
What’s his favorite thing to do on the baseball field? “Offensively, I’d say I like hitting doubles and triples,” Swanson says. “I like to hit it, and then watch it and be able to go run. And then, I wouldn’t say [it’s my signature] play, but ever since I was little, I always slid on one knee in the hole and caught it, then threw to first. So definitely that for defense.”
Who does he model his game after? Nomar Garciaparra. Swanson doesn’t have that kind of hit tool, because nobody does, but he’s probably a better athlete and defender than Garciaparra. Because of the paucity of quality major league shortstops right now, there’s not really a perfect contemporary comp for him.
What’s his most underrated attribute? His hair. Swanson’s got a phenomenal head of hair, which, even after wearing a hat and sweating all day, looks like something normal people would pay big bucks to imitate.
Should we know him? Absolutely.Using nasopharyngeal carcinoma as a model, we found that it was feasible to use analysis of circulating DNA to screen for cancers in asymptomatic persons. Of the 20,174 participants who underwent screening, only 309 (1.5% of all participants and 27.8% of those who initially tested positive) had persistently detectable EBV DNA in plasma at baseline and at follow-up. Among these 309 participants, nasopharyngeal carcinoma was confirmed in 34 (11.0%). Low positive predictive values are typical for cancer screening studies performed in asymptomatic populations. For example, a recent Korean study that screened 45,855 asymptomatic participants for hepatocellular carcinoma with the use of alpha-fetoprotein analysis showed a positive predictive value of only 1.66%.30 The positive predictive value of 11% in this study is superior to the typical 3% value of existing blood-based tumor markers in a population-screening context.31 Furthermore, nasal endoscopic examination is safe, quick, and inexpensive as compared with tests to confirm most other solid tumors.
The screening for nasopharyngeal carcinoma identified participants with early-stage disease. Remarkably, 16 participants (47%) had stage I disease. This proportion is substantially higher than the typical proportion of 5 to 7% in historical cohorts.21,22 Between 2006 and 2010, of 2671 consecutive participants with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who received treatment at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, the largest treatment center for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in China, only 120 participants (4.5%) had stage I disease.21 In patients with stage I disease, lesions that are localized in the nasopharynx can be effectively treated by means of intensity-modulated radiotherapy alone so that the side effects associated with more extensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy can be avoided.32
The 3-year rate of progression-free survival among the participants in whom nasopharyngeal carcinoma was identified by screening was superior to that among those in the historical cohort (97% vs. 70%; hazard ratio, 0.10).20 In this study, the effect of length-time bias (which can occur when the lengths of intervals are analyzed by means of random selection or with respect to relatively nonprogressive cancers) is likely to be small because nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an aggressive cancer with frequent early progression and metastases.33,34 Even if a patient presents with carcinoma in situ at the time of diagnosis, the disease often progresses to invasive nasopharyngeal carcinoma in 40 to 48 months. The potential confounding effect of lead-time bias (in this case, the interval between early diagnosis with screening and later diagnosis with standard techniques) could be addressed only in randomized, controlled trials. However, because curative treatment for early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma is available, the increase in progression-free survival is unlikely to be driven by an earlier diagnosis only, but more likely by the timely administration of effective treatments.
In this cohort of 20,174 participants, on the basis of an annual incidence of 35 cases per 100,000 persons in the target age group, nasopharyngeal carcinoma would be expected to develop in approximately 7 participants in a year.22 The 34 cases identified is approximately the number of cases expected to be encountered in 5 years. One possible explanation is that participants who would originally present with more advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma over the next few years had been identified by our screening program at earlier stages. This hypothesis is supported by the lower-than-expected number of cases diagnosed during the follow-up period and the presentation of advanced-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma in 1 screen-positive participant who had declined to undergo further assessment.
Among the 20,140 participants in whom nasopharyngeal carcinoma was not identified by screening, 19,626 (97.4%) were interviewed by telephone 1 year after screening, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma was reported to have developed in only 1 participant within the first year. This number is much lower than expected from the annual incidence. One of the 9 participants who declined further workup presented with an advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma 32 months after enrollment. It is likely that the cancer had already been present in this participant at the time of screening. Had he not declined further assessment, the tumor might have been diagnosed much earlier and a better treatment outcome might have been expected.
In this study, screen-positive participants were assessed with the use of both nasal endoscopy and MRI. This arrangement can maximize the power for detecting nasopharyngeal carcinoma so as to provide the best ascertainment of the performance of screening to detect EBV DNA in plasma. In 3 participants, the tumors were not revealed on the endoscopic examination but were detected on MRI. These results are compatible with those in previous studies showing that MRI is more sensitive than nasal endoscopy for detecting small nasopharyngeal carcinomas in symptomatic patients.28 If MRI screening is not readily available, assessment of test-positive participants with nasal endoscopy alone is a reasonable alternative, since this test could detect 91% (31 of 34) of the cancer cases.
The costs for each EBV DNA analysis, endoscopic examination, and MRI were $30, $80, and $1,000 (U.S. dollars), respectively. On the basis of the results of this study, to detect 1 case, 593 participants would need to be screened at a cost of $28,600. Considering the potential decrease in mortality and morbidity, as well as treatment-cost savings associated with the shift in stage distribution, screening for nasopharyngeal carcinoma appears to be a feasible practice in regions with a high incidence of this disease.
Although the current study focused only on men between the ages of 40 and 62 years, this screening protocol should also be applicable to women and persons in other age groups, in whom EBV DNA in plasma is also detected.18,25 However, a lower positive predictive value would be expected owing to the lower incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma among women and persons in other age groups.
With a median follow-up of 22 months, the current study shows that the chance of the development of a nasopharyngeal carcinoma within 2 years after a negative screening is low. However, the most appropriate time interval for the screening can be addressed by a longer-term follow-up and rescreening of the cohort.
This study has shown the potential of analysis of circulating DNA to screen for early nasopharyngeal cancer. Even small tumors could release sufficient amounts of DNA into the circulation to allow sensitive detection. Since the half-life of EBV DNA clearance in plasma is only 2 hours,35 to maintain an equilibrium level of EBV DNA in plasma at 20 EBV genomes per milliliter, the lower detection limit of our assay, 1 million EBV genomes need to be released from the tumor cells into the plasma each day. On the basis of the assumption that each tumor cell carries 50 genomes of EBV,36 this is equivalent to a turnover of 200,000 cancer cells per day. This turnover of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells is remarkable, given that 47% of the participants with disease that was identified through screening had stage I disease. Screening for cancers that are not associated with viral infections would be more challenging technically because detection of genetic and epigenetic markers other than viral DNA sequences would be needed. In each of the 50 genomes of EBV in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, there are approximately 10 repeats of the BamHI-W region (our PCR target). Thus, we estimate that 500 molecular markers would be required to achieve a similar level of performance in detecting cancer-derived DNA as shown in this study.
In conclusion, we found that analysis of EBV DNA in plasma was useful for screening an at-risk population for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The men with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who were identified by screening had significantly earlier stage distribution and superior progression-free survival than an unscreened population in a historical cohort.There are two kinds of crowdfunded watches – fashion accessories and real efforts at classical design and workmanship. Thankfully the Reverie Classic holds the latter place. The Classic is made by Samuel Tay who previously crowdfunded and built the Sea Spirit a handsome, nautical-themed automatic that did quite well.
The Classic costs $350 and runs a Miyota 8218 movement – bog standard for this sort of watch. What I like – and why I’m featuring it here – is the throwback design and classic face combined with a nicely decorated automatic movement. All of these together make a delightful umami for the watch lover’s soul.
The face is patterned with a guilloche, that is carefully etched with thin lines that catch the light and give a brightness to the face it wouldn’t normally have. This sort of decoration is complex and expensive and was originally designed for improved readability on old pocket watches. The blued hands are a bit anachronistic – hands are usually a little more sinuous than these broad arrows – but, for the piece, they work. There is also a day/date window and a classic signed crown.
In all you get a really interesting package that makes for a compelling and quite striking watch for formal wear and, thanks to the classical throwbacks, is truly timeless. That it has a display back showing a slightly decorated movement and skeletonized winding weight is gravy.
A watch like this isn’t truly high-tech but the fact that Tay was able to manufacture something like this using modern methods and at an acceptable price point certainly is. Like Xetum and Bathys, these boutique, small batch watches hit all the right notes and are affordable for those who might be getting tired of Android Wear or WatchOS. They’re well worth a second look.Representational image.
With the rise in digital technology, the human attention span has shortened from 12 seconds to eight seconds in more than a decade, a recent study by Microsoft Corporation has found.Humans now have an attention span less than of a goldfish (nine seconds average).The 54-page study sought to understand what impact technology and today's digital lives are having on attention spans.The researchers collected data from surveys of more than 2,000 Canadians over the age of 18.They played games and interacted online to help scientists determine the impact of smartphones and other digital media on everyday life.Participants' brain activity was recorded and behaviour was filmed while they interacted with different social media platforms across devices and in different environments.The team measured their attention levels and activities to view how attention varied by screen, task, content type and structure.The findings revealed human attention span has fallen from an average of 12 seconds in the year 2000 to just eight seconds today.The decrease was seen across all age groups and genders in the study.Those in the age group of 18 to 34 had a 31 percent high sustained attention span compared to those age 55 and over at 35 percent.Meanwhile, males (33 percent) had a better attention span than females (31 percent).Young respondents were more likely to display addiction-like behaviours when it came to their devices.For example, 77 percent of people aged 18 to 24 responded "yes" when asked "When nothing is occupying my attention, the first thing I do is reach for my phone," compared with only 10 percent of those over age 65."Out of the 18 to 24 age group, more than half admit to checking their phone every 30 minutes or less and over three-fourths used their portable devices while watching TV," the findings showed.On a positive note, the researchers found the ability to multitask has significantly improved. "Heavy multi-screeners find it difficult to filter out irrelevant stimuli a" they are more easily distracted by multiple streams of media," stated the report posted on the Microsoft website.Signed consent forms will no longer be required in New York City for people who perform an ultra-Orthodox Jewish tradition known as oral suction circumcision, the city Board of Health decreed Wednesday.
The vote to approve Mayor de Blasio's information-only plan resolved a dispute with the community. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration had instituted the consent rule; rabbis opposed it.
The consent requirement was impractical and did not have much "material impact," said health board member Pamela Brier, president of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, which has a heavily Jewish patient base and has been very involved in the issue.
A board member who abstained from voting, Dr. Lynne Richardson, countered that the consent requirement addressed "a very significant public health concern."
Health officials have linked 17 cases of infant herpes since 2000 to the ancient ritual of sucking blood from the wounds on infants' penises. Herpes can lead to brain damage or death.
"This is a very difficult issue for the board," conceded board member Dr. Deepthiman K. Gowda.
"It is our core responsibility to protect the health of New Yorkers," Gowda said. "At the same time, we have to institute educational policy that actually works.... It was deemed that the rollout of our previous policy actually eroded the relationship we wanted."
The city has already distributed 20,000 printed copies and 22,000 email copies of a new brochure in English and Yiddish, according to the health commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New YorkQuick Access
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Set the Controls to the Heart of the Universe, Immediate Lift-Off!
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, maybe you had the opportunity to read the fantastic review of Yuri Gagarin’s debut album that Mr. Radio did last year, if not this is your chance to know and listen to one of the best Space Rock band nowadays.
The band comes from Sweden, a country best known for its strong Retro-Rock scene from which have emerged incredible bands like Witchcraft, Graveyard, Horisont, Vidunder, and many more. But, as you’ll see, they have a lot to say in the Space Rock ground too.
How is the sound?
Yuri Gagarin is not your typical Space Rock band, unlike the masters of the genre, like Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Nektar, Eloy, and more, they add a dose of heaviness absent on many bands of the genre, giving them more originality and a trademark sound. In this sense, “At The Center Of All Infinity” shows us the band delivering 6 instrumentals jam pieces with some flirtations to Doom Metal and Heavy Psych.
The album launchs with “The New Order”, an excellent choice to begin this 40 minutes trip. I recommend paying attention to the work of their lead guitarist, Christian Lindberg, who delivers some passionate solos on this one. Also check the synthesizer’s arrangements, because they manage to create the perfect atmosphere for this space voyage. “Clusters Of Minds” starts with a heavy guitar riff and the low pulse of the bass guitar, which when combined, hit you directly into your chest. On this one, the lead and rhythm guitars combine to play some great melodies.
The middle section consists of “In The Abyss” and “I See No God Up Here”. The first one is a perfect example of the prime Space Rock the band has been delivering since their 2013’s debut album. On this track, the highlights are the drums work of Stefan Johansson and, again, all the effects created by the synthesizers. For the second one, the band calms down the trip with an introspective and minimalistic piece which serves as a bridge for the last part of the album.
Yuri Garagin reserve the best for the last two tracks. With the title track, they create a hypnotic atmosphere by constantly repeating rhythms providing a solid ground for the lead guitar to deliver some excellent soloing. The album closes with “Oblivion”, the longest and maybe the most intense track of “At The Center Of All Infinity”. As the title suggest, this is a good example of a sonic supernova and the perfect way to finish a fantastic record.
So this is it my fellow fuzzers, hope you enjoyed this one. If you want my opinion, you’re in front of what I consider the best Space Rock album of 2015, and I ranked it #5 on my top 20 albums of last year. My advice is: give it a listen as soon as possible!
Why is this album worth listening?
Yuri Garagin offer an album as good as their self-titled release.
It’s Space Rock with a good dose of heaviness, so it may be of interest to Doom, Stoner and Heavy Pysch lovers in the same way.
In what situation you should listen to this album?
As background music for space travel movies, maybe Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odissey or Tarkovsky’s Solaris.
At night with the lights out, lying in your comfort couch.
Reading some Sci-Fi novels.
Something particular to note?
Visit their Big Cartel shop where you’ll find some cool merchandise, including: t-shirts, posters, patches and stickers.I’m always looking for new creative ideas to try out with the boys, and the idea of spinning paint pictures appealed to me as soon as I saw it. We made these using a spinning art machine which allows you to create unique and really effective designs by squeezing paint onto the paper disks as they spin in the machine. I knew the boys would love to try this out.
This is the product that we used : The 4m Spinning Art Machine. See it on Amazon (UK / US)
Here’s what’s included in the box:
Spinning machine
4 paints
20 discs
Also a plastic outer cover for the machine which is not pictured below
This was an ideal after school activity for Z and Mr T (ages 5 and 4) and it’s something that worked really well for two children together, as we found that one could drop the paint while the other was spinning the machine, and then they could switch roles. The machine is kid powered rather than battery powered, which is always good.
They both really enjoyed the process, and loved the results that were created. It gave quite different results from the usual painting activities we would be doing at home, with paint brushes, sponges, hand or potato printing. I actually found it seemed to be less messy too – Although you MUST keep the plastic outer tray on the machine or it would get very messy as the paint does fly off a bit if you spin it fast. With the plastic protector that paint is all contained and the area is kept clean. I also really liked that the machine is manually powered, it does not require any batteries at all. You simply press it, and it goes. It doesn’t need to be pressed with any particular skill or strength, which is good as T was able to manage this fine although he is slightly under the recommended age.
The results come out different every time and give a cool swirly paint splat effect. At first the boys did squeeze a bit too much paint out then they learned to use less. The 4 tubes provided are not very large, so once that paint is used up you may want to refill these. I was also thinking that we could try out adding different substances to the spinning disks like squeezy glitter glue which comes in a similar shaped tube, or even perhaps spraying paint on to the discs from an old household cleaner bottle. There is a lot of potential here to expand and try different ideas with the spinning art machine in your art sessions at home.
If you want to see the machine in action spinning around, have a look at this short video – as you can see Z was quite impressed with the machine.SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE PINEAPPLE Being the Brief and Colorful Story of a Truly American Plant the fruit was a culinary favorite of the fierce Carib Indians who lived on islands in the sea that still bears their name. THE PINEAPPLE has served as both a food and a symbol throughout the human history of the Americas. Originally unique to the Western Hemisphere,the fruit was a culinary favorite of the fierce Carib Indians who lived on islands in the sea that still bears their name. Indian Migration
The presence of pineapples on Caribbean islands was not a natural event, but rather the result of centuries of indian migration and commerce. Accomplished dugout canoe navigators, the maritime tribes explored, raided and traded across a vast expanse of tropical oceans, seas and river systems. The herbaceous plant they called "anana," or "excellent fruit," originally evolved in the inland areas of what is now Brazil and Paraguay and was widely transplanted and cultivated. Highly regarded for its intense sweetness, the "excellent fruit" was a staple of indian feasts and rites related to tribal affirmation. It was also used to produce Indian wine. Christopher Columbus
The first encounter between a European and a pineapple occurred in November, 1493, when Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage to the Caribbean region, lowered anchor in a cove off the lush, volcanic island of Guadaloupe and went ashore to inspect a deserted Carib village. There, amidst parrot-flecked jungle foliage and wooden pillars spiraled with serpent carvings, his crew came upon cook pots filled with human body parts. Nearby were piles of freshly gathered vegetables and fruits, including pineapples. The European sailors ate, enjoyed and recorded the curious new fruit which had an abrasive, segmented exterior like a pine cone and a firm interior pulp like an apple. Renaissance Europe
The Renaissance Europe to which Columbus returned with his discoveries was a civilization largely bereft of common sweets. Sugar refined from cane was a rare commodity imported at great cost from the middle east and orient. Fresh fruit was also a rare item; orchard-grown fruit being available in only limited varieties for brief periods of time. Pineapple: Treat of Kings
In such a gastronomic milieu, reports and later samples of the New World's pineapple--whose ripe yellow pulp literally exploded natural sweetness when chewed--made the fruit an item of celebrity and curiosity for royal gourmet and horticulturist alike. Despite dogged efforts by European gardeners, it was nearly two centuries before they were able to perfect a hothouse method for growing a pineapple plant. Thus, into the 1600s, the pineapple remained so uncommon and coveted a commodity that King Charles II of England posed for an official portrait in an act then symbolic of royal privilege -- receiving a pineapple as a gift. Pineapples and Colonial America
Across the ocean, the pineapple took on other symbolic meanings in England's American colonies. The colonies were then a land of small, primitive towns and settlements where homes served as the hubs of most community activity. Visiting was the primary means of entertainment, cultural intercourse and news dissemination. The concept of hospitality--the warmth, charm and style with which guests were taken into the home--was a central element of the society's daily emotional life. Creative Food Display in Colonial America
Creative food display--the main entertainment during a formal home visit--was a means by which a woman declared both her personality and her family's status. Within the bounds of their family's means, hostesses sought to outdo each other in the creation of memorable, fantasy-like dining room scenes. At such feasts, tabletops resembled small mountain ranges of tiered, pyramided and pedestaled foodstuffs often drizzled and webbed in sugar, studded with china figurines, festooned with flowers and interwoven with garlands of pine and laurel. Dinners were extravaganzas of visual delights, novel tastes, new discoveries and congenial conversation that went on for hours. Rare Pineapple: King of Colonial Fruits
While fruits in general--fresh, dried, candied and jellied--were the major attractions of the community's appetite and dining practices, the pineapple was the true celebrity. Its rarity, expense, reputation and striking visual attractiveness made it the ultimate exotic fruit. It was the pineapple that came to literally crown the most important feasts: often held aloft on special pedestals as the pinnacle of the table's central food mound. The Colonial Pineapple Trade
Ships brought in preserved pineapples from Caribbean islands as expensive sweetmeats--pineapple chunks candied, glazed and packed in sugar. The actual whole fruit was even more costly and difficult to obtain. Wooden ship travel in the tropics was hot, humid and slow, often rotting pineapple cargoes before they could be landed. Only the speediest ships and most fortuitous weather conditions could deliver ripe, wholesome pineapples to the confectionery shops of cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Annapolis and Williamsburg. A hostesses's ability to have a pineapple for an important dining event said as much about her rank as it did about her resourcefulness, given that the street trade in available fresh pineapples could be as brisk as it was bitchy. So sought after were the prickly fruits that colonial confectioners sometimes rented them to households by the day. Later, the same fruit was sold to other, more affluent clients who actually ate it. As you might imagine, hostesses would have gone to great lengths to conceal the fact that the pineapple that was the visual apogee of their table display and a central topic of their guests' conversation was only rented. Pineapple as Hospitality Symbol
In larger, well-to-do homes, the dining room doors were kept closed to heighten visitors' suspense about the table being readied on the other side. At the appointed moment, and with the maximum amount of pomp and drama, the doors were flung open to reveal the evening's main event. Visitors confronted with pineapple-topped food displays felt particularly honored by a hostess who obviously spared no expense to ensure her guests' dining pleasure In this manner, the fruit which was the visual keystone of the feast naturally came to symbolize the high spirits of the social events themselves; the image of the pineapple coming to express the sense of welcome, good cheer, human warmth and family affection inherent to such gracious home gatherings. Pineapple as Artistic Motif
It is hardly surprising that this communal symbol of friendship and hospitality also became a favorite motif of architects, artisans and craftsmen throughout the colonies. They announced the hospitality of a mansion with carved wood or molded mortar pineapples on its main gate posts such as those shown here at a home in historic Haddonfield, New Jersey.
Photo: Hoag Levins Carved wooden pineapple gate posts at a home in Haddonfield, N.J. They incorporated huge copper and brass pineapples in the weather vanes of their most important public buildings. They sculpted pineapples into door lintels; stenciled pineapples on walls and canvas mats; wove pineapples into tablecloths, napkins, carpets and draperies; and cast pineapples into metal hot plates. There were whole pineapples carved of wood; pineapples executed in the finest china kilns; pineapples painted onto the backs of chairs and tops of chests. Tabletop Whimsy
Whimsical pineapple shapes and interpretations became a ubiquitous form for "fun" food creations and general table decorations throughout the 1700 and 1800s. There were pineapple-shaped cakes, pineapple-shaped gelatine molds, candies pressed out like small pineapples, pineapples molded of gum and sugar, pineapples made of creamed ice, cookies cut like pineapples and pineapple shapes created by arrangements of other fruits. There were also ceramic bowls formed like pineapples, fruit and sweet trays incorporating pineapple designs, and pineapple pitchers, cups and even candelabras. During the last century, the art of food display centered around the pineapple has faded to a quaint craft now largely associated with the making of certain kinds of Christmas decorations. These holiday fabrications are one of the few vestiges of an era when all life literally revolved around the dining room table; a less complicated era that left us the enduring icon of the colonial pineapple, a truly American fruit symbolizing our founding society's abiding commitment to hospitality as well as its fondest memories of families, friends and good times. All Rights Reserved © 1995-2009, Hoag Levins Contact Author: HoagL@earthlink.netA free trade agreement between the United States and United Kingdom could be coming, but it is likely to take a while.
Both President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May have expressed enthusiasm for bilateral trade talks, but plenty of obstacles stand in their way.
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For one, the U.K. cannot begin negotiating a deal until it completes its exit from the European Union. That process is expected to start in March and take at least two years.
Still, it is possible the two countries could use the intervening time to lay the groundwork for trade talks.
Regulatory issues could pose another obstacle, as the two countries would have to agree to rules on food safety and investor-state settlement disputes. The latter issue has sparked fears in England that a deal with the United States could lead to the dismantling of their government healthcare system.
“And that’s only two of a significant number of hot-button issues that would have to be resolved,” said William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Stimson Center.
British media outlets are already expressing anxiety over the possibility that a U.S.-U.K. trade deal would be contingent on London accepting food safety rules that would allow for the import of U.S. beef with growth hormones, chlorine-washed chicken and genetically modified foods that are now banned.
“People who think it will be easy are really saying [a U.S.-U.K. deal] will be easier than TTIP, which is true, but it will still be difficult,” Reinsch said.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an agreement that the Obama administration was trying to complete with the 28-member European Union. Talks stalled last year, particularly over how to work out differences on regulations.
Talks finalizing the exit from the EU — or Brexit — will also affect the parameters of a possible U.S.-U.K. trade deal.
“First and foremost, what happens with ‘Brexit’ will determine free trade negotiations with the United States,” said Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
The biggest question is whether Britain will remain linked to EU regulatory standards or will set up its own framework and separate set of rules.
If |
Team Denmark play games at the World Championship in Prague. My brother Mads is on that team and we’re pretty close so I’ve been watching closely from home. We’ve played together for Team Denmark a few times in the past and we both enjoyed those experiences. I really miss being there this year but it just wasn’t meant to be.
I also plan to keep following the Stanley Cup Playoffs as best as I can. It’s hard to watch the games live here because they’re on TV in the middle of the night, but I check the scores each day and follow along on the internet. I can’t wait for our team to get back to the playoffs soon.
I’ve been hearing a lot about our team’s future and I’m excited about next season and beyond that. We have some very good young players in our organization who are on their way to the NHL and I think they can help us build a good team. Next season should be a good one for us and for our fans.
I'd like to end this blog by thanking the fans for their support during my illness and recovery. I’m very grateful for each get well message I get in the mail or on social media. They mean a lot to me. Thank you fans!Short-term thinking. Unthinking optimism - "everything will work out." Putting off hard decisions, selling national assets for peanuts, and first and foremost, of course, a lack of governance. These are the factors behind the ecological monster that is the Dead Sea, which is about to flood the hotels built in the Ein Bokek oasis.
After one High Court ruling, two biting reports by the state comptroller and any number of warnings about the gravity of the situation, the government is supposed to finally make decisions. It has to decide how to rescue one of Israel's most important tourism destinations, the lowest place on earth. After 20 years of foot-dragging, it has to decide how best to stop the rising level of the sea's southern half from swamping the hotels.
The Dead Sea
Last Thursday, hearing a petition by the Dead Sea Hotels Association, Supreme Court Justice Eliezer Rivlin voiced concern that the state had its own ideas about the pace of things. The state's representative asked not to be forced to make a decision before May. "Madam said May but didn't say which year," gibed Justice Asher Grunis. In any case, the court gave the state until August to make some decisions.
Dr. Yaakov Nir, a geologist who has been monitoring the Dead Sea's condition for years, finds the situation unacceptable. "Many absurd things have happened over the years, and sadly, the stupid ideas continue," Nir says. "I don't know if it's corruption or something else, but I'm sure it isn't wisdom. When experts come from abroad and see what we've done to the Dead Sea beaches, they ask why we did this to ourselves."
On November 11 this year, the official declaration of the new seven wonders of nature will be made by the private organization New 7 Wonders. The Dead Sea is a contender, alongside the Grand Canyon and the Galapagos Islands. Winning would be more than a symbolic feather in Israel's cap; it would translate into tourism. The hope is that winning the coveted award would spur the authorities into action to save the sea.
Israel's ignoring of nature was the root of the evil behind the damaging of the Dead Sea. Israel built its main water conduit from north to south in the 1950s. At the time this was hailed as progress; only later came recognition of the tremendous damage it caused. Since the national conduit redirected water to central Israel, it all but eliminated the flow of natural water down the Jordan River south of Lake Kinneret. Israel's neighbors Syria and Jordan diverted the course of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers too. The upshot was that during the 20th century, the Dead Sea fell 25 meters.
Also to blame for the drop in sea level is the Dead Sea Works, owned by Israel Chemicals (ICL ), which in turn is owned by the Ofer family. DSW is responsible for 20% of the drop in sea level, according the Geological Institute. It siphons seawater into evaporation pans south of the sea, from which it extracts the potash it sells worldwide as fertilizer.
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The drop in sea level has created other problems, one being sinkholes - yawning holes that suddenly appear, mainly in the northern part of the sea. The roads in the area also need maintenance.
Temporary forever
Until the national water conduit was built, a large spit of land jutted into the south part of the sea. But after the conduit came into being, the south part of the sea dried up completely.
In 1965, DSW - then still a government company (it was privatized in 1995 ) - built a giant salt evaporation pool 80 square kilometers large; 1.5 times the area of Tel Aviv. It pushes water from the north part of the sea - still a natural phenomenon - into that vast pool. And from that pool (and other smaller ones ), DSW takes advantage of the sun to evaporate the water to produce potash. But in this process, simple salt sinks to the bottom of the pool, builds up on the ground and raises the level of that south part of the sea.
Meanwhile, in the 1970s, the government got the idea to develop tourism next to the vast salt pool. It approved the construction of the first hotel in 1971, even though DSW warned of danger to the hotels in the future. "The sea level is gradually rising," the company's management wrote to Tourism Minister Moshe Kol and other ministries, warning that the beach and any hotels near it would be inundated.
A state comptroller report from 2003 on the Dead Sea mentions an October 1971 opinion at the Israel Lands Administration warning against building hotels within the future flooding range. Yet the government did not prevent the hotels from going up. During the 1980s, eight of them were built. Today there are 15, six on the waterline.
Their owners knew perfectly well about the problem. All but three have signed contracts with DSW stating as much. Nehemia Ben-Porat, chairman of the Dead Sea Hotels Association, says the hotels had relied on a dirt barrier wall and even paid to have it heightened as a temporary solution, even though this was a terrible nuisance. But they assumed that a permanent solution would be instated. "It didn't occur to us that things would reach the state they have reached today," Ben-Porat says.
The first time a physical effort was made to contend with the problem was in 1980, when DSW - at its own initiative - raised the height of the dirt levee around the giant salt pool. That temporary measure has become a permanent one. In the 1990s the government took charge - and increased the height of the wall some more. That enabled even more hotels to be built - yet no real solution was proffered, and the dirt barrier was built using land from the surrounding streams, causing even more environmental damage.
In the next 20 years the barrier was raised again and again, paid for by the state and DSW. In 2003 the state comptroller wrote that a permanent solution had to be found instead of just setting up committees that did nothing. He wrote the same thing again in 2005.
Ill-conceived privatization
While constantly piling more dirt on the levee, the state paved the way to privatize DSW in the 1990s. The first stage was floating its parent company, ICL, on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In a 1992 prospectus the state wrote that it was withdrawing a NIS 90 million dividend to finance protection for the hotels.
The sum proved insufficient, and it wasn't placed in a designated fund that would accrue interest. The money was used otherwise. Nor did the state think to require DSW's future owner to assume responsibility for protecting the hotels from floods. It could have, considering that the buyer was receiving a unique and extremely valuable national asset.
The Eisenberg family bought DSW in 1995, including the right to exploit the Dead Sea's mineral wealth until 2030, but bore no responsibility for environmental damage such as the dropping level of the north part of the sea or problems at the hotels. In 1999 the Ofer family bought the company from the Eisenbergs at the same terms.
Today the price of the omission is becoming clear. By 2017 the south pool waters are expected to engulf the hotel grounds. As the state was not spurred on by the state comptroller, in 2006 the hotels sued, saying the state wasn't doing anything. In 2008 the government set up the Dead Sea Preservation Government Company, an arm of the Tourism Ministry. Its job: to come up with a permanent solution.
It came up with three suggestions. One: Harvest the salt building up on the floor of the pool to keep the water level steady. Two: Create a lagoon by splitting the salt pool into two parts. The water level of the part by the hotels would remain steady. Three: Raze the six hotels on the shore (and the adjacent shopping centers ) and rebuild them elsewhere.
The Tourism Ministry is deliberating between option one (harvest ) and three (move ), and is reportedly leaning toward the latter. The Finance Ministry (which doesn't get to decide ) supports the last option, as the cheapest.
Holiday in adust storm
Everybody else, from environmental organizations to the hotels to the regional council, would prefer that the salt be harvested. DSW also thinks so, if the government would foot the bill. Another advantage is that the salt could be moved to the north part of the sea, raising the water level there. But the cost of digging up the salt from the south part would run at NIS 6.4 billion by 2035, while razing and rebuilding the hotels would cost NIS 3.5 billion.
The hotels are bitterly fighting the attempt to move them. They see two main dangers, one being that the infrastructure work to raze and rebuild six hotels plus two shopping centers would drag out for years, while ruining business at the other nine hotels. They also think that the eight years the Dead Sea Preservation Government Company has allocated for the work isn't enough; the barrier would have to be raised more anyway, creating more infrastructure work and ruining the view further.
"The whole area will be a desolate field of dust and giant cranes," moans Ben-Porat.
What tourist in his right mind would come to a site with giant trucks rumbling by, a view of scaffolding and - if they want to dip in the sea - a climb over a mountain of dirt? That's what hotelier David Fattal asks, anyway.
The greens, not noted for being business-friendly, are allied with the hotels on this one. Moving the hotels is a bad idea; moving the salt is a good idea and ICL should shoulder the cost, they argue. ICL is a highly profitable company, in part thanks to national resources that should belong to everyone, and the accrual of salt at the bottom of the south sea is the company's fault, argues Naama Heller, legal counsel of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense.
DSW doesn't agree. Noam Goldstein, its infrastructure manager, sees no reason it should pay to evacuate the salt; the pool is designated for industrial purposes, not tourism, he argues. "Right, we are responsible for the rising sea level," he says. "But without us [the pool] wouldn't exist at all. The hotels sit there, enjoy our maintenance of the pool for free and then say we're acting like an environmental contaminant? It isn't as though I built a plant next to a beautiful lake with hotels. On the contrary, the hotels came to me."
The state erred in selling the same asset twice, once as an industrial asset and then as a tourism asset, Goldstein says. "It's the classic syndrome of 'everything will work out' with the syndrome of 'not on my watch' and a failure to bear responsibility." His conclusion: DSW shouldn't pay a penny to evacuate the salt. There's a contract and the state sold it the franchise until 2030. It could have forced the buyer during the privatization to assume responsibility. It didn't.
Afraid of the Ofers?
In any case, salt harvesting wouldn't start before 2035, according to the preservation company's plan, five years after the Ofer family's concession expires. Coincidence, says the state, but the hoteliers claim that the spineless state is afraid to take on the Ofers, so it isn't forcing ICL to foot the bill.
But the Ofers could keep the concession after 2030. They have the right of first refusal. Meaning, if the state decides to keep the Dead Sea treasures in the private market, it has to offer them to the Ofers first - but it could stipulate new terms.
Nobody in the tourism or finance ministries has a sensible answer for why salt harvesting shouldn't start immediately, says Ben-Porat. "When we ask them why they don't sit down with the franchisee and reach an agreement, they say, 'Are you mad? What would people say about us? They'd claim illicit ties between business and government.' Are they prepared to destroy nature and tourism for fear of what people would say?"
In fact, say insiders, treasury officials have been battling with the Ofers to iron out a deal, which would involve ICL shouldering cost - either of moving the hotels or harvesting salt. DSW denies that formal talks are taking place, just theoretical chats. It's all about who pays how much, says an insider. It's high noon at the Dead Sea and now the question is who will blink first.The prevailing narrative in the Western media in the run-up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi has been one of Russia’s shortcomings. We have seen amusing tweets from journalists detailing unfinished hotels, missing pieces of infrastructure, and even tap water of uncertain provenance. More ominous have been the stories about how hackers are waiting to quickly break into your personal computing devices and steal your information once you arrive in Russia. The consensus is that Sochi is not ready to host the Games, despite the promises of the Russian government, due in part to the endemic problems that Russia faces—including corruption, domestic unrest, and the North Caucasus insurgencies. On top of that, a variety of groups opposed to the policies pursued by the Putin administration—from its restrictions on "immoral propaganda" of "nontraditional” lifestyles to its political and economic pressure to forestall a proposed Ukrainian association agreement with the European Union—have compared the Sochi 2014 Games to the ones held in Berlin in 1936 under the sponsorship of Adolf Hitler. Certainly distaste for Kremlin initiatives has been one reason that a number of Western leaders declined invitations to attend the opening ceremonies—and if the Russian government was hoping that Sochi 2014 would, like Beijing 2008, be the means for highlighting Russia's emergence as one of the twenty-first century's great powers, they will be sorely disappointed.
All of this contributes to a storyline that the Sochi Olympics will be a colossal embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, with some even speculating that a public humiliation at a time when the eyes of the world will be focused on Sochi might even be a catalyst for energizing domestic opposition to Putin.
There can be no doubt that the roll-out of Sochi has fallen short of the Kremlin’s original expectations, and there is still the very real threat of a terrorist action at the Games that would call into question the efficacy of Russia's vaunted efforts (" the ring of steel ") around the region. Putin prefers that world leaders make the trek to be seen at the Games, but their presence is not absolutely necessary to follow through with Putin's plans.
My sense is that, barring a major terrorist incident at Sochi, which would call into question his control and effectiveness, Putin will deem the Games to be a reasonable success and will have achieved many of his objectives, particularly if the Russian team puts in a better performance than at the 2010 Vancouver Games. There is also the factor that Sochi's earlier bids, during the Yeltsin administration, to host the Winter Games failed; Putin succeeded in 2007, so simply having won the Games was already a major victory in Putin's efforts to show that Russian influence in the world was on the upswing. Nor does he seem to be concerned about possible protests by visiting athletes. There seem to be indications that Putin has welcomed Western criticisms of his policies, particularly those directed against gays and lesbians, as a way to make inroads both among Western social conservatives as well as strengthening his bid to be seen as the de facto leader of the international reaction to U.S. efforts to promote Western-style liberalism and the leading defender of the rights of countries around the world to safeguard their "traditional values."
Despite the unfinished construction and consistent
allegations that a good deal of the funds earmarked for getting Sochi up to speed for the Olympics were diverted away into private accounts—a development which itself may not be entirely unwelcome because the obvious failures at Sochi (such as derelict hotels) create new avenues for " kompromat" to be used against a variety of Russian oligarchs and business interests who enjoyed lucrative Sochi development contracts and also provide Putin with fodder for any new anticorruption campaign or purge of the Russian political and business elite—Putin did achieve a long-term goal. Moscow was able to oversee the massive redevelopment of this area, the traditional Soviet-era answer to the Riviera. Given that, in most recent years, the "new Russians" have again decamped to the Western originals (the French Riviera, the Swiss Alps, and so on), the emerging post-Olympics Sochi, even if it does not meet the top Western standards for luxury, efficiency or comfort, will provide a vacation alternative for more of Russia's lower-middle class, particularly in the provincial centers—the societal bloc that increasingly is becoming the main pillar of support for the Putin administration, even as it loses ground among the managerial, business and intellectual sectors in the main centers of Russia. ="#axzz2szo8zjrc">
I also believe that developing Sochi—and the Olympics provided the rationale for the budgeting of large amounts of state resources for the task—needs to be seen in light of Putin's vision of the Eurasian Union. Putin believes that, over time, his proposed Eurasian Union will be able to eclipse what he sees as the illusory attractiveness of the European Union for the post-Soviet states of Eurasia. Symbolically, a redeveloped Sochi sends a message that whatever one was looking for in Europe, one can find in the Eurasian Union as well.
Seen in that light, the real test for Putin is not how Western media reports the Olympic Games, but whether his gamble that Russia under his leadership can create and sustain the Eurasian Union pays off. Sochi is a test of whether or not his administration is capable of major new construction. So far, the results are mixed—but the jury won't deliver a final vote until long after the athletes have departed.
Nikolas K. Gvosdev, a contributing editor at the National Interest, is a professor of national-security studies at the U.S. Naval War College. The views expressed here are entirely his own.Updated at 11:39 a.m. Eastern
DAMASCUS, Syria The Syrian government accused rebels of firing a chemical weapon for the first time on Tuesday in the north of the country, killing at least 25 people in the war-torn Aleppo province. Rebels quickly denied the report and accused regime forces of firing a chemical weapon on a long-range missile.
Neither of the accusations could immediately be verified, and a chemical weapons expert in the U.K. told CBSNews.com there was very little evidence to suggest any actual chemical weapons had been deployed. A U.S. official, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, also said there was no evidence of a chemical attack. Also expressing doubts was the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which reported no independent information of chemical weapons use.
At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney told reporters the administration had no evidence to suggest the rebels had used chemical weapons, but added: "We are looking carefully at the information as it comes in... This is an issue that has been made very clear by the president to be of great concern to us."
The Syrian state news agency SANA said "terrorists" had fired a rocket "containing chemical materials" into the area around the village of Khan al-Assal in the northern province of Aleppo. The regime regularly uses the term terrorists to refer to rebels fighting to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar Assad.
Russia, one of the Syrian regime's few remaining allies, joined the Assad regime in accusing the rebels of carrying out a chemical attack, calling it an "extremely dangerous" development in the crisis. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said rebels had detonated a munition containing an unidentified chemical agent early Tuesday in Aleppo province, without giving further details. The claim was nearly identical to the reports by Syria's state media.
"The rocket which was launched from Kafr Da'el in Neirab is a grave escalation," Syrian information minister Omran al-Zubi said in a televised statement. "The terrorists used a weapon that is banned in accordance with international law."
"The states which are arming, financing and housing the terrorists should be questioned about this crime," added al-Zubi. Syrian officials said at least 25 people, most of them civilians, were killed and dozens more wounded.
A photographer for the Reuters news agency said he had witnessed people come into hospitals with breathing problems after the attack.
"I saw mostly women and children," the Reuters photographer, who was not identified, told his editors. He said after visiting the University of Aleppo hospital and the al-Rajaa hospital -- both in state-controlled parts of Aleppo -- that victims "said that people were suffocating in the streets and the air smelt strongly of chlorine."
An activist in the area said rebels had recently seized much of the village of Khan al-Assal, including a facility that housed a military academy.
The opposition Syrian Media Center said 20 people had died from "asphyxia and poisoning after a SCUD missile fired from Damascus struck" Khan al-Assal.
Chemical weapons expert and chief operating officer of SecureBio, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told CBSNews.com that based on video he had seen of victims in Aleppo hospitals, the symptoms were "not really those that are identified with nerve agents or mustard gas, which are the ones most likely to be used" inside Syria.
Bretton-Gordon noted that none of the people in the hospitals treating the attack victims were wearing protective clothing. If a chemical agent had been dispersed, he said, anybody coming into contact with the victims would also be affected; "doctors treating them would be overcome."
As for the reports of a chlorine smell near the scene of the attack, Bretton-Gordon said conventional high explosives can also produce an odor which might be mistaken for chlorine, and that weapons using the common household chemical haven't been widely used since World War I. He noted that mustard gas -- which Syria is known to have stockpiled -- can produce a chlorine-like odor, but there was no indication from the images he had seen that the devastating chemical agent had been used in Aleppo on Tuesday.
A militant with the rebel Free Syrian Army told CBS News via telephone Tuesday morning that the government's claim of a chemical attack had made him nervous that the government itself might be poised to use its banned weapons.
Bretton-Gordon, whose company has closely followed developments concerning the Syrian government's chemical weapons stockpiles, said the claims of a chemical weapon attack on Tuesday struck him as little more than "another bit of propaganda," but he couldn't say whether it was government propaganda or opposition propaganda.
There have been long-standing concerns that Syria's chemical weapons would be used by one side or the other in the 2-year-old civil war.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said recently that the longer the war goes on, the greater the danger of its institutions collapsing and extremists getting their hands on the Arab country's vast chemical weapons arsenal.
The reported attack was in an area just east of the city of Aleppo that had seen fierce fighting for weeks before rebels took over a sprawling government complex there last month. The facility included several military posts and a police academy that Assad's forces have turned into a military base that regularly fires shells at nearby villages.Playing to his strengths, Bob Newhart toplined two CBS comedy hits — “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart” — and finished their combined 14-year run with one of the greatest farewells in TV history.
“Those two series gave him a vehicle that enabled him to do what he does best,” says Barry Kemp, “Newhart” creator and exec producer of the sitcom’s first two seasons. “He was put into situations where he could react to some fairly bizarre people around him.”
In “The Bob Newhart Show” (1972-78), a steady stream of colorful characters flowed into the practice run by Dr. Bob Hartley, the mild-mannered Chicago psychiatrist played by Newhart. Workplace regulars, such as the brash receptionist (Marcia Wallace) and bachelor orthodontist (Peter Bonerz), had their quirks, as did the neighbors in the high-rise apartment Hartley shared with his wife, Emily (Suzanne Pleshette).
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Absent, for the most part, were kids, allowing the writers to focus more adult-oriented storylines, says Michael Zinberg, a writer, director and producer on the series. For example, in the 1977 “Ex-Con Job” episode, Hartley led a group therapy session at a prison, and in the 1975 Thanksgiving show, “Over the River and Through the Woods,” he begged out of a trip with Emily, and instead spent an alcohol-infused holiday with his buddies that included a classic call to a Chinese restaurant for moo goo gai pan.
The comedic situations connected with viewers who tuned in on Saturday nights, and also with in-studio audiences.
“It was fun watching the cast perform and do the show, and then hearing the audience respond to it,” Zinberg says. “I used to mix the soundtrack before it went on the air, and there were a miniscule number of edited laughs. It usually was the real audience.”
For “Newhart” (1982-90), Newhart returned to primetime with a new wife (Mary Frann) and a new life, as Dick Loudon, the harried owner of a colonial-era inn in scenic Vermont.
As it turned out, rural New England also was populated with eccentric characters, including George (Tom Poston), the inn’s slow-thinking caretaker, and Larry, Darryl and Darryl (William Sanderson, Tony Papenfuss and John Voldstad), three backwoods brothers who eventually take over the local cafe.
“The writers would come in with their own stories and say, ‘You know who’s really weird in my family?’ and characters would evolve out of that,” recalls Bob Bendetson, an exec producer and writer on the series. “We went very broad with them, but we always treated them as though they really existed. They were sort of quirky, small-town characters, and Bob would react in the way he would react — that these people are crazy.”
The series signed off on May 21, 1990, with what Entertainment Weekly earlier this year praised as the best TV series finale ever. In “The Final Newhart,” Dick Loudon is hit in the head by an errant golf ball and knocked unconscious. He then wakes up as Bob Hartley — with Emily in bed next to him — and tells her about his strange dream about living in Vermont and running an inn.
Also impressed by the sendoff was Kemp, who had moved onto another series, but returned to watch the taping of the finale. “Going back and completely recreating that bedroom,” he says, “where so many scenes took place between Bob and Suzanne, I thought that was really, really smart.”The Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is reportedly considering co-financing a large airport in Poland that could increase connectivity between Europe and Asia.
The planned new airport near the city of Lodz in central Poland would be the AIIB’s first project in Europe.
Pang Yee Ean, director-general of investment operations at the AIIB, said during his visit to Poland this week that while the bank was focusing on Asia it was now ready to support projects in all member states if they increase connections to Asia.
Pang said in a press conference on Wednesday that the AIIB could help finance the building of a new central Polish airport, provided that it was in line with the bank’s policy of “promoting interconnectivity between the continents” and would help to increase traffic to Asia.
According to Onet.pl, Pang told that the bank had already discussed the project with representatives of the Polish government.
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday that the central airport was a "priority". Plans for the new airport, which would cost up to US$9bn, were announced due to concerns that that the country’s biggest airport in Warsaw would run out of capacity by 2020.
Szydlo said she would travel to China in May for talks and for signing an agreement.
Opportunities for Polish companies
Poland joined the AIIB as one of its 57 founding members in 2015. The bank was established by China to finance the construction of transportation links, power plants and other infrastructure in Asia, with US$100bn in committed capital.
The AIIB’s biggest loan so far is the US$600 million loan it approved in December for the construction of a gas pipeline connecting Azerbaijan to Turkey and Southern Europe.
The bank plans to lend US$2.5bn to 10-15 projects this year, after approving loans worth US$1.73bn last year to energy, transport and urban projects in countries including Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
During his visit to Poland, the AIIB's Pang also encouraged Polish companies, especially in the fields of road construction, energy production and environmental engineering, to take advantage of the opportunities offered by their country's membership in the bank and invest in Asian markets.× Partially clothed principal caught smoking pot with student
NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — A high school principal in Florida was allegedly caught in the back seat of a car smoking marijuana with a student with her shirt unbuttoned.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, North Palm Beach police arrested Krista Morton, 45, a principal at Mavericks High School (map), and an 18-year-old student following the incident.
Police said they were responding to a report of suspicious people in a car. The initial caller told authorities the two appeared to have been engaging in sexual activity or were being attacked, according to the report.
When police arrived they saw the principal’s shirt was unbuttoned, “exposing her shoulders and part of her chest,” according to a police report cited by the Sentinel.
Morton told police she was friends with the student, and just trying to get to know him better. But the student told police she was his principal.
According to the report, police could smell marijuana while talking to the two. The principal told authorities marijuana had been smoked, but would not say she had smoked it.
A box containing the drug was found in the car.
Both were charged with possession of marijuana. Morton was released from jail Thursday. The student remains at the jail on $1,000 bail, the Sentinel reports.JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars running back Chris Ivory was admitted to a Jacksonville hospital Sunday morning with what the team is calling a general medical issue.
Jags RB Chris Ivory will not play today, admitted to the hospital for an unspecified medical issue. AP Photo/Gary McCullough
The Jaguars later released a statement saying that Ivory was "doing well and is expected to be released from the hospital in the next day or two."
A source told ESPN's Jeff Darlington that Ivory was admitted for precautionary reasons, resulting from an issue unrelated to his injured calf.
Ivory had been limited in practice last week with the calf injury, but that was not expected to keep him from playing Sunday. T.J. Yeldon started in Ivory's place.
Yeldon finished with 39 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries in the Jaguars' 27-23 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
The Jaguars signed Ivory to a five-year, $32 million contract in March. He has rushed for 4,031 yards and 24 touchdowns in six seasons with the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets.This article lists all-time records achieved in the NBA post-season in major categories recognized by the league, including those set by teams and individuals in single games, series, and careers. The NBA also recognizes records from its original incarnation, the Basketball Association of America.
Playoff records [ edit ]
Game [ edit ]
Most minutes in a game
Most points in a half
Most points in a quarter
29 by Sleepy Floyd, Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers on May 10, 1987 (4th)
Most points in an overtime period
17 by Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trail Blazers on May 9, 2016 Note: this exceeds the regular season record of 16 by Gilbert Arenas
Most field goals made in a game
24 by Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors vs. Syracuse Nationals on March 14, 1960
24 by John Havlicek, Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks on April 1, 1973
24 by Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls vs. Cleveland Cavaliers on May 1, 1988
Most field goals made in a game, no misses
Most field goals attempted in a game
48 by Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors vs. Syracuse Nationals on March 22, 1962
48 by Rick Barry, San Francisco Warriors vs. Philadelphia 76ers on April 18, 1967
Most field goals missed in a game
Most field goals attempted in a game, none made
14 by Chick Reiser, Baltimore Bullets at Philadelphia Warriors on April 10, 1948
14 by Dennis Johnson, Seattle SuperSonics vs. Washington Bullets on June 7, 1978
Most field goals made in a half
16 by Dave Bing, Detroit Pistons vs. Boston Celtics on April 1, 1968
Most field goals attempted in a half
25 by Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors vs. Syracuse Nationals on March 22, 1962
25 by Elgin Baylor, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics on April 14, 1962
25 by Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls vs. Cleveland Cavaliers on May 1, 1988
Most field goals made in a quarter
12 by Sleepy Floyd, Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers on May 10, 1987
Most field goals attempted in a quarter
18 by Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets on April 19, 2017
Most consecutive field goals made in a quarter
12 by Sleepy Floyd, Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers on May 10, 1987[ citation needed ]
Most consecutive field goals made in a game
13 by Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Lakers on June 5, 1991[ citation needed ]
Most 3-point field goals made in a game
11 by Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder on May 28, 2016
Most 3-point field goals made in a game, no misses
7 by Robert Horry, Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz on May 6, 1997
Most 3-point field goals attempted in a game
19 by Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder vs Utah Jazz, April 27, 2018
Most 3-point field goals made in a half
8 by Vince Carter, Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers on May 11, 2001[4]
Most 3-point field goals attempted in a half
11 by Gary Payton, Seattle SuperSonics vs. Houston Rockets on May 4, 1996
11 by Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs on May 13, 2003
Most 3-point field goals made in a quarter
6 by Antoine Walker, Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers on April 28, 2002
Most consecutive 3-point field goals made in a half
8 by Vince Carter, Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers on May 11, 2001[4]
Most consecutive 3-point field goals made in a game
8 by Vince Carter, Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers on May 11, 2001 [4]
8 by Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers at Oklahoma City Thunder on May 5, 2014.[5]
Most free throws made in a game
30 by Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics vs. Syracuse Nationals on March 21, 1953 (4 OT) (30/32) Note: this exceeds the regular season record of 28 by Wilt Chamberlain and Adrian Dantley
Most free throws made in a game, no misses
24 by Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder on May 17, 2011[6]
Shaq holds the Playoff records for free throws attempted in a quarter & game.
Most free throws attempted in a game
39 by Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers on June 9, 2000 (18/39)
Most free throws made in a half
19 by Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors on May 8, 1991
19 by Karl Malone, Utah Jazz vs. Portland Trail Blazers on May 9, 1991
19 by Charles Barkley, Phoenix Suns vs. Seattle SuperSonics on June 5, 1993
19 by Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder on May 17, 2011
Most free throws attempted in a half
28 by DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers vs. Houston Rockets on May 10, 2015 (10/28)
Most free throws made in a quarter
13 by Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons on May 21, 1991
13 by Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers on April 16, 2011
13 by Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder on May 17, 2011
Most free throws attempted in a quarter
25 by Shaquille O' |
Aviation's Rafale, which has now won the race for IAF's multi-billion dollar combat aircraft deal, was one of the six contenders in the hotly-contested tender when the alleged incident took place.The GCM had recommended Thakur's dismissal last year itself but its recommendations could not be confirmed so far as the officer had approached the courts seeking relief.Image copyright AP Image caption The fire destroyed more than 150 homes
A fire in a Philippines shanty town has sparked violent clashes between residents and firefighters.
Officials said residents in the San Juan City slum, east of Manila, were frustrated with the slow response of the emergency services and tried to grab hoses to save their homes.
In the ensuing violence, one person was beaten to death after apparently being mistaken for a firefighter.
The fire destroyed dozens of homes and left hundreds of people homeless.
GMA news reported that some residents had threatened firefighters with guns and threw stones at the fire engines.
"Our fire engines had difficulty entering the narrow streets that were blocked by parked cars and carts," fire chief Santiago Laguna told local media.
"Our firefighters had to drag the hoses into the alleys, where they were attacked.
"[The residents] started grabbing hoses from our firefighters, who could not do anything as they feared for their own safety."
Millions of Filipinos live in shanty towns around the capital city.
Cramped conditions and poor construction leave the areas exposed to fires and natural disasters.On the verge of a possible upset of the Democratic Party’s longtime golden boy, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, in Tuesday’s Maryland Senate primary, Rep. Donna Edwards has a question for her fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus: Why aren’t more of you endorsing me?
POLITICO has learned that Edwards met privately last week with several CBC members to voice her frustration that so few African-American lawmakers had offered her their support, according to five sources familiar with the meetings.
Story Continued Below
Only four of the 46 CBC members — Reps. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, Lacy Clay of Missouri, Robin Kelly of Illinois and Hank Johnson of Georgia — are backing Edwards over Van Hollen, an unusually small number for a group known for standing by fellow African-American lawmakers. Meanwhile, Van Hollen has been making hay over his growing number of endorsements from black political leaders in Maryland, including some in Edwards’ district, though he has yet to be endorsed by a CBC member.
Edwards, who won her House seat by defeating Al Wynn, a popular member of the CBC, in a Democratic primary in 2008, has had a strained relationship with many black lawmakers from the start. But with she and Van Hollen running nearly neck-and-neck in a primary that many expected Van Hollen to win easily, Edwards has been reaching out over the past two weeks to members of the CBC to ask why they’re not backing her bid to be only the second black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She’s also pressed her case with lawmakers at the Democratic Club restaurant, where members often eat.
Sources close to the CBC and lawmakers familiar with the conversations said some of Edwards’ CBC colleagues responded to her in frank terms. Members of the CBC have long considered her abrasive and said she’s not an easy colleague to work with.
“She has not developed good relationships with the members of the CBC, quite frankly,” said a source familiar with the CBC. “A lot of people find her difficult.”
Edwards’ defenders, however, say her fellow CBC members should be rallying around a black woman who stands a decent chance of reaching the Senate, where only one Democrat — New Jersey’s Cory Booker — is African-American. They say her fellow House members are punishing her for failing to schmooze with CBC members on a regular basis — and because Van Hollen is known to be close to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
“Donna is about taking care of the business of governing — and she is not particularly focused on backslapping and hobnobbing with everyone,” said Johnson. “Some members socialize, are very warm toward each other, play together, drink together and sit together on the floor — and that’s fine. There are others who, for whatever reason, have a different trajectory, and I respect Donna for just being the person and representative that she is.”
Edwards campaign spokesman Ben Gerdes would not comment on the meetings but said “Donna’s committed to sitting down with elected officials and community leaders from across the spectrum and the country, like the members of the CBC, on the issues that impact the lives of African-American families.”
While only a handful of CBC members have endorsed Edwards, a larger number have donated to her campaign, although donations are not thought to carry the same weight as an endorsement.
The news comes less than a week before one of the most watched Senate Democratic primaries in the nation. Edwards is running in a dead heat with Van Hollen, a budget wonk who often leads high-stakes negotiations for Democrats with Republicans.
Van Hollen was once considered a shoo-in to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski. But Edwards’ pitch to Maryland voters, which often notes her ties to the minority community and the fact that she’s a single mother, has clearly made inroads with Old Line State voters.
Now, the race has turned into a nail-biter, and the campaign has turned ugly. A super PAC backing Edwards, for example, accused Van Hollen of being pro-NRA because of a niche provision tucked into a Democratic campaign finance bill he once helped negotiate at the behest of then-Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an effort to entice GOP members to vote for the larger campaign finance package.
After the White House, Pelosi and other House Democrats call on the Edwards-cheerleading super PAC to remove the ad — which they argued was an improper use of an emotional and sensitive topic — two CBC members, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison and Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, issued statements to POLITICO saying the ad had misconstrued the context of the campaign finance legislation.
Donna Edwards has been working to overcome some bad blood.
Cleaver, who decried the PAC’s ad as “disgusting,” told POLITICO that Edwards approached him last week — though he would not disclose details of their conversation.
Other sources said her approach to them was more casual: mingling, catching up and inquiring how people are doing — reconnections that could, just maybe, lead to help further down the road.
Earlier this year, the CBC’s political action committee passed on endorsing Edwards in an embarrassing public snub. POLITICO reported that Wynn, the former representative whom Edwards unseated in 2008 and who sits on the PAC board — had made the argument that black officials in the state were not backing her and they should stay out of the race as well.
The Edwards-CBC tension goes back years, to a House Ethics Committee dispute that involved Edwards and fellow CBC member Maxine Waters. The panel was probing the California Democrat for conflicts of interest in coordinating Treasury Department meetings with executives from a bank where her husband owned stock. When her grandson-turned-chief of staff Mikael Moore became the focus of the investigation, Edwards grilled him publicly for not seeing ethical red flags sooner.
That’s when the bad blood started, and Waters and other members of the CBC never forgot it, with many interpreting Edwards’ moves as an act of disloyalty.
It is unclear whether Edwards’ meetings will be successful in securing endorsements for her in the last days before the primary.
She could use the boost: A recent NBC4/Marist Maryland poll found her trailing her competitor by 6 points, signaling she has potentially lost the slight edge she had on Van Hollen just a few weeks ago.
But CBC members don’t appear to be coming to her rescue. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, for example, endorsed Maryland African Americans Will Jawando to take over Van Hollen’s congressional seat and Catherine Pugh for Baltimore mayor in the past few days.
But asked whether there could be one more coming — perhaps for Edwards, his fellow Marylander? — he shrugged and walked away.
Anna Palmer contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said CBC member Rep. Ellison asked for the pro-Edwards Van Hollen-attack ad to come down. However, he only said he disagreed with the contents of the ad and stopped short of calling for its removal.HISD will serve meals free of charge to students all year, thanks to a combination of waivers and programs at the state and federal level.
HISD serves free breakfast in the classroom all year long, but support for the morning meal will also come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of Agriculture until Sept. 30. The departments will also help HISD serve lunch free of charge to the one-third of HISD students not already covered by the Community Eligibility Program. Earlier this year, HISD certified 191 schools to participate in the Community Eligibility Program and receive free breakfast and lunch.
The district will work with both the USDA and TDA to gain additional guidance on extending their support beyond Sept. 30.
In addition, the district’s application to offer free supper to all the students was recently approved by the Texas Department of Agriculture. Each principal will work with nutrition services to decide how the free supper program will be offered on their campus.
“The flooding that is affecting the city of Houston has been devastating to so many. Some of the areas that are the hardest hit are filled with working parents whose limited funds will need to go toward recovery efforts. Free school meals will give our families one less concern as they begin the process of restoring their lives” said Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Carranza. “We will work closely with the USDA and TDA to ensure the provision is extended as necessary.”
HISD is still asking parents and guardians to complete and return the application. The National School Lunch/School Breakfast Program applications and surveys are available at https://mealapps.houstonisd.org. The information received in the forms helps the district to secure funding and track student data.
“It will take months, possibly years for the city to recover. We expect families to be displaced, students to attend new schools, and many of them possibly using alternative ways to travel to and from school,” said Nutrition Services Officer Betti Wiggins. “We want to reduce any stress connected to food while families work toward getting their personal affairs in order. All HISD students will have access to good food, made with as many local and fresh ingredients as possible and served with love and a smile.”The terrorists are reportedly members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba or LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM.
Highlights Pakistan shared details on terrorists coming to India with NSA Ajit Doval Know location of other, reportedly Jaish and Lashkar, terrorists: Sources Gujarat and Delhi were put on high alert after a possible attack threat
Three of 10 Pakistani terrorists who entered India earlier this month, reportedly via Gujarat, have been killed, said government sources.The location of the others is known, said the sources, stressing that no other information can be revealed because it could jeopardize security plans.The information about the terrorists journeying to India was shared with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval by his Pakistani counterpart, Nasser Khan Janjua.Gujarat was put on high alert after the warning, with increased security at the Somnath Temple on the occasion of Mahshivratri, one of the most important dates of the Hindu calendar. Intel agencies then said the terrorists may have travelled to Delhi, where malls and public places were asked to be especially vigilant.The terrorists are reportedly members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba or LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM.Pakistan's disclosure about the men is seen as an attempt to prove it is genuine in its offer to prevent India from attacks planned across the border. In January, seven military personnel were killed in a deadly assault by Pakistani terrorists at the air force base in Pathankot in Punjab, where military high-value assets including fighter jets are stationed. India has agreed to a visit by Pakistani investigators assigned to examine the evidence at the air force base by Pakistani Prime Minister Nazwaz Sharif.Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), a native herb of Southeast Asia, is widely known for its psychoactive properties. Recent increase in the use of kratom as a recreational drug has increased the risk of its interaction with conventional drugs if taken concomitantly. A few reports are available related to the effects of kratom on the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs), but there are no reports of its effects on pregnane X receptor (PXR), a transcription factor that regulates the expression of CYPs and P-glycoprotein (P-gp). This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of a methanolic extract of kratom leaves, an alkaloid rich fraction and its 5 indole and 4 oxindole alkaloids on PXR activation and the resulting changes in the mRNA expression of PXR target genes (CYP3A4, CYP1A2, and P-gp). A significant activation of PXR was observed by the extract (3-fold), alkaloidal fraction (4-fold) and all 9 alkaloids (4- to 6-fold) that was associated with an increased mRNA expression which resulted into an increase in the activity of CYP3A4, CYP1A2, and P-gp. These results indicate that high consumption of Mitragyna speciosa extract along with the conventional drugs may lead to potential herb-drug interactions due to its effects on PXR.
Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Fires on Monday night forced more than 14,000 people to evacuate Gatlinburg and the surrounding area, but two days later some people are still desperately waiting to hear from their loved ones.
Many viewers have asked for a place to get the word out about their missing relatives. Please understand this is an ever-changing situation and we are working off reports from family members.
RELATED: People search for loved ones after Gatlinburg fires
If you have a missing person from Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Wears Valley to report also contact TBI's hotline at 1-800-TBI-FIND. The information gathered by TBI will be immediately available to law enforcement authorities in the response area for further follow-up.
Missing person list
Pamela Johnson was at The Travelers Motel on Highway 321 the last time she spoke to her granddaughter. Her family and friends organized a search on Thursday for her.
<p>Pamela Johnson</p>
The TBI confirmed authorities located Ranbir Bajwa on Monday morning. TBI said Bajwa is safe. The Sevier County Sheriff's Office initially reported Bajwa missing following a welfare check.
Victims previously reported as missing
Officials have confirmed that Constance Reed and her daughters Lily and Chloe died in the fires. Constance's husband, Michael, and their son had gone on a drive Monday night before the fires picked up. Michael shared with 10News that he appreciated all the prayers from everyone across the country.
Michael Reed is searching for his wife, Constance, and two daughters after the Gatlinburg fire.
Rev. Dr. Ed Taylor of Gatlinburg has been identified as one of the victims in the Sevier County fires. His son, Eddie, said that officials believe Rev. Taylor died from smoke inhalation.
<p>Rev. Dr. Ed Taylor of Gatlinburg </p>
Family members have confirmed that Memphis couple Jon and Janet Summers died in the Sevier County fires. Their three sons, Branson, Wesley, and Phillip are hospitalized at Vanderbilt Burn Center in Nashville. Two of them are in stable condition, the third is in stable but critical condition.
<p>The Summers family includes Jon and Janet Summers and their three sons — Branson and twins Wesley and Jared. Photo Credit: Family photo</p>
Bradley Phillips, 59. Discovered at 412 Long Hollow Road. His family told Channel 10 earlier that his body was found near his home, and are asking for prayers through this difficult time.
Brad Phillips reported missing from the Gatlinburg fire
Family members have confirmed that Alice Hagler, 70, is one of the people that died in the Sevier County fires this week. Her son James Wood confirmed that authorities notified him of his mother's death on Wednesday night.
Alice Hagler.Remains of ancient naval base discovered in Athens' Piraeus Harbour
An archaeologist excavates one of the shipsheds at Mounichia Harbour -on one of the very rare
days of good visibility [Credit: Vassilis Tsiairis]
The harbours of the Piraeus are heavily polluted. Archaeologists wore chemical-resistant Viking Pro 1000 drysuits
and Interspiro full-face masks with positive-pressure valves. Such equipment completely seals the diver from the
contaminated underwater environment of the harbour basins [Credit: Vassilis Tsiairis]
Mounichia Harbour: Archaeologists documented the 10 x 10 meter square tower on the southern fortified mole
using digital survey techniques [Credit: Bjørn Lovén]
Drawing of ship shed [Credit: Yiannis Nakas]
Satellite photo the modern Piraeus showing the configurations of the three harbours, Kantharos, Zea, and Mounichia
[Credit: GoogleEarthPro]
Zea Harbour Project (ZHP) - the combined land and underwater archaeological
investigation of the ancient harbours of Zea and Mounichia in the Piraeus -
was launched in 2002 [Credit: ZHP]
The Wooden Wall: Battle of Salamis [Credit: Bjørn Lovén]
TANN
you might also likeWASHINGTON — In a surprise move, Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman John McCain is looking to eliminate the F-35 joint program office, currently the hub of the gargantuan operation that spans three US services and 12 nations.
The provision in his version of the defense policy bill, approved by the committee Thursday as part of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, would disband the joint program office (JPO) after the F-35 reaches full-rate production in April 2019.
The responsibility for the program would then fall to the US departments of the Navy and the Air Force, according to a summary of the bill released Thursday.
The JPO declined to comment on pending legislation. But a source familiar with the issue said McCain's proposal fails to account for the international reach of the JSF program.
"They took a very US-centric viewpoint on it, forgetting about that there are 11 other countries involved in the F-35 program," according to the source. "I don't think that the provision accounts for international aspects to the program."
The Arizona Republican has long criticized the F-35 for cost overruns, schedule delays and technical glitches. Now, he is suggesting the effort to build the fifth-generation fighter as a joint program across three variants has failed.
"Despite aspirations for a joint aircraft, the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C are essentially three distinct aircraft, with significantly different missions and capability requirements," according to the summary. "Devolving this program to the services will help ensure the proper alignment of responsibility and accountability the F-35 needs and has too often lacked."
The move is part of the committee's effort to hold the Pentagon accountable, promote transparency and protect taxpayer dollars, according to the summary language.
× Fear of missing out? Fear no longer. Be the first to hear about breaking news, as it happens. You'll get alerts delivered directly to your inbox each time something noteworthy happens in the Military community. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to our Newsletter: Sign up for our Early Bird Brief
McCain also made retirement of the A-10 contingent on completion of the F-35's initial operational testing and evaluation period, as well as comparison testing of both jets' ability to conduct close-air support. The House included a similar provision, spearheaded by Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., in its version of the fiscal 2017 defense policy bill.September 17 is Constitution Day, and here’s a suggestion for how you might celebrate.
Gather some patriots -- cakes and ale and three-cornered hats optional -- and as a party game, see if your guests can answer some basic questions about the Constitution from a 1997 poll commissioned by the National Constitution Center. For example,
What are the three branches of government?
How many senators are there?
What are the four rights guaranteed by the First Amendment?
Does the Constitution establish the United States as a Christian nation?
Do these questions seem easy to you, readers of the ACLU Blog of Rights?
In this first comprehensive survey of constitutional knowledge, it turned out that although most Americans (over three-quarters) say that they are very proud of our Constitution, only five percent could accurately answer ten basic questions, like those above, about its contents. 62 percent couldn’t name the three branches of the federal government (Legislature, Executive, Judiciary) and one third couldn’t name even one branch; over half did not know the number of Senators (100); only six percent could name “the four rights” guaranteed by the First Amendment (free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of peaceable assembly and the right to petition for redress of grievances – or is that really five or even six rights?) and one quarter couldn’t name any; one sixth incorrectly believed that the Constitution established the United States as a Christian nation.
Why do Americans know so little about the Constitution they claim to revere? I’ll offer two explanations. First, the fact that the Constitution was intentionally made so difficult to amend (in Article V, to answer another question) means that we don’t tend to actively engage with its provisions because we don’t get to vote on them. The Constitution has been amended only 27 times since 1787. This stability is a boon for rights, which are protected againsttrends, panic, ormajority self-interest. But the down side of placing the Constitution on a pedestal, out of easy reach, is that people don’t feel a real sense of ownership of this documenteven though it is supposedlyby and for “We, the People.”
A second explanation for widespread ignorance about the Constitution would be that the schools are not doing an effective job of teaching it. In 2004, Congress sought to improve this situation by declaring that every September 17, on the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, each school that accepts federal funds must offer educational programming about the Constitution.
The Constitution Center and various other providers offer Constitution Day curricular suggestions for exploring constitutional history and our founding documents, a very important enterprise. But I’m thinking that the ACLU, through its nation-wide affiliates, is ideally situated to offer students some more contemporary and maybe more engaging lessons about what the Constitution means to us and to them today. Who better to explain the real significance of the Constitution than the folks who defend it?
Stay tuned while the ACLU National Communications Department explores this new frontier, and please do share any of your own ideas or experiences. And if you want to give the Constitution a birthday present, join or rededicate yourself to supporting its defenders.
Learn more about your rights: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.The new adventure City at the Center of the Earth by author Kieran Turley is now available as PDF.
Since inventors Edison and Armstrong set out on their first journey to Mars in 1870, mankind has been enthused by the worlds lying beyond the Ether, and nations and enterprises, inventors and explorers have ventured into the depths of space. German inventor Elke Eggers, however, has no interest in going up. Driven by her memories of the fantastic tales her grandfather Ansgar used to tell her about underground civilizations, she has dedicated her life to seeking ways to voyage underground and find the mysterious City at the Center of the Earth.
This adventure is set on Earth and—in particular—inside it. On an adventurous journey à la Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth and in particular Edgar Rice Burrough’s Pellucidar novels, the characters join Elke Eggers in her giant Mole Drill, digging its way towards the Earth’s core. But sabotage and unknown threats make the voyage challenging and dangerous. Will they reach the mysterious city Elke Egger is convinced exists down there? And if so, which mysteries and secrets await the adventurers there? What creatures live in the gigantic caverns deep down in the center of the Earth? And, where do the inhabitants—and possibly even builders—of this ‘World beneath the World’ come from?
The adventurers can be of any nationality, even if the starting point of the journey is set in the German Empire. The events in this adventure challenge various character archetypes with tasks matching their expertise: Academics, Scientists, and Explorers are best suited for this endeavor, of course, but Engineers, Mechanics, or Soldiers will be useful as well.
Also, the two adventures Nocturne in the City of Lights and London Bridge has Fallen Down are now available with Savage Worlds rules (both PDF)!
All three adventures are now available as PDF for $5.00 via DriveThruRPG:
City at the Center of the Earth
Nocturne in the City of Lights (Savage Worlds)
London Bridge has Fallen Down (Savage Worlds)The Fault in Our Stars movie has started filming in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! To mark the occasion, producer Wyck Godfrey has shared photos from the set.
Filming on The Fault in Our Stars looks to have begun on Tuesday. Godfrey took a picture of the clapper/slate, which has a great Fault theme:
So it begins! pic.twitter.com/nR1NG2F659 — Wyck Godfrey (@wyckgodfrey) August 20, 2013 Article Continues Below
Related: John Green confirms he’ll have a cameo in Fault.
On Wednesday, Godfrey shared a photo from inside the church where the meeting room scene takes place. Readers know that this is the location of Gus and Hazel’s first encounter.
It’s important to note that Godfrey only took a picture of the church, not the exact room where Hazel and Gus will meet in the movie.
The Fault in Our Stars is directed by Josh Boone and is based on the book of the same name by John Green. Shailene Woodley has the role of Hazel Grace, while Ansel Elgort portrays Augustus Waters. It is expected to hit theaters in 2015.
Woodley cut her hair this past weekend to get ready to prepare for her appearance as Hazel – see photos in our previous story.
In recent weeks we learned that the cast would be visiting cancer treatment centers to speak with those who are struggling so as to better understand their condition.
We’ll continue to share any and all photos from the set as they surface online.A serial vandal with a racist streak is making the rounds in Florida, and the latest victim is a 51-year-old Iraq war veteran who had “Dumb n****r, black lives matter for target practice,” spray-painted on the side of his home.
Marilyn and Wayne Scott, a mixed-race couple, were out of town visiting relatives when their home in Pinellas Park, Florida, was hit with the racist graffiti.
“My brother who lives in Florida has been away visiting our mother,” Sophfronia Scott, Walter’s sister, wrote in a Facebook post which included the photo. “This is what happened to his house while he was gone. My brother is a veteran who lives with pain daily because of the severe injuries he sustained in service to our country.”
“I'm stunned and saddened he now has to suffer another kind of pain on top of that,” she added.
Hateful vandalism has been popping up all over the area, with a home in Palm Bay having the word “n****r” burned onto their lawn in three foot letters with weed killer, “KKK” being scrawled on cars, and "impeach Obama stupid n****r” spray-painted on the door of a 60-year-old’s SUV.
This latest incident took place at a home located right next to another couple that was previously targeted by racist vandals.
In May, “KKK” was spray painted across Jamal Clark’s vehicle. He and his wife live next door to the Scotts.
In June, the vandals returned and spray painted a black line across Clark’s wife’s vehicle.
"We’re the only two mixed families that are on this block," Clark told Bay News 9. "So, someone’s doing it on purpose."
© AFP 2018 / ROBYN BECK Poll Shows 'Black Lives Matter' High Favorability Amid US Presidential Race
On Tuesday, the city sent a work crew to clean up the vandalism on the Scotts’ home, although Scott initially wanted to keep it up for a little while to let the community see what is going on.
“So far, we’ve been able to identify a total of seven different incidents in that particular neighborhood," Sergeant Mike Lynch told Bay News. "They range from things like ‘clean up your yard’ to the racial epithets."
He also noted that it is not just black families that are being hit with the hateful messages: the person who had "impeach Obama stupid n****r,” spray painted on their SUV was a 60-year-old white homeowner.
So far, the police have no leads on who is behind the disturbing messages, and anyone with information has been asked to call the Pinellas Park Police Department.Staff members pulled us apart. He got put on 1:1s, but I just got a warning ("Please don't punch anyone else"). It probably had something to do with the fact that, as a rape survivor, I don't respond well to rape threats or assholes barging into my room. So yeah, gonna go with "He deserved it."
1 You Don't Usually Know What's Wrong
Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty ImagesPhotodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images
When someone in a film has a mental disorder, it's always clear exactly what's wrong. It takes a movie doctor 12 seconds to lower his glasses and throw out a diagnosis of schizophrenia. But one of the most frustrating things about a serious mental illness is that you almost can't know exactly what's going on.
Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com
"Shit, let's just call it a headfuck cocktail."
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It took me more than a decade to go from my first therapy session to knowing what I had. I started with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, but after my first episode of mania, it turned into bipolar disorder, then bipolar with psychotic features, and finally schizoaffective disorder, bipolar subtype (and no, there's no fun little acronym for that one because it would be SAD-BS). Your brain changes as you age, so it's possible for your disorders to evolve like terrible crippling Pokemon. I started therapy at 13, but I didn't have a full-on delusion until I was 21. It was not very effective.
Since the doctors can't be 100 percent sure what's wrong, they can't be sure that the treatment is going to work. It could even make you worse. If you're secretly bipolar, but have only outwardly shown signs of depression, then antidepressants could throw you into your first mania. That's besides all the normal risks and side effects of medication. If you only get dizzy, sleepy, nauseated, or jittery, consider yourself lucky. Bad side effects include fainting, dangerously low blood pressure, seizures, the beginnings of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and muscle stiffness to the point where you can't stand up. And those were only the side effects I personally experienced.
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Others were rather more severe.
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Delusions are pretty confusing, too. One Friday night I came home and instantly knew my boyfriend had been replaced by an alien doppelganger. He looked the same... but somehow off. I knew it was impossible and screwed up and wrong. That's one of the things about mental illness they don't show you: You can know what you're thinking is abnormal as you're thinking it. Here's the other thing about mental illness: That doesn't help one fucking bit.
If you suddenly hear a voice telling you that your neighbor is Satan, you don't go "Well, golly gee, time to kill him with a screwdriver, I guess." You'll fight it and disbelieve it, until you start seeing Satan in everything your neighbor does. By the time you confront him, you have tons of evidence. The evidence doesn't make sense to anyone else, but your brain makes it make sense to you. So when your neighbor ignores your hello, it's clearly because he's Satan and not because he didn't hear you.
Thinkstock/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Those damn horns he keeps wearing sure don't help.
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And my alien delusion? How would I disprove that? My boyfriend would say he wasn't an alien, but that's exactly what an alien would say. Eventually, I got over it... by ignoring it. My thought process went something like this: "If he is an alien and I blow his cover, he might beam me up to the mothership right now and whisk me away. If he's not an alien, he'll get upset that we're having this argument again. If I act normal until the alien leaves, I'll be fine."
The only way to fight your delusions is to ignore them. Not that this is a comfortable thing, since my brain is now convinced that I've had sex with an alien.
Hymn Herself has written a novella about her time spent inpatient in McLean Hospital. It's called House Full of Insects, and you'll buy it if you're cool.
Always on the go but can't get enough of Cracked? We have an Android app and iOS reader for you to pick from so you never miss another article.
Related Reading: Cracked talked to cystic fibrosis sufferer Jay Gironimi to find out some toilet-destroying truths about life with a terminal illness. We also talked to a dude who lived through getting a record deal and a former nuclear technician from a Navy sub. Not Cracked out yet? See the side of life as a cop no movie will ever show.I recently attended a toy show where I dug up what could be some of the most obscure 80s toys in existence. (Sounds pretty dramatic, huh? Well, maybe the most obscure toys I own.)
Seriously though. Look at these guys. It’s a freakin’ oatmeal monster and the Quaker Oats guy as a He-Man figure.
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
I’m not a huge collector of the Masters of the Universe (MOTU) toyline, but I had the toys as a child. I am pretty familiar with the original MOTU toyline and all of its characters, variations, etc., but I have never seen or heard of this guy. Ever. There are tons of other blogs and toy sites that are dedicated strictly to the MOTU toyline, and according to them this figure doesn’t exist. It actually reminds me of the infamous “Wonderbread He-Man.”
(Click to enlarge)
Alright. I’d like to buy that this figure doesn’t exist and that this is just someone’s really lame idea for a MOTU custom… thing is, I can’t. The paint job is just too good, the head too well-sculpted and then there’s this – along with the figure came this little sheet of paper.
(Click to enlarge)
It’s a small bio thing explaining that this is Quakor and he helps He-man and the gang stay healthy. It reads:
Quakor: Heroic Purveyor of Health
Quakor with the help of his Instant Quaker Oatmeal assists He-Man and his Heroic Warriors in keeping their strength everyday to do battle with Skeletor and his Evil Warriors.
Quakor?! HA! That’s so bad, it’s good.
And man, that’s some lame, blatant marketing going on there. Heroic Purveyor of Health? Ha!
I also found this little order form. I’m guessing it was packed in the Instant Quaker Oatmeal boxes.
(Click to enlarge)
Apparently Quakor is a mail-away figure from the Quaker Oats company which was produced in partnership with Mattel. I’m all about exclusive or mail-away toys, but the fact that this thing even exists seems absurd. Sure, it’s just a simple repaint of the Prince Adam toy with a new head, but a super-buff Quaker character seems soooo poorly planned. Just a bad, bad idea.
But it doesn’t stop there.
As I showed you earlier, there’s this guy – the Oatmeal Monster. It’s actually another toy offer Quaker did for a character called Mush Man.
(Click to enlarge)
He’s actually pretty cool looking. Seems to be the evil embodiment of mushy oatmeal.
(Click to enlarge)
Thing is, why the hell would you promote your own oatmeal product as a monster? Ha!
I do admit, it makes for a cool looking toy which cashes in on the 80s “gross” phase. It just seems a bit out-of character, that’s all.
(Click to enlarge)
As soon as I laid eyes on Mush Man, I knew I recognized him. He seems to just be a simple re-deco of a figure called Muck Man from an obscure 80s toyline called “Monster Man” by Woolworth.
(Click to enlarge)
The original Muck Man has a gray/purple color scheme while Mush man is just beige.
(Yep. That’s oatmeal alright. Beige.)
(Click to enlarge)
I’m not sure if this guy was released before or after Quakor, but they kind of make a fun set. The Quaker man vs. the walking pile of oatmeal. Who’d a thunk it?
So there ya go. Did I over-dramatize the obscurity of these things? I guess I just got excited.
If any of you Masters of the Universe collectors out there can help me validate Quakor, that’d be great. Thanks!x YouTube Video
It turns out some Colorado lawmakers are not too keen on Arizona’s anti-pot campaign using these testimonials, since they contain “inaccurate and misleading statements.” In response, three Colorado legislators just sent a letter to the “NO” group, asking them to stop lying in their ads:
As members of the Colorado Legislature who played intimate roles in the budgeting and appropriation of marijuana tax revenues, we feel it is our duty to set the record straight so that voters in both states have accurate information about this subject. We can say with certainty that the claims about Colorado marijuana tax revenues featured in your committee’s ads range from highly misleading to wholly inaccurate.
The letter goes into detail, pointing out that Colorado schools actually received more money than was anticipated—listing, precisely, who received how much. It’s big numbers. Further, the “NO” campaign’s argument that Colorado students are getting high more often now also rings hollow:
Rates of |
from Melbourne — have been charged with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud.
The site was actually seized by the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service back on Dec. 5, but rather than make a public spectacle of the seizure, authorities continued to allow customers to make purchases.
The DOJ says that, following the site’s seizure, authorities made more than 30 “controlled deliveries” to customers. This means that customers were sent their orders, but those illegal materials never left the control of law enforcement.
These deliveries resulted in 11 additional arrests of alleged fakeplastic customers.
The U.S. Attorney in the case described fakeplastic.net as a “made-to-measure service [that] provided the last link in the chain necessary for criminals to make money from stolen credit card numbers and identities.”
It’s believed that the site’s operator began selling counterfeit cards and related items as early as April 2011. Fakeplastic.net was launched in June 2012. Between the pre-fakeplastic sales and the sales made through the website, the DOJ claims that the three suspects sold materials for around 69,000 fake credit cards, plus another 35,000 holographic stickers used to make counterfeit cards appear more legitimate, and more than 30,000 state identification card holographic overlays.
The alleged ringleader is believed to have personally made around $1.7 million from these sales.
The fraud conspiracy charges each carry penalties of up to 30 years in prison and fines of $1 million. The charges for conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods or services could mean up to 10 years in prison and fines of $2 million. The charge of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with authentication features comes with a maximum of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.A little less than a month that a group of villagers decided to squat the property owned by Industrial SA Roigé to make a self-managed space, which opened on Saturday 28 January
it’s the 6th ofJanuary afternoon and in Calella, a seaside town near barcelona,, there are hardly any cars or people on the street. When temperatures drop, tourism vanishes and the streets are dead….The abandoned Hotel Gaviota at some point had 3 stars but for more than ten years it’s been semi abandoned. On one of the walls a sign announces that on Saturday 28 January it transforms into the Autonomous Social Center LA BRUNA!!.
see also> KAN BICI RURAL SQUAT CENTER STILL SURVIVES… JUST
A little less than a month ago a group of villagers decided to occupy this space owned by Industrial Roigé SA to make “an alternative space and really set apart from the institutional context in the village of Calella, “says Lola, one of the project participants. The work of adapting the space does not stop at any moment.
see also Can Sanpere: Biggest ever 9,000 m3 Squat by 21 Collectives faces eviction/demolition https://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/2017/01/05/biggest-ever-9-5…ter-faces-attack/ “We work without reference or history. Getting people to remove their stereotypes is complex as it is a squat and construed in their imagination in a different way, integrated into the local reality,, “says Lola. After squatting they have not had much trouble with the police or the property owner beyond the normal denunciation to the police and the forced identification by the Mossos Catalan police of a girl who was participating in the workshops, they say. A main axis of the space is tackling gender from a feminist perspective. “Most of the people who are part of the squatting women,” explains Lola The name Bruna is female of course, and the role of these in the space seems very important. We are all aware of our bodies and he role of gender means a lot to us, “explains Lola.
Canvas cloth, bottles and iron occupy what is seems to have been a bar. As they explain, the first objective is to rehabilitate the first of the four floors and make it accessible for people with reduced mobility.
The idea of inclusivity is the most stressed, says Lola: “we want to have a place also with animals. We talked a lot about the issue of children, because many of us are in the world of entertainment and we believe it is important to have a space where kids can participate and parents have a place where they can go with them. ” Within this vision, we also emphasize that this is a non smoking vegan space.
The outdoor patio is the point of contact with the street and the neighbors and for now, they say, the relationship is good, “in fact, the neighbor next door is the daughter of the family who built the the hotel has a pretty good relationship. ” explains Lola, who stresses the desire to maintain good ties with the neighborhood.
More important still is giving care and the emotional component “has been treated very early on in the Sunday assemblies so that we all we feel comfortable when making decisions, “La Bruna is more than a political project separate from the personal, it has become a personal and political project where we feel comfortable. ”
translated from Radio Calella and La Directa with thanks
see also
La Chispa! (The Spark): Rural Occupied Social Center resists Capitalist Speculation Eviction https://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/la-chispa-resist…ulation-eviction/
original en català
La Bruna: un hotel okupat al cor de la Calella turísticaMagic is an infinitely complex gaming experience that culminates in a tournament performance when you play an event. It all starts at the moment you begin to think about which deck you will sleeve up: What deck will you play? How will you build it? What cards will you include in your sideboard? By the time you lock in and register your 75 for a tournament—before you’ve even played a single match—you’ve already made hundreds, possibly thousands, of Magic-related decisions.
The actual game play compounds the number of decisions you will make over the course of a tournament. How will you sequence your plays? Should I play a creature or a removal spell? Which cards should I sideboard in or out? I’ve heard Hall of Fame players say with a laugh, “I rarely see a single turn cycle played ‘perfectly,’ let alone entire games or matches.”
In a game where you constantly strive for perfection, it’s hard to comprehend a reality where something as simple as making the “correct” plays for a few turns in a row becomes as impossibly elusive as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. I’m here today to explain why I believe that stressing about finding the perfect or correct play in every situation is as futile as tracking down a chupacabra.
Chess
In chess, each player has an identical set of pieces and plays on a board where all information is known and public. There are no land drops to be missed, there are no instant-speed removal spells inside of combat, and you never get blown out because the white pieces randomly peel a Stony Silence after you Thoughtseized them on the first turn.
It’s all on the table.
In chess, there are known opening sequences and counters that can be played out by experienced players that go dozens of moves deep. Strategically, an experienced player can know that in order to maximize their position in a set opening, they ought to move a certain piece to a specific place on the board and that the proper counter is to move another specific piece to a certain place on the board.
When most people think about chess in relation to Magic, they create a specific paradigm where the better player will nearly always win because they will make perfect plays and the weaker player will invariably make a mistake. Imagine a scenario where one player knows how to play an opening 30 moves deep but the opponent only knows the defensive posture 20 moves deep. The player who understands the matchup better will make more correct plays and therefore capitalize.
It’s not actually that cut and dry. Even in a game with perfect information there are choices that result in risk/reward scenarios, like Magic. At a certain point in the game players may make gambits. In these situations, a player may make a move that potentially risks pieces or board position in return for challenging opposing pieces or positions.
These are typically the most important moments in a match. When they are taken and how the opponent responds ultimately dictate the outcome.
A gambit is not necessarily right or wrong, or correct or incorrect, but a series of choices that both players make inside of the game. It is never cut and dry. Some gambits are riskier than others, but it always comes down to how well each player can identify what is going on and how their choices impact the game.
The point of the game is the play. The outcome is decided by the play. It is why professional chess matches are not decided by the first player saying: “King’s pawn to E4. Checkmate in 375 moves,” and the second player saying, “Yep, you got me. Concede.”
Skill Versus Luck
On the one hand, people cling to the idea that there is a technically correct play for every situation. You arrive at a board state and there are several plays that you could make, but one of them is correct and the others are incorrect. It is a skill argument that determines that the player who makes the correct play wins.
On the other hand, people believe that Magic is high variance thanks to the cards you draw, whether or not you curved-out, whether or not you drew lands, etc. In this line of thinking, Magic is less of a skill game and more a game that relies on random chance.
There is a tension in Magic between being a pure skill game (where the best player could potentially make a perfect play every turn) and a game of chance (where ultimately what you drew dictated the outcome more than the plays).
Essentially, if both players played perfectly, the outcome would be decided by the luck of the draw.
Yet, we also know the following:
You can make worse plays than your opponent but draw a better mix of cards and win.
You can make better plays than your opponent but draw a worse mix of cards and lose.
It is clear that both skill and luck are necessary to win games and tournaments.
Back to the idea that if both players played perfectly the outcome would be determined by the luck of the draw:
Perhaps most important to this concept is the fact that it is nearly impossible for both players to play perfectly over the course of an entire match. I make a distinction here between playing perfectly and playing well (which is the entire point of today’s article).
To me, playing perfectly implies the ability to somehow play with perfect information. If you lined all of the cards drawn up against one another over the course of the game and figured out exactly how every interaction would go down, one hand would win over the other. But this is not how Magic is played.
You do not play Magic with perfect information, which is one reason why this game is different from Chess. You do not inherently know what cards your opponents are holding. You do not know which cards you will draw from your deck. We, as players, frequently need to make difficult decisions that hinge upon what we might draw or cards our opponents might have.
Another pseudo-myth about Magic is that the best players have an uncanny ability to know what is in their opponent’s hand and it’s like they are playing with the card Telepathy in play.
Therefore, the ability to play perfectly hinges on the ability to decipher what the opponent is holding and make the best play.
The fact is that even the best players are making educated guesses about what might be in the opponent’s hand. They use probability to determine the odds of drawing particular cards from their deck. They weigh the pros and cons of making one play over another based upon the risk/reward of an opponent holding particular cards versus the likelihood of an opponent actually having those cards.
Perfect play is actually making better choices and choosing the best gambits at the right time.
It’s about determining what kind of game you want to play given the board-state and what is going on in a game. Do you want to exchange a knight for a bishop or do you want to use your turn to fortify pawn structure somewhere else on the board?
More than one option could be advantageous given the situation, and in Magic these decisions are compounded because they are often made without knowing the contents of the opponent’s hand and what cards each player will draw.
How Do You Choose?
In Magic there are often decisions that are very easy and so you don’t see them as decisions at all. I believe this helps fuel the “perfect play” myth.
“Should I play a land on the first turn?” Obviously, right?
99.9% of the time, you are going to play the land, because there is very little risk and high reward. But what if I was playing Vintage and played Gitaxian Probe and saw my opponent had a hand with Mox Pearl and Land Tax that was not functional without triggering the Land Tax? What if my hand had artifact mana and was functional without playing a land?
What if you played out the land before you cast Gitaxian Probe? It would feel like the incorrect play given what came next.
But what if the land in your hand was an Island and you had Disrupt in your hand and knew your opponent played Mental Misstep?
The example is a strange set of circumstances, but the extreme illustrates a point about decisions in Magic. It is often unclear whether one play is better or worse than another given imperfect information.
Things that seem irrelevant at the time can heavily impact the outcome of a game and even decide a match. Have you ever lost a game because you played the wrong land on the first turn? Or because you decided to shock yourself instead of not taking the damage?
Are these even really mistakes? Hard to tell.
The Difference Between a Choice and a Mistake
In my experience, when people say “perfect play” they actually mean “mistake-free play.”
Your opponent is hellbent at 3 life, and you choose to Lightning Bolt their Sprouting Thrinax instead of winning the game. I watched one of Ari Lax’s opponents make this choice at a GP back in the day. This wasn’t really a choice, but a mistake. It is a very poor choice when compared with another available option.
The difference between a mistake and making a choice is that a mistake doesn’t consider all of the known information when making the decision to do one thing over another.
If the opponent had taken the time to consider the fact that Ari was at 3, he would have 100% made a different decision.
Again, we are dealing in extreme examples where the upside of one play is tremendous and a player overlooks it.
I will also admit that it is extremely difficult to simply play “mistake-free” Magic. There is so much information to unpack at any given time that it’s easy to overlook something in the moment, especially when you are trying to play quickly.
One of the reasons that the best pros win at such a high clip is that they make significantly fewer mistakes than the average player does. The more you practice and play, the less likely you are to make mistakes. It makes sense that the best players make fewer mistakes.
If you want to win more games of Magic, simply cutting down on the mistakes will go a long way.
But I have bad news. Even if you were able to eliminate mistakes from your game (which is basically impossible), you would still not be anywhere close to achieving perfect play. You’d just have mistake-free play.
Actual Choices Are Not Right or Wrong
Actual choices are not right or wrong—they are risk/reward scenarios.
It’s very common to arrive at a point in a game where you have more than one option that seems viable. Each has upside and downside. What is the play?
You start running simulations in your head about how each line might turn out depending upon what your opponent has on the board. A smart move! You should always consider the known information first.
Based on what is going on in play perhaps you can establish that two plays seem to be the most ideal. Let’s keep it simple: Should you play a creature or cast a removal spell?
You determine that there are significant upsides and downsides depending on what your opponent has. If your opponent kills your creature you’ll be really far behind, but if they can’t you’ll be far ahead. What if your opponent plays an even better creature and you burn the removal spell and can’t deal with it? Maybe it is really obvious that if you had a second removal spell you should just kill the creature. What are the odds of drawing another one?
The list goes on and on and on and on. These are the kind of decisions that decide games and matches. You choose your own adventure here. This is what Magic is.
The ability to make smart choices in these spots is what differentiates between weak, average, good, and great players. Situations like these (which are extremely common to most games of Magic) are the trenches in which you win or lose.
Stronger players are able to first consider the known information and routinely eliminate mistake choices from the decision tree. Next, once they have narrowed the options down to choices that make sense given the known information, they begin to consider the unknown information.
Are some plays significantly more risky with lower reward if the opponent has certain cards or makes certain moves? The ability to discern the greater upside between two seemingly viable options is very difficult.
Yesterday, my LGS RIW Hobbies called me and asked if I could come in and sort a collection. I was planning on working on the collection during the day and then playing in the Modern tournament in the evening. Unfortunately, I got a flat tire and couldn’t get there until later so I worked on the collection while the tournament was going on.
I typically am not an innocent bystander in a Magic tournament. I’m in the event with my own games and thoughts. But I made an observation sitting around at the judge station sorting cards and watching and listening to matches.
I heard the phrase: “Yeah, I punted… if I would have done this and then this other thing and then played around the card you topdecked I would have won.” A lot of times!
Are these really punts? If I would have taken completely different lines of play throughout the entire game with perfect information I could theoretically have won the game. Some of the lines seemed very reasonable and the suggested alternate lines didn’t even make sense.
Magic would be a lot easier if you had the ability to only play around the cards your opponents have and/or will immediately topdeck and if you also never played around cards they didn’t have. But that isn’t how Magic works.
In fact, trying to rationalize losses in this way is often self-defeating and counterproductive.
The key is to understand that these choices have risks and rewards, and the better you become at assessing the value of the outcomes, the better plays you are able to make.
It comes back to understanding whether or not there is more value in exchanging a knight with a bishop on a particular board or whether strengthening one’s position elsewhere has more value. Just make sure that you don’t overlook that making one play or another puts your queen in jeopardy. Make sure you don’t overlook the known information and make a mistake before you take your finger off the piece!
It may be comforting to hear this, but it is often impossible to know which play will turn out to be better or worse when you make it. Often, even if you were a super-computer and could crunch all the numbers, one play would only be marginally better than the other given the known information. Obviously, in an ideal world you’d always want to take the option that is a few percentage points better than the other, but given the difficulty of the calculations and time constraints, it’s difficult if not impossible to figure it out.
Maybe it isn’t comforting to know that it may be impossible to figure out the highest percentage play on a given board. But it is comforting to me that at least my opponent is in the same impossibly complicated situation.
Ah, Magic! What a game!DENVER — A federal appeals court cleared the way on Tuesday for same-sex marriages to continue across Utah, denying an emergency request from state officials to halt a flood of unions that began after a lower-court judge declared the state’s ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional.
Advocates of same-sex marriage cheered the ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, in Denver, while the Utah attorney general’s office said it would ask the United States Supreme Court to temporarily halt same-sex marriages in the state until the legal battles could be resolved.
On Friday, Judge Robert J. Shelby of Federal District Court sent shockwaves through the conservative state and touched off jubilant impromptu weddings by declaring that Utah’s 2004 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violated the United States Constitution and denied same-sex couples their “fundamental right” to marriage.
Even as Republican leaders in Utah condemned the ruling as an activist judge’s usurpation of the voters’ will and vowed to appeal, gay couples across the state poured into government offices to marry. About 700 couples have received marriage licenses since Friday, according to a tally by The Deseret News, from the more liberal capital of Salt Lake City to conservative towns in southern Utah.Amelia Earhart Has A Flight Plan
Enlarge this image toggle caption Don Hales Photography/Courtesy of Amelia Rose Earhart Don Hales Photography/Courtesy of Amelia Rose Earhart
Just about every single day of her life, Amelia Rose Earhart — a former TV traffic-and-weather broadcaster in Denver — has had to answer this question: "Are you a pilot?"
For a long time, the answer was no.
Now, though, she's planning to embark this month on a flight around the world, a trip that closely replicates the 1937 journey of the original — and more famous — Amelia Earhart. If she's successful, this Amelia, at 31, will be the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engine aircraft.
For simplicity's sake, let's call the contemporary pilot Amelia and the historic pilot Earhart.
And for the record, Amelia is not kin to the famous pilot. She used to think she was, but her mother just took the opportunity to give her a cool name. Amelia says that finding out she is not related actually brought her closer to her namesake. "I feel like we share so much."
The flight, which Amelia has been plotting for about a year and a half, will take off from Oakland on June 23. She'll be flying a Pilatus PC-12, a single-engine turboprop plane. Earhart flew in a modified Lockheed Electra 10E with two engines.
Amelia's flight will be a total of about 28,000 miles with 17 stops in 14 countries. Eighty percent will be over the ocean. The final route details haven't been announced because she and her crew are still waiting on things like visas, passports and the weather forecast.
Learning To Fly
When Amelia entered the University of Colorado in Boulder in 2002, she started to hear a new question: "Could you ever fly around the world?"
She began to wonder if maybe she should try to finish what the original Amelia Earhart was unable to.
Amelia worked extra jobs to raise enough money for her first flight lesson 10 years ago. "It was a junky old plane, a cranky, old flight instructor," Amelia says, "but it didn't matter what the environment was. I was in the air. And I've been there ever since."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Evening Standard/Getty Images Evening Standard/Getty Images
She even found a way to fly — in a traffic helicopter — as part of her day job.
Finishing The Flight
In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Five years later, she set out on a round-the-world flight. She disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. No one knows what happened. It's an unsolved mystery.
People seem compelled to share their theories with Amelia.
"What if it's my mission in life," Amelia says, "to do the flight for myself, but also for her, and also for other girls who might want to get interested in aviation and pursue their own adventures?"
In an effort to do just that, Amelia started the Fly with Amelia Foundation in 2013 to help put girls ages 16-18 through flight school. Flying is incredibly difficult, and you need good role models and peopling to cheer you on, but it's also very expensive, she says. "When the funds are there, I believe that the learning is unlimited."
There are currently about 50 girls involved in the process — interviewing for scholarships or actually flying.
Amelia's late-June excursion will be one of the world's first socially integrated flights around the world. The plane, equipped with Wi-Fi, will have live-streaming video and audio. She and her co-pilot, Shane Jordan, will be sending out tweets and Facebook messages — while the plane is on auto-pilot — using the hashtag #flywithamelia.
The girls in her program and people around the world will be able to stay connected with Amelia from the time she departs in Oakland all the way through to the end of the flight. "And that's something we've never seen, so I'm really excited to see how people get engaged," Amelia says.
The schedule has Amelia leaving early from each stop in an effort to see the sunrise around the circumference of the globe, an experience that she says she is excited to share with everyone.
Compass Points
Most of the stops will be less than 12 hours long. Amelia and Shane will land, go through customs, fuel up, configure the aircraft for the next day, eat dinner and go to sleep.
The most important part of the flight, Amelia says, is going to be flying over the area in the Pacific Ocean where Earhart was last seen — near Howland Island. "Nothing's going to go wrong on this flight. I know that deep down," she says. "But the reality is: Flight is still an adventure, and flying over the ocean is dangerous."
Amelia is also looking forward to the first time she sees terra firma coming in from Honolulu to Oakland after flying for about 8.5 hours. "I think that first indication of land is going to be something I'll never forget," she says. "And of course, jumping out of the airplane after you go full circle, 28,000 miles around the globe. I can't wait to see what that feels like."
(This post has been updated.)
Lauren Katz is a production assistant on NPR's social media desk. You can follow her @Laur_Katz.
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NEW We will email you as soon as your clip is reviewed Insert your email below if you would like to know whether your replay was accepted for a videoUntil 2010, when the Physician Payments Sunshine Act passed, requiring doctors to disclose payments, the only thing better than working for Pharma was being a doctor wined and dined by Pharma.
Pfizer jetted 5,000 doctors to Caribbean resorts where they enjoyed massages, golf and $2,000 honoraria charges to sell its painkiller Bextra (withdrawn from the market in 2005 for heart risks). GSK sent doctors to lavish resorts to promote Wellbutrin, the Justice Department charged. Johnson & Johnson bestowed trips, perks and honoraria on Texas Medicaid officials to get its drug Risperdal preferred on the formulary, a state lawsuit charged. Bristol-Myers Squibb enticed doctors to prescribe its drugs with access to the Los Angeles Lakers and luxury box suites for their games, California regulators say. In China GSK is charged with using a network of 700 middlemen and travel agencies to bribe doctors with cash and sexual favors, and Victory Pharma, an opioid drugs maker, was charged with treating doctors to strip shows. Nice.
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Of course, Pharma reps did as well as the doctors. Thanks to their Barbie and Ken doll looks and the free samples, gifts and lunches they would bring medical staff, they would often waltz in to see the doctor before the sick and waiting patients. Some had their own lounges at medical offices. Since the 2010 sunshine law, part of the Affordable Care Act, went into effect in 2013, drug companies must display the doctors and groups they pay on their websites. That includes their payments to faux grassroots groups like Go Red For Women and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, which are widely seen as Pharma fronts. But will it make a difference? For years, doctors have also begun presentations with slides detailing their Pharma funding but it doesn't seem to alter their credibility or audience cynicism.
When it comes to acknowledging the influence of gifts and money on behavior, doctors, like everyone else, suffer from self-delusion. Most say they believe it affects the other guy, not them, and many become offended at the idea that they are "for sale."
"My prescribing never changes because once a month a drug rep brings in a tray of sandwiches," Maria Carmen Wilson told the Tampa Bay Times. (Wilson was Eli Lilly's number-two earner in Florida in 2009, the paper reports.) It's tempting to ask such doctors that if the largesse doesn't affect them, when was the last time they prescribed the competitor's pill? Would anyone believe or even read the journalism of a reporter who accepted an honorarium or speaker's fee from the subject she reported on? Even if she claimed it didn't influence her?
Trips to resorts and strip clubs will likely continue to diminish under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, but there are many other ways, often sneaky, that Pharma can entice doctors to prescribe its expensive, patent drugs.
1. Spying on Prescribing
Like the NSA spying program, shameless spying on doctors' prescribing habits spares almost no one. Recently, the full sweep of IMS Health Holdings' prescription data mining was revealed by ProPublica, which reported that its collection includes over 85 percent of the world's prescriptions and "comprehensive, anonymous medical records for 400 million patients." In 2007, there was a backlash against another seller of medical information: the AMA itself. By selling the names, office addresses and practice types of almost every doctor in the US to marketing firms the AMA netted almost $50 million a year, the American Medical Student Association and the National Physicians Alliance charged at the AMA's convention. The database of 900,000 doctors does not violate privacy, counters the AMA, since doctors can opt out.
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Psychiatrist Dan Carlat wrote in the New York Times that he was "astonished at the level of detail that drug companies were able to acquire about doctors’ prescribing habits" and that his drug reps told him "they received printouts tracking local doctors’ prescriptions every week." A 2011 Supreme Court ruling found the collection and dissemination of prescribing behavior was "speech" and protected by the First Amendment. (See: a corporation is a person.)
2. Continuing Medical Education Courses
In order to keep their state licenses and satisfy insurance regulations, doctors must enroll in a certain amount of CMEs—continuing medical education courses. Not surprisingly, these classes are often “taught” for free by Pharma-funded specialists, sparing doctors from having to pay for them but providing the objectivity of a time-share presentation.
One such class, "Atypical Antipsychotics in Major Depressive Disorder: When Current Treatments Are Not Enough," funded by Seroquel maker AstraZeneca was taught by former Emory University psychiatrist Charles Nemeroff, who lost his department chairmanship due to unreported Pharma income. Another CME called "Bipolar Disorder: Individualizing Treatment to Improve Patient Outcomes," was “taught” |
America's debt ceiling, "the US economy could fall back into recession", with serious knock-on effects for the rest of the world, it added.
Assuming agreement is reached, the US economy will grow by 2.1% next year, the IMF said, down from its forecast of 2.3% made in July. This year, the economy will actually grow by more than previously forecast - by 2.2% rather than 2%.
'Chronic debt'
The IMF also said actions taken by governments already had not gone far enough.
Measures to relieve "chronic household debt burdens" did not address the scale of the problem, it said, while "efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework for financial institutions and markets have been patchy".
While there had been some success in rebuilding capital bases of banks, not enough had been done to address "excessive risk taking" in financial markets.
The fund also called for further action to address long-term unemployment. "In advanced economies, growth is now too low to make a substantial dent in unemployment," it said.
Figures released on Friday showed that the unemployment rate in the US fell to 7.8%, the lowest rate since January 2009 but still much higher than for most of the past 20 years.
Last week, figures showed unemployment in the eurozone stable at a record high of 11.4%. Spain and Greece, where about one in four of the workforce are out of a job, have the highest rate.
Weaker exports
Despite relatively strong growth compared with advanced economies, the IMF also downgraded growth prospects for emerging nations.
In Asia, "the near and medium-term outlooks are less buoyant compared with the region's growth performance in recent years", the fund said. It highlighted weaker exports as a result of lower demand for goods in the West.
China, the world's second-largest economy, would grow by 7.8% this year, down from its previous forecast of 8%, and by 8.2% next year, down from 8.5%. It also revised dramatically its growth forecasts for India, which would grow by 4.9% this year and 6.1% next, the IMF said.
Weaker demand for exports would also impact on Latin American economies, as would lower domestic demand due to government policy tightening, the fund said. As a result, Brazil's economy would grow by 1.5% this year, down from the previous forecast of 2.5%.Viewpoint: Toward Fractional Quantum Hall Physics with Cold Atoms
Maria Daghofer, Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics, IFW Dresden, 01171 Dresden, Germany
Masudul Haque, Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nothnitzer Straße 38, D-01187 Dresden, Germany
Researchers propose new ways to recreate fractional quantum Hall physics using ultracold atoms and molecules.
M. Daghofer and M. Haque Figure 1: Contrast between the “Landau level” mechanism of realizing FQH states (left column) and the “Chern insulator” mechanism (right column). (a) and (b) show examples of band structures. The traditional mechanism involves Landau levels, each with a Hall conductivity (given by the Chern number C ) of the same sign (a). In Chern-band systems, the bands have different Chern numbers (b). In real space, an effective magnetic flux threads each elementary plaquette (i.e., each little square). In the lattice version of Landau levels, each flux has the same sign (c), just as the effective magnetic field in a trapped rotating Bose gas (e) has the same sign everywhere. In Chern insulators, fluxes often alternate (d), as through a scheme like the one proposed in Ref.[ 2 ] using polar molecules in optical lattices (f). Contrast between the “Landau level” mechanism of realizing FQH states (left column) and the “Chern insulator” mechanism (right column). (a) and (b) show examples of band structures. The traditional mechanism involves Landau levels, each with a Hall c... Show more
M. Daghofer and M. Haque Figure 1: Contrast between the “Landau level” mechanism of realizing FQH states (left column) and the “Chern insulator” mechanism (right column). (a) and (b) show examples of band structures. The traditional mechanism involves Landau levels, each with a Hall conductivity (given by the Chern number C ) of the same sign (a). In Chern-band systems, the bands have different Chern numbers (b). In real space, an effective magnetic flux threads each elementary plaquette (i.e., each little square). In the lattice version of Landau levels, each flux has the same sign (c), just as the effective magnetic field in a trapped rotating Bose gas (e) has the same sign everywhere. In Chern insulators, fluxes often alternate (d), as through a scheme like the one proposed in Ref.[2] using polar molecules in optical lattices (f). ×
In the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect, observed in two-dimensional electron gases in a magnetic field, the resistance transverse to the current flow is quantized to noninteger multiples of h / e 2. The fractional values are not an accidental small deviation from the previously observed integer quantum Hall (IQH) effect, but instead point to a type of order that had not been known previously, namely “topological order.” One consequence of topological order is the appearance of fractionalized excitations, which (for example) can carry a charge of e / 3, similar to what is observed in the Hall resistance of the FQH. The idea of topological order with its unconventional properties has since been generalized (e.g., to spin liquids); however, no further experimental realization has been unequivocally established. Now in independent papers in Physical Review Letters, Nigel Cooper and Jean Dalibard [1] and Norman Yao et al. [2] propose to reproduce FQH states with cold atoms and molecules. The proposals differ from earlier ones by building on recent theoretical research, indicating alternative ways to mimic the impact of a magnetic field [3]. Since cold atomic and molecular gases enable experimental tunability far beyond what is possible in solid-state setups, one can hope to customize a variety of FQH-like states.
The experimental signature of the FQH and IQH effects are quite similar—step functions in conductance caused by quantized transport in two-dimensional electron gases subject to a magnetic field. In both effects, magnetic fields split the electron energy levels into Landau levels, each consisting of a large number of degenerate single-particle states. The IQH states arise when there are just enough electrons to fill an integer number of Landau levels, while the FQH states appear at fractional fillings. In both effects, topological aspects of the electronic wave functions are important, as the magnetic field also modifies the eigenstates. The Hall conductivity of a filled Landau level turns out to be given by the (first) Chern number, a mathematical concept from the field of topology. This realization allowed the prediction and later realization of topological insulators (TIs), and thus a generalization of IQH physics beyond Landau levels [4]. FQH states are topological in an even stronger sense [5]: Their ground-state degeneracy depends on the topology of the two-dimensional real-space surface they live on, e.g., it is the same for a sphere and a cuboid, but different for a torus.
Topological order violates the long-held belief that ordering requires symmetry breaking. In a magnet, for example, spins are aligned along a common direction chosen spontaneously from originally equivalent ones, thus breaking symmetry. The local magnetization measures how well a spin is aligned and thereby the strength of the order. Topological order, in contrast, does not break any symmetries and has no local order parameter equivalent to the magnetization; it may thus at first sight not appear ordered at all. Instead, it is “nonlocal” and encoded in the wave function of the whole system. Local perturbations can consequently not destroy topological order, which makes such states appealing for fault-tolerant quantum computation.
Unsurprisingly, the goal of realizing FQH physics and topological order in ultracold atoms serving as “quantum simulators” has attracted interest and effort early on. Proposals involved rotating trapped bosonic gases [6], creating effective magnetic fields for lattice bosons [7], or exploiting the internal structure of atomic states to create artificial gauge fields [8]. Yet, despite intense research, the goal of establishing FQH states in cold gases has remained elusive.
The papers by Cooper and Dalibard [1] and by Yao et al. [2] represent a new generation of such proposals. Instead of relying on Landau levels, they build on the above-mentioned generalization of IQH physics to TIs. Even though the Hall conductivity was introduced in the context of magnetic fields, it can be calculated for any filled band in a solid, yielding the Chern number C. It vanishes in most cases, but a band where it is nonzero is said to be “topologically nontrivial,” and a spin-polarized band with C ≠ 0 is referred to as a “Chern band.” (Similarities and differences between a lattice supporting Landau levels and one supporting Chern bands are sketched in Figure 1.) Accordingly, it was proposed three years ago that Chern bands may provide an alternative route to FQH-like states [3], and substantial interest has been shown in these “fractional Chern insulators” (FCIs). Yet, despite a few materials-based proposals [9], an experimental realization has not been found so far.
In Ref. [2], the authors propose to use polar molecules to realize a bosonic FCI. In this proposal, molecules are strongly bound to their place, but have a rotational degree of freedom. A change in the rotational eigenstate can be seen as a spin flip from the “spin up” ground state, which can in turn be interpreted as a boson. Molecules at neighboring sites can exchange their rotational eigenstates, which allows the boson to hop from site to site. The crucial ingredient is now that the wave function picks up a phase during the hopping process. The phases associated with each bond are distributed in such a way that a boson moving around one of the square plaquettes shown in Fig. 1(d) acquires a phase of e ± i ϕ, where the fluxes ± ϕ alternate between plaquettes. This is typical of Chern systems, and the two bands here have indeed Chern numbers C = ± 1, similar to Fig. 1(b).
The proposal in Ref. [1] also proposes a realization of an FCI system, but is based on earlier ideas by Cooper and collaborators to formulate topological nontrivial models in momentum space. The authors propose to create a periodic spatial modulation of the coupling between lasers and bosonic atoms (such as Rb atoms). Such a modulation creates phases for the hoppings, which in turn again establish the nontrivial band topology in a similar way as a strong magnetic field would.
Since FQH states are driven by interactions between particles, these should be large compared to the kinetic energy. On the other hand, they should be smaller than the gaps between bands, because a mixture of states with C = 1 and C = - 1 might cancel to topologically trivial C = 0. Fulfilling both criteria is easiest for nearly flat Chern bands, analogous to the high degeneracy of Landau levels. The tunability of cold gases permits this and the optimized band structure given in Ref. [2] has a “flatness ratio” (bandwidth divided by gap to the next band) of f = 11. 5, which has been found flat enough for FCI states in other models. The authors consider interacting bosons in this band and find a variety of phases. The FCI competes with superfluid and solid phases, but occupies a sizable region in parameter space. In Ref. [1] the ratio is even better ( f = 46 ). By interpolating between this Chern band and a Landau level, the authors provide numerical evidence for several different FCI states at different densities.
Compared to earlier proposals for finding FQH states in cold quantum gases, these two works do not so much propose technological advances but rather extend potential routes to FQH-like states. Building on recent research suggesting that it may not be necessary to copy all features of Landau levels, they propose keeping only some aspects, namely, the Chern number of the band of interest and its reduced dispersion, and omitting others (the Chern numbers of other bands, a constant “magnetic field”). The advantage over materials-based approaches to FCI states is the flexibility of cold gases, which makes it appear more realistic to get into the desired parameter regimes. The experimental realization of an FCI, especially a highly tunable one, would allow study of topological order in far greater depth than the original FQH setting and as a first step would establish whether the proposed generalizations from Landau levels to Chern bands hold true.
About the Authors Maria Daghofer is a group leader and Emmy-Noether fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Solid-State and Materials Research Dresden, Germany. She obtained her PhD in Graz, Austria, in 2004 and was a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (Stuttgart, Germany) and the University of Tennessee (US) before moving to Dresden in 2009. She works on the theory of strongly correlated electron systems, currently focusing on the interplay of correlations and topology. Masud Haque is a condensed matter theorist at the Max Planck Institute for the Theory of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany. His research interests are in ultracold atoms, non-equilibrium dynamics, quantum entanglement and topological ordering. His research group currently focuses on quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium.As always, Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of the league. And he got some quotes from Jim Rutherford! The Pens GM has been remarkably transparent and honest in his dealings with the media (like the Marc-Andre Fleury extension, as well as what he would and wouldn’t do in trades so far) so there actually may be some value here.
11. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, asked what he’s learned seeing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin up close: "Crosby is all about hockey. He’s thinking hockey 26 hours a day trying to make us better. Malkin is better than I thought, and I already thought he was great." 12. Rutherford’s plan for the next little while is to wait. "It’s been tough for us with the injuries, but I think we are harder to play against… able to win games every which way. We could play physical, with skill, have our goaltender win one, whatever game is happening every night." Now he wants to see what the team looks like when Patric Hornqvist returns after the All-Star Game. "Then I can see what is needed, if anything. Get a feel for it." 13. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Dave Molinari reported Olli Maatta may miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Although there have been rumours about a Paul Martin trade, a couple other teams said they doubted it. The Penguins are in it to win it, and are a better team with him, even if he walks in the summer. If you want one of their good, young blueline prospects — Brian Dumoulin, Scott Harrington or Derrick Pouliot — it won’t be easy, "because we know what we’ve got with them, and it’s hard to find," Rutherford said. "I would prefer not to… If it makes the difference I would consider it, but if I don’t trade them, the Pittsburgh defence is set for a long time." He said Dumoulin and Harrington are ready to play full-time in the NHL. Pouliot? "I don’t want to get ahead of things with him," the GM said, "but he is improving and getting closer."
Points 12 and 13 seem the biggest- if we go on this, don’t expect another trade for a while. Coach Mike Johnston said earlier today that Hornqvist is about 3 weeks away from returning and once he’s back that leaves a few weeks in February to evaluate where the team is and what they may need before the trade deadline in early March.
#13 seems to indicate that they are going to ease Pouliot (recently demoted back to the AHL) into the NHL full-time. Which seems wise, the kid is talented but needs time to grow into himself. No doubt he’ll be much improved as the days/weeks/months go by.
As for Maatta, we’ll see how that saga plays out. There’s been a lot of reports that sound negative, but he also took part in a skate this morning, so the team hasn’t totally shut him down yet. However if the reports that his shoulder isn’t responding to the rehab path they’re going down, another surgery seems like just a matter of time, unfortunately.The digital miscreant known as ComodoHacker has claimed responsibility for the high-profile DigiNotar digital certificate authority hack.
Soon after the Comodo forged certificates hack an Iranian using the handle Comodohacker posted a series of messages via Pastebin account providing evidence that he carried out the attack. The account, which has been dormant since March, sprung back to life on Tuesday with claims that the individual or individuals behind it hacked DigiNotar as well, net security firm F-Secure reports.
The hacker boasted he still has access to four other (unnamed) "high-profile" CAs and retains the ability to issue new rogue certificates, including code signing certificates. The hacker (active on Twitter under the username ichsunx2) claimed that the domain administrator password of the DigiNotar network was Pr0d@dm1n.
Compromises against both Comodo affiliates and DigiNotar allowed hackers to generate bogus SSL certificates. The certificates create a means to mount convincing man-in-the-middle or phishing attacks. Evidence suggests that a rogue certificate issued in July under the name of Google as the result of the DigiNotar hack was used to spy on Iranian internet users.
The still-unfolding DigiNotar saga further underlines the fragility in the net's foundation of trust first highlighted by the Comodo hack. ®ADVERTISEMENT
Dear Horndog,
I will make you a deal.
As it happens, the Brazen Narcissist Horndog Politician on my brain right now is Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who has just confessed, in an almost admirably gut-spewing manner, that the trail he'd just been on was not rigorous and Appalachian, but amorous and Argentinian. But not too long from now, Sanford's ritual mortification will, God willing, have receded. Then someone else's—perhaps your own—will take its place, just as Sanford's has replaced John Ensign's, which replaced John Edwards', which replaced Eliot Spitzer's, which replaced Jim McGreevey's, which replaced Bill Clinton's—not that anyone could ever replace Bill Clinton in the Brazen Narcissist Horndog department.
Anyway, you aren't busted yet, but given your astonishing knack for combining hubris and hypocrisy, you will be. And we both know what—notwithstanding Sanford's emoting—will almost certainly happen then. You will go on TV to express contrition, insist that this is an aberration, venerate your wife, and screw the other woman, this time by dismissing her as a mistake. Your political enemies will express shock and horror, despite the fact that they hear some version of this exact tale several times a year. Friends and pundits will invoke femmes fatales from Sally Hemings to Monica Lewinsky. Everyone, including the media, will trash the media for being so intrusive, petty, dirty, vindictive, and out of touch with what really matters to real Americans. And real Americans will gobble up every salacious detail.
Enough. Here's the deal, straight from one of the reporters who will tell your story. I will count or discount your role as a family man in my coverage to the exact degree that you count or discount it in your public account of yourself.
You want reporters to treat your family as off-limits? Don't use your wife and kids as campaign props. You don't want the press to draw a connection between your private and public lives? Quit drawing that connection every chance you get, by telling us how Ellie made you care about children, or how Jeannie and Little Jeannie would never let you hear the end of it if you voted against a woman's right to choose. You want people to ignore the scoop on your shenanigans and focus on the economy and the war in Iraq? Next time People magazine wants to do a spread on your happy home life, decline on the grounds that we really ought to focus on the economy and the war in Iraq.
Not, you understand, that it has to be an all-or-nothing, black-or-white kind of arrangement. Based on your emphasis—the florid videos you do or don't release; the hand-holding interviews you do or don't give; the public appearances your wife and kids do or don't make with you or for you across the country—I will treat your personal life as if it matters not at all; just a bit; at least as much as anything else, or any variation thereof. It's entirely up to you.
Look, as far as I am concerned, your home is your castle, even if that home is the White House. You dig the moat, and I'll gladly stay on the other side. But the more you invite me in, the more I am going to look around. And, based on how you behave and with whom, I just might feel perfectly free to ask: "Hey Ozzie, does Harriet know about the hookers?"
All best,
Fed-Up JournalistFor the first time in medical history, in-human gene editing has finally been attempted by scientists.
On Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that a in-human gene editing procedure was tried for the first time by U.S.-based scientists. Where in the past cells were genetically edited externally and then introduced to the patient, this treatment actively changed the DNA of the patient in his bloodstream.
The procedure was done on Monday in California to a 44-year-old British patient Brian Madeux, who is suffering from a rare genetic disorder called Hunter Syndrome. It was said that through an IV, Madeux received billions of copies of a corrective gene and zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), a genetic tool that cut his liver’s DNA in the perfect places so that the corrective gene could modify dysfunctional cells.
According to the report, the first results of the experiment are expected to come out within a month. However, it will take around three months for the scientists to confirm if the procedure is successful.
Madeux referred to the experience as humbling. He said:
“It’s kind of humbling. I’m willing to take that risk. Hopefully it will help me and other people.”
While this is not the first case of human gene editing, previous gene editing has always taken place outside of the patient’s body. Thus, Madeaux’s case is the first of its kind in the history of medicine.
Gene Editing DNA to Cure Hunter Syndrome
According to research studies, Hunter Syndrome (MPS II) is a very rare, inherited genetic disorder that is caused by a missing or malfunctioning enzyme in the human body. The lack of the said enzyme leads to the build-up of certain complex molecules in harmful amounts.
The massive amounts of these harmful molecules can cause permanent, progressive damage that affects the appearance, mental health, physical abilities, and organ function of the person suffering from MPS II. Most notably, the patient’s metabolism cannot break down certain carbohydrates.
To date, there is no known cure for Hunter Syndrome which mainly occurs in boys as young as 18 months. Should the experiment conducted on Madeaux came out as a success, it would be considered as a major achievement with significant impact on the study of gene therapy.
Therapies that involved gene editing have made significant progress in past years. However, making genetic changes outside of the human body has its limitations. While such procedure allows researchers to conduct treatments without undesired effects, the experiments are only limited to conditions involving cells that could be altered externally like some blood cancers.
In Madeaux’s case, the corrective genes will work on their own like mini surgeons.
They are expected to reach the patient’s liver where zinc finger proteins will cut the gene responsible for the condition and then insert a healthy gene copy. Once done, the corrected gene is expected by the scientists to produce the enzyme that will control the build-up of harmful substances in Madeaux’s body.
The treatment was delivered by Sangamo Therapeutics, a California-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company which focuses on genomic therapies, and was received by Madeaux at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland. In a statement to AP, Dr. Sandy Macrae, President of Sangamo Therapeutics, explained:
“We cut your DNA, open it up, insert a gene, stitch it back up. Invisible mending. It becomes part of your DNA and is there for the rest of your life.”
The promise that in-body gene editing holds is undeniable. However, it should be remembered that this new technology signals the start of human gene therapy. Once the procedure has been completed, there is no turning back. An edited genetic code can’t be altered back to its original form.
Despite the unknown consequences of the experiment, experts like Dr. Howard Kaufman, a Boston scientist on the National Institutes of Health panel that approved the studies, expressed positive support for the new technology.
“So far there’s been no evidence that this is going to be dangerous,” Dr. Kaufman said. “Now is not the time to get scared.”
How the Gene Editing Procedure Works Inside the Body
The procedure made use of what they referred to as zinc finger nucleases. ZFNs are synthetic proteins used for gene targeting. Like CRISPR-Cas9, ZNF functions in a similar way, by acting like molecular scissors that seek and cut specific pieces of DNA.
The in-body gene editing technique conducted on Madeaux has three components: the new genes and the two zinc finger proteins.
The DNA instructions for each part were placed in a virus that’s been altered to become non-replicating, non-pathogenic to not cause infection to the body. The virus will transport the new gene and ZFN into the cells. Billions of copies of these parts were given to Madeaux through a vein.
Once inside the body, the virus will travel to the liver. The cells will then use the instructions to make the zinc fingers and prepare the corrective gene. The ZFNs will then cut the damaged DNA to give room for the new gene to slip in. Once everything is in place, the new gene will instruct the cells to make the enzyme that Madeaux’s body lacked.
Dr. Paul Harmatz, Madeaux’s attending physician and the leader of the study said that only one percent of liver cells has to be corrected for the treatment to work and treat the disease.
Dr. Hamatz will monitor Madeaux’s enzyme level in the next three months followed by a liver biopsy to know if the corrected gene has been integrated and are producing the enzyme needed by the body. For now, experts will have to wait for the outcome of the experiment patiently.
Would you take a similar procedure to fix a condition like Hunter Syndrome? What sort of ailment would you have to have to consider going through gene editing treatment?About wild deer Overview
Six species of deer exist in the wild in the UK: red and roe deer are the only native species; though fallow deer are now normally considered part of our natural heritage, having been introduced in the 11th Century and possibly before. Sika, muntjac, and Chinese water deer were all introduced within the past 150 years. These six species differ in their geographic distribution, abundance, population growth rate, behaviour, and impacts.
It is widely accepted by government agencies, NGOs, and academics that deer are more abundant and widespread now than at any time in the past 1000 years. Deer populations have increased rapidly in recent decades due to several factors, including:
Milder winters;
Changes to agriculture such as the planting of winter crops;
Increased woodland cover;
Escapes and releases from parks and farms; and
Greater connectivity between green spaces in urban areas
At present, there may be as many as 2 million deer in the UK. However, accurate assessment of deer numbers is very difficult because deer are secretive animals and are free to roam the landscape. Evidence for increasing deer numbers is found in the expansion of their geographic range and the increase in deer impacts. Deer occurrence is not restricted to rural areas, and they are increasingly found in suburban and urban areas.
With a lack of natural predators in the UK, the role of human control becomes more important. An estimated 350,000 deer are culled each year. Road accidents are the second biggest cause of deer mortality. Despite this, deer are continuing to expand in range and have increased impacts, and it appears that current mortality rates are not high enough to prevent the rise in deer populations.We all remember how Airtel stormed our TV sets and online media with its “Open Network” campaign. Now, in one of the most competitive way, Jio is planning something similar to woo its users. The Reliance-backed network is tipped to launch similar facilities so that people who are concerned about Jio 4G coverage before joining their network can check its 4G coverage in their area.
In India, data connectivity is a big issue; even after six years of 3G launch most of the areas suffer from slow connectivity. Basing judgements on such matters, many are still unsure about Jio’s coverage and signal strength. To solve the issue, Jio has made a new network map where people can quickly check or monitor Jio’s network strength and coverage by providing a ZIP code or local address.
The feature is sill in its beta stage, and Jio has not yet included it on its website. However, Jio is expected to announce the new network tracking feature soon.
Similar to Airtel’s Open Network, Jio’s feature also allows users to check towers and Wi-Fi availability. Through the feature, users can report issues with voice and data quality. The feature will be available on both mobile and desktop websites of Jio. The tracking feature shows the info with a verified tick mark, which is to signify is authenticity and accuracy.
We think that this might act as Jio’s trump card to enhance its already growing user base in India. With location tracking for towers and signals, many users would choose the service for its presence in their area. What’s your take on this Airtel-mimicked feature that Jio is planning to launch? Do you think it is helpful enough? Also, (if you’re an Airtel user) do you use Airtel’s tower tracking service often?
Inputs : RajFor several years, when riding a train on NJ TRANSIT’s Morris and Essex or Montclair-Boonton Lines into Downtown Newark, one has been greeted on the right with an abandoned building covered with graffiti, and often, scenes such as a broken bus on top of a pile of rubble, damaged cars and trucks piled on top of one another, and police vehicles, all in the shadow of the city’s skyline.
What once was a vibrant center of business and commerce in the heart of the Newark’s Central Ward is now literally used as a disaster training ground by first responders as part of the Newark Fire Department’s Special Operations Facility, the Newark Police Department (NPD), and the Newark Office of Emergency Management (OEM). The only residents at the site, known as Peddlers Square, are the horses from the Newark Police Department’s Mounted Unit.
Located at the corner of Orange and Nesbitt Streets, the property, which features views of the Manhattan skyline, has a long history, with several uses in the last two centuries. Once a market area with a variety of peddlers selling goods to Newark residents, the site was later used as a Borden milk and juice processing and packaging plant starting in 1928, and eventually became a housing component factory used by the New Community Corporation before its current use by the Newark Department of Public Safety (DPS) and NJ TRANSIT.
In 2008, the City of Newark’s Broad Street Station District Redevelopment Plan described the abandoned Borden building, which remains at the site, as “in a state of disrepair and many of its notable historical architectural features and elements have eroded,” adding that “there is widespread concern for properties which are run-down and vacant within the District as they are not only perceived as blight, but lead to serious problems such as attracting vermin and vagrants.”
Now, Jersey Digs has exclusively learned that there are preliminary plans to revitalize the roughly six-acre site, though few details have been released so far.
In an interview with Jersey Digs, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka stated that “there are two different developers that I would not like to talk about who are trying to get that property, and it should be developed soon,” adding that “I know it’s going to be residential and commercial space as connected to the Baxter Terrace project over there,” referring to the planned redevelopment of the rest of the large vacant lot across Orange Street that contained a public housing complex with over 30 buildings from 1941 until it was demolished five years ago.
”We’ve laid out the site for purposes of continuing the downtown influx of mixed-use residential housing,” said Carmelo Garcia, the Executive Vice President and Chief Real Estate Officer of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, telling Jersey Digs that “the best use for the site, which we’ve been working towards, is to draw a big-box store with a residential component.”
There could be between 300 and 600 podium-style units on the property, which are expected to attract a mixture of people moving into Newark and existing residents looking to live in a more convenient location, since the Newark Broad Street Train Station and the Newark Light Rail are just a block away. The complex’s big-box store would likely be an ‘urban prototype’ location, somewhat similar to Target’s store in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, and there would also be a mini-mall with up to ten stores on the premises. Having businesses at the site will be “sort of a replica of the past,” Garcia stated, since the Peddlers Square name comes from the market that was once situated there.
”We’ve had great interest in the site, especially after we came back from ICSC,” Garcia said, referring to the recent International Council of Shopping Centers RECon convention.
Whatever organization is selected to redevelop the Peddlers Square property would pay for a relocation of the DPS facilities that are currently located on the premises, according to Garcia.
”It’s urbanization at its best,” he explained, adding that the development “would really provide a neighborhood feel and continue to build on the community’s assets.”On this day, 49 years ago, 21 year-old Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party of Self-Defense State chairman, was drugged and assassinated by the Chicago Police Department (with the assistance of the FBI). Just another day of law enforcement doing its job.
In the United States, the role of all law enforcement is to maintain “law and order” first and foremost. Moreover, law enforcement, especially the FBI, has historically played a major role in stifling social movements that seek to disrupt or dramatically alter the social order of the US.
From the violent strike-breaking and union-busting of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, to the surveillance of anti-war and civil rights leaders during the Vietnam era, to the imprisonment of Black Panther Party members and other political prisoners that continues to this day, US law enforcement does an especially good job of quelling the dissidence of oppressed peoples, no matter how peaceful the leader.
Take Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for example. Lauded today as the shining example of peace, equality and the “proper” way to protest, MLK was targeted and jailed by local police and surveilled by the FBI from December 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Like in most governments, the US government doesn’t take well to unrest, and the creation of laws and their ultimate enforcement are the prime means of subduing any agitation.
The war on drugs is a prime example of this as told in the now infamous quote by Nixon aide John Ehrlichman:
“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”- John Ehrlichman, Nixon aide
The criminalization of drug use was and still is an easy excuse to surveil and control populations. In the effort to restore and maintain “law and order”, blacks and Latinx are policed, arrested, incarcerated and criminalized at disproportionate rates for drug use and sales, despite the fact that white people sell and use drugs at the same, if not slightly higher, rate.
The collateral consequences of this mass criminalization include the destruction of families, disenfranchisement rates that mirror those of the Jim Crow era, school-to-prison pipelines, the creation and perpetuation of an economic and social caste system, and modern day slavery. Targeted traffic stops, violent SWAT raids and incessant racialized searches, known as stop-and-frisk, in search of drugs are daily reminders that the drug war is the justification to create a police state of black and Latinx communities in order to maintain and control these populations.
Furthermore, the mass policing and criminalization does not stop at local law enforcement. Just as the FBI labelled the Black Panther Party and other civil rights organizations and leaders “black extremist groups” and surveilled and infiltrated their ranks, the FBI’s creation of the category “black identity extremist” (following the emergence of groups like Black Lives Matter and celebrities like Colin Kaepernick who speak out and protest against police brutality and mass criminalization), is just history repeating itself.
Moreover, the Trump administration is doing all in its power to be harsher on enforcing our racist drug laws. Sessions' announcement of $12 million grant funding for state and local law enforcement in an effort to combat the opioid crisis, money that could be better used to increase access to evidence-based treatment, illustrates the longstanding truth: maintaining “law and order” comes before saving lives.
Today, as we remember the life of an electrifying liberator, let us not forget the truth of |
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It did not take long to deliver, recently announcing the revival of a once-popular high-performance version called the King Cobra. But buyers will not be able to order one at their local showroom, according to Jamie Allison at Ford. They will effectively have to customise it themselves. “You open up the Ford performance catalogue and take one of everything,” he said with a grin.
Ford's King Cobra was one of several hundred customised vehicles on display in Las Vegas last week at the Specialty Equipment Marketers Association's (SEMA) annual convention. The SEMA show is currently the second-biggest annual event in Las Vegas, drawing an estimated 140,000 visitors each year. Adaptations that boost car-engine performance are the big draw. Car nuts wandered past more than 1,000 stalls displaying the latest modified exhaust systems, turbochargers and full “crate engines” (which are ready-to-go, high-performance motors that can be dropped into a car such as a Chevrolet Camaro or Honda Civic). But a wide range of other car accessories were also on display, from air fresheners to in-car electronics—which included a high-powered sound system that made the Las Vegas Convention Centre’s rafters shake.
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The SEMA show is normally dominated by small manufacturers, some operating out of domestic garages. But big carmakers such as Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen have steadily been moving into this market in recent years; BMW and Mercedes-Benz made the leap this year. Manufacturers have come to recognise that tapping into this high-margin area of the car business—especially for performance accessories—can boost their brand's image, as well as profits. Chrysler, for example, has set up eight of its own customisation centres around North America that allow buyers to make extensive modifications to any of their vehicles.
The customisation business in America was probably worth around $33 billion last year and is expected to grow by 4% this year. That is well below a peak of $38 billion recorded in 2007, just before the financial crisis. But sales of accessories for pickups and other light trucks are expected to grow by more than 10% a year. And the market for sports-car accessories is also starting to show signs of recovery. Such growth, combined with near-record attendance at this year’s SEMA show, explains why the big carmakers see moving into this area as a way to restore their sagging profit margins.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi leaves a congressional meeting about the shooting at the Republicans’ baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Capitol Police should get more resources to protect members and the public in the wake of the previous day’s shooting at a congressional baseball practice that left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise in critical condition.
The California Democrat said she’s received incessant threats throughout her life in public service and won’t let her grandchildren answer her phone at home due to ugly calls she receives. She also indicated she had been hacked last fall.
“I think we can give them more resources,” Pelosi said of the police force that oversees members and visitors to the Capitol.
She said Louisiana Rep. Cedric L. Richmond, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, has suggested there be a way for members to summon additional resources due to “so many reasons for concern” for the group.
According to House Appropriations Committee staffers, language is being drafted that would allow rank-and-file House members to spend money from their office accounts on personal security expenses, in light of Wednesday’s shooting.
“Nobody has as many as I do,” Pelosi said about threats she has received. “It’s really disgusting, some of the forms it takes.”
Only members of House leadership have Capitol Police security details. Several members of Congress have said that had Scalise not been present at practice — and therefore no security detail present — the situation could have been much worse.
“It didn’t used to be this way,” Pelosi said of negative political climate. “I really am almost sad for myself that I have gone down this path with you.”
Despite the call for more money for police, the minority leader said rank-and-file members had not indicated they want security to be with them around the clock.
She expressed the most concern for staffers, particularly those in congressional districts who cannot necessarily summon police protection as easily as those who work inside the Capitol.
“The security evaluations have to be done by the Capitol Police,” Pelosi said, when asked if large congregations of lawmakers should have a police presence if leadership is not there. “That would be based on what members tell them [about] how they’ve been threatened or what their staffs have been exposed to.”
Katherine Tully McManus contributed to this story.
Contact Rahman at remarahman@cqrollcall.com or follow her on Twitter at @remawriter.Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed on Monday that Ankara would allow Kurdish troops from Iraq - known as "Peshmerga" - to bolster defenses in Kobani. The Syrian border town, which lies close to Turkey, has been the scene of heavy fighting after "Islamic State" fighters launched an offensive on its Kurdish population roughly one month ago.
"We are facilitating the passage of Peshmerga forces to Kobani to provide support. Our talks on this subject are continuing," Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu told reporters on Monday.
Ankara has faced criticism in recent weeks for resisting calls to provide military support to the fight against the jihadist group, who would gain more influence along the Syrian-Turkish border if they took full control of the town.
The Turkish government's caution stems from distrust of the Kurdistan Worker's Party - known as the PKK- whose separatist guerrilla movement has been responsible for the death of roughly some 40,000 people since the 1970s. Despite a ceasefire last year, tensions remain strained between the two groups.
'No wish' for Kobani to fall
Over the weekend, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had emphasized that Ankara continued to distrust Kurdish groups in general, saying they were "no different" than the PKK and comparing them to terrorists.
However, on Monday, his foreign minister - without referring to Erdogan's comments - also emphasized that Turkish security was the country's main priority.
Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Monday that Turkey would facilitate Peshmerga fighters
"We have no wish at all to see Kobani fall," he said.
Turkish Kurds have carried out demonstrations both in Turkey and in other European countries - including Germany. They are protesting Ankara's perceived apathy against the ethnic group's plight as the jihadist group attacks its brethren in both northern Iraq and northern Syria.
Kerry: 'irresponsible' not to help
Turkey's announcement followed less than a day after the US airdropped weapons and ammunition to the Kurdish fighters in Kob |
athletic or fitness pursuits because people can’t seem to marry the fitness with the body shape. So instead of saying “I just finished a tempo run where I worked at 1km race pace intervals for 11km with a 2km warm up and 2km cool down”, we may mention quickly that we had ‘just been for a run’, usually adding “but I’m not very fast” or “oh I just plod along!”
And Ragen Chastain, https://ironfatblog.wordpress.com/
I’ve done a lot of athletic things in my life including sports and dance, but always stuff at which I have natural talent. I decided that I wanted to push outside of my comfort zone and do things at which I seem to have absolutely no natural ability. I did a marathon and I sucked pretty bad at that, so I basically thought – what could I suck at that’s even more terrible than a marathon – and this is what I arrived at.
Jill Angie, Running with Curves
When I first started running in 1998, I wanted to lose weight. Running was simply a means of efficiently burning calories. It wasn’t fun, and it felt like punishment. And of course, I didn’t stick with it. Over the years I started and stopped a number of times. Finally, in 2010, weighing close to 300 pounds, I started again, and this time I stuck with it. What was different? I stopped thinking about running as a means to offset calories, and started looking at it as a way to build up my confidence and strength. Soon, running became a source of joy, even when it was difficult (which was most of the time in the early years!). I became a triathlete and then a personal trainer. I also lost weight along the way. But still, there was something missing. Although I felt like a runner, I didn’t see much representation in the running world for larger athletes. That’s when I knew it was time to start spreading the message that you can be a runner at any size, shape, age, pace or distance. That the very fact that you run makes you a runner.
Laura Backus, A Fat Girl’s Ironman Journey
I’m a 41 yr old, stubborn (determined?), short, married, sarcastic, no kids (furkids, one named ATHENA), fat, slow, medically challenged, IRONMAN. I really enjoy the sport of triathlon and found you can do great things if you believe it, then put the work in to do it. I have a genetic disorder, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which among other things makes my body unpredictable day by day. I dislocate many of my joints on a frequent basis and it is nearly impossible to build strength like normal people. I quickly atrophy, and many muscles just do not work on their own without conscious engagement of each contraction. Running is especially difficult and my arches usually collapse within 45 min of any run. I have to worry about many other medical issues, such as migraines, but these are the big ones. I don’t want my disorder, or my weight to define me, however. I’ve learned that I can speak for those with EDS, or any invisible illness, as well as the larger or slower athletes. (From an interview here: http://www.runningwithcurves.net/january-rockstar-runner-laura-backus-fat-girls-ironman-journey/)
Sheila Ashcroft, Fat Broad on a Bike
What’s a fat broad like me — 200 pounds of flab squatting over skinny tires — doing on the road? I’mcycling just like everyone else. And regardless of your size, you belong here too! If you like cycling, don’t let your mind cheat your body out of doing something fun and healthy. Being overweight and being a cyclist is not contradictory. I’ve been both for 22 years. Too many women are psyched out by those lean bodies dancing on the pedals up the Gatineau Hills. Cycling does not require a skinny body, it helps if you want to go fast, but it’s not necessary to enjoy cycling.
And me! See Big women on bikes
Resources
The fat girl’s guide to running
The big triathlete
Fit fatties forum
Athena Triathletes on Facebook
If you know any other good resources, please share them in the comments.
You might be wondering, why don’t larger/fat/plus sized athletes just lose weight? I’m blogging about that next.Paia Town has a new neighbor–a big one. In December, Alexander & Baldwin quietly sold a 339-acre parcel of land that cups the entire west side of Paia to a California businessman for just $9.9 million, or a little more than $29,000 per acre. Located across the street from the Paia Youth & Cultural Center, the parcel runs along the Hana Highway from the west boundary of Baldwin Beach to the Paia Bypass Road, then up the bypass to Baldwin Avenue and then to the old sugar mill (in the above county map, the parcel is outlined in red).
And although it was previously used to grow sugar cane, the land is by no means limited to agricultural use. Under the Maui Island Plan, some of the land could be used for commercial and residential purposes as well. That’s what makes the selling price so surprising. By comparison, the County of Maui paid A&B $9.5 million for the 267 acres near Jaws–and that will remain undeveloped green space.
The Paia deal, which closed on Dec. 20, came as a surprise even to some at the County of Maui, which had hoped to have a discussion with A&B about turning some of the land adjacent to Hana Highway into green space, according to County Communications Director Rod Antone.
“The mayor has plans to develop a North Shore Regional Park that would connect Baldwin Park and Lower Paia Park on that parcel that A&B gifted to the county a couple of years ago,” he explained. “As part of that plan he had wanted to ask A&B for a greenway across the street from the parkland about the size of a football field, so that when people drive into Paia Town there would be green on both sides.
“By the time we learned about this purchase it was already in escrow. We are still hopeful that we can work with the new owner about obtaining a greenway for the community,” Antone added.
Last July, the parcel went into escrow with Paia businessman Michael Baskin, who has been fighting his own battles with the county over the Paia Inn and other properties he owns or manages in town. According to Baskin, those problems squelched his ability to close the deal and he flipped the property to Northern California businessman Sam Hirbod, 48, who purchased it under the entity EC Paia, LLC.
It’s hard to know what Hirbod plans to do with his considerable new acreage. EC Paia is registered to the same address in San Ramon, CA as a number of other Hirbod businesses, most notably Eagle Canyon Capital.
He’s the former president and CEO of Pacific Convenience & Fuels, which at one point operated almost 600 gas stations and convenience stores across Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada Colorado & Texas. A glowing 2010 article written in the industry trade magazine Convenience Store Petroleum marveled that Hirbod–a relative unknown at the time–was able to acquire most of those properties from ConocoPhillips for a reported $800 million in 2008 amidst the rubble of the real estate meltdown and a “catastrophic financing environment.” This, from a guy who opened his first gas station convenience store in 1997, according to the story.
Hirbod was described in the piece as a former “welterweight and avid kickboxer,” and “the kind of guy you want to have in your corner, not coming at you from the other side.” Revenues from Pacific’s operations were described as “just short of $4 billion in 2008.”
But Hirbod has his fingers in a lot of corporate pies these days. Among his other companies registered in California, according to the CorporationWiki website: Expression Coffee West, Eagle Canyon Holdings, Golden Canyon Partners, Ramona Street Development and Buon Hospitality, which franchises several Corner Bakery Café restaurants in Northern California. Also registered at his San Ramon business address is the Seamms Foundation, established in 2013 to provide financial assistance to children under 18 with life-threatening diseases.
Last November, the real estate information group CoStar reported that Eagle Canyon was putting a Bethesda, Maryland office building back on the market nine months after acquiring it out of foreclosure, but no word on a sale. Other entities registered at the Eagle Canyon Capital address are a number of commercial buildings in Northern California, ECC Macon, ECC Manchester & ECC Statesboro in Georgia and ECC Berlin VT in Vermont, but it is unknown what these properties represent.
Also listed at that address (and another in Pleasanton) is Eagle Canyon Management which promises to “work with you from the moment you discover our properties. We’ll help you identify the appropriate space, design your offices, create a plan for growth and expansion, and carefully manage the tenant improvement process.”
Hirbod lives in Danville, CA and, according to Maui online property records, is also the registered owner, with Shereen Hirbod, of a home overlooking the Wailea Blue golf course. He did not return calls for comment. Calls to Eagle Capital and Eagle Canyon Management went straight to voicemail.
Interestingly, the Los Angeles-based law firm Hobson, Bernardino + Davis lists Hirbod’s Pacific Convenience & Fuels as a client on its website. Partner Jason Hobson and fellow HBD attorney Mark Chasan are the driving forces behind TEACH, which–as we reported in this story–has put forth a controversial proposal to develop the Old Maui High School property on the other side of Paia in Hamakuapoko.
Parcel map courtesy County of MauiWell I woke up to this announcement from Yanakoto Sotto Mute on twitter a few hours ago
So what did I do? I played both Ep’s back to back to hype myself up for the eventual release time and now its finally here and boiii is it good!
Taken from their upcoming album release BUBBLE, the song ‘Lily’ has always been one of my favourites ever since I first heard it on their ‘Sealing EP’ so you can imagine my excitement to know it was this song they picked for a glorious MV!
Can I just point out how on point these girls aesthetics are? from their intricately patterned but plain white caped outfits that show they want the MUSIC to do the REAL talking, to their artistic well performed choreography in a perfect location for their theme all to the sweet backing track of some amazingly composed emotionally tinged grunge, yes this is A* material here people.
If this is the first thing you’ve heard from Yanamute then I question “where have you been?” but more just urge you to check out more of their fantastic material. For those interested their Album BUBBLE come’s out 5th of April!
@YanakotoSM yanakotosottomute.comChris Floyd, Published: 06 March 2010 Hits: 14620
All who draw the sword will die by the sword. -- Yeshua Ha-Notsri, Palestinian dissident, c. 33 CE.
I.
As we all know – or rather, as everyone but those who climb and claw their way to the top of power's greasy pole knows – the effects of war are vast, unforeseeable, long-lasting -- and uncontrollable. The far-reaching ripples of the turbulence will churn against distant shores and hidden corners, then roil back upon you in ways you could never imagine, for generations, even centuries.
Nor is "victory" in war proof against these deleterious effects. For the brutalization, moral coarsening, corruption and concentration of elite power that attend every war do not simply disappear from a society when the fighting stops. They persist, like microbes, in myriad forms, working with slow, corrosive force to degrade and deform the victors. Indeed, victory in battle often leads a society to enshrine war's most pernicious attributes: violence is ennobled, and becomes entrenched as an ever-ready instrument of national policy. Militarism is exalted, the way of peace dishonored: cries of "Appeasers! Cowards! Traitors!" greet every approach that fails to brandish the threat of extreme violence, that fails to "keep all options on the table."
The apparent "lesson" of victory – that there can be no right without armed might to win and safeguard it – quickly degenerates into the belief that armed might is right. (William Astore has an excellent article here on how the collision with Nazi Germany infected America's military with a continuing admiration for the German war machine.) Military power becomes equated with moral worth, and the ability to wreak savage, unimaginable destruction through armed violence -- via thoughtless obedience to the orders of "superiors" – becomes a cherished attribute of society.
War is no longer seen as a vast, horrific failure of the human spirit, a scandalous betrayal of our common humanity, a sickening tragedy of irrevocable loss and inconsolable suffering – although this is its inescapable reality, even in a "good" war, for a "just" cause. (And of course no nation or faction has ever gone to war without declaring that its cause is just.) Instead of lamenting war, and girding for it, if at all, only in the most dire circumstances, with the most extreme reluctance, the infected society celebrates it at every turn. No national occasion – even a sporting event! – is complete without bristling displays of military firepower, and pious tributes to those wreaking violence around the world in blind obedience to their superiors.
Oddly enough, when a modern nation consciously adopts a "warrior ethos," it casts aside -- openly, even gleefully -- whatever virtue that ethos has historically claimed for itself, such as courage in battle and honor toward adversaries. In its place come the adulation of overwhelming technological firepower and the rabid demonization of the enemy (or the perceived enemy, or even the "suspected" enemy), who is stripped of all rights, all human dignity, and subject to "whatever it takes" to break him down or destroy him.
Thus our American militarists exult in the advanced hardware that allows "soldiers" to slaughter people from thousands of miles away, with missiles, bombs and bullets fired from lurking, unreachable drones high in the sky. (A recent study shows that even by the most conservative reckoning of who is or isn't a "militant," at least one third of the hundreds killed in the Bush-Obama drone campaigns in Pakistan are clearly civilians.) The drone "warriors" -- often living in complete safety and comfort -- see nothing but a bloodless image on a screen; they face no physical threat at all. This is assassination, not combat; it reeks of cowardice, and dehumanizes everyone it touches, the victims and the button-pushers alike. Yet our militarists -- most of whom, of course, have somehow never found the time to fight the wars they cheer for -- wax orgasmic about this craven weaponry. In the transvaluation of values that militarism produces, cowardice becomes a martial virtue.
Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Laureate, pushes forward with plans for the "Prompt Global Strike" system of "conventional" super-missiles that can rain down massive death -- unstoppable, undeterrable, without warning -- anywhere on the planet within an hour. All this, while expanding shorter-range missile "defense" systems that bristle with blatantly offensive potential, and intent, all over the world. Plus spending billions to "modernize" the nuclear arsenal, ensuring that it stays effective enough to murder the entire earth, while weeding out some "redundant" warheads as a PR gesture.
Meanwhile, the drone programs -- emblazoned with names that proudly proclaim their savage nature: "Predators" and "Reapers," launching "Hellfire" missiles into sleeping villages -- keep expanding relentlessly. As noted by Nick Turse -- who is doing invaluable work detailing the deadly nuts and bolts of the militarist empire and its profiteers -- the Pentagon is drooling over visions of vast robotic forces filling the heavens and roaming the earth, even down to the smallest crevice. He rightly notes the main purpose of this massively funded R&D: to make war "easier," less deadly to "our side," and thus more palatable to the public:
This means bigger, badder, faster drones – armed to the teeth – with sensor systems to monitor wide swathes of territory and the ability to loiter overhead for days on end waiting for human targets to appear and, in due course, be vaporized by high-powered munitions. It’s a future built upon advanced technologies designed to make targeted killings – remote-controlled assassinations – ever more effortless.... For the Air Force, such a prospect is the stuff of dreams, a bright future for unmanned, hypersonic lethality; for the rest of the planet, it’s a potential nightmare from which there may be no waking.
But while Turse outlines this potential nightmare in grim detail (the whole piece should be read in full), we are of course beset by present nightmares in horrific plenty. And few are more chilling than the ruling establishment's astonishingly swift acceptance of outright torture as an open tool of national policy. This acceptance not only includes the increasingly frenzied praise and championing of torture by the circle of war criminals and accomplices led by Dick Cheney; in slightly more restrained tones, it goes right across the board among the political and media elite. Torture is now nothing more than a topic for "debate" -- debates which center largely on the relative "effectiveness" of various torture techniques, or else on mindless (not to mention heartless) hairsplitting over the meaning of the word "torture."
There is of course a myth that Barack Obama has "ended" the practice of torture. This is not even remotely true. For one thing, as we have often noted here, the Army Field Manual that Obama has adopted as his interrogation standard permits many practices that any rational person would consider torture. For another, we have no way of verifying what techniques are actually being used by the government's innumerable "security" and intelligence agencies, by the covert units of the military -- and by other entities whose very existence is still unknown. These agencies are almost entirely self-policed; they investigate themselves, they report on themselves to the toothless Congressional "oversight" committees; we simply have to take these organizations -- whose entire raison d'etre is deceit, deception, lawlessness and subterfuge -- at their word. And of course, we have no way of knowing what is being done in the torture chambers of foreign lands where the United States often "outsources" its captives, including American citizens.
Finally, even if the comforting bedtime story of Obama's ban of torture techniques in interrogation were true, there remains his ardent championing of the right to seize anyone on earth -- without a warrant, without producing any evidence whatsoever of wrongdoing -- and hold them indefinitely, often for years on end, in a legal limbo, with no inherent rights whatsoever, beyond whatever narrowly constricted, ever-changing, legally baseless and often farcical "hearings" and tribunals the captors deign to allow them. Incarceration under these conditions is itself an horrendous act of torture, no matter what else might happen to the captive. Yet Obama has actively, avidly applied this torture, and has gone to court numerous times to defend this torture, and to expand the use of this torture.
Many thousands of innocent people have already been forced through the meat grinder of this torture -- at one point early in the Iraq War, the Red Cross estimated that 70-90 percent of the more than 20,000 Iraqis being held by the Americans as "suspected terrorists" were not guilty of any crime whatsoever, much less 'terrorism'. And that is just a single snapshot, at a single point in time, of the vast gulag that America has wrapped around the earth -- a gulag where many have been murdered outright, not just tortured or unjustly imprisoned. And it is still going on, with scarcely a demur across the bipartisan establishment. The heinous and dishonorable practice of torture, physical and psychological, is now an intrinsic, openly established element of American society.
Murder, cowardice, torture, dishonor: these are fruits -- and the distinguishing characteristics -- of the militarized society. What Americans once would not do even to Nazis with the blood of millions on their hands, they now do routinely to weak and wretched captives seized on little or no evidence of wrongdoing at all. We are deep in the darkness, and hurtling deeper, headlong, all the time.
II.
Let's not kid ourselves, however. The militarism that has now gained such a strangulating ascendancy over American life did not drop down suddenly from the sky (or arrive on the hijacked bus that Bush and Cheney drove to the White House). Although this militarism has now reached unprecedented levels of institutional and political dominance, there has always been a strong warlike strain running through American history -- indeed, through its pre-history as well, as Fred Anderson and Andrew Cayton demonstrate in their book, Dominion of War, detailing the decisive influence of war and imperialism on America's development over the past 500 years.
Nor is it a peculiarly American problem. As Caroline Alexander notes in her remarkable new work, The War That Killed Achilles:
If we took any period of a hundred years in the last five thousand, it has been calculated, we could expect, on average, 94 of those years to be occupied with large-scale conflicts in one or more parts of the world. This enduring, seemingly ineradicable fact of war is... as intrinsic and tragic a component of the human condition as our very mortality.
We human beings have been shaped by millions of years of genetic breakage and mutation, all of which is still on-going. We are compounds of chaos, ignorance and error. Our psyches are frail and variegated things, isolated, with each individual consciousness formed from a unique and ever-shifting coalescence of billions of brain cells firing (and misfiring) in infinite, unrepeatable combinations. Beneath this electrical superstructure lie mechanical rhythms and erratic surges of instinct and impulse, dark, hormonal tides and drives that never reach the plane of awareness.
In the infancy of our species we began to cling -- fiercely, in fear and desire -- to patterns of behavior, emotion and thought that seemed to bring some sort of order, some containment of the whirlwind within us, and some protection from the dangers, known and unknown, that lurked outside. We began to do "whatever it takes" to preserve these patterns from the ever-present threat of their dissolution in the whirlwind, to impose them, by violence if necessary, on the recalcitrant material of reality -- including the always-unknowable, impenetrable reality of the Other, those mysterious combinations outside our isolated consciousness.
The patterns become ingrained, they sink into the substrate where they operate unquestioned and unseen, they become "natural," the way that things must be. Domination and obedience are among the strongest, and most enduring, of these patterns, taking multitudinous forms -- a "local habitation and a name" -- in the ever-changing circumstances of existence. War is their expression writ large. It is in us, it comes from us.
But to acknowledge war's intrinsic, universal character does not absolve us of the need to resist it. To say, "Oh, that's just human nature; it's always been this way and always will be this way," is not only a lazy, timorous acquiescence to base instinct, it also posits a settled, even eternal quality to human nature and human consciousness that simply does not and cannot exist. To go against war, to step outside the ingrained behavioral patterns of domination and obedience is indeed an "unnatural" act -- and it feels unnatural, it feels strange, and raw, and frightening. But the deeper fear -- of psychic and physical dissolution -- that lies at the foundation of these ever-more destructive patterns can only be faced down, changed, and wrenched into some more benevolent pattern by embracing the risk and discomfort of stepping forth, of stepping beyond -- literally, "transgressing" -- the boundaries of a wholly imaginary (or even hallucinatory) "human nature."
The whirlwind that characterizes the imperfect, breaking, misfiring, evolving reality of human consciousness is not only a producer of (very understandable) deep-seated fears; it is also a force for liberation. Because our nature is not ultimately fixed, we can, literally and figuratively, burn new connections in our brains, we can enlarge our consciousness and extend our empathetic understanding of those strange Others. And we have been doing this, in fits and starts, in lurches and staggers, with much backsliding and many wrong turns -- indeed, in ignorance and error -- for as long as we have been creatures cursed and gifted with self-awareness. We do have the capacity, the space, to resist the patterns of domination and obedience, to seek out new ways of seeing the world, of being in the world, of communing with others.Brandon Smith, Contributor
Activist Post
If Americans are looking for anything in the dark clouds of political dust and powdered ash that choke our air and leave us feeling naked against the elements, it is but a simple moment of sincerity. It sounds like an easily attainable thing, and yet, we continue to gasp and clamor. The visible surface of our nation is so devoid of honest connection with our social voice that we have turned to a cynical form of loneliness.
We have embraced a life without clarity, and been made wretchedly bitter, desperate for even the faintest taste of truth.
The false two-party paradigm that drives America gives us a measure of sustenance. Just enough to keep us from going completely mad, but not enough to end our hunger. As this process continues, however, and the establishment grows bolder, we too become savvy in the ways of the machine. Eventually, the old standards just don’t keep the masses distracted like they used to, and so, the system, not willing to give up power, decides instead to become “like us”, at least outwardly. It steals our vision and our song and goes on parade. It tries to make us believe again….
The campaign of Barack Obama in 2008 was a perfect example of the propaganda pageant, complete with visceral slogans like “Hope” and “Change”. After eight years of the clownish George Bush Jr., when our country spiraled down into a state of disturbed and vicious adolescence, people were looking for a renewal. They were looking for a path away from the edge of the abyss. Instead, they were given a better liar, with a brand new costume. The American Dream has become harder to sustain since…to say the least.
In 2012, what I see is like a lightning bolt in slow motion. I can sense it branching out across the sky towards the ground and tearing through our surroundings, upending everything we know. Both the President and Congress have some of the lowest approval ratings in history. The question of whether anything can be accomplished through government has been answered for most people with a resounding “no”. The citizenry is on the verge of total fury.
I wish I could say that most have abandoned the fleeting hollow satisfaction of choosing the “lesser of two evils”, but that would not be accurate.
Recently, I was invited (by several separate people) to a central event in the state elections of Montana called the “Lincoln-Reagan Dinner”, and promptly tried to avoid it like a rat-infested plague ship. I know from experience what these kinds of political elbow-rubbing parties can be like, and have been thoroughly unimpressed. Somehow, I ended up there anyway. If your only experience of the Republican Party was to attend such shindigs, you might think the stuffy anal-retentive caricatures we often see of conservatives are well deserved. In stark contrast to a Ron Paul rally, most of the attendees were little younger than 55, and few seemed very animated. Perhaps they were suffering from the same distaste of the whole thing as I was. Luckily, a solid 15% of the crowd were Liberty Movement oriented, which helped me to weather the overall painful proceedings (I also won a door prize; a coupon for a free dinner, mmmm…), but a pair of earplugs and a bottle of whiskey would have been far more comforting.
The party also gave me a momentary window into the future of the state in which I now reside, and even the probable nature of campaigns occurring across the nation. The prospects weren’t very pretty.
If Americans plan to look to the GOP to save them from the jaws of impending disaster, they had better reconsider that foolish notion. Obama may be riding the economic collapse straight at us like a wild Mako shark, but that’s no excuse to delude ourselves with fantasies of a Republican savior. Mitt Romney (a man whose legislative record is little different from Obama’s) is just the tip of the iceberg. At the state level, a much more dire charade is taking place.
A most noticeable trend is the language that fake conservatives (Neo-Cons) have adopted in the past year, switching from die-hard Statism to sudden “opposition” to Federal encroachment. What happened to the GOP’s love affair with centralized government? Well, the tides of the populace have changed considerably over the past few years, and in 2012, co-option is the name of the game.
While the media goes out of its way to ignore Ron Paul, the elites in the GOP have lately decided it’s better to sound at least a little bit like the Constitutionalist candidate. Now, the parasites are brandishing rhetoric they wouldn’t have been caught dead uttering not long ago; railing against EPA intrusion on state jurisdiction of natural resources mostly, and the Federal Government in general, but it wasn’t much help. Speech after speech, the candidates were heavy on flag waving placations, light on substance or honor. The general message of the assembly was repeated over and over again; WHOEVER the chosen candidates were after the primaries, conservatives were “duty bound” to supplant Obama and the Democrats at all costs. That is to say, if we do not unify around the selected Republican con-squad, Obama’s reelection would be entirely the fault of the non-conformists. “Anyone but Obama” was the catch phrase of the evening….
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Sound familiar? It should. It’s the same kind of campaign the Democrats were running against Bush back in 2004, and it will lead to the same kind of disappointment.
Two political front men in Montana in particular left me so disgusted I could barely digest dinner afterwards. The first, of course, was Neil Livingstone, who as far as I can tell, is the quintessential nightmare candidate from the seventh circle of hell. With ties to the CIA under Air America, Iran Contra (though he denies it), multiple Blackwater-style mercenary firms, a penchant for death squads, and backdoor deals with dictators like Moammar Qaddafi, it’s hard to imagine a worse governor for an anti-Federal pro-Constitutional state like Montana. Though we have been covering this information since Livingstone’s entry into the race, it’s nice to see that other outlets are finally catching on:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/neil-livingstone-montana-governor
Mother Jones treats Livingstone’s record as a kind of anomaly; an outlandish joke that makes him unelectable. However, I tend to take his presence in Montana a bit more seriously. Money and friends in high places are still viable strategies in our very corrupt electoral process, and Livingstone has both. The fact that the man moved back to Montana barely a year ago just to run for the governor’s position is also disconcerting. His running mate, Ryan Zinke, a former SEAL Team 6 member, stated his solution to Montana’s unemployment problems is to build predator drone factories (I’m not joking). And, both have received backing from a local retired two star general by the name of Paul Vallely who wrote a book called The Myths Of Gitmo: Torture, Abuse Or The Truth, in which he defends the detainment procedures of the infamous facility and claims that no torture, or at least what he defines as torture, occurs there. Though, this is not half as disturbing as the paper “From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory” which he wrote with legendary military Psyop analyst and creepy occultist Michael Aquino (look this guy up for a lesson in dangerously weird).
Avoiding The Eye - Ships Free Today! Vallely has been posing locally and nationally as a Liberty Movement proponent with his organization “Stand Up America”, just as Livingstone and Zinke have been posing as Constitutional freedom loving traditional conservatives. Anyone who has studied the COINTELPRO operations of the 1960s and 1970s would probably see a familiar pattern in all of this, but many Montanans I fear may not be quite so aware. Livingstone gets consistent applause for his broken record jokes on the hot button wolf problem here in the Big Sky State. And his speaking style is well trained. Like most political snake oil salesmen, he has the ability to talk a lot without saying much. It may well be that the Constitutionalist movement that is thriving here has garnered special attention, and men like those listed so far are not here by coincidence. The second politician stealing our oxygen was Rep. Denny Rehberg, a self proclaimed Tea Party Republican who consistently votes for Neo-Con style legislation, including the NDAA. Rehberg washed patriotic during his substance-less speech during the Lincoln-Reagan dinner, wandering off on tangents about his mother and then back to push button topics like Obamacare. The one saving feature of his campaign was his opposition to the bailouts. Unfortunately, when confronted by Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers after the event on his support of the NDAA, Rehberg revealed his true colors. Apparently not recognizing who Rhodes was, he accused the long-time veteran of “not supporting the troops” because of his opposition to the bill. When confronted on the specific provisions of the bill which allow for indefinite detainment of any person the executive branch accuses of being an enemy combatant without trial, Rehberg denied that the bill opened doors to such action. This has been the typical response from other fake conservatives who voted for the draconian legislation. Strangely, representatives of Rehberg have tried to contact Rhodes in the past to show support for a bill to “clarify” the language of the NDAA, but these drafts contained little to nothing to actually nullify the detainment sections. If Rehberg has no remorse over his support for the NDAA, and feels it holds no threat to the American people, why try to draft a state bill to clarify the U.S. citizen issue? According to Rehberg, the only reason was to silence Constitutionalists who had been pointing out his non-conservative, pro-Statist behavior. “Clarity”, is not his true concern at all. The irrationality of the defense of the NDAA continues to escalate amongst closet Neo-Cons. From Alinsky-style diversions and accusations, to full-on denial in spite of the evidence, they refuse to admit the nature of the legislation. Why? Because it is indefensible. I have merely covered some local examples of fake conservatives I have witnessed firsthand, but this is a strategy being used all over the country. The incredible threat these people pose cannot be underestimated (in a follow-up article, I will cover some examples of legitimate liberty candidates). With Obama sending America into a death spiral, the obvious and natural reaction by many will be to look to the conservative dynamic to put things right. Sadly, most Americans do not know what real conservatism and limited government looks like anymore. Frankly, any hobgoblin in a suit can claim he is a conservative nowadays, and then implement the same globalist, collectivist policies as the fake liberal before him. As I have said many times in the past, you have to examine the actions of these representatives, not their rhetoric. What they say is meaningless. What they do, and have done in the past, is everything. This election year, we MUST NOT play the old game of the “lesser of two evils”. The fact is, there is no such thing, and there never was. Brandon Smith is the founder of Alt-Market is an organization designed to help you find like-minded activists and preppers in your local area so that you can network and construct communities for mutual aid and defense. Join Alt-Market.com today and learn what it means to step away from the system and build something better or contribute to their Safe Haven Project. You can contact Brandon Smith at: [email protected] var linkwithin_site_id = 557381; linkwithin_text=’Related Articles:’A group of leftwing politicians in Germany have been criticised for refusing to observe a minute's silence on Saturday to commemorate the 136-plus people who died trying to breach the Berlin Wall.
A far-left newspaper added to the controversy by printing a front page saying "thank you" to the wall for "28 years of keeping the peace in Europe" and "28 years of plentiful crèche and kindergarten places".
The timing of both stunts was provocative: Saturday marked 50 years since the East German government built what it euphemistically described as "an anti-fascist protection measure". To mark the date, a minute's silence was held across Germany at noon, with Angela Merkel attending an event on the former death strip in east Berlin.
But at a political conference in Rostock, in the former East Germany, three delegates from Die Linke party refused to join in when 100 colleagues stood up to observe the silence.
One was Marianne Linke, a regional politician from Die Linke, which has links to the old East German ruling socialist party. According to the tabloid Bild am Sonntag she tried to justify her actions by saying: "The border closure in 1961 would not have happened without fascist Germany." The implication being that the wall was either a rational reaction against a West that had not dealt with its Nazi past, or a result of the way the allies divided up Germany after the second world war.
Even the then US president, John F Kennedy, believed a wall was better than another war, she is alleged to have added.
Linke's comments were sharply criticised by Steffen Bockhahn, head of Die Linke in Mecklenburg Pomerania, where Rostock is located. "I am furious. It's disrespectful to the victims to stay seated. The building of the wall is nothing to be justified |
by architectural firm Meyer and Holler and represents an Art Deco-influenced (and shamelessly exoticized) reinterpretation of a Chinese temple. The theater’s facade is framed around a 90-foot tall pagoda topped with masks and flanked by imported artifacts from China, such as stone figures and temple bells, as LA Conservancy notes.
The theater’s most famous feature, the Forecourt of the Stars, is as old as the venue itself. Screen icons Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the first stars to preserve their handprints and footprints for posterity, according to the Times. Though the two actors wrote the theater’s opening date in the concrete, however, the prints were actually made a few weeks earlier in advance of the venue’s first big premiere (Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical epic King of Kings).
Now named after Chinese electronics manufacturer TCL, the theater recently underwent major renovations that equipped it for IMAX screenings. And 90 years after opening day, it’s still the place to beat for star-studded red carpet premieres. Here’s a look at the historic venue over the years.Two years ago we brought you the story of Florida resident William T. Woodward, who after being accused of shooting three men, killing two of them, cited the state’s “stand your ground” laws and the “Bush Doctrine” of pre-emptive force as justifications for his actions. Well, this week, his court hearings began.
The 46-year-old Titusville, Fla., resident reportedly snuck up on three of his male neighbors during a Labor Day party and fired rounds at them. Since then, Woodward and his attorneys have deemed the assault a pre-emptive response to “imminent threats” from the neighbors, as they were allegedly harassing Woodward and his family.
WKMG Orlando has more details from Monday’s “Stand Your Ground” hearing:
Defense attorney Robert Berry described in great detail Monday morning all the alleged harassment and petty vengeances suffered by his client, William Woodward, 46, including lewd sexual comments aimed at his daughter. “But that is not why he shot them,” Berry said. Instead, he said Woodward waited until three shooting victims said they were going to “get him, and “end this,” before he took action. Woodward is accused of shooting and killing Gary Lee Hembree and Roger Picior and wounding Bruce Timothy Blake on Sept. 3, 2012. His attorneys showed hours of home surveillance video to the judge Monday afternoon. They claim it shows Hembree, Picior and their families yelling obscenities and taunting the Woodward family.
While the court decides whether Woodward can use the “stand your ground” defense under Florida law, he faces two charges of first-degree murder and one charge of attempted first-degree murder. The prosecuting attorney obviously takes issue with Woodward’s claim of “stand your ground” defense, according to Florida Today:
Prosecutor Gary Beatty stressed that none of the shooting victims were armed and even though he described the behavior of the victims as disgusting, he said it gave the defendant no right to leave his property and go and kill them. “Why didn’t he just call the police?” Beatty asked. “Does the ‘stand your ground’ defense extend to this? If so, where does it extend?” Beatty asked.
Woodward is an Operation Desert Storm veteran who, according to his family, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Watch a report on the case below, via WKMG:
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Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.comSachin Tendulkar has been named Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World for the first time to mark a phenomenal year in which he became the first player to reach 50 Test hundreds. He is the third successive Indian player to win the coveted award, following Virender Sehwag who took the award in the previous two years.
The 148th edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, published on Thursday, has a nastier surprise in store for Australia. Influenced by their home defeat to England in the Ashes series, there is no Australian in Wisden's World Test XI. Wisden finds room for only two Englishmen, Graeme Swann and Jimmy Anderson, and includes five Indians.
Alastair Cook's Wisden snub continues. Cook, who made 766 runs in the Ashes series at an average of 127.66, was overlooked as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year because the award concentrates on achievements in the English season. He is also omitted from the World Test XI as Wisden opts for a blistering opening combination of Sehwag and the Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal.
Tendulkar, who began the month as part of the Indian team that won the World Cup in his home city of Mumbai, which he described as the proudest moment of his career, is in some of the richest form of his career at the age of 37. In 2010 he made more than 1,500 Test runs and seven Test centuries. He also became the first player to hit a double century in a one-day international.
Scyld Berry, in his fourth and final year as the Almanack's editor, said of England's Ashes victory that it was "hard to think of a sizeable human organisation that has come closer to perfection for a couple of months than England's cricket team during the Ashes".
Wisden's cricket book of the year goes to a little-publicised history of the game: Eric Midwinter's The Cricketer's Progress: Meadowland to Mumbai (Third Age Press: £17).
Wisden Test XI
1 Virender Sehwag (India), 2 Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), 3 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), 4 Sachin Tendulkar (India), 5 Jacques Kallis (South Africa), 6 VVS Laxman (India), 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India, capt & wk), 8 Graeme Swann (England), 9 Dale Steyn (South Africa), 10 Zaheer Khan (India), 11 James Anderson (England)A bitter ideological divide in Congress appeared destined Wednesday to at least temporarily end the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records as government officials warned they would have to begin shuttering the program after Friday if lawmakers do not act.
In a memorandum, the Justice Department said the National Security Agency would need to act “to ensure that it does not engage in any unauthorized collection” or use of the data should the program not be extended before a June 1 deadline.
The memo, along with comments Wednesday by FBI Director James B. Comey, puts pressure on lawmakers to act at a time when congressional Republicans remain divided over the NSA’s controversial gathering of private telephone records for counterterrorism purposes.
The House last week overwhelmingly passed a bill that would sharply limit the record-gathering, with nearly 200 Republican votes. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) favors a long-term continuation of the existing phone-data collection program and has suggested that the House bill will not gain enough votes to move forward in the Senate.
[White House ‘strongly supports’ measure to end mass phone-data collection]
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took to the floor Wednesday afternoon to speak against the renewal of the Patriot Act. Paul claims it gives government too much access to citizens’ private data. (C-SPAN)
He instead raised the possibility of a short-term extension of the current authority under the Patriot Act’s Section 215.
“What I think is the most important thing is to make sure we still have a program, a program that works, and helps protect the American people from attacks,” McConnell said Tuesday. “That’s the bottom line here. And we’re going to work toward addressing that this week, and we’ll see how it turns out.”
But House Republican leaders have said they have no plans to bring a short-term extension to a vote before leaving for a week-long recess Thursday, effectively foreclosing any temporary fix. And there is strident opposition from some senators to an extension of any length.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is running for president, took to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon to begin what he told his political supporters would be a filibuster of attempts to extend current law.
“I, for one, say there needs to be a thorough debate, a thorough and complete debate, over whether we need to allow our government to collect all of our phone records all of the time,” Paul said at the outset of his remarks, which continued into Wednesday evening.
Paul’s marathon speech raised the possibility that the Senate will not be able to vote on surveillance legislation until Saturday, well after House members leave town. If senators pass the House bill, the USA Freedom Act, there will be no lapse in collection. Otherwise there will almost certainly be a lapse, because the House is not set to meet again until June 1 — hours after the current authority would expire.
Some Senate Republican leaders suggested the House could take up a short-term extension when it returns. But the Justice Department made clear that the government needs to know Congress’s intentions this week.
The current court order authorizing the program requires the government to file for any renewal no later than Friday if it intends to continue the collection, according to the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post. After that, the memo says, “it will become increasingly difficult for the government to avoid a lapse in the current NSA program of at least some duration.”
It added, “In the event of a lapse in authority and subsequent reauthorization, there will necessarily be some time needed to restart the program.”
[Rand Paul vows to do everything possible to block Patriot Act renewal]
Meanwhile, Comey warned the June 1 “sunset” affects not only the NSA’s bulk collection but also three legal tools that he said are “critical” to the bureau’s investigations of terrorists and spies. They are “noncontroversial,” he said, and are getting drowned out by the focus on the NSA program.
Section 215 not only authorizes the contested bulk phone records collection but also enables the FBI to obtain a court order for data on individual suspects, Comey said.
“If we lose that authority... that is a big problem,” he said Wednesday at Georgetown University Law Center. “We’ll find ourselves in circumstances where we can’t” obtain records with a grand jury subpoena or a national security letter in counterterrorism or counterespionage probes, he said.
Two other provisions that are set to lapse enable surveillance of “lone wolf” suspects who are not linked to any foreign terrorist group or foreign government and allow “roving wiretaps” on targets who frequently switch communications devices.
Democrats and at least one GOP senator urged McConnell and like-minded Republicans to drop their opposition to the House bill, calling it a carefully crafted compromise that has won endorsements across the political and ideological spectrum.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the third-ranking Democratic leader, said the USA Freedom Act represented a “lifeboat” for Republicans who fear a sunset of the current law.
On the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) noted that the bill had the support of most House Republicans, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. and an ideologically diverse coalition of outside groups including the NAACP and the National Rifle Association.
“This is a supermajority,” Lee said, “a super-duper-majority.”
But key Republican senators continue to have concerns about the revisions set out in the House bill, which would end the NSA’s mass collection of phone-call metadata. That information, which includes dialed numbers, call times and durations of calls, would remain in the hands of phone companies. The government would then have to obtain a court order to compel the companies to send records on specific terrorism suspects to the NSA.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said earlier this week that he was seeking further assurances that the system set out in the House bill would be workable for intelligence agencies.
“I’m trying to make sure we’ve got a viable way forward that protects the capabilities that this program provides but allows Mike Lee and others the certainty that it’s going to transition out of a bulk storage program at some point in the future,” he said.
Such a compromise, said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.), might involve “a longer period of transition where we can actually verify it works and not just do it based on a hope and prayer.”
Lee, a lead Senate sponsor of the USA Freedom Act, said he was open to the idea of a compromise to extend the transition period. “I don’t think there’s anything particularly sacrosanct about the six months,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with someone suggesting a longer term if they can demonstrate that’s necessary.’’
Intelligence officials say the loss of the data-gathering power would be a blow. “You’re taking tools off the table while [the Islamic State] is taking over Ramadi,” a U.S. official said. “They’ve got to take ownership of that.”
A lapse of even a day or two would be highly disruptive to ongoing investigations, officials said. If a court order expired during a gap in authority, for instance, it could not be renewed, and preemptively renewing those orders can be time-consuming.
“It would screw things up,” said the U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment openly to reporters.
The government’s bulk data collection was not publicly known until the disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013. To justify the surveillance dragnet, the federal authorities relied on the Patriot Act, which Congress passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Some privacy and transparency groups say that losing Section 215 would not cripple investigations, because the government would still have its predecessor — a pre-Patriot Act provision that would allow it to collect a narrower class of business records if they pertain to foreign powers or agents of foreign powers.
“It’s time for the national security establishment to argue why they need enhanced powers... after 14 years of the Patriot Act being in place,” said David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress, a grass-roots civil liberties group.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who has vowed to filibuster any extension of the current law, said he doubts that McConnell has the 60 votes needed to advance a short-term fix, citing widespread opposition among Democrats. “It takes our eye off the ball here in terms of getting a long-term solution,” he said. “Why would we extend even for a short period of time a law that has been ruled illegal by the courts?”
A federal appeals court ruled this month that Section 215 of the Patriot Act did not provide sufficient authority for the bulk surveillance program, but it stayed its ruling pending congressional action on the reauthorization of the law.Rick and Morty is great blend of strange and hilarious, and it's likely that the VR game Accounting has a similar vibe. Accounting, which released today for free, is a VR game from Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland, who founded the indie studio Squanchtendo earlier this year.
Accounting is created by Squanchtendo in collaboration with Crows Crows Crows, which is a studio that was formed by designer William Pugh who worked on The Stanley Parable.
Accounting can be downloaded for the HTC Vive on Steam. As you can see below, the trailer introduces a talking cloud with a neurotic voice on par with what you may typically find in the show.
Accounting tasks you with being an accountant, while a voice screams commands at you from a messaging machine. You can read more about Accounting in the latest issue of Game Informer magazine, where we sat down with creators Roiland and Tanya Watson to see just how wacky this VR experience is. For more on Rick and Morty, read about Adult Swim's upcoming VR game, Rick and Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-ality, based on the popular cartoon.WikiLeaks has released nearly 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee ahead of the Democrat convention this coming week.
According to the Wikileaks website:
WikiLeaks releases 19,252 emails and 8,034 attachments from the top of the US Democratic National Committee — part one of our new Hillary Leaks series. The leaks come from the accounts of seven key figures in the DNC: Communications Director Luis Miranda (10770 emails), National Finance Director Jordon Kaplan (3797 emails), Finance Chief of Staff Scott Comer (3095 emails), Finanace Director of Data & Strategic Initiatives Daniel Parrish (1472 emails), Finance Director Allen Zachary (1611 emails), Senior Advisor Andrew Wright (938 emails) and Northern California Finance Director Robert (Erik) Stowe (751 emails). The emails cover the period from January last year until 25 May this year.
The emails are from the period between January to the end of May this year and are presented in a searchable database.
WikiLeaks did not indicate how it obtained the emails. Guccifer 2.0, however, said the emails came from a recent hack of the DNC’s servers.Reina Miura makes her return to MMA competition on 25th February when she faces UFC veteran and training partner of Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler. The match will be contested in the 155 pound lightweight division.
“King” Miura (1-0-0) may only have just one fight as a pro, but what a debut it was. Back in November at Deep Jewels 14, she submitted Eriko Iwamoto in just 1:57 of the very first round via Armbar. She’s been hailed as the future of women’s MMA in Asia and has a lot of hype surrounding her right now in her home country. She comfortably competes at 155 pounds and plans to be the woman to put the lightweight division on the map, just like Ronda Rousey did with bantamweights and Cris Cyborg with featherweights.
A dominant victory over Baszler would certainly do that for Miura. Shayna Baszler (15-10-0) is a UFC veteran who trains with Ronda Rousey. She holds victories over the likes of Julie Kedzie, Roxanne Modafferi, Alexis Davis, Adrienna Jenkins, Sarah D’Alelio and many more. She even fought the pound-for-pound best female fighter Cris Cyborg taking her past the first round.
Miura plans to make a devastating statement to the MMA world on 25th February, showing everyone why she is unstoppable at 155 pounds and why the lightweight division is the one to watch.
Reina Miura takes on UFC veteran Shayna Baszler on February 25th at DEEP JEWELS 15. The event takes place from the hinjuku FACE arena in Tokyo, Japan.Mervyn Wheatley, said to be uninjured, was taking part in transatlantic race when vessel was hit by storm
A 73-year-old British sailor was rescued by the Queen Mary 2 luxury liner after his yacht was severely damaged in a powerful North Atlantic storm.
The lone sailor, understood to be former Royal Marine Mervyn Wheatley, was taking part in a transatlantic race when the vessel was hit by the storm in the early hours of Friday.
Despite Wheatley’s yacht, called Tamarind, being battered in 15-metre waves by winds reaching 60 knots (69mph), Wheatley was described as being “uninjured and in good spirits”.
A profile on the Royal Western Yacht Club website said the experienced sailor left Plymouth for Newport, Rhode Island, on the “slow and comfortable American cruising boat” on 29 May.
It was his 19th Atlantic crossing and he had planned to sail back single-handed, with the 6,500-nautical-mile voyage ending in July or August.
HM Coastguard and counterparts in Halifax, Canada, launched a long-range rescue mission involving an RAF C-130 Hercules after detecting a distress beacon at about 4am on Friday.
Meanwhile, coordinators radioed the QM2 for assistance, which diverted its course and headed to the scene, arriving at about 1pm on Saturday.
The master of the QM2, Captain Chris Wells, who led the rescue mission, said it was standard seafaring practice to go to the aid of a vessel in distress. He said: “We were pleased to be able to help and delighted that the yachtsman is safe and well and now on board.”
Wheatley, from Newton Ferrers in Devon, served 33 years as an officer in the Royal Marines, according to the RWYC. Among his achievements is skippering one of the eight boats to take part in the inaugural Clipper Round the World Race in 1996, which he competed in again in 2005-06.
According to a fundraising page, it was the fifth time Wheatley had competed in the original single-handed transatlantic race – known as Ostar – with Tamarind.
The yacht was one of five craft competing in the Ostar and the two-handed transatlantic race to be affected by the storm, three of which are understood to have been piloted by British skippers. Despite all of the boats suffering damage, there were no reports of injuries.
On its website, the RWYC, which organises the races, said: “The RWYC would like to thank all personnel at the Halifax coastguard for their immediate and magnificent response to this emergency situation. All seafarers owe them a debt of gratitude.”
John Lewis, race director, told BBC News that in 25 years he had not seen such bad conditions. “It’s unusual, it’s extreme, but it does happen in the North Atlantic,” he said.
Daniel Bailey, the maritime operations officer for HM Coastguard, said: “We are extremely grateful for the support and professionalism that the RMS Queen Mary 2 provided during this rescue.”AT first glance, the prognosis for marriage looks grim. Between 1950 and 2011, according to calculations by the University of Maryland sociologist Philip Cohen, the marriage rate fell from 90 marriages a year per 1,000 unmarried women to just 31, a stunning 66 percent decline. If such a decline continued, there would be no women getting married by 2043!
But rumors of the death of marriage are greatly exaggerated. People are not giving up on marriage. They are simply waiting longer to tie the knot. Because the rate of marriage is calculated by the percentage of adult women (over 15) who get married each year, the marriage rate automatically falls as the average age of marriage goes up. In 1960, the majority of women were already married before they could legally have a glass of Champagne at their own wedding. A woman who was still unwed at 25 had some reason to fear that she would turn into what the Japanese call “Christmas cake,” left on the shelf.
Today the average age of first marriage is almost 27 for women and 29 for men, and the range of ages at first marriage is much more spread out. In 1960, Professor Cohen calculates, fewer than 8 percent of women and only 13 percent of men married for the first time at age 30 or older, compared with almost a third of all women and more than 40 percent of all men today. Most Americans still marry eventually, and they continue to hold marriage in high regard. Indeed, as a voluntary relationship between two individuals, marriage comes with higher expectations of fairness, fidelity and intimacy than ever.
But marriage is no longer the central institution that organizes people’s lives. Marriage is no longer the only place where people make major life transitions and decisions, enter into commitments or incur obligations. The rising age of marriage, combined with the increase in divorce and cohabitation since the 1960s, means that Americans spend a longer period of their adult lives outside marriage than ever before.There were nearly 40 million Americans with a disability in 2015, representing 12.6% of the civilian non-institutionalized population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet the share of Americans with disabilities varies widely across demographic groups and geography. (The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey defines disability status through six types of questions measuring serious difficulty with hearing, vision, cognition, walking or climbing stairs, as well as difficulty with self-care and independent living. Other surveys with different definitions have estimated that a considerably larger share of Americans have disabilities.)
Here are seven facts about Americans with disabilities.
1 Older Americans are significantly more likely than younger Americans to have a disability, according to the American Community Survey. About half of Americans ages 75 and older (49.8%) reported living with a disability in 2015, as did about a quarter (25.4%) of those 65 to 74. In contrast, just 6% of Americans ages 18 to 34 and 13% of those 35 to 64 said they had a disability. In absolute numbers, however, those ages 35 to 64 accounted for more disabled Americans – nearly 16 million in 2015 – than any other age group.
2 While there is little difference between men and women in the likelihood of having a disability, there are differences by race and ethnicity. Asians were least likely to say they had a disability (6.9%), followed by Hispanics (8.8%). American Indians or Alaskan Natives, on the other hand, were most likely to report a disability (17.7%). Similar shares of whites (13.9%) and blacks (14.1%) reported living with a disability.
3 The most common types of disability involve difficulties with walking or independent living. More than 20 million people ages 18 and older reported having serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs in 2015, representing 7.1% of the civilian non-institutionalized population. Another 14 million people ages 18 and older reported having a difficult time doing errands alone (for example, shopping or visiting a doctor) due to physical, mental or emotional conditions.
About 13 million people reported cognitive difficulties. Around 11 million people in the U.S. reported significant hearing difficulty, while roughly 7 million reported significant difficulty with vision, even when wearing glasses.
4 Some states, counties and cities are more likely than others to have residents with a disability. West Virginia had the highest share of any state, at 19.4%. In Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama, about 17% said they had a disability. In contrast, Utah was among the lowest, with 9.9% of the population reporting a disability in 2015.
Among counties with populations of 65,000 or more, three had shares of a quarter or more reporting a disability: Pike County, Kentucky (28.7%), and Calhoun (25.2%) and Walker (25.1%) counties, both in Alabama. The share with a disability varied widely at the county level, with Kendall County in Illinois (4.9%) among the lowest rates in the country, nearly 24 percentage points lower than Kentucky’s Pike County.
Unlike states and counties, few if any of the cities with the largest shares of disabled residents in 2015 are in the South (among places with a minimum population of 65,000). In Flint, Michigan, Hemet, California, and Pueblo, Colorado, roughly 22% of residents reported having a disability. The town of Fishers, Indiana, had one of the lowest shares in the nation, with 3.5% of residents having a disability – almost 19 points lower than Flint.
5 Disabled Americans earn less than those without a disability. Those with a disability earned a median of $21,572 in 2015, less than 70% of the median earnings for those without a disability ($31,872), according to the Census Bureau. Both figures are for the civilian, non-institutionalized population ages 16 and older, measured in earnings over the past 12 months.
Challenges in surveying disabled Americans Due to the nature of the surveys associated with this data, certain Americans with disabilities are likely undercounted. The initial recruitment surveys for the American Trends Panel, as well as the phone survey used to determine tech adoption and internet use, were conducted on landlines and cellphones and likely under-covered adults who are deaf or have difficulty speaking. The figures reported on political engagement and voting behavior are from panel surveys conducted via the web and mail, which may underrepresent blind people. In addition, our surveys do not cover those living in institutionalized group quarters, which may include some severely disabled individuals.
6 Disabled Americans were politically engaged in the 2016 presidential election. In a survey conducted in the early summer of 2016, about seven-in-ten (71%) Americans who self-identified as disabled said it “really matters who wins the election,” compared with 59% of Americans who did not report having a disability. Disabled Americans were also more likely to follow the campaign closely than those without a disability. These findings are from the Center’s American Trends Panel, which found that 22% of American adults self-reported living with a disability in 2016, defined as a “health problem, disability, or handicap currently keeping you from participating fully in work, school, housework, or other activities.”
Disabled Americans were as likely as the non-disabled to say they were registered to vote — and to say they actually did vote— in the 2016 presidential election. In a post-election survey, Americans with disabilities reported vote preferences that were similar to those of voters overall: 46% said they voted for Hillary Clinton and 45% said they voted for Donald Trump.
7 Disabled Americans have lower rates of technology adoption. Nearly a quarter of Americans with a disability (23%) say they never go online, compared with just 8% of those without a disability, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in the fall of 2016. Disabled adults are also about 20 percentage points less likely than those without disabilities to say they subscribe to home broadband, or own a traditional computer, smartphone or tablet.
The amount of time people spend online also varies by disability status. Only half of disabled Americans report using the internet on a daily basis, compared to almost eight-in-ten of the non-disabled (79%).
Correction: In an earlier version of this post, the location of the photo was misidentified in the caption. It is Portland, Maine.
Topics: Population Geography, Asian Americans, Demographics, Race and Ethnicity, Generations and AgeOpposition leader cannot win general election and should resign for sake of party, says renowned physicist and Labour voter
Stephen Hawking has said Jeremy Corbyn should resign as Labour leader, adding that although he believes in many of his policies, he cannot win a general election.
“I regard Corbyn as a disaster,” the renowned physicist told the Times. “His heart is in the right place and many of his policies are sound, but he has allowed himself to be portrayed as a leftwing extremist.”
Even Stephen Hawking says Corbyn has failed. This is no rightwing conspiracy | Sam Glover Read more
Hawking said he would still vote Labour but did not believe the party would win at the next general election. “I think he should step down for the sake of the party,” he said.
Hawking, a long-time Labour supporter, publicly endorsed his local Cambridge Labour candidate, Daniel Zeichner, at the 2015 election. Zeichner, who went on to defeat the Lib Dems’ Julian Huppert, has said: “I think he fully appreciates the huge investment that the last Labour government made in science and you can see that in a lot of the buildings and laboratories around Cambridge.”
Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease aged 21, is a staunch defender of the NHS, having previously said the health service “must be preserved from commercial interests who want to privatise it”.
Brexit would be a disaster for UK science, say scientists Read more
During the interview, the professor also expressed some fears that the human disposition towards aggression was becoming more of an existential threat with each technological advancement.
“Since civilisation began, aggression has been useful in as much as it has definite survival advantages,” he said. “It is hardwired into our genes by Darwinian evolution. Now, however, technology has advanced at such a pace that this aggression may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war. We need to control this inherited instinct by our logic and reason.
“We need to be quicker to identify such threats and act before they get out of control. This might mean some form of world government. But that might become a tyranny. All this may sound a bit doom-laden but I am an optimist. I think the human race will rise to meet these challenges.”AUSTIN, Texas, March 27 (Reuters) - A Texas state judge ordered the department of corrections on Thursday to disclose the name of the supplier of drugs used in executions, a decision that adds support to calls for removing secrecy when it comes to lethal injections.
The suit was brought on behalf of two inmates scheduled to be executed next month and was filed at about the same time a judge in neighboring Oklahoma ruled on Wednesday that the state’s secrecy on its lethal injections protocols was unconstitutional.
“The (Texas) ruling signals - as other courts have done recently - that it is unacceptable to keep prisoners or the public in the dark regarding how executions are carried out - including the source of the drugs,” said Maurie Levin, an attorney for the petitioners.
The Texas Attorney General’s office plans to appeal the decision.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement: “We are disappointed in the district court’s decision and will be appealing the ruling to a higher court.”
The department has said it wanted to keep the name of its new supplier secret to shield it from attacks.
The previous supplier cut ties to the system last year when its name was revealed and it came under threats.
The decision was for the two inmates scheduled to be executed with a new batch of the sedative pentobarbital, used for lethal injections.
It should have no impact for an execution scheduled on Thursday at the state’s death chamber in Huntsville, with the lethal injection drug having been obtained earlier.
Texas, which has executed more prisoners than any other state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, said this month it had obtained a new batch of the execution drugs, without saying where the drugs had come from.
Several other states have struggled to obtain drugs for executions, while many pharmaceutical companies, mostly in Europe, have imposed sales bans because they object to having medications made for other purposes used in lethal injections.
The states said they have looked to alter the mix of drugs used for lethal injections and keep the suppliers’ identities secret. They have also turned to lightly regulated compounding pharmacies. Those pharmacies can mix drugs, often to meet needs not available in prescription medication, the pharmacy compounding accreditation board said.
But lawyers for death row inmates argue that drugs from compounding pharmacies can lack purity and potency and cause undue suffering, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. (editing by Gunna Dickson)Up till recently action camera maker GoPro provided pretty good support for Windows Phone, with their app updated regularly and supporting their latest cameras also.
The company even promised to update their app to support Windows 10 Mobile, saying on their support forums:
We already offer a GoPro App for Windows phones, and will want to do the same for the upcoming Lumia 950/950XL. It may not be compatible on release of the new phones, but if it is not it will be one of the top priorities for the App team.
The was however in December last year, and with the last update in September last year it seems with the times GoPro’s priorities have also changed.
More recently, at the end of January 2016, a GoPro support member wrote:
Re: App on Windows 10 phonesIn the wake of the NSA surveillance revelations, Internet users seem to have learned that as soon as their data reaches an American server, it could be read by the country's intelligence services. German companies are benefiting from this realization -- German email providers have seen a significant increase in new subscribers in recent weeks.
Freenet, a listed telecommunications provider known for its strong anonymity protection, has seen an 80 percent increase in new users over the last three weeks. German web hosting company 1&1, meanwhile -- parent company to email providers GMX and web.de -- has seen a six-figure increase in new joiners over the same period.
T-Online, a business unit of Deutsche Telekom and the biggest internet service provider in Germany, would not confirm their exact number of new joiners, but also pointed to a "stronger interest" in its email service. It remains unclear how many of the new users have set up email accounts in addition to existing ones, and how many have actually cancelled accounts with US providers such as Yahoo or Google.
Email Made in Germany
The increased interest in German email providers may be linked to a recent push to promote the country's data networks as some of the most secure in the world. In an attempt to attract new customers, Deutsche Telekom earlier this month launched an initiative which aims to make German email traffic even more secure.
Dubbed "Email Made in Germany", the program includes new security measures making sure that email travelling between three of its email services -- T-Online, GMX and web.de -- never leave local servers. The provider's emails are now encrypted, and users are notified when they are composing an email to a recipient whose address does not fall under the program's protections.
The initiative was launched just after it emerged that American email provider Lavabit, the service supposedly used by Edward Snowden to protect himself from NSA snooping, was closing down. A letter posted on the website explaining the move seemed to refer to a court order from the American government asking for cooperation in its spy programs.
The move left some 300,000 users with defunct email accounts. Ladar Levison, the company's owner and operator, issued a clear warning to users: "I would strongly recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States."
Expert Opinion
German experts have in recent weeks made similar assertions. Thilo Weichert, head of the Independent Center for Data Protection, explicitly advises the public to use German email providers: not only are the country's data protection laws clearer and more explicit than those in other countries -- the way in which they are enforced is also more reliable.
"The moment that the data is in the US, it will definitely be used by the NSA, and subsequently by other government agencies including the CIA, FBI and the DEA," he told news agency dpa in an interview. "If I use Google-Mail, it's pretty certain that my data will be saved on American servers, and can then be accessed by the NSA."
Despite the fact that German networks are more secure than their American counterparts, some Germans are taking additional security measures. Jimmy Schulz, a member of the business-friendly Free Democrats, last week invited his fellow parliamentarians to a so-called "crypto party" -- an event dedicated to teaching politicians how to encrypt their email.
"It's the same as locking your car," says Schulz. "Data has to be protected from trespassers, no matter whether they are members of the intelligence service or criminals." |
talking about a person’s integrity. A person’s career. He’s not exactly the youngest guy around either. These are all things that concern him—that this might be the end of baseball for him.”
After playing seven years of independent baseball in his early and mid-20s, Colabello reached the majors with the Minnesota Twins in 2013, at the age of 29. The Blue Jays claimed him off waivers in December, 2014 and watched as Colabello became a lynchpin of the team’s AL East winning lineup in 2015, batting.321/.367/.520 with 15 homers in 101 games.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said he learned the news when everyone else did, just before batting practice Friday afternoon.
“Yeah, I’m disappointed it happened. But I’ve got a special bond with the kid, you know? I was the manager here when he made it. He’s a unique guy, he really is,” Gibbons said. “This hurts me just like it hurts him, because I love the guy. He’s beloved out there in that clubhouse.”Chronic fatigue syndrome affects between 836,000 to 2.5 million people in the United States, and 25 percent of them are confined to their bed. Earlier this year, the Institute of Medicine released a report acknowledging that chronic fatigue syndrome is a real and serious disease and renaming the disorder “systemic exertion intolerance disease” to better reflect its key symptoms.
The current issue of Palo Alto Weekly focuses on the disease and tells the story of local resident Whitney Dafoe, a promising 31-year-old photographer whose career was cut short when he began experiencing crushing fatigue, dizziness, gastrointestinal problems and dramatic weight loss:
Dafoe's disease has progressed to the point that he cannot talk, read or use the Internet. His joint pain became so severe some time ago that he could no longer walk and needed to use a wheel chair. Now he rarely gets out of bed. On a good day, he'll show his gratitude by pointing to his heart, his mother said. His parents have stuck a few brief messages he's scrawled on notes to the door frame outside his room. The yellow squares of paper are the only way he can communicate these days. "I don't know what to say. I just feel pretty hopeless about all this. I never get a break from bad things," he wrote on one note. "It's so hard not being able to take care of my stuff. The feeling of helplessness it gives me is so stressful," another states.
Dafoe, who is also featured in the above video, is the son of Ronald Davis, PhD, a genetics researcher who was instrumental in the Human Genome Project and directs Stanford's Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Center. A second article details how Davis and colleagues are working to better understand the debilitating disease and develop diagnostic tests and treatments:
Davis and his team plan to use technologies developed for the Human Genome Project to sequence the entire genome of chronic fatigue patients, including 1,600 mitochondrial genes, more than 20,000 other genes and control regions that regulate genes. They hope to identify proteins that are found in immune cells, blood and spinal fluid; search for infectious agents in blood, bone marrow, spinal fluid and saliva and changes to gastrointestinal tract flora; and find evidence of autoimmune responses. The research could reveal DNA sequences that are altered in chronic fatigue patients. The detailed approach is more comprehensive than that of other research, which has only looked at a fraction of the genes, according to the center's website.... Davis is working with numerous collaborators across many fields, hoping the collaborative effort will attract the best minds in their fields. "This is probably one of the last major diseases we know nothing about. This is your last chance to be a pioneer," he said.
Previously: ME/CFS/SEID: It goes by many aliases, but its blood-chemistry signature is a giveaway, Chronic fatigue syndrome gets more respect (and a new name), Studies on ME/chronic fatigue syndrome continue to grab headlines, spur conversation, Unbroken: A chronic fatigue syndrome patient’s long road to recovery and Deciphering the puzzle of chronic fatigue syndromeCouncillors in six northwestern Alberta municipalities are worried a “cookie-cutter” solution to dwindling caribou populations would cause a serious drag on the local forestry industry.
Each province and territory is required to develop caribou range plans by October, which the federal government will then adopt or reject. The plans are to help the threatened species’ low populations recover. Preliminary plans from the provincial government set aside 1.8 million hectares for permanent protection in Alberta’s northwest corner.
After learning of the plan in 2016, councillors from six northwestern municipalities formed the Northwest Species at Risk Committee (NWSAR) to develop an alternative plan which doesn’t involve permanently protected areas.
Earlier this week NWSAR released a 117-page draft report which says the province’s proposed plan would result in 640 lost jobs in the forestry sector and a 38 per cent reduction in land base if required to leave lands undisturbed. There would be other impacts on the oil and gas and agriculture sectors.
Lisa Wardley, NWSAR chairperson and deputy reeve for Mackenzie County, said there has been very little consultation from the province with local residents about the plan, explaining they felt blindsided by the announcement.
“We tried to get the province and government to start doing local consultations and realized that wasn’t working, so we realized we needed to do it ourselves,” Wardley said about the decision to form an alternative plan.
“I’ll be honest, it was kind of a deer-in-the-headlights kind of moment where we needed to become caribou experts.”
The province denies the range plans are being developed without consultation, saying the process is being done in a “collaborative, balanced and meaningful way,” according to a written statement from Brent Wittmeier, press secretary for Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips.
“We are working closely with stakeholders throughout northwest Alberta, including forestry and energy, municipal and indigenous communities.”
The statement said the “partially complete draft report released by the Northwest Species at Risk Committee has been undertaken in isolation, without dialogue with the province,” and “appears to be based on inaccurate assumptions and unstated information sources.”
The statement said the NWSAR’s assumption all caribou ranges will be made into parks is not true.
“Protected areas were strategically chosen, in part, for their lack of industrial activity.”
The region doesn’t have the type of development and economy southern Alberta does, and Wardley said the province’s preliminary plans do not reflect these differences.
“We just want to be able to survive,” said Wardley. “And we want to be able to thrive in the north and the northern part of the province.
“They want a made-in-Alberta plan. Well you know what? We want a made-in-northwest Alberta plan because what may work in the eastern part of the province or what may work down south may not work here.”
The province’s draft range plans are expected to be complete by fall for consultation with the public.Hello, I’m a regular Betty on Steve’s Sunday strolls. We were just leaving home when I saw a message saying Steve was indisposed and unable to lead our planned Sunday Stroll. Undaunted, my Bert said, ‘Let’s go anyway, perhaps some of the others will miss the message and turn up.’ One of the reasons my Bert was so keen to continue with the stroll was to see just how low the water level in Bramiana Reservoir, near Ierapetra had fallen. This first photo was taken on our visit in January 2008, just before the winter rains set in.
As you can see from the second photo, the drought this year was, and still is causing concern. Last winter in East Crete only delivered 25% of the usual rainfall.
At the appointed meeting time another Bert and two Betties arrived, and like us said they still wanted to stroll. The first part of the track had that lovely sticky herb called Dittrichia that to me is one of the scents of Crete. Tatty remains of caper plants edged the path interspersed with dried gra…Psychedelia Railway Gatherings present: High Dose towards an Organic Singularity – A talk by Kilindi Iyi
When: Saturday 30th June 2012 – Doors Open 5pm
Where: Hoxton Gallery 12-18 Hoxton Street, N1 6NG London (Entrance on Drysdale St)
Entry Fee: £8.00
For more information please visit here
Kilindi will explore the question of whether or not the high dose tryptamine hallucinogens can access the genetic code in real time. The quest is trans-humanism through psychedelics. Since the last part of the 20th century and the explosion of communication through the internet, the spread of private research on the subject is unprecedented. Doses of mushrooms have moved into prominence as a safe high dose catalyst for exploration in novel states of consciousness. The dose runs into the 20 to 30 gram range that breaches the human threshold. The psilocybin mushroom at high dose is the supreme ally to submerge the human consciousness and tweak the genes through accesses of dormant DNA.
This talk will speak to the high dose experience of the psilocybin and the effects on the mind body system in the hyper-dimensional realms, the encounters and landscapes. With the availability of access to powerful psychedelic experiments in the first person, these explorations can be done with very little problems in the comfort of one’s own home. Psilocybin in mushroom form is readily available and inexpensive.
The inter-dimensional village will also be introduced and its relationship to the African fractal village. We will also introduce African traditional use of mushroom and other plants of power utilized by the sorcerers of Africa. The primary focus of psychedelics for the past 60 years has been on so called new world plants. The high dose talk will explore the African dynamic in world power plants usage and how usage of these unique plants spread from Africa to the rest of the world. This vantage point in world history will give rise to an organic psilocybin driver organic singularity.
About Kilindi Iyi: Kilindi is the head instructor and technical advisor of the Tamerrian Institute based in Detroit. Many may know him for his work within the Martial Arts. Kilindi is also a teacher on the subject of ancient power plants and their spiritual connection. As a living explorer of novel states of consciousness he will share his experience with those present.
This event is brought to you by: UKC Psychedelic Society – Ancient Future – Hoxton GalleryThe imminent arrival of the Tesla Model 3 has many existing Model S and Model X owners, future owners and experts asking one question: What will happen to Tesla Supercharger availability when Model 3 arrives? The latest video from Teslanomics by Ben Sullins digs into the data behind the issue and comes up with some startling findings along the way.
Current Supercharger State
As any Tesla driver knows, Supercharger stations are often full at popular routes of travel and in metropolitan cities. And depending on the time of day, and day of week, drivers looking to charge up before the next leg of their journey can sometimes come across a long queue of vehicles looking to achieve the same goal. Charge up and go.
To combat the problem, Tesla has implemented idle fees as a way to put financial pressure on drivers that linger at charging stations after they have already finished charging. Tesla also did away with unlimited free lifetime Supercharging, instead limiting all new vehicles sold after January 15, 2017 to 400 kWh per year of Supercharger use which should curb Supercharger congestion. But, there’s another problem just around the corner.
Model 3
Tesla will more than double annual production volumes when Model 3 first arrives and expects to produce 500,000 cars annually by the end of 2018.
In the face of what seems to be an insurmountable challenge, Ben at Teslanomics looked at historic Supercharger stats sourced through TMC in order to get a better idea of what drivers are in for when Model 3 arrives. Ben started the analysis by first finding the number of Tesla vehicles in each area and comparing it to the number of Supercharger stations in that same area. Q1 2015 saw the lowest worldwide vehicle to Supercharger ratio with 27.9 Tesla vehicles per charging stall. Looking at more recent data, Ben reveals that we’re currently at the worst worldwide ratio since the Supercharger network began, at an average of 39.3 Teslas per charger. This represents a 40.9% increase from two years ago.
Drilling down into US-specific data reveals a Tesla to Supercharger ratio of 48.6. But what’s most frightening is Teslanomic’s reveal that, as it stands now, there are 104.9 Tesla vehicles per Supercharger stall in California. Factoring in CEO Elon Musk’s announcement that first Model 3 deliveries will go to employees who are largely based in California facilities, followed by customers on the West Coast, it’s clear that demand will far outpace Supercharger supply in the very near future.
“there are 104.9 Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles per Supercharger stall in California”
What Can Be Done?
Tesla has said that it is doubling the number of Superchargers and quadrupling the number of destination chargers within its network this year.
While Tesla continues to produce vehicles year after year, the rate of charging network growth should theoretically be proportional to delivery numbers until we reach a saturation point, and demand for public charging stations normalizes.
For a deeper analysis of what’s to come and what needs to be done, check out the following video by Teslanomics. Let us know in our discussion forum if your area is already experiencing a Supercharging Apocalypse, or if you’re expecting something similar when Model 3 makes its way into town.Montreal: City of Contrasts
The National Household Survey, part of the 2011 census, revealed a wealth of information about the origins and habits of Canadians.
The map below displays selected data for census tracts in the Montreal census metropolitan area.
To help you explore the data, here are a few highlights, in form of questions. Think of it as a demographic scavenger hunt.
Read more: Complete coverage of the National Household Survey
Can you find where they are on the map?
What area of Montreal have the most homes in need of major repairs?
Where on the island are home prices lowest?
Which non-official languages are most popular with Montreal-area residents?
Cantonese is the most spoken foreign language in Chinatown, but where else?
Yiddish and Hebrew speakers are concentrated in different parts of the city. Which ones?
What census tract has the most people with post-secondary degrees?
Which residents have the longest average commute?
What census tract is the only one where the majority religion is Muslim?
What census tract is the only one where the largest minority group in Japanese? Korean?
What other tidbits did you find exploring the map? Let us know in the comments at the bottom.BEIJING — Shen Zhihua, a Chinese historian known for his groundbreaking research on the Korean War, has urged Beijing to rethink its longstanding support for North Korea. Mr. Shen made his case in a speech last month that has ignited widespread discussion in China, reflecting growing debate about how tough the government should be on North Korea. Here are some excerpts:
“Chairman Mao said long ago that who is our friend and who is our enemy is the question of first importance in a revolution. Getting to grips with that is also of the first importance in the foreign policy situation of northeast Asia. Just who is our friend, and who is our enemy? If you can’t distinguish between friend and foe, how can you fight and whom do you fight? Of course, friends can also have conflicts, and sometimes there’s also compromise and cooperation with enemies.
“If we look at North Korea and South Korea, who is a friend of China and who is an enemy? Outwardly, China and North Korea are allies, while the United States and Japan support South Korea against North Korea. That’s a legacy of the Cold War. But I believe that after decades of contention and shifts in the international landscape, there’s long been a fundamental transformation. My basic conclusion is judging by the current situation, North Korea is China’s latent enemy and South Korea could be China’s friend.
“To call North Korea a latent enemy of China means that, for now, this still hasn’t come to the fore. Diplomatically, when leaders of the two countries talk to each other, they don’t use particularly hostile rhetoric. But that doesn’t count. Don’t look at the rhetoric. Look at fundamental interests! Look at whether the fundamental interests of China and North Korea are aligned and consistent. Speaking in light of my own research into the history of the Chinese-North Korean relationship, China and North Korea really were friends and allies in the past. That was when the relationship was a special friendship created by Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung and other senior Chinese and North Korean leaders.
“When China and South Korea established diplomatic relations in 1992, that totally destroyed the political basis of the Chinese-North Korean relationship.... By 1992, at the end of the Cold War, the Chinese-North Korean relationship and alliance created by the previous generation no longer existed. Practically speaking, everything had changed in the relationship. In foreign policy, economics, politics, everything, the interests of China and North Korea had diverged, and the basis for an alliance had disintegrated. The treaty of alliance between China and North Korea became a piece of scrap paper. At that time the Chinese-North Korean relationship became an ordinary, normal relationship between states. But this normal relationship quickly and quietly turned toward hostility, and that was because North Korea launched its nuclear strategy.
“The root cause of the ever-worsening crisis on the Korean Peninsula is that North Korea has gone nuclear and is constantly holding nuclear tests, and that’s also the fundamental cause of instability on China’s periphery. But North Korea has been doing this for the sake of its fundamental interests. So, putting it objectively, the fundamental interests of China and North Korea are at odds. China’s fundamental interest lies in achieving stability on its borders and developing outward. But since North Korea acquired nuclear weapons, that periphery has never been stable, so inevitably Chinese and North Korean interests are at odds. The spokespeople for our Foreign Ministry claim that the North Korean nuclear crisis was triggered by antagonism between the United States and North Korea, and that’s entirely understandable as diplomatic language. But, as scholars, we must see clearly that North Korea’s shift to a policy of holding nuclear weapons was triggered by the shifts in its relationship with China.
“We must see clearly that China and North Korea are no longer brothers in arms, and in the short term there’s no possibility of an improvement in Chinese-North Korean relations. The situation now is that each time North Korea stages a nuclear test, the United States increases its military forces in northeast Asia, sending in drones or an aircraft carrier or holding military exercises. And then the military pressure from the U.S. leads North Korea to stage another nuclear test. You stage a test, he adds troops and it keeps escalating. The outcome? The real pressure is felt by China and South Korea, and the ones who ultimately bear the brunt are China and South Korea.... So the upshot of North Korea stirring up trouble is more pressure and threats on China. Stepping back, if a Korean nuclear bomb explodes, who’ll be the victim of the nuclear leakage and fallout? That would be China and South Korea. Japan is separated by a sea, and the United States is separated by the Pacific Ocean.
“You shouldn’t do what your enemies want you to do, so I’ve been really disgusted by how China has handled Thaad [the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antiballistic missile system being deployed in South Korea]. I have no idea whose idea that was, but what you’ve done is stir up such a ruckus that South Korean shops have had to close, and you’ve smashed up here, smashed up there.... Putting it one way, you’ve got no foreign policy smarts. You’ve done exactly what your enemies would like you to do, and you’ve pushed South Korea into an iron triangle with the United States and Japan. Putting it another way, are you a civilized great power or not? Aren’t you a civilized ancient country, so why stoop to this? How do you want neighboring countries to view China? You just know how to pick on a company to blow off steam. You’re not using your brain. Isn’t there a mite of intelligence? By doing this we’ve alienated public opinion in South Korea, and in dealing with a democracy, the most important thing is to win over public sentiment and opinion.... What we’ve been doing is just what the Americans and North Koreans want most of all. The North Koreans are also overjoyed, because the result of all this uproar over Thaad is that Chinese-South Korean relations have ruptured.”Spring practice is wrapping up around the nation, which means the 2012 college football season is just around the corner. Athlonâs top 25 for 2012 kicks off on May 1 and ends in early June with our pick to win the national title. The SEC has won six championships in a row, but will that streak end in 2012? The early odds favor a SEC repeat, but there are some threats looming for a seventh consecutive title. USC is the early favorite to end the SECâs reign, but Oregon, Michigan and Oklahoma are strong contenders.
Hereâs a look at 10 threats to end the SECâs string of national titles in 2012.
1. USC â The Trojans are likely the biggest obstacle to a seventh consecutive national title by a SEC team. USC is still dealing with scholarship reductions, but returns Heisman frontrunner Matt Barkley at quarterback and college footballâs top receiving corps. Losing left tackle Matt Kalil was a blow to the offensive line, but four starters are back. The defense returns seven starters, but the line must be revamped. Considering how strong LSU and Alabama are in the trenches, the holes on the offensive and defensive lines will be USCâs biggest issue. The Trojans have a favorable non-conference schedule and host Oregon on Nov. 3. The biggest landmines on the road appear to be an Oct. 4 date at Utah and an Oct. 13 trip to Washington. USC closed out 2011 by winning its final four games and thereâs plenty of motivation to get to the national title game after spending the last two years banned from postseason play.
2. SEC team(s) â Thatâs right, donât adjust your vision. Sure, the SEC has won six titles in a row, but what if the conference beats up on each other? Alabama and LSU are the favorites to win the SEC, but itâs possible both teams end up with two losses. What if the winner of the SEC West enters the conference title game with one defeat and then loses to the East champ in Atlanta? Would a two-loss SEC team make a national title game appearance over an undefeated or one-loss team from another conference? Itâs really anyoneâs guess what could happen in that scenario, but a realistic possibility.
3. Oregon â In the pecking order of Pac-12 teams, the Ducks will likely rank behind USC in most preseason polls. Replacing quarterback Darron Thomas and running back LaMichael James is the top priority for coach Chip Kelly, but the cupboard is far from bare. Quarterbacks Bryan Bennett and Marcus Mariota appear more than capable of leading the Ducksâ high-powered offense. DeâAnthony Thomas and Kenjon Barner should form one of the nationâs top one-two combinations at running back in 2012. The defense loses two first-team All-Pac-12 performers, but returns six starters. If the Ducks can get by USC in the Pac-12 title game, a trip to the national title game is certainly within reach.
4. Oklahoma â Which Sooner team will we see in 2012? Will the Oklahoma team that started 6-0 in 2011 show up again? Or is this the team that finished 4-3 in the final seven games? If the Sooners return to the form that had them in position for the national title midway through last season, this team should be a threat to finish unbeaten. The non-conference schedule is manageable, featuring games against UTEP, Florida A&M and Notre Dame. The slate is more difficult in Big 12 play, thanks to dates against Texas, Oklahoma State and road games against West Virginia and TCU. Losing receiver Ryan Broyles was a huge blow to the offense last year. However, with a full offseason to sort out the receiving corps and make adjustments to the scheme, the Sooners should be in better shape offensively. The defense returns seven starters and gains the services of Mike Stoops at defensive coordinator. Most preseason polls will have Oklahoma behind USC. However, with no Big 12 title game, itâs one fewer opportunity for the Sooners to lose, which could be important with USC likely to play Oregon two times next year.
5. Michigan â With an opening week matchup against Alabama, we will know early in the year if the Wolverines are a national title contender. Michigan is back among the top-10 teams after a successful 2011 season, and coach Brady Hoke has this program poised to win the Big Ten title in 2012. Quarterback Denard Robinson is one of the nationâs most exciting players, but he has to stay healthy for the Wolverines to finish in the top two of the BCS rankings. Hoke also needs to find replacements for center David Molk and defensive tackle Mike Martin â two of Michiganâs best players last season. Another obstacle to overcome is the competition in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have to play Ohio State in Columbus and games against division foes Michigan State and Nebraska wonât be easy. Even if Michigan loses to the Crimson Tide in the opener, finishing the season with just one loss should keep them in the mix for a spot in the national championship.
6. Texas â The Longhorns improved their win total by three games from 2010 to 2011. Another three-game improvement would mean 11 victories and at least an appearance in a BCS bowl. Thereâs a lot to like about Texas as a potential darkhorse for the national title, but quarterback play must improve. David Ash took control of the No. 1 spot on the depth chart, but he will be challenged by Case McCoy and Connor Brewer in fall practice. With the concerns about quarterback play, expect Texas to lean heavily on one of the top backfields in college football. Sophomores Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron combined for 1,225 yards and 10 scores last year, while true freshman Johnathan Gray will see a heavy role in 2012. Although the defense has to replace All-Big 12 linebackers Emmanuel Acho and Keenan Robinson, this unit should be one of the best in college football. The non-conference schedule should allow Texas to jump out to a 3-0 start. However, a challenging three-game stretch (at Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Oklahoma) early in the year will decide whether the Longhorns can win the Big 12.
7. Florida State â An ACC team hasnât played for the national title since 2000. Could that change in 2012? The Seminoles are the early frontrunner to win the ACC, but Clemson and Virginia Tech will certainly be in the mix. Florida State has underachieved recently, but coach Jimbo Fisher is accumulating some impressive talent and depth. The Seminoles have one of the deepest defensive lines in college football and return two solid cornerbacks in Greg Reid and Xavier Rhodes. While the defense could be the best in the nation, the offense has to improve for Florida State to challenge for a national title. Quarterback EJ Manuel battled injuries last year and didnât have much help from the rushing attack and offensive line. If the Seminoles can get improved play from the line, this could be the year Florida State becomes a national title contender once again.
8. Clemson â If Florida State is a national title contender, Clemson canât be too far behind. The Tigers claimed the ACC Championship last year, but ended the year with losses in three out of their final four games. The offense is loaded with talent, as quarterback Tajh Boyd, running back Andre Ellington and receiver Sammy Watkins could all challenge for All-American honors. The key question mark on offense will be the line. The Tigers must replace three starters up front, including tackles Landon Walker and Phillip Price. New defensive coordinator Brent Venables has some work to do, especially with a rebuilt defensive line. Clemsonâs schedule isnât too daunting, but a road trip to Florida State on Sept. 22 could decide the ACC Atlantic title.
9. Michigan State â Although Michigan is the early favorite to win the Big Ten, the Spartans will be in the mix. Michigan State has won 22 games over the last two years, but is still looking for its first BCS bowl appearance. The Spartans return 12 starters, but must replace two key performers in quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive tackle Jerel Worthy. New quarterback Andrew Maxwell suffered a knee injury and missed a part of spring practices, but is expected to have a good season in his first as the starter. The offensive line should be better in 2012, while running back LeâVeon Bell is expected to rush for 1,000 yards. If Michigan State can successfully replace Worthy in the middle, the defense should remain one of the best in college football. The Spartans have non-conference games against Boise State and Notre Dame and have to make road trips against Wisconsin and Michigan. Michigan State needs a lot to fall its way to play for the national title, but it should push Michigan and Nebraska to be the top team in the Big Ten.
10. West Virginia â With quarterback Geno Smith and receivers Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey returning, the Mountaineers will have no trouble fitting into the offensive-minded Big 12. West Virginiaâs offense averaged 37.6 points a game last year, but that number could increase in 2012, especially with the players more comfortable with Dana Holgorsenâs scheme. With running back Dustin Garrisonâs status uncertain with a torn ACL, the Mountaineers have concerns about the rushing attack. The offensive line was also shaky last year and needs to play better if West Virginia wants to win the Big 12. The defense must replace ends Julian Miller and Bruce Irvin and cornerback Keith Tandy. The Mountaineers will also be changing from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4 scheme under new co-coordinators Joe DeForest and Keith Patterson. West Virginiaâs debut season in the Big 12 wonât be easy, especially with road dates against Texas and Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers are a longshot, but if they win the Big 12, they will certainly be in the discussion to be one of the top five teams in the nation.
By Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven on Twitter)
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College Football's Coaches on the Hot SeatA parliamentary committee has received more than 5700 submissions against a controversial bill introduced by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison that could allow Australia to neglect its human rights obligations under international law if passed by the Senate.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and human rights lawyers including David Manne have written submissions. They will also appear at a hearing into the suggested legislation on Friday in Canberra.
The key issues against the bill include removing international legal accountability; fast-tracking refugee assessments that do not allow any right of appeal; and removing references to the Refugee Convention in Australian law. There were 5712 submissions to the legal and constitutional affairs legislation committee. The majority were against the changes.
The UNHCR said it was particularly concerned about a decision to "fundamentally alter" Australia's obligations to refugees assumed by Australia on its signing of the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the bill was "radically cruel".Coalition's FttN network unlikely to start rolling out before 2015
The Coalition government’s planned Fibre to the Node (FttN) network is unlikely to start rolling out before 2015, potentially delaying its timetable of providing download speeds of between 25 and 100 megabits per second by the end of 2016 and 50 to 100 megabits per second by 2019.
The proposed FttN network will require the installation of approximately 50,000 to 60,000 nodes and a source told Technology Spectator that at best NBN Co could get 200 nodes rolled out a week.
With the rollout at scale expected to start around early 2015, it could take NBN Co six years to roll the FttN network out at 200 nodes a week
It is understood that the 200 nodes a week figure was flagged by senior British Telecom executive Mike Galvin, who recently spent some time in Australia to advise NBN Co’s senior management and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
NBN Co is currently conducting FttN trials (in lab) and field trials for Fibre to the Basement (FttB) services and the nodes won’t commence until next year.
Commencement of the actual rollout is dependent on a number of factors – the selection of the equipment (kit) vendor, the all-important Telstra renegotiation and the ACCC’s approval.
Setting the agenda for Australia's $150BN agribusiness sector The program for Australia's premier agribusiness conference - The Global Food Forum - is set. Hear from more than 30 industry leaders including PepsiCo's CEO, Danny Celoni, Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO of A2 Milk Company, Barry Irvin, Executive Chairman, Bega Cheese and Costco's Managing Director, Patrick Noone. Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park Book NowOfficer arrested, resigns after claiming employee spit in drink Copyright by KRQE - All rights reserved Christopher Moreno [ + - ] Video
ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) -A Roswell police officer who claimed a fast food worker spit in his drink has now been arrested for making the whole thing up. Before his arrest the officer quit and turned in his patrol car and there were drugs and stolen items inside.
According to the criminal complaint investigators watched video from the restaurant and saw no evidence that the worker spit in Moreno's drink. When confronted by a fellow officer police say Moreno admitted to spitting in his own drink because he didn't like the sonic worker who he'd arrested for petty crimes in the past.
The complaint says that knowing he would be fired, Moreno resigned yesterday and turned in his equipment. Officers were surprised by what they found inside his patrol car."More contraband was found in the trunk, which not only violates policy but possession of some of these constitute a criminal event as well," said Chief Philip Smith, with Roswell Police.
Inside the trunk they found meth, drug pipes,a BB gun and a suspect's driver's license. It was all evidence he'd kept from cases.
Moreno's says there is a lot more to the story and he wants a chance to tell his side eventually.
As for Roswell Police they say this kind of behavior will not be tolerated." I'm the third generation of four generations of law enforcement, I take personal offense to this as every member of this police department does," said Smith.
This is another case that DNA helped solve. It was after investigators told officer Moreno that they'd need his DNA to make sure the spit in the drink wasn't his that he confessed.
Roswell police say Moreno was with the department for a year and a half he resigned from the department once the investigation began. Moreno was booked into the Chaves County Detention Center on a $5,000 surety bond.
Moreno faces a long list of charges for everything from making a false report to drug and theft charges for the stuff found in the trunk of his patrol car.Number of Cards 274 Prerelease Events September 29-30, 2012 Release Date October 5, 2012 Official Three-Letter Code RTR Twitter Hashtag #MTGRTR
Latest Spoilers:
9/18/12
Armada Wurm 2GGWW Creature – Wurm Trample
When Armada Wurm enters the battlefield put a 5/5 Wurm creature token with trample onto the battlefield. 5/5
Seems fine. I looked at the rares that are going to be in the guild packs, and I actually think I will go Selesnya. All of the rares, even the bad ones, are nutty in limited. Sure Rakdos has Dreadbore, but it also has a lot of bad cards, too. It’s good to see a card that’s going to enable populate because I am a big fan of that mechanic in limited. It’s going to get out of hand in a big way if enabled properly. Who knew G/W would be the high power/ low consistency guild? Take a look at all of the rares that will be in the set and make up your own mind. But a week ago I was all about either Rakdos or Golgari, but the smart money is on Azorious or Selesnya. No one is fighting you for these colors and all of the rares are real winners in limited. Unless you really want to pay a million mana for a circus horse, that is.
Golgari Charm and Utavara Hellkite
I thought they waited on Golgari charm because it was the weakest. Unfortunately I was right. Blerg. The last ability is bad removal, as is the first ability. The middle ability is worse removal. Blerg.
Edit- To get a different perspective, I took to Twitter where Chad Havas and Corbin Hosler spent the night high-fiving each other and mentally spending their pro tour winnings.
Ok, he didn’t really FOAM at the mouth, per se, but he let me know my assessment of the charm was non-correct.
In their estimation, what we have in Golgari charm is a maindeckable sideboard card. Maybe that’s what all of the charms are, really. They have useful modes to bring in, but since they aren’t useless when drawn in other scenarios, they are maindeckable. According to these two bozos, the card at least |
in for me, I would have said no."
There are exceptions to the rule, Xavi added, pointing out that Gerard Deulofeu was sold by the club, which was not his choice, while Aleix Vidal and Jordi Alba were released in their teenage years.
To solve the problem of players leaving, Xavi, who has said he wants to return to the club as coach in the future, wants a renewed focus on making sure academy prospects are brought through to the first team.
"Barcelona need to nurture their own homegrown players," he said. "They can't leave like this. Playing in the first team has never been easy. I had a tough time getting there and getting settled in the time.
"Right now there are players like [Carles] Alena, Marlon [Santos] and [Marc] Cucurella who are showing potential. But it's difficult to be a top player at 19."
Samuel Marsden covers Barcelona for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @SamuelMarsden.Californians strongly oppose “sanctuary city” policies under which local authorities ignore federal requests to detain undocumented immigrants who have been arrested but are about to be released, according to a new poll released today by the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at UC Berkeley.
That opposition comes from strong majorities in both major political parties and among independent voters, and crosses other demographic categories. Almost two out of three Latinos said they oppose such policies.
The online survey, which polled 1,098 California residents from Aug. 11-26, found that 74 percent of respondents said local authorities should not be able to ignore a federal request to hold a detained person who is in the country illegally. Only 26 percent of respondents said local authorities should have that right.
Opposition to the sanctuary city policies crossed the political spectrum, and included 73 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of independents.
“We found very broad-based opposition to the idea of sanctuary cities,” said IGS Director Jack Citrin, a professor of political science at UC-Berkeley who has studied immigration for years. “Californians want their local officials to abide by the requests of federal authorities.”
Within every ethnic group, majorities said local officials should defer to the federal requests. That view was expressed by 65 percent of Latino respondents, 75 percent of Asian Americans and African Americans and 80 percent of whites.
“The differences among ethnic groups in our survey were not extreme, an interesting finding given that Latinos are more likely to know someone personally affected by these issues,” Citrin said. “While these results for Latino residents are interesting, people should bear in mind some limitations on our data, including the fact that our survey was conducted only in English, and that our sample consisted almost entirely of citizens.”
Of the overall sample, 99.5 percent of respondents identified themselves as citizens.
In an additional indicator of the broad agreement on the issue, a majority of all age and income groups said local officials should abide by the federal requests, although the largest margins came from older and wealthier respondents.
To gauge the impact of a recent high-profile incident, half the respondents were simply asked about the basic policy, while the other half were also told about an undocumented immigrant who had been deported several times and went on to shoot and kill a woman in San Francisco soon after he was released from jail.
The information about the shooting had relatively little impact on the responses. When they were simply asked about the basic policy, 71 percent of respondents said cities should not be able to ignore a federal hold request. Among those who were told about the shooting, opposition to the sanctuary city policy rose to 76 percent.
“Whether they were told about the recent San Francisco shooting or not,” Citrin said, “a strong majority of respondents made it clear that local authorities should not be able to ignore a federal request to hold an undocumented immigrant.”
Background
The poll was conducted for IGS by Survey Sampling International, using online questionnaires. There were 1,098 respondents sampled between Aug. 11 and Aug. 26. Responses for the entire sample were weighted to reflect the statewide distribution of the California population by gender, race/ethnicity, education and age. The polling data can be viewed on the IGS website.
RELATED INFORMATION
The IGS has released a series of polls this week. Earlier stories presented results of a poll on attitudes on economic issues such as gas taxes and the minimum wage, one on attitudes about climate change regulations and a third on support for medical aid in dying for the terminally ill.Asia is frequently lambasted as a source of low cost'slave' labor by skeptics. The standard notion is that armies of Chinese communist automatons are building faulty plastic toys and copy-cat products, undercutting far more skilled, educated, and innovative Western workers.
While this belief may have had some basis over the last few decades, it's hard time for a reality check.
Emerging Asia, which doesn't include Japan, now has more skilled researchers than any other economic unit in the world, as shown in the chart below from Citi based on UNESCO data.
As you can see, Asia made great strides in increasing its share of skilled researchers from 2002 - 2007. They will make even larger ones going forward since education levels are rapidly improving.
Thus, we can easily imagine that Emerging Asia will be immensely competitive very soon -- it will have lower cost labor (since many Asians are still moving up the wealth chain), but at the same time it will have tons of highly skilled, educated (and yes wealthy) people at the same time. Asian industries are likely to be competitive both at the low- and high-end in the not too distant future. Ouch.
P.S. And by the way, hiding from the global economy won't be a successful long-term solution here. It would just mean that 10 - 20 years forward Emerging Asian competitiveness would be even stronger while American and European competitiveness would have gone nowhere. Double Ouch.
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The eastern Indian city of Calcutta is to be painted blue, a local minister has said.
Government buildings, flyovers, roadside railings, and taxis should be painted a shade of light blue, a minister in the ruling Trinamul Congress government said.
Owners of private buildings will be also be requested to paint them in the same colour, the minister said.
The capital of West Bengal, Calcutta is home to more than 14 million people.
"Our leader [chief minister of West Bengal] Mamata Banerjee has decided that the theme colour of the city will be sky blue because the motto of the new government is 'the sky is the limit'," Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim told The Indian Express newspaper.
"From now on, all government buildings, whenever they are re-painted, will be done in sky blue. The owners of private buildings will also be requested to follow the same colour pattern. The necessary government orders will be issued soon."
The colour of the city's famous yellow taxis are going to be changed to light blue and white, while a number of famous landmarks are likely to be repainted too, reports say.
'Cosmetic change'
The owners of private buildings will have to pay from their own funds to repaint their premises, the minister said.
Blue is a beautiful colour and is also soothing for the eyes Sobhan Chatterjee, Calcutta mayor
"Blue is a beautiful colour and is also soothing for the eyes," Calcutta mayor Sobhan Chatterjee said.
The announcement has been criticised by opposition parties and sections of the media.
A local Congress party spokesman said the government was "preoccupying itself with non-essential issues".
The city's Telegraph newspaper said the "notion of a cosmetic change is taken to unprecedented heights of innovation by the idea" of painting Calcutta blue.
"Finding the right colour combination is undoubtedly the crucial first step in making a city safer, healthier, cleaner and generally more user-friendly for its inhabitants," the newspaper wrote in an editorial.
"It could, with as little doubt, sort out its core problems - chaotic health care, inability to implement pollution control norms, arsenic in the water, archaic sewers and garbage disposal, bad roads, killer buses for public transport, an airport falling apart and beyond dismal, priceless paintings rotting away in public art galleries, to name a few."
Other Indian cities have colour-based themes.
The northern Indian city of Jaipur is famously dubbed the Pink City after its terracotta-colour dwellings.
In 2006, Aurangabad, a crime-infested city in the state of Bihar, was painted pink in order to uplift, according to authorities, its sagging morale and spirit.Daniel Cormier, the Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight champion and former Olympic wrestler, will defend his title against Jon Jones, a former champion, on July 29 in Anaheim, Calif. The U.F.C. bout offers plenty of tension — the two men infamously scuffled in the lobby of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2014. But Mr. Cormier, 38, a native of Lafayette, La., who lives in San Jose, Calif., isn’t all brawn. Outside of the octagon, he also has finesse — in the fashion arena, at least.
Shirt If I’m just kind of cruising around and going to the gym or around town, I wear a lot of Oklahoma State stuff. It’s where I went to school. My favorite is an orange Oklahoma State shirt that says “Legacy.” It’s that kind of material that feels aged, so it’s very soft. If I’m traveling, though, I’ll do a polo. I wear the ones by Ralph Lauren. My wife actually says I wear too many polos. She’s like: “Enough with the polos. You’d think you were sponsored by Polo.” But it’s kind of the perfect thing when you don’t want to be too dressed up but still want to look decently put-together.
Suit I have a blue Hugo Boss suit that has a nice cross pattern on it. It’s my favorite, although not the nicest that I have. My wife and I saw “Hamilton” a couple weeks ago in San Francisco, and I wore the suit. It’s slim-fitted. I’m a bigger guy. By this point, I’ve learned I can’t wear those big old Steve Harvey suits. It’s not the 1990s N.B.A. draft.Cruz Rips Trump's Apathy Toward Transgender Bathroom Law: "Have We Gone Stark Raving Nuts?"
While campaigning in Maryland, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz reacts to comments made on Thursday morning's Today Show by GOP front-runner Donald Trump about North Caolina's 'bathroom law.'
TED CRUZ: Donald said on television this morning that, gosh, he thought men should be able to go into the girls' bathroom if they want to.
...
Let me ask you. Have we gone stark raving nuts?
This is not political correctness. This is basic common sense... I'm the father of two little girls, this is basic common sense.
Grown adult men, strangers, should not be alone in a bathroom with little girls...
A few months ago Donald told us he could be the most politically correct person on Earth. And I guess he's showing us what that looks like. I am waiting with anticipation for the new baseball caps -- "Make PC Great Again."
Cruz also spoke about the issue on the Glenn Beck program Thursday morning."Board of Commissioners" redirects here. For other uses, see Commission (disambiguation)
A county commission (also known as a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. County commissions are usually made up of three or more individuals. In some counties in Georgia however, a sole commissioner holds the authority of the commission.
The commission acts as the executive of the local government, levies local taxes, administers county governmental services such as prisons, courts, public health oversight, property registration, building code enforcement, and public works such as road maintenance. The system has been supplanted in large part as disparate sparsely settled regions become urbanized and establish tighter local governmental control usually in municipalities, but in many more rural states the county commission retains more control and even in some urbanized areas may be responsible for significant government services.
History [ edit ]
William Penn, colonial founder of Pennsylvania is credited with originating the system of County Commissioners in the United States.
On February 28, 1681, Charles II granted a land charter[1] to William Penn to repay a debt of £16,000[2] (around £2,100,000 in 2008, adjusting for retail inflation)[3] owed to William's father, Admiral William Penn. This was one of the largest land grants to an individual in history.[4] It was called Pennsylvania. William Penn, who wanted it called New Wales or Sylvania, was embarrassed at the change, fearing that people would think he had named it after himself, but King Charles would not rename the grant.[5] Penn established a government with two innovations that were much copied in the New World: the county commission and freedom of religious conviction.[4]
See also [ edit ]in
It's true - the province has made a major move in its plan to regulate and dispense cannabis prior to the federal government's plan to legalize the substance next year. Now that the Ontario government will be overseeing the legal retail of cannabis all over the province, residents have weighed in on the decision.
According to a new poll by Nanos Research, the majority of Ontario residents support private sector cannabis stores over government run cannabis stores.
The Ontario government recently announced that it will create a Cannabis Control Board of Ontario (CCBO), similar to the LCBO, to oversee the legal retail of cannabis in Ontario through new standalone cannabis stores and an online order service. This is all well and good - decisions were pending on how the substance would be sold for some time.
As part of the announcement, however, the province announced that there will be no forms of private cannabis sale allowed in Ontario.
Since the CCBO news was released, people across the province have expressed mixed feelings about the government being entirely in control of the regulation and distribution of marijuana.
Nanos Research's poll revealed that more than half of Ontario residents support (32 per cent) or somewhat support (23 per cent) having marijuana sold by licensed and regulated private retailers instead of a government run CCBO when marijuana is legalized. That's a fair 55 per cent of residents who would rather see private cannabis retailers than solely a CCBO.
On the other end of the spectrum, 31 per cent of residents oppose, and nine per cent of residents somewhat oppose having marijuana sold by private retailers instead of the government. Six per cent of those surveyed say they are unsure of their preference.
The Consumer Choice Centre (CCC) said it "condemns" the government banning private sector cannabis stores. What's more, the CCC calls the decision a "bad deal for consumers" and "against the will of Ontario residents."
"The government banning private sector cannabis stores is a move that not only limits consumer choice but also enables black market sales," said the CCC in a statement.
Whether or not this is true has been up for debate amongst residents since the creation of a CCBO was announced earlier this week.
Toronto-based David Clement, the North American Affairs Director for the CCC, said the regulations limit choice and innovation.
“Ontarians have already made it clear that they don’t want government run stores controlling the sale of legal cannabis. The move to create a cannabis control board will simply replicate the existing issues we see with the LCBO and alcohol. The province should embrace private retail and the wants of consumers,” said Clement.
According to Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, however, "”We’ve heard people across Ontario are anxious about the federal legalization of cannabis. The province is moving forward with a safe and sensible approach to legalization that will ensure we can keep our communities and roads safe, promote public health and harm reduction, and protect Ontario’s young people.”
Ontario seems to be a province divided.
Here are the key elements the Ontario government has detailed in terms of marijuana sales come next year:
The proposed minimum age to use, purchase and possess recreational cannabis in Ontario will be 19. The use of recreational cannabis will be prohibited in public places and workplaces.
The LCBO will oversee the legal retail of cannabis in Ontario through new stand-alone cannabis stores and an online order service. This approach will ensure that there will be only one legal retail distributor for cannabis in Ontario and alcohol and cannabis are not sold alongside each other.
Approximately 150 standalone stores will be opened by 2020, including 80 by July 1, 2019, servicing all regions of the province. Online distribution will be available across the province from July 2018 onward.
Illicit cannabis dispensaries are not and will not be legal retailers. The province will pursue a coordinated and proactive enforcement strategy, working with municipalities, local police services, the OPP and the federal government to help shut down these illegal operations.
Ontario will prohibit individuals under the age of 19 from possessing or consuming recreational cannabis, which will allow police to confiscate small amounts of cannabis from young people. The province's approach to protecting youth will focus on prevention, diversion, and harm reduction without unnecessarily bringing them into contact with the justice system.
Interestingly enough, Ontario is the first province or territory in Canada to publicly announce a comprehensive plan to regulate federally legalized cannabis. Whether you're opposed to the announcement or you support it, cannabis appears to be a popular intoxicant. According to a 2015 report by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 45 per cent of Ontario adults have used cannabis at least once in their lifetime, while about 15 per cent have used cannabis in the past year.
The Nanos Research survey unveiled a few other interesting facts about Canadian interests.
In addition to cannabis, the survey also demonstrated that a majority of Canadians oppose the government’s move to plain package tobacco, that a majority of Canadians oppose banning homesharing and ridesharing apps like Airbnb and Uber, and that a majority of Ontario residents want private alcohol sales as opposed to the current LCBO model.David Trott Attempted To Steal A Home From An American Hero And Treat A 101-Year Old Widow Like Trash
Michigan Foreclosure King and Financial Terrorist David Trott who is also a major donor to the GOP has announced today he is running for the congress. He intends to give current Tea Party Congressman Kerry Bentivolio a primary challenge next August.
Trott who made his money by turning his foreclosure mill law practice he inherited from his father into a one-stop monopoly on everything regarding to foreclosures for banks. Trott’s vast foreclosure empire includes, the Detroit Legal News and it’s sister publications throughout Michigan that advertise 80% of the foreclosures in Michigan, Greco Title and Seaver Title which he merged with Lawyers Title several years ago and the Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel Real Estate offices through out southeast Michigan.
Trott like his most other foreclosure mills has his share of robo-signers who have forged documents that have been filed with Register of Deeds offices through out the state of Michigan. Trott’s firm, Trott & Trott has attorneys like Ellen Coon, Marcy Ford, andKenneth Kurel. All of whom are also willing participants in the financial terrorism that have contributed to the destruction of Michigan’s housing market.
Trott’s firm is also infamous for denying people their right under Michigan law (MCL 3205a) to have a conference with their mortgage servicers that Trott represents. MFi-Miami clients have had their foreclosure cases tossed by Michigan courts because lawyers at Trott’s firm have either not shown up for these conference calls or the Trott attorney has simply left the people on hold for nearly 45 minutes to an hour.
Trott & Trott also employs a system of “Dual Tracking” in order to foreclose on a homeowner. Dual Tracking is where the foreclosure mill or mortgage servicer will convince the homeowner that they are working to keep them in their home while moving ahead with foreclosure proceedings.
Trott ran into some serious trouble last year when his firm was fired by JPMorgan Chase on a dual tracking case involving Jeff Reed, a retired Green Beret and his autistic son from Northern Michigan. Trott refused to honor a loan modification his firm negotiated on behalf of JPMorgan Chase and then began foreclosure proceeding against Jeff Reed.
Thanks to MFI-Miami, JPMorgan Chase fired Trott from the case when JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s office began getting calls from international media about Trott’s rogue attempt to foreclose on an American hero.
Trott also stirred up international outrage two years ago when his firm callously and unmercifully evicted wheel chair bound 101-year old Texana Hollis from her home in the rain and left her on the curb with her possessions. Hollis was only able to move back into her home after novelist and sports writer Mitch Albom’s charity, S.A.Y. Detroit purchased the house from HUD and rehabilitated it to accommodate Mrs. Hollis’ wheel chair.A cage fighter is accused of killing a champion weightlifter after they got into a street fight over whose sport is better.
A sickening video shows world and European powerlifting champion Andrey Drachev, 32, brawling shirtless in the road with a shorter man.
The man throwing the punches and kicks was identified as 25-year-old Anar Ziranov, according to CrimeRussia.com. Ziranov is reportedly well-trained in MMA and has even competed professionally.
Ziranov and Drachev reportedly were fighting over whether MMA is better than weightlifting.
The savage fight took place around 7 a.m. outside a cafe in the city of Khabarovsk in southeastern Russia.
Ziranov is seen punching Drachev in the face and knocking him to the ground.
He then lands a few more punches to the head.
Two men tried to step in to stop the altercation, but Drachev died from his injuries.
Ziranov was later arrested by police following his opponent’s death.
According to local reports, Drachev was involved in another fight prior to the street brawl.
Drachev is a champion fighter in his native Russia, and in 2011 won silver at the world power lifting championships.Those interested in the legal cannabis industry may be hard-pressed to find legitimate sources of information. This article identifies the top places online for cannabis-related business and investment content today.
With the cannabis industry expected to be worth $50 billion by 2026, many of you may have decided to dive into investing in the budding business. Whether it be by buying a marijuana-related stock or starting your own cannabis-related business, there are tons of opportunities to take advantage of. Even though it is still federally illegal in the U.S., there are plenty of states that medicinal and recreational cannabis have been legalized in. In fact, 29 states and Washington, D.C. currently have laws that broadly legalize marijuana in some form.
If you have made the decision to get involved with the industry, you may be wondering about the best places to get your news and relevant information. If you go to some of the better-known traditional sources for financial and business news, such as TheStreet or The Wall Street Journal, it may be hard to find anything about cannabis among the clutter of news about every other industry and sector. So, to help those of you looking for the top sources of cannabis business and investment news, we have gathered our top three places for you to check every morning at the open and every afternoon at the close for all the news you need on pot stocks and the marijuana industry overall.
The Daily Marijuana Observer is the leading resource for marijuana stocks and business news. It covers the industry from an investor's standpoint every day, from open to close and beyond. It covers more than just the U.S. and Canadian pot stocks, also including Australia, Tel Aviv and more. Founded in 2016, it has quickly become a formidable player in the space. Its content can be found on more sources than just its website. The Daily Marijuana Observer has a weekly column on Investopedia, a content syndication deal with Marijuana.com and a large following on Seeking Alpha. This is the site you'll want to read every day if you invest in any stocks that pertain to the cannabis industry.
When looking at the industry, it's important to be able to see it from every angle. The Fresh Toast is a fantastic resource for cannabis-related lifestyle content, reaching millions of people every month.
Next time you want to get an idea of how much marijuana is reaching the mainstream, click on over to the The Fresh Toast and have a read. It will give you a good understanding of the industry from the viewpoint of the average consumer. The Fresh Toast is doing a stellar job of normalizing an industry that has been viewed as fringe for quite some time. As the legal marijuana industry grows, you will see more and more competitors pop up in this space. For now, The Fresh Toast is the go-to place for your cannabis-related lifestyle and entertainment content. It often writes about the industry from a refreshing perspective.
If you are looking to better understand the actual plant and get involved in real-time discussions with consumers, Marijuana.com is the place you want to visit. Its forum is huge and contains discussions on a wide variety of topics, from whether or not people are stoned currently to the likelihood of legalization on a state-by-state basis. Weedmaps recently acquired the site for $4.2 million, giving it a huge boost and platform. Although Marijuana.com seems to make money off of banner ads, Weedmaps reached revenues of over $30 million years ago, through dispensaries paying for listings on its platform alone. This is a huge sign of growth in the industry.
Not only does Marijuana.com have a massive forum discussing cannabis and the industry, but it produces some fantastic political content related to the industry. To have any idea of the best way to invest, one must have a solid understanding of laws and regulations, both on the local and federal levels.
The wrap-up
If you want to understand the business of cannabis, these three resources should give you a holistic understanding of this exciting new industry. Whether you are interested in investing, becoming a business owner or just being better informed, these sites have you covered.New Releases - March 2015 - Evergreen Refuge, Deafest, Uaithne, Schrei aus Stein & Starless Night View this email in your browser New Releases!!!
037 - Evergreen Refuge - Earthborn
1. Earthborn 44:45
Side B
2. Earthborn 44:45
An entirely acoustic instrumental journey...
Guitars, mandolin, and minimal synthesizer recorded June MMXIV.
Frame drum recorded in the La Plata Mountains August MMXIV.
Much of the white noise in the background is actually the stream by which I recorded the frame drum...
Dylan Rupe: 6 and 12 string guitar, voice, mandolin, frame drum, synthesizer, field recordings
https://evergreenrefuge.bandcamp.com/album/earthborn Side A1. Earthborn 44:45Side B2. Earthborn 44:45An entirely acoustic instrumental journey...Guitars, mandolin, and minimal synthesizer recorded June MMXIV.Frame drum recorded in the La Plata Mountains August MMXIV.Much of the white noise in the background is actually the stream by which I recorded the frame drum...Dylan Rupe: 6 and 12 string guitar, voice, mandolin, frame drum, synthesizer, field recordings 038 - Schrei aus Stein, Starless Night, & Deafest - Above All Summits
1. Schrei aus Stein - The Inverted Abyss 10:40
2. Starless Night - Lost in Life's Endless Maze 11:32
SIDE B
3.Deafest - Almagre 07:03
4. Deafest - Summit in the Clouds 07:08
https://deafest.bandcamp.com/album/above-all-summits
Schrei aus Stein
www.facebook.com/pages/Schrei-aus-Stein/201662821062
Starless Night
www.facebook.com/StarlessNightDBM
Deafest
www.facebook.com/pages/Deafest/203848326326395 SIDE A1. Schrei aus Stein - The Inverted Abyss 10:402. Starless Night - Lost in Life's Endless Maze 11:32SIDE B3.Deafest - Almagre 07:034. Deafest - Summit in the Clouds 07:08Schrei aus SteinStarless NightDeafest 039 - Uaithne - Deafest - Of Moss and Stone
1. Shattered Visions
2. Frozen Dreams, Pierced By Time
3. Blood Soaked Stone
Side B - Deafest
4. A Bed of Needles and Cones
5. Scree Fields
https://deafest.bandcamp.com/album/of-moss-and-stone-2
Uaithne bandcamp:
uaithne.bandcamp.com/album/of-moss-and-stone Side A - Uaithne1. Shattered Visions2. Frozen Dreams, Pierced By Time3. Blood Soaked StoneSide B - Deafest4. A Bed of Needles and Cones5. Scree FieldsUaithne bandcamp:
040 - Uaithne - Approaching Light
SIDE A/B
1. I 04:52
2. II 03:53
3. III 03:11
4. IV 04:30
https://uaithne.bandcamp.com/album/approaching-light
041 - Evergreen Refuge - Embers
1. Embers - Part I
Side B
2. Embers - Part II
Conceived as a follow-up to As the Fires Burn, Embers crafts a concept of life after a fallen way of living comes to a close. Darkness fades in, but soon the light will follow...
Recorded from Yule MMXIII to Imbolc MMXIV
All music and field recordings by Evergreen Refuge.
Album cover taken by Infinite Forests.
Screen print for physical copies by Entangled Roots Press.
https://evergreenrefuge.bandcamp.com/album/embers Side A1. Embers - Part ISide B2. Embers - Part IIConceived as a follow-up to As the Fires Burn, Embers crafts a concept of life after a fallen way of living comes to a close. Darkness fades in, but soon the light will follow...Recorded from Yule MMXIII to Imbolc MMXIVAll music and field recordings by Evergreen Refuge.Album cover taken by Infinite Forests.Screen print for physical copies by Entangled Roots Press. Upcoming Releases:
019 - Ravnblod | Shumma-Gorath - Limited Lathe Cut 7"
Pre-order Here
042 - Black Vice - 12" LP
043 - Crown of Asteria - Sol - Cassette
044 - Encircling Sea - A Forgotten Land - Cassette
045 - Elegiac- Endless NightRemember yesterday's creeptastic news report about a ghoul shambling through the Louisiana woods? Bad news, cryptid fans — this creature is now being pegged as some extraterrestrial horror from the Steven Spielberg-produced and J.J. Abrams-directed alien flick Super 8.
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According to Movieweb, this image is Super 8 viral marketing that began on a hunting supply site's Facebook page and wended its way to mainstream media:
It first appeared on Wildgame Innovation's Facebook page. It is a picture reportedly snapped by a deer hunter on a reserve in Berwick, near Morgan City, Louisianna [sic]. It was originally being passed off as real, but now inside sources close to the production say its actually a viral image from Super 8. There is even video from a young Weirton, West Virginia extra called "Crying Girl", who talks about having a run in with this creature in the movie.
In the (fairly mundane) video, the girl talks about being trapped on a plane, where a "zombie" attacks her and her mother. Frankly, I'm of the mind that these "viral marketing" allegations are just a cover-up for the chupacabra factory Uncle Sam's running down in the Louisiana bayou.
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Click to viewClick here to see how to type the "€" symbol for the Euro Mac PC A note on capitalizing ß On a Mac: Umlaut:
press "option" and "u" simultaneously ==> nothing appears on the screen. Now press "a," "o," or "u" and the desired umlaut will appear. ß:
press "option" and "s" simultaneously, and "ß" will appear. These shortcuts work in all programs on a Mac. I find these shortcuts very easy and convenient to use, but there are also lots of other options for changing your keyboard layout on a Mac. For more info, click here.
On a PC: There are lots of ways to type the special characters on a PC. Switching your keyboard layout to the "US International" keyboard is the easiest solution, and works in all applications - this is method (1) below. Two additional easy solutions are available specifically if you're using Microsoft Word: you can use the default key combinations on Word, or define your own. These are methods (2) and (3) below. A few of the many other possibilities are listed further below under the "other possibilities" heading. Please send me (Hartmut) a message if you have additional ideas about this that I should include here, or if you notice that a method mentioned below no longer works! 1. Using the US International Keyboard layout: To switch to the US International Keyboard layout, look for instructions in your computer's help menu, or follow the instructions given by Microsoft Support here. Although multiple steps are involved the first time you do this, it will be easy to switch to this layout once you've added it to your computer's keyboard options for the first time, and you could definte a keyboard shortcut for switching between this and the regular US keyboard layout. [Note: you do not need to download anything to make this work; you just need to enable the "US International keyboard layout option.] Here are instructions for installing the US International Keyboard in Windows 10: Go to Settings from the windows icon at bottom left. Click on Time and Language, the Region and Language. You should see English (United States)...[assuming you are in US]. Click on it and a button labeled OPTIONS will appear. Click on the OPTIONS button. Now you will see an option to ADD a KEYBOARD. Click on that and then scroll down the list until you see United States International. Click to add it to your language bar (should be in system tray) Works just like previous versions after you add it.
To type umlaute using the US International Keyboard layout, type a quotation mark (") and then the letter over which you would like the umlaut to appear, i.e. a, A, o, O, u, or U. Nothing will appear on your screen when you type the quotation mark; once you type the a, o or u, the umlauted ä, ö or ü will appear. Note that when you actually want to type a quotation mark, you have to type the quotation mark followed by the space bar to make it appear. Perhaps slightly less intuitive, but easier, are the following key combinations using the "Alt" key to the right of the space bar (sometimes called "RAlt or "AltGr"). Instead of using the right hand "Alt" key, you can also type "Ctrl" + "Alt": RAlt + q = ä; RAlt + p = ö; RAlt + y = ü. For Ä, Ö and Ü, add the "Shift" key.
You need the RAlt key (or Ctrl + Alt) to type ß: RAlt + s = ß
Click here for some additional info on the US International Keyboard layout from the Language Center at SUNY Cortland 2. Microsoft Word only: Use the default key combinations in Word, which should be as follows: umlaut: Hold down "control" and press the colon (:) (i.e. Shift + ;) [Nothing will appear on your screen when you press this combination of keys]. Then release all three keys you just pressed and type the letter over which you wish the umlaut to be (i.e. "a," "o," or "u"). The umlaut should now appear. "s-zet" (ß): Hold down "control" and press the ampersand (&) (i.e. Shift + 7) [Nothing will appear on your screen when you press this combination of keys]. Then release all three keys you just pressed and type the letter s. The "s-zet" (ß) should now appear. Note: If these key combinations don't work on your PC, go to "Insert" and then "Symbol." Click on the special character you want, and then click "Shortcut" as described below. The key combinations currently defined for that special character on your computer will appear. 3. Microsoft Word only: If you don't like the above key combinations, there is a way to define simpler ones: From the "Insert" menu, choose "Symbol." A graphic appears with all sorts of cool characters. Click on the special character you want, and then click on the "Shortcut" option. There, you can define a key combination for that character that's convenient for you, or you can read and memorize the one set by the computer as a default (which should be the combination of keys described above). The computer will tell you if the key combination you choose is already in use. If you have your own computer, you only need to do this once; if you're using a computing center, you'll need to do it each time you come. Other possibilities: Use the Unicode Character Numbers. Click on the link for details!
. Click on the link for details! ЮNIK (" ЮNI CODE K eyboard Enhancer"). This is a program that allows you to create your own keyboard shortcuts in Windows. It also works with Linux. You can read about and download the program here: http://www.law.net.ru/unik/. This link was sent to me by Andrey Rumyantsev, who wrote the program after years of using the above methods.
CODE eyboard Enhancer"). This is a program that allows you to create your own keyboard shortcuts in Windows. It also works with Linux. You can read about and download the program here: http://www.law.net.ru/unik/. This link was sent to me by Andrey Rumyantsev, who wrote the program after years of using the above methods. downloading the Microsoft Keyboard |
this caregory will mean one candidate will come away with at least 1 delegate advantage. Only some interesting triggers for at-large delegates are listed. Corresponding PLEOs at that level are also listed for comparision.
Vote Share% 15% 16.7% 45.3% 50% 54.8% 59.5% 64.3 Statewide delegate For Vote Share Table - At-Large AT-Large Dels 3 4 10 11 12 13 14 Corresponding PLEOS 2 2 5 6 7 7 8
Next bit is my personal opinion: I suspect that every odd break will go in Clinton favour here. Clinton support is higher than normal and break points for odd delegates will fall to just with 50% in most cases.
Clinton advantage.. CD1 (3-2): CD2 (3-2) CD3 (6-2) : CD4 (4-2): CD5 (3-2): CD6 (3-1): CD7 (3-2): CD8 (5-3) : CD9 (3-1): CD10 ( 4-2): CD11 (4-3): Statewide (7-5) and (13-8)
CD 6 will hover just above required for 3-1 split. Without a concerted effort from Sanders to bring Clinton support below 62.5%, it will break 3-1. The effort probably going to be too costly, as local influence wielders already campaigning for Clinton.
CD4 and CD10 with 6 delegates each will comfortably break 4-2 with Clinton achieving and maintaining 58.3% needed to split it 4-2.
CD3 and CD8 to be fought hard as Clinton support is hovering around the threshold for making 6-2 split. Something to do with extremely popular Bobby Scott (representative from CD3) already campaigning for Clinton probably. Sanders will need to try and reduce the loss to making a 5-3 split. At low end Clinton advantage break of 5-3 verging on 6-2 split. Clinton would easily maintain above the interesting boundary of 56.3% giving definitely at least for 5-3 split. In order to retain 4-4 effort by Sanders, Sanders need to eat away bring try to bring Clinton below 56.3%. As long as Sanders can keep most things in range, the point difference of 13% does not matter.
CD11 delegates 4-3 split occurs comfortably at 50%, the extra delgate at 64.3% might be a little too high.
I am expecting Clinton to maintain around 60% share. Hence state-wide delegate share 20-13split. Counting all CDs and statewide 61-34 Advantage Clinton.
A substantial chunk of primary votes I suspect are Anti-Clinton votes as oppossed to Pro-Sanders votes. My estimate is about 15%. Yes I do think, 3 in 20 Democrats detest Clinton and the Presidency attempt. This is my personal view.
Previous Related Posts:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/02/02/1478577/-Iowa-Why-Some-Claim-a-23-21-Split-Some-Mathematics
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/02/03/1479118/-New-Hampshire-Delegate-Mathematics
Previously covered states are all listed with the individual state links in this single document. I will be updating it as and when new states get done: All-Links-Collection-Delegate-Mathematics-Series-2016-Democratic-Primary
Enjoy and hopefully you will have spotted where you might tip the balance personally and like to campaign or make that extra push for your preferred candidate.
Currently I am running through the list of states. If anyone would like to see the mathematics for a particular state faster let me know and I will queue it up.The exterior of the Turkish embassy is seen in Tripoli, Libya January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Hani Amara
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey reopened its embassy in Libya on Monday, 2-1/2 years after closing it due to lack of security, becoming the second country to reopen its diplomatic mission in the divided country.
Turkey shut the embassy in Tripoli in 2014 as rival factions fought for control after the overthrow of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. Italy became the first country to reopen its embassy in Tripoli earlier this month.
“The reopening of the embassy will allow Turkey to make stronger contributions to efforts to build peace and stability, as well as reconstruction in Libya,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The road where the embassy is located close to Tripoli’s seafront was closed on Monday, and there was a heavy security presence. The Turkish embassy is about 600 meters from the Italian embassy.
On Jan. 21, less than two weeks after the Italian embassy reopened, a car bomb exploded in a street between the two embassies. A local anti-terrorism unit blamed rival political factions in eastern Libya for the blast, which left two suspected bombers dead.
Both Libya and Tripoli itself are home to myriad armed groups with shifting and conflicting loyalties that have sought to fill the power vacuum created when Gaddafi was killed in 2011.
In 2014, fighting between armed alliances backing opposing political factions resulted in rival governments being set up in the capital and the east. Since March last year a third, U.N.-backed government has been trying to establish itself in Tripoli, but it has been unable to win support from all groups.
“Turkey will continue to support the territorial integrity and national unity of brotherly Libya,” the statement said.
Turkey’s ambassador had been based in Tunisia during the embassy’s closure, while the Turkish consulate general in the western city of Misrata had remained open without interruption.It's a pretty good day to be a wallet at Ubisoft. Newly released financial statements reveal that the French publisher and developer pulled in $1.615 billion in revenue after selling more than twelve million copies of Assassin's Creed 3 and six million copies of Far Cry 3. Not only was overall revenue up 18.3% from last year, but take-home profits rose a staggering 73.7% over 2012.
“The expertise and talent of our teams enabled Ubisoft to manage the year's difficult market conditions and the drop in the casual segment remarkably well,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said. “In addition, the success of Far Cry 3 confirmed our strong comeback in the major segment of shooter games.”
Though it was admirably restrained and professional, that statement should be understood for what it truly is: investor-speak for “we are seriously rolling in it, and things are awesome.” Ubisoft is the fourth largest independent publisher in the United States and the third largest in Europe.
“Our franchises are underpinned by recognized creative know-how and premier development capacity,” Guillemot said. “With more than 7,000 developers, Ubisoft has the necessary caliber to offer its fans exceptionally rich and immersive gaming experiences on a regular basis.”
Ubisoft's next big release, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, is out next week.
Ubisoft's stock jumped about 10% on Thursday after financial statements were released. You can find statements for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, here. (PDF): Bill Walton has deleted a Tweet on his official feed that originally read, “Just in……. The Grateful Dead have extended their ‘Fare Thee Well’ tour to include two concerts June 27-28 at Levi’s Stadium.”
While there’s still no official word one way or the other, famous Deadhead and basketball star/commentator Bill Walton claims Fare Thee Well – Celebrating 50 Years Of Grateful Dead is coming to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California June 27 -28.
Walton’s Tweet comes after earlier reports that the members of the Grateful Dead were indeed considering shows in the Bay Area the weekend before a three-night stand at Chicago’s Soldier Field July 3 -5.
Sports Business Daily also reports the shows are on for June 27 -28. Neither Sports Business Daily or Walton mention a specific lineup for the Santa Clara shows. Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart will be joined by Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti in Chicago.
There’s no mention of the shows on Dead50.com as of press time.From The Start, Obama Struggled With Fallout From A Kind Of Fake News
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
One of the most fragile pieces of President Obama's legacy in the aftermath of the 2016 election is the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans ran on their long-standing pledge to repeal it, and we'll know soon whether — as promised — they make it their top priority in the new Congress, even without having released details on what would replace it.
The history of the Affordable Care Act also provides a window into the earliest years of the Obama presidency.
Fierce opposition from the GOP was there even before work on the legislation began, and that battle featured an early form of fake news — a tactic that became a prominent part of the 2016 election.
Remember the "death panels"?
In 2009, when the health care law was still being written, Sarah Palin coined the phrase "death panel" in a widely shared Facebook post. The headline of her post was innocuous enough, "Statement on the Current Health Care Debate."
But that Aug. 7, 2009, social media post from the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate included a dire warning:
"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society.' "
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kris Connor/Getty Images Kris Connor/Getty Images
Conservative op-ed pages were on board. Talk radio, too. On his syndicated national radio program, Rush Limbaugh said of Palin, "She's dead right."
The specter of "death panels" became an instant rallying cry for the still-new Tea Party movement, whose supporters crowded into town hall meetings that summer and shouted down Democratic lawmakers considering support for the Affordable Care Act.
Republican members of Congress tapped into that anger. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley told a crowd back home in Iowa, "We should not have a government program that determines you're gonna pull the plug on Grandma."
"Simply dishonest"
As the summer of 2009 wore on, the president stayed above the fray. Anita Dunn, who was the White House communications director at the time, told NPR in a recent interview that the team didn't take the attacks seriously at first, "simply because they did seem so crazy."
But the president himself would need to directly respond. He went on the road, first to a mid-August town hall in Portsmouth, N.H., where he said that this is how politics works sometimes, "that people who want to keep things the way they are will try to scare the heck out of folks, and they'll create boogeymen out there that just aren't real."
Days later, in Grand Junction, Colo., Obama kept at it.
"The notion that somehow I ran for public office or members of Congress are in this so that they can go around pulling the plug on Grandma? I mean when you start making arguments like that, that's simply dishonest," the president said.
Ultimately, the Affordable Care Act was approved by the then-Democratic-controlled Congress. The president signed it in the spring of 2010. Meanwhile, the allegations regarding "death panels" would be "Lie of the Year" by the fact-checking organization PolitiFact.
The message that stuck
Dunn, currently a managing director at the D.C. firm SKDKnickerbocker, says that the early disinformation campaign had a lasting negative effect nonetheless.
"One of the hallmarks of the Affordable Care Act is that people don't know what is in the bill, or realize the benefits they've gotten," Dunn says, adding, "a huge part of that is how it was defined early by the opposition."
She says the White House communications team learned from the experience. Rapid response became more of a priority. But Ruy Teixeira, a senior analyst with the Center for American Progress, says there's another lesson from those early Obamacare battles that the administration — and Democrats — have been slow to learn: how to talk to white voters who do not have a college education. Those voters were once a key piece of the Democratic base, but Teixeira says they are now too often driven by a core belief that "the government is up to no good."
The idea of death panels fit right into that narrative. But Teixeira says you can apply it to other issues as well.
"You've got to convince them you take their concerns seriously, you're on their side," he says, "and the other people are not, and here's exactly why."
That was a major weakness of Democrats in the 2016 election. Non-college-educated white voters rallied around Trump and his message that he — not the Democrats — is on their side. All along, Democrats considered such a claim by the billionaire businessman turned politician a kind of a fake news story of its own. But they still need to figure out how to counter it.Transit and Shuttles
Explore Banff National Park using the many transit and shuttle options to enjoy the scenery vehicle-free.
Read More
Parking
When you drive into the park, use these tools to plan your route and find parking in advance. Entering Banff National Park by vehicle requires a Park Pass. Purchase yours online before you arrive for express entry into the park.
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RV and Camping
Once you arrive at your campsite, you’ll be ready to explore. Use these tips to make the most of your visit.
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Hidden Gems
Find lesser-known adventures for your next day trip, including these hidden gems.
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Visiting top attractions
See our tips on visiting the most popular areas. Hint: Go early or later during Banff National Park's long summer days for the best experience.
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Fun ways to get around
There are many other fun options that can enrich your experience.
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In Partnership WithThe latest issue (2) of Chemical Science is now online. Read it for free today!
The issue features a Mini review by Fraser Stoddart and colleagues on mechanised materials, which starts off with my favourite phrase from the whole issue:
‘…mankind has attempted to mimic the natural world—building wings to fly like the birds and fabricating systems to harness energy from the sun like our botanical brethren.’
Stoddart goes on to discuss several synthetic molecular machines that have been pinned down on surfaces to induce macroscale function and motion, then highlights some bioconjugated molecular devices which are capable of harnessing motion.
There is also a Perspective by Katsuhiko Ariga and colleagues, who illustrate how nanoscience and nanotechnology can be accessed physically from the macroscopic world according to three categories: physico-chemical properties,
chemical events and bio-related functions.
There’s plenty more, from nanolithography to lipid bilayer membranes to total synthesis.
Let us know what you think of the issue by leaving a comment below. Don’t forget you can sign up for the Chemical Science e-alerts and follow us on Twitter to stay abreast with the latest developments.Two recent hacking incidents have highlighted the increasing fragility of the internet’s core infrastructure. They serve as a stark reminder that online security is somewhat illusory.
The weaknesses have been known for some time but the move to implement solutions has lacked momentum.
But events in the past few months may have pushed internet providers to a tipping point.
Comodo Hacker breaks SSL
The more serious of the two incidents was carried out by a hacker called the Comodo Hacker, or Ich Sun as his Twitter account was known.
In March, he hacked a company called Comodo, which is responsible for issuing certificates that underpin the secure internet protocol SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer – a cryptographic protocol that provides communication security.
These certificates are highly visible: you can see them when the padlock icon appears on a browser URL when you are connected to a secure site – for example, your bank.
Essentially, the hacker was able to use Comodo to create fake certificates for sites such as google.com and long.yahoo.com.
This hack was detected and disclosed early and its consequences were limited.
At the time, the hacker was identified as a 21-year-old Iranian national from information that he released.
The hacker wanted to impress the world with his skill, and sought to justify the hack as retaliation against what he perceived as actions by the US and Israel, in particular, in their role in the Stuxnet virus attack against an Iranian nuclear facility.
He insisted he was working alone and not, as allegations had claimed, that the attack was organised by the Iranian Government.
Comodo Hacker reprised
The Comodo hacker promised more to come, and was true to his word. Last month, the Dutch security company Fox-IT was asked to investigate the appearance of a rogue certificate for google.com online.
Although the certificate had been identified and revoked (effectively cancelled) on August 29, the hacker had compromised DigiNotar, the company responsible for issuing the certificate, during the period from June 27 to July 22.
There is evidence the google.com certificate had been used in Iran to fool users into thinking they were connecting securely to Google sites when, in fact, they were probably logging into sites controlled by the Iranian Government.
All communication, emails, usernames and passwords would have been available in unencrypted form.
The fact the certificates were being used to spy on the Iranian people was bad enough, but the problems didn’t stop there.
It turned out that DigiNotar, based in the Netherlands, was also responsible for issuing certificates for the Netherlands Government, among many other companies and organisations.
The hacker had issued 531 certificates from DigiNotar. This caused the browser manufacturers, Google, Mozilla (Firefox), Microsoft and eventually Apple to remove DigiNotar from their list of trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs) and issue patches to their software.
The Dutch Government and other DigiNotar customers will need to replace all of their DigiNotar certificates with certificates from another CA.
TurkGuvenligi breaks DNS
Another hacker (group) was, in the meantime, subverting a different piece of the internet. This hack was by someone calling himself TurkGuvenligi (The Legend) and basically involved a technique of DNS Hijacking.
The Domain Name System (DNS) is the way names such as www.google.com are translated into numbers, allowing programs to communicate with each other over the internet.
DNS Hijacking involves substituting the real address for another one.
So in the case of the TurkGuvenligi hack, sites such as Vodafone, The Register, The Telegraph and National Geographic were pointed to a website with the TurkGuvenligi name and a statement celebrating “World Hackers Day”.
The importance of the TurkGuvenligi hack is that, combined with fake SSL certificates, it means a person would have no idea they were not at the real site.
In the past, security professionals have claimed a spoofed DNS would not matter so much because, if you used a secure SSL connection, the browser would alert you to the fact that the certificate wasn’t correct.
By combining the Comodo Hacker’s exploit with that of TurkGuvenligi’s DNS attack you have a situation whereby literally anyone could fool a very large number of people into thinking there was nothing wrong.
The internet is broken
Society has increasingly come to rely on the internet for almost every aspect of life, from commerce through to health, personal expression and political dissent.
A great deal of this activity relies on being able to operate securely when needed.
When you are using your bank account, buying something online or organising a demonstration against a policy you don’t agree with, you need a secure connection to a legitimate site.
The events of the past few months have highlighted that we cannot rely on the current infrastructure to provide any sort of guarantee of a secure environment.
Solutions to fix the internet?
So, are there any alternatives to the current infrastructure that would be better?
On the SSL side, the Perspectives Project from Carnegie Mellon University has released a solution called “Convergence”.
In this scheme, instead of having a list of Certificate Authorities dictated by the browser, you can nominate people you trust (such as your local university) to validate a site that you are visiting.
The benefit of this is that you can change the list and have as many or as few “notaries” validate the site for you.
Another alternative to DNS that also helps with the SSL problem, but does not completely solve it, is DNSSEC, or Domain Name System Security Extensions, a suite specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by DNS.
This provides security extensions to DNS and attempts to resolve the underlying problems with DNS hijacking.
Unlike Convergence, DNSSEC requires governments and internet providers to implement the fix. Coordination is only beginning to happen.
Whatever the full extent of the motives of these hackers, a clear outcome is that the internet is vulnerable to exploitation by governments, terrorists, criminals, activists and lulz-seekers.
Staying safe online can certainly be helped by awareness and good security practice, but greater truths are emerging.
Your internet security increasingly comes down to the fact you weren’t in the wrong place at the wrong time.How To Use NICOclub.com’s Factory Service Manual Database
Step 1 – Select one of the following pages:
http://www.nissanservicemanual.com for Nissan
http://www.infinitiservicemanual.com for Infiniti
http://www.datsunservicemanual.com for Datsun.
This will bring up a listing of all the Factory Service Manuals (also known as FSM) that are hosted at NICOclub.
Note – If you already know which vehicle you are looking for, in most cases, you can type that directly into the address bar as well (for example, for 240sx, you can type www.NICOclub.com/fsm240sx.
For general Factory Service Manuals (such as for US spec vehicles), simply click on the year you are looking for. This will show all the “chapters” of the FSM for that year.
Always click on the “FWD” section first. This is sort of the table of contents for every FSM.
From here you can see which chapter you are interested in (like engine mechanical, etc) and see what Nissan names the file (EM for engine mechanical). Once you determine that, simply click “back” to get back to the chapter index from the previous step, and then click on that specific chapter (EM in this example).
That’s it! You can use this for any vehicle that is hosted on the ever-expanding NICOclub network. Also, don’t be afraid to pop in on the correct forum and ask questions – There’s tons of great information and people eager to help!Wangari Maathai has planted her last tree, but she will never stop cultivating inspiration in the hearts of all who care about justice for the earth and its people. Sunday night, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize died at the age of 71.
Long before the environmental movement took hold, Wangari Maathai was planting trees. As a child in rural Kenya, she watched forests being cleared to make way for huge plantations. Early on she understood the role of these forests in preserving biodiversity and conserving water. She saw that loss of clean water and firewood for cooking and heating was having a devastating impact on families. So in 1977, she started the Green Belt Movement. The idea was simple: plant trees.
Hundreds of thousands of women and men planted 47 million trees. They restored damaged environments and lifted families from poverty. The movement grew to become a major force for peace and democracy. In its tribute to her, the Green Belt Movement’s site stresses, “The planting of trees became an entry-point for a larger social, economic, and environmental agenda.”
In a 2006 speech (video below) in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, Wangari Maathai said, “We started recognizing that the government, or those who were in power, instead of being custodians of these resources and managing these resources responsibly, instead of promoting equity and justice, they were very busy acquiring wealth themselves. They were practicing corruption. They were greedy. They were not responsible.”
Even the Smallest Can Play a Role
The Green Belt Movement became part of the pro-democracy movement calling for more responsible government. Professor Maathai and her staff were jailed, harassed and intimidated because, as she said, “those who were in power did not want to be exposed and did not want to be called into account.”
The fierce campaigner for justice never backed down. She was elected to Parliament in 2002 and became Deputy Minister for the Environment in 2003. When violence erupted after the 2007 Kenyan elections, Professor Maathai helped to mediate peace. She and the Green Belt Movement played a role in making sure the health of the environment was included in the new constitution.
Wangari Maathai was also a tireless worker on the global stage, working for peace, justice and equity. As her stature grew, she never lost sight of what one person can do to change the world. For the animated movie Dirt! she told the story of the hummingbird.
When fire breaks out in a huge forest, all the animals flee, except the hummingbird. The little bird flies back and forth, its beak filled with water. The other animals are terrified into inaction. When they ask what the hummingbird can possibly do with its small beak, the little bird answers, “I am doing the best I can.”
Professor Maathai adds, “I certainly don’t want to be like the animals watching as the planet goes down the drain. I will be a hummingbird. I will do the best I can.”
Related Care2 Stories
How the Green Belt Movement in Kenya Fights Climate Change
Planting Trees for Women and the Planet: Wangari Maathai
Photo from e pants via Flickr Creative CommonsMedia playback is not supported on this device Final whistle joy at Bradford after Villa win
Bradford goalkeeper Matt Duke said the 3-1 win over Aston Villa in the League Cup semi-final first leg felt "unreal".
The 35-year-old pulled off a string of saves as the League Two side recorded a famous victory at Valley Parade.
Media playback is not supported on this device Villa still favourites - Parkinson
"It is unreal. I can't believe we beat them. We thought we could get something but a 3-1 lead is fantastic," he said.
Bradford are seeking to become the first team from the fourth tier of English football to reach the final of the League Cup since Rochdale in 1962.
The Bantams, who beat Premier League Wigan and Arsenal on their way to the semi-finals, took an early lead through striker Nahki Wells.
Second-half headers from centre-halves Rory McArdle and Carl McHugh, either side of Andreas Weimann's goal for the visitors, gave Bradford a two-goal cushion to take to Villa Park.
Manager Phil Parkinson said: "We're absolutely delighted with the way we played, obviously, because from the first minute to the last the lads were tremendous.
"But equally we know we're only halfway there, we've got a very difficult job in a fortnight's time."
Analysis "Gary Jones led by example in the middle of the park and goalkeeper Matt Duke was magnificent. They have all been terrific to beat a Premier League side. It was an unbelievable tie - one of the best I have ever seen. I still make Villa slight favourites though because they have the quality and Bradford could be nervous. Can you say Villa have been embarrassed tonight? I'm not sure you can, given that Bradford have played so well, but it will be very difficult for Paul Lambert to raise his players for the second leg."
He said his team had played better than they had in their quarter-final win over Arsenal.
"Against Arsenal it was a great night for us but I think the all-round performance tonight was better," he said. "Villa played a very attacking team and we had to defend well, and equally they left a lot of space on the pitch for us to play.
"Our quality players had to stay composed on the ball and they certainly did that."
Duke says a bright start in the return game in a fortnight will be key to their chances of reaching the final.
"We need to get a good start down there and get their fans on their backs," he added.
"They'll have tremendous support and we have to do what we did here tonight, but better.
"The main thing is we can't go there and be complacent because if we are then we will be punished. We haven't achieved anything yet."
Media playback is not supported on this device Lambert critical of Villa defending
On his own performance, the former Burton and Hull man added: "It was one of those nights where you fancy yourself to make some saves.
"I think it's up amongst my best games. I've played a lot of standards from Sunday league finals upwards and I'm just thankful that tonight was one of those nights where you are able to make saves.
"I have to give credit to the lads in front of me because they were brilliant too."The Department of Justice is cleaning house, and it’s fantastic.
Inspector General for the Justice Department Michael Horowitz has announced he will be investigating, among other things, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Peter Kadzik’s involvement in helping the Clinton campaign.
In a statement Thursday, he said that the department’s investigation would include “(a)llegations that the Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs improperly disclosed non-public information to the Clinton campaign and/or should have been recused from participating in certain matters.”
If anyone thinks Kadzik should not have been recused from being involved in certain matters, they should take a closer look at the relationship between him and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who is a close friend.
The statement went on to say that also investigated will be “(a)llegations that Department or FBI policies or procedures were not followed in connection with, or in actions leading up to or related to, the FBI Director’s public announcement on July 5, 2016, and the Director’s letters to Congress on October 28 and November 6, 2016, and that certain underlying investigative decisions were based on improper considerations.”
Horowitz will also investigate “(a)llegations that the FBI Deputy Director should have been recused from participating in certain investigative matters.”
There also may have been issues with information that should not have been disseminated to the public. In fact, there are many Democrats who place the blame for former Senator Hillary Clinton’s November election loss on FBI Director James Comey.
If the DOJ is looking to tighten down this hard, it likely means two things:
First, a new sheriff is in town, and folks know President-elect Donald Trump isn’t going to let things go so easily.
Second, the outcry for investigation and (hopefully) justice is too great to be ignored.
Like us on Facebook – USA Liberty News This could be huge! Please share this on Facebook and twitter and let us know what you think about this amazing turn of events.
What do you think the result of this investigation will be? Scroll down to comment below!
Source: conservativetribune.com
H/T BreitbartIt’s that time of the year, ladies and gentleman, when we take a step back, ponder the year gone by, and compile ‘Best of’ lists. To start you off, here are some of the most notable Android applications launched in 2015.
PhotoMath
Apps that solve math equations are nothing new. WolframAlpha has been around for a while and can be used to solve some complex equations. But if you’ve ever tried an app like that, you’ll know that typing math equations out is almost as irksome as solving them.
PhotoMath makes it possible to get the solution to an equation by simply taking a picture of it with your phone. We’re not just talking simple operations here; the app supports more advanced math like inequalities and quadratic equations. And to avoid having to contrive an excuse for how you arrived at the solution to a problem without the requisite procedure, PhotoMath even shows you the steps to get to the solution.
The app rocketed to the top of the Play Store as soon as it was launched, proving that solving problems (sometimes literally) is the way to create a successful app.
Makerbot Mobile
3D printing and mobile are two technologies that are shaping our futures in indelible ways. So when Makerbot combined the two with its iOS application, it was an important step forward for both.
Makerbot finally brought its mobile application to Android this year, making it possible to operate and monitor your 3D printer from the comfort of your smartphone. The app works in conjunction with Makerbot’s other mobile tool Thingiverse, a platform where users can make and share designs of 3D-printable objects.
Users can access designs from the community on Thingiverse or upload their own design to the Makerbot app. Once scaling and other adjustments have been made, you can send it to the printer to initiate the printing process. Users can monitor progress through the camera on the printer and pause and resume printing through the app.
By itself the app is for the niche market of Makerbot owners, but it is an important step towards making 3D printing more mobile-friendly and more widely accessible.
Mirrativ
2015 has been the year of the live-streaming app with Periscope and Meerkat leading the pack in terms of user numbers. However, there were other more innovative takes on live-streaming that didn’t get quite as much attention.
Mirrative, from Japanese gaming company DeNa, offers a novel twist on conventional live-streaming. The app makes it possible for users to livestream their phone screen (the app is positioned primarily for Game streaming) along with whatever is on the front-facing camera, which is most likely your mug. So far there hasn’t quite been an equivalent to Twitch on mobile. Mirrative might just be that alternative on Android.
Hyperlapse
When Instagram’s Hyperlapse app came out, people went gaga over it. Wired went so far as to call it the equivalent of having $15,000 worth of video equipment in your phone. But we’re talking about Hyperlapse by Microsoft, not Instagram. Why?
Because although many didn’t think it was possible, Microsoft did it better.
Microsoft even made this post going into the nuances of why its timelapse technology is better than the one Instragram uses.
Hyperlapse has just two buttons on its home screen: one to import video and the other to record video. Once you’re done either importing or recording a video, you choose at what speed you want to play the video (between 2 times and 32 times faster than normal), and then you just sit back and let the app take over. You’re not going to see it being used on movie sets, but Hyperlapse is a fun app that makes the technique simple to pull of on a smartphone.
Inbox by Gmail
Yes, an email client — because when it seemed like we’d reached the final form of mobile email, the folks at Gmail came up with Inbox, an innovative, slightly unconventional take on the whole thing.
The Inbox features can be hard to wrap your head around if you keep trying to understand them terms of the traditional elements used in Gmail. But it’s the things that make Inbox initially confusing that also make it the most efficient way to wrangle email. This is similar to how Android casino app works when playing slot machine on and android phone using slot machine android app.
After making it available to everybody in May of this year, Google has been at work constantly making Inbox more efficient. Most recently, they came out with the Smart Reply feature which parses the contents of messages and starts you off on a reply to each one. Features such as that make Inbox so good at making email a less cumbersome chore (and its clutter-reduction is excellent as well).
So there you have it folks – some of the best the Android Play Store had to offer in 2015. See you in 2016, possibly with a list full of virtual reality and IoT apps.About This Game
Full game of 10 pin bowling
12 hole pirate themed outdoor minigolf, set on a tropical beach and inside a pirate cave
Escape Room Experience – ever wanted to feel trapped and required to discover a way to escape your enclosure in which you are stuck inside? If not, give it a try anyways. A short escape room experience.
Shooting basketball arcade game
Skee-Ball game
Drum set - A working drum set. Grab the drum sticks and make some noise! Or play along with songs from the jukebox.
Guitar – strum a couple random chords on a guitar like a real rockstar (that's how the pros all play right?)
Piano - playable grand piano by the stage in the arcade area. You can only play the piano with two fingers though. Chopsticks anyone?
VR Arcade with two VR mini games –
1. Space Pong VR. play a futuristic VR racquetball type game by putting on the VR-arcade's VR headset while already in VR (VR-ception?).
2. Case of the Parlagog. A storylined, futuristic steampunk styled, detective investigation, suspenseful, escape the room type game. This new VR in VR game has about 45-60 minutes of gameplay.
1. Space Pong VR. play a futuristic VR racquetball type game by putting on the VR-arcade's VR headset while already in VR (VR-ception?). 2. Case of the Parlagog. A storylined, futuristic steampunk styled, detective investigation, suspenseful, escape the room type game. This new VR in VR game has about 45-60 minutes of gameplay. Whiteboard – use your mad art skills in VR by grabbing the markers and going crazy on the white board.
Jukebox with many songs – don’t like what’s playing go ahead and change the song yourself. Don’t like any of the choices? Go ahead and shut it off entirely.
Have a therapeutic relaxing time by chilling on the beach listening to the ocean waves hit up against the sandy beach all while hitting golf balls into the tropical blue waters.
Go into the ocean, beneath the waves, to see the tropical life swimming around you.
Play around with objects just as you would in real life. Most everything that would be interactable in real life is interactable in this game.
Grab the fire extinguisher and blast it around
Use the restroom! Don’t forget to wash and dry your hands
Turn off the lights – just because you can
Grab a free soda from the vending machine, then proceed to build a giant tower with them and then knock it over with a bowling ball
Many other things to interact with, grab and throw around. Just like we all |
be active, exercise and live a healthy lifestyle. But that is not how Crow experiences the show.
“I don’t actually see Lazy Town as a health show. I see it more as a slice of life of these characters in this crazy town,” he says. “The health stuff is always more in the background, but I’m note sure if it was supposed to be the other way around.”
Not a brony
An obvious comparison to make with Crow’s Lazy Town love is the Brony movement—the adult fans of My Little Pony. The group came to public prominence following the 2012 documentary “Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony”. With annual Brony conventions being held in the US. But Crow does not like that comparison, as he was there first.
“I guess there are similarities. I’ve never watched My Little Pony, but I assume it’s a pretty high quality show in terms of writing and animation,” he says. “I understand the comparison, but I don’t like it. And for the record, I was around way before Bronies, so I’m a little bit of a hipster.”
The reactions of strangers
Crow comes across as an incredibly affable and nice guy, but it is probably understandable that some people might have questions about a man in his twenties being this passionate about a show intended for children. But he has a very “fuck it” sort of attitude towards other people’s ideas.
“I’m not shy about it, but I usually don’t go too deep into how far my passion actually goes,” he says. “I guess I don’t know what people are internally thinking. Whether they are going: “What’s with this guy? Is he a creep?” It doesn’t really matter–I don’t care what they believe. But I think most people are really interested or happy to hear that there is something that I’m this passionate about—that something matters to me.”
Creating his own fan content
Through his love for Lazy Town, Crow became good friends with Máni Svavarsson, who composed the music for the show. When in Iceland he stays with Máni and the main reason for his current visit is to record an unofficial Lazy Town song—entitled Lazy Town Forever–with the composer.
“We have actress Chloe lang, who portrayed Stephanie in seasons 3-4 doing vocals, so despite it being unofficial it is totally legit.”
Another part for his stay is searching for long lost Lazy Town treasures in the flee markets of Reykjavík. He is a large collector of everything Lazy and recently dug up some valuables in Kolaportið.
“There were two things I really wanted that I’ve been unable to find, which is ok,” he says. “But I found a lot of other great things. For example I found a cookbook from 2001—I haven’t seen anyone else who owns that–and it cost me just $10 (1000 króna), I mean that is something else.”
Crow claims that it is hard to find Lazy Town paraphernalia online, so he would really appreciate all the help he can get. So reach out to the Grapevine if you have some good stuff.
A comeback would mean everything
To the horror of Crow and other Lazy Town fans around the world, the show was cancelled in 2014. As of yet, there are no plans to revive the show, but he is not shy about how important a revival would mean to him.
“A lot of my life revolves around Lazy Town, as silly as that may sound. So it coming back would be a new chapter in my life,” he says. “I would have all this new stuff to analyse. Think about how I really like this line or that song. I think it’s foolish of the property holders not to bring it back as a cartoon. Maybe it should always have been a cartoon.”
We sure hope that the property holders stop being lazy and grant Crow his wish.The ban is scheduled to take effect at the end of June next year. Mr Ramsay, on Friday, said the Transition Support Packages would include counselling, training opportunities, financial and career guidance, and interest-free loans. Those eligible for support include residents active and registered as breeders or owners of racing greyhounds, ACT employees of the Canberra Greyhound Racing Club, contractors, and businesses and their employees who provide racing-related services to the club. Mr Ramsay said greyhound racing was not in line with Canberra's community values and the proposed ban had broad community support. This support includes providing assistance to those affected with $1 million in transition funding made available," Minister Ramsay said.
"We acknowledge that a small number people and businesses will be impacted and we want them to come forward and take up this support." "The needs of each applicant will be considered on an individual basis and together we will develop a package that addresses their specific circumstances." But Mr Watt criticised the package, saying it had been compiled without consultation with those it claimed to aid and was a "failed policy". He said there had been no change in the industry's policy position in opposing the ban - which it planned to fight in court - and it would not accept any transition plan. "The club won't be transitioning and we'll see the government in court," Mr Watt said.
Mr Watt said he could not comment further due to the legal action. Mr Ramsay said the ban was an animal welfare initiative and the government had taken the hard action to "ensure that the documented and acknowledged failures in NSW cannot happen in the ACT". He said the needs of animals currently involved in racing would also be paramount. "The safety and welfare of greyhounds in the transition process will be central. "We will monitor the rehoming of greyhounds over the next two years and consider support to rehoming groups if capacity issues arise."
Applications for Greyhound Industry Transition Support Packages will open next month via the Greyhound Industry Transition Taskforce website. Updates from the Taskforce can be found at www.act.gov.au/greyhoundtaskforce.The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) will pour an additional $32 million in funding into the countrys solar industry in an effort to bring further maturation and expertise to the sector.
The funding program will see up to $12 million spent on developing the U.S. solar support workforce, including training professionals within the real estate and the utility industries on the benefits of solar.
This is part of President Obamas Solar Ready Vets initiative, which includes the goal of training 75,000 solar workers by 2020.
There will also be $5 million spent on improving market transparency and access to key energy datasets concerning solar energy, including financial performance information and electricity production figures. The intention is to enable existing solar databases across the U.S. PV network to interact in a more efficient way.
A further $15 million will go into the U.S.s concentrating solar power (CSP) industry, chiefly on creating new and more efficient designs for CSP collectors.
To ensure the continued growth of the U.S. solar industry and our clean energy economy, it is critical that we support workforce training programs that will give American workers the skills they need for well-paying jobs and also make sure American consumers have access to highly trained, credentialed professionals when they choose solar to power their daily lives, said DoE deputy secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
Yesterday, a report from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) revealed that the U.S. added just 50 MW of new large-scale solar PV projects in April, spread across just six individual projects. These figures, however, do not take into account the great strides made each month in the U.S. residential and commercial PV sectors.Turkey does not anticipate gas, power price hikes in 2017 despite cost increases: Minister
ISTANBUL
AA photo
Turkey does not anticipate electricity and gas price hikes in 2017 despite recent cost increases, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said on Jan. 6, adding that Iranian gas flows were continuing but below full capacity after a technical problem occurred in December.In an interview with private broadcaster A Haber, Albayrak said Turkey had taken necessary steps in the last two days to increase security around critical power and natural gas infrastructures after recent power cuts.“We have seen a rise in both gas and oil costs in recent months. Besides that, the authorities making their sales based on the Turkish Lira have faced extra increases in their costs due to hikes in foreign exchange rates. In spite of these factors, we do not foresee any hikes in electricity or gas prices in 2017,” he said.Albayrak confirmed that gas flows from Iran were continuing, but in smaller amounts, after a cut in December due to technical problems.Asked about a question regarding recent power cuts mainly in the industrial production hubs of Turkey, including Istanbul, he said that there were no big problems posed.“There are no serious problems with the main electricity transmission lines delivered to Istanbul... Some four of the damaged seven main lines are online now,” he added.Albayrak, however, said that underground cables were cut on Dec. 31.“We have launched the judicial process about this by contacting the prosecutor’s office,” he added.Although authorities announced there would not be further power cuts, electricity blackouts carried on in Istanbul on Jan. 2 and 3.Bedaş, which is responsible for distributing electricity to the European side of Istanbul, said on Jan. 5 that some 1,300 employees would be on duty to prevent blackouts over the weekend, when heavy snowfall is expected.Meanwhile, the Organized Industrial Zone in the Marmara province of Kocaeli was also affected by power outages. A number of factories and workplaces suspended their works in the province’s Gebze and Dilovası districts on Jan. 2, and sent their employees home, Doğan News Agency has reported.The Turkish Automotive Parts Industry Association (TAYSAD) announced that the country’s automotive industry had incurred losses worth almost 300 million euros due to the latest power outages.UPDATE: The Senate unveiled its full tax plan late Thursday night. Vox’s Dylan Matthews explained the proposal here.
The Senate has a tax reform plan — sort of.
On Thursday, as House Republicans continue to debate their tax reform bill in committee, top Senate Republicans briefed the GOP conference on their own plans for tax reform: a proposal that briefly delays corporate tax rate, completely eliminates the state and local tax deduction, and implements full and immediate expensing on company investments.
Based on conversations with senators in the hallways of Congress after their briefing, we are seeing the broad contours of a tax reform plan that looks substantially different from what the House has proposed, signaling some major obstacles to come between chambers. The House is scheduled to vote next week.
But this is only the opening bid from the Senate — and leadership has indicated it’s open to negotiation.
“There are two or three things in [this proposal] I hate, but I think they have done a good job at focusing on the single three-word goal of raising family income,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) told reporters.
Senate rules dictates the tax bill can only increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion in the first 10 years and cannot affect it after that. That rule has already posed a major math problem for Republicans in the House, who are unified in their goal to cut taxes across the board but have faced deep internal disagreement on how to offset those cuts with changes to deductions, loopholes, and credits elsewhere.
It’s not clear how that debate will unfold in the Senate.
Republicans, frantically hoping to pass tax reform by Christmas — for fear that their first year controlling both Congress and the White House will come to an end with no major legislative victories — have spent months debating behind closed doors and avoiding the tough decisions.
There’s no legislative text yet in the upper chamber, and Senate leaders have said there won’t be until the House wraps up debate on their bill. That means the conversation is still conceptual. Here’s what we know — and don’t know:
What we know about the Senate’s tax bill
Senators detailed some of the major provisions of their forthcoming tax plan, and a more detailed outline was released later Thursday.
The working Senate draft would:
Cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. But the cut would take effect in 2019, not 2018, as it would in the House bill. President Donald Trump supports cutting the corporate rate in 2018.
Keep seven tax brackets for individual income taxes. The House bill had reduced it to four brackets.
Lower the top individual tax rate from 39.6 percent to 38.6 percent.
Nearly double the standard deduction for individual taxpayers, as the House bill does.
Repeal the alternative minimum tax, which increases taxes for certain affluent or upper-middle-class households, as the House bill did.
Doubles the exemption for estate taxes, up to more than $10 million, but does not fully repeal the tax on inheritances as the House bill eventually would.
Fully repeal the deduction for state and local taxes. The House bill would have kept a deduction for property, but not income, taxes.
Keep the cap for home mortgage deductions at $1 million. The House bill lowered the cap to $500,000.
Keep the adoption tax credit, which the House bill originally eliminated but later restored.
Keep the medical expense deduction, which the House bill eliminated.
Expand the child tax credit and creates a more refundable tax credit than the House bill did.
Instead of having companies “depreciate” investments by deducting them over several years, companies would be able immediately expense all their investments.
The current Senate draft notably does not repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate. However, conservatives are still pushing for the mandate’s repeal to be added to the upper chamber’s plan.
Repealing the mandate would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 13 million over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But it would also save the federal government $338 billion over the same period because fewer people would be enrolled in Medicaid and in private coverage on the health care law’s marketplaces.
“I believe we should use this opportunity to repeal the individual mandate and we should use the revenues... to lower rates for hardworking Americans across the board,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told reporters after being briefed on the plan.
What we don’t know
But major features of the Senate bill remain opaque.
We don’t know how much Republicans will adjust the income ranges in these seven tax brackets, though they do promise a “reformed rate structure.”
The Senate will be changing the House’s 70/30 rule for pass-through businesses, owner-operated businesses whose profits are taxed as individual income, according to Sen. Rob Portman — but it’s not clear how. Under the House bill, pass-throughs can choose to have 70 percent of their income taxed at the top individual rate and 30 percent taxed under the new 25 percent small business rate.
Nor do we know how much will it increase the federal deficit. Under the Senate’s budget rules, the legislation can only increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years and can’t increase the deficit at all after that. Delaying the corporate tax cut and fully repealing SALT, will definitely give the Senate more wiggle room to retain or boost other deductions and credits.
Whatever the official deficit number, though, Republicans continue to argue the tax cuts will pay for themselves.
“I think this tax bill is going to reduce the size of our deficits going forward,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), one of the primary architects of the plan, told reporters.
But there is also a broad expectation that neither the House bill that is heading for the floor next week nor the Senate bill detailed Thursday will be the final product. Both chambers are already talking about working their issues out in a conference committee in the coming weeks and months.If you've caught a train in Perth in recent years, you've probably heard the dulcet tones of Miranda Miller.
As one of the voice over artists hired to deliver the friendly, pre-recorded information and instructions along the train lines, Mrs Miller said she was often a talking point at parties.
Miranda Miller was hired to voice the announcement shortly before the Mandurah train line opened.
"They were looking for a new female voice when they opened the train line to Mandurah and [a colleague] put my name forward," she told 6PR.
"The first session, I think, was two or three hours. I was just rolling out all of these different names and different variations, then I'd get called back in every now and then to do some more.The country's family planning programme must prioritise reversible methods of contraception instead of permanent methods practiced at present, said Frederika Meijer, representative of the United Nations Population Fund in India.
Speaking at the two-day world congress on population stabilisation, that began here on Saturday, Meijer said: “In India, the unmet need for family planning is around 28 million which accounts for over 10 per cent of the global unmet need.” “If we fulfil the unmet need, there would be 21 million less unintended births. Access to family planning will save the lives of thousands of women and 1.1 million new born lives,” she said.
“The impact of universal access to family planning can be dramatic. The fact that India has the largest youth population (between 10 to 24 years old) of 358 million, highlights the urgent need to fulfil their reproductive health needs. Right now, the largest ever youth population is entering reproductive years. In a few years, 55 per cent, that is 112 million women will be in their reproductive age,” she pointed out. “Over half of the young girls were married before the age of 18. One in six teenagers become a mother,” Meijer said.Le Courtisan suivant le Dernier Édit by by Abraham Bosse – a French courtier casting aside lace, ribbons and slashed sleeves in favor of sober dress in accordance with the Edict of 1633.
Sumptuary laws (from Latin sumptuāriae lēgēs) are laws that attempt to regulate consumption; Black's Law Dictionary defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expenditures in the matter of apparel, food, furniture, etc."[1] Historically, they were laws that were intended to regulate and reinforce social hierarchies and morals through restrictions, often depending upon a person's social rank, on their permitted clothing, food, and luxury expenditures.
Societies have used sumptuary laws for a variety of purposes. They were used as an attempt to regulate the balance of trade by limiting the market for expensive imported goods. They made it easy to identify social rank and privilege, and as such could be used for social discrimination.[2]
The laws frequently prevented commoners from imitating the appearance of aristocrats and also could be used to stigmatize disfavored groups. In the Late Middle Ages, sumptuary laws in medieval cities were instituted as a way for the nobility to cap or limit the conspicuous consumption of the prosperous bourgeoisie. If bourgeois subjects appeared to be as wealthy or wealthier than the ruling nobility, it could undermine the nobility's presentation of themselves as powerful, legitimate rulers. This could call into question their ability to control and defend their fief, and inspire potential traitors and rebels. Such laws continued to be used for these purposes well into the 17th century.[2]
Classical world [ edit ]
Ancient Greece [ edit ]
The first written Greek law code (Locrian code), by Zaleucus in the 7th century BC, stipulated that:
A free-born woman may not be accompanied by more than one female slave, unless she is drunk; she may not leave the city during the night, unless she is planning to commit adultery; she may not wear gold jewelry or a garment with a purple border, unless she is a courtesan; and a husband may not wear a gold-studded ring or a cloak of Milesian fashion unless he is bent upon prostitution or adultery.[3]
It also banned the drinking of undiluted wine except for medical purposes.[4].
Ancient Rome [ edit ]
The Sumptuariae Leges of ancient Rome were various laws passed to prevent inordinate expense (Latin sūmptus) in banquets and dress, such as the use of expensive Tyrian purple dye.[5][6] In the early years of the Empire, men were forbidden to wear silk.
It was considered the duty of government to put a check upon extravagance in personal expenditure,[7] and such restrictions are found in laws attributed to the kings of Rome and in the Twelve Tables. The Roman censors, who were entrusted with the disciplina or cura morum, published the nota censoria. In it were listed the names of everyone found guilty of a luxurious mode of living; a great many instances of this kind are recorded. As the Roman Republic wore on, further such laws were passed; however, towards the end of the Republic, they were virtually repealed. Any such laws which may have still existed were ignored during the period of profligate luxury characterizing the height of the Roman Empire, except the laws regarding the wearing of Tyrian purple.[8]
Only the Roman Emperor could wear the symbol of his office, a Tyrian purple cape trimmed in golden thread, and Roman senators were the only ones who could wear the badge of their office, a Tyrian purple stripe on their toga. During the height of the Empire, expenditure on silk imported from Sinica was so high that Imperial advisers warned that Roman silver reserves were becoming exhausted.[citation needed]
Asia [ edit ]
China [ edit ]
Sumptuary laws existed in China in one form or another from the Qin dynasty onwards (221 BC). The Confucian virtue of restraint was embodied in the scholarly system central to China's bureaucracy and became encoded in its laws.[9]
Some laws concerned the size and decoration of graves and mausoleums. The founder of the Ming dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor, issued such regulations in the first year of his rule (1368) and tightened them in 1396, allowing only the highest nobility and officials of the top three ranks a memorial stele installed on top of a stone tortoise; the steles of lower-level mandarins were perched on rectangular pedestals, while commoners had to be satisfied with a simple gravestone. The location of graves, and the number of attendant statues depended on rank.[10]
After circa 1550, sumptuary law in China was reformed. It had long been ineffective.[11] The consumption of luxuries had risen over the previous several centuries, and at the time of the European Industrial revolution, Chinese consumption of luxuries such as tea, sugar, fine silk, tobacco and eating utensils was on a par with core regions in Europe.[11]
Japan under the shōguns [ edit ]
According to Britannica Online, "In feudal Japan sumptuary laws were passed with a frequency and minuteness of scope that had no parallel in the history of the Western world."[12] During the Tokugawa period (1603–1868) in Japan, people of every class were subject to strict sumptuary laws that included regulation of the types of clothing that could be worn. In the second half of that period (the 18th and 19th centuries), the merchant class (chōnin) had grown far wealthier than the aristocratic samurai, and these laws sought to maintain the superiority of the samurai class despite the ability of the merchants to wear far more luxurious clothing and to own far more luxurious items. The shogunate eventually gave in and allowed certain concessions, including allowing merchants of a certain prestige to wear a single sword at their belt; samurai were required to wear a matched pair when on official duty.[13]
Islamic world [ edit ]
Islamic sumptuary laws are based upon teachings found in the Quran and Hadith. Males are exhorted not to wear silk clothes, nor have jewelry made of gold. Likewise, wearing clothes or robes that drag on the ground, seen as a sign of vanity and excessive pride, are also forbidden. These rules do not apply to women, who are allowed all this.
Prohibition of depictions of human and animal figures in general are similar to those of the Quranic prohibition on graven images. Hadiths do allow the depiction of animals on clothing items.[14]
Medieval and Renaissance Europe [ edit ]
Sumptuary laws issued by secular authorities aimed at keeping the main population dressed according to their "station" do not begin until the later 13th century.[15] These laws were addressed to the entire social body, but the brunt of regulation was directed at women and the middle classes. Their curbing of display was ordinarily couched in religious and moralizing vocabulary, yet was affected by social and economic considerations aimed at preventing ruinous expenses among the wealthy classes and the drain of capital reserves to foreign suppliers.[16]
Courtesans [ edit ]
Special forms of dress for prostitutes and courtesans were introduced in the 13th century: in Marseilles a striped cloak, in England a striped hood, and so on. Over time, these tended to be reduced to distinctive bands of fabric attached to the arm or shoulder, or tassels on the arm. Later restrictions specified various forms of finery that were forbidden, although there was also sometimes a recognition that finery represented working equipment (and capital) for a prostitute, and they could be exempted from laws applying to other non-noble women. By the 15th century, no compulsory clothing seems to have been imposed on prostitutes in Florence, Venice (the European capital of courtesans) or Paris.[17]
England [ edit ]
In England, which in this respect was typical of Europe, from the reign of Edward III in the Middle Ages until well into the 17th century,[2] sumptuary laws dictated what colour and type of clothing, furs, fabrics, and trims were allowed to persons of various ranks or incomes. In the case of clothing, this was intended, amongst other reasons, to reduce spending on foreign textiles and to ensure that people did not dress "above their station":
The excess of apparel and the superfluity of unnecessary foreign wares thereto belonging now of late years is grown by sufferance to such an extremity that the manifest decay of the whole realm generally is like to follow (by bringing into the realm such superfluities of silks, cloths of gold, silver, and other most vain devices of so great cost for the quantity thereof as of necessity the moneys and treasure of the realm is and must be yearly conveyed out of the same to answer the said excess) but also particularly the wasting and undoing of a great number of young gentlemen, otherwise serviceable, and others seeking by show of apparel to be esteemed as gentlemen, who, allured by the vain show of those things, do not only consume themselves, their goods, and lands which their parents left unto them, but also run into such debts and shifts as they cannot live out of danger of laws without attempting unlawful acts, whereby they are not any ways serviceable to their country as otherwise they might be Statute issued at Greenwich, 15 June 1574, by order of Elizabeth I[18]
A 1571 Act of Parliament to stimulate domestic wool consumption and general trade decreed that on Sundays and holidays all males over six years of age, except for the nobility and persons of degree, were to wear woollen caps on pain of a fine of three farthings (¾ penny) per day.[19][20] This law instituted the flat cap as part of English wear. The 1571 act was repealed in 1597.[21]
An extremely long list of items, specifying colour, materials, and sometimes place of manufacture (imported goods being much more tightly restricted) followed for each sex, with equally specific exceptions by rank of nobility or position held. For the most part, these laws seem to have had little effect, though the Parliament of England made repeated amendments to the laws,[22] and several monarchs (most notably the Tudors) continually called for stricter enforcement, especially at Court "to the intent there may be a difference of estates known by their apparel after the commendable custom in times past."[23]
Italy [ edit ]
During the Medieval and Renaissance area in Italy, various towns passed sumptuary laws (leggi suntuarie) often in response to particular events or movements. For example, San Bernardino da Siena, in his public sermons in Siena, thundered against the vanity of luxurious dress; this, however, was counterbalanced by the economic benefit that Siena derived as a manufacturer of items, including clothes, of luxury.[24] One source describes these type of laws as constantly published, and generally ignored. These laws, mostly aimed at female apparel, became sometimes a source of revenue for the state: the Florentine laws of 1415 restricted the luxury that could be worn by women, but exempted those willing to pay 50 florins a year.[25] The laws were often quite specific. Low necklines were prohibited in Genoa, Milan, and Rome in the early 16th century,[26] and laws restricting zibellini (sable furs carried as fashion accessories) with heads and feet of precious metals and jewels were issued in Bologna in 1545 and Milan in 1565.[27]
France [ edit ]
Montaigne's brief essay "On sumptuary laws" criticized 16th-century French laws, beginning:
The way by which our laws attempt to regulate idle and vain expenses in meat and clothes, seems to be quite contrary to the end designed... For to enact that none but princes shall eat turbot, shall wear velvet or gold lace, and interdict these things to the people, what is it but to bring them into a greater esteem, and to set every one more agog to eat and wear them?
He also cites Plato and Zaleucus.
Early modern era [ edit ]
In the early modern period, sumptuary laws continued to be used to support native textile industries in the face of imports. Prohibitions continued to be tied to rank and income and continued to be widely ignored.
France [ edit ]
In 1629 and 1633, Louis XIII of France issued edicts regulating "Superfluity of Dress" that prohibited anyone but princes and the nobility from wearing gold embroidery or caps, shirts, collars and cuffs embroidered with metallic threads or lace,[28] and puffs, slashes, and bunches of ribbon were severely restricted. As with other such laws, these were widely disregarded and laxly enforced. A series of popular engravings by Abraham Bosse depicts the supposed effects of this law.[29]
Colonial America [ edit ]
In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, only people with a personal fortune of at least two hundred pounds could wear lace, silver or gold thread or buttons, cutwork, embroidery, hatbands, belts, ruffles, capes, and other articles. After a few decades, the law was being widely defied.[30][31]
Modern era [ edit ]
While there are rarely restrictions on the type or quality of clothing, beyond maintenance of public decency (covering parts of the body, depending upon the jurisdiction; not exhibiting unacceptable wording or images), it is widely forbidden to wear certain types of clothing restricted to specific occupations, specifically the uniforms of organisations such as police and the military.
In some jurisdictions clothing or other visible signs of religious or political opinion (e.g. Nazi imagery in Germany) are forbidden in certain public places.[32][33][34][35]
Many American states in the 20th century prohibited the wearing of KKK hoods, masks, masquerade, or drag; gay men in New York City seized on the exemption for masquerade balls in the 1920s to 1930s to go in drag.[36]
Proscription or requirement of native dress [ edit ]
Sumptuary laws have also been used to control populations by prohibiting the wearing of native dress and hairstyles, along with the proscription of other cultural customs. Sir John Perrot, Lord Deputy of Ireland under Elizabeth I, banned the wearing of traditional woollen mantles, "open smocks" with "great sleeves", and native headdresses, requiring the people to dress in "civil garments" in the English style.[37]
In a similar manner, the Dress Act of 1746, part of the Act of Proscription issued under King George II of Great Britain following the Jacobite risings, made wearing Scottish Highland dress including tartans and kilts illegal in Scotland for anyone not in the British military. The Act was repealed in 1782, having been largely successful, and a few decades later, "romantic" Highland dress was enthusiastically adopted by George IV on a Walter Scott-inspired visit to Scotland in 1822.[38]
In Bhutan, the wearing of traditional dress (which also has an ethnic connotation) in certain places, such as when visiting government offices, was made compulsory in 1989 under the driglam namzha laws.[39] Part of the traditional dress includes the kabney, a long scarf whose coloring is regulated. Only the King of Bhutan and Chief Abbot may don the saffron scarf, with various other colors reserved for government and religious officers, and white available for common people.
Pejorative uses of the term sumptuary law [ edit ]
The term sumptuary law has been used as a pejorative term to describe any governmental control of consumption, whether based on moral, religious, health, or public safety concerns. American Judge Thomas M. Cooley generally described their modern form as laws that "substitute the legislative judgment for that of the proprietor, regarding the manner in which he should use and employ his property."[40] Policies to which the term has been critically applied include alcohol prohibition,[41] drug prohibition,[42] smoking bans,[43][44][45][46] and restrictions on dog fighting.[47]
Alcohol prohibition [ edit ]
As early as 1860, Anthony Trollope, writing about his experiences in Maine under the state's prohibition law, stated, "This law (prohibition), like all sumptuary laws, must fail."[48] In 1918, William Howard Taft decried prohibition in the United States as a bad sumptuary law, stating that one of his reasons for opposing prohibition was his belief that "sumptuary laws are matters for parochial adjustment."[49] Taft later repeated this concern.[50] The Supreme Court of Indiana also discussed alcohol prohibition as a sumptuary law in its 1855 decision Herman v. State.[51] During state conventions on the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933, numerous delegates throughout the United States decried prohibition as having been an improper sumptuary law that never should have been included in the Constitution of the United States.[41]
In 1971, a United States federal study stated that federal laws on alcohol include "sumptuary laws which are directed at the purchaser", including, "Sales are not permitted to minors or intoxicated persons. Credit is often prohibited on liquor sales as well. Criminal penalties may be imposed for driving under the influence of alcohol as well as for drunken behavior."[52]
Drug prohibition [ edit ]
When the U.S. State of Washington considered cannabis decriminalization in two initiatives, 229 and 248, the initiatives' language stated, "Cannabis prohibition is a sumptuary law of a nature repugnant to our Constitution's framers."
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]I don't miss Orioles games. Like ever. My routine of rushing home from work, plopping onto couch and cementing my tuchus to the comfort of Twitter and baseball is a personal pastime my mother never understood.
So, the other night with a few coworkers, I took a rare day off to watch the United States Men's National Team spread the gospel of freedom and liberty upon Costa Rica.
The night was splendid, as Clint Dempsey's early penalty score followed an American offensive attack that was non-existent the Friday before against Colombia. And yet, I found myself checking Twitter, checking the O's score, which only propelled the evening into further euphoria after seeing an early 5-1 lead.
Then the fight happened.
Ventura hits Machado and we have a brawl. Punches thrown. Machado went after him hard #orioles — Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) June 8, 2016
My lust for rare baseball violence was suddenly urging for further details of gore. Trailing through Twitter, while the United States continued to sprinkle Costa Rica with red, white and blue fairy dust, it was apparent the dust-up consisted of two consistencies.
1. Manny kicked Yordano's ass.
2. Yordano had it coming.
Both of which aren't a stretch. Manny is 6'3, close to 200 pounds whereas Ventura, a chihuahua with an impressive Napoleon complex, is the size of most 9th grade boys just after their growth spurt. True to his breed, all he has is a bark, because he's too small and too soft to muster a bite.
After the ejections and one-sided dong parade, it was obvious this was going to be a Buck Showalter press conference of a different sort. If you're unfamiliar with the tactics of a Showalter presser, he usually follows a theme of passive-aggressive playfulness, subtle wit and moments of heavy nose-breathing.
Sometimes he answers in length, sometimes his answers are choppy, but in general, he doesn't reveal too much too often. As expected, the Orioles manager ripped up his usual script.
Visually pissed with thunderous reverberations from his schnoz, there was no mincing from Showalter. His first six words revealed as much.
"I'm not happy about it all."
Marching on, Showalter mentioned Ventura's premeditated sadism, how his taste for pain doesn't seem to be subject to action, and how Ubaldo's outing was just OK. You would think discussing a Jimenez start that didn't end in spontaneous combustion should have tempered the mood, but it really didn't.
I haven't followed the nightly Showalter presser as closely as I should, but the repetition of "our guys" themed the five-plus minutes of exchange. The #ILikeOurGuys brand marketing of years past was lightly mixed in between Showalter's comments on Tuesday night, and you know, it's a phrasing that's been somewhat lost in translation.
"I don't like when any of our guys are put in harm's way." "Very proud of how our guys handled adversity. I think sometimes you show certain things even more when you have things not going your way. Our guys have been real good at that."
To the uninitiated, he appears as a scrooge, latching onto an era that doesn't fit into today's view of the world and apparatus of sport. The Ken Griffey Jr. backwards hat thing still lingers for those hoping to find any reason to label him curmudgeonly.
To his credit, Showalter has adapted to the wayward stylings of millennials and those on the fringe of the label. He's a player's manager, though his natural gruff will never do him any favors. Still, Showalter is a teddy bear as |
you think? Has your district applied for Race to the Top funding? Are teachers on board and happy with what is happening?Athletes have long sought to gain a competitive edge by using performance-enhancing drugs, and suppliers are perpetually trying to stay ahead of detection methods. But the future of doping in sports could be dependent on medical advancements that are currently being made with less nefarious intentions. Genetic doping — or the introduction of synthetic DNA into a person's body with the aim of improving performance in some way — could revolutionize the way athletes cheat, and it may be coming soon.
The origins of genetic doping have nothing to do with sports. Rather, researchers have been trying to develop ways to repair muscles in people with muscular disorders. Here's how it works: A synthetic gene is engineered to secrete a specific protein, one that's normally involved in muscle growth and repair. That gene is delivered by an otherwise harmless virus, and when it reaches the cell it's designed to work with, it "turns on." With access to more of the protein than would normally be produced, the damaged muscle is enhanced. Current techniques allow this all to happen without actually altering a person's genetic makeup.
But according to Dr. H. Lee Sweeney, a professor of physiology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School who's worked to develop such treatments, healthy athletes could benefit greatly from similar methods. "The same things, if introduced into normal muscle, would make them much more responsive to exercise and training, and much more responsive to repairing themselves following an injury," says Sweeney. For that reason, Sweeney doesn't believe sports leagues and governing bodies will allow it.
Photo: Joseph McNally/Getty Images
The change in muscle performance for an elite athlete could be substantial. The actual effect would depend on a number of factors (including the intensity of training), but in tests, lab rats who were injected and then made to do resistance exercises increased their muscle mass by 15 percent on top of what they would have normally achieved with exercise alone. More important to an athlete, the effects could last for years, if not decades. Researchers tested it on monkeys some 15 years ago and still haven't seen the induced changes drop off.
Dr. Charles Yesalis, a professor emeritus at Penn State who's researched performance-enhancing drugs, says he expects this "cascade" method of doping — in which athletes trick their bodies into releasing more of something that would increase performance — will become increasingly common as new advances are made. And while he says there are different ways athletes could use such a method, "The No. 1 thing that comes to mind is genetic doping."
The medical advancements required to make these techniques widespread have come slowly, but progress is being made. Trials are under way for a localized procedure that would allow doctors to target specific muscles with simple injections. And while access to these viruses is limited at the moment, if an athlete could find a rogue scientist to provide him with these injections, in theory he or she could be using them right now. (A related method of doping, using antibodies to block molecules that interfere with muscular growth and repair, is even closer to approval.)
Photo: Cultura RM/JLPH/Getty Images
But in the future, instead of injecting genes into particular muscles, doctors will likely be able to deliver them to the entire body intravenously, thereby allowing an athlete to amplify the effect of training on every single muscle he or she works out. This would also allow athletes to bounce back from injuries faster — and do so in a way that would permanently enhance their muscles.
Sweeney says we're at least a decade away from such a technique, because in order for it to work, the athlete's immune system would need to be suppressed, so the body doesn't try to fight off what it identifies as a virus. It's a dangerous process that will take a long time to perfect, and it has yet to be tested on adult humans. Sweeney estimates that the earliest of those trials will take place over the next five years, and any timetable would depend on how well those trials go. "The timeline between now and when these would be available could be anywhere from ten years to who knows," says Sweeney.
In the meantime, the race is on to develop a test for genetic doping. Sweeney believes it could be done, because while the genes only activate when they interact with the desired cell, the viruses circulate into the blood stream, and would remain there for a few months. And so a blood test could be designed to prove the doping DNA is in a player's system. (While the effects are long lasting, after that months-long window, the only way to detect it would be to take a biopsy of the muscle.)
"It’s a big concern, and we’ve had the concern for a long period of time," says Dr. Don Catlin, the former director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Lab and a key figure in the drug-testing community. But he says a reliable test is still a ways off. "The testing is way behind the times on that."Today’s caption is the answer to our November 2017 puzzler.
In central Algeria, just north of the Tropic of Cancer and about 1200 kilometers (750 miles) south of the Algiers metropolis, lies a land as desolate as it is beautiful.
In this part of the Sahara, known as the Tanezrouft Basin, the land is especially parched, with annual rainfall measured in millimeters (less than 5 millimeters or 0.2 inches). This is a hyperarid place of soaring temperatures and scarce access to water or vegetation. There are no permanent residents here, only occasional Tuareg nomads. The basin’s colloquial name is the “Land of Terror” because, for many, to traverse this land is to stare death in the face.
The severe conditions that make this basin a barren expanse for life also lay bare its exquisite geology. Wind erosion—caused by constant sandblasting through millennia of frequent sandstorms—has exposed ancient folds in the Paleozoic rocks. This natural-color image, acquired on October 22, 2017, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, shows concentric rings of exposed sandstone strata that create stunning patterns across the Tanezrouft Basin. When viewed from 705 kilometers (438 miles) above Earth, the exposed geologic features create an arresting work of abstract art.
The sandstone canyons in this region have walls that rise as high as 500 meters (1,600 feet), and salt flats can be found in their lower reaches. The flats indicate that water played a role in sculpting this landscape. “Intermittent flooding has occurred often enough to mold the landscape pretty thoroughly over millions of years,” explained P. Kyle House, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
“There are numerous canyons in this region that both follow and abruptly cut directly across the grain of the tilted and folded strata,” he added. “These patterns are striking and reminiscent of landscapes formed on folded strata in, for example, the Red Desert of southern Wyoming and even parts of the heavily forested Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States.”
On the ground, life is a rarity. Fifty miles east of this area, the trans-Saharan highway—known as one of the world’s most brutal roads—makes its way through the desert.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Laura Rocchio, Landsat science outreach team. We also tip our hats to James Varghese, the EO reader who correctly identified the location and the rock formations.How did US President Barack Obama find the time to meet with David Letterman on the exact day he announced that his tight schedule would not allow him to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
According to a report in the National Journal Obama will be a guest on “The Late Show with David Letterman” during a trip to New York on September 18 – the exact time he could have met with Netanyahu who will be visiting New York for the UN General Assembly
Related stories:
Earlier on Tuesday, the White House said the meeting would not be possible over the two leader's conflicting schedules. But later the white house denied reports that Obama had refused to meet Netanyahu in New York on the sidelines of the UN's General Assembly
"Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied," the statement said.
Letterman is a fan of the US president, often sparing him from his stinging monologues, preferring to his opponents especially Mitt Romney and former US President George W. Bush.
Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and TwitterCNN reports Secret Service detained a man driving up to a White House checkpoint, claiming to have a bomb in his car.
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Fortunately, President Trump is safe and at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at the time.
They say it occurred 11:05 P.M. Saturday night and an investigation is currently taking place.
CNN Washington Correspondent Ryan Nobles reported the Secret Service’s statement about the incident.
JUST IN: Secret Service releases statement on the White House incident. pic.twitter.com/oTmAU8aG7Q — Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) March 19, 2017
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Not only do I pray for the safety of Trump, but also for the Secret Service. They work so hard to protect him while dealing with many freak incidents.
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A severe case was in 2014 when Omar Gonzales ran across the front lawn and into the White House.
CBS News reported details.
The man, 42-year-old Omar J. Gonzalez, ran unobstructed for 70 yards across the front lawn of the White House before entering through the North Portico. On the way, he brushed by a Secret Service officer with a drawn gun, sources tell CBS News’ Bill Plante. Gonzalez then proceeded to run through the entrance hall to the cross hall of the White House, past the staircase that leads up to the first family’s residence. He was confronted by a female Secret Service agent, who he overpowered, and made it all the way to the East Room.
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Fortunately, President Barack Obama at the time was unharmed from it.
These are scary times for the Secret Service, especially with the number of threats Trump is facing.
May God keep everyone safe, including them and the president.
What do you think about this latest threat? Comment below and let us know.
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You can also follow Mitch Behna on Twitter.Bron walked slowly through the frozen wasteland, always shifting his cloak to block the howling winds that ravage the world of Solis. Bron despised the cold, “How can anything live in such a place?” he thought to himself. He could see the entrance to the Uterran lands. Bron quickened his pace as best as he could in the sub-zero temperatures. His joints were stiff from walking many miles. However, his travels above ground were necessary to keep a close eye on the other factions. As he reached the entrance to the underground, Bron couldn’t help but smile when he saw trees and of course his beloved dinosaur, Ena. Though blind, her sense of smell was impeccable. She perked right up once Bron’s scent was close enough and Bron couldn’t have been happier. “You could not imagine the day I had, Ena.” Bron spoke as the feeling started to return to his extremities. “If only I had your warmth with me on my travels.” Bron stopped at this sentence. An idea was forming in his head. Bron mounted Ena and rode as fast as Ena could handle back to the Tuskin city.
Once Bron arrived he went straight to the druidic academy to find Tu’rak, the Arch Druid of the Tuskins. “I’ve got it.” Bron said as he barged into Tu’rak’s room in the academy.
“Got what?” Tu’rak hummed as he turned around from his readings and lesson preparation.
“How to keep an army above the surface.” breathed Bron. His breath was quick from the speeds of his travels. Tu’rak, dumbfounded at Bron’s statement, could only muster a “How?” out of his bewilderment.
“We bring the Uterran lands the surface.” stated Bron, his breath slightly more controlled now.
Tu’rak sat in silence for a few moments, gathering the information of what Bron just said. Then it clicked. Tu’rak smiled. Bron smiled. “Brilliant.” Tu’rak hummed as they turned to leave Tu’rak’s room.
At the gate between the Uterran lands and the cold wasteland of Solis Bron, Tu’rak, a few of the best druids in land and the strongest dinosaur Bron could find stood. The druids that surrounded the dinosaur were chanting ancient druidic words. Tu’rak held a root from the sacred tree Gemheart. The roots of Gemheart are so powerful that Tu’rak had to focus his power to prevent the root from growing onto him. Bron guided Tu’rak toward the dinosaur since Tu’rak’s focus was on the root. Tu’rak placed the root on the dinosaur. As he did Tu’rak began his own chanting of druidic spells. The root began to grow quickly. Roots sprouted all over the dinosaur’s back. The roots then began to infuse themselves with the dinosaur. Luckily, the druidic spells prevented the dinosaur from feeling the pain of having the Gemheart being fused with the dinosaur’s bones. The dinosaur began to grow along with the roots themselves. A tree began to form atop the dinosaur’s back. The gems that were so characteristic of the Gemheart tree began to bud and added to the speed of the growth. Bron started feeling warmer and noticed that grass was growing underneath him. In fact, the once barren land began sprouting all kinds of plants known only to the underground lands of Uterra. Small animals from past the Uterran gate began to gather around the dinosaur, whose tree was now almost near full size. The druid’s chants began to subside as the tree blossomed on top of the dinosaur. The gems glowing bright and the plants full of life. The temperature now felt as if it were summer. Bron could almost feel the heartbeat of the dinosaur pulsing life all around it. Bron called the dinosaur to leave the gates and traverse the cold barren world of Solis. With each step the dinosaur took, life sprouted out of the ground. The dinosaur became a mobile piece of the Uterran lands. Bron smiled as he reveled in the creation of Tu’rak and the druids.
“What shall we call it, Tu’rak?” Bron asked the Arch druid. Tu’rak marveled at his creation. Dinosaurs began to gather alongside the massive plant-dinosaur. Bron noticed the other dinosaurs walked faster and looked stronger than previously.
After some thought, Tu’rak finally answered Bron’s question, “Mosstodon.”
“I like that name, old friend.” Bron said as he walked with Tu’rak above ground without having to wear a cloak to protect him from the harsh weather that has plagued Solis. It seemed that Uterra had gained a new symbol of hope.
unofficial lore by prototype0
I’m excited to introduce this rare Uterra creature — Mosstodon is not only a great Draft pick, but also Constructed playable since it fills two important roles in the dinosaur theme that were missing before.
But let’s start with Draft first. Just by its stats Mosstodon would be pickable as a vanilla creature and could serve as a solid underdrop. Therefore this card is basically playable in Draft without any other dinosaurs (which is very important for judging the viability of Mosstodon in Draft). With only a single other dinosaur on the board Mosstodon is already a powerful combat trick and the more copies of Mosstodon you have the better. On top of that most dinosaurs are pretty solid in draft and Mosstodon can give the Tempys dinosaurs some much needed survivability. In Avelak’s Draft Tier List I would certainly rate Mosstodon in the (lower) above average catergory for AU, NU and probably in the great tier for UT (but that really depends on the number of dinosaurs in the draft pool).
This directly brings me to Constructed – Bron, Wild Tamer has a powerful healing ability, but sadly, there aren’t a lot of high health dinosaurs that benefit much from his ability. To make things worse – there has been only one dinosaur so far with an “enters the field” ability (Roaming Warclaw). So even though dinosaur tribal has been Constructed playable since Bron was released, it still couldn’t quite keep up with other Tier 1 decks. I don’t think that Mosstodon will directly push dinosaurs over the top, but it will help to make the tribe better.
Use Mosstodon to buff your dinosaurs and then overwrite him with Bron. It strengthens your current board immediately with potential to heal them again – pretty cool, huh? Apart from that just buffing your existing dinosaurs can be quite powerful – especially the dinosaurs with breakthrough — Uterradon Ridgeback and Umbruk Lasher (also Thundersaur, Umbruk Glider/Icecrusher). Another neat synergy in UN dinosaurs could be Immortal Echoes (or other revival effects), since it also triggers Mosstodon’s effect.
As a rare, Mosstodon could also have an impact on the lower rarity formats Unheroic and Unlegendary, but that is a task for you to find out.
For Standard I would suggest the following 17 card shell which you could combine with any other faction:
Dinosaurs!
3 Bron, Wild Tamer
3 Roaming Warclaw
3 Mosstodon
3 Uterradon Ridgeback
3 Shardplate Behemoth
2 Dendrify
UN Dino Zoo
This package would be very close to a curent UN Dinosaur list, which as been optimized to utilize Mosstodon well. Probably not the most exciting dinosaur version, but I expect it to perform pretty well (against non Herald decks).
3 Leyline Demon
2 Thundersaur
2 Aetherphage / Uterradon Rex
3 Immortal Echoes
2 Dysian Siphon
1 Scythe of Chiron
AU Tracking Dinos
I have actually toyed around with a different take on Dinosaurs in an AU tracker list in set 5.2. This list is fun, but also much more challenging to play, since you can often either play this deck aggressively with the Bron combo or more slowly with Bramblewood Tracker, Esperian Sage, Malice Hermit and Othra, Apex Predator.
3 Bramblewood Tracker
3 Esperian Sage
3 Malice Hermit
2 Oreian Justicar
2 Othra, Apex Predator
UT Bron’s Dream
Since one more faction combination is missing I thought it would be awesome to showcase UT dinosaurs with some new spice. This list is probably the most experimental one, since I haven’t played with anything similar, but I think it could be incredibly fun to play.
It will definitely need some fine tuning and I guess Shardplate Behemoth isn’t that great in the list (Firestorm!), but it’s really hard to judge upfront. If the pieces fall together and you get your Bron combo along with Dream Tree and Static Shock/Firestorm combo you will have fun for days :-).
Another idea could be to utilize Umbruk Lasher in this list, but with only nine Tempys cards he is too hard to trigger. Maybe Lasher can be used if you add more burn spells to the deck (Lighting Spark).It would have been a lot neater, and no doubt a lot more comforting, if Anders Behring Breivik had been declared too insane to stand trial. The survivors of his massacre would have been spared the sight of Breivik saluting the TV cameras on his way into court and he would not have been able to use the international attention to promote the doctrine that he claims justified the killings.
In a short film played to the court on the first day of the trial, Breivik set out his theory that western civilisation was under attack from multiculturalism, an “anti-European hate ideology” orchestrated by “cultural Marxists”, who had encouraged the Islamic “colonisation” of Europe in order to destroy traditional Christian values.
Taken in isolation, his views do seem like a paranoid delusion – and that is perhaps why an initial psychiatric report declared Breivik to be suffering from schizophrenia. Yet if the beliefs he claims to hold really are delusional, then the frightening thing is that they did not spring forth from a single, deranged mind: they represent a far-right ideology shared by groups across Europe and the US.
Breivik claimed to be part of the “counter-jihad” movement, a network of bloggers and political activists who believe that Muslim immigrants threaten not only violence but “demographic jihad”, simply by living here and having children. These ideas have inspired a new wave of far-right movements, chief among them being the English Defence League.
The leaders of this street protest group, which emerged in 2009, are Breivik’s ideological cousins: its principal spokesman, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (who goes by the pseudonym “Tommy Robinson”), has distanced himself from Breivik’s methods but was quoted in an interview praising his “cunning”. Last year, in the aftermath of the Norway killings, Yaxley-Lennon predicted similar events in Britain if people did not “listen” to the EDL.
Dark origins
The “cultural Marxism” that Breivik blamed for Europe’s Muslim takeover is a conspiracy theory that was born in the US. It contends that a small group of Marxist philosophers associated with the Frankfurt school of critical theory plotted to destroy western civilisation by encouraging multiculturalism, homosexuality and collectivist economic ideas.
Although many don’t realise it today, the theory is anti-Semitic in origin and its early proponents emphasised that these philosophers were all Jewish. Breivik’s lengthy “manifesto” devotes an entire section to profiling Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and other Frankfurt school thinkers.
A threat to ethnic purity; betrayal by corrupt elites; the presence of a foreign invader – these are familiar themes for the far right. But the ideology of the “counter-jihad” movement marks a shift from neo-Nazism, whose followers believe above all in the international Jewish conspiracy – and that immigration is a Jewish-led plot to dilute European racial stock.
The difference here is that Breivik’s themes have widespread mainstream credibility. Islamophobia is rampant across western Europe, while Britain’s press leads the field with its drip-feed of anti-Muslim coverage.
Even the idea of “cultural Marxism” has found its way into the mainstream, dovetailing with right-wing ideologues who would have us believe that liberal elites have foisted their agenda on an unwilling population. In the US, it was promoted by the likes of the late commentator Andrew Breitbart, while here it has been echoed by conservatives. Last September, the writer James Delingpole claimed that the BBC had fallen victim to a Marxist “plan to destroy western civilisation from within”. Earlier this month, a Daily Mail blogger even suggested that the New Statesman’s founders, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, were dedicated to the “destruction of traditional western civilisation” and that the London School of Economics, which they also founded, was a nest of Frankfurt-style subversion.
To think that every cultural conservative is a secret extremist or a killer-in-waiting would be another kind of paranoid fantasy. But the point about far-right ideology is that it is parasitical on the mainstream.
The fascism of the 1920s and 1930s succeeded because it played on wider fears, winning the support of those who would never have thought of themselves as “extremists”. The Nazis used anti-Semitism because it already existed in German society. Their successors today use Islamophobia because it already exists in our societies. From a tiny grain of truth – the existence of Islamist terror – has been spun a whole mythology about the imminent collapse of western civilisation and, whether they realise it or not, conservative ideologues are helping spread the poison that enables the far right to grow.
Daniel Trilling’s “Bloody Nasty People: the Rise of Britain’s Far Right” will be published by Verso in SeptemberNine states "experienced 10 to 13 percentage-point reductions in their adult uninsured rate from 2013 to 2015," the Commonwealth Fund report said.
Among those states, California, Kentucky, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and West Virginia cut their uninsured rate by at least half.
The same Commonwealth Fund report also found that in 38 states and in Washington, D.C., the share of adults who reported not going to the doctor because of cost dropped by at least 2 percentage points since the ACA took full effect.
And in 16 states and D.C., there were declines in the percentage of people at risk for poor health outcomes who did not have a routine doctor's visit, the report said.
Kentucky was the state that benefited most in terms of both increases insurance coverage and decreases in cost barriers to health care, the Commonwealth Fund said.
In 2013, before the ACA took effect, Kentucky's uninsured rate was 17 percent — which also happened to be the average uninsured rate nationally.
Two years later, Kentucky's uninsured rate was just 7 percent — a 10 percentage-point drop. The state's uninsured rate by then was 4 full percentage points lower than than the new national average of 11 percent in 2015.
And for low-income adults in Kentucky, the results were even more dramatic: a 25 percentage-point drop in the uninsured rate.
Only 12 percent of Kentuckians reported forgoing health care because of costs by 2015. That compares with 19 percent who said so in 2013, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
Kentucky, however, overwhelmingly supported Obamacare opponent Donald Trump in the presidential election, giving the Republican nominee more than 62 percent of its vote, compared with just 32.7 percent for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
In an article last week, Vox detailed how many people in Kentucky who directly benefited from health insurance coverage expansion under Obamacare voted for Trump — but at the same believed he would make Obamacare work better.
"We all need it," Trump voter Kathy Oller, who helps people enroll in Obamacare, told Vox. "You can't get rid of it."The California Legislature passed a bill before adjourning this week that requires Tesla to start paying workers “fair and responsible” wages to be eligible for up to $520 million of low emissions vehicle-credits.
California’s Democrat-controlled Legislature claims to be fighting global warming by spending about $1.5 billion to sponsor a slew of highly politicized commercial transportation activities. The state legislature’s AB-135, passed on Sept. 16, provides about $520 million of direct commercial subsidy transfers for electric vehicles.
But despite Tesla being the largest crony capitalist beneficiary of this progressive transfer of taxpayer dollars, Tesla has avoided attempts at unionization by the United Auto Workers (UAW). The inability to organize Tesla has been a major frustration for the UAW, which has seen membership plunge by about 75 percent, from over 1.5 million in 1979 to 415,963 in 2016.
The reason Tesla avoided being unionized at any time in its 14-year existence is that it pays its production associates cash compensation of $18.55 an hour, or about 17 percent more than the $15.84 an hour that a new GM, Ford or Chrysler production worker is paid. Although UAW claims its average auto worker wage is $28 an hour, that is only for the upper tier of grandfathered workers with over 20 years of seniority. New hires make less.
The UAW website claims that the biggest selling point for joining the union, and paying about a $0.25 an hour in union dues, is: “NO UNION = NO RIGHTS.” Although straight cash compensation is less than at non-union Tesla, the UAW contracts supposedly offer about $20 an hour in benefits and profit-sharing. UAW trumpets that its members are promoted based on seniority, and have recourse if their employer disciplines or fires them.
But Tesla employees have not been responsive to the UAW’s organizing efforts, because their employer has never made a profit, and may never make anywhere near GM’s $9.4 billion profit in 2016, which gave union employees profit-sharing of $9,000 each, or about $4.33 an hour.
The UAW over the last two years has tried every strategy in its playbook to organize Tesla workers, including filing a complaint in late October on behalf of between 400 and 700 of Tesla’s 10,000 California workers who were allegedly fired for poor performance.
The union is supporting claims that Tesla violated the WARN Act, which under California law requires that the company give 60 days’ notice before firing 50 or more workers in a 30-day period. Tesla contends that law does not apply to performance terminations.
Sacramento Democrats’ decision to include labor requirements in its transportation bill is widely viewed as retribution against Tesla for opposing the UAW’s organizing efforts.
The law states that the California Air Resources Board “shall work with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to develop procedures for certifying manufacturers of vehicles included in the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project as being fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers” by July 1, 2018. The California Labor Secretary must also “certify manufacturers as fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers,” before Tesla can be included in any state-funded rebate program.
CARB regulators and Labor and Workforce Development staff have not yet released any drafts of proposed guidelines for determining “fair and responsible” treatment of workers.
The language in AB 135 could be a big problem for electric vehicle imports. China’s average factory worker wage in 2016 was just about $3.60 an hour, according to market research firm Euromonitor. Although that was up 64 percent in 5 years, China labor costs are only one =-fifth of what Tesla pays its production workers.Japanese construction firm Shimizu Corporation has developed a series of bold architectural plans for the world of tomorrow. Here is a preview of seven mega-projects that have the potential to reshape life on (and off) Earth in the coming decades.
* * * * *
- Luna Ring
In response to the ever-growing demand for energy, Shimizu has developed plans for the Luna Ring, a project that seeks to transform the Moon into a massive solar power plant.
Luna Ring's 11,000-kilometer (6,800-mile) "solar belt" spans the Moon's equator
Electricity collected by the Luna Ring's enormous "solar belt" is relayed to power conversion facilities located on the near side of the Moon. There, the electricity is converted into powerful microwaves and lasers, which are beamed at Earth. Terrestrial power stations receive the energy beams and convert them back to electricity.
Luna Ring feeds power to energy-hungry Earth
The solar power plant is built mainly using lunar resources. Moon rocks and dust are used to manufacture building materials such as cement, bricks and glass fibers. Water is produced through a chemical process involving lunar soil and hydrogen.
Large machinery and equipment from Earth is assembled in space and landed on the lunar surface for installation. Much of the construction is performed by robots controlled by people on Earth, and a team of human astronauts is stationed on the Moon to supervise the robot operations. [More]
* * * * *
- Green Float
Shimizu's Green Float project seeks to build "botanical" cities that float like giant lily pads in the equatorial Pacific, where sunlight is plentiful and the impact of typhoons is minimal.
Lily pad-like cities at sea
Each floating island features a 1,000-meter (3,300-ft) central tower. The lower section of the tower serves as an industrial area with offices and factories employing 10,000 workers, while the upper section functions as a residential area for 30,000 people. Another 10,000 residents live at ground level, in low-rise townhouses near the beach.
Green Float islands are 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) in diameter and support a population of 40,000
The typical Green Float island landscape consists of forests, grasslands, waterways and reservoirs. A portion of the land is set aside for agriculture and some of the shallow beaches are used for cultivating seafood, making the islands 100% food self-sufficient.
The eco-friendly Green Float cities rely on a variety of natural energy sources, including wave, wind and solar power, as well as ocean thermal energy conversion.
Green Float islands join to form a floating metropolis
Green Float islands are built upon a floating base of connected hexagonal tubes that each weigh 7,000 tons and measure 20 meters (65 ft) across and 50 meters (165 ft) deep. The primary structural material for the honeycomb-like base, as well as for the island's buildings, is magnesium alloy. Seawater -- which is composed of 0.13% magnesium by weight -- is an abundant source of magnesium. One ton of the material can be extracted from 770 tons of seawater. [More]
* * * * *
- Mega-City Pyramid
Shimizu's proposed Mega-City Pyramid is a self-contained city for one million people.
The Mega-City Pyramid stands 2,000 meters (1.25 miles) high
The pyramid-shaped hyperstructure is an assembly of skyscrapers suspended within a skeleton of 350-meter (1,150-ft) long shafts made from lightweight materials (such as carbon and glass fibers).
Residential buildings (left) and office complexes (right) inside Mega-City Pyramid
The skyscrapers within the Mega-City Pyramid are home to residences, offices, research institutions, shopping and entertainment centers, and other facilities. The connecting shafts, which measure from 10 to 16 meters (30 to 50 ft) in diameter, contain the city's plumbing, electrical and communication systems, as well as a network of trains, escalators and moving walkways.
+ Video
The proposed hyperstructure has a footprint of approximately 8 square kilometers (3 sq mi), and it features an open-air construction that allows sunlight to reach the interior. A network of optical fibers transports sunlight into poorly-lit areas.
Construction of the massive Mega-City Pyramid is facilitated by robots and automated assembly systems, as well as by the use of standardized parts and materials. [More]
* * * * *
- Space Hotel
To capitalize on the coming boom in space tourism, Shimizu has developed plans for a space hotel in low-Earth orbit.
Shimizu Space Hotel, located 450 kilometers (280 mi) above Earth
The hotel -- which is powered entirely by solar energy -- features a microgravity recreational area where guests can enjoy sports, dining, and gazing at the Earth and stars. The 64 guest rooms and 40 staff rooms are situated in a ring measuring 140 meters (460 ft) in diameter. The ring rotates at a speed of 3 rpm to produce an artificial gravity of 0.7 g in the rooms. A 240-meter (790-ft) elevator shaft connects the hotel facilities with the docking port. [More]
* * * * *
- Lunar Bases
For the more adventurous offworld traveler, Shimizu has developed plans for lunar bases.
Lunar bases are the key to establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon
Shimizu's proposed bases feature a modular design of interlocking hexagonal units that can be arranged both horizontally and vertically. The modules are built using concrete made from lunar soil and rock. Tele-operated robots and automated assembly systems are used to construct the bases. [More]
* * * * *
- Urban Geo-Grid Plan
Back on Earth, Shimizu's Urban Geo-Grid Plan seeks to reduce urban congestion and improve the overall efficiency of Tokyo by placing a variety of city functions underground.
Urban Geo-Grid Plan puts much of Tokyo underground
The plan -- which covers an area extending from central Tokyo to the Boso Peninsula on the opposite side of Tokyo Bay -- consists of a vast underground network of so-called "grid points" and "grid stations." Grid points incorporate community facilities such as grocery stores, exhibition halls and public bathhouses, while the larger-scale grid stations incorporate office buildings, hotels, shopping centers, and train stations. An extensive underground transportation network connects the grid points and stations. Moving all these facilities underground frees up an enormous amount of street-level space that can be set aside for parks. [More]
* * * * *
- Desert Aqua-Net Plan
The Desert Aqua-Net Plan seeks to make the desert habitable by constructing a network of lakes and waterways.
Desert Aqua-Net Plan brings water to the desert
The plan involves creating artificial lakes in low-lying desert areas. Islands are constructed in the middle of the lakes, which are filled with seawater channeled inland through canals. The canals connect the lakes to form an extensive water network.
Located 150 kilometers (95 mi) apart, the artificial lakes measure 30 kilometers (20 mi) in diameter and 20 to 30 meters (65-100 ft) deep. The canals running between the lakes measure 50 meters (165 ft) wide and 10 meters (35 ft) deep
The lakes reduce temperatures and increase humidity in the surrounding areas, creating a comfortable and mild environment. Seafood and biomass resources (such as algae and seaweed) can be cultivated in the saltwater lakes, and the canals can be used to transport people and goods between the cities built on the artificial islands. [More]Democratic donors are still in shock over Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump. It has taken them some time to come around to it but they are now asking that the party look closely at why their billion dollar effort to elect Clinton failed. From Politico:
“A lot of the bundlers and donors still are in shock and disbelief by what happened. They’re looking for some introspection and analysis about what really happened, what worked and what didn’t,” said Ken Martin, the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and a top campaign bundler himself. “It may take some time to do that, but people are still just scratching their heads.” Or, in the words of a Midwestern fundraiser who’s kept in touch with fellow donors, “A lot of people are saying, ‘I’m not putting another f***ing dime in until someone tells me what just happened.’”
Some donors are so disenchanted they are thinking about getting out of politics completely.
Without a framework for holding anyone accountable, increasingly annoyed party money men and women have been left to chatter amongst themselves about the underlying causes of the party’s defeat and about how to move forward — some have gone as far as to ignore calls from former Clinton finance officials seeking to thank them, while others muse about leaving politics altogether.
Obviously this is bad news for Democrats no matter what happens next. If their big donors decide to walk away that will hurt future fundraising efforts. On the other hand, a deep |
battle damage was incurred nor inflicted on the enemy by vessels while operating as Task Force Thirty-Four. Task Force 34 Action Report: October 6, 1944 – November 3, 1944
Presidential Unit Citation [ edit ]
Taffy 3 was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation:
For extraordinary heroism in action against powerful units of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle off Samar, Philippines, October 25, 1944....the gallant ships of the Task Unit waged battle fiercely against the superior speed and fire power of the advancing enemy...two of the Unit's valiant destroyers and one destroyer escort charged the battleships point-blank and, expending their last torpedoes in desperate defense of the entire group, went down under the enemy's heavy shells... The courageous determination and the superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned the ships of Task Unit 77.4.3 were instrumental in effecting the retirement of a hostile force threatening our Leyte invasion operations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.[94]
Legacy [ edit ]
A number of ships were named after participants and ships from that battle, including USS Copeland (FFG-25), USS Evans (DE-1023), USS Clifton Sprague (FFG-16), USS Carr (FFG-52) and USS Hoel (DDG-13), and USS Johnston (DD-821). When USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) struck a mine, her crew would touch a plaque commemorating the original crew as they struggled to save the ship.[95]
While the battle is frequently included in historical accounts of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the duels between the destroyer and destroyer escorts and Yamato and the Japanese force were the subject of a Dogfights television episode, "Death of the Japanese Navy".[96] That episode, as well as a History Channel documentary, was based on The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, written by James D. Hornfischer. There was also an episode of Ultimate Warfare on American Heroes Channel called Courage at Sea.
The survivors formed associations which still meet annually, and raised funds to build memorials in San Diego near the current location of the USS Midway (CV-41) museum, which contains a model of Gambier Bay.[citation needed]
The 1962 novel Harm's Way bears many similarities to the battle. The combined small destroyer/jeep carrier/cruiser group portrayed as facing a battle group centered on the Japanese battleship Yamato is quite similar, as are the lopsided results of the battle. The author was Halsey's public relations officer, and can be assumed to have drawn on detailed knowledge of the real engagement acquired when it was taking place.[citation needed]
The 2005 Japanese movie Yamato shows Yamato firing its main guns against surface targets, and battling against aircraft, but it is not made clear that the ship withdrew in the face of an attack by light escort ships.
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
^ US Navy Battleships also used dye loads in their main battery shells; not being battleship sailors the men of Taffy 3 would have no reason to know this.
Citations [ edit ]
Books [ edit ]
Reports [ edit ]
War Damage Report A-3(420), Summary of War Damage—December 8, 1943 to December 7, 1944, pp28. BuShips, Design Division, Preliminary Design Section, War Damage Assessment Team. June 1, 1945.
pp28. BuShips, Design Division, Preliminary Design Section, War Damage Assessment Team. June 1, 1945. War Damage Report #60, Escort Carriers Gunfire, Bomb, Kamikaze Damage and Loss During World War II, BuShips, Design Division, Preliminary Design Section, War Damage Assessment Team.
BuShips, Design Division, Preliminary Design Section, War Damage Assessment Team. Reports of General MacArthur, JAPANESE OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA Volume II – Part II, pp394–402. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-60007
Magazine and news articles [ edit ]
Web [ edit ]
Audio/visual media [ edit ]× Woman says Huntsville police officer’s act of kindness really brightened her day after recent incident on Parkway
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Last Friday was a rough morning for a local woman and her children, but a Huntsville police officer quickly brightened it when he came to her aid.
Johnni Chevonne Adams posted a note of thanks on the Huntsville Police Department’s Facebook page on February 5, thanking Officer Charles Draper for his assistance.
“Thanks so much to Officer Charles Draper!!! What an outstanding, compassionate individual! I had an incident with my car on the Parkway this morning. I was so upset by the time Officer Draper and the tow company arrived. Officer Draper helped me safely get my children into his car, drove my son to daycare (and gave him a stuffed animal!), drove my daughter to school, and got me to work on time! And he made me laugh the entire time, really taking the edge off of the frustration I was feeling. This guy is a class act. You can tell he truly loves to serve his community. I am so impressed. Thanks, Officer Draper! You rock!”
The Huntsville Police Department shared her post on Feb. 11. Way to go, Officer Draper! Thank you for helping Adams, and for your service every day!Climate scientists have reported that they are unable to speak to press about their own findings, feeling effectively "muzzled" by agencies that want to script talking points for them. In June, a government spokesperson explained that federal meteorologists must speak only "to their area of expertise," which does not include climate change, according to a government spokesperson. Journalists sometimes face bullying, too. Environmental author Andrew Nikiforuk told ThinkProgress that "a government of thugs" slandered him and shut him out of events. But environmentalists may fare the worst. Seven environmental nonprofits in Canada have accused the Canada Revenue Agency of unfairly targeting them for audits. According to internal documents obtained by The Guardian, Canada's police and Security Intelligence Service identified nonviolent environmental protests—like people who oppose hydrofracking and the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline—as "forms of attack" fitting the "number of cases where we think people might be inclined to acts of terrorism."
Australia, for its part, has downplayed scientific findings. Abbott, along with his Environment Minister Greg Hunt, have rejected any link between extreme weather and global warming. Abbott, who once called the science of climate change "absolute crap," said last year that UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres was "talking out of her hat" when saying that rising temperatures were driving more intense and frequent brushfires. "Climate change is real as I have often said and we should take strong action against it but these fires are certainly not a function of climate change," he argued. Hunt defended his boss, citing Wikipedia as his proof. "I looked up what Wikipedia says for example, just to see what the rest of the world thought, and it opens up with the fact that bushfires in Australia are frequently occurring events during the hotter months of the year. Large areas of land are ravaged every year by bushfires. That’s the Australian experience." He could have referred to his Department of Environment's website instead, had it not earlier removed explicit references connecting climate change, heatwaves, and fires.
As the host of the G20 this November, Australia is in an awkward position. Australians have staged protests, while the U.S. and European leaders have pressured Abbott to put climate change on the agenda. He has refused. There's no room for climate, he says, because the summit is about "economic security" and "the importance of private sector-led growth."
What's even more baffling about the rise of climate denial in both countries is that it's apparently not the popular view in either country. According to the Pew Research Center, the majority of Australians and Canadians say climate change is a major threat—as opposed to 40 percent of Americans who say the same.
Of course, the U.S. has reversed itself recently, too. President Barack Obama is making climate change a second-term priority, and has taken steps to cap carbon pollution from power plants. Such initiatives have put the U.S. on track to meet its pledge in Copenhagen in 2009 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020. At the same time, China, which faces internal pressure over air pollution, is looking a lot more serious about slowing down pollution; it will begin a national cap-and-trade program in 2016. Even India is redoubling efforts on clean energy, to meet the power needs of its growing population. Half the world plans to put a price on carbon.
It's true that neither Canada nor Australia has much responsibility for the amount of heat-trapping gasses in the atmosphere. The United States, China, and India make up a combined 49 percent of the world's carbon emissions in 2013. Canada and Australia, by comparison, emit 3.5 percent of total carbon emissions combined. But the critical requirement for an international climate change agreement—which negotiators will try to hammer out in Paris next year—is that every country big and small make a commitment to greenhouse gas targets. Fortunately, the negligence of two smaller, industrialized countries won't be the fatal blow to negotiations in Paris. Still, by ducking their own responsibility, Australia and Canada are ignoring their "global conscience"—to borrow a former prime minister's words.
A decade ago, our close allies due north and across the Pacific rightly shamed us on our poor response to climate change. Now, they've lost the moral high ground. At the September United Nations Climate Summit, the largest gathering of world leaders yet on the issue, both Abbott and Harper were no-shows. The ministers sent in their place also arrived empty-handed; Australia's foreign minister suggested that only larger countries should be responsible for more ambitious climate action. Canada Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq repeated an already-public commitment that Canada would copy Obama's fuel economy regulations requiring 35.5 miles per gallon. Afterward, in an interview with the Globe and Mail, Aglukkaq spoke of the unfairness of a global treaty. "It’s not up to one country to solve the global greenhouse-gas emissions. I mean, seriously now, it’s just not fair. We all have to do our part, big or small countries.”
That's true. If only her small country would do its part, too.Protest
The film is said to be the biopic of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, a murdered Congress leader.
Ram Gopal Varma’s Telugu film "Vangaveeti" which released on Friday has landed in controversy with protests erupting in Vijayawada against the movie.
"Vangaveeti" is said to be the biopic of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, a leader of the Congress party, who belonged to the Kapu community, and was murdered in 1988 when he was on a hunger strike. The murder set off unprecedented violence in Vijayawada and other parts of the Krishna district as well as neighbouring ones.
Vangaveeti Radha Krishna, son of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, met the Director General of Police N Sambasivarao and made his objections with the movie.
The film has been facing controversy from the date of its announcement. The Radha Ranga Mitra Mandali, followers of Vangaveeti Radha Krishna, had also warned of consequences if the film goes against their sentiments.
On Friday, they protested and raised slogans at Y Screens multiplex located in Pundit Nehru Bus Station against Varma, demanding the withdrawal of the title of the movie and alleging that it does not reflect facts.
The followers also staged a protest at Santosh theatre in Ajith Singh Nagar.
However, police later handled the mobs at both the places.
Mr. Chandana Suresh, a close aide of Vangaveeti Radha Krishna, told Deccan Chronicle that "the movie is filled with half truths and does not depict the character of Mohana Ranga. Projecting Ranga as a rowdy ignoring all the good work he has done is objectionable and we object the way the character of Ratnakumari (his wife) is shown in the film.”
He also mentioned that they will approach the court.
In the meantime, former MLA Malladi Vishnu, who is closely associated with the Vangaveeti family, accused the movie to be a publicity stunt by the director.It's about three months until Java 9 is supposed to be released. Debian contains around 1,200 packages that build against Java 8. I have been trying to build them with Java 9.
It's not been going well.
The first attempt found an 87% failure rate, the majority of which were either:
toolchain issues (which are for Debian to fix) (e.g. maven/guice needing new cglib).
-source and -target being old, unsupported values.
This is too bad to get an idea of what's actually broken, so I gave up.
The second attempt has gone better, only 57% failures. This had a number of issues fixed, but there's still a large number of problems masked by toolchain failures.
However, some real Java 9 breakages are coming to the fore!
90 packages are hitting module-based accessibility rules, although maybe many of these are bugs in gradle. These are the kind of bug that it may be hard to fix in your own software, so it's slightly worrying to see so many of them.
. These are the kind of bug that it may be hard to fix in your own software, so it's slightly worrying to see so many of them. 15 packages are using underscore or enum as a keyword, which hopefully should be easy to fix everywhere.
9 packages have new compile failures around casting, which may be compiler improvements, or bugs. Exciting!
Oh, and 135 packages have an unknown problem, so maybe there's a whole other class of bug I've missed.
This is (obviously) an ongoing project, but I thought I'd write up what I'd seen so far.
Also, I wanted to mention how cool it was to hack up a dashboard for your ghetto make/Docker build process in ghetto shell, although slightly less ghetto than the previous shell.In 2014 Brother Neil released his first album ‘Bonfire Confessions’ to a great deal of (well-deserved) critical acclaim.
Bonfire Confessions was a collection of acoustic songs (written from personal journals) that drew song subjects from his own life. While the album was entirely acoustic it wasn’t monotonous or dull, rather Brother Neil delivered an album of individual (sounding) songs that varied in pace and tone enough to keep the entire album interesting while maintaining his own sound.
Now in 2017 Brother Neil follows up that album with his new offering ‘Away Avenue Away…’, now available on iTunes.
While garnering as much attention (and acclaim) as ‘Bonfire Confessions’,’Away Avenue Away…’ is a change of direction in sound and pacing from his previous album.
While the new album is still acoustic, this time the songs feature horns, a more noticeable keyboard presence and a very noticeable jazz influence in some of the songs.
Still maintaining his own sound that connects the two albums, and song to song, Brother Neil brought a clean & varied sound to his songs on the new album.
Another change from the last album was developing each song from fresh ideas rather than using something he had previously worked on, (the journals used for songwriting on the previous album). The idea was approach each song as its own entity rather than being concerned with an overall sound.
Although the strong folk influence that was heard on the previous album is still threaded throughout the new album, some of the songs have a pop or jazz tone to them.
While the songs on the first album were solid, this time around Brother Neil delivers an album of very strong songs.
Each song not only stands on its own, but it is the tonal variety of each song and the pacing of the album gives the disc a great overall sound and flow that keeps you listening and anticipating the next song.
‘Away Avenue Away…’ is a dual success for both Brother Neil and long-time friend/collaborator Mike Whaling.
Recorded (in analogue) at Whaling’s Sarahs Hall, ( which you can find on Facebook)
While the production on ‘Bonfire Confessions’ was solid and professional, this time around Whaling has captured the energy and natural flow Brother Neil has in his live shows.
The result is a clean energetic sounding album that flows beautifully that sounds as though you are sitting in front of the Brother Neil as he performs his music.
You can purchase (and listen to samples) Brother Neils new album ‘Away Avenue Away…’ through this on iTunes.
John Goodale is the author of ‘Johnny Gora’ (available through Amazon.com), and a number of articles here on TMRZoo.com. His monthly column ‘Indy Comics Spotlight’ appears here and through his blog Indy Comics SpotlightMt. Auburn playground build at risk thanks to rain Volunteers needed Friday to prep site at Mt. Auburn International Academy Share Shares Copy Link Copy
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WEBVTT GAMES.FROM PRIZE HILL, ANDRE SETTERSLISA: MOUNT AUBURN ACADEMYRECEIVED A GRAB TO BUILD AKABOOM PLAYGROUND NEXT TO THESCHOOL, THE IDEA OF KABOOM COMESINTO THE URBAN CORE TO PROMOTEPLAY.IT'S SCHEDULED TO BE BITTOMORROW, BUT THE SKILL ISDESPERATELY IN NEED OFVOLUNTEERS TO HELP PREPARE THEAREA TODAY.THEY HAD HAD HAD SOME LASTMINUTE CANCELLATIONS AND WITHOUTTHE PREP WORK GETTING FINISHEDTODAY THEY'RE WORRIED THEPROJECT COULD BE POSTPONED ORSCRAPPED ALTOGETHER.>> THIS PART IS THE MOSTIMPORTANT BECAUSE IT'S LITERALLYTHE PLAYGROUND, HOLES THAT NEEDTO BE DUG.AND WE NEED TO PUT FILL IN AREASAND PREP THE SITE SO THAT WE'LLHAVE THINGS TO ASSEMBLE ONTO THEFRAME OF THE PLAYGROUND.ANCHOR: YOU CAN PUT ON YOUR RAINGEAR AND STOP BY, 244 SOUTHERNAVENUE, THAT'S 244 SOUTHERNAVENUE, THEY'LL BE THERE UNTIL8:00 TONIGHT.VOLUNTEERS HOPING TO HAVE THEENTIRE PLAYGROUND FINISHED ANDSome critics see high rise living in the CBD as ‘vertical sprawl’, but its sustainability credentials are exemplary, it's eminently walkable and it helps make housing affordable elsewhere in the metro area
Daniel Ziffer, a senior producer with ABC radio, got stuck into Melbourne property developers via the pages of The Age yesterday for pretending their buildings create the ambience of Manhattan in Melbourne (Developers tall tales are all pie in the sky).
Referring to the claim made by the marketers of the 282 apartment Midtown complex that it is “Time (sic) Square and SoHo inspired”, Mr Ziffer archly observes:
New Yorkers don’t go to Times Square. Ever. And the corner of Spencer and Lonsdale streets is not Times Square. You are closer to a strip club than a Starbucks and the brightest neon lights aren’t on theatres but a fast food restaurant in front of a bus depot.
I agree with Mr Ziffer about this cringe-worthy tendency. In fact I’ve complained about it myself (Why are “Tribeca” and “Madison at Upper West Side” in Melbourne?)
But Mr Ziffer has a bigger target in his sights – he doesn’t like all the high rise towers approved for the CBD. He says Melbourne’s embrace of high rise is at odds with Manhattan, most of which is relatively low rise five and six storey buildings, many without a lift.
He says Melbourne isn’t emulating Manhattan but Hong Kong. That’s undesirable because Hong Kong has “many dense and grim neighbourhoods where skyscrapers block light and life from the streets”.
Referring to the possibility that 8,000 units in total might be constructed in the area bounded by Spencer, Bourke, William and La Trobe streets, he says:
That’s an unprecedented explosion of housing — a Caroline Springs in the sky — which will have unknown consequences for the area.
I think Mr Ziffer has made a fundamental mistake here. He’s comparing the entirety of Manhattan and Hong Kong with just a small part of Melbourne’s CBD.
Manhattan’s land area is 60 sq kms. That’s an area equivalent to a 4.5 km radius circle drawn around Melbourne Town Hall, extending almost as far as Hawthorn railway station in the east, Brunswick Rd Brunswick in the north and into the Bay in the south. It corresponds reasonably closely to the customary definition of inner city Melbourne.
However the western end of the CBD and the area behind Southbank where most of the existing and mooted high rise development is proposed covers only a fraction of that area. Even a 1.5 km radius circle around the Town Hall covers only 7 sq km.
In the order of 76 sq kms of Hong Kong is developed for housing use. That’s only a small part of the Special Administrative Region but it’s an order of magnitude larger than the relatively tiny precints in and around Melbourne’s CBD that’re slated for high rise housing.
These small precincts provide many benefits for Melbourne. They increase the number of citizens who can afford to enjoy the amenities of the city centre. In doing so they increase overall housing supply and improve affordability across the metropolitan area.
It’s also very sustainable living. All those thousands of units are necessarily small and hence minimise their embodied and operational impact on the environment. They’re located in a part of Melbourne with exemplary walkability and public transport service. Moreover, the cost of parking strongly discourages car ownership.
Melbourne is not Hong Kong where towers house families. The residents of these new buildings will mainly be young, well-heeled and living alone or as a couple. With so many of them in one place agglomeration will work its magic and create a lively and diverse streetlife in the immediate precinct. That will be to the benefit of everyone who chooses to visit the area.
The idea that the various high rise developments in and around the CBD are ‘vertical sprawl’ – or “Caroline Springs in the sky” – is asinine. All residents are just a brief elevator trip from street level, they’re living right in the middle of the largest concentration of jobs in the metropolitan area, and their predominant mode of travel is by walking and public transport. If there’s a “mall”, it’s the entire CBD!
I agree however with Mr Ziffer that Melbourne isn’t like Manhattan, although for different reasons. The dominant built form in inner city Melbourne (i.e. the 4.5 km radius) is one and two storey terraces, more recent three story walk-ups, and low rise industrial and institutional uses. It doesn’t have the mix of five and six storey buildings and mid rise that forms the streetscape of much of Manhattan.
Mr Ziffer says “only about 5% of residential properties in Manhattan have more than 100 units”. I’ll bet the proportion is no higher in inner city Melbourne, in fact I’d expect it to be considerably less. The demography of inner city Melbourne and of these new high rise towers however will be much more like Manhattan’s than Hong Kong’s.NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government said on Monday it would stop a controversial rate of 32 rupees ($0.65) a day being used as a benchmark for access to anti-poverty programmes, a move which could raise the cost of its pro-poor agenda as it battles political storms.
A man bathes from a broken water pipe line in a Noida slum June 10, 2011. REUTERS/Parivartan Sharma/Files
The benchmark — barely enough to buy a return ticket on New Delhi’s underground — has been used for years to help calculate who gets subsidises in a country where malnutrition rates in some states are worse than the sub-Saharan Africa despite Asia’s third largest economy enjoying years of economic boom.
Instead, the government wants to rely on an official survey to identify subsidy beneficiaries under a new food security bill promoted by Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.
“The (government) planning commission is not taking the view and has never taken the view that benefits should be restricted to only those below this poverty line,” Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, one of government’s top policy advisors, told reporters.
Ministers, whose government is struggling to deal with high inflation and corruption scandals, want to win favour with poor voters as the Congress party heads for state elections next year.
“Only dogs and animals can live on 32 rupees a day,” N.C. Saxena, a member of the National Advisory Committee that is chaired by Gandhi and advises the government on social policy, was quoted as saying by newspaper the Mail Today.
As part of Gandhi’s bill, last month the government agreed a draft law that would provide subsidised grain to about 67.5 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people, expanding a subsidy scheme that covers about 32 percent of the country’s poorest.
The bill — which has yet to be passed by a parliament already facing a long backlog of proposed laws after a year of disruption by the opposition — could double the nearly $12 billion in the year that India spends to provide cheap grains and lentils through a public distribution system.
That represents about 1 percent of gross domestic product and 5 percent of government spending.
Some finance ministry officials have said the bill is too ambitious, mindful of its impact on the country’s plans to cut the fiscal deficit to a targeted 4.6 percent in 2011/12.One of the benefits of the next-generation Internet protocol known as IPv6 is the enhanced privacy it offers over its IPv4 predecessor. With a staggering 2128 (or about 3.4×1038) theoretical addresses available, its IP pool is immune to the types of systematic scans that criminal hackers and researchers routinely perform to locate vulnerable devices and networks with IPv4 addresses. What's more, IPv6 addresses can contain regularly changing, partially randomized extensions. Together, the IPv6 features cloak devices in a quasi anonymity that's not possible with IPv4.
Now, network administrators have discovered a clever way that scanners are piercing the IPv6 cloak of obscurity. By setting up an IPv6-based network time protocol service most Internet-connected devices rely on to keep their internal clocks accurate, the operators can harvest huge numbers of IPv6 addresses that would otherwise remain unknown. The server operators can then scan hundreds or thousands of ports attached to each address to identify publicly available surveillance cameras, unpatched servers, and similar vulnerabilities.
Shodan—the vulnerability search engine that indexes Internet-connected devices—has been quietly contributing NTP services for months to the cluster of volunteer time servers known as the NTP Pool Project. To increase the number of connections to three recently identified Shodan-run servers, each one had 15 virtual IP addresses. The added addresses effectively multiplied the volume of traffic they received by 15-fold, increasing the odds that Shodan would see new devices. Within seconds of one of the Shodan's NTP servers receiving a query from an IPv6 device, Shodan's main scanning engine would scan more than 100 ports belonging to the device. The Shodan scanner would then revisit the device roughly once a day.
Shodan's harvesting scheme came to an abrupt end on Thursday, when NTP Pool Project maintainers ejected the Shodan time-keeping servers from the cluster. Many people say the removal was only fair, since the harvesting wasn't disclosed and went well beyond the service advertised by NTP Time Project. Still, if Shodan-run NTP servers were harvesting IPv6 addresses, it's a reasonable bet that others were and probably still are doing the same thing. And, of course, it wouldn't be a stretch if non-NTP services that receive queries from IPv6 devices are, too. In the end, that means the IPv6 privacy assurances may be diminished in the process.
“Choose the websites you visit carefully”
"I might just be too cynical, but [harvesting] also feels like something we should come to expect," Ask Bjørn Hansen, an NTP Pool Project maintainer, wrote in a post to a security forum announcing the decision to drop Shodan. "The NTP pool usage being the source sucks, but in general I am sure we will see more of this as IPv6 usage goes up. Because you can't scan the IPv6 space, there will be some value in 'active addresses,' so eventually we will see IP addresses traded like other [personally identifying information] data is now. Choose the websites you visit carefully?"
Officials with Shodan declined to comment for this post.
IPv6 accounts for only a small portion of today's Internet traffic, but there's little doubt that it's growing rapidly. About 10 percent of people accessing Google use the next-generation protocol, up from 6 percent last year and just 1 percent in 2013. Virtually all desktop, server, and mobile operating systems released over the past decade offer IPv6 connectivity by default. The ongoing exhaustion of addresses available in the IPv4 pool, combined with the proliferation of Internet-connected cameras, TVs, and other everyday devices, has analysts forecasting an explosion of IPv6 traffic over the next decade. Virtually all distributions of Linux by default use IPv6 to query servers in the NTP pool.
The v6 adoption has presented a quandary for researchers and criminal hackers alike. The entire IPv4 address space can be scanned in a matter of minutes or hours, depending on the equipment used and how thorough the probes are. What's more, v4 addresses assigned to servers, computers, and routers often stay active for months or years. With orders of magnitude more v6 addresses that in many cases change every day or so, there's no reliable way to probe devices that use IPv6.
"The obscurity is really good with IPv6," Rob Graham, CEO of security firm Errata Security, told Ars. "That's what we're relying on. People are assuming it provides a lot of security."
The added security seems to have lulled some administrators and hardware manufacturers into thinking v6 devices don't need the same types of defenses that are standard for their v4 counterparts. The Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH wireless router, for instance, supports IPv6 routing but omits IPv6 firewall capabilities that are typical with IPv4. Many v4 devices rely on network address translation, which assigns devices inside a home or corporate network an address that's not reachable on the open Internet. In large part, it becomes the firewall for v4 devices.
IPv6, by contrast, gives devices inside a private network a globally reachable IP address, a design that works in opposition to the entire objective of network address translation. Shodan's harvesting of addresses from the NTP Pool Project puts such security-through-obscurity approaches to rest.
Whodunnit (and how)?
The revelations about Shodan surfaced in a blog post published earlier this month by Brad Hein, a network administrator and security researcher. Beginning in August, he told Ars, a steady stream of unsolicited network scans that probed 115 separate ports started being directed at IPv6 devices in his laboratory. The devices, which were running the Debian based Raspbian distribution of Linux, had addresses containing randomized extensions that weren't indexed in domain name system lookups or any other public records. What's more, firewall logs showed that none of the scanned devices had ever made outbound connections to the scanner addresses. Although the firewall prevented the scan packets from reaching the devices, Hein's curiosity was piqued, to say the least.
Hein noticed the targeted devices regularly contacted NTP servers to adjust their clocks, so he used a device with a fresh v6 address to connect to some of the same time servers his scanned devices had used in the past. For testing purposes, he used a unique address to ping each timekeeper. Before connecting to a new one, he would refresh the device IP address. Eventually, within five seconds of contacting one recently pinged time server, the same 115 ports of the unique address were suddenly scanned. Hein had finally gotten the big break he had been looking for.
After several weeks of testing, he had a list of 45 IP addresses in the NTP Pool Project cluster that triggered scans, always within about five seconds. When he performed DNS lookups, he found that the IP addresses of the NTP servers and a completely different set of IP addresses used by the scanners all corresponded to domain names belonging to Shodan. Last week, several participants in an Internet forum reported they were able to reproduce Hein's results. The evidence left little doubt that Shodan was using NTP servers to harvest v6 addresses so they could be scanned for vulnerabilities.
Resistance is (mostly) futile
Some of the forum participants have proposed remedies such as using a secondary v6 address to make NTP queries or even for all outgoing connections. It's not clear how much meaningful protection would come from such approaches given the five-second turnaround time from outgoing NTP query to incoming scan. The proposed fix would also do little to prevent abuse by other services, such as websites, messaging, DNS, and e-mail that also receive incoming connections from IPv6 devices. Hein said he supports using IPv6 addresses once per connection and limiting the lifespan of an IPv6 address to a single connection. Once the connection is closed, the IPv6 address would be deallocated.
"This would generate a huge volume of IPv6 addresses for routers and network systems to have to keep track of, but it would be the most secure," he said. "I suppose this is the other side of the spectrum from what we see today with temp addresses, which live for about a day at a time and accept inbound connections during that whole time."
Ultimately, at least for the foreseeable future, people would do better to accept that some amount of harvesting will unavoidable and that admins will have to apply the same stringent firewall regimens to IPv6 devices that have long been required to keep v4 devices safe.
"I (too) might just be too cynical, or in this business too long, but I feel that if you communicate on the global Internet, you should expect to be probed," one participant in the discussion wrote. "If you’re not ready to be probed, your machine shouldn’t be on the Net. Really. One can probe the entire v4 Internet in minutes, so being probed should not be new to any device on it. The fact that the v6 address space takes... slightly longer ;) to probe should not make one lazy and rely on security by obscurity, hoping that your machine will not be seen."Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he would welcome Russian air strikes on Islamic State targets and charged the U.S.-led Coalition with failing to give Iraq enough support. No bombing plans have been made so far according to Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
At least 257 were killed and 72 were wounded in battles:
Five security personnel were executed in Nimrod.
A bomb in Baghdad killed one person and wounded six more at a soccer stadium.
In Hawija, Peshmerga forces and Coalition strikes left 65 militants dead and 45 wounded.
Airstrikes in Mosul killed 45 militants.
More than 50 militants were killed during airstrikes on Makhmour.
In Qayara, airstrikes killed about 34 militants at a factory and left another 16 wounded.
A rocket attack killed 22 militants in Jowaiba.
A dozen militants were killed in Khorsabad and Noran.
Security forces in Mallab killed 10 militants.
In Garma, security personnel killed seven militants and wounded one more.
Six militants were killed and four were wounded in Ba’shiqah.
Read more by Margaret GriffisRobert Mercer the multi-billionaire hedge fund co-chief of Renaissance Technologies; owner of Breitbart media; previous backer of Ted Cruz and currently reformed supporter of President Trump is making significant moves.
The overarching direction of the repositioning appears to be common sense. The end result, at least from a 30,000 ft level, positions Mercer toward the pragmatic MAGA Trump movement (CTH perspective) and politely distanced from the gnats and Bannon Bros.
Mr. Mercer sent a letter to his hedge fund principles (investors and pension advisers) notifying them of his stepping down from Renaissance Tech, including the board of directors, though he will remain deeply involved in the research and analytics side of the operation.
Additionally, Mercer appears to have caught-on to the general direction where the gnat swarm was/is headed and is now distancing himself from the nuttery side of right-minded political engagement. Mercer is shifting controlling ownership of Breitbart media to his two daughters. This is good news for team common sense and bad news for the hungry gnats.
In a very rare statement attributed directly to Mr. Mercer, he explains his perspectives on Steve Bannon and how despite the general agreement on intent, the methods and approach by Bannon is not always in alignment with Mercer’s own outlooks on politics.
No doubt there are a multitude of CTH readers who will identify with the sentiments contained within the statement from Mr. Mercer. Indeed, as CTH has oft repeated: if you hang around a one-legged man long enough, sooner or later you’re gonna start limping.
There are a myriad of very important ideological battles being waged upon a large and encompassing ideological geography. A candidate riding to the voting booth on a horse might sell well to a particular viewer/voter, but in the larger picture it does nothing to draw in the man or woman who hits the alarm clock at 5:15am prior to working for the next and necessary paycheck.
Good moves here by Mr. Robert Mercer, and from a perspective of intellectual honesty, CTH offers appreciation toward any influence agent of such established caliber who puts reasonable logic at the forefront of purposeful planning.
AdvertisementsTesla has unveiled an interesting new Powerpack project in Rockhampton, Queensland, where they installed only one Powerpack with their own commercial inverter.
After recent massive Powerpack projects, like the 100 MW/129 MWh energy storage system announced in Australia and the Tesla solar + Powerpacks project powering Kauai, the new project shows the flexibility of Tesla’s energy storage products.
These utility-scale projects feature hundreds of Powerpacks and large commercial battery inverters, but Tesla can also configure smaller systems for different usage and still achieve a return of investment in the right conditions.
For small projects, customers can use Tesla’s Powerwall 2, which is aimed at the residential market with a capacity of 14 kWh, but can be stacked with up to 9 packs for a usable capacity of up to 121 kWh.
But now with this new project in Queensland, Australia, Tesla shows that it can sometimes be worth it to use just one single Powerpack with a higher capacity commercial inverter.
Tesla wrote about the project:
“The Cathedral College in Rockhampton, Queensland is |
who is forty-six, is tall and skinny, with a long, narrow face and slender fingers. He dresses in more or less the same clothes every day—black New Balance sneakers, faded black jeans, a button-down shirt, a leather jacket, and thick aviator-style glasses. His skin is shiny and reddish-brown, in that way that a smoker’s skin can look—half tanned and half cured. He sometimes has a wispy mustache and goatee. You don’t really have a conversation with him; you mention an idea, and that triggers five or ten associations in Wright’s mind, which he delivers in quick bursts of data that are strung together with “um”s. When I walked into his office, Wright jumped up and, after shaking my hand, said, “Here, try this, um, it’s this really cool toy I found recently,” and handed me a wireless controller for a small robotic tank that was sitting on the floor. It was facing another tank, which Wright was controlling. He started moving his tank around and shooting mine, watching me curiously, waiting to see how long it would take me to understand what was going on. I felt an odd tingling sensation in my hands, but I didn’t pay any attention to it at first. Eventually, I realized that I was getting shocked: every time Wright’s tank shot mine, an electric charge passed from the controller into my hands. Wright had been working on a Power-Point presentation of a talk he had been asked to give about Spore. “It’s supposed to be about how I came up with the game, but what I really want to talk about is the history of astrobiology, so I’m doing both,” he said. He moved over to the two computers in his office and clicked through some images, while describing the basic structure of Spore. At first, I was baffled. Up to this point in his career, Wright has been including more and more social realism in his games. But Spore is a surprise—at a glance, it looks like a “cartoony bug game,” as one contributor to a gaming Web site put it. The buildings don’t have the crisp urban lines of SimCity; they look more like the architecture in Dr. Seuss books. Wright has also introduced weapons and conquest. The violence isn’t gratuitous—in some cases, you have to kill to survive—but it isn’t sugar-coated, either. Not only do you kill other creatures in Spore but you have to eat them. At the first level of the game, you are a single-celled organism in a drop of water, which is represented on the screen as a two-dimensional environment, like a slide under a microscope. By successfully avoiding predators, which are represented as different-colored cells, you get to reproduce, and that earns you DNA points (a double helix appears over your character). DNA is the currency in the early levels of Spore, and as you evolve you can acquire better parts—larger flippers for faster swimming, say, or sharper claws for defeating predators. Eventually, you emerge from the water onto the second level—dry land—and your creature must compete with other creatures, and mate with those of your own kind which the computer generates, until you form a tribe. You can play a violent game of conquest over other tribes or you can play a social game of conciliation. If you make clever choices, according to the logic of the simulation, you will survive and continue to evolve. Along the way, you get to acquire ever more powerful tools and weapons, and to create dwellings, towns, cities. When your city has conquered the other cities in your world, you can build a spaceship and launch into space. By the final level, you have evolved into an intergalactic god who can travel throughout the universe conducting interplanetary diplomacy and warfare. The images that Wright called up on the computer were supposed to illustrate the game, but they gave little sense of what it would look like. There was a slide that showed the equation for gravity, a slide about panspermia theory (the idea that life on earth began with organic matter brought from space by comets and other “dirty snowballs”), and a picture of the cast of the early-eighties TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Wright paused to say that, according to his calculations, based on the speed of radio waves, a hundred and fifty stars have received “The Dukes of Hazzard” by now. Spore isn’t a multiplayer game, like the immensely popular World of Warcraft, which runs on “massively parallel” computers (a distributed system employing many networked machines); it’s what Wright jokingly calls a massively parallel single-player game. If you enable an Internet feature, Spore servers will “pollinate” your copy of the game with content created by other players. In order to create the best content for your style of play—“the right kind of ecosystem for your creature,” as Wright puts it—Spore builds a model of how you play the game, and searches for other players’ content that fits that model. If you create a hyper-aggressive Darwinian monster, for example, the game might download equally cutthroat opponents to test you. In other words, while you are playing the game, the game is playing you. Wright asked if I would like to try the Spore “creature editor,” which is the first major design tool in the game. On the screen was a kidney-shaped blob that looked like Mr. Potato Head before you add the features. Wright showed me the menus for creating my creature’s skeleton, body, eyes, and skin. I used the mouse to stretch the blob into a torso, changing the shape and length of the spine as I did so. I chose the parts from the left side of the screen—flippers, beaks, three-jointed legs—all of which would cost DNA points at this stage of the game. Wright explained, “You can choose different mouths—carnivore, herbivore, omnivore—which will determine not only how you will eat in the world but what type of voice the creature has.” On the right side of the screen were graphics that showed the evolutionary advantages and consequences of each choice—speed, power, stealth, etc. Switching to the paint menu, I applied a base coat of purple, then some orange stripes; the computer automatically shaded the colors, so that my creature’s skin looked professionally textured. “O.K., now go to test mode,” Wright said. I clicked a button and my creature sprang to life and started lumbering around the screen. It was a goofy-looking thing—a hammer-fisted apatosaurus with a potbelly, a long neck, and floppy dog ears. But it was a fully animated character, something that Pixar might have created, and I had made it in about three minutes. I felt as if I were playing with digital clay.
Electronic Arts is the largest producer of video games in the world, with more than seven thousand employees, and studios in North America, Europe, and Asia. It makes or licenses software for many game-playing platforms, including computer games for P.C.s and Macs; console games for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft game boxes; handheld games for the Nintendo Game Boy (and the new Nintendo DS) and for the Sony PSP; and online games for playing on the Web. Most recently, E.A. has begun to make “mobile games,” for playing on cell phones, a new and rapidly growing market. E.A. was founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, a former marketing manager at Apple Computer, as “the new Hollywood,” and it was at first supposed to be a haven for video-game auteurs. Hawkins proposed to treat designers, who had hitherto been regarded as mere engineers, as artists, and to design sexy packaging that would evoke album covers, with the names of the creators emblazoned on the front. “Can a video game make you cry?” was one of the company’s early challenges. Over the years, E.A. shifted its strategy toward games based on “proven content”—licensed stories and characters from film, sports, and TV, rendered in game form. (More recently, it has focussed on creating its own intellectual property.) E.A. has also developed sports-simulation games, based on professional sports leagues, featuring the players themselves. As Steven L. Kent recounts in “The Ultimate History of Video Games,” it began in 1984, with Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One-on-One, a basketball game for which E.A. paid Erving and Bird to use their names and images. Since then, E.A. has created a sports-gaming empire. The latest version of Madden NFL, which was originally published in 1990, sold two million copies in its first week of release this August. In recent years, the company has acquired a Microsoft-like reputation for hard-nosed business practices—buying smaller development studios that can no longer afford the rising costs of game production, and shutting out potential competitors with exclusive licensing deals. The E.A. campus is in Redwood Shores, California, at the northern edge of Silicon Valley. Employees dress in shorts; there’s a gym; the games in the company store are less than half price; and several meeting rooms are designed to look like sports bars. But, according to two class-action suits for “unpaid overtime,” one filed by E.A. game artists and another by programmers, working for E.A. hasn’t always been as much fun as it appears to be. Although both suits have been settled and E.A. has revised its overtime policy, during crunch times eighty-hour weeks continue to be the norm. While I was at E.A., I was given a demonstration of The Godfather, one of the company’s new games. You begin as a low-level criminal and attempt to become, through the clever use of violence and extortion, the head of the crime family. One of the game’s innovations is that, in addition to killing opponents, you can also wound them by shooting them in the kneecaps or shoulders—and if you only wound them you can still extort money from them, and thereby advance in the game. I also saw the latest installment of the Tiger Woods golf franchise. The golfer allowed E.A. to attach motion sensors to his body and face, and the data were rendered in computer graphics. The result is, among other things, a remarkable computer-animated version of Woods’s famous smile—the way the upper lip slides up over the teeth is perfect. After hitting a good drive, you get to hear Woods whisper, “On the screws, Tiger.” After the demos, I met Larry Probst, the fifty-six-year-old chief executive of E.A., who started in the company’s sales department in 1984. Probst explained that E.A. allowed Wright to put together a development team by choosing some of the most talented artists and programmers from E.A.’s vast network of game makers. The company also constructed a separate headquarters for the seventy-five-member team in Emeryville, about fifty miles north of the corporate campus, near Orinda, where Wright was living. It was counting on Spore to help shore up its bottom line. The company’s stock price had dropped almost thirty per cent since April, and its sales figures were twenty per cent lower than last year’s. Probst blamed the company’s problems on one of the cyclical downturns that hits the game industry every four or five years, when a new generation of gaming machines become available; this fall, both the PlayStation 3, from Sony, and Nintendo’s Wii system go on sale. Traditionally, gamers stop buying the current generation of games in anticipation of those which will be developed for the new machines. But there are reasons to believe that E.A.’s problems are more systemic—indeed, that the entire game industry is on the verge of a fundamental restructuring. Not since the early nineteen-eighties, when video games began moving from amusement arcades into homes, has the future seemed so uncertain. While each generation of hardware offers the capacity for increasingly realistic graphics—like Tiger’s smile—it also requires producers to devote more programming hours to filling that capacity. Twenty years ago, it was possible for one man to create an entire video game; today, development teams of a hundred or more are the norm. Moreover, E.A.’s basic product, which is a boxed game costing around fifty dollars, isn’t as appealing as it once was. Many adult players prefer “casual games,” which can be played on cell phones and in shorter sessions online. Instead of buying games at a store and bringing them home, customers want games they can get on the Web. Just as some in the film industry have begun to wonder about the economic feasibility of films that cost upward of fifty million dollars to produce, so people in the game industry wonder whether big-budget games can survive in a climate that favors downloadable games that are cheap, short-lived, and disposable. During our conversation, Probst seemed most enthusiastic about the market for casual games, especially games for cell phones, which earned E.A. more than a hundred million dollars last year. “Think about what happens when three billion Chinese people have cell phones,” he said at one point. But how do you convince a casual gamer, who is just looking for distraction, to play a game that is about evolution, city building, conquest, and interstellar travel? I asked Probst about this, and he said, “You tell people it’s a Will Wright game.”
Wright belongs to the last generation of game designers (and, indeed, human beings) who grew up before personal computers and game consoles existed. He built models of things as a kid: “ships, cars, planes—I loved to do that,” he told me. When Will was ten, he built a balsa-wood replica of the flight deck on the Enterprise, which won an award at a Star Trek convention. He was also fond of the board games made by Avalon Hill, such as PanzerBlitz, a strategy game loosely based on tank warfare on the Eastern Front. Wright’s father, Will, Sr., and grandfather were graduates of Georgia Tech’s engineering school, and Wright keeps their graduation pictures hanging on a wall in his house, alongside a picture of himself. His forebears are crewcut men in sober suits, about to embark on successful careers in making useful things. Then, there’s Will, Jr., who never graduated from college, and who didn’t fit into the family tradition—a gangly man-boy with a sweet, slightly stoned-looking grin. “Something went wrong with this one,” Wright said, peering at the picture. In the nineteen-sixties, Wright’s father developed a new way of making plastic packing materials and started a successful company, which allowed the Wrights to live comfortably in Atlanta. Will’s dad was also an excellent golfer. His mother, Beverlye Wright Edwards, was an amateur magician and actress. Wright flourished in the local Montessori school, with its emphasis on creativity, problem solving, and self-motivation. “Montessori taught me the joy of discovery,” Wright told me. “It showed you can become interested in pretty complex theories, like Pythagorean theory, say, by playing with blocks. It’s all about learning on your terms, rather than a teacher explaining stuff to you. SimCity comes right out of Montessori—if you give people this model for building cities, they will abstract from it principles of urban design.” In the evening, Will and his father would sit on the porch and talk about the stars, NASA’s Apollo program, and the possibility of life on other planets. Wright was planning to be an astronaut, and his goal was to create colonies in space that would help relieve the pressure of overpopulation. His father thought this was a wonderful idea. When Will was nine, his father died of leukemia, and his mother took him and his younger sister, Whitney, back to Baton Rouge, her home town. Will went to Episcopal, a conventional prep school. He didn’t like it as much as the Montessori school, although he enjoyed discussions about God with the faculty. “That’s where I became an atheist,” he said. He started at Louisiana State University when he was sixteen; two years later, he transferred to Louisiana Tech. He excelled only in subjects that he was interested in: architecture, economics, mechanical engineering, military history. He had impractical goals—in addition to starting colonies in space, he wanted to build robots. He dropped out again after two years, drove a bulldozer for a summer, and then, in the fall of 1980, went to the New School, in Manhattan, where he studied robotics. He lived in an apartment over Balducci’s, in Greenwich Village, and spent a lot of time on Canal Street scrounging parts from the sur-plus electronics stores that used to line the street and using them to build a robotic arm. In the spring of 1981, Wright answered an ad in a car magazine: Richard Doherty, a rally enthusiast, was looking participants to compete in a point-to-point race between Farmingdale, Long Island, and Redondo Beach, California. Wright had a Mazda RX-7, which he and Doherty modified with a larger fuel tank and a roll cage. They wore night-vision goggles so that they could drive fast in the dark without headlights and avoid the cops. “Will said we should take the southern route, even though it was longer, because if we got stopped he’d be able to talk to the cops,” Doherty told me. “We did get stopped in Georgia. We were doing a hundred and twenty, with no headlights, but it didn’t take Will more than a couple of minutes to make the officer see why he had to let us go without a ticket.” They won the race, establishing a new record of thirty-four hours and nine minutes. After a year at the New School, Wright went back to Baton Rouge to live with his best friend. His family expected Will to take over the plastics company, but Will wasn’t interested. (Eventually, they sold the business.) Souping up cars for rally racing was his main passion that summer, until his roommate’s sister, Joell Jones, came to Baton Rouge for a visit. Jones was eleven years older than Wright; their families had been friends and he had known her when he was a teen-ager. Now she lived in Oakland, where she was a painter and a social activist. She was back in Baton Rouge to recuperate after severing a nerve in her wrist. To extend the range of motion in her hand, Wright built a device out of metal and rubber bands. “Will would talk to me passionately about the need to colonize space, and I would say that it was more important to feed people on earth,” Jones told me. “Somehow we fell in love.” When Jones went back to Oakland, Wright asked if he could come and live with her; she agreed, on the condition that he didn’t interfere with her painting. They married in 1984.
In the early nineteen-eighties, coin-operated machines began to decline in popularity and home-video games began to take hold. Atari, which had popularized home-gaming consoles, was superseded by Nintendo, a venerable Japanese playing-card company, with its Nintendo Entertainment System. As hardware, the N.E.S. was an improvement over the Atari machines (Atari’s joystick controller was replaced with the directional “+” pad, which the player operated with his thumbs), but it was software, in the form of a Nintendo game cartridge called Super Mario Bros., that made Nintendo the industry leader. Shigeru Miyamoto, who had designed Nintendo’s Donkey Kong for arcades, redesigned the game, changing the carpenter in the game, whose name was Jumpman, to a plumber, whom he called Mario, and adding a brother named Luigi and a far greater array of aids (golden coins, magic mushrooms), obstacles (fire-spitting enemies), and underground passageways, many of them drawn from Miyamoto’s boyhood memories of exploring caves in the mountains near his home in Sonobe. By the time Super Mario appeared, the syntax for game play was firmly established; it remains the standard grammar today. The player progresses through the game by defeating antagonists, restoring his energy with “power-ups” he finds along the way, accumulating bonus points to rise to progressively harder levels, many of which feature a “boss” who must be defeated in order to earn a “save game” and not have to repeat the level. Although Super Mario, which débuted in the United States in 1985, had a goal (to rescue Princess Peach from a giant reptile named Bowser), it also encouraged exploration for its own sake; in this regard, it was less like a competitive game than a “software toy”—a concept that influenced Will Wright’s notion of possibility space. “The breadth and the scope of the game really blew me away,” Wright told me. “It was made out of these simple elements, and it worked according to simple rules, but it added up to this very complex design.” In the late nineties, Sony’s PlayStation console replaced the N.E.S. as the dominant home game-playing system, and Microsoft’s Xbox, introduced in 2001, is now the second-best-selling machine. But neither Sony nor Microsoft has had Nintendo’s influence on basic game design. In 1991, yet another phase in the game business began when a young programmer named John Carmack, who was, together with John Romero, a partner in a Dallas-based company called id Software, figured out how to program 3-D graphics for a P.C., enabling the designers to give more depth to interior spaces and to create more realistic movements. According to “Masters of Doom,” David Kushner’s 2003 book, when Romero first saw Carmack’s 3-D program, he exclaimed, “This is it. We’re gone!” Romero designed the graphics and game play for an ultra-violent game, which called on his own love of nineteen-fifties horror comics published by Evergreen, combined with a heavy-metal sensibility. The result was Doom, the defining first-person shooter, in which you play a “space marine,” and the object is to kill the zombies that come at you as you advance deeper into Hell. Everything about the game was designed to inflame a teen-age boy’s fantasies of power while causing grave distress to his parents. In 1999, the elders’ worst fears about the antisocial effects of first-person shooters seemed to be realized when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the teen-agers who massacred twelve of their classmates and one teacher at Columbine High School, in Colorado, were revealed to be obsessive players of Doom. Congressional hearings on violence in video games followed. More recently, the San Andreas version of the Grand Theft Auto series, in which the object is to pimp and steal your way to the top (you can get power-ups from mugging prostitutes), caused Hillary Clinton to co-sponsor the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which would ban the sale of violent games to minors. Clinton also accused the makers of violent and sexually explicit games of “stealing the innocence of our children and making the difficult job of being a parent even harder.” One day in his office, Wright showed me an e-mail he had received from Lara M. Brown, a professor of political science at California State University, Channel Islands, in response to an essay he had written for Wired about the educational value of video games. Brown, who uses technology in her own teaching, wrote, “Most of us are in agreement that this younger generation—raised on video games—has learned to be reactive, instead of active, and worse, they have lost their imaginative abilities and creativity because the games provide all of the images, sounds, and possible outcomes for them. Our students tend to not know how to initiate questions, formulate hypotheses, or lead off a debate because they like to wait to see what ‘comes at them.’ They also have difficulty imagining worlds (places and/or historical times) unless you (as a professor) can provide them with a picture and a sound to go along with the words.... In essence, they seem to have lost the ability to visualize with their minds.” Wright, though, believes that video games teach you how to learn; what needs to change is the way children are taught. “The problem with our education system is we’ve taken this kind of narrow, reductionist, Aristotelian approach to what learning is,” he told me. “It’s not designed for experimenting with complex systems and navigating your way through them in an intuitive way, which is what games teach. It’s not really designed for failure, which is also something games teach. I mean, I think that failure is a better teacher than success. Trial and error, reverse-engineering stuff in your mind—all the ways that kids interact with games—that’s the kind of thinking schools should be teaching. And I would argue that as the world becomes more complex, and as outcomes become less about success or failure, games are better at preparing you. The education system is going to realize this sooner or later. It’s starting. Teachers are entering the system who grew up playing games. They’re going to want to engage with the kids using games.”
Shortly after moving in with Jones, Wright began making a helicopter simulator on his personal computer (a Commodore 64). Eventually, the simulator evolved into a shoot-’em-up in which the player flies the helicopter over various cities and islands, trying to bomb buildings and blow up bridges. Wright showed the game to Gary and Doug Carlston, the founders of Broderbund, one of the earliest P.C.-gaming software companies. In 1984, Broderbund brought it out as a P.C. game called Raid on Bungling Bay, and it appeared as a Nintendo cartridge the following year. It was only a moderate success for the P.C., but it sold a million cartridges, mainly in Japan, and because of Nintendo’s generous royalty agreement with Broderbund, Wright says, “I made enough money to live on for several years.” In designing Raid on Bungling Bay, Wright noticed that he “was more interested in creating the buildings on the islands than in blowing them up.” He started thinking of a game in which the point would be to design buildings, or, maybe, to build a city. A neighbor suggested that Wright take a look at a 1969 book called “Urban Dynamics,” by Jay Wright Forrester, an M.I.T. professor, which argued that urban planning could be carried out more rationally by a computer simulation than by humans, because the computer wouldn’t be blinded by intuitive biases. In a later book, “World Dynamics,” Forrester laid out his proposal for a simulation that could manage the entire planet. Computer simulations had been around since the nineteen-fifties, when military planners, climatologists, and economic forecasters began programming models of particular scenarios and dynamics, and using them to predict outcomes. One early and well-known biological simulation was the Game of Life, created by a mathematician named John Horton Conway, in 1970. The game, which simulated the growth and death of a living creature, was based on the principle of “cellular automata,” in which the programmer assigns simple rules to discrete units, or cells. It can be played on a plain two-dimensional grid, in which black squares represent live cells and white squares represent dead ones. Each cell reacts to the state of the cells around it. The rules are: (1) any live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies of loneliness; (2) any live cell with more than three neighbors dies of overcrowding; (3) any live cell with two or three neighbors lives; (4) any dead cell with three neighbors returns to life. Conway’s purpose was to show how a simple structure of cells could be organized algorithmically to simulate complex, lifelike systems in which unpredictable or “emergent” outcomes occur. Wright figured out how to combine Forrester’s and Conway’s ideas to imitate the dynamics of a city. The player would be responsible for adjusting around a hundred variables in a way that allows the city to thrive. You establish transportation networks, power grids, hospitals, and schools. Each decision affects many other variables: a rising crime rate leads to a declining population, which erodes the tax base, which requires the cutting of some essential services—less funding for the hospital, for example. Wright built a prototype of the game and worked on it for Broderbund, but the company could not see the commercial potential for a game you couldn’t win. Eventually, Broderbund gave back the game’s rights to Wright, and he set out to find a backer. One night, at a pizza party in Alameda, Wright met Jeff Braun, a young businessman who was looking to get into video games. As Braun explained, “Will showed me the game and he said, ‘No one likes it, because you can’t win.’ But I thought it was great. I foresaw an audience of megalomaniacs who want to control the world.” Together, they founded Maxis, and brought out SimCity in 1989. (Broderbund eventually joined the venture as a distributor; by then Wright had added a feature that allowed players to destroy their cities with various disasters—a volcano, an earthquake, an alien attack, a meteorite shower.) SimCity was slow to catch on, but seventeen years later the game has earned the company two hundred and thirty million dollars. A sizable number of players who first became interested in urban design as a result of the game have gone on to become architects and designers, making SimCity arguably the single most influential work of urban-design theory ever created.
In 1986, Wright and Jones had a daughter, Cassidy, and Jones made Wright promise to share the parenting equally so that she could continue painting. “He really did stick to that,” she told me. “He spent a lot of time with Cassidy.” While he was at home with his daughter, Wright began to turn over the idea for a new game, a kind of interactive doll house that adults would like as much as children. “I went around my house looking at all my objects, asking myself, ‘What’s the least number of motives or needs that would justify all this crap in my house?’ There should be some reason for everything in my house. What’s the reason?” One morning in 1991, as Wright awoke in his house in the Oakland Hills, he thought he smelled smoke and called 911. Over the next half hour, the smoke got worse. “I thought, Uh-oh, this isn’t trending well.” He and his wife decided it was time to evacuate (Cassidy was away at a friend’s house). They grabbed some family photos, jumped into Jones’s car, and drove away. When they returned, three days later, the Oakland Hills firestorm had destroyed everything. Nothing was left except for some lumps of melted metal, the remains of their other car. In the months that followed, as Wright went about replacing his belongings, he started thinking about all the things people needed. “I hate to shop,” he said, “and I was forced to buy all these things, from toothpaste, utensils, and socks up to furniture.” Three works helped Wright understand how he could turn these life experiences into a game. One was the book “A Pattern Language,” by Christopher Alexander and his colleagues at the Center for Environmental Structure, in Berkeley. The book identifies two hundred and fifty-three timeless ways of building, which are classified as patterns—“Stair Seats,” “Children’s Realm,” etc.—and it shows how these patterns can create satisfying living spaces. The idea is that the value of architecture can be measured by the happiness of the people who live in it. The second was the psychologist Abraham Maslow’s 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation,” in which Maslow described a pyramid-shaped hierarchy of human needs, with “Physiological” at the bottom, and above it “Safety,” “Love,” “Esteem,” and, at the top, “Self-actualization.” The third inspiration was Charles Hampden-Turner’s “Maps of the Mind,” which compares more than fifty theories about how the mind works. Putting these works together, Wright formulated a model with which to “score” the happiness of the people in his doll house by their status, popularity, and success, and by the quality of the environment the player designs for them—the more comfortable the house, the happier the people. Wright told me, “I don’t believe any one theory of human psychology is correct. The Sims just ended up being a mishmash of stuff that worked in the game.” From a technical perspective, Wright’s singular achievement in The Sims was to design a new kind of “object-oriented” operating system that modelled the complexity of social dynamics. As Chris Hecker, one of the developers on the Spore team, explained to me, “In Will’s games, the objects themselves are encoded to interact with the environment around them. So if you introduce an espresso machine you buy from the online Sims mall, the Sims will be able to make espresso without having to reprogram the game. All you have to do is drop the object into the environment and it will make other stuff happen. The objects create ‘verbs,’ as we say.” The original Sims had eight motives or needs—hunger, hygiene, bladder, comfort, energy, social, fun, and room—all of which are affected by objects in the world around them. Life for a Sim is the pursuit of happiness, but happiness depends on social interaction and consumption, and consumption requires money. For example, the cheapest bed in The Sims 2, which costs three hundred “simoleons,” brings your Sim one point of comfort and two points of energy; a three-thousand-simoleon bed carries seven points of comfort and six of energy. Wright has said that he intended the game as a parody of consumerism, because “if you sit there and build a big mansion that’s all full of stuff, without cheating, you realize that all these objects end up sucking up all your time, when they had been promising to save you time.” Almost no dedicated Sims player, Wright included, actually follows the rules of the game, which force you to spend many hours working in menial jobs in order to be able to afford nicer stuff. Most players use the “cheats” that are widely available on the Internet and have been built into the game by the programmers. Cheats are short pieces of code you can type into the game that let you get around the rules. Typing “motherlode” into The Sims 2, for example, endows your Sims with fifty thousand simoleons. But using cheats doesn’t really feel like cheating, because playing The Sims doesn’t really feel like a game. It seems more like gardening, or fixing up your house. One of the game’s small triumphs is to make work seem like fun. As my fourteen-year-old niece exclaimed recently, when I asked her what she liked about playing The Sims, “You’ve got one Sim who you’ve got to get to school, and another who needs to get to his job, and their kid has been up all night and is in a bad mood, and the house is dirty—I mean, there’s a ton of things to do!” When Wright took his idea to the Maxis board of directors, Jeff Braun says, “The board looked at The Sims and said, ‘What is this? He wants to do an interactive doll house? The guy is out of his mind.’ ” Doll houses were for girls, and girls didn’t play video games. Maxis gave little support or financing for the game. Electronic Arts, which bought Maxis in 1997, was more enthusiastic. (Wright received seventeen million dollars in E.A. stock for his share of the company.) Wright’s games are so different from E.A.’s other releases that it was hard to imagine the two being united in the same enterprise. But the success of SimCity had already established Sim as a strong brand, and E.A., which by then, fifteen years after its founding, was becoming a Procter & Gamble-style brand-management company, foresaw the possibility of building a Sim franchise. Released in 2000, The Sims was an immediate hit; it went on to become the best-selling P.C. game of all time. E.A. has since licensed it to many other playing platforms, and issues regular Sims “expansion packs,” featuring new content, like Livin’ Large, House Party, and Hot Date. (Wright worked on The Sims 2, which was a major redesign, but he has had nothing to do with the expansion packs.) The Sims franchise has earned E.A. more than a billion dollars so far. E.A.’s only misstep was The Sims Online, the multiplayer version released in 2002, which failed to attract the masses of players drawn to other multiplayer games, such as World of Warcraft and Runescape. The Sims brought a huge new population to gaming—girls. That did not come as a complete surprise to Wright, since women made up forty per cent of his Sims development team, and his daughter Cassidy, then fourteen years old, had helped him tinker with the prototypes. When he was a kid, Wright told me, “I never played with dolls, which is more of a social thing than playing with trains—it’s about the people in the house. Cassidy helped me see that. She and her friends got into the purely creative side of the game, rather than the goal-oriented side, which really influenced me a lot.” Cassidy was traumatized to discover that the Sims could burn down their house, and die in the fire, if they weren’t careful around the stove. Wright left that feature in the game. An unintended result of The Sims’ success is that Wright transformed the tactile experience of playing with dolls, which has been a part of children’s development for thousands of years, into a virtual experience. The enormous success of The Sims means that children today can grow up without having the hands-on model-making experiences that Wright enjoyed as a child, and that inspired him to make games in the first place.
One evening, I went with Wright to the house he and Jones moved into after the Oakland Hills fire. He drove a black two-door BMW with a fancy radar detector. The car was a mess, inside and out; Wright never washes it, because he wants it to look like one of the banged-up starships in “Star Wars.” Parking it in the garage, he led me into the house through a short hallway that was full of oddly shaped pieces of machined steel. Wright explained that these were left over from the days when he competed in gladiatorial robot contests called BattleBots, in which engineers attempt to build the most destructive remote-control robot vehicles possible. These ferocious machines fight in large Plexiglas boxes, ramming into each other at high speeds, trying to disable their opponents by flipping them over; the tournaments are like geek cockfights. One of Wright’s robots, which he designed with the help of Cassidy, was called Kitty Puff Puff. It fought its opponents (which had names like the Eviscerator and Death Machine) by sticking a piece of gauze to its opponent’s armature, and then driving in circles around it, until the opposing robot was so cocooned in gauze that it couldn’t move. Eventually, the organizers banned cocooning. The house, a split-level, was on a hill |
because that economic program has a lot of sticks, not just carrots, mostly sticks for the poor and working people of Ukraine.Developer Uber Entertainment found success on Kickstarter in 2012 when it crowd-funded real-time strategy game Planetary Annihilation, but was unable to replicate success that with its latest attempt for a game called Human Resources. The Kirkland, Washington-based studio canceled its Kickstarter for Human Resources today after it became clear the game's fundraising campaign wouldn't meet its goal.
"Every Kickstarter prediction model is showing that we will come up woefully short of our goal," Uber Entertainment design director John Comes wrote in an update on the Human Resources Kickstarter. "Running a Kickstarter is a full time job for several people. As a small indie, we can't continue spending time and money focusing on a project that won't get funded. We simply don't have the human resources."
Comes says the version of Human Resources, "as pitched in this Kickstarter, is over" but that Uber "will endeavor to do what we can to bring it to life in some form."
Uber Entertainment announced Human Resources in early October, pitching the real-time strategy game as a battle between apocalyptic forces. On one side were the Machines, giant insect-like killer robots, and on the other, the Ancient Ones, an army of monsters that blend Lovecraftian weirdness with Japanese kaiju. Each side harvested human beings as their resource material and were designed to play asymmetrically. Uber said it had other factions planned based on world-ending forces.
Human Resources planned to feature the "tone, character, and pacing of a Command & Conquer game mixed with the mammoth battles of an Annihilation game," Uber Entertainment said in its pitch. Uber was seeking at least $1.4 million to fund the game and planned to release the PC title in 2016. Pledges for Human Resources reached $384,358 at the time of cancellation.
Uber Entertainment, which also developed Monday Night Combat and Super Monday Night Combat, raised more than $2.2 million in 2012 to fund development of Planetary Annihilation."I love the show in its own right. But then it's fascinating to see them visit areas I've researched."
Dr Marcus Harmes says the history textbooks on his shelves and the Dalek posters on his wall "mix very comfortably".
"Doctor Who is full of references to famous texts," he said.
The University of Southern Queensland academic says he's watched the program for as long as he can remember and has been known to insert Doctor Who references into lectures.
"There is always something you can use Doctor Who for in lectures. If I taught science I'd even bring him into physics lessons."
Excited for the brand new series, he has more time for the popular BBC science fiction series than some historical dramas.
"I think Doctor Who has a license for imagination," he said.
"It's different for something like The Tudors which I don't like even though my original research was in Tudor history.
"That's probably why I don't like it; because it annoys me when I see everything they get wrong while claiming to get it right."
He says Doctor Who is different.
"They aren't making claims for accuracy. They have fun with the sources they are using. It is a serious show, but the writers are very inventive," he said.
"In one episode they visited ancient Rome. You can tell the writer of that story had been reading classical Roman texts because he had all the details right about Nero.
"It's tremendous fun to watch and spot the references. Sometimes they are clever and sometimes very obvious."
From childhood to cool
"The thing you never forget about Doctor Who is the fact that, as a child, it's really scary," Dr Harmes said.
"There are episodes I can still remember and wonder why my parents let me keep watching this show."
He is happy the British sci-fi series has become "cool" in the past decade.
"Audiences have gone up and down over the years," he said.
"The rivalry I remember wasn't so much Doctor Who and Star Wars, it was Doctor Who and Star Trek.
"Trekkies had it better for a time, but I think it's pretty cool to be a Doctor Who fan now.
"People seem to be happy to be seen in their Doctor Who scarves and Tardis hoodies.
"I think people are feeling the love for the show now."FX
We chatted with Dandy about Lady Gaga, Evan Peters, and why those "Hotel" dudes all look the same.
When Finn Wittrock entered the "American Horror Story: Freak Show" scene last season, it was after three enormously popular seasons had already enchanted (and horrified) a dedicated fan base. But the actor's talent and commitment to the role of spoiled psychopath Dandy Mott clearly shined through, earning Wittrock an Emmy nomination and an offer to come back for this year's romp, "Hotel."
As revealed by Entertainment Weekly earlier this week, "Hotel" will find Wittrock in the slightly less psychotic role (we think) of Tristan, an up-and-coming male model who competes for affections of the owner of the Hotel Cortez, the Countess (Lady Gaga), with her other lover Donovan (Matt Bomer).
MTV News hopped on the phone with Wittrock on Friday, discussing everything from working with Gaga and Evan Peters (yep, they're doing scenes together!) to the pool party, to the fact that all of the dudes on the show this year have the same face.
Entertainment Weekly/FX
MTV: You came into "American Horror Story" during an interesting time of transition. Is there a noticeable difference between the Jessica Lange set and the Lady Gaga set?
Finn Wittrock: I don’t know... it’s still a really big show. A lot of the cast I still haven’t seen or worked with, though I’ve been working for weeks. We’re in separate worlds. I find the vibe -- because we’re in L.A., and people are working close to home -- to be pretty peppy. The schedule is really intense on this show, and this year especially is very ambitious with technical stuff, and the look of it. There are stressful days. It does feel different, but... the show still has the same soul, just in a slightly different form.
And she’s just so completely committed, Gaga. She has a real contagious enthusiasm about the character, and immersing herself in it. It’s actually very exciting to be a part of. It feels like a reinvention.
MTV: Did you get to go to the pool party?
Wittrock: I did. I was at the pool party, from what I can remember.
MTV: And... what can you share about that experience, from what you can remember?
Wittrock: It was actually really cool. It’s rare that we actually do that stuff, come together just as a cast. It was just us. It was just the cast and their significant others and Ryan [Murphy]. So it was a really nice bonding experience. And she has a beautiful house, of course, and was a very gracious host. We kind of just, like, let loose, and came together.
In theater you do that -- you have more communal hangout time, getting to know each other, and remembering that we’re all in this together. Cause it is so sprawling -- we’re in our own universes. So it was cool to come together as a community. That was her goal, and it worked. It was pretty fun.
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MTV: Who was the last partier standing?
Wittrock: I left before then, but I don’t know. Everyone was a true champion that night.
MTV: Your scene with Matt Bomer last year was certainly a... crowd pleaser. What's it like reuniting with him in this different power dynamic? Do you think he maybe deserves a little bit of revenge?
Wittrock: [Laughs] I might have something coming. He’s great, I love Matt. He’s such a committed actor. We get along really well, like we fight really well together. I don’t know why, or what that says about us. I don’t know where it’s heading, but there definitely is a very strong relationship between us, even though it’s built out of mainly animosity. It’s more complicated than just two guys who hate each other. We’re just kind of finding and discovering the nuance between each other, and with Gaga. It’s a cool, complicated triangle.
MTV: Is there anyone you didn't get to work with much last year, that you're getting more screen time with this time around?
Wittrock: Yeah, I get a fair amount of stuff to do with Evan this year, which I’m excited about. I worked with him a little at the end last year, but we have a cool dynamic together, so that’s fun. I don’t quite know who else I have too much to do with. I do have a bit of stuff with Cheyenne [Jackson], which is fun. But I’m still waiting for the next script too, so we’ll see. I have a feeling Tristan is going to get around a bit.
MTV: We just got our first glimpse at the Addiction Demon this week. Where do you think he ranks with Twisty, and Bloodyface, and some of the show's most ghastly creations?
Wittrock: Well, I don’t know how he ranks next to Twisty. I think he’s more of a metaphor for addiction itself, which is a more insidious demon.
MTV: Does it scare you?
Wittrock: Yes. Yeah. I think the idea of Addiction is that it’s inside us, that’s what’s scary, is that it’s an outside force. It’s something that’s already within us, and threatens to take us over.
MTV: It sounds like you're maybe dealing with some more serious themes this year, is that fair to say?
Wittrock: Yeah, this season is heavy. It’s bloodier and sexier, and also claustrophobic in a scary way. Last year was so much outside stuff, with the tents, and the sprawling... this year it’s so many interiors, and the hotel is taking on a life of its own. So it’s scary to be stuck inside, you know?
MTV: I have to ask... some fans [MTV News included] have noticed that you, Matt, Cheyenne, Wes Bentley, and Max Greenfield have some similar facial features. Have you read the theories, and are any coming close to the truth?
Wittrock: Well [laughs]. I follow on Instagram this guy called The Fat Jewish, did you see that? He was like "white people think..." That was pretty funny. I don’t know how conscious or unconscious that was on Ryan’s part, but there is actually a purpose behind us looking similar. There is a story point in that. It’s a bit under the surface, but it’s not a total accident.
MTV: Poor Evan. He's the odd man out.
Wittrock: Poor Evan, I know. It’s okay, Evan gets to do some really fun stuff this year. He’s always playing the romantic lead, and he gets to go a little dark side this year.
MTV: The ladies love Evan. I heard that Comic-Con applause.
Wittrock: He’s a hit. Oh yeah. I wouldn’t mess with him.
MTV: A rumor came out just yesterday that "AHS" might start doing two seasons. Would you be up for that?
Wittrock:... I heard about that. That sounds insane, but most of Ryan’s insane ideas actually turn out pretty well. It’s already a very demanding show. But what’s better than one ice cream cone? Two ice cream cones. You know what I’m saying?
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MTV: I do. So, is there one element of Tristan, or one scene, that you're most excited for fans to see?
Wittrock: I think in a lot of ways, he’s the diametrically opposed version of Dandy. Dandy... he acted through his idea of himself being in his own personal opera. A heightened idea of his life. Tristan is much more impulsive, and instinctual, and doesn’t think before he acts. He acts completely on impulse. So the spontaneity is the really fun thing about him. He’s kind of a jackal. Some wild animal. The unrestrained quality is the fun thing.
MTV: Finally, congrats on your Emmy nomination for "Freak Show!" Do you have any plans with the cast for the big night?
Wittrock: It will be fun to get a drink with the cast beforehand, before the magic begins. I don’t know, I just picked out a suit from Dior, so that was fun and fancy. I don’t know, I’m just going to try to have as much fun as possible, and just let the pressure just roll off me, you know? I’m just lucky to be here.
"American Horror Story: Freak Show" hits DVD and Blu-ray on October 6.The Conservative government plans to chop its emergency fund by two-thirds this fiscal year in a long-promised effort to balance the books, according to the federal budget tabled Tuesday.
Given the economic risks resulting from plummeting oil prices, the government plans to reduce its contingency fund -- set aside for unforeseen events -- to $1 billion this fiscal year from its normal $3 billion annually.
The plan for a $2-billion reduction of the fund comes as the government projects a $1.4 billion surplus – and its first balanced budget in eight years.
The annual contingency fund is normally set aside for emergencies such as natural disasters or economic uncertainty. In fact, the C.D. Howe Institute recently said the reserve should be doubled to $6 billion, even if it means fewer economic promises and smaller surpluses.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Finance Minister Joe Oliver defended the government’s decision to cut the contingency fund. He went on to criticize the Liberals for hoarding money in the reserve in the past.
“Compared to the Liberals … I think their number was well over $30 billion. They created a slush fund,” said Oliver. “That’s not what we will do.”
According to budget documents, the contingency fund will gradually increase to $3 billion by 2019.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau fired back Tuesday, suggesting the budget is "very much a plan" for the Conservatives to win re-election.
"The reality is this government has done everything it can to come up with a budget that will be balanced this year," he said, adding there's no real plan for jobs or growth.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair called the fiscal blueprint a "typical Stephen Harper budget," blasting details related to widely-expected increases on TFSA limits.
"He's taking money from the middle class to give it to the richest people in our society. He’s going to create more inequality," Mulcair said. "Increasing the Tax-Free Savings Account is great if you’ve got $60,000 in your back pocket.”
Oliver tabled the government’s fiscal plan in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
The Department of National Defence received the most money -- $12 billion over the next decade.
Canadians from all walks of life, including seniors, students and the disabled, also stand to benefit from the budget.
Here are the highlights from the 518-page document:
Defence
The Conservative government has made the safety of Canadians a big priority, especially following two jihadi-inspired attacks on Canadian soil last October. But that commitment came with a hefty price tag in Tuesday’s budget.
The government will provide the Canadian Armed Forces with more than $360 million to fight the Islamic State in 2015-16 alone. The money will continue to support the 69 Canadian troops training Kurdish Peshmerga forces on the ground in Iraq, as well as the Canadian fighter jets dropping bombs as part of the U.S.-led airstrikes over Iraq and Syria. Canada’s mission has a mandate to run until the end of March 2016.
The government will also boost its funding to the Armed Forces by providing $11.8 billion over 10 years starting in 2017. And it will provide $23 million over four years to upgrade the physical security of Canada's bases, starting this year.
Plus, starting this year, the government will set aside $7.1 million for the Canadian Forces to train troops in Ukraine. Last week, the Canadian government announced its plan to deploy 200 troops to the eastern European country for two years to help train local soldiers fighting separatists there.
National security
Following last year’s shooting attack at the National War Memorial that left a Canadian reservist dead, the government announced Tuesday that starting this year, it will provide $10 million over five years to the City of Ottawa to support policing in the nation’s capital. It will also dedicate $60.4 million over three years to beef up security on the Hill.
Also starting this year, the government will provide intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), with almost $300 million over five years to fight counter-terrorism.
The government will also double the budget of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the review body of CSIS. SIRC will be given $12.5 million over five years starting this year, and $2.5 million ongoing thereafter.
The announcement comes as the critics continue to call for parliamentary oversight of Canada’s security agencies -- a measure the government did not include in its new anti-terror legislation.
Seniors and people with disabilities
Starting this year, the government plans to reduce the minimum withdrawal amounts for the Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs), allowing seniors to earn more on their investments and pay fewer taxes. Under the current law, seniors must draw minimum amounts from their RRIFs annually, starting at 7.38 per cent at the age of 71, and maxing out at 20 per cent at 94 years old. The proposed new RRIF minimum withdrawals would start at 5.28 per cent at the 71 and cap at 20 per cent at the age of 95.
The government also unveiled a new tax credit for seniors and people with disabilities to help with renovation costs to make their homes safer and more accessible. One of the goals of the "Home Accessibility Tax Credit" is to help people remain in their homes for as long as possible, according to budget documents.
Changes to Employment Insurance
The government plans to cut Employment Insurance (EI) premium rates from $1.88 in 2016 to $1.49 in 2017, a reduction of 21 per cent. According to the budget, any surplus from EI collections will be returned to employers and employees through lower EI premium rates.
And starting next year, Canadians caring for gravely ill or dying family members will be able to claim EI Compassionate Care benefits for six months, up from the current six weeks.
Students
The government introduced two measures in Tuesday’s budget to make student grants more accessible.
Starting in 2016, the government will provide $119 million to reduce the expected parental contribution to the Canada Student Loans Program. The budget did not indicate by how much the contribution rate would be reduced. It suggested the measure would provide increased support to 92,000 students.
The government also plans to expand eligibility for low- and middle-income Canadians hoping to access student grants for short-term educational programs. The measure is meant to help Canadians upgrade their skills for quick entry into the labour market.
Veterans
The budget outlined a number of support measures for veterans, many of which were introduced prior to Tuesday. New is a program for moderately to severely injured veterans. The Retirement Income Security Benefit will ensure the income of eligible recipients does not fall below 70 per cent of the income they were receiving through other National Defence and Veterans Affairs benefit programs.
Aboriginal support
Aboriginal youth are one of the fastest growing populations in Canada, but they continue to face barriers to employment. Starting this year, the government will provide almost $250 million over five years to support aboriginal labour market programming. The training will equip aboriginal people for jobs in high-demand sectors, including high-skilled jobs.
Health
The federal government will boost health-care transfers to the provinces and territories to $40.9 billion by 2019, up from $32.1 billion.
And the Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation -- based out of Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto -- will receive up to $42 million over five years. The funding will support new research and development of products and services related to brain health and aging.
TFSA
As promised, the government will increase the annual contribution limit for Tax-Free Savings Accounts to $10,000, starting in 2015.
Canada's sesquicentennial
The government plans to drop a large amount of cash on Canada's 150th birthday in 2017 -- $210 million over four years, starting this year. According to the budget, the funding will be used to support initiatives such as local festivals and concerts, as well as enhanced Canada Day celebrations.
Memorial for Moncton RCMP officers
The government will set aside $1 million for a memorial for three RCMP officers shot and killed in Moncton in 2014. Constables David Ross, Fabrice Gevaudan and Douglas Larche were killed when Justin Bourque went on a shooting rampage across the city last June.
Infrastructure
For years now, municipalities and provinces have been pleading for more money for roads, bridges, highways, waterworks, transit and other infrastructure projects.
They’ll get some of that funding right away, but will have to wait for another aspect of it, according to the budget.
Starting in 2017, the Public Transit Fund will provide $750 million over two years, and $1 billion thereafter, for new public transit infrastructure in Canada’s large cities.
On Tuesday, the government also reaffirmed its infrastructure commitments outlined in the 2013 budget, known as the New Building Canada Plan. The government will continue to provide $5.35 billion per year to help support provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure.
Small businesses
After years of slashing corporate tax rates, small business will finally feel similar relief. Starting now, the small business tax rate will begin a gradual reduction from the current 11 per cent to 9 per cent by 2019. Nearly 700,000 small businesses are expected to benefit from the proposed tax cut.
Manufacturing and automotive sector
Canada’s struggling automotive industry, which consists of many small- and medium-sized businesses, also got some attention in Tuesday’s budget. The government unveiled its plans to provide up to $100 million over five years to support product and technology development by Canadian automotive parts suppliers.
The manufacturing industry will also feel some tax relief. The government will extend the temporary capital cost allowance until 2025, allowing companies to write off the cost of machinery quicker and, therefore, lower taxes. The measure aims to encourage the manufacturing sector to invest in machinery and equipment.
Manufacturing spending is part of the Conservative government's attempt to satisfy Ontario and its large body of voters.
Many of the budget measures do not come into place right away, meaning the Conservatives will need to form government after the fall election in order to implement a number of their promises.A Republican congressman says the U.S. government can’t keep paying to repair homes that are repeatedly damaged by floods.
On Thursday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) claimed that the “federal government is encouraging and subsidizing people to live in harm’s way.”
After citing a $60,000 Baton Rouge property that received almost $500,000 in public money after it flooded 40 times, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee added, “At some point, God is telling you to move.”
Hensarling’s comments, which were aimed at encouraging an overhaul of what he described as the “bankrupt” National Flood Insurance Program, did not go down well on Twitter:
Jeb Hensarling is a Texas GOPer. He understand how God thinks? Little presumptuous on his part. Maybe he doesn't know shit. Going with #2 — mroldman (@mrsonoflars) September 21, 2017
"Who's that?"
"It's Jeb Hensarling. God told him to move to where he'd be safe from hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, and earthquakes." pic.twitter.com/GL6RpXMZCx — John Ferguson (@Fearguth) September 21, 2017
There's no "God" telling that to people, that's only you, Rep. Hensarling.
Scold poluters, not storm survivors. https://t.co/gN2eylLNw8 — Darth Simian (@DarthSimian) September 21, 2017
GOP TX Rep Jeb Hensarling believes his god talks to ppl through weather. If you live where hurricanes hit, "god is telling you to move." — ZachsMind (@ZachsMind) September 22, 2017
So, Jeb Hensarling (R) tells flood victims : "God is telling you to move." Also telling Hensarling to get head pried from ass...again. — Pete Keay (@Chilebear7) September 22, 2017
I think GOD should relentlessly call Texan Rep Ed Hensarling @ 202-225-3484... https://t.co/pRTFLorwbn — Maud Gonne (@AnnaEngelbrech5) September 21, 2017My heart leapt with joy as my mind immediately planned for which pot and location to plant this welcome surprise. I've never grown garlic before, so I'm glad for the opportunity. I am also very much anticipating a future harvest and propagation of garlic in my garden.
Garlic is good for the heart and helps maintain healthy blood circulation. Perhaps less known is garlic also enhances the immune system. When garlic cells are disturbed by cutting or bruising the clove, allicin is produced, which serves as an antibiotic and inhibits germ growth and reproduction.
It also tastes great! Garlic is like the bacon of vegetables. You can add it to any meal and your food will taste better, but unlike bacon, garlic helps the heart work better.
As part of the allium family, garlic will benefit from a high nitrogen diet, so this little guy will be getting plenty of coffee grounds to aide its growth.
If you want garlic of your own, the next time you buy garlic at the store, save a clove for your garden and experiment with growing it yourself.
Happy harvesting! Cheers!
As I was taking a friend's advice and preparing to sautée some beet greens with garlic and butter, I found this nice little surprise in the vegetable basket.In recent months, it has become fairly common for illegal immigrants in the European capital of Brussels to go on hunger strikes to protest for the right to legal residency. This week, though, they deployed a dramatic new tactic in their fight to stay on European shores: They've been occupying the city's construction cranes at dizzying heights of up to 50 meters (164 feet) above the skyline.
Since Sunday, more than 40 illegal immigrants from countries like Morocco, Algeria, Rwanda and the Congo have been climbing cranes around the city, including sites near the offices of the European Union, and demanding they be issued residence permits.
Last week, the Belgian government granted temporary, 90-day residency permits to 39 illegal immigrants who had gone on a hunger strike. The strikes have become a common way for illegals or rejected asylum-seekers to try to stay in Belgium. In a number of instances, illegal immigrants have been granted a temporary reprieve from deportation. The crane climbers, some of whom were also conducting hunger and thirst strikes, demanded the same.
But after a court ruling that they could be forcibly removed from their perches, police succeeded in talking most of the immigrants into climbing down on Wednesday. But late the same night, one man fell while trying to climb down, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.
The country's immigration minister and department of immigration have said they refuse to negotiate with the illegal aliens; and Freddy Roosemont of the government's immigration affairs office described the protests as "pointless." Groups supporting the illegal immigrants note that many speak French or Dutch and also hold jobs that would otherwise remain unfilled.
It is estimated that as many as 100,000 illegal aliens reside in Belgium, and the issue of how to deal with these immigrants has divided the government under Prime Minister Yves Laterme, with the split often going along linguistic lines. The Francophone Socialist and Christian Democratic parties have been supportive of creating amnesty programs for illegal aliens who are in employment, but Flemish parties in the Dutch-speaking north want to tighten the country's asylum and immigration policies. In 2000, Brussels offered an amnesty program and ultimately issued permanent residency permits to 40,000 illegal immigrants -- many of whom had French or Dutch-speaking backgrounds. But the new government, currently on the verge of collapsing, has been unable to reach a consensus on the issue and has delayed any decision until autumn, according to French wire service AFP.
A recent European Union agreement on tough new immigration rules requires that its 27 member states issue residency permits or send asylum seekers and illegal immigrants back home, and many countries are currently cracking down. According to AFP, Belgium deported 9,000 illegal immigrants in 2007 and helped 2,500 to go home voluntarily.
dsl/afpAt CES today we saw what at first resembles a Cooler Master V6 CPU heastink and fan combo. The processor cooler features a red 120mm fan housed in a black shroud which is then attached to the heatsink itself. The heatsink is a tower design with six copper heatpipes attached to a copper CPU block. The heatpipes then lead into a tower of aluminum fins to dissipate heat.
On the back of the unit; however, there's a little something extra in the form of a nano-itx motherboard and AMD E-350 APU based on the Brazos platform. The computer is self contained and provides a number of connectivity options. For more information on the Brazos platform and E-350 APU, see our preview and review articles. A quick run down of the E-350 specifications; however, is below.
Two Bobcat CPU cores at 1.6 GHz
A Radeon HD 6310 GPU with 80 processing cores running at 500 MHz
A TDP of 18 watts
DirectX 11 Graphics and DDR3 Memory Support
The bottom of the rear of the CPU cooler is the location of the nano-ITX motherboard's rear IO panel. The motherboard features Wi-Fi, HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA(?), and e-SATA(?) connections.
A side view of the Cooler Master heatsink is available below.
It's certainly a new idea, and it will definitely hit home for people that don't need or want to run their power hungry main desktop all the time. Because the system is self contained it does present some usability issues. Mainly that you will need to have a KVM or VNC connection to control it and the inside of the computer case is going to become a lot more crowded with cables. Further, it would be a pain to have to open up the main desktop system just to plug in a flash drive or cable. On the other hand, it'd make for a nice media or file server and would not require the desktop be on 24/7 without needing yet another box crowding my desk so I'd give it a shot. (The inside of my computer case is already a mess of wires so what do I have to lose?)
What are your thoughts on this somewhat strange CPU cooler?
PC Perspective's CES 2012 coverage is sponsored by MSI Computer.
Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!Sunday on CNN, veteran journalist Carl Bernstein reacted to the report that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is canceling her trip to California after being diagnosed with pneumonia, saying Clinton needs to spend an hour in front of press with her doctor discussing her medical history.
“I think we can hope that some people around her will finally say, ‘Hillary, you’ve got to open up in all kinds of ways here because that’s when you’re really at your best.’ But I think, among other things, she and her doctor need to be in front of the press for an hour with medical records and discussing and open to questions about her medical history, and Donald Trump needs to do the same. And we need to demand it of both of them,” Bernstein stated.
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrentWe’re in the middle of a major surge of wearable consumer electronic products. Originally, these devices were purely for fitness: Nike, Fitbit, Jawbone, etc use basic sensors (like accelerometers) to track activity throughout the day and motivate healthy behaviour. As the wearables market matures, there are an increasing number of startups building wearable devices with more specific (and frankly, more useful) sensors and use cases. Bionym (Nymi), Quanttus, Ringly, Novasentis, Narrative (Memoto), Telepathy, etc are all seeking to differentiate themselves by addressing more specific problems.
Wearables are a highly interesting new product category that will attract lots of new entrants. But young startups should proceed with caution. These products are exceptionally hard to build. I mean really, really hard. Here are some things to watch out for:
1. Fashion + Tech
Wearable devices live on the body and must appeal to users’ sense of style. Device makers need to address function but they also must design for fashion. Appealing to fashion means continuous updates, expensive materials, high-quality finishes, and complex aesthetic features. It also means that a product which works perfectly well can still fail due to current taste. Google Glass may be one of the most fantastic products ever developed (the jury is still out on that) but because it fundamentally changes the way a user’s face looks, purchasing one will always be a product decision AND a fashion decision.
Jawbone is straddling fashion and tech
2. Durability
Wearables can be on the body 10+ hours per day. They will get splashed, washed, dropped, burned, and of course chewed on. Building products that can survive such a wide range of environments isn’t impossible, but it sure is hard, especially when you factor things like radio communication, battery life, and comfort.
Wearables are used in all sorts of conditions
Even experienced companies that have been building products for years have trouble with durability. Jawbone’s first production run of UP bracelets were 100% recalled due to an improperly sized power capacitor. While the company hasn’t published numbers on the recall, I’d guess tens of thousands of refunds were issued costing the company millions of dollars and irreparable PR damage. To their credit, Jawbone handled the recall better than almost any company I can remember. If Jawbone was a startup and this was their first product, they would surely be out of business.
3. Comfort
Anything making contact with the human body needs to be comfortable. Products should feel light, but not cheap. When users don’t want to notice/interact with them, they should be easily hidden or removable. Human skin is also sensitive. Fitbit recently issued a massive recall due to a possible allergic reaction to nickel (an alloying element) in a stainless steel part on the Flex’s band. Large recalls are not easy to recover from.
4. SKUs
Users want to feel unique when it comes to fashion accessories. Trying to incorporate even a basic set of options for color and size can easily yield 10s of permutations of the same product. In the hardware world we call these “SKUs”. Each SKU requires additional tooling, components, packaging, logistics, and customer support/returns. A small startup offering 10 SKUs has a ton of management overhead compared with managing a single product, and managing one product is no walk in the park.
These colors + sizes = a big headache for startup teams
5. Support + Returns
These product dynamics mean some customers will be unhappy with the products they purchase. Many early adopters of fitness trackers report returning products multiple times due to poor performance, useless data, or complete product failure after normal usage. Most consumer electronics OEMs usually have return rates of 2% or less. I’ve heard rumors of wearable device companies dealing with 10% returns. Any time return rates are this high, support costs are usually multiple times higher. Every time a product is returned, there are usually 5 additional touch points with the customer: a support email, a support call, return of original product, inspection, and replacement, all for a financial loss. This dramatically affects the cash flow (and brand) of the business.
6. Business Dynamics
In addition to all the technical challenges of wearable products, the business dynamics add a new element of complexity for young startups. Large, well-funded companies have entered the market with strong brands and experienced teams. Many of the existing products’ core technology is quite simple and has little to no protectable competitive advantage. For example, Apple’s new M7 motion co-processor could easily dislodge all existing fitness tracker products if the developer community embraces it. Companies like Nike have massive marketing caché, cash flow, and distribution networks. As a small, venture backed startup it’s exceedingly difficult to compete in this kind of business landscape.She is one of the stars on the MTV show Teen Mom 2.
And Jenelle Evans, 25, looked stunning as she walked down the aisle with her new husband David Eason at their outdoor wedding in North Carolina on Saturday.
The newly wed couple looked happier than ever as they exchanged their vows under a flowery canopy.
Newly weds: Jenelle Evans, 25, looked stunning as she walked down the aisle with her new husband David Eason at their outdoor wedding in North Carolina on Saturday (Photo from Twitter)
Jenelle looked stunning as she walked down aisle in a ivory sweetheart gown.
The mother-of-three kept her raven colored locks curled while wearing a white veil on the crown of her head.
David wore black trousers, a white tuxedo coat over a black dress shirt.
The newly wed husband kept the sun out of his face by wearing black sunglasses.
Tying the knot: The newly wed husband kept the sun out of his face by wearing black sunglasses (Photo from Twitter)
The Teen Mom star and her new husband announced they were engaged a few weeks after their daughter, Ensley was born in February.
Jenelle is mother to three children, Jace, with ex Andrew Lewis; Kaiser, three, with ex Nathan Griffith; and Ensley, seven months, with Eason.
Jason has two children from a previous relationship, daughter Maryssa and son Kaden.
Precious moments: Jenelle is mother to three children (Pictured September 2017)
Just married: The newly wed couple looked happier than ever as they exchanged their vows under a flowery canopy (Photo from Twitter)
Jenelle has recently been in a very public custody battle with her mom Barbara, that centers around her eight-year-old son Jace.
In July, Jenelle's mom opened up to |
has become "increasingly apparent that there are many dangerous and unhealthy practices associated with drastic weight cutting and dehydration."
"It's a major concern of ours," Mazzulli told MMA Fighting. "What we need to do is make sure we look out for the fighters. This is just one way we're going to try to do that. "
The invitation mentions that one of the goals of the summit is to offer several ideas for rule changes to the new MMA rules and regulations committee, chaired by former Bellator play-by-play man and current Kansas Athletic Commission commissioner Sean Wheelock. Mazzulli said it's not just up to the regulators, but the promoters as well to lend a hand.
"We want to address the issues before we get to the point where somebody dies," Mazzulli said. "I think it's long overdue to have the discussion in terms of what we can do. We all need to come up with something that's in the best interest and safety of the fighters."
Mazzulli floated the idea of adding weight classes or a minimum weight rule. Beginning on Jan. 1 in California, amateur MMA fighters will get tested for their lowest possible healthy weight, a la NCAA wrestlers. A fighter will then not be able to compete at any weight class below that weight.
It seems like almost every other major card has some headline about a difficult weight cut, a fighter missing weight or even a fighter having to pull out of a the contest due to the effects of dehydration. Before UFC 192, former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks had to withdraw from his bout with Tyron Woodley due to illness brought upon by a steep weight cut. Former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao slipped in a sauna and hit his head, forcing him out of a title fight with T.J. Dillashaw last year. The list goes on and on.
Foster has long called drastic weight cuts -- and not performance-enhancing drugs -- the biggest problem facing mixed martial arts today. Dehydration followed by rapid hydration in the hours leading up to the fight can affect a fighter's performance and make him or her more susceptible to concussions and brain trauma.
"I guarantee you there are more people doing this -- cutting drastic weight -- than taking drugs," Foster said.
This summit is designed to get the ball rolling on potential changes before serious injury, illness or worse happens.
"We have to start somewhere," Mazzulli said. "Somebody has to start the conversation."Does this describe you? While you are on a teleconference call you are writing up your quarterly report, checking your email, and texting your about where you are meeting for lunch. You would say that you are good at multi-tasking, right? You might want to re-think your strategy. Recent estimates are that you can lose up to 40% of your if you multi-task.
Task switching, not multi-tasking -- The term multi-tasking is actually a misnomer. People can't actually do more than one task at a time. Instead we switch tasks. So the term that is used in the research is "task switching".
Task switching is "expensive" -- There has been a lot of research on task switching. Here's what we know from the research:
It takes more time to get tasks completed if you switch between them than if you do them one at a time.
You make more errors when you switch than if you do one task at a time.
If the tasks are complex then these time and error penalties increase.
Each task switch might waste only 1/10th of a second, but if you do a lot of switching in a day it can add up to a loss of 40% of your productivity.
Task switching involves several parts of your brain: Brain scans during task switching show activity in four major areas: the pre-frontal cortex is involved in shifting and focusing your, and selecting which task to do when. The posterior parietal lobe activates rules for each task you switch to, the anterior cingulate gyrus monitors errors, and the pre-motor cortex is preparing for you to move in some way.
I know it's popular to think that you are multi-tasking, but the research is clear that people actually can't multi-task, with one specific exception that I’ll get to in a minute.
One thing at a time -- For many years the psychology research has shown that people can only attend to one task at a time. Let me be even more specific. The research shows that people can attend to only one task at a time. You can only be thinking about one thing at a time. You can only be conducting one mental activity at a time. So you can be talking or you can be reading. You can be reading or you can be typing. You can be listening or you can be reading. One thing at a time.
We fool ourselves -- We are pretty good at switching back and forth quickly, so we THINK we are actually multi-tasking, but in reality we are not.
The one exception -- The only exception that the research has uncovered is that if you are doing a physical task that you have done very very often and you are very good at, then you can do that physical task while you are doing a mental task. So if you are an adult and you have learned to walk then you can walk and talk at the same time.
Then again, maybe there isn't an exception -- Even this doesn't work very well, though. In a study by Hyman et. al. in 2009, people talking on their cell phones while walking, ran into people more often and didn’t notice what was going on around them. The researchers had someone in a clown suit ride a unicycle. The people talking on a cell phone were much less likely to notice or remember the clown.
But young people can multi-task, right? – If you think that it’s only older people that can’t multi-task, think again. A study at Stanford University demonstrates that multi-tasking doesn't work, even with college students. Clifford Nass's study found that when people are asked to deal with multiple streams of information they can't pay attention to them, can't remember as well, and don't switch as well as they thought they would – even college students.
So if multi-tasking is not effective what should you do? How do you effectively cope with all the input and distractions you have in your life, especially at work?
1: Use the 80/20 rule -- 20% of the work you do gives 80% of the impact and effectiveness. We often make the mistake of thinking that being busy means being effective. And the busier we get the more multi-tasking we end up doing. According to the research the result is that you are actually less effective. Focus on identifying the 20% of your tasks that are really effective, and do them one at a time.
2: Implement "batch processing" -- Do you sit at your desk with your email open and then get sucked into reading and answering emails all day long every time they come in? This encourages multi-tasking. Instead, try batch processing your emails. Decide on certain times of the day (in the morning, at noon, in the late afternoon, for example) that you are going to check and deal with email. Some people (Timothy Ferriss, for example, author of The 4-Hour Workweek) get really radical with this idea. Ferriss advocates that you check email once a day or less! If you are like me, that radical an idea is probably not feasible, but experiment with this idea of batch processing. You can use this not only for email, but for anything that is usually a distraction for you, such as making phone calls, checking voicemail, texting, etc. If you do batch processing you can then eliminate that task as a multi-tasking distractor during the other parts of your day.
#3: Work on your most important tasks first -- I think one of the reasons that we give in to multi-tasking is that we feel more and more as the day goes on that we have not accomplished what we wanted to, or what was important to us. So identify at the start of each day (or better yet, at the end of the day before) one or two really important things that you want to accomplish during that one day. Then do those tasks first. The sense of relief and accomplishment is immense, and you will find that you are more relaxed as the day goes on. You will not feel the anxious drive to do more and more and more, and it will be easier to resist multi-tasking.
#4: Use concentrated time -- The opposite of multi-tasking is concentrated time. So if you are trying to stop multi-tasking you must start doing the opposite -- give yourself blocks of time during which you are only working on one task. The idea of setting aside an entire day to work on that presentation you have coming up, may seem like it is impossible right now, but it doesn't have to be an entire day. Start by taking one hour. Close down your email and all your other software. Turn off your phone or turn down the volume. Close the door to your office if you have a door. If you don't have a door then figure out a place to go where people won't find you. Then take that hour or 2 hours or half day or full day and work ONLY on the one task. You will be amazed at how much you will accomplish and how energized it makes you feel.
#5: Leave blank spaces – The research on tells us that it is the pre-frontal cortex that puts ideas together. But the pre-frontal cortex can only work on one thing at a time. When you are multi-tasking you are taxing your pre-frontal cortex. You will never solve problems if your pre-frontal cortex doesn't get quiet time to work on integrating information. This may sound paradoxical, but if you STOP thinking about a problem or particular topic you will then be able to solve it! This means you have to make time for blank spaces in your day. You need to have time in your day when you are doing "nothing" as far as your brain is concerned. Not talking, not reading, not writing. You can go for a walk, get exercise, listen to music, or stare into space. The more blank space the more work you will get done! Multi-tasking is the enemy of blank space.
#6: Accept it -- The first step to change any behavior is to accept it! So if you want to stop multi-tasking the first thing you need to do is accept that you are multi-tasking and that multi-tasking is not effective. That might be the hardest step of all. We are actually addicted to the constant buzz of activity that multi-tasking gives us (see my blog post on ). So just take a deep breath and accept that you've got this habit along with most of the people you know. Just noticing when you are doing it and saying, "oh, there I go again" will actually help tremendously in changing it. Putting your attention on what you want to change is a vital first step.
#7: Go “off grid” to re-calibrate – Last year I spent a week "off the grid" on an island in Lake Michigan. No internet, no email, no cell phones. I spent time on my computer (updating my iPhoto albums, etc), but not communicating with anyone online. It was different, interesting, and strange. I was actually glad to get back to the grid. But the experience made me think. The major difference for me was that I stopped "multi-tasking".
When I was off the grid I found that I started doing one task at a time. I would do one thing for several minutes, and in many cases several hours. I believe that being online encourages task switching. When you can go from email to chat to texting to twitter to phone to you switch tasks more. When I was off the grid all my communication channels were gone. So instead I spent time with one task and with one program. One day I worked in iPhoto for 3 hours straight. I think this week off grid “calibrated” my sense of what normal task switching is.
Less task switching = more? --. I have found since then that I do less task switching. I’m not perfect. I fall into it sometimes, but since my week of re-calibration I follow the guidelines above more easily. I also believe that I am less agitated. It's my hypothesis that task switching not only wastes time and increases errors. Task switching causes fatigue, exhaustion and agitation.
What do you think? Have you been able to do less task switching? Have you tried?
Hyman Ira E. Jr., S. Matthew Boss, Breanne M., Kira E. McKenzie, Jenna M.. “Did you see the unicycling clown? Inattentional blindness while walking and talking on a cell phone”. Applied Cognitive Psychology, December, 2009.
Meyer, D. E., Evans, J. E., Lauber, E. J., Gmeindl, L., Rubinstein, J., Junck, L., & Koeppe, R. A. (1998). The role of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for executive cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Cognitive, 1998, Vol. 10.
Meyer, D. E., Evans, J. E., Lauber, E. J., Rubinstein, J., Gmeindl, L., Junck, L., & Koeppe, R. A. (1997). Activation of brain mechanisms for executive mental processes in cognitive task switching. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1997, Vol. 9.
http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx This is an excellent article summarizing the research on task switching.The Gulls, at several points throughout this season, have demonstrated an offensive firepower difficult to conquer. They have scored six goals in a game twice, five goals once, and four goals six times.
On Saturday night, they unleashed it again, scoring three goals in a two-minute, 35-second span in the second period on their way to beating the Milwaukee Admirals 4-1 in front of 8,560 fans at the Valley View Casino Center. It was the second straight home victory for the Gulls, who seem reenergized by the week’s All-Star break.
The win, coupled with the San Jose Barracuda’s loss to the Ontario Reign, pushed the Gulls (21-18-1-1) into third place in the Pacific Division, in the thick of the hunt for a playoff berth, just one day after they were sixth in the seven-team division.
“Our guys have really bought in on really having an attention to detail and knowing that all of these points are so important,” coach Dallas Eakins said after the game. “We don’t want to be scrambling for points the last two weeks of the season; we want to get ’em now and try to solidify things. I think this is going to be a grind right to the finish.”
After a scoreless first period featuring 21 shots, the Gulls took a commanding lead with a commanding stretch early in the second period.
With 16:12 left in the period, left wing Kyle Bonis let rip a quick wrist shot from a difficult angle. It screamed past Milwaukee goalie Jusse Saros as Bonis rounded the net in celebration.
“Kyle’s been a pleasant surprise,” Eakins said of Bonis, who was playing his 25th game of a 25-game professional tryout.
Then, 65 seconds later, center Chris Mueller, in a crush in front of the net, somehow pushed the puck past Saros to give the Gulls a two-goal lead. A short replay review confirmed the goal, and sent the fans into another loud celebration.
Center Kyle MacKinnon added a goal 80 seconds later. Three goals in less than three minutes, and the Gulls had broke the game open. After every goal, a particularly enthusiastic fan, beer in hand, hopped out of his seat to high-five the Gulls’ radio broadcaster.
The Gulls, who conceded a goal later in the period, are now 19-5-0-1 when they score three or more goals. They are 2-13-1-0 when they score fewer than three.
A win over a Central Division team, which could cross over and take a playoff spot from the Pacific Division, based on points percentage, was particularly important.
“You’re getting sniped at from two different spots,” Eakins said. “You’re looking at your own division and then you’re looking at the other one, ’cause they might steal your spot. All of this gets looked after if you just win.”
The third period was scoreless until the final two minutes, when Bonis gathered a loose puck and skated it into an empty net. He pumped his right fist in celebration and hugged his teammates.ST. LOUIS - Donations and disaster relief continue to pour into Joplin to help survivors of the deadly May 21 tornado.
At a time of crisis, medical care often becomes a low priority, but health-care experts say it's more important than ever to maintain basic and preventive care. Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri has joined forces with its health center in Joplin to offer free health services in June to ensure the tornado survivors continue with their medical care, says Mary Kogut, its vice president for patient services.
"Our hearts are so with the Joplin community, and we want to help our neighbors who've lost so much. This is a way that the people of Joplin do not need to give up health care. They can continue to get necessary and needed health-care services."
Free health services include diabetes, cholesterol and cancer screenings, blood-pressure testing and reproductive-health services, says Kogut.
"This has been such a tragedy in Joplin, which is why we're accepting walk-ins, appointments, and we're trying to ensure that we can provide the free care to new and existing patients during the month of June."
Kogut says the free services are for anyone needing medical care. At the end of the month, she says, they will evaluate whether or not the free medical services need to be extended through July.
Donations can be made online at ppaction.org.
Heather Claybrook, Public News Service - MOIt's not every day that you see an oil rig worker, dressed in his hard hat and coveralls, deliver a speech on Parliament Hill.
But that's exactly what Bernard Hancock did on Tuesday in support of a petition tabled by Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs calling on the federal government to do more to support Canada's energy industry.
The CBC video of Hancock's moving plea, which focused on the thousands who have lost their jobs because of the dropping price of oil, is going bananas on social media.
While our Premier spent time in NYC bragging about a carbon tax, Bernard the Roughneck went to Ottawa to defend Alberta jobs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ableg?src=hash">#ableg</a> —@BrianJeanWRP
Are people actually suggesting Bernard the Roughneck isn't a real person? The Oilfield is full of smart articulate people. —@OliverN84
"I can't believe that people care what a guy like me gotta think. I'm just a roughneck," he told the Calgary Eyeopener on Wednesday.
'I'm not a lobbyist. I'm a roughneck'
Hancock is adamant that he is an unofficial and unpaid spokesperson for the oilpatch, and has "taken no money" from the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) — the organization that brought him to the nation's capital this week.
There's a lot of people in the patch who don't know how to articulate what they're feeling in the way that I can, and I'm speaking up for them. - Bernard Hancock, Alberta oil rig worker
He said CAODC paid for his flight from Grande Prairie, Alta. and covered his Ottawa hotel.
"I'm taking five days off the rig to come here and do this. So I'm losing money... If you looked at my fingernails and seen all the blood underneath my nails — you'd know I'm not a lobbyist. I'm a roughneck."
Bernard Hancock says he snapped this selfie right after'showering in Alberta gold.' (Bernard Hancock - Roughneck/Facebook)
How did this even happen?
It all started in January, when Hancock had moved back to his hometown of Vancouver while he was between jobs.
He had some time on his hands, and decided to check out a protest that was transpiring in Burnaby, B.C. during the National Energy Board (NEB) hearings into the expansion of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline.
"There was no one supporting clean, ethical Canadian oil. They were all anti," said Hancock.
So he decided to speak up, giving a pro-oil interview to The Rebel that has been viewed close to 600,000 times on YouTube.
"Ever since then people have been saying 'you gotta keep talking, you gotta keep talking.'"
The Rebel has dedicated an entire website to the roughneck, creating and selling a t-shirt with his face on it bearing the slogan "I'm With Bernard." Hancock insisted that all proceeds be donated to the charity Oil People Helping Oil People and said he has earned "zero dollars" from any interviews he's done with The Rebel.
But his newfound fame hasn't all been sunshine and lollipops.
This has got to be the most embarrassing use of a demeaning stereotype for a political stunt I've ever seen. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ableg?src=hash">#ableg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash">#cdnpoli</a> <a href="https://t.co/uIn09PSAH2">https://t.co/uIn09PSAH2</a> —@KikkiPlanet
In other news, here's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ableg?src=hash">#ableg</a>'s wannabe Joe The Plumber. Maybe he'll take a shower before demanding more attention. <a href="https://t.co/c63swDVAbc">https://t.co/c63swDVAbc</a> —@a_picazo
Hancock said he's had hate mail and been heckled.
"Twice, I've had guys jump me and try to pick a fight with me."
There were times when he wanted to quit his crusade, but then someone told him this:
"There's a lot of people in the patch who don't know how to articulate what they're feeling in the way that I can, and I'm speaking up for them."
With files from the Calgary EyeopenerStephen Harper's spokesperson ripped into Justin Trudeau ahead of Thursday's highly anticipated leaders' debate.
Kory Teneycke says expectations for Trudeau have "probably never been lower for a leader going to a debate."
"I think that if he comes on stage with his pants on, he will probably exceed expectations," Teneycke said in an interview Tuesday during a campaign stop in Toronto.
Trudeau has likely spent hours memorizing "a lot of attacks" and rehearsing "pithy responses," but there's a big difference between that and understanding how to manage an economy, he said.
"At the end of the day, this isn't a debate just for the sake of a debate. It is to pick somebody who is capable of managing that $1.9-trillion economy," Teneycke said.
"There's only one candidate on the stage with a proven track record with respect to managing our economy, and that's Stephen Harper."
In a statement, Trudeau spokeswoman Kate Purchase did not address Teneycke's comments directly.
"Mr. Trudeau's priority in the debates is the same as his priority for the entire campaign," Purchase said. "He will speak directly to Canadians about his plan to get the economy going by strengthening the middle class."
Thursday's debate in Toronto is being hosted by Maclean's magazine and includes Harper, Trudeau, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Green party Leader Elizabeth May.The PBE has been updated! As we continue the 7.1 PBE cycle, today's update includes thelogin theme, a few new esport team emotes, and more!Continue reading for more information!
( Warning : PBE Content is tentative and subject to change - what you see below may not reflect what eventually gets pushed to live servers at the end of the cycle! Manage your expectations accordingly.)
Table of Contents
Lunar Revel 2017 Login
Esports Emotes
Balance Changes * Remember *: The PBE is a testing grounds for new, tentative, and sometimes radical or experimental changes. Be aware that what you see below may be lacking context or other changes that didn't make it in or were implemented in an earlier patch this cycle! These are not official notes.
*: The PBE is a testing grounds for new, tentative, and sometimes radical or experimental changes. Be aware that what you see below may be lacking context or other changes that didn't make it in or were implemented in an earlier patch this cycle! These areofficial notes.
Champions Azir
[CONTEXT]
Shifting Sands (E) [tooltip no longer mentions shield scaling with 15% of bonus health - while jarring, there is no actual gameplay change here as the ability has been bugged on live for a while.]
Talon
Mana Regen increased to 1.52 from 1.518
Mana Regen growth increased to 0.16 from 0.1
Noxian Diplomacy (Q) healing increased to [17 + 3 per level from [15 + 2 per level]
Notes
Phroxz0n commenting on the Azir E tooltip change today, explaining there is no gameplay change due to a bug and noting that bug has been around since at least August:
"For Azir, there's been a bug on live for a while where the bonus health scaling from Azir's E hasn't been getting added to the shield.
Instead of adding this functionality, we've decided to remove it from the ability."
A newlogin theme is now on the PBE, featuring the three upcoming skins!Several Esports team emotes were added in today's update. The emotes added today match with the golden TCL team summoner icons seen in a previous update and presumably they are connected. These will pop up in game when using emote shortcut, much like the Worlds 2016 emotes.: Crew Esports, Dark Passage, Fenerbahçe Esports, Galakticos eSports, GS Esports, HWA Gaming, SuperMassive, Team AURORANew Delhi: India’s largest paints company Asian Paints Ltd on Thursday said it has agreed to acquire Sri Lanka’s Causeway Paints Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd in an all-cash deal.
In a stock exchange filing, Asian Paints said its Singapore subsidiary Berger International Pvt. Ltd will make the acquisition. Asian Paints already operates in Sri Lanka through Asian Paints (Lanka) Ltd. The company did not disclose the value of the deal. The acquisition is subject to certain conditions and statutory approvals.
Founded in 1994, Causeway Paints makes decorative and refinish paints for automotive and industrial clients, apart from other products. The company registered net sales of 5,630 million Sri Lankan rupees (Rs253.60 crore) for the financial year 2015-16, up from 4,094.02 million Sri Lankan rupee (about Rs184.42 crore) last year, an increase of 37.5% from the year before.
ALSO READ: Asian Paints Q3: Volumes slip, surging input costs, GST rate key
Asian Paints operates 26 paint factories in 19 countries. In 2015-16, the company posted net sales of Rs12,545.8 crore, up from Rs11,648.8 crore in the previous financial year.
In 2014, Asian Paints bought the sales business of Punjab-based bathroom fittings and accessories company Ess Ess Bathroom Products Pvt. Ltd. It also bought a majority stake in Ethiopian paint and adhesives maker Kadisco Chemical Industry Plc in the same year. In March 2013, it bought 51% equity stake in Sleek International Pvt. Ltd, a modular kitchen maker.
The Indian paint market is expected to reach Rs70,875 crore by the end of 2019-20 from around Rs40,300 crore in 2014-15, the industry body Indian Paint Association (IPA) said on 6 January.
The decorative paint market is expected to witness compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% and the industrial paint market CAGR of 9.5%, IPA said in a release. While the decorative paint market size in the country was Rs30,385 crore, the industrial paint market was Rs9,915 crore in financial year 2014-15, it said.Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Just SMART Monitoring Tools – SMART Monitoring vs Testing
Contribution by Paul Apking
Many techs use CrystalDiskInfo as a tool for HDD diagnostics and call it a day. It’s a great tool to quickly identify issues with a suspect drive but it’s intended purpose is to monitor SMART data and report anything that may fail or has reached a certain threshold.
This tool shouldn’t be used for diagnostics, only for SMART monitoring. In many instances, unless the drive is failing or has multiple bad sectors, it won’t be flagged for drive failures in a monitoring tool. GSmartControl is a much better tool for getting the job done right!
GSmartControl is a great program that is open source, portable and is best used for identifying, testing and monitoring hard drives. The difference between CrystalDiskInfo and this product is that it monitors and runs tests on the SMART data giving the you, the Tech, a better picture on the state of the HDD. It gives you the option to run short small tests on the HDD (usually not enough for good diagnostics) but also has an extended test which can take up to 4 hours depending on the size of the drive. This will give a good diagnostic report of the drive.
In conclusion, CrystalDiskInfo is not a good tool for diagnostics and should only be used for monitoring the SMART data. Using a thorough tool like GSmartControl will create a better picture for yourself for good diagnostic testing which in turn will benefit your clients. A good reputation and repeat business is what every tech wants and by being diligent with drive diagnosis could save you major failures and lost data.
What application do you use for SMART Diagnostics?
0
SharesMohammad Arshad
Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Friday, said that Pakistan valued high relations with Saudi Arabia and both the countries tied in the eternal bonds of religion, history and culture. He further said that Pakistan wanted stability and peace in the region because it is necessary for prosperity and development of the region.
While talking to Saudi Arabian Ambassado Nawaf Saeed Ahmed Al- Malkiy, here he said that the menace of extremism and terrorism has adversely affected the region’s progress, and needed collective efforts to overcome it. Muslims are victimized all over the world and this is the right time that Muslims countries should thinking positive for each other.
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that the current instability, sectarian divisions, and immense human under-development in the Muslim world have retarded genuine development and fruitful integration of the Muslim world. He reiterated that Pakistan is committed to play a decisive role in conflict transformation and peace building in the Muslim world.
The Saudi Ambassador, Mr. Nawaf Saeed Ahmed Al- Malkiy said that his government wanted Pakistan to prosper and develop. He stressed the need for spreading the true message of Islam for curbing extremism and terrorism.
Nawaf Saeed Ahmed Al- Malkiy endorsed Ayaz Sadiq’s proposal for collaboration to confront shared challenges and urged the need for deeper engagement between the two friendly countries. “National interest of Pakistan is obviously national interest of Saudi Arabia” the Ambassador remarked. He assured the Speaker National Assembly that Saudi Arabia will stand Pakistan’s partner in uplifting regional development. He added that we consider Pakistan as its partner in addressing regional and global challenges.
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After months of campaigning and weeks of early voting, the West Virginia primary election takes place tomorrow.
The polls will open 6:30 AM on Tuesday, and they will remain open until 7:30 PM. The Secretary of State warns that in emergency situations, polling stations may change.
If you are unsure of your polling place, the Secretary of State's office has a form on their website that will tell you your polling place, registered party, precinct, and district.
The site also has a list and map of all of the county clerks if you have an issue or question bout your election or poling place.
This year, according to West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, this was a record year for early voting in a primary election. With all 55 counties reporting, 100,962 people cast ballots during the early voting period this year. In previous years the early voting totals were 45,144 in 2014, 57,533 in 2012, 40,644 in 2010, and 65,845 in 2008.
Secretary Tennant wants people to know if they feel their voting rights have been violated or if they believe they have witnessed an election law violation to contact the Secretary of State’s Office immediately at 1-304-558-6000 or 1-866-SOS-VOTE.NEW YORK — New York City’s human rights commission is rolling out new enforcement guidelines that could lead to fines for business owners, landlords and employers who discriminate against people based on their perceived gender identity.
The new guidelines, to be released by New York City’s Commission on Human Rights on Monday afternoon, are aimed at making it clear that the city’s gender discrimination law also applies to discrimination against people who identify as transgender and those who consider themselves gender non-conforming. The guidelines were provided to The Associated Press ahead of the official release.
“Far too often, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals suffer discrimination, harassment and violence on a scale many cannot imagine,” said Carmelyn P. Malalis, New York City’s Human Rights Commissioner. “New York City does not and will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression.”
Those caught violating the city’s human rights law could be fined up to $250,000 if officials can prove the violations were based on willful or malicious conduct.
Under the city’s human rights law, it is illegal to treat someone “less well than others” because of their gender.
It also is unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire or promote people who identify as transgender and illegal to fire or give different work assignment or benefits to someone because of their gender.
The guidelines also warn that businesses cannot enforce rules about dress codes, uniforms or grooming standards that are different because of sex or gender. For example, officials said it is illegal to require employees of one gender to wear a uniform or to require men to wear ties in order to dine at a restaurant.
© 2015, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This Story Filed UnderApple Pay may soon take a trip across the pond. According to The Telegraph's sources, Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in the UK this summer. The company is expected to announce the news at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote tomorrow in San Francisco.
If the report is accurate, the UK would be the first international market for Apple Pay. The service first launched in the US last fall. Since then, we've heard rumors that the UK was set to receive the contactless payments service sometime during the "first half" 2015. It appears that Apple's negotiations with UK banks have been difficult at times, with some banks raising concerns about the amount of data it collects on customers. Like in the US, Apple Pay will work with over 350,000 contactless payment terminals already installed and in use across the UK for tap-to-pay credit cards. After launching in the UK, it's expected that Canada will get Apple Pay for itself sometime this fall.It sounds a bit goofy and it’s mainly a PR-stunt but we actually have an official Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden. It’s on the 4th of October. I don’t usually buy in to these things. All these Hug-a-Vegetarian-day/Eat-a-salty-pretzel-day/Jump-on-one-leg-with-a-blindfold-day … They are mostly just awkward. But for some reason I found myself in the kitchen baking buns on the evening of the 3rd October. Let’s call it a coincidence.
I wanted to bake a mash-up between a Swedish bun and the most amazing Hazelnut & Chocolate Babka that we tried in Tel Aviv earlier this year. So I started with the cardamom bun recipe from our first book, doubled the portions (I don’t bake buns often, so I want them to last), changed the proportions a bit and then added the most luscious filling I could think of: Mapled hazelnut butter, freshly ground cardamom, grated apples and dark chocolate. The combination was insane! The good kind of insane. I almost felt like Archimedes there for a while, screaming “Eureka!” as I ran naked into the living room to tell Luise about the flavours of the filling. Thinking back, I might not have screamed Eureka and I definitely wasn’t naked. But the filling was fantastic. And still is.
Decadent, sweet, rich, whole grain buns with a fresh apple twist. They are good. You should try them. And you don’t need a fake-Cinnamon Bun Day to do so. Just a rainy autumn Sunday.
It will take a few hours to bake buns but the reward is sweet. I didn’t finish until there was hardly any light outside, hence the dark and slightly blurry photos. We normally bake with spelt flours instead of all-purpose, but this time we were out of light spelt so I went with a nice, organic all-purpose flour that we had at home. I mixed it with some dark spelt to still give it a bit of a wholegrain touch. I must admit that result was softer and better than when I use 100% spelt. But that is of course an option, if you prefer.
Tying them into knots is the trickiest part. My mother makes the most perfect knots. I never manage to make them as pretty or regular shaped (as you can see from the photo below), but I decided a long time ago to call mine rustic and not worry too much about them perfect. You can either cut them once or twice, I show both examples in the photo on the left. Cutting them twice makes more intricate knots and prettier buns, but they are also a bit more difficult to shape as they are so thin. If you don’t want to do knots, you can also roll the dough into a log, with the filling inside |
tempting to forget about them. This is why we had headless players and redirection scripts in the case of Flash apps. We should be aware of these already solved problems and implement them as a base of our UX considerations.
A shift in the way we use the web
A lot of these interactions above are used by people who have been on the web for a long time. Endless scrolling seems odd to them, they want to see a scrollbar and know how far the page goes. People who started the web on a touch interface or a mobile device on the other hand are confused when they have to click buttons or see a pagination. The old folk of the web have an email client, a browser, maybe a picture viewer and a very sorted download folder. The new folk do all of that in Facebook in a browser and are very happy to never see the page reload or having any of that content on their hard drives.
So to a degree I think it is important that we understand that some of the practices of old are just that – old and possibly outdated. For new users a page reload is as much a confusion point as scrolling and not getting visual feedback that something is loading until it appears is for the old-schoolers.
The new problems of single page apps
That doesn’t mean though that there are no issues with single page apps and a web without reloads. There are quite a few things we have to consider even if we say we build for the new generation of web users exclusively or within a fixed environment.
The first thing is that we are promising a fast web of awesome that is always available and every button does something to the app you are in. This means we need to come up with UX patterns that work with a variety of users and environments. It is not easy to compete with native apps – if we take on that challenge we should excel in it and not do it half-baked.
The second issue is that the web as we have it now is full of bad code. This is especially the case when you rely on third party code without having access to what it does. Unless you run a paid-for app, you will show ads. This is how we work and it is a broken, outdated model. Ads count page views and clicks so you need to find a provider that is OK with you auto-refreshing an IFRAME or something similar. But I deviate from the main point: if the ad code throws an error your whole app could die with it.
It doesn’t even have to be third party code. I can see sloppy code without error detection and fallback being advertised as “teething pains” these days. This is not true. We went through the process on non-reloading interfaces a few times already. A lot of omission of simple condition checking and error messaging is either arrogance or inexperience. As Zach Leatherman put it yesterday arrogant statements like “All of my JavaScript code and 3rd party code won’t have errors, so I can ignore Progressive Enhancement” will come to haunt you as the screenshot of Klout shows:
Gawker also had that issue and Mike Davies has quite some information as to why relying on JS for your links is an architectural nightmare.
In short – we will now once again face a time of New vs. Old and people building apps seeing their own setup and experiences as those of everyone on the web. We had this with Flash in the past and we had it with Ajax. Now we’ll repeat the long discussions, endless bickering and using technology and interface patterns for the sake of using them instead of where they are needed.
Case in point is the blog mentioned by Paul. I am sure it was used as a testing platform for the single app container of Google. Personally I think there is nothing dynamic in a blog that would really warrant it being an app. Not everything on the web needs to be a new Facebook, Google Reader or Google Mail.
Personally I am happy to load a page and read an article in another tab while it is loading and coming back when the tab tells me it is ready for me. I like my web multitasking. On a mobile device or tablet this is a different issue. But who says that this experience should also be forced upon me when I have lots of space, tabs and a browser that brings me the whole web instead of a single resource?Visit our Re-post guidelines This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2014
"It is well known that in war, the first casualty is truth - that during any war truth is forsaken for propaganda." ~ Harry Browne
The war against so-called 'vaccine preventable' diseases has a new frontier: the internet, and most recently The Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) has entered the fray with the publication of an interactive map that it claims "visually plots global outbreaks of measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, rubella, and other diseases that are easily preventable by inexpensive and effective vaccines." This widely referenced map generated news headlines such as:
CFR's map is "made possible by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," and is part of The Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, which it claims "provides independent, evidence-based analysis and recommendations to help policymakers, business leaders, journalists, and the general public meet the health challenges of a globalized world." The problem, however, with this map is that is not based on peer-reviewed biomedical evidence as one would expect, but largely anecdotal evidence aggregated from unconfirmed and often unverifiable news stories.
With not a shred of evidence, reporters like Michael Hiltzik from the LA Times opine that the prevalence of measles in Europe -- especially Britain -- and the U.S are an "artifact of the anti-vaccination movement, which has associated the vaccine with autism." Really? Why no mention of the extensive evidence within the published literature of measles vaccine failure in the US since 1995 in immunization compliant populations, revealing that measles epidemics are often due to a failing vaccine and not the failure to vaccinate? If the CFR's map is 'evidence-based,' why no references to the primary literature?
Take a quick peek at a few examples of the explicitly not evidence-based sources for this map, which are simply re-broadcasted official statements of state- or private medical establishment-sponsored propaganda:
Shockingly, in the last CFR/Gates Foundation map's reference from the Springfield News Sun the author actually points out that one of the likely causes of the increase in pertussis vaccine is the vaccine itself:
"Reasons for the increase are multi-pronged, but may be due in part to changes to the pertussis vaccine, according to the study. The FDA conducted the study in baboons, an animal that reproduces whooping cough similar to humans. Two groups of baboons were vaccinated with whole-cell pertussis vaccine and the accelluar vaccine, which replaced the use of whole-cell vaccine in the 1990 due to concerns about sides effects. "Animals that received an acellular pertussis vaccine had the bacteria in their airways for up to six weeks and were able to spread the infection to unvaccinated animals. In contrast, animals that received whole-cell vaccine cleared the bacteria within three weeks," according to a news release from Jennifer Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the FDA."
Clearly, the CFR's map can not be taken seriously, and is simply a higher order expression of at best subpar health reporting, at worst baseless propaganda, demagogically projected into the media to hapless consumers whose ability to think critically and question authority is virtually non-existent. By framing advocates of non-vaccination as rabidly irrational 'anti-vaxxers' and blaming them for what are often non-vaccine preventable diseases -- having far more to do with environmental factors such as access to clean water and basic nutrition --the CFR (and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation who shares responsibility in creating this disturbingly inane and non-credible piece of propaganda) is joining a growing global movement, recently evidenced by UNICEF's attack on independent health journalism related to vaccines, aimed at eliminating vaccine choice, despite increasing awareness of their true dangers and lack of effectiveness. The result of this shoddy work, however, is to further lionize a growing global movement to reject the alarmingly rapid expansion of vaccine schedules in favor of a more natural, precautionary approach to disease prevention.While marketing chief Phil Schiller recently talked up the benefits of having a screen on a voice-activated device, it's not clear whether the Apple version will in fact have one.
The new Amazon Echo Show
With Amazon having launched the Echo Show, a new Alexa-enabled smart speaker that comes equipped with a 7-inch screen, Bloomberg has shared a little tidbit on Apple's own speaker plans, making it clear that there's still no concrete information on whether Apple's speaker will include a display.In a piece outlining Amazon's new speaker, Bloomberg references a comment made recently by Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, where he said that a voice assistant in a device without a screen doesn't "suit many situations."Rumors of Apple's work on some kind of in-home Siri-based smart speaker to compete with the Amazon Echo first surfaced in early 2016, but while the speaker is said to be close to launching, details remain scant.We've heard it will feature Siri integration and focus heavily on sound quality, with "excellent acoustics performance" and some form of Beats technology. Design details shared in late April said it would feature a Mac Pro-style concave top with built-in controls and a "fat" body with speaker mesh covering the majority of the device, but no display was mentioned.KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said the speaker has a 50 percent chance of debuting at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference coming in June, and as Bloomberg first mentioned in September (and reiterates again today) the speaker is currently being tested within the homes of Apple employees, so it may not be long before we have more concrete details about the device.Based on today's Bloomberg report, Apple's speaker will have one benefit over the Amazon Echo and Google Home - native Apple Music integration. Amazon devices chief Dave Limp told Bloomberg that while Amazon would "love to have Apple" the company is "not super big" on allowing Apple Music integration.For more details on Apple's upcoming Siri speaker, make sure to check out our dedicated roundup, which aggregates all of the information we've heard about the device so far. More information about Amazon's Echo Show can be found in our launch articleBike Month festivities may have concluded at the end of May, but activities for cyclists in Cincinnati seem to keep growing regardless of the month. The Urban Basin Bicycle Club (UBBC) is one of the newer activities for bicyclists, and features a different night ride every Tuesday.
“The Thursday night rides, which begin and end in Hoffner Park in Northside, with a stop at Fountain Square, seemed kind of backwards,” explained UBBC founder Casey Coston. “Sometimes people from the basin would join the group at the half-way point at Fountain Square, then ride back to Northside and back downtown. It seemed cumbersome.”
To make things easier for the growing number of bicyclists in the downtown area, the UBBC starts each of their weekly rides at Fountain Square, and ends somewhere in Over-the-Rhine or the Central Business District. So far, the bicycling club has ended their rides at a variety of locally owned watering holes including Neon’s Unplugged, Mayberry, MOTR, The Drinkery and The Lackman.
The Urban Basin Bicycle Club gathers on Fountain Square before departing for a ride through the center city. Photograph by 5chw4r7z.
The popularity of these social bicycling groups has grown throughout the city over recent years, with the UBBC boasting close to 500 followers on Facebook, and approximately 20 to 50 people on each of their rides.
The basin has also seen the opening of three new bicycle businesses over the past month. Reser Bicycle Outfitters opened a location on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine, a new bicycle repair shop just began operations on Central Parkway adjacent to Segway of Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Bike Center opened at Smale Riverfront Park.
While the new businesses are a sign of progress, Coston cautions that the city still has a long way to go before it rests.
“There is still a lot of hostility towards sharing the road with bicyclists,” explained Coston. “Our bike lines are also something of a decidedly mixed batch. For example, Gest Street inexplicably has bike lanes on both sides; moreover they were filled with debris and sand. Bike lanes that actually mean something and connect you to places that you need to go would be helpful.”
The sentiment expressed by Coston comes just after the public gave the City of Cincinnati a “C” grade on its annual Bicycle Report Card. In that survey, cyclists gave the City the lowest grades for the completeness of its bicycle network, and the respect shown to bicyclists by motorists.
In terms of improving the system, 85 percent of the respondents to the survey said that they would bike more if the City installed more bike lanes.
“We’re working to create a bicycle friendly city, so that Cincinnatians of all ages and abilities can use bicycles for everyday trips,” stated Michael Moore, Director of the Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE), in a prepared release. “This report card is a great tool for publicly measuring our progress.”
In the meantime, those interested in joining the weekly Urban Basin Bicycle Club rides should meet at Fountain Square on Tuesday nights at 6:30pm. The next scheduled ride will take place on Tuesday, July 19. Follow the group on Facebook for updated information about upcoming rides and events.(Dreamstime image: Jonathan Weiss)
Whole Foods is what you worry about when you’ve run out of real things to worry about.
In 2016, the nation lost its mind over many things: men in dresses, presidential candidates, and, not least, terrible sandwiches.
For the sake of our sanity, let’s talk about the sandwiches.
There is, in the parts of New York City above 125th Street, something called the chopped-cheese sandwich, or, as one local calls it, the drug-dealer sandwich. As a former resident of the South Bronx who was before that a Philadelphia resident, I will let you in on a little secret: The chopped-cheese sandwich is a knock-off of the Philly cheesesteak sandwich, which is itself — how to put this gently? — garbage food. (Delicious garbage food, to be sure.) Just as Philadelphians get insanely tribal over their preferred cheesesteak vendor (the one you want is from Bella Italia in Ardmore, by the way), New Yorkers, or at least a certain subset of them, take a cultish attitude toward their chopped-cheese sandwiches. The item even shows up in rap videos as a sign of uptown authenticity.
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Chopped-cheese fetishism is an extension of bodega fetishism (my local place in the Bronx was run by two very rage-y Egyptians who were always screaming at somebody on the phone in Arabic and hence was known as the “Bodega al-Qaeda”) which is itself only a sub-current of the worst and phoniest of all New York pretensions, i.e., complaining about how nice the city became once Rudy Giuliani put his boot on the neck of the squeegee man and all his little criminal friends. You hear this all the time, upscale Manhattanites who have never been so much as downwind of a mugging talking about how they miss the old days when Times Square was full of hookers and porn shops and the city was so much more “vibrant” and nobody wanted to live there.
“Vibrant” means poor and dirty and terrible, which is to say, the opposite of Whole Foods, which is expensive and clean and great. So when Whole Foods began selling its own version of the chopped-cheese sandwich — on Columbus Circle, no less, from a cart marked “1492,” for eight bucks — the culture warriors lost their damned minds. The usual noises were made: cultural appropriation, imperialism, etc., evil Corporate America selling a ghetto staple to white-bread tourists in an entirely anodyne corner of Manhattan.
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But the real cultural appropriation here is being done by those black and brown critics of Whole Foods: If there is a definition of well-off white-people problems, it’s worrying about what’s for sale at Whole Foods. You think the poor and dispossessed and oppressed of this world care about whether that $25-a-pound roasted salmon is farm-raised or wild-caught? I think not. If you are close enough to a Whole Foods to get pissed about what’s in the deli case there, you are a 1-percenter, globally speaking. You have won the game of civilization, and if you aren’t happy with the state of your life, then you probably aren’t trying hard enough.
This phenomenon is a kind of social gout, a disease of affluence. This is what you worry about when you’ve run out of real things to worry about like famine, war, and slavery. As such, it is no surprise that this disease afflicts the people of New York City, which isn’t an especially rich city (the median income there is lower than the median income of New York State) but a city where the cultural tone is set by the rich, who congregate in six or seven of its neighborhoods.
The real cultural appropriation here is being done by those black and brown critics of Whole Foods.
I moved to New York in 2008, which, I fear, we’ll look back on as the end of a golden age of safety and livability in the city. My first neighborhood was in the South Bronx, not far from the intersection where the death happens at the beginning of Bonfire of the Vanities. It was, famously, one of the worst neighborhoods in the United States, once. When I lived there, it was a perfectly pleasant example of early-stage gentrification. Later, I moved into Manhattan, down by city hall. In my time in New York, I never saw a hooker on the streets of Manhattan (you’d see a very specialized version of those professionals on the Third Avenue Bridge going into the Bronx) or a drug dealer or a mugging. You could find all those things, sure, but they were pretty rare unless you went looking for them.
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I did see a great deal of “cultural appropriation” in the form of phony “Southern” food in trendy Brooklyn restaurants and in Manhattan “dive” bars where the owners had spent $200,000 to make them look like crappy establishments on the outskirts of Lubbock, Texas. I never felt offended by this, though it often is hokey. Indeed, as more than one observer has pointed out, the ironic effect of all these protests about cultural appropriation is that a vaguely defined white culture — the “unmarked” nature of “whiteness” is part of the Left’s oddball rhetoric here — ends up being the only shared and shareable culture, and hence is reinforced in its position of dominance.
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All of this in a world in which Taco Bell exists.
#related#The prankster-documentarian James O’Keefe, early in his career, succeeded in convincing his college that Lucky Charms, a leprechaun-themed breakfast cereal, should be banned on grounds of cultural insensitivity. He rages at the deans about Irish suffering, English oppression, and the potato famine: “I don’t feel lucky!” he thunders. It’s good stuff, and even better is the fact that they took him seriously.
“Children are starving in China,” they used to tell us when we complained about this or that. Children aren’t starving in China any more, thanks to capitalism, or in India, and we’ll fix up the rest of the world, too, just as soon as the politicians let us. And, one fine day, some well-fed youngster in Somalia will bitch about the local Whole Foods selling cambuulo for $22 a serving.
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We will have won, and it will be glorious. Annoying, but glorious.As a Cubs fan, if I knew the Cubs would get hot only once this year, I would have hoped it would have been right before the trade deadline. The list of potential Cubs tradees is long: Ryan Dempster (lock), Matt Garza (possible), Alfonso Soriano (PLEASE!), Paul Maholm (his stock is overflowing) and Geovany Soto (multiple teams have interest).
The guys that are helping us win now will be gone tomorrow. With that, Cubs fans are turning their eyes to the farm system to see who the next call up may be. A quick glance suggests that third baseman Josh Vitters may be that guy. With Juan Uribe Lite a.k.a. Luis Valbuena at the hot corner, why not give the kid a shot at the end of the year?
The third overall pick of the 2007 MLB draft, Vitters never breezed through the minors the way Cubs fans hoped. Vitters reached AA for the first time in his fourth minor league season and promptly struggled, batting.223/.292/.383.
In 2011, his first full season in AA, Vitters improved to.283/.322/.448 with 14 home runs, 28 doubles and 81 RBI.
This year, in AAA, Vitters is hitting.297/.349/.494 with 13 home runs, 28 doubles and 52 RBI. The batting numbers suggest a 22-year-old ready for his MLB debut. His glove doesn’t.
Vitters is a lifetime.909 fielder at third base. This year he is a.920 fielder. Of the 16 MLB third baseman with enough chances to qualify, the lowest percentage is Pedro Alvarez’s.934. A solid third baseman is a.960 fielder.
With Anthony Rizzo entrenched at first base, the Cubs have no use for a corner infielder who cannot field the corner infield. Vitters may well get a call up and some looks at third, but do not expect him to ever become the everyday third baseman the Cubs envision in 2007.
The Big Guy
AdvertisementsFor people who are considering couponing, or even for those who are already couponers, it's good to ask the question, "Is Couponing Healthy for You?" To be sure, the answer to the question could be answered with a yes and a no. Yes, couponing can be good for you in the sense that it truly can help your family save money. At the same time, however, one must be careful when couponing, for it can easily bring about some bad habits.
An Obsession
What are some of these habits? For starters, I've heard some people state that couponing can become kind of like an addiction, like a game that can't be gotten enough of. With this sort of consumption, a lot of time is spent, spent on unceasingly finding coupons and sales that go with them. Furthermore, with this continual search for the best deals, one burns up a lot of miles with their vehicle, traveling to multiple stores simply to save (perhaps erroneously) a buck or two.
A Budget Breaker
In addition to forming an obsession with getting good deals (the best ones that you can find!), it's easy to spend unwisely when using coupons. What I mean by this is that it's easy to overspend, to break your budget. How is this possible? It is possible simply because you tell yourself, "It's okay. This is such a good deal. I better get it... even though I can't afford it. I'll make it up later...."
More Than What You Need
Along with breaking the budget, it's easy to purchase items that you and your family don't particularly need. Why is this so? Simply said, it's easy to purchase unneeded items because they come at a tremendous price. For example, couponers often stockpile. Because they find items at low costs, it can be tempting for the couponer to continue stockpiling, even when they already have enough.
Unhealthy Consumption
And finally, it can be particularly easy for the couponer to buy unhealthy items in terms of food. For example, say that Cheezits are on sale at a tremendous price. Wow, right? And then, to boot, the couponer has coupons to go with it. Double wow? Well not necessarily. Because of this tremendous deal, the couponer may purchase 10 boxes of Cheezits! But what for? To eat them? ALL of them?
Yet... It Can Be Good
While certainly there are benefits to couponing, namely in that you can purchase everyday items with them (i.e. toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels, deodorant, etc), thereby saving your family money each month, there are also some things to be wary of when using them. Is couponing healthy for you? It can be. However, if you do coupon, or are interested in beginning couponing, it's good to beware of the pitfalls so that it remains a healthy hobby, rather than becoming an unhealthy one.Wednesday’s edition of Rodong Sinmun, an official paper of North Korea’s ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), has published an article calling for the replacement of the Korean War armistice deal with Seoul by a formal peace treaty, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
SEOUL, May 29 (RIA Novosit) - Wednesday’s edition of Rodong Sinmun, an official paper of North Korea’s ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), has published an article calling for the replacement of the Korean War armistice deal with Seoul by a formal peace treaty, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The paper, which effectively reflects the view of the ruling party and its leadership, said there was "a pressing need to replace the Armistice Agreement, which is a relic of the war, with a permanent peace regime."
The article states that the armistice treaty, signed at the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, benefits only the United States, and Washington's move to hold onto the deal reflects its desire “to stifle the DPRK by force.”
"If the peace regime was created in the past, the current standoff over denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula would not have become a problem in the first place," the article reads.
© Sputnik / Balance of Forces on Korean Peninsula
The statement comes a day after North Korea announced it would not give up its nuclear deterrent capability amid “continuing U.S. threats.”
Tensions rose sharply on the Korean Peninsula in December last year after North Korea tested a Taepodong 2 missile and again in February when it carried out its third nuclear test.
The UN Security Council imposed new sanctions against the reclusive Communist state over the tests, the United States and South Korea began joint military exercises in March, and Seoul warned of possible preemptive strikes against its northern neighbor.
That triggered a belligerent reaction from Pyongyang, which declared an end to its truce with South Korea; denounced all denuclearization agreements to which it was a signatory; cut off an emergency hotline to Seoul; threatened to attack US bases in Okinawa, Guam and Pearl Harbor; closed the Kaesong industrial zone it runs jointly with South Korea; reportedly moved two ballistic missiles to its southern border; and urged the evacuation of all foreigners from both Koreas.
© Sputnik / Maximum Range of North Korean Missiles
However, Pyongyang seemed to soften its belligerent stance this month when it lifted the highest combat alert for its armed forces and withdrew ballistic missiles from their launch sites in the east.
During his visit to China last week, a special envoy for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Choe Ryong Hae, said that Pyongyang was ready to return to six-party talks on its controversial nuclear program.Image caption David de Freitas accused the CPS of "serious failings"
The ex-boyfriend of a woman accused of making a false rape claim told her grieving father to "keep quiet or face the consequences", a court heard.
Alexander Economou, 37, denies harassing David de Freitas, whose daughter Eleanor killed herself days before she was due to appear in court.
Ms de Freitas, 22, accused Mr Economou of rape in 2013 but no case was brought against him.
He denies one charge of harassment without violence.
Mr Economou responded to the rape claim by bringing a private prosecution against Ms de Freitas.
The prosecution was taken over by the Crime Prosecution Service (CPS), Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.
Ms de Freitas took her own life at her parents' home three days before the start of her trial for perverting the course of justice.
Image copyright Family Image caption Ms De Freitas took her own life three days before she was due in court
The alleged harassment against her father began on November 6, 2014, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones told the court.
Mr Economou had learned that Mr de Freitas was planning to begin a media campaign directed at the CPS over their decision to prosecute his daughter.
"The effect of the letter was to make him feel extremely frightened and intimidated and distressed," said Mr Emlyn Jones.
Within the letter it is claimed he had told Mr de Freitas to "keep quiet or face the consequences".
The court also heard how Mr Economou, of King's Road, London, threatened to publish CCTV of him and Ms de Freitas at an Ann Summers store together after purchasing £340 of sex toys.
He is alleged to have set up a website on which he published videos and claims that Ms de Freitas was a prostitute.
The prosecutor said the "cruel" publication of material by Mr Economou claiming Ms de Freitas was an escort was "highly salacious and gratuitous".
David Lee, defending, said Mr Economou "felt he had no way" of getting across his point of view.
"It was not designed to cause distress or alarm or harass anyone," he said.
Earlier this week, Mr de Freitas lost a legal battle for a fresh inquest into her death.
He had wanted the first one quashed so there could be a new investigation into the CPS's decision to prosecute her but two judges at the High Court rejected his case as "unarguable".
At the first inquest, coroner Chinyere Inyama declined to call the CPS to give evidence over how it handled the case.
Mr Economou's harassment trial continues.Publication date 1940
Collection opensource
Language English
The British Union of Fascists (BUF), later renamed the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936,[1] was a political party of the 1930s in the United Kingdom. The party was formed on October 1, 1932 by ex-Conservative Party MP, and Labour government minister Sir Oswald Mosley after meeting Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini in January 1932. The party was a union, composed of several smaller Fascist parties including the New Party which Mosley founded a year earlier.
Mosley instituted a black uniform, gaining the party the nickname Blackshirts. The BUF was anti-communist and protectionist. It supported the replacement of parliamentary democracy with a system of elected executives with jurisdiction over their own industries - something similar to the corporatism of the Italian fascists. Although unlike Italy the British Fascist Corporatism would remain a democracy, replacing the House of Lords with elected executives drawn from major industries, clergy and representatives of the colonies. The House of Commons was to be reduced in size to allow for a faster, less 'factionist democracy'. Many of the BUF's members were drawn from aristocratic and military families and included celebrated military scientist J.F.C. Fuller.
The BUF had the most developed political programme and ideology of any fascist movement, laid out in such publications as Tomorrow We Live, and The Coming Corporate State.
Most of the BUFs policies were based around isolationism, an economic policy whereby Britain would trade only within the British empire as would the nations within the empire in a similar manner to the United States of America, the main attraction to this is that it would separate the British economy from the falls and fluxes of the world market Great Depression and prevent the loss of industrial production within Britain from the influence of "... labour the east, paid a third of our wages and working for ten hours a day.", and "Cheap slave competition from abroad." These were referring to the rise of western backed mass production in Indo-China similar to what is said about Chinese labour today.
The position of the BUF on the Jewish Question was initially similar to that of Mussolini, however violent attacks and agitations by numerous Jews (imported in from Eastern Europe), trying to destroy the party and drag Britain into WWII for the interests of their tribe meant increased hostility. They were eventually banned from joining in 1933.
Identifier BUFandOswaldMosley Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t5cc4qb5g Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 Ppi 300 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy turned himself in to the Broward Main Jail on Monday after the State Attorney's Office issued a warrant for his arrest.
Deputy Justin Lambert, 34, was booked into jail about 2:30 p.m. on charges of felony battery resulting in great bodily harm and falsifying a public or court record, jail records show. He was released on his own recognizance after about three hours.
The charges stem from a Feb. 18, 2014, incident at a Texaco gas station at 4517 N. Dixie Hwy. in Deerfield Beach. A video captured an arrestee being struck and thrown to the ground before being handcuffed.
Lambert was initially charged with misdemeanor battery. In May, the state attorney's office said that its special prosecutions unit was going to further review evidence as part of its ongoing investigation in the case.
Following Lambert's arrest Monday, Sheriff Scott Israel immediately changed Lambert's employment status to suspended without pay, said spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion. Lambert had been suspended with pay since April as part of an internal affairs investigation.
Broward Sheriff's Office/Courtesy Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Justin Lambert, 34, turned himself in to the Broward Main Jail on June 8, 2015, after the State Attorney's Office issued a warrant for his arrest. Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Justin Lambert, 34, turned himself in to the Broward Main Jail on June 8, 2015, after the State Attorney's Office issued a warrant for his arrest. (Broward Sheriff's Office/Courtesy) (Broward Sheriff's Office/Courtesy)
Lambert's attorney could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
A second Broward deputy, Michael Manresa, 30, received a summons to appear in court in June for a misdemeanor charge of falsifying records in connection with the same incident. He was also suspended from the Sheriff's Office with pay in April.
Manresa's attorney, Tony Alfero, said Monday that there has been no change to the charge against his client.
emiller@tribune.com, 954-356-4544 or Twitter @EmilyBethMillerHere is the sixth released page from our monster survival fieldbook. Two more entries to go in this fine month of October, and if want to peep the first entry in this series, you can see it right-darn-here.
Mike Secret: I haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books. Surprising I know, since normally I can’t open my mouth without puking up a big pile of nerd, but for whatever reason the books just don’t interest me. I don’t know, I’m not saying the books are bad or dumb, but I just can’t help find the main character completely unlikable. Plus, all the faux-British made-up slang like “muggle” really grates on me for some reason.
If I had more free time, I’d probably give the books a read out of curiosity, but since free time is a pretend thing for me these days, I’ve had to prioritize my reading list down to books I have legitimate interest in. Right now I’m reading through Then We Came to the End and the Tweet Me Harder book playing the crap out of Dragon Quest IX, so until I finish that up I won’t be touching any books about whiny preteen wizards.
<3 Mike
MOVIE THING:
Based off books I will probably re-read before touching Potter.Your first name
Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton by massive margins in the Democratic caucuses in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington State on Saturday.
Sanders’ biggest win of the day was in Washington State where 101 delegates where at stake including superdelegates.
During a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, Sanders said, “We knew things were going to improve as we headed west,” citing his wins in Idaho and Utah.
“We are making significant inroads in Secretary Clinton’s lead — and with your support here, we have a path toward victory,” Sanders claimed.
Heading into Saturday’s contests, Clinton leads Sanders 1,223 to 920 in the delegate count. However, when the superdelegates are accounted for, Clinton’s lead balloons to 1,692-949 over Sanders.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting in the Alaska caucuses, Sanders received 80.7 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 19.3 percent. Excluding superdelegates, Sanders will take home 13 pledged delegates, and Clinton three.
In Hawaii, Sanders defeated Clinton 69.8 percent to 30 percent. With 25 pledged delegates at stake, Sanders received 17 and Clinton eight.
Washington State was another big victory for Sanders, where he wrapped up 72.7 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 27.1 percent. Sanders received 25 delegates, Clinton nine. The rest 76 remaining delegates from Washington State are superdelegates.
Despite massive victories for Sanders on Saturday, Clinton retains her lead in delegates 1,712 to 1,004, mostly due to superdelegates. Counting only the pledged delegates, Clinton is beating Sanders 1,243 to 975.
The next primary election for both the Democrats and the Republicans will be April 5 in Wisconsin.
Follow Steve on Twitter and FacebookLast year he rappelled down a hotel in downtown Austin to bring attention to the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, and tomorrow chef Philip Speer will open My Name is Joe, a coffee and breakfast food trailer that works to benefit the same mission.
The trailer, located at 501 Colorado St., is a joint project between Speer, the former culinary director at Uchi and William Ball, owner of downtown’s Garage Cocktail Bar. Ball and Speer, who have both battled drug and alcohol addiction, will give 1.2 percent of sales from My Name Is Joe to the Comfort Café, a 100 percent donation-based restaurant located in Smithville. The café wholly funds and employs residents at Serenity Star Recovery, the nonprofit addiction-treatment center that operates the café. In addition to those donations, My Name is Joe is also making a concerted effort to hire employees who are in recovery.
The new operation will serve coffee from a program designed by consultant Tyler |
but not yet a house hold name to rival fans. This year Nashville had Forsberg, the year before we saw Tarasenko take a big leap (while he continues to build on that this season), here at puck hero we have figured out who it will be next year… David Pastrnak. Here’s why…
Pastrnak is an intriguing prospect, if you can still call him that, at 6’0 and 167lbs he’s still light for his height but what he lacks in strength, for now, he more than makes up for in pure skill. His quickness and shot are not only already NHL ready but by as early as next season he may be recognized across the league as legit 1st line calibre winger
If you look at Pastrnak’s AHL scoring…
24 GP, 10 goals, 27 points, 1.13 PPG
He did something that only two others teenagers have been able to do in the AHL since 1998, and thats score beyond a point per game clip beyond 5 games. Nugent-Hopkins did it in 2012/2013 and Eberle did that before him in 2009/2010. The player to do it before them? Robert Dome in 1997/1998.
But each season theres a few players who come close, and that list may be easier to read into. Here are the top point per game players U20 in each AHL season.
Under 20 and 20+ games
2013/2014 2012/2013 2011/2012 2010/2011 2009/2010 F. Forsberg 0.72 R. Nugent-Hopkins* 1.05 — K. Palmieri 0.82 A. Lokitonov 0.83 R. Ristolainen 0.59 J.T. Miller 0.55 — B. Pirri 0.61 J. Carlson 0.81 S. Matteau 0.39 M. Zibanejad 0.48 — J. Morin 0.55 T. Tatar 0.55 N. Walker 0.26 Z. Girgenson 0.28 — N. Leddy 0.45 V. Voinov 0.37 — E. Lindholm 0.25 — J. D’Amigo 0.35 Y. Grachyov 0.35
2008/2009 2007/2008 2006/2007 2005/2006 2004/2005 N. Filatov 0.82 K. Okposo 0.80 P. Klaus 0.70 R. Voloshenko 0.87 P. Bergeron 0.90 B. Sutter 0.55 A. Anisimov 0.58 N. Bergfors 0.53 N. Bergfors 0.62 N. Horton 0.43 M. Mayorov 0.44 — — L. Tukonen 0.58 B. Burns 0.37 V. Voinov 0.38 — — J. Sigalet 0.48 R. Suter 0.37 — — — L. Smid 0.39 A. Kostitsyn 0.35
*RNH played 19 but I included him
The first obvious take away is that very few teenagers actually ever play 20 AHL games in a season. Of the 35 on this list 27 went to play in the NHL in regular roles, 2 decided to go directly to the KHL, 5 struggled to ever leave the AHL and eventually left for Europe and for for 1 it’s too soon to tell. What’s obvious though is that no player has even come close to be able to score at the pace Pastrnak has.
Now we know not every AHL star is able to translate their success to the NHL, from our previous list we saw that in the last 10 seasons 9 players haven’t been able to, but of those 9 there is one common factor, a lack of foot speed. Often players are too slow to keep up with the quicker NHL game and look lost when they try and make the jump, getting them sent back to a career in the AHL or being forced to play on the larger ice surface in the KHL. Well with Pastrnak that concern is gone because if their is one thing Pastrnak has it’s speed.
Our Puck Hero projection is that by next season Pastrnak will be top 30 in the NHL for RW scoring.
AdvertisementsRoss Kelly, CBS Local Sports
Attitude-era WWE fans undoubtedly smirked when they saw Carson Palmer celebrating during the Cardinals win over the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football. Palmer was on the sideline and as the clock was winding down, he gave a DX ‘crotch chop’ while appearing to point to the Seattle fans:
While the gesture was brief, that type of ‘hip movement’ could actually result in a fine for Palmer. An unsportsmanlike conduct fine would cost him $11,576. For his part, Palmer says he wasn’t taunting any fans and actually directed the celebration to a group of friends in the stands. Here is what he told ESPN:
“I had my buddies in the sideline, right four or five rows up. I saw them pretty excited and [that] got me excited to see them excited.”
While you may think a fine for ‘pelvic thrusts’ would be a first, you’d be glad to here that there is actually a precedent for this thanks to the Broncos’ Von Miller. Earlier this season he was hit with that $11,576 fine for these ‘celebratory pelvic thrusts’ after sacking Matt Stafford:
Palmer should find out on Friday if his crotch chop is on the same level as Miller’s ‘pumps’ and will cost him $11K.
Ross Kelly is an Associated Producer for CBS Local Sports. He is from Louisiana and is a fan of all sports, but not of any teams (except LSU). He can be reached at ross.kelly@cbs.com.Former Goldman Sachs programmer Sergey Aleynikov, who downloaded source code for the investment firm's high-speed trading system from the company's computers, was wrongly charged with theft of property because the code did not qualify as a physical object under a federal theft statute, according to a court opinion published Wednesday.
"Because Aleynikov did not 'assume physical control' over anything when he took the source code, and because he did not thereby 'deprive [Goldman] of its use,' Aleynikov did not violate the [National Stolen Property Act]," the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its opinion (.pdf).
The three-judge panel in New York also ruled that Aleynikov was wrongly charged with espionage, since the code was not a product designed for interstate or foreign commerce, a requirement under the Economic Espionage Act with which he was charged and convicted. The court found that Goldman’s system was neither “produced for” nor “placed in” interstate or foreign commerce, nor did the company have any intention of selling its system or licensing it to anyone.
The opinion finally provides explanation for why the judges delivered a surprise ruling last February that reversed Aleynikov's conviction and sprung him from prison a year after he had begun to serve an eight-year sentence.
The ruling also deals a blow to the government's ability to prosecute others for similar thefts of trade secrets under the EEA.
Aleynikov, 42, was convicted in 2010 under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA), in a high-profile case that was held up by federal prosecutors as an example of the Justice Department's serious intent to prosecute the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets.
Aleynikov had acknowledged that he violated the bank’s confidentiality policy in downloading the source code from the company's computers, but he'd asserted that what he'd done was not a criminal act under the EEA because the code wasn't used in interstate commerce.
In February, the federal appeals court, led by Chief Justice Dennis G. Jacobs, agreed and reversed the conviction. The judges announced their ruling without explanation just hours after hearing Aleynikov's attorney argue the appeal. Chief Justice Jacobs said at the time that the court's written opinion explaining the ruling would follow “in due course.”
In discussing whether the code qualified as a product of commerce under the EEA, the judges wrote in their opinion this week that contrary to Goldman Sachs' source code being something the company distributed in the commercial realm, the company "went to great lengths to maintain the secrecy of its system.
"The enormous profits the system yielded for Goldman depended on no one else having it," the judges wrote. "Because the HFT system was not designed to enter or pass in commerce, or to make something that does, Aleynikov’s theft of source code relating to that system was not an offense under the EEA."
The judges also addressed the government's argument that the code was physical property under a 1988 amendment to the NSPA. Prosecutors had asserted that the amendment reflected an intent by Congress to include the transfer and transmission of non-physical forms of stolen property in the law, thereby covering the theft of source code. But the judges rejected this claim, stating that the 20-year-old amendment clearly had been meant to cover the transfer and transmission of money, not the theft of source code in the computer age.
"We decline to stretch or update statutory words of plain and ordinary meaning in order to better accommodate the digital age," the judges wrote.
They added that although Aleynikov should have known that his actions were in breach of his confidentiality agreement with Goldman Sachs, and were dishonest in ways that would subject him to sanctions, he "could not have known that it would offend this criminal law or this particular sovereign."
Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi agreed with the majority opinion and the way the judges had reached it, but at the same time suggested in a concurring opinion that Aleynikov would not have gotten off if the Electronic Espionage Act had been better written.
"[I]t is hard for me to conclude that Congress, in this law, actually meant to exempt the kind of behavior in which Aleynikov engaged" he wrote. He also expressed "hope that Congress will return to the issue and state, in appropriate language, what I believe they meant to make criminal in the EEA."
The Russian-born Aleynikov worked for Goldman Sachs until June 2009, when authorities said he siphoned source code for the company's valuable software on his way out the door to take a new job with another company.
Aleynikov, a naturalized U.S. citizen who emigrated from the disintegrating Soviet Union in 1991, earned nearly $400,000 a year as a vice president with Goldman Sachs. He was arrested in July 2009 at the Newark Airport in New Jersey as he returned from a trip to Chicago to meet his new employers.
Authorities said he stole "hundreds of thousands of lines" of source code from Goldman Sachs in the days before he left the company, downloading various software from the Goldman Sachs network and transferring it to a storage website hosted in Germany, before trying to erase his tracks from Goldman Sachs' network.
The software is used to make sophisticated, high-speed, high-volume stock and commodities trades and had earned the company "many millions of dollars in profits" each year, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Aleynikov made several copies of the code and had it on his laptop when he met his new employers at Teza Technologies in Chicago, although a later search of Teza computers uncovered no copies of Goldman Sachs' source code.
Goldman Sachs only uncovered the theft after it began monitoring HTTPS transfers and saw a large volume of data leaving its network, according to court documents. The company initiated the monitoring after noticing suspicious activity on the network.
At the time of his arrest, Aleynikov acknowledged taking the code, but told FBI agents he only intended to collect open source software files on which he had worked, and that his collection of proprietary files on his last day of work had been inadvertent.I've been following GamerGate with a huge knot in my stomach because I feel strongly that we, journalistic professionals, need to always strive to do things right. And that has become harder and harder as change after change has buffeted our industry.
A bit of background on me. I'm 56 and I love news. I've followed guys like Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Ted Koppel and other pillars of news reporting from my youth. It was mainly because of that group of TV newscasters that I got into journalism. I've been in the business now for more than 30 years, longer if you count my high school, college, and law school years. I never did practice law, but I did work in newspapers, starting a year after law school in 1983 at a small weekly paper. I went from writer, to copy editor to news editor. I have also been a business editor, photo editor, page designer and production editor. I worked 19 years at three newspapers at a time when print was still a viable medium and a journalism code of ethics was enforced with your signature each year.
In 1999, I started writing about games for the newspaper, as the industry was starting to grow in the consciousness of the mainstream press. I even started to freelance for a young site called GameSpy, sometimes writing as many as four reviews, features or interviews a week. The site was looking for credibility, and management wanted a journalist to run their team to go toe-to-toe with the likes of GameSpot and IGN. I joined as managing editor in January 2000, and have been writing about games ever since. I am currently at The Escapist as Senior Editor, News and Features, having started in February.
I have a lot invested not only in the rules of good journalism, but also how those rules apply to my professional focus. I was co-founder of a gaming site called Crispy Gamer in late 2007 that tried to emphasize journalistic integrity and the fun of games and the industry, but a weak economy had the site (as I had envisioned it) folding in January 2010.
And let me clear the slate immediately on a couple things: I am not perfect and have made mistakes when writing stories, and I tend to beat myself up over any actual proven mistake I have made more than any boss or reader ever could.
The methods of journalism have changed tremendously over the last few decades. Notepads and pencils have given way to smartphones with keyboards and the ability to post instantly. Tape recorded notes have given way to digital audio and video recordings that can be downloaded instantly to your computer and posted raw if necessary. And finally, the concept of morning, afternoon and evening press cycles has given way to 24-hour social interactions in 140 characters, as well as Facebook, Instagram and websites that post as soon as news is ready... with the term "ready" occasionally being a relative term.
I would also be remiss if I did not mention that the concept of news today is a lot different than in my younger days. When you have Fox, CNN, MSNBC and other organizations offering skewed liberal and conservative agendas, and news hosts cherry-picking out-of-context comments and actions to promote their sensationalized conspiracy theories as news on topics of much more importance than video games, it is no wonder that that mentality carries over into our industry. Yellow Journalism is back, and I imagine Cronkite and other news veterans of old rolling over in their collective graves. When the likes of The Colbert Report and The Daily Show offer more insight than purported news outlets, there is a problem.Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Late in June, I moved back to my hometown, Kolkata, after eight years in Delhi and one in New York. As I looked to kick off my freelance career, Kolkata was the obvious choice for a base – there, I did not have to pay for rent or food (thanks, mom) and I thought I would rediscover the city that knew all my firsts.
But last month, I moved to Mumbai. My stay in Kolkata had lasted merely three months.
Within days of my arrival in Kolkata, I realized that there was very little to rediscover in the city. The barber I went to since I was six still has his same little salon, and still walks home at the same time every day for his afternoon siesta; the tailor down the road has not expanded his operations by an inch; our favorite cheap bar from the student years is still as decrepit, cheap and atmospheric.
Rakesh Sahai/Black Star, for The New York Times
I began to fear that if I stayed in the city I would meet the same fate – I would get stuck as what I am, forever.
“The best thing about Kolkata is that it never changes,” a friend tried to reassure me. But with so much changing in the rest of India, Kolkata’s constancy actually feels like a regression.
A lot has been written about the current West Bengal government’s muddled policies, but Kolkata’s decay started much earlier under the Communists. In a state where 68 percent of the population lives in rural areas but where agriculture makes up just 20 percent of G.D.P., exploiting the urban-rural divide is a potent, self-serving political strategy. Bengal’s Communists mastered this cynical art, and it kept them in power for 34 years.
Sami Siva for The New York Times
The poor rural farmers voted for them, and the Communists kept the voters poor and rural by giving them small farmlands and subsidies but warding off investment, denying them productive technology and economic mobility, thereby neutering citizens’ aspirations of a better life or government.
Kolkata voted for the opposition, so the Communists let it rot, blaming its plight on outsiders – the federal government, corporations and the foreign hand. Rapid urbanization is the hallmark of an emerging economy like India’s, but that was inimical to the Bengal Communist strategy.
Today, Kolkata is not among the top 30 fastest-growing cities in India. Out of India’s 53 cities with a million-plus population, only two are from West Bengal. Kerala has less than 40 percent of West Bengal’s population, but it has six cities with a million people or more; Gujarat, with two-thirds of Bengal’s population, has four on the list.
Piyal Adhikary/European Pressphoto Agency
Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal has adopted the same opportunistic strategy of the rival Communists – a mix of antigrowth economics and populist rhetoric – that had turned the state into an economic swamp. Bengal has now replaced neighboring Bihar as India’s cautionary tale, rife with laughable administrative stunts, middle-class despair and Pinocchio politicians.
My favorite quiz master is now a member of Parliament for the state’s ruling party, Trinamool Congress – ironic because his boss hates intelligent questions. The state’s finance minister once headed India’s apex chamber of commerce – he now opposes foreign investment in job-creating sectors like retail.
What India does today, Bengal thinks about doing it the day after tomorrow – airports, roads, flyovers, subway stations, special economic zones, Tata Nanos, et al. In the land that has produced some outstanding thought leaders, I felt a disheartening crisis of original thought and leaders.
Fed up with my constant complaints, my mother finally diagnosed the ailment: “One year in America has driven you mad,” she said.
Courtesy of Arnab Bose
My tipping point came after a visit from a close high school friend, now a banker in Dubai. For one week we hung out at all our favorite spots – the lanes, food shacks, nightclubs and restaurants that we used to frequent when Kolkata and Park Street were the entire width of our world. One night as we headed back home at 11:30 p.m., the new alcohol curfew, something struck us almost simultaneously.
We were misfits in our own city – two single guys in their early 30s. We were part of Kolkata’s missing generation – most of the city’s people between 25 and 45, the ones who drive the economy through their production and consumption, had left for places where they can produce and consume a lot more. Most people we saw on our evenings out were either students or older folks who returned after making their fortunes elsewhere.
Of our 120 high school classmates on Facebook, nearly two-thirds do not live in Kolkata. Of those who stayed home, many did so to run family businesses.
The classmates who left Kolkata are scattered all over the world. The private equity manager in Chicago wants to relocate to India, but in Mumbai or Delhi; the fashion photographer in Mumbai thinks Kolkata gets boring after a week; the Hare Krishna preacher in New Zealand will perhaps go where the Lord takes him, but I doubt it will be Kolkata.
The day my banker friend left for Dubai, I started applying for jobs outside Kolkata. I now work in a Mumbai think tank. A fortnight before I left Kolkata, my sister and eight of her classmates, all recent economics graduates from Kolkata University, boarded a train for Bangalore in search of jobs.
In good Bengali tradition, now I think for a living too. Sadly though, I had to think outside Kolkata.
Sambuddha works with Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, Mumbai. The views expressed in this article are personal. He can reached on Twitter @some_buddha.Sign-up for the Urban Milwaukee daily email
When a state report is released late on a Friday with no fanfare, it’s a pretty good bet the report contains bad news. A case in point is Wisconsin’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for 2015, which was quietly posted online last Friday afternoon by the Dept. of Administration. In this instance the bad news is that the state’s General Fund deficit, as measured by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), increased in fiscal year 2015 by $414 million (from roughly $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion).
Release of the report had been expected about a week earlier. I don’t know what caused the delay until Friday (Dec. 18), but I can’t help wondering if the quiet posting of the report on a Friday afternoon was intended to minimize media coverage. If so, the strategy was very effective. With the exception of this brief Wisconsin Public Radio story, I’m not aware of any press coverage of the jump in the GAAP deficit, which is a fiscal development that runs counter to the majority party’s narrative that they have been steadily reducing that deficit. (You can also read more about the report in this blog post by “Jake Formerly of the LP.”)
A proposal introduced in the legislature in late September would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to require the budget to be balanced each year on the basis of GAAP, rather than on a cash accounting basis. That proposal (Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 55 and its Assembly companion, AJR 66) would not only prohibit the adoption of a budget that causes or increases a GAAP deficit, but would also create constitutional standards for reducing the deficit in each state fund.
As I explained in a mid-November story, the goal of reducing the GAAP deficit is laudable, but it would be a mistake to put rigid fiscal standards into the state constitution. Although a number of states balance their books on the basis of GAAP, no other state has inserted GAAP requirements into the state constitution, thereby restricting the options available to future lawmakers during a recession.
Because of the delay in the release of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for FY 2015, it was not available last week to the members of the Senate Committee on Government Operations and Consumer Protection when they debated and voted on SJR 55. The committee approved that proposal by a 3-2 vote, with all three GOP members supporting the constitutional change and both Democrats opposing it.
If or when the debate on SJR 55 moves to the full Senate, I would find it troubling if the legislators who crafted the last budget and increased the GAAP deficit use that increase as a rationale for amending the state constitution. Their track record doesn’t persuade me that we should trust their assessment that Wisconsin should become the one state that puts GAAP into its constitution.
Rather than going the route of amending the Wisconsin Constitution, I would prefer to see the proponents of GAAP statutorily require its use for balancing the state budget. In that way they could tie their own hands, if that’s what they think is needed, but without locking into place standards that could be too constraining for future legislators when there’s another severe recession.
The use of GAAP is not a cure-all for the sorts of short-sighted budget choices that have often been made in Wisconsin by lawmakers in both parties. For example, using GAAP doesn’t preclude some of the budget maneuvers (such as delayed tax cuts or spending increases) that have led to large structural deficits. That’s part of the reason why constitutionally requiring a different set of accounting standards is an overly simplistic approach, as well as an overly rigid constraint during some fiscal emergencies. We need a broader, bipartisan shift in the basic expectations for good, long-term budget practices.
Instead of appeasing legislators who tell us that they can’t be trusted to make fiscally responsible budget choices, and therefore need their options to be constitutionally constrained, we should elect lawmakers who prove that they can be trusted to be fiscally responsible. It’s very tempting to succumb to the argument that we can’t trust legislators to make prudent budget choices, but we will hurt our state during economic and fiscal crises if the state constitution enshrines rigid rules for how the budget is balanced.If you work on many machines with varying operating systems (Windows, GNU/Linux, MacOS X, BSD) and in various upgrade states, particularly if some of the machines are a lot older or have more minimal or custom installations of Vim, you might not be using your.vimrc file on all of them because it includes features that aren’t available on some other machines, meaning that Vim spits a lot of errors at you on startup.
This might have prompted you to perhaps keep a simpler.vimrc file, a “lesser”.vimrc, that you put onto your remote machines, and you keep the “real”.vimrc on your own machine to include lines that use all of the features only available to you on that machine. If you like to version your configuration files, maintaining and testing both of the.vimrc files on all the machines gets old fast; it would be much better to have a single.vimrc file that simply ignored configuration it didn’t understand. There are several ways to approach this.
Check features
Perhaps the best way to manage this is to group all of your configuration items by Vim feature, and to check for their presence in your.vimrc file before attempting to set any of the relevant options. You can do this with the has() function. As an example, here’s a stanza from my.vimrc :
if has("spell") set spelllang=en_nz nnoremap <leader>s :set spell!<CR> endif
I set the spellang option and perform the remapping only if the +spell feature is actually available.
If an option is dependent on a feature having been compiled into Vim, you can usually tell by calling :help on it and looking for a phrase like “not available when compiled without the +xyz feature.” You can also view a list all the features available with :help feature-list, and see which features are compiled into a given vim binary with the --version parameter:
$ vim --version VIM - Vi IMproved 7.3 (2010 Aug 15, compiled Feb 11 2012 03:54:05) Included patches: 1-429 Modified by pkg-vim-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org Compiled by jamessan@debian.org Huge version with GTK2 GUI. Features included (+) or not (-): +arabic +autocmd +balloon_eval +browse ++builtin_terms +byte_offset +cindent +clientserver +clipboard +cmdline_compl +cmdline_hist +cmdline_info +comments +conceal +cryptv +cscope +cursorbind +cursorshape +dialog_con_gui +diff...
There are certain special features, like +unix, that you can use to check whether the Vim instance running is on a platform suitable for an option or not. I find this is handy for choosing the correct syntax for specifying fonts on Windows:
if has("unix") set guifont=Inconsolata\ 14 else set guifont=Consolas:h12 endif
Check options
You can check whether an option itself exists rather than a feature with exists() :
if exists("&foldenable") set foldenable endif
Check version number
Another way of filtering out options for older versions of Vim is by version number, which you can perform by checking the value of v:version. For example, to only set folding options if you’re working with at least Vim 7, you could do:
if v:version >= 700 set foldenable endif
In this particular case, though, it’s a little clearer and more robust to check the condition with if has("folding"), because the version number being recent enough does not necessarily mean the feature exists. However, one good application of using version numbers is fixing bugs or unexpected behaviour in older instances of Vim, to make it behave consistently with newer versions, or even vice-versa if necessary.
Silent calls
If you can’t find a way to filter by feature or version number, a simple way to suppress any error messages from a configuration line is to preface it with silent!. I find this is a nice compact way to call plugin-dependent functions like pathogen#infect(), or custom colorschemes that you can’t be sure actually exist on the machine:
silent! call pathogen#infect() silent! colorscheme zellner
Try/Catch/If
If you’re not dealing with versions of Vim older than 7.0, another possibility is the try / catch / endtry block. This is handy for setting a default or fallback option if a call fails, such as selecting colorschemes:
try colorscheme zenburn catch colorscheme torte endtry
This is my least-favoured method of making.vimrc files degrade gracefully, as it breaks completely on older instances of Vim.
Thanks to Reddit user bouncingsoul for suggesting the second method which I initially missed.Sports radio hosts learn mid-show that Trib turning off The Game
Radio host Ben Finfer of WGWG-FM’s “Quigs and Finfer” show learned mid-show Thursday that Tribune Media was pulling the plug on the sports radio station.
The news came down not from management but from media reporter Robert Feder, who tweeted the story during Finfer’s show.
“We’re doing a live show here,” Finfer said on the air. “And to be told this way, it’s really a letdown. We’re getting screwed on this one. … We just found out on Twitter a half hour ago that the station is being taken off the air. We were not told about this ahead of time.
“We didn’t know anything about it. We were coming back from a break and saw on Twitter from Robert Feder that the station is being taken off the air. Can you believe that? A lot of really talented people were hired to work at this station and found out through Twitter that they were fired. Nothing from the bosses.
“I don’t really know what to do for the last hour of this show. I guess take calls.”
Feder’s report said that David Kaplan and David Haugh, who host from 9 a.m. to noon, are expected to continue on Comcast Sports Net after the radio operation ceases. But few of the station’s other sports/talk hosts are expected to remain employed. The weekday lineup includes Finfer, Alex Quigley, Jarrett Payton, Harry Teinowitz, Spike Manton, Mark Carman and Connor McKnight.
“You would assume you tell the employees before the media,” Finfer said on the air. “You assume they have the common courtesy to let some hosts on the air know that something might be coming so you don’t find out when you’re coming back from a commercial break. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’ve heard of some pretty crappy things in this business. You talk to radio people you’ll hear awful stories about the way they’ve been treated. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anything like this.”
“They may fire us today now,” Quigley added.
More from Feder’s report:
All of the moves are being made, according to insiders, because the company has been unable to generate sufficient advertising revenue to sustain the programming and talent costs. Total Chicago radio revenue is down 11 percent from last year, according to Miller Kaplan Arase market figures for October 2014. The GameTribune Media launched The Game 87.7 last February on a low-power television frequency that doubles as an FM radio signal. Leased from Venture Technologies Group, which owns the license, the station previously drew respectable ratings for smooth jazz and hard rock music formats. Despite programming and marketing support from news/talk WGN and its status as the only sports/talk station on FM, the upstart competitor to CBS Radio’s WSCR AM 670 and ESPN’s WMVP AM 1000 never caught on.
“Rick Renteria lasted longer than us,” Finfer said on the air. “Who would have thought Marc Trestman would make it past midseason and not us?”
The hosts attempted to reach Feder — a reporter — to get more information about the future of their station during the show.
Welp…guess what we're going to talk about next on @QuigsAndFinfer. — Alex Quigley (@alexquigley) November 20, 2014If you write iOS apps and wonder how your earnings compare against those of other developers – or you have an idea for an app, and are wondering whether it’s worth pursuing – it can be tough to find any hard information. We hear occasional stories about hugely successful apps like Flappy Bird making hundreds of thousands of dollars per day, and we know there are some apps with literally zero downloads to their name, but what about the middle ground?
Jared Sinclair, developer of the RSS reader Unread, decided last year to share both his earnings from the app, and the lessons he’d learned along the way. It’s taken six months, but several other developers started the new year by following his example, with numbers and lessons shared for podcast player Overcast, graphical game Monument Valley and developer aid Dash …
NordVPN
It’s worth noting, of course, that developers who choose to share their earnings in this way are, by definition, successful ones. Nobody is going to share embarrassing numbers, nor think they have anything to offer in the way of useful guidance to other developers unless they have themselves been successful. So the numbers shared will not be typical, but the lessons learned may well be helpful to anyone looking to emulate their success.
Let’s start with Unread, as it was Sinclair who kicked off this budding trend – and while he achieved a worthwhile income from the app, there are no telephone-number style earnings here. Sales hit $10k in the first 24 hours, but six months later they had only totalled just over three times that, at $32k (plus a further $10k for the iPad version).
Which brings us to one of the key lessons, mirrored in the data shared by other developers: for many apps, the sales they achieve when launched will be the highest sales the app will ever achieve. Or, to put it more graphically, here are the sales for the first six months:
Which leads to one obvious conclusion: if you were thinking about a discounted price to help get your app out there, think again!
Don’t launch your paid-up-front app at a reduced price. Demand for your app will likely never be higher again. Price it accordingly.
Sinclair’s view is that if you want to make serious money from an app, you have to launch at full price, and it has to be a smash when launched–because it’s pretty much all downhill from there. That may not be true of all apps, of course, but is supported by monthly sales data from Overcast:
And it holds true for one of the biggest iOS games, Monument Valley, whose total revenue is now approaching $6M. Developer Ustwogames helpfully labelled all the spikes in their sales, so you can see what events generated sales:
So other factors played their part, but launch sales dwarfed everything else – even having Apple pick it as iPad Game of the Year!
Note in particular that winning an Apple Design Award–which you might think would be a huge deal – resulted in only a modest uptick for a short time. A subsequent sale price, halving the price from $4 to $2, had a bigger impact. You can also see that, in this case, halving the price during a sale was very worthwhile, roughly quadrupling sales briefly.
You might also imagine that having your app featured by Apple in the App Store would be the holy grail. Not so, says Sinclair, who concluded that blog coverage is more important.
Coverage from influential bloggers can drive more sales than an App Store feature.
Anyone thinking that writing an app is an easy path to riches can also think again. Dash developer Kapeli–whose app grossed just under $275k last year–kept very detailed data on his working hours. While there are peaks and troughs, you can see that you’ll need to be prepared to put in the hours while developing the app.
Expenses, too, can be significant for a high-grossing app. Ustwogames reports that they had eight core team members working on the app, with the original version requiring 55 weeks of development. The Forgotten Shores follow-up app took a further 29 weeks. Between the two, development costs totalled a cool $1.4M.
Even at a far more modest level, doing everything yourself, don’t imagine the only costs are your own time. The Dash website notches up hosting bills of $2400 a year.
What if you’re one of those people who has an idea for an app but doesn’t have the coding skills to create it yourself? That was the position in which Bryan Conklin found himself in for the forthcoming game SiK Robot. If you think you can throw a couple of thousand bucks at a developer and get a working app back, he has bad news: he had quotes of up to $50k, and has so far–close to launch–spent $12k. Costs were split between design and development phases.
He says he learned two key lessons. First, think it all through in detail before you even approach a developer. Create a requirements list, detailing the exact functionality the app will have. If it’s a game, supplement this with a Game Design Document which describes the story, the characters, the levels, the user-interface and so on–there are templates available online for this (example).
Create a wireframe view–a series of images showing the flow of the app–so that you have a comprehensive plan from which the developer will work. This stage will |
the first moon landings 48 years ago. For now, we are much closer to those astronauts on the moon almost a half-century ago than ever seeing people driving on Mars. To infinity and beyond might be how long it takes to change that. ●This week in the war, on 26 March 1942, a force of British commandos left Falmouth in Cornwall on board a flotilla of destroyers and motor-torpedo boats heading for the German naval base at Saint-Nazaire on the Loire estuary on the western coast of German-occupied France.
The British ships included the destroyer HMS Campbeltown, an old American destroyer that had been one of fifty transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940 as part of the ‘destroyers for bases deal.’ Several tons of explosives had been packed into her bows. The object of the mission, coded named Operation Chariot, was to destroy the dock gates at Saint-Nazaire.
As of January 1942, the Bismarck‘s sister ship, Tirpitz, was fully operational and the British admiralty feared a repeat of the Bismarck’s foray into the Atlantic. If the Tirpitz headed into the Atlantic and returned to port in Western Europe for repairs, the only dry dock large enough to take her was the one at Saint-Nazaire—hence the importance of its destruction.
In the early hours of the morning of 28 March 1942, HMS Campeltown—flying a German naval ensign as a ruse de guerre—smashed through the harbour boom defences and, while under heavy fire, rammed the dock gates at full speed. Commandos landed from the Campeltown and from launches and began blowing up harbour installations, including the pumping station and machinery for operating the gates.
Because of the (possibly faulty) timing mechanism on the fuse, the explosives aboard HMS Campeldown did not detonate till noon. When they did so, the dry dock was utterly destroyed and over three hundred men were killed. They included a party of senior German officers who were on board for an inspection tour.
Of the approximately 600 British commandos and naval personnel who took part in the Saint-Nazaire raid, slightly over on third returned to England, slightly over one third were captured, and somewhat under one third were killed.
The lock gates were never rebuilt and the German battleship Tirpitz never risked venturing into the Atlantic. She was sunk by the RAF in late 1944.
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An increasing number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park are being prosecuted for possessing small amounts of medical and recreational pot, which remains illegal on federal land.
Park rangers attribute the trend both to ignorance of federal law and the growing prevalence of legal pot in other states, including neighboring Colorado, which has legal medical and recreational marijuana.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cheyenne reports it prosecuted 21 marijuana cases from Yellowstone in 2010 and 52 in 2013. As of Dec. 17, the office had handled 80 cases in 2014.
Those convicted of misdemeanor possession commonly receive a $1,000 fine.
The numbers are small compared to the millions who trek each year to the nation’s first national park. The bulk of the 2.2-million-acre park is in Wyoming, with slivers extending into Montana to the north and Idaho to the east.
Tim Reid, the chief ranger, said he believes the increase mirrors the prevalence of pot in society.
Alex Freeburg, a criminal defense lawyer in Jackson, Wyoming, frequently handles marijuana possession cases from Yellowstone. He said his clients often are surprised when they’re charged for small amounts of marijuana.
“I think that it’s fair to say that it is the legalization in a couple of states. They know it’s illegal but they don’t think it’s a crime,” Freeburg said. “There’s some sort of disconnect.”
The typical marijuana case arises from a traffic stop in which rangers say they smell the drug in the vehicle.
“And most people, most of the time, if a ranger says, ‘Do you have any marijuana in your car?’ they’ll say yes,” Freeburg said. “In which case, there’s not a lot a criminal defense attorney can do for them.”
That happened to Gary Godina, an artist from Waipahu, Hawaii, who was cited in Yellowstone in October 2013.
Godina said rangers pulled him over for speeding in a vehicle with Colorado plates and then told him they smelled marijuana. He said he told them he had 3 grams of the drug that he had purchased earlier in Colorado.
“Yeah, I had to go overnight,” Godina said. “They took me up to some holding cell in Montana.”
Godina’s home state is among 23 states and Washington, D.C., that allow marijuana use by people with various medical conditions. “I have glaucoma, so it’s basically a medical thing,” Godina said.
In April, he pleaded guilty and was fined $1,000.
Read or Share this story: http://gftrib.com/1BmUNFnRobin Williams in 2012. Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
This article originally appeared in Vulture. Read more on Robin Williams.
It is sometime in 1990 or 1991, and I am in my friend’s basement and we are giddy over the movie we are about to watch - Good Morning, Vietnam. We are excited because Robin Williams is in this movie. And one undebatable fact when you are 11 in the early ‘90s is that Robin Williams is funny as shit.
We put the tape in. And we do not understand this movie. The cultural significance of Vietnam means nothing to us. The sad parts are confusing, and we talk about the Beastie Boys during them. But anything resembling a joke we laugh hard at. Because Robin Williams said it. When we were younger, we pretended to sleep while our parents watched his stand-up, and we laughed even though we didn’t know why he sweated so much or moved so fast or referenced a thing called cocaine so often.
*
It is the early 2000s and I am sitting in my room, in the basement of a house on Hamilton Street in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I am depressed, because I was depressed every day back then. There is nothing about that sentence that’s hyperbolic—I suffer from depression every day. I sleep on a small foam couch and eat all my meals at a very weird pizza place called Tata’s and make no effort whatsoever to improve my state of being.
And on this day in particular, I sit on my small foam couch-bed and I stare at my television. Mrs. Doubtfire is playing because this is the early 2000s and Mrs. Doubtfire and Groundhog Day are legally required to be playing on cable television at all times.
I start laughing. I’m already in my 20s, and Mrs. Doubtfire is not for me, and I am already cynical enough to realize that this movie is trying to convince you that a hero can be a man who neglects his family and then deceives both said family and the United States court system by cross-dressing. I still laugh, though, because Robin Williams is so funny. He is funny enough that I am crying laughing, even though I know this movie’s main plot points describe a horror movie, not a comedy. And I realize that Robin Williams is the only reason this movie is well remembered because the actual plot is completely insane. I’m sitting there, realizing that this movie is not for me and it is very weird, but I am laughing, and the laughing feels good, and I haven’t laughed in a very long time because I am depressed every day. And I realize that Robin Williams isn’t just funny, he is funnier than my omnipresent emotional pain.
*
It is sometime in the late 2000s, and I’m so close to being a professional comedian that it hurts. I pay my rent picking up commercials and some larger acting gigs and teaching improv classes and doing shows on the road, so I’m some combination of an actor and writer, but what I’ve always wanted to be is a comedian. And one of the things that I do in my capacity as a creative type leaning towards comedy is I organize a show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City called Asssscat. And this show means the world to me because it’s been around for over a decade and is something of an institution, and when you are in that show, you feel a connection between performer and audience that is completely unparalleled.
But this show also stresses me out. Because I now organize it, I put a lot of pressure on myself to put together the best possible casts. So I am always bothering the improvisers who are on Saturday Night Live, the writers from Colbert Report, and the guys from Conan’s staff to come do it. And they’re busy people, and I hate being the one that bothers them each week with my dumb text messages begging them to come do this show, because not only am I being very annoying, it’s also a weekly reminder that I’m not quite where I want to be. I would like to be the person who gets annoyed, not the person who does the annoying.
And on this night, I’m in the back of the theater, tired and stressed out by all this self-defeating thought, exhausted by it before the show even begins.
Robin Williams in 2013. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
And Robin Williams walks into the green room.
My brain does not compute. Robin Williams is here, shy and short and clearly a little uncomfortable about walking into the green room of this established show. And quietly, to no one in particular, he mumbles, “Hey, if it’s not too much trouble, I’d love to be a part of this show tonight.”
And I say, “Yes, absolutely, please, let me introduce you to everyone,” shepherding him to the couches in the back, taking his coat, excited he is here but more so scared that he might leave.
But he doesn’t. He comes onstage and I get to introduce him, and the crowd goes apeshit. This is a show that Amy Poehler does regularly, that Jason Sudeikis and Bobby Moynihan and Seth Meyers and Rachel Dratch and Horatio Sanz and so many other stars of current comedies do. And the crowd loves them. But the crowd loves seeing Robin Williams, passionately, with a connection that goes back to their childhoods.
And I realize in that moment—no matter how many Mrs. Doubtfires or Patch Adamses he does, Robin Williams is so funny that any comedy nerd will always love a chance to see him perform. Billy Crystal? I bet they’d be happy, but maybe a little confused. Chevy Chase? I did the same show a few times with him and the crowd was respectful, but not thrilled. With Robin Williams, they are beyond thrilled. To a crowd that loves improv, Robin Williams is like Chuck Berry. For a lot of them he is a little dated, or a guy their parents liked, or someone that they’ve heard the legend of but maybe never knew at his best—but when you listen to his solos and his spirit and his energy, there is no denying that he is rock and fucking roll.
Robin Williams is comedy, but he is also, in his own shy way, rock and fucking roll.
And we get the suggestion for the show, and some idiot—I cannot stress enough how much of an unfunny idiot this faceless person in the crowd is—shouts, “Flubber.”
And Robin Williams looks down, smiles, and makes a comment to diffuse the tension. Whereas most, if not all, people of his celebrity would have filled with anger, he gets the joke, shrugs it off, then proceeds to improvise around that stage like the Tasmanian Devil.
At UCB (and really, at all improv theaters), you are taught to really try to take care of the people onstage with you. And a lot of times, when people grab too much focus or get too aggressive about hitting the punch lines for themselves, improvisers can frown at it and see it as selfishness or ego-driven. Robin Williams is clearly more of the “let the dog off the leash” philosophy. I can’t explain to you how little he cares about any of the rules. He enters every scene and trumps the funniest thing happening with something even funnier. If something is making him feel boxed-in or impatient, he just changes it without regard to the track anyone else was laying.
Yet we are all elated. Because Robin Williams may not care about any of the rules, but he absolutely cares about the people. He cares about the people onstage with him having a good experience, and you can sense that pouring out of him alongside his sweat. He cares about making sure we all could look him in the eye and know we are in it together, and he cares about making every single person in that basement theater have a good time. He doesn’t ooze confidence—not at all. He seemed nervous until the second he got onstage. What he oozes is empathy—an empathy that gives him both the need and ability to make people have a better time than they were having before he got onstage.
I’ve rarely been steamrolled onstage like this in my life. But I’ve also rarely felt so much adrenaline. Part of this, I’m sure, is being up there with someone I’d admired so much for so long. But a big part of this is also the joy of realizing I am in the presence of an impatient, wonderful, big-hearted genius who was still humble enough to ask if he could be on my show before he stole it.
At the intermission, we are in the green room, everyone jabbering a mile a minute because there is so much energy in the theater that night.
Except for Robin Williams.
He is standing quietly against a wall, a look of discomfort etched on his face. Onstage, you couldn’t take your eyes off him. He was relentless. It was impossible to not feel his impact.
Offstage, he is Boo Radley—hugging the corner, hidden, uncomfortable.
I make eye contact with him. He glances down to the floor, towards a cooler kept backstage filled with drinks for the cast. Bottles of various brands of beers jut through the ice and poke over the edge of the cooler.
“You guys sure don’t make it easy, huh?” he asks me, quietly, with a small smile on his face and a deep and real pain in his eyes. And I understand that all the rumors I ever heard about his demons and struggles are true.
I ask one of the people working at the theater to quietly remove the cooler from the green room for the rest of the night. And I realize, comedy is his drug now. Making other people feel better is his way of feeling better.
And I think about being depressed on a foam couch watching him in a movie almost a decade prior and I wonder, “Who makes him laugh when he feels that way?”
*
It is Monday night, a little before 7 p.m., and I am in a vegan restaurant on Thompson Street with six of my friends, and we are planning a show that will take place on public-access television on Wednesday night. It is called 18th-Century American Gladiators, and it will feature people dressed as America’s founding fathers fighting audience members live on the air. And I am nervous because I have a stand-up set scheduled for 7:45 tonight and the meal isn’t coming, and I’m cutting it real close.
A few minutes into our meal, my friend Noah looks at his phone and says, “Robin Williams just died,” and we all tell him to shut up because he’s sarcastic and weird and it’s a strange thing to lie about. And he says, “No, it’s true,” and we all get out our phones and look for ourselves and the whole table goes quiet as our food gets cold.
And even in the initial reports, it says that it’s suicide, because of course it is.
And I think about the dumb show we’re preparing for Wednesday, with its wigs and idiocy and ambitiousness and honesty, and how it will be manic and heartfelt and will aim at the guts of our audiences, and I wonder if Robin Williams would have enjoyed it.
*
It’s 7:50 p.m. Monday night, and I’m onstage at the Stand, a stand-up club on Third Avenue in Manhattan. And I am not getting laughs. My first joke is clunky and they sense that it is unpolished when I am specifically trying to hide that, and I reference that in a way that feels like an apology, and the crowd smells that rat.
So I ditch the other new material I am working on and I go with some stuff that works more often than not. And I am so familiar with this material that I can actually think about other things while I say it. The words are unconscious to me, and the pacing is familiar, and these jokes are like riding a bike.
And as I tell a joke about being born, I think to myself, I bet Robin Williams never once had a crowd as quiet as this. I bet he never let them be this quiet.
And I approach my last joke, and I put more energy into it than I ever have before. I stalk around the stage and talk faster and care more and start sweating. And I realize that any time I have ever apologized for a joke, it has been a mistake. And any time I’ve allowed my jokes to get so comfortable that I can think about something else while I say them has been unacceptable. And I have the crowd back, and in fact, they are laughing harder than they usually do at this joke, because I am choosing to be alive and I am choosing to make it feel more nervous and dangerous, and I get them back, and they are feeling it with me as I rush past them. They are grabbing at the last thing and trying to laugh at it while they can even though I’m two beats ahead of them. And for a nearly imperceptible window, and to a fraction of a degree, I realize I am forcing them to have a good time like I once watched Robin Williams do.
*
Robin Williams in 2006. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
It’s 9:09 p.m. and I’m writing this in Joe Junior’s diner, just a few blocks from the Stand. And it’s dawning on me that I now live in a world without Robin Williams. And I think about the times he affected my life.
And most of all, I’m thinking about how I got to stand on a stage with him once. And how that is a point of pride I will always have. That is a thing I will always be able to say. It’s a thing I once told my mom to impress her, and she was impressed.
She asked me if he was nice. And I said yes. And she was even more impressed by that.
“I always thought he would be,” she said at the time.
And I think about how I just got paid a few bucks to do comedy. And how I had a half-hour stand-up TV special air a few months back. And I’m realizing, right now as I type it, that I am what I’ve always wanted to be—a professional comedian.
And I’m typing these words as a way to sort out the feeling I have in my gut, and that feeling roughly translates to: I didn’t know Robin Williams well, or at all, really. But I stood on a stage conversing with him in front of a crowd, and I got to feel a monstrous energy emanate from him, a runaway train that remained positive and inviting and intriguing; and I got to feel a crowd respond to it, and when I think about what I learned that night, as a performer and a fan and a guy, I realize it’s that Robin Williams made people laugh for all the right reasons.
He was funny as shit. But he could make shit funny. Not shit meaning “stuff”—shit meaning darkness and awful situations and separated families and cancer-stricken kids and even aliens who feel alone in the world because no one else will ever truly know what it is to be him. And because of that, even more so than his talent, he’s one of the ones the rest of us will be chasing from now on.
See also: Robin Williams: A Boisterous Life in PicturesBENTONVILLE – Gov. Mike Beebe and officials with Bentonville-based Walmart Stores Inc. have confirmed an agreement that, if approved by the Arkansas Legislature, would see the retailer pay the state $25 billion over five years in return for moving the State Capitol to Bentonville.
The $25 billion would essentially fund all state government operations for the next five years – which is the timetable for moving state operations to Bentonville.
“It certainly is an unusual move, but from a practical standpoint it makes sense. As we continue to increase our influence over state government officials, it becomes an issue of efficiency,” said Walton Richman, a spokesman for Walmart.
While details remain sketchy of how the transition will happen, the Walmart Family Foundation said it would offer a $25 million matching grant to pay for a team of architects – including Moshe Safdie, the architect behind Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art – to design the Capitol building and other buildings that are needed.
Initial computer renderings show a new Capitol building that is a cross between a Frank Lloyd Wright house, classical structures within the existing Capitol, and a Walmart distribution center.
Early plans indicate the new capitol grounds will be somewhere within walking distance of the front door of Walmart’s home office.
“It’s possible a few homes, parks and cemetery plots may be moved or demolished to provide enough space for the new capitol campus,” noted a memo in the draft agreement. “If space is found close enough, the new capitol building could include a skywalk or underground tunnel to the WMT corporate headquarters.”
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declined to speak to the media, but his office issued this statement: “It’s a crazy idea, but they are offering $25 billion and I wouldn’t put it past the Legislature to lose their minds over that kind of money – especially now that Benton County is a wet county. But whatever they do, just remember that I am out of here come January 2015. So after that, they can move the capitol to that National Historic whorehouse in Fort Smith for all I care.”
WalMart officials said the deal does not include moving the Arkansas Supreme Court to Bentonville. “We’re happy with judges, court officials, and those facilities remaining well away from Bentonville,” Richman explained. “In fact, we would pay double to move them to Lake Village.”
Although nothing is certain about the future use of the existing capitol building in Little Rock, central Arkansas leaders formed the Commission for Re-use and Planning (CRAP) to consider options. Early ideas include a boutique hotel, expansion for the Little Rock Zoo, and a possible location for the Hillary Clinton Presidential Library.
“Ironically, no one suggested it could be the future headquarters for Stephens Inc.,” noted a Legislative Audit report prepared for the CRAP.Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement An agreement has been reached between Formula 1's governing body and the teams to prevent a breakaway series. The two parties had been engulfed in a bitter row over planned budgetary and technical changes for the 2010 season. But it appears a resolution has now been found and, as part of the deal, Max Mosley has agreed not to stand for re-election as president of the FIA. "There will be no split, there will be one F1 championship. We have agreed to a reduction of costs," said Mosley. "The objective is to get back to the spending levels of the early 90s within two years." F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone added that he was "very happy common sense has prevailed" following a meeting of 120 members of the FIA in Paris aimed at resolving the crisis. Ferrari chief president Luca di Montezemolo, head of the Formula One Teams Association (Fota), added: "I think the decisions we have shared this morning are important. We will have the rules of 2009, same rules for everybody. 606: DEBATE I knew they would not dare split from F1...
markolee "It means that we have stability. "I think [Max Mosley] has done a very good fix of the problem. When you have reached an agreement everyone has to help in the same way." Ahead of the meeting, Mosley had insisted that he would not step down as part of any potential agreement and might even seek re-election as head of world motor sport. He hit out at what he described as "wholly unjustified criticism" of the FIA, adding: "It is for the FIA membership, and the FIA membership alone, to decide on its democratically elected leadership, not the motor industry and still less the individuals the industry employs to run its F1 teams." However, it appears Mosley has now agreed to move aside when his fourth term as FIA president ends in October, saying: "I will not be up for re-election, now we have peace." Furthermore, writs that had been threatened against Ferrari and the other teams in Fota - McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP - are likely to be shelved. "Fota's public stance before this meeting was that they weren't in the mood for negotiation or compromise - and if we take that on board, the fact that they've got their way today must be seen as something of a capitulation by the FIA," reported BBC Five Live's David Croft. I always thought there wasn't much between us, now we've agreed there isn't
FIA president Max Mosley And that is a view shared by Ferrari, who issued a statement reading: "The FIA's World Motor Sports Council has approved all Fota's proposals." It added: "The objective is to avoid continuous changes decided by one person alone." However, Mosley sought to play down suggestions he had bowed to Fota's requests, telling BBC Sport: "I know it's an old cliche but everybody's won. "What we wanted was to get new teams into F1. We've got new teams in, which we haven't been able to do for 10-15 years, and at the same time got costs down so independent teams are profitable "If they're happy with what they (Fota) have got, fine, I've won what I wanted. "As far as I'm concerned the teams were always going to get rid of me in October, well they still are. Whether the person who succeeds me will be more to their liking remains to be seen." The agreement ends two months of wrangling since Mosley announced after a World Council meeting at the end of April that a voluntary £40m budget cap would be imposed from next season - a plan that prompted a rebellion from eight teams, with Fota announcing on Thursday they were planning a rival series. But the new agreement ends that threat, while still maintaining the "financial viability" of teams which had been targeted with the initial budgetary restrictions. Mosley explained: "There is no budget cap because costs will come down to the levels of early 1990s in two years - it's a different way of doing the same thing. I always thought there wasn't much between us, now we've agreed there isn't." As part of the agreement, existing teams must help new outfits - Campos, US F1 and Manor - with their engines and chassis. We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for Formula 1
Toyota president John Howett Toyota president John Howett, the vice-chairman of Fota, hailed the unity of the teams even though Williams and Force India broke ranks and submitted unconditional 2010 entries earlier this month. "This has been a challenging period," he said. "But thanks to the unity of the Fota teams and the foresight of the World Motor Sport Council members we have achieved the right result for Formula 1," he said. "We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for Formula 1 and its millions of fans around the world." BBC sports news correspondent James Munro, reporting from Paris, said: "It's come as a bit of a surprise, given that Fota was planning to meet in Bologna on Thursday to discuss plans for the breakaway championship. "But what we got today after a meeting of World Motorsport Council was an impromptu press conference and Mosley began by saying there will be no split, there will be one championship. "He said that over the course of the negotiations he had been able to secure guarantees from the teams who were threatening to break away that they would try to rein back the levels of their spending to the levels they were spending in the early 90s.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. "It was him that had come up with the idea that next season all teams would have a budget cap of about £40m, but there has clearly been a trade-off as he has also agreed to do what he says was always the plan - stand down as president of the FIA this October." It is not the first time Mosley has promised to stand down as FIA president - in June 2004, he announced he would stand down from his position in October of that year, only to rescind his decision a month later and secure re-election. But he was adamant that with his 70th birthday approaching, and with the row finally settled, there was no way he would be having a change of heart this time. "As long as the teams behave themselves I will be gone," he said. "A deal is a deal and if it is not stuck to you sometimes have to reconsider things. However, I have absolute confidence that this resolution will be stuck to." Fota was expected to address the media at a press conference on Thursday.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionObama at Fort Bragg: A hypocritical embrace of a criminal war
By Bill Van Auken
15 December 2011
President Barack Obama used his speech to US troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina Wednesday to embrace the nine-year war in Iraq that he had ostensibly opposed and to declare the destruction of the country a “success.”
Obama exploited a captive audience of 3,000 soldiers assembled at the largest US Army base in the world as part of a cynical attempt to use the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, which is to be completed by the end of this month, to promote his own reelection campaign.
The speech appeared to have been written by someone who threw out Abraham Lincoln’s famous adage and adopted the view that you can “fool all of the people all of the time.”
The Democratic president presented the complete withdrawal of American forces as an “extraordinary achievement” for his administration, while telling the troops that it was necessary to “remember everything that you did to make it possible.”
The reality is that the withdrawal of America’s armed forces from Iraq is not the deliberate outcome of US policy, but rather the unavoidable result of Washington’s failure to negotiate a new Status of Forces agreement to permit the administration’s favored plan, which was to leave behind as many as 20,000 troops.
That failure was based on the refusal of the Iraqi government, and indeed all of the major political forces in the country, to accede to Washington’s demand for blanket immunity for US troops from Iraqi law. Mass popular opposition, based on the bitter experiences of the Iraqi people over nearly nine years of US occupation, with all of its death and brutality, made any such agreement impossible.
Even as Obama used the Fort Bragg speech to wrap himself in the American flag and associate himself with the US military—he referred to himself as “commander-in-chief” three times, while his wife Michelle introduced him to the military audience by that title—he sought to promote the illusion among his liberal Democratic base that the withdrawal represents the fulfillment of a 2008 campaign pledge.
This is a bare-faced lie. Obama won the 2008 election in large measure due to the deep-going hostility among the American electorate to the wars begun under the Bush administration. He pledged to end the war in Iraq within 16 months of coming to office. Once in the White House, however, he retained Bush’s secretary of defense, Robert Gates, and largely ceded policy decisions to the Pentagon brass.
The December 31, 2011 deadline for completing troop withdrawals was set not by Obama, but was rather part of the Status of Forces Agreement reached between Bush and the Iraqi regime in 2008. Bush, like Obama, had fully intended to renegotiate this pact to allow permanent stationing of US troops in the country.
As it is, Washington is doing its best to maintain its grip on Iraq, replacing uniformed troops with an army of up to 17,000 under the nominal direction of the US State Department. It is to include a force of 5,500 private mercenary security contractors, a massive CIA station, and Special Operations troops operating covertly out of uniform. Tens of thousands of US troops are being kept in place across Iraq’s border in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf, while the US Navy and the US Air Force remain in control of the country’s coastlines and airspace.
US imperialism remains poised to intervene once again in the country, even as it engages in unceasing saber-rattling against its neighbor, Iran. Obama’s hailing of “the end of the war in Iraq” may prove decidedly premature.
Obama’s speech, which included no hint of his own supposed opposition to the Iraq war, was filled with empty rhetoric—such as, “there is something profound about the end of a war that has lasted so long”—meant to obscure and falsify what the war was all about. He sought to portray it as a crusade for democracy and the liberation of the Iraqi people.
“We remember the early days—the American units that streaked across the sands and skies of Iraq: the battles from Karbala to Baghdad,” said Obama, as if recounting some heroic exploit. In reality, the “early days” were the days of “shock and awe,” when massive US bombardments killed civilians and largely defenseless Iraqi troops alike in an unprovoked attack on an oppressed and impoverished country.
“We remember the grind of the insurgency,” he added, declaring that the will of the troops “proved stronger than the terror of those who tried to break it.” Here one has the inevitable and time-worn rhetoric of colonialism. Those resisting the foreign occupation of their country are “terrorists,” while occupiers are endowed with the supreme right to impose their will.
“We remember the specter of sectarian violence,” he continued, telling the troops, “in the face of ancient divisions, you stood firm to help those Iraqis who put their faith in the future.” One would never guess that the bloody carnage and ethnic cleansing had itself been unleashed by the US invasion, the destruction of the Iraqi state, and the deliberate promotion by Washington of sectarian divisions as a means of conquering the country.
Obama referred to the “heavy cost of this war,” citing the nearly 4,500 US troops killed and the more than 30,000 wounded. Yet, he suggested, it was worth it, because nearly nine years of war had led to a “moment of success.”
“Now Iraq is not a perfect place,” he said. “It has many challenges ahead. But we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people.”
Missing from this narrative was any reference to the cost that the US war imposed on its unwilling victims, the Iraqi people. According to credible estimates, these costs include a million Iraqi lives. Some four million people were driven from their homes, forced to flee the country or become internal refugees. Basic infrastructure was smashed, leaving masses of the population without adequate access to electricity, clean water and other basic necessities of life.
A country of 30 million has been left with 4.5 million orphans, some 600,000 of them living in the streets. There are an estimated 1.5 million widows in the country, 10 percent of Iraq’s female population.
The poverty rate has risen from 15 percent before the war and occupation to 55 percent today, with a quarter of the population living in extreme poverty. The United Nations gives the unemployment rate at 28 percent, while others suggest that the share of the population without real jobs is closer to 50 percent.
Meanwhile, lethal violence continues, with an average of 243 Iraqi civilians killed in each of the first six months of this year. On the day Obama delivered his speech at Fort Bragg, just the initially reported incidents of bombings in Baghdad and Ishaqi and shootings in Mosul and Fallujah killed at least 11 people, leaving many more wounded.
Nine years of US war and occupation have indeed left Iraq less than “a perfect place.”
What is perhaps most stunning about what is being billed as Obama’s keynote speech on the end of the Iraq war is his complete inability to present even the semblance of a coherent explanation of why the US went to war in the first place.
“Because you sacrificed so much for a people that you had never met, Iraqis have a chance to forge their own destiny,” he said. “That’s part of what makes us special as Americans. Unlike the old empires, we don’t make these sacrifices for territory or for resources. We do it because it’s right.”
In another passage, he told the assembled soldiers: “Never forget that you are part of an unbroken line of heroes spanning two centuries—from the colonists who overthrew an empire, to your grandparents and parents who faced down fascism and communism, to you—men and women who fought for the same principles in Fallujah and Kandahar, and delivered justice to those who attacked us on 9/11.”
This is all nonsense and lies. Do the White House speechwriters really expect anyone to believe that 170,000 American troops were deployed in Iraq to give Iraqis “a chance to forge their own destiny” with no thought for the 112 billion barrels of oil within the country—the second largest proven reserves in the world?
People in Iraq had been forging their own destiny for thousands of years without the help of American bombs, missiles and bullets. Far from an unbroken line from the colonists who overthrew an empire in the 18th century, America’s ruling elite in the 21st century embarked upon naked colonial-style wars aimed at imposing US hegemony over the world’s key energy producing regions of the Persian Gulf and Central Asia.
As for delivering “justice” to those who attacked the US on September 11, 2001, there is no record of anyone allegedly involved in these attacks having come from Fallujah or Basra, where Al Qaeda had never been heard of before the US military invaded Iraq.
Obama merely recycles some of the old lies of the Bush administration, while wisely skipping over the principal pretext given to |
2004, which Gorka does not bother to update. In consequence, a crucial claim in his 2007 dissertation — that terrorism is increasing in lethality — rests entirely on data from the period between 1993 and 2003. As he writes in his dissertation, “For the years 1998 until 2003, the average number of terrorist victims per attack jumped to 13.71. In 1992 the number of victims per attack was 2. In 2003, the number was 20.5 victims per terrorist attack.”
When we zoom in on this claim, we can see the sloppiness of Gorka’s methods. Not only is this an unacceptably truncated period, but the aggregate, descriptive statistics he gives just aren’t remotely good enough. The period from 2001 to 2003 covers not only the 9/11 attacks but also the first years of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He does not even bother attempting to identify the proportion of such attacks carried out by groups — including in the Middle East and Central Asia — that would qualify as “irrational, transcendental” terrorists rather than, say, secessionists or guerrilla movements. In other words, this is an exercise without any evidentiary value.
It gets worse. The data Gorka relies on does not extend beyond 2012, so I asked former students to run the same measure using counts from the Global Terrorism Database (for some of the limitations of this data, see, for example). The lethality of attacks — that is Gorka’s own measure — while consistently rising, remains consistently lower than Gorka reports. It does not, to be blunt, seem like evidence of growing “hyper-terrorism” that would require a total paradigm shift in how Western states secure themselves against threats.
What’s going on? Is this a function of the different datasets? Well, Gorka writes that the “lethality” of attacks is increasing, but his footnote discusses “victims.” His table on page 205 has the same discrepancy. He labels it “Lethality of Terrorist Attacks, 1993-2003,” but the relevant column reads “Number of victims.” Until I started to look at the data he uses, I assumed that Gorka was using the terms as synonyms. He’s not. If we check his numbers against the 2004 report that he draws on, it’s obvious that he’s conflating “dead” and “wounded” in his lethality analysis. Big spikes in the number of wounded from attacks tell us something about terrorism, but this kind of semantic obfuscation also tells us something about Gorka’s modus operandi.
Indeed, Gorka’s thesis reads like one of his interviews: It’s full of strong claims, boldly and confidently stated, backed up with very little evidence. Gorka tells us about Turkish-European relations. He opines on globalization. He confidently proclaims on the “sacrosanct nature of sovereignty that would later lie behind the creation of the ‘balance-of-power’ system that would be so important to Europe in following centuries.” Sometimes his assertions make sense. Sometimes, as in his claims that “sacrosanct” sovereignty explains the creation of the “‘balance-of-power’ system,” they don’t. (For these and more quotations, and a longer discussion of them, see here.) But seldom does Gorka provide actual evidence, let alone citations, to support them.
If his dissertation is any guide, then Gorka is, in fact, bluster all the way down. His thesis is part smoke and mirrors, part testament to self-importance, and not at all serious scholarship. Gorka believes what he believes. In the case of his dissertation, that we face a new phase of historically lethal terrorism carried out by irrational actors, this can only be met by radically overhauling the state. Indeed, in 2010, Gorka asserted that the terrorist threat is so supreme that “[w]e need not prepare in the short or even medium terms for conventional warfare between nation‐states, using tanks and aircraft carriers. For the foreseeable future our enemies will be non‐state actors — with or without state sponsorship — using irregular means against us.” Regardless, evidence, methodology, and analytical rigor are nuisances that can be shunted aside, whether in the pursuit of a credential or in the formulation of policy.
Much has been written on the factually challenged echo chamber of the far-right. In the United States, its descent into a world of suspect facts has even alienated some longtime conservative commentators. President Trump himself has a fraught relationship with the truth — whether the size of his inauguration crowd, claiming credit for long-planned corporate hiring initiatives, accusing former President Barack Obama of having him wiretapped, or asserting that the American murder rate is at an all-time high. When a Department of Homeland Security report concluded that Trump’s travel ban would not reduce the threat of terrorism on American soil, the administration simply dismissed its findings.
In a powerful essay, Jacob Levy argues that such post-truth politics move us in the direction of authoritarianism. As he concludes, “insisting on the difference between truth and lies is itself a part of the defense of freedom.… [T]he power to tell public lies and to have them repeated is evidence of, and a tool for the expansion of, a power that free people should resist and refuse.” But there are many consequences of post-truth politics short of autocracy.
To the extent that members of any ideological movement — right or left — respond to “inconvenient facts” not by adjusting their beliefs and preferences but by creating “alternative facts,” they are likely to support and enact counterproductive, and downright dangerous, policies.
It is precisely attention to the significance of inconvenient facts that distinguishes good scholars and true experts from pretenders. Pretenders present themselves as scholars and experts. They adopt the language, get the credentials, and perform as they — or, at least, their audience — imagine scholars and experts sound. Rather than speak truth to power, they peddle what their ideological compatriots want to hear, wrapped up in the trappings of intellectual authority.
The more that political movements, politicians, and leaders move into a universe of alternative facts, the more they render themselves vulnerable to these intellectual grifters. And the more these fake experts influence actual policy, the more damage that they can do. I do not believe that a doctorate, let alone an academic background, is a prerequisite for good policymaking. But the president of the United States is best served by advisors who place facts before ideology, who care about the substance more than the credential, and who would never make sweeping judgments about millions of people grounded on essentially no evidence at all. This is particularly the case for a new president who has repeatedly demonstrated that when ideology — or even vanity — runs into inconvenient facts, he expects the facts to bend. In this sense, Gorka seems a perfect fit for the worst impulses of this administration.
Photo credit: ALEX WONG/Getty ImagesThe New York Islanders' Michael Grabner has lit the lamp fifteen times this season; that's one more than Panthers top goal scorer David Booth, who sits one behind with fourteen. The 23-year old Austrian winger was placed on waivers - and promptly snapped up by Isles' GM Garth Snow - at the start of the season by Florida as he couldn't crack Peter DeBoer's lineup following a poor showing in training camp. Many were surprised by the roster move, especially after Grabner was widely considered to be the prized asset in June's Keith Ballard deal with Vancouver, but Cats' general manager Dale Tallon displayed what's become a trademark response when clarifying such decisions: "You have to earn your playing time here. Reputation doesn't mean anything to me. It gives an opportunity to someone else." This approach won over many fans and observers, softening the blow of losing a 14th-overall pick (2006, VAN) for nothing.
After four months of personal evolution eerily identical to the plot of "Batman: Arkham Asylum" (hero lands on prison island, bashes heads, battles inner demons, develops cool tricks, all the while overcoming enormous odds to save the day), Grabner has become a competent NHL goal scorer, something the Panthers desperately covet. More and more it seems as though this was the first real blemish on Tallon's track record with the Panthers, and the first sign that perhaps Tallon's strong sense of principle should have been met with patience, and that like Panthers General Managers before him tossed away a promising future (Look no further than All-Star Dan Boyle) for a better chance at the present.
Hindsight is 20/20 and glancing back at the Grabner situation is a painful process for all close to the Florida Panthers, but Tallon made a decision he felt would help the squad most. One cannot fault a man for doing what he believes in, but looking forward there is no doubt that this was a poor choice - and one that has the potential to haunt the Panthers for years to come, especially if the goals become harder and harder to come by.
While Grabner's goal totals are impressive - currently 4th among all rookies - many individual facets of his game leave a lot to be desired, and that has always been the knock on the young winger: he has tremendous skill but considerable trouble putting the enitre package together. Though lately while not being a true stud without the puck he's shown some responsibility and is actually a +2 over 45 games played. One can't help but think those 15 goals would have a dramatic effect on Florida and their bottom line thus far, regardless of the very different scenario he finds himself in with the Islanders.
Hypothetically adding Grabner's 15 goals to the Panthers this season, they would sit 12th (with 144) in the league in scoring, ahead of powerhouse teams loaded with offensive assets like the Stars, Kings, and Capitals instead of the bottom third of the league (21st with 129 goals-for). Plug that into varying theories on goals-to-win ratios and those fifteen times Grabner hit the twine could have changed the outcome of perhaps 2-4 games, enough to turn the Cats current situation into a dogfight for 8th, instead of a stealthy pursuit from the tall grasses of South Florida.
Obviously, the departure of Grabner gave oppurtunities for some unlikely scoring heroes to emerge, and when the Dark Knight departed to Long Island, players like Michael Santorelli took over some of that slack, playing admirably while adding considerably to a sporadic Florida offense. However, one cannot ignore the fact that it was possible to have both of these offseason additions - it wasn't a "one or the other" situation. Was it a managerial oversight to covet the grit of say a Darcy Hordichuk (or predecessor Andrew Peters) over the scoring potential of Grabner? It's likely, especially in this NHL market, that the veteran would have walked the line and passed the test of waivers, especially when numerous "grinders" have found themselves assigned and recalled without obstruction over the course of the season; this is the New NHL after all, where scoring and youth rules all, and veteran toughness is devalued. How many games this season have the Panthers cried for a symbol of hope - for a goal scorer?
Since January 2011
Player G A P +/- P/PG GRABNER 7 3 10 +5 0.77 WEISS 2 8 10 -7 0.71 BOOTH 5 2 7 -4 0.5 SANTORELLI 3 8 11 +1.79 HORDICHUK 0 1 1 -1 0.11
After facing off against Grabner for the first time earliar this season, Coach Deboer was quoted as saying, "Good for him, Some guys are better fits in other places." It's almost inconcievable to think that a player who can score goals wouldn't be a good fit for the offensivley challenged Panthers. "The Bottom line is we came into camp with an open competition concept, and we stuck to it". That is all well and good (especially if this is in the context of Junior Hockey) but this isn't a one year process, there is more on the line for this franchise then the one season, open competition is great, but at what cost should you throw away potential? It seems as though the Coach and GM lost sight of the true purpose of the rebuild--the future.
Ultimately this situation comes down to winning now- a symptom all general managers are faced with in this non-traditional hockey market that has begged for a winner for 10 seasons. With the waiving of Grabner, Tallon put the needs of this season's team ahead those of longterm growth and development either by misfortune or a simple lack of homework. There's no doubt Grabner could have been kept on the roster; the club and the rookie would have endured expected growing pains, but looking at how far Grabner has come over the past 20 games, one can't help but wonder, were the first few months of mediocrity and a.500 record worth going into the second half of the season (and beyond) without a potential leading goal scorer? Would the impact of a veteran who earned his spot during training camp in October really be more important to the team than Grabner now?
As strong as Tallon has been so far this season, this one incident reminds Panthers fans of the tragedy we have endured in this market and the pressures we place on management to win now. One can't help but wonder how this team could have been built if not rushed by the demands of immediacy. As Grabner continues to turn things around for himself and score goals (especially after Kyle Okposo was activated from the IR) the city of Sunrise continues to ache for a hero on the scoresheet. Anyone know if Bruce Wayne has ever played hockey, and if so would he agree to a 2-way deal?Collection KellerWilliams
Keller Williams ThanksForGrassGiving
01.Teen Angst
02.My Grass Is Blue
03.Fat Bottom Girls>
04.Corn Liquor
05.Doobie In My Pocket
06.For Every Super Hot Girl
07.Foggy Mountain Rock
08.Gallivanting
09.Waltz About Whiskey
10.Island In The Sun
11.On the Vine?
12.Restraint
13.Victory Song
14.Raleigh And Spencer
15.Cold Rain & Snow
16.Broken Convertible
17.Southbound
18.Salt Creek
19.All Apologies*
20.Life's Been Good*
21.I Know You Rider*
Encore
22.Roadhouse Blues*^
23.Portapotty*^
* w/ Jay Starling on dobro
^ w/ Pappy and JP from Cabinet
Cabinet opened
Notes
Band:
Keller Williams - guitar and vocals
Larry Keel - guitar and vocals
Chris Pandolfi - banjo and background vocals
Jason Carter - fiddle and vocals
Cody Kilby - dobro and guitar
Travis Book - bass and vocals
Identifier KW2015-11-28.akgck63.flac24 Lineage Audacity mix and render>CD wave via parallels, xAct for flac conversion, (ffp creation, tagging). Location Washington, DC Source Akg ck63>DIN-A>FOH, mics at 10’>Naiant actives and Pfa>Grace Design Lunatec V3>Tascam DR-60, 24 bit/48 kHz Taped by taperjeff Transferred by taperjeff Type sound Venue 930 Club Year 2015Talented prop Liam Knight has suffered a slight pre-season setback following an unfortunate injury last Saturday.
Knight, a standout for the Sea Eagles in the Holden Cup in 2015, had made an immediate impact on the new coaching staff at his first week of pre-season training.
However, in trying to cross a road in heavy rain, Knight rolled his ankle in a pothole.
“Scans showed Liam has a broken foot. He will miss the next six weeks of training,’’ said Head Coach Trent Barrett.
“It is very disappointing for Liam because he was going great. He showed all the attributes we wanted to see and it just reinforced what we thought of Liam after his performances for the 20s.
“Liam is a real player of the future and one we would like to keep long term. We will endeavour to do that.”
Meanwhile, another of the U20s stars from 2015, Addison Demetriou, is also watching on from the sidelines after undergoing wrist surgery.
Barrett said Knight and Demetriou were players with plenty of potential.
“They were very good in the 20s but now it is case of seeing how they play against men,’’ Barrett said
“Addison is big and powerful. There is no doubting he has a lot of ability but it is a different kettle of fish when you come up against the big boys.
“That’s the challenge for these young guys. It is a real step up for them and I’m looking forward to the trials to see how they go.”
2016 Trials
Cronulla Sharks v Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Sunday 14 February
Remondis Stadium, Cronulla
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles v Ipswich Jets
Saturday 20 February
Pittwater Park, Narrabeen
Click here to secure your 2016 Membership.A maid was forced to stand on one leg on a stool while holding another stool in her hand, a court heard yesterday.
The 33-year-old Indonesian, who goes by the name Fitriyah, said that while she maintained the stance for half an hour, her employer, Tay Wee Kiat, forced a small plastic bottle into her mouth.
Testifying in the trial of IT manager Tay and his wife, Chia Yun Ling, she claimed Tay forced the bizarre punishment onto her after wrongly accusing her of breaking an elephant statue.
"He pushed all of the bottle into my mouth until I felt pain," said Ms Fitriyah, who had apologised and explained that the couple's daughter had broken the statue. "I cried and told him: 'Don't do that to me.' "
The February 2011 ordeal ended when the couple decided to go out.
Tay, 38, denies 12 charges in relation to offences against Ms Fitriyah, while Chia, 41, has claimed trial to two.
Two of Tay's proceeded charges accuse him of offering to pay Ms Fitriyah her salary and sending her home, in return for not reporting his offence of voluntarily causing hurt to the police, and instructing her to lie to the police that he did not physically abuse the other maid, Myanmar national Moe Moe Than, 27.
Ms Fitriyah said she felt scared after the statue incident and wanted to change employers, but Chia would not let her.
She then took $50 from Chia's wallet and told Tay what she had done so that she would be sent back home.
When the couple took her to the agency, Ms Fitriyah refused to leave the car. She changed her mind about going to the agency, afraid that the staff there would scold her and not help her.
She said Tay pulled her hand and she fell onto the pavement, causing her pain in the chest.
The couple then took her to Tay's father's house. "I was informed that if I were to go back, I had to sleep with a Bangladeshi to earn money to buy a ticket...,'' she said in Bahasa Indonesia through an interpreter.
When she refused to stand on a stool again, Tay slapped her. She also testified that Tay had used a bundle of three canes tied together to hit her on the head "many times''.
He also hit her twice with a bamboo stick, she said.
Another alleged punishment involved the two maids being forced to pray 100 times before a Buddha statue for moving a piece of cloth that was covering it.
Ms Fitriyah, who now works for another employer, demonstrated how it was done in court. With her hands clasped in front of her chest, she said she had to bow, kneel and then get up.
She said Tay then told her and Ms Than to slap each other 10 times.
Ms Fitriyah said once, when Tay found out that his son's swollen head was due to an accidental fall, he pulled her hair and took her to a room.
"Suddenly, he grabbed my chin hard and pushed me against the edge of the cupboard. My head hit the cupboard. He did it two times,'' she said.
She also testified that whenever she was punished, Tay would not give her any food.
The hearing continues.Google Maps / Business Insider LONDON — An oil exploration firm says it has made the "largest undeveloped discovery" of oil in UK waters.
Hurricane Energy said in a statement on Monday morning that it had identified a huge oil field on a site in the North Sea, 60 miles west of Scotland's Shetland Islands.
The BBC reported that the site — called the Greater Lancaster Area (GLA) — could hold up to one billion barrels of recoverable oil, although that is only a fifth of the size of the Forties field, the largest existing site in the North Sea.
The company's tests indicate that two sites where it has drilled — which are around 30 miles apart — are part of the same huge oil field, described as "a single large hydrocarbon accumulation."
Dr Robert Trice, Hurricane's chief executive officer, said it was a "highly significant moment for Hurricane."
"We believe that the GLA is a single hydrocarbon accumulation, making it the largest undeveloped discovery on the UK continental shelf," he said.
The discovery of an oil-bearing column at least 1,156 metres deep was described as "very significant" in the statement.
The company said that testing operations ceased for financial and safety reasons, but added that it plans to return for further testing.
Shares in Hurricane Energy had risen nearly 9% by late afternoon trading. Here is the chart as of 3.50 pm B.S.T. (10.50 am ET):Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
LIVERPOOL have had seven players called up into the England Under-19s squad ahead of the European Championships in Switzerland.
Midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, who impressed as a substitute for the first team at Fulham on Monday night, is named alongside six youngsters from the Reds’ Academy.
Conor Coady, Jack Robinson, John Flanagan, David Ngoo, Andre Wisdom and Thomas Ince have all been rewarded for the progress they have made this season.
Reds Academy director Frank McParland said: “We’ve had four players called up for England Under-17s and we’ve just had news about the six that have been called up for the under-19s.
“Add that to the two lads who have been involved with the first-team for the past four or five games and it’s all very positive.
“Okay our under-18s didn’t win the league and it was disappointing for us. But I think the coaches realise that getting the players into the first-team set-up is the most important thing and we’ve made some great progress.
“It’s testament to the hard work everyone is doing here.”
England’s first match in the Under-19 European Championships is against Montenegro on May 31.
They then face hosts Switzerland on June 2 before completing their group fixtures against Spain on June 5.
Liverpool Reserves will face Everton in the Liverpool Senior Cup semi-final on Friday, May 20 at the Kirkby Academy (kick-off 2pm).Image: Inked Pixels/Shutterstock
Ever since showering women with dollar bills became an endlessly rehashed subject for rap songs, high-end strip clubs have increasingly relied on brand building to distinguish themselves from their competition.
It's in that vein that The Legends Room (link mildly NSFW), a new Las Vegas strip club, had decided to issue its own cryptocurrency which will be redeemable for drinks and dances at the club, and distributed through a custom mobile app.
The interior of Legends. Image: The Legends Room
The Legends cryptocurrency (LGD) is issued via Ethereum, a decentralized, blockchain-based computing platform that allows for the creation of custom tokens, and until May 15 can be bought in a public crowdsale at a rate of 1150 LGD per bitcoin. As well as paying for services, the cryptographic token is the only way to obtain VIP membership, which is available to anyone holding more than 5000 LGD, or around $5750 at the current Bitcoin valuation and LGD exchange rate. (Legends Room staff told Motherboard that the target price for membership is $5000, which has been inflated by Bitcoin prices rising more than $200 in the past month.)
Along with the prestige of membership (which gets you access to a private area featuring appearances by athletes, celebrities and adult entertainment stars), the owners of the club are also touting the anonymity properties of cryptocurrency over other digital payment methods as a selling point. Nick Blomgren, founder of the Legends Room, said in a phone call.
"The first question they ask me in the club when they use a credit card is, 'What does your receipt say on the statement?' So if you can use bitcoin, well, there's no problem."
Legends' cryptocurrency ATM. Image: The Legends Room
Besides disguising the patrons' spending habits, the use of cryptocurrency will also provide for some novel ways for clients and dancers to interact. Bitcoin wallet apps often make use of QR codes to share transaction details between sender and receiver, a fact that Peter Klamka, the Legend Room's cryptocurrency specialist, says the club plans to make use of.
"Vegas is all about what's new, what's different," said Klamka. "So let's put a QR code on a porn star's thigh and you can scan your app or even your blockchain wallet right on her thigh... Then all of a sudden you've got a real draw."
Klamka and Blomgren say they are targeting the club firmly at the new generation of young, affluent tech workers, who may be based in neighboring California's Silicon Valley or visiting Las Vegas for conferences, and would be drawn by the premise of the club.
"If you think about who owns bitcoin and who uses it—younger, technologically inclined, likes the idea of nightclubs and beautiful women—we created an opportunity for somewhere they'd really want to spend it," explained Klamka.
The Legends Room is schedule to open at the end of May. In the meantime, early investors can purchase tokens through the Bittrex exchange.Maximilian Arnold writes a tiny bit of Bundesliga history.
A perfect pass from the left-wing found Maximilian Arnold and the Wolfsburg youngster didn’t hesitate at all. He simply put the ball up into the air with his first touch, and afterwards he smashed the ball into the net past Koen Casteels with his second touch. Certainly one of the most beautiful goals scored on match day 29 in the 2012/13 season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elrR-3nlyyg
Arnold is just 18 years and 321 days young, which makes him the youngest goal scorer in Wolfsburg Bundesliga history. However, the Wolfsburg youth player isn’t the youngest player who has scored in the Bundesliga. His goal puts the Wolfsburg youngster actually in 86th place amongst the youngest goal scorers, just above current Bayern president Uli Hoeness.
Historic goals
There are certainly a number of goals scored by younger players which are just as beautiful as Arnold’s goal, or maybe even more so. One example is Marc-André Kruska’s equalizer against Hansa Rostock on match day 34 of the 2005/06 Bundesliga season. The goal made Kruska the 5th youngest goalscorer in the Bundesliga.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5r3LhICGy4
Matthias Ginter comes in on number 10 in said list. Last season the striker started what was one of the greatest turnarounds in Bundesliga history, when Freiburg managed to rescue their spot in the Bundesliga under the newly installed Christian Streich. Ginter’s goal on match day 18 of the 2011/12 season was certainly the start Freiburg needed into the Rückrunde.
Julian Draxler’s first goal for Schalke caused a stir. The midfielder had been on the pitch for a couple of minutes in Schalke’s DFB Pokal match against Nürnberg, when he decided to go it alone and take a shot at goal from roughly 20 meters. His shot was hard and well placed and smashed into the net behind a helpless Raphael Schäfer. The controversy occurring after the match was caused by a German teacher who had taken a closer look at the employment law, which states that a person under 18 years isn’t permitted to work after 10 o’clock in the evening. The police in Gelsenkirchen declined to pursue the matter, however.
No such list would be complete without Lars Ricken’s goal in the 1997 Champions League final. The Dortmund youth product had scored his first Bundesliga goal on match day 25 in the 1993/94 season, at the age of 17 years. Ricken was at that point the youngest goal scorer in Bundesliga history. His future teammate Nuri Sahin was even younger when he got on the score sheet for the first time 11 years later. However, the goal most Bundesliga fans have in mind when they think about Ricken is his 3-1 winner against Juventus in the 1997 Champions League final.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxzwl5ZPYwY
The top 10 youngest goal scorers in the Bundesliga
1. Nuri Sahin, Borussia Dortmund – 17 years 2 months and 2 days 2. Julian Draxler, Schalke 04 – 17 years 6 months and 11 days old 3. Lars Ricken, Borussia Dortmund – 17 years 8 months and 1 day old 4. Ibrahim Tanko, Borussia Dortmund – 17 years 8 months and 7 days old 5. Marc-André Kruska, Borussia Dortmund – 17 years 10 months and 22 days old 6. Rüdiger Abramczik, Schalke 04– 17 years 10 months and 23 days old 7. Wolfram Wuttke, Schalke 04 – 17 years 11 months and 3 days old 8. Ralf Augustin, Borussia Dortmund – 17 years 11 months and 12 days old 9. Peter Knäbel, VfL Bochum – 17 years 11 months and 13 days old 10. Matthias Ginter – 18 years and 2 days old
Have a look at the entire list over the youngest goal scorers in the Bundesliga on transfermarkt.de.
Feel free to leave a comment below.Editor's Note: Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62. A statement from Vanity Fair said that he died Thursday night at cancer center in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of his esophageal cancer. CT asked Douglas Wilson to weigh in on the life and death of the prominent atheist. (The image on our homepage features Wilson, left, and Hitchens in a mock arm wrestling match.)
Christopher Hitchens was a celebrity intellectual, and, as such, the basic outlines of his life are generally well known. But for those just joining us, Christopher Hitchens was the older of two sons, born to Eric and Yvonne in April 1949. He discovered as a schoolboy that probing questions about the veracity of the Christian faith were part of a discussion that he "liked having." His younger brother, Peter, followed him in unbelief. But unlike Christopher, Peter publicly returned to the Church of England, the communion where they had both been baptized.
Christopher spent some time in the 1960s as a radical leftist, but of course that was what everybody was doing back then. Somehow Christopher managed to do this and march to a different drummer, doing his radical stint as part of a post–Trotskyite Luxemburgist sect. He graduated from Balliol at Oxford, and soon became established as a writer, the vocation of his life, one in which he excelled. As a writer and thinker, he was greatly influenced by (and wrote about) men like George Orwell and Thomas Jefferson, while as the same time reserving the right to attack any sacred cow of his choosing—and the more sacred, the better. He is widely known for his scathing attack on Mother Teresa, and when Jerry Falwell passed away, he spent a good deal of time on television chortling about it.
But this was...
1Mick Fanning world number one surfer after California WSL surfing win, just two months after shark attack
Updated
Australian surfer Mick Fanning has regained top spot on the world rankings after winning the Hurley Pro at Trestles in California.
Fanning won the final against Brazilian Adriano de Souza, who had been in the number one spot since he won at the Margaret River event in April.
Fanning scored a combined total of 17.44 and recorded the highest scoring wave of the final with a 9.77.
Fanning was interviewed in the water straight after the win by commentator Pete Mel, who was the first person he spoke to after his near miss with a shark at an event in South Africa.
"The circumstances are a little bit different this time aren't they Mick?" Mel quipped.
"Yes they are," Fanning replied.
"I'm really stoked with this win, for number one and two to go at it in the final is great for everyone. Adriano is a champion who never gives up."
I'm really stoked with this win, for number one and two to go at it in the final is great for everyone. Adriano [de Souza] is a champion who never gives up. Mick Fanning
Fanning also beat current world champion Gabriel Medina in the semi-final, fellow Australian Adrian Buchan in the quarterfinal and 11-time world champion Kelly Slater earlier in the event.
"I'm stoked it all came off for this event," he said.
"I'll go home, regroup and get ready for the European leg."
Fanning employed the services of local surfer and former professional, Mike Parsons, in the lead up to the event to gain an insight to the variables of the often tricky wave.
"Mick got here a week before the competition and we worked on selecting the right board and getting a handle on the best waves to look for," Parsons said.
"He came with the hunger he's renowned for and from what I saw, he will be a threat for the rest of the year."
Earlier in the event, Hawaiian Carissa Moore beat South African, Bianca Buitendag in the final to also move back into the lead on the world tour rankings.
"This is my happy place," Moore said.
"I grew up competing here and although it can get crazy and crowded but that's all part of the experience of surfing here."
Both the men's and women's tour head to Europe for the next two events before the final leg in Hawaii.
Two other Australians, Owen Wright and Julian Wilson finished the event ranked in the top 10 on the men's tour while Sally Fitzgibbons is the highest ranked female, currently in third.
Fellow Australian Stephanie Gilmore remains unable to compete due to an injury she sustained while surfing in Margaret River.
Topics: surfing, sport, united-states
First postedClimate change can't be man made, insisted Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas during his remarks on the Keystone XL Pipeline: just look at Noah.
"I would point out that if you're a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change, and that certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy," he said at the Subcommittee on Energy and Power hearing of the Northern Route Approval Act.
In addition, Barton said he opposes the idea that anyone has to cling to just one side of the aisle in the debate.
"I think you can have an honest difference of opinion of what's causing that change without automatically being either all in - that it's all because of mankind or it's all just natural," he said. "I think there's divergence of evidence."
This isn't the first time Barton has offered his personal feelings on the subject of global warming - the man has been outspoken for years.
In 2009, for example, he delivered remarks at the House Energy and Commerce Committee in which he called climate change the "practical, affordable, utterly natural response to nature when the planet is healing or cooling," adding that people should find shelter when it rains and shade when it's hot.
Furthermore, he argued, "CO2 is not a pollutant in any normal definition of the term. It's in your Coca-Cola, your Dr. Pepper and your Perrier water. It's necessary for human life. It's odorless, colorless, tasteless, doesn't cause cancer, doesn't cause asthma."
Should the Northern Route Approval Act pass, TransCanada would be granted a permit to build a 1,179-mile pipeline between Hardisty, Alberta, and Steele City, Okla. It would then be used to ship crude oil across the border.
Currently, the company is moving ahead with the project's 485-mile southern leg known as the Gulf Coast Project, which, upon completion, will link Steele City and Port Arthur, Texas. The construction is two-thirds built and already has all the necessary federal permits.
To watch Barton's remarks, click here.Sometime soon, perhaps this week, Facebook will turn the year-old Facebook Platform into an open source project, multiple sources have told us. The immediate effect will be to allow any social network to become Facebook Platform compatible – meaning application developers can easily take their Facebook applications and have them run on those social networks, too.
Bebo already licenses the Facebook Platform, which allows third parties to make their Facebook applications work on Bebo, too. With the new announcement, social networks won’t need to go through the hassle of doing a deal with Facebook. They’ll simply map their existing APIs to Facebook Platform (which isn’t trivial) and go. Expect to see the four major technical pieces of Facebook Platform – FMBL (markup language), FQL (query language), FJS (Javascript library) and the Facebook API to be open sourced and made available to anyone.
If they mirror the Open Social approach, third parties will be free to change the Facebook Platform components for their own use and deploy them on their own sites. To have those changes be incorporated into the official versions of Facebook Platform, however, would require Facebook’s approval.
This is a nearly inevitable response to Open Social, which is backed by Google, MySpace and Yahoo. Open Social is also an open source platform, run by the |
states out of Obamacare. I'm sure they're trying to set up future litigation as yet another roadblock, but fortunately there were safeguards written into the law in order to thwart effective "secession" from the coverage rules.
Each of those Republican governors has just abrogated their authority over the insurance exchanges to the federal government, who is now free to step in and offer people in their state health insurance based on a national risk pool, rather than state based. The bigger the pool, the cheaper it is.
Insurers are already whining about how they'll be out of the health insurance business altogether in a matter of a few years. Good. This should hasten the process and bring about single payer that much faster.
So why are they doing this? What benefit is there in opting out? Well, there's political benefit. They get to stand on the principle of not bending to the will of the people and implementing a law which is a law. I suppose they could point to Medicaid and their reluctance to avail themselves of federal funds there, too. It's also possible that they will try and use the one piece of the June Supreme Court ruling about Medicaid to justify their opt-out of the entire program.
But Obamacare is the law of the land, and people in those states are entitled to health coverage, and the federal government will ensure they have those options. If these governors want to surrender their state sovereignty to regulate and create the exchanges, the federal government has the authority to do it, will do it, and will leave the GOP governors out flapping in the wind as the selfish, cynical, cruel lot that they are.
So you just keep right on being obstinate, GOP governors. It means we'll move to the next square that much faster and be opening Medicare up that much sooner. After all, if we don't have states whining about their rights, it's that much easier to pre-empt it all in favor of a federal program.Theresa May announces raised level for first time since 2007, signalling that further attack may be imminent
Soldiers are being sent on to Britain’s streets to help the police and a second terror attack may be imminent following the Manchester concert bombing, Theresa May has said.
The prime minister announced the threat level was being raised from severe to critical for the first time since July 2007, meaning “not only that an attack remains highly likely but a further attack may be imminent”.
May said she did not want to “unduly alarm” people but military personnel would be present at public events and key sites under police command.
Manchester bombing: more victims named as threat level is raised to critical – live news Read more
She said it could not be ruled out that the attacker, named as Salman Ramadan Abedi, was working as part of a terrorist group.
Speaking from Downing Street after an emergency Cobra meeting, May said the investigations of the security services and police have “revealed it is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this incident”.
The prime minister said: “The police have asked for authorisation from the secretary of state for defence to deploy a number of military personnel in support of their armed officers.”
This means some armed police officers guarding events will be replaced by soldiers in an operation codenamed Temperer. It is the first time that the operation, which was first revealed in 2015, has been put into effect. The plan is believed to allow up to 3,800 troops to be deployed in support of the police, replacing armed officers at many sites to free them up for patrols in key areas.
Police and security services are urgently seeking to establish if the Manchester suicide bomber, who killed at least 22 people including several children, was acting on his own or was linked to a wider organisation.
The killer was named by Greater Manchester police as Salman Abedi, after his identity was first revealed to reporters by US security sources. Abedi, a 22-year old Mancunian of Libyan heritage, was known to the police and security services although was considered a peripheral figure. Media reports on Wednesday sad he had just returned from the north African country.
Greater Manchester police chief constable, Ian Hopkins, said: “The priority remains to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network.”
The investigation was understood to be focusing on whether Abedi was directly supported by other conspirators or built the bomb himself to instructions obtained over the internet. The device he used was described as homemade and crude although it was stable enough to be transported, and exploded with devastating effect. It was believed to have been constructed in Britain.
Abedi detonated the bomb in the foyer of the Manchester Arena on Monday night as thousands of children and their parents streamed out at the end of a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande, sending bolts and shrapnel flying into victims.
The death toll from the attack rose from 19 to 22 on Tuesday in what was the worst terrorist attack in Britain since the 7/7 attacks on London in 2005. Two girls aged eight and 18 and a 26-year-old man were the first to be named among the victims, and 59 people were hospitalised, several with life-threatening injuries including a number of teenagers. Two more victims, 15-year-old Olivia Campbell from Bury and Kelly Brewster, 32, were named in the early hours of Wednesday.
The youngest victim of Abedi’s attack was Saffie Rose Roussos, eight, from near Preston. She had been to the concert with her mother, Lisa, and sister Ashlee who were both hospitalised. Her school, Tarleton community primary, described her as “a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word”.
May chaired a two-hour meeting of the cabinet security committee, Cobra, in the morning and attacked the “appalling sickening cowardice” of the bomber in a Downing Street address. “We struggle to comprehend the warped and twisted mind that sees a room packed with young children not as a scene to cherish but an opportunity for carnage,” May said. Campaigning in the general election was suspended.
One senior security source described Abedi’s attack involving the acquisition of bomb-making materials or the construction of a viable device as “a game-changer” that has “rocked us backwards”, because a successful bomb plot has not been seen in the UK since the 7/7 attacks in 2005.
Investigators have gathered CCTV footage showing Abedi approaching the foyer in in the MEN Arena, which conclusively shows the explosion was deliberate and caused by a suicide device. He was also carrying ID on him when he detonated the bomb.
In the aftermath, police raided Abedi’s house in the Fallowfield area of south Manchester and carried out a controlled explosion, apparently blasting open the front door. A 23-year old man was also arrested in nearby Whalley Range, where Abdei spent some of his childhood. Armed officers also searched a block of flats in the area.
An Isis-related website claimed the attacker was “a caliphate soldier” who had killed “crusaders”, although it remains unclear what links if any Abedi had to the terror group.
A second dead victim was Georgina Callender, 18, an Ariana Grande “superfan” who met the singer in 2015. She was on the second year of a health and social care course at Runshaw College in Leyland, Lancashire. Her former school, Bishop Rawstorne Church of England academy, described her as a “lovely, popular” student.
Friends of a third victim who was killed, John Atkinson, 26 and from Bury, paid tribute to “an amazing young man so kind and thoughtful”. At least 15 people were also reported missing on social media by families who were plunged into what May, described as “unimaginable worry”.
The Queen expressed her “deepest sympathy” to all those affected and said “the whole nation has been shocked by the death and injury”. The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned against allowing “communities to be divided by this kind of appalling, atrocious act of violence”.
Condolences flowed in from world leaders including Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, who described the attacker as “a loser”.
On Tuesday evening, thousands of people filled Albert Square in front of Manchester town hall for a vigil. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, joined Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s recently elected mayor, and Corbyn on stage where the lord mayor of Manchester, Eddy Newman, said the vigil was a chance to “express solidarity” with the victims.
Witnesses spoke of a deafening bang when the bomb exploded on the arena concourse at around 10.30pm on Monday night. Inside the auditorium, where 21,000 had watched a sell-out show, people panicked as they fled the blast, which one parent said threw them several metres across the foyer.
“You saw this flash of light and there was shrapnel everywhere,” said Emma Johnson who was waiting at the top of the foyer stairs for her two teenage daughters. “The glass exploded and people were screaming.”
Gary Walker, from Leeds, was waiting to pick up his two daughters when he said the bomb detonated just a few metres from him beside a merchandise stall. “We heard the last song, and quite a few people were flooding out and then suddenly there was a massive flash and then a bang, smoke,” he said. “I felt a bit of pain in my foot and my leg. My wife said, ‘I need to lie down’. She’d got a stomach wound and possibly a broken leg.”
His daughters Abigail and Sophie were still inside the auditorium and Abigail described it as “absolutely terrifying”. She added: “Everyone was running and crying.”
Chris Parker, a rough sleeper, was knocked over but recovered to tend to a woman with serious leg and head injuries. “She passed away in my arms,” he said. “She was in her 60s and she had been with her family. I haven’t stopped crying.”
The emergency response involved 400 police officers and 60 ambulances which took casualties to eight different Manchester hospitals. Burnham condemned an “evil act” and praised emergency staff who rushed to the site of the blast for working through “the most difficult circumstances imaginable”.
Greater Manchester deputy chief constable Ian Pilling said early on Wednesday that lifting the threat level to critical would “support our ongoing operation” and asked the people of the city to remain “vigilant” against possible further attacks.
In London, police announced a security review at all upcoming events amid fears cultural and sporting were being purposefully targeted by terrorists. On Saturday, extra armed police will patrol the FA Cup final at Wembley and at Twickenham, where the Premiership rugby final will take place.
“Specialist officers... are now reviewing in detail all the plans for upcoming events in the capital,” Scotland Yard said in a statement. “This includes smaller events which may not have had a police presence seeing a greater focus and an increase of armed and unarmed officers on highly visible reassurance patrols around key locations.”
Several concert-goers in Manchester said bag searches going into the event were cursory in some cases, although it was not clear such checks would have stopped the attacker who struck at the end of the event and on the concourse rather than in the arena.
Manchester was widely praised for its response to the attacks after several organisations opened their doors to those in need, including a Sikh temple near the concert venue.
Members of the Sikh Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib temple offered food, hot drinks and lifts to those who had been caught up in the incident and said they were on hand to comfort people who “didn’t know where to turn”.
Taxi drivers offered free lifts for bewildered concert-goers leaving the venue and householders offered strangers bed and board for the night over Twitter.
• This article was amended on 29 May 2017. An earlier version said Theresa May was raising the threat level to critical. This has been corrected to say May announced the threat level was being raised to critical.Modern phones come loaded with bright screens, fun games and apps, and connections for 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Not coincidentally, they're constantly out of juice. Here's some of the best collected wisdom about saving your web-connected phone's battery life.
Photo by [177].
Note: I've tweaked a few sections, added in submissions from commenters, and removed a woefully misguided idea about dark-themed backgrounds since this post was originally published. Thanks for the help and (occasionally) gentle hand slaps.
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Universal battery tips
They're different in a lot of ways, but all smartphones can be made to be more frugal with their limited power reserves if you're willing to follow a few simple rules of thumb.
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Keep it cool and out of pocket: If you're outside, don't leave your phone facing the direct sunlight. If you can pull it off without looking like a hyper-aggressive real estate agent, belt-clip your phone, or generally keep it out of your pocket and away from close quarters with your body heat.
Switch off 3G when it's unnecessary: It's faster than EDGE or GRPS and can deliver both voice and data in a continuous stream to your phone. It also uses up quite a bit more power. When you've got good coverage and plan to mostly talk, or just get occasional email updates, you don't need such wide wireless pipes. Switch to EDGE/2G usage in your settings, preferably with a widget or shortcut.
It's faster than EDGE or GRPS and can deliver both voice and data in a continuous stream to your phone. It also uses up quite a bit more power. When you've got good coverage and plan to mostly talk, or just get occasional email updates, you don't need such wide wireless pipes. Switch to EDGE/2G usage in your settings, preferably with a widget or shortcut. Switch off any unneeded service: Goes without saying for anyone who's learned the hard way. Having your phone constantly look for new Bluetooth devices, Wi-Fi hotspots, GPS positions, and Exchange server emails that don't arrive at 4 a.m. will definitely kill your battery. Find the most convenient way your phone offers to turn these things off, or automate their use, and act on it.
Goes without saying for anyone who's learned the hard way. Having your phone constantly look for new Bluetooth devices, Wi-Fi hotspots, GPS positions, and Exchange server emails that don't arrive at 4 a.m. will definitely kill your battery. Find the most convenient way your phone offers to turn these things off, or automate their use, and act on it. Be frugal with background applications and notifications: It feels like living in the future when new emails, Twitter messages, Facebook updates, calendar appointments, and other minutiae are delivered minute-by-minute to your phone. Your battery lives in the present, though, and could use a break from your hyper-awareness. If you've got a phone that can keep multiple applications "open" for quicker access (Android, Pre, Windows Mobile), don't feel obligated to keep them present.
It feels like living in the future when new emails, Twitter messages, Facebook updates, calendar appointments, and other minutiae are delivered minute-by-minute to your phone. Your battery lives in the present, though, and could use a break from your hyper-awareness. If you've got a phone that can keep multiple applications "open" for quicker access (Android, Pre, Windows Mobile), don't feel obligated to keep them present. Fiddle with screen time-outs and brightness: Tweak how long your screen stays lit after a quick time check, modify how bright it must stay during the daylight, and you'll likely pull a bit more use time from your handset.
Tweak how long your screen stays lit after a quick time check, modify how bright it must stay during the daylight, and you'll likely pull a bit more use time from your handset. Use mobile site versions: Find and bookmark the mobile versions of the sites you always visit (often found at m.sitename.com, mobile.sitename.com, or, occasionally, sitename.com/m ), and keep tools like the Google Mobilizer and Bing Mobile handy; they'll automatically pare down a page to its basic elements, and save your phone from having to burn its battery pulling down giant banner ads. Using Google mobile search on some phones also presents an "Options" menu next to each result, which provides a "mobile" link for any page.
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Photo by sarchi.
BlackBerry
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If you're rocking a BlackBerry, chances are that disconnecting your network to save on battery life isn't an option. Instead, you might try a few of these tips. Photo by liewcf.
RIM's official tips : To summarize: Close your browser with the ESC key when you're done surfing, use shortcuts instead of Java-based menus, get crazy with the extensive settings, and use the Desktop Manager (now available for PCs and Mac OS X) to load media, rather than have your phone resize and compress it all.
To summarize: Close your browser with the ESC key when you're done surfing, use shortcuts instead of Java-based menus, get crazy with the extensive settings, and use the Desktop Manager (now available for PCs and Mac OS X) to load media, rather than have your phone resize and compress it all. Radio Saver and AutoStandby: Radio Saver turns off your phone's cell reception when coverage is spotty or non-existent, saving you from the dreaded drain of roaming for signal. AutoStandby, when it's on, drops your BlackBerry into a deeper standby state, rather than just sleep, if you'd rather get a bit more time from your phone than be constantly pinged. They're $2.99 each, which isn't cheap for a utility, but might be worth the coffee change if you're low on battery life or working on the edge of service.
Radio Saver turns off your phone's cell reception when coverage is spotty or non-existent, saving you from the dreaded drain of roaming for signal. AutoStandby, when it's on, drops your BlackBerry into a deeper standby state, rather than just sleep, if you'd rather get a bit more time from your phone than be constantly pinged. They're $2.99 each, which isn't cheap for a utility, but might be worth the coffee change if you're low on battery life or working on the edge of service. BBlight : This simple little app allows you to have your screen's backlight automatically turn off after a set period of time. Here's the direct over-the-air link. Thanks atomicrabbit!
This simple little app allows you to have your screen's backlight automatically turn off after a set period of time. Here's the direct over-the-air link. Thanks atomicrabbit! The Boy Genius basics: Straight from the BlackBerry-toting, news-breaking blogger behind the Boy Genius Report, the basics on keeping your phone alive:
Straight from the BlackBerry-toting, news-breaking blogger behind the Boy Genius Report, the basics on keeping your phone alive: Turn down brightness of the screen, turn the LED off, turn Bluetooth off, Wi-Fi off (when not needed).
Also, keep it in a holster, since it will "sleep" (when inside it)
No silver bullets there, but sound advice—especially on the holster bit.
iPhones
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Apple's game-changing, full-web-browsing phone has had its battery life detractors from the get-go. Luckily, some have put their efforts into fixing that. Photo by Mat Honan.
Apple's official tips : To summarize: Don't get it too hot or too cool, turn off unnecessary services, "lock" it frequently, and let the battery run completely down, and then charge to 100 percent, at least once a month.
To summarize: Don't get it too hot or too cool, turn off unnecessary services, "lock" it frequently, and let the battery run completely down, and then charge to 100 percent, at least once a month. Gizmodo's suggestions : To summarize: Change from Push to Fetch email, turn off contacts and calendar sync if you're not a CEO, cancel scanning for new Wi-Fi networks, and avoid games with vibration and 3D graphics (except in seriously long airport lines).
To summarize: Change from Push to Fetch email, turn off contacts and calendar sync if you're not a CEO, cancel scanning for new Wi-Fi networks, and avoid games with vibration and 3D graphics (except in seriously long airport lines). Toggle networks with SBSettings jailbreak app: By default, the iPhone's on/off switches are tucked inside the settings, and the phone can only automate screen brightness. With SBSettings installed on a jailbroken phone (from the BigBoss repository), you can not toggle all your data connections on and off from a flip-down widget, and fine-tune other battery-grabbing aspects of your phone. See and read more about SBSettings at The Apple Blog. Thanks j_rich!
By default, the iPhone's on/off switches are tucked inside the settings, and the phone can only automate screen brightness. With SBSettings installed on a jailbroken phone (from the BigBoss repository), you can not toggle all your data connections on and off from a flip-down widget, and fine-tune other battery-grabbing aspects of your phone. See and read more about SBSettings at The Apple Blog. Thanks j_rich! Use the battery percentage indicator: The standard battery indicator can leave you guessing as to how healthy your iPhone actually is, and sometimes misreports its state entirely. If you've got a iPhone 3GS, or a jailbroken iPhone, you can enable a numeric percentage read on your lock screen by heading to Settings, General, and then Usage to toggle "Battery Percentage" to On.
The standard battery indicator can leave you guessing as to how healthy your iPhone actually is, and sometimes misreports its state entirely. If you've got a iPhone 3GS, or a jailbroken iPhone, you can enable a numeric percentage read on your lock screen by heading to Settings, General, and then Usage to toggle "Battery Percentage" to On. Use Prowl, GPush, or very light Push for Gmail: We first showed you how to use Prowl and Growl to push Gmail to your iPhone, and it remains a more battery-efficient means of getting important email notifications, particularly while your main work computer is running. We also detailed a work-around with GPush that works at any time—when it works, period. Since then, Gmail has added official push support for instant email notifications, but it also makes manual email fetching more reliable, so users can set it to an hourly or manual interval to save on battery use. Thanks drjonze and wbullockiii!
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Android
The current crop of Android phones have almost universally crummy battery life. Luckily, the system's open platform has given app developers lots of leeway to squeeze every drop out of them. Photo by sugree.
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Automate your phone rules: When you're asleep, you want important calls to come through, but you don't need to check your email every hour. When you're at work, your screen doesn't need to be so bright, and you've already got net access. Using an app like Locale, you can make turning on and off your phone's most power-hungry features automatic, based on time of day, location, battery status, and other factors.
When you're asleep, you want important calls to come through, but you don't need to check your email every hour. When you're at work, your screen doesn't need to be so bright, and you've already got net access. Using an app like Locale, you can make turning on and off your phone's most power-hungry features automatic, based on time of day, location, battery status, and other factors. Learn to love APNdroid: It's more severe, but APNdroid is also the most sincere battery saver out there. Click its app icon, and your EDGE/3G cell networks are turned off, while your basic call connection remains in place. That's better than Airplane Mode, which totally renders you inaccessible, and, used wisely, you'll definitely notice the difference when you start charging every other day. Better still, it seems a Locale plug-in is in the works, so turning off your wireless access when it's not needed could become a no-brainer.
It's more severe, but APNdroid is also the most sincere battery saver out there. Click its app icon, and your EDGE/3G cell networks are turned off, while your basic call connection remains in place. That's better than Airplane Mode, which totally renders you inaccessible, and, used wisely, you'll definitely notice the difference when you start charging every other day. Better still, it seems a Locale plug-in is in the works, so turning off your wireless access when it's not needed could become a no-brainer. Keep the power widget handy: When your Android 1.6 (a.k.a. Donut) update arrives, you'll have a new widget available, "Power Control," that puts some important on/off switches—Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, auto-sync, and screen brightness—all on one horizontal strip. Keep it someplace handy on your home screen, and power down when you're at your most casual.
When your Android 1.6 (a.k.a. Donut) update arrives, you'll have a new widget available, "Power Control," that puts some important on/off switches—Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, auto-sync, and screen brightness—all on one horizontal strip. Keep it someplace handy on your home screen, and power down when you're at your most casual. See what's eating your juice: Also new in Android 1.6: A percentage Battery Use chart you can access under About Phone in your Settings. It shows what's been pulling in power since the last time you charged your phone, which can help remind you of background apps and other power drains.
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Windows Mobile
Older than almost all its siblings, but Windows Mobile has grown to incorporate all the same battery-killing background powers as its brethren. Photo by Titanus.
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WMExperts' tips : To summarize: Avoid Wi-Fi whenever possible, dial down your email checking, and dig into your settings to modify screen time-outs and vibration frequency.
To summarize: Avoid Wi-Fi whenever possible, dial down your email checking, and dig into your settings to modify screen time-outs and vibration frequency. WMLongLife: Basically, this independent app switches your phone from 3G service down to 2G when it's in standby mode, so background data grabs and non-essential pings drain less battery. The developer also states it has a beneficial impact on, erm, other functions.
Palm Pre
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Everybody who digs the Palm Pre mentions its "deck of cards" multi-tasking and Sprint's seriously speedy data networks. Yeah, you guessed it—both require a little power precaution.
Treonauts' battery tips : To summarize: Turn it off (or into airplane mode) when in very weak coverage, and follow the same kind of auto-check and background app recommendations made earlier in this post.
To summarize: Turn it off (or into airplane mode) when in very weak coverage, and follow the same kind of auto-check and background app recommendations made earlier in this post. Battery Saver: This homebrew app is only really useful if there are parts of the day where another phone provides you with emergency contact—like at home, if you have an alternate line. If that's the case, though, turning your phone to airplane mode at pre-set parts of the day gives you the advantage of a quick power-on or contact check, while also saving on battery life.
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Symbian (Help Wanted)
To be honest, the vast variety of Symbian phones with customized firmwares give us pause at offering a standard set of apps or recommendations for better battery life. That said, if you know of a tip, trick, or app that saves battery life on Symbian phones, tell us in the comments. We'll update the post here to reflect the best suggestions.
traviswilson shares the basics of Symbian app management for newcomers:
Close your camera, youtube, slingplayer, google maps (it uses gps, and say no to latitude sharing) and any applications still running:
I believe all Symbian phones have a menu key... If you hold that button down it will show you what applications are open (windows version of alt-tab) and you can close programs running in the background. Remember Symbian can multitask and will usually leave your programs running unless you close them by using Options, Exit.
sockatume posts a whole lot of Symbian tweaks to try in the comments, including this bit:
Switch data connections to "When Needed" instead of "When Available". The phone won't make a power-hungry data connection unless an app actually requests one.
fadedspark asks Symbian users to be sure they're updated on their firmware, as it's more than just a number change that happens:
Battery improvements are one of nokia's focus points, going from 100-110 on my old e71 netted me about 3hrs of battery life. I was a HEAVY user. HSDPA push running all day. Had to recharge at 11pm every night until that update.
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Hopefully you'll find something useful in these tips to give your mobile data hub a bit more life from each charge. Did we miss anything major? By all means, tell us about it in the comments, and share your own battery life discoveries.Several weeks ago when we reported on the latest territorial losses by ISIS and the curious disappearance of the "war against ISIS" from the media's front pages, we said that this was the expected outcome of the recent Russian airborne military operations over northern Syria which had destroyed much of the Islamic State's oil infrastructure and, more importantly, had cutoff key ISIS oil transit lines to Turkey.
This dramatically reduced ISIS' inbound cash from oil sales, which had previously been estimated to amount to over a billion dollars annually.
But we certainly had no idea just how bad ISIS' funding situation had become.
According to the Times of India, it has gotten so bad for the cash-strapped Islamic State terror group that ISIS has resorted to killing its injured fighters so that their organs can be extracted and sold on the black market abroad.
"Doctors were threatened to take out the body organs of a wounded ISIL militant," the Arabic-language al-Sabah newspaper reported citing a source in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The report was confirmed by the Iranian FARS news agency which said that "the terrorists are suffering a budget shortage after their recent loss of territory in the southern part of Mosul and for the same reason it is reportedly killing its own militants who have been injured in southern Mosul to take out their body organs such as hearts and kidneys to sell them in the black market."
It also cited Spanish daily El Mondo as saying that faced with an increased number of wounded members in the Syrian army and popular forces' attacks, ISIS is using the body organs of its captives for transplantation.
It gets even more morbid, because while previously ISIS had no problem demonstratively executing its prisoners for shock YouTube clip value, it is now keeping them alive as long as possible to salvage critical "components" such as blood: according to the daily, the ISIS also forces the prisoners in Mosul jails to donate blood and in pulling a page right out of the latest Mad Max script, is postponing the execution of those sentenced to death to use their blood as much as possible.
Medical sources were quoted as saying that the personnel in one of hospitals in Mosul have seen corpses of at least 183 people whose organs had been taken out of their bodies.
The TOI adds that the Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations Mohamed Alhakim had made the similar accusations last year, saying that the ISIS is trafficking human organs and has executed a dozen doctors for failing to go along with the programme. Alhakim based his claim on the discovery of dozens of bodies left in shallow mass graves near the city of Mosul, currently an ISIS stronghold.
The morbid report comes just days after AFP reported that the Islamic State revenues have dropped by around 30 percent since last year, forcing the group to introduce a range of new taxes including a levy on repairing satellite dishes, a research group said on Monday.
"In mid-2015, the Islamic State's overall monthly revenue was around $80 million" said Ludovico Carlino, senior analyst at IHS, which issues regular reports on IS-controlled territory. Carlino added that "as of March 2016, the Islamic State's monthly revenue dropped to $56 million."
And while a big reason for the plunge in revenue is that according to IHS the IS group had lost about 22 percent of its territory in the past 15 months and now ruled over six million instead of nine million people, the primary reason was the abovementioned one: the collapse in oil revenue.
An IHS report also said oil production in areas controlled by IS jihadists had gone down to 21,000 barrels per day from 33,000 barrels per day before. This was due largely to air strikes by the US-led coalition and Russia, although IHS warned the decline was only an "interruption of production" as jihadists were able to repair infrastructure quickly.
At this point one can't help but be amused at the ironic parallels between the fate of the Islamic State: whereas owners of oil and gas exploration companies are negotiating to avoid losing an "arm and a leg" or perhaps a "pound of flesh" to creditors, if only metaphorically, for ISIS fighters the threats are all too real.
And speaking of ISIS fighters, while they all knew they were prepared to give their lives for the "cause" we doubt even they envisioned an end quite like this.Williamsburg: underpopulated, historically speaking. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
New York City smashed its all-time population record last year, topping 8.5 million for the first time ever. It’s another step in a remarkable run of growth. Since 1990, the city has added more than 1.2 million people.
But some New York neighborhoods have yet to regain the population they lost during the urban crisis of the 1970s. Which are these desolate regions of our city?
Williamsburg, the Lower East Side, Astoria, and Upper Manhattan—and other New York neighborhoods where Labor is a place to buy a skateboard and the beer is measured out in mason jars.
The 15th annual State of the City Report, published by New York University’s Furman Center, reveals that the hottest New York nabes are the ones that haven’t yet recovered their lost population.
New York’s 15 gentrifying neighborhoods—here defined by their low-income status in 1990 and above-median rent growth since—together form a band of territory whose total population is roughly 16 percent lower today than in 1970. Nearly 80 percent of the city’s flight came from this area, which also includes the South Bronx plus Sunset Park, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, Ocean Hill, and Brownsville in Brooklyn.
Courtesy of the Furman Center, State of the City Report 2015
The city’s total population has risen by 3.6 percent since 1970, but none of that gain has come in today’s gentrifying neighborhoods. Even Williamsburg, the international standard-bearer of the urban revival, is less dense today than it was during Woodstock.
Development trends are similar. The city has increased its total number of housing units by more than 15 percent since 1970. But in the city’s gentrifying neighborhoods, there are actually fewer units than there were in 1970.
Courtesy of the Furman Center, State of the City Report 2015
This puts the complaints about crowding, development, parking, and neighborhood character that often haunt such locales in a different light. Not only is your neighborhood not full—it’s not even as full as it was at the dawn of the Bad Old Days. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, it’s so crowded, nobody lives there anymore.
Of course, there are caveats: Treating Brownsville and Williamsburg as part of one coherent territory, which the study does, obscures some important differences. Williamsburg has many more housing units now than it did in 1970, even if the gentrifying swath as a whole has fewer.
There’s something teleological about this conclusion, too. Because the Furman Center defines “gentrifying” neighborhoods as having been poor in 1990, the report ignores some of the nabes with the highest recent rent growth, like Chelsea and Park Slope, and gives special weight to struggling areas that people fled. If a low starting rent is part of the definition of gentrification, then gentrification can only occur in depressed areas. (My own experience suggests people are equally liable to apply the term to middle-income areas that have become unaffordable, like the West Village.)
Still, the broader conclusion is that the neighborhoods that have gentrified weren’t just poor—they were also particularly depopulated.
This could be because the loss of buildings and people set the stage for residential change, Ingrid Gould Ellen, the faculty director at the Furman Center and a co-author of the report, explained to me. “In 1980, these neighborhoods had more vacant buildings and lots, which makes redevelopment easier,” Ellen said. “The depopulation also made housing—at least initially—affordable to college-educated young adults who were looking for places where they could afford to live without paying all of their paycheck on rent.”
The gentrifying neighborhoods that aren’t already in Manhattan are close by, and all of them have excellent transit access, which raises another possibility. The very characteristics that caused these neighborhoods to decline after midcentury—high population density, mixed-use buildings, rental apartments, diversity, proximity to the center city—are now exactly the attributes that young, college-educated New Yorkers are looking for.Italians go to the polls amid market jitters over the power of the comic who would cut top pay, offer a vote on euro membership and rip open politics 'like a can of tuna'
As an enormous crowd gathered to hear him speak outside Rome's San Giovanni basilica on Friday night, the comedian Beppe Grillo had every reason to be jubilant, but the thought of bringing down Italy's political order appeared to make him pensive, even melancholy.
"It's been like this up-and-down Italy – we are witnessing a change in civilisation, not just politics," he told the Observer. "Italy has turned its back on its political class and a new language of community, identity and honesty is filling the gap," he added slowly.
Minutes later, a different, wilder Grillo took the stage to a rock-star welcome before at least 100,000 cheering fans, yelling at them that his movement would rip open parliament "like a tin of tuna" when it sends an army of activists – analysts predict more than 100 – into the senate and lower house after Italians go the polls today and tomorrow.
Turning his attention to Italy's pampered political caste, he screamed "It's finished! Give up! You are surrounded!" as fans waved a banner stating, "We want to get out of the darkness."
Friday's massive rally was the climax to a marathon tour of packed piazzas which has pushed Grillo's poll ratings towards 20%, panicking pundits who had predicted a |
than democracies like the United States. In defending her curious 2013 nontestimony in Politico, Lerner asked us to feel sorry for her and not her intended political victims:
As when she cooperated with the Justice Department but not Congress, Lerner's record-setting assault on the truth continued in Politico with her tale of woe. Still insisting she did nothing wrong, she feels she has to tell her side of the story. She just won't tell it to Congress and the American people under oath. Lerner fails to appreciate the irony of invoking her right against self-incrimination while trampling on the rights of others. It was her IRS that demanded to know from Tea Party members what books they read and the text of their prayers. Frankly, we are more inclined to feel sorry for the likes of Becky Gerritson of the Wetumpka, Ala., Tea Party. Along with other IRS targets, she gave Lerner and the rest of the Obama administration a well-needed civics lesson in her congressional testimony. "In Wetumpka," she said, "we are patriotic Americans; we peacefully assemble; we petition our government; we exercise our right to free speech. We don't understand why the government tried to stop us." Though she sought and received the protection of the Fifth Amendment, Lerner tried to strip from the Tea Party and other conservative groups the protection of the First Amendment. If she needs a shoulder to cry on, we might advise her to call Catherine Engelbrecht of True the Vote, an organization dedicated to clean elections without vote fraud. Engelbrecht couldn't invoke the Fifth or refuse to answer questions when Washington came down on her…. Before July 2010, when Engelbrecht filed with Lerner's IRS seeking tax-exempt status for her group, she and her family had no contact with any government agency of any kind. But after her filing, she was buried by an alphabet soup of government harassers, from the IRS to the ATF and OSHA. "This is what the beginning of tyranny looks like," she told Breitbart.com.
Indeed it is. Along with mystery of why Lois Lerner is not already in prison is the mystery of why IRS Chief John Koskinen isn’t as well for participating in the cover-up involving destruction or records and emails, conveniently destroyed hard drives and withholding evidence from Congress. An impeachment resolution, introduced by House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Rep. James Jordan (R-OH) and 18 other committee members, accuses Koskinen of making false statements under oath, failing to comply with a subpoena, and failing to notify Congress that key evidence was missing or destroyed. As they explained it to Fox News’ Sean Hannity:
"The heart of this concern is that they had in their possession documents that were under subpoena and they destroyed those," Chaffetz said. "Imagine, Sean, if the IRS had asked you for those documents and you said, 'Well, I had them, but I went ahead and destroyed them.' What would happen to you?"
Likely we would be incarcerated and not just impeached. As the Washington Times notes, Koskinen is knee-deep in the IRS corruption and its cover-up:
Among the specific charges leveled by Mr. Chaffetz and 18 of his fellow Republicans on the committee were that Mr. Koskinen, appointed by President Obama in December 2013 after the targeting scandal broke, misled Congress when he said he had turned over all of former IRS senior executive Lois G. Lerner’s emails and that he oversaw destruction of evidence when his agency got rid of backup tapes that contained the emails.
Lying to Congress and destruction of evidence under subpoena are federal crimes, and that includes the arrogant Mr. Koskinen, who is just one example of how being an Obama donor could get you a good job with the administration. As Investor’s Business Daily noted:
Certainly it might be argued that Koskinen's current position is owed to four decades of being a prodigious Democratic donor. Koskinen has contributed to every Democratic presidential candidate since 1980, including $2,300 to Obama in 2008, and $5,000 to Obama in 2012.
Of course, being an Obama donor with a government job in and of itself is not a crime, but how Koskinen has used that job is positively criminal. Koskinen once confessed before Congress that obeying the law was a difficult task for him and Lerner:
“Whenever we can, we follow the law," IRS chief John Koskinen recently told the House Ways and Committee in a Freudian slip of the truth that says it all.
It is worth noting that one of the charges in the impeachment of Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal was just considering the use of the IRS for political purposes. People went to jail in Watergate for participating in and covering up a crime. So too should Lois Lerner. Let us learn the extent of her crimes and expose the decision to let her skate for the unjustified mistake it was. Lock Lois Lerner up, not her records.
Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investor’s Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.The chief lobbyist for big business has defended the right of company bosses to take a position in the same-sex marriage debate, and hit out at "deeply offensive and deeply wrong" comments about the children of LGBTI families.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said companies "employ millions of Australians, they stand very strongly for diverse workplaces and some of them have very strong views that this is a kind of symbol of that kind of diversity in the workplace".
Ms Westacott - who has been in a same-sex relationship for 30 years - said it was "not fair" to expect business to take a role on issues such as gender equality and community development but not same-sex marriage.
"I don't think people can have it both ways and I think business, who employ so many people, who are big parts of communities, are entitled to take views on this and have strong opinions on this either way - provided it's respectful and informed," Ms Westacott told ABC Radio National on Thursday morning.Nintendo has remained conspicuously silent on any details involving its upcoming system, codenamed NX. However, not all third-parties are completely biting their tongues on the subject. The latest third-party to hint at the NX's direction is Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
Speaking with IGN at an event, Guillemot praised Nintendo for its concept. "I think, once again, the interface is very attractive," he told the outlet. "It's a machine that will be easy to use for all gamers. They have built in something that will give us chance to really have a different experience from what exists today. That's what I like – that they come with something new that is adapted to what we actually want now."
Guillemot also told that "Nintendo has learned from the Wii U."
For more on Guillemot's comments on the NX, head over to IGN.
[Source: IGN]
Our Take
I think most of us have already accepted the idea that whatever the NX ends up being is going to be something distinct from the consoles on offer from Sony and Microsoft, but this definitely furthers those notions. I just wish Nintendo would lift the curtain already.(Image: Image: Gerard Lacz/Rex)
The legendary ability of geckos to cling to walls and ceilings may rely on electrical forces, according to researchers who dragged geckos across several surfaces.
Until now, geckos were thought to be able to stick to surfaces using van der Waals forces. These result from the temporary movement of charged particles within a molecule, which creates a polarised, magnet-like state. As a result, attractions can form between molecules in the animals’ feet and the surfaces they cling to.
Alexander Penlidis at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and his colleagues wondered if electrical forces, which result from the movement of electrons from one surface to another, might play a role, in the same way that a balloon rubbed on clothing sticks to a wall. To find out, the team measured the electric charge on geckos’ feet as they gently dragged them across Teflon or a silicone rubber called PDMS.
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Penlidis’s team discovered that as soon as a gecko’s toe pad touched a surface, the pad became positively charged while the surface became negatively charged, creating an electrostatic attraction.
When the team compared the strength of the electrostatic force with the strength of the adhesion between the gecko’s foot and the surface, it found that the forces were of a similar strength. This suggests that the electrostatic force is the dominant attractive force responsible for a gecko’s sticky feet, says Penlidis.
“This is an important discovery, and suggests electrostatic forces could contribute to adhesion in geckos on some surfaces such as Teflon,” says Kellar Autumn of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. But Autumn argues that the other previously established forces still play the dominant roles, especially when geckos climb surfaces that are submerged in water, where electrostatic charges cannot develop.
Journal reference: Journal of the Royal Society Interface, DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2014.0371
Since this article was first published on 10 July 2014, mention of capillary action has been removed because it is no longer considered to be important in gecko adhesion.No. 6: Huntington Beach police officer builds ties with deaf community
Huntington Beach Police Motor Officer and sign language Interpreter Mark Van Meter is trying to create a link of good will and understanding between the deaf and the police. Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
By Jaimee Lynn Fletcher
Editor’s note: In honor of Behind the Badge OC’s one-year anniversary, we will be sharing the 30 most-read stories. This story originally published Jan. 5.
Huntington Beach Officer Mark Van Meter was new on patrol when his first “man down” call came over the radio.
The man had suffered a possible heart attack while in the shower.
“I’m thinking I’m going to be doing chest compressions and working to save this man’s life,” said Van Meter, recalling the 2002 incident.
He ran up the stairs following after now-retired Officer Ed Kennedy.
Van Meter expected to walk into chaos when he entered that apartment.
Instead, he was met with silence.
“I walked in and saw Officer Kennedy there signing with a woman,” Van Meter said. “He wasn’t panicking at all.”
Turns out, the deaf woman had found her husband dead in the shower several hours earlier but was afraid to report the death to police, Van Meter said.
“She dreaded the process of dealing with somebody who didn’t know her language,” Van Meter said. “She knew it would be traumatic on top of an already traumatic situation.”
After the call, Van Meter asked Kennedy what the woman said.
“He told me she was immediately put at ease because he knew her language,” Van Meter said.
“That always stuck with me.”
That call proved to Van Meter the importance of having officers who can communicate with the deaf.
In 2010, Van Meter, a motor officer and former Navy SEAL, enrolled in American Sign Language classes.
The classes began as a way to get a pay bump — bilingual officers are paid 5 percent more than their single-language counterparts — but quickly turned into a passion.
“I really enjoy it,” Van Meter said. “It is a huge commitment that takes a lot of dedication.”
Huntington Beach subsidizes language classes for officers including Spanish, Vietnamese and German.
“I didn’t think I could learn Vietnamese, and I couldn’t talk my way to a bathroom in Mexico,” Van Meter said. “Plus, I had such a positive exposure to sign language early in my career, American Sign Language seemed a natural choice for me.”
Van Meter is the only officer at Huntington Beach PD who is ASL proficient — and one of just a handful in Orange County with that designation.
He has been called out to help on a variety of calls, from handling a truant teenager with deaf parents to helping a distressed deaf man stranded at a gas station.
Van Meter also teaches a course at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Academy on making contacts with residents who are blind, deaf or have other special needs.
In learning the language, Van Meter discovered folklore in the deaf community that paints police in a negative light.
“There is an embedded fear,” he said. “Many in the deaf community are just terrified to deal with police.”
As one tale goes: If an officer passes a deaf person on the street, that deaf person will stuff his hands in his pocket because he is afraid his sign language will be mistaken for gang signs.
Another story cautions deaf drivers about reaching for a pen and paper if pulled over for fear an officer may think the driver is reaching for a gun.
“They’ve all heard ‘stories’ about deaf people being tazed, shot or beat up because the police officer incorrectly perceived them as being a threat,” Van Meter said. “Those stereotypes are hard to break.”
This set Van Meter on a mission to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the deaf community.
“I’m trying to be a good example of law enforcement and a link to the deaf community,” he said.
Two years ago, Van Meter hosted a conference for law enforcement employees who can sign or were interested in learning.
He also recently visited Edison High School to speak with their special needs deaf students.
Van Meter said he has plans to also visit Huntington Beach High School and wants to meet the students at Irvine’s University High School, which houses the Orange County Department of Education’s Regional Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program.
He said he hopes more officers will learn to sign and continue to build relationships with the deaf community.
“You have to be willing to put yourself out there,” Van Meter said. “If I can have one positive contact with a deaf resident, maybe I can start breaking those bad perceptions.
“It’s a very daunting task, but one I’m willing to take on.”
Anyone interested in learning more about sign language and law enforcement can reach Van Meter at mvanmeter@hbpd.orgADVERTISEMENT
Whatever you think of a recently floated conservative plan to attack President Obama hard over his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — Mitt Romney's camp, for one, doesn't think much of it — there is a strain of thought in Republican circles that if Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had only hit Obama harder in the 2008 race on his ties to the controversial Wright and other acquaintances, he would be President McCain today. Judging by the Republican rush to quash billionaire Joe Ricketts' plan, we won't get to test that theory just yet. Here are five reasons playing the Wright card in 2012 might not be a political winner for the GOP:
1. Wright is old news
"There's little question that Obama's connection to Wright proved decidedly problematic for the then–Illinois senator during the 2008 campaign," says Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post. But bringing him up now would just "cast Romney as relitigating the fights of the past." Plus, it's not like the media ignored Wright in 2008, says Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo. "Everybody heard about Jeremiah Wright. Everybody found out the president is black. It didn't turn the public against Obama" four years ago, "and it's far less likely to today."
2. Hammering Obama on the issue would turn off swing voters
Leading Republicans know that playing "as crass an exercise in race-baiting" as the Wright card to the general electorate would backfire. A Wright ad would "probably be perceived as a low blow by swing voters," former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) tells The Washington Post. "And it is all about swing voters." Besides, people who think the Wright issue is a big deal — and that includes "large swaths of the GOP base, and even of the conservative commentariat" — are already going to vote for Romney, says Greg Sargent at The Washington Post.
3. The claims don't fit with the Obama we know
After three-plus years in office, people have decided what they think about Obama. The Wright attack in particular is "ridiculous" because we've learned Obama really "isn't much of a churchgoer," says Joe Klein at TIME. He probably didn't hear some of Wright's more incendiary sermons. More importantly, Obama has clearly shown he's not an America-hating "black militant" or a secret Muslim, but "an American patriot who has waged a highly successful war against this nation's terrorist enemies, especially al Qaeda."
4. There are better ways to send the same message
This particular attack plan was flawed, but Republicans shouldn't take Wright off the table, says Paul Mirengoff at Power Line. Romney should explore "any honest line of attack that makes voters like Obama less," and he can make "the Obama-Wright connection... toxic if it can be tied to policy." Not to worry, says William Saletan at Slate. If Romney won't touch Wright, some "rogue, richly funded right-wing campaign" will come out with another way to channel the Right's boiling-over rage at Obama. Watch for less "politically insane" attacks trying to paint Obama as un-American, anti-Christian, and racist.
5. The element of surprise is gone
We'll never really know if this Wright attack would've worked, since it was previewed in The New York Times, says The Washington Post's Cillizza. "Those familiar with the plan suggest that its power would have been the element of surprise which, obviously, is now gone." Yes, luckily for the GOP "some insider, recognizing the insanity of the proposal to Ricketts — and apparently alarmed that it might soon be implemented — leaked it to The Times," says Slate's Saletan. "But this fight isn't over."Anthropologist Jane Goodall: China is pillaging Africa like an old colonial power
Agence France-Presse 17 Feb 2014 at 23:31 ET
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China is exploiting Africa’s resources just like European colonisers did, with disastrous effects for the environment, acclaimed primatologist Jane Goodall has told AFP.
On the eve of her 80th birthday, the fiery British wildlife crusader is whizzing across the world giving a series of lectures on the threats to our planet.
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And the rising world power’s involvement on the continent especially raises alarms when it comes to her beloved chimpanzees and wildlife habitats.
During the last decade China has been investing heavily in African natural resources, developing mines, oil wells and running related construction companies.
Activists accuse Chinese firms of paying little attention to the environmental impact of their race for resources.
“In Africa, China is merely doing what the colonialist did. They want raw materials for their economic growth, just as the colonialists were going into Africa and taking the natural resources, leaving people poorer,” she told AFP in an interview in Johannesburg.
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The stakes for the environment may even be larger this time round, she warns.
“China is bigger, and the technology has improved… It is a disaster.”
Other than massive investment in Africa’s mines, China is also a big market for elephant tusks and rhino horn, which has driven poaching of these animals to alarming heights.
But Goodall, who rose to fame through her ground-breaking research on chimpanzees in Tanzania, is optimistic.
“I do believe China is changing,” she said, citing as one example Beijing’s recent destruction of illegal ivory stockpiles.
“I think 10 years ago, even with international pressure, we would never have had an ivory crush. But they have,” she added.
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“I think 10 years ago the government would never have banned shark fin soup on official occasions. But they have.”
– ‘Small window of time’ –
Her organisation Roots and Shoots, founded over two decades ago to instil conservation values in children, has also become involved in China.
“We work with hundreds of Chinese children, and they are not different from children we work with here. They all love nature, they love animals, they want to help, there’s no difference because they’re Chinese,” she said.
Young people’s enthusiasm to change the world is a major reason to hope, for this lady with seemingly inexhaustible energy who can still keep an auditorium hanging on her words for more than an hour.
“These young people will become the next parents, the next teachers, the next lawyers, the next business people and the next politicians, some of them.”
“The biggest problem is that people understand but don’t know what to do,” she said.
“If you have one thousand, one million or eventually several million people all making the right choice, all thinking about the consequence of their behaviour, then we’re going to see big change.”
Another glimmer of hope is “this amazing resilience of nature,” she continued, citing as an example the China’s Loess Plateau on the Yellow River bouncing back after massive soil erosion.
“It was set to be the biggest totally destroyed ecosystem in the world,” she said.
A $400-million project funded by the Chinese government and international donors introduced better farming methods in the area, which greatly reduced erosion and lifted 2.5 million people out of poverty, according to the World Bank.
“That took a lot of money, but if you look at it now, it’s all green, lush and farmland, and children have come back from the cities. It’s even got a whole area for wildlife,” said Goodall.
“We still have a small window of time to change things.”
[Image via Agence France-Presse]NSA On Snowden's Claims Of Passing Around Nudie Pics: We Totally Wouldn't Allow That... If We Knew About It
from the but-they-don't,-so dept
“NSA is a professional foreign-intelligence organization with a highly trained workforce, including brave and dedicated men and women from our armed forces,” said spokesperson Vanee Vines by email. “As we have said before, the agency has zero tolerance for willful violations of the agency’s authorities or professional standards, and would respond as appropriate to any credible allegations of misconduct.”
Not only were calls between Americans listened to and recorded on a regular basis, the "good parts" (i.e., phone sex) were sent around to other operators to listen to as well. One of the operators said that on a regular basis messages would be sent around with messages like: "Hey, check this out. There's good phone sex or there's some pillow talk, pull up this call, it's really funny, go check it out."
Following on the news that Ed Snowden told the Guardian how NSA employees routinely passed around pictures they had intercepted of "extremely attractive" people who were naked, the NSA has issued one of its typical non-denial denials. In an email to Forbes' Kashmir Hill, NSA spokesperson Vanee Vines basically said, "If we knew about it, that wouldn't be allowed":Except, of course, what nearly every story talking about this has left out is that this is hardly the first such revelation. The NSA has a history and pattern of this kind of thing. Back in 2008, it was revealed that NSA analysts had been listening in on and passing around tapes of Americans having phone sex:Even if we take the NSA at its word that it has a "zero tolerance" policy for this kind of thing, that actually makes the story. Because it just shows how weak (to non-existent) the NSA's "100% auditability" really is. Keith Alexander insisted that everything done by people with access to these databases was tracked and audited. But it's becoming increasingly clear that that's not true at all. And it makes you wonder just how much abuse is going on that the NSA has no idea about -- potentially for things even worse than listening in on phone sex or passing nudie pics around the office.
Filed Under: abuse, auditability, audits, ed snowden, nsa, nudie pics, surveillance, zero toleranceAfter 16 years of planting natives along waterways and fencelines on their Central Canterbury dairy farm, the Garrett family say the results to date only encourage them to do more.
Adding native plantings has not only improved the health and clarity of their drains and waterways and the aesthetic appeal, it also provides an example to others of what can be achieved while running a successful dairy farming operation.
Only 1km lies between the Garrett farm and Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere, the main outlet for drains and waterways on the Central Canterbury plains and one of New Zealand's most significant wetland systems.
Phil Garrett and his family milk 900 cows year-round and farm 1200 cows in total on their 440-hectare irrigated Rushbrook Farm near Doyleston. He farms with his son Andrew and daughter-in-law Amanda.
Their son Ethan also works on the farm, while daughter Alanagh lives at home but works in Christchurch.
Because of the farm's proximity to the lake, it has a high water table and is prone to wet conditions in winter, prompting the Garretts to build a 900-cow free stall barn to winter their herd. Completed in winter 2012, the barn was well worth the expensive price tag, said Phil Garrett.
"We use the cow barn to keep cows off the ground in winter."
Cows are only outside during the day in winter when the weather is fine. In summer, cows are outside all the time.
"We get everyone else's water as there is a big gradient from Dunsandel to here. But our soil type - Waterton clay loam - dries out in summer like rock."
Effluent storage totalling 12,000 cubic metres means effluent is sprayed on paddocks only when conditions are dry.
As effluent is applied over the entire farm, no bought-in fertiliser, including nitrogen, has been used for the last two years since the barn was built. Production has lifted 40 per cent compared with two years ago and nitrogen leaching dropped from 16-18kg nitrogen loss to groundwater per hectare to 6-8kg/ha.
"This is attributed to housing cows. Soil tests show what we are doing is working. We only have to add sulphur and trace elements."
The Garretts grow maize and buy in maize and lucerne for silage to provide a balanced diet for cows.
When Garrett first came to the farm 28 years ago, Boggy Creek - the main waterway through the property - was completely clogged with willows and gorse.
Once this was removed, former Environment Canterbury field officer David Hewson provided advice on planting natives.
"There was some opposition on the basis that this was 'gardening on the drain' and would impede water flow during floods, but this was not the case. We only plant on the banks, not in the drain."
The success of this inspired him to continue and his family have now planted nearly 1.5km of drains and streams on their farm as well as a "wildlife reserve" of a hectare on the farm and a patch of flax plantings.
The Boggy Creek plantings are well established and the native carex and flax have reduced the need for ongoing drain clearance by shading out many of the weeds. Their work was recognised with their winning the 2014 Diana Isaac Cup for native planting in the Selwyn District, where less than 0.5 per cent of natural land cover remains.
Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere is one of five key catchments nationally being improved as part of a joint $20 million, 10-year DOC and Fonterra partnership. Garrett estimated $20,000 had been spent by his family on fencing and planting, including keeping areas clear of weeds when plants were small.
"Gorse, blackberry and hawthorn are all very invasive and take over if you are not careful." This is in addition to funding from ECan's enhancement fund and the DOC-Fonterra partnership.
"Our family have also planted our Leeston to Christchurch highway boundary in natives, replacing an old pine shelterbelt. This is starting to take off after two years of growth. Our Hanmer Road boundary is partly planted with cabbage trees and this is a continuing project. One of the main successes is the planting of internal drains with carex secta. Our best and biggest project is Boggy Creek, of which we are very proud.
"Having our work recognised in this way is very gratifying and we acknowledge the great contribution the late Lady Diana Isaac made to conservation in Canterbury," said Garrett.
Native plantings enhance stream health and protect banks from erosion, as well as filtering sediment and some nutrients from paddock runoff. An important trout spawning stream, a survey counted 24 redds in this 1.8km stretch of Boggy Creek in 2005, compared with only six in 1984.
Garrett said pollution in Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere was highly overstated.
"There are thousands of birds on it. It is a living lake. Because it is so shallow it is always murky as the wind stirs it up.
"Politicians tend to jump on water quality issues at Lake Ellesmere. The lake is not in a bad state. There is sediment and some nitrates and phosphates, but it is teeming with fish and eel. They export eel and flounder from the lake. Which is not to say we should not make it better.
"There is a lot more work being done by farmers, particularly on Boggy Creek."
Nicola Toki, Fonterra South Island project manager community investment in water, who nominated the Garrett family, said they were an outstanding example of how a successful farm can include native plants as part of the landscape and in a way that complements their land without interfering with daily farming practice.New Raider Curtis Lofton (No. 50) is always around the football. (Photo by Ron Antonelli/Getty Images)
For much of his football life, new Raiders middle linebacker Curtis Lofton often has overperformed while being underappreciated.
At the University of Oklahoma, Lofton was a prolific tackler. As a junior in the 2007 season, he had 157 tackles, which ranked third in the nation. In his three seasons as a Sooner – even as a frehman on special teams – Lofton had a knack for finding the ball and making plays.
But at 6-feet-2 and 238 pounds, Lofton is neither ultra big or super quick and he slipped to the second round of the 2008 NFL draft before being taken by the Atlanta Falcons – even though he had been the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Yet since that first season, Lofton never has missed an NFL game and has started every game but one. He started for four consecutive seasons at middle linebacker in Atlanta, before moving on to start three consecutive seasons at inside linebacker for the Saints. Over 112 games he’s been in on 899 tackles – more than eight per game – while also collecting seven sacks, forcing 11 fumbles and intercepting three passes.
Now Lofton, who signed a free-agent deal with the Raiders, will step into the middle of the Oakland defense at middle linebacker to firm up an area of weakness. Nick Roach had played well in 2013, but was forced to miss all of 2014 because of injury. That pushed Miles Burris into the middle linebacker slot – out of his comfort zone. Last season Burris – who had played outside linebacker – missed a number of tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, and wasn’t a strength.
Now with Lofton in the middle – a solid defender against the run and a leader – new defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. appears to have a strong threesome with mobile Khalil Mack and Sio Moore on the outside and Lofton in the middle.
Lofton, at 28, is still young but has plenty of experience.
The key phrase often mentioned in connection with Lofton is “tackling machine,” which was used by Bill Williamson of ESPN.com, who covers the Raiders, when the team signed him.
“He had 144 tackles last season and has had at least 123 tackles in each of the past four seasons,” wrote Williamson. “The knock on Lofton is he is not great in (pass) coverage, but he is a good, solid signal-caller for a defense.” Williamson called Lofton “an upgrade” who – in connection with other signings – such as defensive tackle Dan Williams and situational linebacker Malcolm Smith – should make the Raiders much stronger.
Upon signing, Lofton told reporters he wants to be a leader.
“I think my role here is I’m going to be the middle linebacker and kind of quarterback the defense,” he said. “Kind of help these young guys get lined up. Take charge and they brought me here to win.”DJ Snake Just Made This Indian Fan’s Dream Come True By Buying Plane Ticket To His Paris Show!
Some of our favourite dance music acts have often gone out of their way to help their beloved fans! And it looks like this Indian fan was on the receiving end of this amazing act of kindness from none other than DJ Snake. Case in point, Gaurav Jain who was flying to Paris in hopes to catch his idol live in his hometown. But the only problem was that the tickets for the show had sold out. In hopes of getting a reply from the famed DJ himself, Gaurav decided to DM him on Twitter.
What followed almost immediately after was DJ Snake replying to the man’s tweet which not only saw him arrange for his passes, but also involved buying him flight tickets from India to Paris. The ‘Turn Down For What‘ hitmaker later also contacted the lucky fan by Twitter direct message and said “Welcome to Paris“. Now how about that for officially becoming the most lovable DJ of all time!
You can check out the tweets and their conversation below.This story appears in the April 18, 2011 issue of ESPN The Magazine.
ONCE UPON A TIME, Gary Neal thought he'd spend his days as a basketball player toiling in Europe. Or as a teacher. Or, for a moment, a convicted felon. Sharpshooting NBA combo guard? Not likely. The league's second-oldest rookie who's been a consistent contributor to one of its best teams all season? Never.
The question wasn't whether the military brat could ball. He averaged a triple-double his junior year of high school and guided Aberdeen to a Maryland state title. Then, as La Salle's leading scorer his freshman year, he won Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors. This was 2003. The year LeBron was drafted. John Wall, this season's top NBA draft pick, was 12.
Neal led the Explorers in scoring again his sophomore year and stayed on campus over the summer. After a party one night, he and La Salle teammate Mike Cleaves went back to their dorm with a female counselor at a campus basketball camp. She'd later accuse Neal and Cleaves of rape.
"It really didn't register," Neal says. "In my mind it was like, 'That's a little weird, but not anything close to what happened.'" Weeks later Neal was arrested and charged with rape, sexual assault and other crimes.
Neal's family drove to Philadelphia and posted bail. After he got back to Maryland, Neal told his family that a rape had not occurred. Pending the police investigation, La Salle put Neal on probation. He enrolled in Towson and attended classes while the case plodded through the system. Sixteen months later, the nine-day trial ended in an acquittal; DNA evidence proved there had been sexual contact, but the jury believed it had been consensual.
Neal played pickup ball to keep in shape while awaiting trial, until he scored 78 points one night and the regulars kicked him out of the game. In November 2005, the month after his trial ended, he played in his first game for Towson as a junior. By the end of his senior season, he'd used his head for the game and his deft shooting skills to become only the third player to score 1,000 points for two D1 schools. Not a single NBA team called.
His father suggested the 22-year-old Neal obtain his teaching certificate and look for a job. Instead, Neal took an offer with Turkish club Pinar Karsiyaka. After 19 games he was averaging 23.6 points and was transferred to Euro giant Regal FC Barcelona. There he began to hone his skills, improving his shot selection, learning both guard spots and becoming more patient. In 2008, Neal signed with Italian powerhouse Benetton Treviso, where he averaged 15.9 points per game over two seasons.
Spurs scouts noticed, and invited Neal to work out with the team last June -- a tryout that turned into a $525,000 offer. Despite bigger offers on the table from other Euro squads, Neal accepted. General manager R.C. Buford says that San Antonio's emphasis on excellent shooters had suffered since the retirement of Robert Horry and Steve Kerr, and in Neal he saw an opportunity to recapture that. "He took advantage of the opportunity to play overseas and kept building on it," Buford says. "Not many perform like he has."
In 72 games this season, Neal, now 26, has averaged 9.6 points and shot 41.6 percent from behind the arc in 20.8 minutes of action. But he is scoring 12.5 PPG in 24.7 MPG since the break and ranks first among all rookies in made three-pointers with 117. "The coaches and scouts get excited about a shooter from the summer league, but the past couple of ones weren't very good, so I didn't expect anything," says Tony Parker. "But he's been consistent, and he's hit big shots for us."
After all the miles this rookie has traveled, hitting from 24 feet isn't all that hard.
Anna Katherine Clemmons is a contributing writer for ESPN The Magazine.We’re consistently told of the human impact on wildlife around the world, be they on land, in the oceans or in the air. Here are 10 species really up against it on Endangered Species Day.
Endangered Species Day is a state-led initiative to highlight wildlife – as well as wild places – in the US, with the likes of zoos, conservation groups, education facilities and special pop-up tours drumming up interest in specific animals.
Of course, endangered species are a cross-border concern, so, with the US looking nationally, we thought we’d take an international gander, with the World Wildlife Fund’s always excellent resource the go-to guide.
Below are 10 animals either endangered or critically endangered throughout the world, with some WWF information on each one.
Black Rhino
WWF launched an international effort to save wildlife in 1961, rescuing black rhinos – among many other species – from the brink of extinction. Conservation efforts have helped the total number of black rhinos grow from 2,410 in 1995 to 4,880 in 2010.
Amur Leopard
WWF lobbied the Russian government to create a ‘safe haven’ for Amur Leopards since the start of this millennium, with Land of the Leopard National Park finally created in 2012. It includes all |
three years. After nearly running out of money — his family was living on dried beans — Charlie found uranium at last: a strike not just of the ordinary yellowcake ore, but of the much richer pitchblende containing upwards of 70 percent pure uranium. He became fabulously wealthy and, by one account, became the richest man in Utah, garnering a fortune of about $130 million by 1955. Charlie would go on to squander his riches over the next decade through lavish living and poor investing, but his tale was an avaricious inspiration.
There were several other mother-lode stories like Charlie’s. A few prospectors made millions; some made tens of thousands; most were not so lucky — but their efforts fueled the hype. Several New Yorker “Talk of the Town” articles published between 1948 and 1953 offer a human angle on the frenzy. In the August 27, 1949 issue, Brendan Gill tells of a sale at Abercrombie & Fitch for “Sniffer” Geiger counters “for the benefit of sportsmen who want to take up uranium prospecting as a sideline.” Investigating the uranium fever in Manhattan, Gill discovered that prospectors were not only going to Colorado in search of uranium, but they were “currently clambering up schist and down shale within a hundred miles” of New York. He visited the local AEC office and there encountered a Mrs. Muriel Mathez, the chief mineralogist of the Raw Materials Operations Laboratory. She said that her office had received “twenty-five hundred samples of rock...since the government uranium-hunting program began last year.” The government’s assaying offices were “swamped,” she said, adding that “ninety percent of the samples never get past our first Geiger-counter test, for the simple reason that they’re not radioactive. Heaven knows why people send them in to us.”
In the January 19, 1952 issue, Rex Lardner told of “The Radiac Company,” a wholesale supplier that had seen such demand for its Geiger counters that it decided to go into the retail business and opened up shop on Fifth Avenue. The market, it seemed, was not confined to prospectors: the store’s sales manager explained that teachers, for example, wouldn’t want to neglect “the fourth R” — ranking radioactivity as an essential component of education right alongside reading, writing, and ’rithmetic. Teachers should let their students know that radioactivity “isn’t dangerous, necessarily, and has always been with us. The hands on some people’s watches are radioactive,” the sales manager offered. “For centuries, glassmakers in Europe used uranium salt to give color to stained-glass windows. The windows of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine are radioactive. But harmless.”
“Harmless” is hardly the right word. While uranium is not nearly as powerfully radioactive as, say, radium — exposure to which infamously killed the “Radium Girls,” factory workers who painted watch dials with the glow-in-the-dark substance — it can still pose a health risk. However, the danger from exposure to radioactive substances was downplayed during the uranium rush. This was partly because the full extent of that danger was yet unknown. But the embargo on atomic information, though it did not extend to health risks, had the effect of hushing the discussion of what was already known. The government’s interest in acquiring uranium and prospectors’ interest in discovering it worked in this direction as well; and to prospectors, what danger they did know of — mining, after all, is always dangerous — simply paled before what they stood to gain.
Meanwhile, the same spirit of innocence and optimism that animated the Radiac sales manager helped bring the fourth R into the realm of games, toys, and science kits. Board games like the highly popular “Careers,” first introduced in 1955 by Parker Brothers, had players compare eight career paths in terms of the fame, fortune, and happiness they could provide. One of the careers in the original version was uranium prospecting. “Uranium Rush,” an award-winning game of the same era, was modeled after the uranium bonuses and government-prescribed procedures for staking a claim. Players spun a dial that designated where to go on the board to explore for possible uranium; once you landed on one of the geographic points represented on the board, a battery-run “Geiger counter” was placed on the point of the claim and, if it lit up and buzzed, then you won $50,000 from the government bank. The winner of the game was the prospector with the most money — “just as in real life,” as the promotional materials for the game proclaimed.
Touted as fun and educational, these and other board games were joined by the even-more-educational uranium-prospecting science kits. These included actual Geiger counters, cloud chambers for running experiments, and samples of uranium and radium to be used by the budding young scientists. Possibly the most elaborate of these kits was the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab circa 1950-51. It was an expensive toy, costing about $50, and in addition to the Geiger counter and cloud chamber it included an electroscope, four types of uranium ore, the AEC’s Prospecting for Uranium handbook, a sophisticated instruction manual with readings on the nature of atomic physics, and a reprint of a 1947 full-color comic book titled Dagwood Splits the Atom.
The thirty-seven-page comic is prefaced by a statement from General Leslie Groves of the Manhattan Project. It employs Mandrake the Magician as primary narrator and uses Dagwood, Blondie, Popeye, Wimpy, and other characters to explain the history and nature of atomic fission. The comic book concludes with a textbook-like set of questions and answers, and it overviews the potential for future scientists to develop miraculous, peaceful products for industry, medicine, and agriculture through the atom. The kit had a clear pedagogical intent: if Dagwood can split the atom, then anyone can, and more aspiring scientists would be encouraged to make the dream come true. Dagwood Splits the Atom was also handed out free at expositions promoting the peaceful uses of atomic energy, such as the Man and the Atom exhibit of 1948 in Central Park sponsored by General Electric and Westinghouse. “Over 250,000 copies were distributed, leading GE to order a further printing of several million,” as Paul Boyer recounts in his 1985 book By the Bomb’s Early Light.
Within ten years of Dagwood’s amazing feat, the great uranium rush was nearly over: uranium stockpiles increased, new ore deposits were discovered around the world, and the price plummeted.
Uranium prices dropped again in the 1980s — but primarily because of changes on the demand side of the equation, rather than the supply side. The rise of the international anti-nuclear movement in the 1970s, and the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, increased Americans’ unease with civilian nuclear energy. Construction of new nuclear power plants came to a virtual standstill.
But today, the uranium rush is making a comeback, as concerns about global warming have heightened the appeal of nuclear power as a promising source of “green” energy. To what extent nuclear power is actually “green” remains a matter for debate. Nevertheless, as the talk of new nuclear plants has grown louder, the price of uranium has risen; it was selling for about $10 per pound in 2002, and now goes for around $45 per pound. And as the price has risen, more people have been drawn to prospecting. At the beginning of 2003, there were only ten open uranium mining claims within five miles of the Grand Canyon. In May 2008, there were reportedly 1,100 claims in that radius and a similar number in the five miles beyond that. In April 2009, the federal Bureau of Land Management authorized still more uranium permits for the same area. (At this point, no mining has yet begun there.)
In case you feel left out of the uranium rush, you still can experience a little of the thrill Charlie Steen and those other rough-and-tumble prospectors felt in the 1950s; all you have to do is contact United Nuclear of Albuquerque, New Mexico and arrange for a day-long prospecting trip. For only $100 per person, the company will take you out into the hinterlands with a guarantee that you will go home with some actual uranium ore — even pitchblende if you are lucky. The website advertises that “several customers have sold the ore they found and paid for their trip many times over.” The whole family can go, including the dog.
Americans are witnessing a new uranium boom, the latest chapter in the complicated nuclear-energy saga. It is to be expected that the nation that first developed the atomic bomb — the only nation to unleash its hellish fury in warfare — would have a fraught and intense relationship with atomic power. For a time in the late 1940s and early 1950s, America was childishly infatuated with the atom’s peaceful potential; not long after, atomic energy was on the outs. Now it is making a return. Will this time be different? How will the atom be unleashed for peaceful purposes — and might we find ourselves leashed to its tremendous powers? It seems, for good or ill, that we are drawn irresistibly to the atom, that object of enchantment and horror, of curiosity and awe.Distance to Next Closest City with over 1 Million People
Our analysis of the world's 400 cities with at least one million people (according to the UN Statistical Division's population of cities) found that the average large city is 235km from the next closest city of at least one million. The distribution of this data is shown below:
What are the closest city pairs?
Cairo / Giza at 4km
Manila / Caloocan at 6km
Kinshasa (DRC) / Brazzaville (Republic of Congo) at 8km closest foreign cities
What are the most remote cities?
Auckland is 2,161km from Sydney (note Sydney is only 714km from its closest big city, Melbourne)
Perth is 2,136km from Adelaide (note Adelaide is 654km from Melbourne)
What are the closest city pairs in each continent?
Africa: Cairo (Egypt) / Giza (Egypt) at 4km
Cairo (Egypt) / Giza (Egypt) at 4km Asia: Manila (Philippines) / Caloocan (Philippines) at 6km
Manila (Philippines) / Caloocan (Philippines) at 6km Australia and Oceania: Melbourne (Australia) / Adelaide (Australia) at 654km
Melbourne (Australia) / Adelaide (Australia) at 654km Europe: London (United Kingdom) / Birmingham (United Kingdom) at 163km
London (United Kingdom) / Birmingham (United Kingdom) at 163km North America: Guadalajara (Mexico) / Zapopan (Mexico) at 8km
Guadalajara (Mexico) / Zapopan (Mexico) at 8km South America: Barranquilla (Colombia) / Cartagena (Colombia) at 101km
What are the two closest foreign cities of at least 1 million?
The capital of the Democtratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, is only separated from the capital of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville, by the Congo River. The distance between the two city centers is about 8km (although at the closest points, they are about 4km apart). Interestingly, the fastest and safest way to get between the two cities is a five minute flight (scheduled twice per week). [source]
How are there odd numbers of cities in a grouping - should they not be even? (e.g. there are 7 cities in North America that are less than 25km to each other)
City A may be closest to City B, but that does not mean that City B is closest to City A. In the case of North American cities less than 25km to each other, 3 of those cities are Mexico City and two other cities in the Mexico City metropolitan area, Netzahulacoyotl and Ecatepec.
While here, explore your city extremes.Interstate 395 south of Massachusetts Avenue, seen here during off-peak hours, will be covered with a deck for the Capitol Crossings development. (Robert Thomson/The Washington Post)
Drivers on Interstate 395 in the District will begin to see the effects of the Third Street Tunnel project this week. The project will put a deck above the highway near Massachusetts Avenue, setting the base for a large private development called Capitol Crossings.
An earlier proposal that would have closed I-395 during the work was scrapped, but a project this big in the heart of the District is bound to have extensive impacts on travel over the next few years.
Here’s what to watch for starting Tuesday:
The I-395 work zone is between D Street and New York Avenue. Planners expect no significant impact on rush-hour traffic in this phase, which continues into the summer. They do expect traffic impacts during off-peak hours, primarily overnight.
The ramp from southbound I-395 to Third Street will close permanently. The on-ramp will close on weekdays from midnight to 5 a.m. and on weekends from midnight to 8 a.m. Traffic will be diverted to the on ramp at Third and D streets.
The northbound off-ramp at Second Street NW remains open.
On some weeknights, southbound travel will be reduced to a single lane from 11 p.m to 5 a.m., and on some weekends from midnight to 7 a.m. The northbound side may be cut to a single lane from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on some weekdays and on some weekends from midnight to 8 a.m.
Traffic fines double in work zones. Watch the speed limit.
These are the places drivers are most likely to see delays during the hours when lanes are closed: New York Avenue at the Third Street Tunnel entrance, New York Avenue at 4th Street NW, New York and New Jersey avenues NW, Second and D streets NW, and the tunnel entrance at Third and D streets.
Third Street Tunnel project in this area will set the foundation for a deck over the interstate.
With so much of the lane-closing impact scheduled for off-peak hours, the District Department of Transportation has not recommended any major detours for commuters. James Cheeks, DDOT’s traffic systems maintenance manager, said the department will monitor traffic at intersections and may adjust the timing of traffic signals.
This posting covers the traffic impacts related to the work on I-395. Work along Massachusetts Avenue, above I-395, began last year and continues this year. See a list of those traffic impacts on the project’s Web site.
In the comments field, share your concerns about the project, including whether you are experiencing any extra delays in getting through the work zone.Britain agrees to inquiry into alleged massacre of 20 Iraqi civilians BelfastTelegraph.co.uk Allegations that British soldiers murdered and mutilated 20 Iraqi civilians are to be fully investigated after it emerged ministers had attempted to warn Tony Blair about damaging evidence of the ill-treatment of battlefield prisoners five years ago. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/britain-agrees-to-inquiry-into-alleged-massacre-of-20-iraqi-civilians-28485793.html
Email
Allegations that British soldiers murdered and mutilated 20 Iraqi civilians are to be fully investigated after it emerged ministers had attempted to warn Tony Blair about damaging evidence of the ill-treatment of battlefield prisoners five years ago.
The startling revelation in the High Court yesterday led to the Government withdrawing its objection to a judicial inquiry into the alleged massacre after the battle of "Danny Boy" involving British forces near Basra in May 2004.
Government lawyers now say that shortly afterwards, the Armed Forces Minister had written a draft confidential letter, addressed to No 10, which referred to complaints made by the International Committee of the Red Cross in connection with the alleged ill-treatment of detainees held by the army after the battle.
The discovery of the existence of the correspondence led the Government to withdraw its defence to a judicial inquiry into the alleged massacre and abuse of the Iraqis. Lawyers for the Iraqis and the families of those who died said the case raised allegations that were among the most serious in modern British military history.
Lord Justice Scott Baker, the senior judge in the High Court hearing, was yesterday scathing about the Government's conduct of the case.
"The [court] procedures [so far] have been a complete waste of time and of vast expense..." The judge also made clear his concerns about the "credibility" of the public interest immunity system which allows the Government to stop secret evidence being disclosed in court cases.
Clive Lewis QC, for the Government, said an email from 2004, which included the draft letter written to the Prime Minister's office warning of the Red Cross report, had only been discovered last week on a "mislabelled" CD located in a Whitehall cupboard.
The document also included suggested "lines" that ministers could take should the allegations of abuse, including injuries resulting from bayonets, become public.
In the letter, Adam Ingram, the then armed forces minister, says: "The main concern of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) involved the alleged mistreatment of 9 internees who were brought to the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF) following a contact incident near Al Majaar Al Kabir on 14 May. Most of these internees have injuries they allege occurred during their arrest (prior to arrival at the DTDF). In the opinion of the ICRC doctor, the injuries that these internees had sustained to their wrists indicated that excessive force was used to manhandle the prisoners post apprehension."
Mr Ingram's letter adds: "The ICRC doctor also indicated that some of the prisoners had received injuries to one side of the face, which would have likely occurred in a situation where the internee was held down. At the meeting the ICRC formally requested that an investigation was launched into these allegations."
Rabinder Singh QC, for the Iraqis, accused the Government's key witness, Colonel Dudley Giles, of "not telling the truth" about the evidence.
Mr Singh said documents disclosed only last week demonstrated that all nine detainees held by the British after the battle complained to the Red Cross about being ill-treated after arrest.
Somebody seemed to have assured ministers that the Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch had launched an investigation into the allegations. Yet the court heard that the claimants did not make such complaints to the Red Cross and therefore there was no need for an investigation.
Phil Shiner, the lawyer who has brought these claims of military abuse to the UK courts, said he welcomed the inquiry decision.
Mazin Younis, of the Iraqi League, said: "The Iraqi families who believe their loved ones were tortured to death have been waiting for such an historical moment. Now... we will do our utmost to uncover the story... that led to the deaths of their sons."
In the case before the court yesterday six Iraqis were asking the court to order an independent public inquiry into accusations that soldiers may have killed up to 20 captives held after the gun battle in southern Iraq.
In a 20-day hearing, lawyers for the Iraqis presented evidence they said supported their contentions that captives were taken to a British base, Camp Abu Naji, and tortured, murdered and their bodies mutilated.
The Ministry of Defence denies that British soldiers were responsible for any ill-treatment of the Iraqis.
But yesterday the Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth conceded at the High Court that there was insufficient information before the judges for them to be able to make a fully-informed judgment on the allegations.
Since the start of the High Court hearing, MoD lawyers have argued that the 20 who died were killed during the fighting and an independent and effective investigation has already been held by the Royal Military Police.
Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell said after the adjournment: "It is clear... that no-one was murdered or ill-treated by British forces. It is also clear British forces did not mutilate corpses on the battlefield, and there is independent expert testimony to support this. However... we regret that we have failed to provide the court with timely and sufficient disclosure of information to enable them to determine the facts."
Long road to justice?
*14 May 2004: The "Battle of Danny Boy", a firefight between British soldiers and Iraqi insurgents near the town of Al Majar-al-Kabir, Maysan.
*15 May: 20 dead bodies were returned to Iraqi families by UK forces.
*17-19 May: The ICRC visits the detention centre. Allegations of mistreatment emerge: ICRC doctors accept there are grounds for concern and call on the British to investigate.
*19 May: A draft letter is drawn up by Armed Forces Minister to Tony Blair informing him of the allegations.
*October 2007: Judicial review proceedings issued.
*April 2009: Government denies any wrongdoing on behalf of the soldiers and says the Iraqis were killed during the gun battle.
*6 July: Government concedes that there should be a new investigation.
Independent
Belfast TelegraphAn eatery named Namo Restaurant and Mess on the outskirts of Nagpur, which served alcohol, has been closed down by authorities after protests by BJP workers.
Nagpur’s district collector suspended the licence of Namo Restaurant for 180 days on Tuesday. But the protestors, including Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Samir Meghe and corporator Pragati Patil, were firm and said they would protest again if the outlet is allowed to open after six months.
The BJP leaders were angered by the outlet’s name because Prime Minister Narendra Modi is referred to as NaMo, especially on social media.
“The name of the bar was kept as Namo deliberately to embarrass the chief executive of the country,” said Meghe, who insisted that the restaurant should not be allowed to reopen.
Even after the notification for closure of the restaurant was issued on Tuesday women in Godhni area too warned they would protest harder if it was reopened.
Political activists said the Namo Restaurant was started a year ago in an “unauthorised manner” and the local gram panchayat had refused to give it a “no-objection certificate” (NOC). At the time, there were protests against the outlet by women of the area, they said.
The restaurant’s owner, Anand Singh, said he had kept the outlet open on the basis of directions issued by a court.
Recently, groups of women came together and formed a “Women Group Action Committee” and launched a movement against the restaurant on October 2. BJP legislator Samir Meghe, corporator Pragati Patil and Youth Congress leader Kunda Raut joined the protesters, who resolved to continue their campaign till the outlet was closed.
The protest turned violent on Monday, when demonstrators allegedly pelted stones at the restaurant. Youngsters burnt tyres on roads in the area and some persons broke the restaurant’s CCTV cameras and signboards. The violence created tension in the area.
Police booked Meghe and others on various sections, including rioting.
District collector Sachin Kurve said he initiated action after taking into consideration the worsening law and order situation because of the protests.
“We now expect the bar owner to surrender the licence before the district administration as per directions issued by the high court in the issue,” Kurve said.
Aam Aadmi Party activist Mohan Kothekar questioned the decision to cancel the bar licence “just on the basis that it carries a certain name”.
He said, “Does nomenclature have something to do with legality? Even the collector has taken unconstitutional and invalid course in the entire episode. He should work free from politics.”
It was said that the bar owner was once a BJP activist and he might have coined the name for his bar to attract customers.
First Published: Oct 21, 2015 20:09 ISTThe NFL Live crew chooses who they believe is the most valuable player in the NFL that does not play quarterback. (0:59)
Ryan Brenner was out because of a knee injury late in the year when a fellow freshman took his junior varsity place at Isidore Newman in New Orleans, where they take their quarterbacking very seriously. His 130-pound replacement, Odell Beckham Jr., was throwing tight spirals and making enough of the breakaway runs Peyton and Eli Manning never made at Newman to compel the JV coach to give Brenner this warning:
"Odell is about to Wally Pipp you."
Editor's Picks Simon: Meet the receiver who outpaced Odell Beckham Jr. Bill Groman caught 27 touchdown passes in his first 25 games, winning AFL titles with the Houston Oilers in 1960 and 1961. It's a pace we haven't seen again until now, with Odell Beckham. Jr.
Brenner had never heard of Pipp, or the story of how he lost his New York Yankees job to Lou Gehrig, and it didn't much matter. He was no less amazed watching the 5-foot-7 wide receiver play his position than the varsity coach, Nelson Stewart, who saw Beckham score on two long runs in the same JV game while bigger kids were all but tripping over one another in vain attempts to tackle him.
"Odell zigged when they zagged," Stewart recalled. "It took your breath away."
But this is the part that explains why Beckham is Eli Manning's primary and secondary target, and not Eli Manning's replacement. As someone who would later heave footballs in practice 70 yards with his right hand and 40-50 yards with his left, Beckham knew he might've grown into a dominant dual-threat quarterback destined to play for the New York Giants, just as he knew he might've developed as a soccer prodigy destined to play for Arsenal or Manchester City.
He knew that football's most important position could've been his with a single snap of his absurdly long fingers, and yet he decided to return to receiver for the betterment of his high school team and his close friend, Ryan Brenner, who was never going to be a major college recruit. They began playing together on an eighth-grade team that didn't win many games, and just about every touchdown the team scored through the air came on a halfback pass from Beckham.
Odell Beckham Jr. and his high school football coach, Nelson Stewart, when Beckham signed with LSU. Courtesy of Nelson Stewart
"But Odell knew I grew up wanting to be the Newman quarterback," Brenner said. "He was special as a wide receiver, and that was definitely a part of it, and we talked about the connection we had. But he also thought it was my time to be the quarterback. He's one of the most kindhearted people I've ever met. He'd almost rather someone else have success instead of him."
Beckham was only a 16-year-old kid, Stewart said, "and he was already an old soul who just cared about his team. Ryan was a great system guy for us, and Odell wanted him to be his quarterback. Odell was never a selfish kid who needed to have the ball on every down. All he cared about was what it said on the scoreboard."
The scoreboard? It now says that Odell Beckham Jr. -- good for 176 catches, 2,625 receiving yards, and 24 receiving touchdowns since missing the first four games of his rookie season in 2014 -- has pieced together a 25-game start to his NFL career that can't be touched.
That makes Beckham a serious threat to the 13-0 Carolina Panthers' shot at securing the league's first perfect regular season since New England's in 2007. If Beckham beats Josh Norman for a touchdown or three in MetLife Stadium, expect him to break into an elaborate end zone dance or three. If Beckham ends up on the wrong end of what could be the receiver-cornerback matchup of the year, don't be surprised if he rips off his helmet and slams it into the ground the way he did last year to punctuate a home loss to San Francisco.
Just don't mistake his actions either way as those of a prototypical me-centric star. Tom Coughlin, 69-year-old grandfather, agrees with general manager Jerry Reese's assessment that Beckham is a team player first and foremost, and that his most formidable asset -- despite all of his physical tools -- is his desire to be great.
Back in the day that desire was burning hot at Newman, where Archie Manning had sent his three boys (Cooper was an all-state receiver) and where Beckham also arrived as the son of athletic royalty. His father, Odell Sr., had been a running back at LSU, and his mother, Heather Van Norman, had been a sprinter who won multiple national titles and All-American honors at the same school before she became pregnant with Odell, ending her pursuit of Olympic gold.
And still Beckham was something of an underdog at Newman. "He was always doubted," said Brenner, a graduating University of Georgia student who remains in touch with the Giants' receiver. "He wasn't even rated the top receiver in the state; that was Jarvis Landry. People always told him he was too small, too skinny, or wasn't strong enough, and he really used that to fuel his fire."
Beckham became a legend in local and regional seven-on-seven tournaments, forever making would-be tacklers miss despite the fact a ball carrier was ruled down in those games by a one-hand touch. He made one leaping catch at the New Orleans Saints' practice facility -- above three defenders -- that was better than his toe-dragger in the end zone Monday night against Washington, and that rivaled his signature three-finger catch against Dallas last year.
He worked on his one-handed approach in those seven-on-sevens, and in Newman practices and games. "When Odell started doing it I tried to correct it," Stewart recalled. "How stupid am I?"
The coach was actually pretty smart. Though Newman had a history of running a traditional, drop-back offense designed to take advantage of the strengths of the Peytons and Elis, Stewart challenged himself to be far more creative in Beckham's three varsity years. Newman got faster, more dynamic, more flexible in its sets. The Wildcat, the spread offense, option routes, more pre-snap motion than ever before -- Beckham inspired it all.
The receiver would play some at quarterback and running back, at cornerback and safety. He would return kickoffs and punts, and as a former youth soccer star who idolized David Beckham, he surely would've kicked field goals if asked. Stewart did anything he could to put his budding football genius in position to score.
Odell Beckham Jr. ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at the 2014 NFL Combine. Joe Robbins/Getty Images
But Beckham's work ethic matched his versatility. "He watched 20 times more film than any kid we had," Stewart said. "And we had to turn out the lights on him after practice because he was working the Jugs machine, just always perfecting his game."
The morning after Beckham's LSU Tigers lost the BCS title game to Alabama in the Superdome his freshman year, Stewart found his former player on the Newman practice field running routes -- by himself. Ronnie Vinson, Beckham's teammate at Newman and LSU before transferring to Tennessee State, said they would sometimes return from Friday nights out in the offseason and run sprints before bedtime. Sometimes when receiver and defensive back were bored, Vinson said, they could be found running up the nearby levees at 2 a.m.
Now working with a non-profit after-school program in Nashville, Tennessee, Vinson was the older student who first met Beckham in middle school, and the one who drew the recruiters to Newman who eventually fought over the younger receiver. "I remember him as a kid with a mouthful of candy, always hyper, just doing freaky athletic things on the playground, like a back-flip out of nowhere," Vinson said. "He had huge hands, but he was always a small kid, and I honestly don't think he hit puberty until he got to LSU.
"He was like my little brother, and we would sleep over at each others' houses, and pretty much everything we used to talk about is coming true for him. It's funny, but I work with fifth- and sixth-graders who don't even know who Jerry Rice or Randy Moss is. So when I ask them to name the best receiver ever, they all say Odell Beckham. I guess kids have the last word."
Who really knew Beckham would be this special? At 5-foot-11, he wasn't projected as a future NFL franchise player before the 2014 draft combine. Some scouts worried about his size, and whether he could beat bigger corners in the air, and whether he actually had elite speed. One largely favorable report described a perceived weakness this way: "Not a red-zone threat."
He was the third receiver drafted, not the first, after a strong combine performance, and yet he might already be the best receiver in the league. Beckham did not disabuse anyone of that notion Monday night after needing three IVs to fight off dehydration and the lingering effects of a stomach virus to save the Giants' season. The following morning, while watching highlights of Beckham doing his Ray Lewis dance, Stewart's wife turned to him and asked, "Did you ever think it would be like this?"
The Newman coach didn't even know what to say. "I thought he had a chance to be great," Stewart said later. "But this is another stratosphere."
Beckham plays the game with Jerry Rice's precision, with Michael Jordan's hang time, and with John McEnroe's artistry and rage. Panthers coach Ron Rivera likened him to Rice, and Beckham called that comparison "shocking" and overly flattering before saying he has tried to take the best of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, DeSean Jackson and Victor Cruz, and "make it your own craft."
His stardom has exploded because of it, and on a summertime trip to New York to visit Beckham with a couple of old classmates, Ryan Brenner saw it first hand. He saw Beckham wear a hoodie in an attempt to disguise himself so he wouldn't be constantly stopped while trying to spend quality time with his friends, who were just in for the weekend. They headed to Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in New Jersey, where in between roller-coaster rides Beckham politely asked his friends to stop turning around every time someone shouted his name.
"It was weird because he was just Odell to us, not this famous athlete," Brenner said. "But he had no choice; everyone was trying to stop him for a picture or autograph. When we were in the car he did see a 12- or 13-year-old wearing his jersey, and he had the driver pull over so he could sign it for the kid and make his day."
Odell Beckham Jr. has 24 touchdown receptions in 25 career NFL games. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
From a distance, Brenner still likes to summon the memories of his time with Beckham at Newman. They were co-captains at adjacent lockers, and when he felt his pocket collapsing during games Brenner did exactly what Eli Manning does now -- throw it in the neighborhood of Beckham and let him do the rest.
Beckham became the first Newman receiver to manage a 1,000-yard season since Cooper Manning in 1991, and he chose his father's school over dozens of other offers. Brenner attracted some interest from Division II and III schools, but decided to chase different career objectives and play intramurals at a bigger school, Georgia, instead. He majored in business management and real estate, and is scheduled to graduate Friday before going to work for Amazon.com.
"I thought the coolest feeling in the world was following in Peyton's and Eli's footsteps as a quarterback at Newman," Brenner said, "until I got to watch Odell play on Sundays. He has such an incredible drive. He won't be satisfied until in his mind he's the greatest receiver there ever was."
At his locker Thursday afternoon, the fans' leading Pro Bowl vote-gettter among receivers spoke for a minute about his brief time as a quarterback at Newman. Beckham was asked whether respect and friendship played a role in his decision to avoid challenging Brenner, who didn't necessarily have the tools to excel at another position.
"It did, it did," Beckham said. "I could've played quarterback and he would've ended up playing receiver, but Ryan was a good friend of mine. I knew what he could do and I knew any other position wouldn't feel right for him. I kind of felt it was his position, and we should just let him earn it and embrace his leadership role."
As it turned out, this was the first time Beckham made it clear he cared more about the team than the glory of the one-hand catch. This was the first time the new-school receiver showed everyone that he is driven by an old-school soul.Odds and results
When in Rome, do as the bookies do
Wendell looking unimpressed with a 9-place drop
Shots and goals
Peppering the opposition
Spot the difference
Discipline
Sunny Spain gives refs quite the temper
The European summer transfer window is now well under way. AC Milan have taken massive steps to bolster their squad in several positions and announce their ambition, while Bayern Munich have silently snapped up James Rodriguez and Corentin Tolisso even as Omer Toprak and Mahmoud Dahoud are getting ready to put on Dortmund's colours. Manchester United's snare of Romelu Lukaku is the biggest signing in the Premier League in a window that has also seen Bernardo Silva, Alexandre Lacazette and Antonio Rudiger arrive in England.While all of that promises much for 2017/18, let's take a few minutes to look at some of last season's numbers from the top divisions of England, Italy, Spain and Germany.Everyone's heard or read this at some point: "The Premier League is the most unpredictable league in the world".Well, not on the face of it. For measuring this, I compared the full-time results of league matches against the result with the shortest odds offered on bet365.In the season gone by, the Premier League was the second-most predictable in the top 4 leagues at 61%, as the top 6 comfortably distinguished themselves from the rest. Serie A sees the highest bookmaker accuracy at 62% - tip of the hat to Juventus, who have won their 6th straight Scudetto. bet365's accuracy for full-time results for the Bundesliga was the lowest among these four, at 52%.Last season's Bundesliga was surprising in a number of respects - the loss of key players in the 2016 summer hit Dortmund's consistency, leading to them winning 6 less games and gathering 14 fewer points. bet365 called 53% of their matches correctly, which is the worst they did for a team in the Premier League (Middlesbrough, 53%). Dortmund still finished just one place lower than the season |
with what we were trying and failing to handle.
Around this time, my wife ordered a book online called The Reason I Jump. It was written by a 13-year-old boy from Chiba prefecture in Japan called Naoki Higashida. Naoki’s autism is designated as severe (I’d say “deep magenta”) and non-verbal, but he can, with intense effort, write via an alphabet grid. This is a Qwerty keyboard drawn on a card with an added Yes, No and Finished. Naoki touches the letters he needs to build up words and, eventually, sentences and paragraphs. The Reason I Jump was written this way. (There are clips of Naoki working on YouTube; sceptics can see for themselves that nobody’s hand is near his as he writes.)
Don't worry if there's no evidence he or she understands. Maybe there is, but you're not recognising it
As my wife read sections of The Reason I Jump aloud at the kitchen table, we recognised many of our son’s traits, and found many of Naoki’s explanations for these behaviours plausible. The book is made up of short Q&A chapters, and some of the questions were ones we badly wanted to ask our son: what’s with the head-banging? Why the tears or laughter with no visible cause? How can we help you more usefully? Naoki’s autism is, of course, Naoki’s own autism, but we found plenty of overlap with our son’s condition, and the book provided answers, corrected misconceptions and filled in blanks. Even chapters that didn’t apply to our son directly helped us by highlighting the gap between the “what you see” and the “what’s inside” of non-verbal autism. They also testified to Naoki’s ability to feel the whole gamut of human emotions and to view situations from other people’s perspectives. Before autism entered my life, I had believed the condition precluded emotional breadth and empathy: The Reason I Jump consolidated my wife’s and my suspicions that, in fact, people with autism feel what everyone else does. They just cannot show they feel it, so neurotypical people have come to think of an autistic mind as locked-in and robot.
Thanks to the book, my wife and I found ourselves modifying our interactions with our son. We engaged with him more, expected more back, and followed Naoki’s advice – even if it was as simple as, “Hang on in there and don’t give up: he’ll get there in his own time.” Our son responded positively. He began using a few words, his understanding bloomed, his self-harming dropped away and he was happier. None of this is very scientific, I agree. I can’t know for sure or prove that these changes wouldn’t have occurred anyway, and, heaven knows, bad days and bad patches still happened, still do, and always will. But The Reason I Jump helped us turn some kind of corner in our lives together.
My wife and I translated Naoki’s book into English, not exactly legally, just so we could hand out A4 copies to the people working with our son. We wanted them to know what the book had taught us about autism, and to act accordingly. Encouraged by their positive reactions, I showed our manuscript to my agent, and my UK and US editors. They thought that Naoki’s writing could find a wider audience; though it’s fair to say that nobody foresaw the English-language edition of The Reason I Jump topping bestseller charts on both sides of the Atlantic, selling well into six figures and being translated into 35 languages. An expanded edition of a more recent book by Naoki, Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8, also co-translated by my wife and me, will be published this month, and focuses on autism in young adulthood.
Perhaps it’s just vanity, but I like to think the success of The Reason I Jump has encouraged a readership for other books by non-verbal textual communicators with autism – “texticators”, since I’m in a word-coining mood. Notably, Ido Kedar and Carly Fleischmann in the US, and Tito Mukhopadhyay in India have also written insider accounts of life with autism. The authors concur with Naoki on some points and disagree with him on others – and this diversity enriches the literature of autism.
***
The word “autism” was first used as early as 1910, by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, to describe a state in which “thought is divorced both from logic and reality”. Autism as a psychiatric diagnosis, with no basis in biology, hobbled on through the 1920s and 1930s as a form of childhood schizophrenia, occasionally awarded to children whose jailers had no other label for them. In 1943, Austrian-born psychiatrist Leo Kanner nominated autism as a disorder in its own right. Kanner deserves kudos for identifying a syndrome badly in need of recognition, for naming it and for encouraging early support groups. Unfortunately, he went with the flow of mother-blaming in the 1950s and attributed autism to “a genuine lack of maternal warmth”, though he did appear to recant towards the end of his life – unlike the Darth Vader of autism infamy, another Austrian-born American, Bruno Bettelheim. This Chicago-based propagator of the “refrigerator mother” theory of autism published his hugely influential text, The Empty Fortress, in 1967. This contained such pearls as: “The precipitating factor in infantile autism is the parent’s wish that his child should not exist.” The cure was psychoanalysis for the mothers, while the children were allowed to “unshackle” themselves by being put in a room with their peers and allowed to do whatever their ids, egos and superegos told them. You can imagine how that went.
Describing Bettelheim as merely “wrong” is a kindness I don’t think he deserves, yet for years his thinking dominated the public discourse. Mothers bought into this cruel farrago because no strong counter-narrative existed, and because if they had “frozen” their children into autism, submission to the faith promised a thaw. (Bettelheim would not be the last charismatic, media-savvy doctor to attract a fierce and loyal following among autism parents who felt ignored by specialists and frustrated by the lack of answers.) Historical perspective lets us groan at Bettelheim, and feel a righteous disgust at other researchers in the 1960s, who electrocuted their test subjects with cattle prods to deter self-injury, or who dosed children’s hot chocolate with LSD. The more ethical even obtained parental consent.
If the person is there, never discuss them as if they're not, or as if they're only there like the coat stand is there
The closer we get to the present day, however, the trickier it can be to discern solid science from “magical thinking” with scientific trappings. At an event at the Hay festival in June this year, my very first questioner asked me to agree that there may be a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Now, I regret prevaricating, though if I had replied that no large-scale, peer-reviewed, duplicable research free from conflicts of interest has ever established a link, the session could well have died a noisy, messy death in Conspiracyland. Skin is thin. Being told, as an autism parent, that you’re wrong about autism feels very like being told that your ignorance is compounding your and your child’s misery. Little wonder people lash out.
So what are we still getting wrong about autism, and how do we get it right? My answers form a kind of wishlist. First up, is that we stop assuming a communicative impairment denotes a cognitive one. Let’s be wary of assuming that behind autism’s speechlessness lies nothing, or nothing to speak of. Instead, let’s assume that we’re dealing with a mind as keen as our own, and act accordingly. Talk to the person. Don’t worry if there’s no evidence he or she understands. Maybe there is evidence, but you’re not recognising it as such. If the person is there, never discuss them as if they’re not, or as if they’re only there like the coat stand is there. If they don’t notice this courtesy, no harm is done; but if they do, then someone who is often treated as a part-object, part-human, total nuisance gets to feel like a real, valid, card-carrying member of society.
My second wish is that diagnosis day and its aftermath don’t feel like a cursory death sentence with no hope of appeal. On my son’s diagnosis day, a psychologist gave us a photocopied report about how poorly our son had performed in the Disco, a platitude about him still being the same boy he was the day before; and our time was up. We went home, Googled “autism” and embarked on a two-year stress-fest of searching for a kindergarten that might take him, of searching for a home tutor, of jumping through hoops erected by a bureaucracy that feel designed to make you give up, and of chasing “cures”. (The less said about the water I ordered from Texas that had either ions added or ions taken out – I forget which – the better.)
I know that central government has forced local authorities to cut health services back to the bone, and we’re all supposed to accept this as the natural state of things. I know also that parents whose dreams for their children have just collapsed aren’t the easiest folk to deal with. But intelligent counselling, drawing on guidance from parents who have been there, would go a long way to saving the newly diagnosed from floundering as badly as I did. And, as it happens, cost very little.
The third item on my wishlist is, too predictably, better funding for education and adult care. The status quo obliges sleep-deprived autism parents and sympathetic school principals to be frontline activists, just to obtain statutory minimums. This is inhumane and illogical. Funding a special needs assistant now can create a future taxpayer. Not funding special needs education is a waste of a child’s mind. That could be your child’s mind I’m referring to, or your grandchild’s, or a future Elon Musk’s. Speech and language therapy and occupational therapy can and do make big differences, if they are frequent and regular. What the state grudgingly dispenses at present is infrequent and irregular. Better-off families pay to close the gap, if they can find a good private therapist; but what we now call ordinary hardworking families don’t stand a chance. I’ve met some great therapists working in the creaking UK and Irish state systems, but too often the state system appears to be a legal fig leaf whose main purpose is to deter lawsuits brought against education departments for providing nothing. (As an aside, to any bright young people with curiosity and empathy reading this article and wondering about a career, think about autism therapy. Demand outstrips supply, and Brexit is likely to drain the UK’s talent pool still further.)
Lastly, I ask for more big-scale, better-funded research. Much historic wrong-thinking about autism was debunked by research foundations set up by well-connected American autism parents. Bright young scientists entered the field, attracted by the grants, and a genetic component in autism was spotted. (There’s a 60-90% chance of an identical twin of someone with autism also having the condition; and 20-30% for non-identical twins. RIP, Refrigerator Mum.) More research followed, autism conferences grew in number and size, donations snowballed and finally governments got involved. Answers to the same core questions I had after our son’s diagnosis – What is autism, and can it be made to go away? – remain elusive and debatable, but every decade the questions asked get better and the research more fruitful. Autism is now a multidisciplinary field with career-building roles for biologists, pharmacologists, geneticists, psychiatrists, neurologists and a whole platoon of other -ists.
In his book Far From The Tree, the psychiatrist Andrew Solomon quotes Nobel laureate Eric Kandel: “If we can understand autism, we can understand the brain.” Solomon adds: “That is a generous way of saying we will understand autism only when we understand the brain.” True, yet this is a call to mobilise, not a reason for despondency. To study autism is to study the mind, the brain and the body; their connections and ruptures; the human genome, speech, sentience and alternative permutations of being alive. Autism research benefits not only people like my son, but stroke survivors, those living with dementia and the families who care for them, and countless others in ways not yet known. It’s a bold prize. It’s a huge challenge. Let’s rise to it.
• Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8, by Naoki Higashida, translated by David Mitchell and KA Yoshida, is published next week by Sceptre at £14.99. To order a copy for £11.24, go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846.Stanford quarterback K. J. Costello wasn't sure he would be playing with Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Love in the second half of an eventual victory over Washington last Friday.
Love gave every indication he might not be able to walk normally.
Frank Buncom recorded 11 tackles, including a key fourth-down stop, in Stanford's win over Washington.m Photo by Al Chang/isiphotos.com. Frank Buncom recorded 11 tackles, including a key fourth-down stop, in Stanford's win over Washington.m Photo by Al Chang/isiphotos.com.
Love rushed for 43 yards on 13 carries, his longest an eight-yard gain, and scored a touchdown and limped into the locker room with Stanford trailing, 14-10.
He came out a different man in the second half, rushing for another 123 on 17 carries. He ripped off a crucial 35-yard run in the fourth quarter that allowed Stanford to run out the
clock in Stanford's 30-22 victory over the Huskies.
"I don't know what he's got inside," Costello said, "but it's something crazy."
It's crazy, all right. Crazy enough that despite missing a game and being held to a season-low 69 yards (52 on one play) in a loss to Washington State, Love regained the national lead in total rushing yards and helped boost the Cardinal's chance of winning the North Division and a spot in the Pac-12 Conference championship game.
Stanford (7-3, 6-2) still needs to beat California (5-5, 2-5) in Saturday's 120th annual Big Game at 5 p.m. in Stanford Stadium and have Washington (8-2, 5-2) knock out Washington State (9-2, 6-2) next weekend for that to happen.
The victory over the Huskies was the first step.
"We've learned not to ask him if he's OK," Stanford coach David Shaw said of Love. "He's always OK. He can play through ridiculous pain. He's amazing to watch. Even at 80-90 percent he's still faster than most. It's unbelievable."
Love has rushed for 1,622 yards in nine games, on 181 carries. San Diego State's Rashaad Penny is second with 1,602 in 10 games and 229 carries.
He's first in the nation with an average of 180.2 yards per game. He's had a run of at least 35 yards in every game this season.
This week, there's Love and The Big Game, with the Stanford Axe Trophy up for grabs. It remains a special game to all involved.
Shaw has never lost a Big Game as a coach. He also played in the Big Game.
"It means a lot. It's a rivalry game," Shaw said. "We talk to our guys all the time about having tangible evidence, about having a trophy. It's always great to play for your pride, your family, your teammates and your school. But it's great to have something to hold after the game. The challenge is for the seniors to keep the Axe."
First-time participants may hear stories but there's nothing better than to go through the experience.
"Unless they are from Northern California, you can tell them about it but they won't get it," Shaw said. "We try and let them know they're going to feel it in pre-game warmups," he said. "That's just the way the game is. There's going to be a lot of people here and some of them are going to be wearing blue and some are going to be wearing cardinal. And you'll feel that in the stadium. There's going to be more emotion in this game; there's going to be a lot of passion. So we have to be able to control that and play well."
Costello grew up in southern California but he came to appreciate the value of the Big Game as a college football fanatic growing up.
"Just the title 'Big Game,' it's cool," Costello said. "I was watching Andrew Luck back in the day. I'm entirely aware of what this game holds. It's a dream come true for me to be playing college football. Every game is a big game."
Cardinal safety Frank Buncom IV sensed the importance of the week early on.
"It's huge. It's an honor to be part of a storied tradition," Buncom said. "You can see it all over campus. You never look past a rivalry game. Our focus is on the game and keeping the Ax for the seniors."
Buncom led Stanford with 11 tackles and forced a fumble against Washington. He and Bobby Okereke (10 tackles, a forced fumble, two sacks, four tackles for a loss) have been revelations lately, playing inspired football.
"We recruited him as a corner. He's smart, cerebral," Shaw said of Buncom. "We wanted to take a look at him at safety and the first day back there it was where he was supposed to be. He sees the whole field. We found a safety by accident."
Buncom said it was Defensive Backs coach Duane Akina's idea during spring football.
"A safety got hurt and coach said 'why don't you go out and see how it feels,'" said Buncom, who played one game as a safety in high school.
"Playing the angles is the biggest adjustment," he said. "As a corner you're looking outside in with the running game. As a safety it's inside out. I made my strides there."Mike Ribeiro signed a two-year, $7 million contract extension with Nashville on Wednesday. (Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel / USA TODAY Sports)
Mike Ribeiro's intention was always to re-sign with the Predators, though the past few weeks have been admittedly stressful.
Nashville made a contract offer that he found to be "a little bit low," and the two sides continued to work toward an extension that would be mutually beneficial.
They finally agreed to terms Wednesday in the form of a two-year, $7 million extension, one that Ribeiro described as a "last-minute signing."
"It feels great," Ribeiro said. "I'm really happy that both sides are happy about the contract and (can) move forward from here now."
The contract will pay Ribeiro $3.5 million per year, a significant raise from the $1.05 million he made last season.
Ribeiro rejuvenated his on-ice career last season, scoring 62 points as the Predators' first-line center. He and linemate Filip Forsberg were the Predators' first pair of 60-point scorers since the 2007-08 season.
That sort of production drew interest from other teams when the NHL's interview period opened last week. Ribeiro said that four to five teams reached out to his agent, but his priority was to remain in Nashville.
"It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to sign here, first and foremost," Ribeiro said. "It didn't really matter, the other teams. It would have been hard for me to move again, so my goal was to sign here and really find a fair deal for both sides.
"(General manager David Poile) was supportive of me last year, he believed in me. (Head coach Peter Laviolette), too. My teammates, my family was happy here, so it was almost common sense to stay here.... It didn't really matter how much more I could make on the market. It was really just staying here (that) was the important thing."
In July 2014, the veteran center signed a one-year contract with the Predators after having his four-year contract with the Coyotes bought out for what Arizona general manager Don Maloney called "behavioral issues." Poile warned Ribeiro that there would be zero tolerance for any sort of misbehavior.
During what many called a redemptive season for Ribeiro, he was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by his former nanny, who alleged that the 35-year-old sexually assaulted her in 2012. Public opinion turned against the Predators, who have been steadfast in their support of Ribeiro.
"I think the most important thing is that you've got (an) organization that believes in you and wants the best for you and your family," Ribeiro said. "There's not a lot that can match that.... I think that goes a long way. For me it was important to make my family really comfortable and it's great. I appreciate a lot what (Poile) is doing for me and my family."The contract awards for the construction of new border wall have been delayed until October by a contractor who has publicly opposed President Donald Trump’s immigration reforms.
Planned contract awards to build six to eight sets of prototype walls were protested by a losing bidder, the Texas-based Penna Group company. The protest is being adjudicated by the Government Accountability Office, with a resolution deadline of October 4.
“Such protests are common in Federal contracting processes and no contracts may be awarded until the protests are resolved,” the DHS’s United States Customs and Border Protection agency told Breitbart News. The agency continued:
By statute, GAO is required to issue a decision on a protest within 100 days of filing. CBP expects GAO’s decision on these protests in early October 2017, which would delay construction to late October or early November, which is beyond our original summer 2017 timeline. CBP could resume contract consideration if the protest is resolved sooner. CBP is updating the expected timeline of contract award and construction to allow for immediate resumption of the acquisition process based on GAO’s decision. CBP will continue to take steps to implement the President’s Executive Order on Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements (EO 13767) to ensure operational control of the border.
The protest was filed by executives at the Penna Group group, based in Texas. The company did not respond to Breitbart News.
Congress has appropriated funds for the construction of 46 miles of barriers in 2017. The money can also be used in 2018, so the contract dispute delay won’t stop the planned construction. The House has approved another $1.6 billion in 2018. If matched by the Senate, those funds will add another 62 miles of border wall, and help prepare for additional construction.
During the last several months, the company’s CEO has ridiculed Trump’s immigration reforms and the border wall, which would provide a symbolic and concrete barrier between low-wage employers in Democratic-run cities and the world’s bottomless supply of cheap labor.
“We wanted to make sure that a company that had compassion for immigrants was one of the companies putting in one of the designs,” CEO Michael Evangelista-Ysasaga told the Guardian newspaper. The newspaper added:
“The story isn’t, ‘Hey there’s a Latino guy building a wall to keep other Latino people out,” said Michael Evangelista-Ysasaga, CEO of the Penna Group in Fort Worth, Texas. “It’s that we need comprehensive immigration reform.” … The CEO, who said that he was one of the earliest participants in Occupy Wall Street in New York City, hoped that the wall would “give the American people the appetite to have comprehensive immigration reform”, which is his main priority.
The CEO described his grandiose design to the Huffington Post:
Evangelista-Ysasaga says he decided to throw his hat in the bidding ring. “We wanted to propose a more humane obstruction,” he expressed. “I didn’t want to have to wake up on a Sunday morning and read a story about a family getting killed trying to cross the border.” PennaGroup’s vision is catered to fit CBP’s basic demands, delivering two relatively straightforward walls with a hint of patriotic flair. The first option is titled a “Solid, Concrete Border Wall,” featuring black wall panels emblazoned with the seal of the United States in recessed concrete and connected with highly polished steel beams. Then there’s the “Other Border Wall” ― constructed from polished, double wire mesh panels, with a six-foot tall anti-climb cap, also emblazoned with a seal. The cap, PennaGroup’s technical team explained in an email to HuffPost, was designed with neoclassical architecture influences in mind, including the federal and Greek revival styles that inspired 18th- and 19th-century design in Washington, D.C. These architectural details, however, would only adorn the side of the wall that faces America.
Trump is preparing a proposal to reform the nation’s cheap-labor immigration system into “merit-based” immigration system. The merit-based system is intended to increase Americans’ productivity and wealth while reducing the inflow of low-skilled relatives of recent immigrants.
Progressive Democrats, pro-corporate GOP leaders, and corporate CEOs oppose Trump’s popular plan, which would reduce the inflow of wage-reducing labor, pressure companies to increase pay and training for young and older Americans workers, and to promote investment in labor-saving machinery.These concluding issues to the teen superhero series will shock fans
New York Times bestselling writer Landry Walker (Red Lanterns, Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures), artist Eric Jones (Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures), and colorist Rusty Drake team up for DANGER CLUB #6, #7, and #8 this 2015 for the jaw-dropping conclusion to the shocking issue #5.
Faced with the deadliest peril the universe had ever known, the world's greatest heroes left the Earth to battle a nightmarish evil... and they never came back. DANGER CLUB follows the teenage sidekicks that stayed behind and are the last hope in protecting a vulnerable Earth. Will the Danger Club unite against this unknown cosmic menace, or will their struggle for dominance destroy them?
DANGER CLUB #6 picks up where #5 left off—when Jack Fearless paid the price for his crimes. Now all of reality has collapsed and Kid Vigilante must scour the land of the dead in search of salvation.
DANGER CLUB #6 (Diamond Code SEP120496) hits stores tomorrow, January 28th. DANGER CLUB #7 (Diamond Code JAN130579) will land on February 25th. DANGER CLUB #8 (Diamond Code JAN150604) will release on March 25th.In many cases, couples' counselling can be the final nail in the marital coffin. Why? Because counselling is a practice that focuses on the self. It stresses self-knowledge, personal growth, affirmation and fulfilling one's own needs over the course of numerous weekly sessions. Or at least until the insurance coverage runs out. This "all about me," costly and drawn out approach -- one that often magnifies a partner's flaws instead of holding up a mirror to one's own -- is the precise opposite of what struggling spouses need to save a marriage in crisis.
Couples' counselling isn't always a male-friendly experience, either. That's kind of a big deal, since there's usually a man involved in a marriage. Women might feel comfortable expressing their needs, emotions and so on to a counsellor. We're used to talking about our problems. Men may not relish the experience. In fact, many men would rather have a root canal than "emotionally open up" to a stranger, regardless of how many degrees are on the wall.
Although counsellors give marriage advice, they may be divorced, never married or on their third marriage. It's naïve to think that an individual's personal experience with marriage doesn't factor into the relationship advice they dispense. Plus, many marriage counsellors are generalists: They may have counselled a drug-addicted teen before seeing you and your spouse. Those in the business of providing professional marriage help should be specialists, not only because marriage provides unique challenges but because there is vast difference between one-on-one therapy, which counsellors are trained for, and managing an angry party-of-two, which many are not trained for.
As a former divorce mediator and current couples' mediator, I regularly see "counselling drop-outs" and have heard first-hand accounts of counselling gone wrong. Take the case of a marriage counsellor who told a 35-year-old father of three young children that he could never "be present" in his marriage until he explored his unresolved feelings for a high-school sweetheart that had recently looked him up on Facebook. Or the case of a wife who was told that her husband was "ignoring her needs" by working long hours. Apparently it didn't matter that he was working overtime to pay for the extravagant home she wanted. Isolated incidents of incompetence, you say? Maybe. Or maybe counselling wasn't the right tool for the job.
I've often wondered why psychological counselling has a monopoly on providing marriage help. While counselling can work wonders in cases of past trauma, abusive relationships, personality disorders and mental illness, not all people with marriage problems suffer from such ills. And if they don't, applying a bandage soaked in psychology can make the wound worse.
In my opinion, couples' conflict resolution or mediation-based help is better suited to many marital problems. This is for a few reasons. Mediation is an inherently non-judgemental and reconciliatory discipline. Its goal has always been to improve communication and understanding, find common ground and maintain a relationship (of some kind) between two or more parties. It stresses open-mindedness, teamwork and seeing a situation from someone else's point of view. Nowhere are these things more important than in marriage and family life.
Mediators are trained -- from day one -- to keep their own biases and assumptions in check, and to instead be curious about their clients' situation. Expert mediators may offer insight and information, but they don't take sides, advise or pathologize people's problems. As a bonus, mediation is a two-for-one deal. Not only does it help spouses resolve current issues, it demonstrates how to better communicate, interact and collaborate as a couple. It's the whole teach-a-man-to-fish thing.
Most importantly, conflict resolution or mediation helps couples brainstorm workable solutions to their problems. This is a necessary yet very difficult process that many couples' counsellors conveniently sidestep in favour of ongoing talk therapy; however, there's no point talking ad nauseum about how your partner's overspending makes you feel unappreciated if you fail to create a realistic budget in a timely manner. All talk and no action makes people wallow in blame, resentment and -- worst of all -- hopelessness. When spouses feel hopeless about their future together, they tend to dial divorce lawyers.
Take the case of a recently-discovered affair. Many couples find themselves swept up in a tornado of raw, conflicting emotion and, until they can catch their breath, they may benefit from brainstorming a short-term plan to help them survive the first days and weeks post-affair. This may include rules about transparency, ending the relationship with the other person, regular check-ins, sleeping and intimacy arrangements, what to tell the kids and so on. It might also include a framework for how to discuss the infidelity in an honest and purposeful way, so that they can begin to understand why it happened, the effect it has had on both of them, whether they want to re-commit to the marriage and, if so, what changes will be necessary.
This approach encourages spouses to gain mutual insight and forward momentum rather than languishing on a weekly basis about how terrible they feel (they already know that) and re-living every nasty word spoken in anger or hurt. Instead of relying on a counsellor to advise them or "diagnose" their marital issues, couples work together to understand and resolve their problems. This process is part of rebuilding a partnership. If you want to stay married, it has to happen.
Remember Einstein's definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Many people feel that marriage counselling is ineffective, yet it remains the prevailing approach to relationship troubles, even in the many situations where psychological problems are not present. Perhaps it's time to do something different.
For information on Debra's practice and home program, please visit www.debramacleod.comNorth America has a large variety of psytrance festival offerings. Here you can find a complete guide to almost all 24+ hour outdoor psy festivals or ones which feature a large chunk of psytrance. The lists are broken down into 3 categories for ease of browsing: Canada, Central America, & United States. The events are posted chronologically by date in both the map & the image links below. We researched far and wide to find events all over, some which are not included in the list there are some festivals yet to be announced, young productions, and also private gatherings.
From dark and heavy to funky and groovy, there is a style for everybody. From many thousands to a few hundred, the festivals come in all sizes. There are many geographical locations which provide unique settings for each festival. It is our pleasure to share the range of gatherings that are happening this year in our home.
Enjoy the season,
FractaltribeDeveloping countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement that would hand more power to rich nations, sideline the UN's negotiating role and abandon the Kyoto protocol
The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.
The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.
The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as "the circle of commitment" – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week.
The agreement, leaked to the Guardian, is a departure from the Kyoto protocol's principle that rich nations, which have emitted the bulk of the CO2, should take on firm and binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, while poorer nations were not compelled to act. The draft hands effective control of climate change finance to the World Bank; would abandon the Kyoto protocol – the only legally binding treaty that the world has on emissions reductions; and would make any money to help poor countries adapt to climate change dependent on them taking a range of actions.
The document was described last night by one senior diplomat as "a very dangerous document for developing countries. It is a fundamental reworking of the UN balance of obligations. It is to be superimposed without discussion on the talks".
A confidential analysis of the text by developing countries also seen by the Guardian shows deep unease over details of the text. In particular, it is understood to:
• Force developing countries to agree to specific emission cuts and measures that were not part of the original UN agreement;
• Divide poor countries further by creating a new category of developing countries called "the most vulnerable";
• Weaken the UN's role in handling climate finance;
• Not allow poor countries to emit more than 1.44 tonnes of carbon per person by 2050, while allowing rich countries to emit 2.67 tonnes.
Developing countries that have seen the text are understood to be furious that it is being promoted by rich countries without their knowledge and without discussion in the negotiations.
"It is being done in secret. Clearly the intention is to get [Barack] Obama and the leaders of other rich countries to muscle it through when they arrive next week. It effectively is the end of the UN process," said one diplomat, who asked to remain nameless.
Antonio Hill, climate policy adviser for Oxfam International, said: "This is only a draft but it highlights the risk that when the big countries come together, the small ones get hurting. On every count the emission cuts need to be scaled up. It allows too many loopholes and does not suggest anything like the 40% cuts that science is saying is needed."
Hill continued: "It proposes a green fund to be run by a board but the big risk is that it will run by the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility [a partnership of 10 agencies including the World Bank and the UN Environment Programme] and not the UN. That would be a step backwards, and it tries to put constraints on developing countries when none were negotiated in earlier UN climate talks."
The text was intended by Denmark and rich countries to be a working framework, which would be adapted by countries over the next week. It is particularly inflammatory because it sidelines the UN negotiating process and suggests that rich countries are desperate for world leaders to have a text to work from when they arrive next week.
Few numbers or figures are included in the text because these would be filled in later by world leaders. However, it seeks to hold temperature rises to 2C and mentions the sum of $10bn a year to help poor countries adapt to climate change from 2012-15.
Footnote: This article was amended on 9th December 2009. The photograph caption was changed to state that the delegate was resting before the start of the second day talks.
• For news and analysis of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen sign up for the Guardian's environment email newsletter Green lightSince the turn of the 21st century, NFL ratings have steadily increased, and Tuesday Morning Quarterback has gotten steadily longer. Then a year ago this time, I took a year off to complete my next book. Untoward things happened in TMQ’s absence. Donald Trump was elected. Waffle-flavored Oreos came into existence. And NFL ratings went down for the first time in the century.
No Tuesday Morning Quarterback, NFL ratings decline—you don’t seriously think those events are unrelated! We are about to find out. Tuesday Morning Quarterback is back, creating a falsifiable hypothesis: if NFL ratings rise during the 2017 season, we’ll be sure that the lack of TMQ caused the 2016 NFL ratings nosedive. That’s how the philosophy department at Tuesday University views it, anyway.
For those readers who don’t know TMQ, this column offers a mix of football commentary plus politics, culture, |
what chance does the Hulkster have?
-Afterward, the faces celebrate in the locker room, and Snuka cuts a promo in English. Truly, a banner night for all.
-So what happened? WrestleMania helped pave the way for pay per view, helped modernize the industry, and brought wrestling to a national level that led to a lot of good as well as bad, much like the story of any great rock band. Can this show be any better?
-YES IT CAN! THE AXEL FOLEY THEME OVER THE END CREDITS! ROCK OOOOOOT.
-CYNIC SAYS: Every WrestleMania is recommended viewing, but this one gets a bigger pass, since it was the first one out of the womb. While much of the action is primitive and awkward, it’ll give you a great perspective on how things came to be. A staggering 24 future Hall of Famers appeared at this event, and it’s a nice primer for younger fans to get a sense of wrestling history.
Rock n Wrestling, indeed.
Justin Henry has been an occasional contributor to Camel Clutch Blog since 2009. His other work can be found at WrestleCrap.com and ColdHardFootballFacts.com. He can be found on Twitter, so give him a follow.
WWE: The US Championship: A Legacy of Greatness Season 1
WWE: Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Part 1
Grab discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t -shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com
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Justin Henry Justin Henry has been an occasional contributor to Camel Clutch Blog since 2009. His other work can be found at WrestleCrap.com and ColdHardFootballFacts.com. He can be found on Twitter, so give him a follow. More Posts Follow Me:Skip to comments.
(Vanity) Question Regarding Prescription Meds from Canada
Fatnotlazy
Posted on by fatnotlazy
My insurance company has denied coverage for one of my meds. I am appealing the denial, but in the meantime, I need this medicine. I already priced the drug locallly -- about $200 for a 3-month supply without insurance coverage. Does anyone here use Canadian pharmacies for their prescriptions; if so, can you recommend one to me? If you have had bad experiences with Canadian pharmacies, I'd like to know about that too.
Thank you in advance, everyone!
TOPICS:
Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS:
To: fatnotlazy
Is there a generic available? If so, try Wal*Mart. If not, check your insurance company’s appeals process. If necessary, you may be able to get a good deal buying directly from the drug company. Most have programs to help people who can’t afford them.
To: fatnotlazy
http://www.northwestpharmacy.com/Default.aspx?mid=bc15ec23f1314114bdb3506fd9a3e4f7 the above firm is reliable and has an easy to use web site. I don’t think I will confess to the crime of actually ordering from them without consulting my mouthpiece.
by 3 posted onby scottteng ( IMPEACH OBAMA and elect Snitker as Florida Senator)
To: scottteng
The Mexican alternative is here:
http://medsmex.com/store/home.php
by 4 posted onby scottteng ( IMPEACH OBAMA and elect Snitker as Florida Senator)
To: fatnotlazy
I am not advising you to DO anything, however, I am telling you what others have done: I am a licensed insurance agent.I am not advising you to DO anything, however, I am telling you what others have done: There are “Canada Drug” retail outlets in many states which do NOT carry an inventory. I suggest you go to such a location, if one is in your area. They simply place orders and most of them require an actual prescription. Insurance, generally, will not pay for these retail purchases, which will be shipped from Canada to your home. If you MUST go this route, I understand, but I suggest finding a local firm rather than just getting on the interned, if a local firm is available.
To: fatnotlazy
Check WalMart, Target and the local pharmacy in your town.
My husbands $125 per month meds cost $16 at Target because of their $4 per prescription on over 400 different meds.
by 6 posted onby svcw (If you are going to quote the Bible know what you are quoting.)
To: fatnotlazy
My mom recently came home from the hospital w/a Rx for a drug that Medicare part D and her secondary insurance denied payment for, and the cost would have been $2000 per month. I found it online at a Canadian pharmacy for around $250 per month. I asked the doctor if he had a problem with the quality of drugs that come out of Canada, and he didn’t seem to think there’d be a problem. But we were able to put off the decision for awhile, so we’ve taken no action yet.
To: fatnotlazy
Years ago we ordered a drug from a canadian pharmacy with no problems at all. It was a drug approved in Europe but still undergoing FDA testing here......I wish I could recall the name of the pharmacy but will keep checking to see if someone gives you one. If not perhaps I can dig back and find the name. But it was an easy process etc...if the drug you are needing is fairly new there won’t be a generic brand available yet....think a patent takes 7 years before a generic can be made............
To: mnehring
Thnis drug is a generic...in fact, it is one of many drugs in its class and is the cheapest. The company says they won’t cover it because it is a specially formulated vitamin, not a drug. My contention is that this is not something you can buy off the shelf at the local supermarket or drugstore....you nedd a prescription for it... and that for that reason, it should be covered, at least partially. But as I said, I am appealing the decision; I just need the meds now. Thank you for your advice about going to the drug company directly. It’s worth a shot.
To: fatnotlazy
I can only help by telling you that my mother had nothing but good experiences with the Canadian pharmacies she used. Honest, accurate and helpful.
To: mnehring
It is a generic. Wal Mart doesn’t carry it; neither does Kmart or other “discount” pharmacies. I’ve gone to the usual chain pharmacies — Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, the supermarket pharmacy...even s local mom-and-pop pharmacy. Walgreens actually had the best price, but it’s still a lot. Anyway, thank you.
To: fatnotlazy
First do some research and see if you really need this drug, or if something else would do just as good a job or better. Doctors’ prescription-writing is largely driven by pharmaceutical companies’ marketing campaigns, meaning a lot of prescriptions are written for things that are a lot more expensive than alternatives that would do just as well. Example: Coumadin, which was heavily prescribed for many years, and eventually research showed that the vast majority of patients taking it would have done as well or better with plain old aspirin.
To: fatnotlazy
Do what you want, but in my view going the Canadian route amounts to becoming an accessory to extortion. I think our government needs to put an end to their thuggery by any means necessary.
by 13 posted onby xjcsa (Ridiculing the ridiculous since the day I was born.)
To: fatnotlazy
I have ordered from 77 Canada Pharmacy. They no longer carry what I used to order from them. I now get my expensive prescriptions filled by mail order for a three month supply. I did 2 or 3 orders with 77 and liked working with them.
by 14 posted onby Sans-Culotte ( Pray for Obama- Psalm 109:8)
To: Kansas58
There used to be a guy who came around to our local supermarket...he represented at least one Canadian pharmacy. He would take the orders, send them in and deliver the meds when they came in. I asked at the market if he was still around. No. He was caught and told to cease and desist, or he’d wind up in jail.
To: fatnotlazy
Check info at www.familywize.org to see if you can use the prescription drug discount card there. It covers all prescription drugs. United Way is involved with it.
To: xjcsa
Thank you for your input. Believe me, if I didn’t really need this med, I wouldn’t go this route. I may still try to get it here by some other method. But if I can’t get it here at a reasonable price, I may have no other alternative.
To: fatnotlazy
Some stores have generics on the cheap, etc.... but $66 a month isn’t that bad. My wife pays $40 a month for a prescription that is covered. SnakeDoc
by 18 posted onby SnakeDoctor (I am Jack's smirking revenge.)
To: fatnotlazy
I was getting generic Advair and Spiriva from N.W. Pharmacy in Canada, good products, prices and service. The last order I recieved had a big red warning sticker from the FDA telling me that future shipments might be stopped at the border. I've got insurance that helps now but at the time I didn't, and paying Walmart prices would have wiped out over half my retirement check. If they refuse to allow your shipment you may be out of luck on getting your money back.
by 19 posted onby SWAMPSNIPER (THE SECOND AMENDMENT, A MATTER OF FACT, NOT A MATTER OF OPINION)
To: fatnotlazy
I’ve ordered from several different Canadian on-line pharmacies. Two advantages: the Canadian price is often better, brand vs. brand and generic vs. generic. Also, drugs seem to go generic sooner outside of the US. I was able to order simvastatin (Zocor) from Canada for several years before it went generic here, for about 1/4 the US price for brand Zocor. The same is now true for Ranexa, available brand-only in the US but already available as generic “ranolazine” in Canada for about 1/4 the price of the US brand product. Try www.canadapharmacy.com; I’ve used them and several others. Plan on about four to five weeks for delivery, however.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John RobinsonGREEN BAY, WIS. - The ovation seemed appreciative more than exuberant. As the Packers headed for their home locker room at halftime, still unbeaten and totally untested Monday night, the Lambeau Field crowd seemed thankful but also a tad bored.
Another big lead at intermission? Yaaaawn.
Hey, at least the weather in mid-November was unseasonably warm.
And who would ever complain about a 17-0 cushion against the Vikings? So the Green Bay faithful clapped and shouted a bit but did so with a modest shrug as their Packers coasted toward 9-0 without breaking a sweat.
By night's end, Green Bay's pinball scoring spree had produced a decisive 45-7 victory, the most lopsided victory in series history and most impressive in how easy it seemed.
Life at the top of the NFL must be nice.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the NFC North, the Vikings continue to experience all the agonizing headaches of a below-average team with so many flaws it's hard to know which to correct first.
"We took this one on the chin," tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. "And we've got to man up. We didn't come to play. They outplayed us. Period."
On the big stage of "Monday Night Football," the Vikings seemed like the disconcerted neighbor, soaked in oil and trying to fix a faulty engine and a damaged carburetor on a 1987 Cutlass Ciera.
The Packers? They stood in their driveway applying another coat of wax to the new Aston Martin.
For the ninth consecutive game, Green Bay scored at least 24 points, then went well beyond.
Aaron Rodgers did nothing but bolster his MVP candidacy, throwing for 250 yards with four touchdowns without even needing to play the final 10 minutes.
The Packers' total-yardage victory was decisive, 356-266. Yet it wasn't as lopsided as it could have been as the Vikings lost for the 17th time in 25 games, again dominated in every phase.
"You're trying to use this game as a gauge of how far it is we have to go," coach Leslie Frazier said. "And if the score is any indication, we have a long ways to go."
What most expected to be a mismatch needed only 78 seconds to take shape. That's when Packers rookie Randall Cobb completed a nifty 80-yard punt return for a touchdown, leaving the Vikings to play a hopeless game of catch-up for the final 58:42.
And with the clumsiness and lack of focus they showed, one could only wonder if they'd acquired a rare case of second-hand stumbles from the cheery Lambeau tailgaters.
Truthfully, how many times Monday did we see a Viking sprawled out powerless on the grass? First, receiver Percy Harvin tripped while taking a first-half handoff from Christian Ponder. Loss of a yard.
Later, Asher Allen wound up in some sort of new yoga pose as Packers receiver Jordy Nelson sprung open for an easy 12-yard gain.
Then it was cornerback Cedric Griffin down, put into the ground at the Vikings 13-yard line by an inhospitable Nelson shove. From there, Nelson dashed to the end zone for the third Packers touchdown.
And it got even worse. Later, Antoine Winfield saw his season end when he fractured his clavicle.
Frazier had talked all week about the disciplined effort it would take to upset Green Bay. Instead, his players repeatedly committed costly penalties, 10 of them in all, thwarting their own scoring threats and prolonging the Packers'.
"It's hard enough to have success [against Green Bay]," Frazier said. "To have those self-inflicted wounds makes it a lot tougher."
On top of that, after Frazier's repeated requests for his defense to deliver "splash plays" as a way of neutralizing Green Bay's explosive offense, the Vikings created less splash than a Froot Loop landing in Lake Michigan.
Their lone takeaway in the first three quarters was a Cobb fumble on a punt return. Ryan D'Imperio recovered that at the Green Bay 14. And two plays later, Adrian Peterson (14 rushes, 51 yards) allowed the Vikings to avoid a shutout with a 3-yard touchdown run.
But it was far too little and far too late.
And only moments later -- five plays and 2:20 of game time to be exact -- fullback John Kuhn answered Peterson's score with a 9-yard TD reception from Rodgers.
The Packers had the Vikings in a sleeper hold. And the visitors seemed like they might be in that comatose state for some time.
"We didn't come to play," Shiancoe said. "I have no excuses for you guys right now.... We have a lot of talent. But talent doesn't win games. It's heart. Heart wins games. Heart, effort and taking care of your assignments."
Dan Wiederer • dan.wiederer@startribune.comQueen Elsa sat alone on the balcony of her bedchamber. She watched the summer stars twinkling over her kingdom and window after window grow dark from candles being blown out for the night. "Alone once more," she thought to herself as the warm breeze danced through her hair. Only she wasn't alone anymore. The events of the past few days had in many ways swept away the barriers of the past thirteen years. Hers was no longer to be a kingdom of isolation, but a kingdom of love and open gates.
Love. Love for her sister, love for her people, love for the very land of Arendelle, these were what brought about The Great Thaw, once Olaf made her realize what caused Anna to thaw. Despite what many probably thought, it was never that she didn't or couldn't love. Quite possibly she loved too much, and the fear that her powers would hurt those she loved only fed her powers and caused them to be uncontrollable. Grand Pabbie had tried to warn her that fear would be her worst enemy. Somehow her parents, her father mostly, misunderstood what he tried to tell them. She could look back and understand that their plan to isolate her from everyone and everything was probably the worst course of action in the long run. It did more damage than even her powers could. It damaged her, possibly forever, and hurt Anna when she didn't deserve to be.
It wasn't concealing and not feeling that lifted the freeze. It was being open and up front about who she really was and opening herself up to all the love that she had shut out for so long that did it. Not a tulip petal, grain of wheat, nor blade of grass was permanently harmed. Everything was as it had been. Well, mostly everything. Her secret; the secret her parents had worked so diligently to conceal was out. From what they could tell, the vast majority of her people seemed accepting of her powers, at least once she learned how to thaw that which she froze. Most importantly, Anna forgave her. She loved her enough to sacrifice her own life for her. After thirteen years of shutting her out, believing that it was the best way to keep her safe, Anna still loved her and wanted nothing more than to be close as they once had been.
After Anna's act of true love thawed the heart in which Elsa had frozen, she had held on to her sister, refusing to let go except to punch her former fiancé square in the face. Then she returned to Elsa and latched on to her arms as she had when she was just learning to walk seventeen years previously. It was the most contact Elsa had had with anyone in so very, very long. It was frightening and wonderful at the same time.
She could still feel Anna's hands on her arms even though hours had passed, it was late at night, and each had gone to her respective room to try and rest after their ordeal. Elsa half expected to hear that all-too-familiar knock that belonged only to Anna on her door, but it never came. Of course Anna had stopped knocking on her door by the time she was a teenager, except for that one time after their parents were killed.
Oh how she had wanted to open to door and hold her baby sister as they grieved together, or at least slip her slender hand under the door to grasp Anna's, which she knew was right there. She didn't. She think that she could then without harming Anna. In her own grief, her powers had been so out of control that she hadn't even been able to attend the memorial. She had left Anna completely alone when she shouldn't have. So why should she have expected, nay wanted, to hear that familiar knock?
She did though. She was afraid of falling asleep lest she awake to find that Anna thawing was but a dream, and that she indeed was her sister's murderer. She wanted to see with her own eyes that Anna was fine. She wanted to make up for thirteen years' lost time. After everything, she didn't want to be alone anymore. She wanted to build a snowman.
"Why should Anna be the one to come to me? I am the older sister, after all. It's my job to look out for her well-being. It's not as if I haven't been trying to do that for the past three years. Only this time I'll take the hallway, rather than the secret passageway," she told herself, referring to the hidden doorway behind her bookcase that led to several key places throughout the castle, including Anna's room. Among the many things Anna was unaware of was that every night for thirteen years, Elsa would sneak in her room to check on her once she was asleep. So she decided to go to her sister.
Only, going to Anna required Elsa leaving her room - through the door! Old habits die hard, even after the cathartic experience of letting all of it go. She took a deep breath, grabbed hold of the handle and… opened the door. The hallway was dark and quiet, as it was by then the wee small hours of the morning. With her back and shoulders set straight, her head held high, and all the queenly regality she could muster, she walked down the hallway to Anna's room, and stood there as if she had frozen herself. She forced her hand to the door in order to knock, but remained paralyzed, muttering nonsensical things to herself when the door opened without her having to knock.
"Elsa?" Anna stood, motionless and surprised in her nightgown, robe, and slippers.
A sheepish grin crossed Elsa's face. She brought down her hand and used it to rub her other arm like she did whenever she was nervous. "Hi! I-a-a-a-a. I wanted to check and see how you were doing?"
"Really?" Anna asked incredulously.
The grin disappeared from Elsa's face as she realized Anna had a difficult time believing her. "Really. It didn't feel right to leave you alone after everything," she paused a moment before admitting to Anna that she always checked on her when she was asleep. "And in the spirit of being open, I decided to not wait until you were asleep and sneak in through the secret passageway."
"Wait, what?" Anna turned her head from side to side, looking for any evidence of a secret passageway in her room.
Elsa laughed and walked over to the bookshelf next to Anna's vanity. She pulled down a copy of Dante's Inferno, a book Anna obviously never touched, causing a door to slide open, revealing the secret passageway.
Anna tiptoed over to peek through the opening. "No way! How could I not have known about this?"
"Anna," Elsa softly called her name. "I'm sorry that there have been a great many things you didn't know about."
"Yeah, of course." She glanced at her feet and ran her hand through her hair, her nervous trait. Then she remembered what Elsa said about sneaking in while she was asleep. "Did you just say that you would sneak in here to check on me while I slept?"
"Every night."
This so surprised Anna that she had to take a seat on her bed. "Every night? For how long?" She motioned for Elsa to sit next to her.
"Since the night after the first accident. I missed you. I knew that Papa said that I had to stay away from you to keep you safe, but I couldn't resist just checking to make sure that you were safe and well every night."
"How did I not wake up when you would do this?
Elsa chuckled. "You sleep like the dead, Anna. You always have."
Anna nodded, knowing it was true. Then she remembered something from her dreams. "Did you… Would you sing to me while I slept?"
"Most of the time, usually lullabies that Mama sang to us before bed, when we shared a room."
"I always thought that was just part of my dreams. We never stopped being close there." Anna grew unusually quiet as it dawned on her how much her sister really did love her. "What do you mean, 'first accident?"
Elsa was very slow at meeting Anna's eyes with her own, but she knew that she couldn't start this new, open chapter of her life without telling Anna what had happened in the ballroom all those years in the past - the catalyst to thirteen years of closed gates. So she told her, everything, and not without tears from both sisters. Elsa was certain that Anna would never want to move out of the castle after learning the truth.
Then Anna grasped Elsa's hand and did something wholly unexpected by Elsa but completely Anna-like. "You gave up your freedom, our friendship, your life because you were led to believe it was the only way to protect me?"
Elsa sighed. Being so open and honest wasn't something that she was accustomed to anymore. "You're my baby sister. I would do anything for you." At this, Anna enveloped her in a giant bear hug.
Anna finally let go of Elsa, only to dramatically collapse on the bed in both real and fake exhaustion. "So much has changed in the past three days. So much…" She paused a moment before quickly rolling to her side and asking, "Is it wrong that I almost want to thank Hans for maniacally trying to take the throne and killing both of us, because if he hadn't we wouldn't be where we are now? I mean, I know that he has to face the consequences of everything, but I feel that I should at least write him a thank you card."
"I, I, I honestly don't know, Anna. Wait, what? A thank you card?"
"You don't think I want to see him in person again, do you? i don't think my hand could handle having to clock him again." She gingerly rubbed her right hand. In all honesty though, if he hadn't set all of this in motion by preying on my loneliness then you and I wouldn't be this close, and I wouldn't have met Kristoff." Her eyes got this dreamy look in them as she mentioned Kristoff. Elsa, on the other hand, tensed up when she mentioned how lonely she had been and what that loneliness almost caused her to do.
"Oh!" Anna suddenly jerked up her head. "I need a really big advance on my allowance, Elsa!" Before Elsa could ask why, Anna continued, "I sort of owe Kristoff a new sled, and all the equipment that was on the one that crashed and burned when we were chased by the wolves."
"Wait, you were chased by wolves?" Elsa asked, realizing exactly how much danger her sister had put herself in to bring her back to Arendelle.
"Yeah, but I threw a flaming blanket at them so that they let go of Kristoff, and we jumped across the gorge and were ok. Then in the morning we met Olaf! Hey Anna, I don't want to marry Kristoff, right now at least, but am I going to have to since we basically spent two nights alone together? I mean, I don't think there's any chance of a baby, but has my honor been compromised?"
Elsa busted out laughing. "Oh Anna, I have missed you, Baby Sister! No, you don't have to marry anyone until it is right, and you want to!" Then she hugged her baby sister. It just seemed like the natural thing to do, and without thinking she wrapped her arms around Anna and hugged her closely to her.
Anna stiffened a little at first, because it had been three years since she had been hugged on a regular basis - thirteen since the hugs had been from Elsa. It just felt good and right to be this close to her sister again. She wanted to talk until they were completely caught up on everything, but a huge yawn escaped her lips. Then another and another. She hadn't really slept in days!
Elsa noticed the yawns and felt her own fatigue. As much as she didn't want to leave Anna, she knew that they both desperately needed their rest! "I should let you get some sleep, Anna."
Anna yawned again. "Yeah, I guess so. We have the rest of our lives to catch up." She started to pull back her covers, and Elsa started to leave when, "Elsa, I'm not in any hurry to be alone, in the dark. Would you mind sleeping in here with me tonight? You know, like you used to do when I was little and scared?"
"Are you sure?" Elsa asked.
"I wouldn't have asked. Come on! I can tell by your eyes, you don't want to be alone either. I think Elsa, that we've spent more than enough time alone, don't you? At least for tonight?"
"You know what, Anna? When you're right, you're very right. I'm in no hurry to go to my room again. I've spent more than enough time within its walls, I think." She crawled under the covers and sighed. "Goodnight, Anna. I've so very thankful and glad that you're my baby sister. I love you. I'm going to tell you so much from now on that you're going to grow tired of hearing it."
Anna was already drifting off to sleep but managed to whisper, "Goodnight, Elsa. I love you too," before her breathing turned into the gentle snores of sleep.
Elsa stared at the ceiling, listening to Anna's soft snoring, cherishing every breath her sister took, remembering how just a few short hours before, Anna had given her life for her - the very life's breath floating out of her after she froze. Anna was right, in some weird way they owed Hans for this new beginning.
In her sleep, Anna somehow managed to turn into Elsa's side, and she wrapped her fingers all in Elsa's hair as she had when she was just a toddler as a source of security in her sleep. A small voice still lurking within her head told Elsa that she should be afraid of hurting Anna again with her powers, but an even greater one assured her that she no longer had any reason to fear what she was beginning to see as possibly being a beautiful gift. Another voice told her that she probably needed to have a very important talk with Anna regarding men and women that she just realized their mother obviously never got the chance to have with her, and soon. She cringed slightly thinking about the very awkward talk their mother had shared with her when she was sixteen. She remembered the foot of snow that had accumulated during the discussion. Something so intimate seemed the most frightening thing in the world to the teenaged girl who was afraid to touch anyone.
"Talk about the blind leading the blind!" she laughed to herself before passing out into her own deep slumber. Thanks to Anna, they had plenty of time to talk about everything; and to build that snowman Elsa forgot to even mention to Anna. Elsa realized that The Great Thaw wasn't the end of the story for them, but the beginning. While Arendelle may have thawed in minutes, she knew that it would be a far more gradual thaw for her to be half as free as her feisty, fiery sister... who just slapped her in her sleep.You can't label my 'fluid' sexuality, says X Files star Gillian Anderson
Frank: She has spoken openly about having lesbian flings as a teenager - but it seems Gillian Anderson is less willing to put a label on her 'fluid' sexuality
She has spoken openly about having lesbian flings as a teenager – but it seems Gillian Anderson is less willing to put a label on her ‘fluid’ sexuality.
The twice-married mother of three has revealed that the death of an ex-girlfriend has convinced her of the need for a ‘more nuanced conversation about sexuality and its fluidity’.
The 43-year-old first confessed to having had relationships with women earlier this year.
In an interview yesterday, the X Files star explained: ‘I was talking to Out about gays and choice, and the view that you can just choose not to be gay in some way.
‘I decided to talk about it now because someone with whom I was in a relationship a couple of decades ago — a woman — passed away about a year ago.
‘I was talking about her and, in the context of the gentle conversation we were having, I thought I would say that I have had a couple of relationships with women.’
But she added: ‘I always knew I still liked boys. Being gay was never something that I identified with 100 per cent, because I knew that for me it wasn’t the only way.
‘There are so many teenagers confused about their sexuality, and I’ve been aware of the need for being open about fluid sexuality.’
Miss Anderson, who stars in upcoming thriller Shadow Dancer, had lesbian flings while at high school in Michigan.
The star has three children, Piper, 17, from her first marriage to Clyde Klotz, an assistant art director on The X Files – who has largely lived in Vancouver with her father, although now she is at an English boarding school.
In December 2004, Miss Anderson married Julian Ozanne, a documentary filmmaker, in the village of Shella on Lamu, an island off the coast of Kenya, but they announced their separation in April 2006.
She now has two sons, Oscar, five, and Felix, three, from her relationship with Mark Griffiths, a British businessman.
Star: Last year Gillian Anderson starred as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations on the BBCThe government has agreed to grant special leave to federal civil servants on July 8 (Friday) if Hari Raya Aidilfitri falls on July 6, chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa announced today.
However, he said, the special leave from work would not be applicable if the first day of Raya is declared to be on July 5 (Tuesday).
“Members of the public who plan to obtain government services on the special leave day are encouraged to visit the departments and agencies before the Hari Raya public holidays,” he said in a statement.
Ali, meanwhile, thanked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for agreeing to the special leave proposed by public servants, particularly the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs).
“Hopefully, public servants will benefit from the special leave in celebrating Aidilfitri with their families and continue to be productive and give the best services when they return to work,” he said.
- BernamaA team of scientists have discovered three species of amphibian previously thought to be extinct. Their finds include a cave-dwelling salamander last seen in 1941 – the same year that it was discovered – and two species of frog that dwell in west Africa. In total, the scientists hope to rediscover roughly 100 species of amphibian.
Conservation International, in conjunction with the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group, has organised a string of international expeditions to search for "lost" amphibian species that are highly threatened by habitat loss, climate change and disease. More than one third of amphibian species are under threat of extinction.
One of the creatures discovered by the team is the cave splayfoot salamander, Chiropterotriton mosaueri. After abseiling into a humid cave fringed with pine and oak forest in Mexico, the team found the salamander clinging to a crevice. It was last seen 70 years ago.
On a separate expedition to the Ivory Coast, scientists spotted a red-limbed Mount Nimba reed frog in a swamp near the Liberian border. The frog, which was last seen in 1967, is in urgent need of protection as the forests of Mount Nimba are threatened by deforestation, according to Conservation International.
In the flooded forests that sit on the banks of the Congo river, the team also discovered an Omaniundu reed frog, Hyperolius sankuruensis. Speckled with bright green spots, the frog was last seen in 1979. Because it only emits short, infrequent calls late at night, it is extremely hard to find.
"Indeed, because so many species of amphibian are tiny and live under rocks in streams or in other hard to find places, it is very impressive that these expeditions have found just three species previously thought to be extinct," says David Sewell, who studies amphibian conservation at the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent.
But despite the finds of species thought to be extinct, there's no reason to rejoice yet, says Sewell. "Finding three species is brilliant, but what about the remaining 97 species that the expeditions set out to find? While we live in hope that these species will be rediscovered, most of them are probably extinct."
Among the 97 species that have not been espied by the team are the sharp-snouted day frog, Schneider's banana frog and the gastric brooding frog, which lives underneath rocks in streams in Australia. Females swallow their eggs and raise tadpoles in their stomach. During that time, their stomachs stop producing hydrochloric acid.
Rediscovery of this frog would have interesting implications for medicine, says Sewell. For example, understanding how the frog downregulates production of hydrochloric acid could lead to novel ways to treat stomach ulcers. But rediscovery is unlikely, given that the frog was last seen in 1985 and is listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List, he says.
Trevor Beebee, a conservation geneticist based at the University of Sussex, is more optimistic. "Proving extinction is a notoriously difficult thing to do, especially in remote and complex habitats such as rainforests. Another hard look at amphibian extinctions might therefore generate at least a little much-needed optimism."Kevin here. A couple of weeks ago we released Alpha Systems Test C0, the first public view of our Crisis system. This Crisis is intended to be the second in the game. (The game's first Crisis will make its debut in the beta test.) Some of the other Crises involve more exotic situations, but the one in C0 is a great example of how a "normal" combat encounter manifests using the Crisis system. Jeremy Kopman, Evan Hill, and the entire team have crafted an excellent scenario with an array of narrative reactivity that reaches far beyond this one encounter.
The feedback on C0 has been outstanding, and it's been gratifying to see that players grok the core Crises concept and what we're trying to accomplish, which Jeremy described last update. More importantly, we learned a great deal about various improvements to make. As we mentioned in the C0 Release Notes, the UI in particular and communicating the gameplay systems to players are still being iterated on and the Alpha Systems testers have given us much useful feedback that we are taking into account. The team will be continuing to improve the Crisis gameplay experience, as even more of you will see in the beta test release before the end of this year.
Progress on the game is fantastic. We have written and implemented over a half million words. The majority of environment art is completed and being polished. We have assembled an exceptional team, combining skilled veterans from Wasteland 2, superstars from our pasts, and new talent discovered over the course |
Constitution. “[N]o one doubts,” as Chief Justice Roberts declared, that the problem of “voting discrimination still exists” in America,[3] especially in places with a history of such discrimination. Congress made substantial findings on this point in 2006, and we expect the evidence before this Committee to further demonstrate the unfortunate persistence of racial discrimination in voting. Although the country has made substantial progress since 1965, the work of the Voting Rights Act is unfinished. Until last month, Section 5 was a critical engine for this progress and a critical deterrent for discriminatory voting practices. Existing laws are simply insufficient to fill the void left by the Supreme Court’s decision.
In Shelby County, the Supreme Court expressly left the door open for Congress to restore or replace Section 5.[4] Although the real-world effect of the Court’s decision was sweeping, the legal ruling was actually relatively narrow. The Court invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights, the coverage formula that determined which states were subject to the requirements of Section 5, on the basis of its finding that the formula was outdated and had not been tailored to “current conditions.”[5] The Court thus rendered Section 5 inoperative in practice, but, for the second time since 2006, it expressly declined to strike down Section 5. The Court expressly acknowledged that the problem of race discrimination in voting has not been eradicated and that Congress may act to remedy that problem.[6] Indeed, the decision in no way undermined Congress’s express powers, under both the Fourteenth and Fifteen Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, to combat racial discrimination in voting through appropriate legislation. Moreover, in another case this Term, the Court reaffirmed Congress’s “broad” and “paramount” powers to regulate how federal elections are conducted.[7] Congress thus has an extremely strong basis to pursue much-needed legislative efforts to protect all Americans against the threat of discrimination in voting.
II. Implications of Loss of Section 5 Protections
We commend this Committee for taking up this important issue at this time. We urge Congress to act expeditiously to restore or replace Section 5. As outlined in If Section 5 Falls: New Voting Implications,[8] a Brennan Center report released shortly before the decision in Shelby County, there is a serious risk that, without the protections of Section 5, jurisdictions could now attempt immediately to put in place discriminatory voting changes by: re-enacting discriminatory changes that were blocked by Section 5; pursuing policies previously deterred by Section 5; implementing changes that were potentially discriminatory but had not yet been reviewed by the Department of Justice; passing new restrictive voting changes; or enforcing previously blocked changes that remain on the books.
The report makes clear that the magnitude of the problem is substantial. The immediate impact of the decision has been to enable jurisdictions to move forward with voting changes — including those that are potentially discriminatory — without Department of Justice or court review. According to news reports, at the time of the Court’s decision the Department of Justice had 276 submissions of voting changes awaiting its review under Section 5.[9] Those changes will now go forward without further review to determine if they are discriminatory.
Unless Congress acts, future discriminatory voting changes will also move forward without review. In the run-up to the 2012 elections, state legislatures passed scores of new laws that would have made it harder for eligible Americans to vote.[10] While most of the restrictive new voting laws were blocked, mitigated, or repealed before the elections, efforts to cut back on voting access continue.[11] In the most recent legislative session (as of April 29, 2013), 28 restrictive voting bills were introduced in states that were covered wholly or in part by Section 5, and two of those bills already passed.[12] To the extent that those bills are discriminatory, Section 5 can no longer function to deter their passage or prevent their implementation.
Another threat in the wake of Shelby County is that jurisdictions may seek to re-enact or implement voting changes that have previously been formally blocked by Section 5. Our report identified, among other things:
31 discriminatory election changes had been blocked by the Department of Justice since Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006;[13]
three examples in the run up to the 2012 election where federal courts denied preclearance to proposed election changes;[14] and
multiple cases where Section 5 blocked repeated attempts by a single jurisdiction to dilute minority voting strength.[15]
The report further found that some previously blocked voting changes remain on the books, leading to the possibility jurisdictions could begin enforcing them.[16] For example, the report identifies two discriminatory state laws blocked by Section 5 which remain on the books.[17]
Perhaps the largest impact of the Shelby County decision will be the loss of the powerful deterrent effect of Section 5 on discriminatory voting practices. To give a sense of the magnitude of this problem, the report pointed out that:
153 voting changes were abandoned between 1999 and 2005 after the Department of Justice requested more information about a jurisdiction’s Section 5 submission;[18] and
In several cases in the run up to the 2012 election, Section 5 deterred restrictive voting changes, either through more information requests by the Department of Justice, or when officials were first contemplating changes to their election procedures.[19]
These examples only graze the surface of the kinds of voting changes that have been deterred or prevented by Section 5 and that may now move forward more easily. Unless Congress acts, there is a real risk that a significant number of discriminatory voting changes could be put in effect in jurisdictions previously covered by Section 5.
* * *
The Voting Rights Act was a remarkable accomplishment for the nation, ushering in the promise of real political equality after centuries of abuse. The Act has taken on an iconic role, reflecting the country’s rejection of the brutality of Jim Crow and embrace of the core constitutional value of political equality. It has simultaneously played a hardworking role, protecting against ongoing discrimination in the voting process. The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County gutted the core of the Voting Rights Act. In doing so, it left a gaping hole in American law and demands an immediate response. While Section 5 has been an enormously successful tool in the struggle to eradicate racial discrimination in voting, the struggle is not over. Strong legal protections are crucial to sustaining the core value of our democracy, reflected in the Declaration of Independence, that we all are created equal. We urge Congress to work together again to restore this critical law to ensure our elections remain free, fair, and accessible for all Americans.Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak speaks to the media in Tel Aviv, Monday, Nov 26, 2012. Barak shook up the Israeli political system Monday with the abrupt announcement that he is quitting politics and will not run in general elections in January. The defence minister made the surprise announcement even after polls showed his breakaway Independence Party gaining momentum after Israel's recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip. - AP Photo
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Monday abruptly announced he was quitting politics, shaking up the country's political system just weeks ahead of general elections.
Barak, a decorated former general and one-time prime minister, said he would stay on in his current post until a new government is formed following the Jan 22 balloting.
“I didn't make this decision without hesitating, but I made it wholeheartedly,” he told a hastily arranged news conference, saying he had been wrestling with the decision for weeks.
Barak's resignation could mean the departure of the most moderating influence on hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to retain his job after the election.
Barak, who heads a small centrist faction in parliament, had often served as Netanyahu's unofficial envoy to Washington in order to smooth over differences with the Obama White House.
Barak, 70, made the surprise announcement even after polls showed his breakaway Independence Party gaining momentum after Israel's recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“I feel I have exhausted my political activity, which had never been an object of desire for me. There are many ways for me to serve the country, not just through politics,” he said, adding his decision was spurred in part by his desire to spend more time with his family.
Barak and Netanyahu, who enjoyed a close working relationship for most of the past four years, reportedly have fallen out over whether to defer to the US on any attack against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Barak's detractors in Netanyahu's Likud Party wanted him replaced.
Barak evaded repeated questions about whether he might agree to serve as a Cabinet minister in an upcoming government, leaving open the possibility that he might still retain an impact on Israeli politics.
While most Cabinet ministers also hold parliamentary seats, small numbers have been appointed as “professional” ministers without winning election.The Republican Party, a national coalition of conservative voters, died Tuesday night in Cleveland surrounded by friends, delegates, and 1980s television stars.
The Party was 162.
The cause of death was a roll call vote that officially cemented the nomination of Donald J. Trump, a reality TV star and hotelier known for his histrionic exhortations to "Make America Great Again," to represent the party as its presidential nominee.
The Republican Party was born on July 6, 1854 in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. Its parents were former Whig Party members, who were determined to fight the spread of slavery under the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The party, also known as the "Grand Old Party," grew impressively in its youth, electing Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860 and dominating national politics well into the 20th century.
The Party's health took a turn for the worse during the 1920s, when the Great Depression drove voters to Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" coalition. But it recovered in the 1960s, when Southern Democrats defected over civil rights and joined its ranks.
A series of health scares plagued the GOP shortly thereafter, including the ascendance of Barry Goldwater, and the resignation of Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal. But it survived those challenges, as it would survive many others over the years—including Sarah Palin, Clint Eastwood's empty chair skit, Mitch McConnell's "Harlem Shake" video, and the guy from Duck Dynasty.
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The 1980s brought the GOP’s heyday, with the election of actor Ronald Reagan, which knitted religious conservatives and tax-averse capitalists together in a fragile alliance. But the party began a terminal decline with the 2009 formation of the Tea Party, a splinter group that swept federal and state legislatures and really boosted sales of “Don’t Tread On Me” beer koozies.
In its final days, despite having majorities in both houses of Congress, the GOP fell gravely ill. In the 2016 presidential primaries, the Party mustered only a handful of serious contenders: Jeb Bush, the affectless scion of a Republican dynasty; Ted Cruz, a widely-despised first-term senator best known for shutting down the entire U.S. government; Ben Carson, a narcoleptic Drudge headline; and John Kasich, a haircut.
Donald J. Trump, the illness that led to the Party's demise, seized on these weaknesses and propelled himself to the nomination. Trump was originally misdiagnosed in 2015 as a rash that would clear up by the end of July. But he metastasized quickly, and rose through the polls while calling Mexicans rapists, antagonizing a religion of a billion people, retweeting memes from white supremacists, and linking a rival's father to the assassination of JFK.
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In the end, even the best attempts of Republican establishment leaders to revive their party proved unsuccessful, and on the night of July 19, 2016, on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, the Republican Party finally succumbed.
The GOP is survived by a faded Ronald Reagan poster, gerrymandered control of state and local governments, and a "Trump That Bitch" t-shirt.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests the repeal of the estate tax.One of Duncan Aviation's main facilities is in Battle Creek. (Photo: Al Lassen/For the Enquirer)
Duncan Aviation is expanding in Battle Creek.
The airplane maintenance and repair company is moving forward with its plans to lease a hangar at Battle Creek Airport. The company expects the expansion to create 50 new jobs over the next three years.
Duncan Aviation is the world’s largest privately owned business jet support facility. It was founded in 1956 and opened up a facility in Battle Creek in 1998.
The company did a major expansion in Battle Creek in 2005, but is now at capacity and has even had to turn away some projects, according to a press release from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Leasing the Battle Creek Airport hanger will allow Duncan Aviation to increase the capacity of its Battle Creek operations. It's possible that the company will purchase the hangar in the future, according to Battle Creek Unlimited president Joe Sobieralski.
More: Duncan Aviation to lease former Kellogg airport hangar
Duncan Aviation has leased a city-owned airplane hangar at the W.K. Kellogg Airport in Battle Creek. (Photo: Google)
The expansion is expected to bring an investment of more than $2.9 million alongside the new jobs.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is providing Duncan Aviation with a $150,000 grant through the Michigan Business Development Program.
The company's successful expansion "reflects Michigan’s growing economy and expanding job opportunities for our state’s talented and abundant workforce,” said Jeff Mason, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, in a press release, adding that the project "will mean more jobs and greater economic opportunities for people in the state.”
Battle Creek Unlimited also is supporting the project with a $250,000 Battle Creek Tax Increment Financing Authority grant. The money is going toward making improvements to the hanger, Sobieralski said.
Hiring is expected to begin this year.
“Aviation jobs are kind of more technical in nature,” Sobieralski said. “It’s helping us grow our aerospace industry while providing some better paying jobs.”
Duncan Aviation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Contact Natasha Blakely at (269) 223-0114 or nblakely@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @blakelynat.
Read or Share this story: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/local/2017/10/11/duncan-aviation-leases-battle-creek-airport-hanger-create-50-jobs/753503001/Have you ever looked in the mirror after a new haircut and felt like a new person? A new ‘do can really change the vibe you give off to others! This is true for our avatars, too.
A change of color can be the breath of fresh air your avatar needs, or perhaps you want an entirely different style altogether. You may be surprised at just how much a new hairstyle can change your overall appearance. Take the slideshow below, for example. The hair (and very minor expression changes) are the only differences between each image. Every hair in this post was created by TRUTH.
TRUTH VIP
Since we have hair on the mind (or head, rather) I want to make sure you all know about TRUTH’s VIP group. Each of the hairs in the slideshow above I received for free just by being a VIP group member. I know I’ve gushed about the group perks before, but I really do think this is one of the top VIP groups.
Your one time L$350 join fee gives you a new VIP exclusive fatpack every month at no additional cost. To put that into perspective a new fatpack generally costs around L$1200. Joining the group gives you new hair immediately at a fraction of that cost PLUS new hair every month!
Membership also gives you access to group exclusive contests and arguably the best brand group chat in Second Life. The moderators are fun and helpful and Truth drops in on a regular basis as well. If you enjoy TRUTH products at all please considering joining the group and supporting a wonderful and kind designer who genuinely cares for his customers.
Note: TRUTH did NOT sponsor this post. I just genuinely absolutely love his products, staff, and everything to do with his brand.
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Like this: Like Loading...Some of the most important human diseases are borne by mosquitoes including malaria (Anopheles), filariasis (Culex, Mansonia and some Anopheles spp.), viral encephalitides (Culex), dengue and yellow fever (principally Aedes aegypti). An estimated 2 billion people live in areas where these diseases are endemic. The burden is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa, where ~200 million cases of malaria are reported annually and many children succumb1. Emergence and spread of resistance to pyrethroids, organophosphates and carbamates is a particular threat, as most disease control programs rely heavily on these broad-spectrum chemical insecticides to reduce vector populations2,3,4,5. In recent years, anopheline malaria vectors in sub-Saharan Africa have gained sufficient resistance to render chemical insecticides largely ineffective5, 6.
The chemical insecticides used in mosquito control programs are directed at neuronal voltage-gated sodium (Na V ) channels, as are many insect-specific neurotoxins derived from arthropods, including the scorpion toxin AaIT that has been approved for release in several countries7. A recombinant strain of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae expressing AaIT killed Ae. aegypti mosquitoes faster and at lower spore doses than wild-type (WT) fungus8. Since AaIT and pyrethroids bind to different sites on insect Na V channels and channel mutations that confer resistance to pyrethroids actually increase binding of AaIT, the use of both pyrethroids and AaIT should mitigate against resistance acquisition9. Furthermore, combining toxins with different targets, such as voltage-gated sodium, potassium (K V ) and calcium (Ca V ) channels, could provide useful additive or synergistic effects and minimize the potential for cross-resistance. Ca V and K V channels are previously unexploited insecticide targets, reducing the likelihood of pre-existing resistance.
We compared the efficacy against Anopheles gambiae of recombinant Metarhizium pingshaense co-expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and one of several arthropod-derived toxins with different modes of action: AaIT, the Na V channel inhibitor μ-CUTX-As1a (As1a)10, the K Ca /Ca V blocker ω/κ-hexatoxin-Hv1a (Hybrid), the Ca V channel blocker ω-hexatoxin-Hv1a (Hv1a)11, and U 1 -AGTX-Ta1a (Ta1a), a weaponized insect hormone which has an unknown neuronal target12. With the exception of AaIT, all these toxins are derived from spider venom. To express the transgenes we used the Mcl1 promoter that targets expression to the hemocoel of infected insects8, 13, 14.
We previously determined that hyphal bodies appear in the hemolymph 2–3 days post infection and that Mcl1 expression commences within 20 min of contact with hemolymph15.
Transformants were selected by GFP expression and PCR/sequencing confirmation of the toxin gene, and initially bioassayed by spraying spore suspensions (~1 conidium/mosquito; ~3 conidia/mosquito; and ~6 conidia/mosquito) onto cold (4 °C) anesthetized adult female An. gambiae. Although they have different molecular targets (Na V, Ca V and K Ca channels), each toxin significantly (p < 0.05) improved the median lethal time (LT50) with infection loads of 3 or more spores (Fig. 1a,b, and Table 1) compared to WT, and therefore they constitute a potential arsenal that could be rotated and/or used in combination in a mosquito control program aimed at mitigating resistance. Hybrid, also known as VersitudeTM, was chosen for further study as the US EPA has already approved it for use as a stand-alone insect control agent. Since prevention of transmission of malaria is of primary importance in assessing a mosquito control technology, we took a holistic view of the life cycle of the parasite to determine if pre-lethal effects could contribute to Metarhizium preventing the spread of malaria.
Figure 1 (a) LT50 values for mosquitoes treated with 1 × 105, 1 × 106 and 1 × 107 M. pingshaense conidia/ml suspensions resulting in ~1, ~3 and ~6 conidia/mosquito, respectively, of M. pingshaense WT or M. pingshaense expressing Hybrid, AaIT or both AaIT and Hybrid. LC50 values are reported along the x-axis as the inverse of the estimated spore inoculum. Lettering represents statistical differences (p < 0.05) based on a log-rank test comparing the Kaplan-Meier survival curves. The LC50 dose for untreated mosquitoes was fixed at zero and reported for all spore concentrations for comparison. (b) Schematic representing infection timing (beige) and LT50s of mosquitoes treated with conidial suspensions and exposed to cloth impregnated with toxin expressing strains or WT. Lettering groups toxins by statistical significance (p < 0.05) based on a log-rank test comparing the Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Full size image
Table 1 LT50s and LC50s (day 5) for Anopheles gambiae treated with Metarhizium pingshaense strains expressing arthropod-derived toxins alone and stacked (Hybrid/AaIT) compared with wild-type (WT) and a control (0.01% Tween). Full size table
We tested fungal efficacy against three anopheline vectors of human malaria: two wild-caught, insecticide-resistant species (An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s.) and one lab-reared, insecticide-susceptible species (An. gambiae Kisumu An. kisumu). We applied the fungus to sheets, as fungal-impregnated sheets hung in houses provide a resting area for mosquitoes that have taken blood meals16. Most malaria vectors prefer to blood feed and rest inside houses, thus maximizing the likelihood of fungal contact and infection17. We exposed mosquito populations for one hour to sheets impregnated with either: 1) Met-RFP, a strain with WT virulence expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP) as a marker, and 2) Hybrid toxin expressing fungus (Met-Hybrid) co-expressing GFP. We found mosquitoes exposed to the cloth for one hour in a WHO mosquito bioassay tube picked up an average of 129 ± 18 spores, a sufficient dose to kill all mosquitoes exposed to each fungal treatment. Mortality was monitored over 14 days and compared to uninfected controls.
Insecticide (Knockdown) resistance (kdr) in each mosquito population was quantified using PCR. The kdr mutation reduces sensitivity to DDT and pyrethroids and is the most prevalent form of insecticide resistance for West African mosquitoes6. The levels of kdr resistance in wild-caught An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s. were 98.3% and 92.9%, respectively (Supplementary Table 1). An. gambiae Kisumu mosquitoes are an established laboratory population of mosquitoes with stable susceptibility to insecticides, so their resistance was not tested.
Overall, insecticide resistance did not alter the susceptibility of the three mosquito species to Met-RFP and Met-Hybrid (Fig. 2). Within 2.5 days post-infection, mosquitoes exposed to Met-Hybrid were dying faster than those exposed to Met-RFP. LT50 (LT80) values for Met-Hybrid and Met-RFP were 4.14 ± 0.16 (5.47 ± 0.25) and 6.18 ± 0.14 (7.71 ± 0.16) days, respectively (mean ± standard error is reported). Fluorescent Metarhizium mycosis was observed on fungus-exposed cadavers, confirming mortality due to treatment. The number of mosquitoes surviving in the uninfected control group never dropped below 84.4% (Fig. 2).
Figure 2 Survival following WHO tube exposure: these three graphs represent survival curves for RFP expressing Metarhizium (Met-RFP) and Hybrid toxin-expressing Metarhizium (Met-Hybrid) against two wild-caught, insecticide-resistant (An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s.) and one lab-reared (An. gambiae Kisumu) human malaria vector mosquitoes. There are no significant differences in time to kill insecticide resistant and susceptible strains, but Met-Hybrid is more effective on all mosquito strains. Full size image
The wild-type M. pingshaense strain has a narrow host range. To investigate if expressing Hybrid toxin impacts host specificity, we assayed transformants against honeybees (Apis mellifera adansonii) as a representative local pollinator. Honeybees were infected with black cloth impregnated with ~2 × 106 conidia/cm2 in WHO tubes and spore dose was estimated using our selective media protocol. Met-RFP and Met-Hybrid did not kill any honeybees in the two weeks they were observed following infection (there was no difference in mortality rates between fungal exposed and unexposed bees, and no fungal emergence was observed on any bee cadaver). This is in agreement with previous studies indicating that the expression of insect toxins did not increase the host range of M. acridum 13. Interestingly, honeybees picked up significantly fewer spores (80 ± 3 spores, p < 0.05) than mosquitoes under the same conditions, despite the much smaller size of mosquitoes. Spraying bees with 1 × 108 spores/ml also failed to cause mortality.
Willingness and ability to blood feed were also tested, as even small changes in coordination could potentially interfere with behavior and disease transmission. Host-seeking (blood feeding) interest was quantified as the percentage of the mosquito population choosing the chamber closest to the host in a guinea pig choice chamber (Fig. 3a,b and Supplementary Figure 1a,b). At one day post-infection, 94.3% of untreated (controls) and treated (Met-RFP or Met-Hybrid) mosquitoes flew toward the blood source with no significant differences between treatments. The willingness of mosquitoes in the control group to blood feed did not change over the course of the experiment. In contrast, significantly (p < 0.05) fewer (56.9%) mosquitoes treated with Met-Hybrid flew to the blood source on day 3 as compared to Met-RFP (82.1%). By day 4 the number of Met-Hybrid infected mosquitoes in the guinea pig choice chamber (38.9%) was not significantly different than the 30% entering the chamber in the absence of a guinea pig. Met-RFP infected mosquitoes only became significantly (p < 0.01) less responsive than uninfected controls on day 4 (Fig. 3a). These results suggest a pre-lethal advantage to using transgenic fungi for mosquito control.
Figure 3 (a) Impact of fungal infection on blood-feeding at 1–5 days post-infection with either Met-Hybrid or Met-RFP. Mosquitoes were placed in a choice chamber with the guinea pig host outside of the chamber and just out of reach (Supplementary Figure 1a,b). Host-seeking (blood feeding) interest was quantified as the percentage of the mosquito population choosing the chamber closest to the host. The symbol “*” denotes no significant differences in mosquito choices with or without a host: 30 ± 3.05% of the mosquitoes chose the “host” chamber even in the absence of a host. (b) Mortality and transmission of mosquitoes exposed to fungus, the light area represents the percent survival of mosquitoes for each treatment, while the dark area shows the proportion of mosquitoes in each treatment that are alive and would seek a host to blood feed (capable of malaria transmission). The upper dashed line represents the LT50 while the lower dashed line represents the 80% control threshold suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a successful vector control agent18. Full size image
With this information, we projected the measured proportion of mosquitoes interested in blood feeding onto the mortality of mosquitoes to identify the fraction capable of malaria transmission (Fig. 3b). In contrast to Met-RFP, by day 5, Met-Hybrid infected mosquitoes passed the threshold in both metrics (8.35% malaria transmission and >80% mortality) for the 80% control threshold suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a successful vector control agent18.
Like Hybrid, AaIT is US EPA approved. As AaIT targets Na V channels and the Hybrid toxin targets Ca V and K Ca channels, we examined whether their different sites of action produce synergistic effects. We found a clear benefit in terms of both effective spore doses and speed of kill in expressing both Hybrid and AaIT in a single strain (Met-Hybrid/AaIT) (Table 1). Mosquitoes sprayed with 1 × 105 spores/mL (~1 spore/mosquito) of Met-Hybrid/AaIT, Met-Hybrid or WT had LT50s of 8.90 ± 1.09, 9.08 ± 0.44, and 9.49 ± 0.60 days, respectively, and the differences between them fell short of significance (Fig. 1a and Table 1). At this low spore dose, Met-Hybrid/AaIT, Met-Hybrid and WT significantly (p < 0.05) reduced lifespan compared to untreated mosquitoes (LT50 of 11.4 ± 0.52 days), and high variation in Met-AaIT bioassays resulted in no statistical difference from untreated mosquitoes. However, increasing the spore doses reduced the LT50s of toxin expressing strains to a greater extent than WT, consistent with the toxins having threshold effects (Fig. 1a,b). Comparing toxins, mosquitoes sprayed with 1 × 106 Met-Hybrid/AaIT spores/ml (~3 spores/mosquito) achieved an LT50 of 5.30 ± 0.42 days that was significantly faster than the 6.39 ± 0.35 and 7.20 ± 0.84 days for Met-Hybrid and Met-AaIT alone. The Tabashnik synergism equation19 confirmed synergistic interactions as early as 4.5 days post-infection, and at 5 days it takes less than half the dosage of Met-Hybrid/AaIT to kill mosquitoes at the same rate as either Met-Hybrid or Met-AaIT applied alone (Supplementary Table 2). Such synergies suggest that optimizing the overall efficacy of the control strategy will require multiple transgenes, and a toxin arsenal could reduce effective conidial doses thereby reducing end-user costs (Fig. 1a and Table 1).
The spray infection method successfully probes efficacy differences between transgenes by delivering low spore doses, but contributes to variation in LT50 values because some mosquitoes escape infection at these low dosages. We estimated that inocula containing 1 × 107, 1 × 106 and 1 × 105 spores/ml deliver at least one spore to 95%, 75%, and 50% of the mosquitoes sprayed, respectively. As mosquito mortality increases with inoculum load, we plotted spore counts per mosquito versus the probability of death derived from our bioassays for the WT and transgenic strains (Met-AaIT, Met-Hybrid, and Met-Hybrid/AaIT) (Fig. 4). Together, these data revealed that the lethal dose per mosquito at which 100% of mosquitoes die (LD100) is 10 spores, 8 spores, 7 spores, and 6 spores for WT, Met-AaIT, Met-Hybrid and Met-Hybrid/AaIT, respectively. The results explain the incomplete mortality seen even with our highest spore concentration (1 × 107), and the complete mortality seen in mosquitoes treated through contact with oil-impregnated cloth, which delivers far more spores to every mosquito. This bodes well for oil-impregnated cloth as a delivery system for entomopathogenic fungal spores and for the translatability of spray method results to the field.
Figure 4 The number of spores infecting each mosquito after spraying with three different spore concentrations (1 × 105, 1 × 106, and 1 × 107 spores/mL in 0.01% Tween80) plotted against the probability of death. The mean number of spores delivered with each suspension is marked with a blue crossbar. Assuming that mosquitoes with a higher dose are more likely to die, we calculated the chance of death for each mosquito based on our survival data for each treatment at each concentration. Mosquitoes with an estimated 100% chance of death are colored in red, and 0–99% is represented with a green to orange gradient. The red dashed line indicates the estimated LD100 in each treatment (10 spores for WT, 8 spores for AaIT, 7 spores for Hybrid and 6 spores for Hybrid/AaIT). Full size image
In conclusion, fungi can be genetically modified to strategically maximize their success as biocontrol agents13, 20. When their impact on malaria transmission is considered, transgenic fungi applied on sheets meet WHO standards for effective control of malaria within 5 days post-exposure, indicating that the inclusion of transgenic Metarhizium in pre-existing control efforts would effectively decrease malaria transmission. Some female mosquitoes infected with transgenic fungi will lay eggs 3–4 days after a bloodmeal, so infected mosquitoes may still pass their genes onto the next generation, but infection will prevent further oviposition. Our study emphasizes the need to consider the effect of fungi on blood feeding for modeling of existing mosquito control techniques in conjunction with transgenic Metarhizium 21.Share this
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New research on thousands of police interactions finds significant racial differences in how police in Oakland, California, treat African Americans during traffic and pedestrian stops.
The researchers suggest 50 measures, divided here into 8 broad types, to improve police-community relations in Oakland and elsewhere, such as better data collection, bias training, and changing cultures and systems.
“Transparency and data will set you free.”
Among the findings, African-American men were four times more likely to be searched than whites during a traffic stop. African Americans were also more likely to be handcuffed, even if they ultimately were not arrested.
Across the United States, the report notes, police agencies are guided by the commitment to serve communities with fairness, respect, and honor. Yet tensions between police and communities of color are documented to be at an all-time high.
Oakland, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, has a population of 390,724; 34.5 percent is white, 28 percent is African American, and 25.4 percent is Latino, according to 2010 census data.
The Oakland Police Department has been under federal monitoring for more than a decade since the so-called Riders case involving police misconduct. The Stanford researchers, led by psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, were engaged to assist Oakland in complying with the federal order to collect and analyze stop data by race. Oakland police started wearing body cameras in 2010—one of the first departments in the US to do so.
The two-year study, conducted in close cooperation and collaboration with the Oakland Police Department, examined data from body camera footage, police stops and reports, and community and resident surveys.
Eberhardt applauds the willingness of the Oakland Police Department to share its data and the department’s interest in identifying new ways to build better ties between law enforcement and the local residents. “Transparency and data will set you free,” she says.
Over 28,000 encounters with police
The study analyzed traffic stop data from police body cameras that occurred between April 1, 2013, and April 30, 2014. During this period, 28,119 traffic and pedestrian stops were recorded by 510 police officers. Police can legally stop people on the basis of traffic violations, probable cause, reasonable suspicion, or for being on probation or parole, among other reasons.
With audio recordings from a one-month period, researchers scrutinized more than 157,000 words, including the specific language and tone officers used with residents during traffic stops. They tracked words related to respect or anxiety, and words that reveal how the interaction went and how the resident experienced the interaction with the officer.
The researchers also examined more than 1,000 police reports or “narratives” on traffic stops and surveyed more than 400 Oakland residents about their views on police-community issues.
They found that 60 percent of police stops in Oakland, or nearly 17,000 stops, were made of African Americans. This rate is more than three times that of the next most common group, Hispanics (whites accounted for 13 percent). The research also showed that:
When officers report being able to identify the race of the person before stopping them, the person stopped is much more likely to be African American (62 percent) than when officers couldn’t tell the race (48 percent).
African-American men were more likely to be handcuffed during a stop (1 out of 4 times) than whites (1 out of 15 times), excluding arrests.
African-American men were also more likely to be searched (1 in 5 times vs. 1 in 20 times for whites), though officers were no more likely to make a recovery from those searches.
African-American men were more likely to be arrested after a stop by police—1 in every 6 vs. 1 in 14 for white men.
Also, 77 percent of Oakland police officers who made stops during the 13-month period never discretionarily searched a white person, but 65 percent did so with an African-American person.
Likewise, 74 percent of these officers did not handcuff a white person who was not ultimately arrested, yet 72 percent did so with an African-American person. Also, the degree of racial disparities in handcuffing and arrests was lower for more experienced officers than less experienced ones.
“Racial disparities are real, as this research shows,” Eberhardt says. “Differences exist in how police officers treated African Americans compared to those of other ethnic groups.”
The researchers point out that racial disparities are not defined as overt racism—in |
Front on Bay, both ways. Each day’s data are plotted individually to show the difference between individual trips, the evolution of travel times over the day, and the degree of dispersion in travel time values (i.e. the predictability, or not, of travel time for any journey).
One pair of charts shows average times, by hour, for each day to illustrate daily fluctuations and any before/after changes concurrent with the King Street Pilot.
For both routes, there is almost no change in the average travel times after the pilot began. Values on Queen bounce around a lot, but they do so both before and after the pilot began.
There is a quite striking weekly pattern with much higher than usual averages during the PM peak eastbound on Queen and southbound on Bay with low values usually on Mondays, and much higher values later in the week. This shows the importance of studying route behaviour over several days, while remaining aware that external events can create patterns in the data, or can create one-time disruptions for special events such as parades or sporting events.
501 Queen:
6 Bay:Release of KDE Frameworks 5.10.0
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May 08, 2015. KDE today announces the release of KDE Frameworks 5.10.0.
KDE Frameworks are 60 addon libraries to Qt which provide a wide variety of commonly needed functionality in mature, peer reviewed and well tested libraries with friendly licensing terms. For an introduction see the Frameworks 5.0 release announcement.
This release is part of a series of planned monthly releases making improvements available to developers in a quick and predictable manner.
New in this Version
KActivities
(no changelog provided)
KConfig
Generate QML-proof classes using the kconfigcompiler
KCoreAddons
New cmake macro kcoreaddons_add_plugin to create KPluginLoader-based plugins more easily.
KDeclarative
Fix crash in texture cache.
and other fixes
KGlobalAccel
Add new method globalShortcut which retrieves the shortcut as defined in global settings.
KIdleTime
Prevent kidletime from crashing on platform wayland
KIO
Added KPropertiesDialog::KPropertiesDialog(urls) and KPropertiesDialog::showDialog(urls).
Asynchronous QIODevice-based data fetch for KIO::storedPut and KIO::AccessManager::put.
Fix conditions with QFile::rename return value (bug 343329)
Fixed KIO::suggestName to suggest better names (bug 341773)
kioexec: Fixed path for writeable location for kurl (bug 343329)
Store bookmarks only in user-places.xbel (bug 345174)
Duplicate RecentDocuments entry if two different files have the same name
Better error message if a single file is too large for the trash (bug 332692)
Fix KDirLister crash upon redirection when the slot calls openURL
KNewStuff
New set of classes, called KMoreTools and related. KMoreTools helps to add hints about external tools which are potentially not yet installed. Furthermore, it makes long menus shorter by providing a main and more section which is also user-configurable.
KNotifications
Fix KNotifications when used with Ubuntu's NotifyOSD (bug 345973)
Don't trigger notification updates when setting the same properties (bug 345973)
Introduce LoopSound flag allowing notifications to play sound in a loop if they need it (bug 346148)
Don't crash if notification doesn't have a widget
KPackage
Add a KPackage::findPackages function similar to KPluginLoader::findPlugins
KPeople
Use KPluginFactory for instantiating the plugins, instead of KService (kept for compatibility).
KService
Fix wrong splitting of entry path (bug 344614)
KWallet
Migration agent now also check old wallet is empty before starting (bug 346498)
KWidgetsAddons
KDateTimeEdit: Fix so user input actually gets registered. Fix double margins.
KFontRequester: fix selecting monospaced fonts only
KWindowSystem
Don't depend on QX11Info in KXUtils::createPixmapFromHandle (bug 346496)
new method NETWinInfo::xcbConnection() -> xcb_connection_t*
KXmlGui
Fix shortcuts when secondary shortcut set (bug 345411)
Update list of bugzilla products/components for bug reporting (bug 346559)
Global shortcuts: allow configuring also the alternate shortcut
NetworkManagerQt
The installed headers are now organized like all other frameworks.
Plasma framework
PlasmaComponents.Menu now supports sections
Use KPluginLoader instead of ksycoca for loading C++ dataengines
Consider visualParent rotation in popupPosition (bug 345787)
Sonnet
Don't try to highlight if there is no spell checker found. This would lead to an infinite loop with rehighlighRequest timer firing constanty.
Frameworkintegration
Fix native file dialogs from widgets QFileDialog: ** File dialogs opened with exec() and without parent were opened, but any user-interaction was blocked in a way that no file could be selected nor the dialog closed. ** File dialogs opened with open() or show() with parent were not opened at all.
Installing binary packages
On Linux, using packages for your favorite distribution is the recommended way to get access to KDE Frameworks. Binary package distro install instructions.
Compiling from sources
The complete source code for KDE Frameworks 5.10.0 may be freely downloaded. Instructions on compiling and installing KDE Frameworks 5.10.0 are available from the KDE Frameworks 5.10.0 Info Page.
Building from source is possible using the basic cmake.; make; make install commands. For a single Tier 1 framework, this is often the easiest solution. People interested in contributing to frameworks or tracking progress in development of the entire set are encouraged to use kdesrc-build. Frameworks 5.10.0 requires Qt 5.2.
A detailed listing of all Frameworks and other third party Qt libraries is at inqlude.org, the curated archive of Qt libraries. A complete list with API documentation is on api.kde.org.
Contribute
Those interested in following and contributing to the development of Frameworks can check out the git repositories, follow the discussions on the KDE Frameworks Development mailing list and contribute patches through review board. Policies and the current state of the project and plans are available at the Frameworks wiki. Real-time discussions take place on the #kde-devel IRC channel on freenode.net
You can discuss and share ideas on this release in the comments section of the dot article.
Supporting KDE
KDE is a Free Software community that exists and grows only because of the help of many volunteers that donate their time and effort. KDE is always looking for new volunteers and contributions, whether it is help with coding, bug fixing or reporting, writing documentation, translations, promotion, money, etc. All contributions are gratefully appreciated and eagerly accepted. Please read through the Donations page for further information or become a KDE e.V. supporting member through our new Join the Game initiative.
About KDE
KDE is an international technology team that creates free and open source software for desktop and portable computing. Among KDE's products are a modern desktop system for Linux and UNIX platforms, comprehensive office productivity and groupware suites and hundreds of software titles in many categories including Internet and web applications, multimedia, entertainment, educational, graphics and software development. KDE software is translated into more than 60 languages and is built with ease of use and modern accessibility principles in mind. KDE's full-featured applications run natively on Linux, BSD, Solaris, Windows and Mac OS X.
Trademark Notices. KDE® and the K Desktop Environment® logo are registered trademarks of KDE e.V. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyrights referred to in this announcement are the property of their respective owners.
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press@kde.orgA councillor found to be in breach of the code of conduct made a public apology Tuesday night.
Interim integrity commissioner Janet Leiper determined that during a television interview about houses that violate property conventions, Sydenham Coun. Peter Stroud made comments that violated the code.
Stroud was quoted talking about “irresponsible land owners,” landlords who “do not care” about their tenants, and people who “don’t care one bit about what they’re doing to the neighbourhood.”
The complaint was filed by the owners of the house Stroud was standing in front of during the interview.
Leiper said the complainant had worked with city staff and the local community before completing renovations to their house.
“You’re about to hear something you don’t often hear that often from a politician: I was wrong,” Stroud said at the top of his apology.
“I am sorry,” he said, offering an unconditional apology to the property owners, mayor and council.
The report was not accepted without question by other councillors around the table,
Portsmouth Coun. Liz Schell referred to a message she received from a constituent critical of how she handled an issue in her district.
Schell said she understands why Stroud became passionate about property issues in his district.
“The is the kind of horrible dilemma councillors are in all the time,” she said of measuring her response to residents. “It’s a terrible line we have to follow all the time.
It’s tough being a councillor.”
Schell said Leiper’s report was “confusing” and “contradictory.”
“It read like a police report,” she said, adding that she was going to “make a stand” by voting against it.
She was joined in her criticism by Trillium Coun. Adam Candon, who asked how much the report cost.
City clerk John Bolognone said the cost had not yet been received by the city.
“Would it be accurate to say this is a complete waste of time then?” Candon asked.
“I strongly disagree with that,” Bolognone said.
Candon himself was found by Leiper to have “inadvertently” breached the code of conduct last year by taking part in a vote on a downtown condominium project.
Mayor Bryan Paterson said voting not to receive the report would make no difference, as it was already part of the agenda package provided to councillors prior to the meeting.
“Let’s just turn the page and move on,” Paterson said.
elferguson@postmedia.comThe Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) provides daily English translations of film and print media stories originating in Arabic, Iranian and Turkish media. It also furnishes original analysis of cultural, political and religious trends in the Middle East. It sends its daily postings to every news outlet in the United States and Europe, in addition to politicians and cultural leaders. And it's free, which makes it a Godsend for journalists, editors and policy analysts. But according to its critics, it is also a dangerous, highly sophisticated propaganda operation, disseminating hate and disinformation on an unprecedented worldwide basis. "They use the same sort of propaganda techniques as the Nazis," Professor Norman G. Finkelstein, a well-known scholar on Israel/Palestine, told InFocus. "They take things out of context in order to do personal and political harm to people they don't like." Take the case of Professor Halim Barakat, a novelist and scholar associated with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. In 2002, he published an article on Zionism in London's Al-Hayat Daily, but says that in certain instances, MEMRI selectively edited what he wrote. "I know how to make a distinction between Judaism and Zionism, but they distorted the article," Barakat told InFocus. "They left out certain things and tried to make it look anti-Semitic." Shortly afterward, Campus Watch, the brainchild of notorious Islamophobe Daniel Pipes, used the allegedly doctored translation in an effort to smear Georgetown University. Finkelstein, an outspoken critic of Israeli policies and the U.S. pro-Israel lobby, also had a run-in with MEMRI. In 2006, he gave a TV interview in Lebanon on the way the Nazi Holocaust is used to silence critics of Israel. Finkelstein later wrote on his Web site: "MEMRI recently posted what it alleged was an interview I did with Lebanese television on the Nazi Holocaust. The MEMRI posting was designed to prove that I was a Holocaust denier." Far from being a Holocaust denier, Finkelstein's own parents were Holocaust survivors, a fact he has often spoken about. But MEMRI was able to create the opposite impression, as Finkelstein demonstrated on his Web site, by editing out large chunks of the actual interview. When some comments by the moderator were included, it appeared that Finkelstein's interview was about nitpicking the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust rather than about Israel/Palestine. MEMRI's obsessive interest in protecting Israel derives from the people and interests that founded, fund and manage the institute's international operations. It was founded in 1998 by Yigal Carmon, a former colonel in the Israel Defense Forces (Intelligence Branch) from 1968 until 1988, acting head of civil administration in the West Bank from 1977 to 1982; and Israeli-born Meyrav Wurmser, an extreme rightwing neoconservative now affiliated with the Hudson Institute. Meyrav is married to David Wurmser, at one time an American Enterprise Institute "scholar" and then a State Department apparatchik under John Bolton. Both participated in the collective writing of "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," a seminal 1996 neocon document that advocated an end to negotiations with the Palestinians and permanent war against the Arab world. They also worked with Douglas Feith, Elliot Abrams, Richard Perle and other rightwing ideologues who promoted and embellished the fiction that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. MEMRI has offices in Jerusalem, Berlin, London, Washington and Tokyo, and in a 2006 Jerusalem Post interview, Carmon claimed to have one in Iraq. It translates film and print into English, German, Hebrew, Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. Tax returns for 2004 indicate American funding of between two to three million dollars, much of it from conservative donors and foundations - but those who have followed its far-flung operations suspect much higher expenditures. Besides Carmon, several MEMRI staffers are former Israeli intelligence specialists. Especially troubling are suspected links between MEMRI and the current Israeli intelligence establishment. According to a 2005 article in Israel's Ha'aretz, the Israeli Defense Forces plants fake stories in the Arab media, which it then translates and tries to retail to Israeli journalists. How much of MEMRI is simply an extension of such IDF operations? The questions raised by the Ha'aretz story caused Proffesor Juan Cole to write, "How much of what we 'know' from 'Arab sources' about 'Hizbullah terrorism' was simply made up by this fantasy factory in Tel Aviv?" British journalist Brian Whitaker, Middle East editor of the Guardian, dismisses MEMRI as "basically a propaganda machine." Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, accuses them of "outright distortion," and former CIA case officer Vince Cannistraro has written that "they (MEMRI) are selective and act as propagandists for their political point of view, which is the extreme-right of Likud." With characteristic bluntness. Norman Finkelstein has written: "MEMRI is a main arm of Israeli propaganda. Although widely used in the mainstream media as a source of information on the Arab world, it is as trustworthy as Julius Streicher's Der Sturmer was on the Jewish world." (Der Sturmer was a rabidly anti-Semitic newspaper, and Streicher a notoriously cruel Nazi.) In an e-mail to InFocus, Cole characterized MEMRI as "a Right-Zionist propaganda organ, which usually does its propaganda unobtrusively, by being very selective in what it translates." Indeed, MEMRI appears to view the Arab world as a malevolent, mind-numbing monsters' ball, populated almost exclusively by fanatics, freaks and fundamentalists. Every story that could possibly make Middle Eastern people look deranged, hateful or diabolical gets translated; anything that could make them look informed, talented or admirable is ignored. MEMRI says it covers reformers in the Arabic-speaking world, but longtime observers point out that people who make Islam or Arab culture look attractive rarely get translated, regardless of their position. Nor does MEMRI feature stories about Palestinian suffering, Israeli dissenters, moderate Islamists, Christians in Arab governments or the growing nonviolent movement against the apartheid wall in the Occupied Territories, especially around Bal'in. Instead, it promotes highly-edited footage featuring people like Wafa Sultan. It was MEMRI that translated the sound bites from her famous al-Jazeera debate with Dr. Ibrahim al-Kouly that ended up on YouTube, making her an instant rock star to those who promote an international clash of cultures. It is said by TV viewers who watched the entire debate that al-Kouly was rather patient with Sultan despite her extreme opinions. (Among other things, Sultan has declared herself an atheist.) But MEMRI never bothered to translate and promote the whole debate. MEMRI President Yigal Carmon was contacted to ask why the entire Sultan debate wasn't translated and circulated, at least in a print version. "MEMRI couldn't do the whole interview because of the limitations of our resources," Carmon told InFocus. "And it was just our best judgment of what was fit to translate." He said he thought there was an "almost" complete version in the archives. InFocus asked Carmon why MEMRI didn't post more stories about domestic events in Israel and the OTC. "Eighty percent of such stories are already in English," Carmon said. Then why not buy a few every week and send them out in order to give a more balanced picture of the Middle East, InFocus asked, "It probably wouldn't be legal," he responded. That brought up the thorny issue of copyright, ownership and power. Why, Carmon was asked, does MEMRI copyright all the stories it translates, when most stories are written by Arab authors? "Of course we copyright," Carmon told InFocus. "Once we translate a story into another language, it becomes ours, because it's our work." To test this theory in an American context, InFocus contacted The New York Times. "If you translate copy from the Times, it would still belong to us, because we originated it," said an employee of the Rights and Royalties Department who did not wish to be named. When war and peace hangs on the translation of a single word or phrase, nuance is everything. But can we trust the translator? According its critics, until MEMRI starts translating Hebrew stories about the rightward drift of Israeli society, torture of Palestinians in Israeli jails, the forced exile of Ilan Pappe and Azmi Bishara, and the elevation of the neo-fascist Avigdor Lieberman to deputy prime minister of Israel, they aren't really covering all Middle Eastern media. "I think it's a reliable assumption that anything MEMRI translates from the Middle East is going to be unreliable," Finkelstein said. http://groups.google.com/group/total_truth_sciences/topics/ for more real news posts and support the truth! (sorry but don 't have time to email all posts) http://whtt.org/index.php?news=2&id=1520As one of the main people behind ELEAGUE, Christina "burbunny" Alejandre, was a big part of helping the tournament organizer rise in CS:GO's competitive landscape, with the Atlanta based events now part of the elite tier.
burbunny with Richard Lewis and Min-Sik Ko, the ELEAGUE comissioner
Before the semi-final matches of the playoffs kicked off, HLTV.org had a chance to talk to burbunny and heard about the departure of ELEAGUE's in-game producer Jason "Alchemist" Baker, deciding where to hold the Major and the difficulties of managing the schedule with the short notice given by Valve.
You had two seasons of ELEAGUE, Season 1 and Season 2, and now you came up with the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier name, can you tell me a bit about that, why did that happen?
I think that we wanted a brand that stuck, you know, CS:GO is such a big part of our DNA and to just do Season 1, Season 2, Season 3... And it also got confusing, because we are also doing seasons of Street Fighter, so is Street Fighter technically our second season? It was like, let's get rid of the confusion, let's attach a name to it like we did for Street Fighter, where it's the Street Fighter Invitational, and there is the Overwatch Open, that's why we did it. It wasn't this big thing, it was just "ah, this calling things seasons is confusing".
Touching on Jason Baker, who was a part of the ELEAGUE thing from the beginning. He departed the production of this season before the end, can you touch on that a bit, how did that go down and how is he not a part of the project anymore?
So Jason got an amazing opportunity at Blizzard and it was a time sensitive opportunity, so it caused a lot of heartache for him and it caused a lot of heartache for us but unfortunately he had to leave right before the playoffs. It's not something that he wanted to do, but because the opportunity with the Overwatch team was time sensitive, he had to go. We would've loved to keep him through the playoffs, but he had such an amazing opportunity that we couldn't tell him no.
Let's touch on the Major, your pitch was for Boston and you got the next Major. Tell me a bit about deciding for the place, the venue and how it felt getting the Major confirmed?
Working with Valve and trying to figure out the right timing, the timing that they wanted, and also given we had to find a territory that had the right timezones so that people all over were going to be able to watch it and it wasn't crazy times in every single timezone, we were really focusing on the east coast. The winter is the height of basketball season and hockey season, whether it's collegiate or on the pro level and there are a lot of venues that were booked, especially for the amount of time that we needed it.
And the Agganis Arena actually came to us very late, and even if it would come to us early we would've gone with it initially. Boston is such a great town, such an amazing city, very candidly I actually commute a little bit between Atlanta and Boston, so I have a home in Boston as well, but it's a huge college town and I think it's ripe for big esports event to come up there. So, the minute we knew the Agganis Arena was available there was something in our brains that clicked—"this is the spot, this is where we need to be"—and that's why we are up there. We are very excited to bring esports to Boston in such a big way.
Tell me a bit about the scheduling part of it. Since the Major gets confirmed, how does the whole situation work for planning all the Minors, Major qualifiers and all that stuff? How did that work out with you and Valve?
When we planned out the Minors, you know, it's a very tight time frame that we had to work on and hopefully that will improve in future years, there will be a little more notice in the process. And I know that Valve are actively working on that, but because of the short time frame trying to schedule the Minors and make sure that people could get visa's in time so they would be able to participate in the Minors if they made it through the qualifiers [was hard]. We have a lot of good relationships with the partners that we are working with, so doing that was fairly easy, it was just trying to find the right times on the schedules.
And then we worked with Valve to kind of switch up the format for the Major qualifier and the Major itself, because usually they are about a month apart and now we are doing it all in two-and-a-half weeks. It seems like very intense two-and-a-half weeks but I think it also just makes sense for teams and schedules so they are allowed to qualify and then move directly on, versus qualifying and then waiting an entire month to actually be able to play next.
Touching on that, from the Major qualifier to the Major is about five days, and from the Major group stage to the playoffs there are four days, and the city changes, you are having the group stage here and the playoffs in Boston. So tell me a bit about that, in a way, it's the Boston Major, but half of the Major is in Atlanta. What is the feeling like, was that ok with Valve, with you, what was the idea behind that?
Yeah, I think for us, we have this amazing facility here at ELEAGUE and we have the ability to turn around games quickly, we have a whole production facility and why not leverage it. We have practice facilities and stuff like that, and this is also a place where a lot of the CS:GO teams that are participating are comfortable playing in. And then we thought - why not go to Boston and put a three day break. If we are compressing it all, do it in a three day break.
And if you look at any other sport, there are playoffs that take place all over and then they move to a final city and that is where the big event is and they make a big deal about that city, even though that's the city that is just the finals, right? So if you look at it from that model it's not really atipical from any other sport.
We mentioned the Minors before, the online qualifiers are run by CEVO, PGL is helping with the Minors, so how much input do you have in that regard, especially considering the recent uproar regarding the CIS Minor. How much do you feel that that is your responsibility to handle stuff and that everyone's happy?
In any event where we take responsibility we try to make sure that everyone is happy, but you know and I know that not everyone is going to be happy, ever, that just never happens. And so, we try to find the best solution that would make the most parties as possible happy and satisfied and we try to identify the right partners that would be able to support what we are trying to do.
Regarding the Major, obviously you are tied to Turner, TBS—how much is it going to be televised? Is there a plan about that?
The Major itself will be all-digital and then we will talk about other things having to do with the Major that will hit television, but not right now.
Lastly, except the Major that is obviously announced, do you have any plans for CS in the future, anything you can talk about?
Nothing that I can talk about, but as I said last year and I'll continue to say, there is always CS with us other than the Major. CS:GO is part of the ELEAGUE DNA, we love having the teams down here and we love having them compete. The formats of how we do things might change, but CS:GO presence, year-to-year, will not change.This column will change your life: What’s the worst that could happen?
Failure is an inevitable consequence of the human condition. It’s how we deal with it that’s more important
Hopes that the Oliver Burkeman failure column in the Guardian will be happy for the top banana to republish this illuminating article
‘The mindset we need isn’t the positive-thinking mantra that failure is impossible; it’s that failures are inevitable, and for good reason.’
Illustration: Claire May for the Guardian
You were as relieved as me, I’m sure, to learn that the terrifying Mayan prophecy about the world ending in 2012 has been postponed, thanks to an apparent error in converting the Mayan calendar. (You’ve got to feel sorry for the authors of those “2012 apocalypse” cash-in books, though, haven’t you? Oh, wait, no, you haven’t.) But my relief reverted to terror when I opened The Watchman’s Rattle, a book by the biologist and business guru Rebecca Costa that’s subtitled Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction. The Mayans, she argues, do indeed have an alarming message for us, as to why our efforts to solve problems – societal and personal – so often go wrong. Unlike the 2012 predictions, her thesis doesn’t involve celestial bodies crashing into the earth, which is a point in its favour, unless you’re the asteroid-fixated former MP Lembit Opik. But you’re probably not, and in any case, Costa’s argument is perfectly troubling enough.
Nobody agrees why the Mayans’ astonishingly advanced civilisation suddenly collapsed between 750 and 850. Theories abound – drought, disease, war – but Costa suggests it was all of the above. The Mayans had reached their “cognitive threshold”, creating a society so complex that it outstripped their brains’ capacity to understand it; they could no longer think their way out of their problems. You needn’t share all the controversial positions of Costa’s specialism, sociobiology, to see how we might be in the same boat today, only worse. Our evolved cognitive capacity is much the same as in 850, but society is vastly more complex: “The rate at which the human brain can evolve new faculties,” Costa writes, “is millions of years slower than the rate at which humans generate change and produce new information.” What’s the solution to global warming, financial crises, terrorism? The answer may be beyond us.
This matters on a personal level, too, and not solely because the destruction of civilisation would be somewhat dispiriting. The complexity of even far more mundane challenges – how to stay healthy, how to be happy in relationships or work – can feel equally defeating, whether or not they’re technically beyond our abilities. Any given solution won’t work, by definition: Costa defines complexity as when “there are many more wrong solutions than right ones”. Worse, they lull us into thinking we’re tackling the matter, so extinguishing the sense of urgency. (Are you eschewing plastic bags, imagining you’re “doing your bit” for the planet?) The only rational tactic may be trying everything at once – what Costa calls “parallel incrementalism” – in full knowledge that most methods will fail. Should we be fighting climate change at the level of politics, lifestyle or technology? Should you be addressing your chronic lack of energy by sleeping more, eating better or seeing a doctor? All of the above.
We need to think, Costa says, like venture capitalists, who make a fortune despite 80% of the businesses they invest in failing; they know that 20% won’t, but not which ones. For complex problems, trying one solution and getting upset when it fails is preposterous: any single solution is likely to fail. The mindset we need isn’t the positive-thinking mantra that failure is impossible; it’s that failures are inevitable, and for good reason. It’s an unexpectedly hopeful conclusion: we may never really understand how to get what we want, or stave off the very worst – yet we may manage it anyway.
oliver.burkeman@guardian.co.uk
twitter.com/oliverburkeman
AdvertisementsAfghan president says Barack Obama's announcement of pullout of 33,000 US troops is the right decision for both countries
Afghanistan's security forces are growing in stature and can be entrusted with securing the country's future after the withdrawal of US troops, according to president Hamid Karzai.
Responding to Barack Obama's announcement that a third of US troops in Afghanistan would be withdrawn by September next year, Karzai said the US president had made the right decision and thanked the international troops for their support.
"The Afghan people's trust in the Afghan army and police is growing every day and preservation of this land is the job of Afghans," Karzai told a news conference.
"I welcome the decision of the US president today on pulling out [some of]... its troops from Afghanistan and I consider this a right decision for the interest of both countries."
But the Afghan Taliban said the plan to withdraw 10,000 US troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year was only symbolic and that more serious steps would be needed "to stop this pointless bloodshed".
"Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan once again wants to make it clear that the solution for the Afghan crisis lies in the full withdrawal of all foreign troops immediately and [while] this does not happen, our armed struggle will increase from day to day," the Taliban said in an emailed statement.
The Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said "the tide is turning" in Afghanistan, with the Taliban under increasing pressure and government security forces getting stronger. In this context, he said, the drawdown of troops was the "natural result".
Rasmussen said Obama's decision was taken in close consultation with the allies and said the handover to Afghan security was still on track to be completed in 2014.
France followed Obama's televised announcement by issuing its own statement on the future of the 4,000 French troops in Afghanistan.
The office of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said there would be a progressive withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, who would follow a timetable comparable to that of the staggered pullout of American troops, starting this summer.
Sarkozy was one of five leaders Obama called before his speech to inform them of his decision.
The French statement said: "Given the progress we have seen [in Afghanistan], France will begin a gradual withdrawal of reinforcement troops sent to Afghanistan, in a proportional manner and in a calendar comparable to the withdrawal of American reinforcements."
French troops have been involved in the US and Nato-led Afghanistan operation since 2001, with 62 soldiers killed, and there has been growing frustration within political circles in the country over the long campaign.
The German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, welcomed Obama's announcement and expressed his hope Germany's contingent of 4,900 troops would be reduced before the end of the year.
Germany has yet to settle on details of its own pullback but Westerwelle said "the prospect of withdrawal is now becoming concrete".
He described the US president's speech as a "clear commitment" to the internationally agreed strategy of gradually handing over responsibility for security to Afghan forces and said: "It is also our aim to be able to reduce our own German troop contingent for the first time at the end of this year."PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the United States is starting an operation with Turkey to finish securing the northern Syrian border, an area that Islamic State militants have used as a lucrative smuggling route.
“The entire border of northern Syria - 75 percent of it has now been shut off. And we are entering an operation with the Turks to shut off the other remaining 98 km (61 miles),” he said in an interview with CNN.
Kerry arrived in Paris on Monday to pay respects to victims of Friday’s militant attacks that killed 129 people.
The area where the operations would take place is now controlled by the radical Islamists. The United States and Turkey hope that by sweeping Islamic State, also frequently called Daesh, from that border zone they can deprive it of a smuggling route which has seen its ranks swell with foreign fighters and its coffers boosted by illicit trade.
Under a long-discussed joint U.S.-Turkish plan, moderate Syrian rebels, trained by the U.S. army, would be expected to fight Islamic State on the ground and help coordinate air strikes by the U.S. coalition, launched from Turkish air bases, under the strategy drawn up by Washington and Ankara.
Diplomats familiar with the plans have said cutting off one of Islamic State’s lifelines could be a game-changer in that corner of Syria’s complex war. The core of the rebels, who number less than 60, would be highly equipped and be able to call in close air support when needed, they say.
“We are in a common struggle with the U.S. against Daesh and in the coming days some steps will be taken together,” a Turkish official told Reuters, declining to comment further.
But there are major challenges.
Turkey is distrustful of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which has proved a useful U.S. ally in fighting Islamic State. It controls adjacent territory on the eastern side of the Euphrates river, just across from Karkamis and the jihadist-held town of Jarablus. Ankara wants it to advance no further and considers the Euphrates a red line not to be crossed.
Earlier, speaking to reporters after meetings French President Francois Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Paris, Kerry said increased coordination with Russia in the fight against Islamic State militants would require progress in the political process to end the Syrian war.
Kerry said agreements reached last week at Vienna peace talks on Syria, meant the country could be “weeks away, conceivably, of a big transition.”
Kerry referred to independently conducted U.S. and Russian air strikes in Syria.
“At the moment, it’s matter of making certain we are hitting the right targets and we are not running any risk of conflict among ourselves,” he said. “But it’s possible that if the political process moves more rapidly, there could be greater level of exchange of information and so forth.
“Iran, Russia ready for a ceasefire, the United States ready for ceasefire,” he said. “But there needs to be legitimacy to this process. So the faster Russia and Iran give life to this process, the faster the violence can taper down and we can isolate Daesh (Islamic State) and al Nusra and begin to do what our strategy has always set out to do.”
He told CNN that there was now an opportunity to make a quick breakthrough.
“(It) gives us an opportunity to perhaps get a ceasefire in place within the next three, four, five weeks. And then be able to, with the political process, work with other parties to again squeeze harder on Daesh,” he said.
“LOSING TERRITORY”
Hollande, due to travel next week to Moscow and Washington, has appealed for a grand coalition including the United States and Russia to eradicate Islamic State in Syria after the Paris attacks he said were ordered from Syria.
In Vienna on Saturday, Russia, the United States and powers from Europe and the Middle East outlined a plan for a political process in Syria leading to elections within two years, but differences remained on key issues such as President Bashar al-Assad’s fate.
Russia and Iran have been key backers of Assad.
Kerry said he would probably call another meeting in about a month to check on the progress of defining which opposition groups would take part in a peace process.
French President Francois Hollande (L) welcomes U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 17, 2015. REUTERS/Philippe |
of CRISPR, as part of cancer treatments, win initial approval in the U.S. and China.
If you’re looking for gene editing’s Everest, it’s probably rewriting DNA in the human brain—say, to treat Huntington’s disease. Editing muscle cells lies somewhere in the middle of the difficulty scale. Genetically, it’s a good candidate. Even with just a delete key, Olson says, up to 80 percent of muscular dystrophy cases could be treated. Initially, the editing treatment he’s working on will target a hot spot in the dystrophin gene—exon 51, in which Editas has also signaled an interest. Deleting that exon could treat about 13 percent of Duchenne cases.
The most significant unknown is whether it will be possible to edit enough muscle cells and make enough dystrophin in a human body. “I think this represents the most promising strategy,” says Olson. “But the thing that has to go right is that it has to be efficient.” Muscles, including the heart, glutes, and biceps, make up 40 percent of a person’s body mass—billions and billions of cells. So far, in his mice, Olson has succeeded in producing dystrophin in 5 to 25 percent of muscle fibers. It’s half calculation and half speculation, but he thinks that editing 15 percent of the muscle cells in a boy will be enough to slow, if not halt, muscular dystrophy.
When I last spoke to Olson, he was rushing to a phone meeting to drum up commercial support for his idea of starting a human test for a Duchenne treatment. He’s been talking with several companies, including Editas, probably the best-known of Boston’s trio of CRISPR startups. It has Bill Gates and Google as investors. And the company, founded by several of the inventors of CRISPR technology, also declared an early interest in Duchenne, licensing work done at Duke University. But its chief operating officer, Sandra Glucksmann, said it isn’t providing updates on the Duchenne program.
In fact, Editas has been lying low. CRISPR could potentially treat so many different diseases that the company has been reluctant to announce what its do-or-die project will be. And proving that any CRISPR drug is effective could easily take a decade. That puts Glucksmann in a tough position. On weekends she answers e-mails from desperate parents: “Could CRISPR cure my child?” In theory the answer may be yes, but about a quarter of the time Glucksmann has never even heard of the illness before. And the answer Editas has been giving to the parents of boys with muscular dystrophy has been particularly disappointing: “I am very sorry to hear about your son. Unfortunately, we are still in the very earliest stages of research.”
Individual treatments
One thing that’s already apparent is that many inherited genetic diseases will require tailoring a CRISPR treatment to very specific mutations—those affecting small subsets of patients or even individual people. Take Dupree, who lives less than a mile from Olson in a Dallas suburb. His mutation is unique, and it’s not near exon 51, so he wouldn’t be helped by the first CRISPR treatment that Olson is developing.
But there’s no question in Olson’s mind that Dupree’s mutation is correctable too, given that the technique can potentially target any spot on the genome. Dupree now sees at least a glimmer of a chance that someone could make a CRISPR treatment just for him. “It’s only given once, and maybe it’s not that expensive,” he says. “It made me think about how it could be done, because I see things moving closer.”
At Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, I met its pediatrician in chief, Ronald Cohn, who is also a muscular dystrophy doctor. Cohn is certain that with CRISPR one-of-a-kind treatments are possible and even likely. Last December, he published a paper showing corrections of several rare mutations—again in cells in a lab dish, including some taken from a child with dwarfism and others from another boy with Duchenne. That boy, named Gavriel Rosenfeld, is the son of close friends of Cohn’s in London. They run a charitable foundation that Cohn advises.
Cohn is a newcomer to CRISPR. A few years ago, he was studying hibernating squirrels. They don’t move for months, yet their muscles aren’t any worse for it. That is the sort of “we might just find something” approach favored in basic-research labs. Now, with gene editing, he sees a direct path to curing someone he knows. Gavriel is 14, and since correcting his cells, Cohn’s lab has also created a mouse model that shares his mutation. Like Dupree’s, the mutation is one of a kind, and within a few weeks Cohn’s lab will start treating the mice.
But then what? Cohn says he doesn’t know. How would you even test a drug designed for one person? Who would pay for it? He says he visited Health Canada, the country’s regulator, and was told to come back if he cured the mice. “This is going to require a significant rethinking,” he says. “And the fact that you and I are having this conversation is the beginning of the paradigm shift.”
Boys with muscular dystrophy demand action on new drugs during a 2016 meeting at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Cohn’s approach of correcting individual mutations has stirred hopes among parents of boys with Duchenne. “This is a CURE!!!” one wrote on the Web. His lab has used CRISPR to fix mutations in cells taken from several boys he knows, and a waiting list he keeps in a spreadsheet currently lists 53 children with muscular dystrophy. The parents of all of them want to know if their child could be helped by gene editing.
If a gene-therapy study like the one Olson plans is successful, and if CRISPR reaches enough muscle cells, there might be a strong argument that a one-off treatment would work. After all, to aim at a new mutation all you’d do is tweak the component of CRISPR that zeroes in on a specific DNA sequence. The price of manufacturing a single dose also might not be an obstacle. Two existing gene therapies approved in Europe cost $1 million and $665,000. Even if it cost twice that, a one-time gene fix with CRISPR would be cheaper than a lifetime of costly drugs, wheelchairs, and dependency.
In holding out the hope of individual cures, Cohn admits he’s created some new problems. He has invited parents to the lab, and little boys have tottered among the lab stools. But during a three-hour lab meeting this fall, he and his students decided to stop referring to “Gavriel’s cells” or “Jake’s cells” and use numerical code names instead. They still know who is who, but this gives them space to be impartial. “I know in the back of my head, but you want to stay unbiased,” a graduate student in the lab, Tatianna Wong, told me. “I can’t work on this case just because I feel bad for him. I have scientific questions to answer.”
High expectations
Some veterans of gene therapy roll their eyes when they hear what newcomers think CRISPR will do. I visited the vector development center at St. Jude, touring a cramped L-shaped lab with Byoung Ryu, an expert in making viruses, who chopped the air above his head and said, “People’s expectations are up here.” Ryu warns that basic, unresolved biological problems remain. One is whether editing will work often enough in cells such as those in the bone marrow, the type that need to be changed to correct sickle-cell disease. If too few cells end up edited, the treatments won’t be effective. “It’s a numbers game,” says Ryu.
Ryu was the first employee at a Boston-area gene-therapy company, Bluebird Bio, whose stock price staggered down the chart after its first few patients didn’t all respond the same way. “I’m not negative on CRISPR, but there is a reality check,” Ryu says. “It’s not coming to people next year. It works in the petri dish every single time, but my perspective is that genome editing may happen in the future but not in the near term.”
“What I learned about gene therapy is that the rabbit does not win the race. The tortoise wins the race.”
CRISPR’s future as a treatment depends heavily on the skills of gene therapists like Ryu. They’ve been making progress, yet so far, only two gene therapies—the kind that add an entire gene—have reached the market to address an inherited disorder. One, called Strimvelis, provides an outright cure for a fatal immune deficiency and was approved this year in Europe. But it took 15 years to test it on 18 children, and similar trials had failed. “What I learned about gene therapy is that the rabbit does not win the race. The tortoise wins the race,” says Weiss, who leads the St. Jude effort to apply gene editing to sickle-cell disease.
Side effects could also be an obstacle. CRISPR has the potential to cause accidental, unwanted edits that could not be erased if they ended up written into a person’s genome. Currently, researchers rely on academic computer programs to predict such effects. (One, maintained at Harvard, is called CHOPCHOP.) But a program can’t predict everything. Two early tests of gene therapy, in the 2000s, accidentally caused leukemia in several children. No one had anticipated that consequence of changing the genome. Although Olson says he has not seen ill effects in his mice, he allows that CRISPR can cause “inadvertent changes in DNA that are important for life.” And editing billions of individual cells in a person’s body, scientists acknowledge, will be the surest way to discover how CRISPR can go wrong.
It may take a lot longer than we think, but sooner or later gene editing will change what medicine looks like. The biotechnology industry began in the 1970s when someone grafted insulin into E. coli, showing that a human protein could be manufactured outside the body. Now there’s a way to change DNA where it lies, inside your genes. When he looked through a microscope at his own cells in Olson’s lab, Dupree tried to take the rational view: here was a solution for the next generation of boys. His mother, however, has allowed herself to hope. “I was ecstatic. I remember thinking, ‘This could be something that works,’” Debbie says. Duchenne is a ticking clock. Parents can’t help making the calculations: this long for animal studies, this many years for the first human trial, that much more time until they know if it really works. Luckily, Ben’s disease is the slow-moving kind. The doctors said he’d be gone by 19, but he’s still here. And maybe he’ll still be here in 10 years, says his mother, “so they can try it on him.”Rosemary Billquist, 43, of Sherman, New York, was killed Wednesday as she walked her dogs by a man who told police he mistook her for a deer.
Thomas Jadlowski, a neighbor, told police he shot Billquist from 200 yards away, The Buffalo News reported. He rushed to her aid after hearing Billquist scream, calling 911 and applying pressure to her wound until help arrived.
The National Rifle Association was roundly criticized after the death, but responsible gun owners shared their experience and wisdom.
After sunset, from 200 yards with a pistol. Reckless, negligent & stupid. Hopefully some jail time will make him smarter, but doubtful. — Tom Logue (@TwentyHBCurlXup) November 25, 2017
How many times has it been said as a hunter and to a hunter. KNOW what you're about to shoot. This is horrible. — Anthony P (@ant7701) November 25, 2017
Never hunted deer with a pistol — Mike Clagg (@belikemike) November 25, 2017
I lived in a hunting area.Had 2 Coonhounds. Come hunting season.We didn't go into the woods. — Redhawk1462 (@LorrieElwell) November 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/JasonDenison2/status/934514319148093442
Last time I went hunting was 1994, we were hunting pheasant in Iowa and some drunken fool fired his shotgun right into our group as we just got fanned and moved into the woods, "I got feathers" he exclaimed. — Jason Plotner (@JasonPlotner1) November 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/quackerwhackr91/status/934484411990663168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The victim’s husband, Jamie Billquist, posted a moving tribute to his wife on Facebook.
“I will miss you and love you forever and I know you’re dancing in heaven with your momma and all of our friends and family that we have lost,” he wrote.
The shooting appeared to take place after sundown — New York law prohibits hunting after sunset.
“It’s the responsibility of the hunter,” Sheriff Joe Gerace said. “You have to know when sunset is and plan your day so you can get out of woods before that time.”
Jadlowski was armed with a high-powered, single shot handgun that’s commonly used for deer hunting. An investigation is ongoing and he has yet to be charged with a crime.
“This is a horrific incident,” Sheriff Gerace said. “This destroyed two lives.”President Trump called then-FBI Director James Comey earlier this year to tell him he was not involved with “hookers” in Russia, Comey plans to tell lawmakers on Thursday.
During a March 30 telephone conversation, the president told Comey, “he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded when in Russia,” according to testimony the fired director plans to deliver to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump was allegedly trying to push back on an unverified dossier that claimed the Russian government had compromising information on him.
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The document, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, alleged that Trump had contact with prostitutes at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton Hotel and that Russian intelligence services had evidence of the encounter.
Trump has previously denied the claims made in the dossier.
Read more from The Hill:
Comey offers dramatic details of Trump meetings in opening statementWe've noticed lately that the Kansas City Chiefs like taking taking chances on players with explosive attributes. Maybe it's the running back who has 4.25 speed. Or maybe it's the offensive lineman with an incredible time on the 3-cone drill. Last year, it was Chris Conley and his insane 45 inch vertical leap.
This year the Chiefs picked up an undrafted free agent who would have had the top vertical at the Combine if he were invited. Shakiel Randolph, 6'3 and 213 pounds, out of Southern Methodist University is being called a linebacker / safety hybrid and I'm sure it's his 42 inch vertical that caught the Chiefs interest.
That 42 inch vertical is more than Chiefs sixth round pick Dadi Nicolas, whose 41 inch vertical was third at the Combine, and fourth round pick Eric Murray, whose 39.5 inch vertical was 10th at the Combine.
At his pro day he worked out at cornerback, linebacker and safety. This report says Randolph has the talent to make the roster but injuries have held him back. That's true with many players. Unfortunately for undrafted players, there's very little tolerance for injuries. Here's to Randolph staying healthy and becoming a cool story.The politics of extremes is hurting our democracy
Updated
In going for "shock and awe" rhetoric at every opportunity, politicians have debased their own political currency and hindered their ability to lead under a democracy, writes David Forman.
There is, once again, no doubt who dominated the media coverage coming out of the last fortnight of parliamentary sittings.
And who will continue to dominate as the new Senate is sworn in.
There is really only one story in town - Clive Palmer - and it is drowning out any hope the Government has of getting its message back on track and through to the public.
Likewise, Labor is being increasingly sidelined as the voice of opposition.
Both sides should be asking themselves why it is that the public and media are so ready to get on board with Clive, and so unwilling to listen to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.
It seems there is a deep and persistent political credibility crisis that threatens to make Australia increasingly ungovernable.
This is a credibility crisis so severe and widespread that it might not be overstating matters to suggest that a dangerous malaise is now infecting the very heart of confidence in the democratic system of government.
It is also a crisis that politicians have made for themselves, with collaboration from the media.
In short, they have made themselves look like blowhards.
Paul Keating famously shocked Australians out of their complacency about our place in the world 28 years ago, when he warned that the country risked becoming a banana republic unless we embraced painful, economy-wide economic reform.
Australians were not used to hearing that type of intemperate language from political leaders.
Indeed, we were more used to hearing soothing, calming language as we struggled to overcome the trauma of the Vietnam War, the ructions of the oil crisis, and the constitutional crisis following the dismissal of the Whitlam Government.
But so profoundly did Keating's apparently unscripted remarks (and the following recession) focus the minds of Australians, that political leaders from all sides of politics were able to propose, advocate and implement nation-changing policies.
Further, it provided a template for the generations of politicians that have followed.
The recipe seems simple; if you want Australians to take tough medicine, convince them of a crisis that means the status quo is not an option.
Peter Costello did it with tremendous success by painting a convincing picture of "Beazley's Black Hole" to justify the deep cuts in his first budget.
Why, then, has the present Government's mantra that it has inherited a "budget crisis" and a "debt and deficit disaster" flopped?
Partly because the crisis is not immediate enough to mobilise third party experts to provide support; rather, they have mostly used more moderate language, arguing there is a very serious medium term problem that needs to be addressed, starting now.
And partly because politicians have, in the past five years, all but abandoned moderate language and gone for shock and awe at every opportunity.
They have, in doing so, debased their own currency and the value of their own strident statements.
This is evident not just in Australia, but also in other great democracies, most notably the United States.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on the insistence of the most important democratic leader in the world, the US president, that there was no doubt that weapons of mass destruction would be found.
It was not true. This breach of trust has never been mended.
Indeed, the decision by commercial media companies to increasingly take political sides as advancing communication technologies erode their markets has levered even further apart the electorate from the political class.
This polarisation of debate has paved the way for shock outcomes such as the primary pre-selection defeat of US Republican House Leader Eric Cantor by an anti-government Tea Party-backed candidate.
These events point to a perverse outcome of the growing credibility crisis.
As the distance between politicians and the community has widened, politicians have used even more extreme language which has contributed to the rise of more extreme parties and personalities.
It is also a trend that runs at odds with the very nature of democracy as a successful system of government.
Democracy is about compromise, consensus, checks and balance, evolution not revolution.
It is a system where changes might be slower to effect than some other political models, but are more enduring because they are more representative of community views and aspirations. Governments are drawn toward the centre, away from extremes.
It seems that it has become the received political wisdom that calm, moderate and medium-term persuasion is out, and shock and awe is in.
But if no one is buying it because every statement is suspected of being exaggerated and can therefore be ignored, what tools are left to policy makers and leaders to bring about change? And if the system can't deliver change, how effective can it be?
Perhaps another way of looking at the situation is to ask, have successive generations of politicians effectively trained their populations to be ungovernable?
It is an uncomfortable thought, but perhaps one our leaders need to be asking themselves as they consider their communications techniques.
If they choose not to contemplate that, perhaps they can consider this: if there is an election of the House of Representatives and half Senate in two years, it is possible that we could see at least five PUP Senators and it's not impossible that Clive may lose his seat.
Five PUP Senators without their leader: What could that mean for a government and its ability to deliver change?
David Forman is managing director of government relations at issues management firm CPR Communications and Public Relations. View his full profile here.
Topics: clive-palmer, federal-government, forms-of-government
First postedAs investors await refunds from banks and other financial institutions for hundreds of millions of dollars in excess fees and unpaid interest, critics are questioning the process around how the unwarranted charges were dealt with by their regulator.
Scotiabank, Royal, TD, CIBC and BMO, along with others, have all come forward to disclose they accumulated a total of $354 million in excess fees or unpaid interest on mutual funds and other investments.
TD had been charging the excess fees for 14 years, CIBC for 10 years, while others had been charging them for six to eight years. The largest amount of investor compensation came from CI Investments, which failed to pay $156 million in interest on some clients' mutual funds over a six-year period.
Financial institutions must issue refunds within two years of their settlement date. That deadline has already passed for some, while the process is ongoing for others.
Canadians learned of the unwarranted fees from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) after secret negotiations between the financial institutions and the OSC, the body that regulates them. The disclosures are the result of something called a no-contest settlement program introduced by the OSC in 2014.
No admission of guilt required
Those settlements mean none of the offenders had to admit wrongdoing or guilt; they simply agreed to fix the problem, pay back their customers and pay a fine.
It's a program the OSC's director of enforcement, Jeff Kehoe, calls "a huge success." But some are raising questions about it.
Stan Buell, president of the Small Investor Protection Association (SIPA), says these settlements are one more reason why his non-profit group, created to educate and advocate for consumers, feels there should be a public inquiry into the investment industry.
Stan Buell, president of the Small Investor Protection Association, says there should be a public inquiry into the investment industry.
"These no-contest settlements are absolving the industry of the responsibilities for the last 10 years," he said.
"I mean, how can regulators claim that they protect investors when these companies have been doing this for 10 years undetected?" Buell asks, calling the settlements just a part of the "deception" of the investment industry.
'An easy out'
A former director of the OSC is also speaking out about the secret agreements.
"I haven't been a fan of [no-contest settlements] because I think it provides an easy out for people who have been involved in misconduct," Michael Watson, a former director of enforcement with the OSC, told CBC News. Watson is now a special adviser to the RCMP's integrated market enforcement program.
I think it provides an easy out for people who have been involved in misconduct. - Michael Watson, former director of enforcement with the OSC
Watson said he has trouble seeing an appropriate resolution to such cases when no one is required to admit wrongdoing.
"I guess I was always concerned that if people were not prepared to stand up and admit they'd done something wrong that they might not see the harm in doing again," he said.
An adequate deterrent?
Lawyer Anita Anand, the J.R. Kimber chair in investor protection and corporate governance at the University of Toronto faculty of law, worries these agreements won't stop future wrongdoing.
"That is positive for the financial institution [but] it's not so positive for deterrence in terms of sending a message to the market that a certain type of behavior is simply not going to be permitted in Canada's capital markets," Anand said. "The law has to be seen to be fair and it is this perception of fairness that is my main worry."
Anand, like Watson, can see the benefits of the program in that the case doesn't drag on for years and investors do get refunds. Watson calls it a trade-off, adding it depends on what your objective is.
He points out the number of businesses coming forward to acknowledge overcharging clients speaks to the benefit of the program, since these are cases "that probably wouldn't have otherwise" become public.
Transparency issues
Anand wonders, though, whether the process is transparent enough and should be reviewed.
"The process occurs behind closed doors," she said. "It's not a trial. It's not a hearing. It's not a case in which you're going to have the public have access to proceedings in the way that you would with a trial or hearing. So there's less information coming forward on a daily basis about what is the process and the basis on which this no-contest settlement was reached."
Scotiabank, Royal, TD, CIBC and BMO, along with others, have all disclosed that they charged a total of $354 million in excess fees on mutual funds and other investments. (Kevin Frayer/Canadian Press)
Anand acknowledges the OSC does release no-contest settlement agreements, but not all documents leading to the agreements are made public "so again there is a transparency issue or at least a potential transparency issue there."
She said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's decision to pull back from using the settlements indicates "there are valid issues to be discussed here relating to transparency and legitimacy and ultimately the public's interest."
Kehoe says the OSC uses such agreements in limited circumstances and argues they do serve to prevent future problems, adding the settlements were introduced as a way of "getting the case done in a timely way, getting investor harm remediated and fixing the problems."
He said a no-contest settlement has all the hallmarks of every other hearing they do.
"A fine is a stigma and a deterrence no matter how you label it."
Just about every major investment firm has entered into a no-contest settlement.
Financial institutions that have compensated Canadians as a result of no-settlement agreements. (CBC)
What should investors do?
It is now up to the financial institutions to identify affected clients, determine how much each is owed, make "reasonable efforts" to contact those who have been overcharged and reimburse them. There is no established method for those clients to determine on their own whether they are owed money or how much. Investors with questions should contact their bank or investment firm.
Anand said there is no strong reason to believe the amounts that have been calculated are incorrect.
"They likely are [correct] but the process itself is somewhat disconcerting," she said, adding it doesn't inspire public confidence "given that we have so very little information about the process by which the so-called compensation plans are calculated."
Anand's advice to investors is to become more knowledgeable about their investments and Canada's capital markets. She said while financial literacy is important, it doesn't relieve regulators of their responsibility to protect investors and ensure a fair market.Weeks after Allstate Insurance unveiled a new commercial starring two real-life gay dads and their infant daughter, a right-wing "family" group blasted the ad campaign for promoting "a lifestyle that is not good for children."
In response to the release of the "Here's to Firsts: Family" commercial by Allstate, the American Family Association (AFA) has launched an online petition calling for supporters to urge the insurance company to "stop its promotion of normalizing homosexual parenting when children's welfare is at stake."
The petition reads:
The Allstate promotion does not share the reality that this child will grow up without the nurture that only a mother can provide. Nor does Allstate recognize the emotional trauma and questions this child will endure growing up in a home with two men.
Pointing to a debunked 2012 study that claimed to prove children of same-sex parents fared worse than those raised by heterosexual couples, AFA officials said, "Allstate has abandoned God's design for the family, and thus promotes a lifestyle that is not good for children."
At the time this story was published, the petition had just over 27,000 signatures.
The AFA's petition against the Allstate commercial, of course, isn't particularly surprising. The right-wing organization, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a reputation for condemning LGBT-inclusive products and campaigns.
In 2015, One Million Moms, a division of the AFA, slammed Campbell's Soup for releasing a commercial that also starred two real-life gay dads as part of the canned good producer's "Made for Real, Real Life" campaign.
The AFA was also behind the creation of an "anti-Christian bigotry map" which included LGBT advocacy groups last year.
It may be the new year, but it's the same hateful, homophobic routine we've come to expect from these folks.
Also on HuffPost:Colorado's Legal Weed Is Harming Nearby States So Much They Can Barely Produce Evidence Of Harm
from the 'it's-mostly-an-existential-harm,-I-guess...' dept
When Colorado made recreational marijuana use legal, neighboring states were quick to predict lasting damage would be done by this flouting of federal law. "It's still illegal here," they sued briefly, before being booted back to reality by the Supreme Court.
“In passing and enforcing Amendment 64,” the lawsuit said, “the state of Colorado has created a dangerous gap in the federal drug control measures enacted by the United States Congress. Marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining [their] own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and placing stress on their criminal justice systems.”
It has turned out to be far less of a "stress" than they imagined. More than a few law enforcement agencies have been happy to place patrol cars at the border and snag alleged pot purchasers as they exit the state. This hasn't always worked out well for them, but nothing about these enforcement actions suggests law enforcement (part of the criminal justice system) was too bothered by the influx of drug busts.
Of course, it's kind of difficult to nail someone for a fully-legal purchase. Buying from an authorized weed dealer isn't like buying from someone 16 degrees removed from a Mexican cartel. The purchase is legal. Any travelling outside the legal boundaries isn't. But the fact that marijuana can be purchased legally in some states has led to shifting attitudes both inside and outside of law enforcement. It's no longer considered de facto criminal activity worthy of punishment.
Court decisions have played a small part in this forced loosening of drug enforcement efforts. One court told cops they couldn't presume everyone with a Colorado license plate was participating in drug trafficking. Another court informed eager locals they couldn't arrest (and seize assets from) people traveling to Colorado, even if they clearly stated they intended to purchase marijuana while there. The criminal nexus actually had to be in the jurisdiction covered by the law enforcement agency involved and "might do something illegal in the future within this jurisdiction" isn't probable cause for an arrest.
Even without these court decisions, law enforcement is finding there's not much point in panicking about Colorado's drug tourism industry. Kansas Attorney General Derek Smith wisely decided to hold off on boarding the Amendment 64 lawsuit bandwagon until he had some evidence of actual harm in hand. Turns out, he couldn't really find any.
[L]aw enforcement was reporting fewer – not more – marijuana-related offenses. This was confusing to Schmidt, who said he’d heard from law enforcement that Colorado marijuana was king. So he invoked a 19th-century law to survey law enforcement agencies. And he received a huge response: 390 law enforcement agencies and district attorneys painted the first large-scale picture of the impact of Colorado’s legalization on Kansas. The early results suggest it is having a big impact, but it may not all be negative. The amount of marijuana being confiscated appears to be dropping quickly. But the potency of the marijuana is increasing.
It's good to know it's no longer just the Drug War increasing drug potency. Legalizing drugs appears to have the same effect, only without the corresponding drain on public funds. Even more interesting is the attitude law enforcement is taking, even with a potentially unlimited number of drug busts available. The issue of legality/illegality may appear black/white, but government employees tend to respect government entities, even when they do something like legalize a drug that often acts as a revenue stream for drug warriors.
In some jurisdictions, law enforcement are no longer enforcing marijuana laws much, and even when they do, it has become difficult to win convictions. Users may receive a fine in one county, probation or jail in another and told to move along in others. [...] Some officers won’t issue citations for marijuana possession, according to the report. “Our local deputies and sheriff tell me they stop at least five cars a day with personal-use marijuana inside and absolutely refuse to issue a citation or report for it,” according to the district attorney’s office in Clark County. “They simply confiscate it and send them on their way.”
Some of this relaxation may be due to diminishing returns. More prosecutions are being undone by local juries composed of people who no longer believe firing up the occasional joint to be a criminal act worthy of jail time.
Some juries are refusing to hand out marijuana convictions. “I have had a number of potential jurors during voir dire opine their belief that marijuana should be legal,” according to the district attorney in Labette County. “Oddly enough, these statements were made in non-marijuana cases.” This is true for young and old, black and white, according to the district attorney in Leavenworth County. The elderly say it should be allowed for medicinal purposes, while young jurors tell the DA it’s “less serious than tobacco or alcohol, and they oppose the use of tax funds to prosecute marijuana cases.”
Of course, there are still some district attorneys who wish the rest of the criminal justice system would take their marijuana possession prosecutions more seriously, complaining that lax sentences have resulted in the "absconding" of dangerous pot purchasers to their home states. More pragmatically, those in charge of housing inmates are relieved more cases are dead-ending as they'd rather use their limited space to house actual dangerous felons, rather than Kansans caught on a weed run.
If anything, the information collected shows a more relaxed approach to enforcement would see nearly no appreciable harm come to the state of Kansas. Law enforcement resources aren't infinite and they should be focused on criminal acts with victims, rather than people legally purchasing a drug for recreational use. Unfortunately, despite the lack of evidence supporting theories of harm, state AG Derek Smith still holds out hope that he'll find something to justify a legal weed lawsuit.
“Here you have our sister state – we love them, we get along great with them most of the time,” Schmidt said. “But doggone it, they have done something that federal law says they may not do, and it’s Kansans who are paying a price for that.”
Any price Kansans are paying for Colorado's marijuana sins are being imposed on them by overzealous enforcement. A legal distributor in the next state makes it pretty difficult to build a local, fully-criminal marijuana distributorship that can compete on price or potency. Playing hardball with drug tourists does nothing but blow taxpayer dollars on looking out-of-touch and ineffectual.
Filed Under: colorado, harm, marijuana, weedWhen critics of immigration make their case, they often point to the labor market. The argument goes something like this: An increase in the supply of workers creates additional competition for jobs, and if immigrants are willing to accept lower wages than American-born workers, then it's the American workers who will suffer.
It’s true that an inflow of new, able-bodied workers generally means an increase in the labor supply, though immigration patterns affect industries differently. And that can certainly have an impact on the wages of some workers. But there’s another piece to this puzzle that is often overlooked—and that’s the increased demand for services that comes along with a burgeoning population.
A new working paper investigates this other side of the immigration equation. Researchers from Indiana University and the University of Virginia modeled demand within a local economy, using decennial census data and looking at the populations of metro areas. They specifically focused on demand for the goods produced by "non-tradable industry," meaning those goods and services that must be sold or tendered domestically by local workers, such as hospitality, teaching, retail, and construction. (Tradable industry, by contrast, includes things such as manufacturing, engineering, and other jobs that can be outsourced.) Part of the rationale behind this separation for the purpose of the study is that demand for tradable goods can be the result of forces outside of a local economy, while demand for non-tradable goods are beholden to population shifts within a specific location.In case you’ve been in cryosleep, Halo Wars 2 recently launched on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC! Fans have been eagerly diving into the battlefield, fielding armies of Scorpions, Warthogs and more. However, if you haven’t had chance to put your strategy hat on yet – surprise, the Halo Wars 2 demo is now live on Xbox One and coming soon to Windows 10 PC!
Included in the demo is a first look at the campaign with mission one, “The Signal,” as well as Blitz Firefight where you can test your mettle against waves of AI using a pre-built deck of cards from Captain Cutter or Atriox. The demo is available for all Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox One today, and is coming soon to anyone with a Microsoft account on Windows 10 PC.
If you’re still catching up on all the Halo news, there are a ton of great resources available both here and on Halo Waypoint. Check out legendary RTS developer Creative Assembly’s tips for Blitz – essential for getting you to Nightmare tier in Blitz Firefight – and learn about Halo’s newest (and hairiest) villain, Atriox, from 343 Industries Narrative Director Kevin Grace.Unlike many women who require a small suitcase for their toiletries, a traveling man needs only a few essentials to be happy. Nevertheless, a man needs a place to stow these items. Enter the Dopp kit.
The History of the Dopp Kit
Charles Doppelt, a German leather-goods maker from Chicago, invented the Dopp kit during the early 1900’s. The small pouches became known as Dopps, in recognition of its creator. Doppelt scored a contract with the US Army during WWII to provide the toiletry pouches to |
sequence. A film tends to have eight sequences, roughly 40-60 scenes, and those add up into three total acts. You’re not writing film and the rules for film are pretty godsdamn flimsy anyway. The goal here is to write out every sequence and then build into that what scenes comprise each.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ Gives you a feeling of how all the pieces large and small fit together.
+ A bit more nuanced than a beat sheet.
+ Plays well with the One With The Roman Numerals (above).
– Fits well with film, TV, comic book — can get a little leggy or sprawly with big novels.
Tent Poles
Method: Easy. Your novel requires a certain number of MAJOR PLOT THINGIES to be the story you envision. It’s like, VAMPIRE DAVE HAS TO USURP THE WEREWOLF PRINCE OF UTICA, and then THE WEREWOLF PRINCE HAS TO KILL VAMPIRE DAVE’S MOM and then ROBOT INVASION and man, I dunno, it’s your fucking book. Point is, the book is like a tent and it only remains aloft and functional when a certain series of tentpole plot points hold it up. Right? Right. So, you just need to write down the four or five big holy shit things that are utterly absoflogginglutely required for this thing to function. That’s it.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ Gets you thinking in big, broad strokes — is the whole thing sensible? Here is your test.
+ Leaves you a lot of room between the tentpoles to roam, play, babble, wander.
+ A good outline for people who don’t want to outline much.
– Doesn’t deal much with character or the more finicky plot bits.
– Leaves a lot of uncharted territory where heinous fuckery can take root.
Chaos Reigns
Method: JUST GO BUCKWILD ON THAT SHIT. Like, free-write your way through the outline. No form. No meaning. Just you cranked up on the batshit adrenalin formed when you’ve got your teeth around a good tale, running like a hog on fire through the jungle of your story.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ Fun, no rules, chaos is bright and alive and weird.
+ An amazing way to really cook your brain in the fires of this particular story.
– Not so useful as a reference document. It will end up reading like the fecal handprint wall of a conspiracy theorist — it’s all red yarn connectors and nutball phrases and also poop.
Zero Draft
Method: Kinda like CHAOS REIGNS v2.0. This is you writing the whole novel. Except not. You are going to write the book with little sense of what’s happening or any outline — in fact, your shit-ass half-ass draft will become your outline. It’s like a proving ground. It’ll either be too long or too short, and it’ll probably be too terrible to be functional.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ The purest way to just charge forward and embrace the power of sucking.
+ Will definitely show you the parts of the book that are fucked up.
+ If you invest your emotion properly — meaning, low — you don’t feel so bad about writing a bunch of hot sticky medical waste and then jettisoning it out the airlock to start anew.
– Not really an outline, and more a TRIAL BY FIRE TORNADO.
– Takes a long time and is messy as hell.
Characters In Control
Method: This is a character-focused outline. It says, “fuck the plot, let’s talk about these wandering hobos that fill my novel.” List out each character. Then write about them. Chart their wants, their fears, their needs. Chart their problems and their way to overcome their problems. Chart their arcs — who are they when the tale begins and what do they become in the crucible of the narrative? This is less about what happens next and more about creating a group of characters and setting them on their path together (or in opposition to one another) and watching the story unfold. (For your reading: the Zero Fuckery Guide to Creating Kick-Ass Characters, and my guide to creating great supporting characters.)
Pluses/Minuses:
+ Allows characters to take the driver’s seat; characters are why we read stories.
+ I find this is a little more fun and a little less proscriptive.
+ Less attention on sheer plotty event sequencing.
– Less attention on sheer plotty event sequencing. If what you need is to strengthen your plot, then this may not be the best way forward?
The Screenplay
Method: Write your novel as a screenplay. No, really, that’s it. A screenplay is, at its core, PEOPLE SAY SHIT and PEOPLE DO SHIT. It is dialogue and action with the sparest, barest description. A screenplay is an outline. It doesn’t seem like it, but consider: a screenplay is not the final product. A novel is, but a screenplay goes through various hands and phases before it actually ends up on screen. The script is just a series of suggestions as to what appear in front of audiences.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ An easy-breezy way to write a “zero draft” of your novel.
+ You’ll be amazed at how fast it is to write a book this way.
+ Flexes some different storytelling and format muscles.
– Um, it’s a screenplay? Which means you have to know how to write a screenplay. Format, etc.
– Screenplays are, A-DOYYY, not novels. So, you’re practicing with one format when ideally you should be learning to practice another. It’s like learning roller skating by training with a skateboard or with ice skates. It’s similar, and useful, but may not be a good fit for everyone.
As You Go
Method: Outline as you go. Finish a chapter and outline the next two or three.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ Keeps your story loose and flexible, like the elastic in a comfortable pair of beloved underwear.
+ Never feels like you’re forcing yourself down one path (though again it is vital to remember that outlines are not sacred gnostic documents but just a list of made-up suggestions).
– It’s basically an act of drawing the map after you’ve started driving the car. It’s hard to see the deadman curves and blown-up bridges if you don’t plot the map ahead of time.
The Story Bible
Method: A giant-ass worldbuilding bible. No specific format, but assume it should read like the encyclopedia for a world that doesn’t necessarily exist. Focuses not at all on the plot of the single book and more about the overall world — including history, food costumes, design notes, religions, myths, traditions, holy dildos, mating parades, monkey-punching rituals, etc.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ It’s like, a big geeky bag of worldbuilding fun.
+ Lets you worry less about plot and more about creating a rich, fascinating setting that will spur the plot forward and give the characters an awesome setting in which to ROMP and GIBBER.
– Not actually plot-based, so — kinda separate from an outline. Also means you’re likely to build in tons of things that have nothing to do with the plot or the characters. A lot of excess.
– A very good way to waste time productively. Most things like this have a horizon line of functionality, and it’s very easy to traipse past that horizon line and continue writing your worldbuilding story bible for 16 years while never committing word one to the actual book you’re writing. It feels productive. But after a point, it damn sure isn’t.
Draw Its Shape
Method: Story has shape. It has architecture. The narrative skeleton is pressed into the flesh of the story. So, design that. You might design lots of shapes — the classic Freytag’s Pyramid, or a more nuanced and jagged version of that. (Might I recommend this terribleminds post? Story Shapes: Four Ways To Think About Narrative Architecture.) You might also graph pacing — it’s valuable to think about slowing down and speeding up the narrative at key points.
Pluses/Minuses:
+ A nice, abstract way to think about your story.
– Aaaaand maybe too abstract? This might be better when paired with one of the other outline forms, just to give you something less theoretical and more comprehensive.
Mind Maps
Method: A mind map is when you drill into your own head in an act of narrative trepanation, and you stuck a bendy straw in there and let the sweet STORY NECTAR dribble onto the page. It’s like maple syrup, kinda, and the idea is — *receives note* — okay, that’s not what a mind map is so clearly I have been doing this very wrong. *plugs up forehead hole with cork* A mind map is a central bubble (YOUR NOVEL) with a lot of other bubbles branching off of it. You can track plot, theme, characters, really anything you want — and you can do so in an explicitly visual way. Here is a good example at Iain Broome’s site: “How I Use A Mind Map To Build Stories.”
Pluses/Minuses:
+ Fun, easy, lots of software and apps to help you do it.
+ Abstract, but not so abstract it becomes a thought exercise — still concretizes ideas.
– Not really helpful in sequencing.
– Can get kind of noisy — may need to break out several smaller mind maps to make it work.
And That’s That
There you go. A big-ass skull-crusher of a post about outlining. Use it. Abuse it. Ignore it.
And, if you like it, share it.
We’ll talk more about outlines and plotting as the month goes on — in the meantime, remember that I do want you to try at least one of these methods, just for fucks and chuckles. We will in fact be tracking some of this stuff and — if you’re brave — posting them online. (We’ll check back in a couple weeks on that front.)
* * *
Hey, look! Whoadang! The GONZO BUNDLE is on sale — it’s eight books total (not pictured but included: 30 Days in the Word Mines). This bundle normally runs for $20, but for the whole month of October, if you use coupon code NAPLOYONOMO you can get it for 25% off — aka, $15. Check it out here, or click the image below:Tulare, California (CNN) House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes touched down in California's Central Valley, 2,700 miles away from Washington, leaving the political swirl of DC and landing amid strong winds whipping through his home district.
The afternoon AM talk radio station went from the weather report to the political storm following Nunes. Caller after caller recalled the skinny boy raised on his family's dairy farm, who would grow up to advise presidential candidate Donald Trump, and chair the House intelligence panel.
Tulare farmer Brian Watte turned down the radio, hearing nothing he already didn't know.
"I know Devin personally and his integrity," Watte said. "If this was someone I didn't know, I'd kind of be wondering too. But knowing him personally all these years, his family, his background -- he's a straight shooter. One of these days it will come out and it'll make sense, but in the meantime, we're 100% with him."
Finding support for the embattled congressman is hardly a challenge in Tulare, an agricultural town of 60,000. Nunes has won re-election seven times, usually grabbing 60-70% of the vote. Last November, 68% of his district voted for him to represent their interests in Washington.
He's done exactly that, said farmer Charlie Pitigliano, who owned a farm next to the Nunes' family dairy farm. Pitigliano said Nunes has fought for legislation to solve water issues in the Central Valley. He even managed to bring Trump to central California on a campaign stop to meet the farmers, a close relationship that Pitigliano said was visible to all the farmers invited to meet the then-Republican presidential candidate.
"They really hit it off and I really enjoyed seeing Donald Trump put that confidence in Devin," Watte said.
The close relationship between the two men is at the heart of the criticism coming at Nunes from both sides of the aisle, as fellow representatives call on Nunes to recuse himself from the House intelligence committee's investigation into Russia and any ties to the Trump campaign.
Democrats allege Nunes is doing the bidding of the White House instead of leading an independent investigation. The sharpest Republican critics, like Sen. John McCain, say Nunes' unorthodox behavior may threaten the credibility of the intelligence committee.
But in Tulare, those cries in DC aren't sticking.
Danny Tristao, who went to high school with Nunes, recalled a direct man and ethical man.
"He's not a kind of person who will stand down. If he believes in something, he'll pursue it and make it right."
As far as the close relationship with the Trump administration, Tristao sees it as being motivated by a desire to help his California constituents.
"Any connection with the President, and having a relationship with him, can help us in this Valley."
While Nunes enjoys a strong level of support, like many congressional Republicans after the election, he's also seeing a groundswell of opposition. Carol Kim, a therapist in Fresno, leads one of the several opposition grassroots groups trying to organize against Nunes. Her group, "Together We Will Fresno Central Valley," kicked off a fundraising campaign to try and find a Democratic challenger for Nunes' seat.
JUST WATCHED Sen. Paul: giving Nunes information was 'noble' Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Sen. Paul: giving Nunes information was 'noble' 07:06
Her group and the Indivisible group in central California have been protesting at Nunes' district office and plan to tail him to public events in district.
"He won't have a town hall and face us," Kim said. "We see him as obstructing justice. He is failing at his job. When a congressman represents Trump and values Trump's priorities over their constituents' -- time is up. Nunes has got to go."
But Kim does admit it will be a herculean task to convince Nunes supporters to turn away from the favorite son.
Carlton Jones, Tulare's mayor, is the same age as Nunes.
Like him, Jones was born here. The two men grew up together in Tulare and competed in high school basketball at rival schools. Jones is Tulare's first African-American mayor and a Democrat. But he still considers Nunes worthy of hometown pride and respect, even as Jones disagrees with his friend's actions this week.
Nunes, scheduled to speak across his district this weekend, deserves the warm embrace of his hometown, said Jones, even if he is greeted by protesters outside those events.
"Coming home for Devin should always be like coming home for anyone else," the mayor says. "It's your place of relaxation. It's your break. We give him that respect."Hello Backers! This is the first of what should be weekly (Saturday) updates on our progress in localizing the Grisaia trilogy.
We've currently received most of the pledges from the campaign and are starting to move forward into the initial stages of this project.
Regarding the box art / design: Stay tuned. We've heard your feedback and will be discussing our options in an upcoming meeting with Frontwing.
Shipping and fulfillment: We're going to try to ship the games as they are completed, rather than making you wait for the entire trilogy to be completed. More details as the project advances.
Vita release: Sekai Project is now a PSN publisher! This is an important first step towards approval of the potential Grisaia trilogy Vita ports, although there's still a pretty substantial application process we need to work through. We'll keep you updated on future developments.
BackerKit access: We will be sending out invites on the week of the 16th, the date is a little vague because we're trying to add in some last minute add-ons that Backers have been asking for but we were not able to get resolved before the campaign was over.
In terms of localization work, we are currently looking over The Fruit of Grisaia's Vita scripts and beginning the process of script editing. Starting next week, we'll be providing some numbers to help you track our progress.
Thanks again for all your support in making the Grisaia campaign such a huge success!When Russian miners pulled a strange red and green stone out of the ground, they immediately knew it was different to the thousands of tons of ore they process every day.
In fact, what workers at Alrosa's Udachnaya diamond mine had unearthed was a 30mm rock that contained 30,000 diamonds - a conentration 1m times higher than normal.
However, despite the rare find the company donated the rock to the Russian Academy of Sciences, as the diamonds are so small that they cannot be used as gems.
After scanning the rock with X-rays, scientists found that the diamonds inside measure just 1mm and are octahedral in shape - similar to two pyramids stuck together at the base. The red and green colouring comes from larger crystals of garnet, olivine and pyroxene.
"The exciting thing for me is there are 30,000 itty-bitty, perfect octahedrons, and not one big diamond," said Larry Taylor, a geologist at the University of Tennessee, who presented the findings at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting. "It's like they formed instantaneously. This rock is a strange one indeed."
Scientists are excited at the finding as they hope it will shed further light on how diamonds are made. They know diamonds are crystals of pure carbon that form under crushing pressures and intense heat, mostly formed in the Earth's mantle, the layer beneath the crust or surface layer, at a depth of about 150km. However, certain processes in their creation remain a mystery.
"The [chemical] reactions in which diamonds occur still remain an enigma," Mr Taylor told Live Science, which first reported the story.
Mr Taylor works with researchers at the Russian Academy of Sciences to study Udachnaya diamonds.
Russia is the largest diamond-producing country in the world, and produced more than 33m carats last year. State-controlled Alrosa is the world's leading diamond miner, accounting for 99pc of Russia’s output and 27pc of global production. Its sees rough diamond revenues of more than $4bn a year.
Alrosa's share price over the past year
Last week Alrosa signed a dozen deals with Indian buyers to increase direct deliveries to Asia's third-largest economy. The firm earns half of its revenue, or around $2.5bn, from Indian-funded clients, and the deal could help Russia reduce risks linked to Western sanctions imposed over its role in the Ukraine crisis.
Last month Alrosa revealed a 10.5bn rouble (£110m) loss for its third quarter despite sales rising 7.6pc.
The Udachnaya mine, in the Sakha Republic, just outside the Arctic circle, is more than 600 metres deep, making it the third deepest open-pit mine in the world."Motorsport is Dangerous." That is what it says on the back of every ticket, every media credential. As a professional motorsport
photographer, I'm well aware of the risks inherent with my job. I think most of us are. Still, a freak accident could snuff you out on the safest part of the track just as well as it could the most dangerous. And it's these freak accidents that generally generate the knee-jerk reactions from a series'
safety committee.
I've long been a fan of racing and have spent many boring Monday mornings watching funny/crazy/scary crash compilations on YouTube, just as anyone else might.
There have been some mighty close calls over the last few years with regard to photographers being in the line of fire with race cars. But at the end of
the day, no one is out there making us work against our will. It's simply a dangerous job.
(The spot in the video above, where photographers were standing for Allan McNish's 2011 Le Mans crash, is now a "red [no-go] zone." A car will probably never crash there again. No one was injured).
Watching the Formula 1 race last weekend, we saw a scary incident where Mark Webber was released from a pit stop before his tire was completely attached back onto the car. The result was that the tire went bouncing down the pit lane at some speed and ended up connecting with FOM cameraman Paul Allen. From what I have read, Paul has a broken collar bone and a few broken ribs. He was attended to immediately and appeared to have escaped serious injury.
What surprised me most from the event wasn't the incident itself, but the reaction on Twitter from F1 fans. People instantly called for all media personnel to be kicked out of pit lane as well as improved safety measures all around (i.e., mandating that everyone wear helmets).
In response to the incident, former FIA doctor Gary Hartstein offered this advice yesterday on Twitter:
Never EVER turn your back to oncoming traffic. No matter where one is on the circuit. Know where danger is coming from, and plan escape rts — Gary Hartstein (@former_f1doc)
You're absolutely right, Gary. But it just isn't that easy. Even if Paul had been facing the right way with a camera lens to his eye, the field of view is
so narrow that he might not have ever seen the tire bearing down on him. Most of us shoot with one eye through the viewfinder, and one eye open looking for
danger. But even under the best circumstances, you don't see much around you. It's just something we accept. You learn to use your other senses. Hearing
becomes super important and, eventually, you build a general sense of awareness that becomes your greatest and only ally.
But let's slow down a minute and quit with the knee-jerk reactions. In the history of F1, and for as many pit stops as F1 rolls through each race, we
really don't see very many accidents at all. In fact, considering how often media members travel, we probably have a better chance of being injured in a plane
crash than we do in a pit-lane accident. Formula 1's pit-lane safety record is pretty darn spotless. I've worked in almost every series' pit lane over the last two years (F1, NASCAR, IndyCar, FIA WEC, ALMS, Grand-Am, MotoGP, FIA GT, etc.), and the one I feel the safest in is F1.
So to eliminate some of the grey areas that surrounds motorsport, specifically those rules that help keep the media "safe" in pit lane, I've created a handy user
guide to explain how the different major series monitor and protect members of the press.
NASCAR:
No one—and I mean no one—goes over pit wall. Or on pit wall. Or hangs over pit wall. No fire suit or helmet necessary to be in the team pit box, but you do need to be wearing long pants and closed-toed shoes to work in the garage area. Many tracks (like Daytona, Talladega, Darlington, among others) do not allow photographers to shoot from the outside catch fence. The biggest thing you have to worry about with NASCAR pit stops is staying out of the team's way—and flying lug nuts, which will leave a sizable knot on your head.
IndyCar: During practice sessions, experienced media personnel can work in a hot pit lane (with the proper track approvals). From qualifying onward, however, no media representative can go over the wall. During race mode, you need to have a special sticker on your credential to even go near the pits.
MotoGP: Only photographers with a hard-card vest can work in a hot pit lane. Since they don't do pit stops, it's really not an issue.
American Le Mans Series: Only selected media officials wearing special pit-lane vests can work over the wall. Helmets and fire suits are required. Behind pit wall, you can ditch the helmet. The issue becomes that there are generally quite a few photographers who can work over the wall; and when a famous driver (like Patrick Dempsey) is running, it becomes a bit of a "shit show" with every media rep trying to snag a photo. Seeing as half of these photographers are amateurs (granted, well-connected amateurs), it makes the behind-the-scenes stuff even more chaotic. As my friend James Moy said, they're mostly there to get a photo to hang on their wall or put on Facebook rather than to do a job.
Grand-Am: No media over the wall. Ever. NASCAR rules apply (which isn't surprising, as NASCAR owns Grand-Am).
FIA World Endurance Championship:
Similar to ALMS. A pit-lane vest, helmet, and fire suit are required for any photographer to be over the wall during a hot session. If you're behind the wall, you can lose the helmet.
My good friend Camden Thrashersporting the "safety" equipment needed for a sports-car pit lane. As you can see, a simple bike helmet is as much safety gear as we need to wear.
Formula One: Prior to this latest incident at the German Grand Prix, pit passes were already hard to come by. A media credential did not automatically mean you received admittance. And in a somewhat backward fashion, a green lanyard denied pit-lane access, while a red lanyard permitted entry.
During practice, there really wasn't a limit as to how many media professionals could be in pit lane so long as everyone had the proper credentials. But for the race, the track only allowed in six still photographers and six FOM cameramen. The still photographers could not be on pit lane itself. They had to stay on the wall.
"Look forward to seeing Horner, Mallya, Montezemolo, and Co wearing their safety helmets on the pit wall. #SafetyForAll #F1 — James Moy (@jamesmoy)"
So, that's basically six videographers on pit lane with the cars. Hardly a gaggle worth worrying about, especially since these men and women were often the most experienced shooters in the business. And Paul Allen (the injured FOM cameraman) is one of them.
(This shot was taken during pre-season testing, so I didn't need to stay on pit wall.)
On Wednesday afternoon, however, the FIA released a statement restricting all camera crews—which I take to mean all media personnel, including still photographers—from accessing pit lane during any Formula 1 session.
Is it a huge deal? No, not really. We'll lose those cool angles from ground level of an F1 pit stop in action from the FOM feed. But other than that, not
much will change. Yet, in our health- and safety-obsessed society, at what point do these protection measures go too far?
While safety is assuredly an important factor, photographers assume the dangers of the job at their own risk. Half of an F1 photographer's time is spent focusing on pit-lane activity. As no one (except team photographers) can access the garages at any time, this restriction severely limits your workable range; with this new restriction, the only opportunity that a photographer has to snap images of the car, driver, and team is suddenly gone. All this because of one incident that has never happened before and may never happen again?
Some people may question why this is such a big deal, seeing as other series' photographers get along just fine without pit-lane access (like in NASCAR and Grand-Am). The main reason is because of the way the F1 pit lanes are designed. With NASCAR tracks (and most Grand-Am tracks, as well), the teams set up their equipment behind a concrete wall; and this equipment generally consists of a canvas tent with a rolling tool cabinet. Anything behind that wall is not technically on pit lane, so you can shoot pit stops over the wall without needing to be in the line of fire, unlike in F1. Also, those drivers are far more accessible than those competing in Formula 1. With the high-profile nature of the F1 series, driver photos are much harder to come by. In fact, photographers and videographers often rely on pit-lane access to ensure they have good portraits and action photos of the drivers working in and around the cars.
The FIA might consider revising these rules at the behest of the teams, who now no longer have images of their drivers near the machines, but I doubt it. While I will not be in Hungary for the next race, I will be speaking to many of my colleagues who work in the series to find out how badly things have changed. But at this juncture, I find the FIA's decision to be an unbelievable overreaction to something relatively minor.
I know that my job as a photographer has become a lot more difficult over the last few years simply because of how many safety barriers, catch fences, and runoff we have to shoot over just to get a shot of a vehicle on track. And all for our own "protection." It's kind of why I love covering Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. I sign a waiver releasing the organizers of liability, and I get to shoot in spots that would make most people cringe at the perceived level of danger involved (seeing as there are no safety nets). It's just me, a mountain, and a race car. Kind of the way it used to be.
My decisions are my own responsibility. I understand that my profession is dangerous. I use common sense and hope for a
little luck, and so far, I've come home without a scratch. And maybe this post will be read at my early funeral, but somehow I think I'll be just
fine.The Finnish Air Force trains its pilots to land on the road in case of a war in which the airbases are taken out. Not only does it look amazing but they also made a very cool video on it!
A live air operations exercise under the name of Livex-2015 took place between October 5th and 9th 2015 and extended over Finland’s entire territory. Most of this year’s refresher training in the Air Force was merged with the exercise that involved around 1,500 reservists, 800 active duty personnel, and approximately one hundred conscripts.
Finnish Air Force F/A-18 Hornet multirole fighters operated also from a road base in Vieremä.
In the Cold War, highway strips were systematically built on both sides of the Iron Curtain, mostly in the two Germanys, but also in North Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
Since the Cold War ended most highway airfields have been converted back into normal highways but some have been retained.Stung by criticism that it has been winking at offshore tax evasion, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has just promised a crackdown on Daddy Warbucks scofflaws that was skilfully packaged to have the ring of toughness to it. Revenue Minister Gail Shea warns that miscreants with undeclared taxable assets offshore should come clean and “declare all their assets now before the agency (Canada Revenue Agency) comes after them.” Her colleague Max Bernier, minister for small business, boasts that a “SWAT team” is being readied to chase them down. Certainly, that’s what hardworking, taxpaying Canadians might hope. There’s nothing more demoralizing than seeing people scam the system.
Revenue Minister Gail Shea warns that Canadians with undeclared taxable assets offshore should come clean before the Canada Revenue Agency 'comes after them.' (May 8, 2013) ( Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
But for all that, Ottawa’s crackdown looks to be more bark than bite. The opposition New Democrats and Liberals have ridiculed it as “window dressing” and a “shell game” designed to defuse public criticism more than anything else. While that may be harsh, the Conservative government does appear to be trying to spook wealthy tax dodgers into voluntarily declaring their assets with a crackdown on the cheap. Of the $30 million Shea announced for new measures to track down tax evaders and aggressive avoiders — spread over five years, no less — just $15 million is new money; the rest is recycled. And the so-called SWAT team is shaping up to be a 10-person outfit at best. Meanwhile, the CRA is expected to trim $300 million from its budget in the next three years and cut 3,000 jobs, a prime victim of federal deficit-cutting. While it’s good to see Ottawa taking some action, it’s hard to believe this modest initiative can have much impact on a hugely complex offshore tax-dodging industry. Canadians for Tax Fairness, a group that campaigns for sharing the burden more equitably, estimates that affluent Canadians have put $160 billion into offshore havens, costing us nearly $8 billion a year in foregone tax revenues. The scofflaws among them have a lot invested in not being easily rattled into declaring their assets.
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To be fair, Ottawa is also bringing in new requirements that banks report to CRA international transfers above $10,000, making it easier to track assets. The government will require people with large assets abroad to provide more information in tax filings. And it is rewarding people for turning in cheats. As well, it has had some success boosting the number of voluntary disclosures in recent years. All this gives Ottawa reason to hope that it can recoup $2 billion or more in the next few years. But globally, offshore tax havens have burgeoned into a $20-trillion business that in the government’s own words encompasses everything from “complex corporate schemes, individuals using offshore jurisdictions of concern, ‘tax havens,’ or tax shelter schemes that are used to avoid or evade tax.” Are we to believe that a small CRA team is going to be able to police so wide a waterfront? That’s a stretch. There’s also the matter of collecting on the taxes that are tracked down. CRA proudly says it has audited 7,761 offshore cases since 2006 and identified some $4.58 billion in taxes owing. What’s less clear is how much the government has managed to collect. Rather than the solution that Ottawa is touting to a multi-billion-dollar problem that undermines public confidence in the tax system and its fairness, this is but the first step toward a fix. It could have been bolder.
Read more about:Posted on September 15, 2016
A couple years ago I read a blog post by Logan Thompson from Blog About Beer regarding his Top 5 Beers In The World and it really got me thinking. Fast forward a couple years, I’ve revisited his blog and decided to add my 2-cents worth as I always thought there were a few missing from his list. Sorry Logan!
My final Top 12 Beers In The World are in line with Logan’s original viewpoint.
It is fundamentally impossible to have a top beer list given the subjectivity of beer, and the sheer volume of beers produced worldwide.
How can anyone truly come up with a Top 12 List that will resonate with everyone's experiences, tastes and access to beers?
Well I think I’ve cracked a list that everyone CAN agree on… well, as long as you are a beer drinker.
So here it is… my Top 12 Beers....
1. The Beer That Made You Like Beer, I Mean Really Like Beer
Without this said beer, it's unlikely you'd be interested enough in beer to read this post.
So remember that beer, and occasionally toast it, because without it your beer love affair and journey would never have started. I often call this an epiphany beer and for me it's Chimay Blue.
2. The Beer That’s in Your Hand*
If you have a beer in your hand, you’re doing pretty well.
You’re definitely doing better than the guy without a beer in his hand, so things are looking up. It might not be the best beer you’ve ever had, but again it beats being the guy without a beer.
3. The Beer You’re Having Next*
What’s better than the beer currently in your hand?
The one that’s coming next.
When your beer glass is nearly empty it can be a sad time. Yes that is a pessimistic view, but your beer is almost finished! This sadness can be turned around though knowing, while one beer is being finished another isn’t that far away...
4. The Spontaneous Beer
This is the beer you're having when you weren't expecting to have a beer.
Ever had the experience of running into a friend unexpectedly who you haven't seen for a while?
It also just so happens you both have the afternoon off and are free for a beer. Perfect!
So off to the nearest watering hole to catch up and have a couple of pints of your favourite nectar. Ironically this is often the way the “Best Night Out” starts out too… but I’ll leave that for another blog post.
5. The Best Beer You Can Remember*
Everyone has a handful of beers that give them a happy feeling when reminiscing on it.
It might not be the best technically crafted beer in the world, but to you it makes you happy. It’s the beer that fills you with nostalgia and joy, and for just that brief moment takes you back in time. Maybe it should be the Time Machine Beer!
6. The Holiday Beer
Lets face it, every beer tastes better on holidays.... YOU are on holidays!
You’re relaxed, carefree and don't have a worry in the world. Except maybe questions about what time the bar closes and where the nearest craft brewery is located.
7. The Beer That’s Free*
Who doesn’t like free beer!
It just tastes good.
Maybe it was a beery gift from a friend using the beer economy as a way of saying thanks. Or maybe it was the backyard BBQ where someone offered you a beer.
Of course some free beer tastes better than others, but when you don’t have to pay for it that’s an upside. And if the free beer being offered is really that bad then most often you can opt for a free glass of wine or cider.
8. The Beer You're Sharing with Friends or Family
Beer is awesome in its own right, but it’s beers ability to be the social lubricant that certainly does make it shine.
There aren’t many other drinks in the world that are so strongly associated with friends, family and good times. So if a beer brings you and others closer together to enjoy good times, then that’s a beer worthy of making it on this list.
9. The Beer You Made*
Like Logan, I also believe everyone who loves beer should brew at least one beer to help them appreciate the craft.
This is the love of your labour moment of enjoyment. Not all beers you attempt will be hits, but the fact that you made it is pretty awesome.
Bonus: if a beer you made is enjoyed by others, as well as |
since 1988. His “rust belt strategy” had paid off.
John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, came out at the Javits Center and told everyone to go home as there would be no speech from the Democratic nominee that night. “They’re still counting votes and every vote should count,” he told the remaining diehards at the Javits Center.
Clinton did eventually call Trump to concede the election. The now president-elect came out at the Hilton Marriott with his family and the vice-president-elect, Mike Pence, and his family to make his acceptance speech. “To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people,” Trump said.
In Sacramento, Dailey felt unwell. “It was like somebody had just kicked me in the stomach. I had no idea what would happen from that moment.”
Dailey wasn’t the only one. News pundits struggled to hide their shock, and horror. The CNN commentator Van Jones said Trump’s victory was fueled by a “whitelash” against a changing country. “How do I explain this to my children?” he wondered.
Forrest was wondering the same thing about her children who were in her hometown of Waterloo, Wisconsin. “My daughter and my son had gone to bed thinking things were gonna be OK,” she recalled. She broke down heaving and sobbing when she realized that she would not be the one to tell them what happened.
One moment there's hope and the next moment it's complete despair Trent Vanegas, New York
Cheeks, the Madison city councilman, was also scared. His wife was not a political junkie like he was, and he assured her that it was absolutely impossible for Trump to win. “I thought you said this wouldn’t happen,” she told him after Trump’s victory was announced. “I didn’t have an answer for her,” he recalled. “For the first time, [Cheeks’s wife] thought to herself, ‘What does this mean? We just had a child that we’re bringing up in this world where Donald Trump is the president.’”
Trent Vanegas was at the Javits Center in New York. He had flown in from Los Angeles that morning to see the first female president get elected and kick off a week-long celebration. He and his friend ran out of the Javits Center after Podesta’s speech and ignored reporters asking them how they felt. People around them were in tears. As soon as they crossed the street, Vanegas broke down as well and embraced his friend. “It kind of just hit you, that we almost had it all. One moment, there’s hope and the next moment it’s complete despair,” he recalled. “[My friend] was just apologizing for getting makeup on my white shirt.” They had both worn white in honor of the suffragettes.
That night, people on both coasts began to take to the streets as protests slowly bubbled up in Oakland and New York.
Clinton’s concession – the resistance begins
“I woke up the next morning with tears in my eyes,” Chaffee remembered.
On the morning of 9 November, world leaders were tweeting out their congratulations to the president-elect. Republicans who were previously critical of Trump, were now wishing him all the best. News also broke that Clinton would be giving a speech at the New Yorker hotel.
After being pushed back multiple times, Clinton took the stage at around 11.30am, dressed in purple and black, to signify unity. “We must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president.”
“I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but I know someday someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now,” she added.
Hours earlier, Forrest had decided she was going to quit her job. She thought, how could I in good faith encourage women to get into politics after this result? “I changed my mind when I saw the concession speech,” she said.
In the coming days, Forrest said more women than ever signed up for Emerge.
Vanegas didn’t want to watch the speech but felt obliged to. Clinton’s composure was inspiring, he said. Later he and his friend heard that people were meeting in Union Square in New York city and he decided to join them. They ended up at Trump Tower for what would be the first of many protests.
For Cheeks, a text from his mother jolted him back into reality. She told him, it was his job as a local leader to be someone that could be counted on. “Don’t get discouraged,” she told him.May 03, 2011 11:32 am ET — Matt Finkelstein
It didn't take long after the momentous announcement of Osama bin Laden's death for conservatives to start taking credit and claiming vindication for the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies. This morning on Fox & Friends, former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined the chorus of conservatives heaping praise onto her former boss, suggesting that Bush's bullhorn speech at Ground Zero was "probably the most important moment maybe in American history."
BRIAN KILMEADE: The president in his speech — did a great job on his speech Sunday night — talked about coming together like we did on 9/11, he wants to see it happen again. Do you think a nice gesture would be to invite President Bush out on Thursday when he comes down to Ground Zero to greet the families? RICE: Well, obviously, I'll leave that to the two of them and to the administration. But President Bush had at Ground Zero probably the most important moment maybe in American history. It was when this wounded nation watched their commander-in-chief stand on that rubble and say that they will hear us, we are going to avenge this. And it's not just avenging Osama bin Laden, as important as that is. But it's all the field generals that have been brought to justice over the last years, it is improving now the prospects for an Afghanistan that might actually be stable, it's a worldwide net against al Qaeda, it's victories of democracy in places like Iraq. And so, slowly but surely this is all coming into place and President Bush began that with that call to the nation — that clarion call to the nation at Ground Zero.
Watch:
Bush deserves credit for rallying the nation after 9/11, but the campaign to inflate his role in bin Laden's demise is misguided. As others have pointed out, it was in fact Bush administration policy to deemphasize the hunt for bin Laden. Yet, many conservatives are so reflexively partisan that they are incapable of celebrating a national victory without trying to turn it into a political victory as well.SOFII’s view SOFII is indebted to writer Fergal Byrne for pointing us towards this fundraising treasure. Though not many people will remember Bruce Barton (1886-1967) he is credited as one of the great Americans of the twentieth century. Significantly for us he was also a master communicator and an intuitive fundraiser. The appeal letter here is a masterpiece for its time, as its results show. See also on SOFII The Deerfield letters, a collection of fundraising classics from 1944 to 1960 for Deerfield Academy, Massachusetts, also written by Bruce Barton and of which this brilliant piece of communication was a forerunner. See below for links to this fascinating archive now on SOFII.
Creator / originator Bruce Barton himself.
Summary / objectives To raise $1,000 from each of just 24 individuals, through a personal letter. ‘When you're through changing, you're through.’—Bruce Barton
Background Born in Tennessee in 1886, Bruce Barton graduated from Amherst College in 1907. He worked as a publicist and magazine editor before co-founding the Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BDO) advertising agency in 1919. Nine years later the agency merged with the George Batten agency to become Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BBDO). Barton headed the agency until 1961, building it into one of the industry's leaders. Among other famous campaigns, he created the character of ‘Betty Crocker’. He is also credited with naming General Motors and General Electric. Politically conservative, he offered his public relations expertise to many Republican candidates over the years. A staunch opponent of Roosevelt and the New Deal, he served two terms in the United States House of Representatives (1937-1941), and in 1940 ran unsuccessfully for US Senator for New York. Barton was most famous, however, as the author of many bestselling guides to personal success. He also wrote hundreds of articles for popular magazines, offering readers advice and inspiration to pursue the American dream. His most famous book, The Man Nobody Knows (1925), depicted Jesus Christ as a successful salesman, publicist and role model for the modern businessman. One historian writes: ‘Barton believed incurably in material progress, in self-improvement, in individualism, and in the Judeo-Christian ethic, and none of the profound crises through which his generation lived appreciably changed the tenor of his writings or their capacity to reflect what masses of Americans, optimists in the progressive tradition, apparently continued to want to hear.’ Bruce Barton was a descendant of the Rev. John Davenport, the founder of Yale University and of New Haven, Connecticut, through his mother.
Special characteristics Long copy, but it worked. Note the hook and calls to action.
Influence / impact None that we know of though we presume both to be considerable. Study carefully before you write your next appeal, then please let us know how it went.
Costs Small, and it seems Barton covered these himself.
Results 100 per cent response in its only outing, as far as we know.
Merits A classic from history and might be worth studying if you aspire to similar results.
Other relevant information The sayings of Bruce Barton: Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress. Before you give up hope, turn back and read the attacks that were made on Lincoln. Cereal eating is almost a marker for a healthy lifestyle. It sets you up for the day, so you don’t overeat. Christ would be a national advertiser today, I am sure, as He was a great advertiser in His own day. He thought of His life as business. Conceit is God’s gift to little men. If you can give your child only one gift, let it be enthusiasm. If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature. In good times, people want to advertise; in bad times, they have to. It takes a real storm in the average person’s life to make him realise how much worrying he has done over the squalls. It would do the world good if every man would compel himself occasionally to be absolutely alone. Most of the world’s progress has come out of such loneliness. The benefit of the doubt: With all these quotes from the great man, we presume that had Mr Barton been writing nowadays, he would have included women in these comments too, and not just through political correctness. For the record the capitalisation in quote 4 is his, not ours. Bruce Barton: the advertising copywriter:
Bruce Barton packed a lot into one lifetime. He was Chairman and co-founder of one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, BBDO.
Publicist, magazine editor and fiction writer
United States Congressman and a prominent rival of FDR and the New Deal. (FDR singled out Barton and two other Republican foes in the fantasy firm of Martin, Barton & Fish.)
A source of countless cling-to-the-memory quotes and catchy phrases (like,‘If advertising has flaws, so has marriage!’)
And…one heck of a copywriter. While extolling the lessons we can learn from Bruce Barton’s classic copywriting it should be pointed out that this fine letter is flawed in some ways too. Though Barton was, we understand, a lifelong moderate Republican, viewed by today’s standards at least, some of his references might be considered racist or sexist. Attitudes obviously were different back then, though we’re not sure that this allowance excuses the comment in page 3, paragraph 2 of the letter, which even then many might have found offensive. It seems not to have depressed response all the same, so who can say? We are sure SOFII’s readers will use their judgement as they borrow from it or adapt it to their own purposes.The newspaper reported on Friday that Reyes has been playing with the cracked rib for "almost a week." The four-time All-Star was forced out of action Thursday with the injury.
Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes may be facing a trip to the disabled list with a broken rib, according to a report from the Toronto Star.
Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes may be facing a trip to the disabled list with a broken rib, according to a report from the Toronto Star.
The newspaper reported on Friday that Reyes has been playing with the cracked rib for "almost a week." The four-time All-Star was forced out of action Thursday with the injury.
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"What we do have to be conscious of, too, is you don't want this thing to turn into a long-term problem," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told Sportsbet 590 The Fan. "If it's best to nip it in the bud right now, maybe that's the smart route to take.
"It's a rib problem. It's just a small, little, tiny crack in the rib, [a] fracture."
Reyes said Thursday that he had been feeling soreness in what he thought was his left oblique since April 10 in Baltimore, and he believed he could play the infield without pain, but said he had difficulty swinging.
Over 10 games with the Blue Jays this season, Reyes is hitting.324 with three runs, three doubles and five RBIs.New files leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden show that UK and US intelligence agencies have been spying on Israel's drones and fighter jets since 1998 in order to predict how possible Israeli military operations in Syria, Iran and Gaza could affect stability in the Middle East.
The leaked files pertain to a classified programme known as "Anarchist" that was conducted by GCHQ and the NSA, whereby operatives hacked into the live video feeds of Israeli drone fleet from a mountain top in Cyprus in order to get a bird's eye view of what the drones were seeing, according to the Intercept.
It is an open secret that Israel flies drones that carry missiles, but the Israeli government has never acknowledged this claim. However, the footage captured by the Anarchist programme provides rare visual proof of this claim, as well as images of several other different types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
And although much of the footage is grainy, one black and white still of a drone in mid-air clearly shows a large missile-shaped object on the left of the UAV, while a GCHQ report from 2009 mentions "regular collects of Heron TP carrying weapons".
Spies hacked into the Heron TP military drone
The Heron TP (also known as the IAI Eitan) is a large military drone by Israel Aerospace Industries that is designed to carry a variety of payloads and fly through all weather conditions above commercial traffic. On 12 January, Germany's ministry for defence announced a new deal to use the latest variant of the Heron TP for its military missions too.
"It certainly looks like the missile-shaped objects are weapons. The bodies appear to have cruciform tail fins. The distortion makes it a bit too hard to tell size but — assuming they are bombs — these are definitely less than 500-pound class," Bill Sweetman, an editor at Aviation Week told the Intercept.
And since the Heron-TP is an Israeli strategic intelligence system, the objects could be decoys, used to "force a response from Iran's air defenses, while the UAV orbits and hoovers up signals", Sweetman added.
According to Ronen Bergman, an investigative reporter with the best-selling Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which will be publishing its own report on the drone hack on Saturday 30 January, the Israeli military began encrypting drone video feeds after an incident in 1997 when the Hezbollah killed 12 Israeli commandoes in an ambush in Lebanon, so this revelation will be of concern to the Israeli government.
It shouldn't have been possible to hack the drone feeds
"The broadcast was supposed to be completely secure," said Bergman. "If the NSA and GCHQ were able to crack that, it would come as a big surprise, and might well lead to the launch of an inquiry."
GCHQ Anarchist training manuals from 2008 included in the leak explain that since the Israeli drones were scrambled in a way similar to the method used to scramble premium satellite and cable TV channels, it is possible to decode images using a freely available open source software called AntiSky, which was developed by the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in Erlangen, Germany.
In December 2015, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that although the US had promised to stop intercepting the communications of friendly heads of state following Snowden's revelations, the US had continued spying on the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, as well as other top Israeli officials.
IBTimes UK has contacted the Ministry of Defence, the NSA and the Israeli Ministry of Defence for comment, and is waiting for a response.WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, ordered the Justice Department on Monday not to defend President Trump’s executive order on immigration in court.
“I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” Ms. Yates wrote in a letter to Justice Department lawyers. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful.”
The decision is largely symbolic — Mr. Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, is likely to be confirmed soon — but it highlights the deep divide at the Justice Department and elsewhere in the government over Mr. Trump’s order.
Mr. Trump has the authority to fire Ms. Yates, but as the top Senate-confirmed official at the Justice Department, she is the only one authorized to sign foreign surveillance warrants, an essential function at the department.Boston’s Trust Act — designed to reassure immigrants that city police would not help deport them — has a loophole that was used to turn over nine men to federal immigration officials, city records show.
The nine men turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2015 had serious criminal histories, according to police, making their detention less of a public issue. But advocates worry that the same loophole could be used to detain and deport any immigrant for so much as a traffic violation — putting undocumented families at risk if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his promise to expand deportations.
Boston’s version of the 2014 Trust Act was intended by city councilors to keep police out of the business of deporting immigrants. Councilors said the measure would ensure that immigrants see city police as people they can turn to for help — and not as a threat.
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The newly discovered loophole in Boston’s Trust Act involves a technical matter of timing: The act specifically forbids police from detaining immigrants for ICE after a judge has ordered them released. But police said the act does not ban turning over immigrants to ICE while they are still trying to make bail.
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That was what happened in the case of the nine men, police said; they were turned over before a judge ordered them released.
The nine included including an Algerian man with a felony conviction for swinging a hammer at a South Boston bar owner; a Dominican man who returned to the United States illegally after being deported four times and is now in federal prison; and a citizen of Vietnam with assault convictions who has more recently been the scourge of Macy’s in Downtown Crossing, pilfering hundreds of dollars in watches, clothing, and hats from the store.
“We don’t claim to be the immigration police,” said Boston police Lieutenant Michael McCarthy, explaining the decision. “We operate within the parameters of the ordinance.”
But advocates for immigrants said the Trust Act intended for police to turn over immigrants to ICE only if the federal agency wanted them for another crime. Deportation proceedings are civil.
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Josh Zakim, the city councilor who sponsored the Trust Act, said he is considering amending the measure to address the loophole.
“I don’t think it’s the job of the Boston Police Department to enforce federal immigration policy,” Zakim said in a recent interview. “If that is occurring, we need to reexamine it to make sure this Trust Act is as strong as it needs to be to protect our immigrants in the city of Boston.”
Critics of the Trust Act say that Boston’s advocates are going too far on undocumented immigrants’ behalf, and preventing ICE from picking up criminals.
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, said requiring a criminal warrant from ICE to deport someone is “like demanding that ICE produce a blue-and-pink-striped unicorn on a silver platter.”
“They know it doesn’t exist,” said Vaughan, who favors limits on immigration. “It’s to provide some cover to them, and allow them to pretend it’s about constitutional rights for detainees when it’s in fact about making it more difficult for ICE to do its job.”
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Advocates say nothing in Boston’s Trust Act blocks federal immigration agents from detaining immigrants once they are arrested locally. And, advocates note, it is easy enough for federal immigration officials to step in because a national fingerprint-sharing program alerts ICE when state or local police arrest and book someone.
“ICE has resources and it can pick up the people that it prioritizes,” said Laura Rótolo, staff counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.
Trust Acts vary widely by cities and towns, and some are more restrictive than others.
Somerville, for instance, will turn over immigrants who are sex offenders or have serious criminal records, but Boston and Lawrence detain immigrants for ICE only if they have a criminal warrant for their arrest — which rarely happens because deportation cases are civil.
Boston’s reluctance to get involved in deporting immigrants has irritated Trump. On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to strip federal funding from Boston and more than 200 other US cities and towns that refuse to detain immigrants for ICE. Trump often cited the fatal shooting of a San Francisco woman last year allegedly by a Mexican national who was released by the county sheriff before immigration agents could pick him up.
An ICE spokesman had no comment on Boston’s Trust Act. Because immigration records are secret, it is unclear what happened after immigration officials detained the nine men.
Boston police said the number of immigrants the police turned over to ICE in 2016 is not yet available.
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at maria.sacchetti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @mariasacchettiJacobin, which is certainly one of the more sophisticated Leftist publications in the country, posted this excerpt the other day:
“For all his shortcomings, this snippet from the end of Michael Harrington’s Socialism is beautiful.
In desert societies — including the American Southwest — water is so precious that it is money. People connive and fight and die over it; governments covet it; marriages are even made and broken because of it. If one were to talk to a person who has known only that desert and tell him that in the city there are public water fountains and that children are even sometimes allowed to turn on the fire hydrants in the summer and to frolic in the water, he would be sure one were crazy. For he knows, with existential certitude, that it is human nature to fight over water. Mankind has lived now for several millennia in the desert. Our minds and emotions are conditioned by that bitter experience; we do not dare to think that things could be otherwise. Yet there are signs that we are, without really planning it that way, marching out of the desert. There are some who loathe to leave behind the consolations of familiar brutalities; there are others who in one way or another would like to impose the law of the desert upon the Promised Land. It may even be possible that mankind cannot bear too much happiness. It’s also possible that we will seize this opportunity and make of the earth a homeland rather than an exile. This is the socialist project. It does not promise, or even seek, to abolish the human condition, for that is impossible. It does propose to end that invidious competition and venality which, because scarcity allowed no other alternatives, we have come to think are inseparable from our humanity.”
source
While I agree with the general statement of his article (Socialism is surplus re-appropriated into prosperity for all), I think this is a topic that anyone with Marxist/Communist/Socialist leanings has to seriously re-consider in the 21st century.
Capitalism in its relentless drive for profit secures the surplus for such off-balanced prosperity as we experience today, what with the 1 percent gorging everything and (more or less – let’s not lump the comfortable Upper Middle Class in with the rest of us) passing the scraps on to the remainder of the population. So we should, so the argument goes, tip the scale (although how Harrington, a Democratic Socialist envisions this total transformation remains to be seen —although I personally am quite unfamiliar with the great bulwark of Harrington’s work, so please correct me if I am wrong), and then everyone would equally reap the long-deserved benefits of Surplus.
But here are just two problems I see, especially in the 21st century: 1. Without the ever accelerating profit-motive to fuel such accumulation (which is quite a different argument from the inane well without the incentive of profit no one will do anything… line of thinking) will we be looking at such a world of unparalleled material glories? Any good thinking Socialist doesn’t envision a truly post-Capitalist world as being one in which cars are still pumped out at an infinite rate, the idea being that instead of only the wealthy owning a car per person, now every family will have just such an arrangement. This is merely a form of the American dream made more Utopian and fair, which, as opposed to this current system, would be better, but it is Utopian in the pejorative sense, not the Revolutionary, Marxist one. Socialism has to be a completely re-envisioned world, not just this one but with a few “better options.” As Zizek has repeated, the most important day of the Revolution is going to be the day after.
2. Also, on a planet that is ever approaching its so-called Zero Point, due to the strain that Capitalism has put it through with it’s never-ceasing drive for products and markets (although I’m sure a more concise thinker could have worded that better), the question has to be asked, do we still have a planet capable of such easy living? Without necessarily reverting to anarcho-primitivism or some form of ludditeism, even the most head-in-the-clouds Socialist has to come to terms with the fact that any society that emerges after Capitalism (taking it for granted that Capitalism doesn’t first plunge all life into extinction, which the more pessimistic side of me claims is still very much a possibility) will have to deal with the after-effects of Capitalism, and these include Environmental devastation on a quite massive scale. Even if the most Utopian thinking of “Well, we’ll go ALL green!” is accounted for, this still maintains a Radically new way of living, one in which our current Surplus-fueled way of life (let’s face it, even the most disposed of us in this country, discounting the lumpenproletariat, is much better off than the majority of people in all Third World Nations) is utterly incompatible with.
So this is where I believe Utopian Socialism has crept its way back into a large part of mainstay Socialist thinking, especially in this country. I have attended several Socialist groups, and it is common to find among them a sort of neo-Wellsian line of thinking, one in which the We’ll find a way attitude pervades. And as I stated before, this is a Leftist offshoot—although I don’t necessarily believe it stems from—the American dream, and I think it arises out of that exceedingly tough stance of saying “We can’t go on living like this.” Surplus is a blood-soaked gift of these times, and I think any world, any different world, which is really what Socialism aims for, isn’t it? is going to be one of scarcity. A certain discipline of living, almost among Spartan lines, must be at least toyed with, especially where material conditions are concerned. If we want to keep living on this planet—a finite planet, it must never be forgotten—we must rid ourselves of Utopian fantasies of Paradise on Earth, and try and find the paradise of sustainable, affordable (if such a term has any meaning left in it post-Capitalism), and actual living and societal arrangements on a Planet and peoples who have just weathered the catastrophe of Capitalism.
Socialism is our redemption, not just an easy fix to salvation. The way things are going now, we’d better get damned use to the desert.
– Nolan Kane (3/12/13)Wednesday, November 19, 2014
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK—A new study of the Neanderthal nasal complex suggests that Neanderthals were a distinct species separate from modern humans. Rather than comparing Neanderthal noses to those of modern Europeans and the Inuit, whose nasal complexes are adapted to cold and temperate climates, the scientists, led by Samuel Márquez of SUNY Downstate Medical Center, examined the nasal regions of diverse modern human population groups with 3-D coordinate data and CT imaging. They found that the Neanderthal upper respiratory tracts had a mosaic of features not found among any population of modern humans as a result of a separate evolutionary history. “The strength of this new research lies in its taking the totality of the Neanderthal nasal complex into account, rather than looking at a single feature. By looking at the complete morphological pattern, we can conclude that Neanderthals are our close relatives, but they are not us,” team member Jeffrey T. Laitman of the Icahn School of Medicine and the Center for Anatomy and Functional Morphology told Science Daily. To read more about Neanderthal genetics, see "Should We Clone Neanderthals?""Yemen, Sudan, Jordan and Syria all look vulnerable. However, the greatest risk in terms of both probability and severity is in Saudi Arabia," said a report by risk consultants Exclusive Analysis.
While markets have focused on possible disruption to the Suez Canal, conduit for 8pc of global shipping, it is unlikely that Egyptian leaders of any stripe would cut off an income stream worth $5bn (£3.1bn) a year to the Egyptian state.
"I don't think the Egyptians will ever dare to touch it," said Opec chief Abdalla El-Badri, adding that the separate Suez oil pipeline is "very well protected". The canal was blockaded after the Six Days War in 1967.
There has been less focus on the risk of instability spreading to Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, headquarters of the Saudi oil giant Aramco. The region boasts the vast Safaniya, Shaybah and Ghawar oilfields. "This is potentially far more dangerous," said Faysal Itani, Mid-East strategist at Exclusive.
"The Shia are 10pc of the Saudi population. They are deeply aggrieved and marginalised, and sit on top of the kingdom's oil reserves. There have been frequent confrontations and street fights with the security forces that are very rarely reported in the media," he said.
The Saudi Shia last rose up in mass civil disobedience in the "Intifada" of 1979, inspired by the Khomeini revolution in Iran. Clashes led to 21 deaths. Mr Itani said it is unclear whether the Saudi military could cope with a serious outbreak of protest in the province.
Saudi King Abdullah is clearly alarmed by fast-moving events in Egypt and the Arab world. In a statement published by the Saudi press agency he said agitators had "infiltrated Egypt to destabilise its security and incite malicious sedition".
The accusations seem aimed at Iran's Shia regime, which has openly endorsed the "rightful demands" of the protest movement. There is deep concern in Sunni Arab countries that Iran is attempting to create a "Shia Crescent" through Iraq, Bahrain and into the Gulf areas of Saudi Arabia, hoping to become the hegemonic force in global oil supply.
Goldman Sachs said the Mid-East holds 61pc of the world's proven oil reserves – and 36pc of current supply – which may compel global leaders to make "concentrated efforts" to stabilise the region. The bank said high levels of affluence should shield Saudi Arabia and the Gulf's oil-rich states from "political contagion".
However, a third of Saudi Arabia's 25m residents are ill-assimilated foreigners and the country faces a "youth bulge", with unemployment at 42pc among those aged 20 to 24.
Nima Khorrami Assl, a Gulf expert at the Transnational Crisis Project, said Shi'ites have been "stigmatised as a result of excessive paranoia since Iran's Islamic Revolution" and face systemic barriers in education and jobs. "Should the Gulf states do nothing or attempt to preserve the status quo, social unrest becomes inevitable. The current situation is inherently unstable," he told Foreign Policy Journal.
Exclusive Analysis said Egypt's revolt had gone beyond the point of no return as protesters plan a 1m stong rally on Tuesday, with president Hosni Mubarak likely to be ousted within 30 days.
John Cochrane, the group's global risk strategist, said the regime has so far refrained from ordering the army to crush protesters knowing that many officers will refuse to obey. "If asked to use lethal force, it is questionable whether the army's cohesion will hold together," he said.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the best-organised of the diffuse protest movement, has reached out to the military, praising its "long and honourable history", but it has also begun to set up its own populist militias to protect the streets.
A future government – with the Brotherhood pulling some strings – is expected to renationalise parts of industry, shifting away from "free-market" policies used to weaken the labour unions and steer contracts to an incestuous elite. Ezz Steel and other parts of the business empire of Ahmed Ezz may be seized, as well as infrastructure assets linked to corrupt ministers.
The Brotherhood's "old guard" has so far controlled its hotheads but the organisation is close to Hamas in Gaza. Israel may soon find that it can no longer count on a secure southern border, even if Egypt's peace treaty remains in name.
The outbreak of Arab populism vindicates claims by US neo-conservatives that the region is ripe for change, but this is not what Washington had in mind. "US interests are the first casualty," said Mr Itani.
Fairly or unfairly, America is tarred with the Mubarak brush. Cairo may switch allegiance to the rising powers of Turkey, India, and above all, China.
Energy & Utilities and Oil & Gas vacancies at Telegraph JobsNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, shown during an Athletics game in Oakland on Aug. 9, has been trying to buck a 1992 federal law intended to restrict sports betting to Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, and Montana. (Photo11: Lance Iversen, USA TODAY Sports)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie's administration today cleared a path for New Jersey casinos and racetracks to allow sports betting and asked a federal judge to allow it to take effect.
Acting Attorney General John Hoffman issued a statewide directive that tells county and municipal prosecutors and police casinos or tracks would not be committing a criminal offense under state law if they operated sports pools, so long as no wagering occurs on events that take place in New Jersey or that involve any New Jersey college team.
The Christie administration also asked U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp to hear its request that Shipp clarify or modify an injunction he issued in February 2013 that prevented the state from enacting sports betting. The state wants to be sure it can repeal its prohibition of sports wagering, which it says would be different than approving and authorizing it even though regular laws and regulations would apply.
"Merely applying laws and regulations of general applicability does not constitute licensure or authorization of sports wagering," the state says in its court filing.
"The fact that some individuals are prohibited from gambling does not mean that the state is'sanction[ing]' or 'approv[ing]' gambling for everyone else. This is simply common sense: An ordinance stating "no dogs in the park" would not be understood as putting the state's imprimatur on a reptile lover's decision to bring her pet python to the park, just as a sign in a restaurant that said 'no smoking on the patio' would not constitute a state endorsement of smoking in every place other than the patio."
New Jersey voters endorsed sports betting in a 2011 referendum, but sports leagues successfully challenged the state law that was passed by the Legislature and signed by Christie following that vote.
Last September's federal appeals court ruling upheld the constitutionality of the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act but said New Jersey wouldn't be prohibited from repealing its ban on sports wagering. Shipp's injunction from early 2013 didn't address that distinction.
Sports leagues are likely to fight today's legal maneuver.
Christie last month vetoed legislation that would have partially repealed prohibitions against sports wagering at casinos and racetracks. The bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, wants the Senate to attempt to override the veto Sept. 22.Stockholm + FÖLJ
Man sköts av polis på Sergels torg
1 av 14
avJohn Granlund, Julia Wågenberg, Jonas Löfvenberg
NYHETER 29 maj 2016 00:04
En man är allvarligt skadad efter att ha blivit skjuten av polis på Sergels torg strax innan midnatt.
Enligt polisen gick han till attack mot polispersonal.
– Han tog ut kniven och hoppade på polisen, säger ett vittne till Aftonbladet.
Tipsa | Aftonbladet
På lördagskväll |
he certainly learned better.
Surely Lynch, herself, knew a 30-minute private meeting with the spouse of the subject of a criminal investigation, no matter how famous or politically connected, is a no-go. So what the heck is going on?
Two theories present themselves.
First, and as Occam’s razor suggests, it was pure nincompoopery. Bill Clinton has a gift for screwing up his wife’s presidential campaigns. It’s been bad enough in the past that some have even suggested an unconscious desire to sabotage his wife and preserve his own legacy.
His motives, witting or unwitting for such a blunder aside, the Lynch debacle puts us in mind of moments like the former president’s angry reaction to his wife’s 2008 South Carolina primary defeat or any number of gaffes. Bubba may be Hillary Clinton’s greatest asset, but he has consistently proven himself to be one of her greatest liabilities.
There is a second possibility, though.
We ought always to be careful about conspiracy theories, but smart, calculating people doing something so bogglingly foolish does invite the consideration of other possibilities.
The much anticipated recommendation from the FBI to Lynch about a potential prosecution is expected in the next several weeks. Why would Bill Clinton, or Lynch for that matter, do anything to call attention to the case?
Indulge us if you will, in wondering whether the former president might be engaging in that old lawyer’s trick of spoiling a case to get a continuance.
Lynch said today that she would absolutely hold the line and allow the “career professionals” and the FBI and Department of Justice to render their own decision on whether Hillary Clinton or her familiars would be prosecuted.
Republicans already are calling for a special prosecutor and given the glaring impropriety of the Bubba-Lynch meeting one supposes there will be other, less partisan, suggestions that Lynch might want to recuse herself from the proceedings.
But while special prosecutors are no doubt troublesome for presidents and politicians, they do have the advantage of being slowwww…
Bear with us here, but, if the Clintons’ believed that charges were imminent, forcing law enforcement to start over with a new outside counsel would push any findings not just past the November election, but potentially as much as two years down the road.
That would buy time not only for politics but to formulate new strategies for either ruining the next investigator or blowing up the charges themselves.
Given the former president’s penchant for making advantageous errors, let’s not rule out this less likely of the two scenarios.
State Dept. seeks 27-month delay on releasing Clinton Foundation emails - Fox News: “The State Department has sought to delay the court-ordered release of emails between four of Hillary Clinton’s top aides and officials at the Clinton Foundation and a closely associated public relations firm. The motion, filed in federal court by the Justice Department late Wednesday, seeks to put off the release of the emails by 27 months…the State Department said that due to errors in the initial document search, the number of ‘potentially responsive documents’ was in fact more than 34,000. The department estimated that it had more than 13,000 pages still left to review.”
TIME OUT, LIBERTY EDITION
If the Constitution is the great charter of the greatest republic the world has ever known, then the Declaration of Independence is, in the corporate jargon parlance of our times, our mission statement. But included in Thomas Jefferson’s lofty vision is also something of a contract between the 56 signatories and the 13 colonies they represented: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” Or, as Ben Franklin is said to have more bluntly put it: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Among those who chose liberty knowing they might end up at the end of a rope was Joseph Hewes.
Hewes, a member of the North Carolina delegation who was not initially in favor of separation from England, put both his fortune – he was a successful merchant – and his religious beliefs – he was a pacifist Quaker – on the line for the cause of independence. Immediately after the signing, Hewes sent all of his merchant ships to the Continental Army to be used as warships. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed Secretary of Naval Affairs. The man who John Adams said “laid the foundation, the cornerstone of the American Navy” had an almost impossible task in taking on the British navy. But in outfitting his ships, Hewes chose the most capable of men to captain them. One of those captains Hewes was instrumental in providing a command was John Paul Jones. Hewes did not live to see the success of the endeavor, though, dying in his sickbed after a protracted illness in October of 1779.
Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions
SCOREBOARD
Average of national presidential polls: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +6 points
Generic congressional vote: Democrats +2.8
POWER PLAY: TRUMP’S TIMETABLE
Donald Trump’s campaign promises to kick in to high gear after the Republican National Convention, but with lackluster fundraising and no clear infrastructure to build support are they making a mistake? National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar and WashEx’s Gabby Morrongiello give their take to Chris Stirewalt. WATCH HERE.
GOP and Dems trading places on trade? - On the issue of unions and TPP, Trump is thwarting the conservative message in a way that may appeal to blue collar, union Democrats. Will this be a problem for Hillary Clinton who once supported the agreement made by her former boss President Obama? National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar and WashEx’s Gabby Morrongiello explain. WATCH HERE.
TRUMP VEEP SHORTLIST DOUBLES DOWN ON BRAND WITH NEWT, CHRISTIE
WaPo: “Donald Trump’s campaign has begun formally vetting possible running mates, with former House speaker Newt Gingrich emerging as the leading candidate, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. But there are more than a half dozen others being discussed as possibilities, according to several people with knowledge of the process. … But with little more than two weeks before the start of the Republican National Convention, Gingrich and Christie have been asked to submit documents and are being cast as favorites for the post inside the campaign. Gingrich in particular is the beneficiary of a drumbeat of support from Trump confidants such as Ben Carson. A number of senators — including Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.) — are also being reviewed as viable picks, although the extent to which they are being vetted is unclear. A longer shot on Trump’s radar is Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a heavyweight on the right who could bolster Trump’s tepid support among some conservative activists.”
Speaking of New Jersey… - Donald Trump’s billionaire benefactor, Carl Icahn, whom the de facto Republican nominee identified as a potential senior figure in his administration, has some Trump-related headaches today. Icahn bought Trump’s Atlantic City Taj Mahal casino at the brink of bankruptcy in 2009, but is now facing a strike from the 1,000 members of the service workers union at the struggling gambling house.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
David Drucker reports on Sen. Mike Lee’s heated exchange with a reporter on Lee’s decision not to endorse Trump - WashEx
Trump digital strategist hired, fired in same week - The Hill
Why Hillary is starting to air ads in Nebraska: Electoral votes - WaPo
Biden to join Clinton on the trail next week - Yahoo News
AUDIBLE: TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN…
“At this auspicious period, the United States came into existence as a Nation, and if their Citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be intirely their own.” – Gen. George Washington in a 1783 letter to his fellow Americans describing the cause for which his underdog army and the new nation were fighting.
WORTHWHILE WEEKEND WATCHING
Fox News Sunday: Terror and 2016 - Team Bream! Shannon Bream anchors this week’s show with guests Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif. Watch “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.” Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.
#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz breaks down the week’s media mayhem. Watch #mediabuzz Sundays at 11 a.m. and a re-airing at 5 p.m. ET
[Watch Fox: On a “Kelly File” special, military families, victims of terrorism, and Muslim activists discuss the pressing issues of national security and safety in the world today. Tune in at 9 p.m. ET]
FROM THE BLEACHERS
“Boris Johnson just disappointed millions by not putting his name in the hat for the election to be leader of the Tories and Prime Minister. The millions he disappointed were all those who were lining up 3 months worth of ad hominem memes against him, who now have to find substantial arguments instead of making bad hair jokes. We can live in hope that Donald J Trump might follow Boris’ lead.” – Owen Derrick, Greenock, Scotland
“Would be interesting to get your take on the Republican convention, Or more properly, the Donald Trump and family show. Sports Personalities, Celebrities, musicians. Perhaps a beauty queen contest. Perhaps a public flogging, or waterboarding of all non-endorsement Republicans. Just some random thoughts.” – Mike Wilmore, Driftwood TX
“True, in polls Republicans would rather have someone else as their nominee. I would answer that way today as well. But come November -- I am going to vote for him.” – Ron Gaviati, Pasadena, Calif.
ROAD TRIP!
History: “On December 23, 1941, just over two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the signed Declaration, together with the Constitution, was removed from public display and prepared for evacuation out of Washington, D.C. Under the supervision of armed guards, the founding document was packed in a specially designed container, latched with padlocks, sealed with lead and placed in a larger box. All told, 150 pounds of protective gear surrounded the parchment. On December 26 and 27, accompanied by Secret Service agents, it traveled by train to Louisville, Kentucky, where a cavalry troop of the 13th Armored Division escorted it to Fort Knox. The Declaration was returned to Washington, D.C., in 1944.”
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Sally Persons contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.By Arabelle DeVries, The Daily Sun
It has been two weeks since the first of the so-called "Roux-ga-roux" murders was reported, and while the police have not yet made any arrests in the case, the murders have garnered the attention of at least five investigators from out of state. Led by Federal Agent Roland Banks, these investigators arrived yesterday from Arkham, Massachussetts, claiming they saw connections between the recent killings and a recent string of disappeared individuals they had been investigating in Arkham.
According to police Captain Marcel LaForte, the investigators and their inquiries have been stirring unrest among many of the more superstitious residents of the French Quarter. LaForte said these investigators have not yet violated any laws, but their arrival has led to an increase in the number of complaints and anonymous reports the department has had to field. Accordingly, he warned citizens to take their questions about The Curse of the Rougarou with a good measure of skepticism, reminding people that the police had already investigated and dismissed the rumors that had connected the recent string of killings to Voodoo influences.
It is clear, however, that the Captain's words have not resonated with the local population as fully as he would wish. Like many residents in the French Quarter, local store owner Jean Gris spoke of the power of Voodoo. "I don't know if it's Voodoo," he said, "but there are powers that the police don't always understand. It concerns us that they allow these murders to go unresolved just because they don't understand how they were committed. I believe there are many in the police who have their own religious faiths, so it's hard for me to understand how they can believe in some spiritual powers and not in others. In the meantime, our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers, fathers, and grandparents are walking the streets every day, and there's still a killer at large."
Gris' words were echoed by those of the Reverend Father John Knowles, who said, "A few members of my congregation were among those who discovered one of the bodies. That discovery really shocked them, and they want answers. They're not happy with the police department's progress. While I don't necessarily see a place in the scriptures for the phenomena that Agent Banks suggested were connected to this Arkham Horror: The Card Game, I can appreciate their exploration of spiritual possibilities. The spiritual realm is real, and there is real evil in this world."
Surprisingly, while the "evil" nature of the murders appears to be the one thing that most of New Orleans has agreed upon, Agent Banks and his associates urged a more philosophical approach. "We are withholding judgment at this time," said Agent Banks. "The first thing to do is to gather evidence. Only then will we start to form a larger picture. From what I've seen, I'm not certain these killings were even murders. There is much about them that is animalistic. And there's still more that remains unexplained. My colleagues and I are looking into some of the leads we feel the local police may have overlooked, and we hope to come into some answers shortly. For now, we are focusing on the reports from local citizens and trying to meet with a local expert who may be able to provide greater insight."
Agent Banks refused to say whether or not he and his colleagues were giving any serious consideration to the early eyewitness accounts of Tom Jardin, who had still been inebriated when the police discovered him lying in a nearby alley hours after the murder. It was Jardin's description of the killer that had first led to the idea of the "Roux-ga-roux," whom Jardin had claimed reeked of the bayou and "dark magic."
As for the direction of Agent Banks' investigation, The Daily Sun was able to gain greater insight from one of Agent Banks' fellow investigators, a librarian by the name of Daisy Walker. She said her speciality lay in obscure tomes of occult knowledge, and she told us that the investigators were hoping to meet with a "Lady Esprit," a Voodoo priestess said to reside in the bayou nearest the first and second murders. When we relayed this information to Captain LaForte, he said only that he was glad they wouldn't be inciting any more superstitions in the French Quarter. Then he chuckled and said he hoped they packed their galoshes.
November 16, 1925
About Curse of the Rougarou
A standalone scenario for Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Curse of the Rougarou is now available via FFG's in-house manufacturing. It can be played as a self-contained scenario, or it can be inserted into your larger Arkham Horror: The Card Game campaign as a side-story that costs one experience to begin and allows your investigators to brave untold dangers as they pursue a monstrous killer through the streets of New Orleans and the bayous of southern Louisiana.
Curse of the Rougarou is a deck of sixty-two cards, including a complete Arkham Horror: The Card Game scenario, rules, and two player cards—one asset and one weakness. It is now available on our webstore."I was the one that really broke the glass ceiling on behalf of women more than anybody in the construction industry,” said Donald Trump. | Getty Trump takes credit for breaking 'glass ceiling' for women
As Hillary Clinton became the first woman to clinch a presidential nomination, her general election foe claimed credit for being the one who helped legions of women by breaking a glass ceiling.
"I was the one that really broke the glass ceiling on behalf of women more than anybody in the construction industry,” presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly on Monday.
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The Associated Press on Monday evening declared that Clinton had earned the support of enough delegates — both pledged and superdelegates — to hit the magic number of 2,383 and clinch the Democratic nomination.
The accomplishment came on the eve of the eight-year anniversary of Clinton’s concession speech in 2008 to then-Sen. Barack Obama in which she declared that “although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it.”I Called Him Morgan TIFF 2016 Review
Magnolia Pictures; 91 minutes Director: Kasper Collin
Written by Tony Hinds on September 12, 2016
Written byon September 12, 2016
Jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan was known for creatively challenging the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis on stage with his style and intensity, a youthful performer who surprised audiences by playing with utter confidence and maturity. For a time, he was considered one of the most important jazz musicians alive. His wife, Helen Morgan, was a forceful woman, who attracted attention with her good looks and delectable cooking. Her home became a hang out spot for struggling New York musicians who needed a warm meal after a rough night performing in the clubs. Morgan and Helen fell in love, becoming quick partners. When Morgan fell into heroin addiction, Helen saved him, pushing her man into rehabilitation. And later, she killed him, shooting him in the chest as he stood on stage, clutching his trumpet.
Early on in I Called Him Morgan, Kasper Collins‘ morbidly fascinating documentary account of the life and death of this mysterious couple, we’re informed the only interview with Helen concludes without an answer to our nagging question: “Why?” I Called Him Morgan marks Collins’ second foray into the tragic annals of jazz music history, after My Name is Albert Ayler, another documentary about an experimental free jazz artist. Ayler was found floating in New York City’s East River in an apparent suicide, the film showing us how his life ended in such depression. Likewise, I Called Him Morgan does not bury its lede, informing us from the opening frames of the broad details of the shooting. The fade backwards in time to the beginning of Morgan’s career and Helen’s life creates an engrossing study of how a loving relationship can fall apart under the limelight.
Offering a decidedly hazy view of its subjects, what begins as a portrait of the artist slowly transforms into a regrettable human tragedy, examining a crime of passion in the term’s most literal sense. By this point, Collins has contextualized every beat of Morgan’s career, and relationship with Helen, setting the stage for that fateful moment. As the end credits roll, we have a deeper understanding of the tragic dynamics of Lee and Helen’s relationship, but like everyone in their lives, we’re still unaware of what Helen was thinking the night she found that gun in her purse. The majority of the film’s narration comes from an audio interview with Helen from 1996, her words appearing subtitled on screen, halting and pensive. We feel not only her advancing age, but the weight of her actions pressing down on every word as she tells her enthralling, but painful story.
Ideally, a documentary should encapsulate two sides of a story, but only one surviving interview with Morgan is available, conducted by Val Wilmer in Helen’s apartment in October 1971, four months before his death. Morgan never mentions Helen during the recording, leaving their relationship unexamined from his perspective. In the interview, Morgan comes across as an eloquent and wryly introspective artist, albeit charmingly egotistical as he speaks about his place in the history of jazz. Morgan recorded 25 albums in five years as a part of the legendary Blue Note record label, an artist reputed to be one of the most groundbreaking jazz musicians in the country before he discovered heroin. His addiction ruined that reputation, leaving him unemployable by even close friends, who sadly recall how Morgan would frequently no-show at gigs as a result of his drug dependence. It was only Helen’s loving influence that saved Morgan, forcing him to overcome the habit and dragging him back to his artform. They loved and needed each other, both seemingly unable to weather life’s storms alone.
What deepens the material is Collins’ use of period stock footage of beautifully photographed snowfall, repetitive and rhythmic, blowing across the streets of New York’s East Village, contrasted with Morgan’s warmly vivid music. Every song heard in the film feels timeless and alive, thrilling even to unfamiliar audiences. It’s a story from the past, left obscured and ambiguous by the corrosive passage of time. We meet Morgan’s aging bandmates and collaborators, all of whom recall Helen with warmth and sympathy. Are they angry? Absolutely. However, an undeniable compassion lies between these old friends. They share a heartbreaking emotional understanding of what happened the night they saw their friend die on stage.
As Morgan returned to fame and audience adulation, free from addiction, Helen found her husband suddenly surrounded by beautiful women, a temptation to which many of his fellow artists felt entitled. Helen’s slow-burn reaction to her husband’s infidelity came to a head on a snowy winter night in a packed New York jazz club, surrounded by friends and family. The eye witness accounts of that night evoke a sense of confusion and disbelief, some merely falling back on dusty platitudes such as: “It happened so quickly.” Even Helen recalls the dream-like state in which she found herself after the shooting, looking down at Morgan’s body and feeling utterly incapable of having hurt him.
If the conclusion ever feels unsatisfying, it’s an inevitable byproduct of the story’s real life circumstances. We realize that frustrating sense of dissatisfaction must be shared by the filmmakers, as if the missing puzzle piece was lost, forever out of reach. It’s certainly about more than just music history, but the tunes are undeniably spectacular, evoking a sense of the time period with haunting clarity. I Called Him Morgan hooks you from the first moments and glides effortlessly toward an emotionally impacting and enigmatic conclusion.
I Called Him Morgan is played at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens on March 24.
See our complete TIFF 2016 coverage.Roger Labon Jackson (born July 13, 1958)[1] is an American voice actor. He is the voice of Mojo Jojo and Butch in the original Powerpuff Girls series and reprises his role as Mojo Jojo in the rebooted 2016 series. He is also known for voicing Ghostface in the Scream film series, and the storyteller in The Book of Pooh.
Contents show]
Filmography
Film Roles
Mars Attacks! (voice).... Translator Device (uncredited)
(voice).... Translator Device (uncredited) Scream (voice).... Ghostface
(voice).... Ghostface Scream 2 (voice).... Ghostface
(voice).... Ghostface Scream 3 (voice).... Ghostface
(voice).... Ghostface Scream 4 (voice).... Ghostface
(voice).... Ghostface The Powerpuff Girls Movie (voice).... Mojo Jojo
(voice).... Mojo Jojo The Wild Thornberrys Movie (voice).... Reggie (Squirrel)/Thunder
TV Series Roles
Edtv.... Mama's Boy
.... Mama's Boy Just One Night.... Joe
.... Joe Mirmo! (voice).... Denta
(voice).... Denta Monkeybone (voice).... Arnold the Super Reaper
(voice).... Arnold the Super Reaper The Fairly OddParents (voice).... Mal-Timmy
(voice).... Mal-Timmy The Powerpuff Girls (voice).... Mojo Jojo/Roach Coach/Butch/Additional voices
(voice).... Mojo Jojo/Roach Coach/Butch/Additional voices Pucca (voice).... Arnold Hugh
(voice).... Arnold Hugh Titan A.E. (voice).... First Alien
The Book of Pooh (voice).... Mr. Narrator
Van Helsing: The London Assignment (voice).... Drunken Gentleman
Video Game Roles
American McGee's Alice (voice).... Cheshire Cat/Jabberwock/Dormouse
(voice).... Cheshire Cat/Jabberwock/Dormouse American McGee's Grimm (voice).... Grimm, Additional Voices
(voice).... Grimm, Additional Voices Armored Core 3 (voice).... Additional voices
(voice).... Additional voices Armored Core: Master of Arena (voice).... Additional voices (uncredited)
(voice).... Additional voices (uncredited) Armored Core: Project Phantasma (voice).... Stinger (uncredited)
(voice).... Stinger (uncredited) Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate II – Shadows of Amn (voice).... Keldorn
(voice).... Keldorn The Final Chapter: Forgotten Realms – Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (voice).... Keldorn
(voice).... Keldorn Baten Kaitos Origins (voice).... Verus
(voice).... Verus Blood Will Tell (voice).... Redcap
(voice).... Redcap Bujingai: The Forsaken City (voice).... Naguri Tensai
(voice).... Naguri Tensai Byzantine: The Betrayal (voice)
(voice) Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time (voice).... Joe the Cranky Thread Shop Owner
(voice).... Joe the Cranky Thread Shop Owner Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within (voice).... Mr. Bates
(voice).... Mr. Bates Crash Tag Team Racing (voice).... Willie Wumpa Cheeks, Park Drones
(voice).... Willie Wumpa Cheeks, Park Drones Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Marz (voice).... Narrator
(voice).... Narrator Fade to Black (voice).... John O'Conners
(voice).... John O'Conners Final Fantasy X (voice).... Maester Wen Kinoc, Fayth (Ixion)
(voice).... Maester Wen Kinoc, Fayth (Ixion) Final Fantasy X-2' (voice).... Maester Wen Kinoc (Flashback)
(voice).... Maester Wen Kinoc (Flashback) Final Fantasy XII (voice).... Emperor Gramis Gana Solidor
(voice).... Emperor Gramis Gana Solidor Galleon (voice).... Rhama Sabrier
(voice).... Rhama Sabrier Gladius (voice).... Additional Voices
(voice).... Additional Voices Jade Empire (voice) Various voices
(voice) Various voices King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride (voice).... Cuddles, The Kangaroo Rat, The Three-Headed Carnivorous Plant, The Snake Oil Salesman, Ghoul Kid 1
(voice).... Cuddles, The Kangaroo Rat, The Three-Headed Carnivorous Plant, The Snake Oil Salesman, Ghoul Kid 1 Lifeline (voice).... Gino
MadWorld (voice).... Tengu, Shogun Kokushimuso, Man A
(voice).... Tengu, Shogun Kokushimuso, Man A NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (voice)... Wizeman the Wicked
(voice)... Wizeman the Wicked Pool of Radiance: The Ruins of Myth Drannor (voice).... Various voices
(voice).... Various voices Sam & Max Season Two (voice).... Abraham Lincoln, Satan
(voice).... Abraham Lincoln, Satan Sam & Max Season One (voice).... Abraham Lincoln
(voice).... Abraham Lincoln Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse (voice).... General Skun-ka'pe, Charlie Ho-Tep
(voice).... General Skun-ka'pe, Charlie Ho-Tep Shining Force EXA (voice).... Ragnadaam III, Garyu, Bornay, Gantetsu
(voice).... Ragnadaam III, Garyu, Bornay, Gantetsu Shinobi (voice).... Hiruko Ubusuna (old)
(voice).... Hiruko Ubusuna (old) Slave Zero (voice).... The SovKhan, Manta Pilot 1
(voice).... The SovKhan, Manta Pilot 1 Space Quest VI: The Spinal Frontier (voice).... Doctor Horny/Hotel Manager/Intro voice over
(voice).... Doctor Horny/Hotel Manager/Intro voice over Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Harbinger (voice).... Scythians
(voice).... Scythians Star Trek: Starfleet Command III (voice).... Additional Voices
(voice).... Additional Voices Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (voice).... Imperial Worker
(voice).... Imperial Worker Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (voice).... Ka'Pa The Hutt/Imperial Commander/Kaerobani/Rebel Officer 2/Ree Yees/Tusken/Rodian
(voice).... Ka'Pa The Hutt/Imperial Commander/Kaerobani/Rebel Officer 2/Ree Yees/Tusken/Rodian Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (voice).... Imperial Worker 1/Rebel Shock Troop 1
(voice).... Imperial Worker 1/Rebel Shock Troop 1 Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (voice).... Computer/Greedo
(voice).... Computer/Greedo Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (voice).... Captain Orsai, Generic Toth, Pilot 1, Nym Ground Unit
(voice).... Captain Orsai, Generic Toth, Pilot 1, Nym Ground Unit Star Wars: Battle for Naboo (voice).... Smeer Ze-Trois/RSF Officer
(voice).... Smeer Ze-Trois/RSF Officer Star Wars: Episode I Racer (1999) (video game) (voice).... Ark 'Bumpy' Roose/Ebe Endocott
(1999) (video game) (voice).... Ark 'Bumpy' Roose/Ebe Endocott Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (voice).... Echuu Shen-Jon/Jedi Padawan/Mahwi Lihnn
(voice).... Echuu Shen-Jon/Jedi Padawan/Mahwi Lihnn Star Wars: Racer Revenge (voice).... Kraid Nemmeso
(voice).... Kraid Nemmeso Star Wars: Republic Commando (voice).... Automated Ship Voice, Clone Trooper Lieutenant, Clone troopers, Gunship Pilot
(voice).... Automated Ship Voice, Clone Trooper Lieutenant, Clone troopers, Gunship Pilot Tales of Monkey Island (voice).... Bartender, McGee, Reginald Van Winslow
(voice).... Bartender, McGee, Reginald Van Winslow Tenchu: Fatal Shadows (voice).... Various voices
(voice).... Various voices The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (voice).... Bridge Troll, Freddy the Man of Low Moral Fiber, Jojo the Monkey, Meathook's Parrot, Piranha Poodle, Pirate Leader 2, Rat, Spiffy the SCUMM Bar Dog
(voice).... Bridge Troll, Freddy the Man of Low Moral Fiber, Jojo the Monkey, Meathook's Parrot, Piranha Poodle, Pirate Leader 2, Rat, Spiffy the SCUMM Bar Dog The Sims 2 (voice).... Sim
(voice).... Sim The Sims: Hot Date (voice).... Sim
(voice).... Sim The Sims: Makin' Magic (voice).... Sim
(voice).... Sim The Sims: Superstar (voice).... Sim
(voice).... Sim The Urbz: Sims in the City (voice).... Sim
(voice).... Sim Thrillville: Off The Rails (voice).... Announcer 2, Bandito Chinchilla, Barry von Richtoven, Genie Animatronic, Ghoul, Robot, TAL-8850 Roger L. Jackson
(voice).... Announcer 2, Bandito Chinchilla, Barry von Richtoven, Genie Animatronic, Ghoul, Robot, TAL-8850 Roger L. Jackson Valkyria Chronicles (voice).... Berthold Gregor, Coby Caird, Imperial Officer
(voice).... Berthold Gregor, Coby Caird, Imperial Officer Yakuza (voice).... Shintaro Fuma
(voice).... Shintaro Fuma Zone of the Enders (voice).... Ridley "Nohman" Hardiman, Axe
(voice).... Ridley "Nohman" Hardiman, Axe Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (voice).... Ridley "Nohman" HardimanAudio Transcript:
KATY CLARK: I'm Katy Clark. This is The World. In order to prove a theory, you need a scientifically controlled environment, a lab. Derek Bickerton's ideal lab is an island. Bickerton is a linguist. Throughout his life, he's lived on many islands studying creole languages. Creoles are hybrids that come into being when people who speak different languages live side by side. Slavery and colonization created many creoles in regions like the Caribbean. So creoles and islands kind of go together. Derek Bickerton has written a memoir of his adventures with creoles. It's called �Bastard Tongues� and it's just out in paperback. One episode in the book is as notorious in linguistic circles as it is entertaining. Here's The World's Patrick Cox.
PATRICK COX: A few decades ago, Derek Bickerton developed a big theory. It's based on this:
DEREK BICKERTON: When people of different linguistic backgrounds are brought together without a common language, they have to improvise.
COX: And so, says Bickerton, they string together words they recognize in each other's language. Over time, they develop a form of communication.
BICKERTON: There's no structure to it.
COX: Just short, broken sentences.
BICKERTON: Very slowly uttered sentences because people are searching for words.
COX: This might have been heard on sugar plantations in the 18th century, when Europeans and African slaves needed to communicate. Linguists call this makeshift form of speech a pidgin. Now for Bickerton's big theory:
BICKERTON: When the children of these 1st generation immigrants begin to learn the pidgin, they transform it. They turn it immediately into a full, natural language.
COX: �Immediately.� That's the key word, the controversial word. It's generally accepted that children have the ability to speak a language hard-wired into their brains, but Bickerton takes that a step further. Under his theory, a child's innate ability to develop grammar kicks in even in the absence of grammar � and it kicks in immediately. Well, the theory needed proof. It needed a lab, it needed guinea pigs; guinea pigs who, at the start of the experiment spoke a pidgin and by the end of it might speak something more sophisticated and structured � or at least their children might. Now, as a theorist, Derek Bickerton has always prided himself on thinking outside of the box � so far outside, in fact, that the box is sometimes out of sight. In 1976, he and a like-minded colleague were on a camping trip on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. That's where they dreamed up their experiment. Here's how Bickerton describes this moment in his memoir.
BICKERTON: Over an open fire, in the wee of Mount Lanai-Holly, smoking some of Hawaii's most profitable crop, we discussed how we might test my theory empirically. Suppose we found an uninhabited island. Suppose we brought in speakers of six different, unrelated, mutually unintelligible languages together with their children. Suppose we gave them a starter language, a vocabulary of a few hundred words � just words, without any grammar � so they can communicate with one another. And suppose they stayed there for three years or so. What would happen? My prediction was that the adults would create a pidgin and the children would convert it into a creole. We looked at one another in the firelight. Should we go for it? Yeah, let's do it.
COX: Amazingly, the two linguists got the thumbs up from the University of Hawaii to plan their experiment. To fund it, they applied to the National Science Foundation. Bickerton also went in search of his uninhabited island, and he found it not far from the Philippines, in the archipelago of Palau.
BICKERTON: A beautiful little desert island about a mile long and a quarter mile wide.
COX: Just to make sure, Bickerton spent 36 hours on this island, alone.
BICKERTON: I nearly got swept out to sea once, when I crossed the channel and tide was running out of the lagoon to the Pacific Ocean.
COX: That aside, the island was perfect. There even appeared to be a spring.
BICKERTON: There was brackish water, a sort of marshland in one corner of the island that would have made, oh, an excellent little farm where we could have fed ourselves and so forth. And of course there were plenty of coconuts.
COX: You might have noticed he said �we.� Bickerton intended to stay on the island with his linguistic guinea pigs, along with a team of researchers. And the participants themselves? Six families, each speaking their own language.
[CLIPS OF PEOPLE SPEAKING VARIOUS LANGUAGES]
COX: Now, those particular languages would have been too mainstream for Bickerton. He wanted his participants to speak minority languages from places like Borneo and Papua New Guinea. But of course, most of the focus would be on the children.
[CLIPS OF CHILDREN SPEAKING VARIOUS LANGUAGES]
COX: Ideally, some of the kids would be even younger. Would these infants end up linguistically leapfrogging their parents? Would they come up with a richer vocabulary and grammar. Or would the development of a creole take longer than a single generation, as many linguists in the field believed? |
is difficult to master both of these equally.
But Olson cautions against writing off Anonymous. The collective has ebbed and flowed over the years, taking long breaks between attacks.
"I wouldn’t write off their existence completely just because they’ve gone quiet," she says. "You never know what’s going to happen.”
Don't be too quick to write off Monsegur, either, she says. He may well be back. Hacking, Olson says, is a game where people switch sides with some regularity. It's hard to see Anons welcoming Sabu back, but Olson isn't ruling out the possibility that he'll be back in the game in some way.
"The internet has a short memory," she says, "so a couple of years from now, he can reinvent himself. Who knows what he’ll be doing?"
Update 6.9.14: To clarify events around the disbanding of LulzSec and the formation of AntiSec.A former News of the World reporter has alleged that there was a massive cover-up of phone hacking at the paper.
Clive Goodman, the former royal reporter jailed for his role in phone hacking, wrote a letter in 2007 claiming that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings, and that former editor Andy Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed to say in court that he was a rogue element within the paper.
The claims are deeply damaging to Coulson, who has always maintained that he did not know about the hacking going on at his paper. They are also politically perilous for British Prime Minister David Cameron, who took Coulson on even as evidence mounted against him. (Labour leader Ed Miliband immediately pounced upon the release of Goodman's letter, saying Cameron had shown "catastrophic" judgment in hiring Coulson.) Moreover, they raise fresh danger for James Murdoch, who claimed to Parliament that he did not know hacking at the paper was widespread until 2010.
Goodman's letter was one of several documents published by a parliamentary committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Before the documents were released, the select committee for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that it is "likely" to recall James Murdoch when Parliament resumes in September. It later said that it has called Daniel Cloke, the former human resources chief at News International, and Jon Chapman, the former head of legal affairs there, to a Sept. 6 hearing. The News of the World's former top lawyer, Tom Crone, and former editor Colin Myler are also being called before the committee.
Goodman's letter is from March 2, 2007, after he was released from prison. In the letter, Goodman says he is appealing his firing from the News of the World specifically because he carried out his duties with the "full knowledge and support" of top journalists on the paper, and because the practice was so widespread at the paper.
The letter claims that hacking was so frequently talked about that Coulson—who went on to become David Cameron's top spin doctor—eventually was forced to ban mention of the practice. Goodman also says that he was repeatedly promised to be kept on, even after he was arrested. He further claims that the paper continued to pay and consult him on stories, even after it was known that he would plead guilty.
"Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea," Goodman writes. "I did not, and I expect the paper to honor its promise to me."
The Guardian's Nick Davies also reports that Les Hinton, the former Dow Jones chief who resigned amidst allegations about his role in the scandal, received a copy of Goodman's letter but failed to pass it to the police. He then told Parliament that Coulson was completely unaware of the hacking going on.
The release of the letter also places doubts on News International's honesty in its dealings with Parliament. The company sent the DCMS committee a version of the letter which redacted the passages about the discussion of the phone hacking at editorial meetings, as well as the passage about Crone and Coulson promising that Goodman could stay employed.
Other letters published by Parliament on Tuesday also cast fresh doubts on the credibility of News International's claims about phone hacking. One, from the law firm Harbottle and Lewis, contradicts NI's assertion that its 2007 investigation cleared the paper of any wrongdoing. In the new letter, Harbottle and Lewis says that it was only asked to confirm that "certain named individuals knew of and supported Mr. Goodman's involvement in phone hacking activities...it was not retained to look for evidence of wider criminal activities and did not do so."
In another statement, Harbottle and Lewis tells Parliament that it was "expressly limited to the context of Mr. Goodman's employment dispute," and that "there was absolutely no question of the Firm being asked to provide News International with a clean bill of health which it could deploy years later in wholly different contexts for wholly different purposes."
James Murdoch—who was accused of misleading Parliament about his level of knowledge of the scandal—also sent a long letter to the committee.
In one of the more noteworthy revelations, Murdoch disclosed that News International has spent £246,000 (or around $402,000) in legal fees for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who was jailed for phone hacking and who is still at the center of the scandal.
In response to the claims, News International released this statement:Charles C. Johnson is, so far as I can tell, the first and only person ever permanently banned from using Twitter. For those of you not in the know, Johnson has built a career as a journalist on the right, appearing in such publications as the New York Post, the Los Angeles Times, Reason, and National Review. An enterprising young man, Johnson also runs his own website, GotNews, which is a sort of younger, edgier, ginger version of Drudge.
So what was his crime? Did he share the home address of a prominent politician? No. Did he leak credit-card information? No. Did he make physical threats? Well, maybe, if you think that when he said he wanted to “take out” anti-cop activist DeRay McKesson he meant putting him six feet underground rather than discrediting him as a source. That’s the line that Twitter and Johnson’s detractors are taking, despite the more obvious and commonsense answer that we all intuitively understand to be the correct one.
“Chasing those on the right of the political spectrum out of public life is nothing new. It’s hot on baseball’s heels as our national pastime.”
Johnson enmeshed himself in reporting on the Ferguson riots, which is where he and McKesson first butted heads. It was Johnson’s opinion, which later turned out to be approximately 100 percent true, that Officer Darren Wilson was defending himself from an attack by a dangerous criminal. The prevailing narrative was, of course, that Wilson was a bloodthirsty killer cop just waiting to gun down black schoolchildren on their way to after-school honors tutoring.
There is hardly a universal standard being imposed here. Twitter is full of threats from pro-Ferguson folks. And they”re not vaguely threatening to “take someone out.” They”re literally threatening to murder people who support the police’s side of the story. Johnson raising money to do targeted reporting was, however, considered over the line. Twitter’s Stasi escorted him out of the building.
Chasing those on the right of the political spectrum out of public life is nothing new. It’s hot on baseball’s heels as our national pastime. I got my start here covering the Passion of the Pax, erstwhile Business Insider CTO Pax Dickinson’s time in the two-minute hate penalty box. Dickinson’s crime was basically being edgy, but not in the approved progressive manner of our de facto state religion. And so, Johnson now joins Pax, Brendan Eich, Charles Murray, Paul Gottfried, Nicholas Wade, Anthony Cumia, and Taki’s own John Derbyshire on an increasingly long list of people shuttled off to a reeducation camp.
Meanwhile, convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal gives college commencement speeches remotely. Al Sharpton, a man who has built a career on race hate and false rape accusations, hosts an MSNBC prime-time television show as elder statesman of the Democratic Party. Serial bomber and alleged educator Bill Ayers enjoys a comfortable retirement, presumably on the public dime. The only leftist exiled for being too far left I could come up with was Van Jones, who seems to be doing just fine. Not long ago he was the left’s standard-bearer on CNN’s Crossfire.
Pay to Play - Put your money where your mouth is and subscribe for an ad-free experience and to join the world famous Takimag comment board.An American lawyer has revealed he was apart of the US government’s ‘time travel’ program, even claiming he was sent back in time to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address location.
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View on YouTubeSeveral years ago, the Star Wars: Battlefront series had a third game in the works at TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design, but the project--and soon thereafter the developer itself--was killed by LucasArts. That's just one of the unpleasant allegations made by former Free Radical developers in a Eurogamer feature recapping the studio's entire history.
Battlefront III concept art.
From mid-2006 through early 2008, Free Radical was working for LucasArts on a new installment in the third-person shooter take on the Star Wars universe. Studio co-founder David Doak told the site things went well with the project until a management change at LucasArts led the publisher to make deep cuts and cancel projects.
"[W]e went from talking to people who were passionate about making games to talking to psychopaths who insisted on having an unpleasant lawyer in the room," Doak said.
Free Radical audio director Graeme Norgate said LucasArts's new management essentially sabotaged the Battlefront III project and the studio, withholding milestone payments for months as they contested every detail of what Free Radical was obligated to deliver in order.
"LucasArts hadn't paid us for six months," Norgate said, "and were refusing to pass a milestone so we would limp along until the money finally ran out. They knew what they were doing, and six months of free work to pass on to Rebellion wasn't to be sniffed at." (Rebellion did not end up finishing the project, although some of Free Radical's work was passed on to the studio.)
Doak said Free Radical's contract had provisions that should have protected the studio, but they didn't matter because they would not be able to afford the court costs to win the protracted legal battle with LucasArts necessary to collect on those clauses.
"My role at Free Radical meant that I was simultaneously involved in these unpleasant 'high level' discussions with psychopaths who wanted to destroy us, and then the next day sitting with our dev staff at their desks trying to boost people's morale," Doak said. "Helping them to pass milestones that I knew would subsequently be manipulated to cause them to fail. It was the most depressing and pointless thing that I have ever been involved in. The dream job which I once loved had become a nightmarish torture."
Free Radical entered administration in late 2008, with part of the studio acquired by Crytek and renamed Crytek UK in February of 2009. Doak has since left game development entirely.NEW YORK - A New York woman convicted of murder and kidnapping in the death of a pregnant friend whose baby was cut out of her womb has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
Ashleigh Wade was sentenced on Wednesday. The Bronx woman was accused of killing her childhood friend Angelikque Sutton in November 2015 when Sutton stopped by Wade's home on her way to her civil wedding ceremony. Sutton was eight months pregnant.
CBS New York reported that according to trial testimony, Wade - who was pretending to be pregnant - reconnected with Sutton, a childhood friend, on social media. Sutton stopped by Wade's apartment on the day of the attack to pick up baby items. Authorities say Wade slashed Sutton in the throat, took out her uterus and cut out the baby. The baby girl survived.
Police said at the time that Wade was taken into custody screaming that the child was hers. In her apartment, police say they discovered a knife and placenta, reported the station.
"I'm sorry for hurting so many people," Wade said at her sentencing. "I wish I knew why. I wish I understood it and I don't, and I try so hard. I'm so sorry."
Wade's attorney had told jurors Wade had undiagnosed mental illness, but in sentencing her the judge said that as she carried out the murder, Wade became "a monster."Declassified image of a bus-sized HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite showing the location of a subsatellite riding "sidesaddle" on the forebody of the reconnaissance spacecraft. These satellites were deployed from HEXAGONs in the 1970s and 1980s. Some HEXAGON missions carried two of these spacecraft. (credit: NRO) The wizard war in orbit (part 4) P-11, FARRAH, RAQUEL, DRACULA, and KAL-007
In August 1968, Soviet forces invaded their captive ally Czechoslovakia. The invasion began with an intense electronic warfare campaign against the Czech air defense network. A declassified secret US Defense Intelligence Agency report, titled “Soviet Electronic Countermeasures During Invasion of Czechoslovakia” and produced in October 1968, provided substantial detail on Soviet electronic warfare actions. It stated, “Electronic countermeasure activity was concentrated southeast and east of Prague to screen and protect Soviet air movements.” It added, “Jamming apparently was not targeted in the radio frequency range of NATO radars; the locations of chaff seeding suggests that it was not intended to screen Soviet air operations from Western observers.” They were evolved versions of a series of satellites known as P-11, and by 1968 had become a major part of the American low altitude signals intelligence program. They remain one of the few bigger mysteries about the early American SIGINT satellite program of the 1960s. The report was stamped for no foreign distribution “except Canada/UK.” Although it is only a few pages long, it contained significant information on Soviet jamming efforts. It noted that some of the jamming might have been directed at the SA-2 surface-to-air missile fusing system—a subject of considerable interest to the American military because SA-2 missiles had been blowing American combat aircraft out of the sky in Vietnam. Other jamming might have been intended for land-based guided missile systems that could have been fired at invading Soviet forces. The electronic warfare effort was successful, the Soviet invasion took place without a hitch, and the Czechs enjoyed another two decades in the workers’ paradise. The report does not indicate the sources of its information, but because much of the activity took place far inside Czechoslovakia, it seems likely that American signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellites flying over Eastern Europe gathered much of the data. In fact, this would have been an intelligence bonanza for the United States military, because the Soviets understood best how to jam their own equipment, and monitoring what they were doing in Czechoslovakia could have provided information that the American military could use against similar weapons systems in Vietnam. Several American signals intelligence satellites were in low Earth orbit at this time, including the large Agena-based MULTIGROUP 3 (see “The wizard war in orbit (part 3)”, The Space Review, July 5, 2016) and multiple POPPY 5 satellites launched in May 1967 that may have still been operational in summer 1968. But two small satellites launched off the back of photo-reconnaissance satellites in June 1968, designated Mission 4413 and Mission 4420, were the newest satellite assets in orbit. After being pushed off the back of their host satellites with springs, cold gas jets spun them around at a very high speed and then a solid rocket motor fired to push them into higher orbits, where they would more slowly cross over Soviet territory, recording signals for later transmission to American ground stations. The satellites were squat rectangles about one and a half meters on their long sides, no more than a meter wide, and perhaps half a meter thick. As they spun rapidly, their antennas stretched out to their sides by centrifugal force. They were evolved versions of a series of satellites known as P-11, and by 1968 had become a major part of the American low altitude signals intelligence program. They remain one of the few bigger mysteries about the early American SIGINT satellite program of the 1960s. More than 40 of these small satellites were launched over a period of nearly 30 years, from 1963 until 1992. Although the overall program remains classified, significant information about it has been declassified in documents and oral histories over the years. In addition, the author has obtained information such as the mission numbers and the identity and frequency ranges of many of the individual satellite payloads. The P-11s were followed by updated satellites under the designation Program 989, which were eventually given code names such as URSULA, FARRAH, and RAQUEL. Like AFTRACK before them as well as the large Agena-based SIGINT satellites, these spacecraft carried multiple SIGINT payloads focused on different frequency bands. The payloads themselves had names such as TIVOLI, TRIPOS, SOUSEA, and LAMPAN. Despite significant amounts of available information, understanding the overall 30-year program is like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle with two-thirds of the pieces missing and no photo on the box. The P-11 program and its successors remain the most obscure and difficult to understand of the American low-altitude SIGINT satellites first deployed in the 1960s. However, their origins are clear. Early drawings from a low quality reproduction of a document declassified in the 1990s showing Lockheed Missiles and Space Company's proposal for a subsatellite that could be deployed from the aft rack of an Agena spacecraft. The actual spacecraft was rectangular, to take advantage of the available volume under the rocket's shroud. (credit: NRO) From AFTRACK to P-11 The first effort to launch a smaller satellite off the aft rack of an Agena spacecraft carrying a photo-reconnaissance satellite took place in March 1963 and ended in failure when the Thor first-stage rocket suffered engine problems and the vehicle broke up in flight before either spacecraft reached orbit. The next launch took place in summer 1963, when a subsatellite was deployed off its host satellite and quickly boosted to a higher orbit. Initially designated as Program 11, or “P-11,” these small satellites were soon being deployed on a regular basis of about two per year. The P-11s had their own small rocket motors that could boost the satellites to different orbits and they could keep operating for weeks or even months. Although most details of the P-11 satellite program remain classified, it is clear that they were a direct evolution of the AFTRACK program that was started in 1960 and ended by 1965. (See part 2.) By summer 1962 approximately a dozen AFTRACK payloads had been launched into orbit. The first two of the larger Agena-based Program 102 signals intelligence satellites had also been launched. The Agena satellites were large multi-purpose satellites, intended to collect many different signals at many different frequencies. In contrast, the AFTRACK payloads were more focused and simple, targeting specific types of emitters in the Soviet Union. But they also had severe limitations. Because they were attached to their battery-powered host satellite, they operated only as long as the host did, usually no more than five to seven days. They were also in relatively low orbits, which limited the time that they were over their targets gathering signals. By summer 1962 Lockheed engineers came up with a new concept: a small independent satellite that could be deployed from the rear of the Agena upper stage and operate at higher altitude and significantly longer than AFTRACK, at least a month at first. This alone would have significantly increased the amount of intelligence they collected. But rather amazingly, there is evidence indicating that several of the later satellites eventually operated for decades. The spin-stabilized satellites were regularly observed by people on the ground who noticed that they flashed as they spun. The P-11 operation was apparently run by Air Force Major John E. “Jack” Kulpa, Jr., who reportedly directed a classified “research subsatellite project” that ended in 1964. The satellite’s sensitive signal detectors were most likely developed by James de Broekert and his colleagues at the Stanford Applied Electronics Laboratory, who were also developing the AFTRACK payloads. If the P-11 program followed the AFTRACK example, the Stanford group would design the initial prototype payloads and then a contractor—most likely Lockheed or one of the small companies started in Silicon Valley by ex-Stanford and ex-Lockheed engineers—then produced the follow-on versions of the payloads. Lockheed’s 1962 proposal featured a disk-shaped satellite, but when the P-11s were developed they were rectangular, with payload bays on each of their longer sides. Each payload bay could contain one or two payloads about the size of a plumber’s toolbox, for a total of up to four. The satellites were approximately 1.5 by 1 by 0.5 meters—tiny compared to the Agena-based satellites. But one of the major differences between the P-11s and earlier satellites was that the satellites were covered with small solar panels that extended their lifetimes. According to a former engineer who worked on the early P-11 satellites, each P-11 initially had two “black boxes,” representing two payloads. Like with the AFTRACK payloads, usually a payload engineer would individually design each black box for a satellite. In the early years there were about six payload engineers working at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. The P-11 satellites were spin-stabilized, and this design feature was important for the deployment of the satellite antennas. At least some of the satellites had two types of antennas. One type was like a tape measure, with the antenna spooling out from the side of the spacecraft due to centrifugal force. The other was a spiral antenna pattern. This was cut or printed onto a thin piece of metal fabric that rolled up. The engineers referred to these as “window shade antennas.” A cold gas system ejecting through nozzles on the sides of the spacecraft would spin it up prior to the rocket motor firing. Once the motor burned out and the spinning satellite had reached its operating orbit, the rolled up fabric unfurled. From their high perch, the satellites gathered up signals within their field of view on tape recorders. Lockheed apparently also built a second version that was gravity-gradient stabilized with the assistance of a long, deployed boom. The spin-stabilized satellites were regularly observed by people on the ground who noticed that they flashed as they spun. Each satellite flew over an American ground station and downloaded its recorded data. But if it was doing a short pass (i.e. not high overhead but lower near the horizon, giving it less time in line of sight with the ground station) it was possible that the satellite would go “over the hill, hot” and still be transmitting as it went over the horizon. This was a bad thing to do because there was no automatic cutoff for the transmitter and when the satellite then flew over the Soviet Union, somebody on the ground could intercept the transmissions. When it came to the next American ground station, controllers would command it to stop transmitting. Seven P-11 satellites were launched between March 1963 and October 1964, ejected from the aft rack of Agena upper stages carrying photo-reconnaissance satellites. Three of the P-11s were scientific satellites intended to study the Earth’s magnetic fields, although only two of these reached orbit. Apparently their scientific payloads were constructed at The Aerospace Corporation, where the scientists’ work was unclassified, but they knew they were hitching a ride on a classified satellite. Although the specific radar and other emitter targets for the SIGINT payloads remain classified, it seems likely that they focused on many of the same things that the AFTRACK payloads did—detecting and characterizing radar emitters and collecting communications intelligence (COMINT) from various targets. As the AFTRACK program wound down, with fewer launches, the P-11 program ramped-up, and because the solar-powered P-11s lasted longer, eventually fewer and fewer new payloads were required. The first satellite, designated 4051, was strapped to the side of an Agena carrying a KH-6 LANYARD satellite, but neither spacecraft reached orbit due to a booster failure. According to a source who worked on the program for many years, the next seven satellites had different mission sequence numbers: 4001, 4101–4102, 4201–4202, and 4301–4302. However, the 4000 series mission numbers were used by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for the GAMBIT-1 (KH-7) photo-reconnaissance satellites, and the 4300 series were used for the GAMBIT-3 (KH-8) satellites. GAMBIT mission numbers have been officially declassified, whereas the P-11 mission numbers have not been declassified. Therefore, these numbers for the P-11s are possibly in error. According to a recently-published oral history on Air Force satellite reconnaissance programs, the satellites weighed approximately 68 kilograms (150 pounds). A former satellite official, Don Thursby, who worked in the Air Force component of the National Reconnaissance Office at Los Angeles Air Force Base stated in the oral history, “They were ‘HeathkitSats’ delivered to the base in a box of parts, assembled, tested and readied for launch under the Launch Services Contract… it was a very successful cost-effective program.” Two views of the first P-11 satellite mounted on the aft rack of the Agena spacecraft carrying a KH-6 LANYARD spacecraft. This spacecraft apparently carried scientific experiments built by The Aerospace Corporation. It was launched on March 18, 1963, but the launch vehicle failed and neither the LANYARD or the P-11 reached orbit. (credit: Paul Gatherer) P-11 and A-11 One of the tactics that Soviet radar crews used to deny American signals intelligence aircraft their data was turning off their radars when the American aircraft were in the vicinity. This sometimes prompted the Americans to take provocative actions, like flying directly toward Soviet airspace before suddenly turning away. In July 1964, shortly before the P-11 program ended, a CIA official proposed a more exotic version of this tactic: using an actual high-speed aircraft overflight of Soviet territory to provoke the Soviets into activating their air defense network while American P-11 satellites flew overhead. The CIA considered using three P-11 satellites in concert with the Mach 3 A-12 OXCART reconnaissance plane—the predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird. At the time the A-12 was still referred to as the A-11. According to a declassified memo, an NRO official “sketched a plan whereby three P-11 satellites spaced 120 degrees apart in polar orbit would make north/south passes across the Soviet Union progressing say East to West but with 500 miles cross spacing between each trace at intervals of 30 minutes.” The writer, whose name has been deleted from the document, proposed, “The A-11 could fly diagonally across the Soviet Union stimulating the defense networks while the P-11s gathered the resulting elint data.” He speculated that such a mission could gather data on Soviet radars that the intelligence community had designated TOKEN, TALL KING, and SPOON REST. When American SIGINT satellites flew over the Soviet Union they encountered dozens, sometimes hundreds, of air defense and surface-to-air missile radars during their missions. ABM radars were different. There were only a few of them. The bigger problem was capturing their signals. Sending a high-altitude Mach 3 aircraft deep inside the Soviet Union might not be very risky for the pilot—the OXCART would have been relatively invulnerable on a single surprise flight—but it would be highly provocative, especially in light of American promises in the wake of the May 1960 Gary Powers U-2 shoot down incident to no longer fly spyplanes over the Soviet Union. It could possibly even result in a nuclear war if the Soviets suspected that the aircraft was a bomber sent on a sneak attack. The mission, which was apparently only a theoretical proposal, never occurred. The window of invulnerability for the OXCART was also closing as intelligence analysts became concerned that the Soviets were networking their radar systems, enabling one radar to automatically alert another one downrange that an aircraft was approaching so that missiles could be prepped and ready to shoot down the intruder. The P-11 follow-on and the ABM radar hunt Starting in April 1965, a new series of subsatellites entered service with Mission 4401. This series continued until the mid-1980s. But the Mission 4401 series satellites may have consisted of multiple different designs and maybe even a major upgrade of the satellites. In March 1968, Mission 4411 was launched off the back of a CORONA photo-reconnaissance satellite. According to one account from someone who worked on it, this small satellite was the first to be equipped with a six-foot (two-meter) diameter parabolic dish, which itself was significantly larger than the satellite. Mission 4420, launched in June 1968 off another CORONA satellite, had 1-meter and 0.5-meter dishes. Mission 4417, launched in March 1969, again had a two-meter dish antenna. Mission 4407, launched in September 1969 along with a POPPY general search signals intelligence satellite, actually used its rocket to lower its orbit after deployment instead of raise it. Beginning in the early 1960s, the US intelligence community became increasingly concerned with Soviet anti-ballistic missile (ABM) capabilities. When American SIGINT satellites flew over the Soviet Union they encountered dozens, sometimes hundreds, of air defense and surface-to-air missile radars during their missions. There was little difficulty in gathering these signals because the radars were everywhere throughout the Soviet landmass, and the Soviets did not turn all of them off when American satellites were overhead. The primary challenge for the Americans became precisely locating all of them. ABM radars were different. There were only a few of them, and their locations were soon well known to American intelligence analysts. The bigger problem was capturing their signals. The radars did not operate often, and the Soviets could turn them off if they thought that an American satellite was trying to collect their signals. One of the primary targets for the US signals intelligence collection effort at this time was the Soviet Union’s large HEN HOUSE anti-ballistic missile radar located on the shores of Lake Balkash at Sary Shagan. The first HEN HOUSE had been spotted in a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft photograph, and eventually the Soviets built several more of the radars, which were used to track ballistic missiles for interception. American intelligence analysts believed that the HEN HOUSE could also be used to track satellites, but gathering data on this capability took time. One time one of his colleagues called him in to listen to the latest HEN HOUSE signal. Instead of the typical “zzip zzip” they got a very strong continuous “ZZZZZZZZZZ” that indicated that the HEN HOUSE had locked onto the satellite and was tracking it. A former Lockheed engineer who worked on the early satellites mentioned that the typical HEN HOUSE signal was recorded as an audible “zzip zzip” sound as the signal swept past the satellite. Lockheed would get the recording from the ground station and make a copy; one recording would go to the National Security Agency and one to the CIA. The Lockheed engineers could listen to the recording for engineering purposes, but early on the Air Force decided that the contractors would not perform any signal processing themselves. According to the engineer, that decision was later reversed when the amount of data coming in from the various satellites became so great that the NSA was overwhelmed and had to enlist contractors to process it. One time one of his colleagues called him in to listen to the latest HEN HOUSE signal. Instead of the typical “zzip zzip” they got a very strong continuous “ZZZZZZZZZZ” that indicated that the HEN HOUSE had locked onto the satellite and was tracking it. This gave them proof that HEN HOUSE could be used to track orbiting targets and also provided them a very strong signal to analyze. By the mid-1960s, the American intelligence community became interested in the development of a new missile site near Tallinn, Estonia, that looked like it might have an ABM mission. Tallinn itself was not a high priority target worth defending, raising a question as to why the Soviets were building a new missile site there. Some intelligence analysts in the US Air Force soon claimed that the Tallinn site was for conducting “area defense” against American ICBMs. Equally confusing was the fact that no phased-array radars capable of directing ABMs were anywhere near the launch site. Several massive HEN HOUSE ABM radars were eventually located at various spots within the USSR, but nowhere near Tallinn. Disagreements within the intelligence community were common. A few of these became legendary outside of the secretive community, such as the bomber and missile gaps of the 1950s and the dispute over the range of the Backfire bomber during early 1970s arms control negotiations. But many other bitter battles remained secret, such as a dispute over the SS-8 ballistic missile, and this dispute over the suspected anti-ballistic missile site at Tallinn. In an all-too-familiar pattern, CIA analysts argued that the Tallinn site was not an ABM site, whereas Air Force officials argued that it was, or at least could be, and pointed out that there were still many radars within the Soviet Union that the US had little information about. By summer 1966, this dispute resulted in a call for a revision of satellite signals intelligence collection efforts. In October, the Committee on Overhead Reconnaissance, known as COMOR, which selected targets to be viewed by American photo and SIGINT satellites, discussed a “requirement for collection against ABM/AES.” AES refers to “Anti-Earth Satellite,” now known as ASATs. By November the committee discussed this subject again and it became an “urgent requirement for SIGINT satellite collection against Soviet ABM/AES systems.” A few days later, Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms wrote a letter to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Cyrus Vance, stating: “On 17 November the United States Intelligence Board (USIB) approved an urgent requirement for information on [Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile radar and anti-Earth Satellite] systems. It is essential that every effort be made to meet this requirement within the next twelve months. In evaluating the chance of early fulfillment of that requirement, I am convinced that, among the various SIGINT satellite systems presently available, the best hope lies in a concentrated [deleted] program. This program would involve qualitative improvement, as well as an expanded launch schedule, probably to as many as [deleted] per year. I believe that immediate steps should be taken to develop such a program and to make the necessary NRO funds available.” By December 1966, a group of senior scientific intelligence advisors to the government met to discuss SIGINT issues. According to a letter by the two senior advisors, Edwin Land and Edward Purcell, “the Panel spent considerable time discussing systems which might meet the urgent requirement to determine the characteristics of the Soviet ABM systems. We believe that the Panel in general would agree that the decisions that would be influenced by the information gathered about these defenses are of such magnitude that we ought not be satisfied with any collection system [deleted more than 25 lines of text].” In addition to these satellites, the NRO also began deploying subsatellites from a classified SIGINT satellite known as JUMPSEAT that was launched into highly elliptical high inclination orbits. In January 1967, the National Reconnaissance Office launched the large Agena-based MULTIGROUP 3 satellite. According to the declassified official history The SIGINT Satellite Story, this satellite had enhanced equipment for intercepting ABM and anti-satellite radars. The meeting of the advisory group one month earlier undoubtedly included a briefing about this upcoming launch, and the group may have found it inadequate, prompting their recommendation for “immediate steps” to develop a response. Ultimately, National Reconnaissance Office officials decided that the best method of gathering this urgently needed information was to modify the existing subsatellite design, derived from the earlier P-11 satellites, and launching them into even higher orbits. In December 1968, a new class of SIGINT subsatellite began flying to focus on Soviet ABM radars. They had orbital altitudes of 1200–1400 kilometers at about 80.3 to 96.9 degrees inclination—significantly higher than their predecessors and requiring an additional kick motor to place them in the proper orbit. These satellites were apparently given the designation Program 989, although it is also possible that the designation had been applied to the earlier low-altitude successors to the P-11 as well. The higher orbit undoubtedly resulted from the need to keep the targets in view for a longer period of time and maximize the |
and Simon Despres were all acquired for relatively little.
Frank Seravalli can be reached at frank.seravalli@bellmedia.ca(WGR 550) - Two former Sabres assistant coaches have gotten head coaching jobs in junior hockey. James Patrick and Dan Lambert have been hired in the Western Hockey League.
Kootenay has given Patrick his first head coaching job after spending 10 seasons as an assistant to Lindy Ruff in Dallas and Buffalo.
Patrick was also a player in Buffalo spending 21 years with the Sabres, Rangers, Flames and Whalers.
Dan Lambert has been hired as head coach in Spokane. Lambert got his first professional head coaching job last season with the Amerks. That didn’t go real well going 32-41-3. New Sabres GM Jason Botterill fired him after just one season.
Lambert was on Dan Bylsma’s staff in Buffalo for one season before he went to Rochester.
Lambert was a very successful junior coach in Kelowna where he led the Rockets to the WHL championship in 2015. His record that season was 53-13-6.
Lambert played 19 years professionally including 29 games in the NHL with Quebec.
Another former Sabres assistant did very well in junior hockey this season. Danny Flynn was on Ted Nolan’s staff, and led the St. John Seadogs to the Memorial Cup Final Four. They lost in the semi-finals to Erie.House and Senate budget negotiators announced a deal just after 6 p.m. that will ease the threat of automatic spending cuts and another partial government shutdown.
The bipartisan agreement provides $85 billion in savings in fiscal 2014, which began Oct. 1, and fiscal 2015. The savings were unspecified Tuesday.
It would spend $1.012 trillion this fiscal year.
The deal would split additional spending between defense and non-defense discretionary items. Total extra spending would be $63 billion.
The agreement was announced after weeks of closed-door meetings, budget negotiators Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., the House Budget Committee chair, and Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced a deal that fell far short of a political grand bargain but is good enough to probably pass both chambers of Congress before lawmakers end their 2013 session next week.
The plan was quickly praised by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
"While modest in scale, this agreement represents a positive step," he said.
President Barack Obama struck the same tone, calling the agreement "a good first step>"
If approved by Congress - and while that's expected, it's no certainty - the deal would allow the government to keep running past Jan. 15, when funding is due to expire. It would also skirt the next round of automatic cuts, or sequester, due to take effect the same day.
The parameters of a deal have been floated for some time: Annual spending in fiscal 2014 and 2015 for discretionary items would reach slightly more than $1 trillion.
The overall spending level would be more than the fiscal 2013 figure of $986 billion and the fiscal 2014 level of $967 billion, including $498 billion for defense and $469 billion for domestic programs. Pentagon officials have warned that looming defense cuts could create a "readiness crisis."
Bills funding the federal government The federal budget is made up of a series of smaller bills approving spending for related areas of the government. Committees are responsible for writing spending laws for relevant agencies, which then must be approved by all of Congress.In recent years, fewer of these bills are being written and passed before the old budget expires and more committees are failing to write budget proposals all together.
Show how individual budgets have come together since 1997, the last year the entire budget passed on time.
Show spending bills for: All bills
Passed before the fiscal
year began Before September
In September Before SeptemberIn September Passed after fiscal year began Oct. 1 In October
After October In OctoberAfter October Spending bills never passed × Never passed Congress × Vetoed
× Committee failed to produce bill Never passed CongressVetoedCommittee failed to produce bill Continuing resolutions If Congress does not approve spending for all parts of the government by Oct. 1, the current budget expires and the government has to shutdown.In order to avoid closing the government, Congress frequently passes "continuing resolutions," temporarily approving spending based on the previous year's budget.
Some years, such as in 2013, Congress is unable to pass a complete budget and ultimately issues a continuing resolution for the rest of the fiscal year.
Omnibus budget bills If Congress is unable to approve of spending on a committee by committee basis, it may use an overarching "omnibus" bill to approve of unresolved spending areas.
Show spending bills since 1997 What happens if the Congress misses the Oct. 1 deadline?
Sources: Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service
©MCT2013
Graphic: Danny DoughertyThank Zod for autumn. I have 6 cans of pumpkin in my pantry that need to get outta’ there and make room for something else. I don’t even know where they came from, it’s possible that I just kept forgetting if I had any canned pumpkin and my collection grew and grew, or it could be the canned pumpkin fairy. And I can’t eat pumpkin in warm weather, it throws off my equilibrium.
Last night I made these Pumpkin Pie Brownies. It’s a brownie base with pumpkin in the batter and then pumpkin pie filling is poured on top and they bake together in perfect harmony. Obviously, these would be like gold at any Halloween event.
Recipe has been added, just click “more.”
Note: A 15 or 16 ounce can of pumpkin will equal the 2 cups of pumpkin needed for this recipe.
Ingredients:
For the brownie layer
4 ounce bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tablespoon tapioca flour (or arrowroot or corn starch)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the pumpkin pie layer
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
2 tablespoons tapioca flour (or use arrowroot or cornstarch)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground allspice
To decorate:
A handful of chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan, or use a 9 inch square pan, preferably lined with parchment paper.
To make the brownie layer:
Melt the chocolate (I still don’t need to tell you how to melt chocolate, right?).
In a large mixing bowl mix together pumpkin, sugar, oil and vanilla. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, tapioca, baking soda and salt and stir to combine, then mix in the melted chocolate.
To make the pumpkin layer:
Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.
To assemble:
Use a spatula to spread the brownie layer into the prepared baking pan, taking care to bring the batter to the edges of the pan. Pour the pumpkin layer over it, leaving a little room at the edges if you can. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pumpkin layer looks fairly firm (a little jiggling is okay) and has cracked at the edges a bit.
Let cool for 20 minutes and then transfer to the fridge to set for at least an hour and a half. Once set, decorate with chocolate chips and serve.Lulu Ferdous
Pursuing her life-long obsession to fly, a research assistant at NASA, Lulu Ferdous may be the first Bangladeshi to take a one-way trip to Mars. Ferdous, 35, is one of 1,058 people from around the world who advanced to the second round of applicants to be chosen for this extraordinary mission that may take up to seven months. The mission is sponsored by Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit foundation that aims to establish a permanent human settlement on the planet by 2025.
More than 200,000 people applied for the programme. Only four astronauts will be chosen for the trip, informs Ferdous.
A one-way trip sounds a little ominous as there is no guarantee that all will go well. Ferdous, however, is not at all afraid.
“I am excited and ready for it as I knew about the risks of being a pilot and an astronaut while growing up” says Ferdous. “Risks that are inherent in our scientific ventures never really scared me, rather, I look forward to the adventure as a test that will surpass our human limitations, both in terms of physical aspects and scientific milestone.”
Her family, she admits, were quite shocked when she told them of her decision. “But eventually, I know that they are happy for my journey and adventures in life, as that is part of what defines me.”
Despite how frightening the prospect of going away to live in Mars for good may seem, Ferdous explains that there will be satellite and video communications with earth so she and her fellow companions would be able to see their families virtually.
For Ferdous this is most certainly the most unusual adventure she is aspiring to undertake although she is not a stranger to formidable challenges. At age ten she was reading about what a sonic boom was; it was when she decided that she wanted to be the first Bangladeshi to break the sound barrier. She desperately wanted to fly planes, trying to apply for the GD Pilot branch in BAF in 2000. But she was not allowed to take out an application form. She was told that women were not being accepted as GD pilots. “But I was encouraged to be a doctor or work in the education sector in BAF or apply to other branches of the Armed Forces which had just opened for women.”
There was little Ferdous could do except try for the next best alternative: commercial flying. But the cost of getting a licence proved to be too intimidating and there was no provision for funding in this area. Ferdous had to give up this dream but it did not stop her from secretly nurturing her ultimate ambition – to travel in space. She ended up getting a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation - Air Transportation Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and then studying for a doctoral degree in aerospace science.
When the Mars One applications opened up, she checked to see if there were citizenship, gender and age restrictions.
“When I saw it was open globally, I immediately applied” she says. “I felt at peace with my purpose and knew that my aspirations were leading me towards a certain destination. I wanted to leave a legacy for the present and next generation of women who dream and aspire beyond social convention and manmade barriers. I still have a long way to go as there will be two other rounds for elimination, and four astronauts will be shortlisted out of 1058 for the first trip in 2025.”
The trip means more than a personal dream come true. It will be a way to break the gender stereotypes that try to keep women from pursuing higher studies in sciences or pursuing careers that are conventionally considered appropriate for only men.
“It took decades for an opportunity to finally materialise, and even then there is no guarantee that I will make the final cut,” says Ferdous. “But I fully believe that if we refuse to accept restrictions in our minds, we can manifest a seemingly impossible future, and live to our fullest potential.”“Low unemployment and low inflation are central goals of stabilization policy. During the 1950s and 1960s the view of a stable tradeoff between inflation and unemployment was established, the so-called Phillips curve. According to this, the price for reduced unemployment was a one-time increase of the inflation rate. Phelps challenged this view through a more fundamental analysis….” So read the Nobel Prize press release as economist Edmund Phelps won the award in 2006.
His recognition was a long time coming. The mythical “trade-off” between unemployment and inflation, that darling of the Federal Reserve, had long represented the gravitational axis in the world of policy wonks. It’s easy to see why. The Phillips curve – named after economist A.W. Phillips for his 1950s analysis of wages in British history – demonstrated an inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment. In Washington, the curve quickly morphed into a magic bullet.
If the Phillips curve provided the solution to the problems of inflation and unemployment, it could only be affected by governmental agencies manning the cogs and switches of the economy. Standing at Washington’s nexus was the Federal Reserve. Too much unemployment? Print money. Not so much unemployment in the context of rising prices? Call money in. Cadillac ads in the 1960s boasted that you could control the temperature in the car “by the movement of a single dial.” With the Phillips curve, technocrats in the government, especially the Fed, said pretty much the same thing with respect to the American economy.
The Phillips curve and its enshrinement always carried a soupcon of simplicity and opportunism, so it was gratifying to see Phelps receive his prize. But wait. The press release for the 2004 Nobel to Finn Kydland and Edward Prescott said that these economists’ work had corrected the “models that had functioned quite well during the 1960s [and] began to break down under the more turbulent economic conditions of the 1970s, with oil-price shocks and concurrent inflation and unemployment. The Laureates laid the groundwork for more robust models by regarding business cycles as the collective outcome of countless forward-looking decisions….”
And come to think of it, there was Robert Mundell’s Nobel of 1999, awarded for “his analysis of monetary and fiscal policy, so-called stabilization policy, in open economies.” In particular, it cited a 1963 article in which Mundell had indicated that tight money would result in decreased inflation and lower unemployment. And let’s not forget Robert Lucas’s 1995 Nobel, in which the press release declared: “The change in our understanding of the so-called Phillips curve is an excellent example of Lucas's contributions.” In his acceptance speech, Lucas said that he had realized the Phillips curve was mistaken when it occurred to him to examine no less esoteric a data set than — the inflation and unemployment rates of the United States since 1945. The graph was such a complete hash that there was no line that could capture it.
And back when in the 1970s, the Nobel release for Milton Friedman said that he “was the first to demonstrate that the accepted assumption of a simple trade-off between unemployment and the rate of inflation was only a temporary phenomenon….” For F.A. Hayek, the release went on about how he “showed how monetary expansion, accompanied by lending which exceeded the rate of voluntary saving, could lead to a misallocation of resources….”
That’s six Nobel Prizes for lancing the Phillips curve (and you can count James Buchanan’s in 1986 too). If they did things this way for the chemistry prize, every other kid at the science fair would be joining Madame Curie for discovering Radium.
But at least it’s dead now, right? You have to remember what we’re talking about, which is a George R. Romero movie. Here was the President’s former top economics advisor, Christina Romer, in the New York Times two weeks ago: “[A debate] is limiting the Fed’s aid to the economic recovery. The debate is between what I would describe as empiricists and theorists.
“Empiricists, as the name suggests, put most weight on the evidence. Empirical analysis shows that….Inflation rises when unemployment is below normal and falls when it is above normal….[E]mpiricists are therefore relatively unconcerned about inflation in the current environment.
“Theorists, on the other hand, [hold that] Fed actions that call its commitment to low inflation into question can cause inflation expectations to spike, leading to actual increases in prices and wages.” Romer identified herself as “a confirmed empiricist” and warned about “doing too little” with respect to quantitative easing and such “just because some Fed policy makers believe in an unproven, theoretical view of how inflation works.”
Let’s assume for the moment that all those Nobels went to head-in-the-clouds “theorists.” Here’s one way Romer said her “empirical” Phillips-curve position works: “Reductions in American interest rates make domestic assets less attractive, reducing the demand for dollars and lowering the currency’s value in foreign exchange markets. This tends to decrease our imports and increase our exports, raising domestic production and employment.”
How about that: domestic assets sinking in value leads to an increase in output. Might as well say that decreased investment and fleeing from factories conduces to churning things out. It is quite true that theorists will draw a red line through an equation posing such imponderables.
Whatever damage the Phillips curve has done to American prosperity over the past two generations – and this is considerable – it has now officially hauled in another carcass: the Nobel Prize in economics. A baker’s half-dozen of prizes has proven hopelessly insufficient to pack this idea off to the margins. Any more earnest awards at this point would only redound to the haplessness of the Nobel in the face of the real powers, the intellectual mediocrity and blunderbuss hegemony of the Federal Reserve and its allies and beneficiaries in policy circles and the universities.Bureau of Engraving and Printing products now available from the United States Mint’s Online Catalog
On October 1, 2018, the United States Mint (U.S. Mint) became the official online retailer for Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) currency and engraving products. Customers can place online orders at catalog.usmint.gov or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING AND THE U.S. MINT?
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the Nation’s sole producer of U.S. paper currency. The BEP advises other federal agencies on document security matters and also produces engraved art, engraved documents such as military commissions and award certificates, and special security documents for a variety of government agencies. In addition, the BEP processes claims for the redemption of mutilated currency.
The United States Mint is the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender, circulating coinage. The Mint also produces numismatic coins and coin-related products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; medals; and silver and gold bullion coins.
BENEFITS OF SHOPPING WITH THE U.S. MINT
The BEP and U.S. Mint formed a strategic partnership to offer numismatic collectors and other customers an enhanced sales experience and a greater variety of numismatic products. Customers can now purchase BEP and U.S. Mint products in one place, while enjoying the benefits and conveniences of the U.S. Mint website. BEP customers are encouraged to set up a Mint website account in order to easily check order statuses, track packages, and pay with PayPal. All purchases on catalog.usmint.gov count towards the U.S. Mint Loyalty Program, where members receive free budget shipping on qualifying orders shipped within the United States.
BEP PRODUCTS AVAILABLE NOW ON THE U.S. MINT CATALOGMany have argued Democrats and the Obama administration are not primarily concerned with the welfare of illegal immigrants, but rather are cynically adding to their voter base in order to retain power and drive government policy.
On May 20, The Extract ran an article covering the work of documentarian Jo Anne Livingston and her husband Luke. The couple have taken a comprehensive look at the border crisis with an emphasis on the personal experiences of illegal aliens. Following these interviews, Jo Anne concluded the immigrants are being cynically exploited by Democrats.
For instance, “witness after witness after witness” explained they were given voter registrations prior to the 2012 election and sent to states without voter identification laws and were told that unless they “show up and vote the democratic [sic] ticket, they would be arrested and deported.”
Democrats exploiting illegal immigrants for political gain was more or less admitted when Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, a Democrat from Illinois, told MSNBC’s Morning Joe the Obama administration’s proposed amnesty would be a good thing for the Democrat party.
“Let me just say in about an hour, I’m going over to the White House. I’ll be meeting with Jeh Johnson and the Chief Legal Counsel to the President of the United States. We’re going to sit down and we’re going to negotiate additional terms and avenues the President can use and prosecutorial discretion, and I think we can get three or four or maybe even five million people,” Gutiérrez said in July, 2014.
Further evidence of this scam surfaced in February when the League of Women Voters and the NAACP filed a lawsuit to prevent efforts to put an end to non-citizens participating in elections. The groups filed filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court seeking to reverse a decision by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC ruling allows Kansas and other states, including Arizona and Georgia, to enforce state laws ensuring that only citizens register to vote when they use a federally designed registration form.
Democrats routinely play the poverty and race card when challenged on the scam. “Democratic party spokesmen justify their opposition to laws requiring proof of citizenship in order to register to vote by the absurd claim that poor people do not have birth certificates or passports. But we require everyone, including the poor, to produce such documents when becoming employed for their I-9 Forms. And if that is tolerable, then it must also be tolerable for the same documents to be produced to register to vote and some sort of photo ID in order to vote,” writes lawyer Howard Foster on the liberal website The Huffington Post.
Massive voter fraud is a particularly important tool for a corrupt Democrat party now that Donald Trump is poised to beat Hillary Clinton in November. In October, realizing the damage the party could face with a Republican presidential victory, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1461, the New Motor Voter Act, which will automatically register people to vote through the DMV, and will result in illegal aliens voting.
Capitol Weekly, a website reporting on California government and politics, reports voter “registration has skyrocketed in the first months of 2016. There have been over 850,000 registrations in the months between January 1 and March 31. This is twice as much as was registered during the same period in 2012.” The vast majority are registering with the Democrat party, an increase of 185%.
98% of the new registrants were Latino.
Clinton understands the importance of California and the Latino vote. Last week The Los Angeles Times reported there are rumblings she may announce a Latino as her running mate—Congressman Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles.
“Most notable is Becerra’s all-star status as the fourth highest ranking Democrat in Congress. Becerra’s position as chairman of the House’s Democratic Caucus gives him fundraising prowess and political muscle. Naturally, as the official caretaker of the House’s Democratic members, he’s got strong relationships with House members and party stalwarts throughout the nation,” the newspaper reports.If you stop and think about it, the word “diesel” conjures up a lot of things – durability, torque, and towing power, just to name a few. We think of diesel engines as some of the most robust and reliable machines in existence, and for good reason; they power everything from cargo ships on the open seas to the three-quarter-tons rolling down American highways.
By and large, no matter if you drive a Power Stroke, Duramax, or Cummins-powered truck, you drive a capable vehicle with an engine built to withstand extremes that would leave gas motors smoking by the side of the road. Still, these diesel powerplants are not perfect, and we thought it would be good to explore the biggest flaws involved in each brand.
To that end, we spoke with diesel experts from three different businesses – American Diesel in Murrieta, California; Strictly Diesel in Phoenix, Arizona; and Industrial Injection Diesel Performance in Salt Lake City, Utah – to learn how the mainstays of each American brand suffered failures throughout the years.
6.7-liter Power Stroke: DualBoost
Ford’s 6.7-liter Power Stroke was a big departure from standard operating procedure when it first came out. Rather than continuing the line of International-built motors that started way back with the 7.3-liter in the 1990s, the Blue Oval went completely for an in-house design.
One of the things that separated the 6.7-liter from the rest of the pack was its Honeywell-built GT32 turbocharger, which used a piece of technology called DualBoost. “It used double-sided vanes on the compressor and impeller wheels, hence the name,” explained Strictly Diesel’s Gary Maschner. “By contrast, most manufacturers use single-sided vanes. The point of the DualBoost was to facilitate faster spooling, offering greater throttle response than before.”
As innovative as it may seem, the DualBoost was also its own worst enemy. Tuning the engine to increase horsepower and torque would eventually cause the turbocharger to eat away at its ceramic ball bearings, which would lead to excessive play in the compressors. “You could tell it was going bad when you heard a loud and screeching noise,” said Maschner.
This problem affected Super Duties all the way until the 2015 model year, when the turbocharger was redesigned and given a more commonplace compressor setup. It now runs on the GT37 single variable geometry turbocharger, which hasn’t had any significant problems as of yet.
6.6-liter Duramax: CP4 Fuel Pump
The Duramax was jointly developed by GM and Isuzu in the early 2000s to get away from the Detroit Diesel days of yore. Miraculously, the engine has had incredible staying power in an ever-changing arena of ideas regarding emissions, efficiency, and power numbers. Proof of this comes from the fact that it has never dipped or risen above the 6.6 liters of air displacement, despite going through six iterations – LB7, LLY, LBZ, LMM, LML, and now the L5P.
The L5P hasn’t yet been put through its paces to see what lies beneath, but the LML has. Releases in 2011, the engine brought with it the “ninth injector” that sprayed fuel on the DPF during regeneration cycles, as well as upgrades to the engine block’s strength, the valvetrain, and the oiling system.
However, the Achilles heel of the LML is its CP4 fuel pump. More to the point, the blame seems to lie with the diesel fuel that has been made standard in North American gas stations since 2006 – USLD, or Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel. While the fuel is optimal for the sake of reducing harmful emissions, it has the deleterious effect of having less lubricity than the diesel fuel that came before. Less lubricity makes it difficult on the CP4’s hydraulic pistons to continue working, and consequently, the pistons seize up. This leads to either bricking the pump or an explosion that causes metal shavings to be dispersed throughout the entire fueling system.
“The tappet on the plunger rides on the cam, and when there’s a lack of lubricity there, the tappet will seize,” said Cody Williams of Industrial Injection. “The tappet will lift, and the roller won’t be square on the cam profile. The tappet can’t do its job anymore, and the pump eventually seizes or blows up.”
Granted, from what we could shake out from internet forums, the chances of this happening were quite low; that is to say, it is a rare problem. Still, the heavy cost of replacing the fueling system makes it one of the biggest concerns to think about when considering a late-model Duramax.
There are two solutions to this problem, the first of which is to buy a lift pump. “Buying a lift pump will provide more fuel to the pump, which supplies fuel to the low-pressure side of the CP4,” said Williams. “That will generate more lubricity to the pump.”
The next option is more popular and involves swapping out the CP4 for its predecessor, the CP3. “The CP3 didn’t have the same issue that the CP4 had, so it’s a better design in terms of longevity,” said Williams.
6.7-liter Cummins: Exhaust Manifolds
Cummins and Ram have been joined at the hip since 1989, when the first 6BT-powered pickup rolled into showrooms, impressing truck drivers with the platform’s simplicity, power, and durability. 27 years later, that relationship is still going strong, and the latest engine has been the 6.7-liter ISBe.
Debuting in 2007, the 6.7 has carried the torch of its predecessors, putting trusted reliability and output as its main strengths. Where the engine trips up is not on the intake or fueling side of things, but rather the exhaust.
“The manifold gasket can be an issue,” said Maschner. “That’s because the manifolds shrink from excessive heat, even on stock trucks. I’ve seen ones where they’ve shrunken by at least a quarter of an inch. When this happens, the mounting bolts of the manifolds break.”
Maschner believes it has to do with towing and how much a truck does of it, but outside of that, the manifolds simply can’t take the heat, as it were. “The aftermarket options out there are an improvement,” he said. “The good manifolds or headers have webbing in between the ports, which helps keep the structural integrity from being compromised.”
General Problems: Turbocharger Cool-Down And SCR
Now that we’ve looked at a top issue for all three of the major diesel engines, now we can examine something that affects all three: turbochargers and DEF/SCR.
Speaking with Quince Graveen of American Diesel, the problem that comes up time and again, no matter the brand, involves cooling the turbocharger.
“The big thing for any of these turbodiesels is to idle down before you shut off the motor,” he said. “This is to cool the turbocharger down. When you take a turbodiesel out on the highway, you can get it up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Taking it back home and shutting it right off denies the turbocharger the opportunity to cycle oil through and cool down. So, make sure you let the truck idle for a few minutes, and your turbocharger will last a good while longer.”
Maschner’s advice was to always make sure the truck can complete a regeneration cycle on the DPF. “Not letting the regen cycle complete will cut down the life of the DPF, and your truck will throw a code a lot sooner than it ought to,” he said. “Also, make sure the quality of DEF you use is up to snuff.”
What do you find to be some of the biggest issues affecting the current crop of diesel trucks? Have you learned of any problems affecting the Cummins 5.0-liter or VM Motori 3.0-liter EcoDiesel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.Whether you grew up in a "naked house" or still feel squeamish in the flesh even by yourself, reaching the point where you finally feel good in your own skin—without any sartorial accoutrements—is a liberating moment.
It makes sense, then, that the body seems to like being naked. A cursory review of the research aligns time spent in the nude with an increased sense of self-confidence and improved health. Scientists agree that sleeping naked is a good way to start, especially for male fertility. "Out of 500 men, they found those who wore boxers during the day and were naked at night had 25 percent less damage to their sperm compared to the guys who wore tight briefs or boxer briefs," said functional medicine expert Will Cole.
For women, sleeping naked allows your lady bits to breathe, and that's a good thing. Underwear that are too tight or that don't breathe fully will trap moisture, which could lead to bacterial or fungal infections. Sleeping naked helps everybody regulate temperature, which is the No. 1 controllable factor in getting a good rest.
If fewer infections and more shut-eye aren't enough to sell you, being seen in your birthday suit has emotional benefits. Provided you're in a safe, respectful space with others, seeing new body shapes and sizes different from your own can help you develop an appreciation for the human body, often minimizing any aesthetically oriented complaints you have about your own. The study found that being naked more often "predicted greater life satisfaction—a relationship that was mediated by more positive body image and higher self-esteem," as noted in the study.
Even if your nude experience is a bit more reluctant at first, like mine was, you'll learn something about yourself. Willow, founder of Naked in Motion Yoga, said she hears from students often about the ways in which doing yoga naked in a group setting has improved their self-esteem. "My experience with Naked in Motion was amazing," one student said. "The sensation of freedom from clothing is incredible. There was no judgment regarding body shape, skin color, or gender, and the class felt very natural. Your body connects to the ambience, and you perceive yourself in a new way during the workout because of the professionalism of the instructors," one student said. Willow herself was never a nudist. "I had been topless in public twice before, and then I attended only one naked yoga class before I started teaching," she said. "I've developed a significantly better relationship with my body and feel a great deal more confident and comfortable in my skin," she said.
Perhaps time spent naked is the form of self-care we're missing. "Nudity is absolutely a tool for a deeper level of self-discovery that I have a hard time accessing in any other part of my life doing any other activity," Willow said, and I have to agree. There's nothing like seeing body without its armor to soften, humble, and incite the feeling of being part of a tribe.Nintendo Switch doubles Xbox One’s upcoming exclusives list
Chris Stead 20 January 2017 NEWS
The Nintendo Switch may not be releasing till 3 March, but already it has more exclusive games in its pipeline than the Xbox One.
It’s no secret that the PlayStation 4 is having a good run of it in this console generation. Its diverse catalogue of games and vast number of partner studios has helped Sony win gamers over to the point where it has sold double the amount of consoles as Microsoft’s Xbox One, and more than triple that of Nintendo’s Wii U. Nintendo has already hit the eject button on the eighth generation of consoles, with its follow-up to the Wii U, the Nintendo Switch, arriving on 3 March worldwide. We’ve had a chance to go hands-on with the machine, and while it is undoubtedly fun and offers an experience unlike anything we have seen before, time will tell whether it will be a hit with consumers.
Whatever happens, given the anticipation and the arrival of both new Zelda and Super Mario games, the company is in for a better year with the Switch than it ever had with the Wii U. For Microsoft, however, the road ahead remains unclear. Quickly falling out of favour with indie and third-party developers due to the large disparity in install base between the Xbox One and PS4, and with a threadbare roster of developers working exclusively on a new console, times are looking bleak. Towards the end of 2017 the new, enhanced Project Scorpio console may reinvigorate interest in the Xbox One, but it’s quite possible by then the horse will have bolted. In fact, the Switch could be hot on its heels.
At the turn of the year, I published an article which compared all the exclusive games currently announced for the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The result was stark, with the PS4 outweighing the Xbox One 88 exclusives to 18. Since then the news has gotten worse. Scalebound, a high-profile Xbox One exclusive, has been cancelled and Phantom Dust is now no longer in the pipeline for release.
Meanwhile, a stack of new games have been announced for the Switch. When I updated the exclusives comparison, the equation had changed dramatically. The PlayStation 4 still dominated with 90 exclusives incoming, with the Xbox One now sitting at just 16. The Nintendo Switch, on the other hand, has jumped to 31 known exclusives - and that’s assuming the announced but untitled FIFA game isn’t a spin-off.
The argument, of course, is quality over quantity, but when trying to reach a demographic as wide-ranging as gaming, diversity is also key. We’re big fans of Microsoft’s Xbox One console and hope that this comparison will help kick-start some activity and announcements From Microsoft well ahead of the release of Project Scorpio.
Sign up to our weekly tech newsletter for the latest in gaming, mobile phones and more. Sign me up! I agree to the Privacy & Cookies Policy, Terms of Use, Disclaimer & Privacy Policy and to receive emails from FinderA notebook from Robert Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition which was found after a century trapped in the ice of the frozen continent, Oct. 23, 2014. AFP Wellington (AFP) - A photographic notebook from Robert Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition has been found after a century trapped in the ice of the frozen continent, New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust said.
It belonged to scientist George Murray Levick and was discovered outside Scott's 1911 Terra Nova base during last year's summer ice melt.
Writing in the notebook remains legible but the binding has been dissolved by years of ice and water damage, the trust's executive director Nigel Watson said.
"It's an exciting find. The notebook is a missing part of the official expedition record," he said.
"After spending seven years conserving Scott's last expedition building and collection, we are delighted to still be finding new artefacts."
He said the pages of the notebook were taken to New Zealand and individually preserved, then given new binding and returned to Antarctica, where the trust is working to preserve five sites used by explorers Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edmund Hillary.
Scott's expedition split into two groups after reaching the Antarctic, with the leader's contingent reaching the South Pole on January 17, 1912, only to find Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten them there a month earlier.
Scott and his companions later died of exposure and starvation.
Levick was in the other group, which travelled along the coast to make scientific observations but became stranded from the base camp when pack ice prevented their ship from picking them up.
The six men all survived the Antarctic winter by digging a cave in the ice and eating local wildlife, including penguins and seals.
Other discoveries made by the trust include bottles of whisky taken on Shackleton's 1908 expedition and lost negatives from his 1914-17 foray to the Ross Sea.
The contents of Levick's notebook |
, Tony Galati has used his larger-than-life image to fight for the state's potato market to be deregulated.
Extensive television and newspaper advertising has helped him become one of the most recognisable figures in the west, known for his luxurious eyebrows and penchant for shorts, blue singlets and work boots in all weather.
In January this year, Mr Galati defied the Potato Marketing Corporation when it ordered him to dispose of his surplus.
"They were going prosecute me and I said bugger you," he said.
"They wanted me to feed the surplus to cattle like most of the other growers did. I says, 'well stuff you, I'll give 'em away to my customers'."
"We gave away nearly 400 tonne of potatoes and they still want to prosecute me for oversupplying."
Abolishing potato regulation 'long overdue'
WA's Potato Marketing Corporation has evolved from a 1946 Act of Parliament introduced after World War II to protect growers and ensure West Australians had a guaranteed supply of the staple vegetable.
It strictly monitors a quota system for the state's 80 spud growers, but also overseas marketing, research and development and access to new varieties.
This year when Premier Colin Barnett was negotiating for a greater share of the goods and services tax, Treasurer Joe Hockey said the state needed to reform its economy first, including abolishing potato regulation.
The WA Government has since announced it will open its potato market up after the next state election in March 2017.
Agriculture Minister Ken Baston said the reform was long overdue, but the industry wanted time to assess the impacts of an open market and how it should work.
"It has, I guess, choked the industry in a sense of what they can do," Mr Baston said.
"They're producing some 50,000 tonnes of potatoes you know, that's what they've been doing for years and years and years, but if you look at South Australia, they're producing some 348,000 tonnes of potatoes, so I think it needs deregulating so they can actually branch out and build their businesses."
Mr Galati said he had spent millions of dollars in legal fees and lost business over two decades fighting for the reform and it could not come soon enough.
"It's price fixing, that's what it is, that's what it boils down to, it's illegal," he said.
Potato Marketing Corporation says industry will contract
The chairman of the Potato Marketing Corporation, Ron Edwards, said the reform was inevitable but was unlikely to affect the retail price of potatoes, which is about the same or cheaper than the rest of Australia.
Based on deregulated markets in other states, he predicted farm gate prices would drop and the industry would contract.
Mr Edwards said the corporation's biggest challenge until March 2017 would be keeping the quota system together as big players such as Mr Galati position themselves for the free market.
"What you really need to do is take a deep breath and wait for the framework change and not waste your time on lawyers and cases," he said.
"I don't like to see industry money go into lawyers and I don't think Tony Galati does."
Mr Galati said he would do his best to cooperate.
"I know they've probably got a bit of a grudge because they blame us for deregulation," he said.
"Probably they'll be out gunning for us, we've always stood our ground and if they want to challenge us, I've been fighting for a long time, I'll never stop fighting."
Topics: agricultural-crops, wa
First postedWhile we embrace our full-active military service members who bravely enforce foreign policies and buttress American interests abroad, a highly-specialized cadre of military veterans and federal agents combat a home-based battle. As there are foes (nations) whose political objectives are carried out by its military forces, so too are there nemeses on American soil whose perversions are abated by heroes.
Who are these gallant gatekeepers?
Composed of federal law enforcement agents and disabled military veterans, a new program is thriving in the arena of national-level investigations. Specifically, federal agents with Homeland Security and wounded military veterans teamed-up to abate child predation, using a national net to ensnare perpetrators and decimate the scourge of perversion.
Once a Hero, Always a HERO
Dubbed H.E.R.O. (Human Exploitation Rescue Operative), the program launched in 2013 and has bloomed to 100-plus former U.S. soldiers implementing their military training and skills. Those same robust skills are forged with law enforcement tactics and training provided by federal investigators. Predominately, the military veteran contingent conducts meticulous, needle-in-a-haystack operations in the realm of digital forensics analysis, navigating the labyrinth of computer instrumentations in search of evidentiary material. Culling through vast stores of online information, veterans produce data for inclusion in ongoing investigations targeting child predators.
CHILI'S MANAGER TAKES AWAY VET'S FREE MEAL ON VETERANS DAY
Upon completion of forensics training, wounded military vets are assigned to Homeland Security offices located in key cities around the country. Vets assigned to these federal sites undergo 40 weeks of field training administered by federal officials. In-tandem, federal law enforcers and military veterans conduct child sex-trade investigations. Cumulative case work is stored at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Cyber Crimes Center, the clearinghouse aggregating all the data largely distilled by wounded warriors. One can imagine the exorbitant amount of concentrated work-hours involved…just as one can revel in the life-saving results culminating in salvation of children.
Solidarity 101
In collaboration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and the non-profit National Association to Protect Children (PROTECT) developed the Child-Rescue Corps. Under the Homeland Security umbrella of agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spearheaded the investigative conglomerate which has achieved remarkable success, including providing significantly injured military veterans more heroic opportunities. Partnering with Homeland Security, the Wounded Warrior Project is a catalyst in terms of staffing the HERO program with…heroes, undeniably.
Click for more from OpsLens.com.Wikimedia Commons I'm teaching Darwin again this semester, in two separate courses, and I'm confronted with a familiar dilemma: How should I respond to students who reject evolutionary theory on religious grounds?
One course is a freshman survey of the humanities and social sciences, and the other reviews the history of science and technology.
I asked both classes to write a paper on the following question: Why do you think Darwin's theory of evolution still encounters so much opposition today?
I encouraged the students to personalize their responses—that is, to discuss how they reconciled their own faith, if any, with evolutionary theory.
While grading the papers, I separated them into three categories.
1. Evolution and faith can be compatible, as long as faith is willing to abandon literal interpretations of scripture.
2. Science trumps faith, period.
3. Faith trumps science. Some of the papers were hard to categorize, because they were noncommittal or simply confusing.
But here are the numbers I came up with: Of the 35 students, a majority, 20, said that evolution and religion are or should be compatible. Six students said that science has replaced, or should replace, religious explanations of creation. Nine students rejected evolution because it contradicted their faith.
Below are quotes from members of this third group:
"Many people become doubtful of their religions just because there is something more'scientific' out there. Just because Darwin's theory is scientific does not automatically mean that its findings are necessarily true."
"If Darwin's theory was completely accurate, then after only several generations the world should be vacant of non-perfect people." (This seems to be a critique of the concept of adaptation.)
"I personally do not believe in the theory of evolution. Nevertheless I am open to changing that belief if presented convincing evidence."
"Even though I still believe in creationism, I have a better grasp of evolution after gaining a thorough understanding of the observations and scientific materials that support it…Since everyone is entitled to his own beliefs and opinions, there will always be conflict between both views."
"The reason Darwin encounters so much opposition today is due to proof as well as logic."
"Evolution has all these different theories and drawbacks, whereas the Bible is simple (parsimonious)… There is a creator. There is a God."
"I don't mind believing in evolution, but the only part I refuse to believe in is that man evolved from apes… Regardless of the facts that science presents to the world I will believe that God exists and what is in the Bible is the truth."
How do I respond to students like this? I point out that some religion-bashing Darwinians exaggerate the power of evolutionary theory. For example, Richard Dawkins was wrong-egregiously wrong-when he claimed in his 1986 bestseller The Blind Watchmaker that life "is a mystery no longer because [Darwin] solved it."
Even when bolstered by modern genetics, evolutionary theory does not explain why life emerged on Earth more than 3 billion years ago, or whether life was highly probable, even inevitable, or a once in a universe fluke. The theory doesn't explain why life, after remaining single-celled for more than 2 billion years, suddenly spawned multi-cellular organisms, including one exceedingly strange mammal capable of pondering its own origins.
Some prominent thinkers—from philosopher Karl Popper to complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman-have critiqued Darwinism for purely scientific rather than religious reasons. Some of these critics have suggested that natural selection, as conventionally understood, must be supplemented by other processes, such as "self-organization" of simple chemical and biological systems.
But so far none of these alternatives has gained much traction. As for proponents of intelligent design, some raise reasonable questions about the limits of biology, but their answers—which invoke some sort of divine intervention-are pathetically inadequate. The theory of evolution by natural selection is arguably the single most profound insight into reality that humanity has ever achieved, and it is supported by overwhelming evidence-mountains of evidence!-from the ever-expanding fossil record to DNA analyses of living species.
These are the sorts of things I tell my students. I feel a bit queasy, I admit, challenging their faith, from which some of them derive great comfort. Part of me agrees with one student who wrote: "Each individual is entitled to his or her own religious beliefs… Authority figures teaching America's youth should not be permitted to say certain things such as any religion being simply 'wrong' due to a certain scientific explanation." On the other hand, if I don't prod these young people into questioning their most cherished beliefs, I'm not doing my job, am I?Are terrorists more of a threat than slippery bathtubs?
President Obama, er, slipped into hot water when The Atlantic reported that he frequently suggests to his staff that fear of terrorism is overblown, with Americans more likely to die from falls in tubs than from attacks by terrorists.
The timing was awkward, coming right before the Brussels bombings, but Obama is roughly right on his facts: 464 people drowned in America in tubs, sometimes after falls, in 2013, while 17 were killed here by terrorists in 2014 (the most recent years for which I could get figures). Of course, that’s not an argument for relaxing vigilance, for at some point terrorists will graduate from explosives to nuclear, chemical or biological weapons that could be far more devastating than even 9/11. But it is an argument for addressing global challenges a little more rationally.
The basic problem is this: The human brain evolved so that we systematically misjudge risks and how to respond to them.
Our visceral fear of terrorism has repeatedly led us to adopt policies that are expensive and counterproductive, such as the invasion of Iraq. We have ramped up the intelligence community so much that there are now seven times as many Americans with security clearances (4.5 million) as live in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Donald Trump responded to the Brussels attacks with crowd-pleasing calls for torture or barring Muslims that even Republican security experts agree are preposterous.French far-right politician Marine Le Pen fails to see eye-to-eye with her banks, HSBC and Societe Generale.
French far-right politician Marine Le Pen fails to see eye-to-eye with her banks, HSBC and Societe Generale.
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Paris (AFP)
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday said she would take banking giants HSBC and Societe Generale to court for discrimination after they moved to close her personal and party accounts.
Le Pen, who lost the presidential election in May to Emmanuel Macron, said her National Front (FN) party was being deliberately cut off from financing as part of a "banking fatwa" against the far-right.
"After being the victim of massive judicial persecution, we are witnessing a new stage in the persecution of the National Front -- banishment from banking," she told a press conference.
Her claim of "judicial persecution" was a reference to the decision by parliament earlier this month to strip her of her immunity from prosecution for tweeting pictures of atrocities by the Islamic State group.
Le Pen said that Societe Generale had asked the FN to close its accounts, while HSBC's French boss Thomas Vandeville called her Wednesday to announce her personal account was being shut, "without any justification".
Societe Generale said in a statement that its decisions "on whether to open or close a bank account depend purely on banking reasons and in respect of all regulatory requirements, without taking into account any political consideration".
A spokeswoman for HSBC France said the bank does not "publicly discuss our relationships with our clients."
Le Pen repeatedly complained during the election campaign that the FN had been refused loans by both French and foreign banks.
The party borrowed nine million euros ($10.5 million) from a Russian bank in 2014, prompting critics to question whether Moscow had influence over the party.
Le Pen said Societe Generale's recent decision was "depriving a party that won 11 million votes in the last presidential election of all practical ability to function".
"We are cut off at present from our income. This decision puts the National Front in a position of serious difficulty and prevents the party from functioning normally," she said.
"We are witnessing an attempt by the opposition to suffocate us."
She blasted Societe Generale's decision as a politically motivated measure against a party which has "tens of millions of members, stable resources and no problems with our accounts whatsoever".
Le Pen said she had raised her party's financial problems with Macron.
She became a personal customer at international giant HSBC after her bank Hervet was taken over in 2001 by Credit Commercial de France, which is part of HSBC.
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Customize the Ruger 10/22
Wanted info and images of all things related to the Ruger 10/22. Please use the contact page if you have anything to share.
I was showing a friend my GSG-5 recently and our conversation turned to his Ruger 10/22. He mentioned that he has seen some accessories that looked interesting and wanted to know more. I hadn't really looked at the 10/22 in many years and the.22 pages here at this site are the most popular it seemed logical to add some 10/22 content. So first thing I did was head off to the Ruger site to see what the factory had to offer. Well to say I was floored is an understatement. Ruger has 34 variants of the 10/22 listed on their web site. So that tells me these fun to shoot guns are still red hot in the sales dept, and why wouldn't they? Most are tack drivers out of the box. After vi sting the Ruger site I took the next logical step and went to Brownells to see what they offered for the 10/22. Well I did a quick search and found many results. Ill bet there's items my search missed and items that don't belong but hey its a start. I would love to see Brownells make a separate mini catalog just for the 10/22. Now I'm going to Google to start investigating the 10/22 offerings. Stay Tuned!
June 14, 2011 - I have started a site devoted soley to the ruger 10 22
Please help support this site by clicking the Brownells button below
Grand Master Pistolsmith and gunsmith Ron Power takes you step by step through the complete disassembly and reassembly of the 10/22 in this informative and comprehensive DVD. Learn the tips and techniques involved in the installation of custom parts, accessories, aftermarket stocks and barrels, and the function of all parts. An excellent resource for the beginner or experienced gunsmith.
Ruger 10/22 Rifle Cleaning and Parts Mat
You need to lay your Ruger 10/22 on some sort of mat to protect the rifle while service it, so why not use a mat that's also an exploded view and parts list.
Manufacturers Description:
This isn't your ordinary gun cleaning mat! Show your pride for your weapon while using this high quality neoprene rubber backed and cloth top gun cleaning mat to protect your gun bench, desk, kitchen table, or whatever surface you usually clean or maintain your gun on. You likely keep your gun in a soft padded case or maybe a gun cabinet with a felt lined rack or something similar to protect it so why would you scratch your gun while cleaning or repairing it by setting it on a hard surface that could easily scratch your firearm? PROTECT YOUR GUN AND WORK AREA The soft polyester top will ensure your gun doesn't get scratched while the neoprene rubber backing on the mat will keep everything in place and prevent your work surface from sliding around. This mat will also keep harmful chemicals, oil and dirt from penetrating down to your desk, bench or the area where you normally clean and work on your firearms. After the mat begins to accumulate too much dirt, chemicals, or oil just throw it in the wash on a gentle cycle, allow to air dry and it will be virtually like new. ENTERTAINING AND EDUCATIONAL With the exploded view drawings and accompanying parts list, making repairs, disassembling your firearm, or basic cleaning can be done much faster and with greater enjoyment. Guns are extremely fascinating and the drawings and data that is printed on each mat will keep you entertained while educating you on how your firearm operates. DIMENSION This gun cleaning and parts mat measures 12 inches by 36 inches and is 1/8 of an inch thick. PRODUCT DETAILS This is made specifically for the Ruger 10/22 standard models but will also be very similar to all of the Ruger 10/22 varients as well as other rifles that take the.22 lr cartridge and are similar in design to the Ruger 10/22.
This is probably what sets the 10/22 apart from other.22 semi-auto rifles. You can go from mild to wild with bolt on ease. Traditional shooters my be content either upgrading to a synthetic or fancy laminated stock along the lines of the factory unit. However in my opinion the fun starts when you select a thumbhole or a competition oriented stock. Additionally there's hardware to turn your 10/22 into a bullpup or something resembling an AR-15. Easy justification for owning more then one of these fine rifles. Below you'll see some a random sampling from the inexpensive Hogue to the top of the line Bell & Carlson or FA Enterprises. If your interested in getting a 10/22 for a youth there is also a suitable stock for that purpose. Lastly before you head out and spend more on a stock then the guns purchase price be sure to see if one of Ruger's 34 models doesn't already suit your needs. Of course where's the fun in that.
One thing to keep in mind when picking a new stock. Know the dimensions of your barrel or the barrel you intend to use so your sure to get one that fits properly. A standard barrel will look silly in a stock meant for a heavy barrel.
Leapers.22 Commando Tactical Quad Rail System for Ruger 10/22
Much to my surprise the Leapers UTG is under $50. Click the images for more info
CNC machined aluminum chassis takes full advantage of proven technology and accepts off-the-shelf AR-15/M16 free float tubes, hand grips, receiver extensions, and buttstocks. Heavy duty upper and lower wraps-around around the original receiver to create a one-piece unit and provide the starting point for an outstanding tactical platform. Upper attaches firmly to the top of receiver for a rock-solid mount and improved accuracy. Includes a built-in Weaver-style base 6.5 inches long that allows a variety of options for mounting optics. Radiused edges give a streamlined appearance, reduce weight, and prevent snagging. Fits factory 10/22 barreled action and trigger group, including heavy barrels up to.990 inches in diameter. T6 aluminum hardcoat anodized for durability.
The receiver is CNC machined (no castings) from a solid billet of aircraft quality aluminum which is then hard anodized to provide for years of enjoyable shooting! The CNC machining process eliminates the burrs and rough surfaces that can be found in cast receivers. These burrs can create a drag on the bolt which can affect the performance of the rifle Each receiver is coated with a special lubricating finish that eliminates the need for frequent lubricating. The receiver is designed to be used with both Ruger factory bolts and trigger guards or for the ultimate shooting performance it is also compatible with the TG2000 trigger guard and the CNC Competition Bolt. The Superlite receiver is then fitted with a Weaver style base. Includes a hardened steel locking v-block, retaining screws and a hex head take-down action screw. This receiver is a must for any shooter looking to build up a semi-auto 22lr rifle.
There's several good triggers available for the 10/22. Unfortunately most of them cost as much or possibly even more then the initial purchase price of the gun. In addition to the drop-in triggers listed below there's numerous manufactures that offer upgrade parts for the existing 10/22 trigger for a more economical solution. To get an idea of what's involved with that check out this page from Brownells.
Timney Triggers’ 10/22 Drop-In Assembly contains a complete trigger assembly, cross-bolt safety, bolt catch and magazine release. The automatic bolt release allows the user to simply pull and release the charging handle to unlock the bolt, with or without the magazine inserted, and the magazine release extends from the front of the assembly to the underside of the trigger guard.
The steel trigger, sear and hammer are wire-EDM cut and heat-treated for durability. The housing is CNC-machined 6061-T6 aluminum and fits into any standard 10/22 stock. For installation, simply remove the two receiver cross pins, remove the old assembly, insert the Drop-In and then reinsert the cross pins. Trigger-pull weight is factory-set at 2 pounds, 12 ounces, with no discernible creep
Timney Triggers has just started accepting preorders of their new drop-in trigger for the Ruger 10-22. "EDM cut, Teflon-Nickel coated, exceptionally smooth, crisp, single-stage, drop-in trigger. Pull weight 2.5 pounds.
The KID trigger offers the incredibly clean and consistent let off expected in a target trigger while maintaining the total reliability and safety required of a field trigger. The pull weight can be infinitely distributed between the two stages offering a pull as light as 6 ounces (3 ounces on the first stage and 6 ounces on the second stage) or as heavy as 2.5 pounds.
This complete Trigger Assembly is CNC machined from aircraft aluminum and equipped with precision EDM parts. It features an internal pre-travel adjustment and a hammer that is precision ground from 440C stainless steel and hardened to 58 RC. The sear and disconnector are made of A2 hardened tool steel with tolerances of +/-.0002", complete with custom tuned springs. The trigger is black anodized, equipped with an over travel adjustment screw and is reset internally to eliminate any dragging or inconsistencies caused by a conventional trigger plunger. An automatic bolt release and an extended magazine release are also included. Trigger pull is pre-set to 2 to 2-1/2 lbs. Due to the oversized safety used, it may be necessary for some stocks to be modified slightly to accommodate this part.
Machined, aluminum, trigger housing with hardened, steel components replaces the non-adjustable, factory trigger in your Ruger 10/22 for a crisp, consistent, single stage trigger pull worthy of the finest match rifle. Patented, two-lever system puts the sear engagement point at the backside of the hammer for improved leverage that lightens pull weight to approximately 1.5 or 2.5 pounds, depending on model. Extra-power hammer spring ensures fast, positive primer ignition. Adjustments for sear engagement and overtravel allow precise tuning to eliminate creep. Includes pivoting ejector, magazine latch, and push-button safety. Spring-loaded, bolt lock lever disengages automatically when bolt is pulled rearward for easy, one-handed bolt operation. Available in black or silver. Drop-in installation using the factory, receiver cross-pins.
Hornet Custom Ruger 10/22 Trigger
The best selling custom trigger assembly upgrade for your Ruger 10/22. If you have been dissatisfied with the 6-8 pound trigger pull that came with your rifle, this customized trigger assembly may be perfect for hunting & off-hand target shooting. The crisp trigger release is only 2-3/4 pounds. Each trigger assembly has been carefully fitted, lubricated, and tested for safety and reliability. What makes it special are the custom replacement parts included in the assembly. Standard trigger and housing color is black. Best application: Hunting & off-hand target shooting.
Easy drop-in installation. No special tools needed. Instructions included. After the stock is removed, two cross-pins attach the assembly to the receiver. Drift them out, drop the old assembly, and reassemble in reverse order. It can be done in less than 5 minutes without experience.
Hand polished and honed Hammer for a light, smooth, trigger release. Lightweight Trigger Return Spring and Custom Radius Trigger Return Plunger polished for smoothness. Custom Sear and Disconnector honed for minimal positive engagement consistent with safety. Automatic Bolt Release eliminating two-hand operation - just pull back and release. Custom Extended Magazine Release - push forward and the magazine easily drops away - no more convoluted pinching to operate the release. Custom hammer, sear, and disconnector pins to eliminate most of the trigger play. Satin black polymer housing, red trigger, red extended magazine release. All parts are fitted, lubricated, and test fired.
The top 2 shooters at the 2005 ARA (American Rimfire Association) Nationals were shooting Shilen barrels. Here's what Shilen states about their barrels.
Well, here are the barrels that are up to the job! Each one of these Shilen target barrels must meet our Match Grade criteria, air gauging within 0.0005" of a special undersized groove diameter designed to produce optimum accuracy from all types of.22 ammunition. The bore also must not vary in diameter more than 0.0003" for its entire length. These are serious barrels for serious shooters.
In addition, the barrels are stress relieved and warranted by Shilen against defects in materials and workmanship. Offered in both Chrome-moly and Stainless Steel, they are completely finished by Shilen and are ready for installation. Chrome-moly barrels are supplied blued. Stainless steel barrels come in polished white, with a hand-lapped bore.
(Sorry for the poor image. If someone has a better one pass it along)
These are machined from top of the line Lothar-Walther barrel blanks.
the ultimate in appearance and performance, our FINNED RUGER 10/22 BARREL is the perfect match to dress up your rifle. The barrel is professionally CNC machined to provide deep cooling grooves from the receiver to the barrel band for an appearance that is similar to a Thompson or a Reising machine gun. No other upgrade for your 10/22 looks as good and is as functional as this FINNED barrel. To make it even better, this factory taper replacement barrel is professionally CNC threaded 1/2x28 TPI and comes with the thread protector. The barrels are perfect for any 1/2x28 threaded suppressor or accessory.
The barrels are 4140 series US Certified steel and are polish blued finish. The blanks are made by a well known barrel maker that supplies barrels to many popular firearm manufacturers. The barrels are 1:16" twist, which is perfect for standard or high velocity ammo. The barrels do not have any iron sights installed and are designed to be used with a receiver mounted scope or similar optics. Installation is fast and easy with no modifications to your rifle. Simply remove the stock, unscrew the 2 cap screws that hold the barrel in, remove your factory barrel and install this new one.
Tactical Innovations Threaded Ruger 10/22 Barrels
Tactical Innovations offers 10/22 barrels threaded for your favorite supressor or as a barrel and suppressor kit. Unfortunately there is not many pictures available.
Tactical Solutions Ruger 10/22 Fluted Aluminum Target Barrel
Drop-in,.22 LR target barrel features a premium, button-rifled, chrome moly liner installed in a lightweight aluminum shell to achieve match grade accuracy and reduced weight. Deep, CNC machined flutes help keep barrel weight to 1 lb, plus increase rigidity and overall surface area for improved heat dissipation. Hardcoat anodized surface delivers added strength and abrasion resistance. Versatile, 1:16 twist rifling stabilizes a wide variety of hunting and match ammunition. Installation may require alteration to factory stock. Standard models feature a.920" diameter, straight bull barrel. Available in gloss or matte, black finish. Threaded model features the same.920" diameter barrel as the Standard model, plus has a threaded muzzle for attaching flash hiders or compensators. Includes streamlined cap to protect threads when not in use. Matte black finish.
SPECS: Barrel Shell - Aircraft grade aluminum, anodized, black, gloss or matte finish. Non-tapered, bull bbl. contour. Liner - Chrome moly,.22 LR, 1-16" twist. 16 1/2"(41.9cm) long x.920" (2.34cm) O.D. 1 lb. (.45 kg) wt. Fits Ruger 10/22,.22 LR receivers only. 1/2"-28 tpi male threads, 3/8" long
YHM 16" Stainless 10/22 Sporter Barrel
Ruger 10/22 Barrel Accessories
Aligns exiting barrel gas so it surrounds and stabilizes the bullet for increased accuracy. Turned from lightweight aluminum so it won't change the balance or feel of your rifle. Clamps to.920" diameter bull barrels.
Barrel band with integral Weaver-style rails is perfect for mounting flashlights, lasers, slings, and other essential accessories without modifying the stock. Features a 2-slot bottom rail and horizontal single slot rail for additional accessories, plus an opposite side sling swivel stud. Low profile top provides clearance for backup iron sights. Band can be reversed to position the swivel stud on the opposite side. One-piece design replaces factory original; clamps tight with included Allen head cross-bolt for a solid, no-slip fit. CNC machined 8620 low-silicon steel or 17-4 stainless steel, heat treated for maximum durability. Includes removable swivel stud, sling spacers, and Allen wrench.
Ruger 10/22 Internal Parts
High performance parts kit provides an easy way to trick-out your 10/22 and provide fast, easy handling. Steel bolt release with extra-long finger lever extends almost 1/2" for easy engagement. Lock the bolt open using one finger and release with a slight pull on the bolt handle for simple, one-handed operation. Advanced, nylon composite cocking handle is oversized for easy reach, even when wearing gloves. Slides over original bolt handle and secures with two Allen head screws for a tight hold. Extended magazine release is almost 1" long for quick access. Features a serrated surface for a non-slip grip. Flexible, polyethylene recoil buffer pin acts like a shock absorber to help prevent cracked and battered receivers. Stops metal-to-metal contact between bolt and receiver, and provides quieter operation. All parts provide a drop-in fit.
Here is a neat inexpensive product that is durable, abrasion resistant bolt buffer prevents contact between the bolt and stop pin to eliminate battering. Acts like a shock absorber to provide smooth, quiet cycling without the metal-to-metal contact that so easily damages the bolt stop pin holes. Replaces bolt stop pin at rear of receiver.
Superb, high-quality hammer reduces felt trigger pull with no gunsmithing required. Geometrically advanced, mirror-polished sear face and precision-ground sear notch lighten and smooth the factory pull by a minimum of 50%. Electro-polishing produces a velvety smooth, low micron overall exterior finish with a higher degree of lubricity for a longer wearing, cleaner breaking, superior feeling trigger without the hard work.
Drop-in bolt stop stops forward travel of bolt when magazine is empty, ending the need to count shots; eliminates dry fires when the mag is empty. Replaces the factory bolt lock mechanism. Magazines are 10 round capacity with a rotary design and are constructed of high-impact plastic and steel. Important: Only use CST magazines with the bolt stop. Failure to do so may result in damage and accidental discharge. Works with most aftermarket products including mag latches, triggers, sears, hammers, etc. Kit |
was founded in 1898 by Vincent Formusa, an immigrant from Termini Imerese, Sicily. "At first, he was importing oil and Italian produce," says Johnson. "Then he got into the Sicilian method of preserving vegetables in oil." While Johnson won't claim that his company was the first to sell giardiniera in Chicago, he believes the company is in "strong contention for at least popularizing it." V. Formusa makes giardiniera under a number of different brands and also makes all the giardiniera for the Portillo's chain.
V. Formusa, Chicago's largest maker of giardiniera, currently sells around a million pounds of the condiment a year. Meanwhile, West Loop deli and grocery J.P. Graziano makes its own version of giardiniera with an unusual ingredient.
But Chicago's giardiniera is not a mirror image of what you'll find in most of Italy. There, the vegetables are cut in bigger chunks and typically canned with vinegar instead of oil. (If you encounter giardiniera in other parts of America, it has far more in common with the Italian version.) "I've been looking through my books, and I don't see anything like the Chicago-style giardiniera in Italy," says Marchetti. "A lot of different regions make it, (so) you'd really have to travel all over (the country) before you can unequivocally say that there's nothing like it. But I personally haven't seen it." Johnson, however, calls making giardiniera with vinegar a "Northern Italian method" and says oil is used in Sicily.
Using vinegar versus oil makes a huge difference in the finished product. "When it's packed in vinegar, it's an antipasti thing," says Graziano, best served with sliced charcuterie, olives or cheese. Graziano thinks of the Chicago-style giardiniera as more of a condiment.
Chicago-style giardiniera is also usually pickled for longer. According to Shay of Local Foods, making Chicago-style giardiniera is a two-step process. "First, you pickle the vegetables," he says. Then, "you drain everything, and then cover (the vegetables) with oil." Shay lets the vegetables pickle for two weeks before tossing them in the oil, where he leaves them to infuse for another two weeks.
Since no condiment stands by itself, giardiniera needed a partner in crime before it could catapult to fame here. It found a home as the topping for Italian beef, the classic Chicago sandwich of thinly sliced roast beef that's often served with its roasting juices (or jus). "It's the perfect accompaniment for the Italian beef," says Shay. "That brightness and acidity really cuts through everything."
Much like the Italian version, Chicago-style giardinera has no set recipe, leaving each Italian beef stand owner with his or her own opinion of what goes into the mix. The two most critically acclaimed stands, Al's #1 Italian Beef in Little Italy and Johnnie's Beef in suburban Elmwood Park, offer radically different versions. Al's #1 serves a spare mix of celery and bell peppers, with only some red pepper flakes for heat. Johnnie's Beef goes for a far more abundant version, adding carrots, cauliflower and sport peppers.
Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune Giardiniera at J.P. Graziano in the West Loop is one of the only versions made with olives. Giardiniera at J.P. Graziano in the West Loop is one of the only versions made with olives. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
J.P. Graziano's house-brand giardiniera includes olives, about the only contentious addition for giardiniera purists. As Jim Graziano readily admits, olives grow on trees, not in a garden, but he loves the flavor they add to the jar. The shop's recipe dates to at least the 1950s, when a woman named Deanna made all of the giardiniera at her house in Cicero. "She made large batches in her basement," says Graziano, noting that regulations at the time were "ridiculously lax." J.P. Graziano continued to purchase the woman's giardiniera until she retired in her mid-90s and sold the recipe to another company. "They started using sliced olives to save money," says Graziano. "It made the whole jar taste like olives." So the Graziano family purchased the recipe and now has the giardiniera made to the original specifications by a company in Ripon, Wis.Westlife singer turned radio presenter Nicky Byrne has been selected to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision song contest in Sweden.
Having endured multiple failures through multiple formats, RTÉ has decided to dispense with a national competition and instead gone for a singer-songwriter combination which has had major commercial success in the past.
Byrne has co-written Ireland’s entry Sunlight with Wayne Hector and the composer Ronan Hardiman.
Hector penned seven Westlife number one singles, including Flying Without Wings, Swear It Again and World Of Our Own. He has an array of hits with other artists, including One Direction, All Saints, JLS, Olly Murs and Nicki Minaj.
Ronan Hardiman is best known for his work on Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames.
RTÉ will hope that fans of Westlife around Europe will help Ireland end a lamentable run of results and maybe even win the competition for the first time since 1996. Ireland failed to qualify for the finals in 2014 and 2015. In 2013, Ireland came last in the final. The most recent Irish top-10 finish in the Eurovision final was Jedward in 2011 with Lipstick.
RTÉ Television’s head of entertainment John McHugh said he and head of delegation Michael Kealy took a “serious look” at Ireland’s Eurovision entry as a result of recent failures.
“The competition is constantly evolving and RTÉ has to be flexible in how we approach it in order to put our best foot forward. Direct selection has proven to be a successful method for other countries and we felt that this year it would give us the best chance at success,” he said.
Byrne described Sunlight as “something different, something special”.
Hector said they had written a “song that we all love and believe in which is a great showcase for Nicky’s voice”.
Byrne will perform in the Eurovision semi-final in the Globe Arena in Stockholm on either Tuesday, 10th or Thursday, May 12th. The final will take place in Sweden on Saturday, May 14th.
The draw to decide which semi-final Ireland will participate in will take place at the end of January.On the eve of Apple's big media event, ABC News on Monday posted a teaser spot for an exclusive report covering what the broadcaster calls a "historic announcement."
Source: ABC News
Details are scarce, but it appears ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir has been granted inside access to Apple's event, which is expected to include the debut of new iPhone models and possibly an "iWatch" wearable device with mobile payments support."Tomorrow Apple will make a groundbreaking announcement - and ABC's David Muir will be the only anchor with exclusive access as it happens," ABC writes on its webpage As seen in the short clip above, Apple CEO Tim Cook is shown chatting with Muir, though the footage was taken from a previous broadcast filmed during the Mac's 30th anniversary.Still, it is possible that Cook or other high-ranking execs could make an appearance on World News Tonight, perhaps as part of a pre-recorded interview, as Muir was able to score a rare one-on-one interview with the Apple chiefTiffany Ap, CNN Written by
Shanghai is sometimes called the Gotham City of the East but it's never looked more so than in this new photography series.
Amey Kandalgaonkar, who is also a trained architect, shows viewers a moody, noire side of the Chinese metropolis with his collection of photos titled "Dark Deco."
1 / 8 – The Chicago Spire, Santiago Calatrava
How different Chicago's skyline would have looked if Calatrava's 2005 design had been built. One thousand four hundred and fifty eight feet (444 meters) of slender twisted steel and glass, the Chicago Spire would have knocked the Willis Tower (formely the Sears Tower) down a peg, trumping it by a whole two meters and a whole lot of style. The 920,000 square foot structure would have featured residential apartments, retail space and a five-star hotel, with each floor rotating 2 degrees around a central core, turning 270 degrees through the height of the building.
But then the global financial crisis hit. Construction halted in 2008 with claims that heavy debts had been racked up. In this instance Donald Trump was right: the Chicago Spire had been " Credit: Unlike OPA's house in a cliff, many of the most interesting designs in architecture have never been realized. Here's a look at the greatest buildings that never were How different Chicago's skyline would have looked if Calatrava's 2005 design had been built. One thousand four hundred and fifty eight feet (444 meters) of slender twisted steel and glass, the Chicago Spire would have knocked the Willis Tower (formely the Sears Tower) down a peg, trumping it by a whole two meters and a whole lot of style. The 920,000 square foot structure would have featured residential apartments, retail space and a five-star hotel, with each floor rotating 2 degrees around a central core, turning 270 degrees through the height of the building.But then the global financial crisis hit. Construction halted in 2008 with claims that heavy debts had been racked up. In this instance Donald Trump was right: the Chicago Spire had been " financial suicide." courtesy Santiago Calatrava
He became mesmerized by the city after he moved there from Mumbai, immediately picking up on the similarities between Shanghai and Manhattan.
"Shanghai is famous for art deco architecture so being an architecture I find it fascinating," he said. "New York has a high density of art deco architecture too and the cities developed around the same time. There's a lot of similarity."
The look he gives the city in his photos evokes "Batman: The Animated Series" -- the TV show created by Warner Brothers which he loved watching.
In total, it took Kandalgaonkar about four months to shoot the project, starting last September.
"It took me a few months to walk around the city and find the right angles," he said. "I was just experimenting with using filters that allow you to take a photograph for four to five minutes. It really captures the motion of objects and it captures the moving clouds. Most of the time in Shanghai the weather is very cloudy."
Although Shanghai is a bustling city of 14 million people, very few people appear at all in his work creating a somewhat eery effect.
"The filters don't capture any moving objects but only captures things that are stationary," he explains.September 25, 2017
Eric Ruder and François Hughes explain how the far-right carnival of reaction at UC Berkeley fell apart--and why administrators have a lot to answer for.
THE FAR-RIGHT'S festival of hate scheduled for this week at the University of California (UC) Berkeley flamed out, leaving the university with a whopping bill.
For months, far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos had been promising a "Free Speech Week" featuring some of the alt-reich's most high-profile speakers--former White House strategist Steve Bannon and right-wing bloviator Ann Coulter, among them.
Yiannopoulos talked a big game about getting the whole white nationalist set together to stick it to America's bastion of Ivory Tower liberalism.
As it turned out, however, the promised speakers either never agreed to appear in the first place or pulled out, and the student group supposedly sponsoring the event didn't meet its most basic obligations to reserve campus venues--and then abruptly canceled two days before "Free Speech Week" was to begin.
Milo's big talk turned into a tiny appearance on the steps of Sproul Plaza this Sunday with fellow Islamophobic bigot Pamela Geller and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich. The heroes of the alt-right had to be smuggled into the barricaded plaza through a special entrance, rather than the checkpoint that everyone else had to use.
Clockwise from left: Milo Yiannopoulos, Steve Bannon and Ann Coulter UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof called the 20-minute appearance--which could barely be heard over the chants of counterprotesters--"probably the most expensive photo op in the university's history."
But amid your happiness at the far-right's epic fail, it's important not to lose sight of one of the most troubling aspects of the whole sorry affair: UC Berkeley spent $1 million--and was prepared to spend much more--organizing an event that the right-wingers couldn't pull off themselves.
In the name of free speech and civil liberties, a liberal university dedicated the time of countless staff members, spent more than $1 million and deployed a massive security force on campus, drawn from eight law enforcement agencies and other campuses, to enable a twisted collection of right-wingers to hold a hate-laced week of events that they didn't even follow through on.
SINCE FEBRUARY, when Yiannopoulos last spoke on the campus and encountered fierce protests, UC Berkeley has spent at least $1.4 million providing security and other logistical support for a series of appearances by the hard right's bigots, blowhards and bullies.
When Yiannopoulos and Berkeley Patriot, the student group hosting the event, announced plans for a week of speeches by white nationalist provocateurs, administrators again didn't hesitate. "The university was prepared to do whatever was necessary to support the First Amendment rights of the student organization," Mogulof said in a statement.
Perhaps this seems fitting, given that the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, begun in the fall of 1964, earned the campus a reputation as hallowed ground for defending civil liberties.
But this effort by the university to safeguard the free speech of reactionaries who line up behind the flag, white nationalism and Islamophobia--in other words, who are enthusiastic defenders of America's whole history of injustice against the oppressed and downtrodden--has nothing to do with "honoring" the legacy of the Free Speech Movement. It's a repudiation of it.
In 1964, left-wing students protested the UC Berkeley administration to win the right to organize politically on campus as part of the growing civil rights struggles in the surrounding community and beyond.
Under pressure from the business community, the UC Board of Regents cracked down on their organizing, banning student organization tables from Sproul Plaza. Though they eventually prevailed, the free speech activists had to face riot police and mass arrests to secure their rights.
Fast-forward 53 years, and again, there are the familiar lines of riot police. Only this time, administrators say that it's the police who are protecting the "free speech" of right-wing bigots like Yiannopolous and Bannon.
UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATORS justify the deployment of this police army with lofty references to philosophers of classical liberalism such as John Stuart Mill.
In her August 23 statement, UC Chancellor Carol Christ paraphrased two of Mill's key arguments about free speech: "The first is that truth is of such power that it will always ultimately prevail; any abridgement of argument therefore compromises the opportunity of exchanging error for truth. The second is an extreme skepticism about the right of any authority to determine which opinions are noxious or abhorrent."
But this only underlines Christ's hypocrisy.
Where was this liberal administrator's "skepticism about the right of authority" when the administration canceled a student-led class called "Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis" last September?
In the same August statement, Christ assured students, "If you choose to protest, do so peacefully. That is your right, and we will defend it with vigor. We will not tolerate violence, and we will hold anyone accountable who engages in it."
But on August 27, when a coalition representing more than 100 endorsing organizations organized a Bay Area Rally Against Hate, the administration had the site of the protest barricaded, making it impossible for the thousands of counterdemonstrators to gather. Rally organizers made the decision to hold the gathering in the street--mere days after a right-wing thug murdered a protester in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Where was Christ's condemnation of the Berkeley police and their attacks on the street rally? Or, for that matter, at racist arrests at past rallies on campus?
With hundreds planning to participate in a rally at UC Berkeley on Monday--in solidarity with a faculty-led all-campus boycott in protest of the far right's failed "Free Speech Week"--the administration has promised to continue enforcing an impossibly draconian list of items banned from campus.
This serves two purposes: One is to provide a pretext for police to deny entry to anyone they choose, make any arrests they want and stop a rally of any size from gathering. Second, the list of banned items is so long and implies a level of threat so great that it helps to reinforce the police narrative that people really should just stay away.
IT'S EASY to punch holes in Christ's lecture about the virtues of free speech, but the problem goes beyond hypocrisy.
In particular, truth is not of such power that it will always ultimately prevail.
That's why students in 1964 had to organize a Free Speech Movement in the first place. They were demanding, among other issues, the right--which they already had, but were being denied--to organize in support of the right of Black workers to be hired, which they also already possessed, and were also being denied.
Free speech doesn't guarantee that the best ideas prevail. The theorists of classical liberalism argued for a world free of government tyranny, but that didn't address the demands of the officially disenfranchised or the oppressed or the poor. When it was first established, the U.S. which was founded on those Enlightenment principles, denied equal rights to women, Blacks and men without property.
Free speech didn't secure rights for those groups, but it was an essential tool for securing them--because ideas don't have force unless they organize and energize groups of people who will fight to make them a reality.
Therein lies the fundamental error of UC Berkeley's administrators. They are bending over backwards to give the far right an audience it wouldn't gain on its own--allowing it to reach those it desperately seeks to make its vision of a white nationalist ethno-state into a reality.
The UC Berkeley campus has been turned into a massive networking opportunity for the "alt-right," white supremacists and neo-Nazis to meet each other, hash out their ideas and put more force behind the violence and hate to which the 20th century declared, "Never again."
The UC Berkeley administration thinks this shows its commitment to "free speech." But it really shows something else.
First, their accommodating behavior flies in the face of everything history shows us about how the far right can be stopped.
They won't just go away if they're ignored. They won't be stopped if they're countered by more and better arguments. The appeal of the far right isn't its honesty, but its scapegoating that blames social crisis on the victims of that social crisis.
Such racial bullying must be countered by far larger mobilizations built around multiracial unity and standing together to fight for real solutions to the problems endured by all but a small minority in this society.
The administrators at the University of California don't enable mass events to foreground the views of the left-wing critics of the university and society. But they do worry about "abridging" free speech for the likes of the hate-spewing "alt-right"--despite the massive corporate megaphone enjoyed by Breitbart News and other far-right think tanks.
THIS EXPLAINS why Berkeley's administrators prioritize spending millions to support certain kinds of speech. They prefer set-piece debates featuring think tanks, with ideas defined by the narrow spectrum inhabited by the two corporate parties.
For the left to raise our volume to the level of their cash-fueled megaphones, we have to speak coherently and collectively. Our truths come from different sources--from self-organization, a demand for justice that enjoys broad support, democratically controlled movements and the capacity for mass mobilization.
The resistance to Trump and the emboldened right wing shows that we can organize a different way forward. That way is solidarity, of standing up against right-wing hatred and division. Our truths are embodied in the connections we make through mass rallies, the disruption we cause to the smooth order of the university when it provides institutional backing to right-wing thugs, and the power we derive from working together.
The danger for administrators like Christ is that once people on campus feel this power, it can lead them to explore further ideas: Ideas about students and teachers and workers using power to take back the university and make it about education and liberation rather than profit.
This is what Christ and others fear about protests and faculty boycotts--hence the ranks of riot police ready to make arrests and the checkpoints erected to defend "free speech."
We're the ones defending free speech from those who seek to use racism and violence to intimidate and silence us--and we're defending it from those institutions helping the right to pursue this strategy.Bought this used like new. I have zero complaints with this headset.
The sound latency I was concerned about was not noticeable at all. Battery lasts me two or three days depending on how often I use it (4-5 hours a day). Voice quality is fine, and hasn't received any negative comments so far. Sound quality is decent and nothing more. It's fine for its intended use, and passable for music. They stay on my head well enough and the mesh materials used are cool and do not irritate my skin. The comfort is okay, and has gotten better the longer I have used it. Before, I felt pressure at the top of the headband, but now it's not nearly as noticeable. For comparison, the dt770 are a 9/10 in my comfort scale, and the g533 a 7/10. The ear cups are large and should fit the majority of ears, with most not touching the inner mesh of the drivers. The headphones cannot be charged and used at the same time, nor can they be used in wired mode from what I can tell. The noise cancellation is good enough for most loud computer fans, and shouldn't be too much of an issue.
With all that said, the wireless aspect negates any negatives I have of these headphones.This week, Pope Francis declared Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero a “martyr” for the Catholic faith, the last major step on the road to becoming a saint. Romero was assassinated on the order of a US-trained and -backed death-squader, Roberto D’Aubuisson, almost thirty-five years ago, on March 24, 1980. Ad Policy
According to the National Catholic Reporter, there is unease with Romero’s case for sainthood among high-ranking prelates, including Benedict XVI, “because of Romero’s embrace of liberation theology, a type of Christian theology that posits that Christ did not just seek liberation from sin but every type of oppression.” In fact, there was an actual Vatican ban on Romero’s beatification, which the pope lifted with his declaration.
Liberation theology, which had its origins in Latin America, was a powerful force within the Catholic Church, aligning the church with the poor and condemning US-backed militarism. In Empire’s Workshop I made the case that liberation theology posed an existential threat for the rising New Right, both its secular and religious versions. It was, in many ways, the first “political religion” that united post–Vietnam War conservatives, before they moved on to Islam. Liberation theology’s threat was primal, since it represented a reformed and progressive version of Christianity that emphasized inherent rights—only not the kind of inherent rights our libertarian Mullahs emphasize (i.e., property rights). Liberation theologians had a vision of individual dignity based on social solidarity and earthly economic justice.
In the 1970s both respected conservative theologians like Michael Novak and fringe Bible-thumpers, had set their sights on liberation theology as an evil that had to be doctrinally defeated and institutionally eradicated. It’s in this context that Oscar Romero being cleared for beatification (by a pope from Latin America who has his own complicated relationship to liberation theology—but more on that in another post) is important, which progressives should see as a rearguard battle in the culture wars, which are the political wars, which are the economic wars, which in Central America were real, life-and-death wars.
Here are excerpts of what I wrote on the topic in Empire’s Workshop, which I think help put Romero’s martydom in context:
Starting in the 1960s, conservative evangelical theologians such as John Price and Jerry Falwell interpreted, as did their secular declinists counterparts, defeat in Vietnam as a signal moment of world history in which the US stood at the precipice of collapse. They not only urged their flocks to fight what would become known as the culture wars, the campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, gay rights, and so forth, but to get more involved in foreign affairs as well. Ronald Reagan’s crusade against the Central American Left—his patronage of the Contra insurgents in Nicaragua and death-squad states in El Salvador and Guatemala—was the first extensive opportunity to do so, an apprenticeship that gave the Religious Right its first real taste of its own power within the Republican Party and drew it closer to other groups within the Reagan Revolution.
In order to bypass public and Congressional opposition, the White House outsourced the “hearts and minds” component of its Central American wars to evangelicals. Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum sent down “Freedom Fighter Friendship Kits” to the Contras, complete with toothpaste, insect repellent, and a bible. Gospel Crusades, Inc, Friends of the Americas, Operation Blessing, World Vision, the Wycliffe Bible Translators, and World Medical Relief likewise shipped hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid to the anti-Sandinista rebels and Honduran refugee camps, where they established schools, health clinics, and religious missions. In El Salvador, Harvesting in Spanish, Paralife Ministries, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Nicaraguan Freedom Fund (affiliated with the Unification Church) and the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade broadcast radio programs, handed out bibles, ran schools, established medical and dental clinics, and provided moral education to the soldiers. Pat Robertson used his Christian Broadcasting Network to raise money for Efraín Ríos Montt, the evangelical Christian who presided over the Guatemala’s 1982 genocide, which killed over a hundred thousand Mayan Indians….
In the United States, right-wing Christians Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, Phyllis Schlafly and Oliver North, along with evangelical capitalists such as Amway founder Richard DeVos, founded the Council for National Policy in 1981, which, as the Religious Right’s steering committee in the 1980s, was deeply involved in Reagan’s Central American exploits. Christian businessmen raised money for arms and humanitarian work and funded the myriad organizations that worked closely with the White House to sway public opinion and congressional votes in favor of Reagan’s policy in El Salvador and Nicaragua. As part of Iran-Contra’s extensive support network, they deepened their ties with the international Right….
It was largely in opposition to the Christian humanism…that the New Right elaborated the ethical justification of today’s free-market militarism. Not only was the Central American Left motivated as much by Catholic liberation theology as by Marxism, the domestic solidarity movement, much more than the protests against the Vietnam War, was noticeably Christian. Groups such as the Religious Task Force on El Salvador, Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean, the U.S. Catholic Conference, Witness for Peace, the Quakers, and the National Council of Churches actively mobilized hundreds of thousands of Christians in opposition to Reagan’s policy. It was a shared hostility to this Christian socialism that united mainstream conservative Protestants and pulpit thumping fundamentalists.
Take the Institute on Religion and Democracy, for example. Today (that is, in 2005, when Empire’s Workshop was published), the neoconservative IRD is a key player in the Bush coalition, working hard to discredit liberal religious organizations that oppose Bush’s wars. Two of its theologians—Michael Novak and Richard Neuhaus—have provided the White House with key spiritual guidance, theologically defending not just American militarism but the free-market fundamentalism and orgy of wealth accumulation that underwrites that militarism. The IRD, it turns out, was founded in 1981 by intellectuals associated with the American Enterprise Institute and advised by PR firms contracted by the White House. Its mission was to provide “mainstream” religious support for Reagan’s Central American policy, yet it immediately allied with evangelicals like Jimmy Swaggert, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson to take on liberation theology.
In a series of books and articles challenging the major tenets and proponents of liberation theology, Novak and Neuhaus began to, as Novak put it, “locate a theological grounding for corporate capitalism” by elaborating a set of ideals specific to the free market that they believed complimented the Christian understanding of free will. To those who said that capitalism embodied the worst of acquisitive individualism, Novak, who presented himself as a political liberal, responded with his “theology of the corporation,” which held up the business firm as “an expression of the social nature of humans.” He dedicated much of his work to refuting liberation theology’s insistence that Third World poverty could be blamed on exploitation by the First World, arguing that Latin America’s economic backwardness must be blamed on “cultural” factors.
As did their mainstream coreligionists, fundamentalists formulated their free-market moralism as a quarrel with liberation theology. The founder of Christian Reconstructionism, the influential branch of the evangelical movement that seeks to replace the Constitution with biblical law, Rousas John Rushdoony described liberation theology as the “economics of Satan,” while another preacher labeled a “theology of mass murder” and the “the single most critical problem that Christianity has faced in all of its 2000 year history.” Capitalism, they insisted, was an ethical system, one that corresponds to God’s gift of free will. Man lives in a “fundamentally scarce world,” Christian economist John Cooper argued, not an abundant one only in need of more equitable distribution, as the liberation theologians would have it. The profit motive, rather than being an amoral economic mechanism, is part of a divine plan to discipline fallen man and make him produce. Where Christian humanists contended that people were fundamentally good and that “evil” was a condition of class exploitation, Christian capitalists such as Amway’s Richard DeVos, head of the Christian Freedom Foundation, insisted that evil is found in the heart of man.
Where liberation theology held that humans could fully realize their potential here on earth, fundamentalist economists argued that attempts to distribute wealth and regulate production was based on an incorrect understanding of society—an understanding that incited disobedience to proper authority and, by highlighting economic inequality, generated guilt, envy, and conflict. God’s Kingdom, they insisted, would not be established by a war between the classes but a struggle between the good and the evil.
As did Novak, evangelicals sought to rebut liberation theology’s critique of the global political economy. Third World poverty, according to evangelical Ronald Nash, has a “cultural, moral, and even religious dimension” that reveals itself in a “lack of respect for any private property,” “lack of initiative,” and “high leisure preference.” Some took this argument to its logical conclusion. Gary North, another influential evangelical economist, insisted that the “Third World’s problems are religious: moral perversity, a long history of demonism, and outright paganism.” “The citizens of the Third World,” he wrote, “ought to feel guilt, to fall on their knees and repent from their Godless, rebellious, socialistic ways. They should feel guilty because they are guilty, both individually and corporately.”
Evangelical Christianity’s elaboration of a theological justification for free-market capitalism, along with its view of a immoral third world, resonated with other ideological currents within the New Right, laying the groundwork for today’s embrace of empire as America’s national purpose. In a universe of free will where good work is rewarded and bad works punished, the fact of American prosperity was a self-evident confirmation of god’s blessing of US power in the world. Third-world misery, in contrast, was proof of “God’s curse.” David Chilton, of the Institute for Christian Economics, a Reconstructionist think tank, wrote that poverty is how “God controls heathen cultures: they must spend so much time surviving that they are unable to exercise ungodly dominion over the earth… “
Throughout the 1980s, as its involvement in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala deepened, fundamentalists came to share with Reaganite neocons and militarists a common set of assumptions about the world and America’s role in it. The U.S. had grown dangerously weak, and where neocons called for renewal of political will, evangelicals believed that America’s revival would come about through spiritual rebirth. Their sense of themselves as a persecuted people, engaged in a life and death end-time struggle between the forces of good and evil mapped easily onto the millennialism of anti-communist militarists, particularly those involved in Central America.
Working closely with neoconservative policy intellectuals such as Elliot Abrams, Otto Reich, Robert Kagan, and Jeane Kirkpatrick, conservative evangelical theologians established a moral justification for Reagan’s rehabilitation of militarism. They aligned their theology to incorporate elements of both the idealism and the unflinching militarism that led straight to war in Iraq. “Our government,” wrote Falwell in 1980 but sounding a lot like George W. Bush in 2002, “has the right to use its armaments to bring wrath upon those who would do evil by hurting other people.” And not just defensively but preemptively: “we must go on the offensive,” wrote Rus Walton in his 1988 Biblical Solutions to Contemporary Problems: A Handbook.
The violence of counterinsurgent war stoked the fires of fundamentalist Manichaeism, leading Falwell, Robertson, and others to ally with the worst murderers and torturers in Central and Latin America. “For the Christian,” believes Walton, “there can be no neutrality in this battle: ‘He that is not with Me is against Me’ (Matthew 12:30).” Robertson described the genocide carried out by Guatemala’s Efraín Ríos Montt as a “miracle” and celebrated Salvador’s Roberto D’Aubuisson, the killer of, along with untold others, Archbishop Oscar Romero, on his Christian Broadcasting Network. In 1984, more than a dozen Christian New Right organizations, including the Moral Majority, presented D’Aubuisson with a plaque honoring his “continuing efforts for freedom.”
Many of the death-squad members were themselves conservative religious ideologues, taking the fight against liberation theology to the trenches. Guatemalan security forces regularly questioned their prisoners about their “views on liberation theology.” Others report being tortured to the singing of hymns and praying. Some evangelicals excused such suffering. ”Killing for the joy of it was wrong,” a Paralife minister from the United States comforted his flock of Salvadoran soldiers, “but killing because it was necessary to fight against an anti-Christ system, communism, was not only right but a duty of every Christian.”
So when Jeane Kirkpatrick remarked that the three US nuns and one lay worker who were raped, mutilated and murdered by Salvadoran security forces in 1980 were “not just nuns, they were political activists,” she was being more than cruel. She was signaling her disapproval of a particular kind of peace Christianity.The NGO rated both food and consumer goods companies on their track record for actions to cut deforestation out of the palm oil supply chain.
Using publicly available policies and reports, Greenpeace evaluated each company in three areas: its commitment to responsible sourcing and the practical steps it takes to ensure the palm oil it buys is not linked to deforestation; transparency, including how they deal with suppliers that breach the ‘no deforestation’ policy; and they ways in which they support and promote wider industry reform. Responsible sourcing was weighted most highly.
Out of the fourteen companies evaluated, only one - Italian confectioner Ferrero - is able to trace almost 100% of its palm oil back to the plantation it is grown on.
Meanwhile most of the companies are failing to get third-party verification for their deforestation-free claims and none publish a full list of their suppliers, the NGO said. Annisa Rahmawati of Greenpeace Indonesia said brands had a responsibility to their customers to act. “Palm oil can be grown responsibly without destroying forests, harming local communities or threatening orangutans. But our survey shows that brands are not doing enough to stop the palm oil industry ransacking Indonesia's rainforests.”
Strong, decent or failed stance on deforestation?
Nestlé was praised for substantial traceability of supplies back to the plantation – significant given the high volume of supply – as well as participating in initiatives to reform the industry and publically disclosing three of its suppliers. But Greenpeace called on it to “show further leadership” by disclosing all of its suppliers and sub-suppliers, including the location and names of mills, plantations and refineries, and ensure its policy is applied across its suppliers’ operations.
Unilever received a ‘decent’ rating by the NGO. Despite recently building a fractionation plant in North Sumatra for full traceability of that supply, it is still reliant on GreenPalm certificates meaning it cannot guarantee its suppliers are respecting its ‘no deforestation’ pledge.
GreenPalm certificates are bought by manufacturers as part of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil's (RSPO) book and claim model. Manufacturers source and use conventional palm oil in their products but can buy GreenPalm certificates to ‘off-set’ this, with each certificate corresponding to a given quantity of sustainably produced palm oil.
Soft drink and snack giant PepsiCo failed for responsible sourcing as well as its overall rating, making it the worst performing food company in the report. Due to its almost entire dependance on GreenPalm certificates it cannot guarantee its supply is deforestation-free.
Other rated companies include Kellogg, General Mills, Danone and Orkla.
False solutions?
The RSPO's book and claim model came under particular fire from Greenpeace, which was slammed as a false solution. “Many [companies] are still relying on false solutions such as GreenPalm certificates, instead of taking meaningful steps towards ensuring that the physical oil they buy is not linked to forest destruction. (...). Phasing out GreenPalm certificates in favour of obtaining physical certified RSPO palm oil [is] an interim step towards independent third-party verification to best practice standards,” it said, calling on manufacturers to switch to the standards |
many years later to plague us once more; chickenpox acquired in youth can become shingles in old age. We are plagued by other retroviruses, including HIV, and so are many other plants and animals.
The varied nucleic acids viruses employ can be arranged inside their capsules in many ways. Among cellular life, bacteria and archaea – similarly shaped and sized microbes that have radically different genetics than bacteria but are just as prevalent in the environment -- have circular genomes, while the rest of us divide our genomes into many linear pieces called chromosomes. Virus genomes can be linear, circular, or segmented into pieces just as ours are.
Although viruses are unabashedly selfish creatures that seek only to propagate their genes, the *effect* they have on other organisms can have nothing to do with this single-minded drive.
For instance, let’s look at this chart again.
"The abundance and diversity of viral lineages in the domains of life." Protista includes animal-like protists and brown algae; IP = Invertebrates and plants, who often share viruses because invertebrates feed on plants; Fungi includes all fungi and fungi-like protists; Plants include all plants, green algae, and diatoms; and Metazoa are the animals. Fig. 1A from Nasir et al. 2014.
You’ll notice a few striking things. Archaea and bacteria are almost solely affected by double-stranded DNA viruses, and bacteria only rarely by the RNA viruses that plague the rest of life. Fungi and plants, on the other hand, are seemingly almost immune to negative-sense RNA and double-stranded DNA viruses. Retroviruses afflict multicellular organisms but nowhere to be found in microbes. Some of this may be due to undersampling, especially in groups like archaea that are undersampled in general, but vast biases in virus distribution undoubtedly remain. What does it mean?
The authors of a provocative 2014 opinion article in Recent Discoveries in Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology from which this graphic was taken argue that it means that viruses can be significant drivers of evolution – significant enough to cause major evolutionary shifts in groups of host organisms.
The authors mined the Viral Genomes Resource at the National Center for Biotechnology Information to come to these conclusions. They examined the host preferences of viruses with various replication strategies, as well as the physical shapes of the different virus families affecting different kingdoms and domains to see if any patterns emerged. They did.
Although few archaeal viruses were found, that was clearly due to under-sampling, because very few arcahaea have been screened for viruses. In at least one case, four different viruses from four different families have been isolated from a single archaeum, Aeropyrum pernix, so clearly much more diversity remains to be found.
Even based on what little we know, archaeal viruses come in a much wider variety of shapes than bacterial viruses do. In the diagram below, also reproduced from the opinion article, the various viral shapes unique to given groups or shared by two groups are shown. I apologize for the small type, but given the design of the blogs here at Sci Am, I can't make them any bigger.
Viral shapes unique to a domain or shared between domains. Shared shape does not necessarily imply the viruses belonging to the different groups are related, thanks to convergent evolution. Fig. 1B from Nasir et al. 2014.
As you can see at the top of the page, archaea have four virus shapes that are unique to their domain (droplet-, bottle-, coil-, and spindle/lemon-shaped), whereas bacteria have none. In terms of total morphologies, 16 viral morphotypes attack archaea, while just nine attack bacteria. Archaeal viral diversity is only expected to grow as our ability to isolate the microbes from extreme or unusual environments improves, and we test more of those organisms for viruses.
A virus shape unique to archaea: the archaeon Sulfolobus infected with Sulfolobus tengchongensis Spindle-shaped Virus 1 (STSV1), isolated by Xiaoyu Xiang and colleagues in an acidic hot spring in Yunnan Province, China. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4594039
Yet in spite of all this viral diversity among archaea, to our knowledge, archaea completely lack RNA viruses. RNA is inherently less stable at high temperatures than DNA (part of the reason that it was selected as the genetic material for life). Many archaea also thrive in high temperatures, and it is likely that at some point in the past archaea passed through a phase where they lived exclusively in hot water.
The authors posit that this may have been an archaeal attempt, at least in part, to escape RNA viruses. If so, the gambit proved not only hugely successful, but so far permanent. RNA viruses are also present in both eukaryotes and bacteria (though in extremely limited numbers in the latter), and a single loss from the archaea seems more likely than two independent gains in both bacteria and eukaryotes, further bolstering the case. RNA viruses may thus have been “one major trigger” for the evolution of modern archaea.
Bacteria teem with DNA viruses (in the ocean, bacterial viruses outnumber bacteria), but unlike archaeal viruses, there is little taxonomic or physical diversity among them. Ninety-five percent of double-stranded DNA viruses that attack bacteria belong to a single order split into just three families. The relatively small viral diversity in bacteria may be due to the bacterial invention of the peptidoglycan cell wall, a barrier built of cross-linked sugars and amino acids. The inability to get across this fortification may have eliminated many viral taxa from bacteria, the authors suggest.
On the other hand, no double-stranded DNA viruses are known to attack fungi, and they are rare in plants (only green algae have them). Why? Both fungi and plants possess cell walls. Like the bacterial cell wall, is it possible these walls originally evolved, at least in part, as a way of keeping these viruses out? Cell covering with various layers and rigid cell walls “greatly limit means of viral entry” and effectively shut viruses out, the authors write.
Unfortunately, the authors note, a niche rarely stays vacant long, and the loss of the double-stranded DNA viruses from plants and fungi seems to have spurred the evolution of a cornucopia of RNA viruses in their stead.
Retroviruses may also have inadvertently tinkered with evolution in ways that had profound effects on other organisms. As you'll recall, retroviruses have a habit of plonking their DNA into our own genome and then evack-ing it later -- a process that is not always carried out with surgical precision or much care for *where* the virus does the inserting.
Such an insertion (and later extraction) may change our own DNA. It may change how genes are expressed, or otherwise rearrange the genome, producing new genes and cellular machinery in the process. Sometimes viral genes get left behind and never extracted. For example, telomerase, the enzyme that cells use to repair the caps on their chromosomes from the natural shortening that occurs with aging, seems to be descended from retroviral proteins that were incorporated into host genomes and then much later co-opted by the host.
Because viruses can inadvertently incorporate part of a host's genome into their own, and then reintegrate themselves into another organism, they can also increase biodiversity and complexity by providing a source of inter-species genetic diversity on which evolution can act that might otherwise be impossible.
Looking at all these examples, and the pie chart showing that more physically complex organisms host more different kinds of viruses, one is tempted to suggest that co-evolution between viruses and hosts might have helped generate physical complexity on Earth. Indeed, in addition to retroviruses, negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses and many DNA virus families are found only in eukaryotes. And though only plants, animals, and fungi possess retroviruses, yeast, which are fungi but live like single-celled microbes, intriguingly lack them.
In this way, viruses might very well present a double-edged sword: potentially devastating to individuals, but beneficial to the evolution of diversity and complexity, if you like that sort of thing, as I do. The next time I have norovirus, I am sure I will feel differently.
This post inspired by a short post over at Small Things Considered. Thanks again for the idea, guys!
Reference
Nasir, Arshan, Patrick Forterre, Kyung Mo Kim, and Gustavo Caetano-Anollés. "The distribution and impact of viral lineages in domains of life." Recent Discoveries in Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology (2015): 26.Juan Mata is still waiting for Chelsea to formally sign off his £37 million transfer to Manchester United after growing increasingly frustrated with the club’s failure to sanction his departure for a medical at Old Trafford.
Despite agreeing a four-and-a-half year contract worth £150,000-a-week at United, Mata remained in London all day yesterday due to Chelsea’s refusal to complete the transfer agreement with the Premier League champions.
There are now suggestions the transfer may not go through until next week.
Ground staff at United’s Aon Training Complex at Carrington had arrived early on Thursday morning to prepare a helipad in order for the Spain midfielder to fly north for a medical.
But with Chelsea delaying Mata’s departure until they had completed the signing of FC Basle’s Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, United were unable to proceed with the medical examination in Manchester.
United remain confident that a deal with be completed for Mata and senior figures at the club are currently unconcerned by the delays at the Chelsea end.
But with Mata determined to press ahead with his move to United in order to play regular football for David Moyes’s team after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho, the player and United are hopeful that his club record transfer will still go ahead.DEAR ADDERALL,
I’ve been thinking…we need to talk. This has actually been brewing for awhile, but it came to a head the other day. An editor and I were having a little post-mortem outside of the office about the piece I’d published the night before. You know the one. Remember? A few weeks back, you kept me company during a particularly nasty stretch, when I only got four hours of sleep over, what was it, three days? Almost three days. I know, I know: Far from the first time you’ve saved my ass, especially as far as deadlines go. But this time, it was different.
“The first four paragraphs were really good,” the editor told me. “But then you gave me the rest the next day, and it was totally incoherent. I think the Adderall is affecting your writing. Your voice is completely different when you’re on it. I mean, it’s basically just speed, you know?”
I know. I was stunned, too. He knew all about us! It was a little personal, to be honest. But as far as the note on the story, well, let’s face it, he was right. It was the way he talked about you, though, that hurt the most. He dissed you. Said you were good for a laugh now and then but had become a bad influence on me. That’s no way to treat a legally prescribed pharmaceutical, right? You’re not crack! You can’t even be smoked, unless there’s something you haven’t told me.
Of course, I came to your defense immediately. They assigned that piece at the last minute, on the night before a holiday weekend. And of course, he’d been the one to hook us up, at least on that occasion, handing over a spare 20mg extended-release capsule (“I only take it when I’m going out,” he explained), which I gladly, fiendishly gobbled up in the passionate tradition of Dr. Gregory House: no water needed.
Even after all of that, he told me to ditch you, suggested I was whipped.
“It’s just amphetamine,” he went on. “How can you take it every day and not expect to be addicted to it?”
Ever since that conversation, everything has just felt different. Lately, I find myself asking questions, uncomfortable questions. I’ve been with you for almost three years now (tell me you didn’t forget our anniversary), and never recreationally. In fact, our relationship has been validated by totally reputable, board-certified physicians. We’re together for all the “right” reasons.
But listen, please? You need to focus, Adderall: I’m really starting to ask myself how much I actually need you. Or if I really need you at all.
Look, I know I’m not special—I’m not the first writer-type you’ve been with. The fact is, you’ve been around, okay? I mean, start with most of the journalists I’ve worked alongside over the last few years at various magazines or websites. They’ve all fallen under your spell. But promiscuity is in your blood. Back in 2005, when you and Joshua Foer had that weeklong fling (him? really?), he listed all the famous writers who’d fallen for amphetamines just like you: W.H. Auden, James Agee, Graham Greene, and Philip K. Dick, Jack Kerouac, and Jean-Paul Sartre, to name a few.
Honestly, just thinking about you and them together makes me insecure. I can’t compete with guys like that!
It’s not that I’m not extremely fond of you. You’ve been a really important part of my life. I mean, I love you, Adderall. When you’re around, I feel like Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove, riding a bomb of electric energy, waving a ten-gallon hat in the air as we demolish every empty Google Document in sight. Together, we’ve obliterated entire societies of blank word processing documents, not to mention civilizations of emails, Tweets, IMs, and Tumblr posts. At the same time!
I still remember the day we met. There you were, freshman year, hanging out with the guys in the dorm next door. Between a pyrex bong, a rack of Natty Light, and a stack of xeroxed library research, you lay on the table in little tangerine lines, right before you went straight up Brian’s nose. It seemed like practically everyone was already friends with you. I wanted to know you too.
I went to the university health center and said all the right words. Told the doctor I was “having trouble concentrating.” I was “tired, all the time.” Other members of my family “had been diagnosed with ADD and/or ADHD” and had “taken medicine for it” and “reluctant as I am to try a behavioral pharmaceutical” I was “desperate” for a “solution.” None of which were really lies, per se. They just weren’t urgent truths. Still, just as I was told would happen, they tried to put others between us: Ritalin, Concerta, Focalin (and let’s forget all about my brief, unfulfilling affair with Vyvance years later). None of them really did it for me. But I found you eventually.
The initial infatuation was intense. That first liftoff turned a Monday morning lecture-hall sized government class into an intimate, engaging colloquium on global policy, giving life to personal ambitions never considered, like becoming an ambassador to Turkey. Or The Maldives. You gave me a sugar rush of intellectual ambition. When we’re together, the faucet of Amazing Ideas Thought Up By Me opens up like a fire hydrant on a hot summer day. Inevitably, this sensation eventually fades into The Deep Focus. Cleaning the dorm would become a red wire-blue wire situation: Where should I hang this jacket? Here! This is it!
We were a to-do-list-crossing-off dream team—the Jordan and Pippen of crossing-off. Writing letters, returning calls, running errands. Reading, my god, all the reading. And the work? All-nighters weren’t torturous, but riveting. And whenever you got to be too much, a little pot always managed to come into the picture. You two went together like rocket fuel and molasses. It was wonderful.
But in the end, you took me further in Mario Kart than you ever did in school. And to say my sleep schedule was unorthodox would be unfair to Batman. When I left college, I left you behind. We went our separate ways.
And after a five-year separation, we reunited.CRANSTON, Rhode Island (Reuters) – A school committee geared up on Thursday for boisterous crowds expected at its meeting on a federal court order to remove a prayer banner that has hung for decades inside a local public school.
The public hearing on whether to appeal the court ruling is the latest in a series of what have been heated exchanges between people who want to keep the banner on display in the auditorium of Cranston High School West and those backing a Cranston student, an atheist, who requested it be taken down.
A federal judge ordered last month that school officials remove the 8-foot high by 4-foot wide prayer banner that dates to about 1963 from the wall, agreeing that religious expression should be kept separate from public school.
The prayer begins with “Our Heavenly Father,” and goes on to discuss being kind, honest and good sports before ending with “Amen.”
Complaints about the banner first surfaced in 2010 and the student, Jessica Ahlquist, later escalated those concerns with a lawsuit and online Facebook discussion page.
Ahlquist, now a junior, said a friend first pointed out the banner during her freshman year. According to court documents, she experienced feelings of exclusion and ostracism because of the prayer.
Ahlquist was raised Catholic as a child, but around the age of 10 she became an avowed atheist, court documents said.
Although Ahlquist has received some support, she has also been taunted for even suggesting the prayer banner be altered or removed, court records show.
Many of those who want to keep the mural in place have referenced their strong Catholic religious beliefs, while others have said the banner conveys respect, moral values and the history of the school.
Despite arguments the banner had a predominantly secular purpose, a federal judge ruled it to be a prayer “and a Christian one at that,” according to court documents.
The prayer has been covered with wood until the school committee decides whether or not to appeal the ruling. A vote was expected to come following Thursday’s open hearing.
If the school committee does not appeal the ruling, it is required to immediately and permanently take down the prayer.
(Additional reporting By Lauren Keiper; Editing by Paul Thomasch)
[Image via Shutterstock.com.]
Mochila insert follows …R.J. Eskow - on Salon - offers "11 Questions to see if Libertarians are Hypocrites." And yes, most of Eskow's posers certainly do set up some stark and thought-provoking contradictions - even hypocrisies - in the oft-touted positions held by many who today use the "L-word" to describe themselves. The article is well-worth reading and it does skewer especially those who bow in obeisance to Ayn Rand, the patron saint of resentful ingrates who want desperately to blame society for being under-achievers. And yet…
…and yet Eskow wound up inciting the contrarian in me, with his blatant straw-manning -- setting up the reader to assume that all "libertarians" are lapel-grabbing, solipsistic randians. Moreover, indeed, he tells flagrant untruths even about randians. Elsewhere I have dissected the Cult of Ayn far more carefully, actually looking carefully at her messages on many levels. Eskow wants only a caricature and a punching bag.
He ignores, for example the randians' admission that government should retain a monopoly on force and should be involved also in the enforcement of all contracts, not just copyright. Not entire-anarchism, indeed, it retains what's necessary for the ultimate randian outcome -- a return to feudalism -- to have real teeth. Eskow should know his enemy better.
(Note that I use Eskow's method of asking questions in what I hope is a much more neutral and thorough way, in my Questionnaire on Ideology, that encourages folks to re-examine many of their own underlying assumptions; take it if you dare!")
I consider to be entirely justified -- the moderate versions offered to us by authors who range from Kurt Vonnegut to Adam Smith, from
...a version under which one is willing to negotiate and see a successful State that does good and useful things by general consensus and assent, but always with an emphasis on doing useful things that wind up empowering the individual to go his or her own, creative way. In other words, judging state actions (even skeptically) by a standard that is high, but allows us to work together on some valuable things that help us to then grow as we choose. In fact, Eskow ignores other strands to libertarianism that include the erudite versions of William F. Buckley and Friedrich Hayek, who denounced the randian obsession with demigods as a guaranteed route to feudalism. Hayek, in particular, extolled a level playing field that maximizes the number of competitors and avoids a narrow ruling-owner caste. Indeed, there are some versions of libertarianism thatconsider to be entirely justified -- the moderate versions offered to us by authors who range from Kurt Vonnegut to Adam Smith, from Robert Heinlein to Ray Bradbury......a version under which one is willing to negotiate and see a successful State that does good and useful things by general consensus and assent, but always with an emphasis on doing useful things that wind up empowering the individual to go his or her own, creative way. In other words, judging state actions (even skeptically) by a standard that is high, but allows us to work together on some valuable things that help us to then grow as we choose.
I could go on and on about that aspect of things; but instead I will simply offer a link to a far more cogent appraisal of this important thread of human political discourse, one that - alas - has been hijacked by oversimplifying fools who wind up parroting fox-fed nostrums and serve as tools for the very oligarchy that aims to tear down every remnant of freedom. (See: Maps, Models and Visions of Tomorrow.)
Indeed, the name you'll never hear randians mention… and alas the same holds true of the oversimplifying straw-manner Eskow… is Adam Smith, whose version of libertarianism adults still look to, from time to time. A version that admires and promotes individualism and the stunning power of human competition, but also recognizes that competitive-creative markets and democracy and science only achieve their wondrous positive sum games when carefully regulated… the way soccer or football must be, lest the strongest just form one team and stomp every potential rival flat and then gouge out their eyes… which is exactly what winner-owner-oligarch-lords did in every human culture for 6000 years. Till Adam Smith came along and described how to get the good outcomes without the bad.
The stealing of Adam Smith's movement by fanatics and cynically manipulative oligarchs is not just a tragedy for the right, and for market capitalism. It is tragic for civilization.
Those seeking feudalism KNOWINGLY
The top 1% of earners in the U.S. pulled in 19.3% of total household income in 2012, which is their biggest slice of total income in more than 100 years, according to a an analysis by economists at the University of California.
Also, the top 1% of earnings posted 86% real income growth between 1993 and 2000. Meanwhile, the real income growth of the bottom 99% of earnings rose 6.6%.
The penultimate irony? That the ones complaining about this are called "anti-capitalists" when the fair and productive-creative, entrepreneurial capitalism prescribed by Adam Smith is the top VICTIM of wealth and income inequality. Across 6000 years of human history, the enemy of open markets and freedom was always owner-oligarchy. The blame for this can be spread widely! Those liberals who ignore the "first liberal" Adam Smith are almost as foolish as the dullard right wingers who are helping to restore feudalism.
The greatest irony? The people who are bringing all of this about claim to adore the "Greatest Generation" - our parents and grandparents who overcame the Depression and crushed Hitler and contained communism and started a hugely successful worldwide boom under protection of the American Pax... and got us to the moon and invented so many cool things that we got rich enough to go on a buying spree that made every export driven nation prosperous. The greatest irony? The people who are bringing all of this about claim to adore the "Greatest Generation" - our parents and grandparents who overcame the Depression and crushed Hitler and contained communism and started a hugely successful worldwide boom under protection of the American Pax... and got us to the moon and invented so many cool things that we got rich enough to go on a buying spree that made every export driven nation prosperous.
Funny thing. That Greatest Generation adored Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the flat-but-dynamically entrepreneurial society that he and they built together. Oh, but they were the fools and Rupert Murdoch knows so... so much better.
So what is to be done?
The same goes double for an even worse cartel of cheaters... the casrtel of "seated members" of stock and commodities and equities exchanges like the NYSE and NASDAQ. These blatant conspiratorial clubs violate every conceivable standard of fairness and competition, charging commissions to you and me while freely engaging in hundreds of billions of Hight Frequency Trading actions themselves, at zero friction or cost. In this electronic era there is no reason any of us should have to use such intermediaries to sell shares to others. The scam is a lamprey-vampire drain on the economy that should be reformed or eliminated. (And mind you, We deserve and should demand a return to a capitalism that is more about creative-new goods and services than manipulation of imaginary financial "assets." Colluding cartels, like the caste of 5,000 CEO-director golf buddies must be broken up. If you are a senior officer of a company, you should be disallowed to sit on any boards, anywhere, for anything. And anti-trust laws that served our parents well should resume being enforced.The same goes double for an even worse cartel of cheaters... the casrtel of "seated members" of stock and commodities and equities exchanges like the NYSE and NASDAQ. These blatant conspiratorial clubs violate every conceivable standard of fairness and competition, charging commissions to you and me while freely engaging in hundreds of billions of Hight Frequency Trading actions themselves, at zero friction or cost. In this electronic era there is no reason any of us should have to use such intermediaries to sell shares to others. The scam is a lamprey-vampire drain on the economy that should be reformed or eliminated. (And mind you, HFT is an existential threat to civilization, in its own right.)
Left-wingers who blame "capitalism" for our recent messes should replace the word with "cheaters." At risk of belaboring a point that must be reiterated because people keep blinking past it: I consider healthy "Smithian" capitalism to be one of the top five VICTIMS of the malignantly incompetent rule of the recent US GOP. There are no outcome metrics of national health under which the Republican Party's tenure in command did not wreak harm on the people of the United States, especially upon the middle class, upon human civilization and upon healthy capitalism… and the spinning ghosts of Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley.So let's try some simple reforms. Fierce measures to stop interlocking directorships and the circle-jerk of 5000 golf buddies appointing each other onto each others' boards, then voting each other staggering "wages" - it is a criminal conspiracy that not only has stolen billions but runs diametrically opposite to the entire notion of competitive enterprise.- If capitalism works, then these high CEO wages should be attracting brilliant talent from elsewhere, till demand meets supply and the wages fall. They are in effect calling themselves irreplaceable "mutant geniuses" like NBA basketball players... only with this blatant rub. The top NBA players are fiercely measured by statistics! The mutant-good CEOs are only "good" by the flimsiest of arm-waving by… their pals.- Critics of socialism cite Hayek and proclaim that, no matter how smart a set of top-down allocators are, they will be foolish simply because their numbers are few. Now it happens that I agree! History does show that narrow castes of "allocators" do inevitably perform poorly. (The Chinese have done well... so far... but at spectacular environmental cost and corruption. And we know the inevitable end-game.)So, how are 5,000 conniving, back-room-dealing, circle-jerking, self-interested golf buddies intrinsically better allocators than say 500,000 skilled, educated, closely-watched and reciprocally competitive civil servants? Both groups suffer from delusional in-group-think. But the smaller clade - more secretive, self-serving, inward-looking and uncriticized - is inherently more likely to fail. Claiming that they are better allocators because they are "private" and secretively collusive is just religious litany, refuted by 6000 years of horrific oligarchic rule.In the 2017 title game, Nick Saban essentially doubled down on his 2016 strategy for containing Deshaun Watson. With the Alabama defense returning all of their tremendous pass-rushers and star DB/LBs who had been useful in beating Watson the first time, he seemed to calculate that trusting in internal improvements from “the process” was the way to go.
It was a reasonable assumption with DE/OLBs Ryan Anderson and Tim Williams back, DE/DT Jonathan Allen back, Reuben Foster 20 pounds lighter and faster, and youn athletes like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Tony Brown, and Rashaan Evans all a year older and better.
As I detailed in my breakdown of Clemson’s game-winning drive, Nick Saban’s strategy for stopping Watson that he returned to was very conservative. He played pass-rush personnel on the field but kept them aware or positioned to contain Watson in the pocket and he rolled with dime personnel to allow him to match the Tiger WR corps with both man coverage AND two-deep safety help over the top. It ultimately didn’t work, Watson threw 56 passes for 420 yards at 7.5 yards per pass with three TDs and zero INTs.
It hearkened back to New England’s Super Bowl triumph over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. All the talk after the game was centered around whether Seattle should have run the ball with Marshawn Lynch at the goal line but there were much bigger ramifications from that game on the developments of football. Seattle’s defense, anchored by their “Legion of Boom” secondary and sound linebackers K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner, was designed to make an offense beat them with precise, quick passes of the sort that no one has ever been able to execute proficiently enough to sustain multiple scoring drives.
But New England did it, and then they won the game, despite failing to run the ball for even 60 yards.
Yet despite that New England victory, it was still rather surprising to see the passing game ascendant in the college ranks so quickly. While Clemson ostensibly relied on a spread-option playbook that utilized Deshaun Watson’s arm and legs to create space to run the ball, the Tigers’ trump card was instead Watson throwing to their large, athletic, and reliable WR corps. The perfect pass beats even great defense...if you can consistently make it.
That’s gotta be the formula for beating Alabama for rival teams in upcoming seasons.
The wrong way to beat Alabama
Urban Meyer perfected the “wrong way” to beat Alabama, Gus Malzahn utilized it as well, this path is basically to beat them at their own game. The Alabama strategy for winning is to be superior in the trenches on both sides of the ball, play elite defense, and run the air out of the football.
The downside of this strategy is that it requires turning the OL and DL into revolving doors of 300+ pound athletes, the most scarce resource in the game, but Alabama’s recruiting machine has regularly pulled it off. The upside of their approach is that if you are consistently great in the trenches then you aren’t dependent on particular skill players.
Alabama nearly just won a title with a true freshman QB at the helm who’s far from a master of their passing attack. When he’s better in that regard, they’ll of course be even more dangerous on offense, but they don’t need great QB play for their formula of elite D and crushing run game to put them in title contention.
It’s obviously possible to beat the Tide at their own strategy, since both Meyer and Malzahn have done it in the past, but they both did so largely thanks to an edge they derived from utilizing spread-option concepts that Alabama has now absorbed into the process.
If you look across the SEC what school is going to be able to recruit and develop their players well enough to prove superior in playing D and running the ball over Saban’s process-oriented Tide? Who’s going to beat the SEC’s most detail-oriented and resource-rich coach at his own game? Probably no one.
The right way to beat Alabama
Alabama’s current strategy clearly leaves them vulnerable to a team that is oriented around a dominant passing attack but who can still play defense at an elite level. While Alabama’s offense has rarely been about lighting up the scoreboard they’ve also never been a group that can be shut down unless you have comparable athletes and skill opposing them.
But scoring points on Alabama is usually the main concern and that’s best accomplished with the passing game. Even most of the run-centric teams that stopped Saban’s Alabama and replaced them as title winners/contenders did so by throwing the ball off the threat of their spread-option rushing attacks:
Other than 2013 Auburn, who had a first round LT, All-American FB, and phenomenal runners at QB and RB, or 2015 Ohio State who opened up their run game with a few vertical passes, not even these teams could run the ball particularly well on Bama. The Tide are going to stop the run and look to out-rush you if it kills them. You need to make sure that it does kill them, via the passing game.
No matter how many future NFL DBs or pass-rushers they stockpile in Tuscaloosa, the perfect pass can still beat them and it’s now evident that such a passing attack can be built at the collegiate level.
The hangups with this strategy is that waiting until your QB and passing game are in tip-top shape makes it harder to be in annual contention then the run game+defense strategy which is much more “plug and play.” However, the ceiling is also higher, particularly since it allows you a lane to the title that isn’t already occupied by Alabama.
So who’s in position to pull this off in 2017?
Let’s start in the SEC, where hiring Saban assistants in an effort to out-do his efforts is a surprisingly common strategy.
Ole Miss
The Rebels have regularly given Alabama fits because the Rebels are built around a spread passing attack and have also frequently paired it with elite defense. With young QB Shea Patterson stepping in for 2017 and some great athletes back in the WR corps and along the OL, there’s a chance here. The problem is that Ole Miss is currently revamping their defense and self-imposed sanctions limit their ability to match Alabama’s loaded roster.
Mississippi State
The Bulldogs were far from having a defense of the caliber that could stop up the Alabama offense but with young QB Nick Fitzgerald they have a cornerstone they could build an anti-Bama strategy around. Perhaps 2018 is a more likely target year in Starkville.
Georgia
The Bulldogs have a talented young QB in Jacob Eason and a lot of returning parts from an admittedly only half-decent 2016 squad. The issue here is that with Nick Chubb and Sonny Michel returning, Georgia is unlikely to focus on their passing game and building it out into the kind of unit that can threaten Alabama until those backs have moved on. We can probably expect Saban’s pupil Kirby Smart to at least initially fall into the trap of trying to out-Saban Alabama.
Arkansas
The Hogs return signal-caller Austin Allen, who was very good in 2016, but they’re also losing nearly all of the receivers that made his life easy and have traditionally had more of a “ground and pound” formula for victory anyways. Even worse, their defense has now been atrocious for two years running.
Auburn
Malzahn is still Saban’s most fearsome rival in the SEC, particularly now that he’ll have a spring QB competition between Sean White and Jarrett Stidham. White has been solid at Auburn but has battled injuries while Stidham is a lethal passer from the pocket and even more mobile then White. They’re also returning some key pieces to a good run game (FB Chandler Cox, RB Kerryon Johnson) that could take off if paired with a better passing attack.
Their defense discovered a formula for success this past year in being more simple and fundamental and has a lot coming back as well. Auburn has perhaps the best chance of any SEC team of taking down the Tide. That said, if someone topples Alabama next year it’ll probably be a playoff opponent from outside the SEC.
Florida State
With Dalvin Cook off to the NFL, it’s time for the Seminoles’ offense to gear around the passing game again. The issue here is that Deondre Francois was inconsistent throughout the year and nearly cost the ‘Noles the game against Michigan with his inability to hit passes, convert third downs, and avoid giving the Wolverines’ repeated chances to come back.
The defense should be excellent though.
Oklahoma
The Sooners are returning a star QB who can scramble and make hay in a spread passing attack with Baker Mayfield, they will likely have a better OL in 2017 then Clemson had in either 2015 or 2016, and they’ll have a big, flex TE back in Mark Andrews. Perhaps most importantly, they have an offensive system that is designed to get after teams in the passing game.
For all those reasons, they could be a nightmare for Alabama, but defense is a problem. It wasn’t very good a year ago and now has to replace several DL and their best ILB well enough to be able to stop power run games of the sort that you find in Tuscaloosa or amongst other college football playoff teams.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions’ offense is built around the passing game and pushing opponents into shootouts of the sort that Alabama hates. QB Trace McSorley and RB Saquon Barkely are both back along with most of the best targets and OL. Stunningly, their TE Mike Gesicki is also returning.
Their defense was good, not great in 2016 and will have to replace a few key |
dictated poses during the hourlong class.
Osorio, a 34-year-old massage therapist, and Dominguez, a 30-year-old office worker, both said they used marijuana to ease joint pain in their knees and ankles and sought yoga as added physical therapy. The couple drove more than 270 miles from their hometown to Las Vegas to partake in Friday and Sunday classes, because they couldn’t find any weed-yoga programs closer than San Francisco.
“This was the highlight of the weekend; I loved it,” Osorio said. “Really peaceful, light and relaxing. It kept the energy flowing, and it was just pretty.”
Angie Edgington, 26, brought her mother to the studio’s Sunday class for Mother’s Day. Starting at 4:20 p.m., the yin routine offered simpler stretches than Elevated Yoga’s vinyasa class and also was lighter on the provided weed. Edgington and her mother — a Reno resident who asked not to be named — took turns puffing on Cheesecake indica and Goji Popcorn sativa strains from nearby Oasis Medical Cannabis dispensary as they stretched. Edgington said her family had a history of bipolar disorder, and she preferred using marijuana as treatment over pills.
“It’s an uplifting experience, and it helps you break down that anxiety,” Edgington said. “It’s just very calming.”
Jacobson and husband, Dr. Scott Jacobson, got involved with CannaYoga in August after the founders went their separate ways, leaving an opening for the 10-year Las Vegas residents. Their class, also for adults 21 and older for a price of $25, moved to its current location — a massive studio next door to the Jacobsons’ central valley home — in January. Like Wilson, Irena greets attendees with a hug.
“It’s about making people feel welcome,” she said. “Whether you have experience with cannabis or not, this is a community.”
Since she started teaching CannaYoga, attendance has doubled to about 10 attendees per class, and as many as 40 for partnered sessions with Las Vegas dispensaries and other local companies in the marijuana industry. The Jacobsons said they saw the same spike Wilson did around the legalization milestones.
“We don’t know for sure yet, but we’d love it if it spiked again,” Irena said. “It comes down to how interested people are in (recreational) marijuana. If interest is high, it’ll trickle over to us.”One reporter in China went above and beyond the call of duty when she abandoned her own wedding to report on the massive earthquake that struck the city of Ya'an in southwest China Saturday.
Appearing on-air in her wedding gown, complete with the veil, the TV reporter covered the breaking news and interviewed residents affected by the quake that killed at least 156 people.
SCROLL FOR PHOTO
According to The South China Morning Post, a photo of the working bride, identified as Chen Ying, went viral on Sina Weibo -- a Chinese microblogging site similar to Twitter -- as many netizens praised the reporter for her "professional spirit" during the tragic event.
As Shanghaiist notes, Chen was apparently en route to the ceremony when the earthquake struck Saturday morning (no word on whether she rescheduled the ceremony).
The coverage -- striking for its juxtaposition of a reporter wearing a wedding dress in the midst of disaster -- is the latest example of an off-duty professional jumping into action. Earlier this week, several reporters who ran the Boston Marathon, quickly shifted into reporter mode in order to provide firsthand coverage of the bombing.In New Orleans, Armand Bennet, 26, was shot in the forehead during a traffic stop by New Orleans police officer Lisa Lewis. However, the police department did not reveal until much later that Lewis turned off her body camera just before shooting Bennett. Bennett survived and has now been charged under prior warrants for his arrest. It also reviewed that Lewis had had a prior run in with Bennet who escaped about a week earlier.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas called the late disclosures on the shooting simply a “snafu.”
Lewis’ lawyer says that she turned off her camera because she was heading back to the station at the end of her shift and that the shot was fired during a scuffle after the stop. Bennett’s attorney says that there was no scuffle and that Lewis fired a second shot as Bennett ran away.
The two had been in a scuffle a week before and Bennett had gotten away. The NOPD then issued four warrant for Bennet and those warrants were the basis for the stop.
Putting aside the merits of the officers claims, I am still unclear why these body cameras can even be turned off by officers. The point of a body camera should be that it runs from check in to check out. It should not be under the control of the officer to guarantee a record that cannot be challenged by either side. That would avoid the troubling appearance of an officer with a prior run in with a suspect who turns off her camera minutes before shooting the suspect in the head.
Kudos: Michael Blott
Source: Fox8
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FacebookThe February release of JOSM is now available as version 6891 :)
No killer feature this month, this is mainly a bugfix release, with some enhancements listed below, as usual :)
Notable changes
## major enhancements * Allow HTTPS access to OSM API * Do not suggest to combine conflicting values in order to reduce the wrong usage of semicolon values
minor enhancements
Enable loading of.osm.zip files
files Verify for new versions of plugins on crashes
GPX: Allow to download compressed GPX tracks from osm.org/trace/ using “Download location” Use neutral track color if speed is zero (velocity mode) or time extent is very short (time mode)
History dialog: Show changeset source
MapCSS: Allow (named) colours with alpha
Presets/Map styles: Add preset_name_label attribute to <item> to automatically add “[preset name]” at the beginning of dialog Add highway=raceway, non-public-transport route relations, shop=bookmaker|lottery “Add to toolbar” in preset list context menu (F3-right click) Rendering of craft=painter|plumber|pottery|stonemason|tiler|window_construction, shop=gift
Remote Control: new referrers argument to load_object handler
argument to handler Validator: Validate population Check and remove unnecessary area=yes, building=no Detect sport s without physical features Sort results naturally
sub-minor enhancements
Make status bar background/foregound colors configurable
Set HTTP Accept header to expected MIME types when downloading presets, styles, plugins
major bugs
Sensible upload order of relations to be deleted
Performance improvements
[Summarized changelog] (https://josm.openstreetmap.de/wiki/Changelog#a2014-02-28:Stablereleaser689114.02)
[Complete changelog] (https://josm.openstreetmap.de/log/josm/?action=stop_on_copy&mode=stop_on_copy&rev=6891&stop_rev=6768&limit=300&verbose=on)
[Milestone view (need login)] (https://josm.openstreetmap.de/milestone/14.02)Once again, Stanford and UC Berkeley were neck and neck in competing for the largest number of tech startups created by undergraduate alums, according to the industry analytics firm PitchBook.
The report PitchBook Universities: 2016-2017 Edition ranked the world’s top universities based on the number of entrepreneurs they graduated, and placed Stanford at the top, estimating that 1,006 Stanford graduates founded companies over the past 10 years, vs second-place Berkeley at 997. However, Berkeley grads founded more companies than did Stanford grads, 881 to 850.
The firm tallied about $18 billion in capital raised by Stanford-alum companies, vs $14 billion for companies founded by those who received their bachelor’s degrees from Berkeley.
“Berkeley undergrads have certainly taken back the axe in terms of the number of startup companies founded by our alumni,” said Carol Mimura, assistant vice chancellor of intellectual property and industry research alliances, referring to the Cal-Stanford football rivalry. “Undergraduate entrepreneurs are driving new innovation across all sectors, and their unbounded spirit and initiative have resulted in programs by and for students and beyond, such as Free Ventures, the Dorm Room Fund, The House and The House Fund. All of these have become integrated into the existing entrepreneurial ecosystem in which every program coexists with and helps all of the others.”
Worldwide, PitchBook estimates that founders from the top 10 undergrad programs – which included U.S. universities as well as Tel Aviv University in Israel – created more than 6,000 companies and garnered $105.8 billion in funding, in part “a testament to the ongoing ‘unicorn’ phenomenon, not to mention the overall boom in late-stage VC financing observed in the past year.” Unicorns are companies valued at over a billion dollars.
The report tracked founders of companies that received a first round of venture funding between Jan. 1, 2006, and Aug. 15, 2016.
The top Berkeley-related companies receiving funding were Cloudera, Zynga, Machine Zone, Sapphire Energy and Harvest Power.
Berkeley tied for second place in the number of startups founded by women graduates, with 104 women entrepreneurs founding 103 companies, vs the University of Pennsylvania’s 104 founders of 100 companies. Stanford again came out on top, with 125 founders of 119 companies. Stanford and Berkeley women who founded companies raised about the same amount of money – $1.4 billion – more than twice as much as Penn-founded companies.
Berkeley’s top women-founded companies were Sapphire Energy, One Kings Lane, Quantenna Communications, Terra Bella and Millendo Therapeutics.
The annual report also called out companies founded by graduates of UC Berkeley’s MBA program in the Haas School of Business: RetailNext, QuantumScape, Revolution Foods, Renew Financial and Netskope overall, and Revolution Foods, Renew Financial, Indiegogo, Corazonas Foods and Cuyana founded by women.Employers face increasing challenges in navigating the legal landscape to avoid claims of sex discrimination as it relates to bathroom access for their transgender employees.
Although an employer may be tempted to resolve this issue by directing transgender employees to utilize a gender-neutral bathroom, this seemingly reasonable response may leave an employer open to sex discrimination charges under Title VII.
In Roberts v. Clark County School District, 2016 WL 5843046 (D. Nev. Oct. 4, 2016), a Nevada federal court judge said a transgender police officer was entitled to summary judgment on a gender-discrimination claim against a state school district.
Although the district contended it discriminated against Roberts based on his genitalia, not his status as a transgender person, U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Dorsey found the district clearly treated Rogers differently than persons of both his biological sex (female) and his gender identification (male).
Bradley Roberts began his employment with the Clark County School District in 1992 as Brandily Netz, a female campus monitor. He eventually became a police officer and worked in that capacity with the district for 17 years. However, in 2011 Roberts began dressing for work like a man, identifying himself as a man and using the men’s bathroom at work.
After complaints from male coworkers, Roberts met with his commanding officers and explained he was transgender and in the process of transitioning to a man.
He also informed his commanding officers of his pending name change and his desire to use the men’s bathroom.
However, his commanding officers banned him from the men’s bathroom and directed him to use the gender-neutral restroom. They also refused to refer to him as a man or permit him to use the men’s bathroom without official documentation of a name and sex change.
The district subsequently distributed a department-wide memo regarding Roberts’ transition to a male, including his pending name change and the use of male pronouns in the department’s interactions with him. Not surprisingly, the memo sparked some “below-the-belt” questions from his coworkers, leading Roberts to file administrative charges with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission.
The charges alleged gender-identity discrimination based on the restroom ban and harassment during his meeting with district officials, including the school district’s failure to timely update department records to reflect his official name change to Bradley Roberts and his gender as male.
Before a scheduled hearing in the matter, the district reversed its ban on his use of the male bathroom.
Roberts filed his Title VII action two years later when the department still failed to update his gender in his personnel records. His suit alleged the department subjected him to discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
The suit also raised claims of gender discrimination and harassment under Title VII as well as gender-identity expression and harassment under the Nevada Anti-Discrimination statute.
Both parties filed cross-motions for partial summary judgment.
Judge Dorsey relied on 9th Circuit authority in ruling that Title VII applies to both “discrimination based on concepts of sex and discrimination based on other stereotypes about sex, including gender identity.”
Citing the district’s initial reasons for banning Roberts from both the women’s and men’s bathrooms — he no longer behaved like a woman, and his biological status as a female, Judge Dorsey found there was direct evidence of discriminatory intent.
Despite this finding of direct evidence, Judge Dorsey applied the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting analysis and concluded summary judgment was nevertheless appropriate because the bathroom ban was an adverse employment action, and the district failed to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the ban.
In contrast, the judge ruled summary judgment was not appropriate for either party on the harassment and retaliation claims.
The court found conflicting information made it impossible say Roberts was severely or pervasively harassed as a matter of law, or that the ban would not have been imposed “but for” Roberts’ protected activity of requesting use of the men’s bathroom, and his refusal to provide medical documentation.The sports car racing world is no stranger to the Flying Lizard Motorsports livery. The red and silver lizard head became an iconic symbol in the 2000s as the team won multiple championships, and even competed internationally at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just in time for the Pirelli World Challenge season to begin, Flying Lizard Motorsports has revealed the 2017 liveries for their two Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR race cars in the Grand Touring Sedan (GTS) class.
Rodrigo Baptista’s No. 3 Clubsport will sport the red and silver livery in its traditional format, with a silver base over the wheels and on both doors, topped off with the red Lizard emblem. The colors are inverted on the rest of the car, with a silver lizard on the red hood, and red rear bodywork.
Young American driver Nate Stacy has always stood out from the field, and not just because of his talent behind the wheel. For the majority of his career, Stacy has featured bright green in his car liveries, making his vehicles easily identifiable as he competes on track. Tying together his signature colors and the tradition of the Flying Lizard livery, Stacy’s No. 14 Clubsport will feature a black Lizard head on top of a green hood, and green rear body work. The doors and front wheel bodywork will be black with a green lizard on both sides.
“We’ve always been proud of our unique livery and logo,” said Program Manager Darren Law. “To be able to continue to have it adorn our cars in our customer racing program is important to us. Even with the unique changes, it still invokes a sense of pride and reminds our competitors who we are.”
The two car GTS effort reunites the Lizards with Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA), exclusively becoming a part of the North American Young Driver Development program. The program will provide young drivers the opportunity to develop their race craft and compete on a professional level within the Pirelli World Challenge
Source. Flying Lizard MotorsportsRegulatory treatment of sovereign debt: Risk weights vs large exposure limits
Peter Goves, Michael Spies, Alessandro Tentori
Sovereign risk and its treatment by European banks is a frequently debated topic. In particular, regulators are focusing on zero risk weighting and large exposure limits. This column argues that redesigning the macroprudential framework for sovereign risk management will be a key theme in the years to come. Depending on the exact outcome, the structure of the EZ bond market might look very different from its current shape. This could have far-reaching consequences for both the ECB’s monetary policy strategy and investors alike.
Doubts about the appropriateness of a 0% risk weighting of European government bonds (EGBs) are not new. Several officials across Europe have repeatedly addressed this issue in the past. For example, Danielle Nouy, now Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, stressed back in April 2012 that “more capital charge against sovereign risk and less incentives for the purchase of sovereign debt should especially be considered in a context where this asset class can no longer be considered as a low-risk or risk-free asset class” (Nouy 2012). However, her plea went unnoticed and European government bond holdings of the Eurozone’s monetary financial institutions (MFIs) increased by another €375 billion in market value during the ensuing three years.
Sabine Lautenschläger, a member of the ECB’s executive board and vice-chair of the Supervisory Board, has also expressed her preoccupation about 0% risk weights: “For me it is quite clear that our system of risk weightings has some shortcomings; just think of the treatment of government bonds, which allegedly carry zero risk” (Lautenschläger 2013).
However, we should not forget that sovereign issuers were facing a completely different market environment during the Crisis, when the need to provide governments with a stable source of funding was a top priority. In this context, we appreciate the reasons for the EU’s Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) to deviate from the core philosophy of the Basel Accord and treat EGBs as 0% risk-weighted assets. Times have changed, though.
More recently, the ECB’s Vice President, Vitor Constâncio, has expressed his disagreement with the idea of introducing a so-called ‘large exposure limit’ to banks’ domestic eligible government bonds holdings, while sounding more confident about a review of the current regulatory treatment of sovereign exposure for Eurozone’s banks (Constancio 2015).
This view has been challenged by a recent European Commission report reminding us about a key lesson from the Crisis, i.e. that government bonds are not riskless (Figure 1). The report has concluded that “zero-risk weighting of sovereign debt in the EU, as well as the exemption from existing large exposure requirements, are a source of vulnerability” (EPSC 2015). Also, top executives at the European Commission have voiced their concerns about the relationship between banks and government bonds: “In the medium term, it may make sense to review the treatment of bank exposures to sovereign debt, for example by setting large exposure limits.”1
Figure 1. Bond and equity market volatility
Source: Citi Research, Bloomberg
Eventually, the ESRB argues in favour of a reform to the current 0% risk weighing practice that should “design adjustments to regulatory treatment, with the aim of enhancing banks’ incentives to take account of sovereign risk and increasing their resilience to such risk” (ESRB 2015).
From a systemic risk perspective, 0% risk weights should be questioned for various reasons:
Large exposure risk - increased solvency risk at the individual bank level due to over-investment and risk concentration;
Systemic risk for the financial system in the low-probability case of a realisation of sovereign risks (i.e. the ‘doom loop’); and
Crowding out of the private sector (Figure 2) - regulation allows a bank to hold quasi-default free, 0% risk-weighted sovereign paper, thus reducing the appetite for private-sector loans that carry not only a high risk weight, but also a significant risk of not performing.2
Figure 2. Loan-to-deposit ratios and EGB holdings
Source: ECB, Citi Research
The demand for 0% risk weight assets
We think that banks and insurance companies are very likely to continue playing a significant role in the demand for European government bonds, even in a scenario of non-0% risk weights. Furthermore, we also think that European officials should establish a level regulatory playing field between sovereign, quasi-sovereign and non-sovereign risk under the assumption that government bonds are not risk-free any longer.
Timing is of key importance. We argue that introducing non-0% risk weight in the current market environment would be more disruptive to bond valuations than during the Global Crisis. Not only are European banks now better capitalised and their balance sheet risks better understood, but European government bonds markets are also benefiting from the ECB’s support.
A risk-based, country-by-country approach and a non-country-specific large exposure limit are the most discussed schemes. There are various permutations of a risk-based weighting scheme, but in general, any weighting scheme will imply a trade-off between the precision of risk mapping and the implied pro-cyclicality of applying a risk weight.
Figure 3. The effect of regulatory scenarios on banks’ holdings of EGBs
Note: Euros in billions.
Source: ECB; Citi Research.
To analyse the effect of a regulatory change on banks’ holdings of European government bonds, we glance at a snapshot of the data together with alternative distributions of portfolio weights (Citi Euro Weights 2015). In Figure 3, we show different schemes and define the ‘home bias’ as the ratio of domestic to total European government bonds held by banks. The underlying thought is that positive risk weights would force a reallocation of sovereign risk across banks. Of interest are the two limit cases of a ‘change in benchmark’ and the more controversial case of a strict 25% large exposure threshold on domestic holdings.
The extreme examples below are illustrative of the reallocation of European government bonds:
Proportionality to total MFI assets: Italian and Spanish banks would have to reduce their total government bonds holdings by €221 billion and €124 billion, respectively. By contrast, French banks would have to increase holdings by €220 billion. Total government bond holdings across the banking sector would remain at €1.76 trillion, in other words, this policy option is a pure redistribution of risk.
Proportionality to EGBI: Same redistribution of government bonds risk as above, albeit less aggressive.
Large exposure cap for domestic holdings: Total domestic bond risk across Eurozone’s banks would decline sharply by €870 billion (i.e. 66% of domestic EGB holdings). This policy measure afflicts all countries, in particular Italy (-€305 billion) and Spain (-€178 billion) due to their significant home bias.
Again, note how the ECB’s public sector purchase programme (PSPP) acts as a smoothing factor. In that sense, one has to wonder about the negative effect on European bonds valuations of a transition from 0% risk weights to non-0% risk weights in the absence of the monetary policy support.
Conclusions and policy recommendations
Non-0% risk weights for sovereigns are likely to be introduced in European financial regulation. We have a hard time finding arguments in favour of treating government bonds as risk-free assets.
The discussion about the modality is well alive and there does not seem to be a consensus between the ECB/SSM (risk weighted approach) and the European Commission (large exposure approach).
If managed carefully – especially when it comes to timing and modality – we don’t think that the regulatory innovation will be a negative shock to bond valuation.
The potential European government bonds rebalancing flow, both in terms of regional allocation and total investment, could end up being sizeable. Regulators are strongly urged to perform impact studies taking into account the regional bias of bond holdings.
The process of regulatory tightening continues and adds layers of complexity to an already complex environment. The interplay between the leverage ratio and risk-based measures is just one example. 3
The new regulation should take the form of a new Basel Accord, otherwise risking a cross-border regulatory arbitrage that would ultimately harm the profitability and international competitiveness of European banks.
Changes to the risk treatment of sovereign bonds would imply changes for quasi-sovereign debt as well.
The process of reassessing public sector risk should not stop with government bond markets. Public sector loans might also come under regulatory pressure. In this case, German banks might end up being affected more than peripheral credit institutions.
Authors' note: Please refer to important analyst disclosures and disclaimers at the end of the published research here and here.
References
Citi Euro Rates (2012), “Eurozone’s Lost Decade”.
Citi Euro Rates (2014), “Low-for-Longer: Not Even at Half Time”.
Citi Euro Rates (2015), “On the Likelihood of Non-0% RW for European Government Bonds”.
Constâncio, V (2015), “The Role of Stress Testing in Supervision and Macroprudential Policy”, speech, 29 October.
EPSC (2015), “Further Risk Reduction in the Banking Union”, Five Presidents’ Report Series.
ESRB (2015), ESRB Report on the Regulatory Treatment of Sovereign Exposures.
Lautenschläger, S (2013), “The Leverage Ratio: A Simple and Comparable Measure?”, speech, 21 October.
Nouy, D (2012), “Is Sovereign Risk Properly Addressed by Financial Regulation?”, Financial Stability Review No. 16, Banque de France.
Endnotes
[1] “EU Plans to Review Rules on Banks’ Exposure to Sovereign Bonds”, Reuters, 24 November 2015.
[2] Crowding out of the private sector, the evolution of bank holdings of sovereign risk and the effect on EGBs’ pricing has been a key theme for us in the past, see Citi Euro Rates (2012, 2014).
[3] Fender / Lewrick (2015), “Calibrating the Leverage Ratio”, BIS Quarterly Review, December 2015.Move over, gondolas – there just may be a new transit game in (Disney) town.
As driverless technology continues to slowly expand across the country, it appears as if Disney is seriously considering implementing automated vehicles at its Walt Disney World Resort later this year. According to the LA Times, the first step would be to initiate a limited trial run – driverless buses that would only carry employees to work – which would probably kick off in the fourth quarter; if successful, the company would want to expand the shuttles’ deployment in 2018 to include guests and, presumably, the entire resort.
Given the scope and complexity of Disney World’s transportation system – it ranks up there with major metropolitan areas’ public transit systems, such as Chicago’s – this would immediately make the roll-out the biggest yet for “electric-drive robot vehicles.” At the same time, however, the move wouldn’t stray too far from the premise behind all the pervious, more-limited pilot programs; public testing so far has been conducted at both college and business campuses in various locations around the world, areas that have well-defined boundaries, meticulously-mapped roadways, and rather predictable traffic flows. Disney’s themed empire in Orlando fits all these requirements, although it would scale the size up to some 13,000 acres.
The Times reports that The Walt Disney Company is currently in “late-stage negotiation[s]” with two different driverless vehicle manufacturers: Local Motors, which is headquartered in Phoenix, and Navya, based in Paris. Both companies’ shuttles hew to the nascent-industry standard – room for roughly a dozen passengers, top speeds of 25 mph, and technological packages that include cameras, radar, and laser sensors – and the contract could go to one or both of them.
Beyond the economic and ecological benefits this would bring to the resort, there is the possibility of seeing this spread to all the other Central Florida operators. Universal, in particular, would most likely follow suit – although bus traffic from the on-site hotels to CityWalk is minimal (save for Cabana Bay Beach Resort, that is, which relies exclusively on shuttles to transport guests to the theme parks), the arrival of Volcano Bay next month will see a huge increase in resort-wide transportation needs.
Given Florida’s regulation-friendly climate to the driverless-car industry and its huge influx of tourists, it’s very likely that Orlando’s market will be well penetrated by the tech in the short term. And in the mid-term, the state could well be the leader in clean, cheap transit options, including the compelling hyperloop.
In this way, one could say that theme parks are the wave of the future.
–
Be sure to follow Orlando Informer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest news, tips, and rumors at Universal Orlando, Walt Disney World, and other Orlando attractions.The Catalan government is considering the option of calling early elections in the region, according to its far-left ally in the regional assembly, the CUP party.
But the small separatist group, whose support is crucial to the governing coalition Junts pel Si (Together for Yes), will oppose an election “radically, because this is the nuclear weapon designed to end the Catalan independence process,” said CUP deputy Carles Riera on Tuesday.
The government’s deliberations are secret. I will not answer in order to avoid speculation Jordi Turull, Catalan government spokesman
If Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont were to call elections, it could potentially halt the activation of emergency measures due to be rolled out on Saturday and allowing Madrid to take over Catalonia’s affairs.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has invoked Article 155 of the Constitution, which allows the central government to temporarily impose direct rule in a renegade region.
The Spanish Senate is scheduled to meet this coming Friday to approve measures that include relieving the entire Catalan governing team of its duties and transferring these to Spanish ministries. In a public appearance last Saturday, Rajoy added that fresh elections will be called within the next six months.
Socialist spokeswoman Margarita Robles speaking on Tuesday. JJGuillen EFE
The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), which helped the Popular Party (PP) goverment draft the list of emergency measures along with the reform party Ciudadanos, said on Tuesday that if Catalonia calls new elections within the constitutional framework and rejects a unilateral declaration of independence, “there would be no reason to implement 155,” according to the PSOE’s congressional spokeswoman, Margarita Robles.
Justice Minister Rafael Catalá cautioned on Tuesday morning that even if Puigdemont were to announce new elections this week, this in itself would not be enough to stop the application of the emergency measures. That can only happen if Puigdemont drops his plans for independence entirely and embraces the Constitution once again.
In the meantime, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría has told the Onda Cero radio station that “the Senate has the ability to adapt to whatever Puigdemont and the Catalan parliament do.”
The Catalan parliament is scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday for a debate on the implications of Article 155 for the region, and what the response should be. The CUP has suggested that a full declaration of independence could be issued and put to the vote, following the symbolic declaration of October 10.
But the CUP, whose role as a necessary ally has made it a major player in Catalan politics despite having the fewest deputies in the chamber (10), will fight the push for early elections.
“It would be an act of submission, of serfdom. They (Spain) are treating us like a colony,” said Riera. “Calling regional elections would be the most demolishing tool to halt the independence process.”
The Catalan government spokesman, Jordi Turull, would not confirm whether elections are on the table.
“The government’s deliberations are secret. I will not answer that in order to avoid speculation,” he said at a news conference.
The Senate has offered Puigdemont the possibility of a one-on-one debate, “very possibly” with PM Mariano Rajoy, when the committee in charge of the emergency measures meets on Thursday, or else at the plenary session on Friday. But those dates coincide with the debate scheduled inside the Catalan parliament.
English version by Susana Urra.Roger Federer has no plans of calling time on his career in tennis having signed a three-year deal with a Swiss indoor event until 2019, dispelling doubts that he will retire any time soon.
The deal which will see Federer return to play in his hometown of Basel ensures he will still be playing at the age of 38.
The 35-year-old returned after six months from a knee injury to win the 2017 Australian Open on 29 January, beating long-time rival Rafael Nadal in the final to lift his 18th career Grand Slam.
The world number nine, who was in Prague to promote the Laver Cup, says he was tempted to leave the sport on a high like Pete Sampras did after winning the 2002 US Open, but wants to keep experiencing the joys of winning.
"I guess in a faraway place it did cross my mind: How could I ever top this?" Federer told the New York Times.
"But then again, the joy was so big, and I kept on watching the reaction of my team when I won the match point in Australia and how they were jumping for joy. Unbelievable. So much fun. I feel like I want to go through it again."
The Swiss is also happy that he did not have to play straightaway after winning his first Grand Slam since July 2012 where he won Wimbledon.
"This one definitely has had maybe the longest effect of any of the Grand Slam wins in my career," he added. "I'm so happy because I didn't have to play in the following weeks. It's really allowed me to reflect and enjoy."
"In the past in 2003, when I won Wimbledon for the first time, I was in Gstaad the next day practising and stuff. It's very different this time. I'm still riding the wave, still feeling like I'm on cloud nine."
Reiterating that he still has plenty of tennis left in him, he said: "The goal, when I took my break of six months, was doing this for the next couple years, not just for one tournament."
"I understand people who say, 'Oh, this would be a perfect moment to go.' But I feel like I've put in so much work, and I love it so much, and I still have so much in the tank."Carl McCunn (1946 – December 18, 1981) was an American wildlife photographer who became stranded in the Alaskan wilderness and eventually committed suicide when he ran out of supplies.
Early life [ edit ]
McCunn was born in Munich, Germany, when his father Donovan McCunn was in the United States Army, and was raised in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from high school in 1964 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy shortly after dropping out of community college. McCunn served in the Navy for four years and was discharged in 1969. He briefly lived in Seattle, Washington before settling in Anchorage, Alaska in 1970.[citation needed]
Alaskan excursion [ edit ]
McCunn had lived five months on the Brooks Range in 1976. In March 1981, he paid a bush pilot to land him at a remote lake approximately 225 miles (362 km) northeast of Fairbanks, near the Coleen River, in the Alaskan wilderness, on the southern margin of the Brooks Range. McCunn intended to photograph wildlife for about five months.[1] On this trip, he flew in with 500 rolls of film, 1,400 pounds (640 kg) of provisions, two rifles, and a shotgun. Not believing he would need them, he prematurely disposed of boxes of shotgun shells in the river near his camp. Although McCunn thought he had arranged for the pilot to return for him in August, he had apparently never confirmed this.[2] In early August, when the expected plane had not arrived, he wrote in his diary, "I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure. I'll soon find out."
By mid-August, it became obvious to McCunn that the bush pilot was not going to return for him. At this point he attempted to make his provisions last longer by shooting local game. He shot ducks, muskrats, and tried drying the meat of a caribou he observed die in the lake. At this point, McCunn's diary indicated his hope that his family or friends would send someone to look for him after he failed to return was gone. McCunn had sent three maps with his campsite marked to some friends and his father, but was not clear about his exact itinerary. Although his father knew he would be in the area, he did not know when McCunn planned on returning. McCunn had also told his father not to be concerned if he did not return at the end of the summer, as he might stay later in the season if things went well.[2]
Sighting [ edit ]
An Alaska State Trooper flew over the lake in late August and observed McCunn's campsite. The pilot did not sense McCunn was in distress, since he waved a red bag very casually and, on his third pass of the campsite, he saw McCunn casually walking back to his tent. The State Trooper later testified he saw no reason to surmise McCunn needed any assistance. McCunn later wrote in his diary: "I recall raising my right hand, shoulder high and shaking my fist on the plane's second pass. It was a little cheer – like when your team scored a touchdown or something. Turns out that's the signal for 'ALL O.K. DO NOT WAIT!' Man, I can't believe it!"[1]
A state trooper, who spoke with McCunn before his trip and helped him mark his campsite on a map, stated that McCunn was aware of a hunting cabin located 5 miles (8.0 km) from his campsite. It is unclear why he did not use it when the weather began getting colder.[2] Eventually snow began falling, and the lake froze. Game became increasingly scarce, and McCunn set snares for rabbits, but the traps were frequently raided by wolves and foxes. By November, McCunn had run out of food. He considered trying to walk to Fort Yukon, approximately 75 miles (121 km) away, but was unable to make the trek due to snow and his weakened condition. By November 26 he wrote of having dizzy spells and almost constant chills.
Death [ edit ]
Sometime soon afterward, McCunn decided to commit suicide. He used all his remaining fuel supplies to create a warm fire. He wrote, “Dear God in Heaven, please forgive me my weakness and my sins. Please look over my family.” He wrote a letter to his father instructing him how to develop his film. He also requested that all his personal belongings be given to his father by whoever found him. McCunn even suggested that the person who found him take his rifle and shotgun for their trouble. He then pinned his Alaska driver's license to the note |
what he claimed to be a poisoned drink in order to prove their loyalty.Families of temple members began to petition the government to investigate. In November 1977, San Francisco-area Congressman Leo J. Ryan traveled to Guyana accompanied by journalists and several relatives of temple members. Three days later, the group spoke with Jones and his followers at Jonestown.A number of Jonestown members indicated that they wanted to leave the commune. Ryan arranged for 16 members to return to the U.S. with his group. On Nov. 18, as the group prepared to leave the country from an airstrip in Georgetown, armed Jonestown guards attacked and killed Ryan, three journalists and one defector.Soon after, Jones delivered his final address to his congregation. He told them that Ryan’s plane was going to crash, which would attract government attention and threaten their way of life. He said that it was time to commit suicide. Temple member Christine Miller pleaded with Jones not to do it, but she was shouted down by other members.“So my opinion is that you be kind to children and be kind to seniors and take the potion like they used to take in ancient Greece and step over quietly because we are not committing suicide; it's a revolutionary act,” Jones said. “We can't go back; they won't leave us alone.”At about 5 p.m., Jones distributed a flavored drink poisoned with cyanide. More than 200 babies and young children were forced to drink poisonous cyanide first, and then the rest of the population followed. Armed guards threatened those who were reluctant to drink. Nine hundred and nine people died, all but two from the poisoned drink. Jones was killed by a gunshot, though it is unclear whether he committed suicide or was killed by somebody else. Just four people in the camp at the time survived: two elderly residents who slept through the suicide and two who hid.Despite his past comments advocating for a full withdrawal, reports say Trump will likely announce an increase of US military troops in Afghanistan
Donald Trump will address the nation on Monday night as he lays out his strategy for the continuing US involvement in the war in Afghanistan.
What is Trump expected to say about Afghanistan tonight?
Trump is due to outline his strategy on Afghanistan and the broader south Asian region. Most reports said this will involve an increase of a further 4,000 troops on top of the roughly 8,000-strong US military presence. The US military commander, Gen John Nicholson, told Afghan troops on Sunday: “We are with you and we will stay with you.” However, the details are being very closely held and Trump is unpredictable to say the least. He was a determined opponent of a continued US role in the 16-year war before coming to the White House, and angrily rejected a troop increase proposal by his national security adviser, HR McMaster, at a reportedly acrimonious meeting in July.
The war America can't win: how the Taliban are regaining control in Afghanistan Read more
What is the military situation in Afghanistan now?
The defence secretary, James Mattis, has admitted the US and its allies are “not winning” the war in Afghanistan. The Kabul government had control over just over half the districts in the country by the end of last year, which was 15% down on the year before. The Taliban are pressing government forces across the country and the local Isis affiliate, the Islamic State in Khorasan, is on the rise.
Officially, there are 8,400 US troops in the country – although Mattis has suggested the real number may be higher – most of them serving as trainers and advisers to the Afghan national army, with 2,000 special forces and support troops tasked with a specific counterterrorism operations against Isis and other militants.
What are Trump’s options?
The option Trump advocated vociferously before becoming president was a full withdrawal, leaving the war to the Afghan government and any other allies willing to stay. The security vacuum would be left to private security contractors, such as those working for Erik Prince, the founder of the infamous Blackwater mercenary company. Prince – a Trump ally and brother of the education secretary, Betsy DeVos – has been lobbying in Washington for the privatisation of the Afghan war for some months.
If Trump bows to the opinions of Mattis and McMaster, he will agree to the troop increase, intended to help the Afghan government hold its ground and convince the Taliban that the US will not allow Kabul to fall, so that they agree to substantive peace talks. The Trump administration’s back-channel contacts with the North Koreans suggests that it would not be ideologically averse to secret talks. However, Trump’s long antipathy to the US presence in Afghanistan may make it harder to convince the Taliban that they cannot wait out Washington’s diminishing patience.
US plan to improve Afghan intelligence operations branded a $457m failure Read more
What to look for in Trump’s speech tonight
From the experience of the past seven months, the more that Trump’s Afghan policy represents continuity with Obama administration and reflects the advice from his more conventional advisers, the more emphasis the president will put on how new and unparalleled his policy is.
It will be interesting to see if he makes reference to his past scepticism about the war. The overall framing will almost certainly be as an intensification of the offensive against Isis and other jihadists threatening the US. Also look for heavy emphasis on what the Kabul government and Nato allies will have to do if the US is to remain; the need for the Afghans to do more about corruption could be a theme.
More is likely to be asked of the Pakistani government in the effort to oust the Haqqani terrorist and criminal network which is based on Pakistani territory. Nicholson will be watching the speech especially keenly as Trump is reported to have demanded his dismissal in July, and he was excluded from a final consultation with the president on Saturday.Introduction and Warning:
Note: The following post contains portions of the author’s opinion. Most of the data relies on insight from the author after browsing several forums, blogs, videos, Twitter and more. A lot of time and effort by using a variety of sources was employed to minimize potential bias in the results.
EDIT: This data includes information from April 1st – August 30th. This is why Roy is included in the final results.
Hello! I’m happy to present the ‘final results’ for which characters are being requested in Japan. I mentioned this in the Tentative Results post, but please understand how these votes were calculated. Essentially, I read over 1,000 posts, tweets, etc and counted how often a character’s name was mentioned, and in what context. This time, I decided to add “points” based on how that user felt about the character. If a user felt that a character was a “shoo-in” then I awarded more points. On the reverse, if a character was seen as “less-likely” then they got less “points”. The reason I did this is because this method is highly ineffective for actually counting how much a character is requested. This is because with this method, I’m bound to pick up on the loudest fanbases. The loudest fanbase is not necessarily the biggest. Instead of acting like I can actually measure the biggest fanbase, I decided to fully embrace measuring the loud fanbases.
I have discussed this issue with polling in the past, and it’s something that I constantly witness in my own polling. Just recently, I started the Ultimate Smash Ballot Poll. As of writing, the poll has over 1,200 votes! The poll was shared by Jordan Sweeto (You can watch his newest single here), who asked for people to vote for Krystal on his Twitter. This caused the number of votes to greatly increase, and Krystal is now ranked “1” in that poll with over 400 votes (I believe K. Rool is currently 2nd with 87 votes for those of you who are wondering). Was Krystal that demanded on the actual ballot? Was K. Rool? It’s impossible to tell without the actual ballot data. I don’t think we’ll ever know the true results of the ballot, and we need to remember that all of our polling efforts are measuring “loud” support and not “actual” support.
As I’ve mentioned before this is the final results of my research, with over 1,000 “votes”, I did want to include more “votes” but I need to move onto my next project. In order to alleviate my concerns of not fulfilling my original scope, I decided to include additional information (mostly summaries) of how the Japanese community has reacted to certain events. A lot of these are unsurprising. When I read over comments, I got a strange sense of deja-vu, as it’s literally the same exact conversations that occurred in the West–just in Japanese.
I’ve written more about the shortcomings of online polling in a previous post titled, “The Dangers of Online Polling”. If you are interested in hearing my full thoughts on the matter, please look over that post.
With all that out of the way, let’s look at some of the results:
Note: the percents were calculated by using the sum of the top 19. Why 19? Honestly, I intended to do the top 20 but I messed up and forgot to include the next row. By the time I realized it, I was already over 40 minutes into editing the image. Sorry Pichu fans.
Before I show you the full results (which includes Pichu) a quick shout out: gameonion helped improve the image! You can follow him on Twitter. He also has a YouTube channel where he regularly posts videos.
However, if you have followed my previous post on Perception of Smash DLC in Japan, or Chronobound’s work, the general flow of the results aren’t too surprising.
Rank: Character name: Total “Votes” Percent of Top 50 1 King K. Rool 115 7.57% 2 Wolf 97 6.38% 3 Roy 90 5.92% 4 Waddle Dee 82 5.39% 5 Inklings 72 4.74% 6 Snake 62 4.08% 7 Magolor 58 3.82% 8 Ice Climber 51 3.36% 9 Geno 51 3.36% 10 Banjo and Kazooie 51 3.36% 11 Paper Mario 51 3.36% 12 Krystal 38 2.50% 13 Ashley 37 2.43% 14 Jibyanyan 35 2.30% 15 Dixie 32 2.11% 16 Arle Nadja 30 1.97% 17 Cloud 29 1.91% 18 Isaac 27 1.78% 19 Bayonetta 27 1.78% 20 Pichu 24 1.58% 21 Ridley 23 1.51% 22 Ray 22 1.45% 23 Captain Toad 22 1.45% 24 Shadow the Hedgehog 21 1.38% 25 Viridi 20 1.32% 26 Micaiah 20 1.32% 27 Magmite 19 1.25% 28 Chrom 18 1.18% 29 Mega Man Zero 18 1.18% 30 Waluigi 17 1.12% 31 Sora (Kingdom Hearts) 17 1.12% 32 Toon Ganon 16 1.05% 33 Klonoa 16 1.05% 34 Midna 16 1.05% 35 Ryu 16 1.05% 36 Goemon 16 1.05% 37 Child Link 15 0.99% 38 Sukapon 15 0.99% 39 Dark Knight 15 0.99% 40 Dunban (Xeno) 14 0.92% 41 Monster Hunter 13 0.86% 42 Adeleine 13 0.86% 43 Black Shadow 12 0.79% 44 Daisy 12 0.79% 45 Bomberman 12 0.79% 46 Viewitiful Joe 12 0.79% 47 Pokemon Trainer 11 0.72% 48 Galacta Knight. 10 0.66% 49 Nick/ Captain Rainbow 10 0.66% 50 Knuckles 10 0.66%
There’s actually 200 other characters that I attempted to track. However, this list of 50 quickly formed to be the most talked about characters on the websites I read.
As you can probably tell, there is a big difference between the top 20 characters, and the rest. There is some definite “rallying around that character” being observed in the data. In a lot of the 2ch and blog posts that I’ve collected for this data, it seemed that after a character was mentioned the likelihood of that character being mentioned again drastically increased.
One of the interesting things to note was how incorporating Twitter has affected my results. In the tentative results, I only included information from 2ch posts/ blogs, but after incorporating Twitter I observed the following. Veterans were generally far more likely to be requested on Twitter than certain ‘expected’ newcomers. The gap between fan-favorite newcomers like K. Rool and Waddle Dee closed when I started to count Twitter “votes”. In particular, Snake and Roy benefited from counting the Twitter votes. With Twitter, I also saw a lot of “one votes” or votes for characters that weren’t as popular. On blogs/2ch, it seemed like some users were hesitant to mention oddball choices, as when they were posted they were often after a warning saying they knew they were unlikely, or ‘In a small voice:’. Again, I believe this is an effect of “rallying support” for certain characters, and may not be indicative of how people actually voted.
I thought it’d be interesting to compare the rankings to my previous data set with this new “rankings”. Only the top 20 on the new poll are included.
New Rank: Character Name: Ranking Change from February: 1 King K. Rool Up 6 2 Wolf Same 3 Roy Up 2 4 Waddle Dee Up 10 5 Inklings Up 15 6 Snake Down 3 7 Magolor (No data) 8 Ice Climbers Down 4 9 Geno Up 10 10 Banjo and Kazooie Up 23 11 Paper Mario Same 12 Krystal Down 4 13 Ashley Up 27 14 Jibyanyan Up 4 15 Dixie Down 5 16 Arle Nadja Up 5 17 Cloud (No Data) 18 Isaac Down 3 19 Bayonetta Up 27 20 Pichu Down 14
Possible Explanations:
One of the possibilities is that as I incorporated more data in this the rankings naturally changed. I don’t believe they are representative of the actual ballot, but perhaps they got a little “closer.” The other explanation is that time has had an impact on how “wanted” certain characters are. With Mewtwo’s release and the announcement of the Smash Ballot, perhaps the Japanese Smash community felt that another Pokemon representative wasn’t needed? Or since the vote was a fill in, perhaps people instead split their votes behind their favorite Pokemon instead of just asking for a veteran? There isn’t really a clear answer at this point in time.
Magolor and Cloud both were not included in the rankings I posted back in February. Again, the fact that users could vote for anyone may have increased support for these characters. An important thing to note about Magolor and Waddle Dee is that I’ve seen a lot of posts claiming that the Kirby Series is underrepped. This explains why we have 3 Kirby reps in the top 50. The Kirby franchise is very popular in Japan, so I’m not too surprised by this feeling.
The Ice Climbers and Snake falling in the rankings might have to do with external issues. Sakurai stressing that he tried his best to get the Ice Climbers working in his collection of Famitsu Columns, as well as the continued Konami controversy, might be the reasons these two veterans seen some negative change. As mentioned before, the open-ended nature of the ballot might have had some impact on their rankings, too. Paper Mario received no boost, nor decline in popularity. His ranking stayed exactly the same.
The Inklings shot up in requests, most likely due to the continued success of Splatoon. It should be noted, however, that some have seen their Mii costumes as indication that the Inklings aren’t coming.
Geno, Banjo, and Kazooie and Bayonetta also saw more “requests.” I think that Geno and Banjo and Kazooie supporters in particular feel that this is their chance to finally get their character of choice in Smash. It’s important to note that the comments by Phil Spencer about allowing Nintendo to use Banjo and Kazooie were translated into Japanese and have been talked about.
Wolf’s ranking stayed exactly the same. A lot of fans are still expecting him to come in, and some have noted about the potential cross-promotion with Star Fox: Zero. He is still by far the most wanted veteran to come back.
It seems that Dixie’s support declined, and K. Rool’s increased. Some of the Dixie Kong requests originate from feeling of lack of representation for the Donkey Kong series in Japan, so some fans may have decided to back K. Rool as he had overwhelming support. The reaction following King K. Rool costume revelation was pretty much the same as it was in the West. A lot of posters were shocked, some felt insulted. Many felt that the costume severely hurts K. Rool’s chances, while others believe it’s Sakurai “trolling” the fanbase.
REACTIONS TO WESTERN POLLS:
The “Viable Contenders List” was talked about extensively. I’m not 100% sure, but it seems that The Land of Concord might be the original source of the image. I’m unsure how they counted “popularity” but that’s beside the point of this post.
The “Viable Contenders List” was posted on smashbros-matome, and I encountered the image quite a bit while searching for Twitter mentions of the ballot. It seems that this list of characters is what Japanese users believe is popular in the West.
In regards to Shovel Knight and Shantae being popular in the West: A lot hasn’t changed since I posted the “What is a Shovel Knight” reaction translation. The amiibo and Smash DLC rumors did make its way to Japanese sites. After hearing the rumors, the reactions were a mix of, “Who is he?” and “Hurry up and localize the game!”. There isn’t anything really interesting to report besides that.
Sadly, I haven’t seen a lot of polling efforts by the Japanese community. I’m not sure why, but the Western community is much more interesting in online polling.
Final Thoughts:
As mentioned in the introduction and in the discussion of the results, “bandwagoning” is a real thing. Support groups have been made in order to spread propaganda towards their character of choice. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing. In some cases, these support groups have elevated characters which would have little to no chance without popularity. However, we should be careful not to mistake popularity within the hardcore Smash fandom as general popularity. One of the best “proof” of this is the fact that Ryu is ranked #35 in this data set. In the Perception of Smash DLC in Japan, Ryu was ranked #23. The “no fighter game character” misquote was translated into Japanese. Either way, he wasn’t that heavily requested — not even the top 20. I also noticed the bandwagoning effect when I measured poll data pre and post share among support groups. Therefore, with Ryu’s inclusion Sakurai and his team might be looking at more factors than just what the hardcore want.
Lastly, the way people vote is very different when they have one vote then when it’s open ended. This is the one of the reasons that we at Source Gaming have decided to help BluePikmin11 with his Individual Character Polls. We are hoping that the data will reveal some valuable insight in what characters are popular, in the general sense. Already we can see that the frontrunners differ greatly if you give people more of a choice. I witnessed this in my 2 vets/2 newcomers or 4 newcomers poll, and we are seeing this on a grander scale with BluePikmin11’s polls. In order to see the ongoing results, please vote and then check the links on the poll’s post page.
If you are able to, I’m running a patreon for the site. I’m running the site completely out of my own pocket and the day-to-day operations of Source Gaming is extremely demanding. It’s not easy compiling all of this research for the community, but we do because we are extremely passionate about Smash Brothers and gaming in general. If you are able to help out with social media efforts, please contact me on Twitter.
Thanks to everyone that has helped out with Source Gaming’s polling efforts. We are handling a lot of data, but we are excited to share the results with the community. Please leave a comment below!
Please “like” us on Facebook! Also check out the Source Gaming subreddit! I’m also reposting some of the older content on both Facebook and Twitter. I’m sharing different posts on each service, so make sure to subscribe to both!
PushDustIn is excited to start working on his next project. You can follow him on Twitter, where he might start dropping hints on what it is.U.S. Navy frigates will stop patrolling for drug runners by April because of forced sequestration budget cuts, a Navy spokesman told USNI News on Monday.
On Saturday, U.S. 4th Fleet was informed by Navy leadership it would suspend deployments of two ships—part of the Joint Interagency Task Force South’s Operation Martillo—by April because of the 1 March sequestration cuts, said the 4th Fleet’s Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker.
“The cancellation and deferment of ship deployments to 4th Fleet is unfortunate,” Barker said. “We will remain hopeful that Congress will act so we can recover and continue those missions.”
Currently the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates USS Gary (FFG-51) and Thach (FFG-43) patrol the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific looking for drug runners using either high-speed “go-fast,” boats or slow-moving, hard-to-detect drug submarine-like craft to smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine and other drugs from South America into the United States.
With the frigates out of the picture, the amount of drugs entering the country will increase, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp told USNI News following Tuesday’s State of the Coast Guard address.
“We already don’t have enough surface assets down there to interdict all of the drugs that are smuggled from South America into North America,” Papp said.
“If those [frigates] go, we don’t have enough platforms to put Coast Guard Law Enforcement Teams on. We would be down to the point where we would only be using Coast Guard cutters and we don’t have enough [of those] to meet the demand JIATF South has for us.”
Along with Coast Guard cutters, help from Navy and Air Force reconnaissance aircraft and limited international involvement, the Navy helps stop about one-third of illicit drugs bound for the United States. Ships from the U.S. Navy and other international navies host U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments. The LEDET teams provide ships with the legal authority to interdict suspected traffickers and make arrests as necessary.
“The other complicated thing that goes beyond the U.S. Navy [is that] Great Britain used to provide a ship down there, the Dutch used to provide a ship, the French used to provide a ship and they are all having defense budget problems now and are withdrawing from the Caribbean,” Papp said.
The Navy planned to relieve the Gary with the San Diego, Calif. -ported USS Rentz (FFG-46) in April but with the cuts, Rentz would remain pierside. The Thach entered 4th Fleet in February and could be sent back to San Diego as early as the end of March, Barker said.
“Since we started Operation Martillo on 15 January 2012, partner nations have supported 67 percent of the law-enforcement interdictions of illicit traffickers,” read a statement from JIATF South that was provided to USNI News. “We will continue to look to these partners and employ the assets we have to maximize and sustain the successes we are now realizing against illicit traffickers.”
Since its start, Operation Martillo (Spanish for hammer) has intercepted more than 145,000 kilos (160 tons) of cocaine—worth about $4 billion—125 tons of marijuana, and $3.5 million in drug money, Barker said.
Flights of Navy P-3 reconnaissance aircraft based in El Salvador will continue for now, Barker said.
The Navy faces $9 billion in budget reductions for Fiscal Year 2013 if the current sequestration cuts stand and the services faces a yearlong Continuing Resolution.Image copyright AP
Japanese messaging app Line is set to raise up to $1.3bn (£1bn) when it lists its shares later this week.
The company set its flotation price at 3,300 yen ($33; £25) per share, at the top end of the expected range.
Line will list its shares in a dual offering in New York and Tokyo on 14 and 15 July.
Line is the most popular messaging app in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan, and its flotation is set to be the world's biggest tech listing so far this year.
Global expansion plans
The messenger app was started in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to offer a communications platform when many phone services where down.
Line is owned by South Korea's Naver Corporation and hopes the share sale will not only raise funds but also boost its profile to tie in with global expansion plans.
While dominant in a number of Southeast Asian markets, the company has been struggling to expand its user base further.
Line has about 218 million monthly active users and makes its money from advertising as well as selling its virtual stickers and games.Browser games have gradually evolved over time, catering different playstyles and integrating various mechanics from its client-based cousins in the comforts of our web browsers. Despite the massive amount of browser games available today, this MMO category is still very young, which leaves a lot of room for improvement and growth with each new release. It’s very intriguing to know that we may all end up playing our favorite MMOs within the comforts of our web browsers in the near future, eventually removing the hassle of downloading giant patches and client installation.
We, at MMOGames, were given the opportunity to test Warflare, an upcoming MMORPG browser game by Gamebox, the same company responsible for familiar titles like Odin’s Quest, Rise of Mythos and Inferno Legend. I can’t stress this enough—the game feels like a mixture of Diablo 3 and Cabal Online all mixed into one browser-based package.
Jumping In!
The first thing I noticed about the game is its unusually diverse set of classes. So far, the alpha test only featured generic archetypes such as the Male Worrier (which I assume is just ‘Warrior’ misspelled), Male Mage, and Female Archer. Two other classes, namely the Tutor and Dark Knight, seem to have been greyed out from the class selection screen and may come at a later time. We’re still boggled as to why the last two characters mentioned did not carry a specific gender next to their names. Unisex perhaps?
As far as diversity of playstyles go, most of the classes SEEM to play differently; however, after playing with the three available classes, we have come to the conclusion that the difference between characters are almost merely aesthetical. Each of the characters seem to be capable of dealing with multiple enemies, considering the fact that they all have their own set of AOEs and single-targeting spells, somewhat indicating that it is possible to solo the game (much like Diablo). Keep in mind that the game is still in its early stages, so nothing is set in stone as of yet.
Warflare Questing Is A Breeze
To those who are unfamiliar with browser-based MMOs, Warflare also shares the same auto-pilot system used by its predecessors. Although you are given the option to manually kill enemies and fulfill minor fetch quests, you can also let the AI do all the work simply by clicking on the ‘Continue Quest’ button on the right side of the screen. This will prompt the system to do all the grinding for you. I actually found this system quite effective, as the AI was gracious enough to loot chests, use potions, hop from one quest-giver to another without specific commands. I for one still prefer to play manually, but at least there’s an option to gain progress while slacking off (a rather effective option).
Why Cabal Online?
Much like the early stages of Cabal Online, the monster species in the game are segregated into small parts of the map, kind of like a zoo of sorts. Related quest-givers are also conveniently located near the species in question, making it easier for players (or the bot) to kill N number of Frosty Wolves and surrender quests without hassle.
More Into The System
The combat system is highly reminiscent of Diablo 3. The game only allows characters to carry four skills at a time. Funny enough, once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize that four is all you’ll ever need to purge the ending hordes of evil. AOE skills also allow players to neutralize numerous threats at a time, allowing them to finish kill-quests and mow down dungeon mobs faster.
Speaking of dungeon runs, Warflare also has series of special dungeons that are unlocked at a given time. Much like the traditional MMO dungeons, these timed-runs offer better gear and a variety of rare items, so I suppose there are tons to look forward to everytime it refreshes.
Perhaps the most hilarious (and unique) feature the game has to offer is its over-the-top mount system. Unlike other MMORPGs, your mount can actually fight alongside you when facing a big number of monsters. My horse, example, transformed into a humanoid shortly after I engaged my target. It kinda reminds me of ‘Bravestarr’ in a way. It’s strange, I know, but I do appreciate the extra hand… or hoof.
A Familiar World
As far as aesthetics go, the game is quite visually pleasing for a browser game; although, it has come to my attention that the game recycled a few images found in other games and integrated it into their own. One solid example would be the angel states reminiscent of Tyrael (Diablo 3) found in one of Warflare’s main towns. The interface, as well as the spell icons also seem tad familiar. As for the character models, I can say that they look appealing considering that the game runs 100% on your browser. Those looking to eradicate texture load times can also download the game’s 1 MB client form for 888 diamonds, which I assume will be one of the game’s premium currencies.
Effort vs Cold Hard Cash
I wouldn’t go as far as the claim that the game is ‘Pay to Win’; infact, I actually managed to reach high levels without the need to pay for premium (that, and the game is still on its early stages). Nothing in the game really forces you to pay. I was never put in a position where I felt the need to shell out cash for damage boosts and the likes. I do, however, expect that premium subscribers will be able to finish tasks faster than the average user once the game comes out. A bit of a drag, I know, but that’s how free-to-play games work, right?
To players who don’t want to spend a single cent: almost everything in the game is attainable through effort…
Things To Look Forward To
In the congested world of browser-based MMO games, it’s really hard to give users a solid recommendation given the gradual similarities present on almost every iteration. On the other hand, this does not mean that Warflare is just another title in a sea of shovel-ware. If you’re looking to play something that feels, plays, and somewhat looks like Diablo 3 within the confines of your web-browser, then I suppose this game is worth waiting for.
If you’d like to try Warflare out for yourself head over to our closed beta key giveaway then go to the official Warflare website to redeem it!
Related: Browser(CNN) -- A 44-year-old Maryland woman faces charges of child abuse after police say she gave birth in a portable toilet and dropped the newborn into the waste tank.
A Maryland woman is charged with child abuse after police say she dropped her newborn into a portable toilet.
After exiting the portable toilet in Long Wharf Park in Cambridge, Candy Vigneri got a cigarette from a construction worker and sat at a picnic table, police Lt. Wayne Bromwell said.
As she sat, a male passer-by approached the toilet but Vigneri warned him, "Don't go in there, I just had a baby there," police said.
The man immediately called 911. Vigneri returned to the toilet and retrieved the newborn from the foul liquid at the base of the tank.
The baby was unresponsive and covered with a blue antibacterial chemical agent when emergency responders reached the scene, police said.
Don't Miss WMAR: Woman Gives Birth in Port-O-Potty
Vigneri told officers that she didn't know she was pregnant.
She was arrested Wednesday on charges of child abuse and reckless endangerment and is being held on a $50,000 bond.
The baby is in stable condition at Easton Memorial Hospital. Dorchester County social services will take control of the newborn after she is released from the hospital.
All About Child AbuseThis story Starts during Salem's monologue at the end of Volume 3, Chapter 12, where Ruby visits Summer's grave before setting out to Haven with Jaune, Ren, and Nora, and will continue after that point.
Ruby Rose:
A girl in a black dress with a red hood knelt down and brushed the snow that had accumulated over a slab of marble overlooking the cliff side. As the snow was brushed away, the engraving of a rose became clear in the sunlight, followed by a name carved in elegant cursive.
Summer Rose
As the last of the snow was brushed off of the slab of stone, another engraving became clear. A single line from a poem:
"Thus Kindly I Scatter"
As she stood back up and took a few steps back from the gravestone, Ruby Rose remembered reading the poem that line was from long ago, back when she was a little girl. She hadn't even understood what all of the words meant at the time, but she had understood enough to feel the sorrow pouring out of whoever had written it. She had made it a point to read it again before she had set out with team JNPR... or what remained of them, anyways. Reading it certainly put me in the mood for what I'm going to say now, if nothing else. Going over the poem again hadn't exactly been pleasant.
Ruby remembered the stories Yang and Summer had read to her when she was little. Stories where heroes went off and saved the world from evil villains and monsters. She had listened to more stories than she could count, absorbing them like a sponge.
The poem on her mother's grave wasn't about that type of hero.
In that tale, the hero was alone. Either her allies had either abandoned her or already fallen. In that tale, the hero gave up. Even when she was a little girl, she had understood that. It had always bothered her why her mother, the eternally kind, cheerful, warmhearted, optimistic Summer Rose, would want a line from such a depressing poem on her grave. She had never understood why Summer hadn't come back from that mission so many years ago.
She was a hero, wasn't she?
"I... I think I get it now Mom." Ruby finally said softly, noticing now that her throat was somewhat sore. She hadn't been crying lately, and she wasn't crying now. But her throat felt like she had been all the same. "In all those stories you read me... the heroes won. We won. We slayed the dragon, defeated the witch, stopped the thieves, locked up the murderer. Even if the best of us died to make sure it happened, it always did. We never failed."
"The real world isn't as simple as that. We don't always win... you didn't win." Ruby stared at the vague and hazy reflection of her face on the wet marble of her mother's tomb. The last time she had been here was three months ago, right before the Vytal festival tournament had begun. She remembered how she had felt them, colorful and bright as the trees during Fall.
But Fall always leads leads to Winter. And with Winter, comes decay. Ruby looked away from her mother's grave and observed the stark and desolate winter landscape that stretched out below her, filled only with black trees and white snow. There wasn't even a sound to be heard beyond her own voice, and the occasional mild gust of wind.
But, as tragic as the state of the landscape was, it made things much clearer. It was simpler now. Black and White. The clarity was useful.
"I don't know what your mission was for. I might never know... I don't think people like to talk about the heroes that failed... you know that you were a hero, right mom?" Ruby asked softly, not wanting to break the silence around her. "Qrow says you were special... that you were destined to be the best of the best of heroes, and so am I... all because we have silver eyes."
"But having silver eyes doesn't make me a hero. They didn't make you a hero. Nor did losing make you any less of one. Even though we knew that the heroes in the books would always win, the heroes themselves didn't. They faced down the worst the world had to offer... they knew they could die... you knew you could die... I know... I... might die..." Ruby managed to get out with some difficulty. She had known it for months now... but she had never said it until this point. " If that wasn't a risk, then what we did wouldn't be special, would it? Those stories wouldn't be worth talking about. They wouldn't give us any hope. They wouldn't be about heroes at all. "
"But there's more to it than that... a lot's happened in the past few months. A woman... Cinder Fall... she wound up destroying Beacon and damaging a lot of Vale. So many people were hurt... killed...My team..." Ruby paused for a moment as she considered how to put what she would say |
Home ownership among families declined, while food stamp receipt and parental unemployment increased. Even after the recession officially ended in 2009, these measures remained worse than before it began," said report co-author Jamie Lewis, a demographer in the Census Bureau's Fertility and Family Statistics Branch.
In some states, the statistic escalated dramatically, including Nevada with a 148 percent increase, Hawaii at 95 percent, Florida at 93 percent, and Connecticut, New Jersey and California each with gains of more than 60 percent.
RELATED Home price index shows gains moderating
In the same period, the number of households with children under 18 who owned their own homes plummeted, dropping by 15 percent to 20.8 million.
The largest declines were in Michigan, Arizona and California, with drops of 23 percent in Michigan and 22 percent in Arizona and California.
In Ohio, the decline was 20 percent. In New Hampshire and Florida, it was 19 percent, the Census Bureau said.
In another statistic that could be related to economics, the report said a higher percentage of adults ages 25 to 34 were living in their parents' home in 2012 than was the case in the early 2000s.
Among young adult men, the percentage rose from 13 percent to 17 percent from 2000 to 2012. For young adult women, the percentage rose from 8 percent to 10 percent, the report said.From native code to browser: Flash, Haxe, Dart or asm.js? November 17, 2014 If you developed your own video codec and wanted to watch the video in a browser what would you do? That is a question we faced a few years ago with ScreenPressor and at that time the answer was Flash. It was cross-platform, cross-browser, widely available and pretty fast if you use the right programming language, i.e. Haxe instead of ActionScript. So we implemented a decoder (and a player) in Flash back then. But now Flash is clearly on decline, supported only on desktop, meanwhile different browsers in a race for speed made JavaScript significantly faster than it was a few years ago. So I decided it's time to check how JS can compare to Flash when it comes to computation-intensive task such as a video codec. I really don't like the idea of writing in pure JavaScript 'cause the language is such a mess, I'd rather use something that at least gets closures, objects and modules right and has some static type checking. Since I already had working code in C++ for native code and in Haxe for Flash, obvious choices were using Emscripten to generate asm.js from C++ code and retargeting Haxe code to JS (just another target for Haxe compiler). Also, Dart is pretty close as a language (porting to Dart is simpler than rewriting in some Haskell or Lisp clones) and Dart VM is marketed as a faster and better replacement for JS engines, so I was curious to try it. To test and compare different languages and compilers I decided to implement in them a small part of the codec, the most CPU consuming one: decompression of a key frame to RGB24. I'm going to show the results first and then follow with some notes on each language. Here are the times for decompressing one particular 960x540 px frame on a laptop with a 2.4 GHz Core i3 CPU and Windows 8.1: Or in text: time, ms Size Chrome 38 Firefox 33 IE 11 Flash 57 58 58 6 KB Dart to JS 60 70 95 135 KB C++ to ASM.js 54 43 149 212 KB Haxe to JS 52 49 62 12 KB Native C++ 34 ms Dart on Dart VM 172 ms Follow the links to run the benchmarks for yourself. And here's some mobile story, time of the same operation in ms: A tablet with 1.3 GHz CPU on Android 4.2.2 Firefox 33.1 Chrome 39 Haxe to JS 250 289 ASM.js 197 330 A phone with 1.4 GHz CPU on Android 2.3.5, Firefox 33.0 Flash 403 Haxe to JS 313 ASM.js 296 Another curious comparison: Compilation time, in seconds: Haxe to JS 0.18 Haxe to Flash 0.13 dart2js 10.55 Emscripten 3.44 By the way, the picture used in the test shows a lossless compression from 960x540 = 518400 pixels = 1555200 bytes of RGB24 data to 149321 bytes, i.e. ~10x lossless compression. I couldn't reach similar size with PNG even with special tools, and JPG at this size shows visible artifacts. General thoughts Although people keep repeating "Flash is slow" it's actually pretty fast. 1.67 times slower than native C++ here, and in some other tests of mine sometimes only 20% slower. That's comparable to Java, C# or Go, and faster than most other languages/VMs. Of course, only if you use Haxe; with ActionScript it can easily be twice slower. It seems that at least in Firefox and Chrome (Chromium also) JavaScript can finally be faster than Flash and be just 1.3 - 2 times slower than native C++ code. Which is really impressive, taking into account its lack of static types and simple integer values (every number is a double there). Internet Explorer is somewhat behind, Flash is still the fastest option there. Among the tested languages none is a clear winner in all browsers, each browser has its own favorite. For example, asm.js is really great in Firefox but only because there is a special ahead of time compiler in Firefox that turns on for this code. Other browsers treat asm.js code as ordinary JavaScript and due to its increased size it often works slower than simple JS. Haxe is really great both in speed of generated code, its size and speed of code generation itself. A lesson to future compiler makers: if you want your compiler to be really fast use OCaml, not Java! Haxe is more complex than Dart language-wise, having more sophisticated type system, real type inference and some macros, and yet it translates freaking 60 times faster. Mobile web apps: slooow. Even when CPUs have only 2x lower frequency, due to ARM vs. Intel differences they turn out to be 5-6 times slower. But who knows, they may catch up in a couple of years. Some notes on particular languages / targets: Haxe targeting Flash If you need compact code that works consistently fast in all desktop browsers, Flash compiled from Haxe is a really nice option. It's compact because of being distributed in bytecode. In Flash 10 they added special instructions for fast direct memory access. These instructions were not available in ActionScript but Alchemy (C++ to Flash compiler) and Haxe can use them. They are available via flash.Memory API and work on a single array: you select some array first to be this fast piece of memory and then use functions like Memory.getI32() and Memory.setI32() to access it, this works faster than ordinary arrays, but if you need to access many different arrays you have to manually allocate them inside this selected one and use indices with offsets. Also, Haxe generally optimizes code much better than ActionScript, this combined with special memory API gives very fast code compared to AS3. As you could see above, Haxe compiler generates Flash incredibly fast, while the default ActionScript compiler (again, written in Java) is significantly slower. Haxe targeting JavaScript Haxe is a multi-target language, however each target has some specific APIs and there are also some semantic differences. I had a fully functioning ScreenPressor decoder in Haxe for Flash, but making a good JS version of it turned out harder than I expected. After changing API from Flash to JS (firstly, moving from flash.Memory to typed JS arrays) I've got a working JS version but it took more than 170 ms in Chrome to decode that frame. I knew it was too slow, at that time I already had a JS version generated from Dart and it worked ~3x faster. The slowdown was caused by UInts. In ScreenPressor we use range coder, a variant of arithmetic coder, and in our original C++ code it operates on 32-bit unsigned integers, doing some arithmetic and bit shifts. Haxe has a proper type for them - UInt, and in Flash it works perfectly fine. However in JavaScript there's no such thing, all numbers are really doubles. And any bitwise operation, like a shift or bitwise-or, turns its operands and result into a signed 32-bit int value (still stored as a double). That means 0xFF00 << 16 becomes a negative number. In order to keep UInts working, every time we use some UInt in an arithmetic expression Haxe inserts a comparison with 0 and addition of 4294967296.0 in case its JS value is negative. Comparisons with positive constants for some reason turn into weird calls to in-place lambda functions containing some weird constant comparisons. All these things make arithmetics with UInts very slow, hence the 3x slowdown of our code. What's interesting, while Haxe keeps UInts 32-bit, it doesn't keep 32-bitness of Ints (signed integers) in JS, so they allow values like 0xFFFFFFFF (which would become -1 in other Haxe targets). But again, any bitwise operation with them can turn them back into 32-bit signed int. So, when targeting JS from Haxe, if you want UInts, i.e. values 0.. 0xFFFFFFFF, you can use Ints as long as you don't use shifts or bitwise logical operations. Just replace "<< 8" with "* 256" and "a | b" with "a + b" (where appropriate) and it works well and fast. Changing our UInts to Ints and doing these transformations allowed having simple and fast generated JS code. Another note: the JS code generated by Haxe actually failed to work in IE, saying it cannot cast HTMLInputElement into HTMLInputElement. After editing the generated code manually to skip this cast it worked fine. Dart Dart is a nice language (although its generics are too limited, someone ate too much Java for breakfast), it comes as a package with Dartium (version of Chrome with Dart VM on board) and DartEditor that does static analysis as you type, infers types and shows lots of useful info in auto-completion pop-ups. Its API, although generally based on JavaScript's, is often more convenient. Porting our Haxe code to Dart went smoothly. The surprise came when I tried to use dart2js and do some benchmarks. Code in Dart VM worked ~3x slower than the same code translated to JS with dart2js! And the reason was again our integers usage. There is only one integer type in Dart - int. Semantically it's an unbound integer. Internally in 32-bit Dart VM values that fit into 31 bits are called "smi" ("small int") and stored in a 32-bit word. Larger values are stored in boxed 64-bit integers and even larger values are using full-blown BigInts. When we write something like "x = 0xFFFFFFFF" it's a positive number with 32 "1"s in binary, you need at least 33 bits to store this number as a signed integer. So it doesn't fit in a "smi" and gets boxed. And although our original code only needs 32-bit unsigned integers, in 32-bit Dart VM many of them turn into boxed 64-bit values, and this causes the slowdown. When translated to JavaScript they all perfectly fit into ordinary unboxed JS numbers, so it works faster. Thanks to Vyacheslav "mr_aleph" Egorov, a Dart VM group insider, for explaining this. He shows that in 64-bit Dart VM my code runs 26% faster than generated JS. However there is no 64-bit Dartium available for Windows yet. There is, however, one obvious thing that makes dart2js generate less efficient code than Haxe. Each array access gets preceded by an explicit bounds check and a call to a Dart-specific function in case of bounds error. It doubles the number of bounds checks and bloats the code, hence the slowdown compared to cleaner Haxe-generated code. Emscripten and asm.js Emscripten uses clang/LLVM to generate asm.js code from C++. Hearing about clang and LLVM made me instinctively expect difficulties using on Windows and I was ready to reboot to Linux for this experiment however it turned out on Windows installation of Emscripten is the easiest. Just an one click installer, and everything works well out of the box. Using C++ code from JavaScript is pretty simple once you get how it all works. Just as Flash with its fast memory access inside a single array, asm.js works with one fixed size array which serves as the main memory (heap) for all your C++ code. You can't just pass two JS arrays into your C++ code, you need to manually allocate memory in this asm.js heap and copy the data there. After C++ code finished work on them, you can read the data from the array being the asm.js heap. Porting our C++ code to asm.js was easy, since it was just pure algorithms and computations, no external libraries were used. I don't know how exactly Emscripten handles the uints question but everything worked well and pretty fast without me having to worry about it and having to turn uints into ints. The size of generated code was expectedly the largest: ~500 KB without minification and ~200 KB with it. Since the JS code is generated from LLVM bitcode, it's rather hard to trace it back to the source manually, so I didn't even try. As for speed, as mentioned above, it only works really fast in Firefox where asm.js code gets special treatment. In other browsers it's not faster than much shorter code generated by other languages and sometimes (like in IE) significantly slower. Conclusion From the numbers above and mentioned preconditions I think it's pretty obvious what choice we're going to make: Haxe seems the best option for us to make the ScreenPressor decoder in JS. Comments (12)Rumblings about the proposed sale of the New York Islanders have increased over the past week, with reported bidder Andrew Barroway getting closer to arranging the financing and partners needed to meet Islanders owner Charles Wang's roughly $400 million asking price.
According to the Sports Business Journal's Chris Botta, that financing is now in place.
That doesn't mean a sale is imminent, nor even that Wang has decided to sell. But it adds another chapter as the team nears a major transition point with its move to Brooklyn in 2015. According to Botta, who has reported several developments on Barroway's bid over the past few months:
An NHL source said Barroway does not have exclusivity on negotiating to buy the Islanders; Wang can listen to other offers. But Barroway’s acquisition of financing and partners moves the possibility of a deal one step closer.
"It’s still going to be awhile before we know if Wang completes the deal," the league source said. "Charles has been focused on the Barroway offer because it meets his price, but Charles can be a tough negotiator. And as [NHL Commissioner] Gary Bettman has said, Charles still has to decide if he’s ready to completely walk away from the team. He loves the Islanders."
It's not new to hear that Wang "loves" his team and is invested in his success. So that (re)raises the question of why he's been listening to offers for all or part of the team to the point of getting Barroway to arrange financing?
Simply a matter of succession planning for the 69-year-old? A symptom of his financial situation and debts accumulated with the Isles? Or simply striking at an opportune time, generating bids when the team is poised for an increase in guaranteed revenue (and thus franchise value) with its move to the Barclays Center?
Tomorrow, or next month, or next year, we might find out.The revolution will not be edited. It will not be succinct. It won't be vetted by the usual spin doctors. It won't perform well in front of the self-selected committees of the political and media elite. It will, in fact, be all over the shop.
Russell Brand's revolution has been held up and found wanting both personally and politically. But not by me. As evidenced by the ranks of the professionally sensible putting him back in his place, his ramblings have kickstarted some absolutely necessary conversations. A light entertainer has provoked unease. He has been repeatedly chided for telling people not to bother with voting. He has been described as a proto-fascist, grudgingly labelled "intelligent", though not properly educated, and, of course, derided as a womanising ex-drug addict – a fact he has never tried to hide.
He may indeed be a sexist. Or, as he put it earlier this week in these pages, in his most imitable style, may "suffer from the ol' sexism". And you would have to pay me to sit through one of his shows again; I find his endless see-sawing between braggadocio and yoga-ed up humility exhausting. So I am not what you would call a fan.
Still, I love the way Brand has wrongfooted the media with a teenage essay, a Newsnight performance and a viral YouTube presence. For all its flaws, what he said nicely highlights the narrowness of our present political discourse, the province, as we saw at Leveson, of a nexus of interlocking politicians, media and police. That discourse needs busting open.
It's no surprise that it took a comic to do this. Comedians function as our public intellectuals, wise and witty speakers of truth. Brand may lack the political sophistication of some of his colleagues but he has a wide appeal. My 12-year-old loved what he said. I told her to read his essay. "You don't get it, Mum. He is a talker not a writer." And before you say his essay is an adolescent and flowery "It's so unfair!" rant, let me agree. It doesn't make what he said untrue.
All the retorts amount to defences of parliamentary democracy, a political process that many are clearly alienated from. But Brand's idea is that there are other ways one can be politically involved without voting. He is railing against the democratic deficit in non-parliamentary language. Many of his demands are straight out of Occupy, pointing, for example, to the inequality that Cameron says is declining, and asking for an end to corporate tax avoidance.
What Brand has provoked is a defence of traditional politics: the old "Go and knock on doorsteps! Stuff envelopes! And above all vote!" model. We have been reminded too that not all politicians are venal. Yet those who accuse Brand of naivety are themselves naive about what voting achieves. Did we vote for this level of mass surveillance, for instance? Or what George Monbiot just revealed, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which will stop the regulation of private companies?
Brand hits home because politics as it is enacted is dull and conformist. Matthew D'Ancona's new book, In It Together: The Inside Story of the Coalition reveals the unappetising "quad" that props up the coalition: Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and Alexander. Remember Boris Johnson is alleged to have said that this government is "a triumph for the public-school system".
This system is so dead and closed that there feels little choice. Like Brand, I have often not voted. But at the last election I decided to stand as an independent. I was sick of Labour's war-mongering, I couldn't vote for them, but I wasn't sick enough to vote Lib Dem. I made this gesture because I figured democracy works on the grounds that anyone who has £500 for a deposit can stand. This is the illusion. If you test it, you will be called an idiot, a narcissist, an anarchist. Guilty, m'lud. But you soon learn no one wins without party machinery and party money.
In reality, people are falling away from political parties. Brand's idealism is in part a response to this. If such idealism is a joke, that is very sad. Brand was roundly mocked by the pundits for his talk of consciousness, but the pundits revealed only their own narrow-mindedness. As if there is not a tradition of this! Rosa Luxemburg talked of "spiritual transformation". A feminist revolution has always been understood as an individual as well as a collective awakening.
Brand is sneered at for not being humble enough, an inflated fool who should vote for socialism if he desires it. Well, no. He is right on many counts and while we are far from revolution we have a younger generation with high expectations and no means to meet them. Those in power would do well to be less smug and self-satisfied. The strength of Brand's message lies precisely in the reaction against it. Rarely have I seen such a spirited defence of the status quo. Brand's demands, like everything about him, are excessive. But should he just get back in his comedy box and leave politics to that class of people that are educated beyond their intelligence?
They say he has made the mistake of demanding the impossible – and they are right. He has demanded the impossible. But it wasn't a mistake.In October, British researchers supported by the U.K. government will attempt to pump water a kilometer into the air using little more than a helium balloon and a rubber hose. The experiment, which will take place at a military airfield along England’s east coast, is meant as a test of a proposed geoengineering technique for offsetting the warming effects of greenhouse gases. If the balloon and hose can handle the water’s weight and pressure, similar pipes rising 20 kilometers could pump tons of reflective aerosols into the stratosphere.
Balloonosphere: In the SPICE experiment (stratospheric particle injection for climate engineering), this balloon will hold a rubber hose one kilometer high.
The scheme, called SPICE (stratospheric particle injection for climate engineering), is one of several proposed geoengineering methods under study. In this case, the idea is that particles injected into the stratosphere would reflect a small percentage of the sun’s energy back into space, thereby cooling the planet. The concept seeks to mimic the cooling effect of volcanoes that inject sulfide particles into the stratosphere in large quantity. A 2009 study by the U.K. meteorological office estimated that 10 million metric tons of sulfide particles injected annually into the stratosphere would cool the planet by approximately 2 °C within a few years.
Other methods of geoengineering have also been tested, including fertilizing oceans to encourage algae blooms and pulling carbon dioxide out of the air. But a 2009 report by the U.K.’s Royal Society concluded that reflective aerosol injected into the stratosphere would be the least expensive and most effective way to rapidly cool the planet.
In addition to the pipe tethered to the balloon, airplanes and rockets could be used to deploy the particles. But Hugh Hunt, a senior lecturer in engineering at the University of Cambridge and a member of the SPICE project, says the balloon-and-pipe approach that his group is testing would be significantly less expensive. “Trying to use airplanes or rockets ends up costing 100 or 1,000 times more than a pipe and balloon,” Hunt says. “At an altitude of 20 kilometers, an airplane can only carry one, maybe two, tons of payload. That means five to 10 million flights per year, burning roughly 1 percent of global oil production. It seems unlikely to me that that would be economically viable when a few dozen pipes would do just as good a job.”
The current pilot program will pump 100 kilograms of water per hour to an altitude of one kilometer. Full-scale designs call for as many as 64 pipes spread around the world, each lifting five kilograms of sulfur dioxide or other reflective particles per second—approximately 160,000 metric tons per year. Each pipe alone would weigh 30 tons and would be held aloft by a balloon 100 meters in diameter, slightly larger than the largest balloons ever built. The biggest challenge of all, however, would be developing a flexible pipe that can withstand ultrahigh pressures. To raise the particles to a height of 20 kilometers, the pipe would have to withstand 4,000 to 6,000 bar, or atmospheres of pressure.
“How do you make a flexible pipe that can carry 6,000 bar of pressure that sways in the wind of the jet stream and guarantee that it will last?” asks Justin McClellan, an engineer with Aurora Flight Sciences, which builds advanced aerospace vehicles for scientific and military applications. “A typical oil and gas rig might see 2,000 bar of pressure, and that is with a roughly quarter-inch-thick steel pipe. Solving the one-kilometer problem is probably not very hard, but when you add up all the requirements for a 20-kilometer pipe, this starts to look pretty unrealistic.”
Hunt acknowledges that multiple challenges put the project “on the edge of what is possible,” but he says that all engineering issues can be overcome within five years. Full-scale deployment could be achieved for approximately 5 billion pounds per year, he maintains.
David Keith, a professor of applied physics at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School, is not impressed. He says the cost of a solution is not an issue, since the costs of climate change are so high. “The impacts of climate change are on the order of a trillion dollars a year, as are the costs of cutting emissions,” Keith says. But he says research should focus on developing the most effective and lowest-risk option for injecting sulfate particles into the atmosphere. Dispersing them by airplane allows for greater and more even distribution of particles, he says, thereby reducing the odds that they will clump together and fall back toward Earth.
“I think SPICE will be the most visible geoengineering project to date, and it may polarize public opinion. But in regards to scientific or engineering interest, I don’t see much,” Keith says.In natural theology and philosophy, a cosmological argument is an argument in which the existence of a unique being, generally seen as some kind of god, is deduced or inferred from facts or alleged facts concerning causation, change, motion, contingency, or finitude in respect of the universe as a whole or processes within it.[1][2] It is traditionally known as an argument from universal causation, an argument from first cause, or the causal argument, and is more precisely a cosmogonical argument (about the origin). Whichever term is employed, there are three basic variants of the argument, each with subtle yet important distinctions: the arguments from in causa (causality), in esse (essentiality), and in fieri (becoming).
The basic premises of all of these are the concept of causality. The conclusion of these arguments is first cause, subsequently deemed to be God. The history of this argument goes back to Aristotle or earlier, was developed in Neoplatonism and early Christianity and later in medieval Islamic theology during the 9th to 12th centuries, and re-introduced to medieval Christian theology in the 13th century by Thomas Aquinas. The cosmological argument is closely related to the principle of sufficient reason as addressed by Gottfried Leibniz and Samuel Clarke, itself a modern exposition of the claim that "nothing comes from nothing" attributed to Parmenides.
Contemporary defenders of cosmological arguments include William Lane Craig,[3] Robert Koons,[4] Alexander Pruss,[5] and William L. Rowe.[6]
History [ edit ]
Plato (c. 427–347 BC) and Aristotle (c. 384–322 BC) both posited first cause arguments, though each had certain notable caveats.[7] In The Laws (Book X), Plato posited that all movement in the world and the Cosmos was "imparted motion". This required a "self-originated motion" to set it in motion and to maintain it. In Timaeus, Plato posited a "demiurge" of supreme wisdom and intelligence as the creator of the Cosmos.
Aristotle argued against the idea of a first cause, often confused with the idea of a "prime mover" or "unmoved mover" (πρῶτον κινοῦν ἀκίνητον or primus motor) in his Physics and Metaphysics.[8] Aristotle argued in favor of the idea of several unmoved movers, one powering each celestial sphere, which he believed lived beyond the sphere of the fixed stars, and explained why motion in the universe (which he believed was eternal) had continued for an infinite period of time. Aristotle argued the atomist's assertion of a non-eternal universe would require a first uncaused cause – in his terminology, an efficient first cause – an idea he considered a nonsensical flaw in the reasoning of the atomists.
Like Plato, Aristotle believed in an eternal cosmos with no beginning and no end (which in turn follows Parmenides' famous statement that "nothing comes from nothing"). In what he called "first philosophy" or metaphysics, Aristotle did intend a theological correspondence between the prime mover and deity (presumably Zeus); functionally, however, he provided an explanation for the apparent motion of the "fixed stars" (now understood as the daily rotation of the Earth). According to his theses, immaterial unmoved movers are eternal unchangeable beings that constantly think about thinking, but being immaterial, they are incapable of interacting with the cosmos and have no knowledge of what transpires therein. From an "aspiration or desire",[9] the celestial spheres, imitate that purely intellectual activity as best they can, by uniform circular motion. The unmoved movers inspiring the planetary spheres are no different in kind from the prime mover, they merely suffer a dependency of relation to the prime mover. Correspondingly, the motions of the planets are subordinate to the motion inspired by the prime mover in the sphere of fixed stars. Aristotle's natural theology admitted no creation or capriciousness from the immortal pantheon, but maintained a defense against dangerous charges of impiety.[citation needed]
Plotinus, a third-century Platonist, taught that the One transcendent absolute caused the universe to exist simply as a consequence of its existence (creatio ex deo). His disciple Proclus stated "The One is God".[citation needed]
Centuries later, the Islamic philosopher Avicenna (c. 980–1037) inquired into the question of being, in which he distinguished between essence (Mahiat) and existence (Wujud). He argued that the fact of existence could not be inferred from or accounted for by the essence of existing things, and that form and matter by themselves could not originate and interact with the movement of the Universe or the progressive actualization of existing things. Thus, he reasoned that existence must be due to an agent cause that necessitates, imparts, gives, or adds existence to an essence. To do so, the cause must coexist with its effect and be an existing thing.[10]
Steven Duncan writes that it "was first formulated by a Greek-speaking Syriac Christian neo-Platonist, John Philoponus, who claims to find a contradiction between the Greek pagan insistence on the eternity of the world and the Aristotelian rejection of the existence of any actual infinite". Referring to the argument as the "'Kalam' cosmological argument", Duncan asserts that it "received its fullest articulation at the hands of [medieval] Muslim and Jewish exponents of Kalam ("the use of reason by believers to justify the basic metaphysical presuppositions of the faith").[11]
Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) adapted and enhanced the argument he found in his reading of Aristotle and Avicenna to form one of the most influential versions of the cosmological argument.[12][13] His conception of First Cause was the idea that the Universe must be caused by something that is itself uncaused, which he claimed is that which we call God:
The second way is from the nature of the efficient cause. In the world of sense we find there is an order of efficient causes. There is no case known (neither is it, indeed, possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself; for so it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now in efficient causes it is not possible to go on to infinity, because in all efficient causes following in order, the first is the cause of the intermediate cause, and the intermediate is the cause of the ultimate cause, whether the intermediate cause be several, or only one. Now to take away the cause is to take away the effect. Therefore, if there be no first cause among efficient causes, there will be no ultimate, nor any intermediate cause. But if in efficient causes it is possible to go on to infinity, there will be no first efficient cause, neither will there be an ultimate effect, nor any intermediate efficient causes; all of which is plainly false. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.[14][dubious – discuss]
Importantly, Aquinas' Five Ways, given the second question of his Summa Theologica, are not the entirety of Aquinas' demonstration that the Christian God exists. The Five Ways form only the beginning of Aquinas' Treatise on the Divine Nature.
Versions of the argument [ edit ]
Argument from contingency [ edit ]
In the scholastic era, Aquinas formulated the "argument from contingency", following Aristotle in claiming that there must be something to explain why the Universe exists.[dubious – discuss] Since the Universe could, under different circumstances, conceivably not exist (contingency), its existence must have a cause – not merely another contingent thing, but something that exists by necessity (something that must exist in order for anything else to exist).[15] In other words, even if the Universe has always existed, it still owes its existence to an uncaused cause,[16] Aquinas further said: "... and this we understand to be God."[17]
Aquinas's argument from contingency allows for the possibility of a Universe that has no beginning in time. It is a form of argument from universal causation. Aquinas observed that, in nature, there were things with contingent existences. Since it is possible for such things not to exist, there must be some time at which these things did not in fact exist. Thus, according to Aquinas, there must have been a time when nothing existed. If this is so, there would exist nothing that could bring anything into existence. Contingent beings, therefore, are insufficient to account for the existence of contingent beings: there must exist a necessary being whose non-existence is an impossibility, and from which the existence of all contingent beings is derived.
The German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz made a similar argument with his principle of sufficient reason in 1714. "There can be found no fact that is true or existent, or any true proposition," he wrote, "without there being a sufficient reason for its being so and not otherwise, although we cannot know these reasons in most cases." He formulated the cosmological argument succinctly: "Why is there something rather than nothing? The sufficient reason... is found in a substance which... is a necessary being bearing the reason for its existence within itself."[18]
Leibniz's contingency argument was summarised by William Lane Craig, as follows:[19]
Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. The universe exists. The universe has an explanation of its existence. Therefore, the explanation of the universe's existence is God.
Craig states that the only disputable statements are 1. and 2. He defended 1. from the question of "What caused God?" by saying that God cannot be caused by anything, as that would imply that there is something greater than him, which is logically contradictory. He also denied that the universe was an exception to the rule, claiming that such a proposition begs the question. He states [20] that saying 2. is wrong contradicts modern science, and that, far from not being specific to the God of Christianity, it actually leads to evidence specifically linking to a being outside of space and time, as well as one that is omnipotent and omniscient.
In esse and in fieri [ edit ]
The difference between the arguments from causation in fieri and in esse is a fairly important one. In fieri is generally translated as "becoming", while in esse is generally translated as "in essence". In fieri, the process of becoming, is similar to building a house. Once it is built, the builder walks away, and it stands on its own accord; compare the watchmaker analogy. (It may require occasional maintenance, but that is beyond the scope of the first cause argument.)
In esse (essence) is more akin to the light from a candle or the liquid in a vessel. George Hayward Joyce, SJ, explained that, "where the light of the candle is dependent on the candle's continued existence, not only does a candle produce light in a room in the first instance, but its continued presence is necessary if the illumination is to continue. If it is removed, the light ceases. Again, a liquid receives its shape from the vessel in which it is contained; but were the pressure of the containing sides withdrawn, it would not retain its form for an instant." This form of the argument is far more difficult to separate from a purely first cause argument than is the example of the house's maintenance above, because here the First Cause is insufficient without the candle's or vessel's continued existence.[21]
Thus, Leibniz' argument is in fieri, while Aquinas' argument is both in fieri and in esse. This distinction is an excellent example of the difference between a deistic view (Leibniz) and a theistic view (Aquinas). As a general trend, the modern slants on the cosmological argument, including the Kalam argument, tend to lean very strongly towards an in fieri argument.[citation needed]
The philosopher Robert Koons has stated a new variant on the cosmological argument. He says that to deny causation is to deny all empirical ideas – for example, if we know our own hand, we know it because of the chain of causes including light being reflected upon one's eyes, stimulating the retina and sending a message through the optic nerve into your brain. He summarised the purpose of the argument as "that if you don't buy into theistic metaphysics, you're undermining empirical science. The two grew up together historically and are culturally and philosophically inter-dependent... If you say I just don't buy this causality principle – that's going to be a big big problem for empirical science." This in fieri version |
_1 IL_0003: initobj Program IL_0009: ldloca.s V_1 IL_000b: dup IL_000c: call instance void Program::.ctor() IL_0011: stloc.0 IL_0012: ldloc.0 IL_0013: callvirt instance void Program::Run() IL_0018: nop IL_0019: ret } // end of method Program::Main
First, the changes to the declaration of local variables:
.locals init ([0] class Program program, [1] valuetype Program V_1)
We are introducing a shadow variable [1] declared as a valuetype but using a token that is actually a class (!). If you try to run this assembly with a regular CLR, It will generate an invalid error with “unexpected valuetype”, but in CoreCLR, we will ensure that the IL code reader/importer will allow this syntax. The rule here is that there is one shadow variable allocated per stackalloc call site.
Then we are going to initialize the class on the stack, exactly the same way a struct would be initialized. Note that unlike the newobj IL opcode instruction, we are not passing constructor parameters. This bytecode ensure that the class allocated on the stack is actually zeroed at the callsite (suppose the stackalloc is used within a loop, we want a fresh zeroed object on each loop items)
IL_0001: ldloca.s V_1 IL_0003: initobj Program
After this, we can actually call the constructor for the class, and storing the pointer/reference to the class on the stack to the variable program (our now transient variable):
IL_0009: ldloca.s V_1 IL_000b: dup IL_000c: call instance void Program::.ctor() IL_0011: stloc.0 // store into program variable
Finally, we can just call a regular method exactly like for an object allocated on the heap:
IL_0012: ldloc.0 IL_0013: callvirt instance void Program::Run()
Note that my requirements of not introducing a new IL opcode was mainly motivated by the fact that I was not confident about the implications in the CLR, so I wanted to rely on stuff already working. I had only to patch existing code paths in CoreCLR in order to allow class to pass on the stack. It may be relevant that a new opcode could be used with a more compact syntax.
While it is a basic support of the stackalloc operator (notice that I haven’t implemented anything for array allocations for example), that’s all we need to do to generate IL bytecode for at least our simple use case.
Again, this whole series of prototypes should not be considered as fully tested or safe. They are just a proof of concept!
Implementation in CoreCLR
As I expected from my previous post, and unlike struct inheritance that was requiring just 2 lines of code changes, bringing stackalloc for class to the CoreCLR required significantly more trial and crash steps in order to progressively reach a stable runtime.
As I’m not familiar with the CoreCLR codebase, It took me a bit of time to figure out where I should actually make these changes. Someone from the CoreCLR team would have most likely done this a bit more cleanly and less hacky (and even differently)
In summary, I made the choice to initialize the class on the stack with the same layout than as it would have had on the heap: It means that the class is prefixed by the 8 bytes struct ObjHeader which is holding some information required by the GC (more about it later why it has been implemented like this).
In practice, it means that whenever the GC finds a variable on the stack (transient or not), it will first check if it is actually an object allocated on the stack. If yes, the GC will not scan fields for the class from this reference, because instead, we rely on the fact that the class is flatten on the stack (as a struct would be flatten), and ultimately, the GC will scan the fields of the class allocated on the stack (so we rely on the already existing infrastructure that allows the GC to scan fields of a struct on allocated on a stack)
I’m gonna try to give a bit more details about the commits to support this stackalloc operator, what are the main changes to CoreCLR and what kind of problems I have encountered. In all the code changes, I have tried to prefix them by a ClassAsValue message (here is just an highlight of the commits, there are a bit more in the branch):
First step was to get rid of the exception that is verifying that a local variable cannot be declared with a class token. This is not super clean to allow token class for valuetype in all circumstances (it may be an invalid code not related to stackalloc), but in my case I didn’t bother about this.
This commit is modifying the ICorStaticInfo to introduce two methods that will be used later by the code.
// Gets the full size of a class (not valuetype), including the methodtable pointer virtual unsigned getBaseSize ( CORINFO_CLASS_HANDLE cls ) = 0 ; // Gets the method table for a class (Not valid for valueType) virtual void * getMethodTable ( CORINFO_CLASS_HANDLE cls ) = 0 ;
Basically, we need to be able to:
Retrieve the full size of a class via the method getBaseSize. There is another method getClassSize in this interface, but this method returns in fact the size of a pointer for a reference type. Allow to retrieve the current method table for a particular class. This will be required to instantiate and initialize the class on the stack.
3) Some changes to the file /src/jit/lclvars.cpp
This is where we are starting to store the information about local variables declared as class on the stack:
This is a first commit that is generating some x64 code in order to initialize the method table of the object.
It is a first step to generate a compliant class layout on the stack. A class is only differentiated by the presence of this methodtable pointer (or commonly called vtable ) at the offset 0. This is through this pointer that we can find type information, perform cast, find and call virtual methods…etc. This initialization of the methodtable of a class on the stack is only done once per stackalloc call site (or shadow variable) at the prolog of the method (just after the JIT has generated zeroing code)
Notice that in the generated code here, I still don’t output the small ObjHeader that is required for a GC object. It required a bit more changes…
5) Changes made to the ObjHeader
The commit 265453c4fd is making the following changes:
Add objheader_common.h that contains SIZEOF_OBJHEADER and can be used from everywhere (as it was previously not accessible from JIT for example).
Always use a 8 bytes ObjHeader and add extra bits for Class Allocated on stack.
Update codegen to identity allocation on the stack.
The idea here is that I wanted to store the information of whether this instance is allocated on the stack directly on the object. So I’m using the ObjHeader and using an unused part of it (on x64 platform, while on x86, it is only 4 bytes so we would have to expand it). If the lower bit is set to 1, this current object is actually on the heap.
This information is later used in GCHeap::Promote and GCHeap::Relocate, in order to skip reference that are allocated on the stack when performing a Garbabe Collect cycle
I’m also making sure that when the class is allocated on the stack, we are allocating the space for the ObjHeader, and setting the flag allocate on stack in this ObjHeader, again all of this is done just once per stackalloc call site in the prolog of the method.
Then there are a couple of commits to make object.Validate() working. Lots of these checks are done in debug mode, but we still don’t want to crash here. I have made the choice to almost bypass everything, but their could be relevant checks to keep, or even additional checks for an object allocated on the stack…
Note about the ObjHeader : If I had to rebuild an ObjHeader and had an opportunity to create a new language, I would completely remove support for lock(object) in the language, as these things can be done with dedicated mutex objects. The fact is that the ObjHeader can generates a shadow object called the syncblk that will contains the hashcode (if it was requested by a method), the monitor on the object, some stuff related to COM…etc. While I don’t mind to have metadatas associated to object instance, having a cluttered ObjHeader that is basically encoding a pointer to this syncblk is restricting some interesting optims for the GC (for example, when I implemented a basic Immix GC, I used the ObjHeader to store the size of the object in order to quickly scan them without having to go through the MethodTable for example)
This commit is mostly dealing with generating proper code for the initobj keyword. The changes mostly consist in shifting the current address loaded from the shadow variable to feed initobj (recall above the ldloca.s ), as it is pointing to the start of the object (including the methodtable pointer), but we don’t want the initobj generated code to clear this methodtable that is setup just once at the prolog of the method. So in the case of a initobj performed on a class on stack, we are shifting by a pointer size the start where things are zeroed (and we decrease of course the size of the data to zeroed)
This was my last commit in order to get something working correctly with the GC. The JIT_CheckedWriteBarrier is basically a small shell around the regular WriteBarrier (a write barrier is used in the context of generational GC: whenever an object is stored in the field of another object, the write barrier allow to store somewhere in a cardtable the reference to the object that is receiving the reference source object in order to quickly identify which object should be scan - the object receiver - and which source object is most likely to be promoted - in case of the gen0 allocation)
The code of the JIT_CheckedWriteBarrier is:
LEAF_ENTRY JIT_CheckedWriteBarrier, _TEXT ; When WRITE_BARRIER_CHECK is defined _NotInHeap will write the reference ; but if it isn't then it will just return. ; ; See if this is in GCHeap cmp rcx, [g_lowest_address] jb NotInHeap cmp rcx, [g_highest_address] jnb NotInHeap jmp JIT_WriteBarrier NotInHeap: ; See comment above about possible AV mov [rcx], rdx ret
It is basically ensuring that we are not going to use a write barrier if our pointer is not on the HEAP, and this is exactly what we want for our class instantiated on the stack. If we start to store a heap object to a field of an object allocated on the stack, we want to early exit (without it, it would try to flag a cardtable bit into an invalid memory location).
I haven’t measured the performance impact of getting through this small shell on all field assignments ( JIT_CheckedWriteBarrier is actually used for ref pointers, as we don’t know if a ref is on the stack - ref to a field struct - or the heap, so it is less used than JIT_WriteBarrier ) so it may be an issue, but considering all the code involved afterwards for the barrier itself, it is still small, so that might not be a big issue after all.
Woot, And that’s all! If you compile the CoreCLR on this branch, you will get a basic support for stackalloc for class!
Results and Sample
This is the sample program I used to test the implementation of the stackalloc for class:
using System ; public abstract class HelloClassOnStackBase { private int valueBase ; private Random random ; private object unusedButCheckForGC1 ; private object unusedButCheckForGC2 ; protected HelloClassOnStackBase ( Random random ) { this. random = random ; valueBase = ( byte ) random. Next (); } public virtual int Compute ( int x ) { return valueBase + x ; } } public class HelloClassOnStack : HelloClassOnStackBase { private int addValue ; public HelloClassOnStack ( Random random ) : base ( random ) { addValue = ( byte ) random. Next (); } public override int Compute ( int x ) { var result = base. Compute ( x ); result += 1 ; return result ; } } public class Program2 { public unsafe static void Main ( string [] args ) { // Don't use Stopwatch as it is not in mscorlib.dll var startTime = DateTime. Now ; Console. WriteLine ( "Mode: {0}{1}", args. Length == 0? "StackAlloc" : "HeapAlloc", args. Length == 0? ". To switch to HeapAlloc, simply pass an argument to this exe" : string. Empty ); Console. WriteLine ( "[before] GC gen0 collect: {0}", GC. CollectionCount ( 0 )); Console. WriteLine ( "[before] GC gen1 collect: {0}", GC. CollectionCount ( 1 )); Console. WriteLine ( "[before] GC gen2 collect: {0}", GC. CollectionCount ( 2 )); var random = new Random ( 0 ); int result = 0 ; const int Count = 10000000 ; if ( args. Length > 0 ) { for ( int i = 0 ; i < Count ; i ++) { // Alloc class on heap var hello = new HelloClassOnStack ( random ); result += hello. Compute ( i ); } } else { for ( int i = 0 ; i < Count ; i ++) { // Alloc class on stack var hello = stackalloc HelloClassOnStack ( random ); result += hello. Compute ( i ); } } Console. WriteLine ( "Result: {0}", result ); Console. WriteLine ( "[after] GC gen0 collect: {0}", GC. CollectionCount ( 0 )); Console. WriteLine ( "[after] GC gen1 collect: {0}", GC. CollectionCount ( 1 )); Console. WriteLine ( "[after] GC gen2 collect: {0}", GC. CollectionCount ( 2 )); Console. WriteLine ( "Elapsed: {0}ms", ( DateTime. Now - startTime ). TotalMilliseconds ); } }
If you run this sample without any args, it will allocate on the stack, otherwise if you pass an argument, it will allocate on the heap.
So? What are the results of these changes? If you run the program above:
The stack version will run in 400 ms with 0 GC collect
The heap version will run in 5000 ms with 100+ GC collect
I don’t claim that using stackalloc is always going to give you 10x times performance, but it is just to demonstrate that allocation on the heap hurts more than you would think and your program may benefit allocating class on the stacks in such scenarios.
Next?
This prototype demonstrates that stackalloc for class is something that could become real for.NET CoreCLR and could bring lots of opportunities for optimizations!
As it is only a prototype, I don’t expect it to be back ported to CoreCLR anytime soon as-is, though I will push this to a PR, just to get some feedback about the things that might be problematic in this proposal.
I’m also very happy to be able to play with the.NET CLR, such a pleasure to be able to experiement things like this! Even if you don’t agree with the changes, take this series of CoreCLR/Roslyn posts as educational - don’t be shy getting your hands dirty with CoreCLR!, at least, it is the case for me.
Not sure I will prototype all the other features soon (like the embed in class), but at least that you can find interesting bits here and there!
Anyway, there is a new toy in town, stackalloc for class, happy coding!Romania’s anti-corruption chief Laura Kovesi spoke to Euronews about her efforts to stamp out graft in the country.
Here is the full interview:
MPs are debating a draft law that could see the government have more control over appointing prosecutors. Can I have your opinion on this?
Currently a draft law is [being] debated within the Romanian parliament regarding the status of magistrates. If voted, it will have a serious negative impact on the independence of justice and it will result in a political control over the prosecutors’ activity. Let’s think of an example: if the prosecutors were subordinated to the executive power, how could they ever open investigations against a member of the government, or against someone else who is a high official and also a member of [a] political party. Would there be any guarantees that there would be no repercussions against the magistrate who opened or finalised the investigation? In my view, the independence of justice is not a privilege for the magistrate, it is a fundamental principle in a democratic society. Only an independent justice as a system can ensure a fair trial. Only an independent justice can enforce the law equally for everybody.
Does it undermine your efforts to stamp out corruption in Romania?
Yes, our efforts to combat corruption will be stopped. Very briefly, I will give you some statistics regarding our work. Since 2013 until now, DNA [Romania’s anti-corruption directorate] has sent to trial 68 high officials, one prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, 11 ministers and former ministers, 39 deputies and 14 senators. In the same period, the courts have ruled final conviction decisions against 27 of these high officials, one prime minister, five ministers, 17 deputies and four senators. The most important condition in order to obtain these results was the independence of the judiciary. For sure, these results I presented to you would no longer be possible if the Romanian prosecutors lost their independence.
Are you surprised that in a country in the European Union, the government can potentially have control over the justice system?
We are not only surprised, we are also worried that such a project could lead to the political subordination of the prosecutors and thus could seriously obstruct the anti-corruption fight.
How is your fight against corruption going? Is this government making your job harder?
You might know that once Romania joined the European Union, we as a state adopted a set of European values and principles. The investigations carried out by DNA have been received with a lot of hope and trust by our society. It is also true that they have mobilised an entire system formed of politicians and businessmen who feel threatened and who are interested in maintaining their control on the public resources. This is the reason why the entire justice system has faced unbelievable attacks from fake news, to hiring companies specialised in intimidation and harassment. There have been repeated attempts to limit the efficiency of our investigations, such as initiatives amending the legislation, reducing the tools used by the prosecutors, or denials of listing the immunity of the politicians charged with corruption offences. I couldn’t say that currently all the politicians of the Romanian government or parliament are completely committed to the fight against corruption.
Do you feel personally in danger as a result of your job?
My entire activity as chief prosecutor of DNA has been governed by the law, and I have always been honest and fair. So this is why I’m not afraid of doing my job.
Do you think your job has become politicised?
Absolutely not. We are independent in our activity. According to our jurisdiction, we investigate high-level corruption crimes and as a result we sometimes investigate politicians. It must be said that we do not investigate them because they are politicians, but because they hold public positions. The fact that the courts have ruled final conviction decisions in our cases is proof that our investigations are conducted according to the law, and that they are based on solid evidence. I hope to be able to tell you in future that we are still independent, and I also hope for this draft law - which is an attempt to reduce the magistrates’ independence - to be rejected in the parliament.FBI figures for National Instant Criminal Background Check System checks performed during Obama’s presidency average out to nearly 52,000 checks a day.
The total reported number of background checks under Obama’s presidency to date is 141,392,490. Divide that figure by the number of days contained in seven and a half years – 2,737.5 – and you see 51,650 background checks performed daily, on average.
The total number of 141,392,490 is found by adding the number of background checks performed for the years 2009 through May of 2016. The FBI reports those figures as:
14,033,824 (2009)
14,409,616 (2010)
16,454,951 (2011)
19,529,303 (2012)
21,093,273 (2013)
20,968,547 (2014)
23,141,970 (2015)
11,698,006 (through May 2016)
It must be remembered that the number of background checks performed does not necessarily indicate the number of guns sold, as background checks are performed on the buyer rather than the guns he is purchasing. And a buyer can purchase multiple guns upon passing a background check.
For instance, if every buyer purchased one gun, then the number sold under Obama would be 141,392,490 guns through May 2016. But if every buyer bought two, the number sold would be 282,784,980. If they bought three, the number sold would be 424,177,470.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.Kiwi shoppers are about to get another Australian brand, albeit via the internet.
Australian retailer Target is coming to New Zealand, not through physical stores, but via an internet store on Trade Me.
The department store will start by offering clothing, with over 10,000 items in its range.
Trade Me said Target Australia doesn't ship through its Australian website to New Zealand, "so we're stoked to make the connection between Target and Kiwis who love a bargain".
Target, whose parent company Wesfarmers also owns Bunnings, Officeworks and KMart, is offering free shipping in New Zealand until the end of February.
READ MORE:
* David Jones' arrival puts Lambton Quay firmly on the map
* Invercargill's-HJ-smith-buys-Dunedin-store-Arthur-Barnett
* Cotton On plans NZ expansion including 1000 new jobs
* What big retail names will follow Zara to Auckland?
It had no affiliation with Target New Zealand Limited or Target Corporation in the US.
Target's arrival, albeit electronically, follows tough times for some New Zealand department stores, including the closure of Wellington's Kirkcaldie and Stains.
Another Australian department store David Jones, will open in its place later this year.
Other Australian brands are entering New Zealand or expanding their presence, including clothing chain Cotton On which plans to roll out a host of new stores over the next three years.A lame duck president with little left to do, Barack Obama is taking one more shot at law enforcement with his latest appointment to the Civil Rights Commission, Debo Adegbile. Adegbile is better known as the top lawyer for cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Obama’s choice of Adegbile is controversial for multiple reason, not least of which the fact that he was rejected by the Senate in 2014 for a top spot at the Justice Department.
The Obama administration announced on Thursday that it was nominating Adegbile for a six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Unlike its appointment of Adegbile in 2014 to chair the Justice Department Civil Rights Division, this nomination does not require approval from the Senate. Adegbile became the first Obama appointment that was rejected after Senate Democrats pushed through the “nuclear option” to eliminate the possibility of filibustering nominees, allowing for appointments to get through the Senate with only a simple majority. Seven Democrats joined Senate Republicans to block the nomination in a 52-47 vote after concerns were raised about Adegbile’s role in defending Abu-Jamal, who murdered Philadelphia cop Daniel Faulkner and has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
As mentioned, this appointment, versus the 2014 one, does not require Senate approval. The Civil Rights Commission consists of eight seats, four appointed by Congress, and four appointed by the president. Each seat is held for six-year terms. The Commission is set up as a federal fact-finding agency meant to investigate Civil Rights issues, and is touted as a bipartisan group.
However, Obama’s appointment of Adegbile indicates he is going out swinging in his fundamental changing of America.Buccaneers draft pick O.J. Howard shares what positives he's seen from Tampa Bay, and how his versatility as a pass-catcher and blocker can help the team. (1:39)
TAMPA, Fla. -- After the NFL draft wrapped up late Saturday afternoon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht and head coach Dirk Koetter were asked what they wanted their football team to be known for. "What is their identity?"
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It was Licht's fourth draft as GM and Koetter's second as head coach.
Koetter's initial response was simple and direct: "a badass football team," he quipped.
By all accounts, if they can match or better the 9-7 record they had last season, they're well on their way.
Licht's response was a bit different.
"Focused," he said. "We’re doing this together, we need everybody to stay together and stay focused on the plan. We want, obviously, very competitive guys, that want to win and want to win at all costs."
You can see that by the group brought in this weekend. Their offensive selections -- Alabama tight end O.J. Howard, Penn State wide receiver Chris Godwin and Boise State running back Jeremy McNichols -- all playmakers with the ball in their hands -- are known for their willingness to do the dirty work. Howard and Godwin are solid run-blockers, and McNichols' forte is pass protection.
"I want to be a player that knows how to play without the ball," McNichols said. "I just don’t ever want [anybody] to touch the quarterback, you know?"
That's an interesting response for a player who went 24 straight games scoring a touchdown, which happens to be the longest streak by an FBS player since 2005.
Licht also spoke of wanting leaders, players that teammates -- even older ones -- will emulate. He wants passionate players who care a lot.
Texas A&M safety Justin Evans had no offers coming out of high school, so he went the juco route.
Jason Licht just completed his fourth draft as Tampa Bay's GM. Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire
"Obviously, it was a different route than a lot of kids take," Evans said. "I believed in it, I trusted in myself, trusted in God and I always felt like I could accomplish my goals."
How about willing to live in a car until a scholarship kicks in? That's what seventh-round pick Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, a defensive tackle, did with his wife for two months when he first arrived at USC. He told no one about it at the time.
Tu'ikolovatu said, "It wasn't that bad."
The two turned it into a series of adventures throughout Southern California.
A player Licht and Koetter rewarded with a new contract this offseason, William Gholston, either slept on teammates' couches or in his car when he was in high school. When his father was diagnosed with cancer, Gholston moved him to Tampa to take care of him.
Speaking of family -- it's important to this group, too, and it happens to be the team's motto. That's no coincidence.
When Howard was young, he'd go in to his grandmother's restaurant to help her with chores. And he didn't travel to Philadelphia to attend the draft because he wanted to be with his 99-year-old great-grandmother. Sound familiar? Quarterback Jameis Winston did the same thing two years ago.
"She’s been there since I was little, always being part of my life," Howard said. "I just wanted to do something sweet for her."
These players have passions outside of football too -- passions that require a great deal of commitment.
Linebacker Kendell Beckwith, whom they traded back into the third round to select with the 107th pick, describes himself as an "old cowboy" and has four horses he cares for in Clinton, Louisiana. If you think recovering from a torn ACL is a lesson in patience, try breaking a horse.
Tu'ikolovatu spent two years in the Philippines on a Mormon mission trip.
"It was able to teach me how to get through adversity and help others," he said, admitting football took a back seat. "We just believe that He will take care of the rest when we do our part for Him."New York City could lose 10,000 financial securities jobs by the end of 2012, according to the state comptroller.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The New York state comptroller expects Wall Street to lose 10,000 jobs by the end of 2012.
The job losses are projected to occur in New York City's securities industry from now through December, 2012, according to Eric Sumberg, press spokesman for state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
"It now seems likely that profits will fall sharply, job losses will continue, and bonuses will be smaller than last year," DiNapoli said in a press release. "These developments will have a rippling effect through the economy and adversely impact state and city tax collections."
The comptroller blamed the dismal outlook on "uncertainty due to the European sovereign debt crisis, a sluggish domestic economy, volatile stock markets and regulatory changes."
The comptroller's office highlighted Wall Street's strong start for 2011, noting that the securities industry has weakened considerably through the rest of the year.
Wall Street added 9,900 jobs from January 2010 and April 2011, but then lost 4,100 jobs through August.
The comptroller's report said that "job losses are likely to continue given declines in profitability and recent layoff announcements," projecting that Wall Street job cuts could total 32,000 for the period from January 2008 to the end of next year.
The member firms of the New York Stock Exchange earned $9.3 billion in the first quarter, but profits "declined sharply" in the second quarter and are expected to fall short of $18 billion for the entire year.
Stock prices for Wall Street banks fell in Tuesday trading, in a seesaw reaction to Monday's rally and nervousness ahead of corporate earnings from the second quarter.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) all fell by about 1%, and Citibank (C, Fortune 500) dropped 2%.
Nationwide, the U.S. added 103,000 jobs in September, which was stronger than expected, the federal government reported earlier this month.
But the economy has recovered only 2.1 million of the 8.6 million jobs lost since the recession began, keeping the unemployment rate frozen at 9.1%.Aetna warned the Justice Department that it would start to bail on Obamacare if the administration blocked its proposed merger with another insurer, Humana, and then followed through on its threat, prompting President Obama’s allies to accuse the company of using its customers as a bargaining chip.
The Connecticut-based company told Justice’s attorneys last month, upon their request, that if the feds moved to spoil the acquisition, the company would be forced to reel in its footprint in the Affordable Care Act’s insurance markets.
“Specifically, if the DOJ sues to enjoin the transaction, we will immediately take action to reduce our 2017 exchange footprint,” Aetna CEO Mark T. Bertolini said in his July 5 letter, which was obtained by The Huffington Post and first reported by the outlet Wednesday.
In late July, the Justice Department formally announced it would try to block the acquisition and another insurance merger, between Anthem and Cigna.
Then this week, Aetna said it was pulling out of 11 of the 15 state exchanges where it had been operating, a stark turnaround from recent plans to expand into new exchanges. The pullback is fueling questions about whether Obamacare can hang on without major changes and giving Republicans new ammunition in their fight to repeal the 2010 law.
But some Democrats are crying foul, saying the timing of Aetna’s pullback seems fishy, after the company appeared bullish about its Obamacare investment earlier this year.
“Aetna may not like the Justice Department’s decision to challenge its merger, and it has every right to fight that decision in court,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, said on her Facebook page. “But violating antitrust law is a legal question, not a political one. The health of the American people should not be used as bargaining chips to force the government to bend to one giant company’s will.”
The company says its moves are strictly about business, not payback. The Justice Department had asked Aetna to explain how the merger related to its participation in Obamacare’s exchanges, so it says it responded with honest assessment of its ability to make money under the program.
Moves to block the acquisition of Humana, Mr. Bertolini said in his letter, would hurt Aetna’s ability to make up the losses it has sustained so far.
“We indicated that there would indeed be an impact, which should not come as a surprise given a loss of deal synergies coupled with a potential break-up fee would raise further questions about sustaining a position in a business where we have yet to break even,” company spokesman T.J. Crawford said Wednesday.
Mr. Crawford said that since Aetna issued its letter in early July, it has gained a fuller picture of losses in the individual market that totaled $200 million in the second quarter and could reach $300 million by the end of the year.
The Justice Department declined Wednesday to comment on the situation.
Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, said he hadn’t thought that the antitrust case played a role in Aetna’s more negative posture toward the exchanges, “but the timing of this announcement is a bit curious.”
“It seems like Aetna went very quickly from optimism about the future, to reviewing their options, to pulling out of most markets,” he said in an email on Tuesday. “They say they are losing money on the marketplaces, but I expected them to stick it out for another year to see how things go during open enrollment and with the election.”
For now, the company’s decision isn’t sitting well with Democrats, who have championed Mr. Obama’s signature domestic achievement and want it to last far beyond his presidency.
“I’m troubled by reports that this announcement could be in retaliation to the Justice Department’s decision last month to file a lawsuit to block a merger between Aetna and Humana,” said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “Aetna’s CEO had touted the ACA Marketplace as a good investment in April, which raises very serious concerns about Aetna’s sudden change of heart.”
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.While focused on the European Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, SMP Racing’s new BR Engineering LMP2 car could make an end-of-season appearance in either the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship or FIA World Endurance Championship. (En Français)
According to managing director Benjamin Durand, the Russian-built prototype, which is set for its debut next weekend in Imola, may take part in the Petit Le Mans or Six Hours of Bahrain in order to showcase the car to potential customers in both markets.
“There’s been additional interest since the first tests,” Durand told Endurance-Info. “The U.S. market is interesting, as well as Asia. BR Engineering will meet the needs of the ACO and FIA.”
Two of the Paolo Catone-designed BR01 prototypes will be run in the ELMS this year, although Durand said they can build up to five cars. Deliveries could be made by as early as mid-July should a team place an order by Le Mans.
“We respect the regulations and we will earn 1 Euro on the sale of a car,” Durand said. “BR Engineering scrupulously respects the cost-cap. Unlike other manufacturers, we started with a clean sheet.”
Durand said the manufacturer, bearing the name of SMP Racing team principal Boris Rotenberg, is positioning itself for the future, with multiple projects under evaluation.
It includes a possible foray into LMP3, although that would largely depend on the success of its LMP2 program, which could be in jeopardy should BR not be selected as a constructor for the new-for-2017 regulations.
Despite being the newest prototype manufacturer on the block, Durand remains hopeful of their prospects.
“The spirit of Le Mans is always about having the smaller [organizations] go up against the bigger and we hope that will continue,” he said.
“The LMP3 category can be interesting to launch young drivers in endurance. SMP has a young driver program. But what’s the point of going to LMP3 if we are not successful in LMP2?
“I don’t see SMP Racing running with an ORECA or Onroak chassis in the future.”
The immediate focus, however, is to prove its current concept. The Nissan-powered prototype is coming off a successful endurance test at Paul Ricard, which saw it complete more 4,300 miles in testing.
“We must pass the test at Le Mans,” Durand said. “It’s already a surprise to have completed an endurance test without any concerns.
“We all know what it’s like to run a new car but we must also [consider] the value of Paolo Catone.
“The car is very well prepared. The work is well done, there’s no doubt.”WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Veteran Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens was charged on Tuesday with concealing more than $250,000 worth of gifts, including home renovations, that he received from an Alaska oil services company, the Justice Department said.
Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK |
18 8
All-Star Games [ edit ]
Year Location G A P 1996 Boston 0 1 1 1997 San Jose 2 1 3 1998 Vancouver 1 0 1 1999 Tampa Bay 0 0 0 2000 Toronto 0 0 0 All-Star totals 3 2 5The people of Manchester have either lost all interest in travelling abroad and drinking, or couldn't give a monkey's about the government's lame duck ID card scheme, if a commons answer is anything to go by.
Manchester is the first big trialling ground for the ID card scheme, before a broader trial across the rest of the North West. The government has been spending almost half a million quid trying to publicise the scheme in the city, touting its uses when travelling to Europe and clubbing.
And the results so far?
Meg Hillier, the Home Office minister stuck with responsibility for the scheme, revealed in a Commons answer this week that a whacking 1,300 people in Greater Manchester "have applied and attended an enrolment appointment for an identity card" between November 30 and January 14, 2010. Allowing for three Bank Holidays and weekends, that works out to around 43 people a day.
Hillier revealed that over the same period, 439,000 passport applications were received by the Identity and Passport Service. However, she said that passport info was not "readily held in a format to enable a further breakdown of those resident in Manchester". She added that while ID card applicants could also apply for a passport, the two processes were currently separate. Fingerprint biometric passports are due to kick in from 2012, at which point anyone seeking a passport can also get an ID card.
However, a quick back of the envelope calculation using those figures suggests that while 0.7 per cent of the UK population as a whole was applying for a passport, a mere 0.05 per cent of the 2.5m Greater Mancunians were rushing to get an ID card. If you use the population of the city proper, the rate is 0.26 per cent.
Back in October, the government said 2,000 people in the North West expressed an interest in applying for the card. That suggests a conversion rate that would make a direct mail firm proud. though how many more people have joined the queue remains to be seen.
Perhaps those eager early birds are simply hoping to have a truly unique collectable if the Tories scrap the benighted scheme if/when they get into power. ®30 Day Challenge For A Successful Online Practice
Bruno Pereira Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 7, 2016
Don’t worry!
They say that the first step is always the hardest. However, going online is usually much easier than anticipated and all you need is a bit of hard work, dedication and discipline.
There are various options for easily moving your business online. To untangle any complications, we decided to put together a 30 Day To-Do List which will help your business get traction in the online realm much faster.
LET’S BEGIN
Take this chance to reflect on your company. Ask these questions to yourself:
How has this journey been?
What is my company’s worth?
What can I do to improve it?
Growth starts with questions. Questioning yourself and your professional goals gives you the opportunity to understand your company better.
2. Reflect on your client base
This will give you a new perspective to optimize your client group for progressive growth. Ask yourself:
Which types of clients are bringing you profit?
Which clients are wasting your time? And finally the most important question:
How many clients can you take on financially and emotionally?
3. Visualize it
Create a diagram or a list, which will allow you to map out every detail and give you a better picture — this way you can make sure that there is something to look back to when you lose focus.
4. Should I go online?
Upon deciding on expanding to online consultation, question yourself on why it would give you a better perspective. Keep in mind however, that no matter how hard you fight, you’ll have to offer your services online eventually.
5. Don’t rush it: Weigh in the pros and cons
This is a very simple method that has proved to help many make accurate judgments. Ask yourself on how it’s going to profit your business. Will moving your business online result in more clients? Will it create a discomfort among your former clients? These questions allow you to weigh the pros and cons which will help you from making any rash decisions.
6. Crunch some numbers
Finances are the backbone for any business. Measure the costs and profit you may incur through this expansion. There’s a possibility that the initial process may increase your company’s expenses in the beginning (e.g. internet bills and a small investment in gadgets). On the plus side, you might cut costs on office space and electricity bills.
The Initial Planning
7. Create a long-term plan
In a long-term perspective, you need to know what the benefits to go online are. This long term approach helps you move forward with the expansion plan with confidence. Having a long term plan also attracts more investors and clients to be a part of your new venture.
8. Ask for advice
Your family and friends are your strength; include them in the discussion as well as keep them updated with the progress.
9. Start to build up your infrastructure
Create your design, dev and tech infrastructure. Having this set up at the start avoids any confusion in the future. If you’re on a small budget then look into Freelancer, UpWork, and Fiverr as they usually feature freelancers who are looking for small projects with small budgets.
10. Don’t be afraid to redesign
Some will tell you that re-designing is the ultimate death sentence. However, sometimes you have to move out of your comfort zone and try something new. It doesn’t have to be rash — just question yourself. As Socrates put it:
The unexamined life is not worth living
11. Create a funnel to optimize client acquisition.
A funnel is exactly what you think it is: a simple pathway which allows you to understand how your clients find you as a business and what steps they have to make in order to become paying customers. Create a clear funnel, understand where your clients are coming from and make it clear for them on what the next step is. Follow this link and learn more about funnels, as they will be the backbone of your online business.
12. Create a logo
It’s important for you to have a branding that represents you and your services. If you don’t have the necessary skills, you can always hire people from one of the many freelancing websites mentioned above, however, if you prefer designing it yourself, sites such as SquareSpace allows you to design your logo for a small fee.
A logo is necessary to represent you and what you stand for. It gives you a chance to be remembered and to create a lasting impact.
13. Create your website
Once you have the logo, you would need a functioning yet manageable website. You can either build one on your own using SquareSpace which is suitable for beginners, or hire a freelancer to help build your website.
A stunning website keeps you ahead of the competition and gives you the chance to explain yourself and your offerings. This will be your online name card. Make sure you spend time, energy and creativity on it.
Social and content marketing
14. Make a video
You earn your living with talking. You should establish your marketing on this fact, as you have the skills and the knowledge to speak to the public, in depth. Visuals speak louder than words, so make a video that communicates your intentions to your audience.
Have you noticed how some consultants prefer using YouTube as a medium of communication? This is because video has become a huge influence in everyone’s lives. One of our personal favorites would be Evan Carmichael, check him out here and make some notes.
15. Facebook, of course
In this era social media is the key to communication. Start by creating a Facebook page that represents your identity and your clients. Invite your friends and family to like your page, then share your page in groups that relate to you, and if you prefer you can also launch a Facebook campaign that can boost your page likes or website visits.
16. Clear call-to-actions
Before we go deeper into social media platforms, I’d like you to think back to your funnel. Facebook and other social media pages will be a part of this. Make sure you channel your visitors in a way that leads to conversions. Use the Facebook call-to-action buttons and make sure you approach every channel by using their strengths.
17. You are a professional, start using LinkedIn
Facebook only gives your clients a glimpse on what you’re doing. LinkedIn on the other hand gives you the opportunity to highlight all significant elements of your professional career. Update your LinkedIn profile with your latest resume, as it is a place for professional communication.
LinkedIn will help you connect with like-minded people and professionals who are looking for consultants. There are several business and life coaches who use LinkedIn as their only traffic source.
18. Do you provide your services for women mostly? Start using Pinterest
Pinterest is never a bad idea if you’ve got a wide range of audience, as it caters as a platform of expression for people in the 20’s to those in their 40’s or 50’s. If your target is middle-aged women or women entrepreneurs, you can easily narrow down your target group through Pinterest. Here are some nice facts and tips.
19. Twitter as your personal journal
Start being active on Twitter. In our modern world, Twitter serves as the news network, where one tweet can spread as a forest fire. Hence, constant updates will help boost your network. In many cases, Twitter helps you directly connect to your target audience with one sentence either through a retweet, tags or direct messages. It’s quick, and it is built for engagement.
Twitter is often fool’s gold: it promises a lot, but in many cases there are no rewards. Always measure your performance and act on it wisely.
20. Creating your own content
Content is important for your consultancy to progress; this is how you really show what you can offer. This goes from Facebook to Twitter to guest blogging. But how do you create great content?
If you’re too busy to create your own blog article or to create your own content, then you can find writers or content curators on the freelancing market looking for a chance to shine. On the other hand, if you don’t mind creating your own content, you can find great non-copyright images on Pixbay, Stock Pictures or even Flickr. A clear and relevant picture boosts your article’s reach and engagement.
The final touches
21. Setbacks
These will happen. Some channels will work and some will not. It’s nothing you should be worried about — make sure you measure your performance and act on statistics.
22. Balance
Balance is key to your business. You need to be able to balance both your professional and everyday life in order to be at the peak of your performance. How do you do it?
Take time off to do leisure activities; it could be with family and friends or alone. Go for a run, read a book, or just watch something. Take the time to relax — it’s important.
23. Invest in gadgets
Transitioning online requires you to invest in good technology. Start with good:
Microphones
Cameras
Suitable computer.
24. Your working environment
Online transitioning requires you to have a comfortable and well lit background, so create a working space that caters for your online consultation. You can work from home or wherever you are. Just make sure you are working in an environment that helps you focus.
25. Package your offerings
Put all your services in different packages and different prices. The best way of persuasion is giving your potential customers the option of choosing. Once you give your clients multiple choices, they will feel more empowered and more likely to choose one of your services.
26. The specifics of your consultation
It’s time for you to figure out the specifications of your online consultation:
methods of payment
when do your clients have to pay
the length of your sessions
when do you give sessions
27. Emails
Now you should collect all your client’s e-mails and contacts; this will help you send out an email explaining your new expansion, discounts and promotions. This will keep your clients informed regarding your progress.
If you feel comfortable, you can create a newsletter service that will help you create a long lead list, whom you can communicate about your latest adventures and offerings. Just to name a couple: Mailchimp and MadMimi are quality newsletter service providers.
28. Good Internet connection
It’s time to ensure you’ve got a great Internet connection. Aim for a 500kbps connection for good video quality. Check out your speed here: http://www.speedtest.net/
29. Telebond
You will most likely use video consultations. The first thing you may think of is Skype. However, Skype isn’t exactly made for video consultations as its sole purpose is to bring the world closer one step at a time. It doesn’t address privacy, security or optimization.
This is why you should consider a software that does everything for you. Meet Telebond, a software that was made for online consultations. It is private, it is secure and it is optimized for online businesses.
30. Need any help? Call Telebond!
We want online consultants to succeed, that’s why we are happy to help you out with any questions you might have. Contact us any time through Telebond. Let’s talk about what you’re struggling with and how we can help you.
https://app.telebond.com/profile/drosner
For other articles from Telebond and advice on how to take your business online, keep your eye on the official Telebond Blog or follow us on Twitter. Or you can sign up here to monetize on your knowledge online.Don’t be fooled by his outbursts on anime, “purity”, or, uh, Celine Dion: When it comes to intelligent Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 play, Jay “Viscant” Snyder is arguably the smartest guy in the room. Recently, Snyder has been dropping knowledge on the BROKENTIER blog (a must-read for Marvel game design enthusiasts), so I asked him about where he sees UMvC3 evolving over the next few years.
Patrick Miller: Three Zeroes in Evo 2013’s Marvel top 8, and one of them (Flocker) wins it all. Is it safe to say we’re in a New Age of Zeroes? Why do you think it has taken so long for Zero to see high-level competitive success? What do you think players will need to do to take Zero teams out?
Jay Snyder:I think Zero’s stock is improving, but that was bound to happen as the game matures and the better characters with more options and more firepower start slowly pushing their advantages and forcing the weaker characters out. And while he takes a lot of practice, Zero’s execution barrier is more myth than reality. He has an execution barrier, but he’’s not Morrigan or anything. I think in some ways the perception that Zero is a high execution character stopped people from giving him a chance.
And it’s not like Zero was languishing away and never showing up late in tournaments. Flocker would have won multiple majors before he broke through earlier this year if not for Chris G standing in his way. Although Flocker has a couple wins over Chris G in the past, not having to play Chris was a big factor in his Evo win this year. Morrigan vs. Zero is easily Zero’s worst matchup and I’m sure Flocker was thrilled to see Justin take him out.
Aside from more players picking up Morrigan (which will happen in time) the only real way to stop Zero is to avoid getting hit in the first place. It’s not just that Zero kills you in one touch; you tend to die in one touch from any character these days. It’s that his incoming mixups are so good. The initial incoming is designed to be as random as possible and jam session, missiles, vajra or rapid slash all allow for chaining multiple 50/50s together leading to another lightning loop. Since the mixups are random by design it’s hard to be good at blocking them. Really, the only solution is to avoid the situation in the first place and frontload your team as much as possible so as not to have to deal with him in the first place.
It’s also possible that point/Sentinel/anchor (Vergil) will become a more popular combination and alternative to point/Doom/Vergil as a response to Zero/Dante. It’s not that drones are a spectacular assist against Zero or that Sentinel does anything on point, but hard drive is a get-out-of-mixups-free card, and will at least give you a second chance to play.
PM: For a while, it seemed as though Magneto’s stock was rising significantly (both as a point in a Magneto/Doom shell, and as an anchor), though only two Magneto players made it into top 8 (Ranmasama and FChamp) and neither of them won it. What’s your take on Magneto as a character and do you think he’ll grow to be more or less useful over the next year of UMvC3?
JS: Magneto is hard to classify. I’m not sure if he’s the weakest of the top group (with Vergil, Zero, Doom and Morrigan) or the strongest of the next group (Spencer, Viper, Wolverine) but he kind of defies classification as an individual character. He’s good at all roles, but not the best at anything. He’s a strong point character but not as good as Zero or Morrigan. He’s a credible support character with a good assist and an easy infinite, but he’s not as good a support character as Doom. And he’s a passable anchor character, but not on the level of Vergil, Phoenix or Strider. Is it better to be good at all roles or the best at one? This is why individual character tiering in Marvel is an exercise in frustration.
That’s not to say that Magneto shouldn’t be picked or isn’t a good character. Magneto’s clearly good enough to be on strong teams, and teams like Magneto/Doom/Vergil are among the best in the game. I think he’ll stay about where he is now: He’s a popular character who will stay popular. There’s still potential for him to improve also; other than Morrigan, nobody really blows Magneto out. A Magneto player doesn’t have to worry about picking counter teams or going away from their main character for too long; you always have the option of just getting better. Characters like that will always have a place in the game.
PM: Let’s talk about Vergil for a bit — correct me if you disagree, but it seems to me that players are getting used to anchor Vergil and are either A) more willing to snap him in and kill him, or B) more able to block his mixups when he doesn’t have an assist. How do you see Vergil’s tournament viability changing over the next year?
JS: I don’t see any changes in Vergil’s future status. If anything, I see him possibly becoming more prevalent. He’s the best anchor in the game, and he hard counters the other two dominant anchors (Strider and Phoenix) in addition to soft countering the X-Factor mechanic in general thanks to Spiral Swords.
I agree that players are getting better at fighting him, so a lot of Vergil players have a plan B if they don’t think they can get it done with just Dark Vergil. Flocker and Yipes use Vergil and Hawkeye. They can have Vergil as anchor or have Vergil use Hawkeye assist to set up mixups. Vergil and Magneto is common for the same reason. Vergil/Strider is a popular combo. Both are dominant anchors, but you could also have Vergil use Strider assist to set up RT glitch shenanigans or teleport mixups.
PM: On a related note, I wanted to ask about team composition patterns.
Let’s start with an example: both you and Justin Wong have identified Zero/Doom/Vergil to be a powerful team (you wrote about it on the BROKENTIER blog) — but I believe you prefer Vergil anchor with Doom as beam or missiles depending on the matchup, while I believe Justin put Vergil in second with Doom as anchor/beam assist.
It seems to me that these are two different approaches in designing teams — Justin more front-loaded and depending on Vergil with Doom to do the work, but a weaker anchor, and yours with Vergil anchor but without as much opportunity for Vergil to land mixups with the Doom assist. (Certainly, when you look at Justin’s other teams, they’re definitely much more front-loaded and MvC2-style than most other UMvC3 teams.)
Given that: Do you think that ideal team composition patterns (front-loaded teams vs. back-loaded teams vs. relatively even teams) are changing? Do you think we’re going to see players following different team comp trends over the next year? Are players getting better at picking off teams dependent on an anchor? Do you think we’ll start seeing more teams built around dedicated assist characters that make crappy anchors?
JS: This kind of ties into what I was talking about above. Some players will prefer to save Vergil for last, some will try to get him in early so he can use Doom assist for either RT glitch patterns or teleport mixups. I think that either way you want to play it putting Doom second and Vergil last is the best play. The Zero/Vergil/Doom team can essentially lose the match on the first hit. Doom at least gives you a better option to avoid the incoming and make sure you can DHC or tag Vergil in and get a chance to play.
I don’t think there’s a right answer to the front-loaded vs. back-loaded question. I’m a strong believer in the point/support/anchor team building formula, but other players like Justin, Dios X, and Filipino Champ (with his Dorm team) prove that you can do just fine without following that pattern. But even if you’re going to play a pure support character in the anchor position you have to perform at an elite level with them. Angelic picks Shuma last, and nobody would confuse Shuma with Vergil or anything, but in order to make his team work, his Shuma has to be good enough to win a few fights on his own. Same with Justin’s Akuma, or Dios X and RayRay’s Sentinel, etc. Even if you’re playing an assist character last, you can’t be like MvC2 and just roll over and play dead if it comes down to just them solo. You have to have a plan for making a full comeback with any character you play.
PM: Nemo barely made an impact in the Evo tournament proper, but he won some high-profile money matches afterwards against Chris G and Filipino Champ. What do you think that says about his team? Do you think that his team is more matchup-dependent than others? Is there something you think he’s doing that other players aren’t — either with the team or with the tech — that is leading him to a certain kind of competitive success?
I’m not sure if it’s an indictment of Nemo’s team — he may just not be a very good tournament player. The guy I saw almost losing to Mike Ross in tournament was not the guy I saw beat Chris G decisively. Some people just aren’t good at playing tournaments. I should know, I’m a notoriously bad tournament player, especially with my reset teams. If you’re a reset player, sometimes you don’t choose to maximize your EV (“Expected Value”) on a reset decision, you play to minimize your risk. There’s mathematical proof that you’re leaving damage on the table, but the risk just may not be palatable to go for higher variance options in a 2/3 or 3/5 set.
That doesn’t really apply to Nemo — he may just be the type of player who plays with greater freedom if he has more games to work with. Some of the things he was doing to Chris G, like going for semi-high-risk air throws on Morrigan, maybe he wouldn’t have gone for if it’s 3/5 and he’s down 2 games to 1, for example. Maybe he’d be looking for a safer spot before putting his tournament life on the line. It’s all just speculation though. I will say that he played Chris with more aggression and less fear than US players do, and this played a big part in his success in that money match.
PM: What characters do you think are the most slept-on right now? Which characters and what tech do you think we’ll see dominating Evo 2014?
JS: X-23 is completely invisible from the tournament scene, and I still think there’s something there with her. Trish and Frank are underplayed given how strong they are. It seems like every few majors someone will blow up some big name players with Trish, like Green Ace did at CEO, and people will be like “oh yeah, Trish is really good” but nobody ever picks her.
Having said that, I think the trend (unless the game gets patched) is more Zero, more Vergil, but especially more Morrigan. Everyone knows that Morrigan is a dominant character, but her execution is holding her back. Given another year and maybe instead of 2 or 3 strong Morrigan players we’ll have 20. The longer a game stays out, the more likely it is for the cream to rise to the top and those characters are the cream of UMvC3.
PM: I’ve seen an influx of newly-interested MvC3 players who don’t know where to start. I know you’ve spoken about how Mag/Doom/Sentinel is a good team for newbies to start with — why is that? How would you recommend a new player pick up MvC3 if he/she only has relatively standard Street Fighter experience?
JS: Let me clear up a misconception here. Most of the time when I talk about the Magneto/Doom/Sentinel team people will push back saying that it’s too hard for a newbie or even someone who has fighting game experience but not specific Marvel experience. They recommend an easier team, something like Wolverine/Wesker/Akuma or Wesker/Vergil related teams. Let me explain this team in more detail.
Yes, Magneto/Doom/Sentinel is a pretty hard team to play. But that’s why I think beginners should play that team. Just like learning Ryu is important to making you a better Street Fighter player, learning Magneto is important to making you a better Marvel player. The fundamentals that make a strong Magneto player are the fundamentals that will help you win no matter what characters you choose to eventually pursue. Magneto can win matches on pure zoning. He can win matches on pure offense. He can turn zoning into offense through the magnetic blast. He can rush hard then switch to zoning on the fly on a pushblock. These are all useful skills to have as a player.
Playing this team will teach you how to call assists safely, how to triangle jump, how to fly, the instincts on when to attack versus when to defend, how to TAC, how to fake TAC. These aren’t just skills relative to this team, these are MARVEL skills. The only important MvC3 skill this team doesn’t have is learning how to teleport behind an assist.
Yes, you’re going to have to work really hard in training mode. Doom is an awkward character; you have to invest time in training mode just to move around the screen. Learning the important combos on this team will take a long time. But that’s an important Marvel skill also. This game is billed as a low-skill game but that’s not true. This game is hard to play at a high level. You WILL spend a lot of time in training mode in this game. You might as well get started now.
Will you win more and win faster with a Wesker based team? Yes, of course! But will you LEARN as much? No. If you want to begin playing a game wins and losses have to be the furthest thing from your mind. You should want to learn as much about the game as possible so you can know what styles you like and what’s important to the game at a high level. This team is the quickest way to get there.
PM: Besides Morrigan, what’s on your radar as far as execution barriers that will be coming down over time? TAC infinites? Any other tech stand out in your mind as something that’ll be dominant in a year or two?
JS:I feel like TAC infinites are extremely important. If you’re playing Doom as a support character and don’t have TAC infinites down then you’re leaving damage–and wins–on the table. TAC infinites aren’t the hardest thing in the world. They can be mastered, I don’t really compare them to Morrigan as an overall character who presents many difficult execution challenges at the same time as many difficult strategic challenges. Morrigan is by far the hardest character to play well in UMvC3. People don’t give Chris G enough credit for his Morrigan mastery; any time I hear people say things like “oh he only wins because of scrubby Morrigan” I just instantly discount their opinion on games from that point forward.
As far as the overall game goes I think characters like Morrigan, Zero, Vergil and Doom are just extending their lead over the field. Theoretically these characters (Doom for his support more than his point abilities) are the best characters in the game and everyone’s known that for some time. But as people are improving their games these characters are just getting better.
For characters that aren’t super popular now but might get better as time goes on, I think Trish and Frank have a lot to show people. Green Ace is adamant that Trish is a top 10 character and after his string of performances against big names lately, maybe people should listen. And I feel like high level Frank is a completely misunderstood character. Frank with top level support (Doom, Dante) is clearly on the level of other power characters. You don’t have to give up enough to get to him, all you need is 1 hit and he becomes a top tier character; very close to a win button against even top tier combinations. By comparison, at least you need 2 or 3 hits to get Dark Phoenix, and level 5 Frank is better than Dark Phoenix without any of the natural counters she has. He doesn’t need x-factor to dominate, his air and ground B attacks are better than Phoenix feathers, and his incoming setups with Jam Session are better and more multi-layered than anything Phoenix has. I don’t think people realize how dangerous this character is from a pure game theory standpoint. Someone new will expose him, or Bee and Apologyman will get more attention, and then he’ll become a more popular character.
PM: What’s your take on the “big bodies”? Players like Kane Blueriver manage to get them stream time; do you think they’re capable of winning a major?
JS: Here’s the thing about the big bodies team: Because of Hulk’s natural advantage at the beginning of a round and on incoming, and because of how Haggar assist works in general, this team makes you make hard decisions at multiple points. Making hard decisions is what Marvel is about, but this team makes it very clear: If you choose wrong you will die. Every time. And you will have to choose at least twice before the neutral game happens.
The neutral game is a weakness for this team; the prevailing wisdom is that if you make the right choices early you can lock the big bodies out and wear them down. It makes it harder to win a big tournament with this kind of team, when there’s such a simple-to-understand strategy to beat it, but what sets KBR apart is his talent for creating openings where other big body players can’t. It’s simple to understand; if you’re pushed out, you have to get back in at all costs, but others just aren’t as skilled as he is at creating a threat then capitalizing on it. This team is at a huge handicap against the best teams in the game, like optimized Zero teams or Morrigan teams, but there’s always a chance; the other side will always have to play Hulk’s game at first.
PM: Last one (couldn’t resist): How can you reconcile your hatred of anime with the fact that Zero is hands-down the most anime character in MvC3?
JS: Are you kidding? Dante and Vergil are WAY more anime than Zero! Plus Phoenix makes it all better for me. She makes it okay for me to play Marvel. Phoenix and I will burn all the anime people together. Yes we will…US space agency recruits four women among its eight new candidates, the highest percentage yet selected
The US space agency Nasa has eight new astronauts – its first new batch in four years. Among the lucky candidates are the first female fighter pilot to become an astronaut in nearly two decades. A female helicopter pilot also is in the group. In fact, four of the eight are women, the highest percentage of female astronaut candidates ever selected by the organisation.
The announcement came on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the launch of the first American woman into space, Sally Ride. She died last summer.
The eight were chosen from more than 6,000 applications received early last year, the second largest number ever received. They will report for duty in August at Johnson Space Centre in Houston and join 49 astronauts currently working at the agency. The number has dwindled ever since the space shuttles stopped flying in 2011. Many astronauts quit rather than join a lengthy queue for the relatively few slots available for long-term missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The eight have been named as Josh Cassada, 39, and Victor Glover, 37, both naval aviators; Tyler Hague, 37, of the US Air Force; Christina Hammock, 34, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Nicole Aunapu Mann, 35, from the US Marines; Anne McClain, 34, a former helicopter pilot; Jessica Meir PhD, 35, a professor at Harvard University; and Andrew Morgan, 37, a West Point graduate and emergency surgeon for the army.
Charles Bolden, a Nasa administrator, said these new candidates would help lead the first human mission to an asteroid in the 2020s, and then Mars, some time in the following decade. They also may be among the first to fly to the space station aboard commercial spacecraft launched from the US, he noted. Russia is currently ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS.
"These new space explorers asked to join Nasa because they know we're doing big, bold things here – developing missions to go farther into space than ever before," Bolden said in a statement.
"They're excited about the science we're doing on the International Space Station. And they're ready to help lead the first human mission to an asteroid and then on to Mars."Anyone who has watched Dibakar Banerjee’s comedy drama, Khosla ka Ghosla, knows the nightmare of Kamal Kishore Khosla when his land—bought out of hard earned ‘middle class’ income—is usurped by the land-shark Kishen Khurana. Khosla’s original land ownership papers are no match for the forged papers created by Khurana. No prizes for guessing that the judicial process to reclaim land would have been far more complicated and Khosla would almost certainly have failed to convince the courts due to the lack of ‘confirmed titling’. As a result, the movie shows his sons attempting to ‘buy’ their land back from Khurana. The brilliant plot provides only a glimpse of the complex world of land conflicts, which is a cause for stalling of investments to the tune of Rs12 trillion in India. But it nudges us to ask why we have a land titling problem?
The apparent reason is an archaic piece of legislation, The Registration Act, 1908 that allows only ‘presumptive’ ownership. A registration in India is a mere record of the sales transaction—and is liable to be challenged in courts. Why cannot a ‘confirmed ownership’ be conferred, one may ask? Because nobody can be certain as to how many ‘hands’ a piece of land has passed through. Put simply, it’s an information problem, which makes verification of ownership and assignment of a unique identification prohibitively expensive.
At present, a ‘title’ can be established only through a chain of transfer documents beginning from the first owner. However, the onus is on the buyer to examine all the link documents tracing up to the original owner. This is, of course, a tough exercise due to difficulty in accessing all the historical records.
Therefore, two remedies are needed: first, titling of a land unit needs to be confirmed with one owner. Second, there needs to be a clear trail and record of all transactions done regarding the unit. Recent governments have recognized the need for simplifying land governance, primarily aimed at digitizing land records. In 2008, a short-lived National Land Records Management Programme was launched, which failed due to implementation hurdles.
The current government has recently renewed the push for making all land records and titling digital through the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP). While a digital footprint is certainly an improvement over a physical ledger of records, certain vulnerabilities will persist such as conflicting claims on ownership; bribery and corruption in altering registered data; bureaucracies around third-party vetting; and cyber-attacks and data theft.
Is there a way where every land unit can be assigned a unique identification, every transaction has a fingerprint, and the data is secure and immune to duplication and hacking? Enter blockchain. In its simplest form, blockchain is a distributed ledger record of transactions.
First, it is decentralized and stores data in a nearly incorruptible form, providing a dashboard view of data to any vested party, at much lower costs and several times better accuracy. Second, blockchain technology can be used to confer a unique cryptographic identifier to each land parcel based on its geographic coordinates, ownership, and purpose of usage.
For example, an agricultural land parcel owned by a farmer in Punjab may be assigned a unique identifier and any changes in the land are also assigned different identifiers. If the property of the farmer is divided between his two sons, there will be a change in the geographic coordinates and ownership. Now, if one of them decides to build a resort on his piece of land, there will be a change in the purpose of usage as well. Thus, each change in land attribute will be accorded a fingerprint of its own based on the transaction type. This will interact with the stock land identifier to create a chronological trail of transactions that can be retrieved anytime by classified users. The important thing here is that because of the cryptographic nature of blockchain technology, it cannot be corrupted by any viewer of the distributed ledger.
This is like a website, where a visitor cannot alter the contents of the site unless they hold |
critically evaluated in a review by Escobar et al. [32]. It should be noted that athletes often fail to meet recommended amounts of energy and carbohydrate; consequently [33], strategies to replenish carbohydrate stores may take priority toprepare for maximal performance in the next competition. Endurance training The first nutrient timing strategy centered solely upon the strategic intake of carbohydrate as part of “carbohydrate loading” protocols in the days leading up to prolonged endurance competitions. Initial work by Karlsson and Saltin in the 1970s reported that a period of high-volume exercise training while consuming limited amounts of carbohydrates for three to four days followed by a diet providing > 70% carbohydrate (~ 8 to 10 g/kg/day), while sharply reducing training volume, facilitated supersaturation of muscle glycogen and an improved pace of training for more prolonged periods of time [3]. Sherman and colleagues [2, 34] also demonstrated success at maximizing intramuscular glycogen stores using similar approaches. Alternatively, Bussau et al. [35] required study participants to ingest high-glycemic carbohydrate (10 g/kg/day) for one day after completing a Wingate anaerobic capacity test which resulted in a near doubling of baseline muscle glycogen concentrations. A similar approach by Fairchild et al. [36] yielded similar results and highlights the ability to forgo a “glycogen depletion” phase and instead to simply reduce training volume for three to four days while simultaneously consuming a very high-carbohydrate diet (8–10 g/kg/day) for one to three days to maximize intramuscular glycogen levels. Overall, the ability of carbohydrate loading strategies to rapidly increase and maximize muscle glycogen levels is currently unquestioned, and many athletes and coaches are encouraged to consider making use of such a dietary regimen in the days leading up to a competitive event, particularly if their activity will significantly deplete endogenous skeletal muscle glycogen. It is important to mention that due to noted sex differences related to carbohydrate metabolism and the supercompensation of glycogen stores, female athletes may need to significantly increase total caloric intake over these “loading days” to achieve effects similar to males [31]. The hours leading up to competition are often a highly prioritized period of feeding and studies have indicated that strategic fuel consumption can help to maximize muscle and liver glycogen levels. Carbohydrate feedings during this time increase endogenous glycogen stores while also helping to maintain blood glucose levels. Notably, Coyle et al. [19] reported that consumption of a high-carbohydrate meal 4 h before 105 min of cycling exercise at 70% VO 2 max after an overnight fast significantly increased both muscle and liver glycogen while also increasing rates of carbohydrate oxidation and utilization of muscle glycogen. In addition to increasing stored glycogen, other studies have reported significant improvements in aerobic exercise performance [37–39]. However, not all studies have demonstrated a performance-enhancing effect. Nonetheless, it is commonly recommended to consume snacks or meals high in carbohydrate (1–4 g/kg/day) for several hours before higher-intensity (≥ 70% VO 2 max), longer duration (> 90 min) exercise. Additionally, and as a measure of practical importance, the need to ingest a pre-exercise meal or snacks high in carbohydrate goes up when the athlete has consumed relatively small amounts of carbohydrate in the days leading up to a competition or has not allowed for appropriate amounts of rest and recovery [20, 24]. In the final (< 4) hours before a competition, the athlete’s priority should still be to maximize or maintain optimal levels of muscle and liver glycogen. In this respect, another priority becomes maintaining a favorable balance with the digestive system and avoiding the consumption of too much food or fluid before competition. Practically speaking, many endurance events begin in the early morning hours and finding an adequate balance between rest and fuel must be considered. In this respect, two studies have reported that solid or liquid forms of carbohydrates similarly promote glycogen resynthesis allowing athletes more flexibility when selecting food sources [40, 41]. A certain degree of dogma still clouds the recommendation to ingest certain types of carbohydrate, or avoid carbohydrate altogether, in the final few hours before an event. The source of this practice stems from initial findings of Foster and colleagues [42] who reported a negative, hypoglycemic response to carbohydrate ingestion directly preceding (< 60 min) exercise. From these findings, it has been surmised that excessive carbohydrate consumption, and in particular fructose consumption, in the initial hours before exercise may negatively impact exercise performance perhaps due to rebound hypoglycemia. Indeed, given the rise in insulin due to carbohydrate ingestion coupled with up-regulation of GLUT-4 transporters from the initiated exercise stimulus, there may be a decrease, rather than increase, in blood glucose at the onset of activity that could negatively impact performance. However, while a number of athletes may be affected by this phenomenon, a study by Moseley et al. [43] demonstrated that any “rebound hypoglycemia” response is effectively negated by what would be the equivalent of a proper warm-up and that shifting carbohydrate intake closer (15 min vs. 75 min) to when the exercise bout is scheduled to begin can minimize the likelihood of these symptoms. A 1997 review by Hawley and Burke summarized the results of several studies that provided some form of carbohydrate at least 60 min before exercise. They found no adverse impact on performance. In fact, multiple studies reported performance increases of 7–20% [44]. Moreover, Galloway and colleagues [45] used a double-blind, placebo-controlled approach to compare performance outcomes related to ingestion of a placebo or a 6.4% carbohydrate beverage either 30 min or 120 min before a controlled bout of cycling at 90% peak power. Ingesting carbohydrate 30 min before exercise led to greater increases in exercise capacity. In contrast, two studies were completed by Febrraio [46, 47] that required the ingestion of high or low-glycemic carbohydrates 30–45 min before completing bouts of exercise that spanned 135–150 min at approximately 70% VO 2 max. They concluded that performance was similar for both types of carbohydrate. The delivery of carbohydrate remains a priority once a workout or competition commences. Most research has employed study designs that integrate some form of continuous aerobic exercise, and within these studies it has been consistently demonstrated that providing carbohydrate (230–350 mL of a 6–8% carbohydrate solution) at regular intervals (every 10–12 min) can optimize performance and maintain blood glucose levels [48, 49]. Several studies have indicated that the pattern or timing of carbohydrate feedings surrounding endurance exercise may be important. For example, Fielding and colleagues [50] required cyclists to ingest the same dose of carbohydrate every 30 min or every 60 min over the course of a four-hour exercise bout. When carbohydrate was ingested more frequently, performance was improved. Two contrasting papers that operate as extensions of this work include work by Schweitzer et al. [51] who concluded that preferentially delivering carbohydrate during the first or second half of a controlled cycling exercise bout offered no enhancement of performance, while a similar study design by Heesch and colleagues [52] indicated that providing carbohydrate consistently throughout or in the latter half of a 2-h cycling exercise bout at 62% of peak power decreased the time it took to cover a prescribed distance (10-km) while cycling. It is important to realize that key differences such as the duration of the exercise bout, the nature of the performance assessment (fixed distance vs. time-to-exhaustion) and amount of carbohydrate that was delivered all differed between these studies and can help to explain the differences in outcomes being reported. A classic paper by Widrick et al. [53] examined the impact of pre-exercise muscle glycogen status with carbohydrate feeding throughout a prolonged bout of exercise. Briefly, participants commenced a 70-km self-paced time trial with high or low muscle glycogen levels, which was then combined with either a carbohydrate (9% fructose) or placebo (non-caloric sweetener) beverage regularly (2.35 ml/kg/feeding every 10-km providing a total of 1.5 g/kg/trial) throughout the exercise bout. Increased power outputs were recorded when exercise began with high muscle glycogen levels, and even greater power was achieved when carbohydrate was frequently provided throughout the exercise protocol. A similar outcome was demonstrated by Febbraio and colleagues [54] where they required participants to complete four carbohydrate feedings and exercise conditions in conjunction with a two-hour bout of steady-state (SS) cycling exercise at 63% of their peak power, followed by a time trial using a standardized load. The four feeding conditions were: a) placebo beverage 30 min before and a 6.4% carbohydrate solution at a dosage of 2 g/kg throughout SS exercise, b) a 25.7% carbohydrate solution at a dosage of 2 g/kg 30 min before and placebo throughout SS exercise, c) a 25.7% carbohydrate solution at a dosage of 2 g/kg before and a 6.4% carbohydrate solution at a dosage of 2 g/kg throughout SS, and d) a 6.4% carbohydrate solution at a dosage of 2 g/kg throughout the SS exercise bout. As with the findings of Widrick et al., it was determined that pre-exercise strategies to support glycogen or blood glucose levels increase exercise performance when carbohydrate ingestion continued throughout the prescribed exercise bouts. Collectively, these findings somewhat prioritize carbohydrate feeding during the exercise session and could lead some to argue that if pre-exercise carbohydrate feeding strategies are neglected, then delivering appropriate carbohydrate throughout an exercise bout may help offset the potential for performance decrement. However, one must cautiously explore this approach as to avoid overwhelming the gastrointestinal system potentially leading to cramping and discomfort once exercise begins. In this respect one should consider the findings of Newell et al. [55] who had 20 well-trained, experienced cyclists perform four different feeding conditions (no carbohydrate [0 g/h] control, 20 g/h, 39 g/h or 64 g/h) throughout completion of a two-hour cycling bout at 95% lactate threshold (185 ± 25 watts) followed by completion of a standardized time trial. When carbohydrates were ingested at a dosage of 39 or 64 g/h, time trial performance was significantly improved compared to the control group. Importantly, no differences in performance were found between these two feeding strategies suggesting that for those athletes who may not be able to tolerate higher doses of carbohydrates, a moderate regimen of carbohydrate feeding throughout a prolonged bout of exercise can still promote similar improvements in performance. Other important considerations related to the potential ergogenic impact of carbohydrates have been critically highlighted in recent reviews by Colombani et al. [56] and later by Pochmuller et al. [57]. In both papers, the authors contend that the ability of carbohydrate administration during bouts of exercise spanning less than 70 min to operate in an ergogenic fashion is largely mixed in the literature. It was further suggested that not until exercise durations meet or exceed 90 min does the administration of a ~ 6–8% carbohydrate solution exert a consistent ergogenic benefit particularly when exercise is commenced in a fed state as opposed to the fasted state that is so often studied in this body of literature. Whether or not these results translate to intermittent sports remains to be thoroughly investigated. A 2011 review by Phillips and colleagues [58] supports the notion that carbohydrate administration throughout intermittent, team-sport activities improves certain types of performance as well as general indicators of mental drive and acuity, but evidence regarding benefits of acute deviations in timing is still lacking. Clarke and colleagues [59] tested the hypothesis that ingesting isovolumetric amounts of a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution either in two large volumes (7 mL/kg at 0 and 45 min of exercise) or more frequent (every 15 min over the entire course of a 75-min exercise bout) feedings of smaller volumes to achieve the same total dose can favorably impact metabolic responses. No performance or capacity measurements were made, but the authors did report that either feeding pattern was able to maintain glucose, insulin, glycerol, non-esterified fatty acid, and epinephrine levels. More recently, Mizuno and colleagues [60] concluded that timing the intake of a carbohydrate gel (1.0 g/kg) did not impact the inflammatory response or exercise performance throughout completion of two 45-min bouts of intermittent (4–16 km/h) running. The recovery of lost muscle glycogen operates as a key nutritional goal, and post-exercise ingestion of carbohydrate continues to be a popular and efficient nutrient timing strategy to maximize replenishment of lost muscle glycogen. In what is known as potentially the first study to examine an actual nutrient timing question, Ivy and colleagues [61] showed that restoration of muscle glycogen was 50% faster and more complete over a four-hour post-exercise period when a carbohydrate bolus (2 g/kg of a 25% carbohydrate solution) was delivered within 30 min versus waiting until two hours after completion of a cycling exercise bout (70 min at 68% VO 2 max followed 6 × 2-min intervals at 88% VO 2 max). Subsequent work has since refined conclusions surrounding this topic, namely that the timing of post-exercise carbohydrate administration holds the highest level of importance under two primary situations: 1) when rapid restoration of muscle glycogen is a primary goal and 2) when inadequate amounts of carbohydrate are being delivered. In light of these considerations, muscle glycogen levels can be rapidly and maximally restored using an aggressive post-exercise feeding regimen of carbohydrates. Ingesting 0.6 to 1.0 g/kg body mass within the first 30 min of completing a glycogen depleting exercise bout and again every two hours for the next four to six hours [62, 63], has been shown to promote maximal glycogen replenishment. Similarly, favorable outcomes have also been shown when 1.2 g/kg of carbohydrate were ingested every 30 min over a 3.5-h period [27, 64]. Outside of situations where rapid recovery is truly needed, and daily carbohydrate intake is matching energy demands, the importance of timed carbohydrate ingestion is notably decreased. However, in no situation has timed carbohydrate ingestion been shown to negatively impact performance or recovery. If an athlete participating in heavy exercise is not able, or even not sure if they will be able to appropriately consume the required amounts of carbohydrate throughout the day then the strategically timed ingestion of carbohydrate may accelerate muscle glycogen re-synthesis. When prolonged endurance exercise is completed, carbohydrate ingestion may also help promote a favorable hormonal environment [65, 66]. Finally, studies in elite athletes undergoing high volumes of training have shown that maximal glycogen levels are restored within 24 h if a diet contains ≥8 g/kg/day, and only moderate levels of muscle damage are present [41]. In support, Nicholas and colleagues [67] concluded that a daily carbohydrate intake of 9–10 g/kg/day in six trained men participating in soccer, rugby, hockey, or basketball, sufficiently replenished muscle glycogen following consecutive days of prolonged (85–90 min), intense, interval exercise. Resistance training Studies employing resistance exercise that examined some aspect of carbohydrate timing are limited. Multiple studies have demonstrated that resistance exercise can significantly decrease muscle glycogen concentration [22, 68–70], though these decreases are modest in comparison to exhaustive endurance exercise. However, the provision of pre-exercise carbohydrate to individuals performing resistance-style exercise in a moderately glycogen depleted state may not have an ergogenic effect. To date, one study has indicated that carbohydrate administration before and during bouts of resistance exercise can improve performance, but these ergogenic outcomes were only seen in the second session of resistance exercise performed on the same day [71]. In contrast, multiple studies have failed to report an improvement in resistance exercise performance [72–74]. One study involving pre-exercise and during exercise delivery of carbohydrate throughout a bout of resistance exercise has been shown to minimize the loss of muscle glycogen. Briefly, study participants were given a carbohydrate dose of 1.0 g/kg pre-workout and a 0.5 g/kg carbohydrate every 10 min throughout a 40-min resistance exercise bout and found that muscle glycogen losses were reduced by 49% when compared to glycogen changes with ingestion of a placebo drink; however, isokinetic muscle performance was not influenced [73]. In reviewing all of the timing considerations related to carbohydrate intake, strategies to maximize muscle and liver glycogen levels should first consist of following a brief period of reduced training volume in conjunction with a high daily intake of carbohydrate (≥ 8 g/kg/day). In the hours leading up to competition, glycogen levels are best maintained or increased by consuming high carbohydrate (1–4 g/kg/day) meals or snacks for several hours before commencement of training or competition. Athletes are encouraged to continue consuming small amounts of a carbohydrate solution or small snacks (bars, gels, etc.) to maintain liver glycogen levels and to help prevent hypoglycemia. Ingestion of carbohydrate during endurance type exercise maintains blood glucose levels, spares glycogen [75], and will likely enhance performance. Post-exercise consumption of carbohydrate is necessary and in situations where minimal recovery time is available, aggressive carbohydrate feeding is recommended. Although preliminary, initial work in intermittent, high-intensity activities suggest that carbohydrate timing may support metabolic outcomes, while performance results remain mixed, as do studies involving resistance exercise. For further inquiry, excellent reviews on the topic of carbohydrate and performance are available [20, 21, 48, 49, 76].
Carbohydrate + protein Endurance training Carbohydrate + protein combinations are a traditional strategy employed by endurance as well as strength-power athletes to increase exercise performance, promote glycogen repletion, minimize muscle damage, and promote a positive nitrogen balance. A small number of studies have examined pre-endurance exercise ingestion of carbohydrate + protein on performance as well as metabolic outcomes, but very few have directly investigated the impact of altering the timing of when nutrients were administered. Ivy and colleagues [77] recruited trained cyclists to complete a three-hour bout of cycling exercise at an intensity of 45–75% VO 2 max before exercising to exhaustion at 85% VO 2 max. In a crossover fashion, participants ingested either a 7.75% carbohydrate or a 7.75% carbohydrate + 1.94% protein solution. When protein was added to carbohydrate, endurance was significantly improved. In a similar fashion, Saunders and colleagues [78] had participants cycle to exhaustion on two separate occasions (75–85% VO 2 max) within 24 h while ingesting a carbohydrate or a carbohydrate + protein solution throughout the exercise bout (1.8 mL/kg every 15 min) followed by a single bolus dose (10 mL/kg) immediately after exhaustion. The carbohydrate + protein combination resulted in significantly improved performance as well as a reduction in muscle damage. The same research group [79] used a nutrient gel and again reported that ingestion of a carbohydrate (0.146 g/kg) + protein (0.0365 g/kg) combination throughout an exhaustive bout of cycling exercise significantly improved cycling performance. While none of these studies directly examined a timing comparison, they all demonstrate that pre-exercise administration of carbohydrate + protein combinations can favorably impact endurance performance. Furthermore, the addition of protein (to carbohydrate) has been shown to increase the speed of glycogen recovery when a short recovery window is available or if sub-optimal amounts of carbohydrate have been delivered and can also help to reduce symptoms of muscle damage [80]. Notably, no studies have demonstrated that addition of protein to carbohydrate to a pre-exercise feeding in these amounts may hinder exercise performance. Similarly, Rustad and colleagues [81] reported that adding protein (0.4 g/kg/h) to carbohydrate (0.8 g/kg/h) within 2 h of completing an initial exhaustive bout of cycling exercise led to a significant increase in cycling performance the next morning when compared to ingesting just carbohydrate alone, thus suggesting improved recovery. To support recovery upon completion of exercise bouts that can deplete stored fuels and may cause significant damage to the muscle tissue, post-exercise nutrient timing strategies are of great interest. Ivy et al. [82] required cyclists to complete a 2.5-h bout of cycling (65–75% VO 2 max) before consuming a combination of carbohydrate + protein (80 g carbohydrate + 28 g protein + 6 g fat) or two different doses (High: 108 g of carbohydrate + 6 g fat or Low: 80 g carbohydrate + 6 g fat) of carbohydrate immediately after and 2 h after completing the exercise session. While timing was not specifically investigated, the carbohydrate + protein combination led to greater glycogen recovery during the four-hour investigative window employed by the research team. These findings replicated previous findings [83] by this research group and led them to conclude that the addition of protein favorably promoted early phases of glycogen recovery. Berardi et al. later published two similar studies [84, 85] that also showed that the provision of a combination of carbohydrate + protein facilitated greater recovery of muscle glycogen when ingested soon after the completion of a workout and before a subsequent endurance exercise bout. As more research has been completed on the topic, the potential benefits of adding protein have been questioned. For example, Jentjens and colleagues [63] failed to show an improvement in muscle glycogen restoration with a combination of carbohydrate (1.2 g/kg/h) + protein (0.4 g/kg/h) in comparison to ingesting only the carbohydrate dose over a three-hour recovery period. Howarth and colleagues [86] later came to a similar conclusion regarding the addition of protein and extended these findings also to report that a higher dose of carbohydrate (1.6 g/kg/h) did not further promote glycogen resynthesis. Thus, it appears that protein addition augments glycogen recovery when carbohydrate ingestion is < 1.2 g/kg/h. Resistance exercise A small number of studies are available that examined the effect of ingesting carbohydrate + protein before resistance exercise. For example, Kraemer and colleagues [87] had participants ingest a combination of carbohydrate, protein, and fat or an isoenergetic maltodextrin placebo for seven days before two consecutive days of resistance exercise. On both occasions, the supplement was ingested 30 min before beginning the exercise bout, and the multi-nutrient supplement significantly improved vertical jump power and the number of repetitions performed at 80% 1RM. A similar outcome was reported by Baty and colleagues [88] where they had 34 males complete an acute bout of heavy resistance training (3 sets × 8 reps @ 90% 1RM) while consuming either a carbohydrate (6.2% carbohydrate) or a carbohydrate + protein (6.2% carbohydrate + 1.5% protein) solution before, during, and after the exercise bout. While performance was not affected, significantly greater levels of insulin and lower levels of cortisol were found when the carbohydrate + protein combination was ingested. Moreover, markers of muscle damage (e.g., myoglobin and creatine kinase) were reduced throughout the first 24 h of recovery when the carbohydrate + protein combination was consumed. These two studies provided a combination of carbohydrate + protein at some point before the resistance exercise sessions, however these studies were not designed to examine whether pre-exercise feeding of carbohydrate + protein was responsible for improved exercise performance or adaptations. Tipton and colleagues [89] completed one of the first studies to directly examine whether the timing of carbohydrates + EAA altered MPS rates. In this investigation, research participants completed a single bout of lower-body resistance exercise while ingesting the same combination of carbohydrate (35 g of sucrose) + 6 g EAA either immediately before or immediately after completion of the exercise bout. Nutrient ingestion immediately before the exercise bout increased MPS significantly more than when the carbohydrate + EAA combination was consumed after the resistance exercise session. A few years later, however, Fujita and colleagues [90] attempted to replicate their study findings and instead determined that MPS rates were similar between pre-exercise and post-exercise ingestion. While many people use the Fujita paper to discount the pre-exercise period, it should be noted that significant increases in MPS rates occurred when nutrients were administered before and after the resistance training bout in comparison to a non-energetic control suggesting that nutrient delivery itself, as opposed to timing of delivery, should be a larger priority. White and colleagues [91] conducted a study to specifically examine if timed ingestion of carbohydrate + protein timing influenced force production and markers of muscle damage. For this study, 27 adult participants ingested either a non-caloric sweetener or a carbohydrate (75 g) + protein (23 g) combination 15 min before or 15 min after a bout of damaging resistance exercise and found that neither the nutrients themselves, nor their timing, influenced changes in force production or blood levels of muscle damage markers. The results suggest that MPS rates can be acutely increased if a combination of carbohydrate + protein is consumed either before or after, but changes in force production or muscle damage may not be impacted by timed ingestion of a carbohydrate + protein combination. The acute effect of ingesting a carbohydrate + protein or EAA combination throughout resistance exercise has been studied [92–96]; however, as with other time periods, no studies have truly examined the question of timing. In this respect, a series of studies published by Bird and colleagues [93–96] has investigated the influence of consuming either carbohydrate or carbohydrate + EAA on measures of acute performance, hormonal responses and circulating levels of blood proteins associated with muscle damage. In the first study, 32 participants were randomized to ingest either a 6% carbohydrate solution, a 6% carbohydrate solution + 6 g of EAA or a non-nutritive placebo regularly throughout a 60-min bout of resistance training. Findings from this study indicated that serum cortisol levels were reduced when either a 6% carbohydrate solution or a 6% carbohydrate + 6 g EAA solution were ingested in comparison to a non-energetic placebo [94]. A later publication from this investigation reported that urinary muscle protein breakdown markers were reduced by 27% when the carbohydrate + EAA combination was consumed while the placebo group experienced a 56% increase [95]. A later study by Bird et al. [93] used a ‘triphasic’ approach where they delivered a combination of carbohydrate + amino acids before, during and after a single bout of resistance exercise. Using a crossover study design, participants also ingested a placebo that consisted of water flavored with a non-nutritive sweetener in similar volumes at the same times. They reported that delivering nutrients (versus none at all) did significantly increase the volume of exercise completed and reduced concentrations of serum proteins indicative of muscle damage. Along these lines, Beelen and colleagues [92] also completed an acute study design that required study participants to ingest in a fed state a carbohydrate + hydrolyzed casein protein combination at a dose of 0.15 g/kg body mass before initiating a two-hour resistance-training session and at 15-min intervals throughout the bout. Compared to placebo, the carbohydrate + protein combination significantly lowered rates of protein breakdown and increased fractional synthetic rates of muscle proteins by 49 ± 22%, resulting in a five-fold increase in protein balance. Chronic studies examining carbohydrate + protein ingestion with resistance training have also been conducted. Bird et al. [96] examined the impact of consuming a 6% carbohydrate +6 g EAA solution throughout bouts (two bouts per week) of resistance exercise over a 12-week period. Urinary concentrations of 3-methyl-histidine were reduced by 26% when the carbohydrate + EAA combination was ingested, which was significantly different from the 52% increase observed in the placebo group. Also, the cross-sectional areas of type I, IIa, and IIb muscle fibers increased in comparison to the changes seen when solutions containing either just carbohydrate (6%) or EAA (6 g) were ingested. While these findings are encouraging, the studies are limited by the dosage of EAA provided as other studies have indicated that higher EAA doses (up to 12 g) may maximally stimulate MPS. As such, future research in this area should identify if different doses of EAA or combining a carbohydrate solution with varying doses of intact proteins consumed during resistance exercise bouts can further impact performance and resistance training adaptations. In this respect, when sufficient protein is supplied, it may be that carbohydrate has no additional adaptive benefit. As an example of this, Hulmi and colleagues [97] showed no benefit in resistance training adaptations when a combination of maltodextrin carbohydrate (34.5 g) + whey protein concentrate (37.5 g) was ingested immediately following each workout of a regimented 12-week resistance training protocol as compared to consuming the protein supplement alone. Cribb and Hayes [16] randomized trained male participants to ingest identical amounts of carbohydrate + protein + creatine either immediately before and immediately after resistance training or in the morning and evening during a 10-week resistance-training program. Changes in strength, hypertrophy, and body composition were assessed, and significant increases in lean body mass, 1RM strength, type II muscle fiber cross-sectional area, and higher muscle creatine and glycogen levels were found when the supplements were consumed immediately before and after workouts as opposed to consuming them in the morning and evening. While seemingly different than the results of Hulmi, these results indicate that close temporal ingestion of a combination of carbohydrate + protein + creatine may afford favorable outcomes relative to resistance training adaptations and does not necessarily state that a carbohydrate + protein combination is better than simply ingesting similar amounts of protein. Furthermore, Cribb and Hayes also provided creatine while the other studies did not, which has been shown in multiple investigative scenarios to augment the muscular adaptations seen while resistance training [98–100]. Carbohydrate + protein combinations while resistance training are suggested to augment muscle development via an increased insulin response. Specifically, insulin promotes anti-catabolic effects in muscle [101], thereby shifting protein balance to favor anabolism. However, insulin-mediated effects on reducing proteolysis plateau within a range of ~ 15–30 μIU/mL [102, 103], and these levels are achieved by consuming a 45 g bolus of whey protein isolate alone [104]. This would suggest that post-workout carbohydrate supplementation likely exerts minimal influence from a muscle development standpoint provided adequate protein is consumed. Towards this end, Staples and colleagues [105] compared the impact of a carbohydrate (50 g maltodextrin) + protein (25 g whey protein) combination on rates of MPS observed after completing a single bout of lower-body resistance exercise. The authors reported that the carbohydrate + protein combination failed to further stimulate increases in MPSwhen compared to ingesting only protein. Furthermore, Rasmussen and colleagues [106] found no difference in amino acid balance when 35 g of sucrose + 6 g of EAA were ingested either 1 h or 3 h after completion of a bout of resistance training. In summary, ingestion of carbohydrate + protein (or amino acids) in close temporal proximity to or throughout both endurance and resistance exercise may operate as an effective strategy to favorably affect performance of a subsequent exercise bout as well as adaptations from regular bouts of training. Towards this end, enhancements in endurance performance, as well as improved recovery of reduced muscle glycogen have also been consistently reported when carbohydrate + protein combinations have been consumed surrounding exercise bouts, particularly if lower quantities of carbohydrate are consumed. However, when optimal carbohydrate is delivered the impact of adding protein (irrespective of when it is provided) appears to offer little to no additional benefit on endurance or resistance exercise performance as well as the recovery of reduced muscle glycogen. Much like the work on glycogen recovery, studies involving resistance training and optimization of adaptations seen from resistance training also point towards a higher priority being given towards the total amount of protein consumed during the day. Therefore, if total protein needs are met, the importance of adding carbohydrate (and even more so in a timed fashion) may be limited. A key point of discussion, however, lies with whether or not total energy needs are also being met, particularly in athletes undergoing large volumes of training and more so in those athletes that have high amounts of lean as well as body mass. In these situations, it certainly remains possible that the addition of carbohydrate to a protein feeding may help the athlete achieve an appropriate energy intake, which certainly may go on to impact the extent to which adaptations occur. For athletes who are likely combining resistance training sessions with sport-specific training, the provision of carbohydrate + protein in close proximity to each session would be warranted in order to optimize recovery for subsequent bouts and adaptation.
Protein Endurance training The role of amino acids and/or protein consumption with regards to endurance exercise is not well known. Pasiakos and colleagues [107] had cyclists complete two different bouts of exercise (60 min at 60% VO 2 peak) while ingesting a solution containing 10 g of the EAA with varying levels (1.87 or 3.5 g) of leucine. In response to EAA ingestion and independent of leucine content, MPS rates and several signaling proteins related to muscle hypertrophy (i.e., Akt, mTOR, p70s6k, etc.) were significantly increased. While more research certainly needs to be conducted to better identify the potential impact and role of protein intake before endurance exercise, the priority for an endurance athlete in the hours leading up to competition should be focused on appropriate carbohydrate intake to fully maximize endogenous production of glycogen. Resistance training As with endurance exercise, the majority of studies that have employed some form of protein or amino acid ingestion before bouts of resistance exercise have done so in conjunction with an identical dose during the post-exercise period as well. For example, Tipton and colleagues [108] used an acute resistance exercise and feeding model to report that MPS rates were similar when a 20-g dose of whey protein was ingested immediately before or immediately after a bout of lower body resistance training. Andersen et al. [109] were one of the first to examine the effects of ingesting protein immediately before and immediately after resistance exercise over multiple weeks. In this study, participants were randomized to ingest either 25 g of a protein blend (16.6 g whey, 2.8 g casein, 2.8 g egg white, 2.8 g glutamine) or maltodextrin immediately before and immediately after each workout over the course of 14 weeks. In the group that consumed the protein-amino acid blend, type I and type II muscle fibers experienced a significant increase in size. Also, the protein-amino acid group experienced a significant increase in squat jump height while no changes occurred in the carbohydrate group. Using a similar study design, Hoffman and colleagues [110] had collegiate football players who had been regularly performing resistance-training ingest 42 g of hydrolyzed collagen protein either immediately before and immediately after exercise, or in the morning and evening over the course of ten weeks of resistance training. In this study, the timing of protein intake did not impact changes in strength, power and body composition experienced from the resistance-training program. When examining the discrepant findings, one must consider a few things. First, the protein source in the Hoffman et al. study was mostly a collagen hydrolysate (i.e., not the highest quality protein source); moreover, changes in body composition were determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), which does not have the same sensitivity to identify subtle hypertrophic alterations [111] as the histochemical approaches employed by Andersen et al. [109]. Finally, the study participants in the Andersen et al. study were consuming approximately 20% more calories per day (~ 36.6 kcals/kg/day) than the participants in the Hoffman study (who consumed only 30.4 kcals/kg/day) which offers some level of explanation for the different outcomes reported in these two studies. More recently, Schoenfeld and colleagues [112] published the first longitudinal study to directly compare the effects of ingesting 25 g of whey protein isolate either immediately before or immediately after each workout. For this study, 21 resistance-trained men (> 1-year experience) followed a 10-week, three day per week whole-body heavy resistance training program (3 sets of 8 – 12RM) and concluded there were no differences in muscle mass or strength changes when the dose of whey protein was consumed pre- or post-training. This study is significant as it is the first investigation to attempt to compare pre versus post-workout ingestion of protein. The authors raised the question that the size, composition, and timing of a pre-exercise meal may impact the extent to which adaptations are seen in these studies. However, a key limitation of this investigation is the very limited training volumes these subjects performed. The total training sessions over the 10-week treatment period was 30 sessions (i.e., total of 30 h assuming each session lasted 1 h). One would speculate that the individuals who would most likely benefit from peri-workout nutrition are those who train at much higher volumes. For instance, American collegiate athletes per NCAA regulations (NCAA Bylaw 2.14) are limited to a maximum of 4 h per day and a 20-h training schedule per week [113]. Thus, the average college athlete trains more in two weeks than most subjects train during an entire treatment period in studies in this category. In one of the only studies to use older participants, Candow and colleagues [15] assigned 38 men between the ages of 59–76 years to ingest a 0.3 g/kg protein dose before or after each workout over the course of a 12-week resistance training program. While protein administration did favorably improve resistance-training adaptations, the timing of protein (before or after workouts) did not invoke any differential change. An important point to consider with the results of this study is the sub-optimal dose of protein (approximately 26 g of whey protein) versus the known anabolic resistance that has been demonstrated in the skeletal muscle of elderly individuals [114]. In this respect, the anabolic stimulus from a 26-g dose of whey protein may not have sufficiently stimulated muscle protein synthesis or have been of appropriate magnitude to induce differences between conditions. Clearly, more research is needed to determine if a greater dose of protein delivered before or after a workout may exert an impact on adaptations seen during resistance training in an elderly population. Limited studies are available that have examined the effect of providing protein throughout an acute bout of resistance exercise, particularly studies designed to explicitly determine if protein administration during exercise was more favorable than other times of administration. As discussed previously as part of the carbohydrate + protein section, research by Bird and colleagues [94, 95] had participants ingest a 6-g solution of EAA throughout a bout of resistance exercise and reported increases in post-exercise insulin levels and reductions in urinary levels of 3-methyl-histidine and serum levels of cortisol. However, when examined over the course of 12 weeks, the increases in fiber size seen after ingesting a solution containing 6 g of EAA alone was less than when it was combined with carbohydrate [96]. The post-exercise time period has been aggressively studied for its ability to heighten various training outcomes. While a large number of acute exercise and nutrient administration studies have provided multiple mechanistic explanations for why post-exercise feeding may be advantageous [115–119], other studies suggest this study model may not be directly reflective of adaptations seen over |
the certificate on a mobile device, we’re enabling mitmproxy to decrypt its TLS traffic, which includes HTTPS requests and responses.
We need to configure the mobile device to use our computer’s IP address as the proxy. On a Mac, we can find the IP address my opening up System Preferences > Network:
I configured my iPhone to use my Mac as the proxy by tapping Settings > Wi-Fi > [Network Name], and set HTTP PROXY to ‘Manual’. Then I set the computer’s IP address as the server and 8080 as the port.
Recording Kayak network activity
We’re now able to observe and save all of the iPhone’s network activity, including those occuring over HTTPS. Let’s record activity for the Kayak iPhone app by running mitmdump -w kayak_flows.out and tapping through the Kayak app as usual. In particular, navigate to Flights > From > Current location > Find Flights. After getting to the search results page, close the Kayak app and exit mitmdump by pressing ctrl+c. We know that, during this usage, the Kayak app must have communicated with the server to learn airports and prices.
Browsing saved network activity
Having saved the network activity to a file, we can browse the results in a beautiful curses interface with mitmproxy -r kayak_flows.out.
As we flip through the requests with the arrow keys, the first to jump out is:
GET https://www.kayak.com/k/authajax/?action=registermobile&uuid=[UNIQUE IDENTIFIER]&hash=[A HASH]&model=iPhone4,1&appid=kayakfree&os=8.1.1&msgApiVersion=1&as=0&appdist=adhoc&prefix=`
I hit <Enter> then <Tab> to view the server response. We discover fields for status, uid, token, sid, and bogus.
Great! Let’s make a note of the uid, token, and sid fields because they might be used in later requests. Back in the request list, we continue to look for interesting URLs. Here’s one:
GET https://www.kayak.com/api/search/V8/flight/start?cabin=e&travelers=1&origin1=BDL&nearbyO1=false&destination1=LAX&nearbyD1=false&depart_date1=12/18/2014&depart_time1=a&depart_date_flex1=exact&_sid_=[SID VALUE]
This request generates a searchid that will probably be used shortly to uniquely identify our choice of airports, dates, and other preferences.
Indeed, that’s the case! Our attention is drawn to:
GET https://www.kayak.com/api/search/V8/flight/poll?currency=USD&searchid=[SEARCH ID]&c=2000&providerData=true&nc=40&includeopaques=true&showAirlineLogos=true&_sid_=[SID VALUE]
This request includes our searchid and sid from earlier, and the response is a large JSON object that includes airline names, prices, contact, booking URLs, and more. This is exactly the data we’re looking for.
Putting it all together
Let’s put these observations together to discern a basic API:
Think of the uuid=[UNIQUE IDENTIFIER]&hash=[A HASH] fields to be like an API key and secret generated when running the mobile app.
fields to be like an API key and secret generated when running the mobile app. Generate an sid at: https://www.kayak.com/k/authajax/
at: Generate a searchid at: https://www.kayak.com/api/search/V8/flight/start
at: Retrieve prices at: https://www.kayak.com/api/search/V8/flight/poll
You can check out a complete basic client on GitHub.
The results presented here are far from a complete API, but I hope this tutorial demonstrates the power of reverse-engineering mobile apps. Tools like mitmproxy helps us obtain a level of understanding previously prohibited by the locked-down nature of mobile operating systems. Given how young the mobile space is, there’s never been a better time to do some exploring.
To read more about researching mobile apps with proxies, check out Extracting My Data from the Microsoft Band, Yik Hak, and What They Know Mobile.
December 2014
Hacker News ⋅ Reddit ⋅ HackadayLionel Messi's contract renewal is a matter of concern for Barcelona fans, but president Josep Maria Bartomeu insists: the Argentine will continue at the club, as was announced in July.
What's going on with Leo Messi's renewal?
It's all agreed and signed. There are three contracts. One with the Messi Foundation, which is signed with the president of the Foundations and the player's brother. There's an image rights contract with Messi, which is father has signed, who is the administrator of his company, and the employment contract, with his father has signed, who has the power to do so.
What's lacking then?
That Leo arrives and we have the official photogrpah and the protocol of the signature. The contract's signed, it's valid from the month of June, from June 30, the same day that he got married, curiously. It's been audited because it goes into the accounts for last season. The renewal is included in the accounts for the closing of this season. There are no problems. It's just the protocol of the signature. We're relaxed.
Why not before?
We've had schedule problems. Now, he's back on Sept. 6 or Sept, 7m we play on Sept. 9. There are a lot of games. We will find the moment.
There's not been time since the end of June?
Two months have gone by. He got married on June 30, then when he came back he went to Japan, then there was the tour. Then he came bach... ahhh... what happened? There was the Super Cup, then La Liga started, the trip to Monaco. We will find the moment.
Within a month?
I hope so....
People are worried...
Well, they shouldn't be. There's been a lot of noise but they can be calm.
Maybe because he seems sad playing...
I don't see that. Focused, yes, very. I saw him the other day on the trip to the UEFA event. He was relaxed, happy. We speak regularly with the players. They are all happy. [Jordi] Alba was saying it today, there's alarmism. I'd say there's pessimism. It's OK. There's a good team and we're aspiring to win every trophy, like each year.
And how's Andres Iniesta's renewal?
It's ongoing. He has a contract still. Andres should retire at Barcelona.The Oera Linda Book by Wiliam R. Sandbach [1876]
In the 19th century, ascendant nationalism in Europe used local folklore and ancient legends to bolster a sense of identity. One curious example of this is the Oera Linda Book, a controversial manuscript, dated 1256, from the Frisian region of the Netherlands. The Oera Linda book is today conventionally agreed to be a forgery, written during the mid-19th century. This is based on the paper which the manuscript is written on, as well as internal and linguistic evidence.
Purporting to be an episodic chronicle of wars and migrations of the Frisian people, the Oera Linda Book describes events dated (very precisely) from 2194 BCE to 803 CE. The reference date is the submergence of 'Atland,' a lost land in the North Sea, which, according to the book, occurred in 2193 BCE. The book is peppered with descriptions of catastrophic earth changes, including volcanic eruptions, strange weather, and rapid sea level changes. This is intriguing because, even if a forgery, the Oera Linda Book predates the origin of the modern Atlantis craze, which began with Ignatius Donnelly's Atlantis, the Antediluvian World, published in 1882.
The Oera Linda Book also claims that Europe was ruled by a (mostly) peaceful, just matriarchy for most of its history, and that the Frisians invented writing. There is a dark side, too: parts of the Oera Linda Book have touches of bigotry and intolerance which will be galling to most modern readers. This mix of themes have led to a continued fascination with this text, regardless of its authenticity." I purchased this for my husband's birthday and it did not disappoint! He loved the unique design, amazing quality and overall function. "
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Oooo--I was thrilled to see my new iPhone case! It's so upscale (in a good way) and solid wood just feels so good in your hand. I've been showing it off to everyone and they weren't even aware they could have a wood case for their phone--hopefully you'll be getting lots more business soon! :)
I am very happy with my wood & resin iPhone case from carved. The wood is beautiful and the case is a lot better quality than I expected. I guess now I am going to have to get used to people asking me about it because it is so unique. I am happy to support Carved and will be checking your website in the future as you add more products. Thanks!
The case looks and feels great. The knurled grippy texture on the sides should be standard on all cases. Microphone, USB, fingerprint scanner, and camera cutouts are all accurately placed and sized well.
Got my carved iPhone 8+ cover very soon after ordering, and am very happy with it. It fits perfectly and allows easy usage of side buttons. (My last non-carved cover made the functions so difficult to operate I had to bury it.) My carved "satellite series" cover is exactly as pictured, yet somehow seems even more striking in person. I love the fact it's one-of-a-kind, too. Both sons have carved cases for some years now, and they've held up very well. I admire the artisans at carved for their expertise, eye for beauty, and precision craftsmanship of a great idea.Tim Hudak’s alleged reversal of his controversial support for American-style “right-to-work” laws lacks all credibility. It is the sort of cagey claim that is reminiscent of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s now notorious statement: “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.” Of course, Mayor Ford was intentionally deceiving voters about his drug habits, while the truth fell somewhere between the questions reporters asked and the careful wording of Ford’s qualified answer. On Feb. 21, Hudak, the leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives, promised the Toronto business community that his party would not “change the so-called Rand Formula” that protects union dues collection and guarantees union resources for representing their members. The media eagerly reported that Hudak had “reversed his position,” “flip-flopped,” done a “U-turn” or “bowed to unions,” but nothing could be further from the truth. Like Mayor Ford, the reality of Mr. Hudak’s intentions lies in what he didn’t say. His promise comes with a wink and a nudge.
Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak at his party's policy convention in September, 2013. ( Dave Chidley / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
Let’s be clear: overturning Justice Ivan Rand’s 1946 decision was never explicitly part of Hudak’s message because, as he ominously boasted to his business audience, “Our agenda is a lot bigger, and a lot more ambitious, than that.” So, his pledge not to undo this foundational labour policy is neither a retraction nor a reassurance. It intentionally leaves the door wide open to accomplish his anti-worker agenda through a variety of other means. For 18 months, Hudak’s Tories have been promising to import the meanest, most divisive anti-worker laws that the United States has to offer. While he has cloaked his strategy with murky and misleading doublespeak about the need for “flexible labour markets” and “labour law modernization,” Hudak’s intensions have always been clear: eliminate the organized opposition of workers and implement a low-wage, regulation-free haven where corporations can rake in profit at the expense of Ontario workers, communities and the environment. Even if workers were to mistakenly believe Hudak’s pledge to not tear up the Rand Formula, they most certainly cannot trust him to leave workers’ rights intact. Hudak’s party has promised to make it more difficult to join a union and possible for individual workers to opt-out of their collective agreement. These measures would divide workplaces and have the net effect of gutting the entire basis of the Rand Formula, while allowing him to remain true to his word.
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Hudak has also made clear that he would take his anti-labour agenda much, much further. He has promised to freeze public sector wages, gut pensions for public sector workers and reduce public services through staff reductions that would hit schools and hospitals. He would follow Alberta Premier Alison Redford in removing the third-party arbitration system that supports fair collective bargaining for front line emergency personnel who do not have the right to strike, like police and fire fighters. He would curtail workers’ from using union dues for workplace training and he would silence his opposition by restricting unions from engaging in political advocacy. These measures would draw Ontario into a race to the bottom led by America’s 24 right-to-work states that now boast some of the lowest wages in the land. It is an agenda that no Ontario worker can afford and a scheme that would not only divide workplaces and communities, but has already divided the Tory party itself. If there is anything to be learned from the American example, it is that the advocates of these extremist policies do not waiver or retreat from their low-wage agenda. They view economic re-engineering as a game of chess and if public outcry prevents them from doing it in one move, they will try it in three. Hudak’s scheme is cribbed right out of the Republican playbook and just like Mayor Ford, he certainly won’t let the truth get in his way. Sid Ryan is president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.by DZ
All current major or minor league players developed in European baseball are listed here.
Most minor league regular seasons finish in the week ahead, and some of these players will extend their seasons with playoff appearances and/or invitations to instructional league (where they’ll play, but we won’t see any stats or results from afar). Highlights from this addition: Vadim Balan became the first Moldovan to play professional baseball with a perfect 1.2 inning debut… Germans Max Kepler and Markus Solbach continue to succeed in breakout seasons… Lithuanian Dovydas Neverauskas allowed his first earned run since June… Nicolo Clemente and Marten Gasparini will be the professionals representing Italy at the U18 World Championships.
MLB –
Didi Gregorius, New York Yankees. Netherlands.
Current team: New York Yankees (MLB)
Gregorius has cooled over the last 2 weeks, with 9 hits and a home run in that time. While his year has gone hot and cold, he’s settling near his career pace for batting average and on-base percentage, while his next homer will match his season high. He’s hitting.253 with 6 home runs.
Triple A –
Roger Bernadina, Colorado Rockies. Netherlands.
Current team: Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA)
Bernadina has 13 hits and 5 stolen bases over his last 10 games. He has 14 home runs and 16 stolen bases on the year while hitting.273/.378/.471.
Double A –
Max Kepler, Minnesota Twins. Germany.
Current team: Chattanooga Lookouts (AA)
Kepler hasn’t let up in the last 3 months, putting up impressive numbers and getting mentions from various prospect followers and media outlets as a potential September call-up to the major leagues. He’s hitting.371 in his last 10 games while walking 8 times versus 4 strikeouts. For the season he’s at.329/.414/.544 with 55 extra base hits and 17 stolen bases in 107 game.
Alex Liddi, Kansas City Royals. Italy.
Current team: Northwest Arkansas Naturals (AA)
Liddi got 13 hits in his last 10 games, while striking out 16 times versus nary a walk. In 118 games, he has 53 extra base hits, 24 walks, 117 strikeouts, 8 stolen bases, and a slash line of.278/.318/.466.
Single-A –
Federico Celli, Los Angeles Dodgers. Italy.
Current team: Great Lakes Loons (A)
Celli is another European going through hot and cold spells. He has 5 hits and 20 strikeouts in his last 10 games. For the year, he’s hitting.242/.284/.328. It is quite impressive that he’s held his own, given the aggressive assignment this spring to a full season team.
Martin Cervenka, Cleveland Indians. Czech Republic.
Current team: Lake County Captains (A)
Cervenka got 3 hits in the last 7 games since we last checked in. He is hitting.192 with a.246 OBP and 9 extra base hits in 44 games.
Dovydas Neverauskas, Pittsburgh Pirates. Lithuania.
Current team: Bradenton Marauders (A)
Neverauskas received a promotion to high-A Bradenton and continued to excel. In his last 10 appearances, his last is the only one in which he has allowed an earned run. In those 18.2 innings, he has walked 5 and struck out 15. In 63.1 innings in 2015, he is 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA and 4 saves. He has 25 walks and 47 strikeouts.
Andy Paz, Oakland Athletics. France.
Current team: Beloit Snappers (A)
Paz has 6 hits in 6 games since returning from nearly 7 weeks on the disabled list. Paz has appeared in only 15 official games this year, walking 8 times and striking out 17 times while stealing a base and slashing.245/.351/.265.
Markus Solbach, Arizona Diamondbacks. Germany.
Current team: Visalia Rawhide (A)
Solbach has started 3 games since his promotion to High-A Visalia in the California League, which is well-known for ballparks and elevation that lead to big offensive numbers (and thus harsh pitching statistics). He debuted there with an 8 inning, 2 hit shutout to get his first win at the new level. Over the next two starts he’s totaled 11 innings, 11 runs, 14 hits, 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. He is 10-5 on the year with a 3.20 ERA in 140 innings.
Rookie –
Daniel Arribas, Pittsburgh Pirates. Netherlands.
Current team: West Virginia Black Bears (rookie)
Arribas continues his steady play, hitting.268 with a pair of stolen bases over the past 10 games. He’s hitting.270/.337/.339 in 49 games.
Vadim Balan, Minnesota Twins. Moldova.
Assigned to: GCL Twins (rookie)
Balan made his professional debut on August 26, and an impressive start it was for the first Moldovan in professional baseball. He threw 1.2 innings with no walks and no hits while striking out four.
Paul Brands, Pittsburgh Pirates. Netherlands.
Current team: GCL Pirates (rookie)
Brands has played 18 games this season, with two extra base hits and 9 walks to pair with 22 strikeouts. He’s hitting.212 with a.349 OBP.
Sam Buelens, Toronto Blue Jays. Belgium.
Current team: DSL Blue Jays (rookie)
Buelens has 3 hits and 3 stolen bases in his last 10 games. He’s played 42 games, hitting.232 with a.347 OBP and stealing 20 bases in 22 attempts.
Nicolo Clemente, Boston Red Sox. Italy.
Current team: DSL Red Sox 1 (rookie)
Clemente has allowed only one run in his last 5 appearances, covering over 12 innings. In 39 innings this season, he has a 3-3 record with 2.97 ERA, walking 13 and striking out 24.
Maik Ehmcke, Arizona Diamondbacks. Germany.
Current team: AZL D’backs (rookie)
Ehmcke has 7 hits in 31 at bats over his last 10 games. In 33 games and 101 at bats, he has 6 extra base hits, 10 walks, 29 strikeouts, 2 stolen bases, a.208 average, and.274 OBP.
Rachid Engelhardt, Baltimore Orioles. Netherlands.
Current team: DSL Orioles 1 (rookie)
Engelhardt has 6 hits, 3 walks, 3 stolen bases, and 11 strikeouts in his last 10 games. He has 9 extra base hits in 39 games this year while hitting.212/.295/.288.
Marten Gasparini, Kansas City Royals. Italy.
Current team: Idaho Falls Chukars (rookie)
The shortstop stole 5 bases and had 4 hits in his last 4 games before leaving to join the Italian U18 national team at the World Championships in Japan. He’s played 52 games this year, getting 16 extra base hits, stealing 25 bases, and hitting.262.
Federico Giordani, Los Angeles Dodgers. Italy.
Current team: AZL Dodgers (rookie)
Giordani has had 5 hits in his last 10 games and stole a base. The outfielder will remain with the AZL Dodgers rather than appear with Italy in the World Championships. He’s hitting.141 in 30 games there.
Misja Harcksen, Los Angeles Dodgers. Netherlands.
Current team: Ogden Raptors (rookie)
Harcksen has made 4 appearances, pitching 6 innings, over the past 2+ weeks. While giving up 9 hits, he walked only one and limited the opposition to one run. In 2015, he’s 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA and 23 strikeouts versus 3 walks in 19 innings.
Julsan Kamara, Philadelphia Phillies. Germany.
Current team: DSL Phillies (rookie)
The Mainz native got in 3 games over the past 10 days, getting a hit and an RBI after a month out of action. In 23 games, he’s hitting.158 with a.324 OBP.
Nadir Ljatifi, Cincinnati Reds. Germany.
Current team: AZL Reds (rookie)
Ljatifi played in 4 additional games recently (after appearing in two games in June), going 2-2 with an RBI in one of them. He’s had 9 at bats this year, hitting a pair of doubles and walking once while striking out five times.
Marek Minarik, Pittsburgh Pirates. Czech Republic.
Current team: Bristol Pirates (rookie)
Minarik has thrown 13 innings in 4 outings since the last check. He’s walked 3 and struck out 10, while allowing 11 hits and 8 runs. He’s 2-4 with a 6.00 ERA in 48 innings, walking 16 and striking out 36.
Alberto Mineo, Chicago Cubs. Italy.
Current team: Eugene Emeralds (rookie)
Mineo has 8 hits in his last 10 games. Over 34 games and 99 at bats this season, he’s hitting.202 with a.320 OBP while hitting 7 extra base hits.
Jan Novak, Baltimore Orioles. Czech Republic.
Current team: GCL Orioles (rookie)
Novak has allowed earned runs in only one of his last 8 appearances, all either one or two innings long. He’s pitched 24.2 innings in 17 games, with a 1-1 record and 4.01 ERA while striking out 19 and walking seven.
Milan Post, Milwaukee Brewers. Netherlands.
Current team: Helena Brewers (rookie)
Post hit.241 over his last 10 games while also walking 5 times. In 38 games he has 7 extra base hits and a stolen base while slashing.192/.301/.256.
Sven Schuller, Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany.
Current team: AZL Dodgers (rookie)
Schuller has continued to battle the strike zone while not allowing too many hits. In his last 6 innings (4 appearances) in the last two weeks, he’s allowed 6 hits and struck out twelve, while also walking eight. In 30 innings this season he’s walked 30 and struck out 29.
Matz Schutte, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.
Current team: GCL Twins (rookie)
Schutte is pitching about every 4th day and holding his own against older competition in the GCL (he doesn’t turn 18 until October). He’s thrown 24.2 innings in 13 appearances, winning 2 versus 1 loss with a 2.92 ERA. He has 3 walks and 12 strikeouts.
Artur Strzalka, New York Yankees. Poland.
Current team: GCL Yankees 2 (rookie)
Strzalka pitched 3 more times in the last two weeks, with 7 strikeouts in 3.2 innings. In 12 innings on the season, he has 6 walks, 12 strikeouts, and 11 hits allowed.
Ruar Verkerk, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.
Current team: GCL Twins (rookie)
Verkerk has hit.214 with a stolen base over his last 10 games. In 63 at bats this season, he has 2 walks, 17 strikeouts, and an extra base hit while hitting.206.
Yet to appear in 2015:
Pascal Amon, Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany.
Taylor Clemensia, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.
Loek van Mil, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.Jürgen Klopp admits he has never before seen a turnaround as striking as Alberto Moreno's at Liverpool in his 16-year managerial career.
The Spaniard made just two Premier League starts for the Reds last season, with Klopp instead preferring to deploy midfielder James Milner at left-back.
Following the arrival of another left-sided defender in Andy Robertson this summer, it appeared Moreno would again struggle for regular game time in 2017-18.
However, the 25-year-old has responded to the challenge, nailing down a starting berth and impressing fans and pundits alike with his performances.
Moreno was again in fine fettle as Southampton were swept aside at Anfield on Saturday, despite becoming a father for the second time in the early hours of that morning.
And Klopp reserved special praise for his left-back after the match, citing his return to the starting XI as deserved reward for his attitude last season and this.
"I never had something like this, I never had it to be honest," he told Liverpoolfc.com.
"This season is not a surprise, the surprise is how dealt with last season. There was not one bad word in the whole season.
"Yes, he was in my office, yes, he asked what he could do better, and we spoke about the things he had to do better.
"On the other hand, Milly played really well and he's a machine, he could play every two days, so there was not a lot of reasons to make the change then he had no rhythm.
"I felt that it was unfair after the season, I thought, 'Damn, we didn't use him often enough'.
"Before the season, he came to my office and asked again and I told him we get another full-back but it was not the plan for Milly to be in the full-back race again so you decide what happens - and he decided it.
"He's now a much better defender, that's how it is, he's a brilliant footballer.
"When you see him shooting here, you think he cannot shoot - he shoots like crazy! It's unbelievable how good he is! In the games so far, obviously, it didn't settle.
"How he reacted on last year is really, really good."To mark the halfway point of the organization's "Year in Space" mission, NASA released some incredible facts and figures about what American astronaut Scott Kelly is going through during his 342 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission, which also includes Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, aims to better understand what long-term effects living in space has on the human body. Topics for research in this mission span a variety of topics, including whether human functionality dips over that period of time, neurological effects of 12 months in space, and if there are any physical detriments (ocular, metabolic, or otherwise). NASA provides background and updates on the mission at http://www.nasa.gov/1ym. The "Year in Space" mission is running in tandem with the notable "Twins Study," where Kelly's brother Mark remains on Earth and is examined in similar ways to Scott.
Within NASA's infographic on Scott Kelly's half of year in the stars, there are a number of eye-catching statistics. The organization reports that over the course of the mission, Kelly will "produce about 180 pounds of feces that will burn up in the atmosphere and look like shooting stars. Your feces will not be shooting stars." NASA also notes that he will drink 730 liters of recycled urine and sweat during his year aboard the ISS—we're guessing that the figures will hold essentially the same for Kornienko.
Despite length being a primary factor in this study, Kelly and Kornienko will not be setting any records for the longest time in space. That distinction is held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who was aboard the Mir space station in 1994 and 1995 for 437 days.While I'm generally not a conspiracy theorist when it comes to NASCAR – I don't believe officials favor certain drivers over others during the race, for example – I've sometimes thought debris cautions are used to help the "show."
If there's a long, green-flag run run and the race starts to get boring, it seems NASCAR will occasionally throw a debris caution to reset the field and give everyone a virtual timeout.
On Twitter, race fans refer to these yellow-flag periods as "phantom" or "mystery" debris cautions.
So during Monday's NASCAR rules meeting with the media, I asked officials about why debris cautions are thrown at certain times and not others.
"First off, if you're going to have a debris caution, you'd better have debris, right?" said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition. "That's starters. I mean, we don't randomly call something."
Officials said NASCAR tends to err on the side of caution (pardon the pun) when calling cautions. Many times, the race control tower will receive a report of debris – spotted by a safety vehicle or firetruck, for example – but is unable to verify what exactly it is.
In those situations, Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said officials are "almost handcuffed into having to throw a caution."
"If it's a glove or a ballcap out of the grandstands, (then) no harm, no foul, right?" Darby said. "But if (a NASCAR spotter) says, 'I don't know what it is' and it's a 65-pound chunk of tungsten that fell out of somebody's car, then we've got serious issues."
But what about the times when NASCAR goes to pick up debris and there's nothing there for the TV cameras to show viewers? Pemberton said that wasn't indicative of officials throwing a caution flag without reason.
"There's been times we called debris cautions and when you went to pick it up, it wasn't what you thought you saw on TV," Pemberton said.
"Or somebody had hit it and kicked it who knows where?" Darby added.
NASCAR is perhaps trigger-happy on cautions because of several instances that stick out in officials' minds. Darby recalled the Dover race in 2004 when Kasey Kahne was en route to his first career Sprint Cup victory but ran through oil and crashed into the wall.
"The teams will call for debris right and left when they need a caution," Darby said. "So we're in that part of the race where that huge cat-and-mouse game is going on, and somebody called in 'Oil in Turn 3.' And it was a team that had been saying for the last 10 laps, 'There's debris in (Turn) 1. Have them check for debris in (Turn) 2. There's oil in (Turn) 4.' So it's the whole 'crying wolf' deal, right?
"Same team called it up again and we said, 'Yeah, right,' and Kasey went BOOM, straight up into the fence (after running through the oil). And that's why you can't take those chances."
Pemberton remembered one race in Atlanta when officials were on the fence about calling a debris caution, and the debris ended up going through the window net of Bobby Labonte's car – barely missing the driver.
"I mean, it'd have killed him if it had hit him in the head," Pemberton said. "It's tough. It's a tough call sometimes."
But what about the times when it sounds as if NASCAR is looking for a reason to call a caution? Those of us who scan the NASCAR officials' radio channel will sometimes hear race director David Hoots field a report of questionable debris and then quickly say, "Put it out!" (the call for a caution).
"The thing is, you don't hear the information coming in from three or four different locations," Hoots said. "...There are like four or five different ways the information can come in, and we're trying to verify it. But you may not have heard the conversation on this channel over here."
Another reporter asked officials to clarify whether NASCAR officials were more likely to call for a yellow flag after 40 green-flag laps than five green-flag laps.
Darby shook his head no.
"It's more about knowing exactly what (the debris) is," he said. "You know a piece of roll bar padding isn't going to hurt anything. But in many, many more instances than not, the person that sees the debris can't tell us for sure what it is. We've got to stop the race and go get it."
Then, in a moment of candor, Darby added a comment which may sum up NASCAR's philosophy on throwing debris cautions.
"People forget: Whatever it is, you're hitting that shit at 200 mph," he said. "It's not like you're rolling down your side street and roll over a beer can."RENO – Reno 1868 FC has signed Jimmy Ockford, pending the United Soccer League and federation approval. Ockford is expected to play a crucial defensive role alongside Brenton Griffiths and Jordan Murrell.
“Jimmy (Ockford) is a very solid center back and a proven leader,” said Ian Russell, head coach of Reno 1868 FC. “I believe he will make a big impact this year.”
Ockford, 24, played three years at Mount St. Mary’s University before he transferred to the University of Louisville for his senior year in 2014. At Louisville, he scored four goals and helped the team record nine clean sheets on its way to winning the American Athletic Conference regular season title. Ockford was then honored as the AAC Defender of the Year.
After graduating from Louisville, Ockford was acquired in the second round of the 2014 Major League Soccer SuperDraft by Seattle Sounders FC. In the following years, he played for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League and Seattle Sounders 2 of the USL.
Greater Nevada Field will host up to 18 matches in 2017, with 16 coming as regular-season matches for Reno 1868 FC during their inaugural USL campaign. The USL previously announced that the regular season will expand to 32 matches beginning in 2017. The club will play its first preseason match against the MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes on February 18.Russia’s tit for tat
Peter van Bergeijk
In reaction to the Crimean crisis, the EU imposed certain sanctions on Russia. Russia responded by blacklisting EU and US officials. This column discusses the comparative vulnerability of the EU and Russia amid this tit for tat pattern. In purely economic terms, the EU is in a much better position than Russia. However, political regimes also matter. The autocracy score for Russia dampens the impact that the economic sanctions would have politically. The democratic nature of the European governments would translate the sanctions imposed by Russia into great political pressure for the EU. This makes the Russian tit for tat threat realistic.
Since 16 March 2014, the EU (in concerted action with the US) has frozen assets and imposed travel bans on 33 persons and an individual bank. On 20 March, Russia counteracted with the reciprocal blacklisting of EU and US officials. This pattern of tit for tat raises the question of the comparative vulnerability of the EU and |
not essential to the evil action, the cooperation is mediate material and may be morally licit. The liceity of the action depends on multiple factors. The long and short of it is this: the graver the evil, the more causally removed one must be, and the greater the good one must be intending. In a Presidential election, e.g., an Elector is more causally proximate than a voter in California who elected him.
Is the avoidance of evil, i.e. stopping an even worse candidate, by itself grave enough reason? No, because in mediate cooperation you are contributing to circumstances that are themselves good for a good reason, despite the non-essential aid it gives an evil act. That another candidate is even worse may be reason, after one has examined the issue of moral cooperation, to go ahead and vote that way, but it is not reason itself. The principle of “choosing the lesser evil” is not a valid way of determining what is morally right. It universally is only held by Catholic moralists in the case of a perplexed conscience, i.e. when there appears, albeit wrongly, only immoral options to the conscience. In that case, lacking time and ability to solve the perplexity—i.e. by figuring out another option or else seeing that one is not actually immoral—if one must choose, then one should choose what appears to be the lesser evil. But we already established that one need not vote for an unworthy candidate, and that there is already an always moral option here, so no conscience is perplexed. One can only vote if there is some good to be accomplished and not merely evil avoided. One is not forced, then, to choose the “lesser evil.” To choose under that rationale, is to choose evil and to sin.
I offer here an analogy to illustrate:
Say you have some land, but you cannot make the payments on it anymore. The bank makes a deal with you—sell it by November 9th and give them the money you owe them, or on November 9th they sell it, and after fees and they take what is owed, you get what is left.
Now say that the bank is going to sell the place to the most debauched line of strip clubs. You, of course, oppose that. So you look for a better buyer.
But say that the only buyer that you can find will open an adult video store instead. So you have an option… “minimize the evil” and enable the existence of the adult video store, or do nothing and the bank enables the existence of something worse.
Clearly, in Catholic morality, your option must be not to accept the buyer. You may pray and hope for a last minute alternative, but you cannot enable the adult video store in order to minimize harm. The reason is that it would be immediate material cooperation. You are not enabling the strip club, but rather, however sadly, failing to prevent it since no moral means were available to you.
Now think about the election. This analogy is apt in one way, though defective in another. Certainly if there be an argument for Trump, it is not immediate material cooperation, but mediate material cooperation. But it is apt in this way… if your entire reasoning is “I vote for Trump because he is not Hillary” or some belief that “I have to choose the lesser evil,” a doctrine that is not determinate of the moral good, you are like the seller that becomes complicit in promoting evil, in order to minimize evil.
Remember, there is only an obligation to use all reasonable moral means to stop an evil, and sometimes there are no such means. Yet people feel pressured to have to do something, anything. That is a trick of Satan.
If you think that there is a contribution to the common good that Trump will make and that is proportionately grave enough to justify material cooperation in whatever ill you think he will likely cause, then you have a case that he is a moral means, and the “worse-ness” of Hillary would be an added reason as to why one might choose it. But if that is not the case, then you are faced with it being an immoral choice no matter how much worse Hillary would be—it is excluded even before considering her. In which case, while you may re-examine Trump in light of the common good, you must reject temptations that come from scaremongering and villainization of Hillary. You must reject the idea that you should set aside your conscience because you “have to do something.”
When man relies on himself alone, all comes to naught. Maybe the lesson here is to stop trusting in our political contrivances and stratagems. Cursed is he who places his hope in man, saith the Lord. Maybe it is good that you are bereft of some voting option to choose in order to battle Hillary; then maybe you will learn to see in it the vanity of human affairs and turn to the Lord.
We are supposed to minimize our cooperation in evil. One might see proportionate reasons in Trump himself (and not merely in comparison to Hillary) to hold their nose and vote Trump; I disagree, but I am not talking to those people, who may well be in good conscience. Rather, I am talking to those that keep repeating calls to violate conscience (sin), or to choose the lesser evil (sin). Those avenues are traps of the devil. Instead, inform your conscience rather than violating it, and always remember that the first precept of the natural law is, “do good, shun evil,” not “do alright, minimize evil.”
Charles De Koninck asked:
Why does one not require, as a matter of principle and as an essential condition, that the leaders of society be men who are good purely and simply? How can one admit that a bad man might make a good politician? To be sure, it is not new to see subjects governed by bad men, men to whom one does nonetheless owe obedience in those things which pertain to their authority. What is new however is the manner of accepting and defending them. (On the Primacy of the Common Good, p. 69).
Sources:
Dominicus Prümmer, Manuale theologiae moralis, v. 2
Henry Davis, SJ, Moral and Pastoral Theology v. 2
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship
Benedictus Merkelbach, Theologia moralis generalis v. 1 Heribert Jone, OFM Cap and Urban Adelman, OFM Cap, Moral Theology St. Thomas Aquinas,
De Veritate q. 17 a. 4 ad 8;
S. Th. II-II q. 62 a. 2 ad 2;
S. Th. III q. 82 a. 10 ad 2
Tanquerey, Synopsis Theologiae Moralis and Pastoralis, v. 3
Like this: Like Loading...Toxic was written by Cathy Dennis from D-Mob, who also wrote Kylie Minogue’s, ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’. Toxic was originally intended for Kylie Minogue, however she rejected it and Britney took on the song.
The music video was released the same time as Janet Jackson’s infamous Superbowl ‘boob flash’ – which lead to an uproar over ‘indecent material’ being shown on prime time telly. This forced MTV to move Toxic and other raunchy videos to the late slot viewings. Britney’s flesh coloured body suit was considered too risky.
Toxic, a Bloodshy and Advant production, earned Britney her first ever Grammy. B&A are also responsible for the massive hit ‘Piece Of Me’ which is used as the headline title of Britney’s highly successful Vegas residency. NME, Rolling Stones and The Telegraph have all named ‘Toxic’ one of the greatest songs of all time.
There has been numerous cover versions of Britney’s Toxic, including Mark Ronson, Yael Naim and many others. The video is also regarded one of the greatest videos of all time – and has been referenced in many other artists videos, a famous one in particular being Taylor Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ – which coincidentally is directed by the same director, Joseph Khan.
The video, Britney appears to be a flight attendant, but it turns out she is a secret agent in disguise. Joseph Khan called the video pretty ‘nonsensical… it’s just fun…like James Bond flicks and sex’
Rumour has it that the video costed more than $1m dollars to make and is considered one of the most expensive music videos of all time.
The body Jewels were hand glued on and took 9 hours to make.
Only the director and the visual effects guy were allowed on set during the diamonds scene..
The 2 girls touching just before the bike scene was originally cut from the US for being too racy.
The passenger that Britney spills her drink on – is in fact Joseph Khan’s long term casting director and the ‘ugly’ guy is the casting director’s assistant, who also appears in the ‘Womanizer’ video.
Britney’s ‘boyfriend is played by Martin Henderson, who also plays in Joseph Khan’s directorial debut ‘Torque’
The choreography was planned by Brian Freedman and Britney, each scene had a very strict structured routine.
The original rumour was that Tim Burton was due to direct the music video and follow a Circus theme. This was later proven to be false..
Jay – Z confirmed in a Twitter Q&A that ‘Toxic’ was his fave Britney song. ‘’Jamming my G’’ he remarked. Britney responded with, ‘’You learn something new everyday. Never knew that @S_C_ was a fan of Toxic, that’s Big Pimpin’’
Many people mistake the girl in the shower for Britney, however it is not. It is in fact the ‘love interest’ of Britney’s boyfriend – hence the revenge..
Tyson Beckord celebrated his birthday on the day of shooting the motorbike scenes.
Joseph Khan stated that the entire video was Britney’s idea, with tweaks from him. Joseph Khan is also responsible for some of Britney’s most iconic video’s including, ‘Stronger’ and ‘Womanizer’
Toxic received the MTV – Making The Video treatment, if you have not yet seen it, what are you waiting for?
Here is a clip of Toxic uncut – as it appears on her My Prerogative DVD.
Celebrate the birth of ‘Toxic’ by watching the iconic VEVO certified video here.
Toxic slayage at The Onyx Hotel Tour:VILNIUS (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday it had formally complained to Lithuania that the Baltic country’s supply of weapons to Ukraine violated its international arms trade commitments.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - part of the Soviet Union for much of the last century - worry that Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in Ukraine may be a foretaste of it reasserting itself in other former Soviet territories.
“The Russian ministry of foreign affairs has pointed out that such supplies represent a direct violation of Lithuania’s legal commitments in the area of export of armaments,” the Russian embassy in Lithuania’s capital of Vilnius said.
Russia said Lithuania was violating the international Arms Trade Treaty as well as European Union and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe agreements.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters that Lithuania has supplied weapons to Ukraine this year but had not violated any agreements.
“We have supplied help to the Ukrainian army in small quantities and openly, and yet we are reprimanded by the country that continually supplies arms to the conflict in Ukraine, in non-symbolic quantities, and denies doing so,” Linkevicius commented on the complaint, sent in a letter from the Russian foreign ministry to the Lithuanian embassy in Moscow.
Lithuania said this week that it plans to restart military conscription to address its growing concerns about Russian assertiveness in the Baltic region.Black Lives Matter and other groups plan to protest violence in Charlottesville Tuesday afternoon in the Loop. View Full Caption DNAinfo/David Matthews
DOWNTOWN — Black Lives Matter and other groups will protest recent violence in Charlottesville, Va. Tuesday afternoon in the Loop, denouncing a white supremacy movement the protesters feel is emboldened by President Donald Trump.
The rally will start at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Federal Plaza, 230 S. Dearborn St. The Black Lives Matter activists will be joined by other groups including the Arab American Action Network, Organized Communities Against Deportations and Jewish Voice For Peace. The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression organized the event.
The protest will be the second in Chicago condemning racism since a deadly "Unite The Right" rally this weekend in Virginia that left three people dead. Trump has been widely criticized for his response to the violence, which included an initial statement that cast blame "on many sides."
"The murder and attempted murder of anti-racist demonstrators Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., by armed thugs marching under the banners of openly white supremacist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organizations is not an isolated incident," the Chicago activists said in a statement.
Hundreds of Chicagoans marched to the Trump International Hotel & Tower on the Chicago River on Sunday after the violent protests in Charlottesville. A local flower shop now refuses to sell to customers who refuse to condemn "racism, Nazism and fascism" while shopping online.
The activists Tuesday are also largely behind a weekly series of Downtown protests that began after Trump was elected president.
An Ohio man faces murder charges after allegedly killing a 32-year-old woman with his car during the rally Saturday in Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia. Two Virginia state troopers patrolling were killed in a helicopter crash while patrolling the rally, which drew hordes of far-right activists, including pro-Confederate and white supremacist groups and counterprotesters.
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Weekly Anti-Trump Protests The New (Traffic Snarling) Normal DowntownVeteran scribes Sid Hartman and Peter King are on the same page on this one. When the Vikings’ turn comes to draft on the evening of May 8, the selection will be anything but a quarterback.
Rick Spielman has spoken to both King and Hartman, and apparently convinced each man that the plan is to go BPA at 8 and take a quarterback later.
“While there is much speculation that the Vikings will select a quarterback with the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL draft, General Manager Rick Spielman made it clear that he won’t draft a QB with the pick because he said they will take the best player on the board with their first selection, and there is no reason to believe that a quarterback will be the best player on the board,” Hartman said in a Sunday column.
The estimable Mr. Hartman quoted Spielman explaining why the Vikings would do well to pass on a QB this year and address other needs.
“There are some very good defensive players, some very good receivers in this draft, some good offensive linemen,” Spielman said. “There’s some significant linebackers that can play not only standing up but also help you rush the passer as well. I think we’re going to have a lot of options at 8, but we’re also going to potentially look to move out of that pick as well.”
Peter King’s MMQB segment on Spielman included similar quotes. “That’s a big reason why we made it a high priority to sign Matt Cassel back. Every one of these quarterbacks … nothing is a sure thing,” Spielman told King. “There’s no Andrew Luck, no Peyton Manning. It is such a mixed bag with each player—every one of them has positives, every one of them has negatives. And if that’s the way you end up feeling, why don’t you just wait till later in the draft, and take someone with the first pick you’re sure will help you right now?”
In the same piece, King pointed out that the Vikings will have a minicamp days before the draft, and indicated that Minnesota will use that minicamp to get a read on where Matt Cassel and Christian Ponder both are.
The implication being that the Vikings could still elect to draft a quarterback at 8, if they become convinced that their present QBs aren’t good enough.
Despite Spielman leaving the door open on taking a QB at 8 if their on-roster QBs stink enough, King told a Twin Cities media personality that he thinks he thinks he knows the Vikings will go away from QB at 8.
In a tweet to Meatsauce responding to a question about what the Vikings will do at 8 King said, “Not a quarterback. They want a sure thing.”
Straight from the keyboard of King and the quill pen of Sid Hartman. No quarterback for the Vikings at 8 this year.
So Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater, any other quarterbacks who think they have a chance of being taken #8 overall? You can cancel that order for purple apparel, you can call off that Twin Cities area house search, you can delete all those sweet Minneapolis honies from your phone.
Minnesota ain’t gonna happen for you.
Memo to any teams expecting the Vikings to take a QB at 8? Listen to Sid Hartman and Peter King. It’s not going to happen. So submit your Ha Ha Clinton-Dix/Aaron Donald/C.J. Mosley/Jake Matthews/Odell Beckham-related trade proposals now.
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Hugely improved Assault class's thermal vision interaction with Weapon Suppression gizmo on Assault Rifle.
Fixed a crash that could occur when spawning after a round is over
Fixed structure damage being miscalculated when being structure is attacked by another structure or at times with grenades/missles/REDs.
Ignore bots in total players required for a surrender or mutiny vote to pass.
Fixed multiple other rare, but consistent servers crashes and some client crashes.
Decreased memory usage in some areas on both client and server.
Switched MOTD to use Steam's HTML rendering rather than directly embedding Chromium, effectly updating it to a much newer and more secure version of the same. (This also fixes some crashes that would occur on Mac and Linux).
Added numerous security-related fixes from other variants of the Source engine.
app_update 111710 -beta experimental validate
SourceMod on Windows servers may have degraded functionality, particularly for some of SDKTools functionality. (There will be updates to both SourceMod and ND to address this). The latest build on the "experimental" beta combined with SourceMod 1.8.0.5909 or later should be mostly fine with this as well as the release version now.
The fixed game issues so far include the following. I will make further posts in this thread as it is updated, as well as updating this one with the cumulative changes.This update, so far, is tested to be network-compatible with the current released client and server versions. This means that an unupdated client should be able to join an updated server, and vice versa.Due to the hurriedness of it on our end, it is opt-in for now. If you run into any new issues with the update, please report them in this forum, noting that they're with the experimental branch.To opt in from the Steam client, right-click the game, choose Properties, navigate to the "Betas" tab, and select "experimental'. To opt back out, select "default" from the same tab.To opt in from SteamCMD (for servers), add "-beta experimental" to your app_update command. Also be sure to include the "validate" parameter. To opt back out, run app_update again without "-beta experimental" (keeping validate).Known new issues(h/t Heather at VideoCafe)
There's a famous saying that the biggest oxymoron out there is "Military Intelligence". I think there's a very strong argument from Face the Nation that 'National Security' is quickly becoming an even bigger one.
Senate Intelligence (yet another oxymoron!) chairman Dianne Feinstein appeared on Face the Nation to continue the defense of the NSA program and denigrate whistleblower Edward Snowden, saying that the "chase is on" to extradite Snowden to face charges.
But Feinstein also mentioned something in passing that I think gets to the real heart of the issue that isn't getting discussed at all:
Snowden, who Feinstein argued is no "whistleblower," as some libertarian supporters have termed him, coule (sic) be in possession of more than 200 additional pieces of classified information that she said could "really put people in jeopardy." "Whatever his motives are - and I take him at face value," Feinstein said, "he could have stayed and faced the music. I don't think running is a noble thought."...He has taken an oath, and these oaths mean something," she continued. "If you can't keep the oath, get out. And then do something about it in a legal way." On July 10, Feinstein said the committee will meet with Army Gen. Keith Alexander, National Security Agency director, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to discuss possible adjustments. "From the point of view of our committee, something that concerns me more is that we get an understanding in this nation that what this is all about is the nation's security," she said.
Did you catch it? Feinstein admits that she has absolutely no idea what information Snowden has in his possession. National security, indeed.
And herein lies my problem with the Snowden story. Whether or not you think Snowden is a hero whistleblower, how Snowden got access to the information in the first place is worrying. He worked for a private contractor (and no one has ever been able to assure me that Booz Allen's hiring and work practices didn't compromise Americans' right to privacy). Why are we giving for-profit corporations so much access to compromising data? Do we really want someone with Top Secret clearance to be able to access the private email of every single American, including the president, as Snowden claimed he had? Do we know that access won't be misused? Isn't it inherently insecure in the hands of a private contractor? And why are there no redundancies or cross-checks to know what information Snowden might have?
I find all this discussion of whether Snowden is a criminal or a hero a distraction from the real issues of national security that we should be having. And the calls of "ZOMG! Obama is worse than Bush!" misses the point as well. The department of NSA is self-perpetuating and larger than an individual executive. These issues will not stop when Obama leaves office and therefore, it's disingenous to focus so much energy on him and not the congressional oversight and laws that curtail executive power beyond this administration. It's easy to claim that the NSA surveillance has protected us from potential terrorist attacks (because it's impossible to prove with the absence of an actual act and we've documented before how terror threats have been 'created'), but can we actually say that this MIC-confirming conflation of national security and corporate profit is actually making Americans safe?By Anna Hunt
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Just because many of us don’t support the practices of big pharmaceutical companies, doesn’t mean that we don’t get sick. At one point or another, everyone turns to medicine to alleviate symptoms of an illness. With these five amazing books, you will be able to create your own herbal medicine cabinet and decrease your dependency on big pharma.
1. The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green
Making your own herbal preparations isn’t as complicated as many of us think, and The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook makes at-home herbal medicine making easy enough for anyone. This book offers step-by-step instructions on how to prepare your own concoctions and explains why certain steps are necessary if you want to create the ideal herbal medicinal mixture. This book is perfect for families with younger children, as it has a full chapter dedicated to herb jellos, something you probably didn’t even know was possible! James Green is the founder of Simplers Botanical Company and a founding member of the American Herbalists Guild and United Plant Savers. Buy The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook here.
2. The Earthwise Herbal by Matthew Wood
Written by the expert herbalist Matthew Wood, who has been a practicing in the US for over 25 years and holds a masters degree in herbal medicine, this resource comes in two volumes: the first volume focuses on European plants, or Old World herbs; and the second focuses on North American plants, or New World herbs. Wood does a great job offering detailed descriptions and outlining all of the uses for each herb, even some lesser-known applications. The Earthwise Herbal explains the use of each whole plant (not just “active ingredients”) and how a treatment impacts the whole person. The book describes symptoms and conditions that the plants have been successful in treating, making it an excellent resource to keep at home. Buy The Earthwise Herbal: New World Medicinal Plants here. Buy The Earthwise Herbal: Old World Medicinal Plants here.
3. The Herbal Kitchen: 50 Easy-to-Find Herbs and Over 250 Recipes to Bring Lasting Health to You and Your Family by Kami McBride
For anyone getting started with using herbs in place of pharmaceuticals, this is the perfect resource for learning how to use healing herbs in the kitchen. The book offers details about all common cooking herbs and spices and how each one can be used to improve our health. The Herbal Kitchen will give you plenty of ideas on how to creatively incorporate herbs into unique cooking oils, seasonings, honeys, vinegars, dressings, smoothies, pestos, and more. What’s even better is that McBride keeps it simple; her recipes do not require fancy equipment or specialty products. Kami McBride is an herbalist, an instructor of herbal medicine, and the founder of the Living Awareness Institute. Buy The Herbal Kitchen here.
4. The Herbalist’s Way: The Art and Practice of Healing with Plant Medicines by Nancy and Michael Phillips
Filled with incredible knowledge not only from the authors but also from several other herbalists interviewed throughout the book, The Herbalist’s Way offers a wealth of practical herbal knowledge. The book provides information on growing, drying and preparing medicinal herbs, healing wisdom from various cultures, and how and why to become a herbalist, either professionally or within your family. The authors, Nancy and Michael Phillips, run Heartsong Farm Healing Herbs in New Hampshire, where they grow and sell healing herbs and herbal products. Buy The Herbalist’s Way here.
5. Healing with the Herbs of Life by Leslie Tierra
Healing with the Herbs of Life synthesizes the great herbal traditions of China and India with Western herbology in such a clear and concise manner that the process of creating your own herbal remedies is less daunting and less complicated than you would expect. It is an ideal investment if you’re interested in incorporating Eastern herbal medicine into your Western lifestyle. The book offers content on which herbs treat specific conditions, the energy of foods and herbs, and how to plan home therapies around the seasons. What makes this book unique is the reference it provides on herb and drug interactions and the extensive appendices with information about weights and measures to help in herbal medicine preparations. Leslie Tierra has a background in Traditional Chinese Medicine and is a licensed acupuncturist. Buy Healing with the Herbs of Life here.
Anna Hunt is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com, where this article first appeared, and an entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in research and editorial writing. She and her husband run a preparedness e-store outlet at www.offgridoutpost.com, offering GMO-free storable food and emergency kits. Anna is also a certified Hatha yoga instructor. She enjoys raising her children and being a voice for optimal human health and wellness. Read more of her excellent articles here.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of WakingTimes or its staff.It's hard to kill it when your show is at 3:30 on a Thursday afternoon, especially in a small club with a stage the size of a college dorm room. But when Chance the Rapper's turn came in a swiftly moving showcase of hip-hop artists at Austin's Karma Lounge, he climbed a stack of gear cases and leapt on stage with enough energy and swagger to command a major arena. From the moment he kicked off his 20-minute set with the song "Brain Cells" he owned the crowd, prowling the stage with his fists in the air and inciting fans to shake off their hangovers. His flow is kinetic and the deep-cut soul samples of his newer songs are soothing and hype at the same time.
Chance The Rapper (Chance Bennett) is just 19 years-old and a native of Chicago, where he got his start in early 2011 when the video for his song "Nostalgia" was featured on the Chicago hip-hop blog Fake Shore Drive. He dropped his first mixtape, 10 Day, in April 2012. He's expected to release his second mixtape, Acid Rap, this spring and has already released three singles, "Acid Rain," "Good As Intro," and the cut featured on this Front Row video, "Juice."
Credits
Producers: Saidah Blount, Mito Habe-Evans, Robin Hilton, Frannie Kelley; Assistant Producer/Editor: Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Katie Hayes Luke; Special Thanks to: CrowdNoize, Hydrive; Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann, Keith JenkinsAn initial autopsy report of the Bedouin man accused by Israeli officials of terrorism when he ran over and killed a policeman this week shows that Yaqoub Mousa Abu Al-Qia’an, from the village of Umm al-Hiran, may have lost control of his vehicle after he was shot in the knee, causing him to slam into the officer.
According to a report by Channel 10 news on Friday evening, Abu Al-Qia’an’s autopsy indicated that a police bullet hit him in the right knee, smashing it. The bullet wound may have caused Abu Al-Qia’an to lose control of his leg, which may have locked onto the gas pedal of the car he was driving.
Abu Al-Qia’an, a local schoolteacher, was probably killed from a second bullet that hit him in the torso, from loss of blood, Channel 10 reported Friday.
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He also could have potentially been saved if he’d been given medical attention immediately, the report said, but was left to bleed to death for about 30 minutes.
A group of Border Police officers was overseeing court-ordered home demolitions in the unrecognized Bedouin village on Wednesday morning when Abu Al-Qia’an, a teacher and father of 12, rammed his jeep into a group of officers, killing 1st Sgt. Erez Levi, 34, a father of two from Yavneh.
Abu Al-Qia’an, 47, was shot and killed by police officers immediately afterwards. His family has rejected police claims that the incident was a terror attack and that he had links to the Islamic State terror group, as police have claimed. Relatives said he was not in control of the vehicle when it smashed into police lines because he had been fatally shot.
Residents, activists and eyewitnesses have also claimed that the car only accelerated and hit Levi after police shot at the driver, causing him to lose control.
But police, as well as Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, have insisted the incident was a terror attack. They have accused Abu Al-Qia’an of jihadist sympathies and called the attack “terrorism” and “murder.”
The predawn incident took place as police were carrying out a demolition of several homes in the unrecognized village.
Israeli officials quickly termed the incident a terror attack and pointed to evidence Abu al-Qia’an had Islamist ties.
After video footage was released, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials reiterated that the incident was a terror attack.
“He was killed in a vehicular terror attack,” Netanyahu said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
The deputy commander of the police southern district, Peretz Amar, said the incident was “a deliberate attack. This is clear. This is a fact. There is no other explanation, and anyone who tries to offer an alternative explanation wasn’t here at the time and doesn’t understand.”
Amar said there were two lines of officers either side of the road, and “no possible means to claim in this situation that he didn’t see them… He hit them. He killed [them].”
Videos of the incident did not definitively resolve the conflicting accounts.
One video, slowed to one-quarter speed, seems to show muzzle flashes from at least three shots coming from the firearm of one officer located next to Abu Al-Qia’an’s vehicle just before it accelerates toward other officers.
Some police sources said officers did fire, but into the air, though they were later reported to have acknowledged firing at Abu Al-Qia’an’s vehicle.
An official police version of the video, which shows the muzzle flashes in its first seconds, points out that Abu Al-Qia’an’s headlights were off as he drove past the officers.
After the ramming, the vehicle is seen swerving to the right, then correcting to the left before coming to a stop as a police vehicle rushes into its way.
Oriel Eisner, 26, an activist for the Center for Jewish Non-violence who said he witnessed the incident, confirmed to The Times of Israel that police fired at the vehicle before it accelerated. Eisner speculated that the driver was trying to leave the village in order to avoid confrontation with police.
An earlier video put out by a police spokesperson showed the predawn dark and the sense of confusion that prevailed from the perspective of those on the ground.
Tensions at the site quickly escalated following the killings of the police officer and driver, with clashes breaking out between local residents, activists and Arab lawmakers trying to reach the scene, while Arab Israelis planned protests at 10 sites across the country against the demolitions.
Joint (Arab) List faction leader MK Ayman Odeh was struck in the head — by a sponge-tipped bullet, by a tear-gas canister, or by a misdirected rock thrown by a protester, according to conflicting reports — and several other people were reportedly seriously wounded.
A spokesperson for Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where Odeh and at least one moderately wounded police officer were treated, said doctors could not say definitively what caused Odeh’s wounds.
Dov Lieber contributed to this report.You've likely already heard the big tech news of the day: The FCC voted to approve reclassification of broadband as a public utility and—wait, wait, where are you going? Come back!
Net neutrality, I have been told, is not a term to put in a headline you want people to click on. Fair enough. The debate over the future of the Internet is wonky, and technical, and full of legal jargon. But! It's also fascinating if you can find the right stories.
And though the people of the Internet are celebrating a victory today, many of the core questions in the net neutrality debate are far from resolved. One of the big ones: What does a triumph for net neutrality actually mean for the Internet as we know it? And where's the line between saving the old Internet and creating a new one, anyway? What might that look like? We hope to help answer some of these questions and more with our reporting, but we also want to share the most interesting ideas we find along the way. We'll keep updating this space, a list of some of the best net-neutrality stories we've published and admired:
The New Net-Neutrality Policy, in Three Simple Phrases What America's historic ruling means in plain English
What Do We Save When We Save the Internet? We cannot champion Network Neutrality without admitting that the Internet is no Utopia.DEEP IN THE HEART of Virginia coal country sits a mountaintop prison, its remote location an outward expression of the plight of the inhabitants inside. Some 500 of its 745 inmates are held in solitary confinement — 23 hours a day, seven days a week, some for years — with virtually no human contact or meaningful stimulation. Prison officials estimate that 173 of those in solitary suffer from mental illness. Whether the illness was induced by isolation is not known; what is beyond dispute is that isolation exacerbates the problem.
This is Red Onion State Prison, as described by The Post’s Anita Kumar. Virginia is one of 44 states that enlist solitary confinement as a way to manage some of its prisoners. Virginia officials estimate that as of this fall roughly 1,800 inmates were kept in isolation, comprising a large chunk of the 25,000 or so prisoners nationwide who find themselves in these conditions every day. Prisoners at Red Onion have been kept in solitary confinement from two weeks to seven years, according to Ms. Kumar’s report, with an average length of stay in segregation of 2.7 years.
Virginia officials say that they rely on solitary confinement to manage inmates who are unable to control their rage or who have assaulted corrections officers or other prisoners. Sometimes, they say, a prisoner is placed in a special segregation unit — about the size of a doctor’s exam room — for his own good to avoid being injured by others. Security and safety in a prison must be a top priority, and strategic and limited use of solitary confinement may at time be a necessary tool. But routine reliance on prolonged solitary confinement should never be the default.
Short-term isolation is unlikely to cause serious harm. But prolonged solitary confinement can lead to devastating consequences, including psychosis, reduced brain function, debilitating depression and increased rates of suicide.
Del. Patrick A. Hope (D-Arlington) and Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) are among a group of Virginia lawmakers that have taken notice of the state’s outsized reliance on isolation and have pledged to spur the newly convened General Assembly to study the problem to ensure limited use and the availability of mental health treatment for inmates before they are released into the community. The federal government also has a role to play, and the Justice Department should take up the request by the Legal Aid Justice Center, which represents 12 Virginia inmates who have been held in prolonged isolation, to investigate Virginia’s practices.
Other states, including New York and Texas, have moved in the right direction and begun to reduce their reliance on solitary confinement. Virginia should follow suit.Republican tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell may really be her own worst enemy.
According to excerpts from a 2006 debate between her and other GOP candidates running for US Senate in Delaware, O’Donnell scoffed at a suggestion that the US and China could harbor friendly relations.
The actual letters of her response, republished Monday by the Associated Press, are eye-opening: and not for their informational content.
Explaining that China has |
ridesharing for offering "more rides, cheaper rides, and shorter wait times." She also laid out the regulatory barriers that cartelize most taxi markets and create vast inefficiencies.
However, immediately after pointing out the many consumer benefits of this innovative business model, Warren ended her temporary cease fire by pointing to Uber's and Lyft's recent exit from Austin, Texas over the city's fingerprint background check requirements. She said, "[Uber and Lyft fight] against local rules designed to create a level playing field between themselves and their taxi competitors."
What Warren and other critics of the sharing economy cannot seem to comprehend is that there are two ways to "level the playing field." One is by extending antiquated, anti-competitive regulations to new technologies. The other—and far better—option is to remove these barriers so that legacy business models can adapt to new competition.
Given the many downsides of fingerprint background checks, including higher costs, longer processing times, and false positive results, Austin should have removed the fingerprint requirement from its taxi drivers instead of applying it to ridesharing drivers.
The common failure of fingerprint databases to keep up-to-date records on those who were arrested and then never charged with a crime has many negative effects. This is the main reason why the NAACP and Austin Area Urban League came out strongly against these requirements—which they correctly argue disproportionately harm minorities.
Beyond Warren's push to apply pointless regulations to new business models, there were countless other problems with her speech. The most glaring is her push to extend collective bargaining to every worker.
When discussing collective bargaining, Warren argued that, "every worker should have the right to organize—period." Warren does not seem to care that ridesharing drivers are rightly classified as independent contractors instead of employees. Independent contractors can join a union (such as the Freelancers Union), but for good reason they cannot collectively bargain.
Extending collective bargaining to independent contractors makes no sense and would violate federal laws against price-fixing. Not to mention that collective bargaining, which requires an employee designation, would take away most of the benefits that make sharing-economy work so appealing, namely flexibility. For example, 50 percent of Uber drivers work less than 10 hours a week and 80 percent of Lyft drivers work under 15 hours a week.
Warren also claimed that ridesharing relies on, "extremely low wages for drivers." This may be true compared to senators' speaking fees, but for a single mother working while her children are in school or for a college student trying to earn some extra income in between classes, the ability to earn about $15 an hour after expenses is important. After all, given the Fight for $15 movement, is this not the wage that activists desire for workers?
Warren is the latest in the long line of Washington Democrats who cannot hide their distaste for the independent, flexible work that many workers prefer—especially working mothers and millennials. While much of this opposition is led by labor unions that desperately want to unionize sharing-economy workers, another reason is the utter lack of understanding of why someone would want to drive for a ridesharing company. Given that these powerful individuals—such as Hillary Clinton—usually do not even drive themselves around, it is no wonder they look down on the decisions that millions have made to earn extra money by driving with Uber or Lyft.
Speaking of Clinton, while she clearly values independent work (99 percent of the Clintons' labor income since leaving the White House came from independent contractor "gigs"), she apparently does not want others to participate in the new economy. This new economy is driven by work that is flexible, mobile, and individualized, and the sharing economy is just a small subset of the new opportunities provided by technological progress. So when Bernie Sanders says "I am not a great fan of Uber—you can quote me on that," he is actually showing his love for a 20th century model that gave employers high levels of control over their workers.
What Democrats such as Warren, Clinton, and Sanders fail to realize is that opposition to the sharing economy is a losing political strategy. While it is a positive sign that Warren did not call for an outright ban on ridesharing, what she fails to realize is that applying a 1930s model of employment and regulation to new technologies will effectively destroy many sharing-economy companies. If government gets between voters and their Ubers, Democrats can kiss flexible voters goodbye.Before science, before history, an era of magic existed in our world's dim past. Magic flowed freely, touching every aspect of the lives of men and women of the Namegiver races. Bold heroes from all across the land band together, arming themselves with powerful magical spells and treasures, ready to fight for life and freedom. It was an age of fantastical deeds and mythical stories.
It was the Age of Legend.
Earthdawn: The Age of Legend is a roleplaying game set in a world of high adventure, high magic, and terrible danger. Story-based mechanics, easy to learn and intuitive to use, allow you to create exciting stories about powerful adepts in this ancient era of heroes.
This book contains all the rules you need to play, including an introduction to the world of Earthdawn. Check our website at for a PDF preview!Michael “Kayin” O’Reilly, the indie game developer known for the deviously hard Mega Man-esque throwback game I Wanna Be The Guy, has just put his first commercial game, Brave Earth: Prologue, on Steam Greenlight.
Brave Earth: Prologue is inspired by classic games such as Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden, while having a difficulty system that allows the perfect balance between player skill and challenge. Enemies placement and scenery will change depending of the difficulty setting you pick.
The game will have 3 different playable characters, each one with their own gameplay style, paths and unique levels:
Naomi vos Cruz, the young, inexperienced knight who is sent on a simple courier mission that spirals out of control and into a battle with monsters, mercenaries, and a struggle to stop a cult’s powerful, demonic ritual. While not particularly mobile, Naomi has a number of special attacks to help her deal with a variety of situations.
Sinlen Rothschild, a powerful and mobile mage and Naomi’s best friend. Ambushed during the investigation of ancient ruins, Sinlen defends herself with a wide assortment of long range magic.
Trevor vos Cruz, Naomi’s older brother and Master Hunter for The Church. While Trevor is slow in attacking with his giant sword, Verbanner, he excels at quick, evasive maneuvers.
You can vote for the Steam Greenlight release of the game here.MC65 cells are a human CNS nerve cell line that contains the C-99 fragment of the amyloid precursor protein under the control of a tetracycline (tet)-sensitive promoter.12 The parent cell line is SK-N-MC from a human brain tumor, and it has an electrically excitable membrane typical of neurons.13 When tet is withdrawn, cells express C-99 that is converted to Aβ by γ-secretase and the cells die within 4 days (Figure 1a,b). Aβ remains within the cell and forms aggregates.12,14 In the presence of γ-secretase inhibitors (SI), cells accumulate C-99, but do not die, and C99 does not aggregate.
Figure 1 Intraneuronal Aβ induces an inflammatory response that is potentiated by arachidonic and linoleic acids. (a) MC65 cells were induced to make intracellular Aβ by the removal of tet (tet−) from the culture medium in the presence (SI+) or absence (SI−) of 10 μmol/l γ-secretase inhibitor 10 (Calbiochem) and cell death assayed on day 4. (b). Expression of intracellular Aβ using 6E10 antibody on day 2 in same conditions as in a. Arrow indicates C99 and the 100 kDa band is APP. (c) MC65 cells were induced to make Aβ (−tet) or uninduced (+tet) in the presence or absence of 10 μmol/l γ secretase inhibitor (SI) 1 and 2 days later proteins were assayed by western blotting. (d) Protein amount was quantified and normalized either to actin or in the case of phosphorylation to the total protein. D1=Day 1, D2=Day 2, D2S=Day 2+SI. (e) Western blot of Aβ two days after tet withdrawal (ΔT) in the presence of MK806 (MK, 1 μmol/l), ketorolac (KETO, 10 μmol/l), caspase 1 inhibitor (CPS 1, 50 μmol/l), FkG 11 (FK, 5 μmol/l), THL (5 μmol/l) or CNB-001 (CNB, 1 μmol/l). (f) Cells were incubated for 4 days in the presence of the caspase 1 inhibitor (CPS1) Z-YVAD-FMC (50 μmol/l), caspase 3 inhibitor (CPS3, 50 μmol/l), Z-DEVD-FMk (50 μmol/l) or the compounds in e. The percent viable cells is presented. *P<0.01, n=3–5. (g) MC65 cells were induced to make Aβ in the presence of increasing amounts of LA or AA and cell death was measured on day 2 instead of day 4 when the cells normally die. The control is cells without tet. All changes with AA or LA: P<0.01, n=4. (h) MC65 cells were grown in the absence of tet (ΔT) with 100 nmol/l J147 or 10 μmol/l γ secretase inhibitor (SI) and eicosanoid accumulation assayed in the culture medium 2 days later, and presented as fold change relative to uninduced cells. Baseline values (fmole/2×106 cells) are: PGE2, 49; PGF2, 1315; PGD2, 257; 5-HETE, 11; 12 HETE, 101; 15 HETE, 28. These data are from a single experiment, but similar results were obtained in three independent experiments. The absolute amounts of extracellular eicosanoids varied, but the relative changes within the individual experiments were similar (see the separate experiment in Figure 2). APP, amyloid precursor protein; Aβ, beta amyloid. Full size image
Intraneuronal Aβ induces the expression of proinflammatory molecules
Inflammation is associated with the elevated expression of cytokines and chemokines. To assay for the expression of these genes following the induction of Aβ in MC65 cells, the mRNA expression of 184 inflammation-associated genes was assayed sequentially for three days. Table 1 shows increases in the expression of 12 genes.
Table 1: Gene expression of cytokines and chemokines Full size table
IL-8 expression is linked to late onset AD.15 Importantly, IL-8 crosses the blood brain barrier and stimulates the recruitment of immune cells into the brain.16 Aβ causes a 10-fold increase in IL-8 gene expression, and IL-8 is detected in the culture supernatant 2 days after the induction of Aβ (Table 1).
It was next asked whether the intracellular expression of Aβ leads to an increase in proinflammatory pathways. NFkB is a ubiquitous proinflammatory molecule whose activation includes phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of its p65 subunit is increased following the expression of Aβ in MC65 cells (Figure 1c,d). Inflammation is also associated with the activation of caspase 1. Figure 1c,d shows that following the expression of Aβ, caspase 1 is activated as defined by the appearance of activation-dependent cleavage products.
In cases of caspase-1 activation, cell death is ultimately caused by caspase-3.17 Figure 1c also shows that caspase-3 is strongly activated on day 2 following the start of Aβ accumulation. The caspase-1 inhibitor Z-YVAD-FMC (CPS 1) and the caspase-3 inhibitor Z-DEVD-FMK (CPS 3), had no effect on Aβ levels (Figure 1e and not shown), but reduced cell death (Figure 1f). All proinflammatory responses were blocked by a γ secretase inhibitor. Therefore, the expression of Aβ leads to the induction of an inflammatory pathway and caspase dependent cell death.
Eicosanoids are derivatives of arachidonic acid (AA) or related polyunsaturated fatty acids that have either pro- or anti-inflammatory effects. Leukotrienes are made by lipoxygenases (LOXs), while prostaglandins are synthesized by cyclooxygenases (COXs). COX 1 is constitutively expressed; COX 2 is inducible under conditions of stress.18 Figure 1c,d show that COX 2 expression is increased by 2 days.
In human cells, there are three LOXs.5,12,15,19 5-LOX is abundantly expressed in neurons and is elevated in AD.20 Figure 1c,d show that 5-LOX increases following Aβ induction.
To determine whether LOX and COX activities are required for cell death, inhibitors were assayed for their ability to block toxicity. The COX inhibitors Ibuprofen and Indomethacin did not block toxicity, nor did the COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 or the generic COX inhibitor Ketorolac (Keto; Supplementary Table S1); none altered intracellular Aβ (Figure 1e). In contrast, the 5-LOX inhibitor CNB-001 (CNB)14 and the 5-LOX-activating protein inhibitor MK806 (MK) prevented the accumulation of Aβ and cell death (Figure 1e,f).
Aβ-induced AA is derived from several lipases
Since the major substrate for LOXs and COXs is AA, it was asked whether AA potentiates cell death. When induced to make Aβ in the presence of AA, cells die in a dose-dependent manner in 2 days following Aβ expression rather than 4 days in control cultures (Figure 1g). Linoleic acid is a precursor to AA and also a substrate for LOXs, and it also potentiates toxicity (Figure 1g). These data suggest that AA may be produced following Aβ induction and that AA is a substrate for nerve cell death. Analysis of AA after 3 days of Aβ induction showed between a two- and threefold increase (2.5±0.6, P<0.001 n=5).
The physiology of a cell is very different when it is stressed (in this case by proteotoxicity) as compared with its normal state. Compounds that have no effect on non-stressed cells may engage pathways that are induced by stress and therefore their action may only be detected under stressful conditions. This is the case with extracellular AA and in the following experiments where the effect of pharmacological intervention is only observed in Aβ-induced cells.
Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is the major source of AA in the brain and contributes to AD pathology.21 The three forms in human cells include Ca++ dependent (cPLA2), Ca++ independent (iPLA2) and secretory (sPLA2). iPLA2 gene knockout AD mice have reduced amyloid plaque load and improved behavior.22 In humans, variants of the enzymes are risk factors for AD, and the enzymes that metabolize AA are increased in AD and AD mice.21 Most AA in the brain is derived from iPLA2, but there are other potential sources. MC65 cell death is partially prevented by the broad-spectrum phospholipase A2 inhibitors 4-octadecyl benzyl acrylic acid (OBAA) and chlorpromazine (Supplementary Table S1). FkGk11, an iPLA2-specific inhibitor, reduces toxicity and intracellular Aβ accumulation (Figure 1e,f), while the cPLA2 inhibitors methyl arachidonyl fluorophosphonate (MAFP), CAY10502, and pyrrophene have no effect (Supplementary Table S1). The sPLA2 inhibitor thioetheramide does not inhibit cell death at concentrations effective in human cells.23 Therefore, the PLA2 inhibitors are only partially effective in preventing cell death.
Alternative sources of AA are triacylglycerols. The monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) inhibitor JZL1 was inactive in reducing cell death, as was the inhibitor of diacylglycerol lipase, RHC-80287 (Supplementary Table S1). However, the generic lipase inhibitor CAY10499 and the triacylglycerol lipase inhibitors, tetrahydrolipstatin (THL) and Atglistin, partially blocked toxicity (Supplementary Table S1, Figure 1f). Although none of the lipase inhibitors individually completely blocked toxicity, the combination of FkGk11 and THL did (Figure 1f, Supplementary Table S1). In addition, this combination reduces the increase in AA following Aβ induction by (91±6%, n=3) and also blocks the accumulation of Aβ (Figure 1e). Because of the profound effect of AA, it was asked whether eicosanoids themselves have roles in the clearance of intracellular Aβ and nerve cell death.
Intraneuronal Aβ increases eicosanoid production
When cells are stressed, they initially mount a protective response. Twenty hrs after Aβ induction in MC65 cells, only increases in prostaglandins PGD 2 and PGE 2 can be found in the cell culture medium (not shown), but by 48 h there is a relatively simultaneous expression of multiple prostaglandins and leukotrienes that is blocked by a γ-secretase inhibitor or by CNB-001 (Figure 1h, Figure 2). The genesis of the eicosanoids that are elevated following Aβ induction is also shown.
Figure 2 Schematic representation and GC/MS/MS analysis of the induction of eicosanoid synthesis following Aβ expression in MC65 cells. Cells were induced to make Aβ (−tet) or not (+tet) for 48 h and the culture supernatant assayed for eicosanoids. Of the 164 eicosanoids assayed, these were the only ones detected. In the same experiment, induced cells were treated with 1 μmol/l THC, 10 μmol/l Calbiochem secretase inhibitor Ten (SI), or 500 nmol/l CNB-001. These data are from a single experiment, and similar results were obtained in three independent experiments. Although the absolute amounts of individual eicosanoids in the culture supernatants were somewhat variable, the relative effects of SI, THC and CNB-001 were the same. Aβ, beta amyloid. Full size image
Prostaglandins and leukotrienes have opposing effects on cell death
The effect of the secreted eicosanoids on intracellular Aβ toxicity were examined in two ways. First, each eicosanoid identified in the culture medium was added to induced or uninduced cells using a twofold serial dilution between 20 μmol/l and 10 nmol/l, and it was determined whether the compound was either neuroprotective, potentiated toxicity or was directly toxic. Second, when possible, these data were confirmed by receptor antagonists or agonists.
Figure 3a,b and Supplementary Table S2 show that PGE2 and PGD2, are neuroprotective, whereas 5-HETE and its downstream metabolites LTA4 and LTB4 potentiate toxicity. Fifteen HETE is not reproducibly active, while 12 HETE is protective (Figure 3b). However, none of the prostaglandins alter intracellular Aβ levels at day 2, while 5-HETE stimulates Aβ accumulation (not shown). The other eicosanoids lack activity (Supplementary Table S2). Importantly, none of the eicosanoids were directly toxic to uninduced MC65 cells.
Figure 3 Eicosanoids, endocannabinoids and RAGE modulate Aβ toxicity. MC65 cells induced (Δtet) to make Aβ in the presence or absence of the indicated compounds and cell viability and/or intracellular Aβ levels monitored at day 2 or 2.5 following induction. 5H (5-HETE, 500 nmol/l); 5Hp (5-HETE peroxide, 500 nmol/l); 12H (12 HETE, 500 nmol/l); D2 (PGD2, 500 nmol/l); E2 (PDE2, 10 μmol/l); AEA (arachidonoyl ethanolamide, 1 μmol/l); THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, 50 nmol/l); Q-3 (Q-3 carboxamide, 100 nmol/l); 404 (AM404, 1 μmol/l); 630 (AM630, 10 nmol/l); 251 (AM251, 1 μmol/l). (a) Cell viability at 2 days; (b) cell viability at 3 days; (c) cell viability at 2.5 days; (d) Aβ at 2 days; (e) THC dose response, cell viability; (f) THC dose response, intracellular Aβ at 2 days. (g) MC65 cells were incubated with or without the RAGE inhibitor (RI) FPS-ZMII (1 μmol/l) with (+) and without (−) tet. Cell viability assayed on day 4 (h) The amount of IL8 assayed on day 3 following Aβ induction. (i) Aβ expression was monitored on day 3 (j) Cells were treated with RAGE siRNA or control siRNA and cell viability assayed after 2 days. (k) IL-8 was assayed on day 3, (l) Phospho NFkB, RAGE and Aβ expression were assayed on day 3. Aβ, beta amyloid; SiRNA, small interfering RNA. Full size image
Prostaglandin and leukotrienes interact with a large number of receptors. PGE2 interacts with EP1–4. Supplementary Table S1 shows that the EP1 antagonist SC51089 and EP4 antagonists HA23848 and GW627368X all potentiate Aβ toxicity. The EP4 antagonists were 10-fold more potent, suggesting the primary involvement of EP4.
PGD2 signals through DP1 and DP2. It was asked whether the DP1-selective agonist BW245C or the selective DP2 agonist 15-PGJ(2) were neuroprotective. Only BW245C was effective (Supplementary Table S1), suggesting that PGD2 protection is via DP1.
There are a large number of molecular targets for the leukotrienes that are blocked by a γ-secretase inhibitor or by CNB-001. Of these, the LTB4 receptors BLT1 and BLT2 are the best studied. LTA4 and LTB4 potentiate Aβ toxicity themselves and the BLT antagonist LY255283 is weakly protective (Supplementary Tables S1 and S2).
Cannabinoids remove intraneuronal Aβ
In addition to prostaglandins and leukotrienes, AA is a component of a very large family of endocannabinoids (ECs) that are, in turn, metabolized to AA. The EC arachidonoyl ethanol amide (AEA) is expressed in the brain.24 The major cannabinoid receptors are CB1 and CB2, and AEA activates both. The data in Supplementary Table S1 and Figure 3c,d show that AEA promotes MC65 survival and blocks intracellular Aβ accumulation, as do its hydrolysis-stable analogs arvanil (not shown) and AM404 (404) (Supplementary Table S1, Figure 3c,d). UBR597, an inhibitor of the enzyme that degrades AEA, is also protective (Supplementary Table S1) as is the CB2 agonist Q-3 (Figure 3c,d, Supplementary Table S1). Conversely, toxicity and Aβ accumulation are enhanced by CB1 and CB2 antagonists AM281, AM251 and AM630 (Supplementary Table S1, Figure 3c,d). A number of additional CB1 and CB2 agonists or antagonists were assayed, but no pharmacological distinction between CB1 and CB2 could be made (Supplementary Table S1). Of the compounds tested, THC is the most potent CB-1 agonist, with an EC 50 below 50 nmol/l (Figure 3e,f). THC is protective, removes intraneuronal Aβ and completely eliminates the elevated eicosanoid production in induced MC65 cells.
Inflammation is initiated in part via RAGE
Receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) interacts with Aβ and can be expressed inside cells.25 As RAGE activation induces an inflammatory response, we asked whether RAGE is involved in Aβ-induced cell death. Figure 3g shows that a RAGE inhibitor, FPS-ZMI, partially blocks cell death, and Figure 3h shows that IL-8 secretion is also reduced by FPS-ZMI, as is intracellular Aβ (Figure 3i). Knocking down RAGE with siRNA further supported the results, showing a reduction in cell death, IL-8 secretion and Aβ accumulation (Figure 3j–l). The reduction of RAGE expression also blocked the activation of NFkB as determined by lowering its phosphorylation to baseline levels (Figure 3l), but it did not significantly reduce the expression of eicosanoids or alter AA levels (not shown).
Extracellular proinflammatory cytokines also potentiate Aβ toxicity
The above data show that the death of neurons may be progressively autocatalytic due to the production of a variety of proinflammatory molecules. It was therefore asked whether the cytokines enhance the rate of Aβ accumulation and death. MC65 cells were exposed to IL-8, IL-1β, IFNγ or TNFα for 2 days and intraneuronal Aβ and cell viability assayed. IFNγ and TNFα strongly potentiate both the accumulation of Aβ and cell death (Figure 4). IL-8 was ineffective, likely because large amounts are secreted and the cells are desensitized.Mitt Romney has been saying that under his tax plan, high-income households would continue to pay the same share of taxes as they pay today.
During Tuesday night's town hall debate with President Obama, he got more specific.
"The top 5% of taxpayers will continue to pay 60% of the income tax the nation collects. So that'll stay the same," Romney said.
Who is in the top 5%?
This year, the top 5% of households have at least $181,000 in adjusted gross income, according to estimates from the Tax Policy Center. By 2014, that number is projected to rise to $200,000.
As a group, the top 5% will pay about 57% of all federal income taxes this year.
Note that Romney's promise to freeze the share of taxes paid by the rich is not necessarily the same as saying the tax bills of some high-income filers wouldn't go down. As with any tax reform proposal, some members of an income group would pay more and some would pay less.
(Related: Middle class promises hard to keep)
Under Romney's plan, the top 5% of households -- and every other household -- would have their income tax rates cut by 20%. His plan would also repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax. Finally, it would make investment income tax free for those earning less than $100,000 ($200,000 if married).
Romney on Tuesday night also reiterated that he would pay for all of his tax cuts, estimated to cost $5 trillion over a decade.
"I'm going to limit deductions and exemptions and credits, particularly for people at the high end, because I am not going to have people at the high end pay less than they're paying now," he said.
One way he might do so is to cap how much a tax filer can claim in various tax breaks, he has said.
Earlier this month, when Romney mentioned the idea of a cap, he was talking about itemized deductions. His campaign told CNNMoney that such a cap would be adopted in conjunction with curbs on other tax breaks -- namely, personal exemptions and the tax-free benefit workers receive when their employers help pay for their health insurance.
At Tuesday's debate, his comments suggested the cap might apply to a broader swath of breaks, including tax credits.
"I'll pick a number -- $25,000 of deductions and credits, and you can decide which ones to use," Romney said. "Your home mortgage interest deduction, charity, child tax credit, and so forth; you can use those as part of filling that bucket... of deductions."
Indeed, he's been offering a lot of options that could pay for his tax cuts. "The governor has described other approaches as well, and he will work with Congress to negotiate tax reform to ensure his goals are met," a Romney campaign spokesperson said after the debate.
A cap of $25,000 might significantly curtail the tax savings enjoyed by many in the top 5%.
Most households in that income group took an average of $43,208 in itemized deductions alone last year, while those in the top 1% took an average of $173,670, according to Tax Policy Center estimates.More than 90 police officers at a jungle base in Peru have been taken to hospital with food poisoning.
The officers developed fever, nausea and stomach ache after eating chicken soup at Mazuco police base in Tambopata province, officials say.
Police said they would investigate the suppliers of the meals.
The officers had been deployed to the base to reinforce operations against illegal gold miners in the Madre de Dios area.
The police officer said 150 police had been taken to the medical post on the base, but many had to be moved to hospitals because the base did not have enough medication.
One of the officers who fell ill told local media he and his colleagues had been "poisoned with bad food, dirty meat, and eggs and fish that were off".
Mercury rising
Regional police chief Hector Dulanto said he would travel to the area to investigate the case.
The area has been the scene of violent clashes between the security forces and miners protesting against tougher penalties for illegal operations.
The miners say the new rules will put them out of work, but the government says the sanctions will encourage miners to get the necessary permits.
An estimated 50,000 miners do not have a licence to operate.
The government says large areas of jungle have been destroyed by illegal mining and high levels of mercury, which is used for mining, have been found in waterways.Do whatever you want
Breath of the Wild has given me a whole new appreciation for open-world games. I love the amount of freedom you have in tackling the quest (or not bothering with it) and the order in which you can tackle it. While games like Grand Theft Auto and the more recent Elder Scrolls games give you snippets of that, they tend to hold your hand throughout their main questlines, which inevitably makes the player want to rebel against the set path.
Much to my surprise, ELEX is possibly more open-ended than Zelda. You’re given total freedom to explore any area of the game. If you see a distant mountain, you can travel to it. If any of the NPC’s look at you wrong, you can kill them. If you feel like giving the middle finger to the main quest, go right ahead. The game world will compensate for that lack of quest giver and allow some other option for progression. That sounds an awful lot like Morrowind (except that game would just consider the quest failed).
The basic combat in ELEX works similar to Dark Souls. You have a heavy and light attack that are mapped to R1 and R2 (RB and RT). You also have a stamina meter which dictates your movements, so you can’t just wildly swing your weapons around and hope to win. Along with melee combat comes some guns and sci-fi weapons, which then changes the game into a third-person shooter.
It feels a little bit clunky, but that mostly comes from comparing it to others games. I’m so used to action-RPGs all adopting the same controls schemes that I was having a hard time pressing the proper buttons to draw my weapons. It is a bit weird how they are mapped to the d-pad and can be pulled out by pressing the corresponding direction or attack, which led me to believe that R1 was unsheathe.
I was also taken back by how sprint requires you to hold in the left stick and that there is no crouch option. While you can go anywhere in the game world and basically do what you want, you won’t be sneaking up on anyone. You can dodge away from their attacks, though the game automatically locks on to enemies and is pretty hard to relinquish that lock (or change to another foe).
Since the demo was set up to be about 50% of the way through the game, I had some ridiculously powerful guns at my disposal. Remembering the freedom that was explained to me, I set forth just grenading everyone I ran into. While that resulted in me dying quickly, I started to change up my approach. Instead of blindly firing into crowds of enemies, I picked them off from a distance and ran in for melee attacks when a single foe was left.
I actually did pretty damn well, save for a stray shot connecting at the very end of my final encounter. I took out everyone and died in the process, but at least I wasn’t reprimanded for doing so. The best thing about ELEX is that none of your actions are limited. If you truly do hate the world, you can unleash your wrath on anyone unfortunate enough to meet you.
You won’t get away without some form of punishment, but that won’t come from a text box scolding you or some convoluted and poorly implemented morality system. What happens is very much akin to The Elder Scrolls in that individual towns will put out a bounty on your head. You can pay off the bounty to atone for your crimes or you can just deal with an endless horde of bounty hunters coming for you.
Its cool to see that kind of system in a game. While it may be annoying in that it doesn't allow for player empowerment, you do begin to feel that the world you’re traversing is actually alive. Most of those interactions seem to be limited to NPCs telling police about your actions or enemies running for reinforcements, but killing someone in the game world permanently removes them from it. At least if you kill them once, they won’t become a thorn in your side.
ELEX is being developed by Piranha Bytes, the guys behind Gothic and Risen. Those games aren’t exactly known for high production values and that still holds true for ELEX. There is a lot of clipping and rough animations, which can take you out of the moment. One enemy I killed basically became dead weight and I was able to pass straight through him like he didn’t exist.
That also extends to the general graphical design of ELEX. I don’t mind the art, but this looks like a high-resolution PS3 game. A little ugly and dated, but functional. Those clipping issues also don’t ruin the experience, they just kind of break the sense of immersion.
Then again, this is from a developer that is typically not popular with American players. Both Gothic and Risen are big over in Europe and I get the feeling that ELEX is probably going to be the same thing. Those series have their fans and don’t appeal to everyone (me included), but that is definitely preferable to companies like Ubisoft who makes all games for every potential person. I’d rather see a developer hone in on what they want to make instead of homogenizing their games for mass appeal.
Even with all the rough edges and jankiness, I still walked away having enjoyed ELEX. My demo begin with the very promise of "you can go anywhere" and I really was able to (up to a point for demo purposes). Jetpack up a mountain, clear out the town of literally everyone, and then loot a bunch of bodies. Why not?
Currently ELEX will be heading to PC, PS4, and Xbox One. I don’t know if a Switch version is in the works, but it would be possible. From my understanding and quick chat with one of the programmers, they should be releasing the game in around six months. This may be a cool way to spend the summer, especially after having exhausted Breath of the Wild.
You are logged out. Login | Sign upEFF is happy to welcome our newest Staff Technologist Erica Portnoy. Erica is joining EFF's technology projects team, a group of technologists and computer scientists engineering responses to the problems of third-party tracking, inconsistent encryption, and other threats to users' privacy and security online. Erica earned her BSE in computer science at Princeton, and comes to EFF with experience in messaging privacy, searchable encryption, and tech policy and civil rights.
I asked Erica a few questions about her background and what she'll be working on at EFF.
What are you most excited about working on this year?
I'm excited to be working on Certbot, EFF's Let's Encrypt client. We're gradually working towards stability and the long tail of usage cases. I'm hoping to get it so that it just works for as many people as possible, so they can get and install their certificates 100% painlessly.
What drew you to EFF?
EFF's tech projects team is doing the uncommon work of making direct, concrete, technical contributions to improving people's safety online. Plus, everyone who works here is the nicest person you'll ever meet, which I promise is not logically inconsistent.
What kind of research did you do before coming to EFF?
My previous work involved experimenting with cryptographically-enforced privacy for cloud services. So I've worked with ORAM and encrypted search and SGX, to drop some jargon.
What advice would you have for users trying to secure their communications?
If you are only going to do one thing, use a password manager and diceware. I use the one built into Chrome, with a sync passphrase set up. No one's going to bother exploiting a million-dollar bug if your password is the same as the one you used for a service that was recently breached.
But more broadly, this is a hard issue, and the |
Leonard Lance told CNN.
Lance said he was willing to support the procedural steps to begin unwinding the law but stressed that he wants a clear timeline for those covered under Obamcare's Medicaid expansion so patients know where to get coverage under a new program.
Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr suggested that there were tensions in Tuesday's meeting between members who were emphatic that a repeal and replace vote happen simultaneously, and others who stressed that it's simply impossible to move toward repeal until the Republicans first pass the budget resolution.
"There's some folks who have expressed a desire to do everything at once but I don't think they fully understand that if we don't take these first steps, we're never going to get to the next step," said Barr, a member of the Republican Study Committee, which introduced its own replacement plan last week.
Barr said he will vote in support of the budget resolution and that he expects a "very large majority" of his conference to do the same.
Ryan and other leaders discussed ideas for adding replacement into an upcoming budget reconciliation bill -- the vehicle through which Republicans plan to roll back Obamacare. But the speaker admitted that they haven't decided yet how much of the law they can dismantle or replace with this approach, pointing out that there are rules limiting what the budget reconciliation bill can include.
"We will pass as much as we can through whatever vehicle we've got and then we will pass all the other things through regular order outside of reconciliation that show you the full scope of what a real replacement effort will look like," Ryan said.
Florida GOP Rep. Dennis Ross told reporters that the hope is to "do as much replacement as we can get away with in the reconciliation package" before throwing the ball back to the Senate.
He said Republicans will focus on measures related to tax and spending, including provisions to promote health savings accounts, remove the financial penalty for those who don't enroll in Obamacare.
Republican leaders also continue to insist there will be a smooth transition to a new system and that they won't abruptly cancel insurance policies.
House GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers took those reassurances one step further on Tuesday, saying: "Let me be clear: no one who has coverage because of Obamacare today will lose that coverage."
Others stressed the need to begin the process now to repeal the law, but seemed comfortable with allotting plenty of time for the rest of the process to play out.
"There is a recognition that Obamacare took a long time to construct," Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam said, "and it's similarly going to take a long time to deconstruct."
Trump as businessman, not legislator
Republicans working on the healthcare issue downplayed Trump's comments, which came after the closed-door conference meeting, pointing to the difference between the President-elect's perspective as a businessman rather than a political leader.
"You can't repeal it and replace it quickly - that's an oxymoron," Collinstold reporters. "We can repeal it quickly and replace it in a timely fashion."
Many House GOP members are reluctant to vote for the budget resolution on Friday until some of their questions about the plan ahead are cleared up.
"We should not vote until we see the plans and well in front, plenty of time on what the fix is," House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions said Tuesday.
He said members are "entitled" to have details on the replacement "before we do anything." Sessions said GOP leaders still trying to figure out the next steps in terms of the budget vote slated for Friday.
North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson hadn't read the Times story, but he essentially agreed with Trump's message to proceed quickly. "I think that's where the American people are and we are working through the process," he said. "Does that means weeks or days, does it mean hours -- we are working through the timing."
Asked if Trump doesn't understand the process, Hudson said, "the guy's not a politician, he's a businessman."PORTLAND, Ore. -- A streak of 57 days without rain in Portland ended Sunday morning with.06 inches, according to KGW meteorologist Rod Hill.
"The dry streak stands in 3rd place all time, behind the record of 71 days back in 1967," Hill said.
Today's forecast
The front that brought in the rain also cleared out the smoke from from forest fires, ending an air quality alert that dogged Portland and the Northwest.
The 9,000 riders and walkers in the Providence Bridge Pedal saw rain for the first time in 22 years.
And Hill has some good weather news for the eclipse on August 21.
"Latest weather models track a low pressure center well to our north which would leave Oregon dry and hopefully clear for good viewing!" Hill said.CLOSE Glendale police Detective Roger Geisler discusses details of the Jhessye Shockley disappearance and subsequent Jerice Hunter investigation with reporter Matthew Casey.
Jhessye Shockley's body has not been found.
Jerice Hunter, who was charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in the death of her daughter Jhessye Shockley, awaits her sentencing at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix on Friday, July 17, 2015. (Photo: Cheryl Evans/The Republic)
Jerice Hunter, the Glendale mother convicted of killing her 5-year-old daughter, Jhessye Shockley, has been sentenced to life in prison. The girl's body has never been found, but police believe her body was stuffed in a suitcase and left in a Tempe garbage bin.
The sentencing marks the conclusion of a case that began in October 2011, when Hunter told police that Shockley had disappeared from her Glendale apartment. She did not react when Judge Rosa Mroz read the sentence Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court.
During the trial, prosecutors had portrayed Hunter as a liar and manipulator who, after serving a prison sentence in California, used law enforcement to take Jhessye from loving relatives. They argued that Hunter never developed a maternal bond with the girl described by her teacher as "bubbly" and an "emerging leader."
While prosecutors Jeannette Gallagher and Blaine Gadow said it could not be determined how or when Hunter killed Jhessye, they told jurors she put the girl's body in a suitcase and then conned a neighbor into driving her to Tempe so she could sell items Hunter had claimed were inside.
The state won convictions of child abuse and first-degree murder against Hunter despite the lack of an eyewitness to Jhessye's killing or the discovery of the girl's body.
Prosecutors presented jurors with evidence that contradicted defense attorney Candice Shoemaker's portrayal of Hunter as a desperate mother whose years of incarceration while awaiting trial had prevented her from working on what was most important: finding Jhessye.
Hunter's daughter and Hunter's ex-lover testified about Hunter's corporal punishment of Jhessye. The daughter lashed out from the witness stand at the people she believed tore her family apart—police, prosecutors and a state agency that separated her from her siblings—but also described Jhessye being forced by Hunter to live in a closet.
The ex-lover told the court about hearing Hunter beat the child over spilled Play Doh.
The state appeared to be veering into minutiae when it painstakingly laid out Hunter's numerous excuses for Jhessye missing more than two weeks of kindergarten before the girl's disappearance. But those became key details when one of Hunter's relatives testified that Hunter had asked him to drive Jhessye to school on one of the days Hunter told school officials that the girl would be absent from school because of ringworm and pink eye.
Hunter's request became more significant when the relative told jurors that the girl he drove to school wasn't the one whose picture flashed across television screens as part of a missing-person search that went national.
The defense called just two witnesses and took just one day to present Hunter's case.
The first witness struggled to recall details and was seen as ineffective.
The second, a grandmother, presented herself as having a photographic memory. The woman described in detail having seen a girl she identified as Jhessye just hours before Hunter reported the girl missing.
The woman testified that she went outside her apartment, near 45th and Glendale avenues, to smoke a cigarette, saw Jhessye and tried to help her. But the girl was upset, had been crying and fled toward the intersection where the woman told jurors she saw her get into the passenger seat of a dark sedan that sped away, the witness said.
CLOSE Hunter's family speaks on sentencing
While the woman's testimony validated Hunter's story that she'd discovered Jhessye missing after returning from an errand on Oct. 11, 2011, it didn't contradict Jhessye's sister's statements about seeing Jhessye bruised, unable to walk and losing her hair while locked in her mother's closet.
Nor was the defense able to explain the large blood stain detectives discovered underneath the closet's carpet, a stain forensic examiners determined was likely Jhessye's blood.
The jury of seven men and five women reached the guilty verdicts in late April. Hunter has maintained her innocence since Glendale police identified her as a suspect about a month after Jhessye disappeared.
The jury also decided Hunter had committed fraud against the community when she pleaded for help in bringing her daughter home.
Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/1J5VmZdFriday’s Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage was a historic moment for civil rights in America, and for the first time ever, Facebook released a tool that encouraged people express solidarity with a rainbow profile picture. Naturally, Facebook is also keeping track of who’s using it. [Update: Facebook didn’t deny it.]
The Atlantic recently asked if all those rainbow profile photos were “another experiment.” A Facebook spokesperson responded to that question directly: “it’s not an experiment or test—everyone sees the same thing.” Facebook has conducted studies on profile pic memes like this in the past, but this is the first time that Facebook has built a tool for the expressed purpose of showing political support with a profile picture. That said, the Facebook spokesperson didn’t deny that the social network was tracking which users support gay marriage and adding that to the database of personal information the company has on its billion users.
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We’ve reached out to Facebook for further clarification. But at this point, it’s a pretty safe bet that Facebook is tracking everything you do on its social network. Zuckerberg and company has been keeping tabs on its users for years, from tracking their browser activity to using supercookies to keep tracking users even if they’ve deleted their accounts.
What’s more, the last time there was a big profile picture protest for gay marriage, a Facebook data scientist quietly published an academic paper on the data that Facebook collected with the title “The Diffusion of Support in an Online Social Movement.” It’s not exactly beach reading, but it’s evidence that Facebook is paying close attention to how people use the social network to effect social and political change, as the Atlantic explains in more detail.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t give your Facebook profile the rainbow treatment. It’s a great way to celebrate a historic event. But don’t forget that, as always, Facebook is watching.
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Update 6:00 EDT Facebook finally responded to our request for clarification. However, the clarification sounds more like a confirmation that the social network is tracking people who use the tool. Facebook used the word “not” three times but still did not deny tracking. A Facebook spokesperson wrote:
This was not an experiment or test, but rather something that enables people to show their support of the LGBTQ community on Facebook. We aren’t going to use this as a way to target ads and the point of this tool is not to get information about people.
Well, if it’s not the point of the tool, tracking users is fine right?
Read the full story at the Atlantic here.
Image: FacebookI have Windows 7 installed. I had reserved a copy of Windows 10 through the GWX app and when I got the message it was ready for downloading, I started it. Reason being that, whenever I am ready to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I wouldn't have to spend time waiting for the download.
But... at the end of the download, it came up with a question to accept the License Agreement, which I did (not knowing what would happen if I declined). And the Upgrade Windows box came up, asking me to upgrade now or later. Since I don't want to upgrade now I selected later. But that only gives you the option of today, tomorrow or the day after. To give myself some time, I have selected the last possible day and 23:00 (11pm).
Now I have the situation that Windows 10 is about to be installed, this probably happens at the first boot after the selected date and time (or maybe Windows even reboots automatically at the selected time if the computer is powered-on at that point in time).
Trouble is, I didn't have a chance to make a last-minute backup and any backup I now make of the system partition includes the state of Windows 10 being on the brink of install. Suppose I upgrade to Windows 10 and have to go back to Windows 7, at the next reboot it'll probably re-install Windows 10!
I think it is rather awkward to have an "offer" to reserve a copy of Windows 10 but then being locked-in to installing it within 3 days of Microsoft deciding to push it to your computer.
I have found the registry entry for the scheduled reboot (probably OSUpgradeRebootScheduledTime under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update), so I can probably postpone the upgrade to Windows 10, but Windows Update will no longer offer or install Windows 7 updates since an OS Upgrade is pending. It only offers to reboot the machine (which does nothing until the specified time I guess).
I would like to go back to the situation where Windows 10 upgrade has NOT been downloaded yet (or at least not scheduled to be installed), so I can:
use Windows 7 for a few more months/weeks
get Windows Updates for Windows 7 for a few more months/weeks
decide myself when to upgrade to Windows 10 (when I am convinced it works and have time to fiddle with it for a while)
A last minute resort could be to delete the registry keys I found, but I would like Microsoft to comment on this and a "proper" way to do it, without breaking the system and without forfeiting the chance of a proper upgrade in the future.
One post here from MS suggested turning off automatic updates, but I think that stage is already passed.
Anyone done something that worked for them? Or any official reply from Microsoft?
I do want to upgrade to Windows 10 within the year, but not now!For those lurkers and casual readers out there who don’t “buy in” to the FACT that what anti-whites are perpetrating against our children is genocide, I submit the following to you:
Recently, courtesy of Tim Jacob Wise and Co., the anti-whites have ratcheted up the White Privilege meme through their preferred outlet in Duluth, MN. Talk about privilege.
Despite their best and well-funded efforts, WE won the first battle on that front as UMD (University of Minnesota’s Diversity) has – for the moment – officially repudiated their methods and message and pulled their support of the Unfair Campaign. Thumbs up. However, there is more to what they did with this. It’s time to crunch the subtext of the message they delivered.
EVERYBODY in the Respectable World agrees that there is this thing called White Privilege.
EVERYBODY says that this Privilege can, should, and will be taken away.
EVERYBODY says that there is one way and ONLY one way to solve this problem of White Privilege.
When asked HOW whites are “privileged,” they say we were “BORN that way. We’re white.” Clearly, the solution to the problem of whites being born with White Privilege is to do away with the problem of us being here; to genocide our race. They might sugarcoat their program and say things like “We all bleed red. We’re all one race,” but what they really mean is “On Earth, whites have no place.”
You know the rest…
The Mantra machine of simple truth triumphs once more.Powered by 100% green electricity
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Iranian workers stand in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, about 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran October 26, 2010. REUTERS/Mehr News Agency/Majid Asgaripour
Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China, and Russia failed to meet a Nov. 24 deadline for resolving their dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program. They gave themselves until the end of June for further negotiations.
It was the second time this year they had missed a self-imposed target for a comprehensive agreement under which Iran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for an end to sanctions hobbling Tehran’s economy.
As a result, a preliminary accord reached in late 2013 will remain in force. Under its terms, Iran halted its most sensitive nuclear activity in return for limited easing of sanctions.
Accordingly, Iran earlier this year eliminated its stockpile of uranium gas enriched to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, a relatively short technical step away from weapons-grade material. A large part of it was processed into oxide.
When the deal was first extended in July, Iran undertook to move further away from potential weapons material by converting 25 kg of the uranium oxide - a quarter of the total - into nuclear fuel during the initial four-month extension.
The diplomatic source said Iran would now continue this work and he suggested around 5 kg would be converted per month.
The U.S.-based Arms Control Association said 35 kg of uranium oxide would be turned into fuel over s seven-month period. It said Iran had also made specific commitments limiting its development of advanced centrifuges to refine uranium.
In July, a U.S. official said that once the oxide had been turned into fuel plates, Iran would “find it quite difficult and time-consuming” to use it in any effort to develop a bomb.
In a letter seen by Reuters on Monday, Iran and the six powers asked the U.N. nuclear watchdog to continue checks that Tehran is honoring its undertakings, including “monitoring of fuel fabrication” for a Tehran research reactor.
The governing board of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency will hold an extraordinary meeting in Vienna on Dec. 11 to discuss its monitoring of the nuclear deal extension.
Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapons capability, saying its atomic energy program is meant to generate electricity.It turns out that CD you bought on Amazon may not be the real deal - even if your order has been "fulfilled by Amazon" or even featured in Amazon's "buy box".
The music industry claims pirated CDs are once again an increasing problem, with research carried out by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) revealing that around 22 per cent of CDs that the industry body ordered from Amazon were fake.
The RIAA ordered 194 CDs and found 44 to be counterfeit. 'Greatest hits' albums appeared to be a hot spot, with 28 of 36 of these releases turning out to be fake. There's no word on how the ordered CDs were chosen.
One major record company blamed fake CDs for a 17 per cent drop in sales on Amazon, despite CD sales across the rest of the market remaining flat.
While CDs may be seen as something of a relic for many music fans, CD sales still accounted for around 40 per cent of global music industry revenues last year. CD-buyers increasingly shop online, which is said to play into the hands of counterfeiters.
The Wall Street Journal reports that pirated CDs are increasingly difficult to tell apart from the real deal, and often cost almost as much as the genuine release, ensuring wary punters aren't put off by a "too good to be true" price.
The American Association of Independent Music claims the pirated albums can be available within weeks of a new release going on sale. The items are usually traced back to China, though sellers are able to mask their location to customers.
Amazon told the WSJ it had “zero tolerance for the sale of counterfeits" and it's "working closely with labels and distributors to identify offenders, and remove fraudulent items from our catalogue. We are also taking action and aggressively pursuing bad actors.”
Despite the recent vinyl resurgence, vinyl sales were still dwarfed by CD sales in 2015. But whether the CD you buy is genuine, and the money goes to the artists and labels, seems to be not quite so clear.
MORE: Vinyl record sales drop in 2016
MORE: Best CD players 2016This chart compares the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) projections for the end of year balance of Social Security accounts from 2008 and 2009. These balances are presented as a percentage of taxable payroll, a weighted average of taxable wages and taxable self-employment income which provides an estimate of the earnings subject to payroll taxation each year. For perspective, in 2010 taxable payroll is projected to be $5.6 trillion in real terms. Concretely, when the balance of these accounts becomes negative, Social Security is paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes in a given year. In 2008, the CBO projected that outlays would exceed revenues for the first time 2019 and in 2009 CBO projected that this threshold would be crossed in 2016. In fact, this year Social Security will pay out more in benefits than it collects.
While part of the acceleration in the onset of Social Security deficits is due to the impact of the recession on taxation, by all projections, the unsustainable deficits in Social Security will continue into the future.Pin Share 0 Shares
WSJ reported last week that Yahoo's latest move to increase its revenues was pissing off Flickr users:
More than 300 million publicly shared Flickr images use Creative Commons licenses, making it the largest content partner. Yahoo last week said it would begin selling prints of 50 million Creative Commons-licensed images as well as an unspecified number of other photos handpicked from Flickr. For the handpicked photos, the company will give 51% of sales to their creators. For the Creative Commons images, Yahoo will keep all of the revenue.
Just to be clear, Yahoo is only selling prints of works licensed under the CC clause which allows for commercial use, so they what they are doing is completely legal. But that doesn't mean it isn't ruffling feathers.
For some time now I've believed that the Creative Commons license needed more variations of the commercial use clause, and now it would appear that some creators feel the same way. The WSJ found several creators (six out of 14 contacted) who apparently wouldn't mind my using their images in a blog post, but are not happy that Yahoo is going to sell prints.
That includes Nelson Lourenço, a photographer based in Lisbon, who told the ESJ that "When I accepted the Creative Commons license, I understood that my images could be used for things like showing up in articles or other works where they could be showed to public". He's not so happy about Yahoo selling prints, adding that "selling my work and getting the full money out of it came as a surprise".
And he's not the only one who is viewing this move askance. Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield said that the move was "a little shortsighted". He added, "It’s hard to imagine the revenue from selling the prints will cover the cost of lost goodwill."
He's not wrong in calling this move shortsighted; by annoying users Yahoo is poisoning the well. At least some of those users will stop uploading photos which Yahoo can use, and even if they continue to use Flickr those users might simply switch to a non-commercial CC license. That would stick Flickr with all of the cost of hosting the images with no chance to generate revenue, something I would describe as the worst possible outcome (for Yahoo, at least).
I think this move was particularly boneheaded not just because of the loss of goodwill but also because I can see how it would not have been hard for Yahoo to turn this to their advantage. How?
By paying a royalty on each print sold. While Yahoo is going to pay a select group of photographers, most are going to be left out in the cold.
That royalty is not required under US law but it would still be a good idea. It would mollify most of Yahoo's critics, and what's more it could potentially have been used to turn all those creators into salespersons. They could direct requests for prints to Yahoo, generating more revenues all around.
It's a shame Yahoo didn't think of that before stepping in this mess.
This isn't the first time that Yahoo has tried to generate revenue from Flickr since acquiring it in 2005. The photo hosting service offers a Pro service level, and in researching this post I found hints that Flickr was somehow using the uploaded photos commercially as far back as 2007 (I can't find any specifics on that, though).
image by Dave Ward PhotographyIn the latest of a series of legal advances for LGBT equality, Judge Jeffery White, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act {DOMA) is unconstitutional, in violation of the equal protection clause. The ruling is available here
The case concerns Karen Golinski, a staff attorney at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, who was legally married to a woman under Proposition 8 in 2008. Her marriage was consecrated in the interregnum period between May and November of that year and is still legal in the state of California. However, as a federal employee, she is ineligible for partner benefits under DOMA because the federal government does not recognize her union as a lawful marriage. Golinski sued over the constitutionality of the law.
This was one of the first DOMA cases ruled upon since the Obama Administration refused to defend the law. Instead, House Speaker John Boehner inaugurated the “Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group” (which I don’t think is all that bipartisan, actually) and hired former Bush Solicitor General Paul Clement to argue the case. He failed pretty badly. As Think Progress pointed out, the judge ruled that the “heightened scrutiny” threshold for discrimination against LGBT individuals held across the board:
HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION: The first factor courts consider is whether the class has suffered a history of discrimination. There is no dispute in the record that lesbians and gay men have experienced a long history of discrimination. ABILITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY: Similarly, there is no dispute in the record or the law that sexual orientation has no relevance to a person’s ability to contribute to society. IMMUTABILITY: Regardless of the evidence that a tiny percentage of gay men or lesbians may experience some flexibility along the continuum of their sexuality or the scientific consensus that sexual orientation is unchangeable, the Court finds persuasive the holding in the Ninth Circuit that sexual orientation is recognized as a defining and immutable characteristic because it is so fundamental to one’s identity. POLITICAL POWERLESSNESS: The Court finds that the unequivocal evidence demonstrates that, although not completely politically powerless, the gay and lesbian community lacks meaningful political power… Although this factor is not an absolute prerequisite for heightened scrutiny, the Court finds the evidence and the law support the conclusion that gay men and lesbians remain a politically vulnerable minority.
This case actually has more potential to be a binding precedent on the country in terms of marriage equality than the Prop 8 case which the Ninth Circuit ruled upon, and which will now be taken up by an en banc panel. The Prop 8 case, in the Ninth Circuit ruling, was limited specifically to ballot initiatives with no other purpose than to harm gays and lesbians, specifically to take rights away from them that they have already gained. But this looks to be a much broader ruling, arguing that DOMA itself violates the Constitution. There’s a high likelihood that the Golinski case, perhaps combined with some other DOMA cases making their way through the courts, will reach the Supreme Court and serve as a precedent on marriage equality matters.Matt Ryan is set to reprise his role as John Constantine in Season 3 of CW’s “Legends of Tomorrow.”
In a recent interview with Rotten Tomatoes, executive producer Phil Klemmer revealed that fans will see Ryan’s Constantine do an exorcism in an episode of the new season.
When asked what fun eras the show will get to visit this season, Klemmer said: “We get Billy Zane and the circus [in the second episode]; we get a little Julius Caesar (Simon Merrells) on the beach in Aruba in the premiere. We meet [new team member] Zari (Tala Ashe) in this sort of dystopian future. We get to do a little Amblin alien episode back in the 80s; we do some Jack the Ripper Victorian London; Golden Age of Hollywood; John Constantine doing an exorcism. We do a ‘Freaky Friday’ episode. The only thing we haven’t been able to do: We really wanted to do an Abba ‘Waterloo’ in then Napoleonic wars but we could not get the rights for the song.”
News of Ryan’s guest appearance comes two months after Klemmer told IGN at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that they were actively campaigning for the Welsh actor to appear on the series as the new season delves deeper into dark magic. “This is a much more supernatural, spooky vibe this season,” Klemmer said. “We’re dealing more with magic. It’s less real-world bad guys.”
Ryan originally played the role of Constantine in his own NBC series, which was cancelled after just one season. The 36-year-old actor later reprised his role in Season 4, episode 5 of “Arrow,” and is now set to voice the character in his own DC TV animated series.
In an interview with Digital Spy last year, Ryan said that he’s very eager to bring back Constantine in live action to complement the upcoming animated spinoff. “I’d be up for playing him again if an opportunity came along,” Ryan said at the time. “I felt that when the show got cancelled, there was a little bit of unfinished business — that we were just getting started, and finding what the tone and the pace of the show was. … There’s all these rumors going around that he’ll turn up on some of the other DC shows — I don’t know. But John’s such a character, you could drop him into any of those universes and he’d hold his own.”
“Legends of Tomorrow” Season 3 premieres on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. EDT on The CW.UPDATED 2 P.M. SATURDAY
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Zack Bruell has thrown his restaurant group's hat into the ring. A Bruell seafood restaurant will join the growing group of dining and nightlife destinations opening in Cleveland's Flats East Bank entertainment venue this year.
"We'll be calling it 'Alley Cat,' if all the copyrights check out," Bruell says.
Bruell's eighth restaurant, all in the city of Cleveland, will be in a new structure positioned directly on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River. According to preliminary artist's renderings - supplied to NEOMG on Friday afternoon and subject to further revisions, according to Bruell and his business partners - the building's footprint will combine a one-story dining area with a rooftop patio, coupled with a two-story atrium-style area that includes bar seating and private dining areas.
For the project, Bruell is teaming with the Wolstein Group, a partnership of Iris Wolstein and her son, Scott Wolstein, in conjunction with Fairmount Properties. Construction is about to begin and is expected to be completed for a June or July, 2015 opening.
"Every place I've ever gone into has been an existing structure," Bruell says. "I've never actually been involved in building a building -- I've done interiors."
In addition to five ZB fine dining restaurants -- Parallax, Table 45, L'Albatros, Chinato and Cowell & Hubbard -- Bruell also operates Dynomite (a casual burger spot on Playhouse Square) and Kafeteria (in the 200 Public Square building, the former BP Building in downtown Cleveland.
"It's pretty exciting. Very few restaurateurs get the chance to actually be involved in the planning of the space they'll occupy. Fairmount Properties and the Wolsteins wants this building to be the jewel of the development."
In addition to an unobstructed view of the waterfront -- the new restaurant will be positioned directly across the river from Shooters Waterfront Cafe, on the west bank of the Cuyahoga -- Bruell's latest spot will enjoy a prime location and amenities. Its main entrance will spill out onto an expansive ground-level patio, adjacent to the massive and recently installed boardwalk that spans thousands of feet along the river. Boaters will be able to dock along the bank to join the activity.
"The property line goes right up to the boardwalk," Bruell says. The side of the building fronting the river, he adds, will be able to open up.
"So it will literally be an open-air restaurant: Open kitchen. Open dining room. Opens onto the water. We're looking at, basically, a glass box on the river -- with amazing views."
Although square footage has not yet been determined, the restaurateur says he and his business partners are aiming for seating between 150 and 170 guests, not including upstairs and private dining.
Menu plans are not finalized, either.
"Obviously it's going to be a ZB restaurant, but it's going to be casual," Bruell says. What I want is a shore restaurant, something you'd see on one of the coasts -- Maryland, or North Carolina or Massachusetts."
Which implies seafood. Fish and shellfish are anything but inexpensive ingredients on any menu, Bruell admits.
"An emphasis on seafood is a hard thing to do when you're talking about low check averages," he says. "It could end up being the kind of place [where] you order different oysters by the piece, plus peel-and-eat shrimp, steamed mussels, oysters, half-shell clams. Plus pasta dishes and salads. And you've got to have meat; you've got to have vegan.
"My goal is to do a place that that sort of hits everybody. You've got to provide and satisfy a mainstream experience -- both in terms of the menu and the prices on the menu. I'm aiming for a place you could go and actually hang out. This is not going to be an expense account restaurant."
Bruell joins other restaurateurs and bar operators in the next phase of construction. Cleveland chef Steve Schimoler (Crop Bistro and Bar in Ohio City and Crop Kitchen in University Circle's Uptown development) is opening a trio of food venues -- including Crop Sticks and Crop Rocks -- on the street level of a 240-plus unit residential structure just east of Bruell's intended site.
Other venues in the works include Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, a chain of eateries from the country music star; Big Bang, a dueling grand-piano bar featuring comedians and other entertainers; The Beer Market, a 500-brew pub based in Chicago; and several other destinations, some of them from Northeast Ohio hospitality operators.
"We've made great progress," says Adam Fishman, a principal in Fairmount Properties. His partnership's goal, Fishman says, "is to create a one-of-a-kind waterfront live-work-shop-play experience."
The partnership's first phase of development in Flats East Bank, which launched summer 2013, includes the Aloft Cleveland Downtown Hotel and a trio of restaurants: Lago, The Willeyville, and Ken Stewart's East Bank.
"We're just so excited to be working with a chef like Zack Bruell on a world-class and fun destination," Fishman says. "To do that from the perspective of a dining experience with the best local experts we have -- frankly, we consider Zack a culinary icon in Northeast Ohio -- that's even more cool."2014 KTM 1290 Super Duke R Editor Score: 94.0% Engine 20/20 Suspension/Handling 15/15 Transmission/Clutch 9.5/10 Brakes 9.75/10 Instruments/Controls 3.5/5 Ergonomics/Comfort 9.75/10 Appearance/Quality 9.5/10 Desirability 9/10 Value 8/10 Overall Score 94/100
Turn off the switchable ABS and Motorcycle Traction Control (MTC) and KTM’s new 1290 Super Duke R slips, slides, wheelies and stoppies just like in the promotional video released a few months ago (certain skillset required). Leave these two rider aids on, however, and the “Beast” (as KTM affectionately refers to it) is as genteel as a 1301cc V-Twin boasting 180 horsepower and 106 ft-lbs of torque can possibly be.
THE COMPETITION: 2014 Aprilia Tuono V4R ABS – First Impressions
KTM’s goal was, in fact, to bestow the 1290 Super Duke R with user-friendly ridability and versatility while also delivering more performance than any naked sportbike currently on the market. “A new level of smileage,” explains KTM’s Thomas Kuttruf.
To achieve this goal of grinning aggression KTM massaged its LC8 powerplant, festooned the Twin with their best electronic rider aids and mated the package to a chassis composed of a new trellis frame and single-sided swingarm, fully adjustable WP fork and shock, low-pressure-cast wheels and top-of-line Brembo M50 calipers.
The result? A new hooligan that leaves Triumph’s Speed Triple wishing it had another cylinder as the KTM steps into the ring as the number one contender to the Aprilia Tuono V4 R’s king hooligan crown.
TRIPLE THREAT: 2012 Triumph Speed Triple R Review
Engine & Engine Management
The twin-cylinder heart of the |
Perfect Money performs an identity check on each customer to try to identify the computer used to enter the account. It said the company collects information about each customer’s online activity and monitors transactions for signs of suspicious activity.
Perfect Money is not the only payment system that cyber criminals use, experts said. Stefan Savage, a computer science professor at the University of California, said he had observed several different currencies, including Bitcoin, being used by people selling stolen credit cards in Internet hacker forums.
“Perfect Money is certainly one that comes up a lot,” Savage said. “There are tons of these payment systems out there.”
Patrick Murck, general counsel for The Bitcoin Foundation, declined to comment. The Foundation is a non-profit group of software developers and entrepreneurs that helps promote the use of Bitcoin as a currency. Bitcoin exists through an open-source software program and is not managed by any one company. Its supply is controlled through a computer algorithm.
A Reuters review of postings on Internet message boards for digital currencies found hackers offering to sell stolen credit cards are open about accepting Perfect Money as payment.
“If it was expected at first that the Liberty Reserve takedown would have a long-lasting, substantial effect on the level of fraud, that’s not true,” Aharoni said.
Tyler Moore, an assistant professor at Southern Methodist University, said a 2011 study he conducted with two other academics found that Liberty Reserve and Perfect Money were two of the most widely accepted digital currencies for online Ponzi schemes. Of 1,000 websites that linked to Perfect Money, they found 70 percent that were Ponzi schemes.
“Perfect Money seems to be a very popular choice among this subculture,” Moore said.A fruitcake left underneath a Christmas tree in a Seattle ferry terminal temporarily halted service on Tuesday, police said.
The fruitcake was initially wrapped in a suspicious package that forced authorities to shut down and evacuate Seattle’s Colman Dock, according to the Washington State Patrol, KCPQ-TV reported.
“Troopers and State Ferry employees worked to evacuate the terminal out of an abundance of caution. All inbound ferries were held away from the terminal until the package could be deemed safe,” the State Patrol said in a news release.
The package was deemed suspicious because it was unmarked and was the only gift under the tree in the lobby of the terminal, officials said.
“There was no address label on the box itself which was concerning for responding emergency personnel,” police said.
The Seattle police bomb squad arrived and investigated the package, the station reported.
Officials said it’s unclear why the gift, found to be a fruitcake, was left at the terminal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney repeatedly invoked the Holocaust Tuesday as he sought to justify the Conservative government’s tough new anti-terror provisions to curb radical speech. “The Holocaust did not begin in the gas chamber; it began with words,” said Blaney as he and Justice Minister Peter MacKay claimed new bans on the “promotion of terrorism” are necessary to protect Canadians from a “jihadist threat.”
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, centre, promised CSIS would not use new powers to target lawful protest or artistic expression. ( Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
Blaney’s remarks came on the first day of hearings as a Commons committee began its detailed study of Bill C-51, the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act 2015. Several academic critics say the new ban on “promotion of terrorism” could chill legitimate dissent or speech, noting for example it could apply against an individual urging support for rebels fighting Russian-backed incursions in Crimea or eastern Ukraine. Blaney and MacKay scoffed at such notions and “so-called experts,” insisting the “real” threat is from “radical jihadists” and is evolving fast.
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Blaney said “jihadist terrorists” have “declared war” on Canada “simply because these terrorists hate our society and they hate our values.” MacKay said current hate laws are not sufficient to target the “corrosive” effect of jihadist propaganda and law enforcement agencies need power under C-51 to delete websites or remove printed material that encourages or incites others to terrorist acts. New Democrat MP Randall Garrison challenged Blaney for using “over-inflated rhetoric,” saying “there is no equivalence to anything we’re talking about here today to the Holocaust.” He urged Blaney to withdraw his remarks. But Blaney dug in, repeated his contention about the Holocaust, and said, “Hate begins with words.” However, Blaney appeared to ignore the fact that the key purveyor of anti-Semitism that preceded the genocide of more than six million Jews was the German state, the Third Reich, itself.
Blaney referred to the Rwandan genocide “that began on the radio and contributed to a horrible genocide.” In that case, the incitement to genocide of 800,000 of Rwanda’s Tutsi minority population was led by Hutu extremists within Rwanda’s government and political elite, not terrorist or insurgent groups.
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Blaney said it’s important to call things by their name: “If it’s a cat, it’s a cat,” he said in French. “Extremist speech, language that goes against Canadian values, hateful language has no place in Canada,” he said, adding police should be able to disable any Internet site hosted in Canada that sponsors or promotes “jihadism, and tells us to kill the infidels wherever they are in the world; I believe that goes against Canadian values.” Asked by reporters why he referred to the Holocaust, Blaney gave a rambling answer that ended with: “We have to take into account that now the terrorists are targeting everyone. And that’s why we need Bill C-51, to protect Canadians against this general threat by terrorists.” Asked if Canada’s Muslims should fear they’re being targeted by the bill, Blaney said “actually, this bill is targeted (sic) all terrorists, and all communities should be happy and welcome this bill because it will better protect the freedom and rights of every Canadian.” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said later that it is another example of the Conservative government “betting on the politics of fear.” The bill also contains sweeping new powers to expand the no-fly list, to allow CSIS to disrupt suspected terrorist activity, and new authority for 17 federal agencies and departments to share information on Canadians. It would ease the RCMP’s ability to get a court order to restrict the movements and behaviour of terror suspects by lowering the legal thresholds required for “peace bonds” and terror “recognizances.” The two ministers sought to clarify several provisions that have been the subject of widespread criticism, but repeatedly rejected calls for parliamentary or additional oversight. Blaney said a new broader definition of threats to national security (which includes interference with “the economic or financial stability of Canada” or with critical infrastructure) will apply only when it comes to information-sharing provisions. Blaney said it would not be used when it comes to CSIS’s exercise of its new powers to disrupt activities of suspected threats to national security. The spy agency would use its new powers against threats to national security as they have been defined in the CSIS Act for the past 30 years, he said. Blaney and MacKay said neither the disruption powers nor information-sharing provisions would be used against “lawful” protest, advocacy or artistic expression. MacKay said the bill “does not include lawful or unlawful protest, dissent or stoppage of work unless there is intention to cause death or serious bodily harm, endanger someone's life, or cause risk to the safety of the public.” RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson “clarified” for the committee his statement Friday that Parliament Hill gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau could have been charged under current anti-terrorism laws. Paulson said Tuesday he was referring only to the events of that day. That is, had Zehaf-Bibeau not been shot and killed he would have been charged with terror offences under existing law. But Paulson did not want that interpreted, as it was by the NDP and others, as a suggestion that the new bill was not needed. He said he welcomed C-51’s information-sharing provisions and easier access to peace bonds."Time is up, I need a job"
This is the stark reality that many entrepreneurs often face.
This is the reality that I face today.
It's not that earth-shattering of a confession really. After all, depending on which statics you read, somewhere between 70 - 90% of entrepreneurs fail.
But, what if you're not failing? What if you're just not succeeding enough to keep going?
That's the position that I'm in, and one that many entrepreneurs find themselves in.
What you're building isn't yet fundable, or hasn't driven enough sales. You've maxed out your credit cards and you've drained your savings.
You have responsibilities, which in my case means a family to support, a home to maintain and a future to consider.
It's a hard reality to face and one every entrepreneur hopes to never encounter.
Regardless, here I am. And, like any entrepreneur in my position, you do what you have to do to survive and be able to fight another day.
But, what exactly does that mean?
It's a question I'm now facing and exploring.
If you're a programmer or designer, it's easy enough to pick up a few side projects which can be very lucrative. In fact, many find the variety of this path interesting enough to make it their full-time focus.
What about non-technical entrepreneurs? The ones that tend to get the assumptive title of "jack of all trades, master of nothing."
While that title can sometimes be true, often times non-technical entrepreneurs have a specific area of expertise which is just as marketable and desirable as a designer or developer. In my case, that's marketing and growth.
So, what are the options:
Get a full-time job
It may seem like the obvious choice, but, for a couple of reasons, many entrepreneurs are hesitant to take this big of a leap. First, it feels permanent, as in they feel it will be the end of the entrepreneurial journey. And second, if there is any interest in continuing your current business, it will be drastically more difficult.
On the plus side, taking a break from your ventures and offering your specific skill without the additional distractions, can be both refreshing and extremely beneficial for both you and your employer.
Entrepreneurial-minded employees are often-times some of the most ambitious people on a team. You just need to allow yourself to be dedicated.
Consult or pick up contract work
There will always be companies that are looking for a fling. A short-term arrangement between you and a company without the commitment of a fully-committed marriage.
Depending on your specific expertise, these arrangements can either be project specific or time-based.
In my case, I've been brought into companies to help them build a marketing team as a consultant. But, I've also been contracted by companies to help with tactical implementation to generate press, build communities and drive new customers.
Figure out a way to package your expertise and start making it available.
Find flexible sources of income
The on-demand economy we find ourselves in is ripe with opportunities for people who need to pick up extra income, while continuing to pursue their passion.
Uber, Instacart, Lyft, TaskRabbit... there are a ton of companies popping up that are offering flexible and independent employment.
On a recent trip to Atlanta, I took an early morning Uber ride to the airport. In speaking with my driver, he mentioned that he was a morning person (which I had already gathered on my own) and decided to be an Uber driver because his clients were never up as early as him.
He was a full-time real estate agent and found Uber to be, not only a way to make extra money, but also a great way to network with potential clients.
His last five real estate clients started out as passengers in his car.
Personally, I've followed more traditional sources, such as writing and speaking, which are also options to drive additional income.
Become an Entrepreneur-in-Residence
If you're not familiar with the role, an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) is someone that is temporally hired by a venture capital firm to simultaneously help provide guidance and expertise to investments while also continuing to work on their business.
Often times, the VC firm will have the first rights to invest in the company that the EIR is building.
This can be an ideal situation for an entrepreneur, but the opportunities are not easy to come by.
Usually speaking, the VC firm will bring on someone they've had prior experience with or come with a strong recommendation.
Utilize your network
If you find yourself in a similar position to mine, one of the best things you can do is to call on your network. While it might feel embarrassing (it does for me), there is no shame in asking for help.
EVERY entrepreneur goes through highs and lows.
You never know what will come from asking until you... ask.
---
These are the options I face today as an entrepreneur, as I suspect many others face as well.
To be honest, I'm not sure where I'll end up, which is both frightening and exciting at the same time.
If you're in a similar boat and want to chat, have ideas to share or want a marketing guy (option 6), feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or contact me here.
What to read next:
Dana Severson is the co-founder of StartupsAnonymous.com and founder of StickinaBox.co, a gourmet beef jerky subscription box. He is an AngelPad alum, a weekly contributor to Inc.com and PandoDaily.com, and the former CEO of Wahooly. You can find him on twitter @danerobert.Is Steins Gate coming to consoles? UPDATED WITH MORE EVIDENCE!
Okay, so maybe – just maybe I’m going out on a limb here – but hear me out a sec. I think PQube are going to publish Steins Gate on console in Europe – and this is why. So a couple of months back, I noticed on their twitter feed that they were talking about ‘Chicken Tenders’. Not exactly news worthy no – or rather, that’s what I’d have thought, if I hadn’t at that time, been re-watching the the anime.
Anyway, I didn’t really give it a second thought until this morning when I saw their latest tweet and then decided to back through their log. Turns out Chicken Tenders aren’t the only Steins;Gate references they’ve been throwing out there for the past two months. In fact, in between their bike-sim releases, the PQube channel has been randomly tweeting nothing other than Steins;Gate references for ages now, starting with;
*the feels*
So obvious.
Paranoid much.
This one is VERY obvious.
The favourite drink of Future Gadget Lab Member 001
The guy who runs the TV store downstairs has this on his Tee.
Again, a couple of obvious ones here… and then the rest of them. Some subtle, others not so.
Steins;Gate is second only to Evangelion for Cicadas 😉
That last one I can’t check as I don’t have the anime on my phone anymore. Anyone care to look – I’m guessing it’s significant? The first one directly references a quote from the Visual Novel as you can see here;
Lastly, looking at the PQube facebook page – there are a couple of references on there to Steins Gate as well;
This, of course, in reference to the IBN 5100 so central to the plot of Steins;Gate.
And again, another reference to the TV store below the Future Gadget Lab apartment.
yeah, because – LAB COATS.
Oh yeah, and one more thing – I did a little more searching around and I found that there’s an ‘Official’ Steins;Gate Community’ just started on Facebook – it’s only been active as of October – which is roughly when all the tweets started happening. And the last two posts on the page in particular are kind of telling.
Er… okay, maybe this one…
All in all I think that’s pretty compelling evidence that there’s something going on. Question is – will this just be a release of the PC version already released in the States, or will it be a PS3/PS Vita/360 console release? Or even next (current?)-gen? Given PQube aren’t known for their PC releases, and already have previous on Japanese releases like BlazBlue and European distribution on games like Senran Kagura and Arcana Heart, then I’d put money on it being for console.
If true, this is amazing news. Steins;Gate is a Visual Novel so high in quality – it’s a crime that it’s not more widely known. I have contacted PQube for direct comment on this – I will update on the Rice main page when I hear back from them.
UPDATE
So, since I last posted, there have been some updates to the whole Steins;Gate ‘thing’. Firstly the Official Facebook page has linked back to this article saying;
Also, the page has now updated it’s images so that it’s only showing images from the Visual Novel – and none from the anime…
This morning they also posted this to Twitter – which surely must be suggesting a format other than PC – so consoles/handheld/iOS/mobile basically.
Lastly, I contacted PQube to ask if they could give any clarification to all of the above and they sent me this picture;
I’ll leave you to draw any conclusions on this one yourself…Pay TV is hurting, and even skeptics now admit cord cutting could be at fault
Pay TV had a really bad first quarter this year, with cable companies losing an estimated 263,735 subscribers from New Year’s Day to the end of March, according to the Leichtman Research Group. Satellite TV providers and phone companies with a TV business gained some subscribers during the same time period, but fewer than in previous first quarters, and one of the culprits seems to be cord cutting.
A bad first quarter is notable for the industry because that’s when it is usually the strongest. The industry added an estimated 445,000 subscribers in Q1 of 2012, and 470,000 in Q1 of 2011. But even with additions from satellite and phone companies, this year’s first quarter was only up around 194,000 – not enough to make up for previous-quarter losses.
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From April 2012 to March 2013, the industry lost a total of 80,000 subscribers, according to Leichtman Research. That’s the first time the research company has ever seen subscriber losses over a 12-month-period, leading president Bruce Leichtman to this assessment:
“First-time ever annual industry-wide losses reflect a combination of a saturated market, an increased focus from providers on acquiring higher-value subscribers, and some consumers opting for a lower-cost mixture of over-the-air TV, Netflix (s NFLX) and other over-the-top viewing options.”
That’s quite a statement, especially considering that Leichtman has been an outspoken skeptic of the cord cutting phenomenon. In a 2010 New York Times story, he famously called cord cutters “really just a bizarre breed of people, usually in New York or San Francisco, who don’t watch a lot of television in the first place.”
Three years later, he rightfully cautioned that the numbers don’t necessarily point to a “more dramatic near-term market decline,” even though we can expect further losses in Q2. But there’s reason to be nervous, and a closer look at Leichtman’s numbers shows why:
Cable has been bleeding for years, and it’s no surprise to see this continue – even though many had expected a stronger showing for Comcast (s CMCSK) and Co. But really concerning is the slowing growth in the satellite TV segment, which is where price-conscious consumers have been fleeing to in previous years.
DirecTV (s DTV) added 184,000 subscribers in Q1 of 2011, and 81,000 in Q1 of 2012. This year, it only gained 21,000 new subscribers in the same time frame. Things didn’t look better for DISH, (s DISH) which dropped from 104,000 subscribers in Q1 of 2012 to 36,000 in Q1 of 2013.
That’s a sign that people aren’t just looking for a cheaper pay TV option anymore, but actually want to get rid of the traditional pay TV bundle altogether.
Image courtesy of Flickr user Jason Rosenberg.MITT ROMNEY, AMERICA’S Republican presidential candidate, caused a kerfuffle earlier this year when he dismissed concerns about inequality as the result of “class warfare” that had no place in America’s public discourse. Rather than an “envy-oriented” debate about distribution, he argued in favour of creating a “merit-based” America, with policies that focus on economic growth.
Mr Romney’s nonchalance about income gaps is controversial, even in America. But he is not alone in assuming that distribution and dynamism do not go together. The predominant view among economists has long been that there is a trade-off between prosperity and income equality.
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A century ago inequality was deemed an essential condition for investment and growth because rich people save more. Keynes wrote in 1919 that it was “precisely the inequality of the distribution of wealth which made possible those vast accumulations of fixed wealth and of capital improvements which distinguished [the Gilded Age] from all others”. More recently the focus has been on its incentive effect. Milton Friedman argued that greater inequality would spur people to work harder and boost productivity. Gary Becker, of the University of Chicago, thinks that inequality encourages people to invest in their education. Redistribution, in contrast, brings inefficiencies as higher taxes and government handouts deter hard work. The bigger the state, the greater the distortion of private incentives.
That logic remains as powerful as ever. Economic freedom and better incentives boosted growth in China, India and elsewhere. Sweden’s experience shows that deregulation, lower taxes and fewer benefits increase economic dynamism even as they reduce equality. Yet the analysis in this special report suggests that logic is incomplete. Some of today’s inequality may be inefficient rather than growth-promoting, for several reasons.
First, in countries with the biggest income gaps, increasing inequality is partly a function of rigidities and rent-seeking—be it labour laws in India, the hukou system and state monopolies in China or too-big-to-fail finance in America. Such distortions reduce economies’ efficiency. Second, rising inequality has not, by and large, been accompanied by a smaller (and hence less distortive) state. In many rich countries government spending has risen since the 1970s. The composition has changed, with more money spent on the health care of older, richer folk, and relatively less invested in poorer kids. Modern transfers are both less progressive and less growth-promoting.
Third, recent experience from China to America suggests that high and growing levels of income inequality can translate into growing inequality of opportunity for the next generation and hence declining social mobility. That link seems strongest in countries with low levels of public services and decentralised funding of education. Bigger gaps in opportunity, in turn, mean fewer people with skills and hence slower growth in the future.
It is not easy to distinguish between efficient and inefficient types of inequality. The development of big cross-country statistical databases in the 1990s allowed economists to compare Gini coefficients and GDP growth in lots of countries over many years, but the results were mixed. Some studies found that wide income gaps were associated with slower growth. Others found the opposite. In a 2003 paper entitled “Inequality and Growth: What Can the Data Say?”, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of MIT concluded that the answer was “not very much”.
More recent studies, however, support the idea that inequality can be inefficient. In an influential analysis in 2011 two IMF economists, Andrew Berg and Jonathan Ostry, looked at the length of “growth spells” rather than simply comparing growth rates. They found that growth was more persistent in more equal countries, and that income distribution mattered more for the length of growth spells than either the degree of trade liberalisation or the quality of a country’s political institutions.
Other researchers have tried to isolate the “unhealthy” types of inequality using the two indices of inequality of opportunity first developed by the World Bank and described earlier in this special report. Two Spanish economists, Gustavo Marrer0 and Juan Gabriel Rodríguez, built an index of economic opportunity for individual American states. They found that states’ GDP growth was inversely correlated with their inequality of opportunity, but not with overall inequality. In a forthcoming World Bank working paper, Ezequiel Molina, Jaime Saavedra and Ambar Narayan find that countries with lower educational equality, as measured by the Human Opportunity Index, grow more slowly.
This line of research is in its early stages, but a second strand of evidence, which examines the link between inequality and social mobility, is more developed. There are now plenty of studies which use the inter-generational elasticity of income to measure social mobility in different countries. Miles Corak, a Canadian economist, first plotted the results of these studies on a single graph. It is known as the “Great Gatsby Curve” (see chart 4), and suggests that countries with higher Gini coefficients tend to have lower inter-generational social mobility.
Perpetuating advantage
In some ways the link between wider income gaps and lower social mobility is unsurprising. From violin lessons to tutors for tests, richer parents can invest more in their children, improving their chances of getting into the best universities. The meritocratic assumption is that public provision of basic services, particularly education, does enough to counter this advantage to give everyone a reasonable start. That was never true in poor countries with rudimentary social services. Increasingly, it does not seem to be true in rich ones either, particularly America. But the link between inequality and declining mobility is not inevitable. Countries such as Sweden that invest heavily and progressively in public services are more likely to prevent widening income inequality from reducing opportunity. And Latin America shows that investing more in education at the bottom can improve social mobility even in the most stratified places.
Lower growth rates may not be the only symptom of economic damage from inequality. Another could be macroeconomic instability. In an influential recent book, “Fault Lines”, Raghuram Rajan pointed to inequality as the underlying cause of America’s 2008 crash. As less-educated Americans saw their incomes fall, he suggested, politicians encouraged reckless mortgage lending so that poorer folk could keep up their living standards by borrowing. This argument echoed John Kenneth Galbraith, who wrote in the 1950s that “bad distribution of income” was the main cause of the Depression.
The thesis seems plausible. There is evidence that widening income gaps in America pushed less affluent people to stretch their finances, particularly to buy pricier houses. Robert Frank, an economist at Cornell University, has documented “expenditure cascades” where rich people’s spending patterns affect those of the near-rich. (One reason is that the less affluent want their children to go to the best schools, and house prices often reflect the quality of the local school.) Other scholars have spotted a link between inequality and financial distress. David Moss at Harvard Business School, for instance, found that the rate of American bank failures was highly correlated with the level of inequality.
But the link is not ubiquitous. In Germany and, especially, in China, higher inequality has encouraged saving rather than spending. Nor are financial crises always preceded by widening income gaps. Michael Bordo of Rutgers University and Christopher Meissner of the University of California, Davis, looked at 14 financial busts in rich countries between 1920 and 2008 and found that these crises were typically preceded by credit booms, but only occasionally by rising inequality. In the most comprehensive analysis Anthony Atkinson and Salvatore Morelli of Oxford University looked at financial crises in 25 countries over the past 100 years and concluded that there was no systematic relationship between inequality and macroeconomic disaster.
Since both the levels and the origins of inequality vary widely, it is hardly surprising that there is no established relationship between income gaps and financial crises. That does not mean inequality never aggravates macroeconomic instability, but unfortunately critics of inequality often exaggerate their claims. A case in point is “The Spirit Level”, a book by two British epidemiologists, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, published in 2009. They claimed that higher levels of inequality were associated with higher murder rates, lower life expectancy, more obesity and all manner of other ills. Their explanation was a medical one. Inequality literally gets “under your skin” because the stress of keeping up with the Joneses raises cortisol levels.
“The Spirit Level” caused a sensation when it was first published in Britain, probably because it reflected the post-crash Zeitgeist. Its conclusions, however, have been largely debunked. In a devastating critique, published by the Democracy Institute, Christopher Snowdon showed that Mr Wilkinson and Ms Pickett made highly selective use of statistics. Other, more careful studies show that although there is a strong relationship between individual income and health (richer people tend to be healthier and live longer than poorer ones), the link between countries’ income gaps and their citizens’ health is weak.
Exaggerated claims of the damage from inequality have themselves done damage by reinforcing caricatures in an already highly charged debate. Quite legitimately, different people have different notions of what is fair, and what is the right balance between fairness and efficiency. But whatever their views, there is a reform agenda which both sides should embrace, one that both boosts efficiency and mitigates inequality.A. No consensus. There are comics fans who want the comics followed to the letter and others that want to see things played around with, as they’ve already read the story. Initially, I was pretty adamant about following the comics religiously — Robert Kirkman was actually more about mixing it up in the beginning. Over the years, I’ve moved more towards following the emotional intent of the comic in places, to generate the feeling I had reading the stories, knowing we’d remix aspects to get there. And with the butterfly effect of characters in the comic who are alive being dead on the show and vice versa, along with characters who didn’t exist in the comic at all, along with our timeline and the medium of TV itself, changes simply have to happen. But it’s very cool to employ those changes to get to those unbelievably great moments from the comic that you want to do as faithfully as possible. Further, the story of the comic focuses a bit more on Rick and Carl. “The Walking Dead” TV show is a bit more of an ensemble story, and thus a lot of the characters’ stories from the comics are expanded upon in the show, but often do lead to big moments from the comic for those characters.
Q. From a narrative standpoint, what is the value of withholding the source of the plague?
A. This is definitely something I’ve followed Robert’s lead on, and I really have come to value it a great deal. This story isn’t about that. Hamlet is handling the plague stuff. We’re telling an epic tale with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Image Scott M. Gimple Credit Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Q. What are the advantages of keeping the setting “rural” (cost not withstanding) as opposed to the urban locations many of the zombie efforts seem to favor? — M. Daigle, Istanbul
A. If you’re asking what the “pros” are, they’d be not having to deal with as many cars, crowds and non-apocalyptic looking cityscapes. I also think there’s a lushness to the show amidst such scenes of death and decay, that there’s a very cool paradox going on under the surface of a great many scenes. Sometimes it feels the walker apocalypse is the revenge of planet Earth.
Q. How many zombie heads can get smashed in without it becoming tedious? Where do you go from here without endlessly repeating what has already been done? — Jim Emerson, Seattle
A. I think if it were about the head smashing, we’d be in trouble. Heads do get smashed along the way. Not all the time. Every so often. I do know that “Head Smashers” on HGTV is in its 32nd season and that just mystifies me. I have no idea how they keep doing it. With us, we are trying to tell stories about characters who are evolving, who are changing, who are changing each other. People do go through a lot of the same human experience, but how does that person go through it. How does that particular person affect another particular person? And if you’re talking about mixing up walker gags, we push ourselves and each other hard — and we have this very smart director/executive producer/makeup effects genius named Greg Nicotero, to boot — to do new and better things in terms of action and walkery.Chinese Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, a prominent dissident since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, has died from multiple organ failure, having not been allowed to leave the country for treatment for late-stage liver cancer.
Already seriously ill, Liu was moved last month from prison to a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang to be treated.
The Shenyang Bureau of Justice said in a brief statement on Thursday that efforts to save Liu failed.
Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power" after he helped write a petition known as Charter 08, calling for sweeping political reforms.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has died aged 61. He asked the Chinese govt to implement democratic reforms even as he was dying. pic.twitter.com/PWcYX6qf8E — AJ+ (@ajplus) July 13, 2017
He came to prominence following the 1989 pro-democracy protests centred in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, which he called the "major turning point" in his life.
He was awarded the Nobel prize in 2010 and was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony in Oslo.
The leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee which, to Beijing's ire, awarded Liu the peace prize, said the Chinese government bore a heavy responsibility for his death.
"We find it deeply disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally ill," said Berit Reiss-Andersen.
"The Chinese Government bears a heavy responsibility for his premature death," she said in an emailed statement.
The ruling Communist Party considered Liu's writings subversive and imprisoned him four times.
China said at the time that Liu's award was an "obscenity" that should not have gone to a man it called a criminal and a subversive.
Earlier on Thursday, China resisted fresh international pleas to let Liu seek treatment abroad after the latest hospital updates suggested the democracy champion was close to death.Ramsinh and Kanu with their newborn daughter. (Source: Express photo)
A tribal couple from the Jharibhujhi village in Dahod district’s Garbhada taluka fervently hoped for their sixteenth born to be a son.
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But with another girl, the family’s fifteenth daughter, the father has refused to give up his quest for a second son. A boy was born to the couple in 2013.
While Ramsinh — a marginalised farmer — is firm on giving it another try, his wife Kanu Sangod (33) wants him to let her to undergo hysterectomy.
READ: In quest for boys, this couple in Gujarat has 14 daughters
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“I told my husband that we must consider it the God’s will to give us one son. We must now put an end to this quest for another son. I wish to undergo hysterectomy as I know my body is weak and I cannot afford to have another pregnancy,” Kanu said.
But Ramsinh insists that after the birth of another girl it is even more important to give it “one last try”.
[related-post]
“In our community, a woman’s brother must provide for wedding gifts, maternity gifts and other customary expenses of his sister’s children and families. My son is the youngest among all the sisters, except the new born daughter. It will be impossible for him to perform these important customs for all my daughters. This is the reason I want a second son, who would share half his burden. If God has given us another daughter, he may bless us with a son the next time,” he said.
Ramsinh and Kanu have been married for 18 years. On July 3, The Indian Express had reported the couple’s bizarre quest for a second son, despite having 12 surviving daughters then and an 18-month-old son.
Their eldest daughters – Sevanta (17) and Neeru (15) – were married in March. Then there’s Saranga (14), Hansa (13), Joshna (12), Ranjan (10), Meena (9), Payal (8), Moni (7), Hasina (5), Kinjal (4) Baigan (3) and Vijay (18 months). Among them Payal, Moni, Hasina and Kinjal attend a government primary school.
The couple claimed that their two daughters, Kali and Ovanti, had died nearly 7 years ago due to an “unknown illness”.
Their youngest daughter was born on August 2 at the local referral hospital in Garbhada.
“I am yet to think of a name for her. I first want my husband to take a decision about our future. It will be great if he allows me to undergo hysterectomy. We don’t have much to sustain ourselves and my body is not prepared for another pregnancy through near starvation. But I understand his reasons. It is indeed difficult for one son to meet all the expectations of the sisters. But my heart and body are not in sync right now,” the 33-year-old mother said.
In July, Kanu had told The Indian Express that she had agreed to Ramsinh’s idea of going in for multiple pregnancies for a son due to the fear of being deserted.
“When I could not bear a son for the first seven pregnancies, my husband told me he would bring another woman home and marry her for a son. I am an orphan and I did not want to be deserted. So, I agreed when he said we must try for a son, no matter what?” Kanu had said.
As per the 2011 census, Dahod has a child sex ratio of 948 girls per 1000 boys; in 2001, it was 967 per 1000.
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And in Garbhada taluka’s Jharibhujhi, home to around 100 homes, many families have up to nine children. But Ramsinh and Kanu stand apart in their bizarre quest for sons.ZealousD Profile Joined July 2010 United States 13 Posts #1
Well, for some time I had been grappling with WHERE to put static defenses near mineral lines. Should I put them behind the minerals? Near the gas? But I had assumed that putting them INSIDE the mineral line, where the workers would have to walk around them, would be a bad idea. Afterall, workers would just have to make longer |
Lyft for speaking out against an onerous regulatory regime imposed by the Democrat-run Austin, Texas city council. The regulations drove the ridesharing platforms out of town and put over 10,000 drivers out of work. After winning a key vote, Democrats on the council raged at a beer garden to celebrate their “victory” over “special interests.”
Oh, and they cheered from a podium adorned with the local Democratic party logo.
Between Clinton, Warren, Sanders, Feinstein, and several others, Democrats have made it abundantly clear what they’d do if given all levers of power. Nice sharing economy you got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.
Swing state millennials overwhelmingly support the sharing economy and want a president who embraces innovation
A July survey conducted by David Binder Research – wisely released in Philadelphia during the Democratic National Convention -- shows swing state millennials hold highly favorable views of the sharing economy. Eighty-one percent of swing state millennials support Airbnb operating in their local area and 74 percent agree Airbnb “helps middle class families afford their homes.”
The survey showed 81 percent of swing state millennials say Airbnb “provides a chance to meet and get to know people from other places.” This is more evidence of the personal appeal of the sharing economy, with millennials known for placing a high value on new experiences.
Respondents were asked, “How important is it to you that the candidate you support for President embraces innovation?” Eighty-three percent of swing state millennial likely voters consider it very important or somewhat important.
The sharing economy has already had an effect on both party platforms
The pro-innovation question is also playing out in the national party platforms. True, no undecided voter is going to reach for their dog-eared copy of a party platform for inspiration during the heat of an election season. But there are developments in both platforms worth noting.
The 2016 Republican Party document is the first major party platform to mention the sharing economy by name and the first to call for reform of occupational licensing laws. It brims with praise for independent contractors and entrepreneurs, and implores the regulatory state to keep pace with the times. Government should be “a partner with individuals and industries in technological progress, not a meddlesome monitor.”
The Democratic Party platform does not mention the sharing economy or occupational licensing. But it killed off a blunt sentence from the 2008 and 2012 platforms that specifically threatened the status of independent contractors. The sentence was almost verbatim the Hillary Clinton “crack down” threat issued at the beginning of her current campaign.
But somebody – perhaps a former Obama administration official now working for a major sharing economy company – was paying attention and realized it wouldn’t look good for the Democratic Party to overtly attack independent contractors in its guiding document. Especially considering the blowback Clinton received after her infamous “crack down” speech.
Were the organized labor and trial lawyer factions of the platform committee asleep at the wheel? Or did they agree to keep quiet knowing their allied elected officials are not taking their cues from the platform, as evidenced by the aggressive anti-sharing economy actions of Clinton, Warren, Feinstein and Sanders.
Clinton’s independent contractor hypocrisy will be ripe for exposure
Americans see the increase in self-employment and the rise of the sharing economy as a positive thing. An Allstate/Atlantic Media Heartland Monitor poll on 11 mega-trends released in July showed that the trend of “More Americans are self-employed and working through the sharing economy” had the second highest positivity rating.
Clinton also sees it as a positive, for her own household anyway.
As the Manhattan Institute’s Jared Meyer points out:
But when it comes to her personal life, Hillary Clinton does not detest the gig economy—she loves it. The Clintons’ tax returns show that Hillary and her husband Bill are practically gig economy royalty. After leaving the White House, the Clintons earned just one percent of their labor income from employer paychecks. The rest ($198 million) came from a variety of independent contractor gigs. Since 2000, the Clintons earned about $200 million from working (as opposed to real estate or other investments). Of that $200 million, $176 million of it (88 percent) came from work that is part of the gig economy, such as giving speeches and private consulting. If one includes income from other non-employee work (such as book promotions and sales) this number shoots up to $198 million, or 99 percent.
Clinton appreciates the flexibility of her own independent contractor status and isn’t about to “crack down” on herself. As highlighted by Meyer:
Mrs. Clinton displayed this individualized work decision while defending her high speaking fees: “I thought making speeches for money was a much better thing than getting connected with any one group or company as so many people who leave public life do,” Clinton said. By connecting with a business platform, and not being subject to a direct employer, the sharing economy allows workers increased flexibility and control, benefits that many people value greater than the security of traditional workplaces. This applies both to millennials and to older generations, such as Clinton and her fellow Baby Boomers.
Ouch.
Lower and middle income Americans benefit most
Conversations with drivers, hosts, and taskers quickly reveal how important the sharing economy is to their livelihoods. And the data backs it up.
In an October 2015 paper, scholars Arun Sundararajan and Samuel P. Fraiberger write:
Perhaps the most important takeaway from our findings, one we fully expect to persist with extensions and alternative calibrations, is that peer-to-peer rental marketplaces have a disproportionately positive effect on lower-income consumers across almost every measure.
In a February 2016 report titled Paychecks, Paydays, and the Online Platform Economy: Big Data on Income Volatility the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Institute writes:
Simply put, landing a platform job is easier and quicker. Individuals can, and do, generate additional income on labor platforms in a timely fashion when they experience a dip in regular earnings. This is a potentially far better option to mitigate or weather volatility, if the alternatives are to constrain spending or take on additional credit. Moreover, this option meets a target need. Participation in labor platforms is highest precisely among those who experience the highest levels of income volatility—the young, the poor, and individuals living in the West.
The salience of the sharing economy in voters’ personal lives, the regulatory overreach of top Democrats, and Clinton’s threat to independent contractors gives Republican nominee Donald Trump an opening. He already cites the frustrations of voters who tell him how excessive regulations keep them out of work. In a tight race, sharing economy voters could tip a swing state, and the presidency, to Trump.Reduced weight.
Upside-down mounted blades.
A a sneakily set handle.
Early attempts in gaining an unfair advantage with épées de combat.
—by J. Christoph Amberger
Among the weapons that adorn every nook and cranny of the Amberger Collection’s lavish exhibition halls, there are about 40 19th-century dueling and early competition épées. Most are of French manufacture, and all feature the characteristic hollow-ground triangular blade. Some of the weapons have been sharpened to points of various acuteness. Most are “blanks” with rebated (i.e., flattened) points that are not unlike the heads of common nails—equally suitable for being wrapped with string and leather for practice or for the application of a metal file prior to a duel. Later versions have points d’arrets or early attempts at spring-loaded tips.
The overall shape of these blades is familiar to every modern fencer: Modern variations, with screwed-on spring-loaded tip and a groove cut to accommodate the wire, still can be found in every modern fencing and competition épée.
While international standardization of weapon configuration has made modern weapons almost indistinguishable to the untrained eye, the hilts of early épées reflect the full palette of styles available for foils in the first and second thirds of the 19th century. (It’s not until the 1870’s that the familiar steel bell guard begins to dominate.)
There are bell guards of varying depth and diameter, flat circular plates, shallow discs with the concave side both mounting toward and away from the fencer, and elaborately adorned lobes and shells made of both brass and steel. (We‘ve covered some patterns here!)
But regardless of the varieties of guards, most weapons follow the standard pattern of mounting the blade, with the broadside up and the spine pointing down: When looking down at his blade, the fencer sees the broad base of the triangle near the guard. In the modern blades, it’s where the wire enters the hilt. In the older blades, it’s traditional real estate for the maker’s or fournisseur‘s mark.
The Upside Down Group
There is, however, a sub-group of mid-19th-ct. dueling weapons that, literally, turns this standard assembly in its head: Here, the blades are mounted with the narrow spine pointing up: The base of the triangle faces down, the apex up.
Above: Two matched pairs of 19th-ct French dueling épées, with the blades mounted upside down. (Type A 1 &2 on the left, Type B 1 & 2 on the right).
When I contacted several of my fellow collectors in Germany and Britain, asking if they knew any written sources in which this orientation of the blade would have been mentioned in the literature, the response was almost identical: While my colleagues had a few weapons with the same blade mounting in their collections, they had ascribed this to an assembly error.
However, two matched pairs of weapons in my collections indicated that error may have been unlikely: Both pairs are high-quality, top of the line weapons. The blades exhibit the characteristic bend of fencing (or dueling) blades familiar to modern fencers: The curve downward from the hilt to the point to allow the blade to bend in one direction only during a hit.
Only that here, the blades are bending that way with the spine on top and the flat down.
Type A, 1 & 2: Note the slight downward curve in the handle!
The hilts, too, support thought and intent behind this pattern. The weapons I am calling Type A for the sake of this article, have perfectly sculpted, slightly downward bending handles. A wide central groove in the center makes them extremely comfortable to hold—but only when the blade is held so its spine is pointing upward.
(Type A has another rare—albeit not altogether unheard-of—characteristic: The iron guard is mounted with the concave side toward the opponent, not toward the fencer.)
Type B, 1 & 2: Bronzed steel bell guards with upside-down blades.
If the Type A weapons indicate intent in the unconventional assembly of blade and hilt, the Type B weapons remove any doubt that this was not only intentional and deliberate, but done with additional thought into giving an unfair advantage to one of the fencers:
While blades of equal length for purposes of dueling and fencing are mentioned in Shakespeare, the commonly carried sidearm of the 15th-through 18th centuries was a personal affair, reflecting considerations of more or less ostentatious wealth and fashion, status, and personal preference. Dueling weapons, however, had to be identical—or at least as close to identical as possible.
***
“If you can’t laugh with them, laugh at them!”
***
Lacking binding standards, this meant that weapons intended for dueling had to be made and sold in pairs. (Indeed, even today, the fact that two identical historical épées or smallswords are still together and sold in a pair allows for the inference that dueling was at least a realistic ultimate use for them… even if the blade blanks never were honed down to the prerequisite points).
Type B: Some of the best thought-out handles I’ve seen!
Both Type A and Type B meet these criteria. In fact, except for a 50g difference in weight (possibly due to a slightly thicker or wider tang), Weapons 1 and 2 of Type A are virtually identical.
But take a gander at the numbers:
The Unfair Advantage
It is the subtle differences in Weapons 1 and 2 of Type B (see above table) that allows the inference that error or shoddy assembly played no role in the mounting of the blade, but that, to the contrary, each element of the weapons was not only well thought-out—but deliberately designed to give one fencer (or duelist) a slight advantage.
It is these weapons were the “set” of the blades is most pronounced: The pommel of Weapon one, at the end of a 6 1/2″ long, sharkskin and wire-wrapped handle, deviates about an inch southward from the center of the opening. For a period where weapons mostly maintained a straight line in the tang, this is somewhat unusual.
But Weapon 2 takes “setting the blade” to new levels: Not only is the actual grip 1/4″ longer than that of its mate, the handle actually curves down so far that the end of the pommel is flush with the rim of the bell guard. (That means the handle had to be custom-made from two pieces of wood hollowed out to take in the curved tang!) That guard has a diameter of 4″, meaning that the pommel deviates twice as much from the center as that of its mate!
This may reflect the mind of a fellow attorney at work: If the rules of engagement called for 34″ blades of equal length, they’re in full compliance. But if the rules said nothing about the permissible length and angulation of the handle, and if those differences were not necessarily obvious, then there was no reason not to take advantage of this!
Type 2, Weapon 2: Look at this set in the handle!
Modern épée fencers will of course immediately recognize the purpose of this setting: This configuration is ideal for “pommeling” or “posting”, i.e., gripping the weapon close to the pommel, thus adding two to three inches of offensive and defensive distance and a corresponding spectrum of possibly effective angulations to one’s game!
(This would place the origins of this tactic well into the mid-1800’s! We’ve earlier found evidence of it dating back to the 1920’s, right HERE.)
The amount of planning, customization, and deliberate design that went into assembling these two sets of dueling épées indicates that the upside-down mounting of blades—while providing no discernible advantage over the traditional configuration—was not a result of error or inept manufacture, but a matter of intent. At the same time, the weapons were designed for use, not mer representational purposes.
As such, we’re adding an additional category to our growing classification grid of dueling weapons—which we plan to publish here within the next couple of months!
Type A (below) vs. the standard mount.
Note: I attempted to discover any practical advantages of this combination by combining a concave-forward foil guard and an upside-down épée blade and trying it out against several fencers at a recent HEMA gathering at my club. I must report I did not detect any noticeable benefit! If you’ve made different observations, feel free to share!
AdvertisementsAnother day, another blog article. Just kidding - sorry it's taken so long for an update! I've been quite busy, party with work as we get a new bishop, but also I really have just been enjoying reading my book! So there is a couple of good-ish reasons.
I wanted to update you on my Jumpmaster painting progress. This is my second, and as you can see its now painted! The beady eyed amongst you will notice that it's not the same as the first one
I eventually went for something not to dissimilar to my first Jumpmaster, with some vertical patterns and lines that corresponded to where the rest of the ship meets the crescent. However, this time the base couloirs were different, with a bleached bone crescent and central column, whilst the other bits were a gun metal grey. Brought together through a bit of washing and drybrushing, they are subtly different tones without being to obvious.
You should also be able to see from the above picture that I went for a reflection on the windscreen. First time I've tried that, and I'm really pleased with how it worked out!
I wanted to try something a bit more freaky for the freehand design, and ended up going with this. It took me a couple of decent sessions to get this nailed on. It's not a flat area, but it also goes up and down at different places. So trying to do justice to that whilst also making a believable pattern was hard work! However, I'm very pleased with the result :)
I also painted the engine glow again. This process was a lot smoother second time around as I've learnt at which angle to hold (and not hold) the brush so that you don't get paint where you don't want it!
I'm actually more pleased with the other side (below), it's a much smoother transition of colours and shape. From this angle you can also see what I meant about the bone and grey contrast.
Overall, I'm really pleased with how this guys turned out. It's not airbrush quality, but I don't have an airbrush! The next step is that I'm going to start magnetising the ships onto new bases. That'll be good fun. I've never done it before, but I have a friend who has and he's been kind enough to help me understand what I need to do it! It's hard to explain but basically they will be at dynamic moveable angles and look super cool.Utah quarterback Travis Wilson spent last week in Southern California to take part in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, where he practiced and played in front of scouts from every NFL team and several from the Canadian Football League.
Wilson started for the American team and completed 7 of 10 passes for 66 yards without a touchdown or interception. ESPN.com caught up with Wilson before the game to check in on how the week was going:
A 10-win season had to have been a great way to finish your career at Utah.
Travis Wilson: I was really happy with the way I got to finish my career and I was really happy I was able to be a four-year starter at Utah and end my career with a win against the team we played.
Quarterback Travis Wilson showcased both his arm and his legs in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. AP Photo/Alex Gallardo
What stood out the most about your career?
TW: Just being part of that team. Being a part of Utah football was a great experience for me. I got to meet a lot of great people and met a lot of great friends, so the bond we had as a team was amazing and I think if you ask any freshman it’s something that stands out from the rest of the teams that they visit. That we have a great brotherhood and that’s something I’ll always carry with me.
What do you hope to accomplish during the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl week?
TW: Just play a good game and kind of showcase my skills. I know we’re doing a lot of under-center stuff and scouts haven’t seen that from me yet. I’m just trying to do the best I can with all the under-center stuff and my drops and everything and hopefully leave a good impression on the scouts.
What have the interactions with the NFL scouts been like?
TW: They’re out here interviewing us after practice and stuff. At night there is always a two-hour deal where we get interviewed by them. That part of the process has been great, and I got to meet a lot of great scouts for a lot of great clubs and happy I’ve been able to enjoy the experience.
What kind of questions have they been asking?
TW: A lot of it is just background information. “What’s your family like? Where did you grow up?” And also questions like why do you love playing football? Do you see yourself as a leader? Why should we choose you over someone else? A lot of questions and it’s been great to experience those and give them the best answers I can.
What is your career goal?
TW: Hopefully just make it on a team. I want to do the best I can to be the best teammate I can be and help out the team in any way possible. Whether that’s running plays for them in practice or being a leader and being a guy on the offense. Whatever that role is, I hope to embrace it and do the best job I can and, like I said, do anything I can to help the team get better.
Do you have an expectation as far as the draft is concerned?
TW: No. I’m just hoping a team will give me a shot. I definitely have a lot of potential and have a lot to give. Hopefully, someone will see that and definitely been working really hard these past few weeks to fine-tune my technique and my fundamentals and get smarter within the game of football.For other ships with the same name, see HMS Rodney
HMS Rodney (pennant number 29) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship was named after Admiral Lord Rodney. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16-inch (406 mm) guns, and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. As her superstructure was located aft of midships like RN fleet oilers whose names carried the...'ol' suffix, she was sometimes derisively referred to as "Rodnol". Commissioned in 1927, Rodney served extensively in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean during the Second World War.
Rodney played a major role in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941. During and after Operation Torch and the Normandy landings, Rodney participated in several coastal bombardments. In poor condition from extremely heavy use and lack of refits, she was scrapped in 1948.
Design [ edit ]
Known as 'Queen Anne's Mansions' owing to the resemblance of the bridge structure to the well-known London block of flats, or 'Cherry Tree Class' because they were designed as larger ships but 'cut down' by the Washington Treaty of 1922, the design was limited to 35,000 tons and showed certain compromises. To accommodate 16-inch main guns in three turrets, all of the turrets were placed forward and the vessel's speed was reduced and maximum armour was limited to vital areas. Even with the design limitations forced on the designers by the treaty, Rodney and Nelson were regarded as the most powerful battleships afloat until the new generation of all big gun ships was launched in 1936.
Construction and commissioning [ edit ]
Rodney was laid down on 28 December 1922, the same date as her sister ship Nelson. Construction of the ship was carried out at Birkenhead by Cammell-Laird shipyard, Launched on 17 December 1925 by Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles, after three attempts at cracking the bottle of Imperial Burgundy. Ship trials began in August 1927 and she was commissioned in November 1927, three months behind Nelson. The construction cost £7,617,799. The commissioning commanding officer in 1930 was Captain (later Admiral) Andrew Cunningham and Chief Engineering Officer was Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral) George Campell Ross.
Service [ edit ]
From commissioning until the Second World War broke out in September 1939, Rodney spent the entire time with the British Atlantic Fleet or Home Fleet. In 1931, her crew joined the crews of other ships taking part in the Invergordon Mutiny. In October 1938 a prototype type 79Y radar system was installed on Rodney's masthead. She was the first battleship in the Royal Navy to be so equipped.[1] In 1940 the type 79Y radar was replaced with type 279 and UP AA rocket projectors were fitted to 'B' and 'C' turrets[citation needed], but removed in 1941 after concern about their safety and effectiveness. These were replaced by 35 single 20 mm Oerlikons over the next three years.
Following the sinking of armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi on 23 November 1939 by the German capital ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Rodney hunted the enemy ships but developed serious rudder defects and was forced to return to Liverpool for steering gear repairs until 31 December. Rodney was damaged by German aircraft at Karmoy, near Stavanger on 9 April 1940, when hit by a 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb that pierced the upper deck aft of the funnel, but did not explode and exited sideways after striking the armoured deck.[2] On 13 September, she was transferred from Scapa Flow to Rosyth with orders to operate in the English Channel when the German invasion of Britain was expected. In November and December, Rodney was assigned convoy escort duties between Britain and Halifax, Nova Scotia. In January 1941, Rodney joined the hunt for the German capital ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, without success. On 16 March, however, while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic, contact was made with the German battleships, but no battle followed, as the German ships turned away when they realised that they were facing superior firepower.[3]
Bismarck [ edit ]
In May 1941, while commanded by Captain Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, Rodney was ordered to sail to Canada, along with the ocean liner MV Britannic and four destroyers. Rodney was intended to travel on to the United States for repairs and refits; the ship carried a number of passengers, as well as additional materials, such as boiler tubes and anti-aircraft guns intended for use in her refit. Britannic was taking civilians to Canada and would be bringing Canadian troops and airmen back to Britain.
Rodney firing on Bismarck, which can be seen burning in the distance firing on, which can be seen burning in the distance
It was during this run on 24 May that she was called on by the Admiralty to join in the pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck, leaving the destroyer Eskimo to escort Britannic and taking Somali, Mashona and Tartar with her in the search. Despite Admiral Sir John Tovey in the battleship King George V heading north-west due to a misinterpreted signal from the Admiralty, Dalrymple-Hamilton and his own 'Operations Committee' consisting of Captain Coppinger (newly appointed captain of the battleship Malaya, which was undergoing repairs in New York); Navigator, Lt. Cmdr. Galfrey George Gatacre RAN; USN Naval Attaché, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Wellings and Executive Officer, Cmdr. John Grindle, decided that Bismarck was probably heading for Brest and so set course to the east to head Bismarck off, 'at some stages exceeding her designed speed by two knots', despite her engines being in need of an overhaul.[4]
On 26 May, she joined up with King George V, as Admiral Tovey had realised his mistake and doubled back. Tovey then sent the three remaining destroyers home because they were low on fuel, and had Rodney fall in behind King George V for the battle against Bismarck the next day. Early on the morning of 27 May 1941, along with the battleship King George V and the cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire, she engaged Bismarck, which had damaged rudder machinery, due to a torpedo launched by the aircraft carrier Ark Royal's Fairey Swordfish bombers the day before. Unable to manoeuvre and listing to port, Bismarck scored no hits, although Bismarck managed to straddle her with shell splinters before her forward guns were knocked out, after which Rodney closed with Bismarck until she was firing on a virtually flat trajectory and spotters could actually follow the shells to the target. One 16-inch shell was tracked from the gun to where it hit the face of Bismarck's #2 turret Bruno and exploded, blowing out the back of the turret, with the resulting splinters killing most of the crew on the bridge. Rodney fired 340 16-inch shells, some in 9-gun broadsides and 716 6-inch shells during the battle, scoring many hits from a range of under 3,000 yards (2,700 m) and inflicting most of the damage suffered by Bismarck, whose stern was blown off.[5]
During the battle, Rodney also fired eight 24.5-inch (622 mm) torpedoes at Bismarck while zig-zagging across her bow; most of the torpedoes missed but one hit Bismarck and exploded amidships on the port side, making Rodney the only battleship in history to have torpedoed another battleship, although Bismarck survived the hit by Rodney's torpedo.[6][7][8][9][10] Rodney and King George V finally broke off the action; Dorsetshire was then ordered to finish Bismarck off with torpedoes. Rodney and King George V, running short on fuel, were ordered home and were attacked by Luftwaffe bombers, who sank Mashona but missed Tartar, with whom the battleships had rejoined.
After refuelling at Gourock, Rodney sailed to the South Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, for the delayed repairs to her engines and the installation of more 8-barrelled "Pom-Pom" AA guns, which had been carried in crates on the deck throughout the battle. This is significant because the United States did not formally enter the war for several months and the docking of Rodney illustrated the US government's true sympathies in the growing global conflict. Since the repairs took several weeks to complete, Rodney's crew was furloughed to local Civilian Conservation Corps camps. In the interim, some members of the crew struck up lasting relationships with American civilians.[11][12]
Force H [ edit ]
Rodney adds her weight of shells to the Navy's pounding of German positions along the adds her weight of shells to the Navy's pounding of German positions along the Caen coast, 7 June 1944
In September 1941, Rodney was stationed with Force H in Gibraltar, escorting convoys to Malta. In November, she returned home and was stationed in Iceland for a month and then underwent refit and repair until May 1942. After the refit, she returned to Force H, where she again escorted Malta convoys and took part in Operation Torch, the invasion of Northwest Africa. She was subsequently involved with the Invasion of Sicily and Salerno. From October 1943, she was in the Home Fleet, and took part in the Normandy invasion in June 1944, where she was controlled from the headquarters ship HMS Largs off Sword Beach. Her tasks included a 30-hour operation firing an occasional shell 22 miles (35 km) inland, to prevent a Panzer division from crossing a bridge.[13] She also destroyed targets at Caen and Alderney. On 7 June 1944 a collision between Rodney and LCT 427 resulted in the loss of 13 Royal Navy seamen.[14] In September 1944, she performed escort duties with a Murmansk convoy.
Questions of sea-worthiness [ edit ]
Rodney began the war in need of an overhaul. In November 1939 defects in her rudder required repairs in Liverpool. In early 1940 as a result of panting leaking developed between watertight bulkheads 9 and 16. The crew effected temporary repairs by welding on a support beam. However, Rodney continued to suffer leaking due to defective riveting.[15] No permanent repairs were carried out even after the leaking increased following two near misses from German bombs in April 1940.
During a gale in December 1940 Rodney experienced heavy panting, and the beam added by the crew broke off. The two watertight compartments in the affected area flooded. The situation worsened as a result of a hole previously drilled into the watertight bulkhead by an officer to provide access for a hose connected to a portable pump. As a result of this hole the flooding expanded into the platform deck. The gale also tore the covers off the navel pipes which resulted in the cable-lockers flooding. The flooding extended into the torpedo tube compartments and drain tanks. Two bulkheads on the starboard side of Rodney also flooded. Rodney underwent repairs at Rosyth from December 1940 to January 1941. A planned refit in the United States occurred in Boston following the action against Bismarck. Yet even after this refit Rodney continued to suffer from leakage and hull defects.[16] The Admiralty drew up plans for a complete modernization in 1944, but these were never executed.
During the entire war Rodney steamed over 156,000 nautical miles (289,000 km) with no engine overhaul after 1942. Because of the frequent machinery problems, hull defects, and the fact that Rodney had not been upgraded to the extent of her sister Nelson, starting in December 1944 she became the flagship of the Home Fleet based at Scapa Flow and rarely left her mooring. HMS Rodney was scrapped at Thos W Ward Inverkeithing, starting on 26 March 1948.[17][18]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Silvio Berlusconi (BBC Newsnight)
Silvio Berlusconi, the embattled former prime minister of Italy currently performing community service for a fraud conviction, appeared on BBC's "Newsnight" Tuesday. It was quite the interview.
Talking to Berlusconi was Jeremy Paxman, the legendary "Newsnight" host known for his deadpan manner and brusque interviewing style. Paxman had recently announced he would retire from Newsnight, and he appears to want to go out on a high note. While much of the beginning of the interview deals with the European Union, Berlusconi is soon drawn into questions about his personal relationship with other world leaders and the colorful allegations about his private life.
Here are some of the most memorable moments from the interview:
On the allegations he dislikes Angela Merkel (3:10)
Jeremy Paxman: "Do you have a particular problem with Angela Merkel? Is it true you called her an 'un-------- lard-ass'?"
Silvio Berlusconi: "No, I have never had any problems with Angela Merkel. In 20 years of politics, I have never insulted anyone."
(For reference)
On the time he played a prank on Angela Merkel (4:00)
Jeremy Paxman: "And the time where you jumped out from behind a monument and went "coo coo" to Angela Merkel? That was just a joke, was it?"
Silvio Berlusconi: "She enjoyed it."
(See video of this incident here)
On the time Vladimir Putin played a prank on Silvio Berlusconi (4:30)
Silvio Berlusconi: "A few days earlier, I had been to St. Petersberg to visit Putin. Putin hid behind the pillar, and did "coo coo" to me from behind!"
On what is wrong with Italian politics (5:40)
Silvio Berlusconi: "Everything [laughs]."
On Beppe Grillo, the upstart comedian turned anti-establishment Italian politician (6:30)
Silvio Berlusconi: "His behavior reminds me of some of the most bloody and dangerous characters in history. He has many things in common with Robespierre, Stalin, and Pol Pot."
(For more on Grillo, read here)
On the legal challenges he faces (8:30)
Silvio Berlusconi: "2,700 [legal hearings against him] is a record. A world record! And the lies that have been invented about me have given me a very bad reputation abroad. Italians know very well that none of these fact are true."
On "bunga bunga" (9:00)
Silvio Berlusconi: "The 'bunga bunga' accusations were the most amazing things. Ridiculous. They manipulated reality. Luckily I am a strong person, and I am able to take it."
(For more on "bunga bunga," read this)
You can watch the video below. WARNING: Please note it contains one moment of coarse language (at 3:10):BOSTON (Reuters) - Hackers will soon gain a powerful new tool for breaking into Oracle Corp’s database, the top-selling business software used by companies to store electronic information.
Security experts have developed an easy-to-use, automated software tool that can remotely break into Oracle databases over the Internet to simulate attacks on computer systems, but cybercrooks can use it for hacking.
The tool’s authors created it through a controversial open-source software project known as Metasploit, which releases its free software over the Web.
Chris Gates, a security tester who co-developed the Metasploit tool, will unveil it next week at the annual Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, where thousands of security experts and hackers will gather to exchange trade secrets.
“Anyone with no skill and knowledge can download and run it,” said Pete Finnigan, an independent consultant who specializes in Oracle security and who advises large corporations and government agencies.
He has not yet studied the Oracle tool but is familiar with other Metasploit software and said it works by automating many of the complicated procedures required to hack into Oracle databases, allowing amateurs to hack into them.
Oracle, which declined to comment, has already issued patches to protect against vulnerabilities that the Metasploit tool targets. But some companies are not diligent in upgrading their software to add the patches, so they are vulnerable to attackers using the new tool. They hire consultants like Gates to help them make sure they are protected.
Metasploit hacks are available for other software programs, including Microsoft Corp’s Windows as well as the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers.
Gates said this is the first Metasploit program to target Oracle’s database.
“There is no way to keep these tools out of the hands of people who want to use them for nefarious purposes,” said Alan Paller, director of research for the SANS Institute. SANS trains security professionals in areas including use of Metasploit.
Security testers and hackers have previously used other programs to break into Oracle databases, but the new software from Metasploit is easier to operate and runs more quickly than existing options, said Gates.
Metasploit is the most widely used free hacking tool and has a loyal following in the security community.
In addition to letting hackers break into databases over the Internet, the Metasploit tool allows rogue employees to access them from their work PCs.
Workers could break into an Oracle system and secretly steal confidential data such as credit card numbers, give themselves pay raises or make other changes to corporate databases, said Finnigan, who has specialized in Oracle security for eight years.Soccer in the US is about much more than carpools and orange slices. I wish more of America would wake up to that fact
Some time during the run-up to the 1996 presidential election, a |
in the city were constructed of shit and, as a result, more homeless Indonesians are now visible at all hours of the day.
Education Edit
Indonesian school provides the first exposure for Indonesian children to the sciences of pornography and corruption, as proven by Indonesia's prestigious ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index as well as statistical evidence of Internet pornography. Only 5% of Indonesians have access to the internet, yet 90% of the world's google searches for "Japanese Porn" originate in Indonesia.
The bureaucrats in Ministry of Education constructed the academic curriculum by randomly throwing darts at scattered proposal sheets and by consulting local fortune tellers. Indonesian teachers are encouraged to constantly assign useless homework in such huge amounts and difficulty that students sometimes actually explode.
Tawuran Edit
Tawuran, is a modernized martial art developed in 1970 by the Ministry of Education for the purpose of enhancing the physical fitness of Indonesian youth. Tawuran is mostly based on the ancient Indonesian martial art, Kerusuhan (lit. "Riot"), developed by Java Man, the first king of Indonesia. Exercises in Tawuran involve running, intimidation tactics, coordinated rock-throwing, and self-immolation. It's difficult to find qualified Tawuran instructors due to the self-immolation thing. Most of the Tawuran masters learn the art of the self-immolation by watching other masters who did it and survive, and then asking the ultimate secret to self-immolation thing.
Demonstrations Edit
Starting at age 12, all Indonesian students are required to participate in demonstrations and protests, usually on a weekly basis. By the end of high school, students have participated in demonstrations or protests for and/or against almost any imaginable issue or non-issue. Students are expected to demonstrate or protest as ordered, even against themselves. It is not uncommon for students to carry signs with messages such as "Down With Me" or "Students Suck". By college-age, many students have actually attacked themselves and administered self-beatings or had hunger strikes against themselves or even against food itself.
Military Edit
There are many armies in the world, some strong, some weak, and Indonesia definitely has one of them, fully equipped with ancient Indonesian magical spells. The might of the Indonesian army is used to bully sniveling brave neighbors such as Australia, Malaysia, East Timor, West Papua, Aceh, and Singapore. The Indonesian army, collectively named ABRI (Assassins and Bandits of Republic of Indonesia), are best known for saving and comforting local populations, also known as "Operation Raping Local Women".
Strategists in the Indonesian Navy developed an ingenious naval tactic: suicidal ramming. The victims include Malaysian warships in international water, often deviously disguised by the evil Malaysian government with civilian markings, women and children, no weapons, and the misleading cries of "Wait! Don't shoot! We're really just tourists, for God's Sake! Stop it! Please!" No Indonesian captain has ever been fooled by such lies. Other targets include whatever ships and rowboats the Navy fancies ramming.
The highly-trained Indonesian Commando Special Forces (KOPASUS) have, to date, killed billions of criminals and suspicious persons, which is an amazing accomplishment, especially considering that there are only 270 million people in Indonesia.
For homeland protection of the skies, Indonesia is equipped with the all-new S-60 AAA gun codenamed "Kyai Samber Langit" using the power of the Windows XP OS and anti-jamming, it can destroy any airborne targets below 250 knots and below FL010
Demographics Edit
Indonesia's population is composed of diverse ethnic groups who constantly slaughter each other. The major ethnic groups are Javanese, Sundanese, Wobbliknees, Monkees, Florida Keys, Alan Keyes, Cheese, and Dramaqueens. They all wear silly hats and smell funny.
Marrying an Indonesian woman is ill-advised, unless one is a masochist or includes a prenuptial clause denying all forms of alimony.
Ethnic Groups Edit
The majority of Indonesians live in fragrant slums, according to traditional Indonesian values. Some groups include:
Preman: Not just punkish in style, these jack-asses are also punkish in behavior. They take pride on being the only punks in the world that do not know The Sex Pistols and only know local indie bands (which are sadly, not very punkish by Western standards). They'd slit your throat in the bus when they don't get what they ask for (which is usually 5c worth of rupiah. Honest.)
Alay: Not like western Emos, these groups of social trash actually do listen to bad music. What are we saying, they are just as bad. Also, Th3y 4l50 LikEZ T0 sp34K LIk3 TH3ze.
Maling and Jambret: Well dressed men working for the government Ragged street-folk who do everything but the things thieves usually do. You don't need to watch out for them, they already stand-out through the things they're wearing (or lack there of). Or give them change, out of pity.
Minorities Edit
Speciesism
Indonesian society has not just overcome racism, but they have also overcome speciesism. In fact, rats and other rodents are given full citizenship in Indonesia and are free to roam the cities, particularly Jakarta. They also have the right to vote. Many rodents obtain employment in the public sector, even serving in political parties and key government positions.
Undead Indonesians
Scientific research confirms that Indonesia is heavily populated by ghosts, sometimes referred to as "the undead" which basically means the same thing as "alive". This leads to a lot of confusion, but some creatures are semi-physical ectoplasms mingling with the living (or dying) population. Indonesian cities are swarming with such beings who often cannot afford housing. These ghosts inhabit schools, public toilets, parks, mediocre hospitals and, of course, cemeteries. Ironically many poor living (or dying) Indonesians live in cemeteries as well. Also, sometimes Indonesians use cemeteries to dispose of dead bodies that are too far gone to eat.
Economy Edit
Indonesia's economy is thriving and successful, mostly because their Politicians are Masters of the Thieves Guild. The rest believe that they're living in a rich country. As a result, poor Indonesians are considered rich and the really poor are considered middle class.
Tourism Edit
If you are a tourist, then come to Indonesia! Everything is cheap here: cheap hotels, cheap games, cheap foods, cheap women, cheap babies, cheap head, cheap neck; everything is cheap! Just remember that you, as a tourist, may be beheaded, hanged, or killed in a terrorist act at any time for any or no reason. You may also awake with some organs removed from your body, and a bill for the surgery will be sent to your embassy.How cool is that!
Occupations Edit
Prostitution is beyond an occupation in Indonesia. It is a religion. A way of life. There is some popular non-prostitution occupations in Indonesia include busking and panhandling. Most Indonesian street musicians are panhandlers, and vice versa. These panhandler-musicians sometimes scratch cars with coins out of spite. Related occupations include Extortionist of Money from Random Passing Cars, Professional Accident Victim, and Turd Wrangler since shit is Indonesia's main construction material.
Domestic servitude is a common occupation in Indonesia. Most domestic servants are females who live in small quarters in their masters' residence. The roles of domestic servants include cooking, cleaning, fellatio, anal intercourse, and corporate accounting.
Theft is also a popular occupation. However, Indonesians frown on getting caught while stealing. Apprehension is considered a major faux pas reflecting a serious lack of professionalism. The usual punishment for a thief is execution, though many thieves are pardoned if they pay a fine, as long as payment is made in the form of successfully stolen goods.
Businesses Edit
Indonesia is home to many illegal and unofficial businesses. You will find many people selling foods at traffic jam(asongan) and you can buy the goods directly when driving. Their business is legalized by the government. IN the airport,you will find many illegal taxis offering you for a ride. At corners,you will find some illegal police that controls the traffic and force you to pay (usually equivalent to US$ 5). Virtually ALL CDs are pirated, especially DVD,PS2,XBOX360,and VCD discs, plus any software is illegal. You can actually sell anything you want without any permission (and even the cops will buy pirated content from you), how cool is that?
Culture Edit
To the Malaysians and Singaporeans, there is nothing that can honestly be considered culture in Indonesia. Mostly are money-worshiping and laziness (as a way of life). However deluded these misshapen creatures from neighbouring countries may be (communist Singapore, and Maling-Asia {Asian thieves}), Indonesia still posess the deeper adopted Indian culture; as opposed to made up tales about babah and nyonya having sex and playing mahjong everyday.
Language Edit
Most Malays speak a local dialect of Indonesian. Indoneisan is the defintive version of Malay, since Malay comes from the KFC Kingdom of Jambi in Palembang in Indonesia. Neighbouring Malaysians are too fucking stupid and Arabg anus-lickers culturally proud to bother pronouncing Malay correctly.
Indonesian Malay dialect originated from various grunts and rants uttered during sexual intercourse. In time, these unintelligible sounds evolved into a more sophisticated method of communication in which all participants pretend to understand each other.
Regardless of the origin, Indonesian is a very simple language. Some grammatical elements are absent, including personal pronouns, verbal adjectives, dangling modifiers, and dative conjunctions. Later development also discarded verbs, adjectives, nouns, and adverbs. These developments have been praised by expert linguists as "pretty cool, yo!" as they render the language very easy to learn. This trend has reversed. To add sophistication, most contemporary Indonesian literature inserted new grammatical features, such as dialectal expletive causal modal dative verbal third-person conjugative adjectival imperative constructs, as well as other more complex structures.
Secondary Languages Edit
Due to pressures and intimidation from various civilizations, Indonesians have been reluctantly forced to adopt several foreign languages. Some of such languages are artificially made to be difficult just to confuse the Indonesians. The native Indonesians eventually realized this, and responded by severely corrupting the foreign languages to the point that they are incomprehensible; ironically, the Indonesians didn't even intend to corrupt these languages on purpose.Several economists such as Paul Krugman have noted that what gives a currency such as the US dollar its intrinsic value is the backing by a government.
Underpinning the value of the dollar is a combination of (a) the fact that you can use them to pay your taxes to the U.S. government, and (b) that the Federal Reserve is a potential dollar sink and has promised to buy them back and extinguish them if their real value starts to sink at (much) more than 2%/year
I don’t think that’s accurate. Government doesn’t give a currency value. A government can tax all it wants, but if there is unlimited currency to go around, it will never be worth anything. A government can force everyone to use dollars, but if they are unlimited, why do you need to work to get them? What makes dollars valuable is not that you pay your taxes in them (as Krugman states), but that there is a very limited amount to go around.
I was once running a social gaming site called Xuqa. We had a points system called Peanuts. Peanuts were free and abundant. They were used to play free games on the site such as Poker, Backgammon etc. You could get more just by logging in and clicking a button. We figured people wanted them to play games, and so we gave out almost unlimited quantities daily.
As a business operation however, Xuqa was running out of money. Forced by commercial realities, I decided to make Peanuts scarce. We stopped giving them away for free. You could not longer get them just by logging into the site. The only way you could get them now was by pulling out your credit card and paying.
And wow. I will never forget what happened.
I expected people to care even less about Peanuts now that you were required to pay for them. They were so much harder to get now.
But the opposite happened. As soon as they became scarce, they became valuable. Users started hoarding them. Saving them. They instantly exploded in value to several thousand times their earlier worth. Groups of people on the site started marauding and harassing each other for Peanuts (just like they do in the real world). There were fights. Some forum moderators started taking bribes in Peanuts for administrative favors, such as banning someone you didn’t like.
The craziest thing was that girls started reaching out to our engineers on their Xuqa profiles offering them sexual favors for Peanuts. “500 Peanuts for a cute pic”, or “10,000 Peanuts for a webcam nude show”, or “100k Peanuts for a real date”.
Most people however were just earning Peanuts the regular way – spending hours grinding away at games (the same way most people grind away at jobs). I felt like I was the Central Bank, the Federal Reserve. I could create more Peanuts just by adding a few zeroes in the database. I could make everyone instantly richer or poorer.
So I experimented. In order to boost daily site usage, we gave away some free peanuts to users. I thought this would make everyone happier – now they didn’t have to work as hard to get them. But it didn’t. The price of everything just went up: administrative perks, top 10 status lists, sexual favors, bribes etc.
The opposite was also true. When we increased our sinks from the system (% fees in games), people initially complained. But then the price of everything just decreased in proportion to the amount of Peanuts we removed, and a new equilibrium was reached.
It was this experience with Xuqa and Peanuts that taught me how central banks operate at a basic level. And it this same experience that tells me that Bitcoin derives a lot more of its value by being scarcer, and increasing in supply far slower, than things like the US dollar.
AdvertisementsIn the Abhidhammattha Sangaha there is a brief exposition of the Law of Dependent Origination, followed by a descriptive account of the Causal Relations that finds no parallel in any other philosophy. Edited in the original Pali Text with English Translation and Explanatory Notes by Narada Maha Thera....
Abhidhamma, as the term implies, is the Higher Teaching of the Buddha. It expounds the quintessence of His profound doctrine.
The Dhamma, embodied in the Sutta Pitaka, is the conventional teaching (vohāra desanā), and the Abhidhamma is the ultimate teaching (paramattha desanā)
In the Abhidhamma both mind and matter, which constitute this complex machinery of man, are microscopically analyzed. Chief events connected with the process of birth and death are explained in detail. Intricate points of the Dhamma are clarified. The Path of Emancipation is set forth in clear terms.
Modern Psychology, limited as it is comes within the scope of Abhidhamma inasmuch as it deals with the mind, with thoughts, thought-processes, and mental states but it does not admit of a psyche or a soul. Buddhism teaches a psychology without a psyche.
If one were to read the Abhidhamma as a modern textbook on psychology, one would be disappointed. No attempt has here been made to solve all the problems that confront a modern psychologist.
Consciousness is defined. Thoughts are analyzed and classified chiefly from an ethical standpoint. All mental states are enumerated. The composition of each type of consciousness is set forth in detail. The description of thought-processes that arise through the five sense-doors and the mind-door is extremely interesting. Such a clear exposition of thought-processes cannot be found in any other psychological treatise.
Bhavanga and Javana thought-moments, which are explained only in the Abhidhamma, and which have no parallel in modern psychology, are of special interest to a research student in psychology.
That consciousness flows like a stream, a view propounded by some modern psychologists like William James, becomes extremely clear to one who understands the Abhidhamma. It must be added that an Abhidhamma student can fully comprehend the Anattā (No-soul) doctrine, the crux of Buddhism, which is important both from a philosophical and an ethical standpoint.
The advent of death, process of rebirth in various planes without anything to pass from one life to another, the evidently verifiable doctrine of Kamma and Rebirth are fully explained.
Giving a wealth of details about mind, Abhidhamma discusses the second factor of man-matter or rūpa. Fundamental units of matter, material forces, properties of matter, source of matter, relationship of mind and matter, are described.
In the Abhidhammattha Sangaha there is a brief exposition of the Law of Dependent Origination, followed by a descriptive account of the Causal Relations that finds no parallel in any other philosophy.
A physicist should not delve into Abhidhamma to get a thorough knowledge of physics.
It should be made clear that Abhidhamma does not attempt to give a systematized knowledge of mind and matter. It investigates these two composite factors of so-called being to help the understanding of things as they truly are. A philosophy has been developed on these lines. Based on that philosophy, an ethical system has been evolved to realize the ultimate goal, Nibbāna.
As Mrs. Rhys Davids rightly says, Abhidhamma deals with "(1) What we find (a) within us (b) around us and of (2) what we aspire to find."
In Abhidhamma all irrelevant problems that interest students and scholars, but having no relation to one's Deliverance, are deliberately set aside.
The Abhidhammattha Sangaha, the authorship of which is attributed to venerable Anuruddha Thera, an Indian monk of Kanjevaram (Kāñcipura), gives an epitome of the entire Abhidhamma Pitaka. It is still the most fitting introduction to Abhidhamma. By mastering this book, a general knowledge of Abhidhamma may easily be acquired.
To be a master of Abhidhamma all the seven books, together with commentaries and sub-commentaries, have to be read and re-read patiently and critically.
Abhidhamma is not a subject of fleeting interest designed for the superficial reader.
To the wise truth-seekers, Abhidhamma is an indispensable guide and an intellectual treat. Here there is food for thought to original thinkers and to earnest students who wish to increase their wisdom and lead an ideal Buddhist life.
However, to the superficial, Abhidhamma must appear as dry as dust.
It may be questioned, "Is Abhidhamma absolutely essential to realize Nibbāna, the summum bonum of Buddhism, or even to comprehend things as they truly are?"
Undoubtedly Abhidhamma is extremely helpful to comprehend fully the word of the Buddha and realize Nibbāna, as it presents a key to open the door of reality. It deals with realities and a practical way of noble living, based on the experience of those who have understood and realized. Without a knowledge of the Abhidhamma one at times' finds it difficult to understand the real significance of some profound teachings of the Buddha. To develop Insight (vipassanā) Abhidhamma is certainly very useful.
But one cannot positively assert that Abhidhamma is absolutely necessary to gain one's Deliverance.
Understanding or realization is purely personal (sanditthika). The four Noble Truths that form the foundation of the Buddha's teaching are dependent on this one fathom body. The Dhamma is not apart from oneself. Look within, Seek thyself. Lo, the truth will unfold itself.
Did not sorrow-afflicted Patācārā, who lost her dear and near ones, realize Nibbāna; reflecting on the disappearance of water that washed her feet?
Did not Cūlapanthaka, who could not memorize a verse even for four months, attain Arahantship by comprehending the impermanent nature of a clean handkerchief that he was handling, gazing at the sun?
Did not Upatissa, later venerable Sāriputta Thera, realize Nibbāna, on hearing half a stanza relating to cause and effect?
To some a fallen withered leaf alone was sufficient to attain Pacceka Buddha hood.
It was mindfulness on respiration (ānāpāna-sati) that acted as the basis for the Bodhisatta to attain Buddha hood.
To profound thinkers, a slight indication is sufficient to discover great truths.
According to some scholars, Abhidhamma is not a teaching of the Buddha, but is a later elaboration of scholastic monks.
Tradition, however, attributes the nucleus of the Abhidhamma to the Buddha Himself.
Commentators state that the Buddha, as a mark of gratitude to His mother who was born in a celestial plane, preached the Abhidhamma to His mother Deva and others continuously for three months. The principal topics (mātikā) of the advanced teaching such as moral states (kusalā dhammā), immoral states (akusalā dhammā) and indeterminate states (abyākatā dhammā), etc., were taught by the Buddha to venerable Sāriputta Thera, who subsequently elaborated them in the six books (Kathāvatthu being excluded) that comprise the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
Whoever the great author or authors of the Abhidhamma may have been, it has to be admitted that he or they had intellectual genius comparable only to that of the Buddha. This is evident from the intricate and subtle Patthāna Pakarana which minutely describes the various causal relations.
It is very difficult to suggest an appropriate English equivalent for Abhidhamma.
There are many technical terms, too, in Abhidhamma which cannot be rendered into English so as to convey their exact connotation. Some English equivalents such as consciousness, will, volition, intellect, perception are used in a specific sense in Western Philosophy. Readers should try to understand in what sense these technical terms are employed in Abhidhamma. To avoid any misunderstanding, due to preconceived views, Pāli words, though at times cumbersome to those not acquainted with the language, have judiciously been retained wherever the English renderings seem to be inadequate. To convey the correct meaning implied by the Pāli terms, the etymology has been given in many instances.
At times Pāli technical terms have been used in preference to English renderings so that the reader may be acquainted with them and not get confused with English terminology.
Sometimes readers will come across unusual words such as corruption, defilement, volitional activities, functional, resultants, and so forth, which are of great significance from an Abhidhamma standpoint. Their exact meaning should be clearly understood.
In preparing this translation, Buddhist Psychology by Mrs. Rhys Davids and the Compendium of Philosophy (Abhidhammattha Sangaha) by Mr. Shwe Zan Aung proved extremely helpful to me. Liberty has been taken to quote them wherever necessary with due acknowledgment.
My grateful thanks are due to the Kandy Buddhist Publication Society for the printing of this fourth revised volume, to the printers for expediting the printing, to Miss Rañjani Goonatilaka for correcting the proofs, and to Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi for his useful suggestions.
Above all I have to thank Mr. Lankatilaka, a most distinguished artist of Sri Lanka, for his beautiful and symbolical dust jacket design.
Nārada 14.7.1978/2522.Making a cell phone call while aloft could become a reality under a proposal by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Cell phone calls, texting and other mobile services would be allowed when the aircraft are flying above 10,000 feet, but not during takeoff and landing, according to an official briefed on the proposal.
Airlines would have to equip planes with special antennas approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration before passengers could start talking.
The commission says this proposal aims to give airline passengers the same communication access in the air that they have on trains and buses or in coffee shops.
"Modern technologies can deliver mobile services in the air safely and reliably, and the time is right to review our outdated and restrictive rules," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement. "I look forward to working closely with my colleagues, the FAA and the airline industry on this review of new mobile opportunities for consumers."
For years, the FCC has banned talking on mobile phones aboard aircraft in flight due to concerns that high-flying phones could disrupt cellular towers on the ground.
A proposal to lift the cell phone ban was considered in 2004 but abandoned three years later. At the time, the FCC said that the "technical information provided... was insufficient to determine whether in-flight use of wireless devices on aircraft could cause harmful interference to wireless networks on the ground."
A number of other nations around the world already allow cell phone use inflight on similarly equipped aircraft.
In a 2012 study, the FAA collected data from 11 countries and concluded that "civil aviation authorities reported no confirmed occurrences of cell phones affecting flight safety on aircraft with on-board cellular telephone base stations."
The commission is considering the proposal because passengers want it, but some surveys show passengers are split.
In a survey conducted in 2012 by Delta Air Lines, 64% of passengers said the ability to make phone calls inflight would have a negative impact on their onboard experience.
The current proposal will be discussed at the FCC's December 12 meeting and could then be opened for public comments. The commission would have to vote on a final rule before it could take effect.According to author and Fox News contributor Deneen Borelli and her husband, Tom Borelli, black conservatives have been blacklisted from the NAACP's national conferences for years. When the Borellis, who are employees of the conservative group FreedomWorks, attempted to pay for booth space at this year's 104th National NAACP conference in Florida, they were told there was no room for them despite plenty of exhibit space remaining open.The NAACP website states that the mission of the organization is to, "ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination." The objectives of the NAACP include ensuring "the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens," and removing "all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes."Mrs. Borelli has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party. In March her book,, came out in paperback.Ever thought of monitoring a patient’s heart rate with the help of blanket that is put on him? Overwhelming thought indeed! However, this could be true, as the University of Toronto’s Responsive Architecture has designed a blanket that turns a model into a 3D representation in no time or measure your heart beat just by tossing it over you. This blanket, which is also named as IM Blanky, includes 104 fabric tilt sensors, features resistors and conductive material that makes it self-aware blanket. Therefore, this blanket is smart enough to know how it is being folded.
This unique pattern of flower and petals makes it stylish as well as functional. The tilt sensors, which are present on the flowers and petals, gets connected to larger network that forms into a hexagonal grid all over the blanket. These sensors dispatch their direction to a central Arduino powered computer system, which then calculates the slopes occurring between the flowers and the petals on the IM Blanky. This in turn gives a 3D representation of the shape of the blanket, no matter how it is laid out.
Although, it is not a traditional quilt, but this blanket is certainly stylish and useful innovation!
Via: Dvice/Gizmodo/University of TorontoPakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said China had "rejected" India's objection over an ambitious $46 billion Economic Corridor that passes through PoK, a day after Beijing asserted that the project will "not target any third party".
"I want to inform you that China has already rejected the objections," Sharif told an All Parties Conference in Quetta, which was called to discuss the law and order situation in the province after militants killed 22 passengers after kidnapping them from two buses last week in Mastung area of Balochistan.
The 3,000-km corridor running from Pakistan's southern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea to China's western Xinjiang region, was launched in April during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Islamabad despite India’s strong objections.
Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj told a news conference in New Delhi on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had raised the economic corridor during his visit to Beijing and told the Chinese leadership that it was "unacceptable". The Indian government also summoned the Chinese envoy to protest.
Sharif said some people wanted to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Pakistan PM said he was happy that all parties of Pakistan have agreed on the project. "I want to congratulate the Pakistani leadership for owning it."
A day after Swaraj's press conference in Delhi, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying had said in Beijing on Monday that the project was a major cooperation framework between all-weather allies China and Pakistan.
"Relevant cooperation carried by China in the relevant region will not target any third party and will not affect China's position on the relevant issue," Hua had said.
For his part, Prime Minister Sharif also condemned Mastung killing and said militancy will be eliminated.
"Enemies of Pakistan are hatching conspiracies to weaken our motherland since they cannot tolerate development and prosperity in the country," he said.
The corridor, which could eclipse US spending in Pakistan over the past decade, has worried India mostly because of the route passing through PoK. There are also concerns about the strategic implications of the infrastructure created for the project in the Kashmir region being used for military purposes by China and Pakistan.
Read:
China and Pak: Little in common yet closest of allies
China, Pak launch economic corridor plan
First Published: Jun 02, 2015 18:01 ISTTEL AVIV – Following Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on his vision for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel was being treated “very, very unfairly” by the international community, and added that he and the outgoing secretary have “different views” on the conflict.
“We’re going to see what happens after January 20th. I think you’re going to be very impressed,” he added.
The President-elect also slammed the United Nations for ignoring countries that are “horrible places that treat people horribly” but “haven’t even been reprimanded” while Israel is “up for 20 reprimands” at the international body.
“There’s something going on and it’s very unfair to Israel,” he added.
Trump made his remarks to reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago estate.
He avoided answering a question about his stance on settlement construction, instead saying he was “very, very strong on Israel” and that Israel is being treated “very, very unfairly.”
Earlier in the day, Trump responded to Kerry’s speech – which outlined his vision for a two-state solution wherein current settlement activity was depicted as an obstacle to peace – saying the address “speaks for itself.”
Kerry argued that Israeli settlements were creating an “irreversible one-state reality.”
Before the speech, Trump took to Twitter to condemn both Washington and the UN’s treatment of Israel: “[Israel] used to have a great friend in the U.S., but… not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!”
“We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect,” the president-elect tweeted.
Kerry’s speech and Trump’s response followed the passage of UN Security Resolution 2334 which declares that territory captured in the 1967 defensive war – including the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall – is “occupied Palestinian territory.”
The move drew fierce criticism from Israel, with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing the Obama administration of colluding with the Palestinians to push the resolution through, and charging that the US abandoned and ambushed Israel.
Netanyahu responded to Trump’s tweets, thanking the president-elect for his “warm friendship and your clear-cut support.”
Following the vote, Trump, who had previously called on President Barack Obama to veto the resolution, attacked the UN as useless.
“The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!” he tweetedInvestment advisory firm TIAA has added reciprocal IVF assistance to its family planning benefits package as an LGBT inclusion measure.
The New York City-based firm officially added the benefit July 1 after conversations with its LGBT employee resource group during Pride Month in June.
“The addition of reciprocal IVF [meaning one partner supplies the eggs to be used for IVF, while the other partner is the gestational carrier of the pregnancy] could significantly help female couples achieve their family planning goals, and we want to provide them with the same support other employees already receive,” says Skip Spriggs, senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer at TIAA. “It wasn’t a cost issue, but it was about creating the right environment.”
Prior to this benefits addition, employees had to go through a pre-certification process with a claims administrator to verify infertility, says TIAA. Now, employees can have IVF services covered without verifying that they tried natural or artificial insemination. Similarly, female couples don’t have to provide infertility to gain access to IVF as a covered benefit, the firm says.
See also: Why smart employers are offering fertility benefits
Only 57% of employers offer a type of infertility service coverage, and 25% of the employers cover IVF, according to Mercer’s 2016 “National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.”
“We wanted to be part of that 25%,” Spriggs adds.
Reciprocal IVF treatment is the latest offering to TIAA’s family benefits package, which includes paid parental leave (12 weeks maternity leave and four weeks paternity leave), up to $5,000 for adoption assistance, 20 sessions of child or elder back-up care, access to lactation rooms and flexible work scheduling, among a variety of other benefits.World Report 2015 is Human Rights Watch’s 25th annual review of human rights practices around the globe. It summarizes key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide.
In his keynote, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth reflects on a year so tumultuous, “it can seem as if the world is unraveling.” Surveying several of the year’s most daunting security challenges—including the rise of the extremist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS), China’s crackdown on Uighurs in Xinjiang, and Mexico’s abuse-riddled war on drugs—Roth stresses the important role that human rights violations played in fomenting and aggravating those crises.
The report reflects extensive investigative work that Human Rights Watch staff undertook in 2014, usually in close partnership with human rights activists in the country in question. It also reflects the work of our advocacy team, which monitors policy developments and strives to persuade governments and international institutions to curb abuses and promote human rights.
Download the full World Report (PDF) PurchaseNew Delhi: Even as India’s National Investigation Agency is preparing to share information about an official working in the Pakistan high commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka, allegedly playing a key role in planning terror strikes in the southern part of the country, its press attache Muhammad Daud Ehtisham was quoted as saying that Pakistan and its state institutions are responsible entities and do not indulge in such activities.
Using the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) signed with Sri Lanka, India is using diplomatic channels to share the information that names Amir Zubair Siddiqui, consular (visa) in the Pakistani mission in Sri Lanka, as the main conspirator. Sources said he was allegedly involved in a conspiracy with some Lankan nationals for carrying out terror attacks on the US consulate in Chennai and Israeli consulate in Bengaluru.
Siddiqui is not a new name for IB as his name had cropped up in 2012-13 when security agencies picked up Tameem Ansari, a frequent flyer between Tiruchy and Colombo. Ansari was arrested after six months of surveillance in 2012. A small exporter to Sri Lanka, Ansari was in touch with Haji, a Tamil- speaking Muslim from Colombo. However, after his business failed, Haji allegedly introduced him to Siddiqui, and his second in command, Shaji.
After reportedly brainwashing him, Siddiqui roped him to take videos of the Nagapattinam port and Mallipattinam, traditionally a landing point. His name again figured after IB, on a tip-off from its Malaysian counterparts, foiled an attempt by ISI to carry out terror attacks on the two foreign consulates in India.
Sakir Hussian, the Sri Lanka national arrested on a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau and accused of carrying out reconnaissance of the two consulates, spilt the beans. He told interrogators that he had been hired by Siddiqui as per alleged ISI plans to conduct the reconnaissance.
The case was eventually transferred to NIA. Hussian told interrogators that the Pakistani spy agency was planning to send two men from the Maldives to Chennai and that he had to arrange for their travel documents and hideouts. Sleuths had recovered pictures of the US and Israeli consulates, the sources said, and claimed that these pictures had been mailed to his alleged handlers in Pakistan and its Colombo high commission.
Cyber signatures showed that the pictures were downloaded in a computer within the premises of the high commission and had been shared with Lankan authorities, the sources claimed. Now, under MLAT, Lankan authorities have been asked to share their probe details.
Lankan authorities were carrying out a probe at their end besides corroborating the versions of Hussian and another accomplice of his, Mohammed Hussain Mohammed Sulaiman, arrested by Malaysian authorities who stumbled upon the plot.In this Jan. 8, 2010 file photo, Bradley Birkenfeld, a whistleblower in the tax evasion case against Swiss bank UBS, pauses during a press conference in Pennsylvania. The IRS has awarded the ex-banker $104 million for providing information about overseas tax cheats — the largest amount ever awarded by the agency, lawyers for the whistleblower announced Tuesday. (Carol |
the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). He'd slipped in cameos for several characters from other Marvel Studios movies, including Iron Man's Col. James Rhodes, aka War Machine (Don Cheadle), Captain America's Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Sam Wilson, aka Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and Thor's Heimdall (Idris Elba). And Ultron, the artificially intelligent genocidal villain of the title, was a computer-generated character voiced and performed via motion capture by James Spader, which added another demanding layer of VFX complexity. What was that again about making the Avengers sequel smaller? "That has not gone my way," Whedon said with a laugh en route home from the set in July. "I totes failed to make it smaller. There is a lot of movie." Both Whedon and Feige insist, however, that the precipitously expanding scope of Age of Ultron was never by design. "The truth is, whether anybody will ever believe it or not, we never sat down — we being Joss and I and the team at Marvel — and said, 'How do we make it even bigger?!'" Feige said on set. "It always was, 'Where do we want to take the characters?' That's the way Joss thinks." And on that score, Whedon had much more success in his stated desire to bring a "more personal" and "more painful" approach to Age of Ultron — to make it, in other words, more Whedon-y. He used Scarlet Witch's ability to read minds to create hallucinogenic fever dreams for the Avengers, excavating the private pain that was haunting each of them. "What I wanted to do is get into the souls of my characters," Whedon said with a knowing flourish. "Their hearts and minds and their real ills and what makes them tick."
Jay Maidment Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., and Evans in Avengers: Age of Ultron
With so many divergent characters, Whedon also chose to load up the film with as many genres as it could handle. "It's science-fiction horror!" he said. "OK, it's really a Western. All right, there's ballet in it. I have genre ADD. Look, this is a hard, explode-y, testosterone-filled action movie for guys, so there's got to be ballet [and] swing dancing!" Stitching together disparate genres into something unexpectedly new is also what makes Joss Whedon Joss Whedon. With Buffy, he combined a teen high school melodrama with the tropes of B-movie horror, and then subverted both by casting a soap star as the show's demon-slaying heroine. With Firefly, he reimagined the swashbuckling sci-fi adventure show as a Western about hardscrabble outlaws eking out a life on the edge of space. With Dr. Horrible, he recast the comic book villain as the accidental antihero — and he did it in song. Much like the characters who populate his stories, Whedon's obvious love for the spirit of each of these genres is matched by his eagerness to crack them open and remake them anew. And with Age of Ultron, he was getting to bring his character-driven, genre-mashing sensibility to life with a blockbuster budget. "I'm doing, 'ARRRGGGG!'" said Ruffalo, bellowing like the Hulk. "And he's like, 'Yeah, maybe you should be in that moment like, Oh, what the fuck.' He's always bringing it down into these moments that are not superhero, and not grand, and not macho. Just the normal moments that we all experience every single day. I think that's probably the number one reason why this stuff works so well, because he takes superhuman people, and he just lets them be super human." And there may not be superhumans dearer to Whedon's heart than the ones who live in the Marvel universe, characters he fell in love with as a young teenager. While talking about the malleability of comic book storylines in his trailer, Whedon said with absolute seriousness, "Nothing has ever made me angrier than the Gwen Stacy slept with Norman Osborn and had genetically enhanced twins [storyline]. Gwen Stacy is the bedrock of the Marvel universe. And that to me is unforgivable." (This storyline happened, by the way, in the mid-2000s, when Whedon was in his forties.)
Whedon's obvious devotion to Marvel's characters has made him an ideal director for wrangling so many of them in the Avengers movies. "He's our kind of compass," said Evans. "And if he's OK with it, if it makes sense to him and his understanding of these characters from the birth of their comic origins, we're OK with it." It's also what drove Marvel Studios to sign Whedon to become a kind of creative consiglieri for the studio, or as Whedon once put it to BuzzFeed News, "the Tom Hagen of the Marvel Universe." "Even at its most basic form, when you have Joss Whedon as a sounding board, or as somebody to go, 'Take a look at this cut,' or 'Take a look at this draft,' it's unbelievably valuable," said Feige. "It helped on every movie we've made." In practical terms, it’s meant Whedon has done everything from give notes on rough cuts for Iron Man 3 and script drafts for Thor: The Dark World to doing a full dialogue pass on the screenplay for Guardians of the Galaxy. (That's another thing about Whedon: He has such a knack for dialogue that he often speaks in dialogue, sometimes even with himself.) "Sometimes, you know, it's been fun, because they've actually taken my advice, certainly at the story level," Whedon said. "And then sometimes I feel like, Ergh, you missed the point entirely." When he wasn't consulting specifically on the movies themselves, Whedon said he would also consult with the other directors about the often highly collaborative process of making a movie with Marvel Studios. "You know, talking them off the ledge," he said. "'Cause there's a certain degree of madness. But there's always method."
Marvel; Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed
One director, however, did jump off the ledge. In May 2014, months into production on Age of Ultron, Edgar Wright abruptly departed Ant-Man eight years after first signing on to co-write and direct the film, and just weeks before it was due to start shooting. According to a vague joint statement released by Marvel and Wright, the reason was "due to differences in their vision of the film" — which Feige echoed when BuzzFeed News asked him about the decision on the Age of Ultron set in July. "It really was good old-fashioned creative differences," he said. "It was, 'It's not going to work, is it?' 'No, it's not.' 'All right. Should we draft a statement?' 'Yes.' 'OK.'" Fans of Wright's distinctively geeky filmmaking style, best expressed in his "Cornetto" trilogy Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End, were shocked by the sudden news. Whedon was one of them. The day after the announcement, he tweeted a shot of himself holding a Cornetto ice cream wrapper, as if in solidarity with Wright. When asked six weeks later if he had anything else to say about Wright's departure, at first Whedon replied, "No." And then he kept talking. "Only that I don't get it," he said with a sigh. "I thought the script was not only the best script that Marvel had ever had, but the most Marvel script I'd read. I had no interest in Ant-Man. [Then] I read the script, and was like, Of course! This is so good! It reminded me of the books when I read them. Irreverent and funny and could make what was small large, and vice versa. I don't know where things went wrong. But I was very sad. Because I thought, This is a no-brainer. This is Marvel getting it exactly right. Whatever dissonance that came, whatever it was, I don't understand why it was bigger than a marriage that seemed so right. But I'm not going to say it was definitely all Marvel, or Edgar's gone mad! I felt like they would complement each other by the ways that they were different. And, uh, somethin' happened." Wright's departure was the most public demonstration yet of the confounding friction that can arise when a studio tries to maintain a cohesive creative universe across multiple blockbuster franchises. Whedon has been no stranger to that friction, either, starting when he agreed to co-create the ABC series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with his brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen. (Storytelling runs in the Whedon family: Their grandfather John Whedon wrote for The Donna Reed Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show, and their father Tom Whedon was a sitcom writer who got his start with Captain Kangaroo.)
Bob D'Amico The cast of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which debuted on Sept. 24, 2013, with a pilot directed by Joss Whedon, was conceived as a deliberate extension of the Marvel Studios brand — and that cohesive creative universe — onto television, focusing on the continuing adventures of the intrepid agents who populate the world-saving agency of the show’s title. Before Whedon had directed a single second of the pilot, however, the show hit a major creative hurdle, thanks to Marvel Studios' next movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. "They had said early on, 'Hey, we're thinking about doing this show about the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,'" said Feige. "And Joss said, 'I think I might do this.' I said, 'That's cool. God bless you. But you should know that we're destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. in Winter Soldier. You guys do whatever you want. But know that that's what we're going to do.'" Whedon quickly found himself caught in a peculiar corporate dilemma: Making sure that he successfully launched Marvel Studios' first TV show without ever getting in the way of an entire fleet of Marvel Studios movie franchises. "There was a period where it got … complicated," Whedon said. "A lot of people who aren't connected with the show were like, Oh, yeah, you have to have this guest star, and you have to work around this. Sometimes, it makes your head spin. I mean, it's hard enough when they're like, And by the way, in Iron Man 4, he's going to be played by Linda Hunt as a human spider. And you're like, Oh, OK! I guess I'll have to work that in." Another complicating factor with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: "They didn't actually want me to make it," said Whedon. "It's like, 'Uh, Joss, we really wanted you to do [Age of Ultron]. Instead you created a TV show, you moron.' 'I thought you wanted me to!' 'No, we just wanted you to make a movie.' 'Oh. My bad.' … It went from being absolutely 100% the driving force and totally hands-on to 'That sounds great, Jed! You should do that!'" Well, mostly. Once Whedon's attention turned entirely to Age of Ultron, he found he had to be the one telling his colleagues, who also happened to be his family, what they could not do on their show, lest they affect his plans for the movie. After spending a decade making television himself, he had become intimately familiar with the inevitability of creative limitations. "They are the rocks around which one must steer," he said. "Sometimes those rocks are the limitations of your stars, or their temperament. Sometimes they are the insanity of your network. Sometimes they are the premise and it coming back to bite you. Sometimes they are your own limitations. There are plenty of rocks." One of the privileges of his unique position at Marvel, however, was that in at least one case, Whedon got to move one particularly large rock out of his way at will. He had killed off beloved S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) in The Avengers, as the crucial inciting incident that brings the superhero team together, only to resurrect Coulson for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D via a particularly geeky plot twist called Project T.A.H.I.T.I. (Don’t ask.) Whedon called the decision to bring Coulson back a "no-brainer," but despite Marvel’s exacting commitment to creative uniformity, do not expect to see Coulson show up in Age of Ultron, either. "As far as I'm concerned, in this movie, Coulson's dead," he said. "If you come back in the sequel and say Coulson's alive, it's like putting fucking John Gielgud in the sequel to Arthur. It mattered that he's gone. It's a different world now. And you have to run with that."
Jay Maidment; Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed
It was a common experience for anyone on the London set of Age of Ultron: You would be talking to Joss Whedon, and at some point, without much warning or reason, he would begin to slip into a British accent. "All the time," said Mark Ruffalo. "Not sometimes. All the time. I always feel like Joss might have some of the DNA of Shakespeare rolling around in his makeup. It didn't surprise me that he became literally an Anglican while we were there." When asked about it, Whedon sheepishly dropped his head. "Yeah, it comes and goes. I basically speak like whoever I'm speaking to for five minutes. I have a Zelig issue," he said. "I went to high school in England. I think of it as home as much as any place I've ever been. They have clouds here! I can go outside! During the day. And there's so much history and texture. I like to see a place where I can actually get old, and it's not like a cardinal sin. It's exciting." Whedon's passion for his surroundings also extended to his determination to savor all of the elements of the filmmaking experience he'd avoided in the past. "I always felt guilty about every part of filmmaking that wasn't shooting or writing — and frustrated and restless," he said on the set in July. He's carried that sense of self-deprecating modesty throughout his career — it is hardwired into how he views himself as a professional storyteller. By March, as he sat down to dinner near Disney’s Burbank, California, studio lot, where he had been living as he worked with two editors to finish Age of Ultron, that guilt was weighing especially on his mind. "I didn't feel it was right to spend that time away from family, even before I had kids," Whedon said. "I felt like if it wasn't the headline experience, that I was being self-indulgent in being there, and it was frustrating. But this was something where I'm like, I have the time to get it right." "It's been a very freeing experience," he continued. "I had to understand that this is all I'm ever going to be, is the person who makes these things. Not to the people around me, obviously. But you know, I love what I do. It's important to me. It deserves my attention in every detail. I think I just had to get past this block." It is difficult to chart a perfect course, however, when standing at the helm of a behemoth blockbuster franchise, especially one larded with product placement for everything from Audi and Samsung to Doritos and Royal Purple Synthetic Oil. After a while, all that course correcting began to debilitate Whedon’s creative resolve. "I made the idiotic mistake of trying to make a great movie," Whedon said with an exasperated growl. "I was like, 'I want this movie to be great. I'm just going to go ahead and say it, even though I'm a WASP.' And then I feel like I've been punished for that for the last two years. I put a level of pressure on myself that I've never done before. I've been a sketch artist, and now I'm painting. And then also to know there are not millions, but billions of dollars riding on your artistic decisions?" He dropped into a terrified muppet-y voice. "Err, uhh, sometimes you wish you could forget that."
Jung Yeon-je / Getty Images Actors Mark Ruffalo, Evans, Downey, and Claudia Kim pose with Whedon at a South Korean promotional event for Avengers: Age of Ultron on April 17, 2015.
For the first time in Whedon's career, however, he couldn't. "The dollars, what's riding on this, the burden of having done the first one and trying to come up to that level started to freak me out in the way it never has," he said. One of the biggest audiences Buffy the Vampire Slayer ever reached was for an episode that ranked 78th in the ratings for the week. But now Whedon’s own yardstick is the third-highest-grossing movie of all time. "I feel like I have to make a movie good enough to be the next third-highest-grossing movie of all time," he said. "I do feel like if it doesn't make a certain ridiculous amount of money, I will have failed the people who have faith in me. I'll fold in on myself." In truth, that almost happened to Whedon when Age of Ultron was still deep in postproduction. "The problem with the process on this thing is that everything happens at the end," Whedon said. "Nothing gets really set. We're getting in the effects shots. We're sound mixing. We're doing everything all on top each other." Whedon sighed deeply. "There's a lot about the experience that has been debilitating, to the point where at one time I thought, Oh, I've lost it. I lost the movie. I don't know what I have here. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what you're going to ask me to promote." Whedon's initial cut for Age of Ultron was over three hours, and his own desire to make the movie shorter than its predecessor meant he had to lose a great deal of the character-building he'd written — including more details about Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and more backstory for Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow — while also ensuring there was enough room in his film for hints at what was still to come in the MCU. Some of that seeding was actually accidental. Whedon said he cast Andy Serkis as war profiteer Ulysses Klaue, one of the main villains for Marvel Comics superhero Black Panther, months before he learned that Marvel Studios was going to make a Black Panther movie. And when Whedon wrote and shot a pointed confrontation between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, he said he didn’t realize they would literally become enemies in next year's Captain America: Civil War. Other elements, however — like suggesting the world-ending plans of a certain powerful purple alien who first popped up after the credits of 2012's The Avengers — were much more deliberate. And they put Whedon at odds with one of his most deeply held convictions, that a feature film should always be its own discrete story, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
“If I haven't brought you on a journey and closed it out, fuck me.”
"No matter how much they may talk about, 'Well, this is going to lead to some terrible stuff down the line,' in my movie, it's designed to be a complete experience," he said. "And if I don't do that, if I haven't brought you on that journey and closed it out, fuck me. That's the danger of this sort of serialized storytelling, turning the motion picture experience into episodic TV. Because we have episodic TV, and now you don't even have to wait to watch it, you can binge it. So that's to me a dreadful mistake." Whedon chuckled bitterly. "Somebody said, 'Well, that was a great setup for the next thing!' in one of the test screenings, and I died inside. [Marvel executives] were like, 'No! They say that all the time, it's fine.' I was like, 'No, that's the worst thing I could have heard.' I want people to come out feeling done." And Whedon is done, with Marvel Studios, at least for the foreseeable future. On set in July, in fact, he was already pretty clear that he wanted to move on, in his Joss Whedon way: "My dad said about quitting Captain Kangaroo, 'You know, I figured out all the ways there are to have Ping-Pong balls rain on a bunny.'" In April, after months of well-reported negotiations, Captain America: Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo officially signed on to direct the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, and Whedon had no regrets. Mostly. "Not that we got into offers or anything, because I was very clear for a long time that I wasn't going to do it," he said. "[But] walking away from Infinity War was walking away from, you know … that would have been a lifestyle game changer, like the kind when you win The Game of Life." And despite any discord Whedon may have felt about working within the Marvel machine, he ultimately had no hard feelings. "Working at Marvel is the best experience I'll ever have with a studio," he said. "And honestly, all of this is a ridiculous dream. But at the end of the day, you know, it is a Marvel film. There are other arrows in my quiver — I hope." He paused. "Unless this is my swan song. In which case, it's a big fucking swan."
Chelsea Lauren / Getty Images; Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed
Directors who tend to find themselves on the list of the highest-grossing big fucking swans of all time — James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg — tend to engineer their careers so they can find themselves on it again. Despite his anxiety about its success, there is every indication Age of Ultron could vault Whedon back into their company. But having lived for half a decade in Hollywood's most rarefied air, Whedon does not seem too interested in returning to it. "I feel a little bit like Val Kilmer in The Doors, where they were like, ‘You will never play Ed Sullivan again!’" he said. "And he's like, 'We played Sullivan.' I grew up wanting to make summer popcorn movies. That was my dream. But I've dreamed a lot since then." But the other difference between Whedon and those blockbuster filmmakers is that their blockbusters don't carry a Marvel brand above the title. Whedon's reputation as a top-tier filmmaker has without a doubt dramatically improved thanks to his tenure at the studio, but that doesn't mean he's joined that elite of elite directors who can do whatever they want. "Doing [Agents of] S.H.I.E.L.D. and doing this movie made me realize there's almost no such thing as a track record," Whedon said. "I'm talking about with corporations. Like, there may be somebody out there who would say, 'Do whatever you want.' But I've never experienced it, and I don't expect it. Part of me is OK with that, because I feel like usually in my opinion when a director finally gets to make their dream project, it's their worst movie. There's something about the friction between the artist and the company." Instead of a blank check from Hollywood, Whedon believes he's earned something far more valuable. "I think as a human being and an artist, neither of which I'm entirely comfortable calling myself … I'm excited about idea of just creating without thought of distribution, company, ratings, medium, anything,” he said. “For me, that's the carte blanche." In January, Whedon told BuzzFeed News that he had been toying with the notion of making "a nice sort of hard action movie … that would be the love child of Sam Fuller and Edward Gorey." Since then, however, after staring down the abyss of Age of Ultron's potential failure, Whedon has become certain in his desire to be uncertain about everything.
Jay Maidment Whedon on the Avengers: Age Of Ultron setThree Greek naval airmen were missing and feared dead after a Greek navy helicopter crashed early on Thursday off the small island of Kinaros in the eastern Aegean Sea, Greece's Defense Ministry said.
“The Agusta Bell helicopter was taking part in the night military exercise 'hunder'. It had taken off from a frigate sailing in the area and disappeared from radar around 0045 GMT. Wreckage has been found near Kinaros,” a ministry official said.
Kinaros is an islet near the island of Amorgos.
Armed forces chief Vangelis Apostolakis said weather conditions had been normal at the time when radar contact and communications were lost.
He said only parts of the wreckage had been found, and that there was little hope that any of the crew would be found alive.
Turkey issued a Notice to Airmen saying the Greek rescue operation was within its maritime search and rescue region and that all efforts should be coordinated with Turkish authorities.
[Reuters]The Mouse
by Voicing CSA with Slurpy Studios and Collage Arts
Story – Katie Steed and Phillip Lafferty
Script – Chris Harper and Phillip Lafferty
Animation – Fern Bailey
Animation Producer – Aaron Wood
Animation Director – Katie Steed
Sound – Llamar King with Jonny Royall
Piano – Inês Müller Karanassos
Voiceover – Chris Harper
With Graeme Brookes, Emily Bowker, Freya Dominic, Mitesh Soni, Edmund Wiseman and David Whitworth
Production Graphics – Akil Wilson
Produced by Chris Harper
Special thanks to Donna Peach for the statistics of Child Sexual Abuse.
With particular support at Collage Arts from Preeti Dasgupta, Toby Fernandes and Jason Doorbeejan.
With further thanks to Duncan Sones, Steve Sumner, Slurpy Studios, Monaj Ambasna, Kwadwo Acheawpong and the staff and students of Collage Arts. Plus a special acknowledgement of all the speakers, attendees and supporters who have helped shape and develop VCSA to what it is today.
“Ask not what the future can do for your past but what your past can do for the future”When I graduated from college in 2011, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program didn’t yet exist. So, instead of a graduation day characterized by excitement and possibilities, I faced the iron gate of being undocumented. Without a work permit, I felt a deep level of anxiety of what my future would hold and a locked door blocking future potential accomplishments.
This uncertainty is why so many of us fought — we came out as “undocumented and unafraid” and organized — to win work permits and protection from deportation. We wanted to ensure that the many other young people — including my sister, who call this country their home — wouldn’t have to grow up and live under the constant threat of deportation.
And here’s the inspiring thing: we won.
Five years ago today, the Obama administration accepted the first application for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA provided new opportunities and futures for nearly 800,000 Dreamers who could then live, study, and work in the United States of America without the fear of deportation.
Each DACA recipient who came forward passed a background check and was granted permission to live and work legally in America. As a result, many have fulfilled their dreams of attending and completing college, purchasing homes and cars, and working legally to build their future and provide for their families.
For the past five years, these young immigrants have gained a sense of stability. DACA allows them to live freely and fully. But today, under the Trump administration and the guide of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that freedom is threatened.
At the end of June 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine other states sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions threatening to sue President Trump if he doesn’t end the DACA program by September 5.
By attacking the DACA program, their goal is to drive people back into the shadows and into a life of fear, but they will not succeed.
As my father often says, “If you get up, you’ll fall. If you fall, you’ll get up again.” Come what may, we will get up, unite, and rise together to defend DACA and the Dreamers against any and all attacks. We will not let the current administration prevent us from making even greater progress in the fight to protect our American ideals.
Even President Trump has recognized the great contributions of Dreamers and said earlier this year that he would protect them. The decision is now his. Will he pull the rug out from under these young immigrants or will he uphold the values of the American dream and protect them?Universal Says It Can Ignore Fair Use In DMCA Takedowns
from the and-it-might-be-right dept
Last year, we wrote about the case where Universal Music sent a takedown notice to YouTube when a woman posted a short (29-second) video of her toddler running around with a Prince song (barely audible) in the background. Universal backed down when challenged on the takedown notice, but the woman (with the help of the EFF) hit back and have sued Universal Music for a false takedown.The DMCA has provisions for a copyright holder to assert ownership, at which point the service provider needs to takedown the content. Whoever posted the content can protest that the content was legally posted -- which is exactly what happened in this case. However, the DMCA also says that filing a false DMCA notice opens one up to damages from those whose content was taken down. This was in an effort to discourage false DMCA notices. This provision was used last year against Viacom for its false takedowns on satirical clips of the Colbert Report.The question then, is whether or not filing a takedown notice on content that is used in a way consistent with "fair use" is a misuse or not. Universal Music's claim is that it is not reasonable for the copyright holder to take fair use into consideration before sending a takedown notice. At a first pass, it sounds like the judge agrees As ridiculous as this whole situation is, the judge and Universal Music may be correct under the existing law. There isn't anything in the law that says the copyright holder needs to take into account the user's defenses. It just says they need to be the legitimate copyright holder (which Universal Music is).The real problem, then, in this story isn't Universal Music's actions (though Universal was acting in a rather heavy handed manner in getting the video taken down), but with the DMCA itself that forces a takedown before the user gets to respond with a defense. It's this "notice and takedown" provision that's a problem. If, instead, we had a "notice and notice" provision that allowed the user to respond before the takedown occurred, it would be a lot more reasonable and would avoid ridiculous situations such as this one.
Filed Under: copyright, dmca, fair use, prince, takedown notice
Companies: eff, universal musicLockheed Martin will delay components of the F-35 program for seven months, costing nearly $500 million, after assuring President-elect Donald Trump it would do all it could do to drive costs down.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain revealed the delay in the historically expensive program after a letter from a U.S. under-secretary of defense. The F-35 has cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $400 billion in total, double the original estimates for the program.
The delay comes after Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson gave Trump a “personal commitment” to “aggressively” drive costs down on the program.
“This is yet another troubling sign for a program that has already nearly doubled in cost, taken nearly two decades to field, and has long been the poster child for acquisition malpractice,” McCain said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
The F-35 program has drawn significant ire from Trump both on Twitter and statements. Trump tweeted Dec. 22 that he was asking the Boeing corporation to offer a competitively priced alternative to the F-35 program, which is the current flagship fighter program of the U.S. The F-35 program is the most expensive weapons program in U.S. history.
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Disruptions to the microbiome in early life may raise the risk of certain diseases later in life. Disruptions to the microbiome in early life may raise the risk of certain diseases later in life.
In the journal Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today, Dr. Sharon Meropol, associate director for research and evaluation at University Hospital (UH) Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, OH, and colleagues review a collection of studies in a special issue titled The Microbiome and Childhood Diseases.
The microbiome refers to the tens of trillions of microorganisms that live in our intestine, respiratory tract and on our skin.
There is increasing evidence that disruptions to a person's microbiota in early life may influence the likelihood of developing certain illnesses later in life. Earlier this year, for example, a study reported by Medical News Today found that an increase in richness of gut bacteria at 3 months of age was associated with reduced risk for food allergies at 1 year of age.
"Disturbed microbiota could potentially contribute to a wide range of childhood diseases including allergies, asthma, obesity and autism-like neurodevelopmental conditions," notes Dr. Meropol.
However, she points to a number of recent studies that suggest a number of factors that may aid a child's microbiome development, including breastfeeding, vaginal birth and skin-to-skin contact straight after birth.
A study reported by MNT last year, for instance, suggested that breastfeeding helps infants grow friendly gut bacteria.
Growing evidence that microbiota development begins before birth
Popular notion holds that the development of microbiota begins at birth and that the womb is a sterile environment.
However, recent studies have challenged this idea, suggesting that gut microbiota development begins before birth. Dr. Meropol and colleagues discuss this theory, pointing to a review that assesses the growing evidence that a child's microbiota development starts in the womb.
Fast facts about the gut microbiome The gut contains at least 1,000 species of known bacteria
Gut micriobiota can weigh up to 2 kg
One third of our gut microbiota is common to most people, while two thirds are specific to each person. Learn more about the gut
In a review titled "Microbial Programming of health and disease starts during fetal life," Petya T. Koleva, of the University of Alberta in Canada, and colleagues cite research that found the offspring of mothers with allergies have greater abundance of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria in their earliest stools, which may raise their risk of later-life respiratory problems.
"This means that not only do we have to consider the microbiome of the child but also that of the mother," notes Dr. Meropol, "and the irony is that some of our modern medical practices, through their effect on these early microbiota, could have unintended consequences, interfering with normal development of children's immune, metabolic, and neurologic systems."
She and her colleague Amy Edwards, also of the UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, point to formula feeding, Cesarean section, immunizations and antibiotic use as some of the modern factors that may negatively impact the early microbiome.
While there is strong existing evidence that the maternal and infant microbiomes can influence a child's disease risk, Dr. Meropol believes that the research to date has only "scratched the surface."
She and Edwards emphasize the need to "better understand these complex changes in infant developmental and molecular physiology. Protecting and repairing the developmental processes of the healthy infant microbiome is the modern medical frontier."
Earlier this month, MNT reported on a study suggesting the immune system plays a role in the evolution of gut bacteria.You can order CEOs to mediation, but you can't make them agree. U.S. District Judge William Alsup may have gotten Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Google CEO Larry Page into a courtroom to try to get them to settle Oracle's lawsuit over Android and its alleged infringement on Java, but they're not going to come to an agreement.
For starters, the two companies have this little "gap" between their damage estimates. Oracle started out wanting something on the order of 2.6-billion bucks in damages. Some estimates had Oracle wanting as much as $6.1- billion large. Google thinks $100-million should be sufficient payoff.
So, since there's a minimum difference of a mere $2.5-billion, I doubt there will be an agreement. But, what do the experts think? I asked two leading intellectual property (IP) law attorneys for their take, and I got two very different views.
Thomas Carey, a partner at Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers LLP, a leading IP law firm and chairman of its Business Practice Group, doesn't see any agreement coming. Carey said, "This sort of forced negotiation is not likely to succeed unless Google offers billions to Oracle. This seems unlikely to me because Google is infected with a sense of righteousness that makes them oblivious to the possibility that they might actually have their ass handed to them in this lawsuit"
Therefore, Carey thinks that, "Google's best hope is for delay. If the judge were to delay the trial until the completion of the reexamination process, Oracle might get impatient for a settlement and Google might winnow down the claims to ones that it can design around."
But, if they can't come to an agreement in the future, then "If the trial |
know one of them personally, Peter Coors of Coors Brewing in Golden, Colorado where I live. He personally used his millions to defeat container-deposit laws in Colorado in 1974 and 1988. I asked him why? He said to me in a letter, Its only an 8 percent waste stream. When you take 8 percent and apply it to trillions of plastic containers, you come up with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I call Peter Coors a pretend environmentalist. (In third world countries, people toss everything as if they still lived in the Stone Age. They walk in it, through it and throw more into it. Dont laugh, Americans, Canadians, Europeans and Australians all toss their trash into the oceans, along roadsides, in parks, in rivers, in lakes and into streams. The human race as a whole proves itself pretty pathetic.) Photography by Zuma Press Thus, the onslaught of our oceans rips at the foundation of all of life. To think that we stand ready to add another 3.1 billion of our kind within 37 years. And guys like Marco Torres tell us that human overpopulation remains a myth, a charade and a misnomer. To that, I conclude he continues breathing but remains intellectually vacant. ## If you would like to make a difference, please join these organizations for the most effective collective action you can take: www.CapsWeb.org ; www.NumbersUSA.org ; www.TheSocialContract.com ; www.Fairus.org Join me, Frosty Wooldridge, with Dave Chaffin, host of the Morning Zone at 650 AM, www.KGAB.com, Cheyenne, Wyoming every Monday 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., as we discuss my latest commentaries about issues facing America. You may stream the show on your computer. You may call in at: 1-888-503-6500. ## In a five minute astoundingly simple yet brilliant video, Immigration, Poverty, and Gum Balls , Roy Beck, director of www.numbersusa.ORG, graphically illustrates the impact of overpopulation. Take five minutes to see for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE&feature=player_embedded Immigration by the numbersoff the chart by Roy Beck This 10 minute demonstration shows Americans the results of unending mass immigration on the quality of life and sustainability for future generations: in a few words, Mind boggling! www.NumbersUSA.org http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muw22wTePqQ Visit www.TheSocialContract.com for the best information on what we face as a civilization as to overpopulation, energy, immigration and much more. Canada www.immigrationwatchcanada.org ; in Australia www.population.org.au andPublicPopForum@yahoogroups.com; in Great Britain www.populationmatters.org ; and dozens of other sites accessed at www.frostywooldridge.com. In Florida, www.flimen.org. Must see: Rapid Population Decline, seven minute video by Dr. Jack Alpert- www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTWduFB_RX0 Dave Gardner, President, Citizen-Powered Media ; Producing the Documentary, GROWTH BUSTERS; presents Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity, Join the cause at www.growthbusters.org ; Trailer to his latest movie on overpopulation: http://youtu.be/KLWxWOcUrVc
Check out this link with Wooldridge on bicycle and Lester Brown and panel discussion: www.upnorthmedia.org/watchupnorthtv.asp?SDBFid=1631 Tomorrow's Americaproject on www.youtube.com/contemporarylearning. Producer: GEORGE A. COLBURNwww.tomorrowsamerica.com DC: 202-258-4887 Email: gac@starbrightmc.com Link to www.tomorrowsamerica.com for more discussions on America's predicament. FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.starbrightmediacorp.com www.tomorrowsamerica.com Alexandra Paul talks about human overpopulation and saving our world by all women having 1 child only: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNxctzyNxC0 One planet, one child: http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/content/one-planet-onechild =================================================== We must come to terms with birth control and stabilizing human population. This three minute video brings the terror of Indias predicament up close and personal by Paul Winn of Australia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZKd_Jvf2_c This film will rock you: MOTHER: CARING FOR 7 BILLION Dr. Jack Alpert, www.skil.org Too Many People Video series How Much Degrowth is Enough? "NEW" Sept. 2012 The Human Predicament and What to Do About It Feb. 2012 Overpopulation Means Civilization Collapse Aug. 2011
## Important books to read and educate yourself:
Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation, edited by Philip Cafaro and Eileen Crist, 2012 The World Without Us, Alan Weisman 2007 A scholarly research on how the Earth will fare after Homo sapiens are gone. Man Swarm, and the Killing of Wildlife, Dave Foreman 2011 Mankind as locusts. Take Conservation Back, Dave Foreman, 2013 The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler, what America faces when oil runs out. Overshoot by William Catton Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond Peek Everything: Facing a century of Declines by Richard Heinberg Plan B, 4.0, Saving Civilization by Lester Brown The Population Fix by Edward C. Hartman America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans by Frosty WooldridgeThe Murky Story of Whether the U.S. and Assad Are Teaming Up Against ISIS
In the tangled web of the Syrian civil war, it is no secret that the United States’ decision to launch a military campaign against the Islamic State has effectively allied Washington with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. That uncomfortable fact has given rise to a related and politically explosive question: Is Washington in any meaningful way coordinating its military operations with Assad?
According to the White House, no such coordination is taking place, but on Tuesday, the BBC released an interview with Assad in which he claimed that there is some limited communication between the United States and Syria.
Asked by Jeremy Bowen, the network’s Middle East editor, whether the fact that the United States Air Force has been able to operate in Syrian air space without encountering opposition from Syrian government forces is evidence that “someone is talking to someone here” in Damascus, Assad replied: “That’s correct, that’s correct.”
“But again there’s no direct cooperation,” Assad elaborated. “Through a third party — more than one party — Iraq and other countries. Sometimes they convey message, general message, but there’s nothing tactical.”
A White House spokesman denied cooperation with Assad and told the network that there is no “advance notification to the Syrians at a military level.” But the disagreement here appears to be one of degree, not substance.
The cooperation described by Assad does not amount to tactical coordination on where and when air strikes will take place and who will carry them out. Rather, there appears to be a channel open between Washington and Damascus allowing them to convey messages to one another.
“There’s no dialogue,” Assad told the BBC. “There’s, let’s say, information but not dialogue.”
At the outset of the air campaign against the Islamic State in September, Assad offered tacit approval to the effort, telling an Iraqi official that “Syria supports any international counterterrorism effort.” That prompted speculation that the Iraqi official in question, National Security Advisor Faleh al-Fayyad, was acting as a go-between for Washington and Damascus.
In the BBC interview, he Assad appeared to confirm the existence of the back-channel: “We knew about the campaign before it started, but we didn’t know about the details.”
Two days after Fayyad met with Assad in Damascus, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a group of reporters that he had sent an adviser to Syria to assure its leader that it would not be a target of the military campaign. Abadi added that the Americans had asked that he pass along a similar message.
And why wouldn’t the United States keep open a channel to Damascus? Washington surely wants to avoid a confrontation between its jets and those belonging to the Syrian air force. Such an encounter, involving the possible downing of a U.S. plane in Syrian territory, could drag the United States into a wider military confrontation in the Middle East, something President Barack Obama has staked his entire presidency on avoiding.
There’s no evidence to indicate that these indirect conversations between Washington and Damascus go beyond the kind of general information described by Assad, but the existence of a channel can’t be denied. In a war this complicated, where a misstep could cause serious repercussions, that may be for the best.Image caption Guardianship rules severely restrict the freedom of women in Saudi Arabia
When she was a little girl, Samia* would practice medical procedures on watermelons.
Back then, her dream was to become a successful surgeon and to marry a good man.
"I started to dream of the [wedding] gown when I was 10 or 11 years old. I dreamed of forming a small family - having a kid like my mum and to be a surgeon at the same time".
More than 30 years on, Samia is a fully-qualified doctor.
But in a country where the guardianship system means a woman's life is not her own, her dreams of a happy marriage - with a man of her own choosing - have been taken away from her.
Now, as she prepares to take her father before the Saudi Supreme Court, she spoke to Outlook on the BBC World Service about her hopes that her experience may pave the way to a "girl rebellion".
Arranged marriage
In Saudi Arabia, a highly conservative Islamic state, women must have a male guardian.
Until marriage, guardianship will typically be the job of the father, but this role can be performed by uncles, brothers, and even sons.
Outlook Outlook tells extraordinary personal stories from around the world.
It is broadcast by the BBC World Service Listen to Outlook More from BBC World Service
Under this tradition, Saudi women must obtain permission from their guardian to work, travel, study, marry, or even access certain types of healthcare.
For Samia, it meant months of trying to persuade her father, a successful businessman, that going to a mixed-gender medical school was a good idea for her future.
"I made a bargain with my parents," she remembers. "I tried to convince them that... if I submitted my papers to the medical school, I will get a big salary, and the salary would be in their hands. They accepted this deal."
As she began medical school, much of Samia's monthly income was taken by her family - but more importantly to her, her choice of male suitor was a decision she was not allowed to make.
Immediately after I stepped out of court, [my father] took me home and beat me, and locked me up in my room for three months Samia
"A lot of [colleagues from medical school] had proposed to me," she said. "But they had been refused by my parents for nonsense reasons."
The men were, her father and brothers warned, not from their tribe or were looking to steal her money.
For Samia, there was only one special man, who proposed after she graduated from medical school. Although he comes from a well-known and religious family, and is himself wealthy, her family still refused, she says.
"But I am very attached and I insisted on this guy," Samia says.
Instead, her father found a husband for her - a cousin, she says, who was much younger and less educated than her.
"He told me 'I'm offering you to him'," she recalls.
Locked up
By 2002, aged 33, Samia says her battles with her father were going nowhere.
Eventually, she went to the courts and filed a complaint against him. But, according to Samia, he was able to convince the judge that her chosen marriage candidates were unsuitable.
After the court case, her father and brothers became violent towards her, she says.
"Immediately after I stepped out of court, [my father] took me home and beat me, and locked me up in my room for three months," Samia remembers.
Desperate to get back to her studies, Samia agreed to drop the issue of marriage. By 2006, she had qualified as a surgeon and was earning an impressive wage, most of which was being taken by her family.
By now she was 38 and felt she was running out of time to get married.
Yet, just as before, approaching her father about the possibility of granting permission for marriage was met with anger. Samia was once again locked in her room for months - her father telling the hospital where Samia worked that she was mentally unstable.
It was then that one of her sisters managed to smuggle a mobile phone into Samia's room. She rang a human rights society, which told her to send a letter asking for help. She threw the letter out of her first-floor window to a friend waiting below.
Image caption Many Saudi women flouted driving bans recently amid efforts to gain more rights
Representatives from the rights group came with the police to rescue her from her father's home in the city of Medina, she says. They placed her in a government shelter in another Saudi city and helped Samia take her case back to court. Again, she lost.
She now works as the duty doctor at the shelter on wages well below what she would earn as a surgeon. But she fears that her family would track her down at a hospital.
After telling a journalist her story, news of her plight spread across Saudi Arabia and a lawyer agreed to take on her case pro-bono.
After years of failed appeals, Samia and the human rights society are gearing up to face the Saudi Supreme Court which, according to Amnesty International's Saudi Arabia researcher Dina el-Mamoun, will be a tough battle.
"It's difficult to win these cases because there are no clear guidelines in terms of what they have to prove. The judges have huge discretion in relation to these cases. The outcome really depends on which judge gets the case and who rules on it," says Ms Mamoun.
Samia's case is not a one off. Across the oil-rich desert kingdom, dozens of women are taking guardianship grievances to court. And they are gaining public support.
"I think in terms of public opinion, you do see a lot of sympathy with these women," says Ms Mamoun.
Samia, now 43, is still clinging to her childhood dream of having a family. Her special man, she says, is waiting for her and fighting bravely alongside her.
"I'm still dreaming," she says. "The flame will be alive until my death."
*We have withheld Samia's real name for privacy reasons.by Ali Papademetriou
California lawmaker and member of the United States Senate committee, Diane Feinstein has let it be known that she strongly supports the National Security Agency and its surveillance programs. The agency has caught much heat from the American people after whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the NSA spies on millions of citizens through their phone data.
Last weekend, she published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, claiming that the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented had the NSA surveillance programs been alive beforehand. “We would have detected the impending attack that killed 3,000 Americans,” she wrote.
Then on Monday, she stated that the NSA’s bulk compilation of phone records is actually “not surveillance” and is rather just a necessary device by means of fighting terrorism. Her statement was made in an op-ed, which was published by USA Today.
She also asserted that the agency’s actions have been “effective in helping to prevent terrorist plots against the US and our allies.”
Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, both of whom are also members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to NSA director Keith Alexander, criticizing him by detailing, “Saying that ‘these programs’ have ‘disrupted dozens of potential terrorist plots’ is misleading if the bulk phone records collection program is actually providing little or no value.” They also detailed how the NSA has only stopped a few pieces of terror plots over the years – contradictory to Senator Feinstein’s assertions.
It was also reported by the Guardian that Senator Feinstein is anticipating introducing legislation, which would criminally punish those who make critical statements about the NSA and its secret courts.
Feinstein’s bill comes just in time in the agency’s favor, considering both the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) have active lawsuits against the NSA for its unconstitutional surveillance of US citizens.
Update 6:06PM: Guardian hyperlink fixed to Feinstein’s upcoming introduction of new bill.
Image Reference
AP Photo/Luis M. AlvarezBy Anne Perry
Posted on February 16, 2015 in Film with tags Film Review, Space
The day after I saw Jupiter Ascending, my husband asked me whether it was good or bad. I had to think about it a bit before answering.
We were, at the time, sharing a sea salt carmel and banana cream doughnut from Crosstown Doughnuts; it was a giant, gooey disaster, a banana cream-stuffed chocolate doughnut iced in banana frosting and topped with a generous helping of crumbled brownie and gooey carmel. The lovely gentleman who sold it to us assured us that the banana cream was made up of between two and three bananas per doughnut. Per doughnut. Given the amount of banana cream that I had to try to wipe off myself after eating the doughnut, I believe him.
Lord, that doughnut.
It was too much. It shouldn’t have worked.
It did.
It was awesome.
Much like that doughnut, Jupiter Ascending is a giant, gooey mess. It is perposterously overstuffed, laughably overambitious… and really good fun. I encourage every single one of you to go see it, many times over. If Jupiter Ascending doesn’t get a sequel or two, we’re all losing out.
Now, look. You’ve probably heard distressing things about Jupiter Ascending – it’s a bloated spectacle-fest featuring laughable dialogue, terrible acting, the barest bones of a plot, Sean Bean as a bee-man named Stinger, Channing Tatum as a dog-man (not named Rex, fortunately), and Mila Kunis as the toilet-scrubbing empress of Earth. Oh, and Eddie Redmayne as… something. Oh, and the bee stuff?
All of that is true.
None of it is bad. Let’s take everything in turn.
1. It’s a bloated spectacle-fest: YES, of course it is. It’s by the Wachowskis. They invented the modern bloated spectacle-fest. But, being a Wachowski feature, the film boasts a lunatic, baroque production design and some jaw-dropping effects. I don’t often say ‘go see this film in 3D’ (in fact, I’ve never said it before), but it’s worth it here. This is no dark, ensmalled 3D conversion. This is glorious candy-coloured eye-popping film.
2. Laughable dialogue: I went in knowing about the ‘I’ve always liked dogs’ line. I did not go in expecting it to be played for laughs. The film is just self-aware enough about its own utter absurdity handle it. And yet, the film’s not so winkingly self-aware that it doesn’t take itself seriously. The balance is a dangerous one, but don’t let reviewers put you off: the script-writers know what they’re doing.
3. Terrible acting: Actually, the acting is fine. Channing Tatum is… a dog-man, yes, but he dials down the Magic Mike charm – which wouldn’t be appropriate – and it works. Mila Kunis similarly dials down that sharp energy that made her so compelling in Black Swan… until she needs it, at which point she ramps it up to eleven. In some cases – well, in one case – the acting’s exactly as baroque and over the top as the rest of the film, Eddie Redmayne. Yes, Eddie Redmayne, who’ll probably walk away from the Academy Awards this coming weekend with an Oscar, turns in one of the most unutterably weird performances I’ve seen in, oh, ever, maybe? He plays his immortal space villain as 2/3 John Malkovich in Dangerous Liasions and 1/3 Anthony Hopkins in Hannibal. He’s also on-screen for about 10 minutes total. Much like my doughnut, there isn’t a single word to describe what he does with the role.
4. Bare-bones plot: Jupiter Ascending’s story is a fairly basic heroic journey. Girl learns she’s the reincarnation of a near-immortal space-empress, girl meets ab-riffic dog-man, girl rises to meet her destiny and kicks butt. She’s the hero with a thousand faces, and the film is all about her. If that still sounds problematic, go ahead and tell me what the plot of Pacific Rim was.
5. Sean Bean as a bee-man named Stinger: Is this is a problem? This is not a problem.
5. Channing Tatum as a dog-man: Look, I know it sounds absurd. I know that. It’s fine. I swear, it’s only dumb-sounding on paper. Just go see the film. Within the context of Jupiter Ascending’s own internal logic, it is totally fine. Also he spends about 1/4 of the film shirtless, if that’s your thing.
6. Mila Kunis: You guys, I have seen That 70’s Show. I’ve seen a lot of episodes of That 70’s Show. Did any of us predict that Ashton Kutcher would be its first big break-out star? That Laura Prepon would go on to play one of the most compelling characters in Orange is the New Black, which is pretty much all compelling characters? Why is it such a shock that Mila Kunis – who, yes, on That 70’s Show is unbearable, is actually a good actress? Seriously, her spikey, magnetic, dangerous performance was 100% the best part about Black Swan, an overrated heap of pretentious nonsense. Trust her to carry the role in an underrated heap of baroque nonsense.
7. Eddie Redmayne as… something: I’ve already tried to cover this, but, again, words can’t do it justice. He deserves some sort of something for his performance in Jupiter Ascending. He is a sea-salt carmel & banana cream doughnut.
8. The bee stuff: Well, it turns out that bees are genetically designed to recognise royalty. This is a plot-point that exists primarily to give the animators a chance to show Mila Kunis controlling a swarm of bees. It’s awesome. It also raises a number of interesting questions about, say, the Queen of England.
In all seriousness: with The Matrix, the Wachowskis demonstrated a game-changing visual imagination and acuity and sent action-heavy cinema hurtling into the 21st century. I’m not convinced there’s any film-making team out there that understands better the poetry inherent in visual language than the Wachowskis; from the utterly jaw-dropping effect of the famous ‘bullet-time’ shot in The Matrix to the present, they’re constantly pushing the envelope. They elevate action into ballet (in their failures as well as their successes) and, if you’re anything like me, you like your ballet to be a pan-galactic explodey-fest. Which this very much is.
Jupiter Ascending isn’t just that (though it is a lot of that). It’s also a fun movie with a legitimately strong female lead. And Channing Tatum as a sometimes-shirtless dog-man. And Sean Bean as a bee-man names Stinger. And Eddie Redmayne. And some other bee stuff, too.
Just go see it.Companii
Petrom, cel mai mare vânzător de benzină şi motorină din România, a înregistrat anul trecut încasări de circa 2,2 mld. lei (500 de milioane de euro) din produsele şi serviciile non-oil, segment care a ajuns unul dintre cele mai importante elemente de diferenţiere din retailul de carburanţi.
Cu o reţea de peste 550 de benzinării, Petrom poate fi considerat cel mai mare proprietar de mici supermarketuri, compania petrolieră reuşind să genereze prin acest segment încasări mai mari decât francezii de la Cora, de exemplu, un business activ pe piaţa locală prin intermediul a 11 hipermarketuri.
„În 2015, cifra de afaceri obţinută din comercializarea produselor complementare exprimată în lei a reprezentat 15% din cifra de afaceri totală a activităţii de comerţ cu amănuntul, în creştere cu 8% comparativ cu anul anterior, reflectând îmbunătăţirea performanţei şi rezultatul implementării conceptului shop-inshop şi al altor parteneriate strategice”, se arată în raportul anual al companiei petroliere.In 2014, 10,574 people died of heroin overdose while 15,778 died from an overdose of psychiatric medications, nearly 50% more.
We often hear the shocking fact that deaths from heroin increased nearly 5 fold (374%) between 1999 and 2014, but rarely – if ever – do we hear that deaths from psychiatric drug overdoses have increased nearly 4 fold (278%) over the same time period. The data are summarized in Figure 1.
The biggest killers are sedatives (benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Z-drugs such as Ambien), antidepressants, psychostimulants (Ritalin, amphetamine, and methamphetamine), and antipsychotics, in that order, as shown in Figure 2.
What accounts for this high overdose death rate for users of psychiatric medications and for the steep climb in death rates over the past 15 years? A number of factors appear to contribute to this, including increased prescribing, increased polypharmacy (prescribing multiple drugs to the same person at once), increased off-label prescribing, and increased prescribing of psychiatric drugs by non specialists, including general practitioners, nurse practitioners, and others untrained in the field of psychiatry. We will proceed to look at each of these factors below.
According to data from the MEPS (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey) database, the number of prescriptions for psychiatric medications (i. e. sedatives, antidepressants, psychostimulants, and antipsychotics) increased 117% between 1999 and 2013, from 197,247,557 prescriptions in 1999 to 427,837,506 prescriptions in 2013. Meanwhile, death rates from psychiatric medication overdose climbed a whopping 240% over the same time period, from 1.31 deaths per 100,000 in 1999 to 4.46 deaths per 100,000 in 2013 (we are excluding the CDC death rate data from 2014 since the MEPS 2014 data has not yet been published).
Details of prescribing by drug class are given in Figure 3 and percentage of increase in prescribing is in Figure 4. Although the increase in number of prescriptions partially accounts for the increase in death rates, it is clear that it does not account for all of them, and that there must be other factors involved. Those primary factors are most likely polypharmacy, off-label prescribing, and non-specialist prescribing.
Polypharmacy
Although medical scholars use the word polypharmacy in several different ways, the simplest definition is “the prescription of two or more drugs at the same time.” In other words, drug mixing. In some cases, such as HIV treatment, polypharmacy is an evidence-based best practice. In other cases, such as psychiatric treatment, there is little research to back up most instances of polypharmacy; moreover, inappropriate polypharmacy can be harmful or even deadly.
Kingsbury and Lotito (2007) state that:
“A great deal of data exists about the dangers of polypharmacy. Persons with psychiatric disorders experience increased risk for adverse drug interactions because of the great frequency with which multiple medications are used. Using multiple antipsychotics concomitantly has been associated with increased mortality in patients with schizophrenia. Reports of adverse psychiatric polypharmacy effects are abundant, including increased duration of hospital stay.“
Kukreja et al. (2013) tell us that:
“While evidence for the added benefit of psychiatric polypharmacy is limited, there is growing evidence regarding the increased adverse effects associated with such combinations. Concerns with polypharmacy include not only possibilities of cumulative toxicity and increased vulnerability to adverse events but also adherence issues which emerge with increasing regimen complexity.“
Mojtabai and Olfson (2010) report major increases in psychiatric polypharmacy: in office-based psychiatry practices in the United States the median number of medications prescribed per visit doubled from 1 in 1996-1997 to 2 in 2005-2006 and the mean number increased by 40.1% from 1.42 in 1996-1997 to 1.99 in 2005-2006.
In Figure 5 we show the percentage of deaths due to drug mixing in each psychiatric medication class in 2014. Figure 6 lists the drug combinations with psychiatric medications which had the highest death rates in 2014.
Off-label and general practitioner prescribing of psychiatric medications: Off-label prescribing refers to prescribing a drug for a reason other than one which has been approved by the FDA. Although there are instances where off-label prescribing is based on sound published scientific evidence, this is not so in the vast majority of cases. Radley et al. (2006) found that only 4% of off-label psychiatric prescriptions had strong scientific support. Ali and Ajmal (2012) report that off-label prescribing carries clinical risks, such as adverse effects and unproven efficacy. Additionally, Mojtabai and Olfson (2011) report that 72.7% of antidepressant prescriptions in 2007 were written in the absence of any psychiatric diagnosis. Moreover, according to Mark et al. (2009) less than one fourth of prescriptions for psychiatric medications are written by psychiatrist, over three fourths are written by general practitioners, nurse practitioners, and others untrained in the field of psychiatry.
In my personal experience running an alcohol support group, I have had countless women tell me that, despite admitting they were drinking too much, their GPs still prescribed an SSRI antidepressant and, shortly after starting the antidepressant, their alcohol consumption went through the roof. This is not surprising, in light of the fact that research by Naranjo et al. (1995) showed that women treated with SSRIs drank significantly more than women given a placebo; a survey by Graham and Massak (2007) also found antidepressants were useless for reducing drinking in women. Unfortunately, doctors who have been encouraged to write off-label prescriptions frequently jump to the conclusion that women who drink too much must be depressed, so they wind up prescribing an antidepressant that actually makes them drink more. There is a great deal of potential harm which can result from off-label prescribing.
Alternatives to Drug Therapy
Wouldn’t it be great if there were some way we could permanently change the wiring of the brain to ameliorate or eliminate things like depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia without a lifetime reliance on potentially deadly drugs? Actually there is: it is called psychotherapy.
Everything you do which changes the way you think also changes your brain. Recent neuroimaging studies of people who have undergone Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) by Porto et al. and by Quide et al. show different patterns of brain function than those who have not had such therapy. There is another type of psychotherapy known as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) which incorporates mindfulness and meditation practices into CBT. A large body of neuroimaging studies by Newberg demonstrate that mindfulness and meditation practices also permanently change the functioning of the brain.
But what about schizophrenia? Isn’t the only hope for schizophrenics to keep them doped up in a zombified stupor until the day they day? A recent New York Times article titled “New Approach Advised to Treat Schizophrenia” says no; the best treatment for schizophrenics is minimal use of antipsychotic drugs and lots of psychosocial therapy. The article then goes on to tell us that there is actually nothing “new” in this treatment approach, as it has been used in Scandinavia and Australia with great success for decades. It is only new to American psychiatrists who are too ignorant and arrogant to learn anything from the rest of the world and will only accept a study that has been carried out in America. But the reality is that it is not new – even in America. It is the model pioneered by Loren Mosher back in the 1970’s before Big Pharma got him fired from his post as chief of NIMH’s Center for the Study of Schizophrenia…because he was interfering with the profits from their latest huge money maker: antipsychotic drugs.
The reality is that drugging patients into a stupor with huge doses of antipsychotics prevents recovery from schizophrenia. This is why third world countries like India and Nigeria have much higher recovery rates for schizophrenia than the US; they cannot afford antipsychotic drugs which have good short term effects and very bad long term effects. Harding’s Vermont study found that half to two thirds of unmedicated schizophrenics recovered and Harrow found similar results. This is in stark contrast to medicated schizophrenics whose recovery rate is around 10 to 20%.
Conclusion
When prescribed appropriately, psychiatric medications are lifesaving, life changing wonder drugs. However, when over-prescribed or inappropriately prescribed they can lead to great harm and even death. What is needed is a major curtailment of polypharmacy, off-label prescribing, and non-specialist prescribing. The use of psychiatric drugs needs to be reduced to a mere fraction of current use rates and needs to be replaced or supplemented with appropriate psychosocial interventions which include not only therapy but such basics as housing, food security, and education. Money needs to be invested in social change rather than pill popping if we wish to create a healthy nation.
Would we say that just because insulin is good for diabetics that everyone should take it? No, that is nonsense because it would totally destroy a normal metabolism. Yet this is exactly the approach we are taking with psychiatric medications thanks to the misinformation that Big Pharma feeds to doctors and the general public in order to increase their sales and line their pockets.
Definitions Used in this Article Sedatives: MCD codes T42.3 Barbiturates, T42.4 Benzodiazepines, and T42.6 Other antiepileptic and sedative-hypnotic drugs (Z-drugs such as Ambien and Lunesta) Antidepressants: MCD codes T43.0 Tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants, T43.1 Monoamine-oxidase-inhibitor antidepressants, and T43.2 Other and unspecified antidepressants (SSRIs/SNRIs) Antipsychotics: MCD codes T43.3 Phenothiazine antipsychotics and neuroleptics, T43.4 Butyrophenone and thioxanthene neuroleptics, and T43.5 Other and unspecified antipsychotics and neuroleptics Psychostimulants: MCD codes T43.6 Psychostimulants with abuse potential These MCD codes were used with UCD codes X40-X44, X60-X64, X85, Y10-Y14 to extract data from CDC WONDER.
Image Courtesy of iStockWith a world reset just a few weeks ago, new features and fixes, a whole mess of new players, and rapidly-increasing ferocity on the fields of battle, Tribal Hero is the best it has ever been. New features like Barbarian Camps and an improved Newbie Tutorial make the game even easier for new players to enjoy, while improvements to Strongholds increase the strategic element still further. If strategy and community are what you’re looking for, Tribal Hero will not disappoint!
Posted by Rhythmatics on Jun 5th, 2013
We're now three weeks into the newest world here on Tribal Hero's Tribblez server, and things are just starting to really heat up. We recently posted on Reddit's r/gaming page and saw a significant spike of fresh faces, with conservative estimates in the hundreds and high estimates well over 1000. These newbies are already getting into the swing of things, with many of them joining the veterans already on the field of battle. Tribes consisting of large numbers of both new and veteran players alike have started making some serious attempts at controlling the increasingly stalwart Strongholds sprinkled around the map, one of the newer features in Tribal Hero.
The game world in Tribal Hero is occasionally reset as a means of leveling the playing field, with all players starting fresh. After conclusion of a map and just prior to reset, a clear cut list of victors across many categories is calculated and provided to the community; players and tribes are immortalized on this list for all to see, with accolades such as Top 50 Most Attack Points, Top 50 Most Defense Points, Top 50 Most Expensive City, and Most Victory Points given out to players and tribes in the form of Achievements.
For players who excel, there are now special Bronze, Silver, and Gold chat badges given out to the absolute best of the best in each category. These badges are directly tied to the Achievement on the player's account, and show up in chat next to the player's name for all to see. These achievements persist across world resets and never expire. Given enough time, dedication, and excellence, a player can accrue up to three badges, with the best possible combination being the as yet unachieved triple gold.
Strongholds are a new but integral part of Tribal Hero's player versus player gameplay, providing the only clear-cut way for your tribe to "win" the game. Strongholds have thick gates which must be broken through, and contain within them a large number of Barbarians waiting to defend their territory. Due to the high level of difficulty in Stronghold siege, players must band together to overcome the NPC Barbarians or their rival Trib |
Dr. András Göllner’s essay is the first installment of a three part series in HFP.
Introduction
It was during the 2016 Presidential election campaign, and for the first time in American electoral history, that a hostile foreign power, aided and abetted by one of the candidates, was able to decisively intervene and significantly influence the outcome of an American election.
American public opinion, the mass and social media, the political establishment and, the country’s secret services, are bitterly divided about the veracity of the relationship between the Russian secret services and Donald Trump’s campaign team. Most commentators claim that even if conclusive evidence of collusion were to be found, it is well nigh impossible to prove, that the relationship had any tangible impact on the outcome of the election.
This first, of a two part series, summarizes some fresh evidence about the nature of the collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. It will provide some empirically verifiable evidence of the electoral impact of the Russian leaks, in the context of the strategic aspirations of the Trump campaign.
We do not claim to have any insight into the evidence at the disposal of the FBI about the alleged collusion between the Trump team and the Russian secret service. What we have, is evidence, that the FBI is forbidden by law to investigate, because it lies outside the territory of the USA.
This series argues that the place where the FBI, Congress, and the American mass media should be looking for evidence, about the collusion between senior Trump staffers and the Russian secret service is not in America, but in far away Hungary, a member of NATO, the European Union, and a champion of Vladimir Putin in the West.
Our investigation has uncovered „the smoking gun” about the relationship between the Trump campaign and the Russian secret services. It shows that the connection between the Russian secret services and the Trump campaign is not a direct one. It did not run through the Russian embassy in the US or through the spies that have been expelled by Obama. It did not run through New York City or Moscow, or in conversations between campaign staff and the Russian ambassador to the US. It ran through Budapest, which is the European Headquarters of Putin’s FSB. Budapest was the „bridge” between the Trump campaign and the Russian secret service.
Some of our evidence is well known. It is known, for example, that the Russians and the Trump campaign had identical strategic interests. They both wanted to position Hillary Clinton as a „crooked and untrustworthy” candidate. What has not been known, up to now is, that the unacknowledged architect of this grand strategy was the notoriously secretive Arthur J. Finkelstein, a long time New York associate of Donald Trump, going back to the Roy Cohen days.
Finkelstein is perhaps the most bitter opponent of Hillary Clinton amongst a small circle of pro-Republican campaign gurus, and a frequent flyer to many of the capitals where Putin is seen as a hero. Finkelstein introduced Paul Manafort years ago to Putin’s pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs, who use their corporate hats, to advance Putin’s fortunes abroad. Finkelstein also had a big hand in Manafort’s addition to the Trump team. Finkelstein has also served as chief political strategist for the past 10 years, to Putin’s most loyal follower in the Western alliance – the Hungarian PM, Viktor Orbán. Finkie, as Orbán is fond to call him, also works for some of the most notorious autocrats of the former Soviet Republics, and always indirectly, so his pay-masters can’t be easily identified – a skill that he passed on to Trump’s ex-campaign chairman, Manafort.
As Steven Bannon confessed to the Hollywood Reporter, after the elections, polling and visceral messaging, a Finkelstein specialty, played a critical part in the Trump campaign. It is not a coincidence, that the campaign’s senior pollster was Tony Fabrizio, who learned his craft on Finkelstein’s knees. Virtually the entire top tier of the Trump campaign, including Roger Ailes and Roger Stone, have close personal ties to the man, who is known worldwide, as „The Merchant of Venom”.
While Finkelstein has been consciously kept out of the Trump campaign’s limelight, the campaign worked from his playbook, and that playbook had an important, hitherto unseen chapter on the art of dealing with Russia’s secret services. This series argues, that the Trump campaign had not only criminal intent (aiding and abetting Russian hacking of a political opponents’s confidential data base) but benefited from its criminal activities, by cornering the political market. (As our evidence about Finkelstein’s role in the campaign began to gather momentum, Finkelstein became unreachable. His friends and associates say, that he is undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer. We hope this is not yet another Finkelstein maneuver to throw people off his scent. We wish him speedy recovery so we can ask him directly, what he was doing on „the Budapest Bridge”.)
Putin’s Trojan Horse and the Trump campaign
During the past 7 years, and much of it thanks to Finkelstein’s successful Hungarian consulting practices, Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s current PM, managed to transform this small Central European country into a pale shadow of it’s former democratic self. Orbán, by his own admission, is Putin’s most supportive champion inside the Western alliance and the first and only Western leader to publicly endorse Trump as a candidate. By conservative estimates, Budapest is home to approximately 1000 members of the Russian secret service, most of them in the possession of Hungarian passports provided for by Hungary’s pro-Russian Ministry of the Interior. (These passports can be had for a hefty fee -300,000 Euros a pop – and after waiting only 30 days, which allows no time for a thorough vetting of the applicant. If passports were to be given to foreign aliens under such circumstances in the US, Homeland Security would be purged from top to bottom. In Canada, the minister would have to resign. In Hungary, this „passport business” has been subcontracted out to some of the most corrupt people in Viktor Orbán’s immediate entourage.)
The Hungarian government’s corrupt passport system, enables Russia’s top operatives to work and travel without any restrictions within the EU, and more importantly, to travel to the USA without a visa. Hungary’s bank laws provide an impenetrable financial shelter to those who are dealing with Putin’s secret services. Orbán’s Ministry of the Interior provides a protective umbrella against internet and telephone snooping. It is no coincidence that Europe’s most notorious right-wing populists, anti-Semites and anti-Muslim radicals, such as Holland’s Gert Wilders and Britain’s Nick Griffin, have established residences in Hungary. It is no coincidence that Putin is a frequent secret visitor. It is also not a coincidence that Finkelstein has a home in Budapest, and was, until recently, in weekly contact with Vladimir Putin’s most loyal Hungarian surrogate, Viktor Orbán.
Finkelstein and Orbán’s top Hungarian strategist, Árpád Habony, have a London based joint company, close to the headquarters of Wikileaks. The Russian leakage of embarrassing information about Hillary Clinton, was coordinated through Budapest, and London, and was designed to lower Clinton’s trustworthiness at pre-planned moments during the campaign. Clinton’s trustworthiness ratings, her public opinion support plumeted, on average, 5% points after each well timed leak, and especially during the closing stages of the campaign. These leaks dominated the news cycles at critical junctions in the campaign. Carefully orchestrated, they drove the all important pro-Trump social media (Facebook, Snapchat, twitter) that left the Clinton campaign grasping for air in the critical battle ground states. Arguing that the leaks had no concrete effect on the outcome of the election in the targeted states, is equal to saying that birds can fly without wings.
Some argue, that one of the reasons why Paul Manafort, Carter Page, and Roger Stone offered to voluntarily testify before the congressional committee is, that they were not the principals in the transactions, that took place on „the Budapest bridge”. We argue, that their eagerness to testify early has an entirely different explanation. They simply wanted to get through the congressional screening process early, before the proverbial brown matter hits the fan, and before the learning curve of the congressional investigators goes up a notch.
Who were the principals on „The Budapest Bridge” the FBI and Congress should investigate particularly closely, apart from Arthur Finkelstein? The investigations should include Jo Anne Barnhart, Finkelstein’s close personal friend, and managing director of the Hungarian government’s secretive lobby arm in the US, the „Magyar Foundation”. It should include another Finkelstein protegé, and Hungarian lobbyist, ex-congressman Connie Mack IV. The latter is the recipient of a 5 million dollar contract, through a third party, to promote Putin’s Hungarian disciple in America. The Congressional investigators should also talk to Senator Sessions’ right hand man during the campaign, J.D. Gordon, who travelled six times to Budapest, and considers Putin’s Trojan Horse as one of the finest leaders within the Western alliance. Last, but not least, the FBI and the Congressional team should investigate Sebastian Gorka, Bannon’s „terrorism expert” and a man with a 15 year connection to anti-American, pro-Russian, pro-Iranian radicals in Hungary.
In our second installment, we shall provide some empirically verifiable evidence about Gorka’s Hungarian associates, and his 15 year track record in Hungary as an enemy of democracy and the rule of law. That alone should make for his rapid exit from his strategic position in the White House. Our own findings fully support the call of three American senators – Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Ben Cardin of Maryland – who, on March 17, sent a joint letter to the US Justice Department asking the agency to look into whether Gorka “falsified his naturalization application or otherwise illegally procured his citizenship.” We will argue, that Trump’s senior campaign associate, failed to disclose the full extent of his neo-fascist, anti-American, anti-Democratic political ties in Hungary prior to being given American citizenship. By marrying an American multimillionaire, a Trump campaign donor with connections in high places, Gorka managed to secure access to the White House on behalf of forces, that, are diametrically opposed to America’s national interests.
In our second installment we shall provide further evidence of „the smoking gun” in the Trump campaign, and in Mr. Gorka’s closet.
To be continued in HFP on Friday…
*
About the Author of this series
András B. Göllner split his time between Budapest and Montreal from 1990 until 2010, as a senior political-economic advisor, on governmental transparency. He organized the current Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán’s first visit to Canada, and learned, through close personal contact, about many of his corrupt practices. He conducted the first and only study (financed by USAID) that looked inside the operations of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, which today, works arm in arm with Russia’s secret services. He is an internationally recognized expert on Central European politics, has a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics, published 3 books, and dozens of articles, in such well known English language media as The LA Times, The Huffington Post, The National Post, or the Montreal Gazette, to name just a few. He is a regular contributor to the Hungarian Free Press. His current status is Professor Emeritus, at Montreal’s Concordia University.Mike Tannenbaum compared his new role as the Miami Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations to being a point guard on a basketball team.
He was hired by owner Steve Ross as his point man, where his role is to set everyone on the team up to be successful.
Tannenbaum said his job is to lighten the management load for General Manager Dennis Hickey, allowing him to focus on talent acquisition and running the scouting department. He's also responsible for giving head coach Joe Philbin the resources he needs to produce a winning season for the first time since 2008.
Tannenbaum was hired to be Ross' new eyes and ears on the ground floor in Davie.
Team sources say the Dolphins didn't consider Tannenbaum for the GM role last year because Ross wanted a young talent evaluator. But Tannenbaum impressed Ross so much during his role as a consultant this past season Ross realized he wanted Tannenbaum in a leadership role, and hired him to unite his team, which is apparently Tannenbaum's greatest strength as a leader.
Dolphins' VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum on GM Dennis Hickey: 'We're going to have disagreements' (WQAM, 560-AM) Dolphins' VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum on GM Dennis Hickey: 'We're going to have disagreements' (WQAM, 560-AM) SEE MORE VIDEOS
"I have the benefit last year of seeing a lot of talented people work," Tannenbaum told WQAM Thursday morning, talking about his time served as Ross' consultant.
"There is a good foundation here. You've got a head coach who has been there for a while," Tannenbaum said comparing Philbin, who has a 23-25 record in his three seasons as head coach, to St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher.
Mike Tannenbaum on who has final say on draft day (WQAM, 560-AM) Mike Tannenbaum on who has final say on draft day (WQAM, 560-AM) SEE MORE VIDEOS
Coincidentally, Ross tried to hire Fisher back in 2012 before hiring Philbin.
"I love his attention to detail, preparation, and player development," Tannenbaum said about Philbin, whom sources say will be offered a contract extension this offseason.
During his conversation with WQAM, Tannenbaum pointed out that player development is the lifeblood of any successful NFL franchise because it prevents them from relying too heavily on free agency, which coincidentally is where Tannenbaum went wrong during the tail end of his seven seasons running the Jets' front office.
"In [this] salary cap system young players have to continue to develop and play. If you don't develop young players on the roster you have no chance [but to spend]," said Tannenbaum, whose Jets teams had a 57-55 record during his seven seasons as the team's top executive.
That run includes three seasons where the Jets qualified for the playoffs, and two of those seasons ended with the Jets losing in the AFC Championship game.
"Whether or not we win or lose will be based on their development," Tannenbaum said, referring to player development.
Tannenbaum singled out defensive end Olivier Vernon, a 2012 third-round pick, as one of the young talented players trending upwards for the Dolphins. He also praised Ryan Tannehill's development and told WQAM plenty of NFL teams wish they had a quarterback like Tannehill, who produced a 92.8 passer rating in his third season as an NFL starter.
Under Philbin's guidance youngsters like Lamar Miller, who rushed for 1,099 yards and scored nine touchdowns, rookie receiver Jarvis Landry, who led the team with 84 receptions in 2014, tight ends Charles Clay and Dion Sims, linebacker Jelani Jenkins, who led the team with 110 tackles, offensive tackle Ja'Wuan James and safety Reshad Jones have all developed into producive NFL starters, if not different makers.
Tannenbaum yet again acknowledged he won't have control over Miami's personnel. Hickey is responsible for the 53-man roster, and Tannenbaum said Ross has requested that he take on the management burdens, allowing Hickey to focus on talent procurement.
However, Tannenbaum didn't deny he'd be part of the free agent and draft process much like Bill Parcells was when he served in the same role.
"As with any relationship in life it's about communication and respect," Tannenbaum said. "We're going to get the best result possible when we have good debates."
When asked by WQAM about who has the final say on what Miami does in free agency and the draft, Tannenbaum said all decisions will be made collectively, as a group.
"I've been in draft rooms for 19 years and you're going to have disagreements. That's good because you want everyone's opinion," Tannenbaum. "As long as we're systematic in our approach we're going to have disagreements."
Tannenbaum acknowledged that the Dolphins defense, which collapsed in the season's final month, let the team down, and needs to be rebuilt.
The Dolphins went from a top five defense in points allowed and yards per game allowed to the No. 20 team in points, and 12th in yards allowed in the season's final six weeks. Miami allowed 992 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in losses to the Broncos, Ravens, Patriots and the Jets, and wins over the Jets and Vikings, and the struggles stopping the run compromised the entire defense.
The Dolphins organization clearly realizes the middle of the defense - defensive tackle, inside linebacker and free safety - must be rebuilt.GOOGLE ASKED young artists to consider the concept, “What I see for the future…” And for Connecticut high schooler Sarah Harrison, that horizon line includes peace.
This afternoon, Harrison’s “A Peaceful Future” is being named as the winning art in the national Doodle 4 Google student contest — and appears on the Google home page. Harrison rendered eight young people as symbols of diverse experience — six of whom spell out “Google.”
Reacting to her win, Harrison said in a statement: “When I started, I was thinking of how there’s a lot of animosity toward diverse communities of people in the world right now. So I wanted to draw something that I hoped would show that we can all get along well, and that it’s possible for us to be happy with each other.”
The Bunnell High School student added: “You don’t know what they’ve been through — and they don’t know what you’ve been through — so we all deserve respect from each other.”
[Winning 2016 Doodle4Google art invoking Black Lives Matter was designed by a D.C. sophomore]
“E-Waste Google,” by Lucien Bell of Washington. (Google 2017)
The four national finalists included Lucien Bell, a third-grader at John Eaton Elementary in the District. His sculptural artwork, titled “E-Waste Google,” was created from “a salvaged DVR.”
The celebrity judges included Simone Biles, Jimmy Kimmel and Sia, as well as animation-industry talents Brenda Chapman and Floyd Norman and flights systems engineer Tracy Drain. The annual Doodle4Google contest, launched in 2008, is open to students grades kindergarten through 12; last year’s winner, Akilah Johnson of the District, won for “My Afrocentric Life.”
Harrison’s victory includes $30,000 toward a college scholarship, and a meeting with the Doodle team at Google’s Bay Area headquarters. Her school will get $50,000 in technology funding.
Read more:
New Doodle4Google contest announced: Team artist Mike Dutton spotlights the vital role of teachers
2013: Wisconsin teenager wins ‘Doodle 4 Google’ contest with poignant military reunion
2014: Student winner Audrey Zhang was ‘born with something incredible’(Update at the end of post) Member of German parliament Jörg Tauss today joined the German Pirate Party. Tauss had announced yesterday (in German) that he left the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In a video interview (in German) he now confirmed he has joined the party and cited (in German) the SPD’s recent approval to a highly controversial new law regarding control of Internet communication as the main reason or his change of mind: „Bit by bit the SPD developed from a civil rights party that bravely fought for freedom and justice into a party that only sucks up to the interests of the Union (the Christian Democratic Party)“.
The chairman of a group of SPD members of parliament of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Tauss’s home state, Christian Lange, demanded (in German) Tauss return his parliamentary mandate to the SPD: „He can’t just capture the mandate“.
Update (June 22): A reader commented „should it not be mentioned in this context that Mr. Tauss is currently under investigation for allegedly having downloaded child pornography?“ Of course. I just wanted to provide some quick info in English when it happened because at the time there was nothing else available. Now there is.CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin announced Tuesday his plans for an upcoming book focused on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign staff and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Toobin, who also writes for The New Yorker, made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday.
"Pleased to announce I will be writing a book for @doubledaybooks about the Mueller and other Trump investigations. Advice/tips are welcome!" Toobin tweeted.
Pleased to announce I will be writing a book for @doubledaybooks about the Mueller and other Trump investigations. Advice/tips are welcome!https://t.co/d4EFoclQRR — Jeffrey Toobin (@JeffreyToobin) November 14, 2017
Toobin has penned several bestsellers, including “The Run of His Life: The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” which was made into an Emmy award-winning FX series, "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story," in 2016. He also wrote “American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst."
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“This is the book that Jeff Toobin was born to write,” Doubleday editor-in-chief Bill Thomas said in a statement.
No release date has been announced for the yet-to-be-titled book. The Mueller-Trump book will be published by Doubleday Publishing.No release date has been announced for the yet-to-be-titled book.
Toobin has been a CNN legal analyst since 2002 and has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for 24 years.Cloud of Darkness is the final boss of Final Fantasy III and is encountered twice. It is first encountered in an unwinnable storyline battle after Xande has been defeated. At the very end of the game, after the party has traversed the World of Darkness, the Cloud of Darkness is fought again, but if the player has not freed all the Warriors of the Dark in the final dungeon before doing so, the final boss will have an unparalleled high defense stat and the heroes will find themselves fighting a losing battle.
Contents show]
Stats Edit
NES battle Edit
The Cloud of Darkness will usually only use a single attack, Flare Wave, which does 1,200–1,500 HP of damage to the entire party. On some rare occasions it uses a physical attack that ignores the character's Defense and will likely result in an instant kill.
NES strategy Edit
Realistically one needs at least two high-level White Magic users to prevent the party being overwhelmed and destroyed by the damage from the Flare Wave. Once the player is able to bring the damage sustained by the party under control, the battle becomes mostly an endurance test. Two Sages and two Ninjas is considered the optimal party make-up. Alternatively, three Sages and one Ninja will further increase the party's chance of survival if all three Sages focus on healing, though it makes for a long, tedious battle.
The player should use all of their shurikens (and make sure they reequip every round). The Sages can cast Haste on the Ninjas the first round (if not using shurikens). Afterward, the party will probably have to cast Cure4 every round. If it seems like there is a round of respite, the player can call Bahamut. If the party runs out of magic, they can use Elixirs.
Remake battle Edit
The Right Tentacle is immune to physical attacks, but not magic. The Left Tentacle is immune to magic and must be taken down with physical attacks. The Right Tentacle is weak to all elements. The Left Tentacle uses a Lightning attack.
The Cloud of Darkness can use Bad Breath to hamper the party unless the members are equipped with Ribbons or Aegis Shields. Otherwise, only its physical attacks pose an actual threat (although they do not ignore defense in this version) until it starts to use Particle Beam (the same as Flare Wave from the NES version).
Remake strategy Edit
Although difficult, the Cloud of Darkness can be defeated by solely attacking its main body. However, destroying the Tentacle on the player's left first makes the rest of the battle easier because of its powerful Lightning attack. Casting Firaga or Holy on the Right Tentacle will do large amounts of damage.
A Devout is highly recommended as they can use high level White Magic, including Curaja and Arise, more often and more powerfully than the Sage and can support the party with Protect or cast Holy on the Cloud of Darkness. Protect can only be cast on one person per turn so that strategy is optional. Warriors can use the Advance ability to deal heavy damage to either the Right Tentacle or the Cloud of Darkness. Ninjas are useful for their Throw ability and they can also inflict massive physical damage to the Cloud of Darkness while dual-wielding the Masamune and Muramasa. It is preferred for Dark Knights and Dragoons to attack normally and only use boosts provided by Devouts and Bards, both of which are recommended to be in the back row. Bards can also use Sing with a Loki Harp for a more effective attack bonus. Black Belts can use Boost to save a Devout's turn.
Gallery Edit
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Trivia EditTen Years of Artistic Excellence
ManilArt proudly celebrates its first decade as the country’s national art fair. Our theme for this most-anticipated 10th year is “Ang ARTe ng Pilipinas”: the Filipino has always had a natural propensity for creativity, from making art that preserves the stories of a community, to art that challenges known boundaries. This tenth year, we celebrate those who have answered this innate call to be creators, as well as those who have continually supported these local creators.
As art is interwoven into the fabric of Filipino life, it is only fitting to celebrate art for all; ManilArt features living masters of Philippine art alongside up-and-coming artists. The doors are open to all: art enthusiasts, collectors, students, practitioners and educators. Everyone is invited to join in the activities [See Calendar].
What ManilArt showcases is ultimately a part of our cultural heritage and our national art consciousness at large. ManilArt strongly encourages its exhibitors to practice curation that represents the Philippines as a whole, contributing to our national identity and uplifting our Filipino talents to the global stage.There are many benefits to Big Ten membership for Rutgers. The bigger payday down the road, of course. The added TV exposure. The home games against national powers like Michigan and Penn State, which have bolstered attendance.
But here's another: A reason to follow @FauxPelini on Twitter.
Not familiar with @FauxPelini? You're missing out on one of the best parody accounts out there, one that has become so popular that the man who inspired it – Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini – has used it to soften his imagine.
To say the @FauxPelini is a Twitter celebrity is putting it mildly. He has 138,000 followers, and he treats them with various rants – usually in all caps – about college football and other topics. He's been featured on Sports Center, led the Michigan State punter to pet an imaginary cat on the field, and zinged Iowa fans perfectly with this:
A TORNADO HAS BEEN SPOTTED IN IOWA, PLEASE IMMEDIATELY PROCEED TO THE END ZONE IN IOWA CITY WHERE TOUCHDOWNS ARE EXTREMELY RARE — Fake Bo Pelini (@FauxPelini) June 29, 2014
He even targeted Rutgers coach Kyle Flood this week (who, for the record, has yet to respond).
@KyleFloodRU So annoying our game got moved to 7pm on short notice but oh well, guess I'll see you at 7pm — Fake Bo Pelini (@FauxPelini) October 24, 2014
Pelini, meanwhile, even carried a cat out of the Nebraska tunnel during the spring game, which which sent the Cornhuskers crowd into a frenzy.
This will probably be the only spring game where a coach and his cat led their team to the field. @Huskers http://t.co/ad7y0Y002w — Nebraska on BTN (@BTN_Nebraska) April 12, 2014
Q. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy faux schedule. What do people in Nebraska know about Rutgers and New Jersey?
A. We know that your colors are also red and white, and that is very annoying. Seriously, having Wisconsin and Ohio State in the conference is bad enough, but having a fourth red team isn't going to work. You need to figure out a new color scheme by 2015. Purple and orange and black and green and navy and maroon are taken, so I suggest beige or plaid.
Q. I see Nebraska has a pretty long sellout streak going. Did you know that Rutgers has sold out its last two home games?
A. That is adorable! And you shouldn't tell people that.
Q. Based on some of your tweets, I think you'd fit in pretty good in New Jersey. Have you ever considered moving East?
A. If you're saying I'm abrasive and aggressive then you can BITE ME.
Q. Have you met our governor, Chris Christie? I think you'd like him and he's been traveling quite a bit lately.
A. I've coached against him the last couple years, once in Lincoln and once in Ann Arbor, he seems like a good guy although he's going to be fired because of the concussion thing. Maybe once that happens he can concentrate more on his governoring.
Q. Is the real Bo Pelini for real?
A. IS THIS FIST REAL? (I am holding my fist in front of my computer screen in a super intimidating way)
Q. I get that it's Lincoln, Neb., but isn't Lincoln from Illinois?
A. He opened the first Subway franchise in Nebraska, so he was very popular here.
Q. Urban Meyer tried to run up the score on Rutgers. You wouldn't do that, would you?
A. Would I try to do it? No I would just do it.
Q. What the hell is a cornhusker, anyway?
A. Rutgers is the Scarlet Knights, which is somehow both specific and vague at the same time and therefore dumber than "cornhusker" so shut it.
Q. Have you gotten to know Kyle Flood?
A. I sent him a message on Twitter and he hasn't responded. Maybe you could help me with that.
Q. You seem angry. Doesn't the cat help?
A. WHY DOES EVERYONE ALWAYS SAY I SEEM ANGRY??? MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS YOU F$&K*#G A*#%OS
@FauxPelini ok enough is enough... I want my cat back. You've had her long enough! — Bo Pelini (@BoPelini) January 7, 2014
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A boil water advisory has been issued for the New Waterford, N.S., water system after a single water sample showed signs of poor water quality, according to a news release from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Water Utility.
The news release did not state what was wrong with the water quality or how many homes would be impacted by the advisory.
The advisory is in place for the communities of New Waterford, Scotchtown, River Ryan, New Victoria and Lingan.
Residents are being asked to boil their water for at least one minute before drinking or consuming the water in any way.
That includes:
Preparing infant formula
Mixing juices
Making ice cubes
Washing fruits and vegetables
Dental hygiene
The advisory will remain in place until the utility gets two clear water samples from the same source over a two day period. The earliest the advisory could be lifted is Monday afternoon.
The utility said it closely monitoring the situation and is continuing to test water throughout the distribution system.An ESPN The Magazine collaboration.
The crowd at Rams training camp in Irvine, California, is eager to get home. Practice wrapped 30 minutes ago, and the late-afternoon sun is hotter than preseason NFL buzz. Most days, Todd Gurley works the rope line just off the right corner of the field. Put something in front of the running back, he’ll sign it. Point a camera at him, he’ll pose. Need a shoutout, he’s got you. He’s all about the fans. Today, however, the fans have to wait.
Gurley stands on the hashmarks, waxing poetic. He’s on a roll about Rams running backs from days gone by, straight-up lecturing on the football magic of Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk and Jerome Bettis.
“Man, those guys are legends,” he says. “They played for a long time and did stuff guys only dream about. I’m young. I’m just getting started. … I’m trying to get there, for sure.”
Forgive the requisite Hollywood tie-in to the Rams’ return to LA, but Gurley is a running back straight out of central casting, despite—or maybe because of—his surgically reconstructed left knee. Just try to find a young back right now with a better combination of cutback ability, speed and power. Or one more motivated to prove that his Year 1 splash—1,106 yards and AP Offensive ROY in just 13 games—was just the beginning of a built-for-the-long-haul career.
The problem isn’t Gurley’s potential. It’s that the Rams, after 21 seasons in St. Louis, are all about the LA life now. And they’re not returning home with a winning touch—they haven’t had that in a long time. So Gurley doesn’t have time to try to get there. After last year’s 7–9 season, the Rams need him to carry the offense, at least until rookie QB Jared Goff gets his stance under him.
Legend time begins now.
They called Los Angeles home for 49 years, but the Rams are now nomads, with team operations spread throughout the city, Ventura and Orange counties. They need to win back fans they abandoned in the mid-1990s and attract a new generation of ticket buyers without much of a sizzle reel. The Rams haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2004. They last had a winning season in 2003. In the short term, all the fuss around “The Return of Football to LA” will drive attendance. But as any team owner, big market or small, will tell you, it takes victories and marquee names to keep the people coming back.
Goff is part of the plan. Los Angeles leveraged some of its future by trading six draft picks, including two first-rounders, for the right to pick him first overall this year. (It also got two back). The Rams are exercising patience with their rookie QB in the early going, though, and all the hits he took in the pocket during preseason show it might be awhile before he catches up to the speed of the NFL game.
It’s Gurley who has to put butts in seats. Since he came into the league, he has made a habit of oh-wow moments. Remember that ridiculous 71-yard touchdown run against the 49ers in Week 8, when Gurley sprinted through a hole untouched and outraced safety Eric Reid the final 53 yards? Doesn’t seem right that someone can move so fast at 6-foot-1 and damn-near 230 pounds. A week later brought an SMH touchdown against the Vikings. Hit by two defenders after leaping from about the 3-yard line, Gurley maintained his balance and broke a tackle before spinning into the end zone. And for overall degree of difficulty, check Gurley’s 5-yard scoring run in Week 14 against the Lions. Running to his left after a deep handoff at the 10, Gurley got to the corner, took off again from a few yards out, but this time he adjusted his body in midair to elude safety Glover Quin, essentially dunking the ball into the end zone near the pylon.
“That’s why we drafted him,” says Rams head coach Jeff Fisher.
Watching Gurley at field level, it’s the cutbacks that get you. Just ask Mike Shanahan. In 20 years as an NFL head coach, no one was more committed to the running game—or had more success at it with a variety of backs, from Terrell Davis to Clinton Portis to Mike Anderson. Shanahan sees Gurley helping Goff get in the game.
“With a back like that, teams have to play the run with gap responsibilities,” he says. “[The quarterback] can sit back in the pocket because [the defense] has to play run first. … And he’s a lot like Dickerson, where any time he touches the ball he has a chance to go the distance.”
Gurley last season became the first rookie in NFL history with at least 125 rushing yards in four consecutive games. In Rams history, only three rookie runners have gained at least 1,000 yards: Dickerson, Bettis and Gurley. But the most telling number from 2015 was 47. That’s the number of tackles he broke, according to Pro Football Focus. Seventh highest in the league at his position. As a rookie. “There are backs in the league who have quickness and acceleration,” Fisher says. “But he’s violent after contact. At the same time, as a defender, you know he’ll make you miss as quick as he’ll run over you.”
That’s what’s been giving offensive coordinators around the league Gurley envy. Any one of them would gladly script plays for the guy who was 29th in ESPN’s 2016 ranking of the NFL’s top 100 players, tops among second-year pros and the second running back, behind No. 12 Adrian Peterson. “Rare combination of balance and elusiveness,” one NFC East offensive coordinator offers. “He is a great finisher with excellent instincts in the hole, and he gets to the second level in a hurry.” Says an NFC South offensive coordinator, “What separates him from other guys … is he can make his cuts without slowing down. He is through the hole before it closes. The pursuit can’t get there.”
Or as Dickerson more succinctly puts it: “This boy can run.”
Gurley missed four games of the 2014 season at Georgia, serving a suspension after receiving more than $3,000 for signing memorabilia. His first game back was |
obliquity66. Spectral analyses of (g) magnetic susceptibility and (h) sediment density indicate statistically significant and (i) coherent cycles in both records. An unconformity at a depth of 67 m is recognized from the abrupt polarity change and from missing obliquity cycles and has an estimated duration of 890 kyr with an upper and lower age of 5.61 and 6.50 Ma, respectively. Solid black lines indicate unambiguous correlations of magnetic polarity intervals with the GPTS and dashed lines indicate correlation of magnetic susceptibility and density data with the obliquity record. Full size image
We developed a precise chronology from a revised magnetobiostratigraphy18, which facilitated correlation with the ATNTS2012 geomagnetic polarity timescale19. Palaeomagnetic analyses reveal a reliable magnetization that results in a well-defined magnetic polarity record with five polarity intervals. Rock magnetic analyses indicate that a mixture of single-domain and pseudo-single-domain magnetite is responsible for the magnetization, and that diagenetic alteration of the magnetite has not occurred. We use biostratigraphic constraints from shipboard observations of first and last appearance datums (FADs and LADs) of diatoms and radiolaria with updated published calibrations to correlate the magnetostratigraphy with ATNTS2012. Marine diatom (MD) datum MD1 is the LAD of Nitzschia donahuensis, which occurs at 56.45 m below seafloor (m.b.s.f.), is calibrated at 5.8 Ma (ref. 20), which results in an unambiguous correlation of the R1-N1 reversal with the C3n.4n-C3r reversal. MD2 is the LAD of Nitzschia miocenica, which occurs at 63.59 m.b.s.f. and is calibrated at between 6.0 and 6.2 Ma (ref. 18). Top Amphymenium challengerae is the LAD of A. challengerae, which occurs at 65.45 m.b.s.f. and is calibrated between 6.1 Ma (ref. 18) and 6.2 Ma (ref. 20). Bottom A. challengerae is the FAD of A. challengerae, which occurs at 72.87 m.b.s.f. and is calibrated at between 6.65 Ma (ref. 18) and 6.8 Ma (ref. 20). MD3 is the FAD of Thalassiosira miocenica, which occurs at 73.00 m.b.s.f. and has multiple calibrations of 6.4 Ma (ref. 18), 5.91 Ma (ref. 20) and 6.25–8.3 Ma (ref. 21). For MD3, we use the original calibration of 6.4 Ma (ref. 18), because it follows the downward progression of FADs and LADs most closely. This results in a correlation of the N3-R2-N2 sequence with C3Bn-C3Ar-C3An.2n.
Below the recorded part of Chron C3r, at 67.02 m.b.s.f., a sharp magnetic polarity transition marks a disconformity (Fig. 2a). We determine precisely the upper and lower ages of the disconformity from time-series analysis and bandpass filtering of orbitally paced sediment density and susceptibility cycles (Fig. 2e,f). Sediment density and susceptibility cycles are driven by alternations of biogenic-rich versus terrigenous dominated sediment that are inferred to correspond to alternating warm and productive periods versus colder periods with greater ice volume22. Spectral analyses (Fig. 2g,h,i) reveal a dominant wavelength of ∼0.77 cycles per metre (above the 95% confidence limit for magnetic susceptibility and above 90% for sediment density). Spectral power is greater in the magnetic susceptibility data probably because it is more sensitive to the terrigenous-to-biogenic ratio in sediments; therefore, magnetic susceptibility data were bandpass filtered to isolate the orbital signal (Fig. 2b,c). In total, 27 obliquity-paced glacial–interglacial cycles were identified and correlated one for one with the orbital timescale. The correlation indicates a break in deposition or removal of 890 kyr of sediment between 5.61 and 6.5 Ma. The disconformity probably resulted from current winnowing and non-deposition by erosive bottom currents during AIS expansion23. The base of the unconformity (6.5 Ma) marks the downward limit of erosion, not the onset of erosion or ice expansion. Our age model indicates that sedimentation resumed at 5.61 Ma, coincident with the warm, interglacial stage TG15 following a reduction in ocean current speed and ice volume.
ODP site 1092 comprises a succession dominated by biogenic carbonate (Fig. 3). We refined the age of a poorly constrained unconformity24,25 using shipboard diatom abundance counts26, improved diatom bioevent calibrations21 and a reassessment of magnetostratigraphic data25. We focus on an interval above the C3An.1n-C3r reversal boundary at 74 metres composite depth (m.c.d.). We used updated LAD and FAD calibrations to assign the normal polarity interval above 70.5 m to chron C3n.4n (Fig. 3d) and to correlate the record with the ATNTS2012 timescale19. This correlation is constrained by the unambiguous FADs of Fragilariopsis lacrima (69.81 m.c.d.) and Thalassiosira inura (68.61 m.c.d.), which have age calibrations of 4.73 and 4.74 Ma, respectively. We use a combination of geomagnetic reversals below the unconformity25 and bioevents higher in the succession26 and obtained a smooth average sedimentation rate that indicates the presence of one or several unconformities between 72.5 and 70.5 m.c.d. (Fig. 3). The palaeomagnetic inclination data in this interval also indicate at least two intervals with inconsistent palaeomagnetic directions and decreased carbonate content that likely indicate the presence of an unconformity caused by strong, corrosive bottom currents. Our best estimate for the interval that contains these unconformities suggests a basal age of between 5.9 and 5.8 Ma and an upper age of 5 Ma. Additional, unrecognized unconformities in the interval between 70 and 73 m could be present, because the site is located on a bathymetric rise and would have been exposed to erosive currents.
Figure 3: Summary of ODP site 1092 lithology with carbonate content and palaeomagnetic data. ODP site 1092 succession from the South Atlantic Ocean. Sediments comprise (a) fine-grained nannofossil ooze and sedimentological analyses indicate an abrupt decrease in (c) carbonate content between ca. 72.5 and 71.5 m. (d) ChRM inclinations indicate that these intervals have unstable magnetization, and correlation with the ATNTS2012 timescale19 indicates that (b) one or more unconformities must occur in the succession. The youngest possible upper age for the uppermost unconformity in our age model is 5.8 Ma. Full size image
Antarctic Peninsula ODP site 1095 contains a continuous succession recovered from a depth of 3,840 m that spans the MSC with a reliable, well-defined chronology27 and no evidence for a significant unconformity (Fig. 4). However, sedimentological analyses (Fig. 4a,c) and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data shed light on changes in ACC strength28. AMS provides a measure of fabric strength in the sediment (P′, Fig. 4b) where strong fabrics indicate well-aligned grains and an inferred increased current strength. Sedimentological analyses and core logs indicate that the sediments comprise repetitively bedded, weakly laminated silty clays with prominent, graded silt laminae that are interpreted to have been deposited under stronger current regimes. Silty laminae increase in number up-core, which indicates stronger circulation29; sedimentary and AMS analyses indicate increased delivery of terrigenous material and an overall stronger grain alignment at ∼6.3 and ∼5.6 Ma (ref. 28), which indicate greater current speed likely in response to greater ice volume. Circulation was strongest between 6 and 5.6 Ma with weakening currents after 5.6 Ma and minimum circulation at ca. 5.3 Ma coincident with reduced grain size29 and increased biogenic productivity that is interpreted to indicate reduced ice volume28.
Figure 4: Summary of ODP site 1095 lithology with AMS palaeocurrent proxy and palaeomagnetic data. ODP site 1095 succession from offshore of the Antarctic Peninsula. Sediments comprise (a) weakly laminated silty clays with thin-silt laminae throughout the succession. Sedimentological analyses (c) indicate that terrigenous sediments are dominant until ca. 5.5 Ma after which biogenic sediments become more dominant and that coarse-grained laminae reach peak numbers between ca. 6.3 and 5.5 Ma, which indicate a strong erosive current system. (b) AMS (degree of magnetic anisotropy, P′) analyses are indicative of grain alignment in response to ancient current strength with strong grain alignment until ca. 5.5 Ma, which indicate strong, deep currents. AMS data, a decrease in grain size and fewer silt laminae indicate weaker circulation after 5.5 Ma. Full size image
The AND-1B succession (Fig. 5b) is the most ice-sheet-proximal record recovered from the Antarctic margin and contains a record of AIS advance and retreat history that spans the late Miocene to Holocene30. The succession comprises massive to stratified diamictites that represent grounded ice or ice-proximal conditions, muddy units that represent ice distal conditions and diatomite intervals that represent deposition in open-marine conditions, in some cases with minimal sea ice31,32,33. Transitions from warm, low-ice-volume conditions to cool, high-ice-volume conditions are typically separated by surfaces where the ice sheet advanced over the drill site and eroded sediment. The succession contains a glacial erosion surface ‘U8’ at 596.35 m.b.s.f., which has an estimated age range between 5.90 and 5.60 Ma (Fig. 5b)34. Above unconformity U8, a switch from glacially dominated conditions to open-marine conditions is recognized along with the appearance of Shinodiscus tetraoestrupii diatoms that are indicative of warm surface conditions (7–10 °C)32 and likely much lower ice volume.
Figure 5: Regional event summary from drill cores with modelled sea-level and Antarctic ice-volume benthic δ18O. Regional event summary compiled using (a) Southern Ocean ODP successions, (b) the Antarctic Margin AND-1B record and ice-volume/ocean current interpretations derived from sedimentary successions. (c) Interpretation of Antarctic climate events. (d) GIA only modelled r.s.l. at ODP site 1165 (red), at the Strait of Gibraltar (blue) and global eustatic sea level (black). (e,f) The δ18O record38,39, marine isotope stages and isotope-to-ice volume calibration used for sea-level modelling. Full size image
Reconstructing AIS history and sea level
AIS variations exerted a primary control on global sea level on short geological timescales from ∼34 Ma (ref. 35) until expansion of large northern hemisphere ice sheets after ∼2.7 Ma (ref. 36). The presence of large northern hemisphere ice sheets will have likely amplified global eustatic sea-level variations37. AIS history was largely inferred from benthic δ18O records until recovery of well-dated Antarctic margin successions30. These ice-sheet-proximal geological records and subsequent modelling studies reveal that ice sheets grew slowly and retreated rapidly during the late Neogene17,30. To determine realistically how the sea level evolved, we conducted numerical GIA simulations by means of the sea-level equation (SLE)13,14. Solving the SLE requires a solid Earth model for crustal and gravitational response13,14 and an ice-sheet chronology as a forcing function, which we generated by scaling present-day AIS thickness using a δ18O-based ice volume curve38.
AIS volume and thickness reconstructions
For the time interval under consideration (6–5 Ma), Antarctic ice-sheet thickness variations are unavailable from continuous global circulation model studies. Therefore, we reconstructed AIS volume (Fig. 5e) using benthic δ18O records from ODP site 926 (Ceara Rise, 3,598 m water depth, Fig. 1b, ref. 39) between 7 and 6.138 Ma and from ODP site 846 (south of the Galapagos Islands, 3,296 m water depth, Fig. 1b, ref. 38) for the interval between 6.137 and 5 Ma (Fig. 5). We estimate AIS volume using the most conservative approach possible by assuming the modern-day AIS isotopic weight of ∼−53.2‰, total melted water volume of 22.279 × 106 km3 and a 1,335 × 106 km3 global ocean volume40. Therefore, a total loss of the modern AIS would result in a ∼ 0.91‰ inflection of the deep-sea δ18O record. Accordingly, we estimate a ∼58% reduction of Antarctic ice volume during oxygen isotope stage TG5 from a ∼0.53‰ inflection in the δ18O record. However, to test for different glacial to interglacial temperature contributions to the deep-sea δ18O record, we developed two additional ice-volume records that correct for a ca. 20% and 30% temperature contribution (2 and 3 °C), respectively,41 in agreement with Mg/Ca records that indicate a ca. 2 °C temperature variation during the Miocene42. We tested several other methods to convert benthic δ18O to ice volume, including using isotopically heavier ice and the relatively well-understood Pleistocene isotope to sea-level calibration of 0.01‰ m−1. The calculated ice-volume fluctuations are amplified, which results in too many intervals with negative ice volume (15% of the record). The rationale for converting with isotopically heavier ice is plausible because it is likely that Miocene ice sheets were warmer and, therefore, isotopically heavier than the modern AIS (some studies indicate that the Oligocene AIS likely had an isotopic weight of ∼−35‰ (refs 43, 44)). However, we used a more conservative modern ∼−47‰ isotopic weight, which results in more reasonable ice-volume changes. We also tested the Pleistocene to early Pliocene benthic δ18O to sea-level calibration of 0.01‰ m−1 (refs 45, 46), which removes the temperature contribution from the record. We computed ice volumes from the sea-level curve by assuming a modern Antarctic sea-level contribution of 56.6 m (ref. 40), which resulted in unrealistically large ice-volume changes. Including a potential sea-level contribution of 7.3 m from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) produced negligible changes to the ice-volume record. Changes in GIS size and other sources of unidentified northern hemisphere ice would have contributed to variations in the δ18O record; however, the modern GIS comprises only ∼7% of the global ice volume, therefore, the majority of δ18O variations can be attributed to AIS changes. We converted the high-resolution, orbitally tuned δ18O record from ODP site 846 (ref. 38) to ice volume and, accordingly, scaled present-day AIS thickness over time and used this for the GIA simulation.
GIA and sea-level modelling
We performed a numerical GIA simulation to reconstruct the impact of AIS volume changes on r.s.l. at the Antarctic margin and at Gibraltar. Any ice-sheet fluctuation results in local r.s.l. changes (that is, vertical geoid variations with respect to the deforming solid Earth surface) that stem from a complex interplay between gravitational, rotational and solid Earth deformations in response to redistribution of surface ice- and water loads47. Spatial variability of r.s.l. change depends on the distance from the changing ice sheets and on the shape and size of ocean basins48. Second, given the viscous behaviour of the solid Earth on geological timescales, ice-induced r.s.l. change varies in time as a function of mantle viscosity. Local r.s.l. change can, therefore, be significantly different from the globally uniform glacio-eustatic sea-level change. Therefore, correlating r.s.l. change at a given location to a specific ice-sheet volume variation requires precise spatio-temporal discretization of the latter (that is, how much ice thickness changed, and where and when this occurred) and a rheological model for the solid Earth response. These two main factors enter into the gravitationally self-consistent SLE whose solution provides the global r.s.l. change. To determine local r.s.l. at a given point, we solved the SLE using the pseudo-spectral method including consistent time-dependent coastline evolution and rotational feedback to meltwater redistribution49,50,51,52. We employ a radially stratified, spherically symmetric and rotating Earth model characterized by an upper elastic, 100-km-thick lithosphere, a three-layer Maxwell viscoelastic mantle with an inner mantle viscosity of 5 × 1021 Pa s, an outer mantle viscosity of 0.5 × 1021 Pa s and an inner inviscid core. Our initial AIS is smaller than at present, so we also modified the present-day initial global topography model ETOPO1 (ref. 53) by melting the excess mass from the present-day AIS and allowing a 50-kyr viscoelastic relaxation via the SLE. We also decreased the depth of the Gibraltar Strait to 30 m below mean sea level54,55, which is shallower than the modern, deep channel that was eroded at the end of the MSC9.“I think your scale is broken, doc.”
I was in because I had a rash on my arm and it started to bug me. I had to race that weekend, so I figured I’d go in and get it cleaned up so it didn’t bother me on race day. Doc gave me a cream and said it would clear up in a couple of days. Then he started asking doctor questions.
“Is there anything else going on with your health?”
I’m thinking, No. I’m 22 years old, and when you’re 22, nothing goes wrong, right?
Then, I thought about it a little more … “Well, I’ve been kind of thirsty lately. I’m going through like eight to 10 bottles of water a night and I can’t go 30 minutes without going to the bathroom.”
“Have you lost any weight?”
“I don’t think so.” I’d been weighed five days earlier before a race and everything was normal.
“OK. Let’s see what you weigh now.” So I stepped on.
“I think your scale is broken, doc.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s 25 pounds less than I should weigh.”
You know as well as I do that the scale wasn’t broken. I’d somehow lost 25 pounds in five days. A round of tests revealed why: My blood sugar was five or six times what it should be. My body wasn’t converting the sugar to energy for my body to use. My body was essentially eating itself. I’m thinking, 25 pounds … How did I not notice?
You remember your grandparents’ old TV when you were a kid — the one with the rabbit ears that was black and white and always fuzzy? When my blood sugar was out of control, that’s what my life was. That’s how I saw my world. Fuzzy. I was living in a fog. When my blood sugar came back to normal, it was like changing the channel. The picture became clear and it went from black and white to full color. It was that drastic of a change.
That’s why I didn’t notice my weight loss. I was lost in that fog. But what I still didn’t know is why my blood sugar was so high. Until the doctor told me.
“You have diabetes.”
With Type 1 diabetes, the kind I have, the body doesn’t produce insulin, which is a hormone the body needs to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. And without energy, your body burns up its fat and muscle reserves, which is why I lost all that weight so quickly.
When the doctor first told me I had diabetes, I thought, Great … What’s that? What does this mean? I didn’t know what diabetes was or how it could affect my body, so I went home and did what anyone else would do: I Googled it. And if you’ve ever Googled an illness or medical condition, you know you always get the bad stuff first. I found all the people who hadn’t managed their condition properly and let this potentially nasty, insidious disease take over their bodies. I found all the worst-case scenarios. I found all the horror stories.
What I didn’t find was a race car driver who had diabetes. I couldn’t find one story that I could look at and say, OK, he’s done this. Let me see how he did it.
Before I was diagnosed, I’d been racing for six years, mostly in Europe, and had some success. I was winning races and taking podiums, and I was excited about where my career was headed.
Now, I wondered if I’d ever race again.
When I met with my endocrinologist — a diabetes specialist — I got right to the point.
“Look,” I said. “I’m a professional race car driver. I have a race this weekend. Can I go? Am I ever gonna do this again?” Typical racing driver, ready to overachieve and be back in the car as soon as possible.
What followed was like that slow-motion moment in sports where the whole stadium holds its breath. The diving catch in the bottom of the ninth or the photo finish on the race track. That eternal second that drags out forever right before the moment of truth. That’s what it felt like waiting for his response — waiting to hear if I’d ever get back in the cockpit.
He had his head down, writing a note, and finally looked up at me and said, “I don’t see why not. There are incredible people doing amazing things with this disease all over the world. You may have to make some changes with how you go about it, but it shouldn’t slow you down.”
I was relieved, but the doctor wasn’t finished. He told me that before I got back on the track, I had to get healthy first. I had to get strong again and rehydrate. So I decided to miss the last two races of that 2007 season and focus on getting my body back to where it needed to be: back into racing form.
I’m a race car driver. I don’t get timeouts. I can‘t ask the other drivers to slow down while I grab a granola bar because my blood sugar is low. I also don’t get to check my blood sugar at halftime or between innings. Once I climb into that race car, whether it’s an hour-long practice session or a 500-mile race, it’s on.
Everybody’s body reacts differently to diabetes, so in addition to learning how diabetes worked, I had to take the time to learn about my body and how it would react under different, sometimes extreme circumstances, and I had to learn how to monitor my blood sugar and manage my insulin.
And I had to learn how to do it all while going 200 mph for up to 500 miles.
Because I’m a math/science guy — the son of an engineer — it’s an equation to me. You put carbohydrates, dehydration, adrenaline, stress and illness — all things that make my blood sugar go up — on one side of the equation, and on the other side, you put all the things that make my blood sugar go down, like being well-hydrated, low-impact cardio, being calorie-deprived and, of course, insulin. My job is to keep that equation balanced, and with so many different factors, it’s always changing. Those goal posts are always a moving target. Sometimes I need a little more or a little less insulin with the exact same meal because the stress and adrenaline levels are different. It depends on what’s been happening in my life and what’s been happening in my body. It’s very dynamic.
As much as the engineers and mechanics are making changes and adjustments to the cars to be competitive, I’m doing the same thing with my body, day in and day out.
The first time I got back into the car was about two months after my diagnosis. It was just a practice run, but I had so many questions. Will my diabetes get in the way? Can I still be an effective driver? I didn’t want to be a driver with diabetes just out there racing. I wanted to be competitive. I wanted to be a driver who’s capable of winning despite his condition — a driver with diabetes, yes, but a competitor and a racer, first and foremost.
Six months after I was diagnosed — that’s six months of studying my body and learning how it responds to my condition both before and during a race — I had my first race with diabetes. It was a Formula 3 Euro Series race in Germany, and in that first race back, all my questions were answered.
I finished the race, and I finished second.
You can’t even imagine the sigh of relief when I crossed that finish line. I had proven not only to everyone else, but to myself, that I could still be a leading driver. I could still compete. I wasn’t going to let diabetes take away the thing I loved most.
You’re probably wondering how I did it — how I got back into the car so quickly and how I didn’t miss a beat despite my condition. First, I embraced it. Then, I learned about it. Then, I decided to control it, not let it control me.
During a race, it’s pretty simple. Most drivers have a drink bottle mounted in the car so they can stay hydrated throughout the race, but I have two bottles, one with water for hydration and the second with orange juice with additional sugar to give me sugar and carbs when I need them. I have a valve that’s 3D printed (my dad designed it) and velcroed to my seatbelt, and the two drink bottles come together at that valve, which feeds into a tube that runs into my helmet. So it’s essentially a really long straw, and I can choose water or orange juice depending on what my body needs. I’m very conscious of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) during a race because IndyCars don’t have power steering, so the physicality of driving the car can burn off my blood sugar pretty quickly.
When I first got back into the car for that Euro series race, I had a glucose monitor mounted on my car’s steering wheel like a GPS. But instead of giving me driving directions, it was telling me my blood sugar levels so I knew whether I needed to flip the switch on my water bottles to fuel up on OJ. Now, the system is a little more sophisticated. My body is electronically plugged into the car itself. I have a sensor on my body with a wire injected under my skin. It has a wireless receiver that’s plugged into the car’s data system. So on my dashboard, I have speed, lap time, oil pressure, water temperature … and blood sugar. My car and body data are right there together on my dash.
There’s a lot going on during a race and I’m pretty confident in my preparation, so I don’t have to check my blood sugar on the dash every lap. I’m always checking my lap speed and lap time, but all my diagnostics are sent back to pit lane so the engineers can look at them as well. So if I’m in the middle of a wheel-to-wheel battle — like I was at Texas earlier this year when I went side-by-side with the No. 5 car for 10 or 15 miles — and I don’t notice my glucose levels dipping, the engineers radio me to check my sugar and see if I need some orange juice. If I do, I go to the valve. It’s a total team effort.
Luckily, I’ve never been in a position during a race where I was either unsafe or uncompetitive (knock on wood) because of my diabetes. The in-car tools are a part of that, but just like the car itself, when it comes to getting my body right for race day, it’s all in the preparation.
There are already so many elements to consider when preparing for a race, and now I have all of these additional elements to think about. I have to prepare my body differently for every race. I have to consider the track length and distance, the temperature and the type of course, oval or road, and I have to make sure I’m eating the right foods to fuel my body to deal with those elements that are unique to each race. I have to attack every race differently to keep my body balanced for that race.
I have a race team just like any other driver. I meet with them before every race to make last-minute adjustments to the car to make sure it’s is ready for race day.
Then, I meet with my other team — my healthcare team. Just like my engineer, crew chief and spotter on my race team, I have my endocrinologist, my diabetes educator and my nutritionist on my healthcare team. I call them Charlie’s Angels because they all happen to be women and they’re the ones who help keep me safe in the car. They’re the ones who help me get my body balanced and prepared to go for 500 miles and be competitive.
My race day routine is also a lot like other drivers’, but with a few subtle differences.
Two hours before a race, I’ll have my pre-race meal, and it’s almost always the same: grilled chicken, pasta, salad and fruit. Then I head to strategy meetings with my race team to go over any last-minute questions with my engineer and talk to my spotter and my race strategist about who I’ll be communicating with during the race — who’ll be calling flags, who I’ll be talking to about the car.
After my last meeting, I check my blood sugar to see how my body is reacting to my lunch.
Then I get dressed. I get my firesuit on and get ready to head up for driver introductions. But before I head up, I check my blood sugar again and make any last-minute adjustments, whether it’s a snack or some insulin. Whatever I need to balance that equation.
After driver introductions, I get in the back of the truck for a lap around the track and wave to the fans. When I get back, if my wife’s there, I give her a kiss. When I’m walking out to the car, I check my blood sugar one last time to make sure I’m on track. I put my earpieces in and my gloves on and I climb in the car with my right foot first and get bolted in. I put my helmet on, do a radio check and drink from the water and orange juice bottles to make sure they’re connected and working.
Having done all that preparation and routine means that when they say, “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!” I can focus on driving. A driver with diabetes, but a competitor and a racer, first and foremost.
When you get diagnosed with diabetes, you have a choice. You can let it control you and limit you and take over your body, or you can take control of it. If you do the former, you end up one of those horror stories I found when I first Googled the disease. If you do the latter, you end up doing what I’m doing: living your dreams. There’s no place I’d rather be than at the racetrack, in a car, competing. I wasn’t going to let diabetes take that away from me.
Ask any person with Type 1 diabetes out there, if they had the opportunity to give back their diabetes, would they? And just about everyone would say they would. But I can’t say that. I know it sounds weird, but I think I’m very fortunate to have diabetes. The diabetes community is a strong, caring one, and the support I get from it is overwhelming. The disease has also given me another purpose: to share my story and help educate and inspire others.
It doesn’t matter if I finish first, 10th or 21st. When I get out of the car and somebody with diabetes comes up to me and says, “Hey, I have diabetes too, and I think it’s great what you’re doing. Will you take a photo with me?” That motivates me. The fact that they can show that photo to all their buddies and say, “Yes, I’m different. But so is Charlie Kimball. And it doesn’t stop him.” That’s a great opportunity.
A couple years ago, one gentleman said to me, “I’ve had diabetes for 50 years and I just ran my first marathon.” And I thought, How cool is that? I drive a race car for a living, and I love it. There’s nothing I’d rather do. But to have diabetes for 50 years and run a marathon? That’s so much cooler than what I do. That’s a true feat.
Last year, I met a young boy, Luke. He’s a little league baseball player. He was diagnosed in December of 2013, and he heard about my story not long after he was diagnosed. When I raced at Fontana in 2014, he and his dad came out to the track to meet me. His dad said, “You know, Luke didn’t wanna play sports. After he read about your story, he wanted to play Little League. He said, ‘If Charlie can drive race cars with diabetes, I can definitely play Little League.’” Then he handed me Luke’s Little League rookie card. It’s Luke in his Dodgers uniform — my team.
Now, it doesn’t matter if Luke goes on to be a Half of Famer or he just plays for a year and makes a friend or two. The fact that he thought he could play just because of what I do in a race car is so much bigger than any one race result I will ever have.
I still have his baseball card sitting on my dresser.
I never would have had the opportunities to hear these incredible and inspiring stories if it wasn’t for my condition, and I definitely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to inspire kids like Luke. I never would have known this incredible community even existed if I was never diagnosed.
I have diabetes to thank for that.
Don’t get me wrong. There are hard days and there are easier days, and in those harder days, sometimes it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in this. And it’s pretty awesome to be able to have others — like Luke — look at me and say the same thing. I’m not alone in this.
October 16, 2007. That was the day the doctor said the words that changed my life: “You have diabetes.” I call that day my dia-versary. It’s kind of like a second birthday, and I celebrate it like a second birthday.
I often think about my reaction when I got the news: Great … what’s that? I had such limited knowledge, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve been such a big proponent of telling my story. I want to get my message out there because when that next young driver or that next little boy or that next adult hears the doctor say, “You have diabetes,” I want them to have an understanding, an awareness and a knowledge of what it can be capable of, but also that it doesn’t have to take over your life.
To get this kind of message out, you always need help. That’s where Novo Nordisk, my insulin provider, comes in.
Don’t roll your eyes — this isn’t a shameless plug for my sponsor. This is a shout out to whom I consider a partner. They’ve been with me since I was diagnosed — before they were a decal on my car — and we share the same mission: to allow me to live out my dream on the racetrack and to encourage the whole diabetes community to live theirs. They’re with me on and off the track, and for them to believe in me the way they do and share in my goals — that’s a unique relationship for a driver to have with a sponsor. That’s why I call them a partner. We’re truly in this together.
I’ve been dealt this hand of cards. Type 1 diabetes is one of those cards. But this is five-card stud. I can’t give this card back or trade it in for a better one. I just have to figure out how to play a winning hand. And the first step is not letting diabetes control my life. Manage my condition, don’t let it define me and don’t let it keep me from living my dreams. Nearly eight years after my diagnosis, I can say I’ve done that.
Now let’s see how many others we can help do the same.Building an infinite Plex Media Server using Amazon Cloud Drive — For average computer users.
Private Wahts Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 4, 2016
Recently I followed AMC’s Tutorial on how to build a PMS using ACD, the write up outlined the general gist of how to do it and what you need to do, but originally I was put off as there was a lot that I didn’t have the knowledge of. Now happy with my setup I thought that I would share my experience to help other people who were in a similar situation to me.
I’d also like to thank /u/IAmNotorious and MakeShift Ninja.
A lot of content has been taken from AMC’s Tutorial, he’s the brains behind all of this, I’ve simply rewritten my experience in what I feel is more of a tutorial that most people could follow.
It’s also worth noting I’m not by any means an experience Linux user, and there are probably better ways of doing things.
Step 1 — Get a decent VPS
I found a post of Reddit that recommended Digital Ocean for the VPS offerings. Personally I’ve found them extremely quick and reliable. Download from the server maxs out my 300Mbps broadband, and streaming |
6% Corsi-for rating (and his current linemates Brown and Trevor Lewis rank second and sixth in that possession statistic). Against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, Shore’s line was dominant – underline it, dominant – in playing with the puck in the offensive zone. During five-on-five play, Shore was on the ice for 20 shot attempts for and only two against, and both Brown (+21 CF) and Lewis (+19 CF) posted similar possession metrics.
“Basically, all that data and stats are based on who our opponent is and more on a game-to-game basis than anything else,” Sutter said. “I think he’s a good player. If we’re not talking about the line, just about Shoresy, then that third line centerman, he’s got to give you 13-to-15 quality minutes, and if you’re not involved in special teams, then that means even strength. A lot of that analytical stuff comes into even strength areas.”
The analytics aren’t the be-all, end-all of a player’s evaluation, and at some point those percentages will have to turn into cold, hard production. There are indications they will do so: Shore’s 89.3% PDO (What is PDO?) is the fourth-lowest rate in the league, and beyond being completely unsustainable, is far and away the lowest rate logged in a single season by the Kings amongst qualified players since Brian Willsie’s 94.4% PDO in 2006-07. With a minus-seven rating that’s tied for the lowest on the team, it’s apparent that Shore has simply been unlucky as pucks have found their way into Los Angeles’ net during the infrequent time he spends in his defensive zone.
It’s also not as if he’s getting a heavy amount of offensive zone starts; to the contrary, his zone starts relative to the rest of the team is a -1.33%, meaning they trend slightly to the defensive. He’s certainly helped by a 53.9% faceoff rate that ranks second to Jordan Weal’s 57.1%. As Brown notes, his fancy numbers are partly spurred by his ability to make himself available for an outlet pass from his defensemen, leading to clean zone exits.
“I think one, his ability to move along the ice is pretty good. In today’s game, that’s really important, especially for a centerman,” Brown said. “But I think it’s partly the plays he makes with the puck lend more to getting out of the zone cleaner, and he’s always supporting the D. If you talk to some of our defensemen, he supports them really well. Again, him just being two or three feet back or in the right spot or slowing down for a half second just so they can get the puck in the right spot, and that’s like what I’m talking about, when he makes really smart plays, subtle plays that the average fan probably won’t even see. Some guys speed through the pocket there, [while] he finds that pocket for them and for the wingers. It just lends itself to having the puck more.”
-advanced statistics provided by War-on-Ice; additional reference via Jewels from the Crown
Nick Shore, on whether there’s anything he can pinpoint towards his shot suppression:
Not necessarily. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things, and obviously playing with good D back there, they’re going to get the puck up and out of the zone quickly, so that helps with that.
Shore, on whether he sees his line as “defensively-attuned”:
Yeah, but I think all of our lines are. I think everyone takes care of their own end. Every line’s got to contribute in some way in order for us to get the two points each and every night, so it’s always going to be the same thing, but certainly that helps.
Shore, on defensive zone exits:
Coming out of your zone clean definitely helps you create offense, and I think that’s one of the big things that we continue to work on – being able to come out of our zone with some speed, and then that translates into offense.North Korea has completed its first Korean Workers' Party congress in 36 years. The ruling elite appeared to be getting along fine despite international sanctions. Washington needs to find a new approach toward the North.
The so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea poses one of the most vexing challenges to American policy. For more than 20 years U.S. presidents have insisted that the DPRK cannot be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Yet it apparently is preparing for a fifth nuclear test.
A military strike, as proposed by Ashton Carter before he was appointed Defense Secretary, would risk engulfing the peninsula in war. So the U.S. has relied on sanctions. Every time Pyongyang misbehaves--especially tests a nuclear weapon or launches a missile--American officials impose tougher domestic economic penalties and press for harsher UN sanctions.
After the North's latest nuclear test earlier this year, China agreed to a new round of restrictions. The increased penalties had no impact of North Korean policy. To the contrary, in early May the Kim regime used the party congress to highlight Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Foreign sanctions usually stiffen domestic resistance. Even friendly populations resent outside meddling. And when a government believes its policies to be necessary for survival--as, it would seem, does the North Korean regime--the chance of forcing change short of war is small.
Sanctions have had an impact. The People's Republic of China has been losing patience and appears to be more tightly regulating cross-border commerce. Some North Korean representatives of blacklisted agencies moved from China to Southeast Asian nations. The regime has resorted to smuggling to bring in banned products. Moreover, Pyongyang appears to be having more difficulty selling weapons abroad.
Nevertheless, Beijing continues to moderate the impact of sanctions. Illicit goods still cross the border and some observers expect the PRC commitment to fade as Western attention moves elsewhere. Beijing more fears chaos on its border than a North Korea with nuclear weapons. President Xi Jinping recently declared: "As a close neighbor of the peninsula, we will absolutely not permit war or chaos on the peninsula.
The Xi government so far refuses to halt energy and food shipments, the only step that would apply bone-crunching pressure to the Kim regime. Even then, Pyongyang might refuse to comply. Argued Russian diplomat Georgy Toloraya, outside sanctions "are in fact a blessing for mobilizing the whole country against such an external threat." The regime already is blaming the West, preparing its people for what it calls an "arduous march."
Throughout the Cold War the North protected its autonomy even from its nominal allies, China and the Soviet Union. During the late 1990s the regime survived the virtual collapse of the economy and starvation death of a half million or more North Koreans. The Kim dynasty might survive similar hardship in the future.
Unfortunately, the uniform experience of sanctions is that they hurt those with the least resources and influence. In nations as varying as Burma, Iraq, Russia, Sudan, and Yugoslavia, Western sanctions impoverished the many while only inconveniencing the leadership.
That appears to be the case in North Korea. So far the elite have prospered, despite penalties directed against luxury imports. Lu Chao, a Senior Researcher at China's Academy of Liaoning Social Science, argued that "there are so many channels for importing these goods. The ban is just propaganda and has no significance."
The streets of Pyongyang suggest he's right. Privileged North Koreans have money and goods which were lacking only a few years ago. The Washington Post recently reported on "Pyonghattan," home to North Korea's privileged elite: "They like fast fashion from Zara and H&M. They work out to be seen as much as to exercise. They drink cappuccinos to show how cosmopolitan they are. Some have had their eyelids done to make them look more Western."
In contrast, argued Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University, "the average North Korean will also bear the brunt of the sanctions." For instance, restrictions on the minerals trade will directly hit engineers, miners, truck drivers, and those serving mining communities.
Hunger continues to stalk much of the land and health care is lamentable. The latest round of sanctions has increased hardship. Choi Ha-young, chairman of the Love North Korean Children Charity, complained: "Currently, due to the UN sanctions, people in the lowest class are really impacted."
Unfortunately, Washington seems to have only one response to the North: increase sanctions. However, this policy is a dead-end. The U.S. and its allies must find a new strategy toward Pyongyang.
This article was first posted at National Interest online.by Brett Stevens on June 24, 2017
“Correlation is not causation,” morons love to say, but when a contributing factor can be identified, so can causality. As immigration has bloated the third world underclass of the West, teenagers have found themselves displaced from jobs they normally took, resulting in a collapse of teenage labor:
Paul Harrington, Neeta Fogg and Ishwar Khatiwada of Drexel’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy studied average teen employment rates from June through August. They found that the percentage of employed 16-to-19-year-olds fell from 45 percent in 1986 to 30 percent last year. (Their numbers are lower than the July-only figures because teens are less likely to work in June and August.) They forecast that teens’ June-August employment rate will reach 30.5 percent this year, surpassing 30 percent for the first time since the recession year of 2009 and evidence of an overall improved job market.
Perhaps the percentage has jumped a whole half-point this year because of the improved job market, but another factor is the mass exodus of immigrants in response to the rise of the polices of Donald J. Trump regarding immigration. In the meantime, American wages remain stagnant since the 1970s, and in effect lowered because of the additional requirements of living now versus then. Economics would attribute this an influx of new people into the workforce, which has been achieved through women in the workplace, immigration and affirmative action.
Leftist policies of equality are designed to force a society where people share the wealth equally. When the workforce is swollen, few individual workers find themselves in a position to rise in compensation above the rest, producing a vast peasant mass who will do whatever government instructs them to, since it controls their compensation through regulation. That is the Leftist endgame here.
In the meantime, many Americans — especially those discriminated against by law, namely European-descended ones — find themselves dropping out of the workforce into the barter economy, part time gigs, and selling junk on eBay to make ends meet. As usual, Leftist policy benefits Leftism at the expense of normal, healthy people.
Tags: immigration, teenage jobs
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Hi all,
Lately we have spent a considerable effort in balancing the game, and figuring out exactly how all the game mechanics need to work for a fun, interesting experience, while preventing the game from becoming too overwhelming. Today I’d like to talk about some of those.
First, we needed an early game ranged unit, to provide tactical coverage for your front line melee units. Units like trebuchets add a lot of tactical options to the game, but are quite expensive. To solve this, we introduced archers, which are infantry units that can shoot at range 3. One thing that makes them behave differently from trebuchets is that archers can move and attack on the same turn, whereas trebuchets can only do one of the two actions on each turn.
While this fills the need for an early, mobile, ranged unit, it does remove the tactical decision of moving vs attacking, and makes them more effective on attack than on defence. To account for that, we need to discuss another mechanic that was added to the game: passive abilities.
Every unit in the game has one ability – either active or passive. Active abilities manifest themselves as verbs on the action menu, such as the wagon’s ability to load and unload units, or the commander’s unique powers (more on that a future post!). Passive abilities typically increase the damage that a unit does in combat when certain conditions are met. For the archers, their damage is increased by 35% (relative) when they attack without moving.
Other examples include knights, which double their damage after a full charge (5 tiles moved), dogs, which get a bonus if their target is being flanked by another dog, spearmen, which get a bonus if they’re adjacent to another spearman, and mages, which get a bonus if it’s raining (they do call down lightning, after all!).
Finally, we’ve introduced reinforcements. If you’ve watched our previous gameplay Twitch stream, you’ll have seen that commanders were responsible for healing the army. We have now changed this, so units can be healed by moving adjacent to a friendly city and choosing “reinforce”. This will drain health from the city to heal the unit, and it will also cost you a proportional fraction of the gold cost of the unit. For example, healing a unit with half health will cost you half that unit’s total cost.Cyber Shadow Developer Talks About The Work That Leads To Pretty Pixel Art
By Joel Couture. January 28, 2017. 11:30am
Cyber Shadow will have players cleaving through a machine-filled future, acting as a cyborg ninja that will gain new powers and abilities as it devastates its enemies and frees the shadows of its long-lost clan.
Featuring a striking pixel-art style, Siliconera reached out to the developer of Cyber Shadow to learn about the work that goes into creating these detailed images, as well as the story behind a ninja in a mechanical future.
Ninjas make for rad video games, but what prompted you to put one in the future? Why have ninjas and robots clash? Why ancient techniques against futuristic technology?
Aarne Hunziker, developer of Cyber Shadow: The setting of the game came from how I enjoy drawing by flow, putting down pixels that come to mind without much logic. This method rules out modern day settings since drawing known things is more methodical and not as enjoyable.
The story is about exploiting carefully nurtured ancient knowledge with logic. The ninja feel their way through life, while the antagonist calculates. Feeling vs. thinking, human vs. machine, ancient vs. futuristic.
Can you tell us about some of the characters and creatures players will meet as they play Cyber Shadow?
The world is mostly devoid of humans. You meet reprogrammed robots and logged messages. You are mostly alone. The people you do meet are memories given form.
You get to know the antagonist, or who he was before, in side quests, before his obsession to save a life corrupted him and the world around him. I say corrupted only in comparison to how you and your clan are: pure, feeling, and human. For some of your clan, even you are corrupt, because your life was saved by turning you into a cyborg.
What abilities will players be unlocking in the game? How do they work, and what do they do?
Gaining abilities come naturally for the ninja, so that’s why you’re one. You learn from fellow clan members or by meditating and entering a memory. The skills are executed by button combos similar to fighting games.
The skills split into offensive, defensive, and movement types. Offensive skills give new directional or area attacks vs. enemies above/below/around. Defensive skills such as parrying are required for enemies with overkill attacks. Movement skills let you walljump or phase through enemies to get behind them.
What thoughts go into designing enemies and bosses that will work well with the powers the player can use? In designing powers that will give players opportunities to be creative in combat against enemies?
Most enemies are designed to be weak against multiple skills. There’s no easy win even with the right skill, but you can increase your odds by being creative. An advanced combo could be something like parrying an overkill attack, sticking an explosive kunai on an enemy, then shadow dashing through them. Bosses won’t have attack type weaknesses, but rather your skills will increase chances and frequency of your offence.
Judging from several of the screenshots, the player will be fighting huge bosses. What thoughts go into creating a fight between a small player character and a larger enemy? How is that design different from combat against regular enemies?
Bosses bigger than you are often slower and have much more attack power than you. Big bosses underline how your agility can overcome the odds. Humanoid bosses are about your size, but are faster and require good reflexes along with careful observation and planning.
Cyber Shadow somewhat feels like an homage to Ninja Gaiden. What drew you to such a play style? What other games inspired it, and how?
Games like Ninja Gaiden, Shadow of the Ninja, Contra, Shatterhand, and Castlevania were among my favorite NES games. I used to like how you can progress at a slower pace to learn the game, then play the same game again at "maximum" speed by holding the directional button forward and nailing each enemy as they appear.
When I was young I used to modify NES rom graphics to customize games for myself. Because of that I really enjoy drawing NES tiles and sprites. Also the NES palette has very distinct colors, which makes it easier to use while slightly colorblind.
Your pixel artwork is very detailed. How much work goes into the creation of a single enemy? A boss? A Stage?
A complete tileset for a level takes a total of a few days, but spread out among other things. I work on whatever feels nice in that particular moment. I can complete a single screen worth of tiles, background, and sprites in about a day. Bosses can take a few weeks in total including animations, coding and sound effects. Major chunks of time are spent in fine tuning everything in the pixel and frame level. I play the game in slow motion to make sure each frame change goes as they should.
Can you tell us about the process of designing the pixel art for an enemy? From when you conceive it to when it’s a finished sprite?
Designing an enemy is a very organic process. I imagine the situation where the enemy will be used, then scribble something random(sometimes my eyes closed) and see if there’s a shape that can be extracted. Sometimes a sprite comes out that doesn’t fit the location that well, then I try to feel a better placement for it. Most sprites find a home eventually.
You said you would be following NES limitations "but not religiously". What sort of limitations do you mean, and what makes you break from those limits?
The game started out as something that could run on NES hardware. Eventually I increased the resolution to make the game widescreen. Also, some color limitations don’t apply at all times in order to give more variety in enemy palettes. Parallax effects required a lot of tricks on the NES, so I opted to make mine more advanced for a faster workflow and better looking effect.
I follow rules like 4 palettes for backgrounds and 4 palettes for sprites with 3 colors + transparency for each palette. The main reason for following the rules is that it’s quite fun, like a puzzle. In a nutshell, I want to make the game NES-like, but forget all the not-fun features like flickering and slowdowns.
Any idea on when you may release the game? Or put out a demo?
As for the release schedule of the game, I can only tell how much of the game is done so far for certain. Working on the game alone means that any kind of change in my schedule will result the game getting pushed forward. It’s 40% done currently. I’m planning on sharing a demo at 50% completion with a select few people who can offer feedback. The public demo depends on how that goes.Image caption Vital signs: Is your email inbox hanging on by a thread, or are reports of its imminent demise greatly exaggerated?
The headlines were unequivocal - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had announced that email is dead.
The truth however was a little more prosaic. At the launch of the social network's new messaging platform, he had said "we don't think a modern messaging system is going to be email", and that the new system was "not email".
Mr Zuckerberg wasn't the first to suggest that email is obsolete, and neither has he been the last.
Email has come a long way from the first message sent by programmer Ray Tomlinson across a network back in 1971.
Senior citizen
The @ symbol separated the names of user and machine, and the message was sent from one machine to another over the precursor to the internet, the ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network).
Today email is ubiquitous. Technology market researchers Radicati see the number of email accounts worldwide growing from 3.1bn in 2011 to nearly 4.1bn by 2015.
Image caption Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg claims his network's messaging platform is not email
Email use is lower among teenagers - but whether this changes when they start work is unknown.
So just how likely is it that the creaking inboxes that haunt many of us will soon be replaced?
Writing history
One man with more reason than most to have an opinion on the matter is email specialist Mimecast's chief scientist Nathaniel Borenstein, co-creator of the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) protocol.
This is the internet standard that lays down how messages are formatted. It lets your email contain different characters, have attachments, and contain other types of files, among other things.
Mr Borenstein says it is used more than a trillion times a day.
"Email is still growing," he says. "There's no real sign that social is making a major dent in it.
"For the most part I think they fill different functions, but that they connect with each other. I think they're symbiotic. I'm reluctant to cast them into opposition."
They may have more in common than you think.
Image caption Nathaniel Borenstein: "People have asked me if I get money every time MIME is used." (He doesn't)
"Nowadays people will tell you that email is something sent to a name at a domain. And that was not the case certainly 20 years ago," says Mr Borenstein.
"Twenty years ago there were lots of independent email systems with different addressing schemes that either didn't interoperate at all or had complicated gateways.
"So over time people have come to think that email is this one thing with universal addressing, and universal addressing is good, but that's not the definition of email."
This would mean that messaging systems like Facebook's could equally be seen as email.
Unlimited storage
The overflowing inbox should also be a thing of the past, thanks to cloud computing.
"There are business, legal and technical reasons [for restricting inboxes]," says Mr Borenstein.
"The technical reasons no longer hold water. It's increasingly the case that you just can't begin to believe that there's not enough storage."
You've got mail 2011: 3.1 billion email accounts
2015: predicted 4.1 billion
Typical business user sends and receives 105 messages daily
2011: 2.6 billion instant messaging accounts worldwide
49% of email users live in the Asia Pacific region Source: The Radicati Group, Inc. May 2011
Social media's strength, according to Mr Borenstein, is allowing you to communicate with customised groups of people.
"They're both useful for business. I do believe that social media is going to be used more and more in business. I don't think that Facebook has gotten that right, I don't even think that Google+ has got that right and they do a better job.
"Surprisingly perhaps the ones I know who have done the best job are IBM with LotusLive, which hasn't got that much traction," says Mr Borenstein (who until recently worked for IBM on Lotus software).
Social future?
Not everyone is as sunny as Mr Borenstein when it comes to the future of email, however.
Lee Bryant is co-founder of Headshift, the world's biggest social business consultancy. He believes email's dominance over business communications is coming to an end.
"When email was first developed it was an excellent point-to-point communication tool when nothing else existed," says Mr Bryant.
"I think we've reached the stage where email as means of communicating is overloaded. I think we will see what happens on email today transitioning towards various kinds of both internal and consumer facing social tools."
Image caption Young people aged 12-17 are using email less, according to comScore
These are "flow-based" tools such as wikis, micro-blogging and internal social networks, according to Mr Bryant.
"I think fundamentally one of the biggest problems is that social tools communicate slightly more in the open, they create ambient knowledge and ambient awareness for others who are not even in the conversation," says Mr Bryant.
"Email doesn't do that, it's quite a lonely medium.
"You receive a series of messages, you hold them in the inbox and have to move, delete or act on every one. Whereas with flow tools the flow moves past you whether or not you actually open the messages."
But does this mean that important messages will flow past never to be seen again?
"Arguably," says Mr Bryant. "But there's quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that social networks are actually very effective at surfacing the right information or the right things that you need to deal with."
Nevertheless he says he doesn't see email going away anytime soon.
"You narrow down email primarily to what it was designed for, which is one-to-one communications."
Shiny pennies
Head of Microsoft's Envisoneers team and self-confessed "social media luvvie", Dave Coplin, is not impressed.
"I think that email is dead when it comes to social media in the same way that snail mail was dead when it came to email."
Image caption Dave Coplin: "I use email less because I have social media but I can't run... life without it"
"Time and again, it's always the same thing. Enter the bright shiny new technology stage right, therefore old boring technology must exit stage left."
"Of course it never happens that way."
He says the way we use technology evolves.
"When all we had was email we would use email for everything.
"Now we've got this wonderful selection of different kinds of communication. What's nice is that our email starts to be for those communications that do truly need the kind of functionality that email offers."
Mr Coplin says there are lessons to be learnt.
"The functionality offered by email is in many ways not well represented by social media.
Everything has its place and it's really understanding which is the right tool for the job Dave Coplin, Microsoft
"The asynchronous nature is really important, the ability to attach things, the ability to have a secure conversation, all of those things are crucial."
Mr Coplin sees the tools we use to communicate converging.
"We will have this universal communications platform that means if I'm talking to you via Facebook, Twitter, email or whatever their replacements are, it will all be presented as a common thread, so you couldn't kind of care less what channel they're on, what platform they're using, communication will flow."
But however shiny the future may be, email is in rude health in the present, according to Mr Coplin.
"The key thing for me is to dispel the myth that a lot of social media luvvies would have you believe, that email is dead. To me it's shiny penny syndrome.
"Everything has its place and it's really understanding which is the right tool for the job."I’ve been ill the past couple of weeks, so that’s kind of exacerbated my poor disposition towards the holiday season. I didn’t get to make truffles this year, because who wants other people’s virus-infused chocolates? That’s both gross and rude. I did make it to the mall a couple of times, but I can honestly say that I now truly hate the madness of the holiday shopping experience. But that’s all done and over with. I’m nearly back to normal, so I don’t have to carry an arsenal of tissues and cold pills. I still don’t have truffles, but that’s OK. I still hate the mall, and that’s OK, too, because there’s something much more important right around the corner.
We’re getting down to game day for the Church. It’s one of two days that always seems to draw people to the pews, even if they can’t be bothered the other 50 weeks out the year. I’m not saying they’re horrible people. I’ve missed my fair share of Sunday’s over the years, maybe the result of a long night of studying or a late night Lord of the Rings marathon (of which my wife rarely never participates.) They’re not horrible people, but I do think it says something about them.
I think the people who show up at church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, those people who don’t necessarily know anybody else because they’re never there, all have something in common, not just with each other, but with each and every person who comes to church every Sunday. Maybe I’m wrong, or maybe I’m just sentimental. But I think what draws people to Church, be it on Christmas or otherwise, is hope. No, I don’t mean the political slogan. I mean just general, all around hope. Hope that things can be better. Hope that our marriages can stay together. Hope that we can take care of our household. Hope for an end to unemployment. Hope for healing. Hope that we can be redeemed for whatever is gnawing away at our conscience. Hope.
It’s this hope that draws people, not just to the pews, but to the foot of the Cross, where the hopeless can be hopeful. It draws them to the empty tomb, where that hope is put into action. But before that ever happens, we get to celebrate Christmas. Where our hope put on the flesh of a man and drew breath. As a baby and his young mother cried, angels rejoiced. Hallelujah.
We church folk seem to have gotten the idea that there is a war on Christmas, to which I ask “so what?” The integrity of Christmas has nothing to do with whether or not someone says “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” Christmas is not diminished because it isn’t the exact date of Jesus’ birthday, or because the date’s association with pagan festivals. That’s just noise that should be filtered out, because it doesn’t really matter. It really doesn’t. Faith matters. Hope matters. Love matters. Christ matters. Remember that when a stranger is sitting in your pew this Sunday.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.
AdvertisementsEver since she turned 14, he would rape her regularly, and starve her and her mother if they tried to stop him; the ordeal finally ended when a social worker chanced upon her traumatised mother
Ever since she turned 14, he would rape her regularly, and starve her and her mother if they tried to stop him; the ordeal finally ended when a social worker chanced upon her traumatised mother
When she turned 14, her father called her aside with the ominous prediction that it was time for her to ‘learn about the human body.’ For the next 12 years, the fiendish father raped his daughter at regular intervals. When his wife intervened, both mother and daughter would be locked up and left to starve.
When the woman conceived a child from the repeated rape eight years ago, he took her to hospital for the delivery and cooked up the name of an absentee father. The man, now 50, even chopped off her locks to give locals the impression that she was mentally imbalanced, and made sure that she never married.
The young 26-year-old woman’s horrifying ordeal finally came to an end on Tuesday, when a social worker from the Mahila Dakshta Samiti chanced upon her bruised and traumatised mother and insisted on knowing what had happened. Asked about the circumstances that led to her bruises, the woman broke down and confided in the social worker that her husband had been sexually assaulting her elder daughter since she was a teenager. He had prevented his daughter’s marriage and raped her on a regular basis, till she conceived, she revealed.
Acting on the information, a team of police officers rushed to the woman’s house and arrested the man. They rescued the woman and her mother, who had been locked up in a room. In course of their investigations, the police also made the equally shocking discovery that the man had bought a 14-year-old girl from Agra and held her captive in another room in Malwani. The cops raided the room and rescued the girl. The monster dad has now been booked for rape, and for confining three women, as well as under sections of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offenses Act.
The 26-year-old woman told the police that when she turned 14, her father convinced her that she needed to ‘learn about the human body’. He started raping her at regular intervals. When his wife protested, he thrashed her and locked both in, forcing them to starve. The fiendish father never allowed his daughter to get married. When she conceived his child, he took her to Bhagwati Hospital for the delivery, and cooked up a name for the father. The child is now eight years old.
According to the police, the victim had stoically suffered the ordeal for years, but could not bear the thought of her sister being subjected to the same atrocities. Six months ago, she had even fixed her sister’s marriage in hope to send her away, but was afraid that her father would tell her prospective in-laws about his antics to ensure that the marriage fell through.
When the activist chanced upon the woman’s traumatised mother on Tuesday, the woman begged for their intervention and help, as she was desperate for an end to the ordeal. “We have arrested the man and are investigating the case. The woman and the 14-year-old girl from Agra have been sent for medical examination,” said PI Bhaskar Sawant from the Malwani police station.
Psychiatrists respond
In some instances, there may be a personality derangement (anti-social personality disorder) and poor moral and ethnical value system because of unstable upbringing. Sometimes it happens if the person is under the influence of drugs and alcohol which cause disinhibition. - Dr Hozefa A Bhinderwala, consulting psychiatrist attached to Global Hospital
Such assaults also result from the father’s urge to impose authority upon the daughter by physically abusing her. Such form of sexual assault, where the girl’s own father is involved, is quite common all over the world. In such cases, it is also about the father gratifying his own needs and usually takes place several times. The father looks at it as a way of gaining authority. - Dr Anshu Kulkarni, consultant psychiatrist at Fortis Hospital
Such men are of two types: they either have mental illness or they themselves have seen someone nearby being sexually abused. Many of them also have personality issues - they are abnormal and have anti-social issues. - Parul Tank, consultant psychiatrist and therapist at Asian Heart Hospital
In such cases where the protector turns into the perpetrator, it is usually due to severe mental disorders or sex addiction. Another cause could also be paedophilia, which can be treated if the individual comes forward and accepts that he needs to be treated. In some cases it has also been noted that when the devastating act was committed on the daughter, he was intoxicated. However, that is in no way an excuse for the father who committed this offence. - Dr Anjali Chhabria, consultant psychiatrist
The most notorious
Josef Fritzl
April 2008, Austria
Josef Fritzl shocked the world when it emerged that he raped his daughter Elisabeth more than 3,000 times and fathered seven children with her after imprisoning her in a cellar for 24 years at his home in the town of Amstetten. He is currently serving a life sentence for his crimes
Monsters in Mumbai
Kishore Chauhan
March 2009, Mira Road
Kishore Chauhan raped his two daughters, aged 21 and 17, with the help of a tantrik, Hasmukhbhai Rathod. The duo had been raping the elder daughter for nine years and the younger one for a year before a police complaint was filed. The rapes had been going on with the mother’s knowledge and support.
Shabbir Khan
June 2011, Bandra
An 18-year-old girl went to cops after facing months of abuse at the hands of her father Shabbir Khan, who raped her at knifepoint, while her mother chose to look the other way for the sake of ‘family reputation.’
Satyajeet Chaudhary
June 2012, Dahisar
45-year-old Satyajeet Chaudhary was nabbed when his daughter confided to her classmate that he repeatedly raped her for over three years. The survivor said that every time she refused his advances, he would threaten to throw her out of the house.
Ramesh Rajbhar
November 2013, Mira Road
Ramesh Rajbhar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, came to the city and with his friend raped and then strangulated his 17-year-old daughter to death with her own dupatta in the case of an honour killing.Come and celebrate with us as Chronicle: RuneScape Legends starts an exciting new chapter with its full release.
The beta has ended and the game is now available on Steam with a host of fresh features including a ranking system for you to outwit and conquer Gielinor’s greatest card warriors!
The time has come to write your name in the Hall of Legends as new challengers emerge and a host of new features are added to the game. Master your decks and draw up your strategies - let’s get to it and battle together!
PLAY FOR FREE ON STEAM
New Features | Ranked System | Play in 7 Languages
A brand new ranking system is the headline feature of this latest update to Chronicle and the first season has already begun. Rise up the ranks and unlock unique rewards such as card backs and titles.
Climb the ranks and earn yourself even more including reward chests and card packs to expand your decks and open new possibilities.
As Chronicle is now on Steam, the game comes complete with a full set of unlockable Steam achievements and Steam trading cards.
The game is also now fully localised in the following languages: English, French, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Russian and Polish.
FAQ
Do I need a Steam account to play Chronicle?
You can still play Chronicle directly via the website. However, if you choose to play through Steam, you will need a Steam account to do so. You can merge your existing Chronicle game with your Steam account to carry your progress across from the open beta if you wish to continue playing on Steam instead.
What happens next?
A busy summer content schedule is in the works and the team will be discussing it this Saturday (28th May) in our Summer Summit live stream from Jagex HQ. Be sure to watch this from 16 |
from the city, and $450,000 was projected to come from private donations.
The parade featured 12 red, white and blue-themed floats. National team players rode on multiple floats.
The NYPD said more than 3,000 officers lined the parade route and were in Lower Manhattan.
More than 12,000 people entered the lottery for tickets for the 1 p.m. ceremony. City Hall Plaza holds approximately 3,500 people.
Approximately two tons of confetti rained down on the parade.
The Department of Sanitation said they had more than 400 workers assigned to parade cleanup, and that they would utilize 14 collection trucks, 10 front-end loaders, 100 backpack blowers and 66 rakes.
HISTORY OF TICKER-TAPE PARADES:
Friday's ticker-tape parade was the 206th ticker-tape parade held on Broadway since 1886.
The first ticker-tape parade was held in 1886, an impromptu celebration of the Statue of Liberty's dedication. The first fully organized parade was held in 1889 to mark the centennial of George Washington’s first inaugural address.
For decades thereafter, ticker-tape parades were held rather often, usually to celebrate and honor politicians, foreign dignitaries, returning soldiers and heroes.
This is the first women's team ever to be honored with a ticker-tape parade in NYC. The first parade held for a female athlete was held in 1926 for Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel. The last parade held exclusively for a female athlete was held in 1960 for women's Olympic figure-skating champion Carol Heiss.
The city held nine ticker tape extravaganzas in 1962 alone, including one for John Glenn, the first American to orbit earth, another to celebrate the creation of the New York Mets, one to honor the Yankees for winning the 1961 World Series, and parades to cheer the leaders of Brazil, Panama and Iran.
The most recent ticker-tape parade to be held before Friday's was held for the Giants when they won the Super Bowl in 2012.
Parade costs can vary. The 1990 parade for Nelson Mandela cost more than $1 million. Some have come in cheaper, with private companies helping to foot the bill. The Giants' 2012 parade cost about $1.7 million; of that, there were $330,000 in private donations.
More than 56 tons of debris were collected from city streets after the 1999 Yankees World Series win. The Giants' 2012 parade resulted in about 35 tons of debris.There's been a lot of noise on the internet recently about the fact that the Windows-based software being used in the remote control system of drones use by the American military has been hit by a virus and this has caused the Department of Defense (DOD) to use GNU/Linux which is a more secure option. This has, predictably, caused raised eyebrows and demands by some that any military organisation should be prevented from using GNU/Linux in offensive weapons systems. The use of Drones in Afghanistan is a highly controversial issue but it is not the purpose of this article to debate the morality and ethics of deploying drones in an area of asymetrical conflict but rather to explore if it is actually possible to use the terms of the GPL to legally prevent the deployment of software or operating systems by any government's military.
They ain't stupid
The first thing you have to say is that, despite what Groucho Marx said about the term "military intelligence" being a contradiction in terms, they are not stupid. As far as open source and the GPL are concerned they've done their homework. The American DOD use FOSS extensively. Here's a list of the software they use (as cited by the Chief Information Officer of the US Department of Defense), one familiar to all readers of FSM:
Apache
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Thunderbird, Evolution
OpenOffice.org
OpenSSH
OpenSSL
bind
Postfix
gcc -
GNAT
perl, Python, PHP
Samba
Mailman
MySQL and PostgreSQL
GIMP
MediaWiki
More specifically, they use the following open source software for specific military purposes:
FalconView - PC-based mapping application
Open Source Software for Imagery & Mapping (OSSIM) - geospatial image viewing (with classified plugins)
OSSIM Mapping ARchieve System (OMAR) - video indexing
BRL-CAD - solid modeling (Army)
Optics - MASINT toolset (with classfied plugins)
Delta3D - Game/Simulation engine for modeling and simulation
Checkmate? Can you actually modify the GPL?
Using open source software is one thing, understanding the legalities of its licensing is another thing but the DOD know that the GPL is legally enforceable. They also know that it is permissible to mix different software licenses too, so, if they are combining GNU/Linux-powered remote control systems for drones which are using commercial Windows software they know they are on sure legal ground. I'm also willing to bet that the the software running drone remote control systems is "original", in the sense that it does not modify existing software released under the GPL (which is by far the most popular license in the DOD). There are, therefore, no intrinsic legal problems, excepting the logistical ones involved in not sharing code, security patches, bug squashing and developments costs.
More importantly, as an arm of a sovereign state, they have one unique piece in their armoury. They can declare their source code and any resulting software as classified and that seems to trump the terms of the GPL.That is especially true if the software is developed exclusively in-house. However, that exclusive in-house developed software will have been designed to run in userland on top of the Kernel which is licensed under the GPLv2. Additionally, any GPL'd software can be ported to run on Windows and Macs too. Checkmate? Can you actually modify the GPL?
Dont' mess with Freedom #0
Well, modifying the GPL has been attempted, precisely to prevent software released under its license being used for military purposes. Back in 2006, the developers of Global Processing Unit (GPU), a Gnutella client for clusters (with obvious military applications in areas like cryptography and nuclear simulations), inserted a clause in their GPL to prevent military use, sometimes referred to as the "pacifist clause". It's developers license patch declares that `“the program and its derivative work will neither be modified or executed to harm any human being nor through inaction permit any human being to be harmed.” Remind you of anything? Perhaps, Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. A Three-Laws-safe GPL?
GPU's developers admitted openly in the license preface that their patch contradicted Paragragh Six of the Open Source Definition
The legal system in the USA has consistently upheld the GPL but what happens to its legal enforcement when it has been modified--as the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has declared that the GPL cannot be modified? GPU's developers admitted openly in the license preface that their patch contradicted Paragragh Six of the Open Source Definition which states explicitly:
6 No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.
Besides, the patch nowhere uses the term military, so is there anything to stop them using GNU/Linux to peacefully model nuclear explosions? It should be pointed out, infairness, that the US Navy will also be using these drones to detect drug running in the Caribbean and I don't think anyone would object to that. Nor to the fact that GNU/Linux is also being used by the military in robots which could just as equally preclude the need to use humans in dangerous situations. Conversely, of course, you can argue that the mitigation of risks to humans may encourage governments to wage war when the constraint of body bags is removed. There are few votes to be lost in Linux-powered robots coming home in coffins.
Don't shoot the messenger
Similar arguments have been used in the past to condemn the invention of printing. It was accused of helping to start the Protestant Reformation, when in reality it merely helped to spread it by way of democratizing information and making it cheaply and widely available. We don't condemn printing. We don't ban the internet because it can be used by terrorists and paedophiles. We don't ban automobiles because they are used in the commission of bank robberies. The problem is not with technologies. It's with us, human beings, and there's no quick techno fix in our current evolutionary dispensation.
The FSF's response to the patch was the same as it is and always has been: The GPL is a copyrighted work which does not permit making a derivative work by modifying and redistributing it. Not without permission that is. The FSF FAQ is unequivocal:
You can use the GPL terms (possibly modified) in another license provided that you call your license by another name and do not include the GPL preamble, and provided you modify the instructions-for-use at the end enough to make it clearly different in wording and not mention GNU (though the actual procedure you describe may be similar).
If you want to use our preamble in a modified license, please write to licensing@gnu.org for permission. For this purpose we would want to check the actual license requirements to see if we approve of them.
Although we will not raise legal objections to your making a modified license in this way, we hope you will think twice and not do it. Such a modified license is almost certainly incompatible with the GNU GPL, and that incompatibility blocks useful combinations of modules. The mere proliferation of different free software licenses is a burden in and of itself.
Some people like to cast the conflict between open source and proprietary sofware as an essentially Manichean divergence between the disciples of Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes
The truth is that the you can't have it both ways. You cannot demand freedoms for yourself that you will not extend to others. Freedom requires reciprocity. You cannot therefore attempt to curtail the activities of others by restricting the software they use. Some people like to cast the conflict between open source and proprietary sofware as an essentially Manichean divergence between the disciples of Rousseau (born free) and Thomas Hobbes (a war of all against all). Reality is rarely that clear cut. It's messy and ideologically unsatisfying. A GPL lacking invariant and inflexible first principles would be the plaything of every single issue fantic and interest group.
The simple fact is that the GPL cannot be changed by individual fiat, whether it's Richard Stallman or Linus Torvalds. The kernel, under the GPL, is a vast distributed project and to effect a change across such a vast enterprise in a short time would be like trying to turn round the QE2 in two minutes. This issue cuts to the heart of the matter. Famously, GNU/Linux has four freedoms as stated by Stallman in the original GPL and the ability and right to use software for any purpose is freedom #0. Any purpose. We give that freedom to all to ensure it for ourselves. I can't sum it any better than to quote a brillaint and timeless piece of dialogue from A Man for All Seasons, one of my favourite films, based on the screenplay by Robert Bolt:
Alice More: Arrest him!
More: Why, what has he done?
Margaret More: He's bad!
More: There is no law against that.
Will Roper: There is! God's law!
More: Then God can arrest him.
Alice: While you talk, he's gone!
More: And go he should, if he was the Devil himself, until he broke the law!
Roper: So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast– man's laws, not God's– and if you cut them down—and you're just the man to do it—do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
Ryse: Son of Rome is what I want from a next-gen game. It's something different. And it's something impressive.
Ryse is also a game I expected to not like very much, so let's give it one more label: a pleasant surprise on day one for Xbox One.
Seven years in the making by a collection of studios under the Crytek umbrella, Ryse is the adventure of one Marius Titus, a Roman soldier who has both the will to defend his people and the skill to chop off his enemies' arms.
Marius is the star of a very brutal game... a game of combat, a game of killing, a game that was recently and notoriously likened to being as much fun as dialing phone numbers, a game supposedly full of quick-time events, a game that used to be for Kinect, a game from the people who usually bring you first-person shooters and not third-person melee games, a game that...yes, I thought Ryse was going to suck.
So what have we got here?
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We've got a head-turning beauty of bloody historical fiction set at the time of Nero nearly two millennia ago. This is a third-person action game, though it doesn't look that much like action games I've played before. We don't play many games set in this era nor have we gamers had many chances to line up with centurions against barbarians in ancient Rome or charge the shores of Roman-occupied Britannia.
We also don't play many games where the camera is in this tight. The characters are often massive in Ryse, as if the designers wanted to impress you with the Xbox One's graphics by making it seem like you're closer to them. "Here, look at this!" Ryse says as it grabs you by the collar and moves your face to the TV.
Some games show off graphics just to, well, show off. Rarely can you point to great graphics and say that they improve the gameplay, but in Ryse, they do. They help distinguish Ryse from being just another brawler. They excuse, to some extent, the game's constricting linearity and invisible walls. They aid Ryse's gameplay by supporting a melee combat system that works best if you, the player, visually "reads" your character's movements.
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See, Ryse risks being an awful game by introducing the oddity of combat sequences that are impossible to fail. The game allows the player to activate optionally-interactive finishing sequences, dubbed as "executions," that will work play out and kill an enemy even if you do nothing. What could be a travesty, however, turns out to be something novel and enjoyable: a combat system that switches from manual to automated and that, when it switches, rewards players who read the graphics well. It empowers the player who can anticipate their character's next moves based on his complicated animations and who can do this with such finesse that they can rack up scores, chain combos, purchase more extravagant moves and, all the while, infuse their character with better and better stat boosts.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
Sure, you could just sit back and let Ryse play itself half of the time, or you could get involved with the gameplay and play it like a combo-driven action game, one that assumes you can follow the flow of the action.
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I admit that this is an odd way to present combat in a game, but it drew me in almost immediately. As each encounter in the game begins, you'll feel like you're playing a standard third-person action game. You're a skilled fighter surrounded by two, three, four or more enemies. In this variation, you're a Roman soldier with a sword and shield, hacking and bashing, pushing metal through bone. Your enemies will take turns attacking, as they tend to in action games. You'll strike or push, heavy strike or heavy push, block or roll. As you dent their defenses, you'll get a signal that you can start an execution.
Trigger an execution and the enemy is dead meat. It's guaranteed. You will be able to play out whichever grisly one the game cues up for you, pulling from a pool of dozens of executions you've unlocked. At these moments, your inputs are reduced to pushing the Xbox One controller's yellow Y button or the blue X. Or you could do nothing. Ideally, you'll do something! But the kill will happen anyway.
The impossibility of failure and the simplicity of commands during these executions should ruin things. It should earn the game scorn. Yet this is where Ryse's graphics and animations save it and elevate the combat system. As Marius begins his execution sequence, he might first swing his shield at his enemy's head, then stab him in the chest and then pull that sword out. That'll be a Y-X-X combo. You won't trigger it. You won't even dial up that combo. You're really just reacting to prompts. The bad way of doing that is to wait and wonder whether Marius' enemy will suddenly be highlighted blue or yellow and then react to that. The better way to do this is to appreciate the graphics and actually watch Marius' movements. If he is about to use his sword hand, be ready to press X. If he is about to use any other part of his body to attack, use Y. This might not seem like a big difference, but it is. It feels special, because because the tells that the player is reading aren't those of his enemy's but those of the exceptionally well-rendered main character. (Okay, I just said 'it feels special' about some of the most realistically depicted ultraviolence I've ever seen in a game. The violence in this game can get a bit weird. More on that in a bit.)
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During the executions, the player's challenge is to watch Marius' arm and leg movements and understand them, to essentially anticipate them. This is a different way to relate to a game character and one that works well. It works because of the reward. If you wait for the color prompts before figuring out which button to press, you're playing a guessing game or a reflex text. You're reacting to known information rather than reading movement and essentially moving with the game. If you just wait for the color prompts you're also likely to be slower and to merely pull off a "recruit" or "soldier"-level execution. These are worth little. If you instead focus on reading Marius' movements, you'll consistently be able to pull off "centurion" or even "legendary" executions. Those superior execution ratings greatly raise your combo meter and earn you more points in whichever of four categories of execution Marius has performed. He can, to be clear, do executions that earn him health points, focus points, damage points or experience points, all of which are useful and all of which can be triggered on the fly before or even during a killing sequence.
All of this execution stuff works well thanks to the absurd number of executions programmed into the game. Marius can unlock some 98 ways to execute his enemies, 42 of which are reserved for when the player weakens two enemies and tries to execute both in one sequence. That amount of variety makes it harder to predict which execution Marius will do next, keeping the player guessing and forcing them to, as noted, focus on their character's movements.
The better you do in combat, the more points you earn, the more executions you unlock, the more of Marius' skills you increase, the better you can do in combat. The progression is simple and keeps combat engaging even when the game is sending a few too many of the same enemies at you.
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The above may seem like a big info-dump about a game's combat system, but Ryse is its combat system. It is a continuous brawl through one strikingly-rendered place after another, told in flashback as Marius explains to the Roman emperor Nero just who he has been and who, through so much bloodshed, he has become. The story in the game is decent, if unsurprising. Family members are props who are there just to trigger obvious predictable moments. Our hero is the rightest man around in a world of moral monsters. Rome is burning. A Son of Rome must rise. You can figure it out and you can safely assume some echoes from Gladiator and 300.
The Batman Arkham games are also defined by their own wonderful combat system, but they have Batman lore and a lot of exploration to hook people who are bored of video game punching and kicking. Assassin's Creeds have their building climbing, never-ending conspiracies and, recently, naval battles. Ryse has less. Just the combat, the graphics and the historical setting, though those simple elements do cohere well. As I played, I was repeatedly reminded of the similarly spartan first Assassin's Creed. That game proved to be a great blueprint for a richer sequel, but in its time also served as a nice short trip to another era with some basic, solid and somewhat unconventional gameplay. Ryse is like that and gorgeous, too. From old cities to forests and bogs and seaside towns, the game regularly looks amazing.
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Sometimes Ryse doesn't play the way I've described it. Sometimes Crytek makes Marius man an arrow-shooting turret. Sometimes Marius needs to throw spears instead of swing a sword. And sometimes, in the game's dopiest moments, you need to yell at the Xbox One's Kinect to tell your fellow Roman soldiers to fire volleys of arrows and protect Marius. All of that passes briefly and at least cleanses the palette.
I prefer the rare moments when you can hunker down with your fellow Roman legionnaires and march a phalanx toward an enemy emplacement. In these moments, the camera is tighter still, though this time the game developers really are just showing off. You're usually marching toward enemy archers and the idea is to either advance as a unit or hunker down with shields held overhead. You should do the latter when a storm of arrows is incoming. Hunkering down looks cool, and each arrow that stabs its way into one of your men's shields sends a sting of vibration through the Xbox One controller. Then you un-hunker, command your men to march or rear back and have everyone throw a spear of their own. The projectiles fly. You march. It's a cool moment.
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Ryse goes by fairly quickly. It's maybe 10 hours long in normal difficulty. Toward its end, it begins to feel like that first Assassin's Creed: more foundation or blueprint for a great new game, more proof of a slightly different concept. It also feels, in its eighth and final chapter, like the Kinect game it once was. The action is more on rails in that chapter. There's less choice. It feels like a different game. Mostly, though, the game feels tight and trim. It moves from place to place quickly, doesn't linger on any one moment too long, doesn't waste player's time with dull fights or padded battles.
I do wonder about the game's one excess, though. It can be uncomfortably gory. The game certainly conveys that ancient war was brutal, but it also fetishizes vicious executions with its close-up graphics. It's hard to see how Ryse's combo system would work as well without the violent punctation depicted by the executions, but it'd be dishonest for me to say it left me unbothered. Seeing the whites of their eyes is one thing. Seeing the whites of their bones is something else.
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Let's think happier thoughts like... friendship! Camaraderie! The, um, opportunity for co-op executions of computer-controlled brutes! Ryse includes a multiplayer suite that can be played co-op or, oddly, solo. You fight in the Roman Coliseum using a modified version of the game's combat system. Your nameless multiplayer gladiator starts out nearly naked but can unlock much better gear. You don't exactly earn it. You earn gold, mostly by keeping the Roman crowd entertained, and then you can spend that gold on random packs that might contain boosts and upgrades. Mass Effect 3's multiplayer used a similar system, and, as with Mass Effect 3, you can pay real money to get gold for buying those packs. A simple level progression does prohibit profligate players from splurging on the best packs on day one. I liked what I tried of multiplayer but will withhold further comment about it until I play more post-launch. I'll update this review when I do.
I'm not sure if seven years of development ensures we'll get a sequel to Ryse to make the effort worth it or if it guarantees that the developers will never try this again. I'd be fine either way. Ryse's setting, graphics and novel combat system could serve as the blueprint for a more spectacular and more complicated game. Or Ryse could stand on its own as what it is: an interesting, weirdly violent yet somehow also attractive detour.
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I'd like to think that Ryse is an example of the kind of fresh re-thinking we'll experience on the new generation of consoles. Why not move the camera in? Why not set the game in ancient Rome? Why not let players yell at archers to lob in some support? Actually, no, never do that last one again. Ryse arrives with low expectations and demonstrates that looks can make a difference in gameplay. That's a next-gen upgrade I can enjoy.The pace of Houston's ramen invasion may have slowed a bit, but out-of-town noodle shops still have their eyes on bringing more tonkotsu to the city. With California-based Jinya Ramen already preparing to open locations in Midtown and Clear Lake, Seattle-based Samurai Noodle has also announced plans to open in Houston at the corner of I-10 and Durham before the end of 2014. The Ramen in Common Facebook page was first to report the news.
Houstonian Thomas Tang will serve as the regional manager for Samurai's Texas expansion. He tells CultureMap that he had been interested in partnering with an experienced operator to open a ramen shop in Houston. After traveling around the country and evaluating a number of options, he approached Samurai. Tang explains that Samurai's ability to maintain consistency of its flavors at three locations in Seattle made it very appealing to him.
Customers sitting at a bar in the restaurant will be able to see the noodle machine in operation and will discover when it uses the advertising tag line "love at first bite."
"I worked really hard to get them to look at Houston," Tang says. Although it took "some convincing" to persuade Samurai owner Ryo Izawa to make a trip to Texas to visit Austin and Houston, when he did, Izawa was impressed enough by Houston to partner with Tang.
Tang says Izawa chose Houston because he thinks Houstonians are more open to new kinds of food than Austinites, and, of course, Houston's larger size means the company could potentially open more locations. They settled on the specific location based on its small size (approximately 1,500 square-feet) and that it sits between ramen shops on the west side and Midtown/downtown. That it happens to be in the same shopping center as fellow Seattle-import Starbucks is a happy coincidence.
Asked about what sets Samurai apart, Tang says it's "the texture of the noodles. They're fresh-made and can be ordered chewy, regular or soft."
Customers sitting at a bar in the restaurant will be able to see the noodle machine in operation and will discover when it uses the advertising tag line "love at first bite." Tang adds that Samurai is "really strong in ramen," with a whopping 26 varieties on its menu. Those qualities helped Samurai earn the designation of being one of "26 Tasty Spots to Slurp Ramen" from Urbanspoon, along with such highly-touted spots at Tatsu-ya in Austin and Ippudo in New York City.
Look for Samurai to open by November. Until then, stay tuned for announcements about the chef, decor and more. As for Tang, he'll be spending quite a bit of time in Seattle. Izawa won't let him open the restaurant until he's been thoroughly schooled in every aspect of the restaurant's operations. That is the Samurai Way.Infosec 2014 Accusations that the revelations from rogue National Security Agency sysadmin whistleblower Edward Snowden have damaged the US technology industry are misplaced, according to influential security guru Mikko Hypponen.
Hypponen, chief research officer at security firm F-Secure, said that the disclosure that US tech was either "booby-trapped or monitored" may have had a damaging effect on the US cloud industry. But blaming this on Snowden was misplaced and akin to "blaming Al Gore for global warming".
Snowden's action represented the single largest leak of top secret information in history. "Top secret information almost never leaks and that's why the Snowden leak was extraordinary", according to Hypponen. All the information leaked by Private Manning, by contrast, was classified either secret or below.
During a keynote speech on whistle-blowing, Hypponen told delegates to the Infosec conference that while wanting to believe that Snowden was a selfless hero, some of the circumstances of the case troubled him. For example the initial leaks were on 5 June 2013, two days before US president Barack Obama was due to meet face to face with his Chinese counterpart to discuss cyber-espionage. The timing might have been a coincidence but it couldn't have come at a good time for the US side, according to Hypponen.
The security guru, a vocal critic of the NSA, added: "The whole timeline of the leaks bothers me."
At any rate, it appears that the outcry in Europe and further afield over privacy has not had much effect. Europe continues to use US tech services from the likes of Microsoft and Google even after revelations about the NSA's dragnet surveillance programmes, and this is because it has no choice, the security expert told the crowd at Infosec in London.
The European tech industry has failed to produce viable alternatives, he claimed. Even in cases where a tech firm makes it big - such as Skype - these firms get bought by Microsoft or other US tech giants, Hypponen concluded. ®Fellow firefighters with Tomasz Kaczowka's casket at his funeral in 2013. Kaczowka was fatally shot by an ex-convict who obtained his guns from a straw purchaser.
They made an odd pair, the scruffy 61-year-old William Spengler and his 22-year-old neighbor, Dawn Nguyen, when they went to browse long guns at a Gander Mountain sporting goods store near Rochester, New York. In a scene later described in court papers, Spengler — a convicted felon who was prohibited from purchasing a firearm — spoke for the two when a clerk asked if they needed help. When it was time to close the deal on an AR-15 rifle and a pistol-grip shotgun, it was Nguyen who stepped forward to apply for a background check and hand over more than $1,400 in cash, without buying ammunition or bothering to ask questions about the guns. When the sale was complete, Spengler scooped the weapons off the counter and they left the store.
Two and a half years later, on Christmas Eve 2012, Spengler set fire to his house in a ploy to lure firefighters into an ambush. Using the AR-15, he shot and killed two of them and wounded two others before killing himself.
Firefighters and their families have sued Gander Mountain, accusing it of ignoring several red flags that should have tipped off staff members that Nguyen was a straw purchaser for Spengler. The plaintiffs are represented by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which has put forward a novel legal theory in an attempt to get around a law that makes winning negligence lawsuits against gun shops a steep challenge.
The Brady lawyers’ use of the gun industry’s own anti-straw purchasing guidelines as evidence has become the group’s go-to move in straw purchasing cases.
The Brady lawyers assert that Gander bears liability in the shooting because the store ignored the protocols established by the gun industry’s own trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). In its anti-straw purchase program, “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy,” the NSSF provides retailers with questions meant to smoke out suspicious buyers. The guidelines instruct clerks to ask, for instance, for details about how a buyer plans to use their purchase. If someone claiming to be the intended owner of the gun doesn’t respond reassuringly, the “Don’t Lie” program recommends refusing the sale. In its suit, Brady argues that Gander failed to follow the NSSF’s guidelines when it sold the weapons to Nguyen.
The Brady lawyers’ use of the NSSF protocols as evidence in gun-violence cases — the lawyerly equivalent of snatching a gun from the hands of an opponent to turn the weapon against him — has become the group’s go-to move in cases alleging straw purchases. The NSSF’s top lawyer, Lawrence Keane, has lashed out at the tactic, saying that Brady is cynically “turning a positive program into a negative” to further its “anti-gun political agenda.” The “Don’t Lie” campaign, Keane argued, “is a tool box for retailers. It’s not a hammer to be used against them.” (The NSSF declined to comment for this story.)
The NSSF’s program began in 2000 as a joint effort with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. That partnership broke down after the ATF objected in 2012 to having its agents distribute “Don’t Lie” training packets to gun shops along with solicitations for the NSSF’s political action committee. The program’s federal funding — $2.15 million in grants from the Department of Justice from 2003 to 2009 — also dried up. The NSSF has kept “Don’t Lie” alive on its own, paying for a nationwide marketing campaign and in-store posters aimed at gun buyers (“Buy a gun for someone who can’t, buy yourself 10 years in jail”). While the NSSF’s “Don’t Lie” website still identifies the ATF as its partner in the program, an ATF spokeswoman said the agency is “no longer involved.”
Courts have yet to sort out whether the NSSF protocols, which are voluntary, amount to an accepted industry standard.
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One gun-litigation expert, Georgia State’s Timothy Lytton, says there’s nothing unusual about courts accepting private industry standards as an authoritative measure to evaluate a defendant’s behavior. Various types of tort cases, from fire safety to food, cite a purported violation of private industry guidelines as evidence that a company was negligent.
“If you’re looking to try and find ways to make gun stores more responsible,” Lytton says, “the NSSF’s standards for straw purchases are probably one of the best ways to do that right now.”
Current law makes winning a negligence lawsuit against a gun seller a huge challenge. The decade-old Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) shields the gun industry from most liability claims. It has proven fatal to most cases that seek to hold manufacturers, distributors, and retailers accountable for gun violence. The few liability cases that have survived a PLCAA challenge did so by arguing that one of the exceptions Congress carved out to preserve some claims should apply.
Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Center says that the NSSF campaign helps illustrate a basic point: that “the industry knows there are things they can do to prevent straw purchases.”
In the Gander Mountain case, Brady argues that the relevant PLCAA exception is negligent entrustment, a theory of liability that, in this instance, attempts to hold a retailer responsible for selling a gun to an obviously dangerous person.
Jonathan Lowy, director of the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project, says he has introduced the “Don’t Lie” campaign as evidence in dozens of gun cases since the NSSF launched the program. He says that the campaign — in addition to aiding claims that the cases qualify for an exception under PLCCA — helps illustrate a more basic point: that “the industry knows there are things they can do to prevent straw purchases.”
Most of the other NSSF cases brought by Brady are still taking shape. But in one important trial that concluded last year, Kunisch and Norberg v. Badger Guns, the straw seller guidelines figured prominently. A Wisconsin jury awarded $6 million to two Milwaukee police officers wounded by a man who obtained his gun through a straw purchase — the only jury verdict won by plaintiffs against a gun-industry defendant since Congress passed PLCAA. (The parties settled the case for $1 million in December). According to testimony in the trial, the teenager who later shot the officers was too young to legally purchase a handgun. So the teen accompanied a friend to the store and pointed out the gun he wanted. The friend initially filled out the background-check form to indicate that he was not actually the buyer — a clear warning sign under “Don’t Lie” — but the store allowed him to change his answer and purchase the weapon.
During the trial, Badger Guns’ owner admitted his clerks did not follow the full NSSF screening procedure, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The police officers’ lawyer, Patrick Dunphy, tells The Trace that by showing how the store failed to follow NSSF guidelines on questioning and blocking suspicious purchases, he was able to convince the jury of the store’s liability for the officers’ shooting. “It goes directly to negligent entrustment,” says Dunphy. “What would a reasonable gun dealer do under the same or similar circumstances?”
Dunphy and the Brady Center have since teamed up again against Badger Guns on behalf of another pair of Milwaukee police officers. That case, also likely to feature testimony about compliance with the “Don’t Lie” guidelines, is scheduled to go to trial next month with a less clear-cut set of facts. The plaintiffs’ lawyers allege that the shooter did not accompany the buyer to the store, but instead that Badger Guns clerks should have recognized it as a straw purchase because the buyer made two purchases eight days apart, including a handgun “assault weapon” with a flash suppressor and two 30-round clips.
It is not clear if plaintiffs’ lawyers in the Gander Mountain lawsuit will make an issue of the type of firearms that Nguyen bought for Spengler. But when Nguyen was tried in federal court, prosecutors argued that she should be punished especially harshly for providing assault-style weapons to a felon. Among the |
minutes earlier so why the delay? ‘They’ will tell you traffic congestion.
“And here’s the head shot, as I like to call parts of my theories. There was 1 bus. The 91 bus. 9/11. Wake up and join the dots.”
Theories differ on why the hit was called, with the majority involving oil or lizards, but the online community are demanding answers to the questions they think are important.
Many want to know why the photo of the damaged bus does not include upstairs windows found on that model of Routemaster and why government departments keep hanging up on them when they phone them for the thirtieth time that day.
A group of passengers who offered to meet with bus-deniers were snubbed after blogger 1lluminat1 discovered one of them used to work for the council.
Sheeple69 said: “You carry on believing what the corporate media feed you but the 35 subscribers to my blog know the truth.”The Rockford Files is an American television drama series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974, and January 10, 1980, and has remained in syndication to the present day. Garner portrays Los Angeles–based private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in the supporting role of his father, a retired truck driver nicknamed "Rocky".
The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins created the television show Maverick (1957–1962), which starred Garner, and he wanted to recapture that magic in a "modern day" detective setting. He teamed with Cannell, who had written for Jack Webb productions such as Adam-12 and Chase (1973–1974, NBC), to create The Rockford Files. The show was credited as "A Public Arts/Roy Huggins Production" along with Cherokee Productions in association with Universal Television. Cherokee was owned by Garner, with partners Meta Rosenberg and Juanita Bartlett, who doubled as story editor during most of The Rockford Files run.
In 2002, The Rockford Files was ranked No. 39 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[1]
Premise [ edit ]
Rockford's investigation of a missing woman takes him to a local cemetery.
Rockford has a few heated words with would-be private eye Freddie Beamer.
Producers Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell devised the Rockford character as a rather significant departure from typical television detectives of the time, essentially Bret Maverick as a modern detective.[2] Rockford had served time in California's San Quentin Prison in the 1960s due to a wrongful conviction. After five years, he was pardoned. His infrequent jobs as a private investigator barely allow him to maintain his dilapidated mobile home (which doubles as his office) in a parking lot on a Malibu, California beach.[citation needed]
In early episodes of the first season, Rockford's trailer is located in a parking lot alongside the highway at 2354 Beach Boulevard (Pacific Coast Highway), Malibu and near the ocean; for the rest of the series, the trailer is at Paradise Cove (address 29 Cove Road), adjacent to a pier and a restaurant ("The Sand Castle", now known as the "Paradise Cove Beach Cafe"). In the television movies from 1994–99, Rockford is living in a trailer that has been extensively enlarged and remodeled.[citation needed]
In contrast to most television private eyes, Rockford wears low-budget "off the rack" clothing and does his best to avoid fights—although he will engage in fistfights when there's absolutely no other option. He rarely carries his Colt Detective Special revolver, for which he has no permit, preferring to talk his way out of trouble. He works on cold cases, missing persons investigations, and low-budget insurance scams, and repeatedly states that he does not handle "open cases" to avoid trouble with the police. (This self-imposed rule of Rockford's was relaxed in later seasons.) He has been a P.I. since 1968, and his usual fee is $200 per day plus expenses[3][4] ($200 at the series' beginning in September 1974 was the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $986 by March 2018).[5]
Cast [ edit ]
Listed in the opening credits:
Frequently recurring cast:
Stuart Margolin as Evelyn "Angel" Martin, Jim's former prison friend. Angel is an untrustworthy, pathologically lying con artist whose schemes constantly get Jim in trouble, yet Jim remains his friend.
Gretchen Corbett as Elizabeth "Beth" Davenport, Jim's lawyer and sometime girlfriend (seasons 1–4).
James Luisi as Lieutenant Douglas J. "Doug" Chapman (seasons 3–6), Becker's superior officer (until Becker's promotion). He and Jim despise each other.
Tom Atkins as Lieutenant Alex/Thomas Diehl, Becker's superior officer (seasons 1–2 and 4) who also has an antagonistic relationship with Rockford.
Seen in multiple episodes:
Pat Finley as Peggy Becker, Sergeant Becker's wife
Isaac Hayes as Gandolph "Gandy" Fitch, a brutal, violent acquaintance of Rockford from his prison days. He almost always calls Jim "Rockfish". Jim helps prove Fitch didn't commit the crime for which he was imprisoned. The two become friendly. In later episodes Fitch tags along with an unscrupulous investigator Marcus Hayes (Louis Gossett, Jr.) trying to cash in on one of Rockford's cases; and needs Jim's help dealing with mobsters connected to the ex-husband of his new girlfriend (played by Dionne Warwick). Jim remains on good terms with Fitch, towards whom he seems to display an almost naive blind spot despite Fitch's refusal to ever take Jim's "no" for an answer, and his lack of compunction about using violence, including occasionally on a recalcitrant Jim himself.
Bo Hopkins as John "Coop" Cooper, Jim's disbarred attorney friend (Season 5).
Tom Selleck as Lance White, a successful private investigator with an uncynical approach to the business. Liked and admired by everyone but Jim, who considers him naive and lucky and likely to cause others to get hurt.
Dennis Dugan as Richie Brockelman, a young, idealistic and seemingly naive private investigator who seeks Jim's help from time to time. Bereft of Jim's cynicism and physical toughness, Richie was nevertheless a sharp operator who used his outwardly trusting 'gee whiz' persona to mask his dogged cleverness. This character was spun off for the short-lived Richie Brockelman, Private Eye.
. Kathryn Harrold as Dr. Megan Dougherty, a blind psychiatrist who hires Jim. Their relationship eventually blossoms into a romance. Jim is upset in a later episode to learn that she has become engaged to another man.
Simon Oakland as Vern St. Cloud, a blustery, arrogant, and often untrustworthy fellow private investigator. St. Cloud and Rockford grudgingly accept each other's assistance from time to time, trading insults along the way (Oakland appeared in a sixth season episode playing an unrelated character).
Louis Gossett Jr. as Marcus Aurelius "Gabby" Hayes, an impeccably dressed, chauffeur-driven, boastful P.I. who is nearly always on a hustle, usually to Rockford's misfortune. Gossett appeared first in Foul on the First Play wearing a full wig with sideburns, appearing the following season in Just Another Polish Wedding without it.
wearing a full wig with sideburns, appearing the following season in without it. Rita Moreno as Rita Capkovic, a call girl and occasional police informant who is targeted by a millionaire businessman because of her friendship with an elderly widow. In later episodes she gets accused of the murder of a client; and when she tries to leave her profession and hides out with Rockford it enrages her sadistic former pimp. It is never made explicit if Jim and Rita are ever romantically involved, beyond their close friendship.
James Whitmore, Jr. as Fred Beamer, an auto mechanic who aspires to be a Private Investigator, and involves himself in Jim's affairs. In his second appearance, Beamer assumed Jim's identity, living in his trailer, making numerous purchases on credit for detection equipment of questionable efficacy, driving (and heavily damaging) his Firebird, and taking on a client, plunging Jim into trouble. (Whitmore later directed the T.V. movie The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A. ).
). Al Stevenson as L.J., a friend of Rocky's, who often performs odd jobs for Rocky (in one episode, Jim discovers him alone at Rocky's house repairing a shower faucet). L.J. is closer to Jim's age than Rocky's, and it is likely they met during the latter's career as a trucker.
Luis Delgado as Officer Todd Billings, seen frequently at crime scenes or at the precinct. Delgado played a number of other bit roles in early Rockford seasons before settling into the recurring minor role of Billings starting in season 3. Delgado was the brother-in-law of series co-creator Roy Huggins, and James Garner's long-time stand-in.
Bucklind Beery as Officer Al Mazursky, another recurring bit-part officer very occasionally seen at the precinct during seasons 2-5. Bucklind Beery is the son of Noah Beery.
Hunter von Leer (credited as Hunter Von Leer) as Skip Spence, a libidinous, money-seeking lifeguard stationed on the beach near Jim's trailer. Jim finds Skip distasteful, but Skip occasionally provides information helpful to him. In one episode Skip gives information to gangsters searching for Jim.
Jack Garner (James Garner's real-life brother) was seen in numerous bit parts before assuming the role of the fence-sitting, ineffectual Captain McEnroe (Becker's superior officer) in season 6.
Supporting characters [ edit ]
Dennis Becker: Rockford's pursuit of cases often leads to difficulties with his friend in the LAPD, Sgt. Dennis Becker (Joe Santos), a homicide detective struggling to advance in the department under a series of overbearing lieutenants. The two most notable are Alex/Thomas Diehl (Tom Atkins) during the first, second and fourth seasons and Doug Chapman (James Luisi) in the third to sixth seasons. Those higher-ups invariably dislike Rockford (and private investigators generally) because of their perception that either he is meddling in open cases or is trying to make the LAPD look incompetent in its handling of closed cases. Further, Rockford often calls Becker asking for favors, such as running license plates through the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) computer system, often annoying the already overworked cop. By the fifth season, Becker is promoted to lieutenant; it was stated in the episode where Becker is promoted that Becker's association with Rockford, considered by LAPD brass to be a shifty ex-con, had hampered Becker's chances for promotion.[6] Chapman intensely dislikes it when Becker becomes his "equal". In season 6 episode The Big Cheese, the third-to-last of the series, Rockford gets a degree of revenge when Chapman inadvertently makes incriminating statements about his tax evasion before an undercover IRS agent who is with Rockford. Becker appears in 89 of the 123 episodes.
Joseph "Rocky" Rockford: Rockford's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, is an ex-Seabee, semi-retired, semi-truck driver who nags his son to find stable (and less dangerous) employment, often urging him to follow in his footsteps as a truck driver (especially in early seasons). The relationship of father and son was an integral part of the show. Rocky appears in 101 episodes, and usually becomes involved (like it or not) in his son's cases. Occasionally, he hires Jim himself. Jim Rockford's mother is never shown or named, and is very seldom referred to. Although never directly stated, the way Jim and Rocky talk about her would seem to indicate she had died (before the series' start).[citation needed]
Rocky was portrayed by Noah Beery, Jr. (nephew of actor Wallace Beery) except in the 1974 pilot film, where he was portrayed by Robert Donley. Though much of the character's backstory is the same, in the pilot Rocky is portrayed as more of a small-time grifter and operator — at one point, working with a partner, Rocky unsuccessfully tries to run a minor scam on Jim, his own son. This element of Rocky's character would largely be dropped as the series started. Beery's version of Rocky was generally honest and reliable, though not above working an unreported job 'under the table' to supplement his pension income, or eating the most expensive food in Jim's fridge if he dropped by while Jim was out.
Angel Martin: Rockford's scheming former San Quentin cellmate, Evelyn "Angel" Martin was something of a comic relief character played by Stuart Margolin. Jim employs Angel as an operative from time to time, often to gather street-level information, or to help him access the files of the newspaper where Angel works as a low-level filing clerk. Keeping this job is a condition of Angel's parole; even so, it's doubtful that the ever-shifty Angel would be capable of doing so, except that his brother-in-law owns the paper. Jim also uses Angel on a few occasions to play a supporting role in the elaborate con games that he sets up to sting especially difficult adversaries.
Angel is himself forever running some sort of (usually very bottom-of-the-barrel) con game, and is consistently ready to sell anyone out at a moment's notice for his own benefit — and often does. In doing so, Angel almost always gets Rockford in trouble, usually by involving him in hare-brained scams... often without Jim's knowledge, and never with his consent. As often as not, Angel's antics result in Angel's, Jim's and/or others' arrests, and/or being placed on somebody's hit list. In spite of this, Jim considers Angel as one of his best, if most exasperating, pals. Towards the very end of the series, there is a noticeable cooling in Jim's attitude toward Angel in their often fractious relationship; however, the rift seems to have been repaired by the time of the reunion movies.
Beth Davenport: Rockford has a close relationship with his attorney, the idealistic, tenacious Elizabeth "Beth" Davenport (Gretchen Corbett). In second-season episode "A Portrait of Elizabeth", it is explained that Beth and Rockford had dated for a time (prior to the beginning of the series), but she soon became aware of his emotional unavailability and lack of interest in a longterm relationship, and realized that they'd be better off as friends (although the two do seem to still casually date on occasion during early seasons).
Others: After Corbett was dropped from the show following the fourth season (allegedly due to contract disputes between Universal, which owned her contract, and Cherokee Productions, Garner's company), a new legal adviser (John "Coop" Cooper, a disbarred attorney who befriends Jim), and a new romantic interest (Kathryn Harrold as Dr. Megan Dougherty) for Rockford were added.[citation needed] Dougherty was a blind highly independent psychiatrist, who makes three appearances in the fifth and sixth seasons. Rockford has romantic flings with numerous women, but none become permanent.[citation needed]
James Garner's real-life brother, Jack Garner, made 23 appearances playing (at various times) a policeman, a gas station attendant, and a stranger in a bathroom. The most regular character Jack played was that of police officer "Captain McEnroe" a number of times in the final season.[citation needed]
Credits [ edit ]
Writers [ edit ]
The show's pilot was written by Cannell, who also wrote 36 episodes and was the show's co-creator. Juanita Bartlett, one of the show's producers and Garner's partner at Cherokee Productions, wrote 34 episodes. She also wrote for Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The Greatest American Hero, and In the Heat of the Night. David Chase wrote 16 episodes; he later went on to Northern Exposure and The Sopranos. The show's co-creator, Roy Huggins, also wrote for the show during the first season, always using pen name John Thomas James. However, Huggins' contributions to the show ended midway through the first season, after he submitted a script rewrite direct to set as the episode was shooting, without getting approval from any other writer or producer. Garner, trying to work with the material on set, felt the rewrite was unsatisfactory, and could not figure out why it had been approved for shooting. When he discovered that neither Cannell nor any of the other production staff members knew anything about the rewrite, Garner issued a directive that Cannell, not Huggins, had final say on all script material. Though Huggins was credited as a producer for the entire run of the series, this effectively ended his creative involvement with the show, as he submitted no further material to The Rockford Files and did not involve himself in the day-to-day running of the series.
Directors [ edit ]
Frequent directors included William Wiard (23 episodes), Lawrence Doheny (10 episodes), and Ivan Dixon (previously a regular on Hogan's Heroes) (9 episodes). Veteran actor James Coburn directed an episode. Coburn had co-starred with Garner in the classic movies The Great Escape (1963) and The Americanization of Emily (1964). Other actors who directed episodes include Jackie Cooper (3 episodes) Richard Crenna and Dana Elcar (1 episode each). Co-creator Stephen J. Cannell directed several episodes; series regular Stuart Margolin and executive producer Meta Rosenberg each helmed 2; and James Garner directed one episode in the second season, "The Girl in The Bay City Boys' Club". It was Garner's only directing credit in his entire 50+ year film career; in his autobiography, The Garner Files, Garner states he only took on the assignment because the scheduled director was unexpectedly unavailable at the last minute.
Vehicles [ edit ]
Pontiac Firebird Esprit [ edit ]
Familiar to viewers was Jim Rockford's gold Pontiac Firebird Esprit car. One oft-recurring element of the show was the famous "Jim Rockford turn-around" (also known as a J-turn or a "moonshiner's turn" - commonly employed as an evasive driving technique taught to Secret Service).[7][8] Garner explained the move in his 2011 autobiography The Garner Files: "When you are going straight in reverse about 35 miles an hour, you come off the gas pedal, go hard left, and pull on the emergency brake. That locks the wheels and throws the front end around. Then you release everything, hit the gas, and off you go in the opposite direction." James Garner stated in a Season One DVD interview that he performed this stunt for the duration of the series. The car's license plate was 853 OKG, although the plate in some early episodes displayed the number 835 OKG. Garner writes in his autobiography that he believes that the letters OKG stood for "Oklahoma Garner" but that he does not know the origin of the numbers 853.
Starting with the 1974 model year, Rockford would get a new model-year Pontiac Firebird each year throughout the series. The Firebirds used had an identical "copper mist" color with the Esprit's exterior and interior. Although the Firebirds were badged as Esprits, they were actually the higher performance "Formula" model without the twin scoop hood. Garner needed Rockford's car to look like the lower tiered "Esprit" model, a car Rockford could afford, but have the performance necessary for the chase sequences in the show. To achieve this, the show featured Pontiac Firebird Formulas re-badged and re-hooded to look like the "Esprit" model. The "Formula" model was developed to provide the performance of the top level "Trans Am" in a less ostentatious form. Formulas didn't have the Shaker hood scoop, side vents, graphics or lettering used on the Trans Am, but they had the same higher horsepower engines and drive trains, larger front and rear anti-roll bars, stiffer springs and shocks, and a twin scoop hood. (Sharp-eyed car connoisseurs can spot the twin exhausts and rear anti-roll bar on the cars used on the show, options that were not part of the "Esprit" package, as well as spot the different model year cars used in various chase scenes that differed from those in an actual episode, especially in later seasons). Although the series ran until early 1980, no Firebird was used past the 1978 model year as Garner reportedly was displeased with the restyled front end of the 1979 and later Firebird models and as such did not wish them featured on the show (although an answering machine message in one episode in the final season indicated his car was 1979 Firebird).
GMC Sierra Classic pickup [ edit ]
Joseph "Rocky" Rockford drove a GMC Sierra Classic pickup truck throughout the series. The truck had a 400-cubic-inch engine, Turbo 400 automatic transmission, and a 4-wheel drive factory setup.[9] The custom exterior paint was silver with maroon panels and orange pinstriping. Additionally, the truck sported various after-market accessories added by noted California customizer and off-road racer, Vic Hickey, including the winch, brush guard, hubcap covers, sidestep bed plates, auxiliary gas tanks, custom steering wheel, rear roll bar, Cibié headlamps mounted on the front bumper/rear roll bar, and Pace CB radio.
Other cars [ edit ]
Beth Davenport drove a yellow 1973 Porsche 914 in Season 1[10], before switching to a orange 1975 model in Season 2 (though in episode 202, "The Farnsworth Stratagem" she drove a 1972 Audi 100 C1[11]) and using it through the first half of Season 3, last appearance in episode 311, "The Trouble With Warren"[12]. In Season 3, she switched to a Mercedes-Benz 450SL.[13]
Theme song [ edit ]
The show's theme song entitled "The Rockford Files" was written by noted theme music composers, Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. It appears at the opening and ending of each episode with different arrangements. Throughout the show's tenure, the theme song went through numerous evolutions with later versions containing a distinct electric guitar-based bridge section played by session guitarist Dan Ferguson[14].
The theme song was released as a single and spent two weeks at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, in August 1975.[15] The B-side track (or "flip-side") titled "Dixie Lullabye" was also composed by Post and Carpenter. The single remained on the chart for 16 weeks and won a 1975 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.[16][17][18]
Answering machine introduction [ edit ]
Each episode began with the image of Rockford's answering machine, and the opening title sequence was accompanied by someone leaving Rockford a message on a Dictaphone remote Ansafone 660.[4] As the camera focuses on the telephone, whose number is 555-2368, it rings twice and then Rockford's recorded voice is heard providing the following greeting:
This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, leave your name and message. I'll get back to you. [Beep]
The messages were usually unrelated to the episodes. They were a humorous device that invited the viewer to return to the quirky, down-on-his-luck world of Jim Rockford. The messages usually had to do with creditors, deadbeat clients, or were just oddball vignettes. Numerous celebrities and well-known contemporary public figures were used in the recordings. Though a distinctive and clever entry device, the messages became difficult for the writers to create. Suggestions from staffers and crew were welcome and often used.
In total, 122 different messages were created through the run of the original six series. The eight CBS TV movies (also referred to as season 8) feature a unique message. However episodes syndicated as James Rockford, Private Investigator use the same message; it was taken from episode 507, "A Three-Day Affair with a Thirty-Day Escrow".
Each message is a standalone gag that often provides a small amount of biographical detail about Rockford, the people he knows and the activities that occur in his life as a Private Investigator. Only extremely rarely (such as in episode No. 209, "Chicken Little is a Little Chicken", during which Rockford house- and cat-sits for an absent Beth) is the content of the answering machine message in any way connected to the plot or situations of the episode itself.
In "Guilt" although not connected to the plot it does get referenced during the opening scene. The recorded message is Angel giving a racing tip and when Jim gets back to the trailer he plays back another message from Angel asking why Jim ignored the tip.
End [ edit ]
The show went into hiatus late in 1979 when Garner was told by his doctors to take time off because of numerous knee injuries and back trouble, as well as an ulcer. He sustained the former conditions largely because of his insistence on performing most of his own stunts, especially those involving fist fights or car chases. Because of his physical pain, Garner eventually opted not to continue with the show some months later, and NBC cancelled the program in mid-season. It was alleged that Rockford had become very expensive to produce, mainly due to the location filming and use of high-end actors as guest stars. According to sources, NBC and Universal claimed the show was generating a deficit of several million dollars, a staggering amount for a nighttime show at the time, although Garner and his production team Cherokee Productions claimed the show turned a profit. Garner told a story to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show that the studio once paid a carpenter $700 to build a shipping crate for a shoot-out on a boat dock, though there were shipping crates on the dock. The script often called for Garner to damage his car, so the car could be sold, repaired, and repurchased for each episode.
Aftermath [ edit ]
Later in the 1980s, Garner became engaged in a legal dispute with Universal regarding the profits from Rockford Files that lasted over a decade. The dispute caused significant ill will between Garner and the studio. The dispute was settled out of court in Garner's favor, but the conflict meant that the Rockford character would not re-emerge until 1994. Universal began syndicating the show in 1979 and aggressively marketed it to local stations well into the early and middle 1980s. This accounts for its near-ubiquity on afternoon and late-night schedules in those days. From those showings, Rockford developed a following with younger viewers, with the momentum continuing throughout the 1990s and 2000s (decade) on cable. (The Ben Folds Five song "Battle of Who Could Care Less," in which The Rockford Files is mentioned, is one example of the show's newfound youth following; furthermore, the Rockford Files theme song is played at the end of the band's concerts.)
In 2006, the show was broadcast for a few months on Superstation WGN. In 2007, the Retro Television Network began broadcasting the program nationwide, as did the digital cable channel Sleuth and Chicago TV station WWME-CA. ION Television has rights to the show and it is slated for future broadcast. In the fall of 2009, the show reappeared in Canada on Deja View. The series was broadcast in the UK on BBC1 and has since been repeated on BBC2 and ITV and also on Granada +Plus, which later became ITV3, although none of these channels repeated the later seasons. In Australia, the series runs Monday - Friday on cable and satellite channel Fox Classics and on 7Mate. The series aired in the United States on the Me-TV digital subchannel network until September 2, 2016, the series was available on Netflix until January 1, 2017, with the first three seasons available on Hulu Plus.
Episodes [ edit ]
The series pilot aired on NBC March 27, 1974, as a 90-minute made-for-television movie. In the pilot, Lindsay Wagner also starred and later made a return appearance. The pilot was titled Backlash of the Hunter for syndication.
Four written but unproduced Season 6 episodes were referred to in "Thirty Years of the Rockford Files" by Ed Robertson (2005). There is no mention of these episodes being filmed. This would appear to be the source of the unsubstantiated rumor that four filmed but unaired Rockford episodes were destroyed in a fire in 1980.
Episodes with Angel Martin [ edit ]
The Pilot
1974: "Backlash of the Hunter"
Season 1
1975: "Counter Gambit"
1975: "The Four Pound Brick"
Season 2
1975: "The Farnsworth Stratagem"
1975: "Chicken Little Is a Little Chicken"
1975: "The Girl in the Bay City Boys Club"
1976: "The No-Cut Contract"
1976: "Joey Blue Eyes"
Season 3
1976: "The Fourth Man"
1976: "Rattlers' Class of '63"
1976: "So Help Me God"
1976: "Drought at Indianhead River"
1976: "The Family Hour"
1977: "Dirty Money, Black Light"
1977: "The Becker Connection"
1977: "There's One in Every Port"
Season 4
1977: "Forced Retirement"
1977: "Hotel of Fear"
1977: "The Mayor's Committee from Deer Lick Falls"
1977: "The Dog and Pony Show"
1977: "Second Chance"
1978: "The Empty Frame"
Season 5
1978: "Black Mirror: Part 1"
1978: "Black Mirror: Part 2"
1979: "Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job: Part 1"
1979: "Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job: Part 2"
1979: "A Material Difference"
1979: "The Man Who Saw the Alligators"
Season 6
1979: "The Big Cheese"
1979: "No Fault Affair"
1979: "The Hawaiian Headache"
1979: "Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs: Part 1"
1979: "Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs: Part 2"
1979: "Paradise Cove"
TV Movies
Angel Martin was in all the films.
Episodes with Gandolph Fitch [ edit ]
Season 2
1975: "The Hammer of C Block"
Season 3
1977: "Just Another Polish Wedding"
Season 4
1977: "Second Chance"
Episodes with Marcus Aurelius "Gabby" Hayes [ edit ]
Season 2
1976: "Foul on the First Play"
Season 3
1977: "Just Another Polish Wedding"
Episodes with Richie Brockelman [ edit ]
Season 4
1978: "The House on Willis Avenue: Part 1"
1978: "The House on Willis Avenue: Part 2"
Season 5
1979: "Never Send a Boy King to do a Man's Job: Part 1"
1979: "Never Send a Boy King to do a Man's Job: Part 2"
Episodes with Rita Capkovic [ edit ]
Season 4
1978: "The Paper Palace"
Season 5
1978: "Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead"
Season 6
1979: "No Fault Affair"
TV Movies [ edit ]
Eight Rockford Files reunion TV movies were made from 1994 to 1999, airing on the CBS network (whereas the original series aired on NBC) and reuniting most of the cast from the original show. Beery died on November 1, 1994, so the first of these films, which aired later that month, stated, "This picture is dedicated to the memory of Noah Beery, Jr. We love you and miss you, Pidge." ("Pidge" was Beery's nickname.)
The movies picked up nearly 15 years later from where the show ended. In the initial movies, Rocky is referenced as alive, but is off-screen; he dies (within the series continuity) sometime before the third movie.
Garner, Santos, and Margolin appear in every movie. Other Rockford regulars who appear in multiple movies include Luisi, Atkins, Corbett, and Jack Garner (as Capt. McEnroe). Recurring players from the series who are brought back for a single return appearance include Rita Moreno (as Rita Kapkovic); Kathryn Harrold (as Megan Daugherty); and Pat Finley (as Peggy Becker).
Also added to the cast in small, recurring roles were Gerry Gibson as Critch, the owner of the Sandcastle restaurant across from Jim's trailer; and Shirley Anthony as Sally, a friendly, cheerful grandmotherly type who frequented the precinct to (falsely) confess to crimes, and to knit sweaters while she waited.
Spinoffs [ edit ]
The limited-run series, Richie Brockelman, Private Eye was not technically a spin-off of The Rockford Files, as the character of Richie Brockelman, played by Dennis Dugan, first appeared in a 1976 TV movie produced by Cannell. However, Brockelman did appear in the 1978 Rockford episode "The House on Willis Avenue", which was broadcast the week before Richie Brockelman, Private Eye began its five-week run in The Rockford Files time slot. The character of Richie Brockelman returned to Rockford in the 1979 episode, "Never Send a Boy King To Do a Man's Job."
was not technically a spin-off of, as the character of Richie Brockelman, played by Dennis Dugan, first appeared in a 1976 TV movie produced by Cannell. However, Brockelman did appear in the 1978 Rockford episode "The House on Willis Avenue", which was broadcast the week before began its five-week run in time slot. The character of Richie Brockelman returned to Rockford in the 1979 episode, "Never Send a Boy King To Do a Man's Job." Universal made a back door pilot featuring the characters Gandolph "Gandy" Fitch and Marcus "Gabby" Hayes (played by Isaac Hayes and Lou Gossett, Jr., respectively) titled Gabby & Gandy. The series never came to fruition, but the pilot was broadcast as an episode of Rockford called "Just Another Polish Wedding".
. The series never came to fruition, but the pilot was broadcast as an episode of called "Just Another Polish Wedding". A second back door pilot was made for a series that would have featured Greg Antonacci and Gene Davis as Eugene Conigliaro and Mickey Long, two humorously incompetent characters who were introduced in the Rockford episode "The Jersey Bounce" (these same character names are used in both episodes but they are clearly different as both of them and Rockford do not know each other in the second episode, "Just A Coupla Guys"). The series pilot involved them trying to ingratiate their way into the New Jersey mob and aired as the next-to-last episode of The Rockford Files. David Chase, who wrote both episodes, would later create The Sopranos, which centered on the New Jersey mob. Greg Antonacci, who had played Conigliaro, played a role as an underboss of a rival family to the Sopranos.
Ratings [ edit ]
Season Ranking Timeslot 1974–75 No. 12 Fridays at 9:00 p.m. 1975–76 No. 32 1976–77 No. 41 1977–78 No. 46 1978–79 No. 59 Fridays at 9:00 p.m./Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. 1979–80 No.?? Fridays at 9:00 p.m./Thursdays at 10:00 p.m.
Awards [ edit ]
Golden Globe Awards
Year Category Nominee(s) Result 1978 Best TV Actor - Drama James Garner Nominated 1979 Best TV Actor - Drama James Garner Nominated 1980 Best TV Series - Drama Nominated Best TV Actor - Drama James Garner Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards
Writers Guild of America Awards
Year Category Nominee(s) Episode(s) Result 1977 Episodic Drama Juanita Bartlett "So Help Me God" Nominated 1978 Stephen J. Cannell, Booker Bradshaw, & Calvin Kelly "Beamer's Last Case" Nominated David Chase "Quickie Nirvana" Nominated 1979 Stephen J. Cannell "The House on Willis Avenue" Nominated 1980 David Chase "Love Is The Word" Nominated
Other Awards
Home media [ edit ]
DVD [ edit ]
Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released all six seasons of The Rockford Files on DVD in Region 1. On November 3, 2009, they released The Rockford Files- Movie Collection, Volume 1, featuring the first 4 post-series telefilms.[19] On May 26, 2015, they released The Movie Collection, Volume 2, five and a half years after the release of volume 1. They also released a 34-disc complete series collection on the same day.[20][21]
On April 18, 2016, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series; they subsequently re-released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 on July 5, 2016.[22] On June 13, 2017, Mill Creek re-released The Rockford Files: The Complete Series on DVD and also released the complete series on Blu-ray for the first time ever.[23]
Universal Playback has released the first 5 seasons on DVD in Region 2. the pilot for The Rockford Files is in the season 2 set
DVD Name Episode No. Release dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 Season One 23 December 6, 2005 August 29, 2005 February 6, 2008 Season Two 22 June 13, 2006 August 21, 2006 February 6, 2008 Season Three 22 February 27, 2007 May 7, 2007 September 2, 2009 Season Four 22 May 15, 2007 July 30, 2007 February 10, 2016 Season Five 22 January 15, 2008 May 12, 2008 |
1950); Beaver v. State, 96 Tex.Cr.R. 179, 256 S.W. 929 (1923).
In this context, appellant's claim on behalf of her daughter that the child has been denied equal protection of the law is unmistakably presented. Indeed, at argument here, the attorney for the State of Texas, appearing as amicus curiae, conceded that, but for the fact that this child is illegitimate, she would be entitled to support from appellee under the laws of Texas.{2}
We have held that, under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, a State may not create a right of action in favor of children for the wrongful
Page 409 U. S. 538
death of a parent and exclude illegitimate children from the benefit of such a right. Levy v. Louisiana, 391 U. S. 68 (1968). Similarly, we have held that illegitimate children may not be excluded from sharing equally with other children in the recovery of workmen's compensation benefits for the death of their parent. Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 406 U. S. 164 (1972).{3} Under these decisions, a State may not invidiously discriminate against illegitimate children by denying them substantial benefits accorded children generally. We therefore hold that, once a State posits a judicially enforceable right on behalf of children to needed support from their natural fathers, there is no constitutionally sufficient justification for denying such an essential right to a child simply because its natural father has not married its mother. For a State to do so is "illogical and unjust." Id. at 406 U. S. 175. We recognize the lurking problems with respect to proof of paternity. Those problems are not to be lightly brushed aside, but neither can they be made into an impenetrable barrier that works to shield otherwise invidious discrimination. Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U. S. 645, 405 U. S. 656-657 (1972); Carrington v. Rash, 380 U. S. 89 (1965).
The judgment is reversed, and the case remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Section 4.02 became effective after the commencement of appellant's suit, but the provision is identical (except for punctuation) to its predecessor, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat., Husband and Wife, Art. 4614, in 1 Tex.Laws, c. 309, p. 736 (60th Legislature, Reg.Sess. 1967). Section 4.02 was enacted as part of a codification of Texas family law.
Tr. of Oral Arg. 24. There was some question at argument whether the statutory scheme relating to paternal support of children was properly drawn into question in the state courts. In the circumstances of this case, we need not resolve the question. First, the State of Texas asserts no prejudice from appellant's apparent failure to explicitly draw attention to the individual statutes that make up the so-called Texas rule regarding support of legitimate and illegitimate children. On the contrary, the State asserted here that it was prepared to meet appellant's constitutional attack on its statutes on the merits. Tr. of Oral Arg. 28. Second, under our cases, "the unrestricted notation of probable jurisdiction of the appeal is to be understood as a grant of the writ" of certiorari on "nonappealable" issues presented in the case. Mishkin v. New York, 383 U. S. 502, 383 U. S. 512 (1966). Appellant's federal claim, which was rejected in the state courts, that her child was being denied equal protection of laws is, therefore, properly before us in any event.
See also Davis v. Richardson, 342 F.Supp. 588 (Conn.), aff'd, post, p. 1069 (1972); Griffin v. Richardson, 346 F.Supp. 1226 (Md.), aff'd, post, p. 1069 (1972).
MR. JUSTICE STEWART, with whom MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST joins, dissenting.
This case came here as an appeal, on the representation that the Texas courts had sustained the constitutionality of § 4.02 of the Texas Family Code and
Page 409 U. S. 539
Articles 602 and 602-A of the Texas Penal Code, over a challenge to those statutes under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. We noted probable jurisdiction, 408 U.S. 920, to consider whether the alleged discrimination between legitimate and illegitimate children, in terms of the support obligations of their biological fathers, denied equal protection to illegitimate children under the principles of Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 406 U. S. 164; Glona v. American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Co., 391 U. S. 73; and Levy v. Louisiana, 391 U. S. 68.
Upon the submission of briefs and oral argument, it became clear that neither statute had been the actual subject of litigation in the courts of Texas. Hence, this is not properly an appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1257(2); I would, therefore, dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction, and treat "the papers whereon the appeal was taken" as a petition for writ of certiorari. 28 U.S.C. § 2103.
The parties were not prepared to submit this case as one challenging the common law treatment of illegitimates in Texas, and failed to provide this Court with a sufficient understanding of Texas law with respect to such matters as custodial versus noncustodial support obligations, legitimation, common law marriage, and the effect of a Texas statute, § 4.02 of the Family Code, which became law after this litigation had begun. With the issues so vaguely drawn and the alleged discriminations so imprecise, I would dismiss the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.Donald Trump cast Britain’s decision to leave the European Union as a revolt against unfettered immigration into the West, as Thursday's vote emboldened both the billionaire’s anti-establishment bid for president and other break-away efforts across Europe.
From the Netherlands to France, political parties opposed to high immigration levels were demanding their own referendums on E.U. membership in the wake of the decision.
“We should have a referendum about a 'Nexit' as soon as possible,” Dutch politician Geert Wilders told Reuters, in reference to a proposed Netherlands exit.
France’s right-wing National Front party leader Marine Le Pen made a similar appeal on Twitter, while circulating a petition for France to vote on following the U.K. out the European Union door.
« Pour un référendum sur notre appartenance à l'Union Européenne! » | Signez la pétition : https://t.co/dduhq3rlP3 pic.twitter.com/7Vz82JKy8f — Front National (@FN_officiel) June 24, 2016
Both leaders, like Trump, have built a political brand railing against open border policies. After the “Brexit” vote, Trump claimed those sentiments were gaining steam on both sides of the Atlantic and even suggested the break-up of the European Union may loom.
“It looks like it's on it's way. We'll see what happens,” he said, speaking during a previously scheduled – but well-timed – visit to his golf resorts in Scotland.
Trump, unlike President Obama, backed the push for Britain to leave the union. On Friday, he pointed to frustration over policies “where people just flow across the border like Swiss cheese.”
“I think a lot of it's borders, I think a lot of it is immigration,” he said.
He acknowledged trade deals and a desire for greater independence also played a role. Whether anti-immigration sentiment runs so deep as to portend a wave of similar referendums – and greater support in America for Trump than the polls currently reflect – remains to be seen. But Trump hammered the narrative Friday that the Britain result was a sign of the anger pulsing through the Western electorate.
"They're angry over borders, they're angry over people coming into the country and taking over, nobody even knows who they are," Trump said.
For her part, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton suggested the vote should strengthen her appeal in the U.S.
“This time of uncertainty only underscores the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House to protect Americans' pocketbooks and livelihoods, to support our friends and allies, to stand up to our adversaries, and to defend our interests,” she said in a statement. “It also underscores the need for us to pull together to solve our challenges as a country, not tear each other down."
Obama and other U.S. officials tried to give assurances that the U.S.-U.K. alliance would endure amid the global and financial turmoil wrought by the vote.
"The people of the United Kingdom have spoken, and we respect their decision," Obama said in a written statement. "... The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship."
Obama later said during remarks at a Palo Alto, Calif., summit that he has spoken with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Based on that call, he said, “I’m confident that the U.K. is committed to an orderly transition out of the E.U.”
While Obama and others in Washington openly joined Cameron – who now plans to resign – in opposing a “Brexit,” their voices were snubbed at the polls Thursday.
Vice President Biden, in Ireland, acknowledged the administration had looked for “a different outcome,” but stressed that the U.S. has a “longstanding friendship with the U.K.” and will respect the vote. He said that bond “runs deep and will endure.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan had a similar message.
“I respect the decision made by the people of the United Kingdom. The U.K. is an indispensable ally of the United States, and that special relationship is unaffected by this vote,” he said in a statement.
Still, the outcome in Britain potentially sets up a domino effect of similar votes across Europe – testing the cohesion of the Western alliance.
Anti-immigration parties in Sweden and Denmark also are stepping up their push for reconsidering E.U. membership. And while some congressional voices in Washington are treading carefully in the wake of the U.K. vote, others are joining Trump in touting the outcome as a sign of the times.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a Trump supporter and one of the most outspoken critics of U.S. immigration policy, hailed the referendum and said in a statement, “Brexit is a warning for America.”
“Too many politicians and pundits here in America have been woefully oblivious to, or in some cases complicit in, what is going on around us,” he said. “The failed European Union experiment, and Great Britain’s rejection of it, must serve as a wake-up call for all of us in America.”Microsoft on Wednesday announced the first plans for its retail strategy in 2013. The company says it opened 51 stores this year, and it’s already revealed where it will open the first six next year.
The news follows an announcement earlier this month that revealed Microsoft will be extending the majority of its Specialty store (just some products) locations into the New Year, as well as transitioning some of its Specialty stores into permanent Full-line stores (all products). The company has not disclosed the exact timing for when this will happen, and of course the same has happened with the new stores announced today.
Here are the first new locations for 2013:
The Shops at La Cantera, San Antonio, Texas.
Dadeland Mall, Miami, Fla.
Beachwood Place, Beachwood, Ohio.
Westfield San Francisco Centre, San Francisco.
City Creek Center, Salt Lake City.
St. Louis Galleria, St. Louis.
All the stores are located in the US, despite the fact that Microsoft opened its first international stores this year: in Edmonton, Burnaby, Vancouver, and Toronto, Canada. The company did not reveal any additional plans for more international stores, but more are bound to open next year, and we already know this the first UK store is coming to London in March 2013.
The retail push is key for Microsoft as it continues forward in the hardware market. With devices such as the Surface and Xbox 360, it helps to have a bigger and bigger retail presence. Retail stores also play a role in helping the company sell more software, which naturally still generates the larger majority of its revenues and profits. In fact, the only real criticism we have is that Microsoft is expanding its retail presence rather slowly.
See also – Is Microsoft putting its retail software empire at risk with Windows Store? and Ballmer: “We’ve got to beat” Apple anyway, so let’s build stores next to them
Image credit: Don Emmert/Getty Images
Read next: 'Tablet-first' games studio Supercell is doing super well: Gross revenue pegged at $1m per dayWhen Sarah Senft flew to California with husband Riley last May for a family wedding, she didn’t expect to return to B.C. in an air ambulance.
The North Vancouver family physician was 29 weeks pregnant with the couple’s second baby when her water broke. At a hospital in Palm Springs, she was given medication to prevent labour from starting, while the couple’s insurance company worked to get them home.
Several hours after the air ambulance carrying the couple landed, their daughter Zoe was born.
After an intense six months, the family is doing well and recently donated $100,000 to the Royal Columbian Hospital neonatal intensive care unit to show their gratitude for the care they received.
“When she arrived at Royal Columbian, Sarah was quite sick,” explained Riley, an anesthesiologist at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. She had indications of HELLP syndrome, which is related to pre-eclampsia and can be fatal to both mother and baby.
“When we were down in the States, I spoke to the travel nurse and there was a bed at Royal Columbian. To be honest, I was wondering ‘Why not B.C. Women’s?’ ” said Riley.
The New Westminster hospital is one of four provincial health centres dedicated to caring for B.C.’s smallest and sickest babies. The hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit has one of the best survival rates in Canada, treating dozens of micro-preemies (babies born before 27 weeks) each year. Annually, there are about 120 to 150 micro-preemies born in B.C.
At 8 a.m. on May 6, Zoe was delivered by C-section. She weighed 2 pounds, 8 ounces, Given her weight and information from ultrasounds taken before her birth, she may have stopped growing several weeks before delivery.
“She was tiny and very fragile,” said Riley.
The first two weeks of the little girl’s life were “up and down.” She required surgery for a blood vessel that had not closed, her kidneys shut down and she had trouble feeding. But she began to grow stronger.
“The first two weeks were the hardest from a medical point of view, but eventually the hardest thing was being there for so long. It feels like you’ve had a baby, but you don’t have the baby. It was tough not to have her at home,” said Riley.
After 53 days at RCH, Zoe was finally able to come home to her parents and big brother, Connor, who will be three in a month.
“For Connor it was probably a nice transition,” laughed his dad. “It was like graduated entry into having a sister.”
With their donation, the family wanted to help bring attention to the RCH neonatal intensive care unit.
“We didn’t really know about the great work they do. We were so happy with the care we received,” said Riley.
The Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation was able to match the couple’s donation to purchase 24 neonatal nursing chairs and two state-of-the-art incubators for the NICU. The recliners are meant to help support “skin-to-skin” contact between babies and parents.
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Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.HOUSTON, Texas — Hundreds of Texans, many of them armed, gathered in Houston’s Herman Park to protect a statue of former Texas President Sam Houston. Supporters of the statue responded to what they believed to be a threat from Antifa to remove it from the park like other historic monuments removed in recent months.
The rally, dubbed #StandWithSam drew hundreds of supporters to the park located near the Texas Medical Center and Rice University to gather around a statue of Sam Houston. Houston led the Texas revolutionary army against Mexico and served as president of the Republic of Texas, governor of the states of Texas and Tennessee, a member of Congress from both states, and a U.S. Senator from Texas. He served as governor of Texas when the State adopted resolutions of secession. The legislature removed him from office when he refused to accept the resolution.
An invitation to the rally posted on Facebook by “This is Texas,” stated, “Antifa has come out saying they will be bringing several large (communist) groups together to host a rally around the Museum District in Houston, Texas on June 10, 2017. This list includes Black Panther Party, Antifa & more. Their goal is to remove the Sam Houston statue.”
The invitation continues:
The details of the “THIS IS TEXAS” counter rally goes as follows. We will met at Memorial Hermann Park – 1000 hours. We invite all III%ers, Oath Keepers, Militias, Tea Partiers, Liberty Loving Texans, Liberty Loving Americans, Open Carry Organizations, and anyone who loves Texas & wants to protect our sovereign soil & history to join us. Open carry is welcomed & encouraged as well as any armor or ballistic vest. We have contacted Houston PD and gave them a heads up of our counter-protest. Emails have been sent to Gov. Abbott & Houston City Hall as well. Bring your flags and fly them high!
Across the country, and elsewhere in Texas, statues from Civil War era Confederate leaders have been removed from public viewing.
While attending the rally, Facebook user Steve Spence posted a video from Overpasses For America. In his post, he stated, “This is what we love about Texas. People know how to stand up and fight for their rights. Notice it is peaceful, so far. The leftists will move in dressed up as Klan members for FAKE news shots. Communist agitators may be bused in as well. We’ll see.”
Another Facebook video, posted by Sheryl Shaw shows the size and makeup of the crowd.
The Texans responded to what they believed to be a threat from a “Texas Antifa” group. Click2Houston reported the threat stating, “Texans agree the disgusting idols of America’s dark days of slavery must be removed to bring internal peace to our country.” Houston was a slave owner but opposed the expansion of slavery into new states and opposed secession from the Union.
Houston BLM activists denied having anything to do with the Texas Antifa page, the local NBC affiliate reported.
It turns out the Texas Antifa post was a hoax. The group’s Facebook page now now claims to be part of the group Anonymous. The group now claims:
The reason there were no Antifa at this event (yes we know about the 30 that were surrounded by mounted police and removed. They were not ours, due to the fact that this was Stroll campaign and we have no Antifa members). Even though it was a fake Antifa, we together accomplished several thing- Stiring up Texans, impassioning patriots, disturbing left-wing activist groups, and making Americans think long and hard about the important relevance of the historic monuments in their midst, and letting the world know that Austin has failed to protect Texas History by not renewing the law that does the protecting.
The group posted:
The rally concluded peacefully.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.Mike Webb is running for U.S. Congress in Virginia’s 8th district, and he would really appreciate your vote. He would also appreciate, judging from a screenshot uploaded to his Facebook page earlier today, a little alone time with the pages “IVONE SEXY AMATEUR” and “LAYLA RIVERA TIGHT BOOTY.”*
For over six (!) hours and counting now, Webb has had the below post sitting on his campaign page with porn tabs hanging out for all the world to see.
Now, to be fair “IVONE SEXY AMATEUR” and “LAYLA RIVERA TIGHT BOOTY” could be anything.
Except that some quick googling reveals that, no, both of those are in fact pornographic videos. Which is fine! Curiosity is natural. Congratulations to the hopeful Congressman for sticking to his guns.
But, you may be asking yourself, was this embarrassing bit of technological transparency worth his special alone time reward? Judging from the users’ responses...
...sure, maybe.
We’ve reached out to the Webb for comment, and will update if and when we hear back. Hopefully his hands will free up soon.
*Update 6:07 p.m.
The full title of the second film is in fact “LAYLA RIVERA TIGHT BOOTY,” not “LAYLA RIVERA TIGHT BODY” as was previously stated. Gawker regrets the error.
Update 6:32 p.m.
Webb has a brand new Facebook post up that seems like it maybe addresses the porn tab controversy—though it’s impossible to say for sure. We’ve copied the relevant(?) portion below:
Curious by nature, I wanted to test the suggestion that somehow, lurking out in the pornographic world there is some evil operator waiting for the one in a gazillion chance that a candidate for federal office would go to that particular website and thereby be infected with a virus that would cause his or her FEC data file to crash the FECfile application each time that it was loaded on the day of the filing deadline, as well as impact other critical campaign systems. Well, the Geek Squad techs testified to me, after servicing thousands of computers at the Baileys Crossroads location that they had never seen any computer using their signature virus protection for the time period to acquire over 4800 viruses, 300 of which would require re-installation of the operating system. We are currently awaiting their attempt at recovery of files on that machine accidentally deleted when they failed to backup files before re-installation, a scenario about which Matthew Wavro speculated openly to me before we were informed by the Geek Squad that that had indeed occurred.... But, now let me tell you the results of my empirical inquiry that introduced me to Layla and Ivone. Around Powerball lottery time, January 9, 2016, I calculated the odds that my friend Rev. Howard John Wesley and I working independently arrived at the same prayer plan, and I was able to determine that there was about a one in a billion chance that that could have occurred in the way that it did. (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/…). Well, as much as folks like Duffy Taylor want to hope that the Devil is waiting for Christian candidates on a particular pornographic website to infect his or her FEC data file is even more improbable than my Paul and Silas story, and I know that Duffy Taylor is not a man of faith belief; so, I don’t know how he empirically arrives at his conclusion. I couldn’t see the probability or possibility without a RAND computer. But, that is the news that will never be printed, but no matter. We found a few more “silent majority” worms today, but we also picked up a few more of the faithful. So, not a bad day, at all.
You can read the whole post over on his Facebook page here.
Update 6:56 p.m.
Mike Webb offered the following comment to Gawker via email:
One commenter about a half hour ago told me that I needed to hire a new social media director, and others earlier were concluding that the candidate declared DOA in his press debut before Christmas in the local press—six months before a Republican challenger ever gets picked up—today is toast for sure. But, when I read that post about the social media director, we were up 42 likes on Facebook, and I don’t know how many on Twitter. Just now, I looked at Facebook, again, and we are up 75, far outpacing my rival who defeated me with establishment support in the nomination convention. From a faith based perspective and as a preacher’s kid, I probably would not be comfortable with “adult” topics, but politically, within certain parameters, as a conservative with many libertarian ideas, it can and should be discussed. In this campaign and in the exploratory phases we touched on dating sites and the song” that entraps many in Nigerian scams and we have on many occasions discussed the taboo topic of forcible sexual abuse that in 2014 in Virginia found young white girls below the ages of 17 exponentially more likely the victims than any other than victims of this crime, and, in our own Falls Church, we have some brave parents continue to break the silence with their “We Support the Girls” campaign. So, from that perspective, I do not really see a problem with the viewing of some tabs on a screenshot, even if it does show the scrutiny to which some candidates for office are subjected. In December one viewer blew up images from my social media page to suggest that I was engaging in subliminal messaging.
Thanks for clearing that up, Mike!
[h/t The Daily Caller]Safari is my main browser on the Mac. I keep it free of the notoriously corrupt Flash plugin, add only a few extensions which make browsing life tenable, and appreciate Apple’s attention to the basics (speed, rendering, and dependability). Except for one thing.
I want to restore the previous browser window sessions after using Safari for awhile. You know, to start fresh and clean, but with the same websites in Safari’s tabs. Within Safari I can do that a couple of ways– manually, or open the History menu and select Reopen All Windows from Last Session.
That’s a good idea that doesn’t always work as expected. Adding the free SafariRestore extension to Safari makes it all better again.
Open Safari’s Extensions, turn on SafariRestore, setup Safari the way you want (webpages in tabs, etc), Save the Session.
Voila!
A single click gets your selected session back again.
SafariRestore comes with a few extras, too. For example, you can restore your last session upon starting Safari. Optionally, restore all tabs from the session in a single Safari window.
Other options in SafariRestore include Open Session Page on startup, Open To Sites on startup, Open Page (a specific website) on startup, and my favorite, Open Session on startup (and choose from saved sessions).
What’s the benefit to saving website sessions and opening them as needed? SafariRestore remembers your last session, or specific sessions, and loads up the website with a single click.
That makes it much like a mini-RSS reader, capable of opening sites you frequent often. There are times when Safari’s history does not record a website in a tab, and when the tab is accidentally closed (you’ve done that, right?), SafariRestore brings it back when Safari History cannot.
Not bad for free.Metro management, as well as the press, attribute the decline in Metro passenger volume to either or both the decrease in the federal transit subsidy and increased teleworking.
I think that misses a huge trend and shifts blame away from Metro. Many of my downtown co-workers, including me, have simply given up on Metro over the past two years.
I live in Upper Northwest and used to walk 12 minutes to the bus, ride the bus to Friendship Heights and take the red line down to Farragut North, then walk another 5 minutes to my office.
On a perfect day that takes an hour and it is usually closer to an hour and a half. I got fed up with long waits for buses during rush hour, always having to stand on the bus, delays and crowding on Metro and it all completely fell apart last winter when it snowed and Metro cancelled bus routes entirely for days.
I literally could not get to work without driving. So I bought monthly parking in a garage in my office building and now have a commute that takes less than half the amount of time and only costs a little bit more (the outrageous cost of Metro, for me $10 a day to commute within the city limits, was a major factor in my decision).
Many of my office mates have made this same value calculation and the younger ones never even started using Metro, electing to bike or take Uber instead. I wish that the press would not accept Metro's explanation of reduced revenues as simply resulting from forces beyond its control.
With all of the additional residents the city has, Metro should be booming. But it is expensive and unreliable. In addition, it is designed more to serve suburban commuters than move people around within the District.
My co-workers who live in Vienna have an easier Metro commute than do people in huge swaths of the District, my neighborhood of Chevy Chase included. I think Metro needs to reduce fares, build more stations within the city and increase Metrobus service or else the city will continue to choke from car traffic and cyclist-induced chaos instead of moving people efficiently through train tunnels.
The streetcar is a total distraction and does not help move the needle in terms of improving the commutes of the tens of thousands who would benefit from a better and cheaper Metro.Disney Infinity is all about using your imagination to create and build wonderful and exciting environments and experiences, but there is no reason why that fun has to be limited to the digital world… this is a Toys To Life game after all.
We are starting a fun new series of Disney Infinity crafts which will feature all sorts of fun and interactive ways to play and create with your favorite characters outside of the digital world.
For our first fun craft, we are going to make some memories! Inside Out is our favorite movie of the year and everyone in our house loves getting a little emotional. While playing around with our new Inside Out figures we thought it would be a ton of fun to have our own little stash of memories to play with and share stories, so we started to do some searching for the perfect little memories to go along with our figures.
Unfortunately finding the perfect little round memory was tricky, most of your crafting marbles that are all colorful and fun these days are the flat pebble shaped ones. We wanted some fun round memories that matched up with our Infinity Figures. You can find the gel marble vase fillers but they are wet and can easily stain most items, so they were a no go. Searching for colorful marbles online is expensive and tricky, trying to find the right color or the right size is hard with limited options and expensive shipping.
After much poking around and searching at many craft stores we found the perfect memory orb… peewee marble vase fillers. Usually you can find these in the floral section of your craft store and they are available in small mesh bags. (These marbles usually come in Clear, Yellow and Blue, so two colors down… three to go.)
Taking these small marbles and making them bright and colorful was the next challenge. After a LOT of trial and error, we finally found a great Transparent Model Enamel Spray Paint. It comes in a variety of colors and the cans are small and easy to store. The particular brand name that we found was Testors. You can pick up these cans at most craft stores or online at places like Amazon – Red Spray Testors Enamel Plastic Model Spray Paint & Transparent Candy Green Enamel Paint 3oz Spray Can
Painting was the easiest part and we found a clever trick to keeping the marbles in place while we sprayed them down. Take a thick piece of cardboard and set it on a flat even surface, take one marble at a time (tedious I know) and push it down into the corrugated sections to create a small hole / indent. The marbles easily line up and stay still for a few passes with the spray can. After they dry (read the directions on the paint) you can turn and flip the marbles in place to coat the opposite side for maximum color!
Once your orbs are all finished the possibilities are infinite with what you can do with them.
Start a memory bank and share your stories from the day and drop a corresponding color orb in a jar. Look back at the end of the year to see all the many emotions you felt.
Use them for decorations and table filler for your Inside Out themed birthday parties.
Glue a certain color memory along the inside of a Disney Infinity Display Case to theme it for each emotion.
Inside Out Memory Orb Video
We made a video with some tips and tricks on making your memory orbs!
Inside Out Memory Orb Figure Gallery
Check out our gallery of the fun pictures we’ve taken with our colorful memory orbs!
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Check Out The Best Disney Infinity Deals This Week! Click Here!That quality also extended to his personal life, where Mr. Kalanick mixes with celebrities like Jay Z and businessmen including President Trump’s chief economic adviser, Gary D. Cohn. But it has alienated some Uber executives, employees and advisers. Mr. Kalanick, with salt-and-pepper hair, a fast-paced walk and an iPhone practically embedded in his hand, is described by friends as more at ease with data and numbers (some consider him a math savant) than with people.
Uber is grappling with the fallout. For the last few months, the company has been reeling from allegations of a machismo-fueled workplace where managers routinely overstepped verbally, physically and sometimes sexually with employees. Mr. Kalanick compounded that image by engaging in a shouting match with an Uber driver in February, an incident recorded by the driver and then leaked online. (Mr. Kalanick now has a private driver.)
The damage has been extensive. Uber’s detractors have started a grass-roots campaign with the hashtag #deleteUber. Executives have streamed out. Some Uber investors have openly criticized the company.
Mr. Kalanick’s leadership is at a precarious point. While Uber is financed by a who’s who of investors including Goldman Sachs and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Mr. Kalanick controls the majority of the company’s voting shares with a small handful of other close friends, and has stacked Uber’s board of directors with many who are invested in his success. Yet board members have concluded that he must change his management style, and are pressuring him to do so.
He has publicly apologized for some of his behavior, and for the first time has said he needs management help. He is interviewing candidates for a chief operating officer, even as some employees question whether a new addition will make any difference. He has also been working with senior managers to reset some of the company’s stated values. Results of an internal investigation into Uber’s workplace culture are expected next month.
Through an Uber spokesman, Mr. Kalanick declined an interview request. Apple declined to comment on the meeting with Mr. Cook. Many of the people interviewed for this article, who revealed previously unreported details of Mr. Kalanick’s life, asked to remain anonymous because they had signed nondisclosure agreements with Uber or feared damaging their relationship with the chief executive.
Mr. Kalanick’s pattern for pushing limits is deeply ingrained. It began during his childhood in suburban Los Angeles, where he went from being bullied to being the aggressor, continued through his years taking risks at two technology start-ups there, and crystallized in his role at Uber.Article 7A.
Rape and Other Sex Offenses.
§ 14-27.1: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.20 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 2, effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.2: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.21 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 3(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.2A: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.23 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 5(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.3: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.22 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 4(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.4: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.26 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 8(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.4A: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.28 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 10(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.5: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.27 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 9(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.5A: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.33 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 15, effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.6: Repealed by Session Laws 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 14, s. 71(3).
§ 14-27.7: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.31 and 14-27.32 by Session Laws 2015-181, ss. 13(a) and 14(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.7A: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.25 by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 7(a), effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date.
§ 14-27.8: Recodified as G.S. 14-27.34 by Session Laws 201 |
, while the potential diplomatic costs are huge. It’s not helpful for the president to claim, even as a joke, that “we’ll save a lot of money” when U.S. embassy operations are downsized by other nations.
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Sign up for The Fact Checker weekly newsletterThe 2017 version of the 12 Questions begins with 2015 Cup champion Kyle Busch. Starting with this interview, the 12 Questions are in both podcast form and written form (a transcript has been edited for clarity below).
1. How much of your success is based on natural ability and how much has come from working at it?
You have to have some sort of natural ability to apply all the work and everything you do to the racetrack. There’s drivers out there I’ve tried to help along the way during the past few seasons that I give them all the work and everything possible I know what to do, and yet they can’t quite equate it to the racetrack. So there has to be a talent there.
What is the real number there? I think you have to have 100% talent, but you also have to work at it 100% in order to be successful. You can’t just be a 50% talent and a 50% work ethic, because that’s half of both, right?
2. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards have all retired in the last couple years. What’s your pitch for fans of theirs to become fans of yours?
I got candy. (Smiles) I got M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, Starburst, Milky Way, Twix — I got everything. And I’ve got their dogs covered, too (with Pedigree). The Mars brands are great for helping me recruit fans, that’s for sure.
But also, I think people change over time. I think I have (changed) a little bit and have gotten more fan friendly, let’s say. We’ve had some neat experiences over the years with some of our fans. Many might remember the video from leaving Martinsville or the autographs I put on somebody’s motorhome with all the Kyle Busch stuff in Watkins Glen. It’s been fun to meet those people, see those people — the true, dedicated Kyle Busch fans. And it’s growing.
What we don’t want to see are the Jeff Gordon fans and the Tony Stewart fans and the Carl Edwards fans just leave because they feel like they don’t have anything to follow in NASCAR anymore. They do. I remember when I was a kid, Jeff Gordon was my first guy — but I also liked Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin. I liked all these guys, one of them was just my favorite. I can see where some people might get stuck on that, so I’m hoping you can pick me.
3. What is the hardest part of your job away from the racetrack?
My hardest job away from the racetrack I guess would just be travel. Traveling every single week, going to the events back and forth, I think that’s challenging. Our schedule is pretty demanding. We start it now and it’s 38 weeks straight. Even though there are off weeks in there, you’re still going to be doing something — and it revolves around this sport.
And then in the offseason, I’m an owner, I’m a dad 24/7. So I wear a lot of different hats. And what hat I’m wearing in particular moments, it’s hard for me to remember. But I try to position myself well for each of those situations.
4. A fan spots you eating dinner in a nice restaurant. Should they come over for an autograph or no?
There’s a right way, a tactful way in approaching somebody that’s out to dinner — especially with their wife or their family. And in my opinion, that way is if you’re finished with your food and that guy just sat down, go do it quick before they start eating. But once that person — me, for instance — is picking up a hamburger and stuffing his face full of grease, don’t come over and ask for a picture or an autograph, you know what I mean? Like wait until the person completes their meal and they get up to leave, if you can have that patience to wait around for a few.
Do people actually approach you when you’re in the middle of a bite?
Oh yeah, no doubt. All the time. The biggest thing that’s disappointing is people want to be on their time. When you want something, you can’t be on your time and expect it right now; you have to be on that other person’s time, right? If I’m going to go get Peyton Manning’s autograph at dinner and I see him out with his family, I’m going to sit there patiently and wait until he’s done and he’s on his way out of the restaurant. And I’m going to follow him out and get my picture taken or an autograph or whatever the heck I want. I’m not going to go bug the guy while he’s eating and trying to enjoy an evening.
5. What’s a story in NASCAR that doesn’t get enough coverage?
I think what may be missed are the stories of the people within our sport. Some of that has been coming out — that one kid, for instance, the crew member from the Xfinity Series who met me from the Kyle Busch Foundation who is now a pit crew member on the Xfinity side and trying to make his way to the Cup side. That got hit last year and that was a really good story, that was cool.
This sport is very demanding. It’s not just demanding for media or drivers, it’s also big for team members. They work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. They’re off Thursday, but they’re flying Thursday sometimes at 3 in the afternoon to go to a venue. And then they work from 8 a.m. until midnight or sometimes 2, 3, 4 a.m. on Sundays, getting home on that Monday morning.
6. Who is the last driver you texted?
Note: I forgot to ask this question. Not sure what happened; I just missed it. My bad.
7. Do you consider race car drivers to be entertainers?
For sure. I think we’re in an entertainment business. We are a traveling circus — some of us look at it like that. We do shed value to the facilities, to the fans — they pay for the entertainment of the race and they want it to be exciting. Some of them want to crashes, some of them want to see cars upside down, some of them want to see things they’ve never seen before. But in this day and age, man, we’re into now nearly 70 years of NASCAR racing; there’s not very many first-seen things that are going to come anymore.
8. What is your middle finger policy on the racetrack?
You’ve gotta do something really bad to get my middle finger.
Are you serious?
Yeah. I don’t do middle fingers a whole lot. You pretty much know a middle finger is coming if you get it from me. Like it’s that bad. Sometimes, I do it in the Truck and Xfinity level as a learning tool for the other drivers, for the younger ones.
I remember Ty Dillon at Michigan — I couldn’t pass the kid for 10 laps. He was just in my way. So finally I got by him, and when I got by him, I gave him one full, straight lap of the bird out the window. And ever since then, it’s been pretty good. There was one other time I had to get on him again about it.
I don’t really use it in the Cup Series, because either A) It’s never really worth it or B) You have to do something really stupid.
Landon Cassill actually got the middle finger in practice one time from me at Atlanta. I was on a qualifying run and he just decided in James Finch’s 51 (car) to pull right up on the racetrack right in front of me through (Turns) 3 and 4 and blend in while I’m on a flier. I should have just wrecked him, but I didn’t. But when I got by him, I gave him the bird.
9. Some drivers keep a payback list in their minds. Do you also have a list for drivers who have done you a favor on the track?
Yeah, I do. I have the “That guy needs paid back” folder and the “Hey, that guy has been pretty good to me” folder. Sometimes I’m like, “That guy has been pretty good to me, man, I should cut him a break — nah, I’m not going to cut him a break right now. I’ll save it for later. I’ll get him another time.” There’s this Rolodex that keeps going in your mind of folders about drivers who have either done you well or done you wrong.
10. Who is the most famous person you’ve had dinner with?
I guess I’d say it was President (George W.) Bush. We had dinner with him at the Greenbrier (in West Virginia) a few years ago. He actually came to one of our JGR sponsor summits.
I’ve had plenty of dinners with Mars family members. Obviously, they’re not necessarily famous, but they are famous — they’re a very wealthy family.
Samantha Busch?
Shop Murph boutique owner! Yeah, I’ve had plenty of dinners with her. So that’s on the list, too.
11. What’s something about yourself you’d like to improve?
I’m perfect, dude. (Smiles) Man, that’s a hard one to answer. I don’t know. Obviously, everybody wishes they had more time, right? Not having enough time with Brexton, not having enough time with the race team, so it’s kind of hard to balance that right now. I’m struggling in that regard.
I certainly know I need to improve my skills in being able to be a little better of a leader, a CEO-type person at KBM, but also be able to change hats and be a dad and share that time with him as well.
12. The last interview was with Landon Cassill, and his question for you is: “If Brexton wants to be a race car driver, what are some things you can do to make him a better driver than you are now?”
Watching film, doing notes, paying attention, working on the cars. I worked on cars when I was a kid — that’s why I know them so well, that’s why I know what I think I’m feeling that’s wrong with them and I can communicate that to the crew chief instead of just saying, “It’s tight here, it’s loose here.” That’s easy (to say), but why is it tight? Why is it loose? It’s because it’s over on the right front or it’s because it wants to unhook the back because the track bar is too high. Stuff like that.
So being able to teach him all those things, communicate about that stuff. The unfortunate thing I feel like I’m at a disadvantage with him is when he’s 5 years old, I’m still going to be racing. So when he starts racing, the best tool I have for him right now is Tom Busch (Kyle and Kurt’s dad), who has already made two race car drivers and (Tom) being able to go to the racetrack and help Brexton.
Once Brexton gets to about 13, 14, 15, that’s when I’ll be able to get with him and race against him and follow him around and we’ll have somebody filming it and we’ll watch it and I’ll really be able to help him.
The next interview is with Martin Truex Jr. Do you have a question I can ask him?
How does it really feel to get all the good stuff from Joe Gibbs Racing?If the US Olympic Committee is being unusually secretive about which cities — including Boston — still are in the domestic chase for the 2024 Summer Games, it’s because the committee still is months away from knowing whether it wants to be in the chase at all. Until the International Olympic Committee decides in December what the future bidding process will be, the USOC figures that there’s no point in holding a star-spangled beauty pageant.
“We clearly want to see the output from that working group and what changes are adopted before we push the ‘Go’ button on formalizing a bid for 2024,” said chairman (and IOC member) Larry Probst after Tuesday afternoon’s board meeting at MIT. “We talked about that timing today and, yes, that work’s going to be important to our ultimate decision.”
The Olympic Agenda 2020, which is being fast-tracked by IOC president Thomas Bach, will be a “strategic road map” covering everything from host cities to the sports on the program to sponsorship to doping. At the top of the list, though, is finding ways to keep potential cities from dropping out of the running before they’ve even gotten in and to make the bid process “more appealing and flexible.”
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Little of the news this year about Olympic cities has been positive. Sochi spent a blinding $50 billion on its subtropical Winter Games, even more than Beijing poured into its lavish summer edition in 2008. Rio de Janeiro, the 2016 summer host, has fallen so far behind that the IOC essentially has taken over preparations. Tokyo, which will stage the 2020 event, announced Tuesday that it’s reviewing its venue plan with an eye to cutting costs.
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The list of potential cities for the 2022 Winter Games is dwindling by the week. Munich, the 2018 runner-up to Pyeongchang, wasn’t interested in another shot. Stockholm and Krakow have dropped out. Oslo, the most attractive option, is dealing with significant public opposition. L’viv, the unofficial capital of western Ukraine, faces enormous political and financial uncertainty.
That leaves Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing, which would combine with the mountain city of Zhangjiakou as cohosts.
“I don’t foresee any new cities being added to the mix for 2022,” said Probst. “It’s highly, highly, highly unlikely that that process would be reopened.”
The Lords of the Rings finally have come to understand that their current bidding model, which basically asks cash-challenged cities to write blank checks for a 17-day carnival, is busted. The new process would balance the IOC’s risk analysis of sites with the overall return on investment for the city so that future Games can be successful without bankrupting their hosts.
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Among the changes being pondered by the committee’s working group are reducing the costs of bidding, which run into the tens of millions of dollars, and allowing several cities in one or more countries to share the Games. So the USOC concluded that its “informal, quiet approach” to sorting out potential bidders makes sense until the IOC has mapped its way forward.
“When we’ve had domestic processes in the past, the cities really haven’t been able to engage in exploratory conversations with us without becoming very committed in a public way,” said chief executive officer Scott Blackmun. “And that had political risks for the people that we were talking to.”
Especially with NBC Universal plunking down nearly $8 billion for US broadcast rights through 2032, the IOC is lobbying hard for an American bid for 2024. But after the first-round beatdown of Chicago’s rock-solid bid for 2016 on the heels of New York’s 2012 failure, the Colorado Springs brass understandably is wary of another quixotic quest.
“We don’t want to submit a bid that we don’t think can win,” said Blackmun, “and we don’t want to burden a city with a legacy that might be negative.”
So the next few months will be about the USOC “doing deeper due diligence” to make sure that the remaining contenders (New York and Philadelphia opted out last week) have more than blueprints and blazers going for them (mayoral commitment is a must) and about the cities deciding whether or not they want to spend two years wooing five-ringed voters who will snub them for Paris.
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“It’s not only us that’s deciding, ‘do we want to bid for 2024?’ ” observed Blackmun. “Every one of these cities is looking at that same question and I don’t think any of the cities that we’re going to be talking to in the next six months has made an unequivocal decision that they want to stay in.”
Sometime in the next 10 days, the USOC will reveal which of the reported contenders — Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Washington, and the Hub — still are in the conversation. Depending on what the IOC decides in December, San Diego could mount a joint winter bid for 2026 with St. Moritz.
John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com135 SHARES Share Tweet
MPs on a powerful Westminster committee are investigating if bombs made in Scotland have been used in Yemen’s civil war amid mounting allegations of war crimes by forces supporting President Hadi.
The Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) has been reconvened following claims that Britain has been complicit in war crimes, allegedly carried out by the Royal Saudi Air Force which has been bombing Houthi rebels for a year now.
CAEC’s investigation into the use of UK weaponry follows the announcement that legal action has begun against the UK Government over its supply of arms to Saudi Arabia.
The developments came ahead of the first anniversary today of air strikes in Yemen by a coalition of nations led by Saudi Arabia to support the nation’s president.
Over the past year at least 700 children have died amid allegations that civilians have been targeted by the Royal Saudi Air Force.
Last week a busy market was bombed in Hajja province with another 41 civilians killed.
Yemen’s civil war escalated on the 25th March 2015 when Saudi Arabia began bombing rebels to support the government and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled his palace in Sana’a after Houthi forces advanced on the capital.
The main fight is between forces loyal to President Hadi, and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis, backed by Iran.
The conflict is seen as part of a regional power struggle between Shia-ruled Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which shares a long border with Yemen.
After rebel forces closed in on the president’s southern stronghold a year ago, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia responded to a request by Mr Hadi to intervene and launched air strikes on Houthi targets.
The coalition comprises five Gulf Arab states and Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.
Yemen is now in crisis with the UN describing the situation as a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Yemen is now in crisis with the UN describing the situation as a "humanitarian catastrophe”.” quote=”Yemen is now in crisis with the UN describing the situation as a "humanitarian catastrophe”.”]
Some 21 million Yemenis including 10 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
More than 6200 people – half of them civilians – have been killed amid allegations coalition war-planes have targeted civilians.
The Royal Saudi Air Force uses Eurofighter Typhoons and Tornados jets made in Britain.
The UK has supplied Saudi Arabia with Paveway missiles produced by US firm Raytheon at its factory in Glenrothes, Fife.
Pressure has been mounting on the UK Government to stop selling weaponry to Saudi Arabia.
More than £1bn worth of bombs, missiles and rockets were sold to Saudi Arabia over just three months last summer.
MPs were advised recently that 207 civilian structures had been targeted by air-strikes including hospitals and mosques.
The UN said there have been 119 “clear violations” of international law raising questions over the legality of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
CAEC is investigating the use of UK-manufactured arms in the conflict in Yemen and whether criterion over arms export licences have been breached.
It will also examine whether the Department for International Development should play a role in the granting of arms export licences, potentially allowing it to block exports.
DfID admitted to Westminster’s International Development Committee that it had not been consulted over arms deals to Saudi Arabia despite providing £18m in urgent humanitarian aid to the country.
It can only really be a matter of time, given the mounting evidence, that there is conclusive proof that war crimes have been committed Douglas Chapman, MP
The SNP’s Douglas Chapman, MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, is a member of CAEC and involved in the cross-party inquiry which began this week.
He said: “Our committee took evidence from human rights groups this week, and they were keen to stress that they believe violations of international humanitarian laws had occurred and that there had also been serious breaches of the Arms Trade Treaty. This is the very treaty to which the UK played such a major role in encouraging other nations to support.”
“Indeed, a representative from Human Rights Watch said in his evidence that they had identified 36 air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition, which they deem as human rights violations and Amnesty said that the UK’s weapon sales to Saudi Arabia were ‘not just ill-advised, but we’re actually illegal.”
“There needs to be independent scrutiny of the situation in Yemen.”
Meanwhile, law firm Leigh Day has begun proceedings against the UK Government on behalf of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).
The formal legal action in the High Court will challenge the government’s decision to export arms in light of claims that Saudi forces are violating international humanitarian law (IHL).
If permission for the judicial review is granted the High Court will be asked to investigate whether the continued arms exports contravene the UK government’s commitments under UK and European arms export regulations.
CAAT said that a range of international organisations including a UN Panel of experts, the European Parliament and many humanitarian NGOs, have condemned the ongoing Saudi air strikes against Yemen as unlawful.
The violations of IHL law found by these bodies listed include a failure to take “all precautions in attack” as required by international humanitarian law.
Yemen is very far away, but there are arms companies in Scotland that have directly fuelled and profited from the destruction Andrew Smith, Campaign Against Arms Trade
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: “We welcome the investigation, but the arms sales should never have been agreed in the first place. The Saudi regime has an appalling human right record.”
“What’s needed isn’t the revoking of a few licences, it’s a total change in UK foreign policy and an end to the uncritical support that successive UK governments have given to the Saudi regime.”
“Yemen is very far away, but there are arms companies in Scotland that have directly fuelled and profited from the destruction. It would not have been possible without the arms and complicity provided by governments like the UK and arms companies like Raytheon and BAE Systems.”
CAAT added there were 12 arms firms with links to Saudi Arabia in Scotland and that BAE Systems made radars for Eurofighter Typhoons between 2011 and 2013 at a factory in Dalgety Bay, Fife.
Another firm called Chemring has an explosives factory in Ayrshire and in 2013 generated £97.6m from arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Chemring flares being used by a fighter jet
Patrick Grady, SNP Westminster Spokesperson on International Development, said: “It’s now a year since the current outbreak of conflict in Yemen, and the situation shows little sign of improving. The SNP at Westminster have repeatedly called for a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia until there has been a full investigation into allegations that UK-made or sold weapons are being used illegally.”
“The UK Government also has serious questions to answer about the military advice and support it is providing to the Saudi regime, and whether or not this in fact adds up to complicity in the conflict.”
A spokesperson for BAE Systems said: “BAE Systems provides defence equipment and support to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under government–to-government agreements with the UK and export licenses granted by the UK. The UK government operates one of the most stringent arms control regimes in the world and regularly evaluates those policies and our international relationships.”
A spokesperson for Raytheon said: “Raytheon’s capabilities contribute towards making the world a safer place and naturally the company complies with all export regulations in any of the markets, in which it operates.”
“Raytheon is a significant contributor to the economy in Scotland through employing well over 600 people in Glenrothes and through exporting £500m of advanced systems and technologies since 2002.”
“In Scotland Raytheon has world leading capability in cutting edge micro electronics, which is driving efficiencies in commercial aviation and automotive markets, as well as others which have the potential to deliver great economic benefits.”
A spokesperson for Chemring said: “The UK defence industry is one of the most highly regulated in the world, especially when it comes to exports. The use of UK-manufactured arms in the Yemen inquiry is part of the process of ensuring that these regulations are being respected, and if asked we would fully co-operate with CAEC’s investigation.”
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “We welcome this announcement and will continue to support the work of the Committees. This investigation will help to inform Parliament and deepen knowledge of our robust arms export licensing regime.
“The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. The Government is satisfied that existing licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.”
DfID declined to comment.For months, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and his supporters complained about being ignored by the mainstream media despite his strong poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire. Now that the press is all over him, the iconoclastic candidate appears to be struggling with the onslaught of attention.
View Photo Gallery: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), who has built a loyal following among libertarians, has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.
On Monday morning, Paul cut off an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash while campaign manager Jesse Benton shouted at the journalist.
“We have a very friendly relation with Ms. Bash and have a good history with her,” Benton told The Fix. “Staff simply ended an interview today after a few questions so we could begin our event on time.”
A few hours earlier, Paul left a diner in Manchester early, without answering questions. Reporters chased him to his car.
The press “created a mob-like atmosphere that was deemed to be unsafe,” Benton in a statement on the diner event. “Mrs. Paul herself, attempting to campaign alongside her husband, was shoved aside by one reporter and told to ‘get out of the way.’”
Monday’s twin episodes aren’t the first examples of Paul’s somewhat testy relationship with the media. Paul abruptly ended an interview with CNN’s Gloria Borger* in late December while she pressed him on racist, conspiracy-minded stories that went out in newsletters under his name.
“Goodbye,” he said, taking off his microphone as Borger asked about racist newsletters that carried his name.
In both CNN interviews, Paul blamed the press for creating the controversy in question.
Officials also closed off entry to a Paul town hall in the basement of an upscale resort in Meredith, N.H., on Sunday after the event reached capacity. More than 350 people were in the room for the Paul event, roughly a third of whom were members of the media.
The atmosphere at the event was decidedly media-friendly, however. After the town hall, the candidate held a press availability with the assembled reporters and camera crews, and a Paul staffer called on journalists by name.
But Politico reported a few weeks ago that Paul has been tightening press access to cut out young network “embeds” who trail candidates with video cameras.
It’s an adjustment to go from all-but-ignored to being the center of attention, and Paul’s campaign is obviously still working out the kinks.
Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.
* This post initially misspelled Gloria Borger’s last name as Bolger.
Read more at PostPolitics
Ron Paul convert wonders: What next?
William Daley resigns as Obama's chief of staff
Romney: ‘I like being able to fire people who provide services to me’
Rick Santorum and the Huckabee trapTomorrowWorld’s Kitsune stage takes French electro to new heights
While the names Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki may not be as familiar as say, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, the pair’s influence on the French electronic scene may exceed that of its most famous representatives. As the founders of Kitsuné, Loaëc and Kuroki have signed tracks from Phoenix and Bloc Party, Digitalism and Cut Copy, Boys Noize and La Roux, and done so well before those names entered the mainstream vernacular. Now prepared to bring their french electro/indie/nu disco sound across the Atlantic to their very own TomorrowWorld stage, the label is set on proving there is more to electronic music than big room and loud house. Staking their claim on indie dance for three days and three nights, we introduce you to the Kitsuné Water Stage headliners.
Gigamesh
While Friday gets the label’s groove going with performances from The Knocks, Tesla Boy and Penguin Prison, it is Minnesota’s own Gigamesh that nabbed the headlining spot. Making music since 2008, the producer really got into the game three years ago with a rash of happy-go-lucky remixes of the likes of The Velvet Underground, Clasixx and RAC but proved his disco-flavored mettle with his debut EP in 2011. Still hailed for remixes (who else can comfortably take on Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac and Two Door Cinema Club?) the Midwestern mix master is guaranteed to bring a future throwback set to Chattahoochee Hills – platforms optional, jiving not.
Cassian
If dance music’s beloved Triple J radio show weren’t enough to prove that they can get down Down Under, Australia’s Cassian is clearing up any confusion. The Sydney-based producer will be cooling off a night of Jacques Renault, Amtrac and Vindata with his polished percussion and smooth synth. Going on five years of beat slinging, the Aussie’s tunes have found homes on Bang Gang, Future Classic and of course Kitsuné, where his indie vibes have come to life. If an Anna Lunoe & Touch Sensitive remix strikes your fancy or you’d be game for anyone who shared a stage with Flight Facilitates, boogie on down to the Kitsuné Stage Saturday to get cool with Cassian.
BeatauCue
It wouldn’t be a celebration of a French label if French producers weren’t on the bill, and Sunday night sees one such act take the spotlight. Caen’s BeatauCue will take the stage after Moon Boots, Le Youth and Henry Krinkle and send listeners on their journey back to the realities from whence they came, but not before taking them to a universe all their own. Sometimes indie dance, occasionally electro and usually somewhere in between, the pair has remixed Major Lazer and Adrian Lux, Mika and M83, but spent the better part of the last year releasing originals. With a handful of EPs, cameos on countless compilations and more ideas than time, bidding TomorrowWorld adieu with BeatauCue may be the best thing you could possibly do.
Categories: MusicDescription from here: www.rjkoehler.com/2011/08/29/to-foreigners-in-korea-please-l "A video is circulating on the Korean Internet of a black gentleman yelling at and threatening an elderly Korean couple.His violent behavior was the result of him misunderstanding the elderly man’s comment to him. The elderly man reportedly said “니가 여기 앉아” (a sign of consideration) ("You can sit here" = Niga Yuh gi anja"), but not knowing Korean, the man in question interpreted “니가” as the N-word which led to his violent outburst.[...] Apparently our culprit learned “개새끼야” but couldn’t be bothered to learn simple pronouns. Definitely North American, but if his hair is any indication he’s definitely not a soldier."Thank goodness for that.Update: Another account I found holds that "as far as I know, the old korean man just told him to keep it down because he was talking so loud on the phone. It infuriated the black man, and then started swearing. Later, the old korean man said "니가(nigga)" which in korean means "you," and the black man who doesn't speak Korean thought he was insulting him and started beating him up."It must be the season for books by librarians about libraries. I have two on my review pile and saw the IHE story about David Lankes’ new book, a field guide to what he calls “new librarianship” to accompany his atlas. It’s interesting how many books are published by librarians who urge us to decouple the image of books on shelves from the idea of the library. In contrast, a non-librarian, Mirela Roncevic, recently wrote an essay begging librarians to pay more attention to promoting books and reading rather than outreach and developing new programs.
You won’t find many librarians making that argument these days, though you will find quiet and stubborn resistance to providing people and funding to actually do the trendy things we’re all supposed to be doing like digital scholarship support, data management, learning analytics, developing open education resources, providing publishing support, and being the local experts at altmetrics. The things we find old-fashioned and slightly embarrassing still have enormous gravitational pull.
It’s a weird situation. We won’t go on record to say we care about books or that we’re fine with paying big publishers big bucks to license big deals because that would be incredibly uncool, but much of our staffing and most of our financial resources go to those things. Redirecting money and staff time from licensed databases to supporting open access projects is hard even if these things have been on ACRL’s annual Top Trends list for years.
What really got me thinking, though, was Lankes' argument that librarians should be more integrated into the tenure process by providing support for altmetrics. We certainly could do that – and Robin Chin Roemer and Rachel Borchardt have written a how-to (and why-to) manual on that very subject for librarians. But I have a real problem with our metrics obsession, our belief that productivity in the form of publication is the most important measure by which academics should be judged.
I think open access to knowledge is really important. I think librarians need to be actively involved in making it happen in a way that doesn’t continue to privilege those with resources enough to play the game. In other words, I don’t want Elsevier and its cousins to make open access simply a new revenue model. But one issue that gets left out of most open access debates is whether we’re actually publishing too much and for all the wrong reasons. Mostly what I hear is “if you publish openly you can reach more people and collect more badges and show how productive you are!”
When did the word “productivity” enter the academic lexicon? Why have we embraced it so uncritically?
Some tweets from scientist and blogger Danielle N. Lee really put this in perspective for me. The entire rant was a thing of beauty, but these excerpts will give you the gist.
So in reply, and as an addendum to last week’s post urging librarians to take on the cause of open access before the big corporations own in completely, I would like to add: let’s publish in the open, but let’s also critique the anxieties that drive the amount of publishing we’re requiring of each other. Let’s encourage the entire process of research, including daydreaming and chatting and reading and fieldwork and bench science, not just publication of research results. Let’s make sure we give one another time to think and give our research its own time to gestate. Let’s think about sustainability not just in terms of how we’ll budget for open access but in terms of the human beings who do research.
I’ve preached this gospel before, but I’m adding it as a PS to my open access argument because the right to access information is important but so is the right to do meaningful research at a reasonable and humane pace. Our research - and the world it serves - will be better for it. This high-stakes productivity nonsense is destructive.Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 > 12/05/2013, 23:25 1 Howard Brock ROC Owner Offline Online Status: Online Status: Jul 2004 Join Date: Join Date: 4,530 Posts: Posts: 39 (100%) iTrader: Voices from the Field Part 2
Voices From the Field: The 300pt Modern Age Metagame
by Patrick spawn10 Yapjoco
Youve all been waiting for it. Youve all been yearning for it. Now the time has come. We are going to delve into the new and unexplored 300pt Modern Age metagame. With the new Watchlist Rules and new sets, this is an exciting time for the format. It is largely unknown because there has not been a major high-level event with this format in quite some time. Well, that is about to change. In a few, the best players on the West Coast will gather for a day of fun and competitive Heroclix, and we get to see what the best teams, pieces, and strategies in the format will be. But first, we will take an advanced look at what we can expect to see come Saturday, December 7th. Youve all been waiting for it. Youve all been yearning for it. Now the time has come. We are going to delve into the new and unexplored 300pt Modern Age metagame. With the new Watchlist Rules and new sets, this is an exciting time for the format. It is largely unknown because there has not been a major high-level event with this format in quite some time. Well, that is about to change. In a few, the best players on the West Coast will gather for a day of fun and competitive Heroclix, and we get to see what the best teams, pieces, and strategies in the format will be. But first, we will take an advanced look at what we can expect to see come Saturday, December 7th.
VISIT OUR: ROC Webpage 12/05/2013, 23:26 2 Howard Brock ROC Owner Offline Online Status: Online Status: Jul 2004 Join Date: Join Date: 4,530 Posts: Posts: 39 (100%) iTrader: Resources ( |
build a platform that builds a scene. And since they embarked on their magnetized adventure, Matt and Harrison have connected with countless creative subgroups across town, involving everyone from dancers to photographers to musicians to political activists to fashion designers.
They have a little trouble explaining just how this came about. "We're just down to get involved, that's all," says Matt. "We're not trying to get so unique or exclusive. We just want to share art and have people share with us."
"We're just part of the community," Harrison says, "and we're trying to help bring the community up."
And to get up, you've got to get down.
Kym Bloom was confused when she got what seemed like a threatening e-mail on October 5.
"Our company the Downtown Denver Partnership found several of your magnets this morning and as you probably know it is illegal to put these up on public utilities (signs, electrical, news boxes, light poles, and so on)," it read. "Our company, the police, and other law enforcement has kept track of the 'Magnet Mafia' over the years and are fed up with all forms of graffiti. So please stop this behavior. Consider this your warning because the police will not take this lightly if caught."
Bloom, a local artist who helps run the Kanon Collective gallery, had placed magnets of her work downtown as part of last October's Denver Arts Week, a celebration of culture organized by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"It made me nervous that they had my name and I was going to go in some database, like I'm some renegade graffiti artist out to destroy downtown with my hideous magnets or something," says Bloom. "I thought the whole idea of the Magnet Mafia was this was a type of funky graffiti that didn't damage anybody's property. People could just peel it off and take it with them, sort of like spreading artwork."
The e-mail came from Erik Helgeson, a 26-year-old service representative with the Downtown Denver Partnership, the private group funded by downtown businesses that helps maintain, improve and promote that part of town. The Partnership spends an estimated $95,000 a year for private contractors to clean up graffiti; in 2007, they dealt with 9,132 pieces. And after those contractors spotted hundreds of magnets downtown, Helgeson says, the Partnership looked for the artists' names, and then "we contacted them to let them know it's illegal."
But who says it's illegal to hang magnets in Denver?
In the summer of 2006, an undercover cop dressed as a homeless person spotted Harrison placing a magnet on an electrical box on the side of a building in Capitol Hill. Harrison was arrested and charged with trespassing (the box was considered to be on private property) and "posting unauthorized posters." He spent thirty hours in jail before he could reach Matt to come bail him out. But when his case came up for a hearing, the city attorney took one look at the file and immediately dismissed the posting charge; Harrison pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespass.
Helgeson's e-mail to the contrary, Detective George Gray of the Denver Police Department's Graffiti Unit says he'd never heard of the Magnet Mafia before being contacted by Westword. His unit is focused on taking down major graffiti crews and tagger gangs, not arresting people who make art on magnets. "Since there is obviously no damage, you'd pretty much say, 'Hey, take that down,'" he explains. "As far as my position, I don't see that as being illegal, or my job to enforce — except for the trespassing thing, if they had to cross onto private property to do it."
Over at the Crime Prevention and Control Commission, the city agency charged with managing anti-graffiti policy, they're more familiar with the work of the Magnet Mafia. "Yeah, they've been seen around town," says spokewoman Neddra Niblet. "They've been taken down." But city ordinances define graffiti as markings posted on property without consent by means of "painting, spray painting, drawing, etching, carving, scratching or any similar method." There's no mention of magnets.
"I'm kind of struggling with exactly where the magnets fall," says Denver Department of Public Works spokeswoman Ann Williams after Niblet refers further questions to that agency. Public Works often deals with fliers and advertisements for concerts or businesses that are hung without permission, Williams says, adding that she needs to ask around for the policy regarding magnets.
Another Public Works spokeswoman soon calls with that information. "Unless it's an advertisement or it interferes with a traffic sign, we're not going to take enforcement steps," Revekka Balancier says. "The law says the unlawful poster will be liable for the cost of removal, and in this case, there is no cost of removal, so we would most likely leave it be."
But the Downtown Denver Partnership holds to its darker view of the Magnet Mafia. "They're very organized," says operations manager Don Pesek. "They put their little number on the back of their magnet, and they have their little website, and they're very proud of defacing public property." While Pesek acknowledges that magnets do far less physical damage than standard graffiti, he insists that magnet removal comes at a cost. "Particularly when someone has to get up on a ladder or get the bucket truck to remove a magnet that's way up high," he says. "And it's still visual pollution. I mean, when you're driving down and you see this scribbling, it's still, I feel, offensive to the community."
Apparently, no one explained to the Partnership that last fall's offensive magnet influx was part of Denver Arts Week. Jayne Buck, vice president of tourism for the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, organized the seven-day arts celebration; to help promote the project, her office coordinated with Rodney Wallace, a "real innovative" artist and Magnet Mafia member. "His idea was art infestation," Buck remembers, "and he wanted to put art in public places or just at random and make sure that Denver was seen filled with art."
The visitors' bureau, which is funded largely from the lodger's tax collected by the city ($12.5 million last year), spent a total of $98,351 marketing Denver Arts Week (using the unfortunate slogan "Be a Tourist in Your Own Town," as though art weren't a part of everyday life). Much of the money went to billboards promoting the Denver Art Museum's Louvre exhibit, Buck says; she estimates the project got another $344,412 from in-kind donations through such media sponsors as CBS4 and the Denver Newspaper Agency. "The goal was that we wouldn't expend tons of advertising dollars, that we would use grassroots and PR efforts, with minimal investment in the first year, knowing that this would be something that the arts community would benefit from," she adds.
That meant that individual artists and arts organizations were left to do much of their own marketing. Wallace organized what he calls a "massive throwdown" by artists, who started placing magnets of their work at Union Station and worked their way up the 16th Street Mall. "I used the magnets as a serious marketing tool," he explains.
Wallace thinks it's ironic that artists were slapped for participating in a city-subsidized project, but it doesn't surprise him. "The city in general has disconnects all over the place," he says. "They know that cultural tourism is a huge business. They want to fill up the hotels and tourism spots. But we know that to be a Denver artist don't mean shit unless Denver art means something."
And the Partnership is still confused. "I don't understand how this can be considered art," Pesek says. "Maybe the drawing on the magnets might be considered art, so put it in a forum where art can be appreciated — not up high on a light pole."
It's like throwing a pizza," Harrison says. "Then you feel it stick up top and it's really satisfying."
The Denver Skatepark is dark and empty — except for Matt and Harrison flipping magnets up to the underside of the metal gazebo. It's a place where they think the magnets have a chance to be seen before the "purple shirts" — the crews wearing purple polos who clean downtown — take them down and throw them away.
Matt and Harrison don't see themselves as rebels. They praise the Hickenlooper administration for cultivating the arts. They are as excited as anyone about the fancy new museums, because a more artistic Denver means a Denver with more street art. Now if only the city would recognize that street art is art. "It sucks when the city isn't being awesome about street art," Matt says. "By cultivating art in general, you are actually cultivating more people who could have a passion for street art. And with magnets, anybody can join in."
They say that Hickenlooper, who early on touted Richard Florida's Rise of the Creative Class and Denver's status as a creative city, should understand this: Street art, including top-notch graffiti, isn't an indicator of a lack of areas for people to showcase art, but rather an indicator of their abundance.
Denver has seen numerous street-art groups come and go. Various wheat-paste posters, stencils and sidewalk paintings can be spotted around town. A few years ago, the artists known as "Caul" would string together black wooden cutouts of birds and fling them onto telephone wires. More recently, a guerrilla crocheting crew called the Ladies Fancywork Society has been knitting yarn around light poles, bike racks and car antennas.
But it's the magnets that are really taking off. Yummies member Ray Young Chu, who painted magnets for the Austrian exchange and has done other guerrilla art campaigns promoting his work, feels that street art in Denver is misunderstood. "We are really trying to beautify the earth," he explains. "We try to put something up that makes people smile or think a little bit. We don't have the money or support to pay for huge billboards or advertisements. It's done because it's really fun to be out in the streets doing that and expressing yourself."
There's just so much to express — and sometimes the message is the medium.
"As far as concepts or ideas for things we have put out in the street, we've barely even started," Harrison says. "We've barely even touched the two-dimensional stuff. Just imagine if there were a row of shoes walking up the side of that building, the soles embedded with magnets. Or a crazy vine with a big-ass flower hanging off of it. What the fuck is that? Why is it there? There is just so much expression in that. It makes people think more."
And here's what Matt is thinking, as the snow falls down and the magnets go up: "I hate those dancing aliens." He's talking about Borofsky's "Dancers" sculpture in front of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. "It'd be cool to paint some big ol', old-school Nikes on them," he says.
"We should call up the Ladies Fancywork Society and see if they can knit some up," Harrison offers.
"They'd have to go on quickly so we could get out of there."
"That's why we'd use magnets, to attach them around the back."
"The aliens need some high-tops!"
But before they can really focus on "Dancers," Matt and Harrison will be displaying the Austrian magnets on March 1 at Matter Studio, then taking them to the streets, where everyone can enjoy them. They're already working on similar magnet swaps with artists in North Carolina, New York and London.
Get enough magnets out there, they say, and pretty soon all sorts of opposites will find themselves stuck together.This year’s World Science Fiction convention, MidAmeriCon II, is currently being held in Kansas City, Missouri. And during tonight’s Hugo Awards ceremony, voters largely rejected the slated works that had been placed on the ballot.
The Hugo Award is one of the major awards for speculative fiction novels, shorter stories, magazines, editors, and other works. Unlike the Nebula Awards, which are voted upon by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the Hugo Awards are selected by members of the convention.
The award is a major one: having Hugo Award Winning Author splashed across the top of a book or on an author’s bio is a really helpful thing when it comes to attracting the attention of readers, bookstore buyers, and Hollywood.
The award hasn’t been without controversy in recent years. Last year, a group of fans calling themselves the Sad Puppies decided to game the system and force their own narrow group of works onto the ballot. The reasons for this are complicated, but when the 2015 awards were handed out, voters widely rejected the slated nominees. The controversy helped push the awards to a record number of nominating ballots, up fifty percent from last year.
Here are the winners (indicated in bold):
Best Novel (Works 40,000 words and above)
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
Best Novella (Short works between 17,500 and 40,000 words)
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)
Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)
Best Novelette (Short works between 7,500 and 17,500 words)
Folding Beijing by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu ( Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead by Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed, Feb 2015)
Flashpoint: Titan by CHEAH Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
Obits by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
What Price Humanity? by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
Best Short Story (Short works less than 7,500 words)
Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer ( Clarkesworld, January 2015)
Asymmetrical Warfare by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
If You Were an Award, My Love by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)
Seven Kill Tiger by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)
Best Related Work
No Award
Between Light and Shadow: An Exploration of the Fiction of Gene Wolfe, 1951 to 1986 by Marc Aramini (Castalia House)
The First Draft of My Appendix N Book by Jeffro Johnson (jeffro.wordpress.com)
Safe Space as Rape Room by Daniel Eness (castaliahouse.com)
SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House)
The Story of Moira Greyland by Moira Greyland (askthebigot.com)
Best Graphic Story
The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)
The Divine written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
Erin Dies Alone written by Grey Carter, art by Cory Rydell (dyingalone.net)
Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams (ffn.nodwick.com)
Invisible Republic Vol 1 written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Jessica Jones : "AKA Smile" written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions; Netflix)
Doctor Who: "Heaven Sent" written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
Grimm: "Headache" written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf (Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: "The Cutie Map" Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media / Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
Supernatural: "Just My Imagination" written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)
Best Editor, Short Form
Ellen Datlow
John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Jerry Pournelle
Sheila Williams
Best Editor, Long Form
Sheila E. Gilbert
Vox Day
Liz Gorinsky
Jim Minz
Toni Weisskopf
Best Professional Artist
Abigail Larson
Lars Braad Andersen
Larry Elmore
Michal Karcz
Larry Rostant
Best Semiprozine
Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie
Strange Horizons edited by Catherine Krahe, Julia Rios, A. J. Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons staff
Best Fanzine
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson
Lady Business edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan
Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie
Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale
Best Fancast
No Award
8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo
The Rageaholic, RazörFist
Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick
Best Fan Writer
Mike Glyer
Douglas Ernst
Morgan Holmes
Jeffro Johnson
Shamus Young
Best Fan Artist
Steve Stiles
Matthew Callahan
disse86
Kukuruyo
Christian Quinot
The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2014 or 2015, sponsored by Dell Magazines. (Not a Hugo Award, but administered along with the Hugo Awards.)
Andy Weir *
* Pierce Brown *
Sebastien de Castell *
Brian Niemeier
Alyssa Wong *
* Finalists in their second year of eligibility.
The immediate takeaway from tonight is that once again, slated works added to the ballot through a coordinated campaign have trouble swaying voters, although they were not unanimously dismissed, but in these instances, the awards largely went authors and works that really didn’t need help from slated works in the first place, such as Andy Weir or Neil Gaiman. In all other instances, voters opted to give the awards to extremely deserving works, such as N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season and Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti.U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump conceded Sunday he is losing support from women, but he blamed it on media accounts of women who he says falsely accused him of sexual assault.
Trump tweeted that the polls show the race with Democrat Hillary Clinton remains close, "but can you believe I lost large numbers of women voters based on made up events THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Media rigging election!"
He repeated his charge that the media is biased against him, "in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened into news!"
Clinton's vice presidential running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, mocked Trump's allegations, telling one interviewer, "He's blaming the media. He's blaming (Republicans). He's saying that America can't run a fair election. He is swinging at every phantom of his own imagination because he knows he's losing."
But Trump's vice presidential pick, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, told NBC television's Meet the Press that Trump will accept the outcome of the election.
"The American people will speak in an election that will culminate on November the 8th. But the American people are tired of the obvious bias in the national media. That's where the sense of a rigged election goes here.”
Polls: Clinton has 5.5% lead
Her lead, both polls show, is built chiefly among women, who could help make her the country's 45th president and its first female chief executive. The Post- ABC survey says she has a nine-percentage-point lead among women, while Trump leads among men by a point. The NBC-Wall Street Journal survey says Clinton has a 20-point lead among women, while Trump has a three-point edge among men.
A national average of polls compiled by Real Clear Politics shows Clinton with a 5.5-percentage point lead. Two major polls were released Sunday, with The Washington Post-ABC News survey showing her advantage at 47 to 43 percent among likely voters, while NBC News and The Wall Street Journal said their polling shows Clinton with a bigger edge, 48-37.
It also gives Clinton a 20-point lead among women, while Trump has a 3-point edge among men.
Trump's presidential campaign may have been destroyed by allegations of lewd and disrespectful comments and behavior towards women, including charges by several women dating back to the 1980s that he touched or kissed them inappropriately.
Trump was caught on camera in 2005 telling a TV personality that he can grope women because he is a "star."
Trump apologized for those remarks and called the women who accuse him of sexual assault "liars," mocking them by saying some of them are not attractive enough to grab his attention.
Upcoming third debate
Trump and Clinton face off in their third and final debate Wednesday in Las Vegas. With no evidence to back it up, he suggested Clinton was on drugs at their last debate last week, and said they each should undergo drug testing before Wednesday.
He also accused her of meeting with global financial leaders to "plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty" and said she ought to be jailed for the way she handled her emails when she was secretary of state.
Clinton is staying off the campaign trail to prepare for the last debate.
She is likely to face questions about thousands of hacked emails from the account of her campaign chief John Podesta that WikiLeaks has disclosed in recent days.
The messages include the full transcripts of three speeches she gave to executives at investment banker Goldman Sachs in 2013 for which she was paid $675,000, along with comments by her campaign staffers about how to handle challenging campaign issues.
She told bankers in one speech that she had "great relations" with them when she was a New York senator and attempted to flatter her audience by saying the banking industry knows regulatory issues better than anyone else.
Publicly, Clinton has excoriated Wall Street and big banks, saying they need more government regulation.
The Clinton campaign has not disputed the authenticity of the Podesta emails and suspects Russia of the hacks. The FBI is investigating.
Meanwhile, police in Orange County, North Carolina say a bottle of flammable liquid was thrown through the window of the local Republican Party headquarters overnight Saturday, setting fire to furniture and damaging the office.
No one was hurt. A slogan reading: "Nazi Republicans, leave town or else" was spray-painted on a nearby wall.Last week Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm was widely reported as suggesting that people other than Aboriginal Australians may have occupied the Australian continent in the past.
At a doorstop at Parliament House he apparently couldn’t name his sources when pressed by journalists and seemed rather vague on the details.
His doubt was apparently based on disagreement among anthropologists over the identity of the painters of the so-called ‘Bradshaw’ or ‘Gwion Gwion’ rock paintings in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Now there is a very strong sense of deja vu here because this very issue was at the centre of a widely reported and politically fuelled stoush from the late 1990s to mid-2000s, but back then within the context of Native Title.
Actually, the debate over these paintings has existed ever since Joseph Bradshaw brought attention to them in 1892 because they were thought at the time to be ‘too advanced’ to have been made by Aborigines.
This fitted a 19th Century linear worldview in which societies progressed from primitive to advanced, the Bradshaw/Gwion Gwion paintings being touted as an anomaly made by an exotic people.
The Bradshaw/Gwion Gwion art style was however widely accepted by academic researchers from the late 1960s onwards as belonging within the broader rock art traditions of Northern Australia.
But following the publication of a book about the art in 1994 by amateur archaeologist Grahame Walsh the 19th Century view made a comeback.
Walsh argued that the Bradshaw/Gwion Gwion tradition was painted by a pre-Aboriginal group 20,000 years ago, Aboriginal Australians only arriving in the area 10,000 years ago.
In a second book published in 2000, he even went to great lengths to disconnect Aboriginal Australians culturally from the Bradshaw/Gwion Gwion paintings and instead connected them to a population possibly originating in Africa.
A great deal of space has been devoted in academic journals to deconstructing Walsh’s unfounded ideas and analyzing the political fallout from them.
Ian McNiven, an archaeologist at Monash University, wrote an article in 2011 in the journal Australian Archaeology about the 1990s/2000s public debate over them.
As he noted, there is very good evidence for cultural continuity between these paintings and recent art as documented for example by amateur archaeologist David Welch in 1996.
Paul Taçon who holds a chair in rock art research at Griffith University also pointed out in an article in Nature Australia (1998-1999) that Welch:
“has documented a recent use of every type of artifact depicted in Bradshaw art, strongly suggesting the paintings reflect Indigenous Australian way of life”.
More broadly, the science of human origins has moved a long way in the last two decades not the least because of big developments in genetic research.
DNA shows clearly that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are directly descended from the earliest humans to have settled Australia, New Guinea and surrounding islands.
Genetic clocks show they split from populations alive in East Asia today between 45,000 and 75,000 years ago.
Human skeletons from the Willandra Lakes region of southwest New South Wales also make abundantly clear that living Aboriginal Australians are the very same people as those who arrived here more than 40,000 years ago.
McNiven has also pointed out the very long history of the political use of archaeology to justify colonial ends by disassociating Indigenous people from their land and heritage.
He pithily concluded in 2011:
Thus, I suspect, we haven not heard the last of colonialist interpretations of Gwion Gwion paintings. As long as Australian society struggles to comprehend and acknowledge Aboriginal Native Title rights, archaeology will continue to be manipulated by those seeking to undermine Aboriginal authenticity and legitimacy of connections to land and heritage.
And so it is now with Constitutional recognition of Australia’s First people: once again Aboriginal and Torres Strait people find their history and culture being rewritten by ignorant politicians for ideological reasons.
Senator Leyonhjelm’s comments are clearly an attempt to reopen the Bradshaw/Gwion Gwion debate, and in so doing, cast doubt over the legitimacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people as the first inhabitants of Australia.
Sadly, he might just succeed within the context of a 24 hour news cycle and the seeming absence of a long term memory in the media and society more broadly.Illegal trade is causing shocking decline in plants that are vital to desert ecosystems, most comprehensive global assessment yet reveals
Nearly a third of the world’s cacti are facing the threat of extinction, according to a shocking global assessment of the effects that illegal trade and other human activities are having on the species.
Cacti are a critical provider of food and water to desert wildlife ranging from coyotes and deer to lizards, tortoises, bats and hummingbirds, and these fauna spread the plants’ seeds in return.
But the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)‘s first worldwide health check of the plants, published today in the journal Nature Plants, says that they are coming under unprecedented pressure from human activities such as land use conversions, commercial and residential developments and shrimp farming.
But the paper said the main driver of cacti species extinction was the: “unscrupulous collection of live plants and seeds for horticultural trade and private ornamental collections, smallholder livestock ranching and smallholder annual agriculture.”
The findings were described as “disturbing” by Inger Andersen, the IUCN’s director-general. “They confirm that the scale of the illegal wildlife trade – including the trade in plants – is much greater than we had previously thought, and that wildlife trafficking concerns many more species than the charismatic rhinos and elephants which tend to receive global attention.”
The conservation group now judges cacti the fifth most threatened species on its red list of endangered flora and fauna, and is calling for an urgent ramping up of international efforts to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. Three of the IUCN’s five most threatened species to date are plants.
Cacti are almost always succulents but unlike most others, they store water in their stems alone, enabling them to survive extreme droughts. The plants can be as small as one centimetre in diameter and grow above 19 metres in height. Well over half of the species are used by humans for display ornamentation, food or medicine.
Almost 1,500 types of cactus were surveyed by the IUCN specialists over a five-year period, mostly in the Americas, where the plant is endemic.
Some, like the once-ubiquitous Echinopsis pampana, have seen population drops of at least 50% in Peru, due to plunder for the ornamental plant trade. The species is now listed as endangered.
“The results of this assessment came as a shock to us,” said Barbara Goettsch, the study’s lead author. “We did not expect cacti to be so highly threatened and for illegal trade to be such an important driver of their decline.”
Cacti are often dug up and exported off the books to Europe and Asia where rare species such as Ariocarpus can sell at prices of up to $1,000 (£660) a plant, Goettsch said.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus cactus. Photograph: Bárbara Goettsch/IUCN
Tackling the smugglers is a daunting task as the prickly cargo can be smuggled in suitcases or even socks. While countries such as Peru have made progress in blocking the illicit trade, the IUCN is calling for stricter implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in the ‘hotspots’ of Uruguay, Brazil and Chile. Mexico has made advances but still has work to do, according to Goettsch.
Despite their charismatic flowers, and iconic status in popular culture, cacti are often overlooked in conservation planning. The report calls for a broadening of arid land protection to deal with human activities such as construction, quarrying and aquaculture.
Exeter University’s Professor Kevin Gaston, who co-led the assessment, said that the results showed how important funding for further scientific assessments is. “Only by so doing will we gain the overall picture of what is happening to them at a time when, as evidenced by the cacti, they may be under immense human pressures.”Welcome to the Gamer Sensei Open #3! Hosted by SCVRush and Passioncraft. Rules can be found from below.
Meeting place: chat channel SCVRush on Starcraft EU Server (type /join SCVRush into the chat bar)
Prize Pool: $100
1st Place: $40
2nd Place: $30
3rd Place: $20
4th Place: $10
If you manage to win a portion of the prize pool be sure to contact the admin to give them your paypal address so we can easily give you your prize.
Feel free to message me (Flarnot#11172) if you have any questions.
Please remember to CHECK IN! Checkin opens an hour before the tournament starts.
Once you have joined the SCVRush channel ingame, please let a staff member know you are there! Brackets are NOT live until confirmed so by an admin.
Additional information for this tournament:
Mainstream: SCVRush
B-Stream: #PassionCraft
Date: May 2nd, 2017
Starting time: 7pm CEST/6pm BST/1pm EDT/10am PDT
Discord: https://discord.gg/tcX5D4G
RULES:
Tournament system:
Single elimination, no losers bracket
Before semifinals all matches are best of 3
Semifinals, match for 3rd place and Grand finals will be best of 5
Tournament Map system:
Map pool is the current season map pool
Starting maps are decided by veto process: ABAB ABC or AB ABABC, (A=upper player)
After the first game, the winner vetoes one map out of the remaining maps
The loser then picks his/her desired map out of the remaining ones apart from the ones already played on
In a bo5, there are no vetoes
Check In:
All participants must check in on challonge to play
Check in closes as soon as the brackets were started and players that didn’t check in will be removed automatically by challonge!
Other Tournament Rules (alphabetically):
Cheating - Do not attempt to stream cheat, maphack or use any other method of gaining an unfair advantage.
Disconnects - If a player disconnects the game will be continued using the "Resume from replay" option in the game. If the disconnecting player does not return after 15 minutes, they may forfeit the match. Players seen watching replays while waiting for another player to return will forfeit that match.
Laddering - No Laddering During Tournaments. Ladder at your own risk - if your next game is ready, you must end your ladder game immediately to play. Manner – Be polite to everyone around you - use common sense to determine what you should or should not say.
Opponent missing - If your opponent does not show up or is unresponsive, please report him to an admin and wait for 15 minutes. If he fails to respond after this period of time, he will then be disqualified.
Private Messages Blocking - Some players use the feature that prevents other people from sending them a private message unless they're on the Friends list. Please make sure you turn this off before the tournament begins to enable admins and your opponents to contact you.
Race - Players must keep their race during a series, but are free to change their race throughout the tournament.
Stalemates & Ties - In the event of a stalemate, the game will be replayed. The game can be tied by both player agreeing to a tie in chat, or the in-game stalemate timer.
Stream - If you are chosen to be shown on stream, please wait with your game until the casters are ready.
Streaming - We would prefer that players watch our stream rather than stream themselves. If you do wish to stream, please make sure you have at least 3 minutes of delay. Games chosen for streaming on the main stream must delay their match till the streamers arrive.To many, football is seen as a universal language, being able to unite and divide us while providing lovers of the sport indescribable highs and lows. Two young players set on making an impact are Lewis Baker and Kasper Dolberg. Though their names might not be widely recognized as of yet, both Baker and Dolberg are looking to become the next biggest stars in the Beautiful Game.
Both currently playing for prestigious clubs; Baker as the crowning glory of Chelsea’s Vitesse project and star player for England’s Under 21 squad, while Dolberg plays for the Dutch capital club Ajax and proudly represents his national team of Denmark.
We caught up with the duo in Amsterdam as the pair calls upon how their hunger, drive and determination help them succeed. With goals set on playing in the Champions League, Dutch Champion and World Cup, Baker and Dolberg share some insight on what it’s like being in such an environment. Because for them, “Football is life.”Blues' defender will miss three crucial games for his side after being found guilty of a viloent conduct charge after punching Wigan Athletic player, Shaun Maloney
retrospective ban following his side's 2-1 victory at home to Wigan Athletic.
The FA handed the 28-year old the ban after video replays showed him punching Latics midfielder
Shaun Maloney in the stomach
How do you stay up to date with football when on the move? With http://m.goal.com – your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.
The Football Association has rejected an appeal from Chelsea regarding a violent conduct charge for defender Branislav Ivanovic The Serbia international was handed aThe defender will serve a three-match suspension and miss his side's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday as well as Chelsea's trip to Arsenal and their home league game against QPR.A statement from The FA read: "Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic’s appeal against an FA charge for violent conduct has been dismissed."The incident, which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video, occurred during his side’s game against Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 7 April 2012."A Regulatory Commission heard the claim today and |
was going on.
"I thought they were some sort of law student tour, I didn't expect it at all," McCulloch said. "I thought it was interesting."
Similar events have occurred in other cities. In New York, protesters took the streets demonstrating their opposition to the grand jury's decision to not indict Pantaleo.
Demonstrators also gathered for a similar event in Detroit then later chanted "I can't breathe."People living in cars
BEND, Ore. - Bend police say in the past two weeks, they've received far more complaints about vehicles with people living in them than in recent years.
Many of these these complaints are posted on a neighborhood-based online forum called NextDoor.
The person who started the thread wrote, "We have noticed an increase in vehicle campers in and around our neighborhood and it's becoming a problem. The people living in these vehicles appear to be homeless and the petty crimes are starting to take place..."
But it's important to note, not all of these people are criminals.
These include Meredith Weissman, a field instructor at a local wilderness therapy company, who said she spends every other week living out of a camper.
"My hope is that people who have these concerns can address them in a productive manner and also try to not dehumanize people who do choose to live alternative lifestyles," she said.
Because, sometimes, Bend police Lt. Clint Burleigh said, the alternative lifestyle is the only option.
"I think there's folks and that is what they're able to do right now, that's all they're able to do for housing, and so they're living in that circumstance," Burleigh said. "So it's not just people choosing to live in their cars, sometimes its circumstances that they have to live in their cars.".
But when it comes down to it, a shortage of affordable housing plays a major role in this trend, explained community organizer Greg Delgado.
"People are thinking, they're living in our neighborhoods, defecating everywhere and using drugs, I think it's a bigger issue that that," Delgado said.
"If we had affordable housing, affordable transition homes, I think it would alleviate some of that," he said. "But we are a seasonal, part-time kind of place for young people."
Bend police tag the vehicles they've received complaints about and the vehicle must move to a new spot within 48 hours.
But there is a federal statute that bars police from towing a vehicle that's considered a home.Higher temperatures are melting permafrost on Corvatsch and other Swiss mountains (Keystone)
Unremittingly high temperatures are continuing to take their toll on Swiss permafrost and glaciers, according to the latest scientific research. The permanent ice covering on Swiss mountains is melting while rock glaciers are moving several metres a year.
The latest findings from the Swiss Permafrost Monitoring Network (PERMOS) reveal that the warming trend of the last seven years continues unabated. This has been ascertained by measuring the temperatures of permafrost at 30 borehole sites.
The permafrost in Corvatsch, near to St Moritz, has increased in temperature from -1.5 degrees Celsius to -1 degrees since 2009. The permanent ice covering on the Stockhorn, in the Bernese Oberland, has now been measured at -2 degrees, compared to -2.5 degrees in 2009.
PERMOS said that the increased ice temperatures were the result of several years of warmer conditions than normal, not just the unusually hot summer of 2015. Researchers also observed higher quantities of pooled ground water, hinting at the permafrost melting.
The speed of movement of rock glaciers increased 20% in 2014-2015 compared to the previous recordings. Such glaciers are now moving at a faster rate than at any time since recordings began in 2000.
The only unlikely silver lining comes in the shape of the late snowfall in Switzerland this winter. This allowed the ground to cool off faster because it did not have such a thick covering of insulating snow, PERMOS said.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
Neuer Inhalt Horizontal Line
SWI swissinfo.ch on Instagram SWI swissinfo.ch on InstagramVATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican faces a widening scandal that in one short week has seen Pope Benedict’s butler arrested, the president of its bank unceremoniously dismissed and the publication of a new book alleging conspiracies among cardinals.
It was a poisonous Pentecost Sunday for the pope, who likely had the tumultuous events of the past week on his mind as he celebrated a mass in St Peter’s Basilica on the day regarded as the birthday of the Church.
On Saturday his personal butler, Paolo Gabriele, 46, was formally charged with stealing confidential papal documents in the scandal that has come to be known as “Vatileaks”. Some of the documents allege cronyism and corruption in contracts with Italian companies.
One prominent cardinal, illustrating the growing emotion of the debate in Vatican circles, wrote in an Italian newspaper that the pope had been betrayed just as Jesus was betrayed 2,000 years ago.
The scandal, which has been brewing for months, has hit the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church. Gabriele - now known in Vatican statements as “the defendant” - was until Wednesday night the quiet man who served the pope’s meals, helped him dress and held his umbrella on rainy days.
The pope made no reference during his two public appearances on Sunday to the scandal or the arrest, which aides said had “saddened and pained” him.
“I feel very sad for the pope. This whole thing is such a disservice to the Church,” Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus charity group who is also a member of the board of the Vatican bank, told Reuters.
The night before the Vatican announced an arrest as part of its investigation of the leaks, it was rocked by the sudden ouster of the president of its bank, formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).
Anderson, among those who voted no-confidence in Italian Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, said in a telephone interview with Reuters that the president was sacked because of “a fundamental failure to perform his basic responsibilities”.
BANK TRANSPARENCY
Anderson rejected accusations by Gotti Tedeschi that he had been ousted because he wanted the bank to be more transparent.
“Categorically, this action by the board had nothing to do with his promotion of transparency,” Anderson said. “In Fact, he was becoming an obstacle to greater transparency by his inability to work senior management,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the Vatican is still aiming to make the OECD’s “white list” of states with financial transparency and other Vatican sources have pointed to the president’s very public ouster as an example of the drive for transparency.
A memorandum of the meeting that ousted Gotti Tedeschi and obtained by Reuters said he had shown “progressively erratic personal behavior” and failed to defend the bank “in the face of inaccurate media reports”.
Gotti Tedeschi’s ouster was significant in internal Vatican politics because it was another blow to the prestige of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope’s right-hand man, who was instrumental in bringing the Italian in from Spain’s Banco Santander to run the IOR in 2009.
Earlier last week saw the publication of “His Holiness,” a new book by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, who was first leaked some of the documents in January and aired them on a television show.
He says he was given the material by people loyal to the Church who wanted to expose corruption and that he did not pay anything for the documents.
After the events of last week, the atmosphere in the walled city-state was glum on Sunday. Vatican sources said they could not rule out more arrests, particularly if Gabriele named any accomplices.
The leaks scandal prompted one prominent Churchman, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the former archbishop of Milan and himself once a candidate for the papacy, to appeal to Church leaders “to urgently win back the trust of the faithful”.
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PERSONAL BETRAYAL OR BIGGER PLOT?
Martini, writing in an Italian newspaper, said the pope had been “betrayed” just as Jesus was betrayed 2,000 years ago, and that the Church would have to emerge from the latest scandal cleaner and stronger.
Still, few believed that Gabriele, a shy and private man, could have acted on his own and some said he may have been an unwitting pawn in a Vatican power struggle.
“Either he lost his mind or this is a trap,” a friend of Gabriele’s in the Vatican told the newspaper La Stampa.
“Whoever convinced him to do this is even more guilty because he manipulated a simple person.”
While news of Gabriele’s arrest has filled pages and pages of newspapers in Italy and beyond, the Vatican’s own newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has ignored the story.
Some say this may be because the paper itself has been an instrument in a power struggle involving reciprocal mud-slinging between allies and enemies of Cardinal Bertone.
“This is a strategy of tension, an orgy of vendettas and pre-emptive vendettas that has now spun out of the control of those who thought they could orchestrate it,” Church historian Alberto Melloni wrote in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The leaked documents included letters by an archbishop who was transferred to Washington after blowing the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, a memo that put a number of cardinals in a bad light, and documents alleging internal conflicts about the Vatican bank.The State Institutional Trust Lands Administration is selling this 200-acre parcel in Cave Valley near Kolob Terrace Road at an auction Oct. 19 | Photo courtesy of SITLA, St. George News
ST. GEORGE – The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, known as SITLA, is selling a 200-acre parcel in Cave Valley near Lamb’s Knoll, a popular hiking and canyoneering area close to Zion National Park.
A minimum acceptable bid price for the 200-acre parcel is $860,000, according to SITLA’s auction website. Details, terms and conditions of any sale are included and explained here.
The sale is part of an Oct. 19 SITLA auction that includes 11 parcels of land totaling more than 3,500 acres in six Utah counties.
Proceeds from the sale will go to the $2 billion Permanent School Fund, which benefits Utah public schools.
“We typically do not want to offer land for sale unless there is serious interest from someone,” Louis Brown, a resource specialist for SITLA, said.
“In the case of Cave Valley, this parcel has had interest expressed over the years but nothing recently. Since all of our prep work to get this parcel ready for sale had already been done years ago we decided to offer it and see what happens.”
The Cave Valley parcel is located approximately 10 miles northeast of the town of Virgin along the Kolob Terrace Road.
The property adjoins Zion National Park on the southeast corner; Bureau of Land Management property on the north, west and south sides; and private land on the east.
Nearby Lamb’s Knoll is a well-used hiking and canyoneering location.
In 2014, for example, eight commercial groups guided 3,300 people to the Lamb’s Knoll area in addition to public use, information from the BLM states.
Provisions in the sale will allow for continued access across the 200-acre parcel to Lamb’s Knoll and the nearby erosion-sculpted slot canyons.
“When we heard that the SITLA parcel was up for sale we requested an easement to maintain access to the Lamb’s Knoll canyoneering site,” Dave Kiel, BLM St. George Field Office recreation planner, said. “SITLA was very generous in granting that easement.”
“We are planning on building a trailhead at that location, with parking, an information kiosk and a restroom,” Kiel said.
“We don’t have a specific construction time frame, but it is on the priority list.”
Eighty percent of SITLA’s development land portfolio is in Washington County. In an earlier interview, Kyle Pasley, deputy assistant director of the SITLA planning and development group, attributed this number to the fact that when Utah became a state and SITLA was formed, it was not given much land along the Wasatch Front.
The Coral Canyon development in Washington City is an example of SITLA land currently under development in Southern Utah.
Details
According to the SITLA auction website, the minimum acceptable price for the Cave Valley property is $860,000 and financing will be offered for the parcel. A down payment of 10 percent and closing costs are due at the auction.
The SITLA land sale auction will be held Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 10 a.m. at the Little America Hotel, 500 South Main St. in Salt Lake City.
Email: japplegate@stgnews.com
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.Eventually we have arrived here. Now we are able to track our crypto portfolio in real time.
We started almost 2 years ago investing in different blockchain systems and we had a problem of real-time valuation of our portfolio. We solved it using this “spreadshit”. There were solutions that could work for us — cryptonator and whole pack of mobile trackers, but they failed. The biggest problem with all mentioned resources was and is a lack of support for all necessary assets. As real nerds we were looking for the best way to solve our problem. We wanted more than just a portfolio tracker. And we have developed such a tool!
Money is a language of economy. Being in love with blockchain technology we wanted to empower more people — gave them a tool to choose, invest and track their blockchain investment portfolios.
What’ the Problem, Man?
One of the main problems with any blockchain portfolio is that blockchain systems emerge very fast. There are more than 1000 cryptocurrencies or cryptoassets that have already market valuation. To track them all the data should be gathered from more than 100 centralized exchanges and 5 decentralized exchanges.But for a good tracker it is not enough.
The balances should be updated for more than 500 independent blockchains or consensus ledgers and for at least 10 asset protocols created by these blockchains. That is huge. But not all.
Probably more than 10k cryptocurrencies or cryptoassets have no market valuation and some of them are really interesting and promising in terms of future returns. Thus there should be a tool to monitor them as well.
We decided to solve these problems step by step.
Technological Magic
I am a big fan of Git and Github. I like the way it helped me to organize development process thanks to Git technology.
When 2 years ago I began to analyze deeper blockchain technology I realized how naturally blockchains are organized and how easy to understand. In the core of any blockchain lays public key cryptography. Like Git, it is a brilliant invention. Why?
When I told my friends that they could open any Bitcoin account using only a piece of paper, and a pencil I felt excited and I saw their initial mistrust reaction and then “aha”-moment. Any private key can work for any blockchain. Once you calculated your public key from your private key you can derive address for any blockchain using some calculation. This “key”-thing is the most critical point for blockchain adoption.
Every blockchain could share network effects with every blockchain
An active account on any blockchain means that the same account exists on all others blockchains. Even if a blockchain doesn’t exist yet. This is weird, but that is the fact.
So public keys and addresses form a base for the whole blockchain economy. And hundreds of blockchain systems have already been born. And many more thousands will be born. I believe that blcokchain technology will outperform other businesses that exist. Certainly, some businesses will adopt it as it happened with the Internet.
Could you imaging what kind of a programmed zoo we will see soon? On a blockchain you can create in one click any entity you want using a template and it will work!
The accounts, assets, equities, robots or anything else that you can imaging should:
Have a unique address derived from the creators private key
Should be accounted to make it transferable using another address derived from the same private key
This concept is very simple, but I do believe that it could bring to life a whole new economy.
Thus tracking addresses is so critical! And we decided to start from it. We will allow you to keep all your addresses in one convenient place in a way that will help you understand your portfolio and do more.
Your Investment Portfolio
t
This picture shows our investment portfolio in realtime. Using our service you will get instantly a valuation of your cryptoassets. Moreover, by putting all eggs together you will get some additional insights on how to adjust your investment strategy. If you wonder how to make your portfolio, watch this educational video created by @lomashuk.
You can try it right now!
The pubic accounts will be free forever. I know what you are thinking about!
Nobody will ever open their financials…
Live long and prosper! Look on what other guys are doing:
The private accounts would cost a little but at this point of time they are also free.
We do believe that transparency that is embedded in blockchain could transform traditional businesses.
A Long Road Ahead
At this point of time the balances that you get are auto-updated for bitcoins only. The other balances should be updated manually. We know it sucks and we will improve our service step by step.E3 starts in two days and the leaks are only picking up steam. At this point there’s going to be no surprises left at the show.
A user on NeoGAF has just leaked the first screenshots for Halo Wars 2 and the game is looking pretty good. The graphics are quite similar to the original Halo Wars, and the environments are quite full of detail and color. You can check out the screenshots just below.
An open beta for Halo Wars 2 is also coming next week and will last from June 13th through June 20th. However, this has yet to be confirmed by either The Creative Assembly or Microsoft so we’ll leave this marked as a rumor for now.
Halo Wars 2 is expected to release this holiday season on the Xbox One and Windows 10.
Stay tuned for further updates on Halo Wars 2 at Microsoft E3 2016 press conference on Monday morning.When Will Ferrell acted like a drunken fool and drilled a cheerleader in the head (more on that below) with a basketball at an NBA game last month, he didn’t expect it to be that big of a deal. After all, his on-court shenanigans were for a scene in his upcoming comedy Daddy’s Home.
“For some reason, I still have blinders on when we do things like that,” Ferrell told Yahoo Movies last week when we asked if the production had anticipated fan footage of the scene going viral. Director Sean Anders said they thought it might “be floating around YouTube, but the fact that it was all over Yahoo and Google and everything the next morning was surprising to us.”
Watch a fan video of the scene shoot:
In the movie, Ferrell plays Brad, a sweet-natured radio exec who treasures being a stepfather to his new wife’s two children. But Brad’s life quickly unravels when the kids’ biological father Dusty (Mark Wahlberg, who first teamed with Ferrell in the 2010 hit The Other Guys) re-emerges. When Brad scores Lakers tickets to impress his Kobe Bryant-worshipping stepson, Dusty responds with courtside seats. This sets up the scene that played out in front of roughly 16,000 fans at Smoothie King Arena, home of the New Orleans Pelicans on Jan. 21. Brad, left by his lonesome in the seats he purchased, drowns his misery in beer. At halftime, it’s announced that one lucky fan will have a chance to win tickets to Disney World by attempting a half-court shot. And that lucky fan is a now-inebriated Brad.
When photos and video of the film shoot hit the Internet, most readers appeared to be entertained by Ferrell’s live stunt. But two other factions emerged: Those who were not amused by the film’s use of perceived violence against women for humor’s sake; and those who were convinced the whole thing was real.
Watch ‘The Insider’s’ coverage of the stunt:
“People were saying I should be sued,” Ferrell said. “Or even people who knew it was part of the movie, they were like, ‘Why did he use a real basketball?’” (For the record, it was a Nerf-style soft ball.) Comedian Hannibal Buress, who has a supporting role in the movie, said there was so much anti-Ferrell sentiment in the comments on the link that he posted on his Facebook fan page, that he ended up removing the post.
Anders said it took months of coordinating with the arena, the NBA, and the Lakers and Pelicans to plan the scene. The cast and crew arrived at the arena at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon to rehearse, and the game started at 7:00 p.m. Just as halftime began, a PA announcement was made to the crowd telling them to stay in their seats to see a scene filmed for a new Ferrell–Wahlberg movie. All they knew was that they would be watching Ferrell attempt a half-court shot.
View photos
The movie’s “cheerleader,” stuntwoman Taryn Terrell
Though the production only had six minutes, they were able to film the scene twice. “Your adrenaline starts going, and you’re like, ‘It’s gonna be a bummer if I miss her on the first throw, because that will give away the gag,” Ferrell explained. He made direct hits both times on the woman playing the cheerleader, stuntwoman, actress, and former WWE/current TNA wrestler Taryn Terrell. “She’s tougher than I am,” says Ferrell.Mr. Tegg, in his curious and interesting volume, Wills of Their Own, quotes two testators whose aversion to moustaches continued to exhibit itself even after death. The will of Mr. Henry Budd, which came into force in 1862, declared against the wearing of moustaches by his sons in the following terms: ‘In case my son Edward shall wear moustaches, then the devise herein before contained in favour of him, his appointees, heirs, and assigns, of my said estate called Pepper Park, shall be void; and I devise the same estate to my son William, his appointees, heirs, and assigns. And in case my said son William shall wear moustaches, then the devise hereinbefore contained in favour of him, his appointees, heirs, and assigns of my said estate, called Twickenham Park, shall be void; and I devise the said estate to my said son Edward, his appointees, heirs, and assigns.’
Another instance is the will of Mr. Fleming, an upholsterer of Pimlico, proved in 1869, who left £10 each to those of the men in his employ who did not wear moustaches. Those who persisted in wearing them to have only £5 each.The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com.
The other day, Hillary Clinton assembled a group of friends at Whitehaven, her home in Washington, D.C., where she raised a glass of wine and proposed a toast.
“I’ll be back!” she said, imitating the growl of Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator.
Everyone laughed at Hillary’s rare attempt at humor about her shocking presidential defeat.
But back as what?
Are the rumors true that she is considering a run for mayor of New York City? Is she interested in becoming the president of a university, a foundation, or a think tank?
As it turns out, according to a close Clinton source who spoke with Ed Klein Confidential, Hillary isn’t thinking about any of those roles right now.
“She’s been talking very seriously about the idea of having her own television show,” said the source. “As a TV host, she’d discuss the issues of the day from a progressive point of view, have top guests, interview world leaders and progressive thinkers.
“It would have to be a show that she and her people completely controlled,” the source continued. “She’s convinced she’d get fabulous ratings in a political climate where there’s so much anger in Democratic circles over Donald Trump’s election.
“She’s utterly determined not to fade into the background. She intends to stay in the limelight and keep fighting the good fight. She knows Obama is going to be out there fighting too. But frankly, she doesn’t think he’s a great leader or a great fighter, which leaves an opening for her to be the acknowledged leader-in-exile of her party.
“She thinks being the host of a popular TV show would energize the Democratic Party base and her tens of millions of fans. It’s a way to make a comeback and position herself for another run at the White House starting in a year or so.”SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc is easing restrictions for building iPhone and iPad applications, a move that should allow for the use of third-party tools such as Adobe Systems’ Flash software and ease tension between the two companies.
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs speaks in front of the display showing buttons of various apps during the iPhone OS4 special event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California April 8, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
Shares of Adobe surged more than 12 percent on Nasdaq on Thursday, after Apple announced the changes.
Apple’s about-face follows a high-profile spat with Adobe last spring that saw Steve Jobs sharply criticize Flash technology.
Apple had been criticized by developers for what they called onerous restrictions on building apps. Apple had effectively banned developers from using the popular Flash software and other technology to build apps for iOS, the operating system that powers the iPhone and iPad.
Gleacher & Co analyst Brian Marshall said Apple was feeling pressure from app developers. Because of Apple’s restrictions, many developers had to spend time and money to build separate versions of apps to work on both iOS and Google Inc’s Android smartphone platform, which has surged in popularity.
“What spurred this on was the uproar from the growing iOS developer base,” Marshall said. “People liked using Flash, and now they’ll be able to use a bunch of different technologies.”
Apple’s initial insistence that developers only use its tools to build apps also drew scrutiny from U.S. regulators.
But Apple said it will relax “all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.”
Analysts say the changes mean developers will be able to build apps using Flash tools, and then convert them to run on iOS, something that was not previously allowed. It should also allow them to build an app and more easily port it to either iOS or Android.
However, analysts say the changes do not mean that the iPhone and the iPad will be able to run Flash-based websites. Jobs has slammed the Flash technology as unreliable and ill-suited for mobile devices.
Apple, which did not mention Adobe or any other companies in its press release, did not respond to requests for additional details about the changes.
“We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart,” Apple said in the release.
Adobe issued a statement saying “we are encouraged to see Apple lifting its restrictions on its licensing terms, giving developers the freedom to choose what tools they use to develop applications for Apple devices.”
Hudson Square analyst Daniel Ernst said Apple’s previous restrictions on app-building tools never made sense if the company wanted to make it as easy as possible to lure developers to the iPhone and the iPad.
“That never seemed like a great idea in the first place, and the marketplace gets to decide,” he said.
Apple had previously argued that apps that were not built specifically for its devices simply would not work right.
MORE TRANSPARENT
In a bid to be more transparent, Apple also on Thursday made public for the first time App Store Review Guidelines, to help developers understand how submitted applications are considered.
This had been another controversial area for some developers who had complained that the approval process has been opaque and arbitrary.
In the guidelines, Apple made clear that it would not allow apps it considers offensive, including those that criticize a religion or contain certain sexual content.
The introduction to the guidelines states: “If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.”
It also states: “If your app looks like it was cobbled together in a few days... please brace yourself for rejection.”
Related Coverage Analysis: Touchscreen chipmakers tap tablet boom
The App Store, made popular by the success of the iPhone, has distributed over 6.5 billion downloads from over 250,000 different apps since its debut in July 2008, making it the world’s largest mobile application platform, according to Apple.
But Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said in recent weeks that devices based on its competing Android wireless operating system are being activated at a rate of 200,000 a day, making it a strong rival to the iOS system.
On Nasdaq, Apple shares closed 0.06 percent higher at $263.07, while Adobe rose 12.1 percent to $32.86.Saying that Abhishek Chaubey's 'Udta Punjab' has run into trouble with the Censor Board would be an understatement. The film and the CBFC are now at loggerheads and none of the parties are in a mood to change their mind. The revising committee of the Censor Board has suggested as many as 89 cuts in the film, which stars Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh in key roles. The committee also does not approve of the title 'Udta Punjab' as it wants 'Punjab' to be removed from it. Not only this, it even wants the film to be based in a fictional land.Quite obviously, the decision has left the makers of the film sad, shocked and angry. Director Anurag Kashyap, who is one of co-producers of the film, has come out in the open to express his displeasure over CBFC's decision. In a chat with Times Now, the filmmaker took on the Censor Board Chief, Pahlaj Nihalani. Anurag said that Nihalani is playing God in every filmmaker's life. Calling him an extremely egoistic man, he accused the Censor Board Chief of deliberately attempting to delay the film. He said that Nihalani knows the financial repercussions. In his fury, Anurag even went on to say, 'There is no logic that can make me understand that how is this man allowed to operate the way he does.'Kashyap, whose own directorial venture, 'Raman Raghav 2.0' is hitting the screens on June 24, 2016 didn't spare the I&B Minister, Arun Jaitley, too, alleging that the film industry is Jaitley's last priority.CLEVELAND, Ohio - As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, the Quaker Steak & Lube location in Lakewood has closed permanently.
News broke on social media and was confirmed by an employee who answered the phone Tuesday afternoon. He said the staff was informed this morning that the location was no more. As of now, there are no plans for the location to reopen as anything else.
Last November, it was reported that Quaker Steak & Lube had declared bankruptcy and would be acquired by TravelCenters of America for $25 million. Quaker Steak, which was founded in Pennsylvania in 1974, grew to more than 50 locations in 16 states.
Quaker Steak & Lube bankrupt, to be acquired by TravelCenters group
The Lakewood location has been removed from the "Locations" section of Quaker Steak's corporate website. All other Northeast Ohio Quaker Steak locations, including ones in Mentor, Medina, Sheffield, Valley View, Vermilion, at The Q and the airport, remain open, according to site,However much of a food lover you may consider yourself to be, there are probably some culinary treats which are beyond even your budget – unless you happen to be super-rich.
And it’s those foods which come under scrutiny in Channel 4’s new two-part series The World’s Most Expensive Food – which takes a look at the eating habits of billionaires, and the people whose job it is to keep them supplied in caviar and pre-digested weasel coffee (yes, that is a thing).
Everything from Beluga caviar worth £24,000 to airline meals worth up to £1,000 is featured in the series – but if those aren’t to your taste, here are some other seriously pricey food items you might like to consider trying.
For starters, might sir or Madam like to consider:
Beluga Caviar. Eddy and Patsy from Ab Fab might love the stuff, but a large tin of it will most likely set you back around £24,000. Still, we’re guessing it’ll last you a while…
(Picture: Getty Images)
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Wagyu beef. It’s pricey to be sure – you’d be looking at almost £200 for a pound’s worth – unless you fancy trying Aldi’s Wagyu burgers which cost a lot, er, less. And why’s it so special? Because it comes from cows given a special, grain-rich diet not to mention sake massages…
(Picture: Getty Images)
Civet coffee aka Kopi Luwak. A delicate beverage which has already passed through the system of the South Asian palm civet and can cost up to £325 a cup. Not your average latte then:
(Picture: Getty Images)
Saffron. You’d be surprised how expensive this prized herb, made from the saffron crocus flower, actually is – with prices starting from £350 for a pound of the stuff. Crikey:
(Picture: Getty Images)
Let’s not forget about black truffle mushrooms, which are prized but very tasty. And will leave you staring at mothballs in your wallet for some time to come.
(Picture: Getty Images)
Although if mushrooms are your thing, you might like to sample the Matsasuke, a prized truffle which could potentially set you back around £1,420. Ouch:
(Picture: Getty Images)
Finally, here’s how you dine in style on a flight, swapping the usual foil lids and plastic cutlery for a meal which costs upwards of £1,000 per head. Bon appetit…
(Picture: Channel 4)
The World’s Most Expensive Food starts on Channel 4 on Wednesday night at 8pm.The Situation
You’re the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in World War I. Your ships are being sunk at an alarming rate by the devastatingly effective German U-Boat. The traditional camouflage isn’t working because your environment (sea and sky) changes with the weather. What do you do?
This is the German U-Boat Sinking your Battleships
The Insight
It’s not where you are it’s where you’re going
World War I occurred from 1914–1918; back then sinking an enemy battleship was a three-step process:
Step 1: Locate your target’s position and plot its course.
Step 2: Determine the ship’s speed and confirm the direction it is heading
Step 3: Launch torpedo not directly at the ship, but where you think it’s going to be by the time the torpedo reaches the ship.
*Remember this is early 20th century warfare, weapons don’t travel at the speed they do today
So what’s your solution Fleet Admiral?
HIT THEM WITH THE RAZZLE DAZZLE
Forget about not being seen, that only solves their first problem. Focus on confusing them so they don’t know where you’re going. Then their torpedoes will be shot in vain because they thought you zigged when you really zagged.
British Artist and naval officer Norman Wilkinson had this very insight and pioneered the Dazzle Camouflage movement (known as Razzle Dazzle in the United States). Norman used bright, loud colours and contrasting diagonal stripes to make it incredibly difficult to gauge a ship’s size and direction.
It was cheap, effective, and widely-adopted during the War. Check out the incredible photographs below.
*NOTE: Unfortunately the images are in black and white, being from the early 1900s and all, so the loud, bold colours will require a little imagination. Can you picture a fleet of electric yellow, orange and purple ships coming to get ya!
The Father of Dazzle Camouflage Norman Wilkinson
To give you an idea of colour, here’s a sketch, actual and render
As sonar and radar technology improved, the once effective dazzle camouflage was rendered obsolete. By WWII the dazzle camouflage was an afterthought. Thankfully contemporary artists like Jeff Koons have kept the style alive with outrageous boats like this:
Photograph by monacoeye.com
SOURCES
– Information: http://gotouring.com/razzledazzle/articles/dazzle.html
– Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage
– Photographs: http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/nhcorg11.htmAngry parents are demanding that the principal of a Manitoba public school and two teachers be removed, alleging they stood by and did nothing as two Grade 8 students were tricked into chewing moose droppings by an adult chaperone on a field trip. Karen Eyolfson says her 13-year-old son, a student at Walter Whyte School in Grand Marais, bit into the moose droppings after being told by a parent chaperone on the two-day canoe trip late last month that the animal feces were chocolate-covered almonds. She alleges that three staff supervisors — including the school principal — stood by as her son chewed the droppings and classmates laughed.
Three staff supervisors at a Manitoba school — including the principal — are accused of standing by and doing nothing as students were tricked into chewing moose droppings. ( DREAMSTIME PHOTO )
Another classmate was also tricked into eating the moose droppings, the school board said. “They thought it was a big joke,” said Eyolfson, who has since pulled her son from the school. She also says staff did not inform parents about what occurred on the trip when the students returned. She says her husband had to “pry” the information out of principal Bob Kovachik after learning about the incident from their son.
Article Continued Below
Kovachik did not return |
riders push themselves physically and mentally to the limit.
On Saturday, Dame Sarah Storey's lung-busting efforts at the Lee Valley Velodrome were not enough to better Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel's women's mark of 46.065km set in 2003.
And there is another record, set almost 50 years ago which is still standing today - the women's 12-hour record - and it was made by Yorkshire housewife Beryl Burton.
On 17 September 1967, at the UK National Time Trial, the 30-year-old rode 277.25 miles in 12 hours along roads and country lanes of Yorkshire. That's a staggering 23 miles an hour, or 37.18 kph if you prefer the continental measurement.
What is even more remarkable is that she beat the men's world record that day, overtaking all 99 men and offering men's champion Mike McNamara a Liquorice Allsort as an energy booster as she did so.
It took a man another two years to better her mark.
Beryl Burton's records 10 miles: 21 mins, 25 seconds - set in 1973 - broken in 1993 25 miles: 53:21 - set in 1976 - broken in 1996 30 miles: 1:08:36 - set in 1981 - broken in 1991 50 miles: 1:51:30 - set in 1976 - broken in 1996 100 miles: 3:55:05 - set in 1968 - broken in 1986 12 hour: 277.25 miles - set in 1967 - still stands
Her daughter Denise Burton-Cole takes up the story: "The women had set off two minutes behind the men but my mum eventually caught up the men's champion, Mike McNamara.
"She was a little bit embarrassed she caught him because it was unheard of really.
"So, as she was going by, she had some sweeties in her pocket and offered Mike a Liquorice Allsort and he said: 'Yeah, ta love' and off she went.
"To think she went on and held the men's record, it still gives me goosebumps."
Her training regime was simple: build up core strength from the hard manual labour of working on a rhubarb farm and spend hours in the saddle, cycling up and down the Yorkshire Dales, clocking up to 600 miles a week.
And Burton-Cole questions whether a woman will ever improve on her mum's record.
"It is an outstanding record that is still there today. It took a lot of training so I wonder if it will ever get beaten."
Burton turned down numerous offers to turn professional and remained an amateur throughout her career, equally at home on the road or on the track, although time trials were her speciality.
Her cycling achievements were phenomenal - seven world titles, 96 national titles and the best British all-rounder for 25 consecutive years to stake her claim as the greatest British female cyclist of all time.
Beryl Burton and her daughter Denise in March 1963. They would later compete against each other
Sadly she was denied the opportunity to crown her career with an Olympic medal as women's cycling was only admitted into the Games in 1984, by which time Burton was 47.
In 1967 she was having what legendary cycling commentator Phil Liggett called "a stellar year". "It was probably the fittest and best year of her life," he tells BBC World Service's Sporting Witness.
Her 12-hour record had come off the back of winning her final world title - the road race a few weeks before. That year, she finished second in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year to boxer Henry Cooper, and in 1968 was awarded on OBE.
"It was a coveted record," Liggett adds, "had it been any other sport other than cycling, say it being a football icon scoring three goals against Brazil, it would have been front-page news.
"It almost slipped under the doormat, apart from the cycling magazines who knew the enormity of what she'd done.
"And as far as I know, it has never been done anywhere in the world either, where a woman has got up and beaten a man's record in the sport."
Burton could not have done it without the support of her husband Charlie - he had introduced her to the sport at Morley Cycling Club and became her race mechanic, chauffeur and childminder to their daughter.
And it was inevitable Burton-Cole would forge a career in cycling too. "I was born into cycling, literally," she says. "If I didn't go on my bike, I didn't go anywhere because they didn't take me in the car."
Mum and daughter raced against each other on a number of occasions and at the 1975 National Championships, Denise outsprinted Beryl to claim her first national road title. On the podium her mum broke cycling etiquette by refusing to shake her hand.
"I don't think she knew why she did it," said Burton-Cole. "If she was alive today, I don't think she'd know. She desperately wanted to win and I beat her and she took it very hard."
Beryl Burton's achievements UCI Road World Championships Gold: 1960, 1967 Silver: 1961 UCI Track Cycling World Championships - individual pursuit Gold: 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966 Silver: 1961, 1964, 1968 Bronze: 1967, 1971 96 National titles and best British all-rounder for 25 consecutive years
Although fiercely competitive, there was no doubt Beryl was proud of her only child's achievements. Burton-Cole won a bronze medal in the individual pursuit at the 1975 World Championships and when she returned home "mum had bought me some bronze presents, which was a nice touch", she remembers.
Burton's achievements were all the more astonishing after she suffered rheumatic fever as a child and was told not to exert herself physically.
She lived life in the saddle and sadly died on her bike in 1996, while out delivering party invites for what would have been her 59th birthday. Her heart gave way.
"She had an illness as a child which affected her (she had a very slow resting heartbeat) and it left a scar on her heart. At that point it must have decided that it had enough, I'm afraid. She never stopped pushing herself. It was very sad," says Burton-Cole.
There are many who believe Beryl was never given the national recognition she fully deserved but there has been a recent resurgence of interest - thanks in no small part to actor Maxine Peake.
Beryl Burton finished second to Sir Henry Cooper in the 1967 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award
The star of The Village and Silk was given Beryl's autobiography Personal Best by her boyfriend, art director Pawlo Wintoniuk, and was amazed at the story.
"Why didn't I know about her? If she was a man, everybody would know about her," Peake says.
Peake wrote a Radio 4 play, which was transferred to the stage and shown during the Tour de France Grand Depart celebrations in Leeds last summer.
And it was so well received, 'Beryl' will have another run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse this summer - as well as going out on the road.
"We are thrilled as it's an outstanding play and it's great that more people will see it," says Burton-Cole.
During her lifetime, Burton never displayed her extensive trophy collection and kept her bikes in the basement of her house in Harrogate.
So with the play and also being posthumously awarded the Freedom of the City of Leeds in 2014, what does her daughter think Burton would have made of it all?
"She was very humble and didn't boast or brag. But she would be pleased, honoured and proud - and she well deserves it."Join us for The UnConvention: an ambitious multiplatform initiative to engage millennials in meaningful civic conversations during this year's election season.
A real-time Electoral College tracking map suggests not only a disappointing Election Day for presidential hopeful Donald Trump, but potential trouble down the road for the Republican Party he represents.
A Mic sneak peek at a new interactive map from SurveyMonkey, which goes public at 9 a.m. Tuesday, shows Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead not just overall in Electoral College projections, but with an overwhelming advantage among millennial voters.
Clinton has a nearly nationwide advantage over Trump with millennials. SurveyMonkey
A total of 270 Electoral College votes are required to capture the presidency.
In the 2016 election cycle, 69 million millennials are eligible to vote — a number equal to that of baby boomers.
According to SurveyMonkey, which is offering mapping based on more than 30,000 interviews conducted since Oct. 8 and weighted by state-level voter demographics, Clinton dominates among the younger set.
"The data among millennials point to big and widespread advantages for Clinton heading into the final stretch. The challenges some Democrats feared she might face with young voters after a tough primary fight against Bernie Sanders haven't materialized," Jon Cohen, SurveyMonkey's chief research officer, said to Mic.
That's not all.
"Looking beyond 2016, the numbers among white millennials may be particularly troubling for Republican strategists," Cohen said, pointing to data that backs up longstanding fears about the future of the GOP in the absence of a successful effort to broaden its base.
"Trump is ahead in only 17 states among young white voters," Cohen noted.
Trump does better among white millennials, but still trails Clinton. SurveyMonkey
"In addition to the headwinds the party faces among nonwhite voters of all ages, this deficit adds to the party's obstacles ahead."
After a scorching post-mortem conducted after Republican Mitt Romney's loss to President Barack Obama in 2012, the GOP made some effort to ramp up its outreach to nonwhite voters.
Apparently not helping achieve that goal: Trump's hardline stances on issues such as immigration and his much-questioned conduct toward women, coupled with GOP resistance to de-emphasizing wedge social issues such as abortion and marriage in order to attract next-generation Republicans.
In 2016's battleground states, according to data SurveyMonkey provided to Mic ahead of the full map release, the GOP may also be looking at trouble down the road as its base ages out — unless the Trump phenomenon is a total aberration.
In Florida, for example, the RealClearPolitics polling average shows Clinton up just under 4 percentage points overall. However, SurveyMonkey shows Clinton up 24% with millennials, with a double-digit advantage even among those without a college education.
SurveyMonkey data shows Clinton ahead with Florida millennial voters. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The RCP averages for Ohio show the candidates in a dead heat, with Trump slightly ahead. But SurveyMonkey has Clinton up by 13% among millennials there, leading in every demographic except among men, where the candidates are in a statistical tie.
And in Iowa, where RCP averages show Trump ahead by under 4 percentage points overall, Clinton bests the Republican among millennials by about twice that figure.
All that said, older voters have traditionally voted in higher numbers as a group than their younger counterparts for an array of reasons, so pre-election poll results don't necessarily guarantee final outcomes. And there's no question 2016 has been an unusual presidential cycle, to say the least, which has strained the utility of a lot of conventional political wisdom.
These new Electoral College test cases with millennials are a product of the shareable SurveyMonkey map's options to view state-level results in key brackets such as gender, age, race, income and education level.
The SurveyMonkey data will be updated daily through the Nov. 8 election. When the GOP will next dramatically update its play for new, younger voters remains to be seen.95m-year-old Savannasaurus elliottorum leads researchers to propose new theory of how sauropods spread around the world
A new species of giant herbivorous dinosaur has been found in outback Australia, helping to rewrite the textbooks on how the gentle giants spread around the globe.
The species is a member of the group of dinosaurs known as sauropods – such as the brontosaurus, which have long necks and four thick, pillar-like legs. It belongs to a subgroup called “titanosaurs”, thought to have evolved in South America.
Monster haul: Three new dinosaurs discovered Read more
Named Savannasaurus elliottorum after the savannah landscape it was found in, and David Elliott, who discovered the bones on his sheep station in central Queensland, its 40-or-so fossilised bones make up one of the most complete sauropod skeletons found to date in Australia.
The species was reported on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports alongside a specimen of another similar but previously described species, known as Diamantinasaurus matildae.
Together, the two specimens led researchers to redescribe the evolutionary tree of sauropods, and propose a new theory of how they spread across the ancient megacontinent of Gondwana, which joined Australia, Africa, Antarctica and South America.
The 95m-year-old savannasaurus specimen, nicknamed Wade, was found by Elliott, who runs the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum on his farm near Winton. It documents a series of other dinosaur discoveries dating back nearly 20 years.
“I was mustering sheep for crutching,” Elliott said. “It was in 2006 and I found a little toe bone. I thought it was a theropod dinosaur, actually – it looked like a bit of a limb bone. I was really excited about it. It turned out to be a sauropod.”
Elliot’s wife, Judy, looked at two parts of the bone and saw they fitted together, revealing it was a single complete toe of a sauropod, rather than two different parts of a theropod toe.
Over the following years, the Elliott family, scientists and volunteers excavated 17 pallets’ worth of fossil fragments, reconstructing about 20% of a complete skeleton. The dinosaur was found to be between 12 and 15 metres long.
Cretaceous dinosaur footprints uncovered on Western Australian beach Read more
About the same time, Elliott discovered part of another sauropod skeleton, which turned out to be a specimen of a species called Diamantinasaurus matildae. The find included the only skull of that species ever seen.
The two discoveries helped the researchers redraw the evolutionary tree of related dinosaurs, helping them to reconstruct their movement around the world.
“The more anatomical information you can derive from a specimen, the more accurately you can place it on the dinosaur family tree,” said Stephen Poropat, a paleontologist who works with the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum.
With the new information, Poropat and colleagues found the diamantinasaurus was a less advanced member of the family than previously thought. The new savannasaurus was also to found to be a primitive member of the group.
The evolutionary analysis, which compared the specimens with similar ones in South America, meant there was a small window between 100m and 105m years ago when an ancestor of the two dinosaurs must have crossed over land from South America, through Antarctica, to Australia.
While the evolutionary analysis suggested the dinosaurs only made the journey about 100m years ago, the position of the continents at the time showed it should have been possible earlier.
“We realised there must have been some sort of barrier to them dispersing between South America and Australia before about 105m years ago,” Poropat said.
Oldest fossil of bird's voicebox gives new hint at soundscape of the Cretaceous Read more
The researchers argued the cool climate of the polar region could have been that barrier. And a period of global warming that occurred about 105m years ago could have made the polar region more suitable to the dinosaurs. “Whether by accident or by choice, some of them found themselves in Australia,” said Poropat.
John Long, a paleontologist from Flinders University in Australia who wasn’t involved in the research, said the find was amazing.
“The Winton formation keeps yielding this amazing material and it’s showing such a great diversity of titanosaurs that were around in Australia in this middle cretaceous period,” Long said.
He said it was previously thought that most Australian dinosaurs travelled south from Asia. “It’s now emerging that most of our dinosaurs have a South American affinity,” he said.
The researchers’ theory about climate change allowing the dinosaurs to spread was interesting and “fair enough”. “It’s only putting an idea out there that needs more evidence.”
Long said if the theory were correct, it could be confirmed by other finds.
“Based on that, we could make the prediction that we would find more exciting dinosaurs that occur in South America. Like, for example, the horned carnotaurus – it’s a theropod meat-eating dinosaur with horns on its head.”If you thought the Robert Griffin Washington football saga couldn't get more absurd, that threshold was further passed Monday evening when the now benched quarterback liked a photo on Instagram slamming the entire organizing, including owner Daniel Snyder.
As a Skins Fan I'm disappointed in the way my team used this mans talent and potential to do nothing but raise hopes and make a profit. I don't regret the skins grabbing RG, I do regret having a sorry ass team owner and sorry ass front office who couldn't put a winning coaching staff together who could actually compete for a super bowl. Griffin does not deserve the blame or bad rap, the man has gone above and beyond since day one to the point of injury, while at the same time being a role model of a person. The Redskins let him fall and did not help him get up. No matter if he's a starter, back up, or played for another team I will always respect and be a fan of RG3. #HTTR #Loyalty #ImpeachDanSnyder #Redskins #redskinsnation #DC #NFL @rgiii @espn @nfl
And indeed, Griffin chose to tap on the "heart button" on Instagram from his account, indicating his support for this post that strongly criticized Snyder and asked for him to be impeached as owner (which isn't possible of course).
Griffin would later go on to "unlike" the image, but the "damage" has been done. He also posted his own Instagram, denying he ever liked the other post and instead it was an intern who helps with social media.
A photo posted by Robert Griffin III (@rgiii) on Aug 31, 2015 at 9:55pm PDT
I just wanted to set the record straight on this one. I did not "like" that IG post ridiculing our team. I have not been social media active consistently for awhile now and am ultra-focused on working to get back on the field and trying to help this team. One of our interns who helps with Instagram liked the post. As soon as I was made aware of it, it was immediately unliked. That is not how I feel and I appreciate your understanding.
#HTTR
* * *
SB Nation presents: The downward spiral for RG3Among Politico reporter Glenn Thrush’s takeaways from Tuesday’s New York primary, which saw big wins for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, was a senior Clinton aide’s sharp take on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT): “tone it down” or “fuck him.”
Reflecting on Clinton’s double-digit victory, the anonymous senior aide told Politico: “We kicked ass tonight,” adding, “I hope this convinces Bernie to tone it down. If not, fuck him.”
Late last month, the Clinton campaign delayed signing on to debate Sanders in Brooklyn, New York, saying they would consider adding the event if the Vermont senator changed his “tone.”
The dig was a stark departure from the Democratic race’s generally diplomatic rules of engagement. After months of amicably agreeing to disagree, the claws came out while campaigning in New York, Clinton’s adopted home state and Sanders’ birthplace.
The remarks also captured the growing fault lines between the candidates’ supporters, with hopes of Democratic voters unifying to support the party’s nominee in the general election growing more remote.
h/t GawkerMN Supremes: Count the Incorrectly Rejected Absentee Ballots
UPDATED 12/19/08: Franken Currently Leads Count by 251...
Brad Friedman Byon 12/18/2008, 9:41pm PT
[UPDATED at end of article with today's (Friday's) latest numbers.]
As thousands of challenged ballots from both Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and challenger Al Franken (D) are being decided by the bi-partisan state canvassing board in the U.S. Senate race in MN, AP says it's currently a 2 vote race, out of 2.9 million ballots cast, in favor of Franken.
That said, as all of the challenged ballots are finally counted over the next several days (and weeks), the lead could go back and forth a bit each night. The Star-Tribune, which puts today's margin at 5 votes in favor of Coleman, currently projects that Franken will ultimately win by 89 votes...
How the Strib comes to that final projection is unknown, as the MN Supreme Court ruled today that some 1600 incorrectly rejected absentee ballots --- never counted --- should now be counted. Those ballots are believed to likely favor Franken if they ever actually get counted. The Coleman camp had tried to keep that from happening by taking the the matter to the Supremes in a FL 2000-style gambit to try and stop the counting of ballots.
But the court's decision to allow the counting, as long as both campaigns and SoS Mark Ritchie agree to standards for ballot inclusion, leaves much room for Coleman to continue attempts at blocking the counting of legitimate votes, cast by legitimate voters improperly disenfranchised. Both campaigns claimed "victory" from today's ruling.
Politico reports that "Ritchie, who chairs the five-member Canvassing Board, said Thursday that the board may not finish ruling on disputed ballots until December 30 because of a recent influx of new challenges brought by the Coleman campaign." Though the contest is likely to be in dispute even beyond the end of the year. "Litigation is inevitable," Carleton College political science professor Steve Schier said. "If Franken loses – he’ll argue legitimate votes were not counted. If Coleman loses, he’ll argue illegitimate votes were counted."
All of that said, we're just happy there's something to count...and argue about.
NOTE: We've added the Strib's Senate Recount Widget to our right sidebar for a bit, just below the "Daily Voting News" box, to help keep you up to date. It includes links to their latest numbers and headlines, since we remain on the road, frequently off the grid, and otherwise trying (but largely failing) to follow doctor's orders.
UPDATE 12/19/08: Following today's counting of challenged ballots, Franken is now up by 251 votes, though thousands remain to be determined by the state canvassing board. RAW STORY reports that the Strib's projection of Franken winning by 89 (which has now been updated to Franken by 78) is based on the paper's tallies of all of the 6000 or so challenged ballots, but does not include the 1600 previously rejected absentee ballots. Keep an eye on the Strib's widget (now in our right sidebar as noted) for the latest.Apple has just announced a major executive shake-up: Senior VP of iOS software Scott Forstall is leaving Apple at the end of the year — he'll be serving in an advisory role to CEO Tim Cook until his departure. Additional executive changes include the departure of retail head John Browett, with Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi being tapped for additional responsibilities.
To make up for the departure of Forstall, Jony Ive will now provide leadership and direction for human interface across the entire company — it sounds like Ive will be getting a major opportunity to bring his famed hardware design sensibility to Apple's software. Eddy Cue, who has been responsible for Apple's digital storefronts, will get increased responsibility in the form of Maps and Siri. Obviously, that's a major challenge for Cue to take on, and it isn't unreasonable to think that the failure of iOS 6 Maps at launch may have directly led to his removal as iOS VP.
Craig Federighi, who previously served as VP of Mac software, will now be in charge of both iOS and OS X. Apple says this move will help unify software strategy across the two platforms; it sounds like he'll be the one most responsible for assuming Forstall's duties. Finally, VP Bob Mansfield — whose retirement was announced earlier this year before he announced his intentions to stay on in a less defined role — will head up a group known as Technologies, with a focus on semiconductor and wireless hardware.
As for John Browett, Apple's Senior VP of retail is out after less than a year on the job. There's no word as to why he left (or was dismissed), but Apple says that a search for a replacement is underway. In the meantime, the company's retail team will report directly to Cook. All told, removing Browett and Forstall from Apple is a significant shake-up, as Forstall was a huge component behind the rapid rise and success of the iOS platform. Adam Lashinsky, author of Inside Apple, theorized on Twitter that Forstall was the "DRI" — directly responsible individual — for Maps and Siri, and thus "paid the price" for Apple's troubles with those two key iOS features. The DRI model was one that Steve Jobs believed strongly in during his role as Apple's CEO, and it looks like the concept lives on under Tim Cook's direction.
Apple's full statement is below.
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today announced executive management changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company's world-class hardware, software and services teams. As part of these changes, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will add more responsibilities to their roles. Apple also announced that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim. "We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple's history," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "The amazing products that we've introduced in September and October, iPhone 5, iOS 6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications, could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services." Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple's products for more than a decade. Eddy Cue will take on the additional responsibility of Siri® and Maps, placing all of our online services in one group. This organization has overseen major successes such as the iTunes Store®, the App Store℠, the iBookstore℠ and iCloud®. This group has an excellent track record of building and strengthening Apple's online services to meet and exceed the high expectations of our customers. Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X®. Apple has the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems, and this move brings together the OS teams to make it even easier to deliver the best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms. Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple's wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future. Additionally, John Browett is leaving Apple. A search for a new head of Retail is underway and in the interim, the Retail team will report directly to Tim Cook. Apple's Retail organization has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level who will continue the excellent work that has been done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services for customers.
Update: 9to5Mac has posted a team-wide email from Tim Cook thanking Forstall for his "many contributions to Apple over his career" and explaining that Mansfield will remain with the company for an additional two years. The full text is below.A captured Islamic State militant who spoke to Sputnik news agency has bolstered claims that Turkey is involved in illegal oil deals with the jihadist group up to the hilt.
24-year-old Mahmud Ghazi Tatar says he joined Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) from the Turkish city of Adiyaman. Together with other recruits, he was transported over the border into Syria where he received terrorist training.
Having taken part in the civil war in Syria, he was captured by Kurdish forces last June and is now imprisoned.
RT obtained interview footage with the captive from Sputnik news agency. In it, the former IS fighter reveals details about Turkey's alleged oil links to the terror group.
“At the training camp in May 2015, our commander told us that the group sells fuel to Turkey. That income covers Islamic State's costs. The oil trucks crossing into Turkey every day carry crude oil, as well as petrol,” Tatar said, adding that the Islamic group has “enough oil to last them a long time.”
URGENT: Russian intel spots 12,000 oil tankers & trucks on Turkey-Iraq border- General Staff https://t.co/WbIuUoMTKdpic.twitter.com/oxtnpu4a89 — RT (@RT_com) December 25, 2015
In the words of Tatar’s commander, the oil is being sold via several businessmen and traders, although their names were not disclosed.
“ISIL also receives lots of supplies from Turkey and Arab countries,” the captured militant said.
Turkey strongly denies that it has links to the terrorists.
ISIS’s black market oil trade has come under scrutiny from the international community amid turbulent oil prices, which have fallen to half their previous level in 2015.
ISIL oil trade: step by step
Crude oil extracted at Syria’s Deir ez-Zor and Iraq’s Qayyara oil fields, which remain under under Islamic State control, is being sold for as little as $25 per barrel to smugglers, independent Syrian and Iraqi traders who transport oil using their own trucks.
The crude oil could also be sold to nearby refineries that produce petrol and fuel oil, or directly to the local oil market.
Yet the capacity of local buyers is limited, so smuggling oil to Turkey and other countries is more profitable.
“Turkey is playing not a very clean game, especially with smuggling the Iraqi oil and Syrian oil through the borders and selling it in the black market in Turkey,” Iraqi MP Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, a former national security adviser, told RT, adding that a recent investigation by the Norwegian authorities exposed Turkey as having ties with Islamic State’s illegal oil trade.
Most smuggled ISIS oil goes to Turkey, sold at low prices – Norwegian report https://t.co/ZsxKy1QEmVpic.twitter.com/Jjrc2VnoPf — RT (@RT_com) December 20, 2015
A political science assistant professor from the Northeastern University in Boston, Max Abrahms, told RT that it is exactly the illegal oil trade that has enabled Islamic State to become so strong after seizing vast territories in Iraq and Syria.
“Islamic State is one of the most powerful – I would say the most powerful – terrorist group that we’ve ever seen,” Abrahms told RT, explaining that the group’s wealth fuels its ambitions.
“Over 50 percent of Islamic State’s money has come, historically, from oil. Estimates are between $40 million to $50 million of profit [a month] just from oil alone,” Abrahms said.MANASSAS, Va. — CONSERVATIVES should recognize that the entire criminal justice system is another government spending program fraught with the issues that plague all government programs. Criminal justice should be subject to the same level of skepticism and scrutiny that we apply to any other government program.
But it’s not just the excessive and unwise spending that offends conservative values. Prisons, for example, are harmful to prisoners and their families. Reform is therefore also an issue of compassion. The current system often turns out prisoners who are more harmful to society than when they went in, so prison and re-entry reform are issues of public safety as well.
These three principles — public safety, compassion and controlled government spending — lie at the core of conservative philosophy. Politically speaking, conservatives will have more credibility than liberals in addressing prison reform.
The United States now has 5 percent of the world’s population, yet 25 percent of its prisoners. Nearly one in every 33 American adults is in some form of correctional control. When Ronald Reagan was president, the total correctional control rate — everyone in prison or jail or on probation or parole — was less than half that: 1 in every 77 adults.Something stinks in the packaged seafood industry.
A senior executive at Bumble Bee Foods has agreed to plead guilty for his role in a conspiracy with other seafood packaging companies to fix the price of canned tuna, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Walter Scott Cameron, the senior vice president of sales, worked with co-conspirators to fix the prices of packaged seafood from 2011 to about 2013, according to court documents.
Documents refer only to "Company A," and said the firm was an unindicted co-conspirator.
But Bumble Bee confirmed Cameron is their employee. He has been placed on paid leave.
His plea with the court requires him to pay an undisclosed fine and cooperate with future investigations.
The court order said Cameron "engaged in conversations and discussions and attended meetings with
representatives of other major packaged-seafood-producing firms."
It said the co-conspirators, who were not identified, agreed "to fix, raise, and maintain the prices of packaged seafood sold in the United States."
Bumble Bee's General Counsel Jill Irvin said in a statement that the company is cooperating with the investigation. "Scott has also cooperated with the company and with the Department of Justice in the investigation," Irvin said.
It's not clear how much federal officials believe the company overcharged customers.
"All consumers deserve competitive prices for these important kitchen staples, and companies and executives who cheat those consumers will be held criminally accountable," said Renata Hesse, who oversees the Justice Department's antitrust division.
Bumble Bee said it hopes to resolve the issue with federal officials early next year.Kiwi NFL player Paul Lasike of Auckland trying out for the Arizona Cardinals in 2015. He has made the final cut for the Chicago Bears this season.
New Zealander Paul Lasike has made the Chicago Bears' final roster for the 2016 National Football League season.
The 26-year-old Aucklander had a superb pre-season for the Bears, the fullback turning heads with several runs, including one in their final pre-season match last week.
The Bears confirmed on their website that Lasike secured a spot on their 53-man roster, a move which was first revealed in several reports out of Chicago, including one from Chris Emma, a reporter for 670 The Score and CBS Chicago.
Fullback Paul Lasike made the Bears' roster, a source confirmed. First reported by @kfishbain. — Chris Emma (@CEmma670) September 3, 2016
Lasike, a former rugby player, was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Arizona Cardinals in 2015 but failed to survive the final selection processes.
The Bears wanted a fullback to create a true power running game with their backfield stable. Paul Lasike, a former rugby player, is the guy. — Chris Emma (@CEmma670) September 3, 2016
The Bears signed two players earlier in the year to compete with him for the position but both were released in the past few weeks.
Lasike reportedly cemented his spot as the team's fullback with a standout performance in the Bears' pre-season game against the Cleveland Browns last week.
One of his runs was tweeted by the official NFL Twitter account with the caption "Paul Lasike is a BEAST". The play was also highlighted on the NFL's official website under "BIG PLAY HIGHLIGHTS"
Paul Lasike is a BEAST.
The @ChicagoBears fullback is just running people over. #CHIvsCLE https://t.co/HEgL0P9k37 — NFL (@NFL) September 2, 2016
Lasike joins 27-year-old Kiwi tight end Rhett Ellison, son of former NFL player and Super Bowl winner Riki Ellison, in the big league. Ellison has established himself with the Minnesota Vikings.
Defensive end Stephen Paea, who was born in Auckland, but grew up in Tonga before moving to the United States, is on the roster of the Cleveland Browns.
Lasike posted a one-word tweet on Twitter on Sunday morning (NZ time): "Blessed."A concept for Symbian's new UI
Symbian has completed the process of open sourcing its entire code base, in advance of its June deadline.
While the release is ahead of schedule, the first phones -- expected to be out early next year -- will hit the market more than two years after the first Android phone became available. The Symbian software will have to be unique and attractive to compete with Android, its main open-source competitor, and other popular operating systems, an analyst said.
The process of making the Symbian operating system open source started with Nokia’s announcement in June 2008 that it would buy out the rest of Symbian and release the code to the public.
The Symbian Foundation had expected to finish the process of transition from proprietary to open source in the middle of this year. Larry Berkin, who runs global alliances for the Symbian Foundation, credits the hard work of enthusiastic contributors for the speedier release.
The code is expected to become available on the Symbian developer page on Thursday.
The proprietary version of Symbian is already widely used in many regions of the world but not the U.S., where Android has just begun to gain significant momentum. After just one phone ran Android for a year, in late 2009 and early this year dozens more phones were released using the software.
But while Android may have a head start as an open-source system, Symbian thinks that it will have an edge in the long run, Berkin said.
Its biggest differentiator may be that a community of phone makers and developers contribute to and update Symbian. “That’s a huge difference for Symbian,” he said.
By contrast, Google develops Android and then releases it to the public.
“We’ve seen partners express dissatisfaction with that,” Berkin said.
Symbian is clearly trying to push that differentiation. The main page of its Web site says: “We’re a community, not a company |
knows is the right thing and vote "yes" or be an honest broker and abstain. The best we can hope for is that the United States and Israel are part of a very small minority voting "no." That kind of vote will strengthen the Palestinians and perhaps frighten Netanyahu into negotiating in good faith.
But even if not, the UN will have stated that the Palestinians are people, too; people with rights, including the right to full sovereignty in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. At that point, the writing will be on the wall. The occupation is ending, hopefully before Netanyahu does too much more damage... to Israel.
MJ Rosenberg is a Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at the Media Matters Action Network. A version of this article was previously published on Foreign Policy Matters.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera's editorial policy.by Jordy Cummings
These with a thousand small deliberations Protract the profit of their chilled delirium, Excite the membrane, when the sense has cooled, With pungent sauces, multiply variety In a wilderness of mirrors. What will the spider do Suspend its operations, will the weevil Delay? TS Eliot, Gerontion
1.
Roger Stone is a DC troublemaker of the old school. Stone was close to Lee ‘Willie Horton’ Atwater, supported the Contras and reaction more generally throughout the ‘New Cold War’ of the eighties. Stone and another backroom operator, Paul Manafort even lobbied for Marcos and for Mobutu, not to mention a Russian oligarch or two. Later on he worked with Al Sharpton, FBI informant. All of this is to say that, whatever is being said about his connections with everyone from the Russians to Julian Assange – though WikiLeaks denies a connection with Stone – there is no doubt that Stone has friends in high places. Indeed, he recently admitted a relationship with the hacker Guccifer 2.0, widely said to be a Russian asset, and many point out that Stone seems to have predicted the Podesta e-mails being leaked. He continues, in his media persona, to take on a believable attitude of, well, not giving a shit. At various points, he claims to have been poisoned by secret agents, likely British Intelligence. He has a tattoo of Richard Nixon’s face on his upper forearm. His credo and that of his comrades is ‘Admit nothing; deny everything; launch counterattack.’ That credo may well have a point of origin in a certain Roy Cohn.
Like Trump, Stone is a protégé of the legendary Cohn. Yet we hear hews and cries, not dissimilar in tone from some of Cohn’s invective, from a range of people, from Michael Moore to Bill Kristol that Trump is loyal not to America, but Moscow. Moore has put out the call to President Trump: ‘Vacate, you Russian Traitor’. Bill Kristol is more subtle, tweeting about how between Trump and what he himself calls the ‘deep state’, he’d take the latter any day. By this logic, Stone, a die-hard defender of all things ‘Make America Great Again’, is more Trumpite than perhaps even Trump himself, being allegedly a key element in a Moscow backed conspiracy to install what amounts to a Manchurian Candidate at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And indeed, intelligence services do seem to have Stone as a ‘target’ for their investigations into the alleged activities of the Soviet Union Russia in ‘manipulating’, or ‘hacking’, the election. So, Roger Stone went on Alex Jones’ Infowars Radio a few weeks back and said: ‘The Deep State has got to cut the shit.’
Yet what is this ‘deep state’? Is it the one in which Trump has just appointed an architect of the torture and extraordinary rendition programme as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency? CIA operative Gina Haspel’s deviousness in ‘the company’ came early. As a top coordinator at a secret CIA prison in Thailand, the site of the torture of Abu Zubaydah, Haspel mocked Zubaydah and accused him of faking his symptoms. Yet the tradecraft that really seems to have impressed certain higher-up elements in the Agency, was her initiative in rationalizing the destruction of evidence. This has made her, according to a report in ProPublica, a divisive figure even in agency circles. In all reality, the ‘deep state’ is a hall of mirrors, a paranoid dog-eat-dog world riven with factionalism and competitive individualism. As can be seen in the recent Showtime Documentary, The Spymasters, featuring every living former CIA chief, the major division, it seems, in what they call the ‘IC’ (intelligence community), is roughly: torturers vs. drone-fetishists. And it is from this former crowd of rough and tumblers that we can situate the likes of Haspel and indeed, Roger Stone.
2.
We must agree with Roger Stone on the ‘deep state’. In the last instance, no radical should ever support what amounts to ‘deep state’ machinations towards a soft-coup. Even if one grants a wide manner of Russian involvement in the US election, as Glenn Greenwald astutely points out, if Donald Trump is bad, countenancing a ‘deep state’ takeover is entering waters far more uncharted. American democracy may be hollowed out and merely formal, but these forms are important, many won in spite of the desire of ruling classes. There are numerous avenues in which Trump is already being opposed, from the streets to the courts. Trump has provoked opposition from a wide manner of quarters. A leftish feminism is reaching broader and broader audiences, while socialist organizations are growing exponentially as spaces that Americans feel are necessary to oppose Trump. The reversal of the travel ban by some of the most classically Pacific Northwestern nerdy jurists is the real deal, but these bespectacled Washingtonians would not have had the gumption, I reckon, to stand against Trump, were it not for the spontaneous protests that arose against the Muslim ban. Any attempt to keep even a tiny amount of public oversight of the state, both deep and narrow, would be stopped in its tracks if Trump lay victim to palace intrigue.
3.
The situation in regards to those Russia connections right now, is pretty fucking confusing. Why would the CIA go after a businessman? Is this a power grab by ‘the deep state,’ a term that has gotten so loose in comparison to how it has been used to signify elements in, say, the Greek and Turkish states, to nearly have no meaning? Many use it to signify specifically, the intelligence and police apparatuses that organise beyond command hierarchies and formal legalities. This makes sense to a limited degree, but is that how it is now being used in Alex Jones-inflected commentary? Perhaps not. In any case, the investigation of a prominent businessman and potential politician who may well have financial ties to organized crime, domestic as well as foreign – the latter of which are often connected with states – doesn’t seem, on the face of it, to be of a piece with how the Greek deep state pressured the SYRIZA government to capitulate to the Troika. In addition, the moves against Trump involve elements beyond the intelligence and police services, indeed they seem largely driven by freelancers like former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, Clinton machine operatives like John Podesta and Sid Blumenthal, consultants, people with connections of one form or another.
So then, what is it that is driving the CIA – or to be more clear, networks within the CIA and other government institutions, to go to war with Trump? Can it partially be deemed a sort of civil servant mini-rebellion, akin to the Park service alternate twitter accounts, the State Department resignations and the like? This could plausibly be a motivation for mid-level intelligence operatives, in the same way revelations inspired Ellsberg, Snowden, Manning and so on. John Le Carré is renowned for his critical eye towards his former employers in the secret services but doesn’t mince words when writing about ‘traitors’ like Kim Philby. To Le Carré, what Philby is alleged to have done – blown networks, gotten people killed – goes beyond ‘politics’, it is institutional, not political treason. An angle of institutional or corporate loyalty overriding going-along-to-get-along may well be hegemonic at Langley, where more than a few likely have the Washington Post’s David Ignatius on speed-dial. Yet this seems far more organized, and as much driven by media, in particular CNN, as it is by ‘the deep state’. This could well have to do with the liberal intelligentsia, and in particular, the educated denizens of the intelligence services and diplomatic corps’ genuine revulsion at Trump as well as revulsion toward the masses and potential change coming from below. Yet there is probably more to it than that.
An unfinished side-note to this comes in the form of the revelation that the disgraced General Flynn, even while advising Trump, was a lobbyist/agent of the Turkish state, even writing an op-ed comparing Gulen to Bin Laden. The connections between Flynn and Turkey are verified, and now a matter of public record. Could Flynn’s Russia connections, always circumstantial, be a mere McGuffin for his all-too-real role as a Turkish operative? How better to throw off the scent of working for one tyranny than appearing to work for another? Could this be the real reason he had to walk the plank? Could it be that the Turkey story is so explosive and implicates far too broad a segment of the American lobbying scene that Russia has become the focus so everyone else can keep their head up and above the fray? Very little is known at this point about Flynn’s connection to Turkey, whose interests don’t necessarily align with Moscow.
4.
Trump is stepping on a lot of toes that are attached to powerful feet. To call Trump a traitor would be ludicrous. It is true, however, that while comfortable with a containable Trump, the American ruling class (as a whole) wants to do everything possible to stop Trump from fundamentally altering the ‘world alliance’, such as, by downgrading NATO and other international institutions and preferring to deal with Europe, as Bannon has said, on a bilateral basis. For some people around Trump, from Stone, Flynn and Manafort, to Bannon and the Breitbart crowd, the ‘liberal international order’ is not worth sustaining, materially or ideologically. It may well have been a mistake in the first place. Yet any time there are revelations about Russia we see a bit of a media two-step. Trump goes out and plays to the crowd about ‘fake news’ and, in a perhaps unintentional act of trolling, calls the media ‘enemies of the people’, while Mike Pence, Mattis and others are quietly trotted out to genuflect to NATO or the very existence of the European Union. Yet what Trump wants seems unclear. His White House seems chaotic, to a point that people don’t even want to work there. Trump is all image: he has been open about wanting to pick cabinet members and agency chiefs as if they were out of central casting. John Bolton’s moustache was too garish for Trump, preferring, as he does, the gristled old school appeal of Rex Tillerson. Beyond knee-jerk Fox News-derived ‘analysis’ there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that Trump himself holds any fixed positions on international affairs. He does, however, have positions on making money. Making money is tremendous! Indeed, the collective ‘hive mind’ of the state/media ideological state apparatus that is pounding Trump may well be coming from a multiplicity of places, but cannot be reduced, in a vulgar Marxist sense, to a single tangible ‘interest’. Trump’s Russia connections on the other hand, most certainly can. Capitalism.
5.
So back to Roger Stone. Stone, Manafort, Bannon and company are concretely rooted in a far-right network that seems to have worked within the ‘deep state’ since way back when, but have a bit of a tendency to go a bit far for those who I would call the ‘sober analysts’, from Arthur Schlesinger to Ezra Klein. Perhaps the debut of this tendency was the adventurism of General Douglas McArthur, who wanted to extend the Korean War all the way into China. And indeed, McArthur’s adventurism was of a piece with Roy Cohn and Joe McCarthy’s red-hunting project, which was about ‘who lost China?’ Joe McCarthy himself whelped about ‘communists and queers’ in the State Department, not unlike Donald Rumsfeld and his macho pals griping about Colin Powell in the George W. Bush era. Of those targeted by Cohn and McCarthy, it was the fabled ‘China Hands’ like renowned scholar Owen Lattimore that bore the brunt of their crusading zeal. Notably Lattimore, who had a good deal of pull at Foggy Bottom, as an eminent China scholar, was disliked by his colleagues for his unvarnished attitude towards the various forces at play in China at the time. No Maoist by any stretch, he nevertheless was pretty critical of Chiang Kai-Shek and it would not be mistaken to read into his perspective an attitude, shared by broad segments within the American state at the time, that the ‘Communists’ weren’t that bad after all. Lattimore was targeted quite vociferously by the ‘China Lobby,’ later courtiers of Tricky Dick.
However, at least since the rationalization of the American state in the first few decades of the 20th century, the world of intrigue, intelligence services, diplomatic corps and the like, attracts as many liberal intellectuals, from Lattimore to Daniel Ellsberg to Edward Snowdon, as it does ideological zealots and mercenary-types. One does not at all need to buy into the absurd conspiracy theories of Nafeez Ahmed, or LaRouchean dribble drabble about a ‘civil war’ within the deep state, to realize that there are multiple contending networks within the state apparatus, defined not merely as the US government and its bureaucracies, but the entire K-Street lobbying/consulting/mercenary/beltway media scene that defines Washington D.C. The former, the ‘sober analysts’, those who may have even favoured Castro’s defeat of Batista and quietly read Monthly Review and spoke about a fabled ‘convergence’ between the US and USSR, were somewhat cast aside in the fifties, post-McCarthy, but came back as the ‘best and brightest’ under Kennedy. Yet these forces, like Robert McNamara were blinded by their own ideology of technocratic and post-ideological anti-communism, which led to escalation, and then war in Vietnam, and then, with their fall from grace, the re-empowerment of the ultra-right. Indeed, the China Lobby, those that pushed McCarthy to attack Lattimore as a gay communist, helped Nixon win the 1968 presidential election through an intermediary that advised the corrupt South Vietnamese leadership to avoid peace talks, that with Nixon they would get a better deal than that would have been offered up by that Minnesotan liberal Hubert Humphrey! There is far more concrete evidence of ‘rigging’ in the 1968 election than there is for Trump in 2016.
6.
Under Nixon you had a third force entering the picture, with the Kissinger crowd. Kissinger didn’t have much time for the ultra-right. He was a man of ideas, of grand designs that would always require tactics that were historically and geographically specific, as shown in Greg Grandin’s masterful Kissinger’s Shadow. The right-Hegelian Henry was able to play the chastened best-and-brightest crowd on one hand off against the tooth gnashing Operation Phoenix killers on the other hand. To the former, he gave Détente and, what’s more, China. To the latter was given absolute carte blanche in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, putting together the international network of mercenaries and intelligence operatives that produced our Roger, our Paul, our General Flynn. This latter faction joined forces, even against Nixon from the right, as what has come to be known as the ‘Neocons.’ This network, a boon to the military-industrial-complex, big oil and the ‘Cowboy’ Sunbelt faction of American capitalism finally coalesced with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Of course, as we shall see, this wedding of neocons and the ultra-right mercenary crowd was to take some hits in later years.
7.
One well known wit quipped on social media upon Trump’s election that the real story would be its implications for Marxist state theory. Yet what we’ve seen since the election is merely more substantive proof of a theory of the state that arguably goes back to Marx’s 18th Brumaire. The uniquely American state is not merely ‘relatively autonomous’ from capital. It is a factor required for the social reproduction of capitalist social property relations – and one of these structural requirements is this degree of autonomy. It is indeed the ‘Executive Committee for the Management of the Common Affairs of the Bourgeoisie’. Yet, I ask, dear reader, have any of you ever been on an Executive Committee, say, in a political organization or a union? Does the ‘exec’ usually speak with one voice? Executive committees are cut-throat pressure cookers, packed with opportunists who would throw their grandmother under the bus if it meant more power, more control. So then how do we define the American state apparatus if not as a container for a ‘war of all against all’ as adjudicated, of course, by varying branches, that may well, themselves, be rife with duelling factions?
The very existence of this type of arrangement, I’d contend, is not merely a feature of the ‘actually existing’ American state, but is revealed by history to be a defining feature of states and sovereigns. As Marx puts it, ‘It is always the direct relationship of the owners of the conditions of production to the direct producers … which reveals the innermost secret, the hidden basis of the entire social structure and with it the political form of the relation of sovereignty and dependence, in short, the corresponding specific form of the state.’ Competitive individual subjects are the raw material of the American Leviathan. And those subjects always need that proverbial shadow-man, a player willing to wade through the hall of mirrors at the service of the state, in order to keep from getting their own hands dirty. Just as capitalism needs mafias, capitalist states also need shadow-men. And sometimes the shadow-men acquire their own power by virtue of their indispensability. It could be Roy Cohn or Paul Manafort, Sidney Blumenthal or Bill Kristol. It’s even better when these guys are at each other’s throats. Witness the ‘team of rivals’ fetish shared by Obama and Trump alike!
8.
So let’s go back to Roy Cohn and our Roger, rankled as he is by the Deep State. Cohn and McCarthy did a lot to set back the cause of ‘anti-communism’ among liberals in the United States. It doesn’t seem hard to imagine a salon filled with the likes of Sidney Hook and Lionel Trilling bemoaning the abuse of Anti-Communism in the name of Midwestern demagoguery. It also doesn’t seem hard to imagine this kind of crowd imagining that McCarthy was effectively a Soviet agent, as was imagined in The Manchurian Candidate to which we will return. Within a few years, however, the situation had stabilized; McCarthy had been discredited and was widely a figure of satire, while anti-communism could be rational, thoughtful, even post-ideological once again. In this atmosphere, novelist Richard Condon wrote a book that would end up being an all time classic Hollywood thriller, The Manchurian Candidate. As one of the great shadow-men of the Clinton camp, Sidney Blumenthal, puts it in a recent essay in London Review of Books:
At the height of the Cold War, Richard Condon’s The Manchurian Candidate laid out a Russian conspiracy to elect a malleable president. Raymond Shaw, a US army sergeant during the Korean War, is captured and brainwashed along with the other members of his unit in Manchuria. His comrades are programmed to testify falsely to his bravery, for which he wins the Congressional Medal of Honor. ‘Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life,’ they all declare. The American war hero is turned into a Russian sleeper agent, groomed to assassinate the presidential nominee at the convention. But Major Ben Marco, a former member of his army unit, breaks through his brainwashing and so instead of murdering the nominee, Shaw shoots his mother, who had been controlling him throughout, along with his idiotic stepfather. Decades later, Condon explained the inspiration for the perverse dynamic between Raymond Shaw and his mother. ‘Raymond’s mother is Roy Cohn, and her husband Johnny is McCarthy. I was fascinated by the very strange relationship between Cohn and the senator. Roy ran McCarthy, totally dominated him.’
9.
So do we now see an historic reversal? In The Manchurian Candidate, a foreign-controlled stooge is meant to be a stand-in for a reactionary. With Donald Trump, a reactionary is a stand-in for a foreign-controlled stooge. The very forces that pioneered McCarthyism begat forces seemingly attacked by McCarthyism, or more properly Roy Cohn’s dark power. Cohn is a fascinating historical specimen, perhaps best captured in Nicholas Von Hoffman’s biography Citizen Cohn, later to be made a superb TV movie with James Woods, and also, a character in Tony Kushner’s majestic Angels in America. Cohn was the personification of the American state’s mercenary faction: quite literally, he was a Mafia lawyer and mentored Trump beginning in the early Seventies, though Trump turned his back when it turned out Cohn was dying of AIDS. The thread tying all of this together is Roy Cohn-style politics. Cohn’s use of political actors, from gossip columnists to more ‘moderate’ Republicans like Robert Taft is precisely, after all, what is occurring with the ‘deep state’ and media gang-up on the Stone crowd. Yesterday’s Walter Winchell is today’s Anderson Cooper. Yesterday’s Robert Taft is today’s John McCain. Underneath ‘partisanism’ this is about the use of information and intimidation to monkey-wrench one’s rivals. It is cliché to point out that hunters become hunted, but the Cohn faction is now on the opposite end of Cohn-ism.
Indeed, it is no wonder that this faction – big oil, the Mafia, and of course, adventurist real estate con artists like Donald Trump – became close to the Russian Mafia state in the quarter century since the end of the Cold War. The seemingly well-connected investigative reporter James Henry writes, in an investigative piece in Frances Fukuyama’s American Interest, that this agglomeration of scoundrels resembles ‘a veritable Star Wars bar scene of unsavoury characters, with Donald Trump seated right in the middle.’ As Henry implies, the swerve that became an encounter between the Trump/Tillerson/Tony Soprano wing of the American bourgeoisie and the Russian mafia state, is an historically specific phenomenon. This all pivots around Russia’s ‘emergence since the 1990s as a world-class kleptocracy, second only to China as a source of illicit capital and criminal loot, with more than $1.3 trillion of net offshore ‘flight wealth’ as of 2016.’
10.
Yeltsin was, for all intents and purposes, far more under the sway of the US, and more broadly, ‘the International Community’ than near any other Russian politician. Even more than the relatively competent US-backed politicians like Pinochet or Marcos, Yeltsin was Infinitely malleable. Under Yeltsin’s watch, neoliberal shock therapy, which Henry compares to a Stalinist Five Year Plan, gave rise to a reaction in the form of the right-wing populism of Putin and his own camp of disempowered Russian deep state apparatchiks (make no mistake, if any state has depth, it’s the Russian state). As Henry’s analysis has it, the outbound flight of the newly accumulated capital of those who had made a shitload of money off of shock therapy was accompanied by vultures licking their chops with their money pouring in, be they Mafias of all stripes, investment banks, Exxon, Donald Trump, everyone wanted a piece of the pie with the new Godfather in town, Vladimir Putin. Putin certainly crushed or exiled some oligarchs, but this was quite clearly a consolidation of power. Indeed, we should see it, given the necessity of these players – Mafias, banks, oil, Golden Don – in the reproduction of global capitalism, we could even point out that if Putin didn’t exist, Capital would have to invent him. In the case of Trump and his ilk’s concretely verifiable links with Russian business, Mafia and state, Henry’s work is indispensable. Until very recently, the Trump organization did very little to hide its links with Russian big business, not unlike other capitalists with investments in Brazil, India or China.
11.
So let us return to D.C.. The Best and Brightest camp was at its perch in the Obama administration, having made uneasy but solid peace with the neocons on adjustment and consolidation of US imperial strategy. Alongside this, as I explained in Jacobin, there had been the rebranding of the CIA as the liberal cadre burrowing away, even under the George W. Bush administration. Anyone and everyone near the CIA made it known that they opposed the war in Iraq. Contradictions started to appear in this front, however, during the Obama administration, pivoting specifically around the ‘deal’ in Iran. Many, even including Greenwald, overstate the idea that Russia and Trump’s rationale for opposing Clinton was Clinton’s plan for ‘regime change’ in Syria. While that may well have been the case in an argument lost back in 2012-13, it strains credulity to believe that Hillary Clinton had any plan to substantively shift US Syria policy by 2016. There was some gossip that Trump, having met with Kissinger, was planning a pivot to Russia to counter China, a reverse of Kissinger’s earlier move. This is not entirely implausible. Even more plausible would be that Trump simply neither knows nor cares about Syria, probably couldn’t even place it on a map.
Among those networks disempowered within the deep state around this time was that around General Michael Flynn, himself having been pushed out of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama/Panetta years. There are all sorts of stories as to the reason for this, but it seems quite clear that Flynn and his network coalesced with networks, like those led by Stone, and Manafort, who had been doing business in Russia and in Ukraine, just as they had done business with Republican candidates and Ferdinand Marcos. Manafort appears to have a decades-old relationship with Russian capital, even helping formulate Russian policy! These guys were players, who had all sorts of contacts, and, hey, word is that Donald Trump is gonna run for president? Shit! Donald Trump? What was good for these guys was good for Trump and for Russia, and it seems quite likely that there was some degree of active coordination between the Russian state and the Trump campaign. It needs to be remembered, however, that this is hardly unprecedented, from Israel to China, nations have influenced elections on multiple levels in the United States of America. In global capitalism, everyone can try and have a say everywhere. It’s the American way – indeed US officials not only openly bragged about their influence on their ‘help’ getting Yeltsin elected in 1996, this became a prototype for how they’ve operated over the last 20 years. This is to say, through ‘consultancies’ who with the CIA’s blessing, help ‘opposition’ candidates in Latin America. Manafort may have stepped out of the mainstream with his taking on Pro-Putin politicians in the Ukraine, but he was just one of many people marketing ‘our brand is crisis’.
12.
So about that hall of mirrors…
Before Cohn, before McArthur, before McCarthy, there was James Jesus Angleton. While he was part of the Oh-So-Social (OSS) set, smoking Virginia Slims and eating Mussels at the club, and friendly with the legendary Kim Philby, it would be no mistake to label Angleton a bit of a fascist. A gifted poet and editor of Furioso, a Yale based poetry journal, Angleton published and was friendly with Ezra Pound and T.S. Elliot. Indeed, Elliot gave him the central metaphor for which to understand parapolitics or ‘the deep state’ and beyond that, the entire international underground of spies, criminals, mercenaries and Mafias. This is ‘the hall of mirrors’, of distorted images refracting infinitely in strange loops or Moebius strips, and the presumption that paranoia and even mistrust of one’s own instincts are standard-operating-procedure. Angleton, by all accounts, was absolutely obsessed with moles, with double agents, convinced towards the end of his career that even his colleagues who wanted to push him out were themselves double agents. This was due, in part, to Angleton having no way of disproving the idea that they were double agents. In turn, more than a few, looking back on his friendship with Philby, thought Angleton himself was a double agent and that his persona was, as Trump calls the ‘fake news’ about Russia, a ‘ruse’.
Once you start wandering around the wilderness of mirrors, anything is possible. It is akin to Peter Ustinov’s film Romanoff and Juliet, in which Ustinov plays the Prime Minister of some tiny entity akin to San Marino, who spends his time wandering back and forth between the U.S. and Soviet embassies. First, he learns the U.S. knows the Soviet Code and he thus duly notifies the Soviets. The Soviets claim they already have this information, thus Ustinov tells the Americans: ‘they know you know their code’. The Americans claim they already have this information. Back he goes to the Soviets, explaining: ‘they know you know they know your code’. And so on, until finally, after a dozen ‘you knows’ and ‘they knows,’ one of the Ambassadors exclaims ‘they do??!!’
This is the proverbial last instance.
13.
When it comes down to it, in regards to the parapolitics of Trump and the deep state, and the interests at play – Wall Street and manufacturing wanting an opening to Russia, the military industrial complex wanting new enemies, tech wanting free trade and less surveillance – there is no ideological unity within the ruling class, and hence not within the state itself. They are all Peter Ustinovs, wandering around between embassies. Yet it is not enough to merely say ‘neither Washington nor Moscow but Peter Ustinov!’ on one hand, or to dismiss this as petty politics within the state that have no bearing on capitalist power in general, or the repressive, racist authoritarianism of the Trump regime in particular on the other hand. It actually is the playing out of the real competition of the former within the latter, and how the dreidel lands after spinning around is the moment in which an Ambassador is shocked. There is no telling what is going to happen next, so while it would be folly to end up like Angleton, convinced everyone around him was a Russian agent, it is useful to adopt an approach that examines the necessary internal relations within what cannot simply be called ‘the deep state’. Instead, given the fluidity between state apparatuses, the blurring of lines between coercive on one hand, and ideological on the other, it makes more sense, at this point, to merely call it the state.
The fluidity of the situation, with Trump’s beloved alt-right scene turning on Reince Preibus and even Steve Bannon himself as enablers of a sleeper cells operating within the state, agents of the nefarious Barack Obama, with perhaps guidance from our Sid Blumenthal and even maybe Leon Panetta – because why not? Preibus is, according to this paranoid reasoning, the one who made the martyr Flynn walk the plank. Bannon, meanwhile, is enabling Preibus, So let us give Roger Stone the last word: ‘I think this is Pearl Harbour for the true Trump supporters, the Trump loyalists…. Priebus moved on General Flynn and I think he intends to move on Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller next. He is not serving the president well. The people he hired are loyal to the Republican National Committee, not the President of the United States.’ Many the speculation can thus be made, if we re-enter that hall of mirrors one more time. What is Stone’s game here? Is he an old hand, like those slow-talking veteran socialists who at meetings need to make every point humanly possible, simply because they need to know they are being heard? Or does he have something up his sleeve, pertaining, perhaps, to recent outreach between Ukrainian Pro-Putin politicians to Trump, through the intermediary of Trump’s private lawyer? In other words, perhaps Stone is proverbially saying, while flashing that old Nixon tattoo, ‘come at me’! One could go on and on, yet in reality, this is a prime example of a known unknown in the topsy turvy funhouse of the hall of mirrors.
If you like this article, please subscribe or donateGiants broadcaster Mike Krukow fighting through muscle disease
Longtime broadcaster Mike Krukow sets the scene for radio listeners before the Giants take the field in Philadelphia. Longtime broadcaster Mike Krukow sets the scene for radio listeners before the Giants take the field in Philadelphia. Photo: Charles Mostoller, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Charles Mostoller, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow fighting through muscle disease 1 / 32 Back to Gallery
Mike Krukow says the worst part is falling down.
"There is nothing more humiliating than falling in front of people," says the longtime Giants broadcaster. "The biggest, most stressful thing is thinking about being on the field and falling in front of 40,000 people."
It seems unbelievable. The former pitcher spent 14 seasons in the big leagues, with stops at Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco. A strapping 6-5, 200-pound right-hander, he won 124 games, had a 20-win season in 1986 and pitched over 2,100 innings.
Now he says the slightest stumble can knock him off his feet.
Krukow, 62, has kept his condition a secret, but now he's ready to reveal that he's suffering from a degenerative muscle disease called inclusion-body myositis. IBM causes progressive weakness in the muscles of the wrist and fingers, the front of the thigh, and the muscles that lift the front of the foot. There's no cure and no solid theory for what causes it.
When he got the diagnosis eight years ago, he says, the doctor gave him a medical version of good news/bad news.
"He said, 'You're going to need a cane and then you're going to need a walker,' " Krukow recalls. " 'And eventually you may be that old dude riding around in a scooter.' "
The good news?
"You have a muscle disease," he said. "But it is not life-threatening."
Still, it was a jolt.
"It pisses me off every day," Krukow says.
Difficult problem to face
How does a person - especially an athlete, used to depending on a strong body - respond to such news?
Krukow handled it the same way he used to deal with injuries - pretend it's not a problem and hope it goes away.
"Being the strong, muscular athlete he was, this was very difficult to face," says Jennifer Krukow, Mike's wife. "I think he thought, if I just ignore it, it won't get worse. But it has definitely gotten worse."
In the past year, Krukow has begun to wear braces on his legs for support. He carries a walking stick for balance. That's telling, longtime teammate and broadcast partner Duane Kuiper says, because the last thing Krukow wants is to call attention to the disease and become the object of public sympathy.
"You are talking about a guy who used to run the steps at every major-league ballpark," Kuiper said. "Now he can't even go up steps. Guys would ask what's going on, and he'd say, 'Oh, it's my back. Or it's my knees. I'm just an old pitcher.' "
Impossible to ignore
But there was no ignoring it. The low point was in April when he stumbled coming off the team bus in Colorado and took a spill that was so serious he tore the rotator cuff in a shoulder.
"He fell in front of the whole team," Jennifer Krukow said. "Everybody was saying, 'What's wrong with Mike?' "
She and their five children urged Krukow to join a support group - or at least to tell people about his condition.
"He said, 'Do people ask about what's wrong?' " Jennifer said. "I said, 'Mike, they ask me all the time.' He didn't want anyone to know."
Lately, the Krukows have focused on the doctor's mantra: IBM is life-altering, not life-threatening.
After seeing Krukow leave the ballpark in a motorized cart and carrying a cane, I wondered if there was a problem. I got in touch with him last week to ask him about it, and he said he was ready to tell his story.
"We urged Mike to do this, but he wasn't ready," Jennifer said. "I think this is really good that this is happening."
Having said that, everyone stresses that the last thing the perpetually upbeat Krukow wants is a pity party - that's not his style.
"I think he just wants his life to be as normal as possible," Kuiper said. "I can assure you that he doesn't want to be treated any different. If people stop him and say how sorry they are, he doesn't want that. My advice to Giants fans is to treat him like you normally would."
But there's also a physical reason. Krukow has begun to use a golf cart to get out of the ballpark because the press of crowds can be dangerous. His balance is so iffy that even a nudge from well-meaning fans could send him sprawling.
"He has a hard time walking through crowds," Kuiper said. "That's one of the reasons he takes the cart. He can walk fine, he just doesn't want to get knocked down."
That's just one adjustment. Another change is that any downward incline, steps or even ramps, is a problem.
"I am fine uphill, but downhill - a slope of 3 degrees is Mount Everest," Krukow says. "I have to come downstairs backward. It looks like I am shimmying down a rope."
Still eager to play
An avid golfer (a loss of distance on his drives was one reason he suspected he had a problem), he hopes to be able to play |
will still be configured as tools and not as our evolutionary mind children – the next step in evolution. But I could be wrong.
Teaser image by Len Komanac, courtesy of Creative Commons license.I am Jim O’Heir. You may know me as Garry / Jerry / Larry / Terry from PARKS & RECREATION, and my new role is as Lenny in MIDDLE MAN. AMA!
Hey Reddit! It’s good to be back. I think my last AMA was 2011, before it was cool!
I know most of you guys know me from PARKS & RECREATION which just had it’s series finale. If you’ve never seen the show, I’m an actor, I’ve been doing this for a lot of years. I’ve seen a lot, I’ve done a lot, I’ve got a lot of secrets, so ask me anything.
Shameless plug: My latest project is MIDDLE MAN, a very dark comedy that you can learn more about and support here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1060059835/middle-man/posts
I basically play the “anti-Jerry” in this movie.
In the meantime, though, I’m looking forward to your questions!! Proof: http://imgur.com/H92CzsU
What was it like to make out with Aubrey Plaza on national television? Is she a good kisser?
It was amazing. She leaned over to me before the last break and said “do you want to make out during the song”. It took about.2 seconds to say YES! It was great…I just hope I haven’t ruined her for other guys. 😉
Who was the funniest person on set of Parks and Rec?
Everybody is funny but Chris Pratt is killer. He could break us up easily. He never did the same thing twice. I think he’s a bit of a comic genius.
When you check your email, do you go to AltaVista and type “please go to yahoo.com”?
Yes. Is there another way?
Did you cry at all when they called you by your real name in Parks and Rec at Donna’s wedding? For some reason that was insanely emotional for me because Gary’s character deserved it after all that time.
I didn’t cry then because I was saving it all up for the finally where I cried like a school girl. lol
What’s your favorite breakfast food? And would you like to enjoy some breakfast with me?
My favorite breakfast food is eggs. I love all kinds of eggs. And breakfast with you? Why not. Who’s buying?
Are there any moments that were cut involving Terry that you felt added to or expanded the character?
As far as scenes being cut, we shot so much more than people ever saw so we all lost scenes in every episode. I think the producers/writers have to make tough decision but ultimately it’s about keeping the story moving along. I’m sure there’s scenes I wish had made it in but I completely understand why they didn’t.
Still in deep denial that parks is over. What did you take home from the set?
Aubrey Plaza
Any word on what the box set of the whole series will look like or include? Maybe a stuffed Li’l Sebastian or a Pawnee parks guide?
I don’t know about the box set but I can’t wait to see it.
I was watching Friends a few days ago and saw you onto that and I was so shocked! How was that like acting and being on set for that show?
I loved doing an episode of Friends. What I realized was that after all those years they really were friends. I’ve worked a lot of shows where by the end the cast can barely tolerate each other. It was a gift on Parks that we all loved each other and I think they definitely had that on Friends too. A very warm and comfortable set.
What’s your favorite part of your new role as Denny in Middle Man?
BOOM! LOL LENNY Damnit! What I love about LENNY is that he’s the polar opposite of any character I’ve played so far. I think after seven seasons on Parks as Jerry I need to let people know I have other acting abilities. Lenny is the Anti Jerry/Garry.
Do you have a favouite memory of Harris Wittels?
My first memory of Harris was when I was reading Sarah Silverman’s book. There was a picture of a penis…it was Harris’s. I remember thinking that anyone who would be that bold to allow that is someone I could hang with. Harris was always funny but more importantly…he was always kind. He is and will be forever missed.
How often do random people walk up to you in public and say, ‘damnit, Jerry!’?
Awww…thanks for the kind words about Parks. As far as people coming up to me and saying ‘damnit, Jerry!’? E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y!!! And I love it. 🙂
What was your reaction to Garry’s ending in the finale?
I couldn’t have been happier with Garry becoming the mayor….not just temporarily but for the rest of his life. Such an honor for the guy who was the schlameel and schlamazel of his office for 30 years.
I have to tell you that when I saw the script for the final episode I got chills. I feel that they gave me the perfect send off. Not only did Garry become mayor for the rest of his life but he lived to be 100…and his wife was still hot. Can’t complain about that.
What are some of the funniest moments that’s happened off screen? Have you had any Garry moments as Jim?
I (have) Garry/Jerry moments all the time. I recently dropped my glasses into my dogs poop as I was picking it up. That’s a total Jerry moment. lol
Is there anyone on the Parks and Rec set that caused you to burst out laughing mid-filming?
Did you see the outtake on YouTube where Pratt mentions the Kardashians? If not…you have to check it out. It will give you the answer to your question. lol
I heard somewhere that you originally auditioned for the role of Ron Swanson, and after 7 seasons it seems so weird to think of you, Tim O’Heir, or really anyone other than Nick Offerman playing Ron. So Kim, my question for you is if any other cast member on Parks and Rec were to play a different character, who would be the best fit in what role?
Yes. I did audition for Ron Swanson. Tons of people auditioned for that role. Luckily they saw something they liked and brought be back for Jerry. I can’t imagine ANYONE else playing Ron other than Nick. Just makes no sense.
I think it would be interesting to see Amy play a sexual role like Retta did. And Adam as Burt Macklin would make me laugh.
Were there ever any scenes you felt your poor character was treated too badly?
I was never bothered by how they treated my character. The writers gave Jerry such a wonderful home life that it made up for the trouble at work. I always say that when Jerry was in trouble his co workers always had his back. I think Jerry really loved them and felt they loved him back. There was once when Chris Pratt said “I feel terrible doing this to Jerry”. I was like…Go For It! lol
What are some of your favourite movies?
As far as favorites movies…I’ve got tons. But…Godfather is at the top of the list. 🙂
Because Larry/Jerry/Gerry was teased all the time, did you know that your character was going to be the punching bag when you auditioned for the role?
I had no idea…and neither did the producers. It wasn’t until Season 2 when we shot an episode with Louis C.K. We did a story line where the cast had to find dirt on each other. It was revealed to me that my adoptive mother was a pot smoker…I didn’t know I was adopted. They knew right then and there that that’s who I would be. In many ways I think that one idea is what kept me on the show for seven seasons.
Besides middle man, do you have anything exciting coming up in your career?
I’ve guested on two shows since Parks ended…Hot In Cleveland and Austin and Ally. I’ve got a cowboy moving that I’ll be doing and I’m also going to be in a film called Halloweed that is pretty hysterical.
What was your favourite moment whilst filming Parks and Rec?
I loved doing the Fart Attack. I felt that the only way to make it funny was to play it very very real. With craziness going on around me I knew that it would be the best way to handle it. The problem was trying to keep it together when you have Aziz asking if I “ate farts for lunch”. lol
One of my favorite episodes is “Two Parties”, with the group Bachelor Party. Which of your Parks castmates would you choose to throw you a real life bachelor party and why?
I totally agree. Definitely one of my favorite episodes too. I would have to choose Pratt because it would be the craziest night of my life. With Chris you never know what’s going to happen next.
When are you going to pop the question to Aubrey?
I just bought the ring…just trying to get the nerve up to do it.
Since you clearly have a “colorful” sense of humor (which I love, by the way), was it tough suppressing that to play the more naive and wholesome Jerry?
HELL YES!!! Great question. Anyone who knows me will tell you that my sense of humor can be very dark. Absolutely the opposite of Jerry.
How different is it moving on to this new movie than working on a tv show?
Movies and TV are very different. There’s a lot of down time when making a film so I’ll be able to catch up on stuff. TV moves much quicker. Where in a film you might do two pages in a day….on a TV show you couldn’t easily do 8.
Are you guys all as close as you seem on the show?
We are all very close. If the show had continued I can guarantee that all of us would have been back. It was the warmest place for an actor to be with the kindest people. In front of the camera and behind.
What do you imagine Jerry and Gale’s sex life was like?
Rabbits!!!!!!!!
You’ve obviously spent years building upon Jerry/Garry/Larry’s reputation as one of television’s best bumbling buffoons (self-points for alliteration), so I’d like to know: Who are some of your favorite goofy sidekicks?
Great question. I love Don Knott’s from The Andy Griffith Show. You might be too young to remember him but he was brilliant. I love bumbling characters who are sweet. That’s what I loved most about what the writers did for Jerry…he was bumbling but ultimately sweet.
Did you have a scene that you absolutely hated shooting on P&R?
NEVER hated shooting Parks. Always loved it. The only days I hated were when I wasn’t scheduled to work.
What is the last thing you purchased online?W
I bought a book yesterday written by Marty Skovlund, Jr. Violence of Action. Marty’s a VET with some amazing stories. You should check it out. 🙂
Was there ever a backstory to how/why Garry/Jerry/Etc. was married to Gayle?
It’s always a weird question to answer because unless I’m mistaken I am shockingly good looking. Am I wrong? I don’t think so. 😉
Are you a fan of Kanye West?
Wow. Kanye? Can’t say that I am. He’s a little too much into himself for my taste. But, apparently tons of people like him so that’s great for him.
What’s your 6th (or so) most scandalous secret?
Let’s just say it involves Li’l Sebastian.
Why are you in a cold pool?
Because I’ll do anything for a bit. My nips are still at attention. lol
What is your favorite food?
So many favorites…but..love me some Italian, Indian, Pizza, Chinese…apparently most things. lol Unfortunately because of a childhood incident I don’t eat fish. YUCK!
How close are the personality of the characters on the show to the personality of the actors outside of the show?
I would say there’s some of us in all of our characters. The one closest to who he portrayed would be Nick. The writers took a lot from his own life and gave it to Ron. Nick is a brilliant craftsman with wood who also loves his booze and meat.
I wanted to know what it was like to work alongside creative actors such as Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Rob Lowe etc. Do they often improv or take liberties with the script, and is it hard to keep up?
It was always a pleasure to work with all of them. After every scene was finished we would do a fun run. That meant that we could improvise during the scene and see what we came up with. I think it’s one of the reasons we all stayed so close. It let us play together every day. Of course with improvisors like Amy it can be scary…there’s nobody faster.
At the end of a long, hard day, what do you do to Treat Yo’Self?
I love a good meal and awesome television. I’m one of those people who has always loved TV and not ashamed of it.
What would be your ideal role now that Parks and Rec is over? Do you want to be in another show or just do movies?
I’ve been a TV guy my whole life and would LOVE to do another series. I’ll be working on a film and that will be really exciting but I think there’s something about me that screams TV and I’m just fine with that.
So my question is: what was your favorite Jerry mishap? My personal favorites are falling into the river chasing a breakfast burrito and the fart attack.
You nailed my two favorites. I also loved when his pants split and he farted during the meeting. lol
What was your favourite line on the show that you improvised?
There was a line when Donna was getting her feet rubbed where I said “I’m next. I have a corn so big you could put butter on it”. That got a pretty big laugh.
What is your favorite line, phrase, word, etc that you say in Middle Man, if you are able to tell us?
The writer would kill me if I said it. It’s classic!
What are your favorite things to do when you’re just chilling out at home? Any hobbies?
Love my dogs and my yard. TV..books..golf
You always looked like you were having the time of your life playing Jerry/Garry/Larry/Terryand I always see you interacting with fans on Twitter. Was Jerry’s optimistic attitude inspired by your personal attitude or did Jerry’s attitude inspire you to be the same?
Thanks so much. I definitely try to be nice and kind but unlike Jerry I know I fail sometimes. I will always be appreciate of the fans who take time out of their day to talk with me. Sometimes there’s not enough time to respond but I always try to make time during the day to get to at least a few tweets.
How good/bad of a job would Mayor Gergich do as the mayor of Pawnee?
That’s such an awesome question. I’ve thought about it. He would be incredibly fair and open to his townspeople. I also think he could be manipulated easily so that would be interesting to see how it goes down.
How much of this last season of P&R was the universe apologizing to Garry for what he’d been through the rest of the seasons?
I love you use the term “universe apologizing to Garry”. That’s a great analogy. Now that I think about it that’s exactly what happened.
How would say Parks & Rec impacted your life?
It changed it completely. As an actor you’re always trying to get auditions and be seen. Parks has opened so many doors. Many times now I get offers to do work rather than audition. That’s such a wonderful thing after all these years. It’s also changed life financially which is awesome.
What is your favorite kind of ice cream?
I love vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce on top. Or….any kind of ice cream. lol
What historical figure would you like to have lunch with?
I would love to have lunch with Jesus and get this whole thing straightened out.
What would you be if you weren’t an actor?
I’ve wondered that myself. I’m not sure there’s anything else that I would have succeeded at. Maybe sales of some sort. Also, I can type really fast so maybe I would have done something with that. Just thankful every day that it worked out.
How was your experience on ‘Friends’? Any cool anecdotes?
Great experience. David Schwimmer directed the episode so it was lots of laughs. I had worked with Matt LeBlanc many years earlier on a film called Ed so it was fun to catch up.
Did you ever get a chance to participate in ‘The Office’?
I wish I had. It’s one of my favorite shows.
If for one day Jerry/Larry/Terry/Garry was able to be mean or pull a prank on his fellow work proximity associates as revenge, what do you think he’d do for each of them?
As far as my work proximity associates I would like to prank Tom…but as Jerry I don’t know what I would do. Sad but true.
It sounds like your character in Middle Man will be the opposite of Jerry. We’re so used to seeing you as a loveable goofball, are you looking forward to showing us your dark side?
Great question. Can’t wait to show my dark side. I’ve played a few characters over the years where I’ve been dark and perhaps demented but never for the length of a feature. This will be a challenge.
Thanks for following on twitter. I always love chatting with the folks there.
What other TV shows would you like to guest star on?
Hmmm…so many. I love The Goldbergs…The Middle…How To Get Away With Murder…Better Call Saul… to be honest there’s too many to list. 🙂
Throughout your career, which actor/actress impacted you the most?
I’m a fan of the old timers…Dick Van Dyke…Mary Tyler Moore…Bob Newhart…Carol Burnett…Carol O’Connor. I’m guessing you might not even be aware of these people. I’m old remember.
What is the secret for Gayle’s aging?
Gayle’s secret is that in real life she’s Christie Brinkley and she’s one of the most beautiful people on the planet!!!! 🙂
I’m excited for Middle Man! I already am missing Parks and Recreation. What are you most excited for audiences to see in Middle Man?
I’m excited for people to get to see me do a very different type of role. As much as there’s comedy in this film it’s also very dark. By the end of the film I’m involved in an absolute bloodbath. It’s awesome!!!!
Is your real doctor distracted for the same reasons?
He’s been known to sit in absolute silence while contemplating what he’s just seen. 😉
What did you think of this AMA Highlight?
commentsPicture credit: Pottermore
A week before my grandpa passed away, he gave me a call. It was a beautiful and bright fall day, the weather nice enough to sit outside. I had never heard his voice sound so tired, so distant. But there was an unrelenting cheer behind it, and I did what I could to feed it. I told him how my life was going, that I would be praying for him, told him what I was working on. The project I was working on – which is still fermenting in the back of my mind, over a year later, was in no small way inspired by him. And to understand that, you should understand who he was.
My grandpa, Raoul McKay, was Metis. That’s a heritage he’s passed down to me, a unique cultural blend of Anglo and French settlers coming alongside First Nations people, especially Ojibwe and Cree. Throughout much of Canadian history, they were – no surprise here – oppressed, repressed, and taken from their homes to live in residential schools. These schools, operated by the Catholic Church and the Canadian Government, largely existed to force assimilation, to “kill the Indian, save the man.” Over the years, these residential schools made horrifying progress in the march to exterminate First Nations culture, language, and identity. My grandpa lived in constant opposition to that goal.
He was a teacher, an activist, and academic devoted to the preservation of Metis culture and fair treatment of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people by the Canadian government. My whole life, he loomed as this incredible activist force – a personality that has permanently stamped the search for justice in my bones. It’s a heritage I want to earn and follow, and that brings me to the project I was pitching at him.
“There’s this author – George RR Martin,” I told him. I felt safe in assuming that Game of Thrones hadn’t landed on his desk, and I was absolutely sure he didn’t have an HBOgo subscription. “And what he’s done is take the history of the War of the Roses and put it through a fantasy lens.” I hadn’t really ever talked with my grandpa about my love for fantasy literature. That came from the other side of the family. “I want to do that, but with Native stories.” A few weeks prior, I had found a history recorded by James Mooney about the Cherokee people, and ever since I’ve been working at adapting it into fiction. I told him as much, and he seemed to love the idea. The idea was, and is, about preserving and sharing stories that have endured being repressed or ignored for generations.
This memory came roaring back in force the other day when JK Rowling published a story about Native Americans and the Wizarding World. It was only a couple of paragraphs, and it touched primarily on how Native Americans are known for wandless magic, a rich animagi history, and generally being pretty in tune with nature. She also talked about the southwestern Skinwalker, and that’s where the trouble began.
CNN and BBC were plastered with headlines like “Rowling Under Fire,” and “New JK Rowling story earns ire of Native Americans.” Blogs like Cultural Appropriations and a number of twitter activists were leading conversations about how Rowling was stealing stories, disrespecting Native American heritage, and ticking off every box in the “how not to write about Native Americans” checklist that’s been developed over the past fifty or so years. She reinforced the myth of Native people being perceived as artifacts and “noble savages,” and she had taken something that had a very special role in southwestern religions and turned it on its head, breaking taboos and traditions without any apparent input from the people who still held these beliefs.
Two camps quickly emerged, and they should sound somewhat familiar. On one side were those arguing the points above – sometimes with anger and passion, and some taking a more tempered tone. On the other hand, you had those offended at the offense, accusing the accusers of being racists themselves, of being “tumblrina-SJWs,” and of being generally over-sensitive. “After all,” went the reasoning, “People write about Vikings all the time, and I don’t see Denmark getting all pissy.” Which of course, entirely misses the point. And of course, in the middle of all this you had a hodgepodge of ambivalent Native Americans and confused bystanders being confronted with these issues for the first time.
I’ve found that I land somewhere in the middle – JK Rowling’s first post was a bit tone deaf, and could have definitely been improved by some element of consultation with Native Americans. On the other hand, I think the stories and histories of Native Americans are too important and too rich to be ignored, and make for a beautiful pallet to paint from, and I got really excited when I heard that Rowling was going to be acknowledging Native Americans in her new raft of North American stories.
So here’s the question – how can authors, native and non-native share the stories of Native America without practicing a kind of cultural colonialism and creating depictions that end up doing more harm than good? How can authors show respect without causing offense? And how can we pay homage to some of the core values of many indigenous people without falling into the trap of the Noble Savage? While I don’t think there’s a single answer, I’m going to try and follow three principles:
1. Remember the People
If JK Rowling had sat down with a Navajo or Hopi when she started thinking about Skinwalkers, my guess is she would have had a much more successful story, and evaded a lot of the criticism she did. She also would have gained access to something far more powerful than simple approval – inspiration and collaboration. The sum total of indigenous beliefs aren’t kept on Wikipedia, they’re stewarded by elders and cultural centers that devote themselves to keeping a way of life thriving. It’s my hope that talking to the people I’ve been inspired by will help me create more holistic characters and cultures.
2. Remember the Cultures
Native Americans don’t form a single, contiguous culture. There are dozens of culture groups, thousands of languages, and an uncountable diversity of thought, belief, and history contained in a history that goes back thousands of years. I want to pay homage to that, and resist creating a simple stand-in culture for all of pre-Columbian America.
3. Remember the Human
Above all, I don’t want to just put a bunch of cultural elements on a plate. That’s poor storytelling, and it’s a quick way to get to a bad stereotype. Instead, I’m hoping to create really rich and human characters (even if I don’t have “humans” in my stories at all – this is fantasy!). That’s always going to be my core test – can people, no matter what culture they come from, identify and relate to these people? If not, my guess is that no one will be able to – and that won’t serve on enrich my readers, no matter what culture they come from.
At the end of the day, no map is the land itself, and no depiction will ever perfectly encapsulate a culture. So in the meantime, I’ll do my best to reach out to the people I’m writing about and create characters not caricatures. But I don’t think that’s the end of the conversation. In fact, I’m hoping its just the beginning.
AdvertisementsThe Yes on 3 mascot, Buddy, at the overrated Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame. (Yeson3ohio.com)
A ballot initiative in Ohio that would have allowed recreational use of marijuana grown by a small group of landowners — landowners that bankrolled the initiative — got completely obliterated when voters went to the polls Tuesday.
This was an unusual and controversial proposal, one that essentially asked Ohioans to create a lucrative new industry that would be controlled by a handful semi-celebrities and businesspeople. (See: Lachey, Nick.) The state legislature created a competing ballot initiative meant to block Proposition 3 if it were to pass by banning the creation of monopolies in this way. (Proposition 3 backers unsurprisingly argued that it wasn't a monopoly.)
Election returns are preliminary.
As of writing, Proposition 3 was receiving 34.5 percent support — of the 50 percent needed. In fact, not one of Ohio's 88 counties were above 50 percent support. As returns came in, that margin rarely wavered. The anti-Prop 3 initiative, Prop 2, was passing with 53.4 percent support.
Counties that went more heavily for Barack Obama in 2012 were slightly more likely to back the idea, but, by the time the AP made its call, not one was over 50 percent.
A Prop 3 loss was probably predictable. A survey conducted at the end of last month found voters evenly split between supporting and opposing the measure. The rule of thumb on ballot initiatives is that close polling means a likely defeat — particularly in an off-year election like the one just completed in Ohio.
Make no mistake: This was not a typical yes-or-no vote on the legalization of marijuana. Even the well-known pro-pot group NORML seemed ambivalent about instituting a regime such as the one Prop 3 proposed. In a statement after Prop 3 failed, the chairman of the group Marijuana Majority called the effort "a flawed measure and a campaign that didn't represent what voters want."
If you want to generalize a lesson from the defeat, try this one: Even when it comes to something with support as broad as legalizing marijuana — which 58 percent of Americans backed in a recent poll — all the money in the world (or in Cincinnati) can't necessarily buy you an election victory.Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
With an unerring sense of timing, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe arrived in Rome this weekend, thereby demonstrating the profound limitations of international diplomacy. Indeed, it’s hard to think of any other single gesture that would so effectively reveal the ineffectiveness of international institutions in the conduct of both human rights and food-aid policy. Even someone standing atop the dome of St. Peter’s, megaphone in hand, shouting, “The U.N. is useless! The EU is useless!” couldn’t have clarified the matter more plainly.
For, yes, Mugabe is in Rome, at the invitation of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, which is holding a conference to discuss the very real international food crisis. He is also in Rome despite the fact that he has been formally forbidden from traveling to Europe by the European Union, which considers him persona non grata. For the last several years, his regime has beaten and murdered his political opponents in Zimbabwe so blatantly that even the Europeans noticed.
Nevertheless, it seems the Italians can’t prevent him from being there this week. Since the summit is a U.N. event, U.N. rules take precedence over European or Italian border rules. This is not the first time Mugabe has taken advantage of this little loophole. He attended a previous U.N. food conference in Rome in 2002, during which he stayed at a five-star hotel on the Via Veneto, sent his wife out shopping, and bragged about how his “land reform” program—i.e., the wholesale theft of land from white Zimbabwean farmers and redistribution among political supporters—was going to enrich his nation’s food supply.
It hasn’t. According to Oxfam, 80 percent of Zimbabwe’s population now lives on less than $1 a day, thanks to Mugabe’s policies, and lacks access to basic foods and clean water. Inflation is at 100,000 percent, this year’s harvest was poor, and Zimbabweans are fleeing their country in large numbers. Meanwhile, Mugabe is notorious for using food aid as a political weapon, distributing it only to those who reliably vote for him. Thus does his presence at a U.N. food summit contain many layers of troubling irony. Stephen Smith, the Australian foreign minister and one of Mugabe’s more vocal critics, put it less delicately: “Robert Mugabe turning up to a conference dealing with food security or food issues is, in my view, frankly obscene.”
And, as noted, the timing couldn’t be worse: The United Nations is still (or should be) smarting from its recent failure to persuade Burma’s generals—also notorious for using food aid as a political weapon—to accept any outside aid. As a result, a quarter of a million or so Burmese are still not receiving a steady supply of food and water a month after Cylcone Nargis hit the Burmese coast. The U.N. secretary-general did, after much wrangling, pay a visit to Burma, and the generals did, after much stalling, agree to allow a few foreign aid workers into the country. But even the United Nations’ highest-ranking food-relief official recently conceded that “urgent work remains” to be done in Burma. Translation: The regime is still refusing to let relief workers travel to the afflicted region, still refusing to let others into the country, still refusing to let foreign ships land on the coast with aid.
In fact, the root of Burma’s humanitarian crisis is a political crisis. The root of Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis is a political crisis, too. But because the United Nations was never set up to deal with political crises, it can’t really address either humanitarian crisis. Officially, the United Nations has to respect the decision of the Burmese government not to feed its people. Officially, the United Nations feels it has to invite Mugabe to Rome, despite the E.U. ban. Indeed, one U.N. official justified his presence on the grounds that the United Nations is “about inclusiveness, not exclusivity,” and besides, the food issue is so serious and this week’s food conference is so significant that “the rest is irrelevant.”
But that, of course, is nonsense: It is “the rest,” in this case—the vicious dictatorship, the manipulation of agricultural policies for political ends, the fear and violence—that matter, not the rise in international commodity prices, the mass planting of biofuels, or drought. To their credit, Europe’s leaders have tried to address “the rest,” to put pressure on Mugabe by restricting his movements; to shun meetings he attends; and to demonstrate, in general, that his behavior is unacceptable. Though not especially effective so far, this isn’t an entirely pointless policy: Mugabe clearly cares how Europe treats him, or he wouldn’t go out of his way to defy its ban.
The European boycott might work a bit better, however, if the United Nations didn’t help the Zimbabwean leader to flout it. Indeed, the United Nations should join it. If this really is a serious food conference, after all, an egregious abuser of his own country’s food policy has no place at the table.His latest attack was on an English woman at her own doorstep in Clapham, South London. Unfortunately for him, his face was caught on the CCTV and he has now been charged with several rapes in the South London area. Details are:Mehdi Midani is charged with six counts of sexual assault and two ofexposure after the alleged attacks in Clapham and Brixton between 22 and31 October.The 27-year-old Algerian muslim, national appeared via videolink atCamberwell Green magistrates court on Wednesday. Midani followed thecase through an Arabic interpreter and spoke only to confirm hisdetails.He was arrested on Monday in Brixton Hill after a spate of incidentslast month in which the women aged between 20 and 30 were allegedlyassaulted.The court heard that several of the victims were attacked outsidetheir homes and one was targeted in the hallway of her building.Ask a teenager about using a "pager" and almost assuredly their only reference to this nearly obsolete form of communication would come from the resurgence of "Old School" 90s Hip Hop taking place. Despite the virtual disappearance of "SkyPagers" from popular use, in FY2011 $934,000 in federal E-Rate funds to assure access to advanced communications technology in U.S. schools and libraries were allocated for paging services.
President Obama wants to repurpose anachronistic budget items like this through his ConnectED plan. The plan would connect 99 percent of American students to the digital age through high-speed broadband in schools and libraries, get educational software into the classroom and train teachers in the use of this new technology. Within five years, schools would have "high-speed" broadband at speeds not less than 100 Mbps, with a target of 1 Gbps -- the same ultra-fast high speeds we are starting to see deployed in cities around the country.
But imagine if the whole country was made to keep paying for outdated services like "pagers" while most citizens were texting each other photos and videos on PDAs. Seems silly right? Well, something similar is actually happening with our commercial telecommunication's network.
Today, less than one third of all households still get what's known as "plain, old telephone service." In fact, voice telephone calls represents only one percent of traffic carried over broadband networks. Yet, because the country still uses two different phone systems, the government forces phone companies to maintain and operate both of them -- the new system that people want and the President seeks for every school, and the old, antiquated network for which spare parts are now becoming more difficult to find. Every time someone chooses to "cut the cord" and switches to a mobile phone, or someone purchases home phone service through a cable provider, another person transitions to a modern broadband-based network.
In response to consumer demand, phone companies are investing tens of billions of dollars in high-speed broadband networks, but it's very tough to modernize quickly when money must still be diverted to old networks. Given that our futures are tied to the 21st century digital age, we must move the nation away from the aging phone system ASAP so we can use the cost savings to upgrade the modern network.
A study last year from the Internet Innovation Alliance (which I co-chair) estimated that incumbent network operators spent $81 billion over the last six years just to maintain this fast-declining network. That's money that ought to be redeployed to the better, faster broadband networks people want and need today. We know that the phone companies are willing to make the investments; it's just a question of where they will make them -- building the new system or patching up the old one?
By phasing out old networks and encouraging higher levels of private investment in ultra high-speed broadband build-out to anchor institutions such as schools, libraries, universities and hospitals, we will help broaden access to this vital infrastructure everywhere, bringing it within reach of all Americans. It's great to have this network in schools, but it will only be fully effective if our children have that same access at home, to do their homework and gain the skills they will need for the jobs of tomorrow.
With ConnectED, the President has said that only high-speed broadband can bring our students fully into the digital age. It's a great start, but the rest of the country needs to move forward aggressively as well.
With our adoption of smartphones and mobile broadband, most Americans realize all the benefits that high-speed broadband can bring. It's now time to finish the job, and prioritize the goal of modernizing to high-speed broadband networks, so that no one is left behind and denied the economic opportunities enabled by these next-generation networks and technologies.A new law designed to make it easier for copyright holders to go after illicit file-sharers will come into force April 1st in Sweden. The IPRED legislation will also increase penalties and ultimately criminalize large scale infringement but according to a new poll, the majority of Swedes are against it.
Due to come into force in just two weeks, the controversial Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) law will make it easier for copyright holders to get their hands on the personal details of suspected illicit file-sharers.
The law has been controversial from the start, with over 50,000 people signing up to the “Stop IPRED” group on Facebook. Swedish Pirate Party Chairman Rick Falk |
is about way more than just sex. If that's your association, that's because the media has tended to focus on that angle. Like other parts of costume-play that came out of Comic-Con and other fantasy and gamer gatherings, dressing as an animal a chance to express another part of yourself or to explore a side of your personality that you might not feel comfortable with in your everyday life. Masks of all kinds — from those worn on stage, to makeup, to costume balls and Halloween — have a long and fascinating role in human history.
Fursuiters are just wearing another kind of mask, but the people who like to dress as wolves, penguins, bunnies or other creatures are generally those who strongly identify with animals — rather than a witch or a Disney character or a famous actor. They run the gamut from fairly faithful animal imitations to more or less anthropomorphized creatures — a half wolf/half man for example — to fanciful combinations of animals, like a bunny-dog. Others hew more closely to completely made-up animals from anime or art.
The fascination with furries isn't a modern idea. The costumes and themes are different, but the premise has its roots in ancient traditions. (Photo: Laurence "GreenReaper" Parry/Wikipedia)
A sense of play
The furry community is primarily about creativity, playfulness, freedom and exploration. If it seems like those things are in short supply in conventional Western life, you're onto part of the reason this movement resonates with so many people. The Internet is an important connecting place, but IRL (in real life) gatherings of more than 3,000 have occurred, and it's especially popular in the United Kingdom.
Fursonas or fur-personas can also be about transcending divisive social issues like race, gender, class, weight or religion — or basically any label that makes people uncomfortable or unsure about where they fit.
Relating to animals in this way isn't new: In many native cultures, totem or spirit animals help people understand their place in the world, and beloved stories from almost every culture include animals that could speak, humans who are reincarnated as animals, or rituals that involve dressing as animals.
"Humans tend to anthropomorphise as a way of understanding and interpreting the world around us. Furries just take this interest a bit further than most people," anthrozoologist Kathy Gerbasi told the BBC.
Some of the popularity of fursuiters may be found in our culture's disconnect with the natural world, or in a longing for the simpler life of an animal. In truth, different furry fans probably have varying reasons for why they love to dress up as. And whether this idea resonates with you or not, it's definitely growing in popularity. In Japan, "kigurumi" are mainstream. These cute animal onesie outfits are worn for fun, and you can now buy those plushy ensembles in the U.S. too, via the wonders of the Internet.
I'm waiting for really cool, pre-made tails to become available. It might confuse my cat, but it would definitely be fun to try on!
Inset photo: A tiger furry at the European Furry Convention (Photo: Torsten Maue/flickr)
Why do we like to dress up as animals?
Furries and fursuiters aren't so different from the rest of us — they're just expressing their creativity.With the Silver Line close to opening, Metro has replaced signs throughout the system. But new strip maps in stations are a step backwards. They confuse many riders with labels that line up in a misleading way, and try to cram too much information on the maps.
Reader Daniel Peake sent in this image from Pentagon City:
Another rider also sent it to the Washington Post’s Dr. Gridlock, who wrote about it Monday.
The labels are confusing
Because the map has three thick lines together, the labels are far from the station dots. As a result, they’re closer to the adjacent dot. It looks like the transfer station between the Green and Yellow lines and the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines is Federal Center SW.
Image by Daniel Peake.
On the left, where the Orange Line is between the Blue/Silver station dots and the labels, the map uses a line called a leader line. But that’s not the case for the stations with three lines.
The map lines up the (vertical) centerline of the label with the 45° axis of the dot. Because the vertical distance from the dot is greater than the distance between the dots, the label appears closer to the adjacent dot.
One solution would be to move the labels so the corner of the text (or technically, the text’s “Core Type Area”) lines up with the dot instead. Map designer Cameron Booth has a great description of how to do this.
The map is too complicated
The label alignment isn’t the only problem with this map.
Two rail lines serve Pentagon City: the Blue and Yellow lines. The purpose of a strip map is to show all the places you can go with a one-seat ride from the platform you’re on. Though WMATA no longer has these aboard trains, generally on-board strip maps show all the stops in both directions on that line (unless they are on digital displays which can change).
But the strip maps here show the Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, and Silver lines. The Green, Orange, and Silver lines don’t call at Pentagon City, so there’s no need to show them on the maps with anything other than a colored dot at the first and last transfer points (as the map does for the Red Line).
There’s really no reason to show riders that the Orange and Blue run together from Rosslyn to Stadium/Armory on a strip map. Getting to New Carrollton requires a transfer to the Orange, just like getting to Vienna does. But the strip map only shows New Carrollton, not Vienna. Why? To a user, it shouldn’t matter that the transfer happens in the “same” direction.
Conversely, what’s the point of even showing the concurrent Silver Line? A Blue Line rider at Pentagon City going to Largo doesn’t need to know about the eastbound Silver Line. He or she can just stay on the Blue train. There’s no point in getting off at, say, Eastern Market and waiting for a Silver Line train going to the same place.
In the future, WMATA strip maps in stations will be easier to understand if they only show downstream stations on lines that call at the station you’re at. At Pentagon City, that would mean only showing Blue and Yellow stations in the appropriate direction.
The new maps are overly-complicated and poorly-labeled. They don’t do riders many favors.Sports News of Mon, 20 Nov 20170
I am not dead – Tony Yeboah
Former Ghana striker Tony Yeboah has come out to deny rumours making rounds on Social Media that he is dead, adding that those spreading such false news should desist from it.
News was rife on Social Media late Monday afternoon that the ex- Leeds United striker had died in London after suffering multiple seizures.
Indeed the story of Yeboah's death first appeared on http://houstonchronicle-tv.com, a US based website.
Speaking on Accra based Kasapa FM, Yeboah vehemently denied the rumour and said he is in Ghana, Kumasi to be specific and could not fathom why anyone would wish him dead.
“Those people behind these stories must stop this, it is not just me that they have done this to. Recently they did the same to Abedi Pele which is not nice. You don’t have to use social media for such vices. I am not even sick so when I heard it, I was so surprised. My aunt saw it on social media and told me about. I want to assure all those who have been worried by the news that it is not true. I am alive".
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The 51 year old who played for Kumasi Cornerstones and Okwahu United is considered one of the most prolific strikers of his generation.
He is also held in high esteem at Leeds United and the English Premier League in general as one of the African stars who blazed a trail and left a mark on the English game.
Yeboah played 59 times for the Black Stars and scored 29 goals.
Watch Tony Yeboah excising in the gym on MondayU.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland dismissed part of a lawsuit challenging a North Dakota law that blocks abortions based on unwanted gender or a genetic defect Monday, after the state’s only abortion clinic challenged it.
“There is no question that [the law] is in direct contradiction to a litany of United States Supreme Court cases addressing restraints on abortion,” Hovland wrote.
Hovland granted an injunction that blocks the law temporarily.
The Red River Women’s Clinic argued that the ban doesn’t effect them, since it does not perform abortions for that reason. The clinic’s attorney, Janet Crepps, said it is unclear whether the measure would impact any woman seeking abortion services at Red River.
The lawsuit was dropped without prejudice, meaning the clinic can take up a legal challenge again later. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the state will ask the court for a trial, and has already hired an attorney to argue the case.
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“We have our job to do,” Stenehjem said. “We need to convince [Hovland] why the Legislature wanted to enact the law.”
The measures are among four that Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law this year.
A spokesman for Dalrymple said the governor had not commented on the judge’s decision.
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Sources: ABC News, Aljazeera
undefinedHead Lice, Red Flags, and Emotional Abuse
When I was 12 years old, I got head lice.
I waited for my mother to notice. I waited for what felt like weeks. It was disgusting, and I was disgusted with myself; they were crawling everywhere, falling off my head onto my school books, fat with my blood. But I never took any action to deal with it myself. I waited for my mother to notice.
When I visited my father, as I did every fortnight, within about twenty minutes of my arrival he said “Oh my GOD. You’re crawling with lice!” and immediately went out, bought lice shampoo and dealt with it. This isn’t to say that my mother didn’t care for me, and it isn’t to say that my father was a more attentive parent. I understood even then that my mother had a lot of things on her mind and not a great deal of emotional fortitude. My father noticing was more a matter of coincidence—and to be honest, at twelve, I was probably capable of taking action myself. This was merely one of many incidents over the course of my life when I was waiting for someone to notice me, to notice what was happening to me.
I had a cliché of a terrible boyfriend later in high school, who used our time together, more often than not, to play video games with his friends while I watched, waiting for his attention. Who begged and cajoled and promised marriage to me in order to get into my virgin pants (naturally, all promises were retracted after the pants had come off). That was how I could get his attention, he taught me implicitly: with sex. How sure I was that I could never love anyone as much. The thought of losing him was unbearable. He never threatened to end our relationship over it, but it seemed pretty clear that’s what would have happened. I went to a left-leaning feminist stronghold of an all-girls high school, yet he was still able to pull this on me. Looking back on it in shock and self-disgust, I think it was partly because I wanted sex too, despite having been indoctrinated to save it for marriage, but also in part because of how desperate I was to keep him, to keep this source of intermittent attention and affection.
Later, when I met the man I actually did marry, he turned off video games when I walked in the door, and apologised for playing them. He showered me with attention. He created a bubble for the two of us. He invited me along when he spent time with his friends. He didn’t understand when I wanted to spend time with my friends without him, because he wanted to be with me all the time, and so I must not love him as much as he loved me if I didn’t want to include him. I managed to stand firm and carve out some time with my friends over the long term, because some part of me knew that wasn’t right, but so much of how he treated me did feel right that I wasn’t able to recognise this for the planet-sized red flag it was.
I don’t really know how I got from there to the day when I banged my head against the drywall because my physical self needed to match how my emotional self felt while trying to talk to him. I suppose that I was the frog being gently, caressingly lowered into room temperature water in a pot on the stove.
I read recently that one of the most important things about gaslighting (the emotional abuse technique of denying the victim’s perception of reality) is that it’s not always deliberate; that your abuser may simply believe things about you, and so twists reality to convince themselves and you that you are lazy, or selfish, or that you lack empathy. And I’m not sure that he isolated me intentionally either. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to please him. My family never really said a word against him, and I didn’t listen when they did try. We’re not very good at hard emotional conversations. But the outcome was that he was able to create a bubble in which his version of me was the only one that was shown to me, and I wasn’t confident enough in myself to reject it. He would enumerate the ways in which I had failed to be a good partner, and I would cry and apologise while he held me comfortingly. “Why do you love me then, if I’m so awful?” I would sob, trying desperately to understand this version of myself that no one else had ever told me about. “Because you’re pretty!” he would say jokingly, wiping away my tears kindly. He never gave me a serious answer.
I don’t, even now, think that he is an evil person or that he set out consciously to break me down in this way. He just has an innate belief in his own correctness at all times, and therefore, reality must be moulded to fit that “fact”. If something is wrong in his life, since he cannot possibly be at fault, it must be someone else, and I let him make me that someone else.
The version of yourself an emotional abuser presents to you is reinforced constantly. They tell you “You did that because you’re lazy.” and when you respond that no, you did it for reason X, they argue that no, you did it because you’re lazy and we both know it. This is how they establish the idea of your faults as a known fact. You know why you did or didn’t do something, but every time, your abuser attributes it to this supposedly known trait of yours, which allows it to become “an issue” they have constantly brought up with you and conveniently ignoring the fact that they had no basis to bring it up. My abuser actually said to me “Oh you always have a reasonable excuse!” when I attempted to correct his version of my motivations and actions. A reasonable excuse is a reason. It is true that motivations don’t count for a lot if the outcome of your actions is bad, but if you have someone constantly, wilfully misinterpreting your motivations instead of working with you honestly and trustingly towards different outcomes, nothing is going to change for the better.
When I was pregnant, I asked him: “Please, don’t talk down to me the way you do in front of our children when they are born.”
He responded “Then don’t be someone I have to talk down to.”
When I think back on that conversation now, I wonder how things could have gotten so bad that I thought that was an acceptable conversation to have to initiate, that I didn’t see that the view he had of me that allowed him to talk down to me was the unacceptable poison in the veins of our marriage, that the actual talking down was just a symptom.
Later in my pregnancy, there was another incident of serious emotional abuse. I won’t go into it except to say that I was hospitalised shortly thereafter for three days, due to the extreme stress my body was under, having been worked too hard so late in a high-risk pregnancy, but it was the moment I knew that nothing was ever going to get better, and also the moment that I thought I was trapped with him forever.
Parenthood blew the cracks in our relationship wide open. We were both exhausted and under a lot of stress. He ramped up the emotional abuse, and my ability to swallow it withered and died. I became like a wild animal trapped in a corner, biting and scratching, desperate to free myself, yet certain there was no way out. Normal mother-guilt combined with post-natal depression and the feeling that I was trapped with my abuser for life because we now had children together, and it nearly did me in. At that time, I was glad that at least our children were safe, at least I couldn’t imagine him ever treating our children with the open contempt he did me. I didn’t consider then that abusing me in such insidious ways in front of them was in fact a form of abuse.
One weeknight I was out with a freelance client and friend at a function I was working for her. My then-husband, my abuser, was at home with the children. We had been arguing earlier that day, and he texted me at 10pm to tell me that he didn’t think I should come home that night. He had never done this before, and I was too ashamed to tell my friend what had happened. I ended up sneaking into the house through the back door and lying on the floor in the back room, unable to actually sleep, then leaving at about 4am before the children woke up so I could go to work. It was the middle of winter and absolutely freezing. Sometimes I think something froze in my heart that night and never really thawed.
I didn’t tell anyone about the incident that triggered my hospitalisation until years later, when I had all but resigned myself to this hell of a life. I truly believe that shame at what you have allowed your abuser to do to you is an extremely powerful weapon in their arsenal; if no one knows what is being done to you, no one can help you see that you don’t deserve it, and no one can offer to help you escape.
When I had resigned myself to bearing this unbearable life, I decided that I wanted to let go of my anger about the hospitalisation incident, so I posted about it in a comment thread here on The Toast. The response I got from the community, many of whom I already considered to be dear friends, was that this incident was utterly unacceptable and horrifying. This response was so immediate, so unanimous and so truly loving in a way I had somehow not expected, that it started me on my journey to free myself and my children from my abuser. When Toasties asked me if this incident was out of character, a one-off in an otherwise extremely loving and mutually respectful relationship, I was forced to concede that although it was more extreme than anything previous, it actually fit extremely well with his pattern of past behaviour, something that I had not been willing to admit to anyone but my deepest self.
My mother came to visit us at some point around this time. After two days of witnessing the way my husband treated me, she waited until we were alone and she asked me if he hit me. He had never hit me. I cynically said that he would never do anything to me that would leave proof. And I was still only dimly cognisant of how sick and soul-destroying it was to stay with someone about whom who you believed such things.
I was still not ready to leave; to actually change my life. Then one night we had a particularly vicious argument that ended, not unusually, with me sobbing on the floor, begging him to stop berating me. I told my sister via email, and I told my Toasties via a social media account he didn’t know I had, that he was emotionally abusing me. This was the first time I had named the abuse.
And everyone believed me.
Everyone believed me. Not a single one asked if it really happened that way, or said maybe he didn’t really mean it, or suggested that maybe I was also to blame.
I can’t tell you the immense power that simply hearing “I believe you” had for me. Even now I can’t think of that moment without crying. If this is happening to you, I can’t urge you strongly enough to try to work through your shame and tell someone. You don’t have to leave that day. But I want you to get someone else’s view of you, to make sure that you aren’t being fed a lie, and I want you to experience that power of being believed. Being believed was what finally gave me the strength I needed to walk out the door. Depending on your situation, it may not be physically safe for you to “just walk out that door,” and if that’s the case, I encourage you to seek out the resources of your community.
To bring it back to waiting to be noticed, I sometimes wonder if part of my reluctance to reach out and tell someone that I was being abused was that I wanted someone to notice, and reach out to me first. But I realise now, looking back, that people did make attempts to reach out to me, and I was too ashamed and too afraid of change to grab the ropes that were thrown. I had to be ready to take that action myself. I had to be ready to rescue myself for it to be successful.
I left him.
At this moment in time, there is still a hard road ahead of me, but I am surrounded by family and friends, and I feel good and positive about my future and that of my children.
I can’t allow my children to grow up thinking that what we had was love, that what we had was how a marriage should be. I can’t be broken, because I need to be whole for them. I can’t be disassociated, because I need to be present for them. Less importantly, I can’t allow myself to be tied to my abuser any more than I have to be because we have children together. It does make everything harder and more complicated. How I wish I never had to see his face or hear his voice again, how I wish I could simply cut off all contact with him and live as though he had never existed. But he is the father of my children, and so that will never happen. And that is why I urge everyone, if you are being treated this way, to be stronger than I was, to demand more than I did, to walk out that door before you are tied to him forever.
$ Donation Amount: Updating Amount... Like this article? Tip The Toast! Select Payment Method PayPal Loading... Personal Info First Name * Last Name Email Address * Donation Total: $1.00Retail slump is a bad omen
"This is probably just beginning for the average worker and consumer," said Ed Leamer, director of UCLA's Anderson Forecast, who predicts that large job losses are likely to continue for five or six months.
Another dose of bad news is expected today, when the government reports on unemployment for October. Economists estimate that 200,000 or more jobs disappeared last month, about double the average this year. That would bring job losses to about 1 million in 2008.
Retailers reported the worst October sales figures since at least 1971, a grim harbinger for the holiday shopping season. The report sent stocks lower for a second straight day, handing the Dow Jones index its biggest two-day percentage loss since Wall Street's October 1987 collapse.
LOS ANGELES AND WASHINGTON — New signs piled up Thursday that the ailing economy is taking another turn for the worse, with a mounting toll on ordinary Americans.
"The consumer is going to do some serious belt tightening, which means that businesses won't sell as much and that means employment is going to be cut," Leamer said.
Americans are already reining in their spending. Sales at major chain stores surveyed fell by 0.9% last month compared with October 2007 -- and by 4.2% if discount king Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is excluded, the International Council of Shopping Centers said.
"These are awful numbers," said Michael Niemira, the council's chief economist. "All this concern about the financial markets caused consumers basically to freeze up any purchase that had a whiff of discretionary spending."
Based on October's numbers, Niemira lowered his holiday sales forecast to a 1% gain for the combined November and December period, down from his earlier estimate of 1.7% growth.
Luxury retailers in particular suffered, with high-end department store chains Neiman Marcus Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and Saks Inc. all posting double-digit declines.
Neiman Marcus is reducing inventory and marking down prices after suffering a staggering 26.8% sales decline, Chief Executive Burton M. Tansky said.
"We expect retail demand will remain weak for an extended period of time as our affluent customer reacts to the continuing volatility of the financial markets," he said.
On the other end of the spectrum, Wal-Mart exceeded expectations and reported a 2.4% sales increase, excluding fuel sales. But even the world's largest retailer is nervous.
Eduardo Castro-Wright, who heads Wal-Mart's U.S. division, said he feared that consumers "have maxed out."
"Our customers, like a bunch of Americans, are going through some hard times," Castro-Wright said during a visit to Los Angeles last month. "Clearly the consumer is making a choice in terms of looking for better value to stretch their dollar and make ends meet."
Other retailers that fared poorly included Abercrombie & Fitch Co., down 20% from a year ago, and San Francisco-based Gap Inc., which suffered a 16% drop.Commission officials are concerned over Poland's legal changes threatening judicial independence and media freedom | EPA Report: Commission to probe Poland’s rule of law Timmermans to lead investigation on judicial independence.
The European Commission is set to launch an audit of Poland's adherence to the rule of law this coming week, focusing on the government's much-criticized crackdown on judicial independence.
German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported Sunday that the Commission will investigate changes to Poland's constitutional court. Sources told the FAZ that Commission chiefs of staff described the situation in the court as unbearable in their Friday meeting, referring to President Andrzej Duda’s failure to swear in three judges whose election was approved by the Constitutional Tribunal and instead swearing in five judges chosen by the current parliament.
The Commission is set to launch its investigation on Wednesday, to be led by First Vice President Frans Timmermans, whose dossier includes issues related to the rule of law. This would be the first time the Commission would use this type of audit procedure since it was adopted in 2014.
"The college [of commissioners] will hold an orientation debate on Wednesday on the situation in Poland and the rule of law mechanism," a Commission spokesperson told POLITICO, while declining to comment directly on the FAZ article as well as Friday's chiefs of staff meeting. "Any further steps will depend on the outcome of that debate."
Brussels could eventually recommend sanctions on Poland, including a temporary loss of voting rights in the Council. But diplomats from several EU countries expressed caution last week about condemning Warsaw too harshly.
Next step after the launch of the investigation is an assessment of whether there are indications of a “systemic threat” to the rule of law in Poland. For that, the Commission will rely on the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, which is preparing a report on the matter, according to the FAZ. The report is due in March but could be ready earlier.
If it finds signs of a systemic threat, as a next step the Commission would send a "rule of law opinion” to the Polish government.
The focus on judicial independence is an indication the Commission sees little point in investigating Poland’s new media law, a policy area in which the EU has less of a say. A letter from Timmermans to the Polish government before the media law was passed called on Warsaw to ensure that any changes not threaten media pluralism, but indicated that the Commission had little legal standing to intervene.
The Polish foreign ministry responded Friday to Timmermans' concerns about the media law, saying the new government recognizes “the freedom and pluralism of the media.”
Poland will not send its representative to this week’s discussion at the Commission, Europe Minister Konrad Szymański told the Polish Press Agency.
“The hearing is not open to outside guests so there is neither the possibility nor a special reason [to attend],” he said.
However, Poland will send information to the Commission ahead of the debate. “It is important to us that the debate on the subject of Poland is factual and does not take place in an atmosphere of conjectures and generalities which can sometimes lead to unnecessary political tensions,” he said.
Szymański said there is a lot of incorrect information about the steps the Polish government has taken with regards to the Constitutional Tribunal. Critics say the measures pushed through at the end of the year hobble the court by making it much more difficult for it to rule that legislation violated the constitution.
The debate “will be a good opportunity for the commissioners to build up a more ordered view on the subject of what is happening in Poland,” he said.
Szymański added that neither Prime Minister Beata Szydło nor other members of the government plan to be present when the European Parliament debates Poland on January 19.
“It appears to me that this is neither the time nor the occasion for the Polish prime minister to become involved, but we will be engaged in the information side,” he said.
The Polish government insists that the legal changes it has passed in the last weeks are no threat to the country’s democratic credentials.
Zbigniew Ziobro, the justice minister, sent a bristling letter Saturday to Günther Oettinger, the German digital economy commissioner who had raised questions about the new Polish media law which tightens the government’s control over public radio and television. The commissioner threatened to activate the bloc's ‘Rule of Law mechanism’ and to place Warsaw under monitoring.
“These type of words, spoken by a German politician, create the worst possible connotations among Poles,” Ziobro wrote. “Also for me, as the grandson of a Polish officer who during the Second World War fought in the underground Home Army against ‘German Oversight.’”
Ziobro went on to criticize the German media’s tentative approach to the sexual attacks in Cologne over New Year’s, saying their caution “stunned the world.”
“I came to the sad conclusion that it’s easier for you to talk about fictitious dangers to the freedom of the press in other countries that than denounce censorship in your own homeland,” Ziobro wrote.
The fuss around Poland’s legal changes is straining relations with Germany. Witold Waszczykowski, Poland’s foreign minister, summoned the German ambassador for a meeting on Monday afternoon to complain about recent comments by German politicians.
The reason is “anti-Polish statements that contradict the facts,” Artur Dmochowski, the foreign ministry spokesman, told Poland’s TVN television. He mentioned a comment Sunday by Martin Schulz, the German president of the European Parliament, who compared the policies of Poland’s new right-wing government to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, warning it could lead to the “Putnization of European politics.”
Florian Eder contributed to this article.
Authors:Commentary
When Students Can't Pay for School Lunch, Everyone Loses
No one wants a child to go hungry, and no one thinks it’s a good idea for students to try learning on an empty stomach. We were all saddened by recent news reports that students with negative balances on their meal accounts had their school lunches dumped in the cafeteria trash.
As the chief executive officer of the School Nutrition Association, or SNA, I represent thousands of school nutrition professionals nationwide who believe every student should receive free, healthy meals as part of the school day because good nutrition is critical to student achievement. In this profession, it is not uncommon to hear about the cafeteria cashiers who give money from their own pockets to students who cannot pay for their lunches.
The women and men working in school cafeterias pour their hearts into making the cafeteria a welcoming place for students to be nourished. So why do news reports, from Utah to Texas to New Jersey, continue to surface about unintended consequences for students who cannot pay for school lunch?
Although every incident is different, each of these “unpaid meal charge” stories indicates a broad and growing national problem. Left unaddressed, these situations reach beyond the cafeteria, potentially threatening district education funds and resources. We all need to work together to develop compassionate policies for responding to children who are unable to pay for their school meals, while managing the cost incurred by the school district.
School meal programs are self-sustaining and financially independent of a school district’s education budget. However, federal regulations prohibit school meal programs from carrying debt from unpaid meal charges from one school year to the next. So when parents don’t pay the balance, and meal programs are unable to cover the costs, school districts are forced to pick up the tab. As a result, many school meal programs have been forced to institute controversial charge policies governing whether, and what, their school cafeterias will serve to students who are unable to pay for a meal.
Research indicates that an increasing number of children arrive in the cafeteria unable to pay for their meals. A 2012 SNA survey of school meal program directors found that 53 percent of school districts were experiencing an increase in unpaid meal charges. Of those facing the increase, 56 percent anticipated that the accumulated debt from those charges would be greater at the end of the school year compared with that of the previous school year. Thirty-three percent anticipated a significant increase in debt.
“Research indicates that an increasing number of children arrive in the cafeteria unable to pay for their meals.”
Some meal programs acquire thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of dollars in debt from unpaid meal charges. New York City’s public schools reportedly incurred $42 million in unpaid meal debt between 2004 and 2011. Even districts that prohibit students from charging meals can rack up significant debt by serving students an alternate meal. These meals, often cold lunches with fruit and milk, ensure that students will not go hungry, but still need to be paid for in some way.
The challenge of unpaid meal charges has been exacerbated by rising prices for school meals. School nutrition professionals are always reluctant to raise prices on families, but the “paid meal equity” provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 forced many school meal programs to increase prices regardless of the financial solvency of the program. Other districts have had little choice but to raise prices to keep up with the high cost of preparing meals to meet new federal nutrition standards, which require larger portions of fruits and vegetables on every tray.
School meal programs work hard to enroll qualifying low-income families in the free and reduced-price meal program, but with rising prices and a tough economy, many families who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals still struggle to cover the cost of school lunch.
As schools try to manage the consequences, the need to help districts create compassionate and sustainable meal-charge policies is more urgent than ever before. Unfortunately, districts have little or no guidance to help them develop these policies.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the National School Lunch Program, affirms that school nutrition programs are not required to provide a complimentary meal to a child unable to pay and says developing charge policies is a matter of local discretion.
As a result, a patchwork of complex policies has been implemented across the nation. Some individual schools allow meal charges; others offer different kinds of alternate meals. Various strategies are used to collect unpaid bills, ranging from calling and emailing parents, sending notes home with students, working with principals to enforce repayment, and even contracting with collections agencies when debts get out of hand. It’s no wonder that parents, administrators, and even cafeteria employees get confused.
More Opinion
The process of developing these policies stirs dissent in communities. Everyone wants children to have access to healthy meals, but financial realities often force meal-program operators and administrators to make tough, unpopular choices.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required the USDA to examine current policies and practices pertaining to unpaid meal charges and report on the feasibility of establishing national standards on meal charges and alternate meals. The law also allows the USDA to proceed with implementing the standards. The School Nutrition Association is committed to working with the USDA to advance this effort so school districts get guidance on how to manage the problem.
In the meantime, as schools and families continue to grapple with this difficult issue, parents, teachers, school administrators, and school nutrition professionals need to work together to address the unpaid-meal problem. School communities should focus on enrolling all eligible families in the free and reduced-price program and identifying a compassionate and fair way to handle meal charges for students who are not eligible but whose families are still struggling in this tough economy.
The process starts by acknowledging the importance of school meal programs to the success of all students, and by recognizing that everyone involved in the discussion has the best interest of students in mind. Working to protect the financial stability of school meal programs will help ensure students have access to healthy, well-balanced school meals that contribute to achievement.
Vol. 33, Issue 23, Pages 21, 24
Published in Print: March 5, 2014, as When Students Can’t Pay for School Lunch, Everyone Loses
Related Stories “Cafeteria Incident Renews Debate on School Lunch Debt,” February 13, 2014.
Related Opinion "Give Every Child a Free Breakfast," (John Wilson Unleashed Blog) March 5, 2013.
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Back to TopObama seizes on flukish jobs report to defend right-wing policies
By Barry Grey
6 October 2012
The US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls registered a tepid net gain of 114,000 jobs in September. The figure was lower than those for July and August and below the 125,000-150,000 monthly increase needed just to keep pace with population growth.
However, the BLS simultaneously reported that the nation’s unemployment rate dropped from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September, ending 44 straight months in which the official jobless rate was 8 percent or higher and bringing the rate down to the level that prevailed when Obama took office in January of 2009.
The Obama administration seized on the jobless rate figure to declare that its economic policies were working. At a campaign rally at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, President Obama said |
. But the heart needs other organs as well. Or you can compare it to the heart wood of a tree. The heart wood, if it doesn't have bark, and soft wood and leaves and branches, is dead. There's a lot of the little things that we tend to overlook. They contribute to the practice. There's willingness to give. If you don't have material things, give of your knowledge, give of your time, give of your energy. You look around for opportunities to give. Don't wait for them to be forced on you. That's the true nature of generosity.
We've got this problem in the West where there are certain events and certain situations where you have to give. You get to invited to a wedding, you've got to send a gift. Christmas cards, you've got to give a gift, lots of gifts. And the little spontaneous acts of generosity, those tend to be forgotten. But those are the ones that really do show a generous spirit. Where you see a lack, and you have the opportunity to fill that lack. That's an important lesson. And it's a way in which we become sensitive to one another. We all become sensitive to one another this way. This is something that's really lacking, especially now, as computers are taking over people's lives. People grow up with computers and don't grow up with people anymore. They're more comfortable looking on a screen. You, we see this all over the world now. It's not just here in America. I was recently in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. You see groups of people sitting around, and they are all staring at their little screens. And they're not learning the lessons that come from looking at the people around you, looking at their expressions, listening to their tone of voice, seeing what they are doing and casting around in mind to ask yourself: "What do they need? What are they lacking? Is there something I've got that they could have?"
It's how we reestablish human contact, but we also reestablish a kind of sensitivity within ourselves. Cause there's willingness to on one hand be generous and on the other hand knowing how to look after the gifts that other people do give you, learning how to appreciate them, learning how to care for them, if they are material objects, learning how to be gracious and accepting other people's help. These are the habits that are really helpful as you meditate. Cause it develops sensitivity, and that is what discernment is all about. Sensing things that are not pointed out to you. The Buddha gives you lessons on where to look, and tells you what to look for. But for you to see the actual movements of your own mind you have got to be very sensitive, often in unexpected ways. And that quality of sensitivity is best developed through generosity, through virtue and all the standard parts of the path.
Then reading up on Dharma and Vinaya. The Vinaya is not there just for the monks, as Ajaan Suwat once said. It's there for everybody. That is, when laypeople come and deal with the monks they've got to learn about the monks' Vinaya, to have a sense of what the monks can do and of what the monks can't do. And that way they look for ways of being of help. That sensitizes them to other people's needs. And they start looking at their own needs in a different way. So this principle of generosity is an important foundation for wisdom. Whether it's learning how to be generous, learning how to accept generosity, learning how to take care of other people's generosity. Not just in terms of things, but also in terms of things they do for you. That kind of sensitivity then gets turned into your own sensitivity into yourself, what the mind is doing, what it needs, where and when it needs it. Cause the most satisfying acts of generosity are the ones that are unexpected. You see an unexpected gap and you've discovered in an unexpected way that you've got the means to fill in that gap. That's the talent that you need to be a good meditator.
So all of these aspects, when you think of the teachings the Buddha gave to Gotami, they boil down to three pricniples. One is: What you're aiming at as you go on in life. Two: What you're doing to develop your mind in that direction. And three: How your relationship with other people relates to that as well. Not getting entangled, being unburdensome, learning to be content. These things all interpenetrate. And if you miss one of the dimensions the others are gonna suffer. There we see other people who are just generous and don't meditate, and we see what's lacking there. Or the same problem is there with people who just meditate, and they don't really understand generosity. For the practice to be successful has to be complete. It's an all around practice. That helps you develop an all around sensitivity. So that eventually you can see things you never saw before, and realize things you never realized before and attain things you never attained before. These things really do make a difference.By T. Mack
Television shows come and go. Some overstay their welcome—I’m looking at you, Season 9 of Scrubs—and others are far too fleeting. One show that falls into the latter category is Firefly. This show, helmed by Joss Whedon (whom we love) and mishandled by FOX, had only 14 episodes in 2002. Yet, more than a decade later, the geek community still loves and actively embraces the characters, stories and culture of the show. Here are ten reason why…
1. It’s a Space Western!
Firefly gave us all the swagger and classic cowboy appeal of a western, but dumped it all in space to satisfy our yearning for futuristic science fiction. What’s not to love here? There are shootouts and advanced technology, cattle herding and planet hopping, trains and space ships! Seriously. It’s awesome!
Malcolm Reynolds is my very favorite cowboy without a hat. I think he might just be yours, too, after you see this. (By the way, the honor of my favorite cowboy with a hat goes to Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in Justified. Just in case you were wondering.)
2. All the Characters
It’s difficult to talk about these amazing characters in a grouping. Each one deserves its own “10 Reasons” and I’ve added that to my to-do list. But for the moment, we’ll lump them all together and mention the fact that each of them is dynamic, colorful and entertaining. Each one has many sides of their personality to be explored. Each communicates in a different and intriguing way from the others. They all have hopes, regrets and secrets. Every single one of them has something they’re running from or towards and it’s exciting to be on the journey with them. Everyone who watches this show tries to decide who their favorite character is and can’t always narrow it down to just one. However, each and every Browncoat (fans of this show) knows which character they’d want to be. For me, it’s Zoe, hands down! She is bad-ass. She is fierce. She is loyal, she can fight and she’s got a man who’s crazy about her. On top of all that, her priorities are in the right place and she’s got a quick and sarcastic wit that resonates with me. Most characters don’t manage to have it all, but this girl does. And I love her for it!
Do you want to know a fun game to play with these characters? Take any three character titles and plug them into either a sitcom title or the first line of a joke. Then try to decide what the show is about or make up the rest of the joke. For example: “Coming this Fall to FOX, The Captain, The Mercenary & The Mechanic. Life on the high seas just got more exciting!” Or try this one: “A prostitute, a surgeon and a preacher walk into a bar…” See what I mean? Hours of fun!
3. The Stellar Cast
Now that we’ve discussed the characters, let’s talk about the phenomenal cast of actors and actresses who play them. This cast does not have a weakest link. Nathan Fillion plays Captain Malcolm Reynolds with humor, depth and a deep, deep well of sexiness I just can’t even talk about without blushing a little. The way the character walks and talks is unforgettable. Gina Torres is completely bad-ass as Zoe, the ship’s second in command. She has a presence that cannot be ignored while she is on screen. She does a wonderful job of portraying Zoe’s fierceness and loyalty, as well as the perfect balance between her hardness and softness. Summer Glau’s portrayal as River is nothing short of legendary. She breaks our hearts as the broken little girl but makes us cheer as a graceful, brilliant and slightly-inhuman death machine. Adam Baldwin is hilarious as the dim and merciless Jayne. Alan Tudyk brings a joyfulness to the entire enterprise as Wash. Jewel Staite is sweet and lovable as the country girl, Kaylee. As a matter of fact, she was so lovable in this role that there is a scene in one episode where Nathan Fillion wraps his arms around her in an embrace that was neither part of the script nor rehearsed. I feel sure that she was just so cute he couldn’t help himself. Sean Maher is so great as the uptight Simon that you are inclined to believe the actor actually placed a stick up his butt before the cameras started rolling. Morena Baccarin is beautiful as Inara and makes you truly believe that prostitution is not only a dignified, but honored profession (more on that later). Ron Glass plays the role of wise, faithful, old black man so well that Morgan Freeman would be proud.
In the countless times I’ve watched this show, I’ve never been pulled out of any moment by something any of the actors did or said. I’ve never gotten a glimpse of another character they’ve played or stopped to think of them as the actor rather than the character. And that is the mark of great acting. When you love the actor, but look at them in a role and see only the character, that actor has done their job. These actors and actresses definitely accomplished that goal.
4. The Ship
Unlike Joss Whedon’s previous shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel, this one is not named for one of the main characters. This time, it’s all about the ship; what happens to her, in her and because of her to the people who call her home. Her name, by the way, is Serenity. She is a Firefly-class transport ship. As Mal says, “She won’t be winning any beauty contests anytime soon, but she is solid. Ship like this, be with you ’til the day you die.”
Serenity becomes a character in Firefly. With her rust and stairs and dark hallways and nooks and crannies that serve as bedrooms for the crew and passengers, she manages to find her way into your heart. By the time the movie comes around, it makes sense for it to be called by her name.
5. The Theme Song
“The Ballad of Serenity,” performed by Sonny Rhodes, is the haunting and beautiful theme song to both the show, Firefly and the movie, Serenity, which gives closure to the show’s characters. The music includes a phenomenal mix of banjo, guitar and violin that somehow manages to be slow and soft, yet catchy in a way that makes you want to dance. The lyrics add to the magic with their air of determination, defiance and grit. Usually, when binge-watching a show, I eventually get to a point of skipping the opening, but Firefly is my exception. “The Ballad of Serenity” is worth listening to every time.
The lyrics, by the way, go as follows: Take my love / Take my land / Take me where I cannot stand / I don’t care / I’m still free /You can’t take the sky from me … Take me out to the black / Tell em I ain’t comin’ back /Burn the land /And boil the sea / You can’t take the sky from me … There’s no place I can’t be / Since I found Serenity / You can’t take the sky from me
6. The Dialogue & Humor
Like just about everything from Joss Whedon, Firefly includes smart characters who talk fast, make great use of sarcasm and are hilarious. Even when the situation is dire, the characters bring laughter. There are some occasional jokes and humor born of physical means, but there is no actual slapstick in this show.
The dialogue is witty and funny, but also real. Each character has their own dialect that is distinct and uniquely theirs. These people come from all over “The Verse” and Whedon remembered to make them sound like it. It’s enjoyable to listen to the characters interact, to hear how each of them forms their thoughts and words. And it’s great to get to laugh with–and often at–them.
7. The Prostitution
Joss Whedon certainly knows how to turn things on their head. On this show, the world’s oldest profession has become one of the most respectable in “the Verse.” Prostitutes are “Companions.” Not only is their trade legal, but they are considered revered guests in high society. Inara, the Companion living aboard Serenity, is actually the crew member who offers legitimacy to the ship and makes it possible for them to go places they might not have access otherwise. Acting as Inara’s ride means that the Firefly crew can dock and do their shady dealings without nearly as much suspicion. After all, they have a certified Companion on board. She is a dignitary, respected and revered due to the fact that she is trained in the art of seduction and sells sex for a living.
It’s not even a huge deal for most of the characters. Yes, it comes up and yes, it is discussed but the only person who really seems to have a problem with it is Mal. And, really, one suspects that’s mostly just jealousy.
8. The Comics
Another great thing about being a fan of Joss Whedon is the fact that your favorite Whedon show is likely to live on in comic book form long after new episodes have stopped gracing the airways. Firefly is one such series. Dark Horse comics offers a series called Serenity that bridges the gap in story between the television series and it’s movie sequel.
In 2014, the first series of comics was released that continued the story past the end of Serenity the movie. Picking up about 8 months after after the movie’s end, it offers new insights into where the lives of the crew headed and the changes in relationships following the events of the film. If you love these characters and wish there was more to the Firefly universe, I suggest checking out these titles.
9. The Horror
Reavers. I’m tempted to have this entire entry be simply that one word. But I realize that is not fair to those who have yet to experience Firefly. So to those individuals, let me say that I cannot tell you what is terrifying about Reavers. This is a nice place, a safe space and I just don’t have it in me to put their horrors into words here on this page.
However, I will tell you that the most horrible depravities of human existence are represented in the Reavers. The characters of the show will kill themselves before being captured by Reavers and kill others as a mercy if Reavers get their hands on them. It. Is. That. Serious.
10. The Movie
When FOX unwisely misused and abused Firefly by airing episodes out of order and cancelling the show before all 14 episodes were allowed to air, it was a blow for the fans. However, geeks can be seriously loyal and we fight for our obsessions. Due to this overzealous fan loyalty which included ad and fundraising campaigns as well as continued requests to bring back the show, Whedon was able to partner with Universal Pictures to release a movie, titled Serenity. The film brought back the original cast and created closure for the characters and the fans. While obviously not able to cover all the depth, story and ideas that Whedon had planned for a seven-season run of the show, the movie was at least able to clear up a couple of big mysteries that were left hanging after the show ended. Like its television predecessor, the movie under-performed during its original (big-screen) release. And just like before, DVD sales made the dollars that represented the fans true love of the material.
Whedon learned from his experience with Firefly. With his 2009-2010 show, Dollhouse, he didn’t wait for cancellation to steal the ending from him. For that show, he built a flash-forward conclusion into the end of both seasons so the fans wouldn’t be left hanging and a movie would not be necessary. While this kind of treatment may or may not have worked for Firefly, I’m okay with having the movie. Both it and the complete series now sit on my shelf, a featured part of my DVD collection and a source of much pride for this Sister Geek.
Do you love Firefly and Serenity? What reasons did I leave out of my list? Tell us in the comments below.Let's start with the House and Senate parties. House Republicans have veered dramatically to the right in recent years, driven in part by the aggressively right-wing views, suspicion of leadership, and iconoclasm of many in the recent freshman classes. I have written before about the significant differences between House and Senate Republican approaches, reflected especially sharply in the "fiscal-cliff" vote several months ago. The last-minute deal created by Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell, which allowed taxes on the wealthy to return to pre-Bush levels, got 89 votes in the Senate, including all but five Republicans. But almost two thirds of House Republicans voted nay.
In part through redistricting, in part because of the "big sort," with Americans increasingly congregating in areas where they are surrounded by like-minded individuals, more and more House Republicans represent homogenous districts that tilt Republican. In the modern media age, their constituents get information from the same talk-radio and cable-television sources, and these modern media reinforcements tilt sharply right. For many of the lawmakers, they themselves believe what their constituents believe. For others, the consequences of voting in a different way are clear.
Although the Senate Republican Conference has some extreme ideologues, it has a much smaller share than its House counterpart. Why? Lots of states have significant heterogeneity, in partisanship, ideology, race, and ethnicity; statewide elections in more-competitive states create plenty of incentives to seek common ground or to appeal to a wider range of voters. True, the obduracy of Senate Republicans under McConnell -- the willingness to sabotage anything that might benefit President Obama and to use filibusters in unprecedented ways -- does not make the Senate GOP a bedrock of compromise and problem-solving zeal. But on issues ranging from immigration to farm policy to deficits and debt, pragmatism is far more prevalent in the Senate Republican Party than it is in the House.
What about the presidential party? It should be more like the Senate, but the nature both of the ideological media wind machine and of the primary and caucus process have moved it sharply to the right as well. The shrill, over-the-top op-ed written by presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal recently in Politico is telling. So is Marco Rubio's willingness to consider carrying the water of antiabortion forces to promote a Senate bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks.
Now come the other two parties. The House votes on the fiscal cliff, aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy, and the Violence Against Women Act showed a fascinating regional pattern. Of the 151 GOP nay votes on the fiscal cliff, 82 came from Deep South Republicans -- 87 percent of all the Southerners, compared with 47 percent of the non-Southerners. (Border South Republicans are a lot like the deep Southerners.) Of the 67 nay votes on Sandy, 31 came from Southerners. And of the 138 Republican nay votes on VAWA, 79 came from Southerners. Southern Republicans as a whole, not just those in the House, reflect a distinctly different political framework, culture, and attitude than others. If one looks at the loony statements made by political figures over the past couple of years, some may come from the likes of Michele Bachmann and Steve King, but more come from Southern GOPers like Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and assorted state legislators and party chairs.Who Are The Real “Victims” Here? On Trigger Warnings, Defensiveness, and Anti-PC Hysteria
Emily Pothast Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 26, 2016
Belladonna of Sadness (movie poster)
Last night I saw Belladonna of Sadness at Northwest Film Forum in Seattle. The movie is a surreal, psychedelic take on the dynamics of heterosexual eroticism set in medieval France, animated in 1970s Japan. I found a lot to recommend it, as a formally striking film that foregrounds a complex female character and its portrayal of witchcraft as a survival-driven rebellion of a patriarchal order, but due to its frank (albeit highly sympathetic) depiction of coercive sex and outright rape, I can definitely see why some other women might choose to skip it.
(Another case could be made that the intensity of the rape scenes allows male viewers to empathize with the woman whose experience the movie chronicles, feeling a kind of helplessness they might not otherwise have access to, but that’s not the point I’m interested in making here.)
The main thing I want to talk about right now is how judiciously trigger warnings were used before the film. In her brief introduction, Northwest Film Forum director Courtney Sheehan made reference to the erotic complexities of the film. “Are we supposed to be turned on by this? Or horrified? Both are true, at different times.” Her insightful words, along with a brief on-screen introduction from Violet Lucca, digital editor of Film Comment Magazine, gave fair warning of the kind of content we were about to encounter.
As a woman who is lucky enough not to be triggered by much in the way of sexual violence and yet strives to understand the complexities of the experiences of other women and marginalized people, I found these warnings to be highly humane, effective, and welcome. A trigger warning is not the same thing as censorship. On the contrary, the warning made the film accessible to an even broader audience than it might have otherwise been.
In a recent interview with Buzzfeed about her new book ‘Shrill,’ Lindy West said of internet harassment culture, “It’s the same conversation we’re having about political correctness and coddled co-eds.” The world is full of people who, because they are lucky enough not to need them, don’t fully understand the purpose of trigger warnings, but rather than trying to listen to those who do, become outraged and defensive at their mere mention.
The anti-PC hysteria in the US today is coming from a place of intense emotion, not the “reason” it claims to deify. It is coming from a place of wanting to shut down conversations, not the “free speech” it hypocritically touts. We can speculate forever about what motivates people to fall in line with avowed racists and misogynists like Donald Trump and cultural currents like GamerGate, but I would submit that the motivation for this defensiveness, at its core, is sheer, unadulterated terror. Even the slightest glimpse of the terror that many women face every day is intolerable because it is so much more horrifying than anything most of us would prefer to imagine, given the ability to opt out. (This ability to opt out is known in social justice parlance as “privilege,” but for reasons related to the impulse to opt-out in the first place, that word is highly triggering to many who possess it.)
Our culture despises anything we perceive of as “vulnerability,” “weakness” and “victimhood” because we categorize these experiences as “feminine,” but where is the true weakness here? On the part of survivors and feminists developing tools to help everyone navigate the world with more openness, curiosity and understanding? Or on the part of a fragile ego which is triggered into a sputtering, adolescent rage upon being exposed to ideas like “privilege” and “rape culture”?
Upon closer examination, it would certainly seem that when it comes to internet harassment culture and trigger warnings, the true “coddling” in this situation is the coddling of the consciousness that lashes out in denial of the suffering of others.“What do you expect when you target the President?” This is what an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent allegedly said to the head of a conservative organization that was being audited after calling for the impeachment of then-President Clinton. Recent revelations that IRS agents gave “special scrutiny” to organizations opposed to the current administration’s policies suggest that many in the IRS still believe harassing the President’s opponents is part of their job.
As troubling as these recent reports are, it would be a grave mistake to think that IRS harassment of opponents of the incumbent President is a modern, or a partisan, phenomenon. As scholar Burton Folsom pointed out in his book New Deal or Raw Deal, IRS agents in the 1930s were essentially “hit squads” against opponents of the New Deal. It is well-known that the administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson used the IRS to silence their critics. One of the articles of impeachment drawn up against Richard Nixon dealt with his use of the IRS to harass his political enemies. Allegations of IRS abuses were common during the Clinton administration, and just this week some of the current administration’s defenders recalled that antiwar and progressive groups alleged harassment by the IRS during the Bush presidency.
The bipartisan tradition of using the IRS as a tool to harass political opponents suggests that the problem is deeper than just a few “rogue” IRS agents – or even corruption within one, two, three or many administrations. Instead, the problem lays in the extraordinary power the tax system grants the IRS.
The IRS routinely obtains information about how we earn a living, what investments we make, what we spend on ourselves and our families, and even what charitable and religious organizations we support. Starting next year, the IRS will be collecting personally identifiable health insurance information in order to ensure we are complying with Obamacare’s mandates.
The current tax laws even give the IRS power to marginalize any educational, political, or even religious organizations whose goals, beliefs, and values are not favored by the current regime by denying those organizations “tax-free” status. This is the root of the latest scandal involving the IRS.
Considering the type of power the IRS excises over the American people, and the propensity of those who hold power to violate liberty, it is surprising we do not hear about more cases of politically-motivated IRS harassment. As the first US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall said, “The power to tax is the power to destroy” – and who better to destroy than one’s political enemies?
The US flourished for over 120 years without an income tax, and our liberty and prosperity will only benefit from getting rid of the current tax system. The federal government will get along just fine without its immoral claim on the fruits of our labor, particularly if the elimination of federal income taxes are accompanied by serious reduction in all areas of spending, starting with the military spending beloved by so many who claim to be opponents of high taxes and big government.
While it is important for Congress to investigate the most recent scandal and ensure all involved are held accountable, we cannot pretend that the problem is a few bad actors. The very purpose of the IRS is to transfer wealth from one group to another while violating our liberties in the process. Thus the only way Congress can protect our freedoms is to repeal the income tax and shutter the doors of the IRS once and for all.
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The Best of Ron PaulI don’t know. I don’t watch women’s college sports, and thus have no opinion.
But Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post has one. She sees a problem:
The data shows that since...2012, female athletes have become more anxious, more prone to depression, less adult and more insecure than ever before. What is up with that? According to a 2016 NCAA survey, 76 percent of all Division I female athletes said they would like to go home to their moms and dads more often, and 64 percent said they communicate with their parents at least once a day, a number that rises to 73 percent among women’s basketball players. And nearly a third reported feeling overwhelmed.
Naturally, these numbers are thought to reflect a larger trend among all college students. Since 2012, there has been a pronounced spike in mental health issues on campuses, with nearly 58 percent of students reporting anxiety, and 35 percent experiencing depression, according to annual freshmen surveys and other assessments.
According to Jenkins, social psychologists attribute this development “at least in part to a culture of hovering parental-involvement, participation trophies and constant connectivity via smartphones and social media, which has not made adolescents more secure and independent, but less.” To this mix, Jenkins adds the preoccupation of college students with “safety,” including “emotional safety.”
The left, of course, has exploited this concern, using it as a pretext to “protect” students from views they disagree, or are supposed to disagree, with. The cycle is a vicious one because the more that students are encouraged to feel harmed by the expression of non-conforming views, the more fragile and insecure they become.
At the same time, students feel entitled to success. Citing survey data, Jenkins reports:
Nearly 60 percent of high school students say they expect to get a graduate degree — when just 9 to 10 percent actually will. And 47 percent of Division I women’s basketball players think it’s at least “somewhat likely” they will play professional or Olympic ball...[T]he reality? The WNBA drafts just 36 players, 0.9 percent.
It falls to college coaches to deal with female athletes who are, simultaneously, fragile and overconfident. It’s up to the coach to provide realistic assessments of his or her players and to award playing time accordingly. This has never been easy. In the environment described by Jenkins, it is perilous:
In women’s sports especially, there has been an ugly surge in complaints of “verbal abuse,” with investigations at more than a dozen programs between 2010 and 2016. In some cases, coaches were relieved for legitimate cause. But in others, decorated coaches were suspended, were fired or resigned even though there was no evidence of mistreatment. At Nebraska, Connie Yori was the 2010 coach of the year and took the Cornhuskers to a Big 12 regular season title, a Big Ten tournament title and seven NCAA tournaments in 14 years, before she quit last season in the wake of complaints that she was “overly critical” of players and made them weigh themselves.
(Emphasis added)
The upshot is something akin to panic in the ranks of women’s basketball coaches:
Talk to coaches, and they will tell you they believe their players are harder to teach, and to reach, and that disciplining is beginning to feel professionally dangerous.... Coaches are so concerned about this that at the annual Women’s Basketball Coaches Association spring meeting they brought in no fewer than three speakers to address it. Youth-motivator Tim Elmore lectured on “Understanding Generation iY.” And a pair of doctors discussed “Promoting Mental Health Strategies and Awareness.”
But all the lectures by all the psychologists and “youth-motivators” in the world can’t get around this reality, with which Jenkins concludes her outstanding article:
Coaches can’t afford to feel sorry for players; they are there to stop them from feeling sorry for themselves.
Coaches who accomplish this in today’s college milieu are best educators on campus.Israel's announcement came two days before extremist Jewish settlers torched a Palestinian home, killing an infant and seriously injuring two other family members.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans for the "immediate" construction of 300 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El and more than 500 additional units in annexed East Jerusalem.
The reported demolition of more Palestinian homes comes shortly after the Israeli government approved a special grant of $90 million (340 shekels) to build new Israeli settlements in the West Bank, reported Haaretz on Thursday. The money was earmarked in the 2015-2016 budget for the Defense and Transportation ministries to oversee the "planning and development" of Israeli settlement communities in the occupied West Bank.
Bulldozers razed seven buildings in the West Bank village of al-Aqaba, reported the Jordan River Solidarity Group, an activist and monitoring group. The Palestinian news site Ma'an News Agency also reported the destruction of Palestinian homes in two other villages in the West Bank's Jordan Valley.
Israeli authorities had 18 homes and shops belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank demolished on Wednesday, according to Palestinian news sources, a week after the government announced the construction of hundreds of additional Israeli settlements in occupied territory.
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Israeli authorities had 18 homes and shops belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank demolished on Wednesday, according to Palestinian news sources, a week after the government announced the construction of hundreds of additional Israeli settlements in occupied territory.
Bulldozers razed seven buildings in the West Bank village of al-Aqaba, reported the Jordan River Solidarity Group, an activist and monitoring group. The Palestinian news site Ma'an News Agency also reported the destruction of Palestinian homes in two other villages in the West Bank's Jordan Valley.
This morning,Israel demolished homes in the village of AlAqaba making 18 Palestinians homeless— Lana (@lana_palestine)August 7, 2015
The reported demolition of more Palestinian homes comes shortly after the Israeli government approved a special grant of $90 million (340 shekels) to build new Israeli settlements in the West Bank, reported Haaretz on Thursday. The money was earmarked in the 2015-2016 budget for the Defense and Transportation ministries to oversee the "planning and development" of Israeli settlement communities in the occupied West Bank.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans for the "immediate" construction of 300 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El and more than 500 additional units in annexed East Jerusalem.
Israel's announcement came two days before extremist Jewish settlers torched a Palestinian home, killing an infant and seriously injuring two other family members.
The settler attack provoked outrage amongst Palestinians and the international community alike, with Palestinian leaders holding the Israeli government "fully responsible for the brutal assassination" of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha.
But Netanyahu's vow to fight "hate, fanaticism and terrorism from whatever side" in response to the incident has done little to slow settlement expansion. The Israeli government has destroyed 294 structures and displaced 251 people so far this year, according to the watchdog group Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
In a rare rebuke, the US said they were "deeply concerned" over Israel's decision to build more settlements. "The United States continues to view settlements as illegitimate and we strongly oppose steps to advance construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem," a State Department statement read.
The European Union also condemned Israel's settlement expansion, saying in a statement that it "calls into question the Israeli government's stated commitment to a negotiated two-state solution in the Middle East Peace Process."
"We urge the government of Israel to urgently reverse recent decisions and put an end to settlement expansion," the EU added.
There are currently more than half a million Israeli settlers — or four percent of the electorate — in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as reported in the Times of Israel, with more than half described as "ultra-Orthodox" or "national religious." The Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza is approximately four million, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, with some 40 percent under the age of 14.
Much of the international community considers settlements to be illegal under international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from settling its own civilians in territory captured during war and occupied by its military.
In a 2013 report, the United Nations described Israel's settlement project as a "creeping annexation" on Palestinians' land and a violation of Palestinians' rights.Looking for news you can trust?
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In the course of clearing her throat for an attack on Rick Perry Tuesday night, Michele Bachmann tossed out this now-standard bit of conservative boilerplate:
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan produced an economic miracle…
It’s probably hopeless to take on the Reagan economic myth at this late date, but honestly, it’s long past time to put it to rest. The truth about the ’80s is far more prosaic: In 1979, Jimmy Carter appointed Paul Volcker chairman of the Federal Reserve. Inflation was running at about 12 percent when he took office, and Volcker immediately slammed on the monetary brakes in order to bring it down. Whether he was targeting interest rates or monetary aggregates remains a bit murky, but it hardly matters. In the end, he engineered one minor recession in 1980, and when that didn’t do the trick, he tightened Fed policy even more and threw the economy into a second recession—this one extraordinarily deep and painful—which he maintained until 1982. When he let up, the economy recovered. Reagan had very little to do with it.
But that’s not all. If you’re looking for other reasons that the 1980s were boom years, No. 2 would be oil prices. The American economy is highly sensitive to oil prices, and after peaking at around $100 per barrel during the Iranian revolution (in inflation adjusted terms), oil prices steadily dropped, falling below $30 in 1986 (again, in inflation adjusted terms). This was largely due to (a) reduced demand thanks to the recession; (b) reduced demand thanks to CAFE standards and other conservation/efficiency improvements that followed the oil shocks of the ’70s; (c) increased oil supply from Prudhoe Bay, which peaked in the early ’80s; and (d) increased oil supply thanks to a Jimmy Carter executive order ending price controls on oil. Again, Ronald Reagan had very little to do with it.
What else? Well there was enormous deficit spending in the early ’80s that wasn’t offset by Fed action, and that probably stimulated the economy a bit. That was Reagan’s doing, though it’s not something his fans like to boast about today. And there was the Plaza Accord of 1985, which devalued the dollar and helped spur exports. That was also Reagan’s doing, but again, it’s not something his admirers say much about today, since modern tea party orthodoxy insists that this amounts to |
vocally done with China. To be clear, they’re not talking about examples of censorship such as child pornography or pro-Nazi material in Germany and France, which Google believes is justifiable censorship. “While everyone agrees that there are limits to what information should be available online — for example child pornography — many of the new government restrictions we are seeing today not only strike at the heart of an open Internet but also violate Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Google writes.
One other country Google does name as being repressive is Vietnam. “Specifically, we don’t want to engage in political censorship. This is especially true in countries like China and Vietnam that do not have democratic processes through which citizens can challenge censorship mandates. We carefully evaluate whether or not to establish a physical presence in countries where political censorship is likely to happen.” Earlier this month, Google noted that online free speech in Vietnam was under similar cyberattacks to the ones in China.
So which are the 23 other countries restricting access, Google? If you’re going to take a stance, don’t pussyfoot around it.
[photo: flickr/adobemac]Contents show]
Wiki Status Edit
Allegations about Nick led to me, the wiki creator, making this strawpoll, which was left open for a month or two up until November 2017. The community has spoken, and the wiki will stay open. Personal attacks will still be considered vandalism, but proven, or at least well reported and formal information is fine.
This wiki contains spoilers for all episodes of Car Boys.
The CAR BOYS Wiki Edit
A Fan-run wiki for the internet series Car Boys.
“ Nick Robinson and Griffin McElroy dip their toes into BeamNG.drive, a hyperrealistic car destruction simulator, and get a lot more than they bargained for. ” –Episode 1, Description
Car Boys (Stylized CAR BOYS) was a video series (Aug 8 2016 to March 18 2017) on the Polygon YouTube channel created by Nick Robinson and Griffin McElroy. Nick and Griffin went through the world of BeamNG.drive making new friends, enemies, and automobiles. The friends and enemies were almost invariably in the form of said automobiles.
List of all Episodes
The CAR BOYS Playlist on YouTube
Polygon.com
The Polygon channel on Youtube
The CAR BOYS Subreddit
Griffin Mcelroy's channel on YouTubeAn EU document stressing that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state brought a sharp response today from Israel, which claimed Brussels was damaging the prospects of peace talks restarting.
The draft document, to be discussed by EU foreign ministers next week, strongly criticised Israeli policies towards the Palestinians and warned negotiations need to resume urgently to break the "stalemate" in the peace process. Although the EU has long said that Jerusalem's future should be resolved in final status negotiations, the draft appears to be part of a diplomatic effort to strengthen the Palestinians and encourage them to return to talks.
The draft says a future Palestine should be made up of the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. It adds that the EU did not recognise Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem – a position shared by the rest of the international community. "If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the capital of two states," says the draft, which the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz has obtained a copy of.
Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, was singled out for blame by Israel. "The move led by Sweden damages the ability of the European Union to take a role and be a significant factor in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," the Israeli foreign ministry said.
"After the important steps taken by the government of Israel to enable the resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians, the European Union must now exert pressure on the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table. Steps like those being led by Sweden only contribute to the opposite effect."
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has refused to resume negotiations – now frozen for a year – unless Israel halts all construction in settlements, in line with its US roadmap obligations. Israel has refused, offering instead a 10-month partial freeze but insisting it will continue to build inside East Jerusalem settlements and on 3,000 homes and all public buildings in West Bank settlements.
Abbas has threatened not to run in the next presidential election, apparently out of frustration with a lack of progress and of US support. Diplomats, and most senior Palestinian leaders, want him to stay.
The document – which comes ahead of a meeting on Tuesday of the EU foreign affairs council – insists that the borders of a future Palestinian state must be based on those in 1967, which stood until the six day war, and should only be changed under joint agreement. The draft also talks about recognising Palestinian statehood. This comes at a time when Palestinian leaders have considered a unilateral declaration of independence or attempting to win a UN security council resolution affirming statehood over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
But the wording was careful not to say when such recognition would come. "The council [of the EU] also reiterates its commitment to support further efforts and steps towards Palestinian statehood and to be able, at the appropriate time, to recognise a Palestinian state."
It said settlements, Israel's separation barrier and the demolition of Palestinian houses were "illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible." Israel's long-running economic blockade of Gaza was "unacceptable" under international law and "politically counterproductive."
But there was limited praise for Israel. In the draft the EU says it hopes the 10-month partial settlement freeze "will become a step towards resuming meaningful negotiations" and welcomed Israel's removal of some of its hundreds of checkpoints and obstacles in the West Bank.
Today more Jewish settlers moved into a Palestinian house in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, an area that has become a front line in Israel's settlement project. Several Palestinian houses in the east of the city have been demolished in recent weeks. A UN spokesman described these as "provocative actions" and said they should "cease immediately".Chinese AV vendor 360 has discovered a virus in the wild that makes its home in a computer's BIOS, where it remains hidden from conventional virus scanners. The contaminant, called Mebromi, first checks to see whether the victim's computer uses an Award BIOS. If so, it uses the CBROM command-line tool to hook its extension into the BIOS. The next time the system boots, the BIOS extension adds additional code to the hard drive's master boot record (MBR) in order to infect the winlogon.exe / winnt.exe processes on Windows XP and 2003 / Windows 2000 before Windows boots.
The next time Windows launches, the malicious code downloads a rootkit to prevent the drive's MBR from being cleaned by a virus scanner. But even if the drive is cleaned, the whole infection routine is repeated the next time the BIOS module is booted. Mebromi can also survive a change of hard drive. If the computer doesn't use an Award BIOS, the contaminant simply infects the MBR.
The idea of hooking a malicious routine into the BIOS is not new and offers attackers the advantage of keeping hidden from the virus scanner. In 1999, the CIH virus attempted to manipulate its victim's BIOS, but it had only destructive effects: the BIOS was overwritten, and the computer would no longer boot. In 2009, security researchers presented a scenario in which a rootkit was anchored in the BIOS. But so far, no BIOS contaminant has managed to become widespread, possibly because there are simply too many different motherboards – and therefore too many different ways of flashing the BIOS.
(sno)Research In Motion today announced a pair of new smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930, and a new operating system to run on them: BlackBerry 7 OS. The system software was originally intended as an upgrade to BlackBerry 6 OS which shipped in August last year, and was accordingly designated as version 6.1. However, the changes are so extensive that RIM has bumped the version number—and nixed upgrades for existing users of BlackBerry 6 OS devices.
The handsets are well-specified evolutions of the BlackBerry Bold line. The big change is the screen: both devices sport full VGA (640x480) capacitive touchscreens, a significant upgrade over previous devices with their 480x360 or 480x320 screens. They're thinner—at 10.5 mm, the thinnest BlackBerry smartphones ever—faster, with 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processors, and better-connected, boasting HSPA+ support for so-called 4G networks. The 9900 is a straight GSM/HSPA device; the 9930 is a combination CDMA EV-DO Rev. A/HSPA+ handset. The phones also include new sensors, incorporating both Near Field Communications (NFC) support and a compass.
Software-wise, RIM was touting the further improved browser and BlackBerry Balance. BlackBerry 6 OS provided a substantial upgrade to the browser, ditching RIM's old engine and using WebKit instead. Version 7 has faster JavaScript performance and HTML5 support, including support for the HTML5 video tag.
Balance is a feature designed to allow separation of personal data, including Facebook and Twitter, from corporate data. The phones retain the central manageability that has made BlackBerry so popular in corporations, but also allow personal information, games, and applications to be safely installed and used. The system allows for policies such as selective wiping that destroys corporate data but leaves personal data untouched, and data segregation that prevents corporate data from being sent to personal contacts.
The operating system was originally described as an upgrade to BlackBerry 6 OS, and version 7 is still based on that platform rather than the QNX operating system used in the PlayBook tablet. However, the impact of the new capabilities—in particular the higher screen resolutions and new sensors—has put any upgrade plans to rest. The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 will be available from summer, with BlackBerry 7 OS preinstalled, but old devices won't be getting an update to version 7: the screen resolution and touch capabilities are too fundamental to allow upgrades for older devices.Rep. John Conyers questions witnesses during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in October 2017. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2:15 p.m.: This post has been updated with a statement from Conyers acknowledging the settlement and responding to the allegations and clarifying his initial denial.
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2:45 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from Nancy Pelosi.
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 21, 5:25 p.m.: This post has been updated with information about the House Ethics Committee investigation.
The House Ethics Committee has said it has opened an investigation into sexual harassment complaints against Rep. John Conyers, according to the Associated Press. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement earlier Tuesday the committee should investigate “any credible allegation of sexual harassment” by Conyers, according to the AP.
Conyers acknowledged Tuesday that he settled the sexual harassment complaints with a former staffer but denied the allegations of sexual harassment after BuzzFeed News reported Monday night on the 2015 settlement and allegations of sexual misconduct from several female staff members.
“I have long been and continue to be a fierce advocate for equality in the workplace and I fully support the rights of employees who believe they have been harassed or discriminated against to assert claims against their employers,” Conyers wrote in a statement released Tuesday. “That said, it is important to recognize that the mere making of an allegation does not mean it is true. … In this case, I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so. My office resolved the allegations — with an express denial of liability — in order to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation.”
Conyers originally said Tuesday morning that he knew nothing of the claims, according to the Associated Press. He told the AP that he had “been looking at these things with amazement” in reference to recent sexual harassment allegations against lawmakers. BuzzFeed responded that a “person involved in the case” said the complaints reached the point in the process in which Conyers became aware of their existence.
In a later statement, a Conyers spokesperson explained the congressman’s response to the AP by saying “Conyers was under the impression the reporter was speaking of recent allegations of which he was unaware and denied.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan called the original Buzzfeed report “extremely troubling” and said in a statement “people who work in the House deserve and are entitled to a workplace without harassment or discrimination.” Ryan said he asked last month for a “review of all policies and procedures related to workplace harassment and discrimination.”
BuzzFeed’s report on the allegations against Conyers included a former employee who accused Conyers of firing her when she refused his advances. These allegations are contained in a 2015 wrongful dismissal complaint.
Documents from the complaint obtained by BuzzFeed News include four signed affidavits, three of which are notarized, from former staff members who allege that Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, repeatedly made sexual advances to female staff that included requests for sexual favors, contacting and transporting other women with whom they believed Conyers was having affairs, caressing their hands sexually, and rubbing their legs and backs in public. Four people involved with the case verified the documents are authentic.
The female staffers allege that Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, indicated that “the performing of personal service or favors” would advance their careers or lead to increased pay.
The woman who says she was fired for refusing Conyers’ advances filed her complaint with the Office of Compliance in 2014, alleging that Conyers asked her for sexual favors repeatedly and would frequently request that she join him in a hotel room. She alleged he asked her to work from his room and then told her to touch his genitals, and that another time he allegedly told her to stay in his room and “cuddle up with me and caress me before you go,” according to BuzzFeed. A settlement was reached in 2015, and Conyers’ office—through a taxpayer funded budget—payed the woman more than $27,000 over three months. Buzzfeed reported that Conyers did not admit guilt as part of the settlement, and he did not respond to BuzzFeed’s request for comment.
BuzzFeed’s story also drew attention to the process by which congressional employees report sexual harassment, noting that staffers might have to continue to work with or under their harassers for months, and that victims must pay for representation but accused harassers, who are represented by the House’s counsel, do not. The unnamed former employee told BuzzFeed she felt that the process, which involves counseling, mediation, a waiting period, and a confidentiality agreement, had made her feel she had no option but to settle and stay quiet about the allegations.
In its report, BuzzFeed says it obtained the documents from Mike Cernovich, the mens’ rights activist, troll, and right-wing conspiracy theorist who promoted the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which eventually led to a man shooting up a pizza joint in Washington D.C. BuzzFeed then independently verified the authenticity of the documents.The European Union, which supervises the implementation of the landmark July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, says all parties to the agreement remain committed to its implementation.
Catherine Ray, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said on Thursday that the EU was on the opinion that all the seven parties to the agreement had implemented their commitments and would do so in the future.
“So far we consider that all parties have been implementing their commitments under the deal,” said Ray during a press briefing in Brussels, adding, “We expect their continued adherence.”
The official made the remarks when asked to comment on Iran’s statements that Washington had effectively violated the deal by imposing fresh sanctions on the country.
Iran maintains that the United States and five other parties to the deal should refrain from renewing or imposing sanctions on Iran during the time of the agreement which spans for more than 10 years. The six world powers, namely the US, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France, have promised under the deal to ease pressure on Iran in return for the country to scale back its nuclear program.
On Wednesday, US president Donald Trump officially signed the bill that imposes new sanctions on Iran allegedly over the country's missile program. The controversial package of measures, already adopted in the US Congress, also imposes tough bans on Russia and North Korea.
Ray said the EU’s conclusion that Iran deal remained sound was based on the results of a meeting on July 21 in Vienna, where parties to the deal discussed its implementation. She said the meeting chaired by Mogherini also allowed a discussion on the effects of US sanctions on the implementation of the nuclear agreement, adding that the Iranian view was also heard in the meeting.
Senior EU diplomat Helga Schmid (C-L), Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (C-R) and senior diplomats from six major powers meet in Vienna, Austria on April 25, 2017 for a regular quarterly meeting to review adherence to their 2015 nuclear deal. (AFP photo)
Mogherini's office said at the time in a statement that participants in the meeting confirmed their continued adherence to the deal and "stressed the need to ensure its full and effective implementation in a constructive atmosphere."
Mogherini will travel to Tehran on Saturday to attend a ceremony marking the beginning of the second term of President Hassan Rouhani. Iranian officials, who have unanimously designated the US sanctions as a violation of the nuclear agreement, are expected to raise the issue during their meetings with the top EU diplomat.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
WEST POINT, Utah - A 15-year-old accused of stabbing his two brothers to death made an appearance in juvenile court Friday and now has a court-appointed lawyer.
It's the latest development in a crime that has stunned the small town of West Point. It's unclear what statements the teen made before a juvenile judge but the case has moved forward quickly.
Davis County investigators say they've turned over the case over to the county attorney who will now decide whether to charge a 15-year-old for allegedly stabbing his two younger brothers to death. The charges could come as soon as Tuesday, according to Davis County investigators.
Aaron Martin occasionally played with the suspect and is still trying to come to grips with the loss.
"I knew at school that day. I broke down at school that day," said Martin
Cops say the 15-year-old had blood on his clothes after allegedly murdering his brothers, 4-year-old Ben and 10-year-old Alex. The suspect was one of the family's biological children, the victims were adopted.
"You know he got along with everybody. He wasn't a big talker but I don't think he was so introverted. He didn't involve the other kids. They always played together," said next door neighbor Monica Hall.
If there was tension in the family, neighbors say they didn't see it and the suspect has been described as a model student.
"He was a good kid, their family had great values, he just snapped," said Hall.
Police say the crime was not premeditated. They have an idea of a motive but aren't saying.
With the Davis County Attorney potentially screening charges early next week, "it's up to the judge to determine if he's tried as an adult because he's under the age of 16," said Salt Lake defense attorney Clayton Simms, who's not connected to the West Point case but has defended juvenile suspects.
"Even if he goes to adult court, he can't be given the death penalty," added Simms "The U.S. Supreme Court has said juveniles are not eligible for the death penalty."
The teen's father, who's in the Air Force and stationed in Alabama, has returned to Utah but the family is not making any statements and it's unclear when a funeral will be held.
Related story:
Sheriff: West Point boys stabbed to death, brother in custody
West Point community shocked by stabbing deaths of two boysCalifornia Sea otters on the rise, but shark bites stall range growth Can sea otters survive the recovery of great white sharks?
One hundred decoy sea otters bobbed in the Pacific Ocean, off the California coast and just south of Half Moon Bay. U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologist Tim Tinker and his sea otter research team were practicing aerial counts of the marine mammal as part of a study published in 2014. At the end of this particular count, they came up one short. Tinker found it washed up on some rocks a distance away, with a huge, half-moon bite mark. Somewhere nearby in the Pacific Ocean, a shark had tried it out for a snack, finding plywood and foam instead of blubber.
In a spring survey of threatened California sea otters published in September, Tinker and his team counted a three-year average of 3,272 sea otters, for the first time above the minimum three-year average of 3,000 required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider them healthy enough to delist. But currently, the sea otters are experiencing large-scale ripple effects from a marine ecosystem in flux. They’re getting a boost from an unexpected sea urchin boom, but are also suffering from a huge jump in mortality from great white shark bites, who are also growing in number due to their pinniped food source expanding.
Lilian Carswell/USFWS
“What we seem to have here is an ecosystem of populations that are recovering from different abuses, and are coming back at different rates, ” says Lilian Carswell, U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s southern sea otter recovery and marine conservation coordinator.
Sea otters were hunted almost to extinction for their fur in the 1800s, and gained Endangered Species Act protection in 1977. As an apex predator and keystone species, they help structure and enrich the marine environment around them. Their eating habits are a big part of that: Since sea otters aren’t insulated by blubber, they compensate by having a very fast metabolism, fueled by huge quantities of sea urchins, clams and abalone. The otters control urchin numbers, Carswell says, keeping them from forming what she describes as “roving hordes” on the seafloor, where they attack the holdfasts of kelp, causing the plants to detach and disintegrate. Kelp forests provide breeding and feeding grounds for many marine species and are important sequesters of carbon. Sea otters use the long blades as anchors when napping and to wrap their pups up to keep them from floating off while the adults forage.
Along the coast, California sea otters have reestablished a small part of their historic range that stretched from Baja California to the Pacific Northwest. Lately, a strange trickle effect has boosted their population. Tinker and others hypothesize that sea star wasting disease—proliferated by warming waters—has wiped out huge numbers of sunflower sea stars, a main predator of sea urchins. Tinker describes communities of the unrestrained urchin populations, called urchin barrens, as a purple shag carpet covering the ocean floor. This has given sea otters an extra food source in their central range, one that had previously been at carrying capacity. The unusual bump in sea urchins has been good for this year’s sea otter juveniles, but it’s not expected to last. The expansion of the sea otter population is key for their long-term viability, but it has been hampered by a curious roadblock: Mortality from shark bites at both ends of their range along the coast.
Due to a 1994 California ban on gillnets that killed shark as by-catch and an increase in sharks’ food sources—sea lions and elephant seals—great white sharks are thriving, too. Researchers think that juvenile sharks are conducting “investigation bites,” like the one given to Tinker’s decoy sea otter. The sharks don’t actually eat the sea otters; they give them one bite, and when they don’t find blubber, they swim off. The injured otters usually die, though, and wash back up on shore. “That’s significant because range expansion is part of their recovery and that’s been curtailed by the shark gauntlet,” Tinker says.
At this point, Carswell, Tinker and other researchers are waiting to see what will happen—whether diseases might affect the sea otters or urchins, and if the shark-bite deaths will persist. Tinker remains optimistic that the sea otters will continue their upward trajectory since large-scale killings caused by the fur trade and the use of gill and trammel nets have now been abolished. Because the habitat and food sources are still there, Tinker says, it’s not a matter of if, but rather when and how the otters return.
Anna V. Smith is an editorial intern at High Country News. She tweets @annavtoriasmithMachine-learning point cloud classification
With Pix4Dmapper 4.0 you get machine-learning tools for photogrammetry applications in your hands. It allows you to classify 3D point clouds into categories like buildings, roads or vegetation.
And this is just the beginning of Pix4D’s latest journey.
We believe in the ability of photogrammetry and machine learning techniques to revolutionize today’s workflows and to enable many new ones. In the end, it will allow the conversion of raw image input to 3D reality models with attributed semantic information.
That means, instead of having operators inspecting and measuring 3D reality models manually, they will directly receive automatically-generated answers to questions like:
How many trees are within the project area and at what locations? What is their height and species?
What is the total road surface area in your area of interest?
What is the amount and distribution of roofs that are suitable for solar cell coverage?
How many cars are at your parking lot and at what locations?
Answering these very specific questions will make workflows feasible that allow photogrammetric processing being connected directly to GIS databases to update their vectorized information based on any new drone data collected.
There is still work to be done. Machine learning techniques are as good as the training data that are used to build the classification models. We opted to give our users the tools to control and refine the classification. As a baby learns how to see and interpret its environment gradually as it grows, our machine learning techniques evolve with the training data and the results will model more object categories and become more reliable.
As of today, professionals will use the new machine learning based point classification mainly to automatically generate digital terrain models (DTMs). In the near future, point classification also forms the basis to extract buildings and model them as a semantic composition of geometry elements as roof, facade, windows, doors and balconies for example.
Our growing R&D teams in Lausanne, Berlin and San Francisco are dedicated to this challenge.
– Christoph Strecha, CEO and Founder Pix4DIn December 2011, some homeless youths gathered in a house in Calgary in Canada for a party. One was Alexander Wagar, aged 23, who had recently come out of prison. Another was a 19-year-old woman, Ms A. Also present were Wagar’s brother, and a friend. Much drink was taken, and Wagar was said by some present to have exposed himself while dancing at one point. Then four of them, including Wagar and Ms A, went to the bathroom to smoke some cannabis.
Ms A then intimated to the others and that she and Wagar wished to have sex, so the others politely left the room. What happens next became hotly disputed in a series of court cases. Wagar said he helped Ms A pull down her jeans, and they started having sex, with her sitting on top of a washbasin. They then moved to the shower, where they made out. Wagar’s brother then came into the bathroom, and Ms A told him to ‘fuck off’. Later, Wagar’s brother told others at the party that Ms A was a ‘slut’. Later, Ms A complained to the police that Wagar had raped her. He denied this, saying she was a willing participant in their sexual encounter. She claimed that she had been drunk and was unable to resist. Wagar was charged with rape. The trial came before Judge Robin Camp in September 2014. He sat without a jury. Camp had practised law in South Africa and Botswana between 1979 and 1998, before emigrating to Canada.
During the case, Camp made some unfortunately phrased comments. A number of times, he referred to the complainant Ms A as the ‘accused’ (possibly, he meant to say ‘accuser’?). He also asked her to clarify how the assault happened, given her evidence that her bottom was in the washbasin. ‘Why didn’t you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn’t penetrate you?’, he asked her at one point. Ms A replied, ‘I was drunk’. The judge also asked Ms A, who testified that her jeans were around her ankles: ‘Why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?’ Ms A did not reply at first, then said: ‘I don’t know.’ He said she failed to explain ‘why she allowed the sex to happen if she didn’t want it’. Ms A accepted that she did not resist Wagar, either verbally or physically.
Camp annoyed the prosecution counsel by making the comment, ‘Sex is very often a challenge’. But in ‘he said/she said’ or drunk sex/rape claims, that is a legitimate comment. These difficult scenarios have exercised very many reputable academics and legal practitioners. Camp acquitted the defendant, concluding that he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Ms A did not consent. Wagar’s lawyer argued that she evinced consent by her cooperative conduct. Ms A had told Wagar’s brother the morning after: ‘I didn’t care that [Wagar] did that to me, like I wanted him to do it.’ Camp’s verdict caused an outcry about alleged victim-blaming. Four law professors reported the judge to the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC), complaining of the way he had questioned Ms A. Two of them started a media blitz by penning an attack on him in the Globe and Mail. The Alberta minister for justice and solicitor general followed with a request for a formal inquiry, which forced the CJC to act. Perhaps unwisely, the judge issued a grovelling public apology which, predictably, his critics seized upon as evidence of guilt. In an ominous move, which challenges the independence of the judiciary, Camp was disciplined because of his interpretation of the law: the ‘rape shield’ law which governs what evidence may be adduced of a complainant’s sexual activity with others. Ms A was alleged to have been flirtatious with another person at the party. He was also accused of ‘belittling’ sexual assault, simply because he showed a willingness to question the complainant’s version of events. Even more alarmingly, the judge faced attacks from a horde of activists who were granted intervener status in the inquiry: the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre; the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia; the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women; the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence against Women and Children; the West Coast Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund; the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund Inc (LEAF); Women Against Violence Against Women; and the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic. The CJC’s inquiry has now recommended that Camp be stripped of judicial office. It remains to be seen whether this recommendation will be submitted to the justice minister, and if so, whether Camp will challenge this in court. Only two Canadian judges have been relieved of their office since 1971. The 112-page report on Camp is interesting for its abject deference to feminist ideology. It found Camp guilty of unconscious bias and thoughtcrime, in essence, because he: ‘Made comments or asked questions evidencing an antipathy towards laws designed to protect vulnerable witnesses, promote equality, and bring integrity to sexual-assault trials. We also find that the judge relied on discredited myths and stereotypes about women and victim-blaming during the trial and in his Reasons for Judgement.’© Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Actor Idris Elba speaks on stage after BBC America's 'Luther' screening at The Django at the Roxy Hotel on December 2, 2015 in New York City.
Idris Elba is in early talks to play gunslinger Roland Deschain in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower," with Matthew McConaughey in negotiations to play the villainous Man in Black, multiple individuals familiar with the project have told TheWrap.
Sony Pictures and MRC are co-financing the ambitious feature film, which Nikolaj Arcel will direct from a script by Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner that's primarily based on the first book in King's series, "The Gunslinger." Arcel is currently working with Oscar-winning Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen ("Election Night") to rewrite the script.
Elba had recently been sought to star alongside Tom Cruise in "The Mummy" for Universal but he passed on the project last week. Insiders suggest he was waiting for McConaughey's talks for "The Dark Tower" to progress before entertaining the idea of scaling "The Dark Tower," as the two actors are keen to work together.
McConaughey had been offered the role of Roland several weeks ago but found himself drawn to the Man in Black upon reading the script.
King's book blends horror and fantasy to tell the tale of a gunslinger who has taken up the lifelong quest of locating The Dark Tower - which is the nexus of the universe -- before evil invades and destroys the tower, ending all existence.
"The Dark Tower" has been Imagine Entertainment's baby for many years. Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins are producing for the company along with Goldsman and his Weed Road banner. Pinkner is expected to executive produce with Modi Wiczyk of MRC, which is also developing a companion TV series that's long been part of the adaptation plans.
It's unclear whether the TV component would require the involvement of either Elba or McConaughey, though neither has shied away from juicy roles on the small screen between "Luther" and "True Detective."
Sony chief Tom Rothman has positioned "The Dark Tower" as the start of a global franchise, saying in an earlier statement that "there are few projects out there that compare with the scope, vision, complex characters and fully drawn world that Stephen King has created."
Elba just earned a SAG nomination for his ferocious turn in "Beasts of No Nation" and recently embraced his own dark side to play a villainous character in "Star Trek Beyond." He also voices roles in three upcoming Disney movies -- "The Jungle Book," "Finding Dory" and "Zootopia." He's represented by WME.
Representative for MRC and Elba did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Deadline broke the news of the filmmakers' interest in Elba.Wounded Tiger: A history of cricket in Pakistan Wounded Tiger: A history of cricket in Pakistan
For the unbiased cricket fan, the Pakistani cricketteam has always represented maddening extremes:players of exhilarating talent who could and often didoutclass the world's best, but who were equally capable of losing to anybody in shambolic performances that embarrassed their most die hard supporters. Peter Oborne's magisterial history of Pakistani cricket is full of these heroes who sometimes scored zeroes. The best thing aboutis its delightful pen portraits of the principal Pakistani players, none better than that of Fazal Mahmood, with whom the book begins, and who led the newcomers to their historic Test victory at the Oval in 1954, and the greatest of them all, Hanif Mohammad, who scored a century against India with bandaged and bleeding toes and made 337 in 16 hours to save a Test in the West Indies.
Oborne's book otherwise ploughs somewhat familiar ground for those who have enjoyed Omar Noman's 1998 history, Pride and Passion: An Exhilarating Half Century of Cricket in Pakistan. Noman's was written with the enthusiasm of an amateur (its author, like me, was a United Nations official when he wrote it); Oborne's is that of a professional, meticulously researched and extensively footnoted, and it is more comprehensive, taking in everything from match-fixing to women's cricket, a neglected corner of the Pakistani game.
Every incident and anecdote ever recounted about Pakistani cricket can be found in Oborne's book, which succeeds in being encyclopaedic without being tedious. Still, there's more we might have enjoyed.
He spends a page and a half on "the most famous shot in cricket history", when in the final of the 1986 ustral-Asia Cup in Sharjah, Pakistan, chasing an Indian total of 245 for 7, were poised at 242 for 9 with just one ball to go and centurion Javed Miandad at the crease. India needed just one wicket (or a ball that conceded no more than two runs) to win the match; Pakistan, who apart from Miandad had been outclassed throughout the game, needed a boundary to pull off an unlikely victory. The inexperienced Indian paceman entrusted with the last over, Chetan Sharma, delivered a full toss, which Miandad pulled into the stands for a last-ball six. The stadium erupted, as did television audiences throughout the subcontinent; scenes of delirium shook the packed stands. Miandad finished on 116 not out; the next highest scorer in his side had made 36.
In a footnote, Oborne estimates that this extraordinary moment has been viewed perhaps 10 billion times since, on YouTube. But he omits much else: 36 different songs were composed and released in Pakistan to celebrate Miandad's six, and the batsman was awarded a million dollars for his genius. Pakistan had never before won a one-day tournament, whereas India were holders of the two most prestigious ODI trophies in the world. Miandad's stroke transformed Pakistan's self-belief as a oneday side, energised a nation and entered the folklore of the sport. Oborne doesn't tell us this.
He is also far too brief in describing Pakistan's loss of the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals to India in Bangalore. The reaction in Pakistan was calamitous. A college student emptied his Kalashnikov into his TV set and himself; another fan succumbed to a heart attack. The players' aircraft had to be diverted to Karachi to shield the players from the fury of the crowd that assembled to greet them at their scheduled destination, Lahore. The losing captain, Wasim Akram, received death threats, with some reading dark motives into his failure to play in the crucial encounter (had he played and been too unfit to make an impact, he would have been pilloried as well). A judge admitted a legal suit against the team, hinting darkly at corruption. A senior Islamic cleric |
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India is also poised to join the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) after talks this week between Modi and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.
Both groups would give India greater access to research and technology, but China has so far blocked India´s accession to the NSG.
Mexico supported India’s membership because of Modi’s “commitment to the agenda of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation,” Pena Nieto said.
New Delhi’s bid for full membership, if granted, would tip the balance of power in South Asia against its arch-rival Pakistan, whose own application has been backed by China, despite questions over its proliferation record.
Pena Nieto’s support is a boost for Modi, but he must still win China’s support to seal India’s membership of the non-proliferation body. The NSG holds its annual meeting in South Korea later this month.
“I thank President Pena Nieto for his positive and constructive support for India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” Modi said at the end of a whirlwind week of global diplomacy in which he also won support from Switzerland.
Mexico’s backing represents a historic policy shift for the country, which has held a firm position on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation for decades.
One of Mexico’s crowning diplomatic achievements was the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco, which declared Latin America and the Caribbean a zone free of nuclear weapons.
India made its formal bid for membership last month after winning a waiver in 2008 allowing it to trade in commercial nuclear technology.
Modi tacked on Switzerland and Mexico as extra stops on a five-country tour to seek their support.Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Bitfinex has told users they will share losses amounting to tens of millions of dollars equally
People who stored bitcoins at a popular exchange have been told they will lose 36% of their assets following a cyber-attack.
Hong Kong-based Bitfinex, where many users had stored the virtual currency to be used in transactions, said it lost up to $65m (£49m) in an attack.
The impact of the loss will now be shared across the site's users.
One Bitcoin expert said the move to "socialise" losses had serious implications for digital currencies.
"Anyone who holds any asset at any exchange realises they're part of the insurance plan for others," said Emin Gun Sirer at Cornell University.
In a statement on its website, Bitfinex said, "We have decided to generalise losses across all accounts.
"Upon logging into the platform, customers will see that they have experienced a generalised loss percentage of 36.067%."
More details of how this figure was reached would be published in the future, the firm added.
Customers were also told that they would receive a "BFX token" equal to their personal losses.
These tokens will eventually be exchanged either for repayment by Bitfinex or for shares in its parent company iFinex Inc.
Image copyright AFP Image caption In 2014, large Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox collapsed - leaving many out of pocket
Bitfinex has said that a total of 119,756 bitcoins were taken by hackers.
In May 2015, 1,500 bitcoins were stolen in a previous attack on the exchange.
It is not the first exchange to have suffered.
Many users lost large caches of bitcoins after they disappeared from the Mt Gox exchange, which then declared bankruptcy in 2014.
'Rough' times ahead
Following the news that Bitfinex had suffered a substantial loss of bitcoins, the price of the cryptocurrency fell by more than 20% - though it has since rebounded slightly.
"It's going to be rough," Dr Sirer told the BBC.
"I think we're going to see a move towards models with better understood insurance."
The "vast majority" of people held bitcoins in exchanges and online wallets, according to security expert Prof Alan Woodward at the University of Surrey.
"It's a bit like your bank account having money taken from it and then your bank writing to all customers saying it will spread the losses across all of them," he told the BBC.LA Galaxy fans keeping track of their “#MikeMageefacts” on Twitter can add another one to the list: The veteran's rip-roaring start to the 2013 MLS season has earned him Player of the Month honors for March as voted on by the North American Soccer Reporters.
The 28-year-old midfielder/forward has netted five strikes in four games, which not only makes him the league's leading scorer, but also puts him level or ahead of 10 teams in the goals column. Magee's career high for goals in a season came a decade ago, when he nabbed seven with New York in 2003.
He edged out Montreal Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier for the POTM gong. (See how the North American Soccer Reporters voted here.) Bernier's teammate Davy Arnaud, D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid, Chivas USA netminder Dan Kennedy and Toronto FC newcomer Robert Earnshaw also garnered votes.
Magee started the campaign with a bang, bagging his first career hat trick in LA's 4-0 romp over Chicago on opening weekend to earn a Player of the Week nod.
LISTEN: Magee talks CCL on March to the Match, says "the pressure's on us"
WATCH: Magee bags hat trick in Week 1
He then chipped in the game-winner against Colorado on March 23 and ensured that the Galaxy left Toronto with a point on Saturday, scoring the opening goal in LA's 2-2 draw at BMO Field.
The Galaxy remain undefeated in all competitions and occupy third place in the Western Conference with a 2-0-2 record.
Magee has also played an important part in his club's advancement to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League, and has been a versatile contributor for head coach Bruce Arena, performing well up front in addition to his usual role on the left side of midfield.BY: Follow @P_Crookston
The dating app OkCupid has partnered with Planned Parenthood to bring together users who support the nation's largest abortion provider.
In a move announced Wednesday, OkCupid is putting a special badge reading #IStandWithPP onto users' profiles if they agree that the government should not defund Planned Parenthood. OkCupid said more than 80 percent of its users have answered that Planned Parenthood should continue to receive government funds, and now the company wants to join them in that cause.
"At OkCupid, we feel strongly about championing the causes that are meaningful to our members," the company said on its official blog. "So the decision to team up with Planned Parenthood Federation of America was an easy one."
"A shared cause is sexy — and can be just the thing that makes someone give your profile a second glance," OkCupid added.
OkCupid Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Hobley said that the company made its decision by examining users' data and concluding that Planned Parenthood was a leading issue for them.
"OkCupid's partnership with Planned Parenthood is really exciting because it enables us to help people connect on the issues that matter to them. In this current climate, this matters more than ever when it comes to finding ‘your person,'" Hobley said. "We know that Planned Parenthood is driving conversations, support, and education that millions care about. When we looked at the data, we saw that our community on OkCupid was talking about Planned Parenthood, so we decided to make it easy to find the folks who cared about the same thing."
OkCupid depends on its algorithm effectively and quickly matching compatible users through a series of questions. Users' tendency to support Planned Parenthood gave the company an opportunity to help them find each other more easily.
"Responses to our iconic questions, like the one on Planned Parenthood, have always worked to inform our high-tech algorithm so it can connect OkCupid members with people they'll really click with," OkCupid said. "But throughout this partnership, the Planned Parenthood Badge will make it even easier for supporters to start a conversation: not only will the badge highlight their support, but our algorithm will also recognize the badge and use it to promote like-minded daters to one another."
It is unclear how strongly OkCupid users wish to align their values with one another, however. Users can check "casual sex" as an interest, and OkCupid's blog featured a post in July promoting sex on the first date as a way not to take dating too seriously.
"Treating casual sex as just that — casual — may make it easier to accept the fact that not everyone you're into is going to be into you, and that's okay," the post advises potential lovers.
This echoes Planned Parenthood's own philosophy on dating. Its website contains little about the meaning of relationships, instead focusing on sex and how to engage in it more comfortably and easily.
"Talking about sex doesn't have to be a big deal," Planned Parenthood says on its "for teens" page.At first glance, it may sound like the plot of Person of Interest, the CBS show about a genius billionaire who develops a software program that taps into all public surveillance systems and predicts when crimes are most likely to occur. But as Technology Review reports, researchers at Microsoft (MSFT) and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology are working on disaster-predicting software that is very real and also much less invasive than its fictional counterpart. Instead of using surveillance cameras to predict future events, the software analyzes news headlines in different regions to see if it can spot warning signs for outbreaks of diseases or civil unrest that could result in violence.
“I truly view this as a foreshadowing of what’s to come,” says Eric Horvitz, a co-director at Microsoft Research. “Eventually this kind of work will start to have an influence on how things go for people.”
Technology Review says that among other things, the software could have predicted cholera outbreaks in Angola based on reports of droughts in the region. The publication also writes that “in similar tests involving forecasts of disease, violence, and a significant numbers of deaths, the system’s warnings were correct between 70 to 90 percent of the time.”
Don’t expect this software to pop up as a new crime prevention system at your local police station anytime soon, however, as Technology Review says that Microsoft has no plans to make it available for commercial use at the moment.For 17 seasons, The Biggest Loser has tried to show that changing a person's mindset and habits can achieve the kind of weight loss that — at least in theory — can completely change and even prolong a person's life. However, last May, a study published in the research journal Obesity poked holes in the premise of co-creator JD Roth's uber-popular show, suggesting that the change is only temporary.
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When researchers from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) tracked 14 former Biggest Loser contestants for six years after their TV debuts, they found that 13 of the contestants had regained much of the weight they'd lost. Four of them weighed even more than they had before appearing on the show. Weight-loss experts think it's because the more you lose, the more your body is inclined to hold onto its calories, which it does by slowing the metabolism and amping up hunger hormones. In other words, extreme weight loss changes the body in a way that makes maintenance almost impossible.
In an recent interview with People, however, Roth — whose new show, The Big Fat Truth, debuts on June 11 — rejects this conclusion. He implies its contestants' habits and emotional issues led them to regain the weight.
“I feel badly that some people from the show went back to some bad decision-making patterns and gained the weight back, and felt ashamed,” he told People. "Life gets in the way sometimes, and they can’t keep up with the good decision-making they were doing before," he says of former contestants who regained the weight they'd lost. "And for some of them, I think they never solved those emotional problems. It’s always going to be there, but you have to figure out how to get past it." (Roth was not immediately available for a request for comment, and this post will be updated if he responds.)
Get all the ~FiTsPiRaTiOn~ directly in your feed. Follow Facebook.com/CosmoBod
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter and Instagram.Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon said GOP leadership shouldn't expect "sweetness and light" from the rest of the Republican Party if they don't get behind President Trump's agenda.
In an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday, Bannon said that Republican leaders in Congress and the White House will be "one big happy family" if the GOP falls in line behind the president — but that he doesn't expect that to happen.
“If the Republican Party on Capitol Hill gets behind the president on his plans and not theirs, it will all be sweetness and light, be one big happy family,” Bannon told the Post. Bannon added that he doesn't expect any "sweetness" anytime soon.
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Bannon left the White House on Friday and will return to leading the conservative online media company Breitbart. He pledged that at Breitbart he would "go to war" for Trump's conservative agenda.
Trump praised his former chief strategist on Twitter hours after his ouster, adding that at Breitbart, Bannon would be "competition" for the mainstream "fake news" media.
"Steve Bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at [Breitbart News]... maybe even better than ever before. Fake News needs the competition!" Trump said Friday.
But in the interview, the former top Trump aide described his administration as dangerously divided on policy matters.
“No administration in history has been so divided among itself about the direction where it should go,” he told the Post.In an exclusive interview with SBS World News the former leader of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad - who ruled the country with an iron-grip for 22 years - said Australia was turning a blind eye to corruption over the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund.
"Australia has been involved to a certain extent but it looks as if the government of Australia wants to avoid any involvement in this crime committed,” Dr Mahathir said.
Malaysia’s current prime minister, Najib Razak, has been embroiled in the scandal since reports first emerged in 2015, alleging $900 million siphoned from the fund was deposited into his personal bank accounts.
Watch: SBS Exclusive: Former Malaysia PM speaks with SBS
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Mr Najib denied all allegations of corruption and said they were part of a conspiracy to topple his government.
His hand-picked Attorney-General, Mohamad Apani Ali, cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing and said the bulk of the money in his accounts was a gift from the Saudi Arabian royal family.
But the allegation of international money laundering connected to the fund have prompted investigations in Switzerland, Singapore, the UK and the United States.
Last year the US Department of Justice seized $1.3 billion in assets held by close associates and relatives of Mr Najib allegedly siphoned from 1MDB. Singapore also jailed three bankers last year for money laundering connected to the fund.
AAP/AP
In total, it has been alleged that between January 2011 and April 2013 more than $1.4 billion (AUD) was deposited into Mr Najib’s personal bank accounts at the Malaysian bank AmBank.
In late 2015 AmBank was fined more than $16 million by the Malaysian banking regulator for non-compliance regarding money laundering allegations.
But Dr Mahathir said Australian law enforcement authorities were turning a blind eye.
ANZ has been the single largest shareholder in AmBank for more than a decade, with a 24 per cent stake.
AAP
That share, acquired in 2006, gave the ANZ the right to four seats on the 12 seat AmBank board and the right to appoint key management positions at the bank such as Chief Risk Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
But at a parliamentary hearing in March, ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott said the shares did not necessarily give them leverage at the bank.
“We have no ability to directly direct or influence AmBank in terms of its policies or procedures,” Mr Elliott said.
An ANZ spokesman declined to respond to question sent by SBS World News about whether ANZ staff working at AmBank were aware of transactions.
“We do not control AmBank and any questions about its operations need to be directed to them,” the spokesman said.
ANZ has denied any involvement in the Malaysian scandal.
Watch: Former Malaysian PM on Anwar Ibrahim sacking
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“No employees of ANZ have had any involvement in that company (1MDB) or what has alleged to have happened at AmBank," Mr Elliott said in October last year.
AmBank did not respond to questions regarding ANZ’s level of involvement in the Malaysian bank.
Louis de Koker, a professor of law at Latrobe University who has advised overseas banks on money laundering regulations for more than a decade, told SBS World News the transactions should have set off “red flags” within AmBank.
"All the transactions that featured in this case, which were multi-million dollar transactions, would be viewed as large transactions by all banks, even the largest banks in the world,” Mr Koker said.
But Mr Koker said risk analysts at the bank might not have made management aware of the red flags.
"It is quite possible that you may be in a very senior position in a bank and you may not be aware of contraventions of the law or of inadequacies or vulnerabilities in the system if the controls aren’t properly designed,” he said.
SBS News - King Chai Woon
AFP 'continue to evaluate allegations'
At a parliamentary hearing in March, Mr Elliott said the Australian Federal Police had not asked ANZ to hand over any documents and no staff had been questioned in relation to the matter.
But Dr Mahatir believes Australian authorities should look into Australian connections to Ambank.
“They (ANZ) hold a big share in that bank and that bank (AmBank) is involved in practically money laundering, so I think Australia should show some interest,” he told SBS World News.
Two years on from the scandal first emerging, the Australian Federal Police said they “continue to evaluate these allegations”.
EPA
“The AFP is assisting foreign law enforcement partners in their investigations. Given this matter is the subject of evaluation, it is not appropriate to comment further,” an AFP spokeswoman told SBS World News.
But James Chin, Director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, told SBS World News he thought Australia’s diplomatic relations was taking priority over law enforcement.
"The Australian Government has always been very careful about its relationships with key allies in Asia, especially countries where they have a longstanding relationship like Malaysia,” Professor Chin told SBS World News.
He added there are several other Australian links to the scandal, not relating to ANZ, which he believed also warranted investigation by the Australian authorities.
“Many people believe that some of the money from 1MDB has gone through the Australian financial system, also there are some people who believe some of the money may have ended up in Australia, especially in real estate holdings,” Professor Chin said.
Watch: Australia avoiding probe into Malaysia corruption
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Mahathir’s last stand
Dr Mahathir’s criticism of Australia comes in the context of an ongoing campaign to remove Prime Minister Najib, his second hand-picked successor. Mr Najib became the prime minister in 2009 after Dr Mahathir fell out with his first successor, Abdullah Badawi.
When Dr Mahathir stepped down as Prime Minister in 2003 he promised to stay out of politics, something he has struggled to do.
“I thought I would be having my retirement resting and enjoying life, but it seems that it is not going to be like that,” Dr Mahathir said.
When the scandal broke in 2015, Dr Mahathir and some others within the ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), called for Mr Najib to step aside.
Dr Mahathir quit UMNO in February last year and formed a breakaway party along with other disaffected UMNO members.
Dr Faisal Hazis, a senior fellow of Malaysian politics at the National University of Malaysia, told SBS World News Dr Mahathir’s failure to remove Mr Najib from within UMNO reflected his diminished influence within the party he led for more than two decades.
“He failed basically to institute change through the party, so he is taking this quite drastic option of working with the Opposition,” Dr Faisal said.
AAP/AP
‘I don’t care if they forget me’
Dr Mahathir sat down with SBS World News at a political study centre on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, devoted to researching former Malaysian leaders.
In one part of the building an entire wall was covered with colorful portraits of the former leader riding bicycles and smiling.
However Dr Mahathir said he isn’t concerned about his legacy.
“Well, I don’t mind if they forget me completely,” he said.
Dr Mahathir has formed some unlikely alliances with old enemies and is preparing to campaign against the government at general elections expected later this year.
He is even working with his former arch enemy, Anwar Ibrahim, who was his deputy until he fell out with Dr Mahathir in 1998 and led protests calling for political reform in the country which has been ruled by one party for 60 years.
Mr Anwar was imprisoned on charges of corruption and sodomy shortly after falling out with Dr Mahathir. He has always maintained his innocence and said the charges were politically motivated.
Mr Anwar was released from prison in 2004 and went on to lead the Opposition Coalition to electoral milestones in 2008 and 2013. He was jailed again in 2015 on separate sodomy charges and is currently behind bars serving a five-year sentence.
Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia, though it is extremely rare for the laws to be enforced.
In September last year, the two men whose conflict has shaped Malaysian politics for decades met face-to-face for the first time in 18 years.
AAP/AP
“We have decided that we have to focus on this very important issue, the overthrowal of a present kleptocratic government. So for that we are prepared to forget the past,” Dr Mahathir told SBS.
When asked if has apologised for jailing Mr Anwar, Dr Mahathir said he didn’t apologise for anything.
“We have all said nasty things about each other. I don’t ask people to apologise for calling me all kinds of names and accusing me of all kinds of wrong doings,” Dr Mahathir said.
A Malaysian government spokesperson at the time said the meeting between Dr Mahathir and Mr Anwar “demonstrated the depth of their political opportunism and desperation”.
Chinese ‘colonisation’
Following the US Department of Justice raids against Mr Najib’s relatives and associates last year, he has moved Malaysia, a long-time US ally, closer to China, increasing foreign investment and military ties with Beijing.
Dr Mahathir's been especially critical of the $100 billion development of a new city in the Malaysian state of Johor, near the Singapore border.
The Forest City project by Chinese company Country Garden Holdings Co has set an ambitious goal to house up to 700,000 people in the new city, built on four artificial islands. Many of the units are being sold to Chinese buyers.
“They have the money, they have the means to invest, buy property, buy land, and build cities for themselves. That amounts to a conquest, a colonisation of sorts,” Dr Mahathir told SBS World News.
Prime Minister Najib has accused Dr Mahathir of making false accusations against the Malaysian government over the development.
“He (Mahathir) made many false statements… they won’t get any citizenships. They only can have the rights to stay in Malaysia,” Mr Najib said in a speech in January.
Marriage of convenience
Malaysia has never had a change of government in the 60 years since independence, but general elections will be the first major electoral test for Mr Najib since the 1MDB scandal.
Many political analysts and observers predicted Mr Najib's downfall following the scandal, but the man who has ruled Malaysia since 2009 has proven himself the political survivor.
He has been instrumental in supporting a conservative Islamist opposition party to break away from the broader Opposition Coalition who worked together at the 2013 elections.
The elections are expected later this year and must be held before August 2018 at the latest.
While Dr Mahathir is working with Mr Anwar’s party in a new smaller opposition coalition, party infighting has prevented the new alliance from uniting behind a leader while Mr Anwar is in jail.
“It is divisive, the moment you name a (candidate for) Prime Minister there is going to be a lot of unsatisfied people who may sabotage the new Opposition Coalition,” Dr Mahathir told SBS World News.
AAP/AP
“So it is better for us to name a Prime Minister if we win. It becomes irrelevant to name a Prime Minister now and then we lose.”
Dr Mahathir, whose long political career has made him famous for always removing his political opponents, said if the upcoming elections are "relatively fair" he is confident Mr Najib won’t win.
The man, once a famous firebrand against Western interference in the developing world during his time in office, also added he hoped Australia and other countries would send observers and closely monitor the upcoming election.
“We would like to see the whole world watch this election. That is one time I want involvement from the rest of the world,” Dr Mahathir said.
SBS requested an interview with multiple senior UMNO ministers and Mr Najib's office. They declined.Not a Very P.C. Thing to Say How the language police are perverting liberalism.
Photographs by Bobby Doherty
Around 2 a.m. on December 12, four students approached the apartment of Omar Mahmood, a Muslim student at the University of Michigan, who had recently published a column in a school newspaper about his perspective as a minority on campus. The students, who were recorded on a building surveillance camera wearing baggy hooded sweatshirts to hide their identity, littered Mahmood’s doorway with copies of his column, scrawled with messages like “You scum embarrass us,” “Shut the fuck up,” and “DO YOU EVEN GO HERE?! LEAVE!!” They posted a picture of a demon and splattered eggs.
This might appear to be the sort of episode that would stoke the moral conscience of students on a progressive campus like Ann Arbor, and it was quickly agreed that an act of biased intimidation had taken place. But Mahmood was widely seen as the perpetrator rather than the victim. His column, published in the school’s conservative newspaper, had spoofed the culture of taking offense that pervades the campus. Mahmood satirically pretended to denounce “a white cis-gendered hetero upper-class man” who offered to help him up when he slipped, leading him to denounce “our barbaric attitude toward people of left-handydnyss.” The gentle tone of his mockery was closer to Charlie Brown than to Charlie Hebdo.
The Michigan Daily, where Mahmood also worked as a columnist and film critic, objected to the placement of his column in the conservative paper but hardly wanted his satirical column in its own pages. Mahmood later said that he was told by the editor that his column had created a “hostile environment,” in which at least one Daily staffer felt threatened, and that he must write a letter of apology to the staff. When he refused, the Daily fired him, and the subsequent vandalism of his apartment served to confirm his status as thought-criminal.
The episode would not have shocked anybody familiar with the campus scene from two decades earlier. In 1992, an episode along somewhat analogous lines took place, also in Ann Arbor. In this case, the offending party was the feminist videographer Carol Jacobsen, who had produced an exhibition documenting the lives of sex workers. The exhibition’s subjects presented their profession as a form of self-empowerment, a position that ran headlong against the theories of Catharine MacKinnon, a law professor at the university who had gained national renown for her radical feminist critique of the First Amendment as a tool of male privilege. MacKinnon’s beliefs nestled closely with an academic movement that was then being described, by its advocates as well as its critics, as “political correctness.” Michigan had already responded to the demands of pro-p.c. activists by imposing a campuswide speech code purporting to restrict all manner of discriminatory speech, only for it to be struck down as a First Amendment violation in federal court.
In Ann Arbor, MacKinnon had attracted a loyal following of students, many of whom copied her method of argument. The pro-MacKinnon students, upset over the display of pornographic video clips, descended upon Jacobsen’s exhibit and confiscated a videotape. There were speakers visiting campus for a conference on prostitution, and the video posed “a threat to their safety,” the students insisted.
This was the same inversion of victim and victimizer at work last December. In both cases, the threat was deemed not the angry mobs out to crush opposing ideas, but the ideas themselves. The theory animating both attacks turns out to be a durable one, with deep roots in the political left.
Related Stories Secret Confessions of the Anti-Anti-P.C. Movement
The recent mass murder of the staff members of Charlie Hebdo in Paris was met with immediate and unreserved fury and grief across the full range of the American political system. But while outrage at the violent act briefly united our generally quarrelsome political culture, the quarreling quickly resumed over deeper fissures. Were the slain satirists martyrs at the hands of religious fanaticism, or bullying spokesmen of privilege? Can the offensiveness of an idea be determined objectively, or only by recourse to the identity of the person taking offense? On Twitter, “Je Suis Charlie,” a slogan heralding free speech, was briefly one of the most popular news hashtags in history. But soon came the reactions (“Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie”) from those on the left accusing the newspaper of racism and those on the right identifying the cartoons as hate speech. Many media companies, including the New York Times, have declined to publish the cartoons the terrorists deemed offensive, a stance that has attracted strident criticism from some readers. These sudden, dramatic expressions of anguish against insensitivity and oversensitivity come at a moment when large segments of American culture have convulsed into censoriousness.
After political correctness burst onto the academic scene in the late ’80s and early ’90s, it went into a long remission. Now it has returned. Some of its expressions have a familiar tint, like the protesting of even mildly controversial speakers on college campuses. You may remember when 6,000 people at the University of California–Berkeley signed a petition last year to stop a commencement address by Bill Maher, who has criticized Islam (along with nearly all the other major world religions). Or when protesters at Smith College demanded the cancellation of a commencement address by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, blaming the organization for “imperialist and patriarchal systems that oppress and abuse women worldwide.” Also last year, Rutgers protesters scared away Condoleezza Rice; others at Brandeis blocked Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a women’s-rights champion who is also a staunch critic of Islam; and those at Haverford successfully protested former Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau, who was disqualified by an episode in which the school’s police used force against Occupy protesters.
At a growing number of campuses, professors now attach “trigger warnings” to texts that may upset students, and there is a campaign to eradicate “microaggressions,” or small social slights that might cause searing trauma. These newly fashionable terms merely repackage a central tenet of the first p.c. movement: that people should be expected to treat even faintly unpleasant ideas or behaviors as full-scale offenses. Stanford recently canceled a performance of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson after protests by Native American students. UCLA students staged a sit-in to protest microaggressions such as when a professor corrected a student’s decision to spell the word indigenous with an uppercase I — one example of many “perceived grammatical choices that in actuality reflect ideologies.” A theater group at Mount Holyoke College recently announced it would no longer put on The Vagina Monologues in part because the material excludes women without vaginas. These sorts of episodes now hardly even qualify as exceptional.
Trigger warnings aren’t much help in actually overcoming trauma — an analysis by the Institute of Medicine has found that the best approach is controlled exposure to it, and experts say avoidance can reinforce suffering. Indeed, one professor at a prestigious university told me that, just in the last few years, she has noticed a dramatic upsurge in her students’ sensitivity toward even the mildest social or ideological slights; she and her fellow faculty members are terrified of facing accusations of triggering trauma — or, more consequentially, violating her school’s new sexual-harassment policy — merely by carrying out the traditional academic work of intellectual exploration. “This is an environment of fear, believe it or not,” she told me by way of explaining her request for anonymity. It reminds her of the previous outbreak of political correctness — “Every other day I say to my friends, ‘How did we get back to 1991?’ ”
But it would be a mistake to categorize today’s p.c. culture as only an academic phenomenon. Political correctness is a style of politics in which the more radical members of the left attempt to regulate political discourse by defining opposing views as bigoted and illegitimate. Two decades ago, the only communities where the left could exert such hegemonic control lay within academia, which gave it an influence on intellectual life far out of proportion to its numeric size. Today’s political correctness flourishes most consequentially on social media, where it enjoys a frisson of cool and vast new cultural reach. And since social media is also now the milieu that hosts most political debate, the new p.c. has attained an influence over mainstream journalism and commentary beyond that of the old.
It also makes money. Every media company knows that stories about race and gender bias draw huge audiences, making identity politics a reliable profit center in a media industry beset by insecurity. A year ago, for instance, a photographer compiled images of Fordham students displaying signs recounting “an instance of racial microaggression they have faced.” The stories ranged from uncomfortable (“No, where are you really from?”) to relatively innocuous (“ ‘Can you read this?’ He showed me a Japanese character on his phone”). BuzzFeed published part of her project, and it has since received more than 2 million views. This is not an anomaly.
In a short period of time, the p.c. movement has assumed a towering presence in the psychic space of politically active people in general and the left in particular. “All over social media, there dwell armies of unpaid but widely read commentators, ready to launch hashtag campaigns and circulate Change.org petitions in response to the slightest of identity-politics missteps,” Rebecca Traister wrote recently in The New Republic.
Two and a half years ago, Hanna Rosin, a liberal journalist and longtime friend, wrote a book called The End of Men, which argued that a confluence of social and economic changes left women in a better position going forward than men, who were struggling to adapt to a new postindustrial order. Rosin, a self-identified feminist, has found herself unexpectedly assailed by feminist critics, who found her message of long-term female empowerment complacent and insufficiently concerned with the continuing reality of sexism. One Twitter hashtag, “#RIPpatriarchy,” became a label for critics to lampoon her thesis. Every new continuing demonstration of gender discrimination — a survey showing Americans still prefer male bosses; a person noticing a man on the subway occupying a seat and a half — would be tweeted out along with a mocking #RIPpatriarchy.
Her response since then has been to avoid committing a provocation, especially on Twitter. “If you tweet something straightforwardly feminist, you immediately get a wave of love and favorites, but if you tweet something in a cranky feminist mode then the opposite happens,” she told me. “The price is too high; you feel like there might be banishment waiting for you.” Social media, where swarms of jeering critics can materialize in an instant, paradoxically creates this feeling of isolation. “You do immediately get the sense that it’s one against millions, even though it’s not.” Subjects of these massed attacks often describe an impulse to withdraw.
Political correctness is a term whose meaning has been gradually diluted since it became a flashpoint 25 years ago. People use the phrase to describe politeness (perhaps to excess), or evasion of hard truths, or (as a term of abuse by conservatives) liberalism in general. The confusion has made it more attractive to liberals, who share the goal of combating race and gender bias.
But political correctness is not a rigorous commitment to social equality so much as a system of left-wing ideological repression. Not only is it not a form of liberalism; it is antithetical to liberalism. Indeed, its most frequent victims turn out to be liberals themselves.
I am white and male, a fact that is certainly worth bearing in mind. I was also a student at the University of Michigan during the Jacobsen incident, and was attacked for writing an article for the campus paper defending the exhibit. If you consider this background and demographic information the very essence of my point of view, then there’s not much point in reading any further. But this pointlessness is exactly the point: Political correctness makes debate irrelevant and frequently impossible.
Under p.c. culture, the same idea can be expressed identically by two people but received differently depending on the race and sex of the individuals doing the expressing. This has led to elaborate norms and terminology within certain communities on the left. For instance, “mansplaining,” a concept popularized in 2008 by Rebecca Solnit, who described the tendency of men to patronizingly hold forth to women on subjects the woman knows better — in Solnit’s case, the man in question mansplained her own book to her. The fast popularization of the term speaks to how exasperating the phenomenon can be, and mansplaining has, at times, proved useful in identifying discrimination embedded in everyday rudeness. But it has now grown into an all-purpose term of abuse that can be used to discredit any argument by any man. (MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry once disdainfully called White House press secretary Jay Carney’s defense of the relative pay of men and women in the administration “mansplaining,” even though the question he responded to was posed by a male.) Mansplaining has since given rise to “whitesplaining” and “straightsplaining.” The phrase “solidarity is for white women,” used in a popular hashtag, broadly signifies any criticism of white feminists by nonwhite ones.
If |
White House is much more involved in the business of cutting taxes than it ever was on health care policy. And the reality from this fight over the budget resolution is that if it continues — and is exacerbated by the Senate — it could keep Trump from a Republican-led win.What’s worse than a rushed morning shave as a result of over-snoozing? Bloodshed, via razor. If Dad taught you to plug up shave nicks with bits of toilet paper, know there are better, faster home remedies for treating wounds and getting out the door. Here are five:
1. Deodorant
Most antiperspirants contain aluminum chloride that can, in addition to shrinking sweat glands, constrict blood vessels and clot a nick.
2. Lip Balm
Smearing on a little ChapStick or Vaseline works like a seal—plus it’ll keep bigger cuts from forming unsightly scabs.
3. Ice Cubes
Like swimming pools and your package, the cold shrinks blood vessels, enabling a clot to form fast.
4. Mouthwash
The alcohol in solutions like Listerine acts as an astringent, which halts blood flow by causing tissues to contract.
5. Eye Drops
Red eye relievers like Visine work similarly on cuts: they slow down bleeding by constricting blood vessels.
[#image: /photos/558366c13655c24c6c966923]|||https://www.gq.com/images/how-to/2014/03/back-to-2[2].jpg|||
More: OITNB’s Matt McGorry Goes to the GQ BarbershopWhile Google's services do a great job of keeping your content in the cloud, it gets a bit trickier when trying to back up certain types of local data — things like application data, game saves, and more. It's not hard to sign back into all of your apps when you get a new phone, but Samsung's Smart Switch app makes setting up a new phone a breeze.
Simply download the application onto your computer, connect your phone, and before too long you'll have everything backed up in case you need to transfer your data to a new phone, or restore your phone to an older state.
What is Smart Switch?
Smart Switch is Samsung's Windows or macOS program that is used for a few things. You can use it to install software updates for your phone, configure email syncing with Microsoft Outlook (handy for corporate users), or the focus of today's article: back up and restore your content as you move between phones. The Smart Switch mobile application can also be used to move contacts, photos, and messages from an iOS device to your new Galaxy phone.
What can Smart Switch back up?
Smart Switch is used to back up contacts, photos, application data and any other local files on your phone. This makes moving between Galaxy phones a breeze: you can move all of your data to your new phone and pick up right where you left on the old device. The desktop applications take some setting up, but it's a straightforward process that only takes a few minutes.
How to install Samsung Smart Switch on your computer
We'll show you the process for installation on Windows, but it's a pretty standard installation process on Mac as well.
Navigate to the Samsung Smart Switch support website. Click on the download link for Windows or Mac — whichever system you're using. For this how-to, we're using Windows Click to launch the downloaded.exe file (.dmg on Mac). If you see an error that says The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect…, download and install this Microsoft Visual C++ package. Click the two check boxes to verify that you accept the terms of the licence agreement. Click Next. Click Finish once the installation process is complete. Smart Switch will then launch by default.
Now that we've installed Samsung Smart Switch, let's set it up to connect to your Samsung Galaxy phone.
How to setup Samsung Smart Switch for the first time
Once you've installed the Smart Switch application, you'll need to get it synced up with your phone.
Launch the Samsung Smart Switch application after installation or from the desktop icon on your computer. Connect your phone to your computer via USB cable to get started. The program should instantly recognize when it's connected. You may be prompted to allow USB file transfers on your phone. Switching over to your phone, unlock and swipe down from the top to pull down the notification shade. Tap the notification for other USB options. Tap the Transfer files option.
Switching back over to the computer, your phone should now be connected in the Smart Switch application.
How to back up your phone data with Samsung Smart Switch
Once you've launched the Smart Switch application and have your phone connected, backing up your data is as easy as pie.
Launch the Smart Switch app on your computer. Click Backup. You'll be required to allow access permissions on your phone. Pick up your phone. Tap Allow. If you have a micro SD card in your phone, you will have the option to back that data up as well.
Once the backup is complete, you get a breakdown of all the data that was successfully backed up. Click OK to finish.
How to restore your phone from a previous backup using Samsung Smart Switch
If it's time to upgrade to a new Samsung phone or something has gone wrong, requiring you to restore your data, it's super easy if you've got an existing Smart Switch backup.
Launch Samsung Smart Switch on your computer and connect your phone via USB. Click Restore. Click Select a different backup if you want to restore from an eariler backup, otherwise click Restore now. You will be prompted to allow access permissions on your phone. Switching focus to your phone, tap Allow to continue the restore process Once the restore process is complete, you'll get a breakdown of the data that's been restored. Click OK to finish the restore.
Do you use Samsung Smart Switch?
The biggest alternative to Samsung Smart Switch is just using the cloud services that already come on your Galaxy phone. You have Google Contacts for the important people in your life, Google Photos for all your precious memories, and Google Play Games to keep your game progress in sync. Most of Google's cloud services work on both iOS and every Android phone, so your data won't be used to lock you to a particular vendor.
But Samsung's approach with Smart Switch has its benefits. Google's services don't backup everything, and you get a nice feeling of control with a local backup. If you've been using Samsung phones for years and aren't looking elsewhere, it's also a great way to keep your new phone as familiar as your last one.
Do you use Samsung Smart Switch? Let us know down below!Each month the commissioners of the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of St. Louis hear request after request from developers and even residents for tax abatements that usually last five to 10 years.
It's just one of the tools the city uses to spur economic development, but St. Louis officials are taking a look at how those tax incentives are distributed.
"We wanted to evaluate whether [tax incentives] had a positive or negative impact and see what our peer cities were doing in terms of incentivizing development and whether we needed some improvement," said St. Louis Development Corporation executive director Otis Williams.
So SLDC commissioned a study last year looking at its use of economic development incentives and seeing what was done elsewhere. The Public Financial Management, Inc. out of Philadelphia, in partnership with the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Saint Louis University, released the study in May.
It found that over a 15-year period the city spent $709 million with its two major incentives, tax increment financing and tax abatement.
The big take-away was that two-thirds of those incentives were spent in a handful of neighborhoods.
"[T]here are a number of neighborhoods with weaker housing markets and some level of permit investment that have not received many incentives. This suggests the need for reviewing incentives to ensure that they are structured to be applicable to all neighborhoods that need them," the study said.
The recommendation for SLDC is to create a more zone-based approach and target specific incentives in certain areas. Saint Louis University urban planning professor Sarah Coffin, who worked on the study, said it’s natural to want to keep development going in an area that’s gaining traction.
"This report really highlighted that, how much we were doing that," Coffin said. "This has given the city some data to develop tools to break out of that; not to end the investment in neighborhoods in areas that are doing well, but be more strategic."
For instance, Coffin said there could be different goals and objectives for a neighborhood like Central West End that might focus on particular jobs.
"If you, the developer, can meet those goals and objectives, we’ll incent that," she said.
Another recommendation is to require that all applicants be put through a sort of score card that will help decide whether they should get the incentives, or not. Williams said his office is currently developing a quantitative scorecard, but it still needs work.
"Because it is a numbers exercise, if you’re a numbers person you can easily understand it, but we need to simplify it a bit so when we take it to the Board of Aldermen it is a simple report that’s provided to them that’s backed by detailed numbers," Williams said.
The study also suggests the city should do a better job tracking the incentives it gives and require more reporting from recipients. As the study states:
"Given the magnitude of the tax incentives offered by the City, there can be a legitimate expectation that those receiving these benefits will provide the City with periodic reports related to the economic outcomes associated with these incentives."
Coffin said one benefit of requiring more information up front about jobs, for instance, and reporting later is that the city will have more leverage.
"Then you can start creating a mechanism that if the developer picks up and leaves... if they haven’t met the outcomes that they state at the beginning, there can be some clawback provisions to require them to pay back the incentive they received," she said.
Williams said his office is still in the early stages of developing changes.
"We're transitioning to a new process and the whole goal is not to injure, if you will, the revenues coming to the city but more likely to improve them," he said.
Follow Maria on Twitter: @radioaltmanMore than 2,200 civilians appear to have died from U.S.-led coalition strikes in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) since President Trump took office, according to an Airwars investigation for the Daily Beast.
That amounts to 12 or more civilians killed every day, according to the investigation.
That is far higher than the number of civilians Airwars researchers estimated were killed from coalition strikes under former President Obama.
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Belkis Wille, Iraq researcher for Human Rights Watch, said families fleeing from ISIS talk of the impacts of the American airstrikes.
“Remarkably, when I interview families at camps who have just fled the fighting, the first thing they complain about is not the three horrific years they spent under ISIS, or the last months of no food or clean water, but the American airstrikes,” Wille said, according to the Daily Beast.
“Many told me that they survived such hardship, and almost made it out with the families, only to lose all their loved ones in a strike before they had time to flee.”
In late March, U.S. Central Command said it was investigating reports that coalition airstrikes killed dozens of civilians in Mosul, Iraq. The announcement followed reports that the strikes may have killed as many as 200 civilians.“It was like hitting hard at the bird’s nest with a stone,” said P Somu, a Dalit migrant labourer, who travelled from Mudigubba mandal of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh to Cochin to work. He said, “It’s the same feeling I got after I was cheated by [the agro-based retail conglomerate] AgriGold. I had sold the cow and calf I loved.” When I met Somu on 12 November 2016, he described the impact of demonetisation as reminiscent of AgriGold. Established in 1995, the AgriGold Group was based in Vijaywada, in Andhra Pradesh. In 2007, it publicised a scheme through which it invited deposits in its companies, promising investors either double the returns or a residential plot in lieu of the amount deposited. However, AgriGold gave these investors neither the promised money nor the registered plots.
Upon receiving numerous complaints against AgriGold from depositors, the Crime Investigation Department, or CID, launched an investigation into the case on 5 January 2015. The investigation revealed that over 19 lakh people from Andhra Pradesh alone had deposited an amount of approximately Rs 1,182 crore in favour of the conglomerate. Somu, one such depositor, invested small amounts every day with AgriGold for around three years. By 2015, he had invested over Rs 10,000 with the conglomerate and was hoping to receive over Rs 20,000 in return. Based on this assumption, Somu sold his cow and calf and all his goats to repay debts he had taken for his sister’s wedding. Although he was attached to his cow and calf, he was confident that he would be able to buy them back with the money he would receive from AgriGold. The returns never materialised. By July 2016, Somu was compelled to accept that he had lost his money when the phone of the AgriGold agent with whom he had deposited his money, stopped working. Farmers such as him were left broke and desperate. He never did forget his cow and calf, and showed me a picture of them that he carries everywhere.
On 11 November, three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 would be demonetised, Somu only had his wages from the previous week—a few notes of Rs 500 paid for each day’s work. He stayed hungry that night. The next morning, he had some tea and snacks that his mastree—mason—gave him before he left for work. Through the day, Somu finished his work even though he was starving because he did not want to appear hungry or ask others for food. Later at night, when he called up his wife and children, he told them that everything was fine. Somu told me that the three other migrants he stayed with did not have valid tenders either. All of them starved together.
Kerala reportedly has 40 lakh migrant workers among its population—the highest of any state in India. The district with the highest number of migrants is Ernakulam—about 8 lakh. Many migrant labourers who work for daily wages, whom I met in Cochin, told me that they continued to be paid in Rs 500 notes even after Modi declared that they would no longer be legal tender. Without any bargaining power, the labourers told me that they are compelled to accept payment in demonetised currency—essentially worthless pieces of paper. Soma Shekhar Reddy, a farmer from Chennekottapalli mandal of Anantapur district whose groundnut crop had failed this year, came to Kerala for work a week before Modi’s announcement. He had been earning approximately Rs 700 per workday. “I got three days of work”— between 9 November and 12 November—“and was paid in three Rs 500 notes for each day of work.” “It is becoming increasingly difficult to find work now,” Reddy said, when I spoke to him on 12 November, at Kaloor junction. Like many others, he decided against waiting for work. He left for Chennekottapalli the next day. Several migrant labourers told me that only labourers who stayed for a longer duration and had established relations with their employers continue to receive work regularly. These labourers, some told me, have been getting their payments through cheques or assurances instead of the old currency. However, most are not as fortunate. “We weren’t paid any money for this week’s work. The contractor told us that we would be paid next week,” said Sujeet, a labourer from West Bengal who was working on Cochin’s metro rail construction.
Migrant labourers from regions such as Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh arrive at Cochin’s Kaloor junction on a daily basis. On 13 November, one labourer told me that during some months, the junction was witness to as many as 2,000 people. The labourers said that since 9 November, only lottery-ticket sellers at the junction were accepting notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. However, they would agree to do so only if the buyer was purchasing at least one stack of ten tickets with the same number. “If your number wins the lottery, you get ten times more money,” a lottery-ticket seller told me in justification of this practice. On 11 November, Somu said, he and his friends were so hungry that they purchased one stack of ten lottery tickets worth Rs 300 between the four of them, just so they could get change for a 500-rupee note.The “Ace Attorney” courtroom adventure-game franchise hasn’t been the same since the original Phoenix Wright trilogy ended in 2007.
It took backward steps with the subsequent arrival of characters such as Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes and Trucy Wright, who couldn’t hold a candle to Phoenix and his assistant, Maya Fey.
The two previous adventures felt like episodes of “The Transformers” with Rodimus Prime at the helm, instead of Optimus, or of the “X-Files” with John Doggett and Monica Reyes at the center, instead of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
The series became a shadow of its former self, with uneven storylines and courtroom scenarios that recycled tricks from earlier versions. “Apollo Justice,” “Dual Destinies” and other spinoffs came off as halfhearted attempts to recapture the qualities that made the original so satisfying.
Fortunately, the new “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Spirit of Justice,” revitalizes the franchise, reintroduces Phoenix and Maya and presents them in an even better light. And the new cases demand that players rely on logic and strategy to turn the tide in courtroom battles.
As the game opens, Phoenix is reuniting with spirit medium Maya, just as she completes her ascetic training in the Kingdom of Khura’in, a religious nation ruled by a queen. Khura’in’s legal system has two unusual features — the Divination Seance and the Defense Culpability Act.
Rayfa, the princess of Khura’in, possesses an ability to witness the last moments of a murder victim’s life through the Divination Seance and so identify culprits.
The Defense of Culpability Act decrees that the lawyer representing the accused be subject to the same fate as the client. So Phoenix must risk his own life whenever defending a client he believes to be innocent of a capital crime.
Even Apollo and Athena face potential peril as they defend the Wright Anything Agency from a shady TV producer who’s suing for $3 million. They also must prove that Phoenix’s daughter, Trucy, is not guilty of a murder.
Four of the five new “Spirit of Justice” cases will put players on edge, and the developers at Capcom methodically ratchet up the tension by creating increasingly difficult situations for the attorneys.
A client’s fingerprints, for example will show up on a murder weapon, or a seance will indicate the defendant was the killer.
As in the original trilogy, players must find the contradictions in a piece of evidence or a witness’s testimony. And each attorney has a special way of unlocking the truth.
Phoenix can detect “Psych-Locks” — mental barriers that protect a person’s secrets from others. Apollo has a knack for reading the tics that signal a witness is lying. Athena specializes in analytical psychology, with the help of her Mood Matrix. Though these powers popped up occasionally in earlier games, with “Spirit of Justice” they play roles in each and every case.
The most significant gameplay addition in “Spirit of Justice” is the Divination Seance, which challenges players to figure out the discrepancies between a victim’s last memory and the interpretation of it given by Princess Rayfa.
The developers also permit refreshing new ways to gather evidence — dusting for fingerprints, analyzing videos and using luminol to detect traces of blood that has been wiped away.
But though the new game gets a lot of things right, players will still experience some frustrations — leaps of logic in the Magical Turnabout case or the lack of a key piece of evidence that the game will accept. When such problems arise, the only path forward involves trial and error.
Thankfully, “Spirit of Justice” allows a player to save the game at any stage, so he or she can return to it later. There’s also a “Consult” button that provides hints. But use it sparingly; sometimes a hint spoils the fun.
Contact Gieson Cacho at 510-735-7076 or gcacho@bayareanewsgroup.com. Read his blog at http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei.SANTAQUIN — Four college students remained hospitalized Monday, a day after being burned while dropping gasoline and Molotov cocktails into an abandoned mine shaft.
Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon says that the students were in the Tintic mining district near state Route 6 when the accident happened Saturday night or Sunday morning.
We're encouraging people not to do it. The potential for problems and injury are there. –Jim Springer
Meanwhile, the practice of "mine bombing" was criticized Monday by mine officials.
"I was actually awe struck this morning," said Utah Bureau of Land Management spokesman Mitch Snow who said he was not aware of the practice until he heard about it Monday. "I couldn't imagine what would be going on in a person's mind to do that. It's like, 'Oh let's throw a Molotav cocktail at a gas station and see what happens.'"
A total of 12 people, mainly BYU students, were injured Sunday while dropping gasoline down an abandoned mine shaft and igniting it. Several gallons of gasoline were reportedly tipped over on the grate at the entrance of the mine, creating an unexpected fireball.
Deputies say this happened in an area that is a popular spot for college students to play with fire. Previously law enforcement would cite offenders with misdemeanor citations. Now they recommend felonies, saying incidents like these could be fatal.
Several videos can be found on YouTube of college-aged people throwing Molotov cocktails or pouring gasoline down abandoned mine shafts and igniting them with flares or fireworks. Several of the videos, dating back to 2006, were allegedly shot in Utah and some claim to involve BYU students.
The mine entrances are closed with criss-crossing rebar across the front. Students stand on the rebar and drop the fire and gasoline through the openings. Once the Molotov cocktail hits the mine wall or the bottom, it can create a fireball.
But neither the Utah County Sheriff's Office nor state mine officials could say how common the practice is.
"We've seen the YouTube videos for the past couple of years," said State Division of Oil, Gas and Mines spokesman Jim Springer. "I wouldn't say it's particularly widespread."
But officials warn that what may seem like harmless fun has the potential to be extremely dangerous.
"We've been telling people to stay out and stay away (from abandoned mines) for years," said Snow.
Among the many dangers abandoned mines present are the possible build-up of methane gas in the mine shaft or unused explosives.
"I would hate to imagine what would have happened (if there was methane gas on Sunday). They wouldn't be around to be in the hospital," he said.
Springer said there are approximately 17,000 abandoned mines throughout Utah. Several thousand of them have been closed. But many of those are not completely sealed. Because of the presence of bats and other wildlife, a grate system is placed at many of those entrances.
It is impossible for officials to monitor 17,000 abandoned mine shafts and Springer adds there really isn't much authorities can do to prevent mine bombing except to make people aware of the potential dangers.
"We're encouraging people not to do it. The potential for problems and injury are there," he said.
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Written by Pat Reavy with contributions from Adrew Adams.
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Related StoriesAt 22, Connor Shields is the youngest Boeing 777 first officer in the aviation business.
The job: Flying!
Earliest influence: When Shields was 13, his grandfather, who flew a Stearman, bought him an introductory flight in a Piper Cherokee. “I’ll never forget the first time I heard ‘Your flight controls,’ ” says Shields. “It was a rush.” His neighbor, a United Airlines 787 captain, encouraged Shields to consider a career in aviation. His advice? “If this is something you love, go fly. You’ll never regret it, and it will never feel like work.”
The path: After getting his private pilot’s license, instrument rating, and flight instructor license, Shields taught at a flight school for a year, while enrolled at Texas A&M University. He got a job flying a Beech 99 freighter with Ameriflight, then moved to United Express airline, flying Embraer regional jets. A friend told him of an opening at Southern Air; two weeks later, Shields had the job. “I’m on a quest to fly the biggest plane in the world at the youngest age,” says Shields. He’s acquiring his bachelor’s degree in aviation science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University online.
Typical schedule: In any given month, Shields completes two laps around the world, crossing 48 time zones. With flights lasting up to 15 hours, three to four pilots are on board. “Four hours into the flight,” says Shields, “we’ll rest for six hours and then we’ll go relieve the relief pilots and fly the rest of the flight.”
What’s it like to fly the 777? “Easier to fly than a Cessna 172,” says Shields. “You’re putting just small pressure on the yoke and you’re moving the whole wing. It’s a really stable plane because of how much it weighs; wind doesn’t affect it, really. In my opinion—and I may be biased—it’s the best jet in the world.”
Best thing about the job: “Seeing all the cultures around the world,” he says. “I’ve seen probably half a percent of the world, and I hope one day to go see the rest.”New Delhi: Business and society are joined at the hip. This connection between the two was in full view recently when the current edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL)—nothing if not a business with many crores riding on it—was blamed for its insensitivity to the drought in Maharashtra. This, despite the fact that the cricket league is not the sole cause of water scarcity in the state.
It was the perception of a threat posed by a commercial operation to society that cast a shadow on IPL—until the Bombay high court cleared the air, shifting matches out of the state after 30 April.
To explore the linkages between business and society and the associated risks, not-for-profit Oxfam India commissioned a report, Impact of Social Risks on Indian Businesses, with financial services firm KPMG in India.
Nisha Agrawal, CEO of Oxfam India, believes the report, released on Thursday, is relevant because of the increased push for economic growth by the government.
“Growth will not translate into development unless it is inclusive and takes into account the negative externalities (impact) of business operations," she explained.
The study is based on secondary data from academic and media reports and primary interviews with respondents—which includes six companies (out of the 25 from the top 100 listed on the BSE that were approached), two industry associations, bilateral aid organizations and not-for-profits (names of these have not been disclosed in the report).
The report, for instance, shows that among the companies surveyed, only 33% maintain a policy on groundwater depletion and contamination of surrounding areas.
This is just one of the 14 social risks identified and analysed in the report.
Social risks include social and political instability, crime, terrorism or civil insurgency, corruption, bribery and corporate fraud, health and safety, and human rights.
Understanding social risk
In the report, social risks have been defined as perceived/real negative impacts on and threats to individuals and communities from social changes triggered by development-related activities. The term also includes changes resulting from demographic and environmental factors like migration, which may not be under the control of any one stakeholder.
While it should be pointed out that the sample size of the companies in this study is too small to be indicative of what is happening across companies as far as business and social risks are concerned, Oxfam India clarified that since this is a perception survey, the sample size did not really impact the study.
Companies, on their part, define social risks differently. For instance, automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Ltd believes each company has internal assessment frameworks on financial, environmental and social risks.
“Any risk which has potential to impact a company’s long-term sustainability is a significant risk, including social risks," said Ranjit Singh, CSR head of Maruti Suzuki.
Yes Bank believes social risks are about the larger impact of business operations on a community, society and environment.
Shankar Venkateswaran, head of sustainability for the Tata Group, explained that the challenge in social risk assessment or mitigation is the fact that one is dealing with unpredictable human nature as opposed to money or raw material.
“That is why it is tough to estimate the extent or intensity of social risk or even the impact of mitigation actions," he said.
The intention-action gap
Increasingly, firms claim that addressing social risk is becoming part of policy because of regulations, market dynamics and increasing stakeholder pressure.
According to the report, social risk and its management, though acknowledged by Indian firms, does not translate into effective formal processes and policies.
“Companies operate within societies and they use resources of society. So if businesses don’t include communities, they don’t get the support of the communities. This, in turn, can work against the interests of businesses," explained P.R. Ramesh, chairman of Deloitte India.
ITC Ltd’s Ashesh Ambasta, executive vice president-social investments, added to Ramesh’s assessment. “Businesses cannot succeed in societies that fail."
He said ITC defines social risks based on perspectives gleaned from two of its major stakeholders—communities living around its factories and rural communities that are part of its supply chain.
In order to lower chances of social unrest and disturbances, ITC runs projects like Adarsh Gram (model village) where it tackle issues like education, health and employment, which if ignored can give rise to social discontent among these communities.
“If we have a large percentage of youth without training or skills in a particular area, there is great potential for backlash for businesses," said Ambasta, citing the example of Maoists and the unrest that follows in areas in which they operate.
But tackling social risk is not always easy for companies. As Venkateswaran explains, “The ease of resolving conflict arising out of social risks depends on the quality of the risk assessment, which in turn enables a company to be proactive in mitigation."
“Similarly, the ease of resolving all kinds of risks depends on whether a company is reactive or proactive," he added.
However, the study cites “no immediate business benefit" and “lack of institutional assistance" as the top barriers to companies addressing social risks (see graphic).
“The current approach of companies when it comes to dealing with social risks is restricted. Social risk mitigation in India is largely driven by compliance with government legislation, and the consequent reputational risks, rather than taking into account a broader set of issues," Agrawal said.
In the report, companies agreed that businesses impact socio-economically marginalised groups but only 33% of the companies surveyed had a policy on involuntary displacement and resettlement of communities.
It states that the standards and frameworks for assessing social risks are limited in India—the key one being the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ National Voluntary Guidelines (NVGs) issued in 2011 and the Small Industries Development Bank of India’s 2014 environment and social risk management framework.
Globally there are many, including the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) performance standard, the 2006 United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment, and the World Bank’s Social Safeguard Policies.
“NVGs or CSR (corporate social responsibility) rules are just guidelines to encourage companies to do good. These do not necessarily help a company identify, monitor and map social risks associated with their business activity," said Namita Vikas, group president and head of responsible banking, Yes Bank.
According to Agrawal, a deeper understanding of the co-relation between social risks and business is still nascent among Indian companies.
“We are yet to start putting a cost on our social and environmental impact, which would help in understanding, mapping, monitoring and measuring social risks," she said.
Agrawal added that there is a strong case for embedding social and environmental concerns in corporate strategy.Let us Customize Your New Lower with a Custom Engraving
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The best example of ethereum’s in-progress status arguably occurred earlier this month, when the world’s second largest blockchain by investment saw record-high transaction activity thanks in part to a single popular initial coin offering (ICO). The sale, which saw users compete to purchase a new token for an application called Status, ended up affecting the entire network, now valued at more than $28bn, causing it to run more slowly for all users.
Due in part to how the specific ICO was engineered, users struggled to get transactions and contract updates processed, while a group of exchanges temporarily shuttered ether trades to deal with the congestion.
In response, the cryptocurrency world was abuzz.
On the one hand, enthusiasts had every reason to be excited about the burst in ethereum use. The downside, however, was that ethereum effectively buckled at a level of capacity that wasn’t even close to where its engineers want to take it.
Critics quipped that while the goal is for ethereum to replace today’s internet, the platform couldn’t even handle one fundraiser (if, admittedly, a big one).
Further, the growing pains point to another growing disconnect – the gap between how the platform is advertised by its sometimes zealous users and what its current capabilities are. (The price of ether, for instance, has increased by more than 3,000% since the end of 2016, even despite a recent price dip.)
The issues raise important questions for the ambitious blockchain platform. Namely, will ethereum ever be able to scale to support a large number of users? And, just how many will it be able to accommodate?
Future technology
To put ethereum’s issues into context, all open blockchains, including bitcoin, have capacity problems. In fact, for the last two years, the bitcoin community has been arguing about the best way to increase its limited capacity without compromising decentralization, the characteristic that sets bitcoin apart as a payment network.
While newer ethereum investors might not be familiar with these big-picture problems, its developers have been experimenting with potential solutions since even before the platform launched in 2015.
More recently, ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin put forth an idea for boosting transaction speeds on the network during congestion periods like the one seen last week. If implemented, ethereum would be able to handle eight ICOs at the same time, rather than just one.
But while this could help with transaction throughput in the short term, it’s still a long way from what ethereum enthusiasts envision. (In the future, for example, some have even gone so far as to imagine scenarios where every article on the internet would become a mini-ICO).
The short version of that conclusion is that ethereum can’t support many users or apps right now, but with the help of up-and-coming technologies, the hope is that it will one day be able to.
Off-chain solutions
Of these technologies, “payment channels” are probably the furthest along.
The in-progress Raiden Network, an ethereum implementation inspired by bitcoin’s Lightning Network, adds an extra layer to the ethereum blockchain that could increase transaction throughput from roughly 13 per second to as many as a million. And a minimum viable product of the technology could be ready by the end of the year, according to the most recent update from Consensys engineer Ameen Soleimani.
In order to |
that. I, too, had sometimes frustrated classmates and teachers with all my questions. I, too, often ended up seeing things they couldn’t see.
But that was in the context of classes in the past. Now, with Rajeev and the other theorists, that just wasn’t happening anymore.
My mental model building was hitting its limits. I’d sit there in Rajeev’s office with him and his other students, or in a seminar given by some visiting luminary, listening and putting each piece in place, and try to fix in memory what I’d built so far. But at some point I’d lose track of how the green stick connected to the red wheel, or whatever, and I’d realize my picture had diverged from reality. Then I’d try toggling between tracing my steps back in memory to repair my mistake and catching all the new pieces still flying in from the talk. Stray pieces would fall to the ground. My model would start falling down. And I would fall hopelessly behind.
A year or so of research with Rajeev, and I found myself frustrated and in a fog, sinking deeper into the quicksand but not knowing why. Was it my lack of mathematical background? My grandiose goals? Was I just not intelligent enough? Or maybe it was the type of research Rajeev had me doing. And what about Rajeev himself?
Writing this now, more than 20 years later, I have to dig really deep to get to the part of me that began to hate Rajeev. Deep down through layers of memory and reason that have since solidified into gratitude and affection for all the time he gave me, for all that I learned from him, and for the fact that he gave me a chance.
But I did start to hate him. For steaming ahead without looking back when I tripped and fell behind. For seeming oblivious to my frustrations generally. And for dashing my dreamy ideas of what doing physics would be like. Fuck him, I thought to myself, more than once. Maybe I’d be better off without him. “You can do whatever you want” just didn’t want to die.
The reality was that we weren’t chasing any grails.
So I did strike out on my own. A subject called random matrix theory was hot in physics at the time, applied to condensed matter phenomena and to the quantum behavior of classically chaotic systems. The relevant math was familiar to me from engineering. I figured I’d just dive in, learn the subject, and come out the other end with a publishable discovery. I pulled back from Rajeev’s group, stopped going to most of his meetings, renewed my 15-hour vow, and hunkered down in my office on my own.
And that smooth move cost me nearly a year.
More months of 15-hour days. More growing piles of papers and books. More microwaved meals and nights in the steam tunnels. But in the end, I never knew what I was looking for and I didn’t find it. Unlike Rajeev, I had no clue how to divine rivers beyond my view.
I turned 30 during this time and the milestone hit me hard. I was nearly four years into the Ph.D. program, and while my classmates seemed to be systematically marching toward their degrees, collecting data and writing papers, I had no thesis topic and no clear path to graduation. My engineering friends were becoming managers, getting married, buying houses. And there I was entering my fourth decade of life feeling like a pitiful and penniless mole, aimlessly wandering dark empty tunnels at night, coming home to a creepy crypt each morning with nothing to show for it, and checking my bed for bugs before turning out the lights.
The quicksand was up to my nostrils.
One morning I woke up with a truck on my chest—at least that’s what it felt like. I remember lying there on my floor-bound mattress, bug-killing shoes by my head, and realizing that I couldn’t move. I laid there for a long time, partly curious and partly afraid of what was happening to me. Then I realized I could move, just as long as it wasn’t back to Bausch and Lomb.
I left Rochester and the next month, or two, or whatever it was, is a blur. I just know I stayed with a friend in New York City. And that I drained his cupboard dry of booze. Then I came back to Rochester, feeling like I had nowhere else to go.
I dreaded going back to Rajeev. I was as ashamed and embarrassed as I’ve ever been. But there was also relief once I’d decided to do it, a lightness at the loss of a weight, as I finally and forever let go of “You can do whatever you want,” and accepted the idea of following someone else’s lead.
“Just tell me what to do,” I said to Rajeev, after explaining where I’d been all those months and why.
Rajeev took me back graciously, like the Prodigal Son.
“Now you know what makes theoretical physics so hard,” he said. “It’s not that the problems are hard, although they are. It’s that knowing which problems to try and solve is hard. That, in fact, is the hardest part.”
Two years later, I was writing my thesis. I’d moved out of my basement apartment to a second-floor studio farther from campus but with better light and smaller bugs. When I’d come back from my binge to Rochester and Rajeev, I was still suffering from some sort of post-theoretical-physics disorder and had to promise myself I’d stay only an hour to get back to my desk at all. One hour became two and eventually I was back in business again, although 15-hour days were now the exception rather than the rule.
My thesis topic was renormalization, a subject in quantum theory that Feynman helped found and that solves a critical problem quantum mechanics has when it’s married with Einstein’s special theory of relativity to produce quantum field theory, physics’ state-of-the-art description of the world, and the foundation for the Standard Model. The problem is that infinities infect the resulting theory, as if there were an errant division by zero, causing many of its predictions to be nonsensical. Renormalization is a recipe, a collection of recipes really, for subtracting those infinities away.
By staying laser-focused on renormalization, I learned the subject in some depth and was able to contribute more and more in my talks with Rajeev. Our meetings grew longer and longer. We’d meet after lunch, blow through the afternoon, and sometimes go well into the night. Rajeev’s wife would often call to remind him to come home for dinner. He’d whisper what sounded like compliance, but then would hang up and seem to forget the call ever happened, picking up with me right where he’d left off. There’d be a second call and sometimes a third. Sometimes Rajeev would give in. Other times his wife would give up. His mind was a hard thing to stop. I myself never tried. I always came to his office with a couple of granola bars stuffed in my pockets, just in case.
I loved seeing Rajeev’s mind in action. On the best days, I’d get a glimpse of his view of the physics landscape: a perspective from on high of a continent’s worth of alternating mountain ranges and plains, and wispy traces of various rivers in the distance. The view was thrilling and sometimes gave me a dizzy-high feeling, as if I really were at altitude. Sometimes Rajeev himself seemed to get a little high from the fumes of his own burning ideas and he’d start speculating where our work might lead us, if we stuck with it long enough. Possible solutions to longstanding conjectures in mathematics would be mentioned, along with Nobel-worthy breakthroughs in physics. “Hey, you never know!” he’d say, flashing his subversive smile.
But the reality was that we weren’t chasing any grails. We weren’t even developing a new theory. We were, like Hamilton, fleshing out an already established one, essentially staying in place on a trail in the landscape, digging holes, and trying to understand more deeply the place where we stood. In technical terms, we found new mathematical formulations of some quantum field theories that skirted the problematic infinities from the start, so that traditional renormalization procedures weren’t required. But still, like those traditional methods, ours avoided explaining the infinities’ source. And, as with the traditional approaches, you could argue we were just covering up holes in quantum field theory.
That’s why Feynman himself called renormalization a “shell game,” and why some physicists consider the sort of work Rajeev and I were doing distasteful—because it amounts to fleshing out a flawed, or at least incomplete, theory as opposed to boldly going in search of a better one, one that could include quantum gravity, the key to which may very well be buried somewhere deep in quantum field theory’s holes.
I actually tackled this viewpoint head-on in my thesis by quoting physics eminence Steven Weinberg’s response to the criticism that time spent on renormalization detracted from the greater glory of going for The Grail.
“It seems to me that this is analogous to saying that to balance your checkbook is to give up dreams of wealth and have a life that is intrinsically less exciting,” Weinberg said. “In a sense that’s true, but nevertheless it’s still something that you had better do once in awhile.”
Rajeev liked that line a lot. “It may not be the right time,” he’d say about discovering the next generation theory that could supersede the Standard Model and potentially provide a Theory of Everything. It took Hamilton and others several hundred years to fully flesh out Newton’s mechanics, and there were still open questions even in that field. Solving quantum gravity could take several hundred more.
By the time I finished my thesis, I’d convinced myself that physics was far from finding The Grail. But there were other reasons why I decided I’d have to make yet another career change, this time to Wall Street.
Not least was the job market. For six years I’d watched postdocs pass through the department with the seasons, like migrant workers come to pick beets. At one time, a single two-year assignment had been enough to qualify for a job as a professor. But now the norm was two or three postdocs, sometimes more, and even then the odds of landing a full-time job were slim. Every once in awhile I’d see the telltale sign of one who gave up: piles of books outside a Bausch and Lomb office in the hallway, a makeshift yard sale for those still clinging to the dream.
They all seemed at least as smart as me, and if I’d had any doubt about my standing among them, one moment in my final year brought it into terribly sharp relief. I was in Rajeev’s office with a group of other students and postdocs listening to our leader describe his latest idea. I got confused and asked a question. Then, when that didn’t clear things up, another. There may have been a third.
Rajeev had had enough.
“Do I need to explain fiber bundles to you again?” he said with a clenched jaw, the closest to angry I’d ever seen him—not even a smile of discomfort.
My face burned and I couldn’t speak. Rajeev finished the lecture, and I sat and stared through the blackboard, my thoughts a hot swirl of emotion and broken logic. I avoided Rajeev for at least a week after that. Fiber bundles are topological objects that were basic ingredients in Rajeev’s preferred way of framing quantum field theory, my supposed area of expertise. And yet, even as I was writing my thesis, my mental model of them was missing some screws.
As I put the final touches on my thesis, I weighed my options. I was broke, burned out, and doubted my ability to go any further in theoretical physics. But mostly, with The Grail now gone and the physics landscape grown so immense, I thought back to Rajeev’s comment about knowing which problems to solve and realized that I still didn’t know what, for me, they were.
Fifteen years later, in the autumn of 2012, I rolled into Rochester on a motorcycle laden with supplies for a cross-country trip, having just left my final job on Wall Street. I was hoping the trip would help me to clear my head and to decide what to do next. Rochester was my first stop, where I planned to meet Rajeev. We’d lost touch after I graduated, but I’d recently reached out and, to my surprise, he suggested we might do something together again in physics.
When I found him in his new office in Bausch and Lomb, Rajeev rubbed his round head and lamented the hair he’d lost in the intervening years. He wore a black turtleneck and black pants that made him look more like an artist than I remembered. His voice was even softer than I remembered too. Crossing the quad on the path to the Faculty Club for lunch, I struggled to hear him over the wind whishing through the brown leaves of the oak trees and the fallen ones skittering on the ground.
Back in his office after lunch, Rajeev offered me a chair and plopped down onto a couch. “I don’t know what you want to do,” he said, and I sat silent for an awkward moment considering ways to interpret that question. Then I asked him about Kerala, where he’s from, and we were off to the races. First about current events, then about history, and finally physics. We talked for hours, through the afternoon, until his window glowed orange with the setting sun. It was just like the old days, except this time Rajeev called his wife at dinnertime rather than the other way around.
We talked about what had happened in physics since I left. The Higgs boson had just been discovered, but that wasn’t such a surprise. More interesting, theoretically, was the finding that neutrinos have mass, which the Standard Model says they shouldn’t have. That and the discovery that the universe’s expansion is accelerating, implying the presence of dark energy, and the stark conclusion that most of the “stuff” in the universe may not be covered by the Standard Model at all. I harbored a hope that Rajeev would show an interest in this area, have some ideas. In some ways I hadn’t changed much. I was still inclined to go off chasing grails.
I realized it was as good a time as any to ask a question that had been burning in my brain for a long time, but which I’d never had the nerve to ask.
“What happened to me?” I started. I wanted to know why Rajeev thought I’d failed at physics. I had my own view and tipped my hand. I wanted to make it easier for Rajeev to say what I thought needed to be said, that I just wasn’t smart enough, not good enough at the math.
But Rajeev, true to form, had his own ideas.
Without naming names, he ticked through a catalog of his contemporaries who’d succeeded in theoretical physics even without having the towering mathematical intellect that I was sure it took and that Rajeev surely has. They’d made it, Rajeev explained, by focusing on problems that played to their strengths, or by taking advantage of computers, or by collaborating with peers who had complementary skills. Some socially gifted but not so mathematically talented types had gone quite far this way, earned a lot of renown. As Rajeev made his case, I realized he sounded familiar. In fact, he sounded a lot like me, the many times I’d been asked by young strivers how to break into Wall Street or how to succeed once there. Often I’d see my listener’s eyes glaze over as I gave them such practical advice and stressed how much work it took. So many people seemed to want some secret that wasn’t mine to give.
Gradually, I heard what Rajeev was saying but was too diplomatic to actually say, “You didn’t fail, Bob. You quit.”
That hit me like a brick. It hadn’t occurred to me, or I hadn’t let it occur to me, that if I’d really wanted it, I could have kept going, at least applied for a postdoc, whatever the odds. My mind wandered as I wondered whether and why I may not have wanted to do physics as much as I’d always imagined …
But Rajeev wasn’t finished.
“The hardest part of all,” he said, about theoretical physics, “is controlling your emotions.”
Another brick. It was clear he meant himself.
“You?” I asked.
Rajeev shot me a squinty look as if to ask was I really that dense. I had a fiber bundle flashback as he went on to explain.
Sound bites from that conversation echoed in my helmet as I twisted my bike’s throttle and left Rochester behind. I quit, as I cruised into Canada over Lake Erie. I quit, as I passed through Chicago and then through the farm fields of Wisconsin. I quit, across the flat nothingness of Nebraska. I quit, up into the snow-covered Rockies and back down through the melting heat of Moab, Needles, and Palm Springs.
Writers talk of the terror of facing a blank page, but it’s no different for theorists like Rajeev trying to choose which path to take. There are an infinite number to choose from, and most go nowhere or back from where you came. The clock is always ticking and you spend so much time in the dark that it can make you not only question your path, but your own self worth. It can make you feel stupid. Rajeev had once been a night person, but now, he told me, with two kids in the house, he awoke each day at 3 a.m. in order to have the quiet time he needed to do such wandering in the dark, undistracted. He confessed how stressful the work could be.
I was taken aback. To me, Rajeev had always seemed the happy mathematical warrior, blessed with a brain that enabled him to follow his bliss. Was it actually as stressful for him as it had been for me? Was my failure to follow through on physics more about emotions than math? These questions and the lessons I’d learned from Rajeev were on my mind as I crested a grassy hill outside of Malibu and got my first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. That and how physics and writing and life are all essentially the same, and so are people. And, as I continued to consider how to navigate the open landscape of life ahead of me, how Rajeev had concluded our last conversation by conjecturing, as if he was contemplating the question for the first time, that theorists like him stay the stressful course of wandering in the dark and guessing which questions to ask is because, “They must really want to know the answers.”
Bob Henderson studied physics, worked on Wall Street, and is now an independent writer focused on science and finance.While Verizon has the HTC Trophy as it's one and only Windows Phone, the wireless provider has given Microsoft an ultimatum of sorts that could see the Verizon dropping Windows Phone all together.
"We've communicated to Microsoft that LTE is critical to us. We need to see a timeline that makes sense if we want to continue to represent them."
Microsoft hasn't responded to Walden's comments but has said it would add LTE support to Windows Phone but hasn't addressed the "when" of the subject. Should Microsoft and Verizon part ways, the wireless company will focus it's smartphone line-up on Android devices and the iPhone (which doesn't support LTE).
Verizon is still working with Microsoft on this issue and hopefully common ground can be found to bring the second generation Windows Phones to Verizon. If not, does the success of Windows Phones hinge on a Verizon model or will Microsoft do just fine without?
Source: CNET Via: WinsupersiteWASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, called the decision to send a Navy carrier strike group to the Western Pacific “prudent.”
McMaster, making the comments on “Fox News Sunday,” said Mr. Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping had agreed North Korea’s pattern of “provocative behavior” was unacceptable, and that the U.S. was acting accordingly. The Pentagon sent the group Saturday night.
Tillerson on the "dangerous situation" in North Korea
“This is a rogue regime that is now a nuclear-capable regime,” McMaster said. “...So the president has asked us to be prepared to give him a full range of options to remove that threat to the American people and our allies and partners in that region.”
North Korea pledged to bolster its defenses to protect against airstrikes, after the U.S. targeted a Syrian air base with cruise missiles last week. An unnamed North Korea Foreign Ministry official in the state-run Korean Central News Agency called the U.S. action in Syria, “absolutely unpardonable,” and said it proves that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is justified to protect against Washington’s “evermore reckless moves for a war.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that Mr. Trump and Jinping had “extensive discussions around the dangerous situation in North Korea” last week.
“I think it was a very useful and productive exchange,” Tillerson said. “President Xi clearly understands, and — and I think agrees, that the situation has intensified and has reached a certain level of threat that action has to be taken.”
President Trump named U.S. Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster (L) as his national security adviser at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2017. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
“And, indeed, the Chinese, even themselves, have said that they do not believe the conditions are right today to engage in discussions with the government in Pyongyang,” Tillerson said. “And so what I think we’re hopeful is that we can work together with the Chinese to change the conditions in the minds of—of the DPRK leadership. And then, at that point, perhaps discussions may be useful. But I think there’s a shared view and no disagreement as to how dangerous the situation has become. And I think even China is beginning to recognize that this presents a threat to even — to— to China’s interests as well.”“What is thr difference between the unaweep and the yampa? I need a good walking sandal. Which is better?”
Unaweep is Chaco’s classic performance sandal tread, with aggressive traction like a hiking shoe. The lugs are deep, and these will last the longest. If you’re planning to do a lot of hiking, this sole is your best bet. Men tend to prefer this style.
Conversely, the opposite is often preferred by women! The Yampa sole is lower-profile and lighter, and on some models it comes in a bright color that matches the sandal webbing. Because of their popularity, many women’s Chacos have more available colors in their Yampa iteration.
So, it really depends on hiking vs. walking. The Yampa will be a much lighter weight sandal for running around town. Hope this helps! Answered on 4/28/2016 7:47:32 PM by Briancw from Kentucky
Unaweep is Chaco’s classic performance sandal tread, with aggressive traction like a hiking shoe. The lugs are deep, and these will last the longest. If you’re planning to do a lot of hiking, this sole is your best bet. Men tend to prefer this style.
Conversely, the opposite is often preferred by women! The Yampa sole is lower-profile and lighter, and on some models it comes in a bright color that matches the sandal webbing. Because of their popularity, many women’s Chacos have more available colors in their Yampa style.
Answered on 4/28/2016 8:49:52 PM by Jeff the Kayaker from Hot Springs, Arkansas
Not sure. I've had many different styles. Some models have less aggressive soles. That might be the difference This unaweep pictured is the more aggressive, as in a hiking boot. Hope this helps. Answered on 4/29/2016 6:17:14 AM by Stewdog from GeorgiaFilipinos continually fail to distinguish the right to free speech and how the right is used. A patriot may defend the right but disclaim how the likes of Charlie Hebdo and Carlos Celdran use it.
As Filipinos join the world in reposting “Je Suis Charlie” signs, a witty graphic went around Facebook asking if they truly understand this cause, given that they had wanted Dan Brown and Claire Danes banned from the Philippines for describing Manila as “the gates of hell” and “smelled of cockroaches,” respectively. It is easy to defend free speech when the context is alien and distant, such as cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Paris, but the true test comes with speech that pricks what one holds dear.
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The Western media grappled with whether republishing cartoons that hurt many Muslims was the proper reaffirmation of free speech. (Muslims consider graphic depiction of the Prophet offensive.) The New York Times professed respect for Muslim readers and was the only US newspaper to refuse to reprint the new Muhammad cartoon on the cover of Charlie Hebdo’s post-attack issue. All others reprinted it, citing its newsworthiness, given that it was selling out in Paris as the leaders of England, Australia, Turkey and Syria publicly debated its merit. Canada’s Globe and Mail argued against reprinting old cartoons immediately after the attacks, arguing that free speech is best honored in one’s own editorial voice.
Similarly, Catholics hurt by Celdran’s raising his “Damaso” placard in the Manila Cathedral during an ecumenical meeting (not a Mass) must understand that the President and others opposed to jailing him are themselves Catholics and would not commit any perceived blasphemy in a church. Adoption of the act, agreement with his political message, and disapproval of his jail sentence are three different things.
Aggrieved faithful ask whether Celdran has the right to enter one’s home and protest there, but this argues the wrong debate. Critics ask, not whether he has this positive right, but whether the crime “offending religious feelings” is defined in a way that violates free speech. It punishes, not causing disruption in a place of religious worship, but acts that cause offense in a religious context. A judge is forced to analyze what the accused said against religion, meaning it can only be analyzed under free-speech doctrines, venue aside. Because the crime is defined to jail someone only if the audience disagrees, it is blatantly unconstitutional. The definition does not focus on whether an act incites violence, and as Inquirer.net commenter Hadiong put it, the crime is so subjective that Pope Francis might be jailed had he scolded our bishops in the Manila Cathedral. Instead of addressing this basic “viewpoint discrimination” in the crime’s definition, the Court of Appeals practically argued that anything insulting is not protected speech. This is the nuanced free-speech debate that the aggrieved refuse to hear.
After the new Charlie Hebdo cover, Muslims worldwide and Pope Francis himself proposed that free speech should not shield insult to religion. A ban on so-called hate speech may be justified because it is “low value,” it incites or inflicts hurt without communicating any underlying idea beyond raw loathing. Many countries impose such bans, with Germany banning the swastika and Nazi salute and Singapore banning racist speech after experiencing race riots.
The problem with such bans, however, is where to draw the line, and the shallow debate on Celdran’s sentence makes one wonder if our society is mature enough for this quandary. His placard did not attack religious doctrine but criticized bishops’ political acts, and French pundits ask that we understand Charlie Hebdo in the context of its uniquely ultraliberal political satire. One fears unintended suppression of legitimate political speech that touches on religious figures. For example, might a hate-speech ban deter discussion of election posters on the Bacolod cathedral’s facade, bishops’ receiving government funds to purchase cars, or Pope Francis’ speech in Malacañang? American and Philippine tradition avoid the dilemma of having to define hate speech by instead empowering society to disclaim it. Thus, it may be more meaningful to our Muslim brethren and our peace process if Christians affirm that they do not support Charlie Hebdo’s depictions of Muhammad in the name of free speech, instead of simply banning the cartoons in the Philippines.
As yet another example, Rappler’s Margie de Leon wrote “A Filipino atheist’s letter,” suggesting it may be unconstitutional to devote so much government resources to a religious leader such as the Pope. The letter was met with hundreds of lengthy, insulting Internet comments that refused to hear her idea even though it properly cited our Constitution, instead of simply rebutting that it is legitimately secular for a government to ensure security with millions trooping to the streets. The religious dimension has impeded meaningful debate of the likes of Celdran’s sentence, with intellectual criticism met with hurtful, angry, ideological outbursts that contrast with the calm with which Jesus debated the devil himself during his temptation.
These recent experiences must remind us that it is perfectly Christian to listen to speech that offends. When our hearts are hardened and our minds are closed shut, when we feel righteous in strapping on a bomb in Jesus’ name or condemning a man to jail, this may be the time when we most desperately need to respect free speech and accept that one might not be wiser than the entire human race and all future generations combined.
* * *
React on Twitter (@oscarfbtan) and facebook.com/OscarFranklinTan.
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MOST READThe arguments heard by the Supreme Court today in FCC vs. Fox Television Stations may have been, to quote U2 front man Bono, "f***ing brilliant"—but it's the court's decision that will determine whether you can describe them that way on television.
The case stems from the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards, at which Cher and Nicole Richie shocked audiences by uttering expletives normally employed only by sailors, street ruffians, and Dick Cheney. The Federal Communications Commission determined that the mal mots were "indecent" during primetime broadcast hours, but the broadcaster fought the ruling. Last year, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded that the Commission had been "arbitrary and capricious" in changing its policy to bar even "fleeting" expletives used as intensifiers, in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act.
In principle, the Court could ask the Commission to explain its reasoning more fully and kick the case back to the Second Circuit for review under that statute. But as Ruth Bader Ginsberg acknowledged Tuesday morning, there was an "elephant in the room": The First Amendment.
Cher about to drop an f-bomb
The Court held 20 years ago, in FCC v. Pacifica, that "indecent" (even though not necessarily "obscene") language—in the instance, George Carlin's now infamous Seven Dirty Words routine—could be barred from the "uniquely pervasive" public airwaves, which were a scarce resource that could be regulated in the public interest by the Commission. But as Ginsburg observed, "That was before the Internet. Pacifica was in 1978." Have changing technology and changing social mores rendered the Court's broadcast censorship jurisprudence obsolete?
Solicitor General Gregory Garre argued, on the government's behalf, that they had not, and offered up the grim specter of "Big Bird dropping the F-bomb on Sesame Street" if the FCC were defanged. Even Chief Justice John Roberts, who along with Justice Antonin Scalia appeared openly sympathetic to the government's position, wondered whether the arguments the Pacifica Court had relied upon "still have the same force today when the broadcast medium is only one of several that are available," noting that it seemed doubtful that much was achieved by applying stringent rules to a few broadcast channels while many more cable channels and online videos operated without such restrictions.
Just the opposite, Garre argued: because there are now so many venues for Tarrantino-esque streams of vulgarity, the restriction on speech imposed by censorship of the airwaves was much less significant. And the argument for providing an unambiguously safe space for those who opted out of cable's vast cesspool that much stronger.
Fox attorney Carter Phillips disagreed, citing the case of a Vermont public television station that had decided not to air a debate between several Senate candidates because one had "used expletives in a previous public forum," and the station could not afford the kind of time-delay equipment that Garre recommended networks use. (Especially, Garre added, when they know they'll be airing a notorious potty-mouth like Nicole Richie.)
Several justices seemed inclined to steer clear of the big constitutional questions and decide the case on procedural and statutory grounds. But Phillips insisted that the two were inextricably intertwined. "It seems to me a completely artificial inquiry," Carter argued, "to look at this as though you're regulating the price of oil going through a pipeline. At the end of the day you are regulating the content of speech."
At an event in September, former FCC Chairman Michael Powell voiced his own regrets about having supported the "fleeting expletives" ban, arguing that the Commission had "gone way too far—we are dancing with the limits of the Constitution." Powell said that the rule change had been "a terrible mistake—and I voted for it." The entertainment industry has also urged the Court to save the F-bomb, while a slew of decency groups have equally fervently insisted the justices hold the line.
But where exactly is the line? Some of the exchanges between the justices and the lawyers made clear just how muddled that question can get. Justice John Paul Stevens, for example, wondered whether it might be appropriate for FCC "to take into consideration at all the question whether the particular remark was really hilarious—very, very funny?" Garre allowed that as part of a contextual analysis, it might be, to the relief of Justice Scalia, who opined that "bawdy jokes are okay if they are really good."
And then there was the question of the grammatical role of an expletive. "Isn't it true that [the F-bomb] is a word that often is used with no reference whatsoever to the sexual connotation?" asked Stevens. Garre again conceded that it "can be used in a metaphorical way, as Cher used it here, to say 'F them' to her critics." Even the person uttering the word—impressionable children might be especially prone to emulate celebrities—played a role.
Whichever way the Court comes down, civil libertarians will have occasion to utter some expletives of their own—the only question is whether the cry will be "Oh F***!" or "F*** yeah!"Looking back on his famous battle with feminists, Norman Mailer once said, “I was chosen as the sexist pig mainly because I was the most available target. The women saying, ‘Let’s have a revolution,’ were having a revolution, but the revolution was taking place in New York. They weren’t going down to Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas, and saying to the men down there, ‘Let’s free the women down here.’ They were freeing the women in New York who were already free. They were occupying powerful jobs in New York. They were a strong element in the publishing houses. So, in other words, it was a false revolution to a certain degree.”
Mailer’s words, like much of his work, grows increasingly relevant as war-on-women fighters and the “rape culture” resisters indict, convict, and punish sexism where sexism no longer exists. The modern, American feminist is typically on scholarship at an elite Eastern coast university teaching her she is a victim of the patriarchal poltergeist (impossible to see, but everywhere in its presence and influence), or the one doing the teaching, or writing a column in a major newspaper, or running for office with the full endorsement of the Democratic Party.
Given that women now occupy a majority of seats in college classrooms, the majority of U.S. managerial positions, a growing amount of professional careers, and in all likelihood, the next Democratic nomination for President, it seems no one is questioning the power, intelligence, and courage of women, except the leaders of the American women’s movement, who insist women desperately need protection, and are in danger of crumbling at any second, from exposure to frathouse keggers, literature with misogynist terminology, and whistling construction workers.
It seems no one is questioning the power, intelligence, and courage of women, except the leaders of the American women’s movement.
Just as the literary scene in Manhattan and Brooklyn in the 1970s was flourishing with female authors, editors, and publishers, contemporary American culture is most egalitarian, and even feminist, in the exact locations and institutions where feminists are angriest about their exclusion and mistreatment. It seems rather unlikely, for example, that the University of California-Santa Barbara, where Bailey Loverin, a female undergraduate recently profiled in the New York Times, is leading a movement for class syllabi to flag “potentially traumatic material” with “trigger warnings,” is a bastion of chauvinism.
The double charge of hypocrisy and self-involvement is what Norman Mailer levied against the American feminists of his era, and it is even more applicable against the feminists of the current era, whose vantage point seems to exist exclusively within a hall of funhouse mirrors.
Let’s Talk About The Real Rape Culture
Leading American feminists have adopted as their favorite hobby waxing apocalyptic about “street harassment” and “everyday feminism,” as a bestselling book of the same title puts it, while they condemn America for fostering a misogynist “rape culture” where sexual assault is tacitly encouraged or trivialized. Rape, like all violent crime, is in steep decline, and there is no doubt that American culture has acquired more contempt of rape, not less. Sexual harassment laws continue to multiply and intensify, and is there anyone who believes that the smarmy “she was asking for it” or the repugnant “she is a slut” defenses attorneys used to mount on behalf of their rapist clients are more effective now than they were in the 1950s, or even the 1990s?
The double charge of hypocrisy and self-involvement is what Norman Mailer levied against the American feminists of his era, and it is even more applicable against the feminists of the current era.
While the absurdity of the feminist battle cry grows louder, its most dedicated amplifiers ignore, or have no interest in condemning, the vicious enslavement and torture of women in the real rape cultures around the world. It requires a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle attention to detail to notice a leading American feminist discussing the state of women in the Middle East or Africa. The silence of American feminists was deafening when Brandeis University disrespected and disinvited Ayaan |
, MRCVS.
Marie O'Connor RVN
Ann Pocknell DVM, MVetSci, DACVP, DipRCPath, MRCVS
Sue Pell, MSc RVN
Judy Puddifoot BSc, MSc, BVetMed, MRCVS
Richard Saunders BSc (Hons) BVSc FSB CBiol DZooMed (Mammalian) MRCVS, RCVS, Specialist in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine
Peter Southgate BVetMed, MSc, MRCVS
Jon Twigg RVN
Liz Wheeler RVN
Jessica Upchurch BSc (Zoology), MRes, BVetMed, MRCVS.
ReferencesThe Coup finally has a new album finished and ready to go. It's called "Sorry To Bother You".
This is the best work we've ever done, songwriting and production-wise. I'm very proud of it excited for all of you to hear it. I talk more about the album down further. Here's the thing: I'm tired of having secret albums that come out that most people don't find out about til years later.
This time, we're going to hit the road hard and bring this music to the world. We also want to use our music, as has always been the goal, to help build this new movement that is taking the world by storm.
We want you to help us buy a tour bus.
At the level that The Coup has been at up til now, we either fly in and do one-off dates (rare) or we tour in a van, driving during the day to get to the gig and sleeping in hotels at night.
Having to get hotels for the band makes the expenses for a Coup show such that we end up having to skip over, or turn down offers in, many places where we haven't had the chance to build up a following yet. We want to end that practice, and get to all these places.
If we have a bus, we'll sleep on the bus and save on hotel rooms- this means will be able to get to many areas we've neglected in the past.
With the bus, we'll travel at night, get to towns in the morning and be able to connect with local organizers and be involved in things throughout the day before soundcheck and the show. In this way, we can participate with local campaigns across the US and Canada. This makes touring all the more worth it for me.
I got into doing music to help build a movement. I love helping with my music via recordings or at the show, but I feel I could do more than that. This bus will free up some time and space for us to combine the touring with organizing in new ways.
We're also working with some great, creative folks on taking our show to new levels with set design and integrating some very cool light, visual, and theatrical elements. If you've seen our show, you know that we give it our all- dancing and playing our asses off while leaving our clothes and our audience drenched in sweat. We plan to make the new show an extension of that ethos.
If we had a bus, there's even more we can bring with us- making the show possibilities even crazier.
We're not hoping to get a brand new bus- we will buy a used one in good condition. I've been pricing them out and checking them out for years now. Money that we get beyond the price of the bus will be used for the crazy show ideas we have.
This album will be coming out on Epitaph Records. They are supplying the new album to me at wholesale price so that I can give the CD and vinyl as rewards on this kickstarter campaign. Many people have had a hard time finding our albums when they are released. Now you can get in early and get the album, while helping us get this bus. The difference between the reward price and the wholesale price will go directly towards buying this bus and taking this show to another level.
Here's the cover!
About the new album, "Sorry To Bother You":
We put our souls on this album. Every album I make is somewhat different than the last. This album was produced through a collaboration of me and my good friend Damion Gallegos. We had fun making crazy sounds with organic, electric, and electronic toys, culminating in something that sounds like an aggressive, danceable, punk/funk raptacular explosion. It's as if Rick James, The Pixies, Ohio Players, The Clash, Salman Rushdie, Richard Pryor, and me went in the studio drunk off Sailor Jerry Rum (don't do it) and made a baby named "Sorry To Bother You".
We collaborated with Das Racist, Killer Mike, Anti-Flag, Jolie Holland, Japanther, Vernon Reid, Joe Henry, Eric McFadden, Gabby La La, Emily Jane, Bhi Bhiman, Jazz Mafia Horns, and The Classical Revolution.
This album is the soundtrack to a movie I wrote.
The movie is dark comedy with magical realism, inspired by my time as a telemarketer. It's also called "Sorry To Bother You". It is being directed by Alex Rivera (Sleep Dealer), and produced by Ted Hope (21 Grams, The Ice Storm, American Splendor). It's gonna be fucking crazy. The movie won't come out until 2013.
Vinyl Fiends:
The vinyl of the album is double vinyl, playable at 45rpm, and comes with the CD packaged inside.Hollywoodonomics: how Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix "lost" $167M
Last summer, Deadline released this balance-sheet ("participation statement") detailing the alleged financial state of the corporate entity struck to run the Warner Bros movie "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix." The movie, which had grossed nearly $1B at the time, was nevertheless running $167M in the red. The losses are largely attributable to to prints and advertising/marketing -- and, as many commenters on the original post point out, a major recipient of that marketing budget would have been Warner's itself, in the guise of its other media divisions. Another culprit is high interest fees, though the film didn't have outside financing, so Deadline speculates that the loan note was also held by Warner's.
The original post holds this out as an example of why only a fool accepts "net-participation" compensation for work associated with a film, but I think this is also a great example of why all financial numbers released by the entertainment industry should be treated as fiction until proven otherwise. Especially piracy "loss" figures, alleged contributions to national GDP, and job creation numbers.
As one dealmaker tells me: "If this is the fair definition of net profits, why do we continue to pretend and go through this charade? Judging by this, no movie is ever, ever going to go to pay off on net participants. It's an illusion to make writers, and lower-level actors and filmmakers feel they have a stake in the game." And yet Warner Bros isn't doing anything differently here than is done by every other studio. Clearly, nothing has changed since Art Buchwald successfully sued Paramount over the 1988 hit Coming to America when the subject of net participation was scrutinized, and a judge called studio accounting methods "unconscionable".
STUDIO SHAME! Even Harry Potter Pic Loses Money Because Of Warner Bros' Phony Baloney Net Profit Accounting
(via Reddit)Far north Queensland farmer Leon Collins at his paddock of newly planted avocados at Lakeland.
A far north Queensland farmer hopes to cash in on Australia's love affair with avocados, with a new crop designed to extend the country's growing season.
This season Leon Collins is planting 10,000 avocado plants at his property in Lakeland, around three hours north of Cairns.
It's believed to be the northernmost crop of the stone fruit in Australia.
The farmer is growing a South-African variety of avocado called Maluma Hass, and reckons the fruit is "bigger and creamier" than the typical Hass grown in Australia.
"Year two we'll start to see a fair bit of fruit hanging, and then year three is when they start to strap out in production," he said.
Mr Collins runs banana farms in the Tully Valley, and bought the Cape York property four years ago.
"It was for risk mitigation for cyclones originally... and now it's definitely for disease control as well."
"This place has got a lot going for it, it has got beautiful deep red soils in the best in the country; as long as you've got access to water I think you can grow most things here."
Share Far north Queensland farmer Leon Collins holds a trial Maluma avocado at his Lakeland farm.
He thinks his fruit will beat most of his competitors to market.
"We're looking at putting a Hass-type variety in in the Shepard market in Australia, which should do very well, because that's what everyone's looking for," Mr Collins said.
"We should be ahead of the Mareeba area by a couple of weeks, just because geographically we're a little bit further north."
Growers pushing north
Farming on the Cape York Peninsula comes with its own set of challenges, with less infrastructure in place in the remote region.
"We're two hours north of Mareeba so you've got to have a bit of economy of scale to make it work," Mr Collins said.
"Labour's not a real problem either as we've got big backpackers down the road."
Lakeland is about as far north as farmers can currently grow, as the roads are unsealed and prone to flooding from around 100 kilometres north of Mr Collins' property.
Access to water can also be difficult.
Share One of the paddocks of avocado plants recently planted by Leon Collins at Lakeland on the Cape York Peninsula.
Industry to double in next decade
John Tyas from peak body Avocados Australia said the volume of avocado production in the country has doubled in the past 10 years.
Despite that, Australia still imports the fruit from overseas for several months a year.
"There is a period around January and February where we really do struggle to meet demand... at the end of the WA season and the beginning of the north Queensland season," Mr Tyas said.
"We're seeing growers trying to get in as early as they can to help try and close that gap across those couple of months."
He thinks the industry will double once again in the next decade.
He said 25 per cent to 30 per cent of all avocado trees currently in the ground were yet to come into full production.
For that reason, Avocados Australia is looking to grow the export market, particularly in opening access to countries where there are currently quarantine restrictions.
"If we don't put that effort in now, in five to 10 years' time, when these trees come into full production, we'll have pressure in our existing markets."BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union should keep negotiating with the United States on a new free trade deal known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
The EU and the US are officially aiming to sign the deal before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office in January, but there are now major doubts about it.
Merkel’s deputy, Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel – a member of the Social Democrats, junior coalition partner in Germany’s ruling coalition – unleashed a firestorm last month when he said the free trade talks are “de facto dead”. France and Belgium have cast doubt on the prospect of the new trade deal and scepticism is growing among Americans.
“I advocate negotiations continuing now,” Merkel told the Funke Mediengruppe, a German newspaper chain.
She said that many EU member states were suffering from high unemployment, adding: “That’s why we should support everything that can create jobs and that includes the free trade deal.”
Merkel said she had told U.S. President Barack Obama that during the G20 summit held in China earlier this week.
Asked if the deal still had a chance of coming to pass, Merkel said: “That now depends on the further negotiating process.”Bangalore: Paytm Payments Bank is targeting to become the world’s largest digital bank with 500 million bank accounts and aims to turn into an integrated financial services company that offers everything from wealth management to share trading.
“We are unveiling our money market fund, launching our debit card and we’ll have the capabilities to allow enterprises to open business accounts," Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in a phone interview that coincided with Tuesday’s formal inauguration of its payments bank in New Delhi by India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley. “Digital payments was our entry point, we want to become a vertically-integrated financial services company."
The formal launch signals that the payments bank is now out of its beta mode and has many operational challenges sorted, he said.
Payments banks can accept deposits and remittances but cannot lend. Paytm is one of less than a dozen entities that got permits to start payments banks to bring financial services within easy reach of about a fifth of India’s 1.3 billion people who do not have access to organized financial services. The service is part of a key push by Narendra Modi’s government to broaden banking access to the unbanked and under-banked, mostly poor Indians who live in rural areas.
The service will be the country’s mobile-first bank with zero fee on online transactions and no minimum balance, according to a statement from the company.
Paytm Payments Bank is majority-owned by Sharma and One97 Communications, in which Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Financial collectively hold 49% stake. The payments bank morphed out of Paytm’s digital wallet which got a huge boost and amassed over a hundred million customers after India took its high currency bills, totaling nearly 90% of the value of cash, out of circulation last November.
Sharma may have found a way around the regulatory hurdles that bar lending. One97 Communications will introduce a charge card and offer monthly installment-based loans, he said. “We will launch share trading and insurance products very soon," said Sharma. “We want to become an Internet-age financial services company."
In India, the traditional banking system veers heavily toward those with wealth and the poorer citizens struggle to pay bills or transfer money to their relatives. “Buying insurance and investing through our wealth management products will become widely accessible through the payments bank," said Sharma.
Despite the proliferation of smartphones and cheap data rates bringing Internet access to millions, banks in the country are yet to build large digital banking capabilities. Indian consumers are not entirely comfortable with digital financial startups either. Sharma said both these could work in Paytm’s favour. “There are very few brands like ours that are trusted, and the winner will take all in this potentially very large market." BloombergSermokala Profile Joined November 2010 United States 1506 Posts Last Edited: 2012-11-12 19:34:45 November 12 2012 19:29 GMT #3 does veigars mana regen stack on top of a chalice?
Omen of War now works properly with Life Steal
yorick fans rejoice!
A pretty large collection of qol changes and small buffs here and there to more under used champs. not a bad patch going into preseason I guess. A wise man will say that he knows nothing. We're gona party like its 2752
Craton Profile Joined December 2009 United States 4833 Posts November 12 2012 19:30 GMT #5 Pretty underwhelming as far as balance changes go. twitch.tv/cratonz
Requizen Profile Joined March 2011 United States 17060 Posts November 12 2012 19:32 GMT #6 Said it in last thread, but closed now.
I don't think Elise was weak enough to warrant buffs. She's not as strong as release Rengar or Jayce, but I've seen plenty do well with her. It's your boy Guzma!
TheKefka Profile Joined March 2011 Croatia 1997 Posts November 12 2012 19:32 GMT #7 My heart skipped a beat for a second when I saw Brands icon on the balance patch notes but no cigar:< Cackle™
thenexusp Profile Joined May 2009 United States 1777 Posts November 12 2012 19:32 GMT #9 Regarding Tibbers vs turrets, now I'm pretty sure it's tibbers's autoattack showing up as magic damage on the tower for some reason. Not sure if it's actually magic damage or just a visual bug but it probably doesn't matter either way.
Teliko Profile Joined January 2011 Ireland 13 Posts November 12 2012 19:33 GMT #10 On November 13 2012 04:29 Sermokala wrote:
does veigars mana regen stack on top of a chalice?
Yes it does. Yes it does. Add a drop of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
wei2coolman Profile Joined November 2010 United States 30585 Posts November 12 2012 19:33 GMT #11 On November 13 2012 04:32 Requizen wrote:
Said it in last thread, but closed now.
I don't think Elise was weak enough to warrant buffs. She's not as strong as release Rengar or Jayce, but I've seen plenty do well with her.
release rengar sucked......... release rengar sucked......... liftlift > tsm
WaveofShadow Profile Joined April 2010 Canada 11438 Posts November 12 2012 19:33 GMT #12 On November 13 2012 04:30 gtrsrs wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 13 2012 04:28 zulu_nation8 wrote:
Do we know when the patch will be applied?
2.5 hours from now, i believe 2.5 hours from now, i believe
That's only for EUW/NE I think.
NA time hasn't been announced yet, but I assume it's going to be 10 PM PST like it was for Europe. That's only for EUW/NE I think.NA time hasn't been announced yet, but I assume it's going to be 10 PM PST like it was for Europe. twitch.tv/waveofshadow ||| Winner of AHGL's So You Think You Can Cast! ||| Juicy Dad for lyfe ||| 'idk i get a kick out of stupid things' - Jarms Yarng
overt Profile Joined June 2010 United States 3985 Posts November 12 2012 19:35 GMT #13 On November 13 2012 04:32 Eiii wrote:
Alright, time to start taking bets: how long until we actually start to see the jungle changes/item changes that've been promised for s3?
Not this patch but the next one imo. This patch ends S2 and brings on Preseason 3 which is when these changes are supposed to be implemented and tested. If this patch is any indication though your guess is as good as mine as to when it comes out. Optimistically I'd say two weeks but more realistically probably like three weeks or more. Not this patch but the next one imo. This patch ends S2 and brings on Preseason 3 which is when these changes are supposed to be implemented and tested. If this patch is any indication though your guess is as good as mine as to when it comes out. Optimistically I'd say two weeks but more realistically probably like three weeks or more.
Requizen Profile Joined March 2011 United States 17060 Posts November 12 2012 19:37 GMT #14 On November 13 2012 04:33 wei2coolman wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 13 2012 04:32 Requizen wrote:
Said it in last thread, but closed now.
I don't think Elise was weak enough to warrant buffs. She's not as strong as release Rengar or Jayce, but I've seen plenty do well with her.
release rengar sucked......... release rengar sucked.........
Oh right, that was the World Championship patch where he got buffed, right? I didn't really play him that much in the early days, was still spamming Jayce. Oh right, that was the World Championship patch where he got buffed, right? I didn't really play him that much in the early days, was still spamming Jayce. It's your boy Guzma!
Dusty Profile Joined December 2010 United States 1365 Posts November 12 2012 19:38 GMT #15 On November 13 2012 04:37 Requizen wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 13 2012 04:33 wei2coolman wrote:
On November 13 2012 04:32 Requizen wrote:
Said it in last thread, but closed now.
I don't think Elise was weak enough to warrant buffs. She's not as strong as release Rengar or Jayce, but I've seen plenty do well with her.
release rengar sucked......... release rengar sucked.........
Oh right, that was the World Championship patch where he got buffed, right? I didn't really play him that much in the early days, was still spamming Jayce. Oh right, that was the World Championship patch where he got buffed, right? I didn't really play him that much in the early days, was still spamming Jayce.
he got buffed about 4 weeks after his release which fixed the stuff that made him so shit in the first place. Then once people could actually play him without fighting his bugs everyone realized how stupid his numbers were. he got buffed about 4 weeks after his release which fixed the stuff that made him so shit in the first place. Then once people could actually play him without fighting his bugs everyone realized how stupid his numbers were. twitch.tv/loldusty | ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) | #betamaleasshole | #freerp4life | #americanwhitepig
thenexusp Profile Joined May 2009 United States 1777 Posts November 12 2012 19:40 GMT #16 On November 13 2012 04:32 Eiii wrote:
Alright, time to start taking bets: how long until we actually start to see the jungle changes/item changes that've been promised for s3?
My personal guess is that they're going to say the changes are coming out early december, then the day before that patch target they'll say that there are some game-breaking bugs and the patch will be pushed to mid-january. My personal guess is that they're going to say the changes are coming out early december, then the day before that patch target they'll say that there are some game-breaking bugs and the patch will be pushed to mid-january.
onlywonderboy Profile Joined August 2012 United States 11912 Posts November 12 2012 19:40 GMT #17 On November 13 2012 04:32 Requizen wrote:
Said it in last thread, but closed now.
I don't think Elise was weak enough to warrant buffs. She's not as strong as release Rengar or Jayce, but I've seen plenty do well with her.
I would assume Riot is just angry people aren't playing her mid so they are buffing here AP ratios, but all this will do is still make AP-Bruiser Elise stronger. I would assume Riot is just angry people aren't playing her mid so they are buffing here AP ratios, but all this will do is still make AP-Bruiser Elise stronger. RIP Ryan Davis / TL or Die / @onlywonderboy
GettingIt Profile Joined August 2011 263 Posts November 12 2012 19:40 GMT #18 Wow its seems very idiotic to make ignite only usable on enemy champs. Was there a reason for that? I stole many a dragon and buff with ignite...
onlywonderboy Profile Joined August 2012 United States 11912 Posts November 12 2012 19:42 GMT #19 On November 13 2012 04:40 GettingIt wrote:
Wow its seems very idiotic to make ignite only usable on enemy champs. Was there a reason for that? I stole many a dragon and buff with ignite...
A lot of people were complaining about accidentally igniting Elise's spiderlings, so I figure the change is in response to that. A lot of people were complaining about accidentally igniting Elise's spiderlings, so I figure the change is in response to that. RIP Ryan Davis / TL or Die / @onlywonderboy
Agnosthar Profile Joined August 2010 156 Posts November 12 2012 19:42 GMT #20 Bittersweet feeling seeing Katarina get nerfed. Although maybe I'll try out Elise now.
1 2 3 4 5 278 279 280 NextTaiwan’s entertaining and fiercely competitive professional baseball league (CPBL) currently consists of four teams: Chinatrust Brothers, Lamigo Monkeys, EDA Rhinos, and Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. While living in Taipei earlier this year, the cartoonist Edward Steed took in a few games. Here are some of his drawings:
Pre-game entertainment.
Perfect weather for baseball.
Monkeys' star hitter Ngayaw Ake strikes out.
Jaime Pedroza gets a run in the third. 4-0, Brothers.
Monkeys' right fielder Yu De-long twists an ankle. Kuo Yong-wei to the rescue.
Chen Kuan-jen waits for it to be over. Final score: Brothers, 6; Monkeys, 0.
Uni-President Lions v. EDA Rhinos. Chengcing Lake, Kaohsiung.
First inning, third pitch, first strike.
Teng Chih-wei at bat.
Justin Thomas pitching for the Lions.
Lin Chih-hsiang fumbles, recovers.
Chen Chun-hui dodges a fast one.
A broken bat takes everyone by surprise. Final score: Lions, 5; Rhinos, 4.
The starting pitchers.
Chang Chih-hao and a missed opportunity.
Bobby Blevins pitches. Ngayaw Ake hits.
Lin (Little Fatty) Hung-yu with a nonchalant home run. Puts the Monkeys ahead, 10-4.
Final score: Brothers, 4; Monkeys, 15.
Jared Lansford on the mound.
Chang Chien-ming doesn’t fool anyone.
Catcher Huang Hao-lan, smarting from a home-plate collision.
Chen Chun-hsiu ends it with a home run in the ninth. Lamigo Monkeys, 3; EDA Rhinos, 2.
Chen Chun-hsiu collects his M.V.P. award. Meanwhile, someone has to fetch the ball.We’ve warned you about them before on our website—but now they’re on a much more aggressive march all across America. No longer are they just staying in their classrooms or writing books and articles in the comfort of their offices. They are “the new atheists,” and they are aggressively going after your children, your liberties, and your faith!
According to the print media and websites, the new atheists say “evangelism is a moral imperative” to spread their “good news” in “persuading people of the virtues of atheism.” They are “drawing on evolution,” and are vocally “hostile to religions,” especially “fundamentalist Christianity and Islam.” They are “feeling a real need to convert people,” and preaching an “un-gospel.” In one media report, it was stated that “at some point there is going to be enough pressure that it is just going to be too embarrassing to believe in God.”
One of the most outspoken of this new breed of atheists is the vehement anti-creationist Dr. Richard Dawkins of Oxford University in England; another is philosopher, Sam Harris. The Washington Post wrote a major article about Harris and stated: “How exactly the faithful [Christians] will transition to a godless, Good Book-less cosmology is not exactly clear … but he is heartened by countries such as Sweden, where he claims 80% of the populace do not believe in God.”
These atheists are not just publicity seekers. They are very serious about their mission. Dawkins, from England, was recently crusading across America to proclaim his atheism to newspapers, websites, and at public meetings.
Some people might say to me, “But there’s no way Americans will go for atheism. Most people believe in God, even if they don’t take the Bible seriously as AiG does.” Think back to the 1950s. What if someone back then said to you, “Beware, the homosexual movement is on the march—if we don’t do something, ‘gay’ marriages will be legalized across the country.” Almost all of us at that time would have said that there’s no way Americans would ever accept this. Most people believe that marriage is one man for one woman, so, no, this will never happen in America.But as you know, it has happened—and continues to happen!
Interestingly, these new atheists liken their growing movement to that of the gay activists. One stated: “We’re in the same position the gay movement was in a few decades ago. There was need for people to come out. The more people who came out, the more people had the courage to come out. “That’s the case with atheists. They are more numerous than anybody realizes.”
If you think this observation is an exaggeration, just consider the popularity of two recent books associated with these new atheists: The God Delusion by Dawkins and Letter to a Christian Nation by Harris. Both books bitterly attack Christianity. Dawkins is more than just angry, though. He has a purpose, says a reviewer: “the whole book is meant to change people’s minds.”
The God Delusion was #8 on the New York Times bestseller list, #10 on Publishers Weekly, and #2 on the Amazon best-seller rankings in November 2006. At the same time, Letter was #6 on the Times list, and #8 in the Amazon rankings. Meanwhile, an increasing number of atheists are attacking our Christian faith in several major newspapers and websites—with their evolutionary beliefs often presented.
It prompts me to ask: “Why are atheists now getting so much publicity and gaining ground? What’s happened in the culture to allow this?” As we’ve been saying for years, there’s been a change in this culture—at a foundation level. Generations have been indoctrinated by the secular education system and media to build their thinking on human reason, not the Word of God. And at the base of this is the creation/evolution issue.
Evolutionary indoctrination has produced generations (even in the church) who doubt the Bible. Barna Research discovered that of teenagers today who call themselves born-again Christians, only 9% believe there is such a thing as absolute truth. These young people are ripe for “secular evangelists” like Dawkins and Harris.
Consider what else the media is saying about this “evangelistic” movement:
“There is clearly an evolutionary explanation for the tools we have cognitively.”
“Dawkins is openly agreeing with the most stubborn fundamentalists that evolution must lead to atheism.”
Atheists “derive their own worldview from the theory of evolution.”
Let me shock you further and illustrate how some of these God-haters think.
Quoting Harris, a source reported: “If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of either rape or religion,” Harris explains, “I would not hesitate to get rid of religion.”
Dawkins insists that Christians have no right to indoctrinate their children in religious “nonsense.” He continues, saying that children being brought up in Christian homes are being exposed to an “infection”—and Christianity is the most “dangerous thing in the world.”
One of Dawkins’ recent “evangelistic” talks was actually given in a packed church (the First Parish church in Cambridge, Massachusetts)! What times we live in! A news report stated:“At first his [Dawkins] words are greeted with laughter, and then with resounding applause....” The words he preached were from his book:
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.
Friend, all I can say is that I praise the Lord that He has raised up ministries like AiG to engage the culture and the church to return to the authority of God’s Word. With these militant atheists more and more on the march, you can be assured that AiG needs your prayer support more than ever. In fact, with the opening of the Creation Museum this year, the attacks on AiG will probably escalate.
I believe many of you agree that the creation/gospel message is vital today. God is using it at the frontlines of the foundational battle in the lives of countless souls, like this one:
If it wasn’t for your website, I don’t know if I would be a Christian. I was really depressed last year because there were tons of questions I had about the world that no one could give me answers to. I started to think that if evolution was true as they taught me in school, why should I believe in God? You showed me that the Bible can be trusted. —C. T., Michigan
And that’s why AiG and the website are here: to present the life-changing gospel.
As we begin this new year, I ask you to consider what you might do to partner with us. The website and future museum are wonderful ways we can counter the atheists’ message of meaninglessness and hopelessness—and offer the precious gospel instead. We’re making great progress, but still need funding to make this happen. If our website has blessed you, I ask for your prayerful consideration of a gift to help us finish the museum this spring.
The atheists and evolutionists are more aggressive than ever. Indeed, we need your prayers and support to counter their message. Will you stand with us? Will you pray for us? As you’ve seen, the new breed of atheists is attacking the foundations of our faith as never before! Please partner with us now to proclaim the gospel—and combat the hopeless message of the evolutionists.Nicky Butt has told The Times that Marcus Rashford can develop into Manchester United's Thierry Henry, and that it's only a matter of time before he forces his way into the team.
Rashford, 18, burst into the first team at United just over six months ago with a brace against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League, and his meteoric rise saw him named in the England squad for Euro 2016.
Butt, head of coaching at United's academy, said that the player's best position is similar to that of Henry, who went on to be Arsenal's record goal scorer.
"He wasn't a centre forward as a youngster; he probably developed into that more out of necessity last season than design," Butt said. "He actually was on the left. I believe his best position is off the side."
Marcus Rashford celebrates after scoring Man United's winner at Hull.
Asked if he would compared his style to Henry, Butt added: "Yes. Blistering pace. When Marcus runs at you, you can't stop him.
"Until he gets his physicality about him he's going to find it very hard to play up against some of these centre-halves. It depends how the manager [Jose Mourinho] is going to play; if he plays a Michael Carrick, who can clip balls in for Marcus to run on to, then it's all different, he can run in behind all day."
He dropped into England's under-21s for Tuesday's game against Norway, and further underlined his potential with a hat trick on his debut at that level. It came on the back of his injury-time winner for United after coming off the bench at Hull before the international break.
Rashford has spent all of this season on the bench for United so far, following the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from PSG, though Butt thinks Mourinho will have to start the youngster if he continues to develop at such a fast pace.
"Marcus will get opportunities in the first team because he's that good," Butt added. "Lee Sharpe was the best player in the country, as a youngster, but you couldn't hold Ryan Giggs back much longer.
"Here it's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial or whoever's up top. If Marcus keeps doing what he's doing with his pace and directness, it's impossible to hold him back."
Butt highlighted one young player that United hope can have a similar impact to Rashford.
"Angel Gomes is a young talented player we've massive hopes for," Butt said.
Gomes is a 16-year-old midfielder who plays as a No. 10, has featured for United at U18 level and has captained England's U16s.
Follow @ESPNFC on Twitter to keep up with the latest football updates.Parks in Latin America serve a number of purposes. They provide a green respite in an otherwise concrete jungle. They’re a space where anyone from the wealthy to the homeless can rest their legs. And, for young couples, they’re the most popular place to hook up.
In the park in southern Mexico where I’m writing this article, all four benches adjacent to me are currently occupied by young lovers, and another couple (whose bench I’m rudely occupying) is sprawled out in the grass. I was lucky to get a seat. I showed up early.
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If public displays of affection make you uncomfortable, don’t come to Latin America. Unlike the United States, there’s no room for pearl clutching here. From Mexico City to Medellin and Buenos Aires to Belize, making out in public is a virtual rite of passage for high schoolers and young adults.
“There isn’t any space in my house. There’s much more room in the park.”
It’s so widespread that when the city of Guanajuato passed an ordinance in 2009 banning certain forms of PDA, it was met with such furor that the law had to be suspended days later. Nobody has since dared to tell youngsters to “get a room.”
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What’s behind this phenomenon? Why is hooking up in public so ubiquitous in Latin America, yet so rare up north?
In Oaxaca, the capital city of the state of Oaxaca and my current home, I speak with a number of young Mexicans about why making out |
as a participant because he submitted his songs for a competition and it was selected! The 59th Grammy Awards will be held on February 1, 2017. When the organisers called for the start of the coming year's Grammy Awards submission process, Zayed went forward and submitted six tracks.
In the first phase (first ballot) five thousand out of seven thousand tracks from the nomination race were picked. So far, five of Zayed's six tracks had been selected. The final nominations for the 59th Grammy Awards was revealed yesterday, Zayed didn't make the final list unfortunately.
However, even before the final selection of tracks took place, the Grammy Awards organisers sent out a special invitation for Zayed.
The song “Sailing Through The Clouds” have been well received by the board members of the committee.
The composer said: “I submitted for nomination, But I think, this clause will not win a that award. Rather it will stir up some appreciation of the work. I believe, it cannot reach the ultimate goal. However, I am optimistic. It's just the beginning. By 2026 Grammy Awards will come to our country.”
“Everyone would say, the world's most prestigious music award, is the Grammy, it is the dream stage for every musician,” he added.Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
It’s quiz time.
I will list a statement. You decide who said it.
The correct answer is either Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, or Hillary Clinton.
34 Statements – Who Made Them?
I do not believe in unfettered free trade. I believe in fair trade which works for the middle class and working families. I will take on corporations that take their jobs to China. I think NAFTA has been a disaster. Instead of passing such trade deals again and again, we must develop trade policies which demand that American corporations create jobs here, and not abroad. TPP is a death blow for American manufacturing. I’m for free and fair trade. We need to bring manufacturing jobs back home where they belong. Globalization has torn down the barriers that have formerly separated the national from the international markets. The top priority of any trade deal should be to help American workers. I heard it about NAFTA. I heard it about CAFTA. I heard it about permanent normal trade relations with China. Here is the fact. Since 2001, we have lost almost 60,000 factories and millions of good-paying jobs. Maybe we should have a trade policy which represents the working families of this country, that rebuilds our manufacturing base, not than just representing the CEOs of large multinational corporations. We must end our disastrous trade policies (NAFTA, CAFTA, PNTR with China, etc.) which enable corporate America to shut down plants in this country and move to China and other low-wage countries. This wave of globalization has wiped out our middle class. NAFTA was the worst trade deal in history, and China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization has enabled the greatest jobs theft in history. I think corporate America has to start investing in this country and create decent paying jobs here. It is a lot cheaper for the American companies to set up plants in China, hire Chinese workers at 50 cents an hour, 75 cents an hour, whatever it is, and have them build the product for the Chinese markets than it is to pay American workers $15 an hour, $20 an hour, provide health insurance, deal with the union, deal with the environment. Connect the dots. Our current trade deficit is causing the loss of over 2 million jobs. Over the last 20 years, while the US has run up over a trillion dollars in trade deficits, millions of American workers have been thrown into the streets. The function of trade agreements like NAFTA is to make it easier for American companies to move abroad, and to force our workers to compete against desperate people in the Third World. Our current record-breaking merchandise trade deficit of $112 billion is costing us over 2 million decent paying jobs. NAFTA, GATT, and Most Favored Nation status with China must be repealed, and a new trade policy developed. The word has to get out to corporate America, they are going to have to start reinvesting in the United States of America. They are going to have to start building the products and the goods the American people need rather than run all over in search of cheap labor. The TPP is horrible deal. It is a deal that is going to lead to nothing but trouble. I am all for free trade, but it’s got to be fair. When Ford moves their massive plants to Mexico, we get nothing. I want them to stay in Michigan. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.
Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache. When subsidized foreign steel is dumped into our markets, threatening our factories, the politicians do nothing. Skilled craftsmen and tradespeople and factory workers have seen the jobs they loved shipped thousands of miles away. The current global trading system is distorted not only by barriers to entry in developing and emerging economies, but by the power of special interests in developed countries. We should focus on ending currency manipulation, environmental destruction and miserable working conditions in China. We’re going to stop giving penny of your money to anybody who ships a job out to another country. We’re going to begin to get the tax code to reflect what the needs of middle class families are so we can rebuild a strong & prosperous middle class. Trade needs to become a win-win. People ask me, am I a free trader or a fair trader? I want to be a smart, pro-American trader. And that means we look for ways to maximize the impact of what we’re trying to export and quit being taken advantage of by other countries. I believe in smart trade. Pro-American trade. Trade that has labor and environmental standards, that’s not a race to the bottom but tries to lift up not only American workers but also workers around the world. It’s important that we have an idea of how to maximize the benefits from the global economy while minimizing the impact on American workers. That includes things like real trade adjustment assistance and other support. It’s important that we enforce the agreements we have. That’s why I’ve called for a trade prosecutor, to make sure that we do enforce them. What we have learned is that we have to drive a tougher bargain. Hillary Clinton Voted for virtually every trade agreement that has cost the workers of this country millions of jobs.
Sources
Answers
Sanders: 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Trump: 3, 5, 6, 7, 18, 13, 14, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
Clinton: 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
Sanders and Trump: 34 (Sanders first, Trump quoted Sanders)
Flip a coin. As a firm believer in free trade, they are all totally hopeless.Where the CBD is failing, Ipswich’s Top of Town is doing a lot right. But why is Top of Town succeeding while Ipswich City Square is on its last legs?
This is actually a really good test case in development patterns and the different between classic, “traditional” development patterns, and the “master planned precinct” pattern.
I guess the first question would be, is the Top of Town all that successful. To me the answer is self evident, but I will explain why I think it is successful.
Despite years of neglect from the Ipswich City Council, Top of Town is seeing a resurgence. With little to no public money we are seeing properties being redeveloped, old businesses expanding, (an additional business expanding since publishing) and new businesses opening. This goes to show how resilient, adaptive, and productive, older building stock can be. What was once a bike shop has now transformed into a law office; what was once a shoe shop transformed into a upholstery repair shop; what was once a TAFE transformed into multiple leaseholds. Against all odds, the old run down buildings in Top of Town are holding their value.
It is this adaptivity — its ability to change as the neighbourhood, and population within, changes — that makes the Top of Town a productive place. And while adaptation is happening in Top of Town, Ipswich City Council is sounding the death knell for the Ipswich City Square.
There was no plan for the CBD beyond it’s first life-cycle when it was originally built in 1987, and now that it is reaching the end of its useful life, we are seeing it’s destruction. But has ICC learned from its mistake? What happens when the useful life of the replacement monolith comes? Where is the life-cycle planning?
Important, basic, infrastructure supporting Top of Town is failing, yet we continue to cut ribbons on new projects with no thought for this area. Devoid of support from council, Top of Town is still managing to support Ipswich’s small business community.
What do you think, leave a comment letting me know what improvements you would like to see in Top of Town. Or send me an email; it’s available in the About Page.
Advertisements2016 was quite a year for television, to say the least. Small screen juggernauts like “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead” pushed the envelope forward even further as other hits like “Westworld,” “Mr. Robot” and “American Horror Story” kept fans talking long after the shows came to an end.
But while there is no lack of quality programming to choose from these days, a growing trend found story twists and speculative theories overshadowing the subject matter meant merely to entertain the masses. With the new year quickly approaching, we have a small request to propose: Make more television like “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.”
The BBC America series eased its way onto our radar roughly two months ago and, while the Douglas Adams-inspired program initially confused the heck out of us, there was something about the quirky TV show we couldn’t shake.
RELATED: The comforting confusion of ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’
The storytelling formula of the series — which stars Samuel Barnett and Elijah Wood — acts more like a puzzle to be put together than a straightforward narrative. And while puzzles beg for speculation, there’s something mystifying about “Dirk Gently” that mostly kept the theories at bay.
Yes, the program is inspired by the book series of the same name but it doesn’t adhere to any real storyline fans are familiar with. And that, dare we say, is a good thing.
What you have in “Dirk Gently” is a bonkers story about broken people looking for acceptance and purpose. Yes, there are soul swapping hippies, a scattered gang of odd psychics, a time-traveling inventor, a secret government project reminiscent of America’s shuttered MKUltra program and a very cute corgi, to name a few things… But while that sounds like too many moving parts to keep track of, the series does a great job at keeping the viewer’s interest by giving the show a whole lot of heart and gumption.
The other component that lends to the show’s success is something drastically missing from the current TV landscape. And that is an element of fun and adventure without the need for self-assigned thought or the itch to dig for the real meaning behind it all. Instead, “Dirk Gently” acts as a delightful roller coaster ride, connecting every oddball plot point throughout its eight-episode run. It does the thinking for us and gives the viewer time to breathe while taking the whole crazy thing in.
RELATED: Dirk Gently’ finds holistic purpose in its Season 1 finale
TV theories may have helped to undermine entertainment over the past year — speculative pieces about “Westworld,” “Mr. Robot” and “American Horror Story” have habitually flooded the Internet. That’s not to say these separate fandoms aren’t justified or useful in telling the overall story. But sometimes, the conversation ends up overshadowing said story and that, by and far, can be distracting.
The seeds planted throughout Season 1 of “Dirk Gently” will most certainly continue to sprout in the show’s second season. But, we have to place our hopes out there into the television development universe that more programs like this will be coming our way soon. With all the thought-provoking, high concept entertainment on the horizon, sometimes we just want to shut our brains off, recline in our comfy pants and enjoy an exciting TV ride.GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian militant leaders in the Gaza Strip promised Wednesday to stop firing rockets against Israel after Egypt warned that any further shootings may prompt another war, officials said.
Gunmen in Gaza had stepped up attacks in recent weeks, drawing Israeli strikes that killed 13 Palestinians, most of them militants, in December. Israel said at least 20 rockets and mortar bombs have landed in Israel since the start of 2011.
Egypt, involved in mediating past truces between Gaza militants and Israel, told Gaza’s Hamas Islamist rulers Israeli anger over the shootings could prompt a war similar to a campaign in 2008 that devastated much of the coastal territory.
The Egyptians “told Hamas the Gaza situation was similar to that before December 2008,” a source familiar with Egypt-Hamas said, referring to the start of the three-week war in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
“Hamas does not want a new escalation unless it is forced into it,” the source added.
Hamas leaders later convened talks with factions involved in the shootings at Israel.
“Factions agreed to recommit to the national understanding to stop rocket firing,” as long as Israel stops its air strikes and other attacks, an official at the meeting told Reuters.
Saleh Zidan, a senior leader of the Palestinian Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), told Reuters top Egyptian security officials he met in Cairo Tuesday made their concerns known about a new Israeli offensive.
‘NOT GIVING A PRETEXT’
“The Egyptian leadership is in favor of not giving a pretext to the Israeli government to launch a new war on the Gaza Strip,” Zidan said.
The DFLP is a major faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, at odds with Hamas over the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza. The group has claimed several attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip over the past two years, and was one of the groups that said Wednesday they would now withhold fire.
Israel has said Hamas has largely held its fire over the past two years but the surge in rocket attacks meant it was not doing enough to curb other groups, which say their strikes are in retaliation for Israeli raids in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing foreign journalists in Jerusalem Tuesday, said militants in Gaza would be making “a terrible, terrible mistake” if they continued to “test our will to defend our people.”
An Israeli air strike Tuesday killed an Islamic Jihad militant.
In Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, hundreds of Islamic Jihad supporters urged the group, which has also fired rockets in the past two years, to avenge the death of Mohammed Najjar, who was targeted while he was riding a motorcycle.
“There will be no calm as long as assassinations continue,” said Abu Hamza, a local Islamic Jihad commander. “Rocket firing will continue as long as Israel continues its foolish actions.”The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has carried out another nuclear test. This is once again a direct and unacceptable violation of the DPRK's international obligations not to produce or test nuclear weapons, as determined by multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions, and represents a major provocation, a grave threat to regional and international security and a major challenge to the global non-proliferation regime.
The European Union's message is clear: the DPRK must abandon its nuclear, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and immediately cease all related activities.
I will be in touch with partners in the course of the day; I will also meet tomorrow CTBT Executive Secretary, Lassina Zerbo, and IAEA Director General, Yukiya Amano. And I will put the issue of the DPRK on the agenda of the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Tallinn next week. It is crucial that we in the European Union and the entire international community continue to deal with this in a united and coordinated manner.
In this respect, we look forward to the UN Security Council addressing the matter and taking a firm and effective stand. The European Union will, as always, closely coordinate our action with its decisions.
The DPRK must engage in a credible and meaningful dialogue, aimed at pursuing the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the full implementation of all relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The EU is ready to support such a process in consultation with key partners. A de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula can only be achieved through peaceful means, in the interest of all Koreans, of all those in the region and the entire world.A New York high school's pep rally was marred by a controversial skit featuring white students wearing blackface and satirizing domestic violence.
The Waverly High School pep rally showcased a skit performed by three white male students wearing blackface, or make-up to make them appear black. The students re-enacted a 2009 domestic abuse incident when singer Chris Brown assaulted then-girlfriend Rihanna. The skit was performed as part of the annual competition for the title of "Mr. Waverly" and is being called racist by critics.
News of the skit was first reported on iReport, CNN's citizen journalism platform. CNN iReport contributor Matthew Dishler explains:
At the most resent Pep Rally for Waverly High School, located in Waverly NY, the usual fanfare of cheering for the home team to get them ready was in full swing. As the rally progressed you had your usual cheers and rally cries for the fall sports teams and the football team. It seemed to have done well, with Waverly defeating their opponent 70-21. But what happened at that pep rally went much farther than simple cheers. Three white students were to perform a skit in black face, depicting Chris Brown and Rhianna most notibly. In this skit they would display acts of domestic violence as satire to an audience that included not only students but parents, faculty, and various members of the media and community leaders. None of them stopped the skit.
A CNN editor's note states that Dishler was not at the pep rally, but heard of the skit from multiple people and saw photos of it shared on Facebook.
“I can testify there’s not a lot of racial diversity in that school whatsoever. We’re not really exposed to that at that school,” Dishler told the Star Gazette. “I felt like something should have been done about this. I don’t believe the kids had any vicious intentions, but the administrators should have said that’s not exactly OK.”
Waverly Central School District officials are taking a closer look at what happened at the pep rally, according to The Daily Review. Joseph Yelich, superintendent of the Waverly Central School District, said that administrators will meet Tuesday regarding the controversial pep rally skit.
"The Waverly School District is committed to creating a positive atmosphere through our activities," Yelich told The Daily Review. "I will be working with our building administrators, our staff and our students to examine our current activities and develop future activities consistent with our commitment." Adding, "Ultimately, our administrators are going to need to meet with the whole student body to set clear expectations for our behavior and the impact it has on all people."
A New Hope Center, an Owego-based agency that helps victims of domestic and sexual violence, hate crimes, rape and other abuse, has already been working with the school district on bullying issues, Assistant Director Francis J. Bialy told the Star Gazette. Bialy did not know about Friday's pep rally but said, “If it’s intended to be humorous or putting down people, it further perpetuates permission to engage in such behavior."
Waverly, N.Y., is 72 percent white, according to the 2010 Census. Opinions are split over whether the Chris Brown-Rihanna skit was as controversial as some think.
"I'm sorry, but why the F--- does Waverly High School think that black face is okay!?!? How ignorant do you have to f----- be," tweeted a user from Syracuse. "The Waverly High School Rihanna abuse skit wasn't that racist, BUT it's never ok to make a joke about serious physical abuse," tweeted another.FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio - When your place of work is named the Innovation Center, a high level of creativity is commonplace. Fairview High School Digital Media Teacher Chris Kaminski and Technology Coordinator Matt Dunlap recently showed off their "MacGyver"-like skills with the creation of an augmented reality terrain map.
"We were at a conference when we saw one of these," Kaminski said. "We decided to investigate on how to make our own."
With the help of Fairview High students Will Norton and Zack VanZante, the innovative outfit began a mission to build an augmented reality terrain map, which digitally teaches students about rain and its effect on watersheds.
"The project was a challenge, and for me challenges are the best things in life," said Fairview High School senior VanZante, 17. "It was an amazing experience and project to complete for the tech team."
"It's pretty cool how you can also put your hand over top of it, hold it there for a few seconds and that shows it raining," Kaminski said. "The longer you hold it, the more it rains, the more it affects floodplains."
The augmented reality terrain map required the use of repurposed and donated items that included an Xbox Kinect sensor, PC computer and old projector. Also, the teachers and students built a wood box filled with sand.
Kaminski said the entire project cost the district $200. However, the real-world experience for the students was invaluable requiring their imagination without any real instructions or manuals.
"We kind of built it from the ground up," Kaminski said. "We had failures along the way, which we worked through. For us in the Innovation Center, this was more about trying to solve problems and build things that have purpose.
"Now we passed it on to the elementary school and they can use it to instruct and visually show terrain, watershed, elevation and how water is displaced through terrain."
Considering Hurricane Harvey, the augmented reality terrain map will be useful for teachers explaining the devastation in Texas.
"I think it's perfect timing," Kaminski said.Yesterday evening I did what I rarely do, and that was watch the TV news. I switched it on because I was reading reports on Twitter that a riot was going down in Kensington, egged on by Sky and BBC reporters.
What I saw was illuminating if one wishes to see what modern Britain is like. I don’t mean understand what it is like, just to see what it is like. A protest had been organised against the local council in response to the Grenfell Tower fire by a man with an Egyptian name whose accent suggested he’d lived in London for a while but wasn’t native born. He was surrounded by people waving crudely-printed A4 signs with people’s photos on, presumably those missing or dead. He was speaking in a stuttering, disjointed manner but with plenty of passion into a loudhailer, cheered on by the crowd. It looked very much like the protests you see on TV taking place in Pakistan, the Middle East, or North Africa. Which is about as surprising as British football hooligans looking like British football hooligans even when they’re in Portugal.
The protesters had submitted a list of demands to the council, one of which was that all those effected by the fire be rehoused immediately in the same area. Within 30 minutes – which must be an all-time national record – the local government responded saying they will rehouse everyone and do their utmost to make sure people can stay in the same area. The protesters rejected this, presumably because they have knowledge of an empty tower sitting nearby into which all residents can move immediately.
They then interviewed several people who were complaining about the information regarding the number of dead. The police said they can only confirm each death once they have a dead body – a reasonable argument, one supposes – but warned the number will probably rise. The people interviewed didn’t like this approach and would prefer the police speculate as to how many people might be dead. The leader of the protest said he was upset because the police said six people had been confirmed dead and he’d thought that was the lot. People who had not heard from loved ones since the fire, and were sure they were inside when it happened, blamed the police for keeping them in limbo. To be fair, these individuals were highly distressed and I can’t blame them for lashing out: they get a free pass.
As the evening wore on the protest morphed into one calling for the resignation of Theresa May, seemingly on the grounds that she had won the election last week but Labour had done better than expected and this fire ought to reverse the result. I have no idea how many people protesting were residents of the Grenfell Tower or their relatives with a genuine grievance, and how many were simply hard-left rent-a-mob types who have taken a lead from their cousins in the US and decided to make the country ungovernable.
Browsing Twitter, many people felt an inquiry into the fire is not required because even if the cause is not known the solution is: the Tories must be replaced by Labour in national government. For those who did venture a theory as to the cause, it was a muddle of technically incorrect information regarding sprinklers, cladding, and insulation mixed in with general cluelessness about how installation works are priced, subcontracted, and carried out. The Daily Mail didn’t help things by spouting absolute bollocks on the subject, as usual.
I thought the whole thing was a wonderful illustration of modern Britain, and few came out looking good. Having a bunch of foreigners submitting a list of demands to a local council who, when they respond almost immediately with a reasonable statement, see fit to reject it is indicative of the sort of people who are in that council, and the people who voted them in. They’ve spent so much time, effort, and money in pandering to the feelings of minority groups that they’ve allowed these mobs to develop; this hasn’t just occurred overnight. The irony is that in doing this, the council has neglected more pressing tasks – such as ensuring people are not living in tower blocks shrouded in flammable materials.
You have the police issuing reasonable statements, seemingly bewildered that the mob in front of them jeers and throws things at them. Could it be that the touchy-feely Met police who are quick to throw people in jail for racist Tweets aren’t actually liked or respected by the diverse mobs whose arses they’ve been licking for the past twenty years? Yet only last week I had a bunch of policeman assure me public opinion of them is rising.
Then you have the mob of white, middle class hipsters wandering through London shouting “Tories Out!” Where are their parents? Inviting them around for Sunday dinner and doing their laundry, I expect. They probably think it’s perfectly fine that Toby is out calling for violent revolution against the ruling classes who engineered the house price increase that paid for their son’s “education” in the first place. And he wants a new iPhone for his birthday, but not the shit one with no memory.
I was just a kid in the 1980s when we had that seemingly endless series of disasters: Piper Alpha, the Herald of Free Enterprise, the King’s Cross fire, the Marchioness, the Clapham Junction rail crash. These were catastrophes of enormous consequence with all the emotional and human aspects of the Grenfell Tower fire, yet we did not see third-world style mobs whipping up anger and making ludicrous demands, nor perpetual adolescents demanding the government be replaced by one headed by a bunch who’d just lost an election. Sensible heads prevailed, inquests were held, genuine lessons were learned, and the rules changed so they didn’t happen again. In those days the adults were in charge.
Is Theresa May in charge now? Hardly. It appears that nobody is, and every time somebody opens their mouths they are already compromised by being complicit in the sort of blithering incompetence and half-arsed dithering that brought this entire situation about in the first place: the unfettered immigration, the pandering to minorities, the emphasis on feelings, the win-at-all-costs politicking, the ludicrous housing and welfare policies, the stuffing of councils and companies with inadequate people who are incapable of doing the job and – most importantly – the voters who put them there, kept them there, and shit their pants at the first sign that anyone, anywhere, wants to do things differently.
I watched the news last night and realised I have no dog in this fight. I have nothing whatsoever in common with any of the people involved, the whole thing might as well be being played out on Mars. I’m not just talking about the people who lost their homes, I’m talking about the protesters, the media, the politicians, the police, the middle class voters, and most of those commenting on social media. I feel like I’m standing on the edge of a witch’s cauldron, looking at some bizarre concoction being prepared and wondering how it’s all going to turn out.
Badly, would be my guess. See if I care.I am totally running the risk of upsetting the travel karma gods. I have more faith in the travel karma gods than any other variety out there, but I’m sure to annoy those varieties also. But I shall run these risks and write about last night and this morning, because it was the single worst night I have yet had in a dorm room.
So take this post as my confessional. Judge. Condemn. Consider me a bad person. I care not — I will take my bad karma as it comes.
A couple days ago, I flew (damn it) back from Tobago to Cartegena, Colombia. Last time through here, I didn’t take a single picture and the colors in this town deserved a return visit where I’d get off my ass and take a few hundred photos. I had that opportunity this morning, under the good early morning light, because my frickin’ dorm mates woke me up last night at 3:30 a.m. and I never got back to sleep.
Last night, I was staying in a ten-bed dorm. I went to bed around midnight. There was one other person in the room at that time, a guy sleeping in a bed adjacent to mine. The air conditioning was on, the room was nice, cool and quiet and I went to sleep quickly on one of the better beds I had laid down on in weeks.
Until 3:30 in the morning. In barged the other eight denizens of our little haunt. On went the overhead lights. They were drunk, of course. Laughing. Talking. Hell, they were screaming to each other. They milled about, told jokes to each other in German (sounded like German, or at least some language in that guttural genre) and basically were rudest and most inconsiderate people you can imagine in a dorm room.
After about 15 minutes of it, I looked at my alarm clock and verified it was indeed the middle-of-the-fracking night, and politely said, “guys, its 3:30 in the morning, could you please turn the light off and let us sleep?”
They laugh. Literally. They laugh. One of the girls says — I’m sure she thought in her quiet voice, but loud enough for the people in the next room to hear, “we pay for this room also — light stays on.” I took a little German in high school and college and could have sworn that I recognized another guy, more quietly, swearing at me. The German F Bomb.
Over the next 45 minutes, I ask multiple times for the lights to go off. No luck. Finally, one of the German guys starts telling the others, after an hour of the teutonic sound and light show, to quiet down and turn off the lights. One of the girls told him she isn’t ready for bed yet, as she stood there putting on moisturizing cream or something on her face — a beauty product that didn’t appear to have done much good up to that point.
I gave up. It was 4:30 in the morning. I wanted to get up at 6 or so and get the early morning light for photographs anyway. I grabbed my computer, went to the front desk and told them I wanted to change rooms, brewed a pot of coffee and hopped online for a bit. Fuming. And quickly decided that I was going to have some revenge, which is where the confession comes in.
The two girls had left their shoes outside the dorm room. I went back and took them. Then this morning, I gave them to some homeless people in town. Was this a bad thing to do? Guess so. Do I feel bad about it? Not at all. Screw them. This wasn’t a mild breach of the hostel and dorm rules — this was a full-out front assault.
I strongly contemplated taking any cell phones they left out to charge overnight and place a few dozen international calls around the world before they woke up. Fortunately, or unfortunately, none of their phones were lying around when I went in to collect my stuff at 6 this morning.
And I don’t think I am done yet. I believe tonight is their last night in the hostel and they will be the only eight in that dorm room. I am going to go buy a loud alarm clock and a padlock this afternoon. When they leave the room to go eat dinner, I am going to set the alarm for 4:30 a.m. and lock it in one of the lockers in the room.
Generally, I consider myself a go-with-the-flow kinda guy. It takes a lot to get my fuse lit. But it is on fire now and I haven’t been this pissed in a long, long time.
Think of me what you like. I am certain that many, if not most, of the comments on this little diatribe of a post are going to be more than slightly negative. Yes, I took someone else’s property and yes, there were likely better ways of handing this situation.
I’m not sure I care — these people are dorm room scum.
‘O yea, and by the way, I did take a few hundred pictures, so there will be a photo album of Cartagena soon. Here is one of them.MakerBot Industries, creators of the Replicator 3D printer that hit stores this past January have just upgraded their award-winning printer. The Replicator 2 has increased resolution, can print larger objects, and sports a stylish new look. And the new printer is only one way MakerBot is making a serious bid to become a major competitor in the growing 3D printing market. Just days ago the company announced the grand opening of their first retail store, located in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.
MakerBot is continuing to have a great 2012. They kicked off the year this past January with their Replicator winning the Best Emerging Tech Award at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. At a relatively low cost, the less than $2,000 printer was designed to enable “3D printing for all.” The Replicator is easy to use, has a print volume of 5 liters, and can print in two different colors.
Their new 3D printer, Replicator 2, has an increased print volume of 6.7 liters and a 100-micron print resolution (the original Replicator had a 6 liter print volume and 250-micron resolution). With an emphasis on sustainability, MakerBot has also made the switch to PLA, a renewable bioplastic made from biomaterials such as cornstarch or tapioca roots. More than just environmentally friendly, PLA is easier to work with than the more demanding ABS plastic used with the original Replicator. It is the most widely used build material for 3D printers because of its strength and ability to print large structures without warping or cracking, according to the company.
The most obvious upgrade from the original, however, is the Replicator 2’s new sleek design. The technical marvel of the Replicator struck some people as not very technically advanced looking. Constructed of plywood, the Replicator is more reminiscent of Calvin’s Transmogrifier than the “Star Trek” device bearing the same name. The Replicator 2 remedies this with a much more futuristic metal design that, as MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis puts it, “is available in any color, as long as it is black.” MakerBot also did away with the heated build surface present in the Replicator which posed a risk to users, particularly non-professional hobbyists. The new build surface is also optimized for the PLA plastic which sticks to it naturally.
Check out the smooth finish 100-micron resolution gets you in the following video.
Pettis, summed up the changes in a press release, “With our fourth generation product, we have made the best desktop 3D printer on the market, made it affordable to both professionals and hobbyists, and made it cool looking.”
In addition to the hardware upgrades, MakerBot made improvements to its MakerWare 3D printing software that adds more flexibility to the design process, and also speeds up preparation and print times. The changes to the new model are a testament to MakerBot’s dedication to making high-end printing available to the everyday consumer, not just engineers and architects. A beta version of the software can be downloaded here.
Still, at $2,199, $200 more than its predecessor, the Replicator 2 probably won’t be crowding too many Christmas trees this holiday season. The new store, however, should help. Located in Manhattan’s historic NoHo district, a real storefront offers the company a face-to-face interaction with potential consumers, allowing them to showcase the wonders of 3D printing, still largely unfamiliar to the non-tech consumer. One random encounter with a freshly printed Homer Simpson is likely to hook both child and parent.
MakerBot also gets serious with the Replicator 2X. Meant for engineers, architects, and the like, the 2X retains the heated build surface of the original Replicator, ABS plastic, and prints in two colors. The 2X won’t be available until January, 2013, with a price tag of $2,799.
Clearly MakerBot is taking a different approach than 3D printing giant 3D Systems in their attempt to penetrate the 3D printer marketshare. Rather than concentrating on high-performance printers costing upwards of $100,000 and swallowing lower performance printer companies whole to cater to the wider market, MakerBot is aiming for a middle ground that both hobbyists and professionals can use.
The stakes are high in the emerging 3D printing market. The company that |
who proclaimed in a post for Playstation’s blog, “Change is coming to Rocket League!”
Dunham noted that November’s update will allow gamers to play “game modes like Cubic and Time Warp” from Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars (the popular 2008 prequel to Rocket League) and even “play low-gravity Moonball with extra boost.”
In a video teaser for the upcoming updates, Psyonix advertises the best “ball bounciness,” “ball max speed,” “ball size,” “ball type” (beach balls, anyone?), “ball weight,” “boost amount,” “boost strength,” “gravity,” “match length,” “max score,” “pinball,” “respawn time,” “slo-mo,” and “time warp” to date:
These updates—along with the option for gamers to add a Snoo flag and antenna topper to their vehicles—should be plenty to tie gamers over until December, when developers promise to add a whole new dimension to the game: an ice hockey mode, with the traditional ball subbed out for a puck.
In the meantime, the developers are hosting an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit on Tuesday, November 3, 4 PM Eastern Time—answering gamers’ questions about the new features coming in the next two months and what’s in store for 2016.Kerry Visits Kurds To Urge A United Iraq
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AP Brendan Smialowski/AP
Secretary of State John Kerry talked to Kurdish leaders in Irbil today, urging them to keep the autonomous region as part of Iraq. Kerry's visit came as the Sunni extremist group ISIS says it has cemented control of Iraq's largest oil refinery, and as sectarian divisions are threatening to pull Iraq apart.
Kerry is now on his way to Brussels, after assuring Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq that there would be "sustained and intense" support to Iraq to help it counter rapid advances by Sunni militants in recent weeks.
But the president of Iraq's ethnic Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, suggested it was already too late, telling Kerry, "We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq." The two met one day after Barzani told CNN, "Iraq is obviously falling apart."
Saying that Iraq's collapse was the fault of others, Barzani said Monday, "we cannot remain hostages to the unknown."
From Kurdish news site Rudaw:
"The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), on the other hand, has moved its Peshmerga military into vast territories outside its official borders to secure Kurdish-inhabited areas left vacant by a wholesale retreat of the Iraqi army.
That includes the oil city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds consider the capital of a future state."
The refinery in Beiji has reportedly fallen to the militants after a battle that lasted 10 days. It produces about one-third of Iraq's total fuel output.
The central government in Baghdad insists that it's still fighting to regain control of the facility — which, an oil industry expert says, presents a particular challenge to forces from both the Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the Shiite-led government.
"You set fire to one thing," Ben Lando, publisher of the Iraqi Oil Report, tells NPR's Deborah Amos, "and there is a potential to setting fire to the whole thing — and you ruin a multibillion-dollar infrastructure, and you make everyone around either sick, dead or angry."
"Beiji was seized through negotiation," Deborah reports, citing Lando and Iraqis at the scene. "The defenders, Iraqi special forces troops, were given safe passage; the refinery was turned over to local tribes who work there. The government in Baghdad denies that Beiji has been captured."
ISIS has been cordoning off supply routes and seizing control of cities, banks and refineries, in an operation that many expect to culminate in a possible assault on the Iraqi capital.
As NPR's Alice Fordham reports from Baghdad, members of Shiite militias say their forces have been deployed around Baghdad for months now. And Alice spoke to a tailor in the city who says he has been busy sewing new uniforms for men who've volunteered to fight the Sunnis.
Alice's story is on today's Morning Edition.Duke Energy Florida on Monday said it wants to suspend most of the remaining nuclear charge on customers' bills for the canceled Levy County nuclear plant until it resolves a half-billion lawsuit over the project's contract.
The proposal would give customers at least temporary relief from a $3.45 charge on the average bill each month, beginning around June 1, about six months earlier than expected.
But there's a catch: While the proposal, if approved as filed, would save customers money in the short term, they might face far greater costs in the long run.
The proposal involves some complex maneuvering by the utility. At issue is Duke's lawsuit with the contractor for the Levy project, Westinghouse Electric.
Duke says Westinghouse owes $54 million for equipment the contractor never delivered, money the utility's customers are paying in their bills.
Westinghouse claims Duke owes $512 million for canceling the Levy contract.
In its request to the PSC Monday, Duke asked for a "deferral of collection of the approximate $54 million currently involved in litigation until such time as the litigation is finalized."
If Duke loses the court case, the company wants to preserve the ability to collect from customers both the $54 million and the $512 million that would have to be paid to Westinghouse.
For Duke's part, the argument is that the nuclear advance fee law allows utilities to recover whatever reasonable costs are associated with an approved project, even if it is canceled.
"Depending on the results of the litigation, customers may see an impact on their bill in the future. However, until the courts have an opportunity to hear the case, it is too early to determine," Sterling Ivey, a Duke spokesman, said in response to the Times' questions about the proposal.
The case is expected to go to trial early next year. If a settlement were reached, customers also could be on the hook for more money.
Charles Rehwinkel, deputy state public counsel, who represents consumers before the PSC, said he would be filing a response to Duke's proposal this week.
"We fully support the commission's expected approval of the (proposal) that would cause customers' bills to go down on June 1," he said. "On the other hand, we don't support any effort by Duke to increase customers' bills in the future based on litigation between Duke and Westinghouse."
The PSC is expected to review and decide on Duke's proposal within 60 days. An approval would be a significant change in position from last summer when the commission ordered Duke to credit customers the $54 million.
That PSC decision followed a Tampa Bay Times report about Duke charging customers $54 million for the equipment that was never purchased. After the report, a political brouhaha erupted and state regulators ordered Duke to credit customers the $54 million.
Duke has been under fire for its handling of its nuclear projects in Florida. The utility's troubles began with the botched upgrade of the Crystal River nuclear plant in Citrus County that led to the permanent closure of Duke's sole reactor in Florida.
In addition, Duke's 1.7 million customers have been paying in advance for construction of two new reactors about 10 miles north of the Crystal River plant in Levy County. But as the almost $25 billion project became too costly, Duke canceled it, leaving customers on the hook for $1.5 billion in expenditures.
State lawmakers frustrated with the nuclear charges have filed several measures for the legislative session that starts today to end the nuclear advance fee, which became law in 2006 as a way to hasten construction of new nuclear plants.
Contact Ivan Penn at [email protected] or (727) 892-2332. Follow @Consumers_Edge.Our upcoming Backbone.js frontend is quite complex. When you consider the fact that we are relatively inexperienced with Backbone, it made sense to start off with an easier, smaller project. This allowed us to focus more on getting the models and collections correct before worrying about views (which, arguably, are the most difficult part of implementing Backbone apps).
So we decided to build a simple Chrome Extension to test the waters and learn a little about Backbone. To our knowledge, this is the first published case of using Backbone inside a Chrome Extension. Jeffrey Iacono has a published Github repo featuring a Chrome Extension and Backbone from about a month ago.
Design.
Part of our design philosophy is that the entire backend be accessible via APIs. This allows us to build different and device-varying frontends which all leverage the same data source. We have a lot going on behind the scenes with Zapier and creating an exposed backend API creates a very clean separation of concerns. We can easily create a desktop application, Android app, iOS app, or even, a Chrome Extension from this API.
As mentioned above, views tend to be the most difficult concept when getting acquainted with Backbone. They are "more convention than code" and as such, you the developer are left to fill in the details. For our Chrome Extension, we have a simple Viewport view which controls the loading and unloading of content views. You can see an example of the first content view loaded in the screenshot. Also note we are writing our Backbone code using Coffeescript, RequireJS, and the Use Requirejs Plugin.
A single corresponding content view might look something like this. Note the element which the content view renders into is passed in from the Viewport view.
There were few surprises developing the Chrome Extension. We only wanted to generate a popup and Chrome can handle this automatically with a browser_action definition inside your manifest.json file.
You simply define an HTML file as the default to load into the popup when your extension icon is clicked. Chrome automatically draws the white bubble background.
Storing locally.
One gotcha (especially with regards to Backbone) is that each time you close and re-open the popup, the code is entirely unloaded and then re-loaded. This means if you are using a lazy loading method for your models and collections, they will be pulled from the server fresh each time you click the extension icon.
In a typical Backbone application, you would preload your model and collection data (to be transmitted to the client with the initial website load). This is not applicable to extension popups, though, because all the HTML is stored locally inside the extension. To get around this, I recommend taking advantage of Chrome's LocalStorage API to cache your model and collection data to persist between extension loads.
Another alternative is to persist data into your extension's background page. More details on background pages can be found here. It might even make sense to load the entire Backbone app into the background page when the browser starts and re-render the Viewport view into the popup each time the popup is loaded.
Packaging it up.
Once you've got your Backbone project completed and rendering via a single HTML file, you can simply package up your Chrome Extension using the built-in extension packager. The extension root directory is the folder which contains all your code and you do not need to define a Private Key. See the Chrome Extension help guide for more information.
Overall, the quick aside to building the Chrome Extension was easy and painless and demonstrates the power of a separated backend API and the general applicability of Backbone to many different frontend views.
UPDATE: There is further discussion over on Hacker News, hereIt’s 2020 and you have severe gum disease. It’s bad enough to require surgery to replace lost bone. So your doctor pulls up a computer program, makes a few calculations, and prints out a fresh piece of bone (technically a bone-like powder) on a 3-D inkjet printer. The printed bone, which is used as a scaffolding to allow fresh cells to grow, is implanted in your mouth. Eventually, it harmlessly dissolves as new bone tissue emerges from your cells.
That 3-D printed bone procedure is closer to reality than you might think, and it won’t be limited to dental applications. One day, it could be used on spinal surgeries, too.
Researchers from Washington State University have already tested out the 3-D printing bone technology on rats and rabbits, with promising results. And in tests with fetal bone cells, new bone cells grew over the bone-like scaffold within a week, according to a just-released study.
If this happened today, a doctor might use a synthetic mesh-like material as a scaffolding to help grow new cells. Unlike the harmless printed bone, this material could have long-term implications–specifically, researchers suspect that it could impact digestive and chewing abilities.
The 3-D printer used in the tests wasn’t designed specifically for use with bone; in fact, the researchers bought it from a company that was making 3-D objects out of metal powder, explains Susmita Bose, a WSU professor and co-author of the study. Instead of metal, the WSU researchers use calcium phosphate (a bone-like material known for its biocompatibility), silica, and zinc oxide as a feedstock for the printer, which spits out a plastic liquid used as a binder over ultra-thin layers of powder to create a customized scaffold. The finished product is dried and then baked for two hours.
“A few years down the line, this [technology] could provide guided bone regeneration,” says Bose. The researcher is hesitant to provide a definitive timeline: “I am conservative when I talk about using synthetic materials in human applications because I do believe that it’s very difficult to mimic nature.” But she estimates that the technology could come to the market in two to four years.
As for hospitals equipped with 3-D printers? “It’s something I envision,” says Bose. Chances are, so do the people behind 3-D human organs and 3-D printed blood vessels.Reports stated last week that Conor McGregor would be meeting Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 197 on March 5 in Las Vegas. The UFC has yet to confirm or deny, though MMA Fighting sources have confirmed it is true.
Still, with no announcement over the weekend as expected, fans are getting impatient. Will McGregor be fighting in two months? Well, his striking coach Owen Roddy said he is "sure" of it.
"All I know just from listening to Conor is that he is fighting March 5," Roddy told Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "The opponent is up in the air. It could be dos Anjos. It could be whoever. But the thing is Conor is looking to fight March 5. Realistically, everybody wants to see Conor, so the opponent is not really important. I'm sure he'll be fighting March 5. So stay tuned."
McGregor's head coach John Kavanagh reiterated Roddy's words on Twitter.
well @rowdyowenroddy just put it perfectly. "we'll be there march 5th, doesnt matter who is opponent." that's all we can say #UFC197 — Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) January 11, 2016
McGregor (19-2) won the UFC featherweight title from Jose Aldo via a 13-second knockout at UFC 194 last month. The Irishman has said that it is his desire to move up to lightweight and take that belt as well. Dos Anjos is the current champion at 155 and coming off a 66-second smashing of Donald Cerrone at UFC on FOX 17 a week after McGregor's KO of Aldo.
Brazilian outlet Lance and Bleacher Report's Jeremy Botter both reported Thursday night that dos Anjos would defend the lightweight belt against McGregor at UFC 197. McGregor would attempt to be the first fighter ever to hold belts in two different UFC divisions at the same time.
If not dos Anjos, McGregor could defend the featherweight title against Frankie Edgar on March 5. Edgar is coming off a first-round knockout of Chad Mendes at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale in December.0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*
Although there is little that surprises regular observers of politics in America, late this week there was a federal district court ruling that, frankly, was stunning. It was also welcomed and may have set the standard for other jurists and politicians to start citing the basis for a world of atrocities being committed against an ever-growing number of Americans by religious Republicans.
It’s safe to say that there are some Americans who comprehend that religious liberty guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was never intended to, and does not now, mean that one religious group gets to tyrannize and control non-believers. Evangelical Christians and religious right Republicans disagree, but this week a federal district court judge fairly did what no politician or judge has had the courage to do; call out the favoritism afforded to evangelicals and Catholics who use Republican religious freedom legislation to deny other Americans their equal and civil rights.
In Mississippi, barely minutes before a truly nasty “religious freedom” bill (House Bill 1523) was due to go into effect, Federal District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued an injunction blocking the harshest and most sweeping Republican religious tyranny bill to date. The bill that passed overwhelmingly in the most religious state and most biblical legislature in the nation gave so-called loving Christians free rein to deny services to LGBT people, fire single mothers with impunity, terminate employees cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex, and ban marriages of same-sex couples.
The surprise in Judge Reeves’ ruling was that he had no qualms slamming the Republicans for using religion to elevate Christians over the rest of the population and treat non-compliant Americans as pariahs and abominations to humanity. No politician or Judge has ever even mentioned that all of these hateful attempts by Republicans to discriminate against the LGBT community or women or unmarried heterosexual couples were the work of religious imposition a la Sharia Law. Kudos to Judge Reeves; he is the first and only public official to cite religion as the source of so many Republican atrocities targeting American citizens.
The Judge said the ‘religious freedom’ bill was a stark violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments, and used about 60 pages to eviscerate the theocratic legislation and religious Republicans who passed it into law. Judge Reeves said,
“The State has put its thumb on the scale to favor some religious beliefs over others. Showing such favor tells ‘non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and... tells adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.’ And, the Equal Protection Clause is violated by HB 1523’s authorization of arbitrary discrimination against lesbian, gay, transgender, and unmarried persons.
Religious freedom was one of the building blocks of this great nation, and after the nation was torn apart, the guarantee of equal protection under law was used to stitch it back together. But HB 1523 does not honor that tradition of religious freedom, nor does it respect the equal dignity of all of Mississippi’s citizens. It must be enjoined.”
Within his 60-page decision, Judge Reeves also noted that “the title, history and text of the law showed it to be the State’s attempt to put LGBT citizens back in their place.” And it was an attempt driven by “religious freedom” Republicans to enforce evangelical fundamentalists’ control over what evangelical Republicans consider lesser Americans.
The theocrat who authored the legislation, House Speaker Philip Gunn (R), said he wrote the bill to impose Republican religious laws on the good people of Mississippi because the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling was an abomination to the god of the Christian bible. Apparently because the Supreme Court adhered to the United States Constitution in its decision, Gunn said the Justice’s were “in direct conflict with God’s design for marriage as set forth in the Bible. The threat of this decision to religious liberty is very clear.”
Judge Reeves’ ruling is the third time Mississippi’s theocratic legislature and governor have been slapped down for using religion to punish non-compliant Mississippi residents. This week’s ruling comes just 20 months after he struck down Mississippi’s statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. And it follows by three months another U.S. District Court Judge’s ruling striking down the Mississippi theocratic ban on gay couples adopting children.
Of course, religious Republicans assailed the latest ruling as yet another attack on Christians’ freedom of religion; First Amendment freedom they contend “authorizes arbitrary discrimination against single mothers, lesbian, gay, transgender, and unmarried heterosexual persons.”
Mississippi’s Republican Lt. Governor, Tate Reeves (no relation to the judge), said he wants the state to appeal the judge’s ruling and revealed that, as Judge Reeves noted, part and parcel of religious Republicans’ interpretation of the 1st Amendment and religious freedom is controlling and discriminating against non-compliant citizens. The lieutenant governor said,
“If this opinion by the federal court denies even one Mississippian of their fundamental right to practice their religion, then all Mississippians are denied their 1st Amendment rights. I hope the state’s attorneys will quickly appeal this decision to the 5th Circuit to protect the deeply held religious beliefs of all Mississippians;” so long as those deeply held religious beliefs comport with Republican evangelical fundamentalism.
Notice that blatantly discriminating against other Americans is what the lieutenant governor, and all religious Republicans, regard is their “fundamental right to practice ‘their’ religion.” No-one denies any American from practicing religion, but the Constitution does deny their perceived “fundamental right” to dominate, control, and disenfranchise other American citizens with religious legislation.
Mississippi’s governor, another Republican theocrat named Phil Bryant, railed against the judge’s ruling and pledged there would be an “aggressive appeal.”
“Like I said when I signed House Bill 1523, the law simply provides religious accommodations granted by many other states and federal law. I am disappointed Judge Reeves did not recognize that reality. I look forward to an aggressive appeal.”
Governor Bryant is dead wrong. It is irrelevant what some Republican-controlled states that attempt to enforce the evangelical version of Sharia Law do, or are trying to do. The U.S. Constitution is explicitly clear that no government, state or federal, representatives can impose religious edicts on the people. It’s right there in that First Amendment the Republican theocrats claim grants them religious freedom to tyrannize other Americans.
Furthermore, the 14th Amendment is abundantly clear that no-one, particularly theocratic tyrants, can discriminate against anyone or deny their constitutional equal and civil rights. It doesn’t matter one stinking iota what the Christian bible says; or what evangelicals think it says; or what they believe they have religious freedom to do to other Americans.
Besides, that hateful book of archaic mythos is not the law of the land; it isn’t now and it never has been. If religious Republicans could only accept that fundamental fact of American life, then no-one would be discussing, or writing an opinion column about, why a Federal District Court Judge had to smack down religious Republicans yet again over their bastardized interpretation of religious freedom.
It is especially revealing that yet a federal judge had to remind religious Republicans that no matter what god they bow down to or who they think they are, the U.S. Constitution prohibits them from “favoring one religious belief over others,” or telling ‘non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the community, and only worthy of being controlled and tyrannized by the religious right. At least now a federal judge has called out these discriminatory laws for what they have always been; religious tyranny imposed by Republican legislation. If, as religious Republicans claim, their religious freedom entails punishing and controlling other Americans with theocratic edicts disguised as legislation, they are in the wrong country; because Sharia Law, like biblical law, is not valid in the United States of America.
Image: Patheos
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:The Berkeley community celebrated the 48th anniversary of the creation of People’s Park’s on Sunday, enjoying various performances and reminiscing about the history behind the park.
Complete with live performances, a bouncy house and free food, the event ran from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. A group of residents met weekly for the past three months to plan the rally. From students to homeless residents and volunteers, there was a great variety of people in the crowd.
As the day went on, more people populated the lawn in front of the stage, discussing politics and rallying together against the campus’s plans to build resident halls in the area.
UC Berkeley’s Housing Master Plan Task Force published a report in January 2017 citing People’s Park as one of nine potential sites for new student housing development. The proposed plan would include a memorial for the legacy of People’s Park.
Incoming Chancellor Carol Christ previously said the campus has to accept responsibility for those who will be displaced by the development. She added that she and the task force plan on working with the city to find housing for the homeless residents of People’s Park.
Many campus alumni and longtime city residents were involved in cultivating and defending the park 48 years ago and now want to fight for the land and preserve the park.
“All these decisions have already been decided,” said Michael Delacour, who led the effort to cultivate People’s Park in 1969. “What I would like to see is in those discussions, that us the stakeholders of the park and the south campus area be involved in that process.”
Delacour and Hali Hammer, a local singer-songwriter who performed at the event, were part of the team that organized the rally. Hammer said the team was unified by their hopes to keep the park green.
Delacour said they used more social media for outreach this year, and he hoped that the turnout would increase as the day went on. Campus freshman Leor Bases attended the rally with his friends. He said he visits People’s Park often to either do this homework, play basketball or just talk to the people in the area.
“It’s just such a historic, amazing place to hang out. I’ve had great conversations here with people,” Bases said. “You learn the history of this place, and then how could you not hang out here?”
Dave Axelrod, who attended UC Berkeley in 1969, participated in the protests to defend People’s Park. He came out to the rally Sunday to see his old friends, hear great music and discuss the future of the area.
“I call it fake news that they need a dorm in People’s Park,” Axelrod said. “We’re no less determined to hold this ground on behalf of the Mother Earth and the public for user development and community control.”
Contact Malini Ramaiyer at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @malinisramaiyer.The text of Roseville DFLer's bill says it's intended to give Minnesotans greater access to information for making informed consumer choices about what they eat, and let them avoid foods that have not been proven safe through long-term research.
Sen. John Marty plans to introduce a bill Thursday requiring the labeling of genetically engineered food and seed sold in Minnesota.
The text of Roseville DFLer's bill says it's intended to give Minnesotans greater access to information for making informed consumer choices about what they eat, and let them avoid foods that have not been proven safe through long-term research.
Its first stop is the Senate Committee on Jobs, Agriculture and Rural Development.
California voters last November defeated a ballot proposal to require the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. Biotechnology giants spent heavily to defeat the proposition.
The federal government does not require disclosure of genetically modified foods since they're not considered significantly different in taste and nutrition compared with their non-engineered counterparts.A mix of local Jordanian and Syrian refugee children collaborate with Lego. (Yasmin Noone)
Refugee kids in the south of Jordan are using Lego to develop, learn and imagine a brighter future.
In a room decorated with pictures of Winnie the Pooh and Dora the Explorer, a group of children are gathered around piles of Lego. The clattering sound of the plastic bricks can be heard from the hallway as they busily construct tiny trucks and buildings.
Here at the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Karak, the children are a mix of Syrian refugees and local Jordanians, replicating a scene that could be happening almost anywhere in the world.
The DRC has been active in Jordan since 2013 and provides emergency assistance, protection services and livelihood support to displaced communities.
"We, as refugees, do not have any other place where they can go to play. This centre has allowed them such an opportunity."
Malak Al Saka, from Syria, is here with her son and says the centre is a vital service in the area.
“We, as refugees, do not have any other place where they can go to play. This centre has allowed them such an opportunity, even if it’s something basic for them to pass the time,” Al Saka tells SBS through a translator.
The Lego play sessions at the centre are one form of psycho-social support that the DRC provides. According to research published by the Australian Psychological Society, using toys such as Lego can help children develop emotionally and cognitively and can be useful as a way of engaging those who have suffered trauma.
“Many of the children have psychological issues as a result of what has happened in Syria,” Noor Santeeha, an outreach worker at the DRC, says in Arabic.
Al Saka nods in agreement and gestures towards her child.
“My son is autistic. With the activities that are being offered at the community centre, he is slowly learning to adapt to other children. He is playing better and behaving better, before he was very aggressive. He has really gained a lot from these activities.”
“When I asked a little boy, who was from Syria, ‘why do you like to play with Lego?’, his answer was, ‘I like to create and build my future with Lego’.”
Amal Maayah works for the DRC in Amman and says that the Lego sessions are a way for Syrian refugee children to process their experiences.
“It’s a shock for them, everything that happened. They don’t understand it and then suddenly they’re in another country, not with all their family members – it’s hard,” she says.
Lego can be useful as a way of engaging those who have suffered trauma.
Maayah tells SBS that through using the building blocks, they’re thinking creatively and looking to the future.
“When I asked a little boy, who was from Syria, ‘why do you like to play with Lego?’, his answer was, ‘I like to create and build my future with Lego’.”
“When I watched what he was doing, he was building a house and then building a plane. It gives them a way to think about how they want their life to be, how they can create something out of small boxes. It’s very nice.”
"He is playing better and behaving better, before he was very aggressive. He has really gained a lot from these activities.”
Maayah tells SBS that during the past year, 12,000 individuals have participated in activities in one of the four DRC community centres in Jordan.
“It takes a very long time for them to adapt and socialise, but we try our best to provide these kids with everything they need.”
In the Lego room, Al Saka’s hope is that more centres open in Karak that provide educational and developmental opportunities for children.
“We want them to learn and we want them to feel better, psychologically,” she says.
The author travelled to Jordan as part of The Foreign Correspondent Study Tour. Read more stories form this series:In recent years, DNA analysis has shed light on the parents of Egypt’s most famous pharaoh, the boy king Tutankhamun, known to the world as King Tut. Genetic investigation identified his father as Akhenaten and his mother as Akhenaten’s sister, whose name was unknown.
French Egyptologist Marc Gabolde offered a different interpretation of the DNA evidence on Thursday. Speaking at Harvard’s Science Center, Gabolde said he’s convinced that Tut’s mother was not his father’s sister, but rather his father’s first cousin, Nefertiti.
Nefertiti was already known to be Akhenaten’s wife and in fact the two had six daughters. Gabolde believes they also had a son, Tutankhamun, and that the apparent genetic closeness revealed in the DNA tests was not a result of a single brother-to-sister mating, but rather due to three successive generations of marriage between first cousins.
“The consequence of that is that the DNA of the third generation between cousins looks like the DNA between a brother and sister,” said Gabolde, the director of the archaeological expedition of Université Paul Valery-Montpellier III in the Royal Necropolis at el-Amarna. “I believe that Tutankhamun is the son of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, but that Akhenaten and Nefertiti were cousins.”
Gabolde’s talk, “Unknown Aspects of Tutankhamun’s Reign, Parentage, and Tomb Treasure,” was sponsored by Harvard’s Semitic Museum and the Harvard Department of Anthropology. It was hosted by Peter Der Manuelian, the Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology.
Tutankhamun was a pharaoh some 3,300 years ago. He was made pharaoh at age 8 or 9 and ruled for about 10 years. In his talk, Gabolde covered some of the scarce known details of his life and his burial.
Tut’s tomb, Gabolde said, was not intended as such. The real — and undiscovered — tomb, he said, was probably under construction when he died at 19, and is likely somewhere in the Valley of Kings, on the Nile. The place where he was actually buried was probably not intended for a royal burial but hurriedly prepared when Tut died unexpectedly, most likely of an infection that took hold when he broke his leg.
“Nobody could imagine he would die so young,” Gabolde said.
Other details of Tut’s life, which Gabolde has pieced together from carved images and inscriptions, include a military campaign in Syria, in which he likely didn’t personally take part. Tut also was interested in Nubia, a region in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Inscriptions on a fan that belonged to Tut showed him hunting ostriches, whose feathers were used to make the fan. In addition, Gabolde said, a staff found in Tut’s tomb had inscriptions that showed it was made of a tall reed, cut by Tut himself in a city on the Nile delta.
Gabolde also traced an ornament that was found with Tut when he was discovered in 1922, but had since disappeared. Gabolde said he believes the golden hawk-head clasp, part of a broad collar worn by Tut, is in a private collection, sold by Tut discoverer Howard Carter to pay for surgery later in his life. The rest of the broad collar was stolen during World War II, Gabolde said.BREAKING: AETA 4 Case Dismissed, But Re-Indictment Possible
A U.S. District Court has thrown out the indictment of four animal rights activists who were charged with violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, because the government did not clearly explain what, exactly, the protesters did.
When Joseph Buddenberg, Maryam Khajavi, Nathan Pope and Adriana Stumpo were arrested in 2009, prosecutors said little other than that the group allegedly chalked slogans on the sidewalk, distributed fliers and attended protests. Later, when they were officially indicted, the government was still tight-lipped about how their non-violent, above-ground protests amounted to “terrorism.”
In response, the Center for Constitutional Rights and attorney Matthew Strugar led an effort to have the indictments dismissed. In short, they argued that the charges should be dropped because they seem to involve only protected First Amendment speech, but that in order to make that argument the defendants’ speech must be clearly identified.
Here’s an excerpt from Judge Ronald M. Whyte’s ruling:
In order for an indictment to fulfill its constitutional purposes, it must allege facts that sufficiently inform each defendant of what it is that he or she is alleged to have done that constitutes a crime. This is particularly important where the species of behavior in question spans a wide spectrum from criminal conduct to constitutionally protected political protest. While “true threats” enjoy no First Amendment protection, picketing and political protest are at the very core of what is protected by the First Amendment. Where the defendants’ conduct falls on this spectrum in this case will very likely ultimately be decided by a jury. Before this case proceeds to a jury, however, the defendants are entitled to a more specific indictment setting forth their conduct alleged to be criminal. [emphasis added]
As background, a fierce campaign has been being waged in California against animal research at the University of California system. There has been a wide range of both legal and illegal tactics. Illegal tactics have included the destruction of UC vans, and an incendiary device was left at the home of a UC researcher.
The FBI and local law enforcement haven’t been able to catch the people responsible, though. They’ve only cracked down on the above-ground activists, like the AETA 4, who protest and create fliers.
The previous version of the law was used to convict the SHAC 7 for running a controversial website that posted news of both legal and illegal actions. This case, the first use of the new Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, was clearly an attempt to use this sweeping legislation even more broadly against First Amendment activity. This ruling sternly rebukes the government’s attempt to take activists to trial for “terrorism” without even explaining what they have done.
To be clear, though, this case is not over. The government can still re-indict the defendants with an amended bill of particulars that clearly outlines their alleged actions.
This is a victory worth celebrating, and it should also be inspiration for renewed organizing. Corporations and the politicians who represent them have been pushing this “eco-terrorism” and “animal enterprise terrorism” legislation for years, and they will not sit quietly as the flagship case of their pet scare-mongering law is tossed aside.
If prosecutors choose to re-indict, it should be at their own peril; the animal rights and environmental movements must be ready to respond even more loudly, more forcefully, that activism is not terrorism.Defectors have said that life under the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, was far from the utopia they had been promised.
“ISIS wants to kill everyone who says no,” a 26-year-old Syrian fighter told NPR last year. “Everyone must be with them.” The defector said he had paid a smuggler to take him to Turkey, where he had to hide from Islamic State informants who prowled towns along the border. “I was thinking all the time, if they arrest me, if they stop me, they will behead me,” he said.
In another case, a Western fighter named Ibrahim said he had initially joined the group because he wanted to give humanitarian assistance to Syrians and to have a chance to live in a caliphate under strict Islamic law. But he eventually left, he told CBS. “A lot of people when |
ings and the early World Cup exit; and the fall in participation figures revealed by the ECB's own research last November.
And the link between Graves' three priorities is a shift of emphasis away from an obsession with the resourcing, and success, of Team England towards the wider game. "We want to make this better for everybody," he says. "We are in the entertainment business and we either put bums on seats in stadiums or we put people in front of televisions. So that's one of my criteria - how do we increase participation in the game, whether that's playing or watching. That's where I'm starting from.
"Of course I want a successful England team but that has to fit into a jigsaw that suits everybody. We can't just be dogmatic. Team England is a major part of it but it's not the only part."
****
Graves, 57, grew up on a farm in South Yorkshire which had its own cricket pitch; so he "started playing when I was four or five". He played league cricket for 40 years, mostly for Dunnington, and it is his experiences there that are informing his back-to-basics strategy. "We had a railway carriage in the corner of the field that leaked when it rained," he says. "Now the facilities are fantastic, not just for cricket but for the whole community. And that's what I want to get back to with cricket - I want cricket to be the centre of the community. It's virtually reinventing cricket - that's the way I see it."
He talks about ridding the amateur game of bureaucracy which will be music to many ears in cricket's army of indispensable volunteers but also sounds a little like populist opportunism.
"We can help them [clubs] with lots of things but in terms of ticking boxes … sorry I don't want to know." When I suggest that surely the bureaucracy of which he speaks is not simply a ruse to justify the existence of ECB administrators, Graves pulls a face that suggests a degree of suspicion, to say the least, about the way the game is run. "I don't want the ECB to be seen as a bureaucratic centre that tries to dictate what happens at a recreational level. It's all down to volunteers and we should make it easier, not harder, for them."
Graves has five years at the helm and he wants "to make a difference" in that time. This includes sorting out the schedule of the professional summer. He isn't the first - and almost certainly won't be the last - administrator to believe he can tame the overgrown maze that is the domestic fixture list.
"Our English season is congested," he says. "It's stop-start in a lot of areas and doesn't seem to be joined up. Lots of things don't seem to be working - we had a 50-over final at Lord's when we only sold 10,000 tickets. We've really lost our way with the schedule. I want to talk to all the stakeholders - we're all in this together. It's not just about keeping one sector happy at the expense of all the others."
© All Out Cricket
The various challenges for English cricket that Graves articulates are not radically different to anything the game has faced before but the implication in his words is that the solutions might be. He takes exception to the suggestion that the 'blank sheet' philosophy is a kneejerk reaction to the World Cup. "We were already doing it," he says brusquely. "This process didn't just start when we got knocked out of the World Cup. This started with Tom Harrison as the new chief executive."
Harrison, 43, who replaced the long-serving David Collier as chief executive in January, is part of the new broom of younger suits sweeping through the ECB that includes a new commercial director, Sanjay Patel, who joined last June, and Chris Haynes, who arrived in March from Sky Sports to replace Colin Gibson as head of communications. "I'm not criticising the old regime but we needed a new executive to take us forward with new ideas, new energy and more vigour," says Graves. "They're bringing different ideas and enthusiasm to this business which is what it needs. People are sitting round talking about things that have never been talked about."
For a game that is so widely perceived as conservative, English cricket always seems to be in a state of flux. The big question today is not whether things will change but how. Blank sheet of paper? Not for much longer.
Subscribe to All Out Cricket magazine today and get the Cricketers' Who's Who 2015 for free
© All Out CricketA federal district court judge in Maryland has blocked the government's use of a federal anti-stalking law to prosecute a man for posting insults and criticism of a public figure to Twitter, ruling that "the First Amendment protects speech even when the subject or manner of expression is uncomfortable and challenges conventional religious beliefs, political attitudes or standards of good taste."
EFF filed an amicus brief in this case, arguing that the revised federal anti-stalking statute – expanded in 2006 as part of the Violence Against Women Act to criminalize causing emotional distress by means of an "interactive computer service" – was unconstitutionally vague and ran afoul of First Amendment protections as an unlawful content-based restriction. EFF argued that even though some criticism of public figures may be offensive, emotional distress was not a sufficient basis on which to criminalize speech.Creator Skyler Page and creative director Nelson Boles spread good vibes with their original series Clarence.
With the glut of fantasy-driven kids’ content riding the airwaves the last few years, a cartoon centered on the ordinary adventures of a simple neighborhood kid would seem a breath of fresh suburban air. Meet Clarence, the lovable eternal optimist whose eponymous show is the latest 2D animated comedy to join Cartoon Network this month.
The series celebrates the joys of childhood without magical embellishment or talking animals. Whether Clarence and his buddies (overly-cautious Jeff and unpredictable Sumo) are tackling epic dirt fights, awkward crushes, trampoline combat or prank-filled sleepovers, the gap-toothed hero finds wonder in the everyday.
“I think our show is pretty clearly striving to be realistic … keyword ‘striving,'” says first-time show creator Skyler Page, who also voices the main character. “It seemed like the market was pretty flooded with fantasy and random humor, and I remember a lot of shows when I was growing up that were more poignant, with more relatable situations … real characters who can’t use magic to get out of their problems. I felt like there was a need for that, and that was our focus driving the show.”
The young artist was aided in developing Clarence by the show’s creative director, Nelson Boles, whom he met while studying animation at CalArts (the two bonded over a shared love of Ren & Stimpy their first year). They begin developing the concept a while ago, but when Page landed a job at Cartoon Network and found out the studio was looking for ideas for its shorts program, it was full steam ahead. This turned into a pilot which earned the duo a greenlight — and a little more time to sharpen things up!
The Amazing Ordinary!
From a two or three person crew polishing the pilot, Page — who previously served in storyboarding and writing departments for Adventure Time and Secret Mountain Force Awesome — now finds himself in command of a local team of 30-35 writers, storyboarders, designers, colorists and revisionists at Cartoon Network Studios. Animation service work for the show is done by Saerom in Korea. While Page and Boles are a bit harried by the production schedule to give accurate estimates, they guess the show order is about 60 percent finished.
Page points out that though Clarence is “the little taste of reality in a sea of fantasy,” there’s still room in his show for imagination. “Everyone gets tired of reality, we get enough of it in real life,” he jokes. “So, there’s some fantasy in our show, too. One thing I like is we can do both and show the incongruity of the two — show a character’s ideal version of a situation and then what’s actually happening.”
This blending of the realistic and the fantastical is reflected in the show’s design, which favors ordinary (or even downright unappealing) locations made inviting with cartoony flair. And the character designs also teeter back and forth between the scales of probability.
“With all the characters, it’s almost like the inconsistency is the consistency,” says Boles. “Some look like Muppets, some look like they’re from Steven Universe, but the art direction ties it all together. The way we justify it to ourselves is, the world is full of different looking people.” Boles adds that they showrunners wanted to avoid the Simpsons effect where every character has to look just right to fit in to the existing animated world.
Page adds that another show philosophy is to treat background characters with care, making sure whatever they are doing on-screen is memorable. The old schoolmates add that they are always looking for ways to take these smaller roles and use them to expand Clarence‘s story possibilities. “Another thing we’re trying to push with the show is there’s not just three main characters and everyone else is just there for a joke,” adds Boles. “Everyone has a chance to hang out with everyone … the world gets bigger and bigger.”
Fans of old school cartoons will appreciate Clarence‘s emphasis on character-based and physical humor. Clarence, after all, is not all that aware of how clumsy he is and frankly doesn’t care how ridiculous he looks (a trait we should all be jealous of). Whether he’s sneakily tiptoeing about while managing to knock over everything around him or flagrantly violating Jeff’s personal space, it’s all part of the plan as far as Clarence is concerned.
When asked about the toughest part of producing his first show, Page says while he loves every minute, the pace is hard to get used to: “Once you do an episode, and it’s really good and you’re proud of it, you have to start over. Every time. It’s exciting, but it’s very challenging.”
Page and Boles list John Kricfalusi’s Ren & Stimpy as well as King of the Hill and SpongeBob SquarePants (a few veterans of which are on the Clarence staff) and the feature work of Phil Lord and Chris Miller as their top animation inspirations. But when asked for advice for other upstart cartoonists, they say being true to yourself is the key.
“Don’t do what you think other people are looking for, just do what you think is funny and cool,” Page summarizes. “…And don’t edit yourself, because if you ever do get a show, they will edit you.”
Clarence premieres Monday, April 14 at 7 p.m. on Cartoon Network.The problem
Classic Textfields in Flash are not showing certain fonts. There is text in these fields but they are invisible in Flash and don’t render when exporting as an SWF. Only some fonts such as Helvetica Neue and Din are effected.
This is the problem that faced me this morning, and given the deadlines we always have to deal with here at Kino it was causing me some serious anxiety issues.
Oddly my colleague Simon also suddenly started to have fonts disappear on his machine too. In my case it was Helvetica Neue that wasn’t showing up in classic textfields, for Simon it was DinPro. Now the fonts are listed in the font list within Flash, but when the problem fonts are selected the textfield would essentially go invisible and nothing is rendered.
We assumed initially a corrupted font, but as more and more fonts in Flash failed to work we realised that something more serious was awry. Clearly Flash can be buggy, but this was a new one and causing problems, but the good news is that if this is happening to you then we have a solution.
The Answer
It’s a problem with the 13/12/2012 Window Security Update number 2753842. Here’s what you need to do to get Flash working properly again:
1) Go to Control Panel/System and Security/Windows Update
2) Click View Update History
3) Click Installed Updates
4) Find the Security Update number 2753842, right click it and choose ‘Uninstall’.
5) Reboot
6) Go back to Control Panel/System and Security/Windows Update, but this time choose “x important update is available”.
7) Right click the Security Update 2753842 and select ‘Hide Update’. This prevents it from being reinstalled.
8) You’re done!Bengaluru: Amazon India and Flipkart are revamping their fashion categories, launching private brands and hunting for more exclusive partnerships to increase sales of a category that offers higher margins than smartphones and televisions, two of the other three largest categories in e-commerce.
Amazon indicated it intends to expand its private label portfolio and launch newer product lines, as it looks to differentiate its offering from Flipkart and Flipkart-owned retailers, Myntra and Jabong. In recent months, Amazon has also signed partnerships with leading brands such as Aeropostale, Arrow and Swarovski on certain product lines.
“We are still at an early stage (with private labels)," said Arun Sirdeshmukh, head of fashion at Amazon India. “We are putting together the building blocks. Should we do more of it? There are many product lines that we’d rather add to these brands that we have on the table. That’s the journey."
ALSO READ | Amazon India launches fashion private brand Symbol
In August, Mint had reported that Amazon India was planning to create its own private brands in fashion and had hired executives such as former Myntra chief creative officer Gautam Kotamraju to help drive its push into fashion labels. Amazon launched a private label brand called Symbol in September—the first of several private brands it is likely to launch over the next year.
With private labels, Amazon is attempting to replicate the kind of success that online retailers such as Myntra have enjoyed by creating big brands out of private labels such as Roadster. Now, in-house brands such as Roadster, Mast & Harbour and Dressberry account for nearly 25% of Myntra’s sales. Roadster is one of the top five brands on Myntra’s platform at the moment.
“You should definitely expect more product lines because these are currently a western-wear brand and an ethnic-wear brand. There are many products that we haven’t yet launched but are slated to. For example, we do a lot with top-wear, but there’s also more to do with bottom-wear -- there’s denim in that area. So, we are working on those product lines," said Sirdeshmukh.
Amazon is planning an end of season sale event in fashion with big discounts for shoppers, as it looks to regain momentum that had been disrupted by the government’s demonetization drive.
Amazon also indicated that it will enter newer categories over the coming months, especially in women’s fashion and womenswear. “Are we there in all categories? That journey is never complete," said Sirdeshmukh, who joined Amazon from online retailer Fashionara.com which shut shop earlier in 2016.
Fashion retail on e-commerce portals is expected to constitute 35% of the total online retail revenue generated in India, which is expected to touch at least $35 billion by 2020, according to a recent Google report. By this time, fashion may overtake smartphones as the largest product category.
Amazon’s plans to expand rapidly in the fashion category comes at a time when the company is locked in a bruising market share battle with arch rival Flipkart, with both players targeting categories such as private labels where online retailers can potentially enjoy high margins on sales. It’s important for Amazon to build a large fashion business, especially as Flipkart and Myntra currently dominate online sales of apparel, shoes and accessories.
Flipkart on Tuesday said it is revamping its fashion business and re-launching the category, with key partnerships and tie-ups with television channels, film magazines and celebrities. It also indicated it may launch a new private label sometime during the middle of 2017.
ALSO READ | Flipkart’s fashion unit Myntra bets on artificial intelligence to drive growth
“Over the last 6-8 months, we have been focusing on improving our selections further. This is not by adding more styles—we want to add more relevant styles and also to bring in better discovery for customers," said Rishi Vasudev, vice-president, fashion, at Flipkart, adding that Flipkart has tied up with Colors TV channel as part of this re-launch campaign.
Flipkart said the revamped fashion portal would go live on Tuesday and that it would launch a big campaign to promote the revamp in the first week of January.
“In that light what we are doing is we are doing an entire refresh of the fashion (vertical), where we have curated the whole selection based on what people are searching for. What we have also done is we have associated with all the key influencers of fashion, right from Bollywood, film magazines, TV celebs, as well as international trends to really curate the selection around that. So, we have associations with a few leading names from each of these, so you will see selections from them," said VasudevJust before the end of its 2016 session, the Florida Legislature approved a bill to go to Gov. Rick Scott that has put the Florida Bar in an odd quandary: The Bar's Family Law section is now urging the governor to veto a bill that, for the most part, it wrote, lobbied for and wanted to see pass this year.
The bill, an alimony-reform effort, is probably the most quietly contentious piece of legislation that has worked its way through the Statehouse this year. It hasn't been big news, the way that fracking or gambling have been, but it's been bitterly debated in legislative committees and on social media, and people on both sides of the debate – those for alimony reform, and those against – have a lot at stake in the battle.
On one side are alimony recipients, many of them women who gave up working for years to raise children and help their former husbands excel in their careers. On the other are alimony payers – mostly men, though there are some women in their midst – who feel they shouldn't have to pay their former spouses for the rest of their lives and that the current system is bleeding them dry.
If the reform measure is signed, the bill would alter the way courts determine alimony – it would give judges guidelines to decide alimony payments, limit the duration of alimony to recipients, eliminate "lifetime" alimony and spell out specific circumstances under which alimony awards may be modified or terminated. That's something that Tom Sasser, an attorney from West Palm Beach and the former chairman of the Family Law section of the Florida Bar Association, who's serving as the bar's alimony spokesman this year, says has been sorely needed in Florida for a long time.
"There are no guidelines that exist today for alimony," he says. "There's a list of factors the court is to consider, but they are not arithmetical. We say certain types of alimony are available for certain length of marriages, but we don't do a guideline. It's highly discretionary in Florida, and that's what the bill seeks to change.... It gives a framework to negotiate in, so you're not dealing with extremes. That was really the biggest driving force behind this. Before, you were dealing with high levels of variability, and it was varying from county to county, courtroom to courtroom."
However, the bill also contains troublesome provisions. Among those, Sasser says, is a last-minute addition that eliminates guidelines for marriages that lasted more than 20 years and in those cases encourages judges to "equalize" income of the two former spouses. Sasser says that the whole point of the bill was to keep alimony awards from being arbitrary and wildly inconsistent, and that clause contradicts its very purpose. The other onerous portion deals with parenting, urging judges to presume that when children are involved in a divorce situation, both parents are equally fit to raise them and should have 50-50 custody. Sasser says the Family Law section of the bar unequivocally opposes that provision.
"The court should look at the children and determine what is best for them, regardless of what's best for the parents," he says.
Some alimony recipients – many of them women who say they spent their best working years supporting husbands and families – see other problems with the bill, too. Take Ann Dwyer of Longwood, for instance. She's a 71-year-old who was married for 20 years and moved around the country whenever her husband took a new job. She worked a little bit, she says, but her primary role was to take care of the family so her husband could focus on work.
"We were married in 1967, and we both had undergrad degrees," she says. "He left in 1988, and it took me four years to get a good job.... Between 1988 and 1992, I had to go back to school because my degree meant nothing."
Even worse, she says, is that she worked so little during the time she was married that she didn't earn much in the way of Social Security, so she doesn't have that to rely on. Alimony recipients receive half of their former spouse's Social Security upon retirement, as well, but Dwyer says she still works 25 hours a week to make ends meet, and she doesn't think she'll ever have enough money to retire. The new alimony bill eliminates what's called "permanent" alimony and allows payers who are of retirement age to request that alimony payments end when they're ready to stop working – a luxury that Dwyer says she never expects to enjoy.
"I am 71 and still working, even though I do get my alimony," she says.
One provision of the alimony bill particularly rankles her, she says, and it's a clause that notes that as little as a 10 percent increase in income can be enough for an alimony payer to request a modification of an alimony agreement. If, for instance, a woman making $10 an hour gets a $1 per hour raise at the job she takes trying to get back on her feet after divorce, her ex-husband could take her to court to reduce her alimony payment.
Sasser and the bill's supporters say this law is not retroactive – it states that it only applies to alimony arrangements in process or made after the bill's effective date of Oct. 1, 2016, and it does not automatically modify existing alimony agreements. The bill's language also states that its passage may not be the "sole basis" for alimony payers to seek modifications to alimony arrangements, which Sasser says will still be subject to the laws on the books when the original alimony agreement was made, because the bill itself does not constitute a "substantial change in circumstances" required for modification. He says that concerns that the law will alter existing agreements are unfounded.
However, Dwyer says the language in the bill is tricky – it says that a party is entitled to seek "immediate modification" in alimony if the recipient gets that 10 percent raise because, according to the bill, that would be considered a "substantial change in circumstances." She fears that attorneys and judges may interpret the 10 percent clause as grounds to take former spouses back to court to strike a better deal.
"I make $15 an hour working for a divorce attorney," says Jan Killilea, a Boca Raton woman who divorced in 2009 after 25 years of marriage. She says that she moved nine times over the course of her marriage to follow her husband's career. "Now, if I get a 10 percent increase in my pay, my ex-husband, who made $365,000 last year, can take me in for a modification."
Killilea, who formed an organization called First Wives Advocacy Group to support women receiving alimony, has been extremely outspoken in her opposition to the bill. She's been interviewed by NPR, testified before the Legislature and started Facebook groups where women like her can meet and talk about their situations. In exchange for her advocacy, she's been cyberbullied on social media – a search for her name on Facebook turns up posts in which a group called the First Husbands Alimony Group posts photos of her and criticizes her for going out, traveling and skiing. In one of its posts, the First Husbands group calls lifetime alimony recipients "parasites with entitlement problems."
Killilea says that she's not completely opposed to alimony reform, but she says if it happens, it needs to be comprehensive and it needs to be fair to all parties. She points out that, even though some alimony payers refuse to make alimony (or even child-support) payments, this bill doesn't strengthen enforcement. It also changes the law so that alimony can be challenged if recipients are involved in what can be called a "supportive" relationship – current law requires cohabitation or marriage in order for alimony to be terminated – but it doesn't really define what supportive should mean, leaving it up to the courts to determine based on a variety of factors.
Sasser says that many of the concerns that alimony recipients have had over the bill are premature. He says that currently, judges' decisions can unfairly impact either alimony recipients or payers, and the new law gives both sides some reasonable expectations about the process.
"A lot of people have made the comment, 'Oh my God, this is going to leave women without any money,'" he says. "But that is not what these guidelines do.... What we have proposed is based on guidelines used in other states and countries, and they have not done all of the horrible things people claim. In other jurisdictions where these guidelines have been applied, people have made the same arguments, and you know what? It didn't happen."
However, there is that child-care portion of the law. Under a 50-50 shared-parenting agreement, the assumption is that both parents are equally fit to care for children, and all costs are split based on how many nights children stay with each parent. If one of the parents chooses not to use his or her allotted time with their kids, critics point out, the burden falls to the other parent to care for them and still cover their full share of the cost of caring for them. Carey Hoffman, a divorced mom and advocate for women receiving alimony, points out that the new law leaves kids vulnerable to the whims of disgruntled parents going through a contentious divorce.
"It starts at 50-50, then you have to present evidence saying why it's not working," she says, but it's costly to go to court repeatedly and most working parents can't afford it. So in the end, the kids suffer. "The system is already not working, and this legislation is just creating more flaws. There are many family-court issues that need to be dealt with, and they need to take care of the other issues first."
Sasser agrees that the child-care clause of the bill is fraught, and even if the bar's Family Law section could get past the 20-year-marriage addition to the bill, it cannot overlook the child-care portion. He says it puts the Family Law section of the Bar into the "unenviable position of opposing legislation that it supported."
"It's very frustrating, because the section worked very hard on the alimony piece, and really does want it to pass," he says. "But it also feels very strongly about children. The No. 1 rule in the family court system is children come first. So [the Family Law section of the bar] is willing to fight its own alimony legislation to protect the best interests of children."Rumours have been going around for awhile now that Valve, the company behind PC gaming service Steam, is working on an app for Windows 10 Mobile and Windows Phone. Today, we are happy to confirm that these rumours are correct.
A store listing has appeared that details a ‘Steam Official’ app, being published by Valve Corporation.
According to the listing, the app is not a Universal Windows 10 app, but it does support Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile. It will come packed with many features that Steam’s apps on other platforms also offer, such as:
Steam Guard Authentication
Trading (trade items with your friends)
Community (forums and messaging)
Remote downloading of your games, so that when you get home, they’re downloaded to your PC
The first release of the app will be a limited release, with it not coming packed with all the features you’d expect from a Steam app, but it looks like Valve will be keeping it up to date. It is not currently available to download from the store, but by the looks of it, we won’t have to wait too much longer.
A screenshot of the app is also available:
Check out the listing yourself from the link below:
Steam Developer: Valve Corporation Price: Free
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Further reading: Steam“We have many thousands of voter commitment cards, divided by precinct, and we know how many of these voters need to show up on caucus night to win even one or two delegates,” Mr. D’Alessandro said in an interview at the Sanders headquarters in Des Moines, as 20 volunteers called voters about events featuring the candidate. “That’s the ballgame: making sure enough people get to enough precincts.”
The Clinton campaign is also confident about its turnout goals, but Mr. Paul and his team have spent far more time building political operations in each precinct. Thousands of fliers have been sent to supporters providing the addresses of their caucus locations. And over two weekends this month, thousands of volunteers joined in dry runs of caucus-day operations at more than 150 Clinton campaign offices, union halls and homes across the state.
“Last summer, we got to the point of having a supporter in every precinct of the state much earlier than any campaign ever had, because of the tenacity of our organizers to drive from gravel road to gravel road to identify supporters,” Mr. Paul said. “Look, there are 1,681 precincts. You organize from there.”
A map of Iowa on Mr. Paul’s wall shows the 99 counties and different news media markets, with sticky notes marking planned trips for Mrs. Clinton, her husband and other surrogates. Mr. Paul carries a binder with a spreadsheet tracking Mrs. Clinton’s visits and crowds, and a laptop to review readouts from each event about the number of commitment cards collected and volunteers signed up — information he shares with her quickly.
Mr. D’Alessandro tracks the same data points, but scribbles them on giant sheets of paper taped to an office wall. “I’m old school,” he said.vS Data Reaper Report #6
Welcome to the sixth edition of the Data Reaper Report!
We’re happy to inform the community that Data Reaper Live (beta) now has over 740 contributors. Over the past week, we’ve compiled 33,000 games. This is getting us closer to another threshold which will allow us to further expand our analysis. If you have not done so already, please sign up with your Track-O-Bot information here:
Take note that next week’s article, the Data Reaper Report #7, will be published on Saturday, July 2nd, instead of Thursday.
If you’d like to help support our initiative to provide high-quality data-driven content to the community for free, you can join our team by supporting us on Patreon:
On to the numbers! We begin with our deck frequency charts. These are the numbers from June 15 to June 21. The first chart shows all ranks, the second can be switched between different rank groups. We’ve recorded about 4.5k games at legend, 10k games at rank 5-1, 10k games at rank 6-10 and 5k games at ranks 11-15.
Overall Games
By Rank Games
Note that we’ve made some improvement on the way we classify and identify the Druid archetypes. “Yogg Druid” will now refer to every spell heavy Druid that utilizes Yogg and could have different win conditions (much like Miracle Rogue), while the old school Ramp Druid which strictly utilizes big minions and taunt walls will be called “Ramp Druid”. Druid is certainly a tricky class to classify since the different archetypes have great similarity in their structure, and it’s been undergoing many changes for the past month, but we feel that we’ve further honed the accuracy of our identification and tagging.
Next is a graph displaying the popularity of classes during the last six weeks: since the Data Reaper Project launched.
Class Frequency by Weeks
Interesting notes we take from the data:
Tempo Mage is the star of the week. Mage has now surpassed Druid to become the 5th most common class on ladder on the back of recent resurgence in the archetype. Its numbers are even higher at legend ranks, so it is certainly receiving more respect across all skill levels. Dragon Warrior has finally been noticed and is soaring in popularity. It has eclipsed its mid-ranged cousin, Tempo Warrior, to be the 3rd most played Warrior archetype. The numbers of Dragon Warriors also increase at higher levels of play. Shaman is continuing its trend of becoming more and more aggressive every week. We’re now at a point where Mid-Range Shaman is almost a rare occurrence at legend ranks. Don’t be greedy with your mulligan against Shaman, search for your answers. Thrall wants your face. The overall number of Warriors is becoming obscenely large, especially at legend ranks. We believe there is a tendency in many ladder players to “run back to Warrior” when they try to grind the legend ladder, especially during the final week. It occurred towards the end of May, and this pattern is showing signs of repeating in June.
Now let’s continue to our updated matchup charts. The numbers are taken from the past five weeks. We’re aware of the community’s desire to split these numbers into skill groups, and we fully plan on doing so. It simply requires us to have a larger database, and we’re getting there with your help and support. Also, we’ve changed the alphabetic ordering of decks to be based on class first, to make it easier for you to find the matchup that you’re looking for.
Finally, we present the updated “vS Power Rankings” table for this week. The numbers we present are the expected win rates of each archetype based on their matchups against the field, factoring in the frequency of all potential opponents on ladder at different rank groups over the past week.
We can see that the top 3 decks remain just about the same: Dragon Warrior, Aggro Shaman and Zoo Warlock. However, Mid-Range Hunter has increased its score, and is flirting with Tier 1. It’s also relatively stronger at legend ranks, which we believe is the result of the higher numbers of Warriors. Another interesting deck to note is Yogg Druid. With our increasing database, we felt comfortable to add the archetype (as well as others) to these rankings as it’s gathered enough games. We can see that the deck is not only fun, but is also inherently strong against the field. Is this under the radar archetype about to trend upwards as we’ve recently seen with Dragon Warrior?
Also, we’ve followed and read a lot of feedback and discussion regarding the vS Power Rankings. Many mentioned the “skill cap” of decks and how these numbers as well as the matchup win rates could be influenced by people not piloting certain decks correctly at lower ranks. While we do believe that some decks will have significantly better scores at higher skill groups (such as Freeze Mage), not all of them can. When one deck wins more, another deck has to lose more, so we wouldn’t expect a deck like Control Warrior to suddenly jump into Tier 1 when it’s being played at legend ranks (hint: it won’t, it’s just inherently disadvantaged against the current field).
Of course, we repeat that there are many variables that can alter a deck’s performance from the expected win rate, such as the individual’s proficiency with the deck, understanding of certain matchups, as well as card choices. This can push the actual win rate significantly higher than the expected win rate, and this is why certain individuals such as Fibonacci perform so consistently on ladder with a specific archetype.
The important thing to take away from the rankings is the relative strength of the decks, when piloted by the average player in the field on ladder. It is an objective measure, with a transparent formula, albeit with some assumptions. A particular player who pilots deck X and achieves a win rate far higher (or lower) than the expected rate, can conclude that they play the deck better (or worse) than the average player on ladder, provided that they have a sufficiently large sample size.
Once again, we see Tempo Warrior being included in a spring championship winner’s lineup. First, it was Thijs who won the EU championship, and last weekend Handsomeguy has done the same at the APAC championships. Will this pattern continue at the America’s championship? Tempo Warrior appears to be the optimal Warrior deck for this tournament’s format, which is a best-of-7 conquest, using five decks and one ban. However, most players will never play in such a format, since open tournaments are usually best of 5’s. Either way, with Handsomeguy’s victory, we’re confident that the archetype will maintain consistent presence on ladder. His list is vanilla and straight forward, which makes it suitable for ladder play.
Dragon Warrior finally got a decent showing in a major tournament at the hands of Edward Elric. The deck feels like Tempo Warrior with a stronger mid-game. It was only a matter of time until this deck succeeded in tournament play and we suspect this trend to continue in the future. While Tempo Warrior is still the more established archetype, Dragon Warrior is beginning to eclipse it in numbers, as more people are beginning to realize the deck is legitimately strong and has good matchups across the field. Edward’s list should serve you well on ladder.
Lately, Control Warrior builds have been straying away from relying on the Golden Monkey to provide you with the tools to end the game, switching to a more consistent win condition: N’Zoth. Heisnotaxel’s list is quite optimal, but flexible enough to include different deathrattle minions and tech cards, such as Barron Geddon, depending on the Metagame. The archetype seems to be falling out of favor slightly, but all Control Warrior diehard fans know that it will always remain relevant in the Metagame to some degree. Piloting the deck well can still produce success on ladder.
Finally, C’Thun Warrior feels stronger in the current Metagame than a standard Control Warrior because of a stronger mid-game as well as blow-out potential of drawing C’Thun. Pinpingho piloted a slightly different variant of C’Thun Warrior at the APAC championship. The inclusion of Emperor Thaurissan enables playing Brann and Doomcaller, putting two copies of C’Thun back into your deck, which allows you to dominate other control decks. Against decks such as Control Priest and Control Warrior, it is not out of the question to Shield Slam your own C’Thun in order to guarantee that it dies in order to pull off this |
ra, I sat with few friends talking politics and we were all expressed our frustration toward that little stream which originated in Kurdistan, yet it was a borderline divided our people. It’s sad that our occupiers has drawn their borders in the heart of land. That frustration has been with us for thousands of years. Our forefathers for many generation took arms and fought that injustice.Greater Kurdistan that unifies all its parts under the name “United Kurdistan” has been the dream and aspiration of my people. At present, in a short run, statehood for Kurds in Iraq is our goal, but in a long run, and in a larger sense “United Kurdistan” is our dream. It’s not if but when. It will happen, it mightn't be in my lifetime, but I am sure it has to happen for it’s the will of the nation.Halabja is a sad story. That as I recall it used to be the ground for dancing and singing, now is a town with fearful people who have not seen the remedy of their past.Not only that, now more than two and a half decades afterward, the aftershock blows its debris, and by all accounts it is the capital of world’s birth defects and a common place for fatal diseases unknown to the scientific community.I must submit to you that not even one single family in the town was left exempt of tragedy, thus tears of sorrow and despair rain down for generations to come, and legacy of calamity to record yet another chapter of our misery as the consequences of occupation.The commemoration of Halabja’s tragedy and other parts of Kurdistan will be a flag of sovereign Kurdistan posted on the graveyard where the victims are buried. Thus to indicate that there will be no another Halabja in a future; and to tell the living and dead we are free at last.Kirkuk to me is just like any other part of Kurdistan, I feel obligated to defend the integrity of the United Kurdistan. How can Kirkuk be an Arab or Turk’s while it's surrounded by Kurdish land and Kurdish population from its entirety. To me, it’s not about oil, but about land and we shall not allow annexation of any part of Kurdistan. It’s not only Kirkuk but also Mosul which has been a part of Kurdistan for thousands of year, and that city we should revisit and take control of it.The world would have been a better place to live should all nations were to be devoted to justice and human dignity; but, it isn’t so for economics, politics, corporate profits and insatiable greed are factors in world’s peace and war. You talk about Kurds being betrayed by America, sure America has been the United Snakes of America toward Kurds for it has a long standing denial toward Kurds freedom and their independence. I hope that will change.True Kurds cannot count on others; put that a side, that doesn’t disappoint me as much as our corrupted leaders who Instead of unifying the nation and directing its resources toward a common good, they divided Kurdistan into two separate regions, each governed by an opposing political party, each with their own armed force, separate budget, and inconsistency in governance.Kurds have endured this heinous phenomena of multiple leaders whose tyranny has crippled their choices, that same leaders who never came in term with their past atrocities.I hope I will be proven wrong. But I tell you as I have written in the past, I should not be sanguine that any good to come from Talabani or Barzani. These leaders their visages are colored with indelible mark, the blood of their people form 1960’s and 1990’s civil war. They have made themselves one of the richest men in the world on expenses of their impoverished people.However, they can reform, unite and restore back to the public domain what they have stolen; until then Kurds should not expect glory from the wicked. Notwithstanding, I am vesting all my hope in my people for they determined to draw their destiny, and in a process they can enhance the image of the nation by toppling these corrupt leaders and replace them with a young and modern leaders. More about Kurdistan, Iraq, Kurdish, halabja Kurdistan Iraq Kurdish halabjaWhen I was in high school, I got a "job" doing office work for my dad as a law clerk. I mostly made copies, maybe cut some stuff here and there. Maybe read a document or two, but not because he really wanted my input. He needed a reason to feel like I should be paid $8 an hour. Here's a very real fact: I shouldn't have. I didn't deserve to be paid. I was usually just in my "office," reading things from this website that I had found.
That website was Grantland.com. I don't remember how I came to follow Bill Simmons on Twitter, but I know that I did, and he linked to one of Grantland's first stories about the National Sports Daily. There's a word to describe the way in which it was written, and I didn't know it then, and I don't fucking remember it right now but it really doesn't matter. I just remember that I read a five-page, probably 10,000 word article about something I didn't know about. And it was interesting. And it was fun to read. And it made me check the site again the next day. And the day after. And so on.
I write for this, The Dream Shake, which by comparison to Grantland is a much smaller website. I've only done so for a few months. Let me interject this point with a story though — My dad, the same one from before, and I both agree that basketball is, by far, the best sport, and even further the most fun sport to play. My reasoning for that is that you can go play by yourself and just have time to yourself and feel athletic. You can't really do that with other sports.
My dad's point was much better, as it often is. He says that playing basketball is the best because there is something about when that shot goes in, seeing it go through the basket after you shot it, that is inescapably similar to what the pro's do. "That's the same thing LeBron does," he says. Obviously, you're not LeBron James, but you feel like it, if only for a second. All of that, is to say that I am not Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, Jason Concepcion, Shea Serrano, LITERALLY NAME ANY PERSON FROM GRANTLAND.COM HERE, but when TDS posted my first story, I felt like a part of the sportswriting community in a way that I didn't know was possible.
And it goes even deeper than this somehow. Last summer, I needed something to do. I knew I wanted to get into writing and I knew that spending all day reading Grantland was no way to productively spend my time. One night this summer, Shea Serrano, my favorite writer at Grantland and person on Twitter, sent out a tweet saying something along the lines of "People who wanna write: email me your questions." So I did.
My question was mostly "Hey, how the hell do I get started, how do I get hired." He responded within an hour (seriously) and told me how he got started, while also encouraging me, and telling me that I must be a decent writer already judging by the email I sent. Within three weeks, I had applied and gotten the job with The Dream Shake. I emailed him to thank him for his help and told him about getting the job. He didn't even hold it against me that I was a Rockets fan.
I don't exist as I currently do without Grantland. If it doesn't begin that summer when I was working for my dad, I don't get into sports or sportswriting in the same way. If I don't know who Shea Serrano is to email just under a half year ago, I don't have a job here.
Grantland, arguably, housed the most talented writers in each of their respective fields. Bill Simmons could churn out a feature at this very moment after being months out of practice and it would be miles ahead of anyone else in sportswriting, quality-wise. No one, no one writes about basketball as well as Zach Lowe. Michael Baumann is a brilliant baseball writer. Bill Barnwell somehow makes football interesting to me. Shea Serrano can find humor and beauty in everything (even the Houston Rockets despite his birthplace). Molly Lambert made me think of television and pop culture in ways I never imagined. Rembert Browne was able to balance insight and comedy in a way I haven't seen anyone duplicate, except for maybe Jason Concepcion a.k.a. netw3rk. And these are simply the people off the top of my head.
Grantland reached that level of the National Sports Daily in that it was not simply the standard, but far beyond that. Grantland was the goal for sportswriting. It was what I, and we all strived to be like. The internet, writing, and the general public is and will be worse in its absence, and I just had to get that off my chest.Big company CEOs got a 23 percent raise last year and corporate profits are at record highs. But the minimum wage has less buying power now than in 1956 – the year Elvis Presley first topped the charts, videotape was breakthrough technology and the Dow closed above 500 for the very first time.
It’s no accident wages are down while corporate profits are up. As JPMorgan’s July 11 “Eye on the Market” newsletter put it, “Reductions in wages and benefits explain the majority of the net improvement in [profit] margins… US labor compensation is now at a 50-year low relative to both company sales and US GDP.”
The minimum wage sets the floor under wages, and that floor is sinking. The 1956 minimum wage was $8.30, adjusted for inflation.
Today’s minimum wage is $7.25 – just $15,080 annually.
CEOs make more in a few hours than minimum wage workers who care for children, the ill and the elderly make in a year. Median CEO pay was $10.8 million last year among 200 big companies measured by Equilar.
The $15,080 minimum wage workers have for rent, groceries, transportation, medicine and everything else for the year doesn’t even buy 2 pounds of the imported caviar featured in the Forbes Cost of Living Extremely Well Index.
The last increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 on July 24, 2009 was so little so late it left workers 30 percent below the minimum wage peak of $10.38 in 1968 – $21,590 annually – in 2011 dollars.
Today’s retail clerks, health aides, child care workers, restaurant workers, security guards and other minimum wage workers have $6,500 less in annual buying power than their 1968 counterparts.
That doesn’t help our corner stores, our communities or our national economy. It hurts.
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We didn’t have to go backwards. U.S. income grew $11,684 on average between 1969 and 2008, the year Wall Street drove our economy off a cliff. But there was nothing average about the actual income distribution. Every dime of income growth went to the top 10 percent. Income for the bottom 90 percent declined.
Compare that to the period between 1917 (when the data began) and 1968. Income growth averaged $26,574. The top 10 percent got 31 percent of that growth. The bottom 90 percent got 69 percent.
You can’t have a strong middle class or a strong economy if the bottom 90 percent gets none of the nation’s income growth.
If the minimum wage had stayed above the $10.38 value it had in 1968, it would have put upward pressure – rather than downward pressure – on the average worker wage. Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, our nation’s largest employers, couldn’t routinely pay $7.25 or a little above.
McDonald’s wages would be more like In-N-Out Burger, which has an entry wage of $10 plus good benefits and beats McDonald’s and other fast food chains in the new Consumer Reports ratings for food, service, value and speed. Wal-Mart’s wages would be closer to Costco, which pays starting wages of $11, has the lowest employee turnover in retail, doesn’t need to spend money on advertising and outperforms Wal-Mart.
The 2010 American Values Survey found that 67 percent of Americans supported increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.
Critics routinely oppose minimum wage increases in good times and bad, claiming wrongly they will increase unemployment. The most rigorous studies of the impact of actual minimum wage increases, including two studies published recently in the journal Industrial Relations and the Review of Economics and Statistics, show they do not cause job losses – whether during periods of economic growth or recession.
In the words of John Shepley, co-owner of Emory Knoll Farms in Maryland and a member of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, “The notion that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs is just bunk. People at the lower end of earnings tend to spend 100 percent of their after-tax income. They put it right back into local businesses buying food, clothing, car repairs and other necessities. … When the minimum wage is too low it not only impoverishes productive workers, it weakens the key consumer demand at the heart of our local economy.”
It’s time to stop stuffing the penthouse of the economy with gold and rebuild the crumbling foundation.We're All Born With Mathematical Abilities (And Why That's Important)
Enlarge this image LA Johnson/NPR LA Johnson/NPR
As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, Kristy vanMarle knew she wanted to go to grad school for psychology, but wasn't sure what lab to join. Then, she saw a flyer: Did you know that babies can count?
"I thought, No way. Babies probably can't count, and they certainly don't count the way that we do," she says. But the seed was planted, and vanMarle started down her path of study. The person who made that flyer, Karen Wynn, became her mentor and they have since co-published several studies together.
I spoke with vanMarle, an associate professor at the University of Missouri whose research focuses on children's early cognitive development, to find out what she's been up to lately. The interview that follows has been edited and condensed.
So, what's all this about being born mathematicians?
In my lab, we are particularly interested in numerical development and understanding of objects — how the early number skills of young infants, possibly even newborns, get built upon to develop a uniquely human capacity for symbolic math.
The roots of those abilities and those skills seem to come from an endowment that is evolutionarily ancient and that we share with most other species.
In other words, we've evolved to know math — along with almost every other animal. How did you become interested in this?
I've always been fascinated with the idea that you can have this sophisticated knowledge — at least the foundations of it — in place, very early on. And we know now that it's very broadly available across animal species. Species as different from humans as fish: Guppies are sensitive to numbers in the environment. Of course, primates are. Salamanders. Various insects. It's this basic ability that helps animals navigate their environment. I mean, literally, navigate the environment by calculating angles and distances and so forth. It helps them choose the greater amount of food if they're choosing between two quantities. It shows up in foraging contexts all the time.
So I've gotten interested in how these early abilities might provide a foundation for these much more sophisticated abilities that humans grasp pretty ubiquitously. If you're exposed to math and counting, all humans will get it to a degree. Some more easily than others, of course, we all experience that. But the capacity is certainly available.
What's been the focus of your most recent research?
Being literate with numbers and math is becoming increasingly important in modern society — perhaps even more important than literacy, which was the focus of a lot of educational initiatives for so many years.
We know now that numeracy at the end of high school is a really strong and important predictor of an individual's economic and occupational success. We also know from many, many different studies — including those conducted by my MU colleague, David Geary — that kids who start school behind their peers in math tend to stay behind. And the gap widens over the course of their schooling.
Our project is trying to get at what early predictors we can uncover that will tell us who might be at risk for being behind their peers when they enter kindergarten. We're taking what we know and going back a couple steps to see if we can identify kids at risk in the hopes of creating some interventions that can catch them up before school entry and put them on a much more positive path.
How exactly do you study something like that?
We followed kids through two years of preschool and assessed a really broad range of quantitative skills. Because when you talk about math achievement and number knowledge, it's not a single solitary construct.
Over the two years of preschool, we gave them 12 different tasks — twice a year. Some were symbolic: being able to recite the Arabic numerals or the verbal count list. Others were tapping these earlier, emerging non-symbolic skills: being able to estimate which of two sets of dots is bigger, being able to keep track of additions and subtractions that happen in the environment. Skills like that are building on these evolutionarily ancient core capacities.
So which of those actually predict math achievement?
Out of those 12 different skills, there's really one or two that matter most. When we followed up with these kids in kindergarten and first grade, their ability to estimate quantities — this ancient ability — seems to be really important. And also their ability to engage in cardinal reasoning i.e. knowing that the number three — when you see it on a page or hear someone say "three" — that it means exactly three, which is really at the root of our ability to count.
This cardinality, in particular, seems to be the most important skill that we can measure at a very young age and then predict whether kids are going to be succeeding in a much broader assessment of math achievement when they enter kindergarten.
Will this have an effect on what kids learn in preschool?
Well, we hope so. If you look at preschool curricula — kids who are getting structured instruction in math early on — it's really trying to tap these different skills. But when you have a lot of different things you're trying to teach, you don't go into depth with them, right? You're just trying to touch on all of them at once.
Our research points to the possibility that it might be more effective for early education if you focus on these core skills that seem to matter the most for developing symbolic knowledge. We're currently running a pilot study — an intervention that targets this ability.
What does that intervention look like?
Children count and create sets. We use ice cube trays to count some number of objects. We say, 'Can you put six items into this tray?' And then we point out very interactively where they make mistakes and try to reinforce rules.
Has it been effective?
It's too early to say. We are currently inputting the data and analyzing it so I don't have the punchline for you, unfortunately. But we're hopeful it will be effective.
It's the kind of thing that parents and early educators can engage in with children. It's possible to even create an app that would allow kids to make sets on an iPad. Of course, that's way down the road for us. But that's kind of where we're headed — getting an intervention that works. We know how to identify which kids are likely to be at risk so the logical next step is to figure out a way to help them.
Your research points out that parents aren't engaging their kids in number-learning nearly enough at home. What should parents be doing?
There are any number of opportunities (no pun intended) to point out numbers to your toddler. When you hand them two crackers, you can place them on the table, count them ("one, two!" "two cookies!") as they watch. That simple interaction reinforces two of the most important rules of counting — one-to-one correspondence (labeling each item exactly once, maybe pointing as you do) and cardinality (in this case, repeating the last number to signify it stands for the total number in the set). Parents can also engage children by asking them to judge the ordinality of numbers: "I have two crackers and you have three! Who has more, you or me?"
Cooking is another common activity where children can get exposed to amounts and the relationships between amounts.
I think everyday situations present parents with lots of opportunities to help children learn the meanings of numbers and the relationships between the numbers.Prosthodontics, also known as dental prosthetics or prosthetic dentistry, is the area of dentistry that focuses on dental prostheses. It is one of nine dental specialties recognized by the American Dental Association (ADA), Royal College of Surgeons of England, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow, Royal College of Dentists of Canada, and Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. The ADA defines it as "the dental specialty pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment planning, rehabilitation and maintenance of the oral function, comfort, appearance and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing or deficient teeth or oral and maxillofacial tissues using biocompatible substitutes."[1]
Training [ edit ]
According to the American College of Prosthodontists, a prosthodontist is a dentist who:[2]
Specializes in the aesthetic (cosmetic) restoration and replacement of teeth. Receives three to four years of additional training after dental school. Restores optimum appearance and function to your smile. The planning, surgical placement and restoration of implants and rehabilitation of occlusion with prostheses all fall under the field of prosthodontics.
The American College of Prosthodontists (ACP)[2] ensures standards are maintained in the field. Becoming a prosthodontist requires an additional three years of postgraduate specialty training after obtaining a dental degree. Recently, the ADA's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) passed the updated educational standards for all prosthodontics programs in the United States that now mandates surgical placement of dental implants at an in-depth competency level (on par with other surgical dental specialties)[3] Training consists of rigorous clinical and didactic preparation in the basic sciences, head and neck anatomy, biomedical sciences, biomaterial sciences, implant surgery, function of occlusion (bite), TMJ, and treatment planning and experience treating full-mouth reconstruction cases, and esthetics. Due to this extensive training, prosthodontists are required to treat complex cases, full-mouth rehabilitation, TMJ-related disorders, congenital disorders, and sleep apnea by planning and fabricating various prostheses. There are only 3,200 prosthodontists in comparison to 170,000 general dentists in the United States.[4] Prosthodontists have been consistently ranked at 6th or 7th positions by Forbes among America's most competitive and highest salaried jobs.[5][6][7][8]
Board certification is awarded through the American Board of Prosthodontics (ABP)[9] and requires successful completion of the Part I written examination and Part 2, 3 and 4 oral examinations. The written and one oral examination may be taken during the 3rd year of speciality training and the remaining two oral examinations taken following completion of speciality training. Board eligibility starts when an application is approved by the ABP and lasts for six years.[10] Diplomates of the ABP are ethically required to have a practice limited to prosthodontics. Fellows of the American College of Prosthodontists (FACP) are required to have a dental degree, have completed three years of prosthodontic speciality training, and be board certified by the ABP.
According to the ADA, specialties are recognized in those areas where advanced knowledge and skills are essential to maintain or restore oral health (Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct). Not all areas in dentistry will satisfy the requirements for specialty recognition. Acknowledged by the profession, the contributions of such and their endeavors are encouraged.[11]
The American Dental Association does not recognize Cosmetic dentistry as a speciality.[12] Prosthodontics is the only dental speciality under which the concentration of cosmetic/esthetic dentistry falls.[13] General dentists may perform some simple cosmetic procedures. Consequently, there are questions regarding whether it is ethical for general dentists to treat "smile makeovers" or complex cosmetic and full-mouth reconstruction cases, as they are not qualified to address the complex needs of the patient.[12][14] Likewise, there is no specialty recognized by the ADA for dental implants.
Maxillofacial prosthodontics/prosthetics [ edit ]
Maxillofacial prosthetics (Oral and Maxillofacial Prosthodontics) is a sub-specialty (or super-specialty) of Prosthodontics.[15] All Maxillofacial prosthodontists are prosthodontists first and then attain a fellowship training (1 year) exclusively in Maxillofacial prosthetics that includes oral surgical and prosthodontic treatments.[13][16] Maxillofacial prosthodontists treat patients who have acquired and congenital defects of the head and neck (maxillofacial) region due to cancer, surgery, trauma, or birth defects. Maxillary obturators, speech-aid prosthesis (formerly called as Pharyngeal/soft palate obturators) and mandibular-resection prostheses are the most common prostheses planned and fabricated by Maxillofacial prosthodontists.[16] Other types of prostheses include artificial eyes, nose and other facial prostheses fabricated in conjunction with an anaplastologist.[17]
Treatment is multidisciplinary, involving oral and maxillofacial surgeons, plastic surgeons, head and neck surgeons, ENT doctors, oncologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and other healthcare professionals.
Conditions [ edit ]
Treatment modalities [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Dec 9, 2016
A federal court battle over whether the developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline can finish the $3.8 billion project will linger at least into the first couple months of the new year.
Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners last month asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to declare it can legally lay pipe under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota — the last remaining large chunk of construction on the 1,200-mile, four-state pipeline to move North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois.
The Army has declined to give permission due to opposition by the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux, who fear any leaks would contaminate drinking water. The Army cites a need for more study of the Lake Oahe crossing and consideration of alternative routes.
ETP believes it already has the necessary permission and has asked Boasberg to concur. Company lawyers earlier proposed a schedule that included an early January hearing. Boasberg on Friday gave the government until Jan. 6 to file its opposition to ETP’s request for permission. Boasberg won’t hear arguments until at least February.
The two tribes filed documents Wednesday saying they are willing to put their claims on hold while the Army Corps of Engineers does more study. The tribes earlier this year challenged the government’s decision to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings.
“Plaintiff tribes applaud the decision by the Corps and intend to work in good faith with the Corps through the (study) process in hopes that a resolution of its concerns can be achieved without the need for further proceedings in this court,” attorneys wrote.
The tribes also intend to oppose ETP’s request to the judge for permission to drill under the lake. Boasberg also gave them until Jan. 6 to do so.
Tribal members and supporters have been protesting the pipeline for months, based at a camp near the pipeline route in southern North Dakota. Harsh wintry weather is beginning to drive some people out of the camp.
The Morton County Sheriff’s Office estimated Friday that between 1,800 and 2,200 people remain in the camp on federal land, spokesman Rob Keller said. That’s down from estimates of 3,000 to 5,000 people before heavy snow and bitter cold settled in.
Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault this week called for the camp to disband, though Native American rights activist Chase Iron Eyes implored protesters to stay.
A coalition of grassroots groups opposing the pipeline issued a statement Friday saying they support a transition to protesting against project investors in communities. However, they said they also support pipeline opponents who choose to stay in camp overwinter.
The groups included the Indigenous Environmental Network, Honor the Earth, Sacred Stone Camp and the International Indigenous Youth Council.
[SOURCE]Before they became a Trump administration power couple, Sebastian and Katharine Gorka were prolific collaborators on research about the Islamic terrorist threat who built a fan base in far-right circles.
Business partners as well as published co-authors, the Gorkas made successful careers out of their shared passion. “Our pillow talk is the Islamic State and Al Qaeda,” Sebastian Gorka, now a senior White House aide, said during a talk in Florida last November.
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At times it can even be difficult to tell which Gorka is doing the talking. Several passages of Sebastian’s 2007 dissertation, on the rise of radical Islam, appeared almost verbatim two years earlier in an article for the conservative journal Human Events. The byline over an online version of the article, “ccornell,” links to an author page for Katharine Cornell — the maiden name of Katharine Gorka.
The dissertation, written for Sebastian’s doctorate in political science from Corvinus University of Budapest, does not credit either a Katharine Cornell or Katharine Gorka in its endnotes.
“We write together all the time,” Gorka said during an hourlong conversation with POLITICO. He brushed off the overlapping passages as “probably something I dictated or that we came up with together.” Much of his writing and that of his wife, he explained, is the result of a “collaborative effort,” even if that’s not clear to readers. “She’s my wife and she’s my closest collaborator,” he said.
In the decade since earning his doctorate, Sebastian has vaulted into the heart of the American national-security apparatus. At the White House, Gorka — who was born in Britain and became a U.S. citizen in 2012 — is a deputy assistant to the president. He reports to strategist Steve Bannon and includes the Strategic Initiatives Group, Bannon’s in-house think tank, in his email signature.
That appointment, which includes a portfolio focusing on terrorism and national security, has befuddled mainstream counterterrorism experts, who recognize Gorka from his Fox News appearances but not as an influential thinker.
“He is hard core,” said retired Army Col. Joseph Collins, a professor at National Defense University who worked with Sebastian Gorka when he taught there. “He came at the issue from the ideological route.”
Joining Sebastian in Trump’s orbit is his wife, Katharine, who served on the Trump transition’s Department of Homeland Security “landing team,” focusing on plans to shift its “Countering Violent Extremism” programs to concentrate on Islamist extremism, according to a former DHS official. Sebastian Gorka declined to comment on his wife’s current role within the department, and calls and emails seeking comment from DHS were not returned.
Trump first summoned Gorka to Trump Tower in the summer of 2015. At the time, Gorka was national-security editor at Breitbart News, the right-wing website Bannon ran before joining Trump’s campaign. Long before most people took Trump’s candidacy seriously, Gorka wrote him a series of position papers.
Gorka’s biography at the Institute of World Politics, a Washington-based program that offers master's degrees and continuing education programs for military and other government officials, casts him as an “internationally recognized authority on issues of national security, irregular warfare, terrorism and democratization.” Gorka taught there as an adjunct before becoming a professor in 2016.
Several experts interviewed by POLITICO puzzled over the gap between the numerous military academic credentials listed by Gorka — a political science Ph.D. who unfailingly uses the title “Dr.” — and their unfamiliarity with his work and views.
In the decade since earning his doctorate, Sebastian Gorka has vaulted into the heart of the American national-security apparatus. | POLITICO Screen grab
“When I first encountered his name during the transition, I did a triple-take. I've been in counterterrorism since 1998, and I thought I knew everyone. But I'd never heard his name and couldn't recall anything he'd written or said,” said Daniel Benjamin, who served as counterterrorism coordinator under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Retired Col. Peter Mansoor, a former top aide to Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq who helped rewrite the Army’s counterinsurgency manual, also said he’s never crossed paths with Gorka. “What I've heard has not been complimentary,” added Mansoor, who now teaches at Ohio State University and remains active in military circles.
In a subsequent email to POLITICO, Gorka said the two participated together on a panel discussion. Mansoor responded that he had forgotten about the event but said he remains critical of Gorka's recent views.
Gorka’s defenders dismiss such criticism. “Seb has never been in the traditional kind of academic world,” said James Carafano, a national security expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “There is a certain demonization that goes on against these guys.”
Trump’s rhetoric and actions since taking office reflect the influence of the Gorkas, who call for a tougher response to Islamist radicalism. In his Florida speech days after Trump won the election, Gorka showed what he acknowledged was a controversial PowerPoint slide featuring a dead ISIS fighter face down in the sand framed by a black background featuring white text that read: “Now we can win.” The Trump administration, Gorka told POLITICO, is committed to “crushing” ISIS “with [its] partners in the region.”
Gorka was one of the few White House staffers consulted ahead of Trump’s controversial Jan. 27 executive order limiting arrivals into the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries. He told POLITICO that he believes “it’s absolutely watertight when it comes to the legality and the president’s right to do this.” Although two federal courts have halted the order, Gorka hasn’t changed his opinion. “It’s a fundamentally preventative measure,” he added. “Counterterrorism isn’t about responding afterwards.”
Katharine Gorka wrote in 2013 that the Obama administration “seems to be allowing Islamists to dictate national security policy.” And she criticized President Barack Obama’s DHS for allegedly changing its training protocols to include an “emphasis on Islam as a religion of peace.”
The Gorkas are also strong believers in changing official U.S. government rhetoric to include the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” which Obama, and George W. Bush before him, shunned. “We are prepared to be honest about the threat. We're not going to white it out, delete it as the Obama administration did,” Sebastian Gorka told NPR last month.
In November, the Council on American-Islamic Relations described the views of both Gorkas as “Islamophobic.”
Gorka disputes that characterization. He claims that half of the students he has instructed, including Jordanian Princess Aisha bin Al Hussein, King Abdullah's sister, are from predominantly Muslim countries. “I’ve said again and again, the people who are most at peril in this world are our Muslim partners, because ISIS and Al Qaeda are killing them first,” he told POLITICO. “It’s not a war with Islam,” he continued. “It’s a war within Islam.”
Gorka was born in the United Kingdom to Hungarian parents who fled during the country’s failed 1956 anti-Soviet revolution. In the book "Defeating Jihad," Gorka describes how his father was tortured and imprisoned for two years, searing in his mind what he calls the “evil” of Soviet totalitarianism and turning him, unlike many anti-jihadist hard-liners, against torture, which he calls “fundamentally wrong.”
The Gorkas met in Romania in 1994, when they both attended a symposium for young leaders. At the time, Gorka was working in Budapest, while Katharine was working for a small policy think tank in New York. Katharine, whose father was president of a major Pennsylvania iron works factory, earned her master’s degree from the London School of Economics and in the early 1990s focused on the post-Soviet transition to democracy.
They married in Hungary and remained in Europe. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, they turned their attention, like many in the national-security world, to terrorism.
Gorka’s biography at the Institute of World Politics says he spent four years on the faculty of the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany. Gorka said he worked for the program’s founder, retired Marine Corps Col. Andrew Nichols Pratt, who died in 2013. The program’s current director, James Howcroft, also a retired Marine colonel, said Gorka only “periodically delivered lectures or served as a seminar leader.”
The Gorkas returned to the U.S. nine years ago, Gorka said. On several of his personal biography pages, Gorka lists a two-year fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, though he said he left after less than a year to take a position at the Rand Corp., the Washington think tank.
Several military sources noted that Gorka’s teaching affiliations — including the Marine Corps University Foundation as well as the Joint Special Operations University — have been with part-time professional development seminars for midcareer military officers, rather than at premier war colleges such as the Naval Postgraduate School in California and the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Carafano, who has known the Gorkas for 15 years, said Gorka is a serious scholar. Carafano said he’s filled in for Sebastian Gorka at the Institute of World Politics. “I struggled to keep up with his curriculum,” said Carafano, who also worked alongside Katharine Gorka on Trump’s transition team for DHS.
Earlier this month, Gorka was cleared of a weapons charge filed after he attempted to board a plane at Reagan National Airport with a gun; Gorka has said he was carrying a gun because he'd received death threats.
During his conversation with POLITICO, Gorka defended himself — unprompted — against recent |
When the adversary, or group that perpetrates the hacks, also strategically leaks the information obtained from the hack or hacks, the lines between dots of evidence become increasingly clearer.
How Do We Know It Was the Russians?
With the technical, operational, strategic framework in mind, what makes these cybersecurity companies and the U.S. government so confident that Russia is behind these hacks and leaks?
In addition to the usual timestamps and TTPs, one major piece of technical evidence presents itself. According to Chris Porter, who heads FireEye’s strategic intelligence teams, the tools used to compromise the Democratic National Committee, the CHOPSTICK and SeaDaddy malware, are tools that we have only ever seen used by APT28 and APT29 respectively.
Operationally, the way the malware is deployed fits with what we know about Russian intelligence’s offensive cyber operations. They typically either spoof a website or conduct a targeted spear phishing campaign to install a dropper and eventually achieve remote access to machines and infrastructure. Furthermore, FireEye has discerned patterns in the registration of the fancybear.net and dcleaks.com domains that appear to “match up with the domain registration behavior seen from APT28 in the past.”
The modus operandi to spread the hacked information also betrays Russian signatures. First, the agents behind the attacks appear to be coopting well known hacking brands, like Anonymous, Guccifer, and PravSector (a Ukrainian political organization). But the activity of these spoofed identities does not comport with the activities we have come to expect from hacktivist groups and their loose affiliates. For example, the tweets and other social media activities undertaken by a group calling themselves the “official Anonymous Poland Twitter” (@AnPoland) strangely received no attention from other factions within Anonymous when they attempted to spread leaked World Anti-Doping Agency data. And the reasons to believe that Guccifer 2.0 is not who he says he is have been well documented. In short, these groups have assumed identities that seem to tie them to established hacktivist groups, but there is no evidence of any actual affiliation between these new monikers and the established hacktivist brands.
Certain tactics around messaging and timing correlate to what FireEye observed of Russian information activity in Ukraine around the annexation of Crimea and the military action in eastern oblasts. In Ukraine, the group CyberBerkut appeared to run both the network operations (the hacking to steal the sensitive data) and the information operations (the media outreach to disseminate the information). The skillset required to successfully conduct the relatively complex network operations is very different from the skillset needed to effectively leverage an information operation. We have seen the same trends with Guccifer 2.0, DCLeaks, and WikiLeaks. Moreover, according to FireEye’s team, the fact that the data breaches and the information leaks (or announcements that the information is to be leaked) happen in quick succession suggests a team structure with a healthy division of labor, discussed in greater detail below.
Finally, when we take the strategic context into account, the picture sharpens. We have seen the Russian government attempt to manipulate narratives in a way that suits their interests perhaps more than any other state. In addition to the campaign in Ukraine, there is strong evidence to suggest that the Russian state has attempted to coerce political narratives in Estonia, Czech Republic, and within their own country.
Further, as of January 2016, influence operations were officially engrained in Russian national strategic doctrine. According to the doctrine, the national security organs of the Russian state must continue to be prepared for
growing confrontation in the global information space, due to the desire of some countries to use information and communication technologies to achieve their geopolitical goals, including through the manipulation of public opinion and falsification of history.
What Can We Learn About the Russian Playbook?
As many others have observed, this type of activity is not exactly new. It is just new that the United States is on the receiving end. Russian information operations do not necessarily push a cohesive message. Instead, they tend to identify key audiences and feed information specifically intended for that group. This leads to inconsistent and even contradictory messaging. In a way, this plays into the hands of the Russian operators whose goal is to sow uncertainty and dissolve confidence in any dominant narrative.
Russian intelligence agencies have been investing in this capability for years, and the organizations appear to retain knowledge over time with regard to how to both organize and operationalize a campaign. As mentioned above, there is reason to believe that a division of labor has occurred within the teams conducting these operations. At least four discrete skills are needed. First are the on-keyboard operators, who are tasked with the network operations, or hacking, portions of the campaign. In support of these on-keyboard operators are researchers who provide the on-keyboard operators with the tools to carry out the job. These tools can be technical tools, like malware, or social engineering instructions. Third, are some more ordinary code developers that help scale the operation and provide the backbone upon which all the others operate. Finally, there are the information operation specialists.
Because the information operators target specific populations and specific journalists with specific information, there is reason to believe that the information operations specialists possess an above average understanding of the local politics and political factions within the United States. Take, for example, the concerted effort to feed damning DNC information to Gawker and the Smoking Gun, two left leaning media outlets, during the Democratic primary. This was a nuanced effort to reach a far left, Sanders-supporting audience to stir up discontent with American institutions, the Democratic Party, and primary. Due to this team structure, and regional specialization, the Russians have been enabled to leverage the pervasiveness of social media to reach their intended audiences in a way that simply was not possible before Facebook and Twitter. According to FireEye’s Information Operations Manager, the overall complexity of these teams is on a level similar to that of U.S. intelligence agencies and is only likely to be housed within a government agency.
What is Russia’s Overarching Goal?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the Russian’s ability to pick out specific messages for specific audiences, several complementary goals appear, aimed at different parts of U.S. society: a general audience and the political elite that are in-tune with national and international security policy.
For the general audience, the goal is likely two-fold. The first is to shake Americans’ confidence in public institutions, to include political parties, democratic processes, and the media. The second, slightly less obvious, goal is likely to deflect some attention away from other Russian actions around the world, like their ongoing questionable operations in Syria and Ukraine.
The U.S. national security intelligentsia likely also see three additional goals. First, Moscow is signaling to the U.S. government, in response to the Snowden revelations of the sophistication and advanced nature of the National Security Agency’s capabilities. Second, and tied to that, this is an attempt to gain a bit of attention and recognition for Russian cyber capabilities and prestige on the world stage. Finally, this is likely an attempt by Russia to figure out where America’s redline might be in this context.
What is to Be Done?
The Russian actions have put the Obama administration in a sticky situation for a number of reasons. There is little the administration can do that would dissuade these operations, because, with Russia’s still plausible deniability, the kind of responses the administration would need be rather severe to make the Russian’s cease operations and could risk an escalatory response form Russia. In order to withstand that type of response from Russia, the administration would need the American public behind them — a tenuous prospect at best.
While the U.S. government’s hands are somewhat tied, there are a couple of simple actions that U.S. organs could take to both inform the Russians that this will not stand and help reshape the narratives the Russian operations have distorted. First, the U.S. government could expel SVR and GRU operatives posed in Washington under diplomatic cover. This is a relatively common tactic to inform an adversary that their intelligence operations in your country are approaching an unacceptable point. Second, U.S. media can do a better job of pointing out inconsistencies in the narratives that the Russians have constructed, as Kurt Eichenwald did last week when he pointed out that he was not, in fact, Sid Blumenthal, despite Russian and Trump camp insistence to the contrary.
Robert Morgus is a Policy Analyst with New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative where his research focuses on the intersection of international affairs and cybersecurity. Morgus has spoken about cybersecurity at a number of international forums including NATO CCDCOE’s CyCon, the Global Conference on Cyberspace at The Hague, and CyFy 2015 in New Delhi, India. He contributed a chapter to the upcoming book, Cyber Insecurity, and his research and writing has been published in The New York Times, Slate, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, peer-reviewed academic journals, and numerous other national and international media outlets. Special thanks to Aylea Baldwin, Chris Porter, Will Glass, and the rest of the team at FireEye for the data and insights they provided for this article.
Image: Adapted from Pexels and Faloomabinga, CCWhen you think of GoPro, you think of one thing: Tiny, waterproof cameras that can be mounted almost anywhere. You think of skiers, skateboarders and adrenaline junkies leaping out of air balloons in wingsuits to capture the most extreme video you've ever seen.
It can't be helped. GoPro is synonymous with action cameras, much as iPads are synonymous with tablets and Google is with search. But the company wants to be known for more than just its Hero-branded action cam.
See also: GoPro Hero 4 Session is the tiniest GoPro ever and I absolutely love it
As its brand has grown tremendously in the last few years, GoPro is transforming from a camera company to a lifestyle company.
"We think of GoPro as a movement," company CEO Nick Woodman said. "It's a content-driven movement that affects all of us. It's a movement that's enabling the highest-quality user generating content the world's ever seen. It's a movement that is driving higher levels of social engagement, social activity than ever before."
GoPro's latest action camera, the Hero 4 Session, is proof of that mission change. The cubed-shaped camera is 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the Hero 4 Black and Hero 4 Silver; GoPro didn't design it to be the most performance-packed action camera, but to be friendlier and easier to use by the average person — the moms, dads and anyone who isn't shredding the mountains or free-falling from space.
In early June, I was invited to take a sneak peek at the Hero 4 Session a few days before the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado. Woodman was on hand to introduce the camera, but also to talk about the future of the company and where its headed.
GoPro is (and will be) known for its action cameras for a long time, but starting next year, the company's surfing on new waves: VR, drones and an intuitive way for users to manage and edit all their GoPro content are the three pillars the company plans to erect as it builds its lifestyle cred — and stay ahead of the competition.
Virtual reality is the next stage
The most-talked about upcoming technology platform is virtual reality. Thanks to the Oculus Rift, Sony's Project Morpheus and even Google Cardboard, which lets you turn your smartphone into a VR display, virtual reality has made its way into the public consciousness.
Whether it's a VR headset, VR treadmill or gesture-based gloves, not a day goes by where I don't hear about some company (big or small) working on VR.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it best when the company announced it was acquiring Oculus VR, the company that single-handedly revived VR with the Oculus Rift headset, for $2 billion.
"This is really a new communication platform," Zuckerberg wrote on a Facebook post. "By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures."
Google Cardboard turns smartphones into super cheap VR headsets. Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani
The Oculus Rift may be designed for gamers first, but that'll only be the initial offering. At E3 2015, Oculus VR Vice President of Product Nate Mitchell told Mashable that they're targeting gamers first for two reasons. First, gamers are often early technology adopters and as such, they're more willing to invest in the latest (and often pricey) hardware to get the most immersive experiences. And second, game developers are the best-positioned to create VR content, since they're the ones who've had the most experience working withVR development kits.
"After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences," Zuckerberg wrote. "Imagine enjoying a courtside seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home."
It's these "other experiences" that will take VR beyond fad status.
"I think it's real," Woodman giddily told a group of reporters during a media dinner. "I don't think it's gimmicky like 3D."
"VR is a whole new experience that can fully transport someone into another experience," Woodman says. "The ability to promote empathy through VR, the better it is for people to have a human connection."
That last part — the human connection — is what makes it so exhilarating to watch GoPro footage. Action cameras are but mere pieces of electronic circuitry, but seeing an incredible experience from a human point of view — that is the most valuable aspect.
People who will experience VR won't care how many cameras are used or what kind of rig is required to shoot VR content. All they'll care about is an immersive experience that elicits feeling.
"We are positioned more than any other camera company to enable VR," Woodman said. At Re/Code's Code Conference in May, Woodman unveiled a rig that houses six GoPro cameras, specifically designed to capture content for VR.
GoPro's spherical array camera for recording VR uses six GoPro cameras. Image: Screenshot: Code Conference
"It's gonna happen. We're making spherical cameras," Woodman told me.
GoPro may be well-positioned to enable VR, but it'll face competition from nimble camera startups like 360fly and Sphericam that plan to sell affordable 360-degree cameras that will be compatible with VR. GoPro won't be able to waltz right in and own the space like it did with its Hero action cameras.
That said, Woodman remains very optimistic about VR's potential. "It's gonna open up all kinds of viewing experiences and expand the lifespan of content."
Quadcopters and GoPros in the sky
Along with VR, Woodman said GoPro is keeping a very close watch on drones. In recent years, drones have become a phenomenon. Thanks to consumer-friendly (and affordable) drones like Parrot's AR.Drone 2.0 and its many MiniDrones, drones have become more popular than ever before.
Privacy concerns and physical dangers aside, drones — particularly, ones with built-in cameras or can be equipped with a camera — are enabling amateur and professional content creators to get spectacular video content from high up in the sky without the need for helicopters or giant cranes.
For years, GoPro has played the nonchalant sidekick to drones such as the DJI Phantom, which easily mounts one of GoPro's Hero action cameras.
DJI Phantom quadcopter with a GoPro Hero 4 attached to it. Image: DJI
Starting next year, that's going to change. The sidekick will become its own hero (no pun intended) and cut out the middleman. GoPro is going to sell its own camera-equipped drone.
Woodman said he doesn't like the term drone. He says people hear drone and immediately think of these autonomous flying machines that can go rogue and kill them. Woodman prefers calling them by their more technically accurate term: quadcopters.
"The [quadcopter] boom exists because of GoPro and now it's growing much bigger than GoPro," Woodman said. "People are getting into quads not because they like flying little quads around, but I think the original impetus is they want the incredible content that a GoPro and a quad enables."
We don't know what the drone looks like or how much it'll cost, but Woodman said we'll hear more about it in early 2016.
Into the cloud: Better content management tools
While new cutting-edge hardware gets all the attention, software remains a weak point for GoPro.
Woodman said he's aware the company needs to do better in software— to better service the user. Because at the end of the day, all the GoPro footage in the world is useless if it's stuck on a memory card, instead of being seen and shared with friends, family and the world.
Right now, editing GoPro content is tediously old-school. You record footage on your GoPro camera and save it all to a memory card. When you get home, you connect it to a computer and import the clips either manually and then into video editing software such as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere or through GoPro's Studio software.
GoPro's free Studio video editing software. Image: GoPro
That's perfectly fine if you know what you're doing, but a majority of users don't or don't have time to do so. They have no idea how to edit video and need something more automatic.
Woodman described a cloud-based service where users will be able to plug their GoPro cameras into a power source when they get home and all of their footage will automatically upload into the cloud. Users would then be able to edit and share their content online, presumably through some kind of web-based software.
You can already share bite-sized clips from, say, a Hero+ LCD to a smartphone and post to Instagram instantly, but GoPro is clearly dreaming bigger.
Building out a cloud-based platform like the one Woodman envisions will be an ambitious undertaking. The company will need massive data centers to store all that user content. It'll also need to invest in ways of securing it all.
"GoPro exists to enable great content and great content enables GoPro," Woodman said. "So it's no surprise that we invest a ton of resources into enabling great content and making it easier and more convenient, and [Hero action cameras] lighter, smaller, more invisible, effective content capture solutions for our customers."By Anne-Marie Green
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A New Jersey high school student undergoing treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who was hoping to take a pop star to his senior prom wasn’t able to land his dream date, but did land a dream invite.
Eighteen-year-old Kevin McGuire is a senior year at Sterling High School. McGuire was concerned his cancer treatment and loss of hair would prevent him from landing a date to the prom.
After talking it over with his sister, he decided he’d reach for the stars, literally, and ask Berks County native Taylor Swift to go with him.
Kevin’s sister, Victoria, created a Facebook page for Kevin to help get the word out about his prom date idea.
The page, “Taylor Swift Please Take Kevin McGuire To Prom,” became an overnight sensation and in no time, Kevin had tens of thousands of supporters.
Friday, Taylor responded to Kevin’s request on her Facebook page and said, “Kevin, I’m so sorry but I won’t be able to make it to your prom. But I was wondering, the ACM Awards are coming up.. Would you be my date? Love, Taylor”.
Eyewitness News was with Kevin when he read the post, which was greeted by loud cheers and clapping.
“I don’t know what else to say,” said an ecstatic Kevin. “I was just trying not to throw up.”
Although Taylor can’t make it to his June 1st prom, which also happens to be his birthday, it looks like the April 1st Academy of Country Music Awards just might make his let down totally worth it.
Now, the question is, will Kevin go to the ACM’s in Las Vegas?
In a response on Twitter sent to @CBSPhilly and @TaylorSwift13 it sounds like Kevin is going to say yes, as long as he is healthy enough to leave Children’s Hospital.
“I have cancer. Cancer doesn’t have me.” McGuire said. “Taylor, I would love to go with you.”
The 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards will be held in Las Vegas on April 1st and airs on CBS.ST. GALLEN, Switzerland (Reuters) - On the morning of January 27, employees at the St. Gallen headquarters of Wegelin, Switzerland’s oldest private bank, were told to expect an important announcement from Konrad Hummler, Wegelin’s leading partner. Other Wegelin branches across Switzerland, also alerted, tuned in to the company-wide address system.
A man is reflected in a window of Switzerland's Wegelin bank headquarters building in St. Gallen in this January 29, 2012 file photo. The U.S. Justice Department on February 2, 2012, acting on plans it had been making for weeks, indicted Wegelin on charges of enabling wealthy Americans to evade taxes on at least $1.2 billion from 2002 through last year. The charges made Wegelin the first overseas bank in history to be indicted by U.S authorities and marked a milestone in a burgeoning American crackdown on Swiss bank secrecy and efforts to force banks to turn over client names. The sale and the subsequent indictment effectively brought an end to the storied 270-year-old bank. REUTERS/Miro Kuzmanovic/Files
Speaking in Swiss-German, Hummler announced the bank had sold most of its assets to another Swiss bank. According to a person familiar with the matter, Hummler called it a last-ditch effort to preserve employees’ jobs amid withdrawals of assets by investors who were increasingly worried about a growing problem: a U.S. federal investigation into Wegelin’s sale of tax-evasion services to wealthy Americans. The dark-suited bankers and conservatively dressed office clerks, said the person, were in shock and tears.
The news for Wegelin, its headquarters nestled in the town of St. Gallen next to the Appenzell Alps near the German-Austrian borders, would only get worse. Six days later the U.S. Justice Department, acting on plans it had been making for weeks, indicted the 270-year-old bank on charges of enabling wealthy Americans to evade taxes on at least $1.2 billion from 2002 through last year. U.S. criminal laws apply to foreign banks that do business in the United States, even if the banks, like Wegelin, have no U.S. branches. The charges made Wegelin the first overseas bank in history to be indicted by U.S. authorities and marked a milestone in a burgeoning American crackdown on Swiss bank secrecy and efforts to force banks to turn over client names. The sale and the subsequent indictment effectively brought an end to the storied bank.
The Wegelin indictment also turned a spotlight on Hummler, an outspoken defender of the Alpine tradition of bank secrecy and an admirer of the Portuguese philosopher Fernando Pessoa’s concept of the banker as an anarchist. In an interview three years ago with Suddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s largest newspaper, Hummler called the concept “a charming mind game.”
In a 2009 column in Neue Zurcher Zeitung, a Swiss newspaper on whose board Hummler sits, he wrote that he was “influenced by ‘68” - a reference to his time in Paris during the street riots of 1968 - and that he had “found a philosophical father” in Friedrich Hayek, the economist-philosopher who defended free markets and capitalism.
Last week, representatives of Wegelin failed to show up in a U.S. court in New York to respond to the indictment. The bank said in a statement and legal papers that it had not been served with a criminal summons - a legal paper that often follows an indictment. The court declared the bank a fugitive, raising questions over how a trial requiring the presence of Hummler and other Wegelin executives might take place. While Hummler was not named in the indictment against the bank, the document referred to unidentified Wegelin executives as “co-conspirators.”
After the hearing, Wegelin said in a statement that “the circumstances create a clear dilemma for Wegelin & Co: If it were to adhere to current U.S. legal practice aimed at Swiss banks, it would have to breach Swiss law.” Swiss law protects client confidentiality under a tradition dating to the Middle Ages; Switzerland does not consider tax evasion a crime for its own citizens and residents.
Joerg Denzler, a Wegelin spokesman, declined to comment for this story or to make Hummler available, citing the bank’s legal situation. Richard Strassberg, a U.S. lawyer for the bank at Goodwin Procter in New York, also declined to comment.
Far from New York, the indictment drew silence from the Swiss government; thorny questions over the fate of Switzerland’s crown-jewel industry, private banking; and concerns about frayed relations between Washington and Bern, two historic allies. At the center is the figure of Hummler, who cannot travel to the United States without being arrested and so could not attend the potential trial of the bank he ran for two decades.
Hummler, 58, grew up in St. Gallen, playing violin as a child, studying law at the University of Zurich and completing a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Rochester in New York. He joined UBS AG, the Swiss bank giant, and became a personal adviser to then-board Chairman Robert Holzbach, but by 1991 had left the bank to become a partner at Wegelin. He has a Dutch wife, Elizabeth, and four daughters, is a reserve colonel in the Swiss Army and still plays a 200-year-old violin. Bach, he wrote in his 2009 column, “is an excellent antidote to my impatience and restlessness. “
LATEST U.S. MOVE
The indictment of Wegelin was the latest move by the U.S. Justice Department to clamp down on Swiss banks for their role in helping wealthy Americans dodge taxes. In 2009, in the only settlement to date, UBS paid $780 million and admitted to criminal wrongdoing to resolve U.S. criminal charges with the Justice Department that it sold tax evasion services to wealthy Americans. German, British and Italian tax authorities also launched investigations into how Swiss banks might be abetting tax cheats. The U.S. Justice Department has since expanded its criminal investigation to 11 Swiss banks, including Wegelin, Credit Suisse and Basler Kantonalbank, and Swiss officials are seeking a settlement for the entire Swiss banking industry - more than 300 banks.
A balding man with a short mustache, Hummler sat in the inner circle of Swiss private banking and finance: he was chairman of the Swiss Private Bankers Association, a trade group, for three years through mid-2011; he was part of the council that supervises the Swiss National Bank for seven years until resigning last April. Under Hummler’s oversight, which began after he joined Wegelin in 1991, the bank grew rapidly, managing some $1.2 billion in undeclared U.S. assets as of 2010 from only $240 million in 2005. The bank opened several new branches across Switzerland, established an online private bank and expanded to around 700 employees from a few dozen. Swiss private bankers put Hummler’s undisclosed personal wealth at least millions of Swiss francs.
Hummler courted press attention. In recent years, Hummler became particularly outspoken, telling Der Spiegel in 2009 that German tax evasion “is a legitimate defense by citizens trying to partially escape the current grasp of the administrators of a disastrous social welfare state and its fiscal policies.” His bi-monthly investment commentaries, which Wegelin made available on iTunes, had 100,000 readers and urged recipients to uphold Swiss bank confidentiality and stand up to the United States.
But in more recent weeks, Hummler’s public voice grew silent - a sign of his worries, according to some people familiar with the matter.
Justice officials were annoyed by Hummler’s writing a “Farewell, America” letter to Wegelin clients after the UBS settlement in 2009, according to people familiar with the matter. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. In the letter, which was posted on Wegelin’s website, he scolded the United States for “breathtaking moral duplicity in maintaining enormous offshore tax havens in Delaware, Florida and others of its states” and urged clients to sell any U.S. securities they owned given heightened Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of tax dodgers.
Hummler’s letter was taken as an invitation for tax evaders to take their funds to Wegelin while UBS and other banks swept their accounts clear of tax offenders, several Swiss private bankers said. Hummler’s error, rival Swiss bankers say, was in thinking Wegelin was safe from a U.S. indictment just because the bank didn’t run any U.S.-based branches.
Soon after the UBS investigation hit Switzerland, Wegelin told its U.S. clients to sell all their U.S. assets held through the bank. But it also took at least $1.2 billion from Americans who were fleeing the U.S. crackdown on U.S. tax evaders at UBS over 2008 and 2009, according to the indictment. Wegelin’s spokesman declined when asked for comment on this charge.
One of Hummler’s friends said he was confused by this.
“What I do not understand is that Wegelin approached all its customers, in 2009, to sell all U.S. and U.S.-related assets - at the same time the bank was about to acquire U.S. customers from UBS,” said the friend Heinz Zimmermann, a finance professor at the University of Basel.
Wegelin was “undeterred by the crystal-clear warning they got when they learned that UBS was under investigation for the identical practices,” the indictment said.
A BANK UNLIKE THE OTHERS
Wegelin stood out long before its indictment.
Unlike most Swiss banks, with headquarters in Geneva or Zurich, Wegelin’s headquarters are in the town of St. Gallen, an upscale German-speaking town of 70,300 people in the northeast of the country. Main attractions include a leading business school and an 8th Century abbey. Before Zurich’s ascent as the financial capital of Switzerland, St. Gallen was an important banking hub, its wealth built on the textile industry.
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In recent years, under Hummler, Wegelin refashioned a retail space below its headquarters into a bar it christened Nonolet (from the Latin phrase “pecunia non olet” or “money does not reek”). The purpose, Christian Raubach, a Wegelin partner, told Reuters in 2009, was to ensure a glossy crowd below the wood-paneled offices of the private bank, whose logo of a “W” between two griffins declares in German “Private Bankers since 1741.” “You cannot have a strange business there like a kebab shop” or patrons “vomiting” after a night drinking beer, Raubach said.
Some conservative Swiss politicians and voters view Hummler as a defiant hero and Wegelin and other Swiss banks as the target of an unfair crackdown, said Robert Vogler, a Swiss banking historian. Vogler said liberal politicians and voters were less sympathetic because they had always thought tax evasion would harm Switzerland’s reputation. Either way, said Boris Zuercher, Zurich-based chief economist for the pro-business think-tank Avenir Suisse, Swiss politicians missed an opportunity to rein in Swiss banks following UBS. “That represents a failing of Swiss politics,” he said.
Martin Naville, chief executive of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce in Zurich, told Reuters that Hummler had “exposed himself pretty heavily” around 2009 by publicly calling America the “worst aggressor since the Second World War” while taking in tax-evading clients fleeing other Swiss banks in the wake of the crackdown. “Clearly, he made some people very angry,” Naville said. “And usually, the boomerang comes back.”Flair Magazine existed for only one year and twelve issues, from February 1950 to January 1951. In that time, it published the likes of Jean Cocteau, Tennessee Williams, Simone de Beauvoir, Gloria Swanson, John O’Hara, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bernard Baruch, Gypsy Rose Lee, the Duchess of Windsor, Lucien Freud, Salvador Dalí, Colette, and Saul Steinberg, among others.
Fleur Cowles—who conceived of the magazine, edited it, and, perhaps most impressive, persuaded her husband to publish it, even when it meant losing his shirt, if not his whole wardrobe—would be 107 today. If that seems like a throwaway detail, bear in mind that she lived until she was 101. It’s maybe best to let her describe her own accomplishments:
Few women have lived more multiple lives than I have: as editor: as that anomaly, an American president’s personal representative, decorated by six governments; as a writer of thirteen books and contributor to six others; as a painter, with fifty-one one-man exhibitions throughout the world; patron of the arts and sciences, irrepressible traveller and, more importantly, friend-gatherer …
Fond as she was of bragging about her gifts as a friend, or even merely as a “friend-gatherer,” her most enduring creation is Flair, a beautiful, high-minded cataclysm of a magazine that incorporated “cutouts, fold-outs, pop-ups, removable reproductions of artworks and a variety of paper stocks of different sizes and textures”:
[Flair] was simply too expensive to produce … When Flair ceased publication, Mr. Cowles, who had financed it, estimated that it had lost $2.5 million … A spring issue featured the rose, a flower Ms. Cowles painted and extolled until her death. The issue was suffused with a rose fragrance, some four decades before scent strips became ubiquitous.
All this comes from Cowles’s New York Times obit, which is a work of art itself: “Fleur Cowles, 101, Is Dead; Friend of the Elite and the Editor of a Magazine for Them.” Take a step back and you can see the splotch of animus on that headline—“a Magazine for Them.” That’s what Flair was: their magazine. Never yours. It was designed to appear tantalizingly out of reach. That’s a commonplace these days, when every publication aspires to be “aspirational,” but Flair, with its peephole covers and almost farcically high production values, may have done more to further the concept than any other American magazine in history. Copies of The Best of Flair, a 1996 compilation, sold for $250 apiece. And is it any wonder? Just look at the covers:
Dan Piepenbring is the web editor of The Paris Review.Of course Fredbird, the official mascot of the St. Louis Cardinals, would be the one sports mascot to attend an event hosted by the St. Louis Police department and hold up a “Police Lives Matter” sign. It was never going to be any other way.
(Here’s where some of you are going to say, “What, police lives don’t matter?” To which all we can say is, “Cut the shit.” Of course police lives matter, but used as a direct retort to the non-controversial idea that black lives matter, the phrase is an at best crypto-racist way of dismissing legitimate anger about police violence in black communities.)
We emailed the Cardinals employee in charge of handling Fredbird’s bookings, just to see what the process is for getting him to attend shitty events. This is what she told us:
Tom, Fredbird is available for hire for any type of event—birthdays, weddings, bar mitzvahs, community events, visits to nursing homes, charity events, etc. To book him you just need to fill out an application. Hope that helps.
It seems like getting Fredbird to an event is a pretty painless process. If you are in the St. Louis area and you are looking to book a special guest to attend your next Klan rally or pro-ISIS book club, please consider Fredbird. You could probably even get him to hold up a “Bush Did 9/11” sign.What's New in Version 3.0
- Now start shopping on one device and finish on another, or even on your Mac or PC.
- Find out about upcoming events and workshops at nearby Apple Retail Stores using the new Stores tab on your iPhone.
- On iPhone and iPod touch, there's an all-new design with more refined navigation and imagery.
- On iPad, you can now make One to One reservations.
Apple today updated its Apple Store app to version 3.0, adding several new improvements and design updates. The app now features new icons along the bottom bar, with the "Products" section renamed to "Shop" to make it easier for users to make purchases within the app. The overall app icon has shifted from a cart to a bag.There's also a new icon for "Stores," and an "Account" tab that replaces the previous "More" tab. Several other UI elements have been redesigned as well, giving the iPhone app a cleaner feel that's more in-line with the iPad version.According to Apple's release notes, it's now possible to start shopping on one device and seamlessly switch to another device, including a Mac or PC. That means that a user who puts an item in the cart in the app will see the same item in the cart on Apple's website if logged in, allowing for easy transitions between devices.Along with purchasing improvements, the "Stores" tab has been updated to display information about upcoming events at a user's local retail location, and the app, which is now universal, has been updated with the ability to create One to One reservations on the iPad.The update to the Apple Store app comes just days before Apple's upcoming iPhone 6 event and a few weeks before the iPhone 6 is expected to go on sale. Prior to this update, the Apple Store app was last given a minor update in March to add notification improvements. The app's last major update came in late 2013, when the company released a version of the app for the iPad.Apple's newly updated Apple Store app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [ Direct Link As the iPhone version of the Apple Store app is now universal, replacing the original Apple Store app for the iPad, users in countries outside of the U.S. are now able to install the app on their iPads. Previously, the Apple Store app for the iPad was limited to U.S. customers.By of the
The Church of Scientology paid a private detective $10,000 per week to spy on its leader's father, who lived in Whitewater and West |
the company at the center of the so-called "Pink Slime" affair -- would close down most of its processing plants due to lack of demand.
Although BPI described LFTB as the meat and fat that is trimmed away when beef is cut, these trimmings were used for pet food or converted into oil rather than being served as hamburgers to people. But BPI came up with a technique to add more value. First, the trimmings were heated so that the fat separates from the muscle, before being spun in a centrifuge to separate the fat and protein. As trimmings from the outer surface of the beef carcass have the potential for greater contamination with bacteria than other cuts of meat, BPI's solution was to spray the mixture with ammonia gas to kill the bacteria. Some estimates suggest that as well as being fed to school kids, 70 percent of all hamburgers contained at least some LFTB. But what BPI didn't count on was that once the existence of LFTB became common knowledge, almost everyone (aside from those making money from LFTB) could see that when you have to use a centrifuge and add ammonia to fatty scraps of meat to make it lean and "safe," you really shouldn't be trying to sell it as "beef." The rest, as they say, is history.
Last thoughts
I believe that the public outrage over "pink slime" is a symptom of a wider, latent concern about the over-industrialization of food production. Many people innately feel that the pendulum has well and truly swung too far towards the adoption of highly-questionable and secretive practices on the basis of "what can make us the most money -- regardless of the costs." As a result, they are looking for a real alternative -- and a growing number of farmers and ranchers are stepping up to the plate.Obama's Timidity and Deaths at Sea A chief lesson to learn from President Barack Obama’s recent unwillingness to stand up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Lobby is that such timidity can get people killed. Email
Printer friendly Casualty figures are still arriving in the wake of Israel’s Sunday night-Monday morning commando attack on an unarmed flotilla trying to bring relief supplies to the 1.5 million Palestinians crowded into Gaza. Already, at least nine civilian passengers aboard the ships are reported killed, and dozens wounded. Yet, seldom has an act of aggression been so well advertised in advance. Israel had made clear that it would use force to prevent the ships from reaching Gaza and heard no stern protest from President Obama, who apparently could not overcome his fear of Israel’s legendary political clout. Earlier this year, Obama did criticize Israel’s continued settlement of Palestinian areas and Netanyahu’s resistance to hold meaningful peace talks, but the President has failed to back up his words with firm action or resolve. For that reason, Netanyahu was left convinced that Israel could do what it wished, including dropping commandos by helicopters onto crowded ships and after an apparent clash with civilians on one of the ships, ordering the use of lethal force. Then, Netanyahu could expect that America’s Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) – with leading figures like Wolf Blitzer who built his journalistic career by working for the Jerusalem Post – would finesse the murderous assault into something reasonable and possibly even tilted sympathetically toward the Israeli troops. Early on, CNN began repeating the Israeli “explanation” for its attack on the high seas, parroting the Jerusalem Post which reported that “militants were killed” after they set upon Israeli naval commandos who boarded one of the six ships Monday morning at two o’clock. The commandos “were met with strong resistance from men armed with bladed weapons and the situation degenerated into a massacre when one of them grabbed the weapon of a soldier and opened fire,” said the Jerusalem Post, quoting Israeli military sources. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that the relief convoy organizers had a “radical Islamic anti-Western orientation,” and that Israeli “naval forces were attacked with metal clubs and knives, as well as live fire,” though there were no reports of Israeli deaths. The IDF statement continued: “The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose,” adding that the Navy then used riot dispersal methods, which include live fire, according to JTA, the global news service of the Jewish people. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak blamed the organizers of the convoy for the violent outcome, and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told a news conference why that was so: “The organizers’ intent was violent, their method was violent, and unfortunately, the results were violent.” So, you see, the Israeli military resorted to violence only in self-defense. Right. Quiet Conversation On Monday, President Obama spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone about the incident. Afterwards, the White House said Obama had expressed “deep regret” over the deaths, but declined further comment, citing “the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances” as quickly as possible. However, don’t count on the timid Obama or his Likud-leaning advisers — much less the FCM — to question the Israeli version. We are likely to get an “explanation” worthy of the late Alexander Haig as to why the slaughter may well have been “justified.” Haig’s death in February brought to mind comments he made about a brutal incident on the night of Dec. 2, 1980, shortly after Ronald Reagan’s election victory. In rightist-ruled El Salvador, government security forces stopped four American churchwomen in their mini-van and were ordered to kill them. The soldiers first raped the women and then executed them with high-powered rifles. Reagan’s foreign policy team decided to treat the rape-murder as a public relations problem, best handled by shifting blame onto the victims. And so, the women were deemed not nuns, but “political activists.” After becoming Reagan’s first Secretary of State, Haig told Congress that “the nuns may have run through a roadblock or may have accidentally been perceived to have been doing so, and there may have been an exchange of fire.” In just a few weeks, the American women had gone from being innocent victims to “political activists” to armed insurgents – although knowledgeable U.S. government officials conceded there was no evidence to support Haig’s shoot-out speculation. As an intelligence analyst at the time, I knew of Haig’s inclination to make up stuff. Watch for the same thing to happen to the international “activists” who were killed and wounded in the incident off Gaza. I don’t watch the FCM anymore (it’s just too much for my Irish temper), but I’m told that Israel-friendly pundits are already spinning faster than the famous centrifuges in Iran. Uncle Remus’s Wisdom “He Don’t Say Nothin’,” as Uncle Remus put it, with improper grammar but with an accurate understanding that by not saying anything you can often convey a powerful or dangerous message. As a presidential candidate, Obama was careful to say nothing about the brutal Israeli blockade against the 1.5 million people in Gaza, about to enter its fourth year. As president-elect he stayed mum as the Israelis attacked densely populated Gaza, killing some 1,400 Gazans. As President, he has backed down at every significant moment when Netanyahu thumbed his nose at Obama or at Vice President Joe Biden. Obama knew about the “Freedom Flotilla” and its plan to bring supplies to Gaza. And he had to be aware of Israel’s threats to attack the relief ships. But, like Uncle Remus’s B’rer Fox, Obama “don’t say nothin.’” Quite the contrary, Obama’s pro-Zionist White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who recently vacationed in Israel and met with Netanyahu last Wednesday, extended an invitation for a working visit at the White House. Netanyahu was to visit Obama on Tuesday after a four-day visit to Canada. On Monday morning, Netanyahu canceled out of a gala dinner to be held in his honor in Ottawa and nixed the visit to Washington. He said he hoped that both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Obama “understand that Israel has a great security problem.” However, according to Craig Murray, a former British ambassador and Foreign Office specialist on maritime law, the commando raid in international waters was more than just a security problem; it was a violation of international law and the Law of the Sea. "Possibility one," Murray wrote, "is that the Israeli commandoes were acting on behalf of the government of Israel in killing the activists in international waters. The applicable law is that of the flag state of the ship on which the incident occurred," in this case Turkey. "In legal terms, the Turkish ship was Turkish territory. So... Israel is in a position of war with Turkey, and the attack by Israeli commandos falls under international jurisdiction as a war crime," Murray continued. "Possibility two is that, if the killings were not military actions authorized by Israel, they were then acts of murder and fall under Turkish jurisdiction. If Israel does not consider itself in a position of war with Turkey, it must hand over the commandos involved for trial in Turkey under Turkish law. "It is for Turkey, not Israel, to carry out any inquiry or investigation and to initiate any prosecutions. Israel would be obliged by law to hand over indicted personnel for prosecution." Getting Away With Murder But the fatal incident off the Gaza coast was not the first time Israel had used lethal force against a nearly defenseless ship at sea. The attack on the “Freedom Flotilla” was reminiscent of the attack on the USS Liberty during Israel’s Six-Day War against three of its Arab neighbors. The war started on June 5, 1967, when Israel carried out an unprovoked Blitzkrieg attack. What is my source for “unprovoked?” Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who 15 years later admitted publicly: “In June 1967, we had a choice. The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that [Egyptian President] Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.” Three days into the war, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats turned their firepower on the intelligence collection ship USS Liberty in international waters after the Israelis had identified it as a U.S. Navy ship. The Israelis later insisted they had lost track of the ship and that the strafing was an accident in the fog of war. However, U.S. intelligence intercepted Israeli conversations at the time, indicating that the Israeli mission was to sink the ship and leave no survivors. Israeli commandos clad in black were about to land from helicopters and finish off what remained of the Liberty crew when Seaman Terry Halbardier (later awarded the Silver Star) slid over the Liberty’s napalm-laden deck to jury-rig an antenna and get an SOS off to the Sixth Fleet. Israeli forces intercepted the SOS and quickly broke off the attack. But 34 of the Liberty crew were killed and over 170 wounded. To avoid exacerbating bilateral tensions, the U.S. Navy was ordered to cover up the deliberate nature of the attack, and the surviving crew was threatened with imprisonment, if they so much as told their wives. When some of the crew later called for an independent investigation, they were hit with charges of anti-Semitism. One of the surviving crew of the USS Liberty, decorated Navy veteran Joe Meadors, was with the “Freedom Flotilla” when it was attacked. Meadors is past president of the USS Liberty Veterans Association. The State Department tells us that Joe Meadors survived this latest Israeli attack. At last word, he sits in an Israeli jail. Rachel Corrie Another incident occurred on March 16, 2003, when 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, an American volunteer serving in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement was run over by an Israeli Army bulldozer after a prolonged face-off in full view of several of her volunteer colleagues. Rachel was trying to prevent the bulldozing of a Palestinian home where she had been staying. The apparent message the Israelis wanted to convey in killing Rachel Corrie was that international volunteers would no longer be exempt from the brutal treatment accorded young Israeli volunteers who tried to stand up, as Rachel did, for decent treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. The FCM’s excitement over President George W. Bush’s eagerly anticipated “shock-and-awe” bombing of Iraq three days later pushed what limited coverage there was about Rachel’s murder to the back pages. The Israelis claimed the killing was an inadvertent mistake, like the shoot-up of the Liberty. The courageous Rachel was very much with the Freedom Flotilla in spirit. One of the ships in the convoy bore the name “Rachel Corrie.” Israel cannot hide behind “inadvertence” this time, although its spin-masters are already doing their best to smear the civilians on the ships with buzzwords, calling them “terrorists” who “ambushed” and tried to “lynch” the Israeli commandos. These P.R. tactics may work with the American FCM and neocons in Washington – and by extension the TV-watchers in the United States – but patience with Israel in the international community is wearing paper-thin. Much of this has to do with Gaza, including the Israeli attack from Dec. 17, 2008, to Jan. 18, 2009, as well as the three-year blockade that began when Hamas won Palestinian elections and became the governing party in Gaza. Israel and the U.S. government deem Hamas to be a terrorist organization, though some other countries regard it more as a resistance movement fighting against Israeli occupation. Yet, regardless of how one feels about Hamas, Israel’s harsh blockade of Gaza and last year’s military assault are widely seen as inflicting a humanitarian disaster on the Palestinian people. Has Netanyahu Gone Too Far? Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reacted strongly to the Israeli attack on the relief ships, the largest of which sailed from Turkey. According to one report, Turkey has served warning that Turkish Navy ships will escort future relief convoys to Gaza. Erdogan has had it with Israeli mistreatment of Muslims in his eastern Mediterranean neighborhood. On Jan. 29, 2009, at the economic summit in Davos, he leveled harsh criticism to Israeli President Shimon Peres’s face, labeling Gaza “an open-air prison.” Erdogan angrily cited “the sixth commandment — Thou Shalt Not Kill,” adding, “We are talking about killing” in Gaza. Erdogan’s one-and-a-half-minute tirade was captured on camera by the BBC. Five days before Erdogan’s outburst, the Brazilian government also condemned Israel’s bombing of Gaza and its effect on the civilian population as a “disproportionate response.” It seems to have been the atrocity in Gaza that galvanized the successful joint effort by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to defy Israel by getting Iran to agree to transfer fully half of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey for further processing, rendering it unusable for a nuclear weapon. Defy Israel? you ask. If Israel believes that low-enriched uranium is an essential part of an “existential threat” to Israel from eventual nuclear weapons in Iran, would the Israelis not be delighted at Iran’s agreement to send half to Turkey? Good question. If the truth be told, Israel cares a lot less about Iran’s uranium that it does about forcing “regime change” in Tehran. Netanyahu does not want any agreement with Iran; he wants sanctions against Iran, and eventually a military conflict. And this twin wish is shared by American neocons who remain influential in the Obama administration and in the FCM. The pro-Israeli hardliners appear to be the ones running U.S. policy on the Middle East, not Obama, who seems only nominally in charge. Unusually clear proof of this came when the Brazilians released a letter revealing that Obama had personally encouraged the Brazilian and Turkish leaders to pursue the kind of deal they were able to work out with the Iranians. Thus, the leaders of Brazil and Turkey were surprised when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other administration spokespeople trashed the tripartite Iran-Turkey-Brazil deal and pressed ahead with a new round of sanctions. And the President? Did he step up and acknowledge encouraging Brazil and Turkey to seek the uranium deal? Well, he don’t say nothin’. Israeli Influence While Americans continue to be starved of real information from the FCM, people around the world are able to view with disdain the degree to which Washington dogs are wagged by Israeli tails. When I suggested five years ago before a Capitol Hill hearing chaired by Rep. John Conyers that Israel was right up there, together with oil and military bases, as comprising the real rationale for war on Iraq, I, too, was called anti-Semitic. But the evidence has always been as clear as it is abundant. An inadvertent remark by former British Prime Minister Blair has provided insight — straight from the horse’s ass, I mean, mouth. In early February 2010, the British press revealed that Blair, testifying to the Iraq war commission in the U.K., offered the following account of his discussions with Bush in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002. That’s when Bush said war was the only way to deal with Saddam Hussein, and Blair acquiesced. But Blair’s remarks revealed that Israeli concerns were a major part of the equation and that Israeli officials were involved in the discussions. Thus, Blair: “As I recall that discussion, it was less to do with specifics about what we were going to do on Iraq or, indeed, the Middle East, because the Israel issue was a big, big issue at the time. I think, in fact, I remember, actually, there may have been conversations that we had even with Israelis, the two of us, whilst we were there. So that was a major part of all this." It is a safe bet that Hillary Clinton’s Likud-friendly lieutenants and their new junior partners in London are busy conferring with Tel Aviv right now about how to handle the PR challenge caused by the upstart leaders of Turkey and Brazil with the temerity to work out a deal with Tehran. (Never mind that Obama personally asked them to do it.) How does one make into a bad thing Iran’s agreement to ship half its uranium out of the country, even if additional steps might still be needed to assure the world that Iran is telling the truth when it says it isn’t building a nuclear bomb? More and more people around the globe are seeing Obama as subservient to the Likud Lobby, perhaps not as enthusiastically as Bush was, but still unwilling to put action behind his occasional words of dissatisfaction. Important players in the Middle East, as well as increasingly assertive countries like Turkey and Brazil, conclude that the policies and behavior of Tel Aviv and Washington are virtually identical. And then there is the $3 billion or so that the United States gives Israel each year that enables the Israelis to arm themselves to the teeth. It is understandable, then, that many will blame Washington for what happened in the dark of night, on the eve of Memorial Day, on the high seas. Hard Lessons The likely results are three-fold: --On Memorial Day next year, there may well be hundreds more “fallen heroes” to honor, killed by Muslim and other “militants” who make no distinction between what the U.S. had done in Iraq and Afghanistan and what Israel does in Gaza and the occupied West Bank — and add Lebanon and Syria, for good measure. As Gen. David Petraeus pointed out earlier this year, the unresolved Arab-Israeli “conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel” and thus puts U.S. troops at greater risk. “Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the [region] and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world,” Petraeus said. “Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support." --The linking of U.S. support with Israeli actions enhances the incentive of terrorists to ply their dark arts in the United States. While it is difficult to find a measure of objectivity in official U.S. government documents on this topic, every so often there is a slip between cup and lip. There was such a slip on Sept. 23, 2004, for example, when the Pentagon-sponsored U.S. Defense Science Board issued a formal report concluding: “Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights.” You will not be surprised to find out that the board’s report was generally suppressed in the FCM, as were the following, more specific, examples: “By his own account, KSM’s [9/11 “mastermind” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s] animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experience there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.” [9/11 Commission Report, July 22, 2004, page 147] And what motivated Dr. Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, the 32-year-old Jordanian physician of Palestinian origin, who on Dec. 30, 2009, detonated a suicide bomb at a CIA site in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven American CIA operatives? According to his brother, al-Balawi “changed” during the three-week-long Israeli offensive in Gaza, which killed some 1,400 Gazans. When al-Balawi volunteered to treat injured Palestinians in Gaza, he was arrested by Jordanian authorities, his brother said. It was after that arrest that al-Balawi allowed himself to be “recruited” to spy on al-Qaeda for the CIA. Quickly, it became payback time for Americans and Jordanians whom he associated with Israel. Christmas underpants bomber Abdulmuttallab also is reported to have been particularly outraged by Israel’s slaughter of the 1,400 Gazans at the turn of 2008-09 and Washington’s defense of Israel’s action. That Israeli actions in Gaza acted as catalysts to al-Balawi’s and Abdulmuttallab’s determination to exact revenge on the U.S. is hardly surprising — the more so in view of Washington’s efforts to suppress the findings of the UN-commissioned Gaza investigation by Justice Richard Goldstone. His report concluded that: “The blockade policies implemented by Israel against the Gaza Strip, in particular the closure of or restrictions imposed on border crossings in the immediate period before the military operations, subjected the local population to extreme hardship and deprivations that amounted to a violation of Israel’s obligations as an Occupying Power under the Fourth Geneva Convention. … “Israel has essentially violated its obligation to allow free passage of all consignments of medical and hospital objects, food, and clothing that were needed to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the civilian population … “The Mission concludes that the conditions resulting from deliberate actions of the Israeli forces and the declared policies of the Government with regard to the Gaza Strip before, during, and after the military operation cumulatively indicate the intention to inflict collective punishment on the people of the Gaza Strip. “The Mission, therefore, finds a violation of the provisions of Articles 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.” --Attacking Iran? It is no secret that this goal enjoys high priority on Netanyahu’s agenda. It could be stopped in its tracks by a public warning from President Obama — but all signs point to his bending to neocon advice to shy away from a showdown. The fact that world leaders consider Netanyahu a clear and present danger to peace in the region is showed by the way the leaders of Turkey and Brazil moved at an accelerated pace to draw the Iranians into the kind of deal that Obama personally had advocated, before being overruled by Clinton and Democratic neocons. The urgency of the Turkey-Brazil initiative came through in the words of Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who could hardly have been more explicit: “We can't allow to happen in Iran what happened in Iraq. Before any sanctions, we must undertake all possible efforts to try and build peace in the Middle East." A Green Light Netanyahu listens only to Washington, when he listens at all. Following the bloody attack on the Freedom Flotilla, I imagine he will now get at most a mealy-mouthed “please-don’t-do-this-again” from the White House, together with an Al-Haig made-up excuse about an “exchange” of fire. If that proves to be the case, Netanyahu is altogether likely to consider that Israel has a green light to provoke hostilities with Iran, with the full expectation that the United States will jump right in to help the non-ally ally finish the job. Non-ally ally? Sorry, despite what you hear from Obama, Congress and the whole Washington Establishment, Israel is not an ally of the United States. Webster’s (and international law) define ally as “a state associated with another by treaty.” There is no mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and Israel. (Washington has broached the idea to Israel from time to time, but Israel has said no thanks. Treaties, you see, require internationally recognized borders, and Israeli leaders avoid that subject like the plague.) NATO member Turkey, on the other hand, is a U.S. ally. This could make things very awkward if Turkey sends its warships to accompany the next convoy trying to lift the siege of Gaza. It is possible that Washington may have to choose between a real ally and a synthetic one, if shots are fired. Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. As an Army infantry/intelligence officer and later a CIA analyst, he spent almost 30 years in intelligence work. He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). To comment at Consortiumblog, click here. (To make a blog comment about this or other stories, you can use your normal e-mail address and password. Ignore the prompt for a Google account.) To comment to us by e-mail, click here. To donate so we can continue reporting and publishing stories like the one you just read, click here. Back to Home PagePope Francis once described the internet as a “gift from God”. But on Friday he is due to meet with someone who may believe the internet has more to do with his own company than divine intervention: Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google.
The pope, who more than a billion Catholics believe is God’s representative on Earth, will meet with the powerful Silicon Valley executive and philanthropist for 15 minutes at the Vatican in Rome.
A source close to the Vatican, who was familiar with the details of the meeting but not authorised to speak on the record, confirmed the brief meeting would take place on Friday. Another source familiar with the meeting said Schmidt was due to meet with the pope privately along with Jared Cohen, a former US state department official who is now head of Google Ideas. Schmidt co-wrote a book with Cohen in 2013 called The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business.
Google declined to respond to several requests for comment over the past 24 hours about the meeting. The planned encounter was first mooted in a barely noticed tweet two days ago by a man named Iacopo Scaramuzzi, who has been described on Twitter as a Vaticanista, or Vatican expert.
Pope Francis has admitted to not having a computer, but the 79-year-old is clearly not naive when it comes to the power of technology. The internet, he once said, is a “gift from God” because of its ability to offer “immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity”.
“This is something truly good,” he said in a seminal speech on technology in 2014, noting the importance of social media in what he has often referred to as the power of the “encounter”.
“In a world like this, media can help us to feel closer to one another, creating a sense of the unity of the human family which can in turn inspire solidarity and serious efforts to ensure a more dignified life for all,” he said.
He was the first pope to take his message regularly to Twitter, and the @pontifex account, first opened by Pope Benedict, now has 8.4 million followers. He’s hosted two Google Hangouts live from the Vatican.
An ardent critic of capitalism and inequality, the pope is not known to have met often with American business figures. During his visit to the US last year, he did not visit Silicon Valley or the Bay Area, which is fast emerging as one of the most unequal regions in America.
“On the global level we see a scandalous gap between the opulence of the wealthy and the utter destitution of the poor,” he said in the lengthy address on technology. “We should not overlook the fact that those who for whatever reason lack access to social media run the risk of being left behind.”
Schmidt, whose net worth is an estimated $10.6bn, is the executive chairman and in effect the global ambassador of Alphabet – the newly formed conglomerate which includes Google. He’s been politically active with liberal causes, donated to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and is a member of the White House’s council of advisors on science and technology.
Alphabet – a holding company created in October to hold Google, YouTube, Android and others – is worth about $500bn, making it one of the largest public companies in the world.The two share one common passion: environmentalism and the importance of sustainability.Aftab Ahmed was a free spirit during his career for Bangladesh, and as a coach he is now teaching young cricketers to follow their instincts
Aftab Ahmed played 16 Tests, 85 ODIs and 11 T20Is for Bangladesh © RisingBD.com
A roar emanates from inside the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium as kids in the nearby Chittagong Divisional Sports Association ground learn how to call for high catches and take a quick single. One of the coaches instructing a group of boys is a man who knew a thing or two about drumming up a crowd into such a roar.
Aftab Ahmed, the former Bangladesh batsman, is quietly going about his job. Bearded and with his eyes hidden behind modern reflective sunglasses, he isn't easily recognisable. He doesn't want to be recognised either. Aftab also doesn't like going to cricket grounds anymore and bears as much regret as any newly-retired player would after having an unfulfilled international career.
"I don't come to the ground these days," Aftab says. "I don't like hearing that noise. But look, I don't want to talk about regrets. I had problems, so did the board. When Akram bhai [Akram Khan] was the chief selector [in 2011], things would have been different had they given me a chance to make a return to the Bangladesh team. But now I have started a new life. I am more religious and I am busy with coaching. I made money from playing cricket. I am enjoying life right now."
The Aftab Ahmed Cricket Academy was inaugurated in February, three months after he played his last competitive domestic match. He had announced his retirement in August, before the 2014-15 domestic season began. The demand for his services in domestic cricket had steadily diminished since his last international match in May 2010, and he compiled only 49 runs in four Dhaka Premier League games for Brothers Union.
Aftab's reputation as a lethargic cricketer had caught up with him finally and towards the end of his career, even he was talking about it.
Another roar erupts from the stadium as South Africa try to cut down Bangladesh's 78-run first-innings lead on the third day. Aftab looks to his right, a constant smile on his face but there's a twitch in his shoulder. Aftab had been in the thick of action in the previous Test played between Bangladesh and South Africa at the same venue in 2008. "This got swollen by a Kallis bouncer," he says pointing to his right cheek. It was his last Test before rebelling to the Indian Cricket League.
The crowd roars again as Mustafizur Rahman got one to go across Stiaan van Zyl and threw his hand up, enough to urge the crowd into a loud appeal.
"The crowd was a big influence in how I played. I used to be stirred by their noise," Aftab said. "They used to cheer my name from the time I walked out of the dressing-room to bat in the middle. All my fears were gone. I wanted to give them entertainment.
"I never thought of the consequences. I didn't think too much about getting out. I always wanted to express my natural game, without paying much attention to the bowler's name."
Despite the regret of a premature finish to his career, Aftab is happy to see the new breed of Bangladesh cricketers getting early success by playing with freedom. He was particularly impressed by Soumya Sarkar, who in a way resembles the free spirit that was Aftab's trademark.
"It makes me happy that Bangladesh is playing much better cricket these days. They play fearlessly and that's how it should be. What can happen? They would only get out. What's there to be afraid of? I used to be fearless from the word go. It feels great to see Soumya, Mustafizur play that way.
"It seems they have been playing at this level for five-six years. I like seeing their confidence. There was a time when Mushfiqur, Shakib and Tamim used to be the only performers. Now everyone is doing well."
His belief in batting with instinct is now being instilled in the next generation of Chittagong cricketers. "Many players used to cut down on their shots to stay at the wicket. I tried to do the same towards the end of my career. It didn't do me any good. When your natural game goes away, there isn't much you can do in cricket.
"This is what I teach the kids at my academy. Everyone should play their natural game. The ball selection should just be taken care of. If you can maintain that, you can play your shots from the first ball."
Aftab, who is not yet making waves as a coach, is a welcome addition to Bangladesh's system. It has been in dire need of a free spirit for a long time. With there being a dearth a talent from Chittagong in the last eight years, Aftab said he wanted to produce more players from the city. Nazimuddin was the last player to make his international debut, in 2007.
"I have come into coaching for Chittagong. There are no players from Chittagong in the pipeline. We only have an Irfan Sukkur and no one else. He is in the academy team and I pray he goes to the top level. I want to produce players for the Premier League, like they do in Rajshahi. People these days don't want to take players from Chittagong. I want to take Chittagong cricket ahead."
Apart from being one of Bangladesh's best No. 3 in ODIs, one of the country's best fielders and a pleasant person, Aftab is also a frank speaker. He did not even let the question finish when asked what he wanted to achieve.
"Through coaching, I want to fill the gaps of my own unfulfilled coaching career. As a player, I had responsibility of only myself but I couldn't do it properly," he said. "Now I have to take care of a lot of players so I cannot do any compromises. Maybe I would have been in a much better place had I done things the right way. Rather than being in this ground, I would have been in that ground."
He was physically a 100 yards from the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium but it could have been a million miles.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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— The mother of a Clinton third-grader says a school administrator went too far when she strip-searched her child after accusations that he stole from another student.
Clarinda Cox says her 10-year-old son, Justin, a student at Union Elementary School, was ordered to take off everything but his T-shirt and boxer shorts on June 1 after a girl accused him of taking $20.
Justin told his mother that a girl dropped the money in the cafeteria and that he picked it up and gave it back to her, Cox says.
"If I felt he needed to be searched, I would have brought him into the bathroom," she said Monday. "You could have had a witness in the bathroom with me. I would have searched my son."
The assistant principal, Teresa Holmes, says in a statement that several other students, as well as two teachers, told her that the money was missing and that they had seen Justin dive under the lunchroom table for it.
Holmes, a 28-year educator, says she told Justin that, if he had the money, he should return it to the girl or that she would have to search him.
"Justin said that he did not have the money and to ‘search me,’" Holmes said, adding that the boy, over the course of the school year, had lied many times.
When she did not find the money on Justin, she said, she hugged him, apologized and talked to him about the importance of having a good reputation.
The money was "miraculously" found on the floor, Holmes said, adding that a teacher said it was not there before the search.
"Any staff member who has ever worked with me knows that I care for my students and that even when I have to discipline them, I love them," she said.
Cox says she is not only upset about her son being searched but also that no one notified her about it. She said she found out about it from Justin when he came home from school that day upset.
"I was furious," she said.
Sampson County Schools spokeswoman Susan Warren says Cox should have been informed about the search but that Holmes did nothing wrong and that a male janitor was present for the search.
"The assistant principal was within her legal authority, her legal right, to do the search," Warren said. "She may have been overzealous in her actions."
Cox says that, with or without an apology, her son was violated.
"She came up to him and rubbed her fingers around inside of his underwear," Cox said. "If that isn't excessively intrusive, I don't know what is."File Photo: South Korean hospital workers set a separated emergency center for MERS cases at the National Medical Center in Seoul on June 1, 2015. (Agence France-Presse)
A woman was rushed to a Hong Kong hospital today on suspicion she had contracted the potentially deadly MERS virus, as an outbreak in South Korea triggers alarm elsewhere in Asia.The unidentified woman had sought treatment at a clinic in Tsing Yi station for a runny nose and fever after returning to |
hat on.
By baking coal buried thousands of feet underground using controlled fires and gravity's pressure, they say, previously inaccessible seams can be shifted into easily extracted gas. The gas, pumped up, will fuel turbines. And when most of the coal is gone, inject carbon dioxide to fill the void.
It is a simple concept that could reduce construction costs and eliminate the need to build the extensive pipelines required for CO2 storage at any large scale, said Tomas Fernandez-Steeger, an assistant professor at Aachen University's Department of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology. "We make space," he said, "before we put something in the space."
The model combines an environmentally problematic but proven technology, underground coal gasification, with recent experiments finding coal seams greedy to trap CO2 but lacking in storage. By filling the hollows created by underground burning with waste CO2, companies could potentially create coal-fired power plants for the same price as current carbon-spewing power stations.
The Aachen project is still theoretical. But it is part of a new wave of startup companies and scientists who have targeted underground coal gasification (UCG), a century-old idea, as the budget-minded savior to curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
In one stroke, advocates say, underground gasification could triple U.S. coal reserves; put an end to dangerous underground and environmentally degrading surface mining; and provide an affordable way to collect CO2 emissions for storage. And it can be done without the technical mishaps and water contamination that have plagued past efforts.
The reality is that coal use in the developing world will double over the next few decades, and with its low costs, UCG holds more promise for reducing emissions than nearly any other option, said John Thompson, director of the coal transition program at the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit focused on reducing atmospheric pollution.
"It's a breakthrough on cost with carbon capture and storage," Thompson said.
One recent estimate has placed the cost of UCG plants with CO2 storage as equal to those of surface coal-fired plants without any capture technology. Other estimates have found the synthetic gas UCG produces cheaper than natural gas, even at current depressed levels.
Simply put, it is "coal energy with a natural gas footprint," said Julio Friedmann, leader of the carbon management program at the U.S. Energy Department's Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
China, which has had several recent mining tragedies, has embraced underground gasification. There, it is known as "coal without mining," Thompson said.
One large-scale project is producing synthetic gas out of Inner Mongolia's coal seams. Australia is also operating a large UCG pilot, and more projects are in the pipeline in Asia. Fitfully, UCG is also returning to the United States, where it was intensely studied after the 1970s oil crisis. An Alaskan company, CIRI, has begun the process of building a 100-megawatt UCG plant in the Cook Inlet. The proposal, which would use its CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, is undergoing environmental review.
UCG's profile, should the first projects go smoothly, will rise soon, Thompson said. "If you couple [UCG] with CCS, it is a very, very attractive way of getting energy out of coal," he said, while also allowing the world "to make deep, deep reductions in CO2 by the midcentury."
A 'controllable' problem
Like the rise of unconventional natural gas, underground gasification has seen its viability increase in recent years thanks to the leaps made in drilling technology.
Unlike previous efforts, which often focused on coal seams in the drinking water table -- to sometimes disastrous results -- newer UCG projects would burn coal 2,000 yards underground or more, far removed from groundwater supplies. Such coal would never be accessible in today's mining conditions.
For example, rich deposits of hard coal sit several kilometers underneath Germany's northern reaches, said Rafig Azzam, the leader of the Aachen project and a hydrogeology professor. "It wouldn't be appropriate for normal mining," he said. "But with the drilling techniques we have now, you can reach that."
And down there, Azzam said, "You have much more coal there than we have ever mined before."
Underground gasification works remarkably similarly to gasification reactors, the expensive equipment expected to be at the heart of next-generation coal plants. But rather than using glossy metal chambers to create the pressure needed to transmute coal into gas, UCG substitutes rock, gravity and well-injected oxygen.
Gasification projects rely on two wells, one to carry oxygen down to the seam and the other to evacuate synthetic gas, which flows through permeable coal. Since seams are often stacked, the synthetic gas well can serve multiple deposits, said Thomas Kempka, a scientist at the German Research Center for Geosciences who collaborates with the Aachen team.
The importance of site selection cannot be stressed enough, Thompson said.
"The big challenge with this environmentally is groundwater damage," Thompson said. "But if a site is located below the potable water supply, you really eliminate a lot of the problems that existed in the 1970s."
Those problems were not insignificant. Two UCG projects decades ago in Wyoming resulted in large amounts of organic contaminants -- carcinogens like benzene -- entering the groundwater. One shallow project was poorly operated and its site badly chosen, and the other had drilling problems, according to a report written by Friedmann.
These past environmental problems are sure to haunt UCG, especially in Europe or the United States. UCG is, after all, burning coal.
There will be something like tar production in the seams, though it will likely stay isolated, Fernandez-Steeger said. "We are concerned about pollution," he said.
Modeling pollution paths is the group's main activity, though nearly everyone, including U.S. EPA, who has researched UCG has found pollution to be a "controllable" problem, he added. Whether the public agrees remains to be seen.
Soviet made, American refined
Prior to this recent surge in interest, underground gasification has truly had a pilgrim's progress across the world, taking more than 100 years to develop into the latest, greatest hope for coal.
The Soviet Union adopted UCG after World War II, seeing it as a way to free the worker from the burdens of mining. Despite a successful program, work was abandoned in the 1970s, perhaps due to the discovery of Siberian natural gas.
Still, the Soviet legacy looms, and a Soviet-era UCG plant, recently purchased by an Australian energy company, operates to this day in Uzbekistan.
The United States built off Soviet research during the 1970s oil crisis, drilling 33 pilot projects by the late 1980s, when plummeting energy prices killed the research. Belgium and Spain then hosted projects proving deep coal could be gasified in a safe way.
But there were problems, said Henk Pagnier, a Dutch geologist who worked on the Belgian project. "The whole issue was how do you control the fire underground?" he said "And how do you control your gas quality? Both are not so easy, I can tell you."
Geologists thought they would need a decade or two to get it right, Pagnier added. But those issues have been solved, Kempka said.
Thanks to advances that originated in the United States, no oxygen can reach the coal without human intervention, he said. "You have total control," he said. "Otherwise the process wouldn't work."
The need for maintaining pressure is one reason gasified coal seams could make ideal CO2 storage sites, Kempka said. UCG requires impermeable rock to overhang target coal seams -- the same type of formations necessary for trapping carbon dioxide in more accepted geological formations like sandstone. "Everything has to be tight," he said. "You need the perfect sealing caprock, otherwise you can't hold this pressure."
Burning pores
At first, it seems counterintuitive that coal would hold CO2. But it was a project led by Pagnier, the Dutch geologist, that inspired the Aachen group.
Working in Poland several years ago, Pagnier injected CO2 into a coal seam deep underground. The coal swelled out of eagerness to trap the gas, halting injection. Coal, it seemed, had a strong affinity for holding CO2, though little room to do it.
The central idea of the Aachen group, which requires further study, is that UCG turns the coal left behind into the rough equivalent of activated carbon, riddled with a vast network of internal pores.
For example, 1 gram of activated carbon contains close to the surface area of a basketball court. The amount of space created in the coal, and its propensity to hold CO2, would mean that most seams could hold all of the CO2 emissions they would have otherwise emitted, Azzam said, with the coal moving from 2 percent to 30 percent porosity.
There is a great amount of variability in these projections -- the projections could fall short -- but more certainty is not possible yet, Kempka said. "Just a pilot is not enough to get all this data," he said. "We need a really large-scale operation, which right now is not available."
The upshot of coal-seam storage, rather than the aquifer storage likely to be pursued by UCG projects in the immediate future, would be having source and sink at one point, Azzam said. No pipelines to build, he said. "These types of expenses," he said, "we don't have."
While the Aachen system could be desirable in the long term, it requires far more research on how CO2 will behave among the gasified coal and neighboring rocks. The heat, collapse and chemical reactions that accompany gasfication change coal seams, and real-world tests have not been conducted on how CO2 might behave in such an environment.
Costs
For the CO2 tests to happen, more UCG projects will have to get under way. And in the end it is the price of UCG, even when combined with carbon capture and storage, that will have any success driving the technology.
One recent estimate from a Canadian firm, Ergo Exergy Technologies Inc., put the price of developing a UCG plant with CCS below the cost of a standard coal-fired plant that made no attempts to curb emissions. That estimate may not hold, but most estimates agree that UCG can be competitive with natural gas for power generation, even at current deflated prices, according to Lawrence Livermore's Friedmann.
Investors who have balked at the price of CCS coal-fired plants, which will cost more than $1 billion in their earliest incarnations, could find the modular costs of UCG -- say, several hundred million dollars -- easier to swallow, Thompson added.
"The advantage of this is it [requires] much lower capital," he said. "You don't have the mining, so you eliminate that part of the supply chain. You don't have the surface gasifier.... Basically, you have a much lower capital cost."
The United States, with the harsh divides between oil and gas firms and coal miners, is in some ways poorly suited as a launching point for UCG, Thompson said.
Few domestic firms have expressed interest, though the British oil company BP PLC has partnered with the Lawrence Livermore National Lab to develop the technology (Greenwire, July 16, 2007). Much will depend on the success of CIRI's Alaska project and efforts in Australia and Canada, Thompson said.
The Energy Department could really usher the technology along by independently monitoring the cavities created at the CIRI project and elsewhere for contaminates, to assuage the fears of early adopters, he added.
"We need to exercise caution in these first sites," Thompson said. "But this is a potential game changer."
Copyright 2010 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved.Usagi Yojimbo (兎用心棒, Usagi Yōjinbō, "rabbit bodyguard") is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit rōnin, Miyamoto Usagi, whom Sakai based partially on the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.[3] Usagi wanders the land on a musha shugyō (warrior's pilgrimage), occasionally selling his services as a bodyguard.
Usagi Yojimbo is heavily influenced by Japanese cinema and has included references to the work of Akira Kurosawa (the title of the series is derived from Kurosawa's 1960 film Yojimbo) and to icons of popular Japanese cinema such as Lone Wolf and Cub, Zatoichi, and Godzilla. The series is also influenced somewhat by Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragonés (Sakai is the letterer for that series), but the overall tone of Usagi Yojimbo is more serious and reflective. The series follows the standard traditional Japanese naming-convention for all featured characters: their family names followed by their given names.
The books are primarily episodic, with underlying larger plots which create long extended storylines—though there are some novel-length narratives. The stories include many references to Japanese history and Japanese folklore, and sometimes include mythical creatures.[4] The architecture, clothes, weapons and other objects are drawn with a faithfulness to period style. There are often stories whose purpose is to illustrate various elements of Japanese arts and crafts, such as the fashioning of kites, swords and pottery. Those efforts have been successful enough for the series to be awarded a Parents' Choice Award in 1990 for its educational value through Sakai's "skillful weaving of facts and legends into his work".[5]
Usagi Yojimbo first appeared in Albedo Anthropomorphics #2, published by Thoughts and Images in November 1984.[6] Stan Sakai accepted an offer to move his warrior rabbit to Fantagraphics Books where he appeared in several issues of the new anthropomorphic anthology series Critters. Usagi's popularity influenced Fantagraphics to then release the Usagi Yojimbo Summer Special in October 1986[7] and then to give the ronin rabbit his own ongoing series with issue #1 being published in July 1987.[8][9] Usagi was named the 31st greatest comic book character by Empire magazine[10] and was ranked 92nd in IGN's list of the top 100 comic book heroes. Rolling Stone named Usagi Yojimbo No. 43 in their 50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels.[11]
Publishing History [ edit ]
Sakai originally planned for Usagi and other characters to be human in stories explicitly modeled after the life of Miyamoto Musashi. However, once as Sakai was idly doodling, he drew rabbit ears tied in a topknot on his proposed hero and was pleased by the distinctive image.[12] Usagi was first conceived as a supporting character in The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, a brief series that predates Usagi Yojimbo.[13] Sakai expanded on the idea of a rabbit samurai and his world took on an anthropomorphized cartoon nature, creating a fantasy setting which suited his dramatic needs with a unique look he thought could attract readers.
Usagi first appeared in the anthology Albedo Anthropomorphics in 1984, and later in the Fantagraphics Books anthropomorphic anthology Critters, before appearing in his own series in 1987.[14] The Usagi Yojimbo series has been published by three different companies. The first publisher was Fantagraphics (volume one; 38 regular issues, plus one Summer Special and three Color Specials). The second was Mirage Comics (volume two; 16 issues). The third is Dark Horse Comics, by which Usagi Yojimbo is still being published (as volume three, over 160 issues), and who also released a fourth Color Special. A fourth publisher, Radio Comix, published two issues of The Art of Usagi Yojimbo which contained a selection of unpublished drawings, convention sketches, and other miscellaneous Usagi Yojimbo artwork. The first issue also included an original Usagi Yojimbo short story. In 2004, Dark Horse Comics published a Twentieth Anniversary hardcover volume also entitled The Art of Usagi Yojimbo.
Because Usagi Yojimbo is a creator-owned comic and Sakai has complete and sole ownership of the character, Miyamoto Usagi has been able to appear in occasional short stories published by companies other than the one currently publishing his series. Usagi has appeared in stories published by Cartoon Books, Oni Press, Sky Dog Press, Wizard Press, and most recently in the benefit book Drawing the Line, the proceeds of which went to Princess Margaret Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children, both in Toronto, for cancer research.
Sakai has experimented with formats for Usagi Yojimbo, such as when he published the color story "Green Persimmon" first as twelve separate 2-page chapters serialized in Diamond Comic Distributor's monthly catalog "Previews." He has also serialized two short stories in a comic strip format in the tabloid size promotional publication Dark Horse Extra. Usagi Yojimbo stories have also been created as both single page "gag" stories and as multi-issue epic adventures.
Usagi has also appeared several times in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the comic, all three of the animated series, and their respective toy lines), and the Turtles have appeared in Usagi Yojimbo as well. In the 1987 series, "Usagi Yojimbo" is incorrectly used as his actual name, but in the 2003 series, where he appeared far more frequently, he was referred to correctly as Miyamoto Usagi. He was even joined by Gen and other characters from his stories in his guest appearances in the 2003 series. Usagi's first appearance in the 2012 series was the Season Five episode "Yojimbo", which was written by Sakai. In his guest appearances, he is closest to Leonardo, both sharing the same ideals and code of ethics.[15] The comics version also makes several pun references to Sergio Aragonés' Groo the Wanderer, in whose publication Sakai was also involved.
In addition, Sakai created a limited spin off series called Space Usagi featuring characters similar to those in the original series, including a descendant of Miyamoto Usagi, but set in a futuristic setting that also emulated feudal Japan in political and stylistic ways. Three mini-series of three issues each and two short stories featuring the characters were produced. Sakai has tentative plans to produce a fourth Space Usagi miniseries, but nothing has been announced yet.[16]
In the summer of 2014, Sakai, after a two-year hiatus, returned with a mini-series entitled Usagi Yojimbo Senso. Senso, Japanese for "war", refers to The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells' novel about Martians invading Earth. 'Senso' tells the story of Martians invading Japan roughly 20 years after the events of the main-series of 'Usagi Yojimbo', and also forms a plot bridge to the previously published Space Usagi.
In May 2015, Sakai returned to Usagi Yojimbo with the release of the 145th issue.
On February 22 2019, the New York Times reported that IDW Publishing will present a new monthly Usagi Yojimbo series, in colour (provided by Tom Luth for the first time. The new series will open with a short story arc about the Japanese puppetry art of buraku. Additionally, new full-colour collections of earlier issues are planned.[17]
Reception [ edit ]
Awards [ edit ]
The series has been awarded 5 Eisner awards and over[clarification needed] 20 nominations.
1996 Eisner Award for "Best Letterer" (Groo and Usagi Yojimbo)
1996 Eisner Award for "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition" (Usagi Yojimbo)
1999 Eisner Award for "Best Serialized Story" (Usagi Yojimbo "Grasscutter")
2012 Eisner Award for "Best Lettering" (Usagi Yojimbo)
2015 Eisner Award for "Best Lettering" (Usagi Yojimbo)
The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo presented an exhibit entitled "Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo from July 9 through October 30, 2011.
Usagi was rated No. 92 on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.[18]
Film references [ edit ]
Several of the characters in Usagi's world are inspired by or make reference to samurai movies. Usagi's former lord is named Mifune, which is a nod to Toshiro Mifune, an actor who starred in countless classic Samurai films. Gen, the rhino bounty hunter, was inspired by the characters made famous by Toshiro Mifune in the samurai films Yojimbo and Sanjuro. Zato-Ino, the Blind Swordspig, is a reference and tribute to the film character of Zatoichi. The story arc "Lone Goat and Kid" features an assassin who wanders with his son in a babycart, referring to the film/manga series, Lone Wolf and Cub. Most significantly, the main character's name, Miyamoto Usagi, is a play on "Miyamoto Musashi", Japan's most famous historical samurai and the author of The Book of Five Rings, and Usagi the Japanese language word for "rabbit" (The story notes for one volume also cite as an influence Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, which features Miyamoto Musashi as a protagonist.) His friend Tomoe Ame, a feline samurai, is inspired by the female samurai Tomoe Gozen. The storyline "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy" includes elements reminiscent of the classic Akira Kurosawa films The Seven Samurai and The Hidden Fortress, particularly the way that Usagi collects various allies to raid an evil lord's fortress.
While Usagi Yojimbo draws most heavily upon samurai and chanbara films, it has also been influenced by Japanese films from other genres. For example, the three-part story "Sumi-E" (included in Vol. 18. Travels with Jotaro) features monsters resembling Godzilla (identified as "Zylla", who was first introduced in Vol. 2. Samurai), Gamera, Ghidorah, Mothra, and Daimajin.
In the 2014 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, upon seeing the Turtles for the first time, Eric Sacks remarks that he couldn't believe they were "actually going to use rabbits. Can you imagine that?"[clarification needed]
Appearances on television [ edit ]
Usagi first appeared in Episodes 32 and 34 in the third season of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. He next appeared in episodes 23-26 in the second season of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon for an interdimensional tournament against the Turtles (along with Gen). He and Gen showed up again in episodes 1 and 22-23 of season 3 for a Christmas party and a continuation of the season 2 storyline (which prominently featured his world and characters), respectively. Usagi again appeared in episode 13 of season 4 for a confrontation with Leonardo, although the focus was mainly on Gen. Usagi and Gen also attended the wedding of April O'Neil and Casey Jones in episode 13 of season 7 (Back to the Sewer) titled "Wedding Bells and Bytes".
In September 2016, an appearance of Usagi was also announced for the 2012 CGI series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[19] He appears in the fifth season (which is titled Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) in the Season 5 episodes "Yojimbo", "Osroshi no Tabi" and "Kagayakei Kintaro", where the Turtles are hurled into his dimension, and teamed up to save a child he protects from ancient evil. He becomes one of their greatest inter-dimensional allies and especially closest to Leonardo.
On February 8, 2018, it was announced that a CGI adaptation of the comics is in the works from Gaumont Animation.[20]
Collections and graphic novels [ edit ]
Numbered volumes [ edit ]
Omnibus collections [ edit ]
Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition (2009, Fantagraphics) – collects books #1–7
(2009, Fantagraphics) – collects books #1–7 The Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 1 (2014, Dark Horse) – collects books #8–10 Volume 2 (2015, Dark Horse) – collects books #11–13 Volume 3 (2015, Dark Horse) – collects books #14–16 Volume 4 (2015, Dark Horse) – collects books #17–19 Volume 5 (2015, Dark Horse) – collects books #20–22 Volume 6 (2016, Dark Horse) – collects books #23–25 Volume 7 (2016, Dark Horse) – collects books #26–28 Volume 8 (2019, Dark Horse) – collects books #29–31 Legends (2017, Dark Horse) – collects Space Usagi, Yokai, and Senso and a story from CBLDF Liberty Annual 2014 #1
Other collections and graphic novels [ edit ]
Space Usagi (1998, Dark Horse) – collects Space Usagi (vol. 1) #1–3, Space Usagi (vol. 2) #1–3, and Space Usagi (vol. 3) #1–3, and stories from Usagi Yojimbo Color Special #3 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (vol. 1) #47
(1998, Dark Horse) – collects (vol. 1) #1–3, (vol. 2) #1–3, and (vol. 3) #1–3, and stories from #3 and (vol. 1) #47 Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai (2009, Dark Horse) – original graphic novel
(2009, Dark Horse) – original graphic novel Usagi Yojimbo: Senso (2015, Dark Horse) – collects Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #1–6
(2015, Dark Horse) – collects #1–6 Usagi Yojimbo/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Collection (2018, Dark Horse) – collects stories from Turtle Soup #1, Usagi Yojimbo (vol. 1) #10, Shell Shock, Usagi Yojimbo (vol. 2) #1–3, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo, in the Saga trade dress
Art books [ edit ]
The Art of Usagi Yojimbo (2004, Dark Horse) – includes stories from Trilogy II Tour Book and the hardcover edition of Usagi Yojimbo Book Four
(2004, Dark Horse) – includes stories from and the hardcover edition of The Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate Thirty Years of Usagi Yojimbo (2014, Dark Horse)
(2014, Dark Horse) Usagi Yojimbo Gallery Edition Volume 1: Samurai and Other Stories (2015, Dark Horse)
(2015, Dark Horse) Usagi Yojimbo Gallery Edition Volume 2: The Artist and Other Stories (2016, Dark Horse)
Related works [ edit ]
A project for an animated television series, Space Usagi, was cancelled following the failure of Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars.[21] However, Space Usagi was one of the action figures produced under the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.
Two editions of an Usagi role-playing game have been made, a 1998 version from Gold Rush Games and a 2005 version from Sanguine Productions.
The comic is the basis of two video games: the 1988 game Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo and the 2013 game Usagi Yojimbo: Way of the Ronin. Both are side-scrolling hack-and-slash action games.
See also [ edit ]Reports that US singers Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez will perform in Israel this summer have triggered a pre-emptive campaign by activists, who are calling on the stars to boycott Israel in solidarity with the plight of Palestinians.
By Thursday, at least two petitions against Beyonce's rumoured concert date in Tel Aviv had been launched, while social media users attached the #canceltelaviv hashtag to posts as they called on the pair to support a boycott.
Neither of the musicians' websites confirmed reports in Israeli media that their performances would go ahead this summer.
Al Jazeera contacted the management teams for both artists and is yet to receive a response.
"There have been several news stories indicating that Beyonce's management is in final negotiations for a concert in Tel Aviv," Evan Greer, the activist who launched the "Tell Beyonce not to play apartheid Israel!" petition, told Al Jazeera.
"The best thing for Beyonce's management to do would be to publicly clarify that she will not be performing in Tel Aviv, and issue a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people," Greer added.
'Brutal apartheid occupation'
Others, including the Palestinian-American author Randa Jarrar and the writer and activist Che Gossett, pleaded with the African-American celebrity on social media not to bring her "Formation" tour to Israel.
Greer continued: "Notable musicians like Elvis Costello, The Pixies, Carlos Santana, and Gil Scott-Heron have all cancelled performances in response to calls to join the boycott.
"Each time a major artist like this cancels a show, it brings much-needed international attention to the situation in occupied Palestine."
The documentary film-maker Ronan Tynan, meanwhile, protested about a potential visit by Jennifer Lopez, saying he was "shocked" the 46-year-old "could let herself down so badly backing Israel's brutal apartheid occupation [by] playing Tel Aviv."
I'm wondering if @BlackLivesMpls will urge Beyonce to cancel her concert in Tel Aviv. As a reminder, #BLM met with activists from Palestine. — فيروز (@Zou_Fay) February 10, 2016
In Beyonce's case, many criticised what they called hypocrisy as the African-American celebrity's latest song and accompanying video for "Formation" references racial inequality and the Black Lives Matter movement.
She performed the song, with lyrics about black pride, at the Super Bowl on Sunday alongside dancers dressed in Black Panther-themed outfits.
Hey black folks, especially you "extra woke" lot: can we channel our energy into trying to make sure Beyonce doesn't play in Israel? — Zoe S. (@ztsamudzi) February 10, 2016
"The fact is, the discussions [for the musicians to perform] under way are enough for those that support the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to be pushing back hard," Stanley Cohen, lawyer and anti-Zionist activist, told Al Jazeera.
Speaking by phone from New York, he added: "The key thing for BDS, from my position, is that when you begin to see momentum towards someone crossing the line, we have to make sure that they [the artists] understand the issue.
"Once someone signs a contract, they then too often have the excuse that they cannot step out because of financial injuries to family or friends. You don't want to wait until the ink has dried."
Cohen's career has focused on defending rights activists, including clients many believe do not deserve due process.
Sometimes described as a radical lawyer, Cohen was directly involved in talks to win the freedom of US aid worker Peter Kassig, who was later beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group in Syria.
'Effective' cultural boycotts
"I think BDS is the only effective tool that non-Palestinians have," Cohen said.
READ MORE: Italian scholars boycott Israeli academic institutions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is always jumping up and down screaming about terrorism", said Cohen.
"When people turn to non-violence, when they bring peaceful political pressure, it's labelled as criminal.
"My position is simple - it's not business as usual. You have to put pressure on the body politic of Israel and hold the leaders accountable, and this is the way."
Both Cohen and petition-leader Greer said that the most positive examples of successful boycotts can be found in South Africa's history, with many movements launched to support non-whites during apartheid.
"Cultural boycotts have been incredibly effective in raising global awareness of severe human rights abuses, land theft, and genocide," said Greer.
"The cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa was a significant part of the movement that eventually ended it."
Follow Anealla Safdar on Twitter: @aneallaThe following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
When we first met with Paul and Ian from Mode7 and discussed FSP, we came away with a pretty clear philosophy of what needed to happen for FSP as a game and as a studio.
As a game, Synapse as it stood had enough quality in the core game to build on, and our job was to take a heavily menued, super core game and make it sympathetic to a console audience. In practice, we realised during development that we needed to redefine our design pillars for FSP, start from the ground up and repurpose where we could. No one on the team wanted to do a straight port, this was going to be something different.
As a studio, (as most devs already know) you're usually remembered for the last thing you did. At the time, we were coming off the back of LittleBigPlanet PS Vita and this was complete departure creatively. Reputation is everything; with the people that play our games and of course Mode7 entrusting us with their baby.
Prime represented a lot of firsts for us, many of which are the subject of other discussions; however, in 2012 it became our first self-published and self-financed project. Based on our initial estimates the original release date should have been February 2013. We released it on PlayStation Vita in September this year, just about tripling our original budget. "It’s not ready yet” was a common phrase throughout development. As gameplay and control improvements in core areas kept getting better, they highlighted weaker components in the game that we were happy with a few weeks back. Having the time to iterate and prototype was absolutely key on FSP, constantly challenging our own opinions on what felt intuitive.
To help finance it we took on other projects. We also had this thought kicking around that if Sony and Mode7 trusted us with what is most precious to them, the logic was pretty simple - who else would do the same, and could we build a sustainable business from it. The answer to that I suppose is how we grew from a Sony exclusive studio to a fairly niche developer and publisher and is a story for another day.
Designing our version of Synapse
- Gareth Wright, Design Manager, @Gaz_Wright
Mode7 had created something really special with their original title, nailing addictive gameplay, depth-of-strategy, and empowering players to out-think one another.
We all asked, “How can we maintain everything that was great about the original on PC, and bring it to a new, social audience on Vita? An audience who demand immediacy, intuitive controls, wrapped in a more visually impressive package.”
Bringing the game over to Vita was no easy feat, but the vast amount of challenge was not on the technological side as originally perceived, but one of design and gameplay. Getting to grips with the huge amount of depth under the surface quickly made clear why the game was so popular on PC. Gameplay over visuals was absolutely at the heart of Frozen Synapse, and that gameplay married so well with the luxury of a big screen and the speed of a mouse.
The size and portable nature of the Vita presented a number of design and gameplay challenges from the get go, but also unique opportunities with touch, to design to the platform’s strengths. With Vita we also saw an opportunity to break the mould a bit – create something that does embrace all the pick-up-and-play expectations, but could also re-imagine the strategy genre for the modern generation of Vita gamer - No mathematics or dice-rolls determining the outcomes of a fire-fight, instead total player control over what transpires.
In FSP, much like Chess, understanding the goals and the strengths of your playing pieces (units) is very simple. The strategy in each turn and the “it’s never the same game” feeling, comes with the control and freedom we can give to the player. Once that’s nailed, it’s completely down to the player’s tactical creativity.
To ensure longevity and keep the game fun and flowing, the real key for us was to ensure that the commands (creating paths to walk along or orders on where to aim for example), were easy to apply and adjust. All FSP players have their own tactics for any given scenario, and all wanted to be able move the camera, select units, create paths, apply commands or preview whether their plan would work… at any given time, and often simultaneously.
Our main design challenge on Vita was to try to empower players with that sense of freedom, make turn planning quick and easy, second-nature, and thus see the mind-games and deviousness between players rise to the top.
Through numerous focus-testing sessions, we noticed that players who knew where they wanted to place a waypoint or command, that using the cursor and control sticks could feel sluggish. Especially those used to a mouse-pointer in the original. If anything we wanted to speed up turn time and laying down plans for the Vita audience, so a lack of touch controls just wasn’t going to fly.
At first we were geared up to allow the player to pan and zoom the camera with touch, and that would be it. However, deciding to implement touch to mimic all actions mapped to Cross (selecting stuff and adding commands) made a massive difference in laying down simple and effective plans for the player’s squads.The Senate health-care bill is not definitively dead, but it’s unmistakably ailing—and the prognosis is not promising.
The prognosis was never promising. All the various Republican health-care proposals circulated since 2010 would remove health-insurance coverage from tens of millions of people, many of them the GOP’s most loyal voters. Look for example at the dilemma facing Kentucky’s Rand Paul.
Four hundred and forty thousand Kentuckians have gained coverage under the ACA; Kentucky’s uninsured rate tumbled from 20 percent in 2013 to 7.5 |
the ship's security system and battle several different types of robots in order to take control of the ship.
Fully interactive environment
Inspired by the immersive environment of games like Deus Ex and System Shock 2, open every drawer and interact with nearly every object. And yes, you can flush toilets.
Optional 'Peaceful' mode
Not a fan of violence against robots? Switch to the Peaceful difficulty setting to make the robots passive, which will allow you to explore the ship, absorb the story, and solve puzzles at your own leisure with no pressure.
System Requirements:
OS: Windows XP SP2 or later, Mac OS X 10.6+, Ubuntu/Mint
Windows XP SP2 or later, Mac OS X 10.6+, Ubuntu/Mint Processor: 3 GHz dual-core or better
3 GHz dual-core or better Memory: 4 GB RAM
4 GB RAM Graphics: Dedicated graphics card with 512MB of VRAM and shader model 3.0
Dedicated graphics card with 512MB of VRAM and shader model 3.0 DirectX: Version 9.0c
Version 9.0c Hard Drive: 1 GB available space
Developed by Good Morning, Commander
Published by Nightdive Studios
Contact us by Email:
contact@goodmorningcommander.com
Follow us on Twitter:
Allen: @goodmorningcmdr
Lee: @wiwyums“Improvised concepts” read text writ large across a sweeping cloak in Jun Takahashi’s Undercover collection. It was both right and wrong. The collection, Takahashi said, was about improvisation; but there wasn’t a concept. “The men’s is daily wear, rather than conceptual like the women,” he said, leafing through a tome published with Rizzoli that explores his extensive and acclaimed back-catalogue. “They’re clothes I want to wear.”
The improvisational part was due to the way in which Takahashi assembled the resembles, adding patches, text, and images to clothes drawn from utility and workwear, the biggest single influence across the entire spring 2017 menswear season. Takahashi’s take was typically twisted — the seemingly random slogans applied, he said, like music lyrics to animate the surfaces. Sometimes, there was a feel of punk to their nonsensical, near-situationist placement: the words “offence,” “stability,” and “attack” subtitled images of an owl, seagull, and raven respectively, printed onto Cub Scout–style badges and affixed to a shirt. There was no explanation as to why.
The strongest looks were the four openers—they captured some of the snarling, aggressive transgression that makes Takahashi’s womenswear shows such an experience. The swathed heads, billowing blankets, and bombers marked with odd symbolism had a potent, rebellious energy, echoing the dissident garb of any number of anarchist protestors peopling grainy news footage. They felt of our time. They were strangely at odds with the rest of the collection’s looks, though, which were proficient but familiar, sketching out the silhouettes of standard work gear. The details on those made them something else of course, better served by Takahashi’s showroom than any catwalk. And when the whole thing was pulled apart into separate pieces, you couldn’t distinguish between those radical protestors and the proletariat garb. Bar the fact they’re all clothes Takahashi—and other men—will want to wear.Bret Ingalls
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida football staff has added a veteran to the mix.Gators head coachannounced Thursday he has hired longtime college and NFL assistant coach Bret Ingalls as a quality control staff assistant on offense. Ingalls has spent the past seven seasons as an assistant coach with the New Orleans Saints.The 55-year-old Ingalls began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Idaho in 1982. He was a running back as a player at Wichita State from 1979-81.A native of Snohomish, Wash., Ingalls has made stops at Idaho, San Diego State, Eastern Michigan, Louisville, Northern Iowa, Indiana State, Miami (Ohio) and Northwestern. He joined Sean Payton's staff in 2009 in New Orleans and helped the Saints win the Super Bowl that season.Ingalls has vast experience coaching offense and has been an offensive coordinator four times (San Diego State, Louisville, Northern Iowa and Idaho).A special adviser on tax compliance at the Canada Revenue Agency left his job in early 2013 and a few weeks later joined an industry lobby group that was campaigning to curtail the powers of federal tax investigators and later sought to intervene in the CRA-KPMG case.
William Dobson had been working on a programme in the CRA's compliance division to combat tax evasion. He left the agency in January 2013 and later started work at the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, an organization that has been lobbying for years for limits on what accountants have to provide to tax authorities when clients are being audited and investigated.
Duff Conacher, who lectures on government and ethics at the University of Ottawa and co-founder of Democracy Watch, says the former special adviser to the CRA's compliance division should not have been allowed to work for industry so quickly after leaving government.
"The problem is essentially that if public servants were allowed to just go from watchdogging an industry to go and work for the industry, then they have a huge incentive to please the industry while they're on the job," Conacher said.
CRA'suggested' ex-employee go work for association
Both the industry association and Dobson say it was actually the CRA's idea that he go work for the organization.
"It was CRA that suggested that Bill might be interested in working with (the Chartered Accountants)," Gabe Hayos, vice-president of tax for the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, told CBC News.
Conacher said if that's the case, then the CRA has "fully and completely" violated its own code of conduct rules by suggesting that the industry group hire one of its former employees.
The CRA refused an interview on this story but, in a statement, said that current rules that prohibit employees from working for industry for a year after they leave the agency were only made effective on March 1, 2014 — a full year after Dobson left, so they did not apply to him at the time.
The agency said in a statement to CBC News that Dobson broke no conflict of interest rules and that "he did not have any significant dealings with his current employer prior to his departure from the CRA."
Dobson, however, said he first met his future employer while working on a CRA program to combat tax evasion and speaking to interested parties. "And I met Gabe, and when I retired, he took me on as a part-time contractor."
The CRA did not address whether one of its managers had recommended Dobson for the lobby group job, saying only that "CRA managers routinely provide professional references for employees."
If you have any information on this story, please contact investigations@cbc.ca or phone Harvey Cashore at 416-526-4704. Follow @HarveyCashore on Twitter.
For more on this story, watch the documentary The Isle of Sham from CBC TV's The National.
Dobson, who worked on GST compliance for more than a decade, spent his last year at the CRA helping to develop legislation to register "tax preparers" — such as accountants and lawyers — to better help auditors spot tax cheats and non-compliance.
Dobson told CBC News that he did not work on audits while at the CRA and was only vaguely aware of the agency's pursuit of KPMG, in which the CRA alleges the accounting firm helped set up a "sham" tax avoidance scheme for multimillionaire clients involving shell companies in the Isle of Man.
"My understanding was (it was) out West somewhere. I wasn't involved with the audit so I don't know anything about the events leading up to it," Dobson said.
Ex-CRA bureaucrat hired for expertise in government
Hayos, CPA Canada's head of tax, told CBC News that he hired Dobson because he had held "senior positions" in the CRA, including its compliance division, and understood the agency's "inner workings."
"He's a knowledgeable individual. The CRA is a very large pyramid and Bill just has a good understanding of how it works. And that was a valuable resource for me," Hayos said.
Eight months after leaving the CRA Dobson registered as a lobbyist for CPA Canada. He was pursuing a variety of issues, including asking for greater confidentiality between clients and their accountants.
Lobby records also show that in September 2013, Bill Dobson registered to lobby his former colleagues at the Canada Revenue Agency — including assistant commissioner Richard Montroy — on issues including "enforcement" and "more effective and efficient audit programs."
CPA Canada says it is concerned about the principle of client confidentiality, and is arguing for restrictions on what accountants need to hand over to tax investigators.
CPA Canada committee included KPMG exec involved in alleged'sham'
CPA Canada's website says Dobson was appointed to a tax advisory committee that includes KPMG's Paul Hickey — who, coincidentally, promoted the Isle of Man tax dodge inside his firm, and is a central player in the court fight over it with the federal government, according to documents filed in court.
In a statement, Gabe Hayos said the committee has never discussed the KPMG case.
Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay and a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office have both said the government is not considering granting privilege to accountants similar to the type of confidentiality between lawyers and clients.Channing Tatum is reportedly trying to get his troubled Gambit film back on track with help from The Bourne Identity's director.
The actor is courting Doug Liman for Fox's X-Men spinoff, according to The Wrap's Jeff Sneider.
Marvel Comics
If he takes the bait, Liman will replace Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), who exited the project in September.
It was previously rumoured in July that Tatum himself had left Gambit, although he later returned to the movie.
Liman's most recently release was 2014's Edge of Tomorrow, and he is currently reteaming with Tom Cruise on '80s crime drama Mena.
D Dipasupil / FilmMagic Getty Images
For those of us who didn't watch the '90s X-Men cartoon, Gambit - aka Remy LeBeau - is a Cajun thief with the mutant power to make things explode and to talk in the third person.
As it stands, we're sceptical about the movie's chances, but after Fox finally gave Deadpool the green light after years in the void, it feels like anything is possible.
Gambit is currently scheduled for release on October 7, 2016.The Pacoima-born Ritchie Valens, left, will have a section of the 5 Freeway named in his honor. Del-Fi Records founder Bob Keane is on the right. (Del-Fi Records)
A section of the 5 Freeway in the northeast San Fernando Valley will be named after rock ’n’ roll icon Ritchie Valens, who grew up in the area and had a stellar career before he died in a plane crash.
Valens, whose hits included “La Bamba,” “Come On, Let’s Go” and “Donna,” will have his name put up on signs along a stretch of the interstate between the 170 and 118 freeways that will be named the Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway.
The state Legislature gave final approval to the honor last week, and Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), who authored the proposal, said Thursday that private funds are being raised, as required by state law, to pay for the signs.Yet another video has surfaced of ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber crediting the passage of the health care bill in part to American voters’ lack of intelligence.
The Daily Caller posted the third video Wednesday of the MIT professor, this time speaking at the University of Rhode Island in 2012.
Gruber was discussing the law’s so-called "Cadillac tax,” which he said was helped along by “hero” then-Sen. John Kerry. The “Cadillac tax” mandates that insurance companies be taxed rather than policy holders. He said that taxing individuals would have been “politically impossible,” but taxing the companies worked because Americans didn't understand the difference.
“So basically it's the same thing,” he said. “We just tax the insurance companies, they pass on higher prices that offsets the tax break we get, it ends up being the same thing. It's a very clever, you know, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter.”
The new video follows a second tape played on Fox News' "The Kelly File” Tuesday that showed Gruber speaking on a similar topic at an October 2013 event at Washington University in St. Louis.
Referring to the "Cadillac tax,” he said: "They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand the difference."
This was similar to remarks he made at a separate event around the same time in 2013. In a clip of that event, Gruber said the "lack of transparency" in the way the law was crafted was critical. "Basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass," he said.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, traveling with President Obama in Burma, said he disagrees with Gruber's comments.
Earnest claimed the bill was written in a transparent way and that it's Republicans who aren't transparent about how they would replace it.
After the first tape surfaced -- prompting Republican outrage -- Gruber went on MSNBC to express regret. On Tuesday, he said: "I was speaking off the cuff and I basically spoke inappropriately, and I regret having made those comments."
But after Fox News played the second tape, GOP lawmakers said it proves what they've been saying all along.
"It confirms people's greatest fear about the government," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News on Wednesday. "Remember, it was Nancy Pelosi who said first you have to pass it before you get to find out what's in it."
As Congress returns for a lame-duck session, on the heels of midterm elections where Republicans won control of the Senate, GOP leaders say they will try once again next year to repeal the law -- or least change its most controversial provisions.Men know how terrible men are. Malcolm Potts and Thomas Hayden in a lecture about their book, Sex and War: “Tom and I call the testosterone molecule the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.” “As th…
"When it comes to men, less is more. Less men equals more freedom for everyone, more clean water, more peace, more joy, etc. Men know this and readily admit it. But they would never recommend decreasing the ratio of males to females. This isn’t because they’re concerned about infanticide and sex-selective abortion–millions of GIRLS have been killed in this way and are missing from the planet, in addition to those who die from neglect, and men really can’t be bothered to do anything about it. Sex selection is easy, inexpensive and non-invasive with sperm sorting and other methods.”
Best thing I’ve read since Trust Your Perceptions.Thohir plans new Inter stadium
By Football Italia staff
Erick Thohir continues to charm the Inter fans and pledged to invest in the city with plans for a new stadium.
The new President took over from Massimo Moratti this week and has been attending various functions, including yesterday’s friendly game with Swiss side Chiasso.
“I will often be here and, when I’m not, I will wake up at night to watch you,” the Indonesian investor told the squad, according to the Corriere dello Sport.
“I will cheer you on and I hope you won’t let me down.”
Thohir then met with Mayor of Milan Giuliano Pisapia to propose building a new stadium in the Rho area, leaving San Siro to Milan.
“It was a more than cordial meeting, even a friendly one, in which there was an exchange of opinions on sport in Milan and the future development of the city,” explained Mayor Pisapia.
“It was the first step in a dialogue that will continue soon. I can say we set out a joint pathway that will allow us to collaborate for the good of Milan and those who chose our city for an important investment.”
Meanwhile, Moratti added that he turned down the role of President in order to become Honorary President for a particular reason.
“I believe we’ve chosen a role for me that will not be a hindrance.”Image caption El Hadji Diouf now lives and works in his native Senegal
El Hadji Diouf is a hero in Senegal. Everywhere he goes, he is mobbed by fans both young and old. His countrymen are still grateful for the stellar role he played during the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
But in England, he is remembered more for his controversial antics than for his football talent.
It is a trait that followed him in the English league clubs he played for - from Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers to Bolton Wanderers, with a spell for Rangers in Scotland as well.
Diouf was aggressive, spat at opponents and confronted match officials as well as opponents.
But now in his retirement, he is telling his story.
'I am a bad loser'
"I am a lion, I am a bad loser and it's not wrong to be a bad loser," said Diouf of his often combative mood during his playing days.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption El Hadji Diouf: I'm fit, sexy and helping Senegal
"I have got character and I want people to respect me."
Diouf, who has moved back to the Senegalese capital Dakar, says he was often misunderstood during his playing days in England.
He said: "I am an easy target. It's easy to talk about El Hadji Diouf and I let them talk but I know in my heart I am a good guy. My family know, my population knows, my continent knows I am a good guy and that's the best thing. The rest is not my problem."
Despite this defence, Diouf admits he has done some bad things.
When asked why, for example, he used to spit at opponents, he said: "Maybe they used to tell me something I didn't want to hear. I did that, I paid and now it's finished."
'Gerrard never did anything for his country'
The Senegalese legend had a drawn-out row with former Liverpool team-mates such as Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Steven Gerrard and Diouf were Liverpool team-mates from 2002 to 2004
Even today, Diouf and Gerrard continue their feud through the media. So what exactly is the problem?
"I have no problem with him," Diouf said. "He [Gerrard] is a strong character and I am a strong character.
"'Stevie G' was a very good player. People like him in Liverpool but he never did anything for his country. I am Mr El Hadji Diouf, Mr Senegal but he is Mr Liverpool and Senegal is bigger than Liverpool and he has to know that."
Diouf is working in Senegal as a government goodwill ambassador. He is President Macky Sall's adviser on sport as well as running his own sports newspaper business in Dakar - and is often mobbed by young people when he visits his gym in the city.
"My life is about sport but the government cannot do everything alone, they need help from people like me," Diouf said.
"The president believes in me and that's why when I finished playing football, he called me and told me he wants me to help because the young generation believe in me. I am an example to them."
Image copyright El Hadji Diouf Image caption President Macky Sall employs Diouf as a sports adviser
Asked if he would consider a role in politics, Diouf said he was concentrating on helping to develop his country - but could not rule out entering politics in future.
He said: "I am interested because we have to make things change. People like me can make things change.
"We have a country to build, a continent to build and why not be involved in politics tomorrow?"
'We put Senegal on the world map'
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The 2002 World Cup gave El Hadj Diouf (centre) his greatest sense of achievement
Twice presented with the African Footballer of the Year award by the Confederation of African football (Caf), Diouf was part of the Senegal side which reached the last eight at the 2002 World Cup, beating defending champions France along the way.
He describes that period as the greatest achievement of his career - putting it on a par with Diego Maradona's World Cup-winning achievements with Argentina.
"We put Senegal on the world map," he said. "Before the World Cup nobody knew Senegal, but after the World Cup everybody wanted to know where Senegal was.
"What Maradona did for his country is what I did for Senegal. I was one of the biggest men at the 2002 World Cup.
"We were colonised by France. Most of the businesses are run by French people here and to beat them was a big thing for us.
"Before the game, they used to say, 'The reserve team is going to play against the first team' - because most of the players used to play in the French league.
"I used to be at Lens, Salif Diao [was at Sedan], Khalilou Fadiga [was at Auxerre], most of the players played in the French league but we used to say: 'Be careful before you kill the lion.'"
Diouf says he would like to do more to help develop football on the African continent, but feels structural changes need to take place.
"Fifa has changed and now it's time for African football federations to change too," he said.
This is the first in this week's Where Are They Now? series by Stanley Kwenda, looking at what some of Africa's ex-football stars are doing after hanging up their boots. He will also speak to Salif Diao, Peter Ndlovu, Benni McCarthy and Nwankwo Kanu.President Snow's private jet landed softly in the middle of a clearing of a sparse jungle. His eagerness to get a first-hand glimpse of the arena for this year's games were overpowering. He had been told that some ancient world has been discovered in the depths of Panem. Of course, he just had to see for himself.
As he walked down the jet bridge he was immediately surrounded by one dozen peacekeepers. Even in the middle of the jungle, one must have to assume guard for the unpredictable might occur there.
The wind flew and went through Snow's parted brown hair, at his age. Streaks of grey were visible in the outliers of his head. He did not try to hide it. Instead, he represented his age. As president. You're supposed to set an example for your fellow citizens. But he didn't even try. His confidence came naturally to him.
One of the Peacekeepers came up to President Snow in a yearning manner.
"President Snow, it is an honor to meet you." The peacekeeper said. He moved aside for him. As would a proper soldier would. "We think you might want to see this."
After a short walk into an area with minimal surroundings. He was met with a group of several architects. President Snow pushed past several people before he came face-to-face with an ancient cellar. The inside was so dark that it seemed as if it would lead to the underworld. He turned to face his companion, the peacekeeper. Who nodded as he and one other trailed inside. Snow walked in, half expecting to be met by more darkness as he climbed down the stairs. Instead, the whole thing lit up as his feet laid flat on the ground.
Rows of columns met his sharp eyes. As he scanned the amazing architecture, He noticed tunnels on the other side of the columns. Everything was enchanted by the golden lights set up by the dig team in various locations. Naturally, this ought to cause a feeling of mystery and a wanting of exploration to the average person. But, to President Snow. This was just another arena hotspot. He smirked as he scanned over the inside of one of the very world wonders. An area which will be forever be changed by the imp of humans.
President Snow was met with a peacekeeper as he was guided off in a secluded area in the tomb. He was given a device, it showed a live screen with the one-and-only Head Gamemaker Tybalt Epeius. The screen casted a dark shadow behind Tybalt as if it guessed his intentions. The same couldn't be the said with Snow. Who was just waiting for the details to be spilled out.
"Here we are, sir. The ancient civilization of Mesoamerica." Tybalt declared. The holiness of the president grinned in response. He couldn't wait until the day the reapings for the districts came. Then, the capitol would have much more fun with them in planning for the upcoming games.
"I see, Tybalt." Snow said. "How do you expect to further construct this as an arena? Do you have other options?"
"Our team is fully prepared." Tybalt replied. "You should expect us to add all sorts of traps and extensions to make this place something the citizens won't believe is true." He storied.
A thoughtful silence filled the air. President Snow debated with himself whether hiring this one as Head Gamemaker was a good idea. He came off to him as ordinary, and he wanted these games to be one that would be etched on one's mind when they thought of the Hunger Games. He had a good feeling about this year. Alas, he just had to wait and see once the day of the actual games arrived.
A/N Here's a SYOT for you! If you have any questions regarding this feel free to PM me! I'm always open-minded for any suggestions you may offer. Tribute form is on my profile.
I'm looking forward to your submissions! Until then, Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!Interest Owed Could Reach $22 million by October
MacIver News Service | March 21. 2013
[Madison, Wisc…] Every day the State of Wisconsin owes the federal government another $60,000 in interest on a loan it took out to pay for unemployment benefits, and employers are getting an extra bill to pay for it.
The daily figure was announced at a meeting of the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council last week. The council is made up of representatives from business and labor. The council “advises the Department of Workforce Development on the administration of unemployment insurance law” and develops policy recommendations for the legislature.
Unemployment benefits are paid out of the Unemployment Reserve Fund, which is funded by a special tax on employers. In February 2009, that fund ran dry and the state began borrowing money from the federal government. The balance on that loan at one point reached $1.6 billion.
The interest payments on a loan that large add up fast. Since Wisconsin’s last interest payment on September 30, 2012, the amount of interest owed is at $9.7 million. At the rate of $60,000 a day, the figure will reach $21.9 million by September 30th this year.
The feds do not allow the interest to be paid with money from the Reserve Fund. That means employers have been receiving special assessments in addition to the usual unemployment taxes they already pay.
“We’ve dug ourselves a hole, and we’re asking employers to dig us out,” Representative Dave Murphy (R-Greenville) told the MacIver News Service. “I call it a job tax.”
Murphy says it wasn’t just the economy in 2009 that led to the problem. Wisconsin has some of the most lax unemployment rules in the country. As MNS has previously reported, there are 18 reasons an individual can quit his or her job and receive unemployment benefits in Wisconsin, and people who refuse work can still qualify.
This could explain why Wisconsin’s $1.6 billion loan from the feds was the 11th highest in the country and 4th highest as a percentage of total wages.
When the MacIver News Service last reported on the federal loan in July 2011, the balance was at $1.344 billion. Over the next several months, it made very little progress paying that loan down. In February 2012, the balance was $1.334 billion.
The state is now working more aggressively towards paying the loan off. The balance now is at about $935 million, a 30 percent reduction from a year prior. Fortunately, the interest rate on the loan is also going down. It was 4.09 percent in 2011, and now it’s at 2.58 percent.
Murphy says it will probably take at least three years to pay off the balance. In the meantime, unemployment insurance taxes have doubled over the past few years.
“That makes it harder and harder for employers to hire those workers back,” Murphy said.
Fortunately Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has been steadily dropping since January 2010, when it was at 9.2 percent. It’s currently at 7 percent.
The last time the Unemployment Reserve Fund ran dry was in 1982. During that recession, the unemployment rate in Wisconsin reached 11.5 percent.ocassis:
medievalpoc: hifish: I always love seeing this fact pop up. Yeah, what we thought was the ancients just being really cool and aesthetic was actually the gaudy colors fading away over time. It’s like when people think that old houses were built better than they are now, when it’s really just that the shitty houses all fell down already. Ummmm but the problem is not so much that they weren’t being “cool and aesthetic”; it’s that this entire western concept of aesthetics is built on a mistake. The ask was in response to this article, which makes it 200 times funnier. fittingly, I was just reading this: The Parthenon marbles Elgin took to Britain do consist of marble, but a darkly pitted Greek marble rather than the smooth, snowy white variety more common in Italy. Here lay an aesthetic problem: whiteness versus color. The alarming history of European marble “cleaning” includes a chapter on this statuary describing a drive to make ancient Greek art white that nearly destroyed the art itself. In the 1930s workers in the British Museum were directed to remove the dark patina with metal tools on the mistaken assumption that their proper color should be white. Such a “cleaning” seriously damaged the Parthenon marbles, prompting an inquiry by the museum’s standing committee that halted the work. —Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People, page 63 It’s particularly obnoxious given the claims by so many British people that the marbles had to be removed to Britain in order to protect them.
The bold: People should really know about that, too.
And yes, it is connected with this article about Chromophobia and colonialism
which is also connected to the Reformation.
Especially if you think about (at least in an American context) the way that Catholicism has been, to a large degree, racialized. And how the Catholic Mass and other traditions came to be associated with licentiousness and was condemned for its use of decoration (aside form legitimate gripes with corruption).
see also: Calvinist Iconoclasm:
All of these things are connected.Did you know that C# has been around for 17 years? It started off as Microsoft’s response to Java, but now, in its “late-teen” years and seven revisions later, it is one powerful and popular language. Recently, C# has introduced more innovations in a short period of time than ever before. In general, all Microsoft technologies have an accelerated rate of innovations.
This is due to the fact that Microsoft has made a few new decisions that affected all its developer products and technologies. The first of them was to decouple releases of Visual Studio,.NET framework, and C#, giving them space to breathe and follow their own paths. Before, these technologies were shipped together, and that kind of slowed down the progress of each of them. This also affected the pace of releases, which has increased in the past few years.
The second change that Microsoft has introduced is that it is much more open to developers than it was in the previous period. By this, I mean that we can now follow Microsoft’s GitHub, and learn about new features, even though these features are only in the proposals state. That is how we can see some of the proposed features that will be available in new version of C#.
Don’t get me wrong, C# 8 is not scheduled anytime soon. After all, there is already work ongoing towards C# 7.2 and it looks like there are also plans for a C# 7.3. So, this revision is far down the road. Still, we can take a peek at some of the new shiny things that will be provided. Some of the features were already presented by Mads Torgersen in an interview on channel 9 and I am pretty excited about some of them. So, let’s check some of them out.
Nullable Reference Types
I think I read somewhere that 70% of all bugs in C# are directly correlated to the null reference exception, but don’t take my word for it, because at this moment I cannot find the reference or source of this statement. Still, I would not be surprised if that were true. Even the creator of null concept (first introduced in Algol W language in 1965), Tony Hoare, called it ‘billion-dollar mistake’ and publicly apologized for it. Still, it seems that now we are stuck with this concept and all its pitfalls.
C# has a history with null, too. Language has two large types of variables, primitive and reference, and only reference variables can have the null value. In fact, reference types have the null value as default. But, in C# 2.0 Microsoft introduced nullable versions of primitive types, which are denoted by a ‘?’ after type name. This means that ‘int?’ is basically an integer variable that can have the null value. As you can imagine, this allowed the null reference exception to hide in various sections of the code.
Thus far, the community used partial solutions like Code Contracts or third-party solutions, like Fody NullGuard, to forbid assignment of the null value to some variables, but language support for this problem is long overdue. It seems that C# 8 will change this by introducing the Null Reference Type. This feature will give developers options to define references which are non-nullable.
Per the design proposal, you would still be able to do something like this:
Now, this code will generate a warning because String cannot have value null. Instead, this code should be used:
However, this will probably cause Write function to generate a warning because it should not accept nullable values. This cascade of warnings will help us detect stuff we are not doing in a properly.
Of course, this feature will be opt-in, so the legacy code will not produce a bunch of these warnings. I must say that I like this very much. This way we will be able to avoid Null Reference Exceptions in runtime.
Records
Ok, I am very excited about this for multiple reasons. For instance, I still can remember when I was just starting to code, and I was so confused with the way the operator ‘==’ works on primitives and the way it works on reference types. Take a look at this:
So, this operator works in a way that is sort of expected for primitives, which is not the case for reference types. Of course, this is because C# compares reference types for referential equality, but we can all agree that this is really intuitive and it can be confusing. Enter the stage Record type, the idea that already exists in F#.
This type is basically just a collection of fields. All you will have to do is define it like so:
The first benefit that we will have from this feature is that ‘==’ operator will now check the structural equality, and it will be more intuitive and natural, especially for newcomers to C#. The second (and huge) benefit is that this will save us from writing a bunch of boring, boilerplate code. The compiler will do all tedious work for us, and based on the upper definition of Record, it will generate something like this:
Yes, that is a lot of code you don’t have to write anymore. This is not a ground-breaking alteration of the language, but it is still an awesome one. Check out the proposal for more information.
Async Streams and Async Dispose
As we can remember C# 5.0 was all about asynchronous programming. Nevertheless, a few C# features were left out from these innovations. One of those are asynchronous enumerations. By this, I mean that you cannot iterate through some collection in an asynchronous manner – all you can do is get all the elements this way. This leaves you with the fact that asynchronous use of LINQ is also impossible (or at least not done easily). The guys from C# team decided to change this. Basically, you should be able to do something that will look like this now:
As you can see, the idea is to have the IAsyncEnumerable which will return element by element asynchronously. Of course, this leaves a bunch of open questions as to how cancellation will be handled, and how this will affect code complexity. Apart from that, for this feature to be complete, full LINQ support will have to be done.
Another feature that was not enriched with asynchronous functionality is Dispose. We are still doing Dispose synchronously these days, except we don’t make a workaround that looks something like this:
Naturally, this hack that we would place in our finally block is not something we want to do. So, idea is that something like this can be done:
In order to achieve this, C# will introduce a new interface IAsyncDisposable. To get more information on these features, check out the proposal here.
Default Interface Implementations
Did you just make your most skeptical face while reading this the paragraph title? I know that I did when I first read it. The question that popped instantly into my head was ‘Why would you put any concrete implementation in the interface when you have an abstract class for that?’. Still, allow me to explain what the idea behind this concept is.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have to extend some interface with some functionality? I definitely have. And, the problem that occurred then is that all classes that were implementing that interface had to implement this new method. In that moment, I would ask |
his status, his boss assured him it would not be a problem.
The next contact Ferraro had with the boss, he said, was a letter with information on how to file for unemployment.
About 100 people gathered in front of the State House yesterday to hear speakers like Ferraro call for the Legislature to pass a bill protecting transgender rights that has been stuck in committee.
“I’m sick of being a second-class citizen,’’ Ferraro said. “I may be a transgendered man, but I’m nonetheless a man.’’
The bill would make workplace and housing discrimination against transgendered people illegal and protect them against hate crimes.
Activists noted that it was Harvey Milk Day, which would have been the 80th birthday of the gay rights activist and the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.
“If Harvey were alive today, he’d be at the forefront of the effort for full rights for transgenders,’’ said Don Gordon, an event coordinator for Join the Impact MA, the main organizers for the event.
The bill has stirred sharp opposition from critics who have dubbed it the “bathroom bill,’’ contending that it would make it easier for sex offenders to have access to young children in public restrooms by allowing people of both genders to use single-sex facilities such as bathrooms, gyms, and locker rooms.
Two of the three major Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates, Republican Charles Baker and independent Timothy Cahill, have said they would veto the bill if elected. Their campaigns didn’t return messages seeking comment yesterday.
Supporters say those arguments are scare tactics designed to score political points among social conservatives.
“When all they have to talk about is bathrooms, we know we’ve won the argument on merits,’’ Gordon said.
Some in the crowd represented organizations such as Equality across America, the Mass Trans Political Coalition, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, and other LGBT groups. Some people took part as individuals.
After the speeches, Keegan O’Brien of the LGBT Equality Coalition at the University of Massachusetts at Boston led the crowd to Park Street, gaining marchers as they made their way to the JFK Federal Building, holding signs and chanting.
They continued drawing attention as they made their way to Downtown Crossing and through the Boston Common, where onlookers took pictures, some unsure of what they were protesting.
The march ended back at the State House, where Gordon reflected that such rallies give needed attention to LGBT issues.
“There’s an intensity factor,’’ he said.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.Catholic World News
Syrian archbishop rips US support for Islamic rebels
October 02, 2015
A Syrian bishop has reacted strongly to Senator John McCain’s claim that Russian planes are bombing US-backed rebel forces, saying that McCain’s statement is “a blatant admission” of American involvement with Islamic militants.
Speaking to the Fides news service, Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo said that Russian air strikes were targeted against positions held by Islamic militants. He went on to say that McCain’s statement reflects the “Western propaganda” that the US has been providing support for “moderate rebels, who do not exist.”
The admission of US support for Islamic radicals is disturbing, the archbishop said. “What does it mean? Al Qaida is now a US ally, just because in Syria it has a different name?”
For all current news, visit our News home page.When lake temperatures warm, blue-green algae thrives, often forming in thick, pea-soup colored blooms that spread out across the surface of lakes.
From Washington Lake in southwest Minnesota, to Lake Minnetonka, to Helen Lake in northern Minnesota, toxic blooms of algae are again surfacing on the state's lakes.
They're suspected culprits in one case of human illness and two dog deaths so far this summer.
When lake temperatures warm, blue-green algae thrives, often forming in thick, pea-soup colored blooms that spread out across the surface of lakes.
The algae has been present in Minnesota since at least the turn of the 19th century. But it's only recently exploded on the public's radar. It's believed to have killed 20 dogs in Minnesota since 2004, including this August at Lake Minnetonka and at Lake Geneva, near Alexandria, Minn.
No human deaths have been attributed to it in Minnesota, but there have been reports of people sickened by it, including earlier this year on Helen Lake in Itasca County.
And in 2014, Toledo, Ohio, had to stop pumping drinking water from Lake Erie for two days because blooms had poisoned the water.
Now researchers are fanning out across Minnesota, trying to figure out what exactly triggers the blooms, and what lakes might be at most risk.
University of Minnesota Duluth graduate researcher Matt Bambach points at an algae bloom on Peltier Lake, which is actually not algae at all. It's something called cyanobacteria. Dan Kraker | MPR News
Peltier Lake is small and scenic, tucked between Interstates 35E and 35W in the Lino Lakes area. It's home to a large population of great blue herons and other big birds. But it's also often home to toxic algae blooms.
"See how that little glob there is almost like green paint? That's nasty stuff," said Andy Bramburger, a researcher at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Natural Resources Research Institute, as he steered his boat into a shallow bay. "It almost looks like an oily sheen," he said, pointing at turquoise colored, shiny scum floating on the water's surface, that had a distinctive metallic smell to it.
It's often called blue-green algae. Scientists often call them harmful algal blooms. But in reality, it's not algae at all. It's something called cyanobacteria.
Bramburger is trying to zero in on the conditions that cause the harmful algae, or cyanobacteria, to form. He uses a special bottle to collect water samples from seven sites around Peltier Lake.
It's one of six lakes around the state he's surveying. The goal is to identify variables in the water that can help predict when harmful algae blooms occur, factors like nutrients, dissolved oxygen and temperature.
Researchers have known for a long time that pollution from phosphorous and nitrogen increases the likelihood for harmful algal blooms to form. But Bramburger said he's found that blooms can be just as bad in suburban lakes as in lakes surrounded by farm fields.
• Full coverage: Water in Minnesota
Water samples collected from Peltier Lake, near Lino Lakes, Minn. Dan Kraker | MPR News
"It is easy to blame farmers for putting nutrients into the fields, but I think a lot of residential pesticide and fertilizer use on lawns, and pet waste, can also be big contributors to nutrient problems in inland lakes," he said.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota and the Science Museum of Minnesota's St. Croix watershed research station are collecting similar data at other lakes around the state.
A key mystery Science Museum associate scientist Adam Heathcote is trying to unravel is why some algae blooms become toxic, but not all of them.
"We've known for long time that nutrient pollution increases the chance for harmful algal blooms," he said. "What we're specifically looking at is what causes those blooms to switch from nuisance situations to toxic situations that are harmful to wildlife, pets and humans."
There is evidence of harmful algae blooms in southwestern Minnesota dating back to the late 1800s, when livestock deaths there were attributed to green, slimy water.
University of Minnesota Duluth researcher Andy Bramburger is one of several scientists around the state trying to decipher exactly when, where and how harmful algae blooms form. Dan Kraker | MPR News
But it wasn't until 2004 that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency started getting phone calls about it. Now, anecdotal reports of blooms are on the rise, especially in hot years, like 2009, and 2015.
Still, researchers don't have hard data to show an actual increase in blooms.
So they're also drilling sediment cores from the lake bottoms, sampling to look back in time 250 years to see past incidences of algae blooms.
They're also starting to deploy monitoring equipment and even cellphone apps, through which people can submit photos of blooms to accumulate a broad swath of data showing exactly when and where algae blooms are forming.
Much of the research is already pointing to a similar conclusion: Minnesota will see more intense, more frequent harmful algae blooms in the future.
Chris Filstrup, a lake scientist with the Minnesota Sea Grant and the Large Lakes Observatory at the University of Minnesota Duluth, said a changing climate is creating the perfect stew of conditions for harmful algae to thrive.
A blue-green algae bloom on Peltier Lake, near Lino Lakes, Minn., on July 18. Dan Kraker | MPR News
Warmer water creates bigger temperature differences between the water at the surface of the lake, and deeper water, he explained.
That favors the blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, because over billions of years they've evolved a way to regulate their buoyancy. So they can float to the warm water at the surface and out-compete other algae for sunlight.
On top of that, the more frequent and intense storms Minnesotans have experienced in recent years wash more nutrients into lakes, which feeds the cyanobacteria.
"Then if that period is followed by a really hot intense drought period, you're basically putting all the ingredients you need for cyanobacteria blooms into the pot, and then you're heating up that lake, to favor cyanobacteria," Filstrup said.
As researchers hone in on what specifically triggers the formation of those toxic blooms, the hope is to identify the conditions to avoid in lakes in the first place, and also to be able to warn the public when those lakes are dangerous for people or pets.
In the meantime, Pam Anderson with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has a simple message:
"If you're in doubt, get out or keep out. If the water looks questionable, and you're not sure whether you should be in it, just don't go in the water."
Correction (Aug. 17, 2017): A suspected dog death from blue-green algae happened at Lake Geneva, near Alexandria, Minn. An earlier version of this story indicated it occurred at Geneva Lake, near Albert Lea, Minn.We might be able to change the Earth's temperature by modifying the skies, but should we? Thomson Reuters
One way to prevent the Earth's temperature from rising into a city-drowning, hurricane-strengthening, heat-stroke-triggering danger zone is to immediately switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
At the moment, that transition seems unlikely. So scientists and tech innovators are also investigating various forms of geoengineering — an approach that involves transforming the Earth's clouds and skies in ways that help cool the planet or suck carbon out of the atmosphere.
That idea, however, is extremely controversial. Some researchers believe such work could be a necessary part of the fight against climate change, but others argue that meddling with the planet exposes the world to a host of new risks. Plus, there's a growing fear that a rogue actor trying to achieve something "good" could attempt one of these globe-altering projects and spark a devastating international conflict.
Two new papers published July 20 in the journal Science investigate two of the most well-studied geoengineering strategies: cirrus cloud modification and injecting sulfur into the atmosphere.
The authors of the papers make clear that these approaches are very risky and far from viability — so much so, in fact, that most researchers hope they never become necessary. But the papers also lay out the reasons why these strategies might work and are worth studying.
Recreating a volcanic eruption
If we delay aggressively cutting greenhouse gas emissions until 2040, authors Ulrike Niemeier and Simone Tilmes write in Science, the global temperature is projected to rise more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That is an increase that most scientists agree would create dramatic, irreversible consequences for human civilization and the planet.
The authors pick that as the point at which drastic intervention might be needed in order to stave off disaster. One option in that case would be to mimic a volcanic eruption.
When a volcano erupts, it spews forth lava, gas, and smoke, filling the skies with sulfur. Those clouds of sulfur reflect more of the sun's solar radiation back into space and away from Earth, which has a cooling effect on the planet.
iStock
Researchers are investigating how this effect could be artificially recreated. The leading proposal involves planes that would inject sulfur into the atmosphere.
Niemeier and Tilmes reviewed the math, and said that in order to counteract the temperature rise at that point, we'd have to inject the atmosphere with the amount of sulfur that was created by the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo every year for 160 years. (For context, the Pinatubo eruption was the second largest of the 20th century.)
This effort, they write, would require 6,700 sulfur-injection flights per day — at a cost of about $20 billion a year.
The authors also note that the technology required for this aerosol modification in the stratosphere doesn't exist yet, and that their timeline assumes that global carbon emissions would reach zero before 2100.
We're still far from understanding all the risks involved with injecting sulfur into our atmosphere; however, a major one is the destruction of ozone, the layer that helps keep dangerous ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth. The sulfur approach would also cool land more than oceans, which would continue to change and acidify. And it would transform tropical monsoons, reducing rainfall and potentially causing droughts in places like India.
Transforming the clouds in the sky
Another drastic approach to cooling our planet would be to alter a certain type of heat-trapping cloud.
One of the most confounding variables in climate models is the effect of clouds in sky, climate scientist Kate Marvel explained at TED 2017. Clouds can send solar radiation back into space, thereby helping to cool the planet. But they can also trap heat on Earth, playing a similar role to greenhouse gases like CO2.
Cirrus clouds. Shutterstock/Aleksey Sagitov
All climate projections show a warming trend, but the role of clouds, Marvel says, is why "some of them project catastrophe —more than five times the warming we've seen already — a nd others are literally more chill."
Cirrus clouds, the thin, wispy ones that look like streaks in the sky, don't reflect much radiation and can trap a good amount of heat.
So authors Ulrike Lohmann and Blaz Gasparini write in Science that researchers are investigating ways to thin such clouds and let more heat escape, as the diagram below shows. This would be done by planting tiny particles (like chemicals, desert dust, or pollen) into cirrus clouds to break them apart — a process known as seeding.
G. GRULLÓN/SCIENCE 2017
This approach also comes with a list of risks, the authors write.
According to the paper, if the seeding process goes too far, or scientists didn't get the location perfectly right, new cirrus clouds could form in places where they didn't exist before, "creating additional warming rather than the intended cooling."
Plus, just like the sulfur injections, cirrus thinning wouldn't decrease the levels of CO2 already in the air or lower the amount we're still releasing to the atmosphere. And ocean acidification would continue.
"In theory it could be done," Alan Robock, an environmental science professor at Rutgers who was not involved with the new papers, told Business Insider. But no one has ever tried it, and "it's still relatively early days in terms of knowing whether it would work."
But there's another major risk involved with developing technology that allows us to tinker with the planet's climate systems: Human conflict.
Permission to transform the world
Once geoengineering technology and methods are developed, a situation could arise in which one country or rich individual decides to try it out on their own.
In an editorial published alongside the new papers in Science, authors from the Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Initiative pointed out that the world's governments don't have a framework yet for deciding whether or not "the potential global benefit of geoengineering is worth the risks to certain regions."
In an absolute worst case scenario, one rogue actor claiming they were trying to do good could attempt some kind of geoengineering project that winds up triggering environmental disaster, like massive droughts, in another country. That could lead to a destabilizing global conflict.
This may sound extreme, but Robock said he once participated in a discussion at a geoengineering conference in which the question of worst possible outcomes was raised. One answer was particularly sobering, he said: global nuclear war.
The easier solution
At TED 2017, Marvel likened geoengineering to "going to a doctor who says 'You have a fever, I know exactly why you have a fever, and we're not going to treat that. We're going to give you ibuprofen, and also your nose is going to fall off.'"
In other words, it's like using a very risky band-aid without ever solving the original problem: greenhouse gas emissions.
Even if these geoengineering strategies were to work as planned, trying to change the planet's natural systems without stopping emissions in the first place would be stupid, because we wouldn't eradicate the primary factor causing warming.
The Carnegie Council scholars wrote in their editorial that embarking on a geoengineering project without cutting emissions might mean that we need to continue modifying our stratosphere for centuries with unknown side effects. And even if we did that, we'd still need to develop ways to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and store that carbon safely.
Researchers are making progress in that area. But there's still much to be done and that science is still in very early stages.
Robock points out an obvious truth in regards to all of these radical possibilities: It would be safer for people to simply come together now and figure out how to stop fossil fuel emissions.
To keep the planet at a stable temperature, even the Paris Agreement goals would need to be made significantly more aggressive. Given Trump's vow to pull the US out of the international accord, that might seem unlikely right now, but Robock thinks it's possible.
"With charismatic leadership, things can change very quickly," he said. "I'm optimistic the world will do that and we won't need to use geoengineering."
Hopefully, Robock's optimism proves to be justified.Carol Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty
It is an inevitability that cryptographers dread: the arrival of powerful quantum computers that can break the security of the Internet. Although these devices are thought to be a decade or more away, researchers are adamant that preparations must begin now.
Computer-security specialists are meeting in Germany this week to discuss quantum-resistant replacements for today’s cryptographic systems — the protocols used to scramble and protect private information as it traverses the web and other digital networks. Although today’s hackers can, and often do, steal private information by guessing passwords, impersonating authorized users or installing malicious software on computer networks, existing computers are unable to crack standard forms of encryption used to send sensitive data over the Internet.
But on the day that the first large quantum computer comes online, some widespread and crucial encryption methods will be rendered obsolete. Quantum computers exploit laws that govern subatomic particles, so they could easily defeat existing encryption methods.
“I’m genuinely worried we’re not going to be ready in time,” says Michele Mosca, co-founder of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo in Canada and chief executive of evolutionQ, a cyber-security consulting company.
It will take years for governments and industry to settle on quantum-safe replacements for today’s encryption methods. Any proposed replacement — even if it seems impregnable at first — must withstand multitudes of real and theoretical challenges before it is considered reliable enough to protect the transfer of intellectual property, financial data and state secrets.
“To trust a cryptosystem, you need a lot of people to scrutinize it and try to devise attacks on it and see if it has any flaws,” says Stephen Jordan, a physicist at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. “That takes a long time.”
This week’s workshop, held at the Schloss Dagstuhl–Leibniz Center for Informatics in Wadern, is one of several this year bringing together cryptographers, physicists and mathematicians to evaluate and develop cryptographic tools that are less vulnerable to quantum computers. NIST hosted its own workshop in April, and the IQC will team up with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute for another, in early October in Seoul.
Intelligence agencies have also taken notice. On 11 August, the US National Security Agency (NSA) revealed its intention to transition to quantum-resistant protocols when it released security recommendations to its vendors and clients. And in a memo posted on its website earlier this year, the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service singled out a looming threat that adds even more urgency to the need for quantum-safe encryption. In a scenario it calls ‘intercept now, decrypt later’, a nefarious attacker could start intercepting and storing financial transactions, personal e-mails and other sensitive encrypted traffic and then unscramble it all once a quantum computer becomes available. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if people are doing that,” says Jordan.
As far back as 1994, mathematician Peter Shor showed that a quantum computer would be able to quickly foil ‘RSA encryption’, one of the major safeguards used today (P. W. Shor Preprint available at http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9508027v2; 1995). At the time, it was not clear whether such a machine would ever be built, says Mosca, because researchers assumed that it would need to operate flawlessly. But a theoretical discovery in 1996 showed that up to a limit, a quantum computer with some flaws could be just as effective as a perfect one.
Published experiments with small quantum devices are starting to approach this faultiness threshold, notes Mosca. And because secretive organizations such as the NSA are keenly interested in the technology, it is widely assumed that these published results do not represent the cutting edge of research. “We have to assume there’s going to be people that are a few years ahead of what’s available in the public literature,” says Mosca. “You can’t wait for the headlines in The New York Times to have your plan in place.”
The safety of today’s Internet traffic relies in part on a type of encryption called public-key cryptography — which includes RSA — to establish secret communication between users. A sender uses a freely available digital key to lock a message, which can be unlocked only with a secret key held by the recipient. The security of RSA depends on the difficulty of breaking up a large number into its prime factors, which serve as its secret key. In general, the larger the number, the harder this problem is to solve.
Researchers believe that it takes existing computers a long time to factorize big numbers, partly because no one has yet discovered how to do it quickly. But quantum computers could factorize a large number exponentially faster than any conventional computer, and this nullifies RSA’s reliance on factoring being difficult.
Several options already exist for new public-key cryptosystems. These replace the factoring problem with other difficult mathematics problems that are not expected to yield to quantum computers. Although these systems are not perfectly safe, researchers think that they are secure enough to protect secrets from quantum computers for all practical purposes.
One such system is lattice-based cryptography, in which the public key is a grid-like collection of points in a high-dimensional mathematical space. One way to send a secret message is to hide it some distance from a point in the lattice. Working out how far the encrypted message is to a lattice point is a difficult problem for any computer, conventional or quantum. But the secret key provides a simple way to determine how close the encrypted message is to a lattice point.
A second option, known as McEliece encryption, hides a message by first representing it as the solution to a simple linear algebra problem. The public key transforms the simple problem into one that seems much more difficult. But only someone who knows how to undo this transformation — that is, who has the private key — can read the secret message.
One drawback of these replacements is that they require up to 1,000 times more memory to store public keys than existing methods, although some lattice-based systems have keys not much bigger than those used by RSA. But both methods encrypt and decrypt data faster than today’s systems, because they rely on simple multiplication and addition, whereas RSA uses more-complex arithmetic.
PQCRYPTO, a European consortium of quantum-cryptography researchers in academia and industry, released a preliminary report on 7 September recommending cryptographic techniques that are resistant to quantum computers (see go.nature.com/5kellc). It favoured the McEliece system, which has resisted attacks since 1978, for public-key cryptography. Tanja Lange, head of the €3.9-million (US$4.3-million) project, favours the safest possible choices for early adopters. “Sizes and speed will improve during the project,” she says, “but anybody switching over now will get the best security.”Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor was an icon. Voted the number one Doctor in numerous polls, there is something truly magical about his performance on screen, and only David Tennant and Matt Smith have ever come close to taking his. (Personally, I would put Matt Smith as a VERY close second!) But what is about The Fourth Doctor that makes him the best of the best? Tom Baker's manic, alien, comical, dramatic performances? A run of brilliant companions? Some of the very best stories ever committed to screen? Visionary writers and executive producers? Great monsters? Terrifying villains? The truth is, it is all of those elements. Across seven series, Tom Baker had opportunity after opportunity to shine, and even when some stories were weak, he was always at his best. Like Matt Smith, I could watch Tom Baker reading a book aloud for the entirety of an episode. But its not just the fact that he had more stories than anyone else. If he had done just three series, he would still be the best of the best in my opinion. The trouble is, there is so much greatness in this era, that, when writing about the best of the Fourth Doctor, I could easily list 20 best episodes or 50 defining moments... So instead, this article is about broad themes, highlighted by those fantastic episodes and defining moments, that all point towards the one insurmountable truth of Baker's superiority. Because with the Fourth Doctor, there is just too much good stuff to write about...Hello youse.
Way back in the day, when I first covered Arkham Horror I made it clear that while it was a game I loved, it wasn’t a game I could easily recommend. You can travel back through time by the power of “link-clicking” to find out all about that if you wish. Once you’re done, you can click to read further into this edition of my column, where I’ll recommend a different game to you, and recommend it easily.
ELDRITCH HORROR
When I heard about Fantasy Flight’s plans for Eldritch Horror, I was all “WHAT IS THIS? ARKHAM HORROR SECOND EDITION? WHAT ARE THESE GUYS DOING HERE? GUYS? Oh sorry, left my caps lock on. Guys?” I wasn’t sure that it was a game I wanted or needed. A Lovecraft theme, yes. Great. Stopping Azathoth and Cthulhu’s alarm clock from going off. Yes, good. But we’d done all that before, right? I mean, we could do all that in big, old, clunky, beautiful Arkham Horror.
“Yes, but – in Eldritch Horror you can do all this stuff in a more simple and speedy and efficient manner!”
I wasn’t sold on it at all.
I was wrong.
Eldritch Horror is a game for 1-8 players. Yes, you can play it on your own, or with your local five-a-side football team and the referee and a stranger you met in the public toilets. It’s a globe-trotting adventure and exploration game. You’ll be taking two actions every turn as you move around a world map, trying to solve mysteries relating to a big baddie who likes to eat universes.
Arkham Horror was a dog to teach. I mean, it was a DOG. You could spend half an hour explaining what the fuck was going on and still have to shrug and say “Well, let’s just play and I’ll fill in the gaps.” And then realise that the game was ALL gap. The game is a beast. In Eldritch Horror, you can explain how to play in about five minutes. “Every turn you can take two actions. Here is a list of the actions you can take. Once you’ve taken them, some story will happen and we’ll just see what happens to you.”
Story is the key. Eldritch Horror delivers a lot of story. The characters are well defined, and the encounter system is slick. If you’re at a location, you choose what kind of encounter to have. Let’s say you’re in London. You can choose to have a London-themed encounter, or a generic City encounter. If there is a token on London with you, such as a Rumour or a Gate or a Clue, you can encounter them instead. All these encounters are basically little stories on cards. Another player reads some story to you, you make a simple success roll based on your character attributes, and you pass or fail. Job done. Something within the game will change. You’ll find a clue. You’ll lose sanity. You’ll gain an ally. You’ll become paranoid.
To defeat the big baddie, you have to solve three mysteries. These are all baddie-specific, and are pretty much just goals for all the players to shoot for. Often they’ll need you to visit a location and spend a number of clues. Mysteries are a nice, clean way of keeping track of game progress. In Arkham Horror, which was all about closing gates into other worlds, the goal of the game often felt a bit vague. It was often weirdly unclear exactly how well you were doing. In Eldritch Horror that is all fixed. We have goals, we know what we need to do to fulfil them, and we know exactly when they’ve been fulfilled.
Something else I loved – the Mythos Deck is something you draw a card from at the end of every round. Mythos Cards move the game along, causing gates to open and monsters to appear. They generate clues. They sometime spawn rumours, which are story-based little mini-tasks that players need to keep careful tabs on. They change game rules sometimes – maybe the Mythos Card will stop players from being able to rest and heal. And, cooler than cool, the Mythos brings about a Reckoning.
Man, the Reckoning. The Reckoning, yo. You will dread that Reckoning symbol appearing on a Mythos Card. The Reckoning is the point in the game where you test to see how all those ongoing effects are hurting you. Your character can gain Conditions in the game. Conditions range from being in debt to being paranoid or injured. When the Reckoning comes around, you need to test these conditions, and sometimes have to flip the condition cards. That debt card? Flip it and you’ll find out who comes to collect on the debt. That dark pact you made? Flip the card and find out what the cost is. The Reckoning is TERRIFYING, and can turn a whole game session on its head. And it’s not all about conditions either. Reckoning causes other things to happen too – it can trigger effects that make the Doom Track advance, bringing you all closer to defeat. It can advance vile plots on those rumour cards. It’s a horrific thing, and one of the most brilliant things in the game.
Flipping those cards, man. I think this is what I love the most about Eldritch Horror. You have a spell card? Nice. Using it? Nice. Fail your spell roll? Flip your card. Find out what happened. Wail in agony. It’s a clean, slick way of putting a little narrative twist into game assets and effects. When you gain conditions or spells, you never know for sure what version of the card it is, or what will be printed on the back. It’s a constant worry.
Cool stuff happens in this game. That’s the easiest way to put it. Cool stuff happens, and often. In my last game, as we were close to victory, I tried to cast a spell to teleport another player to this weird island where an insane wizard was spreading madness. I fucked the spell up, opening a portal that shut before the other player was fully through, and I cut them in half. They died. The insane wizard dreamed on. My character went insane. All in one turn. When you die, you can bring new characters in to pick up the strand of the investigation, and they can encounter your old character. How cool is that? They can visit your old character in the hospital, or the graveyard. See? Cool stuff happening, always.
And events are all themed after the baddie you’re playing against. You will tailor the decks, pre-game, to make the flavour work properly. It’s like they’ve thought of everything.
Enough. Eldritch Horror is an essential game. It’s the Lovecraft adventure game that I can recommend to everyone. It’s accessible, fun, and easy to play. It plays in a couple of hours, plays smoothly, and will leave everyone with a story to tell. It’s a very different game from Arkham Horror. It’s less weird, and less oppressive. It doesn’t have as dark a mood, and doesn’t HATE YOU as much as Arkham Horror does. It doesn’t feel like it is possessed by a hundred evil ghosts like Arkham does. But it’s fun. My goodness. It’s such fun. Such a story. You will laugh a lot, and you’ll go insane, and you’ll shoot cultists with shotguns.
My girlfriend detests Arkham Horror. She had a blast playing Eldritch Horror. I bet that was exactly what Fantasy Flight wanted – a Lovecraft game that isn’t your enemy. They rolled a big success with this one.The National Rifle Association placed a portion of the blame for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on violent video games during a press briefing this morning.
"There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and sows violence against its own people," NRA head Wayne LaPierre said during the press conference. "Through vicious violent video games, with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here's one: It's called Kindergarten Killers. It's been online for 10 years. How come my research staff can find it, and all yours couldn't, or didn't want anyone to know you've found it?"
LaPierre went on to blame other facets of the entertainment industry as well.
"We have bloodsoaked films out there like American Psycho, Natural Born Killers, they're aired on propaganda loops called Splatterdays, and every single day. A thousand music videos portray life as a joke, portray murder as a way of life, and then have the nerve to call it entertainment.
"Isn't fantasizing about killing people to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography?" LaPierre added.
Entertainment companies like the ones responsible for the titles listed above have invited "reckless behavior, criminal cruelty into our homes," LaPierre argued, mentioning that stockholders for those companies are complicit in that act.
LaPierre also argued that gun-free zones only serve to inform killers where they can "inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk," questioning why we protect our banks and other civil buildings with armed guards, but not our schools. He also placed a share of the blame on the news media for providing mass killers with "wall-to-wall attention and a sense of identity."
West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller pleaded with Congress earlier this week to fund a study on the effects of "violent video games and other content" on children. Specifically, the study would commission the National Academy of Sciences to discover whether violent games "cause kids to act aggressively or otherwise hurt their wellbeing."
Representatives for the Entertainment Software Association declined to comment on the NRA's press conference.Who says you cant own a movie quality projector for a decent price? Epson that's who! I have to honestly say i have never really been a big fan of projectors. I remember when i was younger right around the early 2000's my uncle had spent a fortune on a home movie projector in his custom built movie theater room. I remember watching a movie and thinking to myself "man there is no way i could ever spend this much money for a grainy quality film that cant even hold its own contrast against a black wall." Epson has put all my doubts to rest with the home cinema 2150. Lets dive in and talk about what this thing can do and what you can expect to get out of it. First off out the box you get this big square projector, a power cable, and a real basic instruction book. I was kinda disappointed to see that they didn't include a 3.5mm audio cable but i guess i really didn't expect them to anyways. The Epson offers a few different hook ups, you have two HDMI ports with one of them being compatible for a MHL cable. A MHL cable by the way allows you to connect your smart phone directly to the projector via a hard line. You also have a usb port and a VGA port for your pc along with a 3.5mm audio jack. I was very disappointed to see that they did not offer an optical cable jack especially since alot of my audio equipment runs optical cables. Nevertheless the projector does come with a single built in speaker on the rear of the projector but trust me when i tell you that your not going to want to rely solely on that speaker. The sound quality out of the speaker is clear but its not very loud or crisp. The design of the speaker appears to be more for convenience during power point or on the go meeting presentations you may have without having to lug around all kinds of auxiliary speakers. The build of the projector appears to be of pretty good quality. You have a hard plastic shell encasing all the components with a removable air filter, high powered fan and you have trouble lights to let you know if there is an issue with the lamp or over heating (refer to picture for example). Once you turn on the projector, setting up the screen is easy, the projector will auto center it for you and all you really have to do after that is square it off and adjust the height to where you want it. The projector also provides a lens shift which allows you to raise and lower the picture by approximately 6 inches this way when you get the picture near the height you want it you can then fine tune it. Picture quality does need to be adjusted but its very easy to accomplish this. You are provided two rings/slides, one is a focus ring and the other is |
joint investigation with the FCA, the NCA had identified a number of leads relevant to a major insider-trading operation.
The Guardian’s reporting of the Panama Papers revealed that lawyers and accountants in the UK were working with Mossack Fonseca clients. Hammond said on Tuesday that the taskforce had identified nine potential “professional enablers” of economic crime, all of whom had links with known criminals. The taskforce had contacted a further 64 firms to determine their links with Mossack Fonseca, and this was expected to establish potential further avenues for investigation, he said.
HMRC’s director general for customer compliance, Jennie Granger, said: “The net is closing in on tax evasion and economic crime and there are no safe havens for hiding money offshore. The vast majority of individuals and businesses pay their fair share and it’s on their behalf that the taskforce has made so much progress on so many fronts.”
HMRC declined to comment on whether it had obtained the entirety of the Panama Papers leak, which totalled more than 11.5m files and 2.5 terabytes of data. However, the Danish government paid up to £1m to acquire some or all of the data earlier this year and international tax authorities have been known to share information on possible tax abuse in the past.
A HMRC spokesperson said: “For operational reasons, we do not disclose how we acquire our data. We will continue to work with our international partners, and law enforcement agencies, to obtain any further relevant information that enables us to crack down on tax avoidance, evasion and economic crime.”
Rob Palmer, the campaign leader on money laundering at the anti-corruption organisation Global Witness, said specific references to “enablers of economic crime” represented a more aggressive stance on criminal finance than had previously been exhibited by the government.
“From our perspective, it’s really important that you go after the pinstripe army of bankers, accountants and lawyers that make all of this stuff possible,” he said.
Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “The fact that the government have sneaked this out in a written statement just before recess probably says all you need to know about how seriously they are really taking the issue of tackling tax avoidance.
“The Tories are clearly trying to hide that they have been dragging their feet on this issue for six years now, and on the same day they have been caught trying to stop tax havens from being blacklisted by the EU, no one will be convinced by their lacklustre attempts at clamping down on those that use them.”The congressional investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 presidential election should not end or slow down because the Department of Justice has appointed a special counsel to conduct a parallel criminal investigation.
Congress’ responsibility to investigate is very different from the duty of the Justice Department or a special counsel to investigate. Congress does not — nor is it allowed to under the Constitution — investigate to determine whether or not a crime was committed. That is the sole purpose of an investigation by a Justice Department prosecutor. Instead, Congress’s authority to investigate is broader.
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It has a duty to inform the public of the facts underlying matters of importance — to tell the public what happened, not with respect to whether a criminal law has been violated, but whether a law is needed to deter or punish misconduct in the future or to address important public policy matters. These obligations are particularly important in matters of national security and the sanctity of our electoral system. The Department of Justice and its special counsel have no such duty or authority.
Concern has been expressed as to whether an ongoing congressional investigation could interfere with the criminal investigation. It need not. Successful congressional investigations have often been conducted concurrently with successful criminal investigations. While having both investigations moving simultaneously adds procedural complexity with both often needing access to the same documents and witnesses, that need not prevent either the Justice Department or Congress from fulfilling their missions.
While in the Senate, I led several bipartisan congressional investigations into matters that were simultaneously the subject of criminal investigations, including Wedtech, Enron, and misconduct by foreign and U.S. banks. In each case, we were able to work out any potential conflicts. During our investigation of Enron, for example, the treasurer of Enron offered to testify before our subcommittee if we granted him immunity.
My staff immediately contacted the head of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice to inquire whether our granting immunity would have a negative impact on the criminal case. We were advised that his testimony was key to several prosecutions. So we took a pass on getting the treasurer’s testimony at our hearing, and we were able to work around his absence. Well-established rules, practice, and common sense can resolve the dual use of testimony, documents, and immunity.
In addition, in cases involving critically important matters of public policy — including this Russian investigation case which involves national security, foreign affairs and a federal election — the congressional investigation can be more important in the long run than deciding who, if anyone, broke the law. In the case of Watergate, it was the congressional hearings and not the prosecution of the burglars, that uncovered the important truths. In the Iran-Contra affair, it was the congressional probe, and not the criminal investigation, that found President Reagan had not disclosed key facts to the American people.
The bipartisan report issued as a result of that congressional investigation explicitly found that the president “told the public that the United States had not condoned the arms sales by Israel to Iran, when in fact he had approved them and signed a Finding, later destroyed by Poindexter, recording his approval.” It went on to note, “The idea of monarchy was rejected here 200 years ago and since then, the law, not any official or ideology — has been paramount. For not instilling this precept in his staff, for failing to take care that the law reigned supreme, the president bears the responsibility.” That congressional determination was not a criminal finding, but it was one essential to reaffirming our democratic system of government.
And, when our bipartisan investigations exposed money laundering, tax evasion, or reckless investments of federally insured deposits at banks like HSBC, UBS, or JPMorgan, those disclosures had a larger policy impact than the criminal proceedings that followed, resulting in new bank regulations, new agency procedures, and congressional approval of remedial legislation.
That is not to say that criminal prosecutions are not important. They are. Only corrupt societies tolerate impunity. And the newly-appointed special counsel should proceed with thoroughness to complete the criminal investigation wherever the facts take him. But Congress also has an essential role to play in investigating and disclosing the facts, and it must carry out its Constitutional obligation by moving forward with a bipartisan, fact-based investigation.
As former Sen. Ralph Brewster, a Republican from Maine, said when serving on the Truman Committee that investigated wartime profiteering, “Reasonable men don’t differ much when they have the facts.” And the facts — all the facts, not just the facts involving possible criminal activity — are what we need.
Carl Levin Carl Milton LevinListen, learn and lead: Congressional newcomers should leave the extremist tactics at home House Democrats poised to set a dangerous precedent with president’s tax returns The Hill's 12:30 Report — Sponsored by Delta Air Lines — White House to 'temporarily reinstate' Acosta's press pass after judge issues order | Graham to take over Judiciary panel | Hand recount for Florida Senate race MORE served as U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. He currently serves as chairman of the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School that trains legislative staff in factual bipartisan oversight.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.In the latest misstep for Denver draft disappointment Cody Latimer, a newly released video shows him slapping a bouncer at a strip club.
The video, obtained by TMZ, shows Latimer in an argument with a man identified as a bouncer for Diamonds Cabaret in Latimer’s hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Latimer slapped the bouncer, who responded by pepper spraying Latimer. A man identified as Latimer’s uncle then lunged at the bouncer, who hit the uncle and knocked him to the ground.
TMZ says Latimer acknowledged he is the person shown in the video but said he wasn’t trying to start a fight. Dayton police say they were never contacted in connection with the incident and there is no investigation.
Latimer was arrested last year for failing to appear in court for a traffic infraction. That incident took place after Latimer called the police on his girlfriend to say she slapped him. She was arrested for assault and disturbing the peace, and Latimer bailed her out.
The Broncos chose Latimer in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft. In three NFL seasons he has 16 catches for 158 yards and one touchdown.Washington (CNN) The newest trove of more than 7,000 of Hillary Clinton's emails were released Monday night by the State Department, showcasing more of the mundane political notes and scheduling requests that have made up earlier releases.
That's despite 125 of those emails -- which weren't classified at the time -- being retroactively classified before they were released. All or portions of some unclassified emails are redacted, too.
The emails show Clinton was a little obsessed with criticism from Fox News, once closely tracked a trade dispute involving gefilte fish and was eager to check out NBC's "Parks and Recreation" and CBS' "The Good Wife."
They highlight her close relationship with Sidney Blumenthal and even feature an IT staffer trying to figure out why her email -- which wasn't a government one -- was causing bounce-backs.
Here are some of the most interesting notes included in Friday's release:
Sid Blumenthal's not-so-unsolicited advice
Clinton has said the emails with foreign policy advice from long-time friend Sidney Blumenthal were unsolicited. That might be true -- but she certainly took them seriously, even thanking him for sending them at one point. She also told Blumenthal that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, loves his analysis.
"Thx for helping keep me informed along the way," she wrote in response to a Blumenthal note about the United Kingdom.
In another, Clinton tells Blumenthal that she "Just had drinks w Miliband who is still very worried" about the 2010 elections in the United Kingdom.
She even asked to have a New York Times op-ed Blumenthal forwarded printed and delivered to her house.
If the Clintons liked what Blumenthal had to say, House Speaker John Boehner might not. In one memo, he told Clinton insurgent House Republicans "are repelled by his personal behavior. He is louche, alcoholic, lazy."
IT doesn't know Clinton's email
One of the State Department's "Help Desk Analysts" noticed that one government emailer had been getting bounce-backs from Clinton's address.
That analyst emailed Clinton directly, appearing not to know who he was contacting, asking her to confirm that she'd received it.
Aide Huma Abedin explained what had happened, noting that a staffer had tried to contact Clinton but noticed her email was down and asked IT for help.
Abedin wrote to Clinton : "She called the email help desk at state (I guess assuming u had state email) and told them that. They had no idea it was YOU, just some random address so they emailed. Sorry about that."
Others knew Clinton's address. In May 2010, Clinton sent Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a trusted adviser to President Barack Obama, an email with the subject line : "Here it is!" The email appeared intended to give Rice Clinton's contact information.
So what about those gefilte fish?
The entire content of the email: "Where are we on this?"
It's not as bizarre as it sounds. The message is related to nine containers of the Passover favorite that were supposed to be shipped from Illinois to Israel but had become embroiled in a trade dispute.
Rep. Donald Manzullo, an Illinois Republican, had asked Clinton at a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting to look into it. Meeting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Clinton joked that despite the intractable problems the United States and Israel face, "This one we might be able to solve."
Redactions... everywhere
It isn't just the much-discussed classified emails that are redacted. Despite the public disclosure mandate driving the email dumps, much is left to the imagination. That includes from the mundane -- the obscuring of a cell phone number or an email address -- to matters of diplomacy.
In one instance, a draft of Clinton's testimony on the New START treaty before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is entirely redacted, though of course the final version is now a part of the public record.
Another email consisted of talking points to prepare for a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but all the text was blocked out.
Countless other examples of redactions exist in the email tranche.
Top aide talks work-life balance
Anne-Marie Slaughter, then the State Department's director of policy planning, sent notes about the struggles of balancing a career and a family -- particularly for mothers. In one, to aide Huma Abedin but directed at Clinton, Slaughter encourages her go forward with plans to start a winter vacation on December 21.
"I would urge you to -- for your own sake. The pace is absolutely killing and you deserve it. But it will also mean that a lot of folks who would like to take some time off with their family before Xmas (e.g. moms like me who are necessary to make Xmas happen) would feel much freer to do so," Slaughter wrote.
"Your staying home tomorrow will make lots of parents at higher levels feel ok about staying home with their kids. I may be one of them!" Slaughter wrote.
'Our friend, Martin'
Clinton displayed a fondness for then-Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley during his 2010 re-election campaign, though the two are now rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Clinton wrote her ally Barbara Mikulski, Maryland's senator in April 2010 to congratulate her on kicking off her re-election bid and asked the senator for an update on her state's governor, who was also running for his own new term.
"How's our friend, Martin, doing? I know he has a rematch when he should be reelected by acclamation for steering the ship of state so well. Pls give him my best wishes," she wrote.
O'Malley was the second governor to endorse Clinton in her 2008 run, but since launching his presidential campaign has been increasingly critical of Clinton.
Time to turn off Fox News?
Clinton seemed particularly interested in -- and irritated by -- Fox News.
She wonders at one point, "Will Fox attack me for my 'tax the rich' comments?"
Another time, she complains on top staffer Michael Posner's behalf that "FOX is beating the heck out of Mike for what he said in his briefing on the China human rights dialogue about the Arizona law."
Later, she complains that Bill O'Reilly is hammering away at Posner, too -- before being told he was re-airing an old show.
"Things aren't as bad as they seem," Philippe Reines responded.
Clinton also had her eye on other media outlets. Both Blumenthal and Cheryl Mills forwarded her a December 2009 Politico story headlined: "Poll: Clinton approval soars."
Must-see TV
Even while watching television in her downtime, Clinton wanted all things politics.
Some shows that caught her eye included NBC's "Parks and Recreation" and CBS' "The Good Wife," according to an email to aide Monica Hanley.
"Can you give me times for two TV shows: Parks and Recreation and The Good Wife?" she wrote in a "Happy New Year!" message early in 2010.
Parks and Recreation chronicles the saga of a Clinton-admiring woman in a small Indiana parks department, and The Good Wife is a political drama inspired by the Eliot Spitzer scandal.
Clinton also made it clear to Hanley how she drinks her tea -- with milk.
"Could you or he buy skim milk for me to have for my tea?" she wrote. "Also, pls remind me to bring more tea cups from home."
Suck-ups abound
Clinton gets a lot of kind emails, but one, from decades-long friend Roy Spence, stood out.
He called Clinton "Sis" and said "I love you" -- and that was just in the subject line.
"I love you. I respect you. I miss you. I cherish every moment of our remarkable journey together," Spence wrote. "God Speed. Dear Sis. We shall cross paths soon."
He was right about crossing paths again soon. Spence is now Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign's message consultant.A multimedia project by Square Enix titledhas launched. For the project's first news, a TV anime has been announced to aired in Fall 2017.IntroductionWe met and share one death - What's beyond the end of the horizon? Death… hope… freedom… … A girl has born with the secret to the end. She... is not allowed to live freely. "Freedom" is just a word she yearns for. She has lived in a closed and narrow world whole her life, and is chosen by "someone." Therefore, she thought, if the God only gives her scenario of life with no freedom, I want to share the "death" with you, not that "someone." I want to give half of my destiny to her, even if I have to share the "death" with her.Project Introduction PVOfficial site: http://portal.dia-horizon.jp/ Official Twitter: @ dia_horizon Source: Moca News Dia Horizon on MALMicrosoft's full-body game control system Project Natal will be launched in time for the holidays this year, in what promises to be a big year for Xbox 360 users.
The Xbox news was the highlight of CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote opening the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday, which was delayed by a brief power outage and included a lengthy pitch for Microsoft's recently launched Windows 7 operating system.
Ballmer also showed three new tablet PCs that will ship later this year, including a slender device from Hewlett-Packard that was running a PC version of Amazon's Kindle software. The device even looked a little like an e-reader, although it was apparently running Windows 7.
It wasn't the Courier tablet that Microsoft is reportedly working on and that some had expected to see at the keynote, however. Courier, as reported by the tech blog Gizmodo last September, is a novel device with two multi-touch screens that open like a book, and some nifty features like the ability to "flick" items from one screen to another.
Ballmer didn't mention Courier, however, and the news for gamers was the most compelling part of the evening.
"2010 is going to be a landmark year for all Xbox customers," thanks to Project Natal, lots of new games and an online retro arcade service, said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, who followed Ballmer on stage.
Project Natal was first previewed at the E3 show last year. It's a gaming control system that lets players use full-body gestures, like a kick or a punch, to interact with the action on screen. It employs a 3D camera to track body movements and then translates them into actions on the screen. Bach called it "the culmination of years of research."
Artwork: Chip Taylor He didn't give pricing or say how Project Natal will be sold, but he did say it will work with existing Xbox 360 consoles.
Also new for gamers, in the spring, will be Game Room. It's an online arcade where Xbox Live users can purchase classic video games from the 70s and 80s, from names like Atari and Activision, then invite the avatars of other Xbox Live users into their virtual arcade to play.
2010 will also be a big year for new Xbox games. Microsoft will release the next installment of its successful Halo franchise, called "Halo Reach," a prequel that will "tell the story of the epic battle before Halo 1," Bach said.
It will also introduce a new genre of games, "the psychological action thriller," with a game called "Alan Wake" that tells the story of a mystery writer who gets trapped in his own novels. "Think 'Lost,' written by Stephen King and directed by David Lynch," Bach said.
The evening began half an hour late after a power failure blackened out part of the stage at the Hilton center, along with a few of the computer screens on it.TLS Championship - It Is Time Text by 2Pacalypse- Graphics by v1
Video designed by: LastManProductions; Music composed by: Mote Keatinge aka EleGant[AoV]
We announced the
One thing must be mentioned before explaining the format and that is the matter of seeds from the previous three TLSs. It was mentioned multiple times during the original three TLSs that there would be some kind of a seeding process in TLS Championship based on your performance. However, after spending a lot of time thinking and discussing this with our staff, we have decided to get rid of the seeding process and wipe the slate clean for everyone. The reason for this is quite simple; when we originally said that there would be a seeding process, we did not expect to have a two year break between the last TLS and the championship. In this time, a lot of the things have changed, most notably, quite a few of the players who would get seeded have stopped playing BW altogether and their results do not carry enough weight anymore.
With all of that being said, we hope you all join the TLS Championship and show everyone, including the potential sponsors, that foreign BW is not dead!
Register for TLS Championship Please read the "Registration" section in this post carefully before registering. We announced the TLS Championship over five months ago and now it is time to provide you with all the necessary details which will focus mostly on the preliminary round, the first stage in our tournament. Seeing as this tournament could be considered a culmination of three TeamLiquid Legacy Starleagues and twenty TeamLiquid Legacy Cups, we have decided to do something non-standard for our preliminary stage, which in effect serves as new version of open qualifiers. Please read the format section carefully!One thing must be mentioned before explaining the format and that is the matter of seeds from the previous three TLSs. It was mentioned multiple times during the original three TLSs that there would be some kind of a seeding process in TLS Championship based on your performance. However, after spending a lot of time thinking and discussing this with our staff, we have decided to get rid of the seeding process and wipe the slate clean for everyone. The reason for this is quite simple; when we originally said that there would be a seeding process, we did not expect to have a two year break between the last TLS and the championship. In this time, a lot of the things have changed, most notably, quite a few of the players who would get seeded have stopped playing BW altogether and their results do not carry enough weight anymore.With all of that being said, we hope you all join the TLS Championship and show everyone, including the potential sponsors, that foreign BW is not dead!
Prize Breakdown Format TLS Championship consists of two stages: preliminary and elimination stage. Preliminary stage is available to everyone and it will serve as an open qualifier for the elimination stage. Preliminary stage can be best characterized as a mini-ladder, where all the players will play equal amount of matches against the opponents of their similar skill. After the preliminary stage is finished, 32 best players will be selected based on their results and will be placed in the single-elimination bracket.
Prelims
The maps used in a preliminary stage are: Fighting Spirit, Neo Medusa and Heartbreak Ridge. And they are played in that order. Which means that each round of the preliminary stage is a bo3 match in the following format:
Player 1 <
Player 1 < Player 1 < Fighting Spirit > Player 2Player 1 < Neo Medusa > Player 2Player 1 < New Heartbreak Ridge > Player 2 (if needed) Preliminary stage is a modified Swiss format, where instead of everyone playing everyone, players will play seven rounds of bo3 matches against the opponents with the similar results as them. Upon signing up for the TLS Championship, everyone will be placed into a single group. For the first round, we'll randomize the matchups and everyone will play a single bo3 match. After the first round, four groups of players will form: those who won their first round with a 2-0 score, those who won with 2-1, those who lost with the 1-2 score and those who lost 0-2. For the second round, each player will be matched against another player who has the same/similar score as them. This will continue for the total of seven rounds.The maps used in a preliminary stage are: Fighting Spirit, Neo Medusa and Heartbreak Ridge. And they are played in that order. Which means that each round of the preliminary stage is a bo3 match in the following format: Single-Elimination Elimination stage is a standard single-elimination format, where the 32 players with the best result in the preliminary stage will be placed in a bracket. Seeding of the single-elimination bracket will be determined based on your ranking in the preliminary stage; 1st place plays vs 32nd, 2nd place vs 31st etc. All rounds will be bo3 until semi-finals, which are bo5 along with the third place match. Finals are bo7. Maps used in the elimination stage will be announced at a later date. Schedule For players, designated time for each round in the preliminary stage is every Saturday at 18:00 GMT (+00:00). If you're unavailable to play at this date, it's up to you to reschedule your match to a time that you're available.
Broadcast of the TLS Championship will be every Sunday at 19:00 GMT (+00:00).
First round starts on January 9th at 18:00 GMT (+00:00) for the players and broadcast will follow on January 10th at 19:00 GMT (+00:00). Registration
Read this part carefully - Everyone who wants to play in the TLS Championship has to sign up only once. It's not necessary to check-in in the TL tournament system; everyone who signs-up will be considered as participating player in the tournament, checked-in automatically and included in all the next rounds. TL's tournament system will be used to generate a bracket and display the matchups (only the first column in the TL's bracket will be used). For the first round, the matchups will be randomized; after you have finished your games, you have to report the result and upload the replays for that round. After each round, results will be gathered and checked, total score for each player will be posted on Liquipedia and matchups for next round will be determined. At that point we'll reset the bracket that was used for the previous round in TL's tournament system and fill it in with matchups for next round. This may sound a bit complicated at first, but it will be really simple once you see how it works after the first round.
Register for TLS Championship
Seeing as there is no software that supports our ambitious format of the preliminary stage, we had to improvise a bit. TL Tournament system that you're all familiar with from TLCs will be used for registration, displaying the matchups and uploading the replays. This, in combination with Liquipedia where full results will be posted, should be enough to be as transparent as possible with minimum confusion.- Everyone who wants to play in the TLS Championship has to sign up only once. It's not necessary to check-in in the TL tournament system; everyone who signs-up will be considered as participating player in the tournament, checked-in automatically and included in all the next rounds. TL's tournament system will be used to generate a bracket and display the matchups (only the first column in the TL's bracket will be used). For the first round, the matchups will be randomized; after you have finished your games, you have to report the result and upload the replays for that round. After each round, results will be gathered and checked, total score for each player will be posted on Liquipedia and matchups for next round will be determined. At that point we'll reset the bracket that was used for the previous round in TL's tournament system and fill it in with matchups for next round. This may sound a bit complicated at first, but it will be really simple once you see how it works after the first round. Useful Links Register for TLS Championship
TeamLiquid Legacy Starleague Championship
TLS Championship Announcement
TLS Championship Information and Rules
Stream on twitch.tv FAQ Who is eligible to play in the TLS Championship?
For the TLS Championship, we have decided to stick with the same eligibility rule as we had in TLC series. You can read that rule in the
Seeing as it will undoubtedly be asked, yes, this means that Scan is not participating.
How long will the preliminaries last?
There will be seven rounds in the preliminary stage. Only one round will be played per week, so that means there will be seven weeks of preliminary stage.
What if I can't make one of the rounds?
Designated time to play each round will be on Saturdays at 18:00 GMT (+00:00). If you can't make it for one of the rounds, it's up to you to reschedule your match to a time that you're available. Matchups for each week will be available by Monday after each round, so you'll have five days to do so. If you fail to play one round, you will be given a 0-2 score for that round.
My opponent isn't responding/doesn't allow me to reschedule.
Please contact the
What about walkovers?
Walkovers result in a 2-0 victory for the player that was present at the scheduled time. You may not be walked over more than twice this tournament. If you receive a third walkover, you will be removed from the tournament.
What happens if there are odd number of players in the preliminary stage?
The lowest ranked player will receive a walkover in each round.
Can I sign up late?
You may sign up late only for the duration of the first two rounds. Starting with the third round, sign ups will be closed. If you sign up late, you will receive 0-2 result for each round you've missed.
How are the matchups for each round determined?
Besides the first round, which has randomized matchups, in each subsequent round we'll start with the top player and pair him with a player of same score as him. If there are none who has the same score as him, the one closest below him will be chosen. If there are multiple players with same score to choose from, one will be chosen at random.
Is it possible to play against the same opponent twice in the preliminary stage?
Yes, but this is unlikely to happen.
What happens if there are multiple players with the same score at the 32nd place after the last round?
Tiebreakers, if necessary, will be determined in the following order: (1) previous head-to-head results, if any, (2) total rounds won, (3) additional games played between involved parties.
What about banned or previously disqualified users?
Banned users (for any reason) cannot enter these tournaments. Do not try to circumvent by creating smurf accounts. We will find you, and you will be disqualified from the TLS and future TL events.
What about hackers / cheaters / abusers?
Any sort of cheating may result in disqualification from the TLS and from future TL events. We take cheating very seriously, and we will hand out For the TLS Championship, we have decided to stick with the same eligibility rule as we had in TLC series. You can read that rule in the TLC info, under the FAQ.Seeing as it will undoubtedly be asked, yes, this means that Scan is not participating.There will be seven rounds in the preliminary stage. Only one round will be played per week, so that means there will be seven weeks of preliminary stage.Designated time to play each round will be on Saturdays at. If you can't make it for one of the rounds, it's up to you to reschedule your match to a time that you're available. Matchups for each week will be available by Monday after each round, so you'll have five days to do so. If you fail to play one round, you will be given a 0-2 score for that round.Please contact the administrator with any disputes regarding the scheduling of matches.Walkovers result in a 2-0 victory for the player that was present at the scheduled time. You may not be walked over more than twice this tournament. If you receive a third walkover, you will be removed from the tournament.The lowest ranked player will receive a walkover in each round.You may sign up late only for the duration of the first two rounds. Starting with the third round, sign ups will be closed. If you sign up late, you will receive 0-2 result for each round you've missed.Besides the first round, which has randomized matchups, in each subsequent round we'll start with the top player and pair him with a player of same score as him. If there are none who has the same score as him, the one closest below him will be chosen. If there are multiple players with same score to choose from, one will be chosen at random.Yes, but this is unlikely to happen.Tiebreakers, if necessary, will be determined in the following order: (1) previous head-to-head results, if any, (2) total rounds won, (3) additional games played between involved parties.Banned users (for any reason) cannot enter these tournaments. Do not try to circumvent by creating smurf accounts. We will find you, and you will be disqualified from the TLS and future TL events.Any sort of cheating may result in disqualification from the TLS and from future TL events. We take cheating very seriously, and we will hand out harsh punishments. Credits Sponsor: Rus_Brain
Server: iCCup
Casters: Sayle, Cats_Paw, Artanis[Xp] and others
Organization: TL BW Staff
Graphics: v1 TLS Championship consists of two stages: preliminary and elimination stage. Preliminary stage is available to everyone and it will serve as an open qualifier for the elimination stage. Preliminary stage can be best characterized as a mini-ladder, where all the players will play equal amount of matches against the opponents of their similar skill. After the preliminary stage is finished, 32 best players will be selected based on their results and will be placed in the single-elimination bracket. Moderator "We're a community of geniuses because we've found how to extract 95% of the feeling of doing something amazing without actually doing anything." - ChillMichael Ignatieff wants your heart and soul.
Oh, he'd like your vote, too. But he'll settle for getting Canadians, young and old alike, involved in the political process.
It was one of the messages he took to students at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus Wednesday, part of a week-long tour of 11 Canadian universities and his only GTA stop.
The U of T grad, who was also a professor at Harvard University before he became federal Liberal leader, faced a few protesters who urged him to go back to Massachusetts.
"Just so you know," he told about 600 people in a packed lecture hall, "I'm not going anywhere, because I'm home."
While Ignatieff took questions on a wide range of issues, including the Middle East, nuclear energy, the environment and copyright laws, he focused on getting Canadians involved in the political process.
He took a few jabs at Prime Minister Stephen Harper for suspending Parliament on Dec. 30, suggesting Harper thought he could slip it past a country too lazy to care.
"He gambled on your cynicism, he gambled on your disillusion, he gambled on your detachment from the process and, interestingly, he gambled wrong," Ignatieff said. "Your presence today is a sign you care about politics."
He said Canadians don't like a leader who thinks Parliament answers to him and said public cynicism is "fertile ground for politicians who want to turn you off the process further.... For heaven's sake, get involved, 'cause if you don't, they make the future. If you get involved, you make the future.
"Systematically, this man tries to steamroller every institutional obstacle to his authority, including the Senate."
Ignatieff said his Liberals must propose a democratic reform package to ensure that "I'm not going to shut down Parliament when the heat's on... every time my government is under legitimate scrutiny."
If and when he forms a government.
He said that in the 2008 federal election, just one in five newly eligible voters even bothered to vote.
"Your responsibility is to show up 'cause it's your country," he said. "So, if you don't show up, someone else will show up."
In response to a question from a local high school student about how young voices can be heard, Ignatieff carried on with his theme.
"I think the most important thing that I can do is just to show up, to be in this room with you right now and to listen," he said, adding he first got involved in politics in high school. "Get 'em young and keep 'em, right?
"One of the legacy responsibilities of a person in public life is to make sure the political system is healthier by the time you leave than when you started. The only way the political system is going to be better off is if you're in it."
Ignatieff said his staff of political professionals urged him not to embark on this cross-county series of university town hall sessions.
"They all said in one voice, `Are you nuts? They're going to ask you questions. Somebody might blind-side you....' From the politician's side, there's risk associated," he said.
"My sense is that this is holding us back.
"We have to persuade you, voter by voter, heart by heart, soul by soul, that this business called politics is worth doing."
It's a process, he said, "about whether we shape the future or the future shapes us."
Romina Siddiqui, 21, a fourth-year economics student, said Ignatieff's appearance was "very inspiring."
"I think he motivates youth to get involved in politics, to try and make a difference for the future of Canada," she said.
After he was presented with a U of T hooded sweatshirt, Ignatieff huddled with a throng of students before he left for another talk at Hamilton's McMaster University.The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week announced a $3 million, three-year program that to test the use of unmanned aircraft to measure hurricanes, arctic and Antarctic ice changes and other environmental tasks.
The agency said the drone aircraft would be outfitted with special sensors and technology to help NOAA scientists better predict a hurricane’s intensity and track, how fast Arctic summer ice will melt, and whether soggy Pacific storms will flood West Coast cities.
NOAA said unmanned aircraft |
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Firefighters trying to reach the scene of as serious crash blocking the M5 have got stuck in traffic - because motorists are clogging up the hard shoulder.
Rescue crews said they were held up in tailbacks attempting to reach the smash involving a biker in Somerset because people are trying to drive the WRONG WAY up the hard shoulder to escape the gridlock.
An air ambulance landed at the scene following the incident, which completely closed the motorway in both directions.
For the latest traffic updates, follow our live blog on the incident.
Devon and Somerset firefighters from Wellington posted photographs on Facebook showing themselves sitting in traffic en route to the incident.
Drivers appear to have attempted to dodge the long queues by using the hard shoulder - blocking it to emergency vehicles.
A spokesperson for Wellington Fire Station said: "Currently stuck in traffic jam due to an accident on the motorway north bound between Taunton Deane services and the Taunton junction.
"Some people have taken it upon them selves to drive the wrong way down the hard shoulder and block the hard shoulder."
However some motorists including Chris Whiteway said that the motorists had been sent back down the hard shoulder: "Police have turned traffic away down the hard shoulder."
For up-to-date traffic news follow our live blogThe Gangs of New Guinea: Chilling photographs show the street criminals in one of the world's most uninhabitable cities
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The criminals from the exotic island of Papua New Guinea are the subject of a new photo book about the Raskol gangs ruling the streets of the country's capital city, Port Moresby.
Photographer Stephen Dupont traveled to the mysterious land off the northeast tip of Australia to photograph the faces of these gang members who roam the streets of the city.
Dupont, a native of Australia, traveled to the island, which is one of the least explored spaces on earth, in 2004 and captured the essence of the renegades running the city, in a recently to be released book'Raskols: The Gangs of Papua New Guinea.'
Scroll down for video.
Young warriors: 'This fenced-up, razor-wired, lawless metropolis is infamous for its criminal gangs known as raskols (the indigenous Tok Pisin word for criminals),' the photographer said
Faces of crime: One gang member from Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, which has been ranked the most unlivable city Crime: 'Throughout Port Moresby, dense urban settlements and a general lack of law and order have led to intertribal warfare and a seemingly endless stream of kidnappings, gang rape, carjackings, and vicious murders. That's all in addition to soaring HIV rates and massive unemployment,' the Australian photojournalist said
Dupont's montage came after his trip to 'a land where crime has gotten so out of control, personal security services are the country's largest growth industry,' according to a description for his book.
With an unemployment rate of 60 per cent, the dire poverty and fight for survival has made it a breeding ground for crimes such as rape, murder and carjacking,
Poverty pervades the entire Commonwealth, which declared independence from Australia in 1975, and its capital city of Port Moresby has been ranked as the most dangerous and unlivable cities on earth.
'This fenced-up, razor-wired, lawless metropolis is infamous for its criminal gangs known as raskols (the indigenous Tok Pisin word for criminals)...Throughout Port Moresby, dense urban settlements and a general lack of law and order have led to intertribal warfare and a seemingly endless stream of kidnappings, gang rape, carjackings, and vicious murders. That's all in addition to soaring HIV rates and massive unemployment.'
In order to chronicle this dangerous population, Dupont 'infiltrated a raskol community and documented the rough and ruthless individuals involved in Papua New Guinea's gang life. Raskols presents formal portraits of the Kips Kaboni (Scar Devils), Papua New Guinea's longest established criminal gang.'
Masked: Stephen Dupont 'infiltrated a raskol community and documented the rough and ruthless individuals involved in Papua New Guinea's gang life'
Roaming the streets: Dupont set up a makeshift studio inside the Kips Kaboni safe house where he photographed his subjects and their unique handmade weapons and firearms. This young man wears a t shirt of Osama bin Laden
Armed: The gangs control the streets. Despite the crime and violence they have unleashed on their city, some view them as modern-day Robin Hoods
Youth: These mostly young, unemployed adults and teenagers orchestrate raids, carjackings, and robberies as a means of survival 'Dupont set up a makeshift studio inside the Kips Kaboni safe house where he photographed his subjects and their unique handmade weapons and firearms. These mostly young, unemployed adults and teenagers orchestrate raids, carjackings, and robberies as a means of survival.' 'The gangs control the streets. Despite the crime and violence they have unleashed on their city, some view them as modern-day Robin Hoods. With a corrupt government and police force, every day in Port Moresby is survival of the fittest. Many of these raskols initially turned to crime, violence, and anarchy in a bid to protect and provide for themselves and their communities.' RELATED ARTICLES Previous
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Next The photographer at Auschwitz: Man forced to take chilling... Photo of 'kidnapped' blonde girl begging sparks uproar in... Taliban recruits for the burka brigade... but don't worry,... Share this article Share Since he began his career as a photojournalist in 1989, Dupont has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Burundi, Iraq, and Rwanda.
Dupont has exhibited his across the globe and has authored several books highlighting his work, including, STEAM: India’s Last Steam Trains and FIGHT: A global retrospective on traditional wrestling.
Machete: Every day in Port Moresby is the survival of the fittest
Last resort: With a corrupt government and police force, many of these raskols initially turned to crime, violence, and anarchy in a bid to protect and provide for themselves and their communitiesWith the call to remove statues across the country, people are now calling for the statue of Bill Clinton in downtown Rapid City to be removed because of his womanizing history.
The mayor's office and City of Presidents Foundation both have received calls on the issue, but do not plan to remove it.
"If we took down the statue of every president who is guilty of womanizing, we wouldn't have many statues left on the street, maybe Jimmy Carter," said Dalerie Davis, co-founder of the City of Presidents Foundation.
Calls they received came from all over the country, many from Texas. Those calling for its removal say they are offended by its presence, saying it glorifies a man who was known for sexual misconduct.
Some do not believe it’s removal is warranted.
"I bet you can find something that someone doesn't like about every president in downtown Rapid City,” said Dan Senftner, president of Destination Rapid City. “I just believe we keep everything intact and keep everything moving forward."
Some believe the call to remove the Clinton statue is the Alt-Right's response to the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Va.; because the Foundation says they haven't received any complaints until now.
"So I am thinking the statue issue is a counter argument that was scratched up to say why it was wrong to take down the civil war statues," said Lori Miller, public relations for Indivisible Rapid City.
Statues around the country have been taken down in response to Charlottesville, and not all agree with this.
"It’s taking away a lot of history for people. If you are trying to erase it from our past, how are we going to learn," said Craig Burlingame, a tourist from Minneapolis.
But the removal of the Clinton statue is unlikely, with Davis saying "absolutely not."Detectives believe there may be more students involved in a plot to carry out attacks at an Anaheim high school on graduation day. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Thursday, May 25, 2017. (Published Friday, May 26, 2017)
Two Anaheim high school juniors were arrested Thursday for allegedly threatening to carry out attacks on the campus, including shootings and detonating a bomb.
The Savanna High School students, both 16-year-old boys, were arrested early Thursday morning after school administrators learned of the threats — which were posted online — and contacted police, according to Sgt. Daron Wyatt of the Anaheim Police Department.
The students are suspected of "plotting to commit acts of violence on campus, including the placing of bombs and committing shootings," according to Wyatt, who said the threats indicated the attacks would take place Thursday.
Wyatt said investigators worked with school officials and were able to identify the students, and both were located Thursday morning before classes began at the campus, 301 N. Gilbert St.
Alleged School Killing Plot Thwarted in Anaheim
Two 16-year-old students were arrested for allegedly planning to carry out attacks at Savanna High School in Anaheim. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 25, 2017. (Published Thursday, May 25, 2017)
They were arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats.
No motivation for the alleged plot was immediately apparent, Wyatt said. The school's graduation ceremony was scheduled for Thursday night at a different location, he said.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that other students may have been "peripherally involved" or at least aware of the boys' plans, but Wyatt said the primary suspects are in custody.
Searches of the teens' homes turned up no weapons or explosives, according to Wyatt, who said nothing has been found to indicate the boys had the means to carry out the threatened attacks.
Copyright City News ServiceHoward Schultz, the current CEO of Starbucks, is weeks away from stepping down from his role at the giant coffee chain next month.
The move was announced in December 2016, and Schultz will remain at the company as executive chairman. Kevin Johnson, Starbucks' chief operating officer, will take on the role as CEO on April 3, 2017.
Earlier this year, Schultz made a vow to hire thousands refugees in response to President Donald Trump's first travel ban. Trump supporters have called for a boycott of the chain since January 29, when Schultz vowed to hire 10,000 refugees over five years.
Afterwards, consumer perception levels took a hit as measured by YouGov BrandIndex's Buzz score, falling by two-thirds between January 29 and February 13.
Howard Schultz will step down as Starbucks CEO on April 3, as announced in December of last year
In the announcement that he was stepping down, Schultz said he 'will shift his focus to innovation, design and development of Starbucks Reserve® Roasteries around the world, expansion of the Starbucks Reserve® retail store format and the company's social impact initiatives' and 'focus on Starbucks next wave of retail innovation.'
Schultz has always been vocal about the need for greater sensitivity in balancing profit margins while advancing socio-economic conscientiousness.
He was also a public Clinton supporter and prominent Democrat, and even considered as a running mate for the Democratic nominee at one point.
Schultz in a letter to employees said the promise of the American Dream was 'being called into question' and that 'the civility and human rights we have all taken for granted for so long are under attack.'
The YouGov consumer survery also noted that the data around this boycott is different because both the measures of consumers' sentiment towards companies and their willingness to purchase from those brands are declining.
At the time, analysts at Credit Suisse said the coffee giant's move had a negative impact on recent sales, but Starbucks vehemently disputed this and issued their own statement on March 10 to that effect..
Matt Ryan, chief strategy officer for Starbucks, said in a statement: 'Over the past week, there has been misinformation widely disseminated in the market about our brand, and stakeholders need the facts.
'The following note came from the president of Kantar Millward Brown – our long-term partner in providing brand and consumer equity research – clarifying current Starbucks brand perception. Reports suggesting anything other than this should be viewed skeptically and do not reflect the customer satisfaction and perception trends we are seeing so far in 2017.'
'In fact, in February 2017—after the announcement—we did not observe any substantive impact on Customer Consideration, Future Visitation Intent or Brand Perceptions or any other key performance metrics for the Starbucks brand.'
Immediately Consumer perception levels took a hit as measured by YouGov BrandIndex's Buzz score, falling by two-thirds between January 29 and February 13
Schultz, with an estimated net worth of $3.1billion, will remain at Starbucks as executive chairman and will focus on strengthening the company's high-end coffee shops.
Schultz will be replaced as CEO by Kevin Johnson, Starbucks' chief operating officer, on April 3, 2017, The Seattle Times reported.
The self-made billionaire bought and turned the Seattle-based business from a fledgling company with four stores to a massive chain with 25,000 franchises worldwide.
The 63-year-old will remain at the Seattle-based company as executive chairman, focusing on building up Starbucks' high-end coffee shops
Starbucks is estimated to be worth $85billion, according to Forbes. Its share price has taken a hit since Schultz's refugee comments, but has risen in the past week to 55.78 USD.
Prior to the comments, 30 per cent of consumers said they would consider buying from Starbucks next time they made a coffee purchase. However, now that number fell to 26 per cent, according to a YouGov spokesman.
'Consumer perception dropped almost immediately,' said YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli, who added that the statistically significant drop in purchase consideration data showed that consumers became less keen to buy from Starbucks.
Schultz will be replaced by Kevin Johnson (pictured), Starbucks' chief operating officer, who will be become the CEO effective after Schultz's departure
'That would indicate the announcement has had a negative impact on Starbucks, and might indicate a negative impact on sales in the near term,' he said.
'We're not just here to raise the stock price,' he told Forbes in March of 2016. 'What can we do to use our strength for social good?'
As CEO, he offered to subsidize tuition for baristas looking to get their degrees online. He also spearheaded the move to place Starbucks franchises on military bases in order as a way to provide jobs for veterans and soldiers' spouses.
During the recent election campaign, speculation was rampant that Schultz was considered as a possible running mate on the Democratic ticket.
Schultz, who said he was a 'lifelong' Democrat, wrongly predicted that Clinton would take the White House.
On the morning after the election, Schultz penned a note to his employees saying he was'stunned' by Donald Trump's victory.
'We cannot know what the precise impact will be on our country and the rest of the world,' Schultz wrote.
'I am hopeful that we will overcome the vitriol and division of this unprecedented election season.'
Starbucks is estimated to be worth $85billion and Schultz has an estimated net worth of $3.1billion, according to Forbes
He 'is definitely being pursued' as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, The Seattle Times reported.
Among other things, boycott supporters are urging like-minded friends to support Starbucks rival Dunkin' Donuts. Representatives from Dunkin' Donuts declined to comment on the surveys and the boycott's impact on sales.
The consumer sentiment data comes at a sensitive time for Starbucks, which reported an accelerated decline in traffic to established U.S. restaurants during the latest quarter.
Starbucks executives pinned much of the blame for its traffic setback on a pileup of mobile orders, which caused bottlenecks at drink pickup stations that thwarted walk-in customers.The San Antonio Spurs announced on Monday that they have signed forward Darrun Hilliard to a two-way contract.
Hilliard, who spent the last two seasons with the Detroit Pistons, now occupies the final two-way contract slot for the San Antonio Spurs. The other spot belongs to Matt Costello who the Spurs signed in July.
Every team has a different strategy with how they use two-way contracts.
Some teams have opted to use a two-way contract to sign their second round picks in the 2017 NBA Draft. Others have signed undrafted free agents to a two-way deal. And teams like San Antonio have used the two-way contract as a way to develop older, but inexperienced players who could fill in on a limited basis.
Hilliard is the latest example for San Antonio — a crafty two-way wing with the potential to develop into a role player.
Under head coach Jay Wright, Hilliard averaged 11.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in four years at Villanova. He also shot 44 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc.
While Villanova didn’t win a national championship in his four years there, his teammates — including former Austin Spurs guard Ryan Arcidiacono — helped him become the man he is today.
“Looking back, coming in as a 17-year-old kid who was mentally unstable…finding coach (Jay) Wright and finding players like JayVaughn (Pinkston) and Arch (Ryan Arcidiacono) and Daniel (Ochefu) and then Dylan (Ennis)…I was able to kind of break out of my shell and kind of open up to these guys and it just motivated my game.” Hilliard told CSN Philly in 2015.
“These guys helped me more off the court than on the court…these guys have been my safe haven, you could say. Saved my life.”
Drafted 38th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, Hilliard immediately drew praise from Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy during summer league. But a broken nose, a lower back stress fracture and multiple G-League assignments hampered his development in Detroit.
This summer saw Hilliard traded from Detroit to Houston, then Houston to the Los Angeles Clippers in a matter of days. Los Angeles immediately waived him after completing the Chris Paul trade.
Now the 24-year-old forward has a new home inside the Spurs organization.
Despite the whirlwind of transactions, Hilliard remains an asset with no discernible weakness.
His athleticism is average for the NBA. His dribbling and footwork allow him to create his own shot. He’s an above-average 3-point shooter despite his NBA career numbers. His size and strength enable him to create space on offense, while also bullying his counterpart on defense. And finally, his patience and basketball IQ make him an excellent distributor.
The last two attributes are a result of Hilliard’s years as a star quarterback in high school.
Even when defenders figure him out, Hilliard has a secret weapon: He’s ambidextrous.
Hilliard is right-handed in his daily life, but shoots the basketball left-handed. Once he gets around the basket, he can finish with either hand as he showed during the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup, where he helped Team USA win a gold medal.
With all the positives in his game, it’s easy to get excited over an addition like Hilliard.
Playing under Stan and Jeff Van Gundy isn’t like playing for Gregg Popovich. But their similar philosophies give Hilliard a solid foundation of corporate knowledge.
The two-way contract limits how much time Hilliard can spend in San Antonio, but finding an NBA veteran with so much promise is rare.
San Antonio can develop Hilliard from afar without sacrificing a roster spot or cap space. And the two-way contract also allows him to serve as an insurance policy behind Brandon Paul or Kyle Anderson.
Hilliard isn’t expected to be the next Jonathon Simmons “rags to riches” success story; the chance he logs even a single NBA minute this year is slim.
But one thing is for sure: San Antonio’s due diligence paired with Hilliard’s trademark patience and work ethic are already the perfect match.
“I’m trying my best to stay calm and level-headed and leave it in God’s hands,” Hilliard told The Morning Call after being waived by the Clippers.
“I plan on working hard; harder than I ever have. I believe that when you work hard, everything will take care of itself.”AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Jelastic: Choose Your Cloud Hosting by Location
Today we`d like to talk about the giants on the cloud market – AWS, Azure, Google Cloud – and compare their geographical coverage with Jelastic Cloud world presence. Many media sources provides different great comparisons of the first three vendors (we took some of them as a basis), so today we’d like to add Jelastic Cloud to the list, extending the stats about existing data center locations worldwide.
Coverage on the World Map
Big public cloud providers have one unbeatable benefit – customers can access their global infrastructure as well as create virtual servers closer to their location or location of their target audience.
On the map below you can compare the servers geographical availability of AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Jelastic. As you see, all these providers have multiple data centers across the globe, but the coverage differs in number of locations, as well as their distribution.
Let’s have a look at the chart comparison by geographical regions.
And total numbers in general:
Upcoming Locations
Competition is high, so each cloud vendor is trying to offer their customers better solutions and required conditions, adding new well performing data centres worldwide, here are approximate upcoming locations:
AWS (4): 1 in North America, 2 in Europe, 1 in Asia
Azure (8): 4 in North America, 2 in Europe, 2 in Asia
Google Cloud (8): 1 in North America, 1 in South America, 3 in Europe, 2 in Asia, 1 in Oceania
Jelastic (8): 2 in North America, 4 in Europe, 2 in Middle East
Summary
No surprise that the biggest variety of cloud vendors locations are presented in the North American market
Europe is intensively covered by data centres of Jelastic and Azure
Only Jelastic provides locations in Africa and Middle East
Russia and Eastern Europe are also blind spots for all cloud vendors, except Jelastic
Within Southern America Google Cloud Platform, AWS and Azure are available only in Brazil, Jelastic is also presented in Paraguay
In terms of available locations, Jelastic has already nearly twice overcome Azure, leaving AWS and Google Cloud far behind
In addition, Jelastic platform can be also installed on premise or on top of AWS, Azure or Google Cloud
Of course, there are many aspects that have to be considered while choosing cloud vendor but if location and multi-regional availability is important for you, Jelastic with its Cloud Union is the vivid leader. Feel free to check the other peculiarities as features, performance, support and price of Jelastic platform at one of the available hosting data center.Paris: Once they developed a taste for grass, the ancestors of today`s elephants swiftly broadened their leaf-only diet and placed their progeny on a new evolutionary track, a study said today.
Early tuskers were moving into open grassland millions of years before their teeth were adapted to grazing, according to a paper in the journal Nature.
The research, based on analysis of the fossil remains of east African proboscideans -- the order containing mammals with tusks and trunks like elephants and mammoths -- claims to show that animal behavioural "choice" can shape the way a species evolves.
It had been known that grass "grazers" evolved from leaf "browsers" -- but not whether this happened before or after they acquired their new teeth.
In the case of proboscideans, the study showed their diet evolving about eight million years ago as a changing climate turned the African continent into a more arid place with grassland progressively replacing woodland.
While they still had access to leaves, which their teeth were adapted to chew, these early elephants rapidly started to add substantial amounts of grass to their diet.
The molars of leaf "browsers" are flatter than the higher, much more ridged and wear-resistant teeth that today`s elephants use to grind grass, which is tougher than foliage, and the soil that sticks to it.
The change in proboscidean teeth only started about three million years after the dietary shift, according to the study by palaeontologist Adrian Lister of London`s Natural History Museum.
"This long delay between the behaviour change and the evolutionary response suggests that behaviour led the way," he said in a statement.
"The theory that animal behaviour may play an important role in the origin of new adaptations has been discussed for over 100 years, but it has been very difficult to find concrete examples".
Elephants today eat grasses and herbs, leaves, tree bark, fruit and vegetables.
AFPDistributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks - cyberattacks in which perpetrators render a website or other resource unavailable to its intended users by overloading it with superfluous requests sent from numerous devices simultaneously - continue to pose a major risk to businesses and other organizations that rely on the Internet. It is not hard to picture the potentially catastrophic damage to a company that earns its revenue by online advertising if it were knocked offline, or to an online retailer if an unscrupulous competitor hired a criminal to launch an attack on the former's website at the height of the holiday shopping season. In fact, on multiple occasions we have seen clear examples of the damage that DDoS attacks can inflict. Furthermore, as I discussed earlier this week, criminals are now demanding that firms pay them or face DDoS attacks - a 2017 version of classic "protection money" extortion.
Over the past decade various technologies have emerged that help reduce the risk of DDoS attacks - but the capabilities of the criminals launching the attacks have greatly advanced as well. With the mass proliferation of insecure Internet of Things devices and the easy availability of exploit code, attackers have access to a multitude of easily-comprised potential zombies, making DDoS attacks a significant danger.
Ultimately, the Achilles Heel of many DDoS defenses is that they must absorb large amounts of attack traffic - a process which can utilize a lot of bandwidth and processing power, and be quite expensive. As such, criminals benefit from a tremendous advantage: they normally launch DDoS attacks from "zombies" - that is, computers that they have taken control of via malware - so they obtain their necessary resources for free.
Because of the cost of absorbing large volumes of data, many DDoS protection firms charge businesses for handling huge traffic loads - with Uber-like "surge pricing" - making DDoS attacks very expensive even to those organizations that successfully mitigate against them. Other defense firms may charge businesses more up front to ensure profitability even if DDoS attacks do occur, or may terminate customer accounts if a customer turns into a losing proposition. Last year, for example, after criminals launched a massive DDoS attack at security journalist Brian Krebs' website - which was, at the time, protected pro bono by Akamai - Akamai told Krebs to take his site's protection needs elsewhere. Additionally, even the most robust anti-DDoS infrastructures may be taxed by growing DDoS attacks; there is a limit to how many entities they can adequately protect at once. Hacktivists - that is, hackers attacking parties for activist-type rationales - have even taken down some sites when attacking other sites using the same DDoS protection service.
I recently spoke with a startup that is working to use the blockchain technology to address these shortcomings, to dramatically reduce the cost of protecting against DDoS attacks, and, ultimately, to render DDoS attacks far less effective. Blockchain, is of course, the technology underlying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and smart contract systems like Ethereum. It allows for the sharing of information through a nearly-incorruptible digital ledger that is distributed all over the Internet, requires no central authority for management, and protects entries by effectively allowing them to be made only by the parties authorized to do so. I will write a detailed explanation of blockchain in an upcoming piece.
By using blockchain, Maryland-based Gladius is creating a system that would allow people to rent out their unused bandwidth so that it can be used to absorb malicious DDoS traffic and mitigate against attacks. For most adults of working age, the vast majority of the bandwidth of their home Internet connection sits idle during the workday; in much the same way that Airbnb lets people utilize their home to make money when it would have otherwise sat idle and empty, Gladius plans to allow folks to leverage their Internet connections when they would not normally be heavily used. By leveraging the blockchain, Gladius eliminates the middle man between bandwidth providers and those needing it, and eliminates the need to buy bandwidth other than during an actual attack - so, businesses buy only the bandwidth that they actually need. Web site owners could also use the system to accelerate the delivery of content - as computers all over the world could function effectively as remote deliverers of cached data (in what would technically be known as a Content Delivery Network or CDN). Payments on Gladius are done with its own cryptocurrency - GLA - which ostensibly will be bought and sold on crypto exchanges. Gladius will begin offering GLA in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in October, and plans to go live early next year.
Like any other startup, Gladius will certainly face challenges, and it is obviously too early to know whether the firm or other blockchain technologies will ultimately capture the DDoS protection market from established businesses, but the advent of a new, democratized model of protection and financial opportunity - allowing for potentially better utilization of resources by everyone across the Internet ecosystem - is certainly an exciting development. Ironically, if Gladius is successful, it will need to implement security to ensure that criminals don't monetize zombies in the future by transforming them from DDoS attackers into rented defenders against DDoS attacks.The comedy's axing follows the recent cancellations of 'Sense8' and 'The Get Down.'
Netflix is canceling another show.
The streaming giant has opted to not move forward with another season of Girlboss, the Britt Robertson-led comedy loosely based on Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso's life. The 13-episode series — which followed a rebellious anarchist who turns herself into a business woman by up-selling vintage clothes online — was written and executive produced by Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect) and hailed from Charlize Theron's production company, Denver & Delilah.
The decision to not order additional seasons of Girlboss, which debuted in April, comes weeks after the streamer canceled Sense8, its sci-fi drama from The Wachowskis, and The Get Down, its ambitious music drama from Baz Luhrmann. The cancellations mark rare ones for the streamer, which has renewed the vast majority of its slate as part of an aggressive push into scripted originals. Other Netflix series to be canceled include Marco Polo, Lilyhammer, Hemlock Grove, Bloodline and A&E pickup Longmire.
A month ago, Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings told CNBC at the Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., that he thinks the content platform hasn't canceled enough shows. "Our hit ratio is way too high right now," he said. "I'm always pushing the content team; we have to take more risk, you have to try more crazy things, because we should have a higher cancel rate overall."
Earlier this month at the Produced By conference at Fox Studios, Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos also spoke about pulling the plug on series. “Relative to what you spent, are people watching it?" he said. “A big, expensive show for a huge audience is great. A big, expensive show for a tiny audience is hard, even in our model, to make that work very long.”
Amoruso shared the news Saturday in an Instagram post. "I absolutely loved the show and am so sad it's over. I am grateful for it all," she wrote.Asking just two questions may be able to help nurses and doctors quickly and easily identify delirium in hospitalized older adults, according to health researchers.
Delirium is a reversible cognitive condition that can be resolved if caught and treated early.
"Delirium can be very costly and deadly -- and with high-risk patients, time matters," said Donna M. Fick, Distinguished Professor of Nursing and co-director of the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at Penn State. "Our ultra-brief two-item bedside test for delirium takes an average of 36 seconds to perform and has a sensitivity of 93 percent."
Edward R. Marcantonio, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, recently developed the 3D-CAM, a three-minute confusion assessment method, to help identify patients with delirium quickly. However, this method is more complicated than the ultra-brief screening and can still take a significant amount of time to administer. Fick and Marcantonio wanted to develop something that would be easier to use at the bedside and take less time out of a busy nurse's day.
"We started by looking for one question that could detect delirium, but we could only get 83 percent sensitivity, which is not good enough," said Fick. She and her colleagues report their findings online in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
The researchers were able to find two questions that proved to have a 93 percent sensitivity in identifying delirium: patients were asked what day of the week it was and to recite the months of the year backwards. If a patient failed to answer these two questions correctly -- indicating delirium -- the 3D-CAM would be administered.
Of the 201 participants tested in this study, 42 were clinically diagnosed with delirium. The two-item test identified 48 as possibly delirious -- 42 were identified correctly, with 6 false positives.
"These results still need to be validated, with a very large sample," said Fick, before the test can be recommended for everyday use.
The researchers plan to continue this research in multiple sites with hundreds of participants in the near future to further determine the test's validity as well as how easily the test can be implemented in real-world situations.Two state senators from western Pennsylvania are rejecting President Trump's claim that he represents "Pittsburgh, not Paris" in pulling out of the Paris climate accord by vowing that the Keystone State will keep to its pollution reduction targets set under the international agreement.
Pa. Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) issued a statement today saying he plans to introduce legislation requiring the state Department of Environmental Protection to adopt the requirements set forth in the Obama Clean Power Plan.
Finalized during the Obama Administration, the plan was designed by the EPA to reduce greenhouse emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, the senator's office noted.
"Like you, Mr. President, I too was elected to represent the people of Pittsburgh - but I'm going to stick to my word," Costa said in the statement. "In the absence of federal leadership, I'm going to take steps to ensure a future for our children, providing an environment where people can grow, thrive and live healthy lives with an expectation that the water they're drinking and the air they're breathing is clean and safe."
Costa's statement noted that with Pa.'s transition from fossil fuels -- most notably, coal -- plus its turn to natural gas production, investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency, the state is well positioned to meet the assigned target. He added that the switch also will produce jobs.
"I question why the president would want to stand in the way of progress and put the lives of Americans, especially our children at risk. That would seem in direct conflict with making America great again," Costa said in the statement.
Costa's colleague from the same region, Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny), joined him in calling for Pennsylvania to remain under the pollution-cutting mandates set by Obama and memorialized by the Paris accord, despite President Trump's actions to pull the U.S. out of the international agreement earlier this week.
"With the dubious exception of Syria and Nicaragua, all the nations of the world have joined together to do something about climate change," Fontana said. "It's sad and embarrassing that our nation is abandoning this worthy effort - and that our president used Pittsburgh as his example for why he made such a profoundly wrong decision."Unique Bike Treks Up East Coast, Powered By Solar And Pedals
Enlarge this image toggle caption Valerie Bonk/AP Valerie Bonk/AP
It's not rare for new vehicle owners to be proud of their purchase. And some even travel to the factory to pick up their new ride and drive it home. That's what Mark Stewart did — but his new vehicle is an ELF hybrid bike, and his ride home will take hundreds of miles to complete.
"What he's driving looks like a cross between a bicycle and a car, the closest thing yet to Fred Flintstone's footmobile, only with solar panels and a futuristic shape," the AP reports.
Stewart, 65, is riding his new bike, a three-wheeler from ELF maker Organic Transit, from the company's shop in Durham, N.C., to Cambridge, Mass., using a 1,200-mile route of roads and trails, the AP says. Stewart is a longtime fan of the East Coast Greenway, he says on his blog, where he's detailing his trip.
As it happens, Stewart lives mere blocks away from the Good News Garage in Cambridge, which NPR listeners may recognize as the home of Car Talk's Magliozzi brothers.
"I listen to Tom and Ray all the time," Stewart tells the show's blogger, Jim Motavilli. "We're neighbors in what is, more or less, our fair city."
Stewart called Motavilli from Manhattan, where he arrived Wednesday on his northward journey. Stewart reports covering about 60-80 miles each day, with a maximum of 90 miles. And while he says his trip has been free of any major hassles, he says the unique vehicle takes some getting used to.
"The ELF takes a bit of effort to learn, just as riding a bicycle does," he tells Motavilli. "You can't be an idiot, and you have to think about what you're doing."
The ELF bike started out as a Kickstarter campaign last year, when former automobile engineer Rob Cotter asked for $100,000 to help him build a pedal-driven, solar electric-assisted bicycle that offers its riders some protection from the elements. He more than doubled his goal.
On his blog, Stewart writes that he "heard about the ELF's Kickstarter on the NPR," and paid $4,000 to support Organic Transit and purchase one of its unique vehicles. Part of the reason he wanted to ride it home, he says, is to avoid paying more to ship it.
We should pause here to note that while we are aware that the ELF's three wheels qualify it as a "tricycle," the company refers to it simply as a bike, in part because the name reflects its legal standing on the roads. The vehicles cost around $5,000, before delivery charges.
According to Organic Transit, |
the same resistance that a proposal to break state-sponsored food distribution was met with in the former Soviet Union.
What beliefs do we have about the source of order that cause us to rely so heavily on planning and controlling?
In his essay “Cosmos and Taxis” in volume 1 of Law Legislation and Liberty, F.A. Hayek points us in a direction that we may not have considered. Order, Hayek explains, can be a spontaneous phenomenon beyond the control of anyone or any group of people.
What beliefs do we have about the source of order that cause us to rely so heavily on planning and controlling?
Order, generated in a marketplace that no one controls, produces abundance. Looking into our own market baskets, we cannot know and do not need to know all of the farmers and food specialists whose cooperation contributes to our meals. Spontaneous order has a “degree of complexity,” Hayek instructs, that “is not limited to what the human mind can master.”
Just as importantly, spontaneous orders do not emerge to serve any one purpose. In Hayek’s words, spontaneous order supports “our successful pursuit of a great variety of different purposes.” Each of us is free to enjoy our own favorite entree, paleo to vegan, and the marketplace will provide us the ingredients needed to make those choices.
Believing in the possibility of spontaneous order provides a lens that is essential if we are going to interpret that which is beyond the power of our mind to fully comprehend. Einstein famously said, “Whether you can observe a thing or not depends on the theory which you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed.”
Do we believe in something bigger than the limits of our own mind and thinking?
Most of us are comfortable with the tangible — that which we can see and manipulate. To be comfortable with economic freedom, we need to understand that solutions to our problems emerge from the spontaneous cooperation of many individuals making their independent decisions but having no knowledge of the network of exchanges of which they are a small part.
Those with no understanding of spontaneous order often become what Hayek in “Cosmos and Taxis” called “indignant reformers” who complain about “the chaos of economic affairs.”
What best guides human cooperation to best satisfy human needs? In the Soviet Union, there was no mechanism available other than the heavy hand of the state. “Indignant reformers” in our own country are marching us down that same path. Believing in spontaneous order is the other path. All the evidence you need to make the best choice is on your kitchen table.
Find a Portuguese translation of this article here."The Ingraham Angle" also dominates both MSNBC and CNN in total viewers
The Fox News debut of “The Ingraham Angle” yielded big returns Monday, with the first ratings numbers from Nielsen giving host Laura Ingraham a commanding lead over her rivals at CNN and MSNBC.
The new 10 p.m. ET show drew 3.27 million viewers overall, with 622,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 year-old demographic.
In what could be a bit of troubling news however, last night’s data showed MSNBC coming in a close second among the key demo. “Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell” took in 612,000 viewers there, and placed a more-distant second overall with roughly 2.6 million total viewers.
Also Read: Cable News Ratings: Sean Hannity Beats Rachel Maddow in 1st Month of Head-to-Head Competition
“CNN Tonight” had 1.34 million total viewers, with 511,000 between ages 25 and 54.
Though she’s been a frequent guest on the network, it’s Ingraham’s first time in the driver’s seat of her own show on Fox News Channel.
As is the host’s custom, Ingraham’s inaugural episode is already drawing some of the web’s ire over an interview with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
Also Read: Former Clinton Campaign Head John Podesta Calls Out Trump: 'I'm the Victim of a Big Lie'
As the two discussed Civil War history, the former Marine general dropped a bit of revisionism that set the Internet ablaze.
“Robert E. Lee was an honorable man. He was a man that gave up his country to fight for his state, which 150 years ago was more important than country,” Kelly told Ingraham. “It was always loyalty to state first in those days. Now it’s different today.”
Also Read: Sean Hannity Rips Ex-House Speaker John Boehner: 'I'm Sorry You Are Bitter And u Failed!'
He offered further reflections on the causes of the Civil War that draw widespread criticism online.
“The lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War and men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had them make their stand,” he added.Syrian government troops and militia put up fierce resistance on Sunday to an ISIS assault on one of the jewels of the country's heritage, ancient Palmyra.
The fighting caused the death of nearly 300 people, a monitor said, according to AFP.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said the toll comprised 123 soldiers and loyalist militiamen, 115 ISIS fighters and 57 civilians.
It said dozens of the civilians had been executed.
The Britain-based watchdog reported heavy artillery exchanges in the west of the town, close to the UNESCO-listed world heritage site.
But there were no immediate reports of damage to the ancient city's colonnaded street or its 1st and 2nd century temples.
ISIS was bringing up reinforcements from its stronghold in the Euphrates Valley to the east after sustaining heavy losses in its advance on the oasis town northeast of Damascus, provincial governor Talal Barazi told AFP.
The town's peacetime population of 70,000 has been swamped by an influx of civilians fleeing the ISIS advance.
"We are taking all necessary precautions, and we are working on securing humanitarian aid quickly in fear of mass fleeing from the city," Barazi said.
Syrian antiquities chief Mamoun Abdulkarim voiced extreme concern for the ancient site and its adjacent museum, in light of the destruction wreaked by ISIS on pre-Islamic sites like Nimrud and Hatra in neighboring Iraq.
"I am living in a state of terror," Abdulkarim told AFP, adding that ISIS "will blow everything up. They will destroy everything."
Last Update: Sunday, 17 May 2015 KSA 17:51 - GMT 14:51PARENTHOOD – “The Pontiac” Episode 522 – Pictured: (l-r) Ray Romano as Hank, Mae Whitman as Amber, Lauren Graham as Sarah – (Photo by: Colleen Hayes/NBC) Photo: Colleen Hayes/NBC
The sixth and final season of Parenthood premieres September 25, and by the sound of it, fans have an interesting one to look forward to. According to showrunner Jason Katims, the new season will center around one larger narrative that affects everyone in the family. “One of the things I wanted to do for the season was to find one larger story that influences everybody on the show,” he explained at Sunday’s TCA press tour. “The story is going to be introduced in the first episode and play throughout the season. It’s a huge new challenge for the family and one that we didn’t see before … In this case, I feel like I want to to do something that starts at the beginning of the season, by the way there will be as many story lines going on as usual, but this will be something that tracks us throughout the year.” It’s not clear yet what this plot line will entail, but we suggest stocking up on tissues preemptively.I would like to start by saying my name is Tera. I am a Transgender MTF person who owns an ever growing gaming YouTube Channel. Through my adventures of being on Transgender YouTube Gamer I have definitely experienced the brunt of the gender-based society in which we live in. People can be cruel, people can be ignorant, yet often times people are just trying to understand something they have never experienced themselves. An I have been finding that it is up to me to educate people, to give them the chance to understand. While gaming is the primary focus of my YouTube Channel, I often get comments related to me being a transgender gamer.
Taking a step back, I will tell you about myself. I am 20 years old and I am in a wonderful "lesbian relationship" with my fiance. I have been on hormones for about a year and half now and hardly resemble the "boy" that I used to portray myself to be. One thing that most people find weird about my transition is the neglect to try and change my voice. I enjoy having a boyish/androgynous sounding voice even if for most others that may be off-putting (which I find funny). While being transgender does consume a large portion of my life I have a ton of interest. One very important interest to me is that of gaming. I have been gaming on YouTube for around 2 months now. I have played video games since I was pushed out into this wonderful world (wonderful world because I like to be optimistic). Gaming to me is more than just a hobby, it saved my life. In my youth I had constant struggles trying to figure out who I really was, having a different body than the one I should of been born with even brought me to the edge of suicide. An the only thing that saved me was video games. It was my escape from the cage in which I was born within. An for that reason I look at video games within a different lighting than most others do. In addition, I am also in college studying psychology. In the future I hope to become a gender and sex therapist to aid others like myself in the LGBTQ community. I find that one thing transgender individuals lack is proper psycho-therapeutic care.
I don't really know what else to say about myself. If anything I am an extremely open individual so don't be afraid to ask me any questions.
For those that want to know my YouTube channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TerafiedGaming
P.S. This is a post that I made from reddit, I am going starting a text-based series detailing my experiences as a Transgamer!In separate conventions over recent weeks, the NAACP, the nation’s oldest black civil rights organization, and the Movement for Black Lives, a network of Black Lives Matter organizers, passed resolutions criticizing charter schools and calling for a moratorium on their growth. Charters were faulted by the groups for supposedly draining money from traditional public schools and allegedly fueling segregation. The NAACP measure, which still must be ratified by the board before becoming official, went so far as to liken the expansion of charters to “predatory lending practices” that put low-income communities at risk.
This is insane, and it confirms my thinking that the NAACP is out of touch with the reality that many African-Americans live, as the Wall Street Journal reported:
Some 28% of charter-school students are black, which is almost double the figure for traditional public schools. A report last year from Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that across 41 urban areas black students in charters gained on average 36 extra days in math learning a year and 26 in reading while Hispanic students gained 22 in math and six in reading. Black students in poverty notched 59 more days in math. This is the definition of “advancement.”
The NAACP didn’t bother to ask black parents what they think: a 2013 poll of black voters in four southern states by the Black Alliance for Educational Options found that at least 85% agreed that “government should provide parents with as many choices as possible.” No fewer than half in every state supported charter schools. Another sign of support is the hundreds of thousands of black students nationwide who sign up for lotteries for a seat at a charter.
So what's going on? Why would the nation's oldest civil rights group deny African-American children a real opportunity to succeed?
My guess is that most of these NAACP leaders send their kids to private schools anyway. In other words, what do they care?
More importantly, the Democratic Party is owned by the public-sector unions. It's good for the party on election day, but it does not do minority parents any good when they try to educate their kids.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.ES Football Newsletter Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account
Tottenham are open to the idea of having singing sections at their new stadium.
Spurs could incorporate designated areas for singing to help the atmosphere at their new 56,000-seat arena, which they plan to move to in time for the 2018/19 season.
The minutes of the Tottenham board’s latest meeting with members of The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, which was held this week, said: “THST raised the question of singing areas in the new stadium. THFC were in favour of this.”
The minutes, which were published on the Trust’s website, also say Spurs are open to introducing safe standing at their new ground if stadium laws change.
“THFC again confirmed they had no issues with standing areas in the new stadium and would be very willing to build that in should legislation change,” it reads.
Ratings: Tottenham players on international duty 9 show all Ratings: Tottenham players on international duty 1/9 Nabil Bentaleb (Algeria) Played in his country’s 4-1 win over Oman in Doha on Monday. Although he didn't get himself on the scoresheet he did put in the type of performance that has seen him become a regular feature in Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham midfield. (7) 2/9 Vlad Chiriches (Romania) Featured in the narrow 1-0 win over the Faroe Islands. He did well when called upon, especially in the later stages of the match when he put in a saving tackle to dispossess Joan Edmundsson a one-on-one opportunity against Costel Pantilimon. (7) 3/9 Ben Davies (Wales) The defender held a back three that included him, Ashley Williams and James Collins together effectively as Wales beat Israel 3-0. (6) 4/9 Christian Eriksen (Denmark) The playmaker admitted that it was "really special" to make his 50th appearance for Denmark in the 3-2 win over the USA. Eriksen was made captain for the occasion. He also played in the 2-0 defeat to France although he failed to make a difference in the 83 minutes he was on the pitch. (6) 5/9 Harry Kane (England) A remarkable start to life as a senior England international. It took him just 79 seconds to score when he came on as a second half substitute in the 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley. And despite being knocked off the ball a few times by Giorgio Chiellini in the 1-1 draw against Italy, he did link up rather well with Wayne Rooney in attack. (8) getty 6/9 Jan Vertonghen (Belgium) The defender played the entire 180 of minutes of both games as Belgium recorded victories over Cyprus and Israel to go top of Group B in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. Just as he has been for the majority of the season for Tottenham, Vertonghen looked assured in both games and was a key part of Belgium keeping clean sheets in both games. (8) 7/9 DeAndre Yedlin (USA) He came on as a second half substitute in the 3-2 defeat against Denmark and the 1-1 draw to Switzerland. The 21-year-old defender failed to make a huge impact on the match. (6) 8/9 Ryan Mason (England) Ryan Mason came on for the remaining 16 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Italy. Roy Hodgson said afterwards that the midfielder's introduction, coupled with Andros Townsend's, turned the game in England's favour. (7) 9/9 Andros Townsend (England) Although he has struggled to break into Mauricio Pochettino's squad at Tottenham this season, Townsend is still valued by Roy Hodgson and England. His right-footed effort that levelled the match against Italy in Turin was a fantastic strike. However, it's difficult to fully assess his performance over the international break because he only played 20 minutes out of a possible 180. (7) 1/9 Nabil Bentaleb (Algeria) Played in his country’s 4-1 win over Oman in Doha on Monday. Although he didn't get himself on the scoresheet he did put in the type of performance that has seen him become a regular feature in Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham midfield. (7) 2/9 Vlad Chiriches (Romania) Featured in the narrow 1-0 win over the Faroe Islands. He did well when called upon, especially in the later stages of the match when he put in a saving tackle to dispossess Joan Edmundsson a one-on-one opportunity against Costel Pantilimon. (7) 3/9 Ben Davies (Wales) The defender held a back three that included him, Ashley Williams and James Collins together effectively as Wales beat Israel 3-0. (6) 4/9 Christian Eriksen (Denmark) The playmaker admitted that it was "really special" to make his 50th appearance for Denmark in the 3-2 win over the USA. Eriksen was made captain for the occasion. He also played in the 2-0 defeat to France although he failed to make a difference in the 83 minutes he was on the pitch. (6) 5/9 Harry Kane (England) A remarkable start to life as a senior England international. It took him just 79 seconds to score when he came on as a second half substitute in the 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley. And despite being knocked off the ball a few times by Giorgio Chiellini in the 1-1 draw against Italy, he did link up rather well with Wayne Rooney in attack. (8) getty 6/9 Jan Vertonghen (Belgium) The defender played the entire 180 of minutes of both games as Belgium recorded victories over Cyprus and Israel to go top of Group B in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. Just as he has been for the majority of the season for Tottenham, Vertonghen looked assured in both games and was a key part of Belgium keeping clean sheets in both games. (8) 7/9 DeAndre Yedlin (USA) He came on as a second half substitute in the 3-2 defeat against Denmark and the 1-1 draw to Switzerland. The 21-year-old defender failed to make a huge impact on the match. (6) 8/9 Ryan Mason (England) Ryan Mason came on for the remaining 16 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Italy. Roy Hodgson said afterwards that the midfielder's introduction, coupled with Andros Townsend's, turned the game in England's favour. (7) 9/9 Andros Townsend (England) Although he has struggled to break into Mauricio Pochettino's squad at Tottenham this season, Townsend is still valued by Roy Hodgson and England. His right-footed effort that levelled the match against Italy in Turin was a fantastic strike. However, it's difficult to fully assess his performance over the international break because he only played 20 minutes out of a possible 180. (7)
“THST asked if THFC would be prepared, as 17/20 Premier League clubs had now spoken in support of safe standing, to instigate discussions at Premier League shareholder level to get the clubs to push more firmly for the change in legislation required to introduce safe standing.
“THFC said they were happy to be supportive but mindful that they were still in midst of new stadium build/safety discussions with the Council.”The only thing the Pac-12 has to fear in the new era of the College Football Playoff is itself. Oh, and other conferences gaming the infant system.
Whatever negative perceptions formerly were held about the Pac-12 -- finesse, pass-first, defense-optional league with half-full stadiums -- are mostly dead. Though there always will be trolling mouth-breathers with tired insults, Pac-12 folks now can show up to the verbal brawl with facts and numbers and game scores and commence to deliver a dose of frenzied verbal MMA that leaves said trolls whimpering for mercy.
OK, perhaps that's going overboard. But the Pac-12 deserves credit for two things: (1) Its rating as the nation's No. 2 conference (2) Making things tougher on itself than any other conference.
The overwhelming national consensus is the Pac-12 ranks second to the SEC. As ESPN Stats & Information noted in January, "Overall, the Pac-12 finished with six teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and five teams ranked in the top 10 of ESPN's Football Power Index. As a result of its strength in the computers, the Pac-12 was the clear No. 2 conference in the Power Rankings."
The Pac-12's $3 billion broadcasting deal with ESPN and Fox has been followed by an influx of big-name coaches like Arizona's Rich Rodriguez. Crystal LoGiudice/USA TODAY Sports
It wasn't just ESPN. Jeff Sagarin ranked the Pac-12 No. 2 in 2013. Phil Steele ranked the Pac-12 the No. 2 conference in 2012 and 2013, and also projected it as No. 2 in 2014. Athlon Sports did the same. In fact, if there is a conference rating system that ranked the Pac-12 anything different in 2013 and projects a lower rating this fall, we haven't seen it.
Another vote in the Pac-12's favor comes from an unquestionably unbiased -- cough, cough -- constituency: Pac-12 coaches.
"[The SEC] should claim themselves as the best league in the country because they've earned it," Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. "But to go through the Pac-12 and win a national championship may be the most difficult thing to do because of our schedule."
Ah, that's the worrisome rub. No other conference rides the scheduling tricycle like the Pac-12: 1. Challenging nonconference slate; 2. Nine-game conference schedule; 3. Conference championship game.
While some conferences have improved their nonconference scheduling, they don't play nine conference games. The Big 12 does play nine conference games, but it doesn't play a championship game. Pac-12 coaches aren't shy about noting that a conference team, in almost all cases, will have to play at least 11 quality games -- one tough nonconference foe, nine conference games and the Pac-12 title game -- to earn a spot in the CFP. No other conference can claim that.
There is a big reason the other conferences can't: They don't want to.
"Fair or unfair, whatever the words you want to use, we play a nine-game schedule and a conference championship game and other conferences don't on purpose," Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said. "There is obviously a reason for that."
That's the big issue for the Pac-12 heading into the season. There is no longer a worry about respect or the perception of the Pac-12. Rather, it's about how unscathed a conference champ can hope to be against such a demanding schedule, and whether the committee will stick to its stated insistence that strength of schedule will be paramount. When a conference plays eight of the nation's 13 toughest schedules, as the Pac-12 did in 2013, the challenge to go unbeaten or even to lose just one game is far greater.
Of course, this issue won't be solved today, or even in the next couple months. The ultimate answers will be delivered in January when four semifinalists are picked and seeded.
So then, how did the Pac-12 gain ground in the perception battle -- one that has the conference starting with six teams ranked in the preseason USA Today coaches poll, including three in the top 11 with two others receiving votes?
The easy answer: money. The $3 billion broadcasting deal with ESPN and Fox was a game-changer. That money has flowed into facilities improvements and more aggressive investments in coaching -- head coaches and assistants. A concomitant influx of A-list coaches, most notably Mike Leach, Rich Rodriguez, Todd Graham, Jim Mora and Chris Petersen, has boosted the conference's Q-rating. Those coaches also have been able to hire and -- critically -- retain key assistants with competitive salaries, such as Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell ($700,000), UCLA offensive line coach Adrian Klemm ($650,000), Washington State defensive line coach Joe Salave'a ($275,000) and USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox (north of the $800,000 he made at Washington), among others.
No team has had a better, and perhaps more unfortunate, seat while watching the Pac-12 improve than Utah. The Utes joined the conference in 2011 as a program that had posted two unbeaten seasons and won two BCS bowl games as a member of the respected Mountain West Conference. Though they went a solid 4-5 in conference play in 2011, they slipped to 3-6 in 2012 and 2-7 in 2013, with lineups that might have been better than the 2011 squad.
Oregon's Marcus Mariota is part of an impressive group of returning QBs in the Pac-12 this season. AP Photo/Eric Gay
"The thing that has been very apparent with the Pac-12 in 2011 when we entered, is the Pac-12 now is far superior from top to bottom," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "The progress this conference has made in the last few years is phenomenal."
What separates the Pac-12 this season -- and could make it a legitimate threat for the No. 1 conference -- is behind center. Not only does the conference welcome back 10 starting quarterbacks, a majority of those are NFL prospects.
"I've never seen anything like this," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "You have multiple guys that you could say could be the No. 1 pick overall in the draft. You have multiple guys in the conference that could be All-Americans and lead the nation in quarterback rating or lead the nation in passing."
The most notable quarterbacks are Oregon's Marcus Mariota and UCLA's Brett Hundley, Heisman Trophy candidates blinking brightly on NFL radars who lead teams favored to win their respective divisions. Hundley will get an early showcase game against Texas, and Mariota and the Ducks play host to Michigan State, the Big Ten favorite, in Week 2. And the Ducks and Bruins could meet each other twice this season.
But they also must contend with Arizona State's Taylor Kelly, Oregon State's Sean Mannion, USC's Cody Kessler, Stanford's Kevin Hogan, Washington State's Connor Halliday, Utah's Travis Wilson, California's Jared Goff and Colorado's Sefo Liufau, each capable of posting a spectacular individual performance that could spawn an upset.
The Pac-12 is plenty hyped heading into the 2014 season. There is no perception problem. There might, however, end up being a reality problem. If the Pac-12 champion ends up with two losses, and the selection committee has a handful of Power Five conference teams with one or fewer defeats, the Pac-12 could get a respectful tip of the cap but end up out of luck in the inaugural College Football Playoff.A better ext4
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Last week's Kernel Page may have been filesystem-heavy, but there was still a big omission, in the form of ext4. But ext4, being the successor to ext3, may well be the filesystem many of us are using a few years from now. Things have been relatively quiet on that front - at least, outside of the relevant mailing lists - but the ext4 developers have not been idle. Some of their work has now come to the surface with Ted Ts'o's posting of the ext4 merge plans for 2.6.25.
One of the changes going into ext4 is a lifting of the longstanding 4KB block size limit. That does not mean that just any block size works, though, and this feature will benefit fewer people than one might think, for one specific reason: the block size must still be no larger than the page size on the host system. So those of us running x86 systems with 4KB pages will be stuck with 4KB blocks still. And, on any system, the maximum block size is now 64KB.
One amusing effect of this change is that the size of a directory entry can now be as large as 64KB as well. But the field which holds the size of directory entries is only 16 bits wide. So a special hack has been employed to recognize 64KB directory entries and keep everything consistent.
Some internal variables have overflow problems as well. Block numbers are stored as a signed, 32-bit quantity, and so are block group numbers. That limits the maximum size of a filesystem to a mere 256PB. In 2.6.25, these values will become unsigned long variables, eliminating that intolerably low limit. Through some trickery, the inode field which stores the number of blocks associated with a file will be expanded to 48 bits, raising the maximum size of an individual file to just under 248 512-byte blocks.
The work does not stop there, though: another patch redefines that field to mean the number of filesystem blocks (instead of 512-byte sectors) used by the file. This is a change which has to be handled carefully, since it is an on-disk format change which could create trouble for people with existing ext4 filesystems. Everybody who is using ext4 should certainly be doing so with the knowledge that it's a development filesystem and is only suitable for storing files which are not valuable for more than about 30 minutes - Rawhide OpenOffice.org updates, say. But it still would be nice to not trash every existing ext4 filesystem out there. So the i_blocks field will continue, by default, to hold the number of 512-byte blocks. But, if that field exceeds 32 bits and forces the use of 48-bit numbers, it is thereafter interpreted as filesystem blocks. Since no existing filesystems are yet using 48-bit numbers, this approach successfully avoids breaking them.
Journal checksums are another feature arriving for 2.6.25. If the system crashes, the journal is used to recover any transactions which were committed, but which did not actually make it to disk. It sure would be nice to know that the journal, as stored in the filesystem, is intact before using it to make changes elsewhere. The checksum enables the filesystem to ensure that the journal is good and avoid (further) corrupting the filesystem if it is not. An interesting side benefit is that the checksum loosens the constraints on how the journal is written to disk, since an incompletely-written journal will now be detected; that should help to improve filesystem performance slightly.
Note that full data checksumming is still not on the agenda for ext4. But checksumming the journal is a good (if small) step in the right direction.
Another change is a VFS API change, in that it turns the i_version field of the inode structure into an unsigned, 64-bit value on all architectures. This version number is incremented when the file is changed, and it's stored (split into two fields) in the on-disk inode. 64-bit version numbers are required by NFSv4, which uses them to provide the dreaded "stale file handle" error when things change.
There is a new ioctl() ( EXT4_IOC_MIGRATE ) which can be used to explicitly request that the on-disk inode for a file be converted to the ext4 format.
The ext4 filesystem is extent-based, and has been for some time. "Extent-based" means that it tracks block allocations by extents (first block, number of blocks) rather than storing pointers to each individual block, as is done in ext3. There are a number of performance benefits to doing things this way, especially for larger files. Those benefits disappear, though, if a file's blocks cannot be grouped into the smallest number of extents possible.
One technique which greatly helps in optimizing block allocations for files is to allocate them in relatively large groups, rather than individually. In 2.6.25, ext4 will contain the multi-block allocator, which does exactly that. One might think that allocating a few blocks at a time would not be that big of a change, but the multi-block allocator is by far the most complex patch in the set. A lot of effort and heuristics go into deciding how many blocks to allocate, finding the optimal set of blocks, tracking the allocation, recovering blocks which end up never being used, ensuring that an application cannot read pre-allocated (but unwritten) blocks in search of leaked secrets, etc. It is quite a bit of code, but it is worth the trouble; multi-block allocation will be enabled by default in 2.6.25.
As noted above, a number of these patches force changes to the on-disk data structure. According to Ted, though, these should be the last on-disk changes for ext4. There are some features which still will not have been merged when 2.6.25 comes around - delayed allocation and online defragmentation among them - but they should not require format changes. So ext4 is getting closer to the point where it is considered ready for production use.WINDMILLS BY THE OCEAN is the title of a recently unearthed recording from August 2003, the sole output of Boston natives Mike Davis, Dave Dunbar, Brooke Gillespie, Bryant Clifford Meyer and Thos Niles.
Since the project’s beginning and end, the creators have continued on in such bands as 27, ANODYNE, ISIS, and RED SPAROWES, but the relevancy of this intense recording can be most appreciated now, three years after it’s conception.
The variety and depth to this (mostly) instrumental music documentation reaches far beyond those of any mere side-project, and the heavy-music genres are in dire need of something this refreshing.
These rock-based songs incorporate so many elements of “drone” the group could almost reside next to their celestial forefathers SUNN and EARTH, except with more melody… and drums. However, the usage of keyboard and electronic elements alongside several guitars make the album more comparable to SIGUR ROS than BLACK SABBATH, but without compromising any of the heavy metal elements the members have become most-known for.
The additional usage of improvisation and mild repetition allows the listener to relax into a slow headbang across five songs that each surpass the six-minute mark. But what makes this album most impressive is the triumphant, anthemic feel to it, especially considering the group never even made it to the live setting.
With stark imagery and layout by Sera Timms (BLACK MATH HORSEMAN), an important period of musical evolution is captured here and Robotic Empire is proud to present it to you.Dragon's Dogma
Capcom
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Our previous price:You save:6.20 (38%) Manufacturer Capcom Compatible With PlayStation 3™ (PS3™) Version Works on all systems sold worldwide, a correct regional account may be required for online features. Works on all systems sold worldwide, a correct regional account may be required for online features. 1-5d Usually ships within 1-5 days Price US$ 9.99 add to cart or save for later
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Dragon's Dogma
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features Highly Stylised Action Combat The creators of this game were responsible for the action hits – Resident Evil™ 4 and Devil May Cry™ 4
Fight With Ability The soul of combat comes down to how the game is played, where you strike the enemy, and how you react to their attacks
Accessible Depth Bringing an unprecedented level of depth to the action genre, every decision has an effect on gameplay in an intuitive way that does not require micromanagement. The weight of your weapon, the material of your armour – even the length of your legs – plays a role in how you fight your battles, but does not interrupt the flow of the action
Epic Adventure Dragon’s Dogma is built from the ground up as an action experience for consoles with a continuous, epic storyline that stands alone in style, scope and substance
Open World Utilising Capcom’s proprietary MT Framework engine and the groundbreaking graphical styles and lighting effects used in Resident Evil™ 5 and Lost Planet™ 2, Dragon’s Dogma expands the environment to create a vast, richly detailed world, ripe for exploration
A Rich Population In addition to interacting with hundreds of fully voiced NPCs, you’ll be able to fight a large variety of creatures, from goblins to griffins and dragons. Each enemy requires a different strategy and provides a unique experience
First-Print comes with Resident Evil 6 demo version download code - only until stock lasts!
description Dragon’s Dogma™ is an exciting new franchise which redefines the action genre from the team that produced some of Capcom’s greatest action games. Set in a huge open world, Dragon’s Dogma offers an exhilarating and fulfilling action combat game with the freedom to explore and interact in a rich, living and breathing world. Alongside your party of three, you set out to track down and destroy a mysterious dragon.Your teammates fight independently of you, demonstrating prowess and ability they have developed based on traits learned over time from you and your actions. Dragon’s Dogma offers a near endless opportunity to help develop partner characters to fight alongside you. With an epic story and incredible action, Dragon’s Dogma is set to be one of Capcom’s newest hit franchises.
further info Official Release Date May 22, 2012 Genre Action RPG Version US ESRB Mature
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. PAX-Code PAX0003332799 Catalog No. BLUS |
y) & Aquasphere
sun glasses: Smith Arena Max
other: UltraFast optimized treated SRAM 22 chain
All images except 7,9 and 11 are © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com 7,9 and 11 are © Timothy Carlson
Reproduction of any elements of this or any other slowtwitch.com article is strictly prohibited.Boulder, Colo. -- April 25, 2017 -- From the earliest days of our solar system's history, collisions between astronomical objects have shaped the planets and changed the course of their evolution. Studying the early bombardment history of Mars, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the University of Arizona have discovered a 400-million-year lull in large impacts early in Martian history.
This discovery is published in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience in a paper titled, "A post-accretionary lull in large impacts on early Mars." SwRI's Dr. Bill Bottke, who serves as principal investigator of the Institute for the Science of Exploration Targets (ISET) within NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), is the lead author of the paper. Dr. Jeff Andrews-Hanna, from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in the University of Arizona, is the paper's coauthor.
"The new results reveal that Mars' impact history closely parallels the bombardment histories we've inferred for the Moon, the asteroid belt, and the planet Mercury," Bottke said. "We refer to the period for the later impacts as the 'Late Heavy Bombardment.' The new results add credence to this somewhat controversial theory. However, the lull itself is an important period in the evolution of Mars and other planets. We like to refer to this lull as the 'doldrums.'"
The early impact bombardment of Mars has been linked to the bombardment history of the inner solar system as a whole. Borealis, the largest and most ancient basin on Mars, is nearly 6,000 miles wide and covers most of the planet's northern hemisphere. New analysis found that the rim of Borealis was excavated by only one later impact crater, known as Isidis. This sets strong statistical limits on the number of large basins that could have formed on Mars after Borealis. Moreover, the preservation states of the four youngest large basins -- Hellas, Isidis, Argyre, and the now-buried Utopia -- are strikingly similar to that of the larger, older Borealis basin. The similar preservation states of Borealis and these younger craters indicate that any basins formed in-between should be similarly preserved. No other impact basins pass this test.
"Previous studies estimated the ages of Hellas, Isidis, and Argyre to be 3.8 to 4.1 billion years old," Bottke said. "We argue the age of Borealis can be deduced from impact fragments from Mars that ultimately arrived on Earth. These Martian meteorites reveal Borealis to be nearly 4.5 billion years old -- almost as old as the planet itself."
The new results reveal a surprising bombardment history for the red planet. A giant impact carved out the northern lowlands 4.5 billion years ago, followed by a lull of approximately 400 million years. Then another period of bombardment produced giant impact basins between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago. The age of the impact basins requires two separate populations of objects striking Mars. The first wave of impacts was associated with formation of the inner planets, followed by a second wave striking the Martian surface much later.
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SSERVI is a virtual institute headquartered at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Its members are distributed among universities and research institutes across the United States and around the world. SSERVI is working to address fundamental science questions and issues that can help further human exploration of the solar system.Carrying a weapon is a personal decision. The right to carry one is a fundamental component of liberty, protected by the United States Constitution.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States agrees, and he is committed to protecting your right to bear arms, according to Breitbart.
10th Circuit Court of Appeals judge Neil Gorsuch‘s own website reiterated his statement that there is “a long tradition of widespread gun ownership by private individuals in this country.”
Gorsuch has had a long record of protecting the Constitution and was a natural choice to succeed the late Antonin Scalia. Attorney Eric Citron profiled Gorsuch for the SCOTUS blog in glowing terms.
“For one thing, the great compliment that Gorsuch’s legal writing is in a class with Scalia’s is deserved: Gorsuch’s opinions are exceptionally clear and routinely entertaining; he is an unusual pleasure to read, and it is always plain exactly what he thinks and why.”
“Like Scalia, Gorsuch also seems to have a set of judicial/ideological commitments apart from his personal policy preferences that drive his decision-making. He is an ardent textualist (like Scalia); he believes criminal laws should be clear and interpreted in favor of defendants even if that hurts government prosecutions (like Scalia); he is skeptical of efforts to purge religious expression from public spaces (like Scalia); he is highly dubious of legislative history (like Scalia); and he is less than enamored of the dormant commerce clause (like Scalia).”
Why are the comparisons to Antonin Scalia important? During the second presidential debate on Oct. 10, 2016, Trump said that he was “looking to appoint judges very much in the mold of Justice Scalia,” according to The New York Times.
As Trump has been making crystal clear, he is intent on keeping his campaign promises.
Gorsuch is clear, balanced, articulate and a strong Constitutionalist as well as textualist. He’ll be a terrific addition to the Supreme Court.
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Source: conservativetribune.comYesterday, Michele and I made a run to the local 7-Eleven, her for a soda, me for a Slurpee. I'm always on the lookout for new products and I spied a case of Bud Light + Clamato. Of course, I bought a can to bring home to Cruft Labs. Tonight, after dinner, we tried it.
You didn't believe me, did you. Sure enough, the wizards at Anheuser Busch have concocted a real doozy here. Now, I've heard of a chelada before, but I understood it as beer with lime & salt. Anheuser Busch seems to have a different opinion.
Clamato really is what it sounds like, tomato juice + clam broth. Personally, I've never liked it. Then again, I don't like tomato juice or Bloody Mary's either. Michele does like Clamato though.
The color of the Bud Chelada is light orange with just a minimal amount of head when it's poured. There is a slight salty smell and a stronger vegetable smell on the nose.
I took a good sized swig and that was enough for me. The strong salt taste with the mild carbonation is just too nasty for me. The guy at 7-Eleven said it was selling well, but I can't understand why.
Michele didn't like it either and she's a person that likes light beer and even already drinks Clamato.
You have to give it to Anheuser Busch, they are really trying new things to see what sticks. But I'm not sure that shellfish is what I want in my beer.
Posted by michael at July 02, 2007 09:14 PMArthur Clarke's 2001 Diary Excerpted from Lost Worlds of 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke,
New American Library (New York), 1972. Used by Permission....After various false starts and twelve-hour talkathons, by early May 1964 Stanley agreed that "The Sentinel" would provide good story material. But our first concept, and it is hard now for me to focus on such an idea, though it would have been perfectly viable -- involved working up to the discovery of an extraterrestrial artifact as the climax, not the beginning, of the story. Before that, we would have a series of incidents or adventures devoted to the exploration of the Moon and Planets. For this Mark I version, our private title (never of course intended for public use) was "How the Solar System Was Won." So once more I went back to my stockpile of short stories, to find material which would fit into this pattern. I returned with five: "Breaking Strain" (from Expedition to Earth), "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting...", "Who's There?~', "Into the Comet", and "Before Eden" (all from Tales of Ten Worlds). On May 28, 1964, I sold the lot to Stanley and signed an agreement to work on the projected movie. Our initial schedule was hilariously optimistic: writing script, 12 weeks; discussing it, 2 weeks; revising, 4 weeks finalizing deal, 4 weeks; visuals, art, 20 weeks; shooting, 20 weeks; cutting, editing, 20 weeks -- a total of 82 weeks. Allowing another 12 weeks before release, this added up to 92, or the better part of two years. I was very depressed by this staggering period of time, since I was (as always) in a hurry to get back to Ceylon; it was just as well that neither of us could have guessed the project's ultimate duration -- four years.... The rest of 1964 was spent brainstorming. As we developed new ideas, so the original conception slowly changed. "The Sentinel" became the opening, not the finale, and one by one, the other five short stories were discarded. A year later, deciding (not necessarily in this order) that (a) it wasn't fair to Stanley to make him pay for something he didn't need and (b) these stories might make a pretty good movie someday, I bought them back from him.... The announced title of the project, when Stanley gave his intentions to the press, was Journey Beyond the Stars. I never liked this, because there had been far too many science-fictional journeys and voyages. (Indeed, the innerspace epic Fantastic Voyage, featuring Raquel Welch and a supporting cast of ten thousand blood corpuscles, was also going into production about this time). Other titles which we ran up and failed to salute were Universe, Tunnel to the Stars, and Planetfall. It was not until eleven months after we started -- April 1965 -- that Stanley selected 2001: A Space Odyssey. As far as I can recall, it was entirely his idea. Despite the unrelenting pressure of work (a mere twelve hours was practically a day off) I kept a detailed log of the whole operation. Though I do not wish to get bogged down in minutiae of interest only to fanatical Kubrickologists, perhaps these extracts may convey the flavor of those early days:
May 28, 1964. Suggested to Stanley that "they" might be machines who regard organic life as a hideous disease. Stanley thinks this is cute and feels we've got something. May 31. One hilarious idea we won't use. Seventeen alien, featureless black pyramids riding in open cars down Fifth Avenue, surrounded by Irish cops. June 20. Finished the opening chapter, "View from the Year 2000," and started on the robot sequence. July 1. Last day working at Time/Life completing Man and Space. Checked into new suite, 1008, at the Hotel Chelsea. July 2-8. Averaging one or two thousand words a day. Stanley reads first five chapters and says "We've got a best-seller here". July 9. Spent much of afternoon teaching Stanley how to use the slide rule -- he's fascinated. July 11. Joined Stanley to discuss plot development, but spent almost all the time arguing about Cantor's Theory of Transfinite Groups. Stanley tries to refute the "part equals the whole" paradox by arguing that a perfect square is not necessarily identical with the integer of the same value. I decide that he is a latent mathematical genius. July 12. Now have everything -- except the plot. July 13. Got to work again on the novel and made good progress despite the distraction of the Republican Convention. July 26. Stanley's birthday. Went to the Village and found a card showing the Earth coming apart at the seams and bearing the inscription: "How can you have a Happy Birthday when the whole world may blow up any minute?" July 28. Stanley: "What we want is a smashing theme of mythic grandeur." August 1. Ranger VII impacts on moon. Stay up late to watch the first TV close-ups. Stanley starts to worry about the forthcoming Mars probes. Suppose they show something that shoots down our story line? [Later he approached Lloyd's of London to see if hc could insure himself against this eventuality]. August 6. Stanley suggests that we make the computer female and call her Athena. August 17. We've also got the name of our hero at last -- Alex Bowman. Hurrah! August 19. Writing all day. Two thousand words exploring Jupiter's satellites. Dull work. September 7. Stanley quite happy: "We're in fantastic shape." He has made up a 100 item questionnaire about our astronauts, e.g. do they sleep in their pajamas, what do they eat for breakfast, etc. September 8. Upset stomach last night. Dreamed I was a robot, being rebuilt. In a great burst of enorgy managed to redo two chapters. Took them to Stanley, who was very pleased and cooked me a fine steak, remarking: "Joe Levine doesn't do this for his writers." September 26. Stanley gave me Joseph Campbell's analysis of myth The Hero with a Thousand Faces to study. Very stimulating. September 29. Dreamed that shooting had started. Lots of actors standing around, but I still didn't know the story line. October 2. Finished reading Robert Ardrey's African Genesis. Came across a striking paragraph which might even provide a title for the movie: "Why did not the human line become extinct in the depths of the Pliocene?...we know that but for a gift from the stars, but for the accidental collision of ray and gene, intelligence would have perished on some forgotten African field." True, Ardrey is talking about cosmic-ray mutations, but the phrase "A gift from the stars" is strikingly applicable to our present plot line. October 6. Have got an idea which I think is crucial. The people we meet on the other star system are humans who were collected from Earth a hundred thousand years ago, and hence are virtually identical with us. October 8. Thinking of plot all morning, but after a long walk in the sun we ended up on the East River watching the boats. We dumped all our far-fetched ideas now we're settling for a Galactic Peace Corps and no blood and thunder. October 17. Stanley has invented the wild idea of slightly fag robots who create a Victonan environment to put our heroes at their ease. November 20. Went to Natural History Museum to see Dr. Harry Shapiro, head of Anthropology, who took a poor view of Ardrey. Then had a session with Stan, arguing about early man's vegetarian versus carnivorous tendencies. Stan wants our visitors to turn Man into a carnivore; I argued that he always was. Back at the Chelsea, phoned Ike Asimov to discuss the biochemistry of turning vegetarians into carnivores. November 21. Read Leakey's Adam's Ancestors. Getting rather desperate now, but after six hours' discussion Stan had a rather amusing idea. Our E.T.'s arrive on Earth and teach commando tactics to our pacifistic ancestors so that they can survive and flourish. We had an entertaining time knocking this one around, but I don't think it's viable. November 22. Called Stan and said I didn't think any of our flashback ideas were any good. He slowly talked me out of this mood, and I was feeling more cheerful when I suddenly said: "What if our E.T.'s are stranded on Earth and need the ape-men to help them?" This idea (probably not original, but what the hell) opened up whole new areas of plot which we are both explorng. November 23. Stanley distracted by numerous consultations with his broker, and wants my advice on buying COMSAT. December l0. Stanley calls after screening H. G. Wells' Things to Come, and says he'll never see another movie I recommend. December 21. Much of afternoon spent by Stanley planning his Academy Award campaign for Dr. Strangelove. I get back to the Chelsea to find a note from Allen Ginsberg asking me to join him and William Burroughs at the bar downstairs. Do so thankfully in search of inspiration. December 24. Slowly tinkered with the final pages, so I can have them as a Christmas present for Stanley. December 25. Stanley delighted with the last chapters, and convinced that we've extended the range of science fiction. He's astonished and delighted because Bosley Crowther of the New York Times has placed Dr. S on the "Ten Best Films" list, after attacking it ferociously all year. I christen Bosley "The Critic Who Came In from the Cold." From these notes, it would appear that by Christmas 1964, the novel was essentially complete, and that thereafter it would be a fairly straightforward matter to develop the screenplay. We were, indeed, under that delusion -- at least, I was. In reality, all that we had was merely a rough draft of the first two-thirds of the book, stopping at the most exciting point. We had managed to get Bowman into the Star Gate, but didn't know what would happen next, except in the most general way. Nevertheless, the existing manuscript, together with his own salesmanship, allowed Stanley to set up the deal with MGM and Cinerama, and Journey Beyond the Stars was announced with a flourish of trumpets. Through the spring of 1965, we continued to revise and extend the novel, and threw away -- again and yet again -- whole sections which we had once imagined to be final and complete. All this time, Stanley was also hiring staff, checking designs, negotiating with actors and technicians, and coping with the millions of other prob1ems which arise in the production of even the most straightforward movie. The rush of events became far too hectic to enter more than a small fraction of them in my log, and few of them (luckily) concerned me directly. My primary job was still polishing the novel, though I was constantly involved in technical discussions with the artists and production staff. (Sometimes with disastrous results; see entry for November l0, below.) February 9, 1965. Caught Dali on TV, painting in a Fifth Avenue store window to promote Fantastic Voyage. Reported this to Stanley, who replied: "Don't worry -- we've already reserved a window for you." March 8. Fighting hard to stop Stan from bringing Dr. Poole back from the dead. I'm afraid his obsession with immortality has overcome his artistic instincts. April 6. To COMSAT Headquarters, Washington, for launch of first commercial communications satellite, "Early Bird." Introduced to Vice-President Humphrey, who is also Chairman of the Space Council, and told him we were spending ten million dollars to publicize space. Added that one character in the movie would be the Chairman of the Space Council... thirty years from now. "Oh," said H.H.H. at once, "I still intend to be chairman then." April l2. Much excitement when Stanley phones to say that the Russians claim to have detected radio signals from space. Rang Walter Sullivan at the New York Times and got the real story -- merely fluctuations in Quasar CTA 102. April 14. Reception at Harcourt, Brace and World. Those present included Bill Jovanovich (president), Jeremy Bernstein (New Yorker Magazine), Dennis Flanagan (Scientific American), Dr. Robert Jastrow (Goddard Space Center), Stanley and Christiane Kubrick, Al Rosenfeld (Science Editor, Life), Sylvester (Pat) Weaver, Scott Meredith, and many other friends. There was a general belief that the party was to celebrate Harcourt's publication of Journey Beyond the Stars, but I explained that this was not definite, and depended upon the size of the mortgage they could raise on the building. April 19. Went up to the office with about three thousand words Stanley hasn't read. The place is really humming now -- about ten people working there, including two production staff from England. The walls are getting covered with impressive pictures and I already feel quite a minor cog in the works. Some psychotic who insists that Stanley must hire him has been sitting on a park bench outside the office for a couple of weeks, and occasionally comes to the building. In self-defense, Stan has secreted a large hunting knife in his briefcase. May 1. Found that a fire had broken out on the third floor of the Chelsea. Waited anxiously in the lobby while the firemen dealt with it...visions of the only complete copy of the MS going up in smoke.... May 2. Completed the "Universe" chapter -- will soon have all Part Three ready for typing, hurrah.... Stan phoned to say he liked the "Floating Island" sequence. Strange and encouraging how much of the material I thought I'd abandoned fits in perfectly after all. May 3. Finished first draft of the runaway antenna soquence. May 25. Now Stanley wants to incorporate the Devil theme from Childhood's End.... June 7. Bad book review in the Tribune says I should stick to science exposition and am an amateur at fiction. Late June. Read Victor Lyndon's production notes, they left me completely overwhelmed. Glad that's not my job. One scene calls for four trained warthogs. On that note, more or less, I returned to Ceylon after an absence of over a year, and subsequently rejoined Stanley at the MGM studios at Boreham Wood, fifteen miles north of London, in August. His empire had now expanded vastly, the art department was in full swing, and impressive sets were being constructed. My time was now equally divided between the apparently never-ending chore of developing ideas with Stanley, polishing the novel, and almost daily consultations at the studio. August 25. Suddenly realized how the novel should end, with Bowman standing beside the alien ship. September 25. Visitors from NASA -- Dr. George Mueller, Associate Administrator, and "Deke" Slayton (Director of Flight Crew Operations). Gave them the Grand Tour -- they were quite impressed. George made several useful suggestions and asked wistfully if he could have the model of the Discovery for his office when we'd finished with it. Deke was later reported to have said: "Stanley, I'm afraid you've been conned by a used capsule salesman." An improbabable story -- I suspect the fine Italian hand of Roger Caras, Stanley's vice-president in charge of promotion. October 1. Stanley phoned with another ending. I find I left his treatment at his house last night -- unconscious rejection? October 3. Stanley on phone, worried about ending...gave him my latest ideas, and one of them suddenly clicked -- Bowman will regress to infancy, and we'll see him at the end as a baby in orbit. Stanley called again later, still very enthusiastic. Hope this isn't a false optimism: I feel cautiously encouraged myself. October 5. Back to brood over the novel. Suddenly (I think) found a logical reason why Bowman should appear at the end as a baby. It's his image of himself at this stage of his development. And perhaps the Cosmic Consciousness has a sense of humor. Phoned these ideas to Stan, who wasn't too impressed, but I'm happy now. October 15. Stan has decided to kill off all the crew of Discovery and leave Bowman only. Drastic, but it seems right. After all, Odysseus was the sole survivor.... October 17. For the first time, saw Stan reduced to helpless hysterics as we developed comic ideas. There will be no one in the hibernacula: all the trainees chickened out, but the mission had to go ahead regardless. October 19. Collected by studio car, and spent all day working (or trying to work) with Stan. Despite usual crowds of people getting at him, long phone calls to Hollywood, and a "work-to-rule" the unions called, got a lot done and solved (again!) our main plot problems. October 26. Had a discussion with Stanley over his latest idea -- that Discovery should be nuclear-pulse driven. Read a resently declassified report on this and was quite impressed -- but the design staff rather upset. November l0. Accompanied Stan and the design staff into the Earth-orbit ship and happened to remark that the cockpit looked like a Chinese restaurant. Stan said that killed it instantly for him and called for revisions. Must keep away from the Art Department for a few days. November 16. Long session with Stanley discussing script. Several good ideas, but I rather wish we didn't have any more. November 18. Peeling rather stale -- went into London and saw Carol Reed's film about Michelangelo, The Agony and the Ecstasy. One line particularly struck me -- the use of the phrase "God made Man in His own image." This, after all, is the theme of our movie. November 30. To the Oxford and Cambridge Club with Roger Caras and Pred Ordway (Technical Adviser) to meet Dr. Louis Leakey and his son Richard. Dr. Leakey is just as I imagined him -- full of enthusiasm and ideas. He thinks that Man now goes back at least four to five million years. He also confided to me that he'd written a play -- a fantasy about primitive man which he thought would make a fine movie. It's about a group of anthropologists who are sent back into the past by a witch doctor. I said (breaking all my rules) that I'd be glad to see the manuscript --which is true. December 16. My 48th birthday -- and Somerset Maugham dies. Trying to make something of this (last of the competition?). December 25. Christmas Day, ha-ha! Hacked my way to Jupiter -- slow but steady going. December 26. Working all day. Stan phoned to thank me for the presents and sent a driver to collect what I'd written. He called later to say that he didn't think much of the dialogue. I agreed. That Christmas of 1965 we were really under the gun, and no one had a holiday. Stanley was up against a unbreakable deadline. The enormous set of the TMA-1 excavation, containing the monolith found on the Moon, had been constructed at the Shepperton Studios, in South West London -- and it had to be torn down by the first week of the New Year, so that another production could move in. Stanley had only a week to do all his shooting, for the second crucial encounter between Man and Monolith....On Android, users simply need to tap the blue dot once they've parked and then hit "Save your parking" to drop a pin handily labeled "You parked here." Tapping the pin label brings up another card where you can set a reminder to pay the parking meter, snap a picture of your parking space, share your car's location or just jot down some parking notes.
Users on iOS will have a similar experience, but they won't actually have to remember to drop a pin first. If your phone is connected to the car via Bluetooth or USB, Google Maps takes advantage of a feature built for Apple Maps to automatically tag your car's location once your phone disconnects from the vehicle. The search giant baked a similar feature into older versions of its Google Now app on Android, but it worked using some GPS trickery and algorithmic guessing, so the new method is a more elegant (and much more accurate) solution. Of course, iOS users can also tap the "Parking location" label on the map to bring up or share their parking info and the card also includes Street View images of the nearby area, but you'll have to set parking meter timers yourself.
The new features are available now in the Android and iOS versions.Blog
Support RAM-Intensive Workloads with High Memory Droplets
At DigitalOcean, we aim to make it simple and intuitive for developers to build and scale their infrastructure, from an application running on a single Droplet to a highly distributed service running across thousands of Droplets. As applications grow and become more specialized, so too do the configurations needed to run them effectively. Recently, with the launch of Block Storage, we made it easy to scale storage independently from compute at a lower price point than before. Today, we're doing something similar for RAM with the release of High Memory Droplet plans.
Standard Droplets offer a great balance of RAM, CPU, and storage for most general use-cases. Our new High Memory Droplets are optimized for RAM-intensive use-cases such as high-performance databases, in-memory caches like Redis or Memcache, or search indexes.
High Memory Droplet plans start with 16GB and scale up to 224GB of RAM with smaller ratios of local storage and CPU relative to Standard Plans. They are priced 25% lower than our Standard Plans on a per-gigabyte of RAM basis. Find all the details in the chart below and on our pricing page.
We're actively looking at ways to support more specialized workloads and provide a platform that enables developers to tailor their environment to their applications' needs. We'd love to hear how we can better support your use-case. Let us know in the comments or over on our UserVoice.A new feathered dinosaur unearthed from Jurassic rocks in northeastern China had long bones protruding from its wrists that may have supported wing membranes—like the kind you’d find in bats and flying squirrels, not birds. Yi qi, as the critter is called, is an extraordinary example of early evolutionary experiments with flight. Although ultimately, it may have been a failed experiment. The findings were published in Nature this week.
“The picture of the evolution of feathers and flight has become richer and more complicated as other feathered dinosaurs have been discovered, seemingly on a monthly basis,” UC Berkeley’s Kevin Padian writes in an accompanying News & Views article. “But things have just gone from the strange to the bizarre.”
A local farmer discovered the partial skeleton, complete with preserved soft tissue, in 160-million-year-old sediments of the Tiaojishan Formation in Hebei Province. When a team led by Linyi University’s Xing Xu and Xiaoting Zheng analyzed the fossilized remains, they thought at first that the new 380-gram (0.8-lb), pigeon-sized dinosaur was flightless: While it sported plenty of feathers, they seemed too narrow and filament-like to form useful flight surfaces. But perhaps it had a different type of wing altogether? After all, an unusually long, slightly curved, rod-like bone extends from each of its wrists, and patches of membranous tissue were preserved alongside the long bones.
A flight apparatus like this has never been seen in a dinosaur before, though it has evolved in other groups. Many flying and gliding creatures these days have long rods of either bone or cartilage associated with a pair of limb joints, and they’re used to anchor aerodynamic membranes like skin. And pterosaurs (which aren’t dinosaurs), have a wing membrane supported by a single elongated finger, The Conversation explains.
“We thought giving this animal a name meaning ‘strange wing’ [in Mandarin] was appropriate, because no other bird or dinosaur has a wing of the same kind,” Xu says in an Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) news release. “We don’t know if Yi qi was flapping, or gliding, or both, but it definitely evolved a wing that is unique in the context of the transition from dinosaurs to birds.” Yi qi (pronounced “ee chee”) is also the shortest name given to a dinosaur ever.
Colleagues joked that these rods could have been used as ski poles or chopsticks, and less jokingly, as part of a courtship display. Unfortunately, because of incomplete preservation, the researchers weren’t able to figure out the size and shape of the wing membrane or the configuration of the bones. And even if Yi qi could flap or glide, it may have only been able to do so for short flights between trees or downwards from elevated perches.
“Yi qi lived in the Jurassic, so it was a pioneer in the evolution of flight on the line to birds,” Zheng adds in the IVPP statement. “It reminds us that the early history of flight was full of innovations, not all of which survived.” Yi qi, with its 60-centimeter (24-inch) wingspan, may represent a whacky evolutionary experiment that ultimately failed.
Images: Dinostar Co. Ltd (top), Zang Hailong/IVPP (middle)David Underwood was having a hard time finding his house over the weekend.
He and his wife were searching everywhere for the Fort Worth, Tex., property that had been in their family for years. They thought the home had vanished -- and they were right, according to KDFW. The city confirmed Monday that its demolition crews leveled the wrong house.
"We came around Silver Creek looking for the lot and my wife said, 'David, I think the house is gone,'" Underwood told the station. "We looked up there and sure enough, it's gone!"
The three-bedroom, ranch style home, which sat on a lake, was once owned by Underwood's grandmother. It was nearly empty but not condemned like the house next door -- the house that was actually due to be demolished. Instead, crews took Underwood's home, valued at $82,000, which he planned to fix up and move into, the New York Daily News reports.
All that's left is a cement foundation.
The city's code compliance office confirmed the epic blunder with an oh-so-apologetic statement to reporters:
On July 12, 2013, contractors demolished the wrong property on Watercress Drive. The property to be demolished should have been 9708 Watercress Dr. The property that was demolished was a vacant structure located at 9716 Watercress Drive.
KDFW reported that Underwood's neighbor tried to alert city officials when demolition crews showed up at the wrong doorstep on Friday. Apparently, the warning didn't work.“It is my job as chairman to act in the best interests of our football club at all times and I can assure everyone that this is not a decision that I have taken lightly. Sadly results this season have simply not been good enough and I feel the time is right to make a change.” – Sunderland Chairman Ellis Short
Itai??i??s been quite a week in Sunderland. From the depth of despair, as Franco Di Santo rolled in a late winner against The Black Cats, to effectively end Steve Bruceai??i??s tenure to Martin Oai??i??Neill being brought in to replace him. Bruce’s sacking came at the right time, thereai??i??s no question about that. Despite protestations from the mainstream media (many of whom havenai??i??t even watched us regularly) claiming that Bruce should be given time, if anything he was afforded too much time and he could well have been given the boot last week.
It Was Only A Matter Of ‘When’
The chants at the end of the Wigan game, whilst unsavoury to say the least, were merelyAi?? a collective outpouring of ai???enough is enoughai???… heai??i??d burned all bridges between the club and the fans and when the manager is smiting fans while facing the media, itai??i??s only fair that they have a riposte. That said, itai??i??s not been all bad, but football very much is a game of ai???what have you done for me latelyai???.
Niall Quinn and Roy Keane came to the club and brought in fresh optimism and rifled Sunderlands up The Championship and into the Premier League, playing quality football with some exciting players. With a little bit of help from Ricky Sbragia, they stayed there. Steve Bruce, at the time, was the perfect appointment. He over achieved with Wigan and Birmingham and if he could drag them up to the promised land of mid-table mediocrity then fans would be happy enough. Bruce did bring them up a level, despite failure to hold on to players such as Darren Bent, Asamoah Gyan, Danny Welbeck, Sulley Muntari and John Mensah; itai??i??s worth remembering he was the one who attracted them to the club in the first place.
The Black Cats needed someone at that time to take them from perennial relegation-zone dwellers to an established top half team. Unfortunately, thatai??i??s when Bruceai??i??s limitations came in and he couldnai??i??t take them up further. Not that he saw it that way. One tenth place finish, which was highly commendable, even if it did come down to other teamai??i??s failings on the final day rather than their own ability. This was held over the fans like a threat. Often pointing to the tenth place finish like they should be in awe of his incredible achievement and hiring an open top bus. His relationship was on the decline.
There was also the now infamous quotes about us fans apparently being ai???obsessedai??i?? with Newcastle United. Things couldnai??i??t be further than the truth and further proved how disconnected he was with his audience. Of course, everyone wants to get one over their local rivals, but everyone was much more concerned with their own performances (or rather the lack of them). Further outbursts came about fans allegedly having too high expectations, which were way out of order. Sunderland fan couldn’t have asked for anything more than a repeat performance. Perhaps even to win more than three home games since January 1st. Sadly the fact was it wasnai??i??t like the fans deserved to win any more games than that. The football displayed was turgid and defensive. Especially when it seemed that the team was reliant on a killer ball from Sebastian Larsson in order to ever win a game. Larssonai??i??s a great player, and rapidly becoming a fans favourite having been brought in by Bruce this summer, but to rely purely on him is sheer foolhardiness. Shotguns were loaded before the recent game with Wigan, and as pointed out earlier, when the second goal rolled in, following yet another abject |
o'clock
While many believed Detroit's record streak of 23 consecutive playoff appearances may be on the line this season, the Wings (3-1-1) are quietly off to a nice start. Their only blemish is a regulation loss to Anaheim. They took three of four points against Boston and swept a home-and-home with Toronto. Lingering into the final year of his contract, coach Mike Babcock somehow has been able to deflect buzz about being a possible free agent.
PHANTOMS PHILE
After christening PPL Center with a thrilling overtime win Friday night, the Phantoms split their weekend series with Adirondack. Scott Laughton netted four goals on the weekend. Shayne Gostisbehere picked up an assist on one of Laughton's two power-play goals Friday night.THE NRMA Insurance Broncos will take a squad balanced with big names and rookies to this weekend's NRL Auckland Nines.
Sam Thaiday will captain a squad that features the experience of Adam Blair, Darius Boyd, Alex Glenn and Andrew McCullough.
But there could be a few discoveries to be made for Broncos fans, with a host of youngsters selected for the trip to New Zealand.
Elijah Alick will make his return from a knee reconstruction at the tournament, which will also feature the debuts of Broncos' under-20s forwards from last year, Jai Arrow and Keegan Hipgrave.
Arrow was a Junior Kangaroo in 2015, while Hipgrave played for Queensland under 18s.
Ipswich speedster Carlin Anderson, former Shark Todd Murphy and ex-Penrith half Sam Scarlett will all add spark.
Half Darren Nicholls will make his second trip to the tournament to provide direction for the Broncos, while squad members Tom Opacic, Caleb Timu and Jonus Pearson are all yet to be seen in the NRL.
Opacic played in the World Club series for the Broncos last year, while Timu and Pearson were both stars in the National Youth Competition but are now out of under 20s.
Timu will be playing his first game since returning from a two-year faith mission.
There will be some added punch from first grade-experienced players in the group through Corey Oates, Joe Ofahengaue and Francis Molo.
The makeup of the squad will give supporters a good look at some of the younger talents in the club, a tactic the Broncos used previously to launch the careers of players like Kodi Nikorima and Ofahengaue.
The team will depart on Thursday, and train in Auckland on Friday before pool matches against the Sea Eagles and Bulldogs on Saturday.
The Broncos' finals hopes will go on the line in their final pool match against home town heroes the Warriors on Sunday.
BRONCOS' NRL AUCKLAND NINES SQUAD
Sam Thaiday (c)
Elijah Alick
Carlin Anderson
Jai Arrow
Adam Blair
Darius Boyd
Alex Glenn
Keegan Hipgrave
Andrew McCullough
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Fans = $170 / Members = $153. Please click here to shop now.SACRAMENTO, CA - The Sacramento Kings have signed guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, it was announced today by General Manager Vlade Divac.
Originally chosen 27th overall by Phoenix in the 2014 NBA Draft, the 6-6 shooting guard was acquired alongside the 13th and 28th picks (Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere) and a future second-round choice by Sacramento in exchange for the eighth selection in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Bogdanovic joins the Kings after playing the last three seasons in Turkey, where he led Fenerbahce to both the Euro and Turkish League Championships in 2016-17. In 27 games, the 24-year-old amassed averages of 14.6 points (.500 FG%,.430 3pt%,.855 FT%), 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.12 steals in 27.9 minutes per contest, earning All-Euro League First-Team and Turkish Finals MVP honors.
In addition to professional experience with Fenerbahce, Bogdanovic spent parts of four seasons with Partizan Belgrade, averaging 14.8 points (.401 FG%,.370 3pt%,.754 FT%), 3.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.67 steals per game in route to 2013-14 Euro League Rising Star accolades. Then only 21 years of age, he guided Partizan past rival Red Star Belgrade in the league’s championship series in route to posting 30.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per contest during the best-of-five series.
A member of the silver-medal winning Serbian national team in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Bogdanovic averaged 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in eight contests, including a game-high 18 points (7-11 FG, 3-4 3pt, 1-1 FT) to accompany one rebound, five assists and three steals in a quarterfinal victory over Croatia. He helped guide Serbia into the Games with averages of 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists during the 2016 FIBA Qualifying Tournament, punctuated by 26 points (9-14 FG, 6-10 3pt, 2-2 FT), two rebounds and eight assists in the championship game victory against Puerto Rico.by
Then
By 2008 the neoliberal project that had been propelled by bullshit, wishful thinking and copious quantities of bank money freed from any pretense that it could ever be repaid was coming unwound. The same ‘favor’ that American mortgage lenders had done communities of color and exurbs in the U.S. found peripheral Europe’s political ‘leaders’ and plutocrats ready, willing and able to borrow money that stood little chance of being repaid by them. As soon as it became publicly evident that trillions in bank loans were unlikely to be repaid bankers, and the government officials who work for them, looked around to see what groups were (1) able to pay interest, and eventually principal, on debt that they had seen no direct benefit from, and (2) lacked the political power to resist being forced to repay it.
Lest this seem too diabolical to be plausible, this is the basic lending model that has been used by Western banks and backed by Western governments and the ‘independent’ institutions they control for some six decades now. The U.S., Germany or France have long lent money for infrastructure projects, agricultural ‘upgrades’ like the Green Revolution and direct purchases of technology and / or munitions. This indebted the citizens-by-degree of both internally and externally organized nation-states while making large profits for the corporations who could sell their wares thanks to the ‘largesse’ of Western states and banks. This practice in some measure explains how corrupt and / or incompetent government officials and plutocrats in Greece managed to line their own pockets while permanently indebting the good citizens of that storied nation.
From a creditor’s perspective pools of wealth like pensions, bank deposits and health care funds tend to be fungible and therefore ripe for the picking. That ordinary citizens in many cases labored their entire lives and forewent direct compensation in exchange for these benefits has had little to no bearing on their being taken to settle debts incurred by others. Lest these seem wildly primitive, backwater type acts, the current battle over public and private pensions in the U.S. is precisely and exactly this. And while the Federal government backs the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) limited guarantee of bank deposits in the U.S., bipartisan ‘Grand Bargains’ and newly negotiated details of coming bank bailouts suggest that bank deposits may be about as ‘sacred’ as Social Security and public sector pensions in the next crisis.
The most corrupt large-scale bank bailouts were engineered in the U.S. by Democrat President Barack Obama and his Lieutenants Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers following from (George W.) Bush administration efforts. The decision was made early on to fully restore Wall Street while leaving the major players who had destroyed the global ‘real’ economy in place. The European powers-that-be replaced key players and imposed more onerous restrictions than had the Americans. This differentiated treatment between ‘internal’ lenders and ‘external’ borrowers defined state behavior both within and across Western nations. The difference in part confirms the perceived importance that Wall Street, large American, French and German based banks, play in neo-imperialist endeavors.
Now
In this time when liberatory politics are handed down by the Supreme Court and liberal Democrat Barack Obama is pushing stealth ‘trade’ deals through Congress the rule of money couldn’t be more evident. Evolution of the Reagan / Thatcher ‘liberation through markets’ finds a global corporate class preying on neo-imperial subjects through newly-constructed mechanisms of economic subjugation. This self-realizing professional class now has the same right to sleep in cardboard boxes and beg for money as the economically excluded, the privatized and those held captive by markets. Self-realized German politicians join self-realized Greek pensioners enjoying ethereal rights while engaged in global class war.
Global reach ties for-profit policing and racial repression in Ferguson, Missouri to captive markets and perpetual debt in Athens, Greece. It is hardly incidental that Germans are raising racist caricatures of ‘lazy, spendthrift’ Greeks much as the narrative of ‘personal responsibility’ defines the exclusionary / inclusionary class basis for racist mass incarceration and predatory privatization schemes in the U.S. This is the language used to ‘explain’ the imperial domination that defined the West for much of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries now updated for a modern audience. Culture war gimmes that conflate expansion of conservative institutions like marriage and military service with liberatory politics are used to divert attention from the rapid consolidation of totalizing economic and political power.
The evolutionary process of late-stage debt servitude is largely formulaic. An early-stage analog is the ‘emerging market’ loans made by large American banks in the 1970s and 1980s that were promptly redeposited into the same banks in the names of corrupt foreign officials but repayable by ‘their’ citizens. Step two is insertion of ‘helpful’ Western institutions like the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank to induce debtor countries to open markets to multi-national monopolists, to eliminate local economic competition, to offer up local resources to be looted, to assign ownership of key industries and utilities to external agents and to use austerity policies to delineate local agents for international capital from neo-imperial subjects. Racist / imperialist apologetics provide socially divisive rationales for engineered economic divisions.
Current mainstream discussion of ‘negotiations’ between a credible Greek government and the Troika (IMF, ECB (European Central Bank) and the EU (European Union)) focus on Greek machinations while it is the Greeks who have limited options and the Troika who could make their neo-imperialist terms disappear in a few heartbeats. The alleged political constraints of the Troika— constituencies that it must answer to, are largely the product of contrived racist chatter used to rally them around its neo-imperial project. In history, the Nazi Occupation of Greece created moral and factual debts owed to the Greek people that couldn’t be repaid in several epochs. This history includes tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Greeks starved to death to feed the German people and their armies, and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Greeks publicly hung, shot or executed in ‘death vans.’
Greek circumstance was recently couched in a plea by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis that the Troika help Syriza reorganize Greek governance to force local plutocrats to disgorge their ill-gotten gains for the benefit of the Greek people. The class interest frame that Mr. Varoufakis used (by metaphor) links the evolution of clearly odious debt from French and German banks to its renegotiation in 2010. Recently released conversations between German ‘negotiators’ suggest that it was well-understood in 2010 that the amount of debt was too large to be repaid and that the terms were economically destructive to Greece. What might seem inexplicable in national terms— the inability of the Greek government to bring its plutocrats to heel, finds its likeness in American rule over recent decades.
This last point is important to understand— the contention that Americans could force American plutocrats to act in the national interest rather than their own is contradicted by the history of the last half-century. The American War in Southeast Asia made war profiteers rich while it was known to be a lost cause for the last decade of its undertaking. The sequential wars across the Middle East were sold in the national interest while securing oil for multi-national oil and gas companies was the predominant goal. Wall Street was deregulated and allowed to make predatory loans that cost millions of people their homes and life savings. When Wall Street imploded from its own malfeasance its victims were made to restore it. Should this fail to convince, poll results eternally show plutocrat’s interests determining government policies against those of the overwhelming majority of citizens.
Mr. Varoufakis’ plea, capitulation to 98% of the detrimental economic policies foisted on Greece by the Troika in exchange for small, economically reasoned, forbearance on Greek pensions, employment and regressive taxes, pitted policy imagination against the long history and short memory of German ‘negotiators’ who seem intent on seeing Germany re-occupy Greece through punishing economic policies and the forced sale of Greek state assets. Giving the game away are the policies being imposed— neoliberalism as economic imperialism dressed in academic garb. Whether one wants to assign malevolent intent, stupidity, ignorance and / or starry-eyed ideological blindness, the genesis of Greece’s debt suggests that Mr. Varoufakis’ identification of a global ruling class in its creation appears to be on target.
The tactic of the Troika in obfuscating this genesis places the 2010 ‘bailout’ at its center. By shifting Greek liabilities from ‘private’ bank balance sheets to the Troika (at a discount) unpayable debts were tied to wholly implausible economics to pretend that a mutually beneficial agreement had been reached. Paradox lies at the intersection of the agreed upon terms and democratic accountability. It’s all well and good that Greek elites came to terms that the citizens of Greece were intended to bear, even if at the barrel of a metaphorical gun. But where is French and German banker culpability in making loans that could under no arrangement of circumstance be repaid? By analogy, by 2007 American mortgage bankers knew that a large proportion of the loans they were making could never be repaid. To cover up this malfeasance President Obama and his Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, created multi-layered bailout programs to shift resources to culpable banks and bankers. And in cases where that didn’t work, bank liabilities were shifted directly onto the public balance sheet.
The central difference between the U.S. and Greece, besides position in neo-imperial hierarchy, is that the U.S. has no constraint on the creation of U.S. dollars to replace those wasted by bankers. Hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars of bad bank loans were buried in Federal government agencies in the U.S. A Greek choice to leave the European Monetary Union would consign it to a tertiary currency, the Drachma, and a very disorderly unwind, or to continue using the Euro as an ‘external’ currency that it lacks the power to create. To stay within the currency union leaves currency creation in the hands of the ECB which views the union as a quasi-gold standard except when it comes to salvaging predatory European banks. That the Greek ‘problem,’ at least a far as the Troika is nominally concerned, could be resolved through money creation by the ECB points to the political (imperialist) nature of Troika policies.
Present circumstance has a referendum scheduled by Syriza for Sunday, July 5, to vote on the bailout package already rejected, and then partially accepted by Syriza. Capital controls have been instituted and bank withdrawals are severely limited causing immediate and severe economic pain. Not only are Greek citizens being individually affected, the set of economic relationships that is required for economic production to take place (supply chain) has been interrupted and is at risk of being lost. The tradeoff at present appears to be acceptance of Troika terms, either by Syriza or the government that follows it, and continued economic misery or immediate and severe economic dislocations with a plan of gradual recovery. The only assurance is that continued accedence to Troika policies will mean perpetual economic misery for the Greek people.
The prevailing wisdom appears to be that Syriza blew an opportunity to gain slight concessions from the Troika by being inconsistent. By calling for the referendum after capital controls have been implemented the question Syriza appears to be putting to the Greek people is whether they will accept severe near-term economic pain in exchange for possible bargaining leverage. The argument that Syriza wasted good will assumes that, the last eight years notwithstanding, the flawed structure of the monetary union was unforeseen and that Troika negotiations were ever other than naked power politics put forward for economic gain and political domination. Motivations may be complex, but present circumstance carries with it the aggregation of stated and hidden intentions. History now finds Germany playing the role of occupying force, only without the actual occupation, complete with racist caricatures that harken back to the early 1940s.
Regardless of how cleverly or poorly Syriza has ‘played’ its position, Yanis Varoufakis’ identification of a global ruling class, not as singular, unified interests, but as an artifact of the predominant political economy of the epoch, takes the issues at stake out of the narrow Troika- Greek frame to place them in global class struggle. The center – periphery frame that has been used to define European political and economic relations finds metaphor in class relations in the U.S. While economic recovery has been claimed since the middle of 2009, it has largely emanated from an extremely concentrated core— from Wall Street and the executives of large, multi-national corporations to select suburban bourgeois, bypassing traditional ‘out’ groups. The economic detritus from predatory finance can still be seen in the inner city and exurb communities where bank malfeasance was most prevalent. That a liberal Democrat President has implemented ‘trickle-down’ policies demonstrates the reach of the neoliberal project.
While in some cosmic accounting unknown and unknowable to us mere mortals ordinary Greeks may have spent weeks in the early – mid 2000s walking quickly past the needy and buying bourgeois trinkets just to prove they could, the current circumstance of Greece is more systemic than particular. French and German banks made the same predatory loans across the European periphery. Stupidity, ignorance and / or ideological blindness may explain as much or more than malevolence, but expertise in assessing the capacity to repay loans is the business of bankers, not borrowers. The failure of ‘center’ governments to hold malevolent and / or incompetent bankers to account while forcing the consequences of their poor business decisions onto those least able to resist them ties the ‘excesses’ of the 1990s and 2000s to the prior half-century of predatory banking in the service of neo-imperial conquest.
In this frame it doesn’t all that much matter what Syriza did or didn’t do— the game was rigged from the start. As far as reflecting poorly on an international left, if one modeled the distribution of political and economic power before and after Syriza little movement in one direction or another would likely be seen. If the idea of the left is to provide a critical frame and broad principles for social— political and economic, organization then leaving Syriza and the Greek people to their own devices hardly seems constructive. If this analysis has bearing, the people of Baltimore, Detroit and Philadelphia share more interests with the Greek people than they do with the local representatives of international capital in Washington and New York. The unifying factor is neo-imperialist political economy put forward in the realms of the political and the economic as freedom to choose.
Next
Unless economic recovery is but the blind hope that history has ended, renewed crisis well-fits the historical tendencies that were recovered and enhanced since the last crisis. That Greece, and more likely than not the rest of the European periphery, is in decline in approximate proportion to the extent it was peripheral in the first place, signals the conundrum some time ago entered into by Greek politicians now long out of office. As of this writing, the IMF has publicly stated that Greek debt is unpayable in its current amount. From recently released conversations among senior German negotiators, this was well-understood before the 2010 ‘agreement’ between Greece and the Troika was signed. And at the wholesale and retail levels Wall Street, large American, French and German banks, knew that many of the loans being made, couldn’t, and therefore wouldn’t, be repaid.
For those who may have forgotten, at the height of the financial unpleasantness in 2008 the IMF made a public mea culpa begging forgiveness for decades of denying the very same plutocrat-serving bailout policies that were the first choice of Western policy officials. This is to suggest that just because all parties involved in Greek ‘negotiations’ know, and have long known, that Greek debts can’t be repaid has had no bearing up-to-now on the punishing policies forced on the Greek people. Debt is the tool of modern imperialism. Had the U.S. and Germany extended the same bailout terms to the domestic and global periphery that were applied to ‘home’ banks the global economic crisis would have ended in 2009. The difference can be framed in terms of economic class or imperialist center-and-periphery. Either way, history is the better guide than mainstream economic theory to determining the trajectory of the political economy that now confronts us all by degree.
Rob Urie is an artist and political economist.9. Kyoto, Japan
You voted Kyoto the 9th most beautiful city in the world. As the centre of Japanese culture for hundreds of years, and surrounded by magnificent and easily accessible mountains, there's much to be impressed by here. Walk around the east side of the city see the best of the traditional temples.
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8. Brisbane, Australia
In 8th place is Brisbane – Queensland Australia's largest city. You chose Brissy for its winning combination of high-rise modern architecture, lush green spaces and the enormous Brisbane River that snakes its way through the centre before emptying itself into the azure Moreton Bay.
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7. Venice, Italy
You voted the floating island of Venice the 7th most beautiful city in the world, despite the millions of tourists that pack its streets each year. Mass tourism aside, Venice will always have charm, with its undeniably romantic setting, classic architecture and wonderful sea views.
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6. Prague, Czech Republic
Next up in our poll of the most beautiful cities in the world is Prague, a city of two sides: by night it's a buzzing metropolis with a hedonistic party scene, but by day you can lose yourself in a warren of quaint cobbled streets, or spend an afternoon admiring the view from the Charles Bridge, that stretches across the Vltava river.
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Prague, Charles Bridge in the morning © QQ7/Shutterstock
5. London, England
With sprawling green spaces, its huge gothic parliament buildings and perhaps the most famous residence in the world, Buckingham Palace, London can lay claim to being one of the most beautiful cities ever built. Even in the grittier east you can find allure at Columbia Road flower market, or atop the hill in Greenwich Park overlooking the Canary Wharf towers across the Thames.
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4. Edinburgh, Scotland
It's famed for its excellent annual festival, but there is more to Edinburgh than great comedy and arts – and according to you, it’s beauty. Head east of the city and make the short walk up Arthur’s Seat, an 823ft-high dormant volcano, to take in views of Scotland’s capital and you won’t need to question why it’s been voted the 4th most beautiful city in the world.
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3. Paris, France
Finishing in 3rd place, France's capital has been long considered the paragon of style and the most glamorous city in Europe – and we can't disagree with your choice to put Paris near the top of this poll. We love its elegant streets and boulevards, the lofty Eiffel Tower and the huge range of incredible art and architecture found throughout the city.
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2. Florence, Italy
The cathedral dome that dominates the city's skyline is just one of the many attractions that make Florence one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The river Arno that cuts through the heart of the city, the Piazza della Signoria and the gorgeous church of San Miniato al Monte are all among Florence's highlights.
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1. Rome, Italy
At number one you voted Rome as the most beautiful city in the world. With its thousand-year-old buildings, beautiful piazzas and world-class art – not to mention Vatican City – we're certainly not surprised. Rome, after all, is the capital of the so-called bel paese, or "beautiful country".
Find out more about RomeWe present a study comparing, in English, perceived distributions of men and women in 422 named occupations with actual real world distributions. The first set of data was obtained from previous a large-scale norming study, whereas the second set was mostly drawn from UK governmental sources. In total, real world ratios for 290 occupations were obtained for our perceive vs. real world comparison, of which 205 were deemed to be unproblematic. The means for the two sources were similar and the correlation between them was high, suggesting that people are generally accurate at judging real gender ratios, though there were some notable exceptions. Beside this correlation, some interesting patterns emerged from the two sources, suggesting some response strategies when people complete norming studies. We discuss these patterns in terms of the way real world data might complement norming studies in determining gender stereotypicality.
Introduction
Gender stereotyping forms a cornerstone of psychology with many sub-domains researching the topic in detail, in particular, and for very different reasons, social psychology and psycholinguistics. The study of gender stereotyping in social psychology focuses on the processes that lead to stereotyping – applying a set of beliefs about the characteristics of a social category to members of that category (Greenwald and Banaji, 1995) – and the wider result of this stereotyping; see, for example, Peterson and Zurbriggen (2010) and Latrofa et al. (2012). Gender stereotyping in psycholinguistics has typically been studied as an example of inference in the comprehension of discourse and text. When an individual is described as an engineer, researchers have been interested in possible inferences about the gender of this engineer. Much of this research uses anaphor resolution as in index of stereotyping (e.g., Carreiras et al., 1996) or judgments about words that explicitly or implicitly refer to a person of a given gender (e.g., Oakhill et al., 2005; Gygax and Gabriel, 2008).
In this psycholinguistic literature, stereotyped words are often compared and contrasted with words with definitional gender, such as king and queen (e.g., Banaji and Hardin, 1996; Osterhout et al., 1997; Oakhill et al., 2005). As in the case of king and queen, these words often form morphologically unrelated pairs. Morphologically related pairs, such as actor and actress, have undergone considerable changes in usage over the past 50 years. The definitions of role names that are gendered by stereotype do not contain gender information as part of their core meaning, which defines the role itself (what a footballer does, for example, or a secretary). It therefore follows that if the effect of the gender stereotypicality of a noun, or a role name (e.g., taxi driver) more generally, is to be studied, the extent of the stereotyping of the noun first needs to be measured.
Because psycholinguistic studies of stereotyping look at whether, or how likely, an inference about a person’s gender will be made on the basis of stereotype information, it has been considered appropriate to assess the proportions of men and women thought, by people similar to those tested in the core experiment, to fill various roles in the real world. In collecting stereotype norms, therefore, the method has been to collate a set of role names (which may be either single nouns, such as nurse, or phrases such as primary school teacher), present them to judges, and use a variant of the instruction: estimate to what extent the groups are made up of women or men. Data is typically collected on a Likert-type scale (e.g., Kennison and Trofe, 2003; Gabriel et al., 2008; Irmen and Kurovskaja, 2010; Misersky et al., 2014). These studies have often been carried out as pre-tests for a particular further study, rather than as studies in their own right. Misersky et al. (2014) pointed out that, therefore, the methods have varied enough to prevent direct comparison between studies. The study carried out by Misersky et al. (2014) used a common data collection tool, designed for the study but extensible to other languages, to collect stereotype norms in seven languages and for a large set of role names. Four hundred and twenty-two role names were chosen to be tested for English, and as many of those in the other six languages that had translations from English. Selection was based on previous norming studies (e.g., Kennison and Trofe, 2003; Gabriel et al., 2008), as well as on brainstorming sessions and trawls of dictionaries. All of the chosen terms were intended to be stereotypically applied to males or females, but not definitionally. This distinction is not always completely clear-cut, partly because of changing matters of usage. A particularly tricky case is waiter, which was once part of a gender marked pair waiter/waitress, and was the subject in the United States of a largely failed attempt to replace it with the supposedly gender neutral term server. The Cambridge free English dictionary (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2015), for example, defines a waiter as “a man whose job is to bring the food to customers at their tables in a restaurant,” though other sources reflect more progressive thinking (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2015, under Sexist language). In the Misersky et al. (2014) study, respondents were free to indicate that they thought 100% of waiters were male, though the actual figure was 45%, and the true data from ONS sources suggested 75%. As in previous studies carried out by our group (e.g., Gabriel et al., 2008), an 11-point Likert type scale was used, ranging from 0% women/100% men to 100% women/0% men, in 10% steps, and participants were asked to estimate to what extent the roles presented to them were carried out by women or men. Participants were specifically asked to think of the real proportion of men and women in the roles (and not to base their responses on how they thought things should be). Data were collected online, and in the English sample there were 281 respondents, far more than in previous studies and hence providing reasonably accurate estimates of beliefs about the proportions of men and women filling the roles studied (see original paper for data).
Though stereotyping is often seen as a negative and prejudicial activity, it is widely accepted as a required process for simplifying a complex world via the use of schemas (Augoustinos and Walker, 1998; López-Sáez et al., 2008; Wilbourn and Kee, 2010). Within the social psychology literature, attempts have been made to determine whether stereotyping is based on outdated true gender bias (Wilbourn and Kee, 2010), or (possibly incorrect) assumptions about current female/male ratios (Lopez-Zafra and Garcia-Retamero, 2012; Mills et al., 2012). However, exact gender ratios are not usually reported, so the conclusions can be difficult to evaluate. In the psycholinguistic domain, it is sensible to assume that comprehension is driven by beliefs about male/female ratios, rather than unknown (to the comprehender) true ratios. Nevertheless, the question can be asked about the relation between assumed and true ratios. The answer to that question bears both on the interpretation of psycholinguistic findings, and also, more importantly in the present context, potential prejudice based on completely incorrect assumptions. The current study, therefore, aims to provide true gender ratios for as many of the English role names that appear in the Misersky et al. (2014) study as possible, and to compare them with the reported ratios in the Misersky et al. (2014) data set. Because of the lack of previous research on true gender ratios it is an open question how closely related the norm data and true gender ratios will be.
The main source of information about true gender ratios was, where possible, archival data collected by the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS, http://www.ons.gov.uk/). Where necessary other archival resources were used. The primary objective the current research is, therefore, to collect true gender ratios for the role names presented in Misersky et al. (2014), and to compare them with the normative data from that study.
Materials and Methods
We used archival data to collect true gender ratios for as many as possible of the 422 English role descriptions from Misersky et al. (2014), reproduced in data sheet 1 in the supplementary material.
The data were primarily collected from governmental, in particular the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), and academic sources. In a minority of cases other sources were considered appropriate, and were used. Where no source was available, or considered to be reliable, no estimate of the true ratio was obtained.
The archive search had a number of stages, and proceeded on an item-by-item basis, rather than a source-by-source basis. An attempt was made to locate each item in each source in order. If a source failed to provide relevant data, the next source was consulted. If relevant data were found at any stage, the process ended and the next source was not searched. If the mapping between a role name in the Misersky norms and information in a source was unclear, supplementary information on governmental and academic sites was used to clarity the definition of the role name in the archival data (no definitions were provided in the normative study). The ONS Standard Occupational Classification (ONS, 2010) was the most important document in this context. On occasion more than one definition was available. In such cases, all definitions were incorporated, if possible.
The process and sources were as follows:
(1) 2011 Census, Population Estimates by single year of age and sex for Local Authorities in the UK (ONS, 2013a)
(i)This source is a list of demographic information about age and gender of the population of the UK.
(2) Reference table EMP16 ‘Employment by occupation’ (ONS, 2013c), in conjunction with the Standard Occupational Classification 2010 Volume 2 The coding index (ONS, 2010)
(i) Reference table EMP16 is a list of general job roles with the numbers of people from each gender that perform that role as an occupation, both full and part time.
(ii) The Standard Occupational Classification coding index is a detailed list of job roles and provides the four-level classification ONS uses in EMP16.
(I) The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) coding index was searched for the role name; all occurrences of the role name were used. This search provided a list of ‘SOC’ codes that were cross-referenced with EMP16 to provide the gender ratios.
(II) If two, or more, job roles returned the same SOC code for one role name, each SOC code was only used once to estimate the gender ratio for each role name.
(3) Other UK governmental sources
(i) A Google search was performed with the role name combined with the search terms ‘gender statistics’ and ‘gender ratio’ to find appropriate websites sources.
(ii) Only sites with UK governmental top-level domains were accepted at this stage; for example,.gov.uk or.mod.uk.
(I) Sports based role names were the exception to this rule; statistics obtained directly from governing bodies were accepted if UK specific statistics were provided; as was the case, for example, for the Football Association.
(4) Academic sources
(i) Scopus and Google Scholar were searched for the role names with, and without, the addition of the phrases ‘gender statistics’ and ‘gender ratio.’
(5) Other sources
(i) As with ‘Other UK governmental sources,’ a Google search was performed with the role name combined with search terms ‘gender statistics’ and ‘gender ratio’ to find appropriate website sources.
(ii) Each source was judged on its own merits; for example, national UK news sources and national bodies were accepted, but blogs were not.
Each ratio was assessed for quality. The first criterion for quality was recency. Ratios dated prior to 2008 (5 years prior to the work being carried out) were marked as questionable. Only one ratio was considered questionable on these grounds. Initially recency was to be the only criterion for the quality of the ratios, as the quality of the sources was supposed to be guaranteed by the collection process. However, during the process of data collection a second set of issues became apparent in the ratios produced from the ONS employment data (stage 2, above). The process of collating the list of SOC codes from the Standard Occupational Classification (ONS, 2010) involved identifying all occurrences of the relevant role name in the list, and it produced two types of problem. First, a specific term in Misersky et al.’s (2014) list was only located in one broader category. For example, the role name ‘Zoologists’ was deemed to be part of the job role ‘Biological scientists and biochemists,’ which covers more than just ‘Zoologists.’ Second, a single term in Misersky et al.’s (2014) list was associated with a large number of job roles. For example the role name ‘Manager’ was part of 1336 job descriptions, which were associated with 121 different SOC codes |
the bank. The two things don’t jive. But who knows what he really thinks. And we won’t know that until he does it.”
FROM “DELUSIONAL” TO RIGHT
For Trump supporters who work on Wall Street, his victory is a vindication.
“I’m very happy,” said Matthew Tyrmand, a private investor and contributor to the Breitbart News website, who was attending a Young Republicans party at a bar off Madison Avenue.
Tyrmand, who had shorted stocks ahead of the election - a bet that stock prices will fall - said he had been called “delusional” for predicting a Trump win.
Tyrmand said Trump would be good news for markets because he understands the benefit of letting businesses fail. He predicted equity markets would go through a prolonged correction before recovering.
“We will be healthier long term,” he said.
Around Tyrmand, other Trump supporters hugged one another, sang “God Bless America”, clinked glasses and called out “M-A-G-A!” - the acronym for Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
But in one corner of the bar, a man and a woman downed shots before starting on fresh pints of beer. Asked if the drinks were out of celebration or depression, the response was quick: “Depression,” the man said, declining to give his name. “But either way we drink”
Matthew Farley, a lawyer with Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in New York, said he had been warning friends and colleagues about an electoral upset for months.
“I told them that... a significant portion of the country wanted someone to do a cannonball into the pool and mess up the status quo,” said Farley, who advises Wall Street brokerages on regulation and arbitration issues.
“The cannonball party is not united. They’re progressives and conservatives, but they’re fed up with the status quo and all they know is that anything is better than what we got.”
Trump supporter Steven Chiavarone, associate portfolio manager for Federated Global Investment Management Corp, a fund that invests in stocks, bonds and currencies globally, said the market gyrations should not be seen as a harbinger of doom.
“The world doesn’t end. Assuming capitalism survives, you manage through the volatility and then find the opportunity.”Photo Credit: Oaks Park
Let's face it: Even if rollerblading seems cooler, and ice skating more graceful, nothing beats old-school roller skating. Plus, for kids trying it for the first time, it's much easier to pick up roller skating in an afternoon. And while the number of rinks around the U.S. has dropped by the hundreds since the days of Xanadu, roller skating looks to be on an upswing again, with old rinks getting makeovers and new rinks popping up, in such hipster havens as Brooklyn. Here are eight rinks worth a spin:
Pier 2 Roller Rink (New York City, New York)
This new open-air rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park just opened in May, and has sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. And unlike a lot of activities in NYC, it's a serious deal: admission is just $5 per person for the 3-5-hour public skate sessions, and another $6 to rent skates.
Lakeside Rink (New York City, New York)
Photo Credit: Lakeside Brooklyn
There are actually two new rinks in NYC. The outdoor rink in leafy Prospect Park used to get just one season's worth of play -- with winter ice skating -- but now for the other three seasons the 16,000 square foot rink has gone roller-style. Admission is $6, skate rentals are $6 and a gear combo of helmet and pads can be rented for $7.
Oaks Park Amusement Park and Skating Rink (Portland, Oregon)
The disco era skating rink is a relatively recent memory at this Portland amusement complex that opened in 1905, and still offers skating sessions with its live Wurlitzer pipe organ. (Other sessions have a live DJ.) On weekends, there is roller-derby and freestyle slalom classes. Admission starts at $6, and skate rentals start at just $1.50.
Skate Daze (Omaha, Nebraska)
Photo Credit: Skate Daze
This family-owned rink opened its first location in 1947 and today its empire has been centralized in a 45,000 square-foot site, which also has laser tag, bumper cars and a rock-climbing wall. Skating admission is $6 per person, $3.50 for skate rentals.
Fun Plex Entertainment Center (Houston, Texas)
The rink at this oil town amusement park center is surrounded by murals of iconic city skylines, and accented with fog machines and strobe lights. For grown-ups, the adults-only skate on Friday nights runs until 1 am. Admission is $5, with skate rentals for $2.50.
(MORE: Vacationing in Texas? Find great kid-friendly hotels to stay in Houston.)
The Rink (Chicago, Illinois)
Chicago is famous for its own style of pizza, but it also has its own style of roller skating: "JB," named after James Brown and featuring lots of fancy footwork. You can watch the local experts do it at The Rink on Sunday's JB nights, but you might also pick up a few pointers from locals on the Saturday all-ages skate. Admission starts at $6, and skate rentals are $1.
Northridge Skateland (Northridge, California)
Photo Credit: Northridge Skateland
Open since the late 1950s, this LA area rink has been used as a backdrop for several TV shows, films and music videos (like one by Jay-Z), and features seven huge movie screens that show video clips and cool atmospherics. Family Fun and Food Skate night includes an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. Regular admission starts at $7 person, with $5 rentals, while the Family Fun and Food Skate is $12 per person.
Brentwood Skate Center (Brentwood, Tennessee)
This suburban Nashville rink has serious Music City street cred: Miley Cyrus and Allison Krauss have been reported to skate here, and American Idol's Kellie Pickler shot a video here. To give even the non-pros the star treatment, the rink uses rainbow LED lights and spotlights during songs. Admission is $6 per person, $3 for rentals.One week ago, we planned to publish our new white paper, expand our team and launch the new Hash Rush website. Now that week 36 is over, we can say that we successfully did all those things—and more. In this update, we’ll discuss our visit to the Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference in Stockholm, our teleconference with Japanese investors, and the new Community Manager job opening. Take a look and read more below!
Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference in Stockholm
Kris and Nathan at the Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference in Stockholm Last week Thursday, Hash Rush co-founders Kris and Nathan flew out to Stockholm to attend the Blockchain and Bitcoin Conference. This conference is held throughout Europe (and beyond), and on 7 September it was organised in Stockholm.
As a Silver Sponsor of the conference, Hash Rush received a lot of interest from both investors and gamers alike. People who saw the alpha gameplay video and our banner (above) were generally very impressed. By explaining the gameplay concept and answering questions about the upcoming ICO, we gave Hash Rush another good PR push and made the conference in a big success. To us, this confirmed again that we have a beautiful ‘game-in-the-making’ on our hands.
Blockchain Labo Conference in Tokyo & Osaka
Having participated in the Blockchain Conference in Stockholm, Kris and Nathan quickly flew back to Riga. This time, they took part in a conference held in Tokyo (on 9 September) and Osaka (on 10 September); the attendees were mostly cryptocurrency investors.
A professional video team helped us to set everything up and ensured that the teleconference ran as smoothly as possible — a huge thanks to the National Television of Latvia. Our Japanese audience was highly interested and all we can say now is that Japan will be well-represented during our ICO on 20 September.
Job Opening at Hash Rush: Community Manager
The Hash Rush team is growing! Last week we decided to put up an official job posting to help us in the search for the Hash Rush Community Manager. Do take a look at the job description on Medium or here on Steemit. If you are interested in this position or know someone who fits the bill, please send your cover letter + CV to jobs@hashrush.com.
New white paper, new website, shifted ICO dates
In one of our previous articles, we discussed our latest changes to the Hash Rush project. But since a large part of our week was filled with working on the new white paper and our new website, we wanted to mention them here again. So if you’re interested, please do take a look at our new white paper and new website, and leave your comments below. Also, please take note of our new ICO dates. You’ll be able to purchase your Rush Coin tokens from 20 September at 20.00 UTC to 20 October at 20.00 UTC.
Telegram Channel
Before we end this article and look at our current week, we quickly want to mention that we also have a Telegram channel. Telegram is an instant-messaging service and helps you to keep up to date of the entire Hash Rush project. So if you have an account, please follow us on Telegram!
What’s in store for week 37?
This week we’ll be working on a new interview with one of our newest team members here on Steemit. Also, Kris and Nathan will do a Q&A with a Korean news outlet, and near the end of the week we’ll publish our first official game trailer! If you want to know more, please subscribe to our mailing list. And for questions or comments, let us know below, on Reddit on Slack, or through one of our other media channels.
Please upvote our article below if you liked this! This is an easy way for you to spread the word about Hash Rush.It’s less than two weeks until the election and the big event, as always, falls on a Tuesday. You know what else typically happens on Tuesdays in November? School for the children of the vast majority of the voters who will be going to the polls. And in many locations, the two events intersect because schools are frequently used as polling places. But in at least some precincts around the country, the playgrounds and classrooms will be empty when the adults show up to decide on the next leader of the free world. The reason being given is that they are afraid of potential violence in and around the voting booths, such as one school in Falmouth, Maine. (Associated Press)
Rigged elections. Vigilante observers. Angry voters. The claims, threats and passions surrounding the presidential race have led communities around the U.S. to move polling places out of schools or cancel classes on Election Day. The fear is that the ugly rhetoric of the campaign could escalate into confrontations and even violence in school hallways, endangering students. “If anybody can sit there and say they don’t think this is a contentious election, then they aren’t paying much attention,” said Ed Tolan, police chief in this seaside community, which decided to call off classes on Election Day and put additional officers on duty Nov. 8.
The AP was able to find reports of schools closing on November 8th in Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with a high probability that there are even more. What’s clear from the coverage of the story at that school in Maine, however, is the underlying message that it’s all about Trump. The parents and school administrators they spoke with are all referencing “rigged election” talk, though they at least acknowledge that one GOP campaign office was burned down.
We’re only talking about one day here so I suppose it’s not a real deal breaker. After all, particularly in Maine, they bank plenty of snow days into the schedule to account for the weather so I’m sure the kids can make up the time. But was this really necessary? Yes, there are some rallies that get out of hand and a few violent nutcases who cause trouble during the campaign season, but election day tends to be a rather calm affair in the worst of times. The fighting is over when the voting begins. Even if you have “election monitors” from either side showing up at the polls, there are generally also some representatives from the local constabulary to keep an eye on things.
This just sounds like the liberal propaganda machine getting out of hand. It’s one more excuse for people to show up to vote and be informed that the school is empty because we’re worried about those Trump people. Meanwhile, the kids have their school week broken up and have to tack another day onto the school year to make up for it. It all just seems a bit overheated. The race is nearly over, folks. Can we just get on with the voting and put this whole, sordid mess behind us, please?TURN: Washington’s Spies will premiere its Season 2 onwith a special two-hour episode. The series will then move tofor the remainder of the season.
Jamie Bell stars as Abraham Woodhull, a farmer living in British-occupied Long Island during the Revolutionary War who bands together with his childhood friends to form the Culper Ring, America’s first spy ring. Season 2 moves deeper into the battles waged by soldiers and civilians alike in the pursuit of freedom and the sacrifices they’re willing to make to secure it. As Abe becomes more committed to the Culper Ring activities, George Washington (Ian Kahn) battles both personal demons and betrayal from within his ranks that threaten both his leadership and the fate of the revolution. As the colonies struggle to become a nation, the outcome of the revolution will hinge on alliances both on and off the battlefield.
“From Abe’s commitment to the cause regardless of the risks, to the unique and compelling characters of George Washington and Benedict Arnold and their fascinating dynamic, this is a thriller that brings to life the drama, tension and intrigue from this period in history,” said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s EVP of original programming, production and digital content.
The series also stars Seth Numrich as Ben Tallmadge, Daniel Henshall as Caleb Brewster, Heather Lind as Anna Strong, Kevin R. McNally as Judge Richard Woodhull, Meegan Warner as Mary Woodhull, Burn Gorman as Major Hewlett, Angus Macfadyen as Robert Rogers, JJ Feild as Major John André, and Samuel Roukin as Captain John Simcoe. Joining the cast for season two are Ksenia Solo as Peggy Shippen and Owain Yeoman as Benedict Arnold. Executive produced by Craig Silverstein, who also serves as showrunner, and Barry Josephson, the series is based on the book Washington’s Spies by Alexander Rose (Rose, who served as a consultant for the first season, joins the writing staff for Season 2).
Fans can watch Season 1 of TURN: Washington Spies on AMC.com and via AMC On Demand through Tuesday, March 24, and on Netflix beginning Wednesday, March 25. Season 1 will be available on Tuesday, March 17 on Blu-ray + Digital HD and DVD, and includes bonus features about the making of the series as well as deleted scenes and featurettes with the cast and producers.
Watch the TURN: Washington Spies Season 2 trailer “First American Spy” >>
View first-look photos from TURN: Washington Spies Season 2 >>0
Screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who worked The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall, left the James Bond series over a year and a half ago, which put Bond 24 solely in the hands of Skyfall co-writer John Logan. However, it looks like Purvis and Wade are coming back after some “polite turmoil” (so British!) behind the scenes. The two screenwriters have been “hired to re-write Logan’s script and give it some ‘punch’.” This was the reverse situation with Skyfall where Logan came in to work on Purvis and Wade’s script. “Neal and Robert are only doing what was done to them. There’s no blood; no scars,” a source tells the Daily Mail.
Hit the jump for more. Bond 24 is currently scheduled to open in the U.K. on October 23, 2015 and in the U.S. on November 6, 2015.
According to Ralph Fiennes, who will return to play M, filming on Bond 24 was scheduled to begin shooting in October, but according to the Daily Mail, the rewrites have pushed the production’s start back to December. Assuming the studio wants to hold on to their fall 2015 release dates, it’s going to be a tight production schedule.
Filming won’t begin until a script is in place, and Purvis and Wade have reportedly been called in to “‘punch up’ the script and sprinkle in more gags, emphasizing the witty repartee between Daniel Craig’s 007 and Naomie Harris’s Miss Moneypenny, and focusing on the interplay between Bond and Ralph Fiennes’s M.”
Although it’s tempting to start worrying about a delicate balance being disrupted and that the Oscar-nominated screenwriter is now being usurped by the guys behind Die Another Day, it’s important to keep in mind that Sam Mendes is still on board to direct, and Skyfall ended on a promising note. Expectations are high, but just because the boat is being rocked a bit, that doesn’t mean it’s going to sink.By Fauzia Rafiq
Aurat Foundation has released numbers for the First Quarter of this year, January to March 2008: 91 days. Just for now, i will count them 90 in honor of the 90 Shaheed Women who were reported to be killed for ‘honour’ in these three months.
90 ‘Honour’ Killings…
This is somewhat the picture that emerges from this report:
Each Day in Pakistan
1 woman is killed for honour (read ‘male honour’)
4+ women are murdered (‘murdered by men’)
2+ women are abducted (‘abducted by men’)
1+ women are injured in ‘domestic violence’ (‘wife assault, daughter assault, sister assault, daughter-in-law assault, sister-in-law assault’)
Each Week in Pakistan
4+ women are raped
1+ women are gang-raped
5+ women commit suicide
2+ women face ‘custodial violence’ (‘sexual, physical, psychological abuse by officials while in police custody’)
2- women face sexual assault
1+ women are burnt (‘burnt with kerosine oil’)
Each month in Pakistan
1 woman faces acid attack
This is how a month looks like
30 women are killed for male honour
122 women are murdered
82 women are abducted
39+ women are injured in ‘domestic violence’
20 women are raped
6 women are gang-raped
22 women commit suicide
11+ women face ‘custodial violence’
8 women face sexual assault
5+ women are burnt
Women Are A Colonized Population in Pakistan
This is 152 women killed every month; and, 193 women abducted, battered, raped, gang-raped, violated in police custody, sexually assaulted, acid attacked and burnt. No wonder 22 women choose to end their lives each month.
Where 367 women are killed/assaulted/raped/humiliated each month, the entire population of women of that country is subjected to a minimum of 367 violent, cruel and gender-biased threats on monthly basis.
As well, and at the same time, 367 messages of vulgar victory are delivered to privileged Muslim men around the country.
The history of the colonization of Pakistani women may not be short and sweat but it is for sure un-complicated. In a feudal/tribal/religious society, the implementation of Muslim Sharia Laws, the Hudood Ordinances, provided what was lacking: the divine sanction to subjugate/abuse a whole population group to serve another. The Military, the MullaN and the US Empire have all benefited at the expense of Pakistani politicians and bureaucrats who are now reduced to errand boys/girls helping out to manage and exploit an already dis-empowered population.
Out of this, women, who are more than half the number of men, are rendered expendable. The ‘Declaration on Burying Women Alive/Killing of Women in the Name of “Honour” and other Customary Practices’, passed by women’s and human rights organizations in Islamabad after a national-level consultation in September, acknowledges and points to the situation like this:
‘that we will no longer allow women to be used as pawns – as convenient expendable targets – in feuds between men over murder, property, money, political and tribal rivalries, blood vendettas and misplaced perceptions of “honour” issues;’
Which Women?
The women being murdered, assaulted and mutilated in Pakistan are not you and me. I may be a ‘kari’ but i will not be the one caught/flogged/stoned/killed. It is inevitable that the woman who will suffer this punishment will be a woman of less social and economic status or a woman ‘belonging’ to men of less economic and social status; and, it will not matter if she is a ‘kari’ or not.
A woman Minister was shot dead by the eXtreme MullaNs last year but such instances are few and far between. So far, its 91 under-privileged women to about 1-2 privileged women a year.
Just as the war in Vietnam became an issue for American people and the Western world only when white soldiers began to die there in numbers, the gender-cide in Pakistan remains un-acknowledged by Pakistani people and the world because the women being killed/assaulted at the minimum rate of 367 per month do not belong to the privileged classes.
The ‘acknowledgment’ of gender-cide is not sought from the Military, MullaN or the Empire but from the progressive politicians, academicians, professionals, activists and bureaucrats who are engaged in a fight for peace, democracy and human rights.
We have to acknowledge a situation of urgency before we can respond to it; and, this is one such situation. Because you know why?
The ‘367 per month’ is an Inaccurate Number
Based on the information released by Aurat Foundation for the First Quarter of this year, the number of ‘honour’ killings rose from 1000 a year in 2001-2002 to 1192 a year in 2008. However, I truly believe that the actual number of killings is much higher.
Most cases involving lesser women/people do not get registered to be counted in researches and surveys. ‘Rapes and gang-rapes are a dime a dozen in feudal Pakistan; exploitation, of women, as also of other lesser mortals is managed in urban environments with sophistication. Neither, gets reported in routine.’ In Search of Decency by Zafar Samdani
There are graves being un-earthed in Pakistan of unregistered crimes against women. ‘… during the past two years, as many as 100 young girls and women had been murdered and their graves were unearthed recently.’ Motion Filed in Senate Against Killing of 100 Women
Delivering Justice to (under-privileged) Women
This is an article published in 2004 where the author recalls the memory of Nawabpur case that had happened in 1984. Beginning with the ‘Elder’ of the avenging family, the author has this to say in The tormenting memory of Nawabpur by Omar R. Quraishi :
‘One can only be astonished by the audacity of this man who probably saw it fit to deny or justify the parading of women naked at gunpoint, because one of their relatives allegedly had an affair or affairs with female relatives of the men who came to take revenge.
(Touch-wood 2008: Mir Israr Ullah Zehri)
‘A military court heard the case and after the incident an amendment (through the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance 1984 – Section 354 A) was inserted in the Pakistan Penal Code.
(Touch-Wood 2008: Laws will be amended, Sherry Rehman)
‘It increased the maximum sentence from two years in jail to capital punishment for anyone who forced a woman to strip naked in public. Despite that, the men tried in the Nawabpur case were not given capital punishment or even life sentence.
(Touch-Wood 2008: The more influential culprits in the Baloch women case have not even been charged yet)
‘In fact, two months later they were all released on bail. Akbar’s shattered and broken family left the village fearing that the released men might return and persecute them.’
(Persecution is on. Three older women were buried alive for objecting to the earlier alive burials of five women.)
The Most Unfortunate Fact is the People Who Are Killing Women
In the case of Five (now Eight) women who were buried alive in Balochistan, seven people were arrested, and this is who they are:
‘The arrested include the fathers of the three girls, a brother of two of the girls, a cousin of one of the girls and two others whose identities have not been disclosed’.
This is robbing the hearts and souls of women. One hell of a scary ‘family’! I wonder why a society continues to protect it.
And that is why if we cannot mount enough legal and social resistance in Pakistan and outside to protect women in their homes, we will be putting a vast majority of women’s population at an increased risk of violence and abuse from ‘displeased’ and now a bit ‘hunted’ men in their lives.
This is even more true where women are living in tribal, rural or extreme religious home/family environments.
Aithae vudh hyati nochdae/mere sajjan saak peyarae
An Unscietific Indicator of the Current level of Resistance on this Issue
I am proud to belong to some of the most vibrant Pakistani lists on the Net; foremost among them is the one used by five organizations of progressive workers, peasants, women, and rights activists with over 3000 members.
On September 26, ‘Zardari flirts with Palin’ and ‘Zardari calls Palin gorgeous’ were posted with ‘Three more women buried alive in Balochistan today’.
From September 26 to October 1, the first two drew 19 and 6 posts while the third got 2.
From those two, one was mine.
I think that it is almost a true indicator of the order of our priorities in Pakistan; and in that order, women receiving alive burials for wanting to exercise their basic human rights are remembered twice every 25 instances of imperial gossip.
…
Related Content
‘Violence Against Women’? No! GENDER-CIDE in Pakistan!
Women Slam Govt Against ‘Honour’ Killings
Poems
1. Kikli 13 July Punjabi Roman
Shaheed Bibi Fauzia
2. Fauzia of Mir Wah English
2a. Mir Wah de Fauzia Punjabi
Shaheed Bibi Benaam 1
3. Mir Wah de benaam Chhori Number One Punjabi Roman
Shaheed Bibi Jannat
4. Swal Jannat da NahiN Roman
5. Vaen (mourning)
5a. Vaen Shahmukhi
Shaheed Bibi Fatmah
6. Hun MainuN Na Ro
AdvertisementsEditor’s note: Mark Sullivan is writing under a pseudonym to protect his safety as he builds a life free from crime and addiction.
The first time I saw AMC’s Breaking Bad was about two years ago. I felt like I was watching a reel of my own life—or at least my past—and I finished the entire season in one sitting.
By then I had already moved east; far away from my life in Arizona, where I learned to fight and steal cars; far away from the state prisons, where I spent most of my 20s and 30s; far away from the desert, where I passed the time cooking meth until it nearly killed me between stints behind bars.
I first decided that I wanted to cook meth more than 20 years ago, while I was still locked up. I was an addict back then—meth, heroin, cocaine—you name it, I was hooked. Getting drugs in prison was easy. I was a high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood—the notorious prison gang—which I joined not out of hate, but for drugs and protection. I’ve been out of prison now for 13 years, and joining the white-supremacist gang is something I’ll always regret. But it was my years as a meth cook that I regret the most.
I don’t think I realized the depth of my remorse until I first watched Breaking Bad. It was the most disturbing show I’d ever seen. Sitting in my living room, watching the first episode, I felt the most bizarre sense of shock and sadness. I’d periodically take breaks and call my sister Patty, who was the person who put me onto it. “It’s like they used us as consultants,” she said. And it was true.
Patty desperately wanted us to see the show together. But because I was in the witness-protection program, we were forced to spend our lives apart. She was a tough chick, and she basically taught me everything I know, including every facet of my life in crime, except cooking meth—that was something that I unfortunately taught her.
The first time I broke bad was 15 years ago in Arizona. I had just been released from my third stint in prison, and my gang ties offered me protection and a connection to large criminal network. I was a real-life version of Breaking Bad’s Walt and Jesse, only much worse.
It’s not good to be addicted to meth, especially if you’re the cook. The stuff I used was pure; meth is lethal and the supply was never-ending. This was my world for more than two years. I thought of little else but when I could cook the next batch, and when it would be ready so I could shoot, smoke, and sell all the dope I wanted.
I learned to cook from a guy named California Sack. He had worked for the Hells Angels, and was one of the best outlaw chemists on the West Coast. To get that good, you have to have some scars, and Sack did. Once, he was cooking in the back of a moving van and the lab exploded. As a result, half of Sack’s body was burned, and he wore his skin grafts as a badge of honor.
Just like Walt and Jesse, Sack and I had the best shit in town and everybody wanted it. The profit was unbelievable. I made pure meth for 25 cents a gram and then sold a gram at 50 percent purity for $100. That’s a $200 profit on a 25-cent investment, and that’s just for a gram, which is roughly the weight of a $1 bill. I was cooking in large containers, which held about three to five pounds of product every month. My crew and I were making $4 million a year.
With all that money, I bought everything I had ever wanted, and some things I didn’t. I bought boats and Corvettes. I rented a huge mansion, where my whole crew lived and partied. I felt like Tony Montana in Scarface, a leader among dealers, thugs, and cronies. I thought I had finally made it to the top of the criminal world.
But I was wrong. I needed to have all these people close to me because the drugs led to unbelievable paranoia. I needed to know where everyone was and what they were saying at all times. I was constantly consumed by suspicion. I repeatedly saw and heard things that weren’t real.
At one point, I became convinced that one of my dealers—a friend of 10 years—was trying to kill me. One rainy night, I heard his car pull up to my house, so I quickly grabbed my pistol, loaded it with six rounds and went into the backyard. “Let’s search the house and find him,” I heard someone say. Panicked, I sprinted down the alley. I could hear their footsteps behind me. My lungs burned. I broke into a random house down the street. I ran into the laundry room and shut the door behind me and hid. My gun was cocked. I was waiting for them to come.
The family who lived there wasn’t home; they were at a neighbor’s. But it was raining that day, so when they got home hours later, the resident and her son noticed my wet footprints going into the laundry room. The mom opened the closet door, and I jumped up with the gun thinking it was my friend. My hand was on the trigger. I nearly shot her in the face, but she screamed and the sound held me back. I told her that someone was trying to kill me, but she just kept screaming and screaming, so I ran out of the house.
I was still worried that my friend was following me, so I hid behind a bush down the street, sweating and clutching my gun. A short while later I saw my girlfriend drive by slowly in my truck. I jumped out of the bushes, ran into the street, and climbed in back, screaming, “Go! Go! Go!" She hit the brakes and started crying. She had seen me run out into the yard with the gun, and had been driving around all night looking for me.
She told me no one ever came to the house. I had imagined it all.
Then there was a time I was held up for five days in the desert, living in a trailer and cooking meth. Sack and I were high the entire time; we didn’t wear protective gear, and the drug had seeped into every pore in our bodies. Day by day, we started losing our minds. I became convinced that the feds were watching us. We saw people, cars, and airplanes that didn’t exist. At some point, we became unable to speak to one another—that’s how deep the paranoia ran. Every bush had someone lurking behind it.
Though Walt on Breaking Bad isn’t an addict, in the beginning of the series, there’s a scene in which he’s standing in the middle of the road in the desert with a gun in his mouth, wearing nothing but his underwear. He’s ready to kill himself out of fear. That’s how I felt whenever I cooked. And yet I kept doing it. For a year and a half, I manufactured, sold, and abused this powerful drug.
After the fifth day, we broke down the lab, left the trailer in the desert, and loaded everything into a separate car to begin the 40-mile trek back to Phoenix. I held my gun the entire time. As we made our way over the dusty, deserted roads, my cooking partner and I agreed that if we got pulled over, we would hold court in the streets. We were willing to shoot any cop in our path and die in the process. Anything was better than going back to prison. Had we been pulled over, I know I would either be dead or on death row right now.
I have witnessed so many people destroyed by meth—everyday moms and dads who ended up in prison, their kids sent to foster homes. In months, their mouths would disintegrate, become plagued by disease; their teeth would start to rot and fall out. Everything that meth touches soon decays, and I know from experience.
Ten years ago, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease as a direct result of cooking meth. But my own suffering pales in comparison to that of my sister. Years of cooking and using eventually took its toll on Patty. She died from a mixture of cancer, hepatitis, and diabetes in 2010. As her health declined, we talked about what we could expect from the second season of Breaking Bad. We knew we couldn’t watch it in the same room, but in a way, we were always watching together.
Patty never made it to season two. I watched it alone in my apartment, thinking about all the time I missed seeing her either because of prison or because of witness protection. And that’s what’s missing in Breaking Bad. For all its brilliance and realism, the show seems to gloss over the fact that what really breaks as a result of meth dealing are the hearts and lives of users like me. Like Patty.Fox
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign doesn’t have a lot of money to its name at the moment. Yes, the New York real estate mogul who touts his business wares as the best in the nation boasts a whopping $1.3 million in cash. (Meanwhile, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton raised $42 million in May alone.) Maybe it’s because the presumptive Republican nominee’s staff gave money to a suspicious Mad Men ripoff, or perhaps it’s due to the fact that the party’s financial bigwigs are reluctant to offer him any assistance. Whatever the case may be, one thing is clear — even seemingly ousted Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders has more money than Trump.
According to the Washington Post, the Sanders campaign’s latest financial disclosure reveals a much better spending and donations track record than the man who once offered to debate him in California. As a result, the Independent Vermont senator finished May with $9.2 million cash, which is almost $8 million more than what Trump’s camp reported to the Federal Elections Commission. That’s because he “took in $15.6 million during the last full month of campaigning” despite suffering “a steep fall from April, when he raised $25.8 million.”
Although Sanders’ numbers dwindled compared to Clinton’s in the end, his fundraising efforts often surpassed his party competitor — especially in terms of private donations from individual voters. Yet by the time the former U.S. Secretary of State clinched the Democratic nomination, Sanders was firing staffers left and right to cut corners and, per the Washington Post‘s own speculation, prevent the rapid accumulation of massive debts ahead of July’s convention in Philadelphia.
Maybe 74-year-old politician will use some of that cold, hard cash to finally go on that skydiving trip.
(Via the Washington Post)Post submitted by Beth Sherouse, former ACLS Public Fellow, HRC Senior Content Manager
According to the Williams Institute, about half of lesbian, gay or bisexual people identify as bisexual, which makes bisexual people the largest single group within the LGBT community. Yet in my 14 years of LGBT activism as an out bisexual, I could count on one hand the number of openly bisexual people I knew before I connected with the bi advocacy community last year. And like many of my fellow bisexual advocates, I’ve experienced biphobia more often from lesbian and gay people and in LGBT spaces than I have among non-LGBT people.
The Scottish organization, Equality Network, released a report this week detailing the experiences of bisexual people in the UK, showing that bisexuals feel unsupported and unaffirmed both in LGBT spaces and non-LGBT spaces |
’ll try. But I won’t be one to say I’m not available for selection.”
Keep up to date with all the latest news with expert comment and analysis from our award-winning writers(Delridge/Holden stairway where robbery is reported to have happened)
We had asked Seattle Police to confirm a report of another student robbery today. Now, we have details. Parents from Denny International Middle School are getting robocalls, and this has just appeared on SPD Blotter:
An armed robber pulled a gun on a teen and stole her backpack as she walked to school in West Seattle this morning. The 13-year-old victim was walking down a staircase near 20th Avenue SW and SW Holden Street when a man approached her on the staircase, pulled out a gun, and told her to “give me everything you’ve got.” The suspect patted the teen down looking for a cellphone and money. When he found neither, he snatched her backpack and fled. The teen walked the rest of the way to school and reported the incident. She described the suspect as a black male in his late 20s, muscular, wearing a purple bandana over his face, a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants. Officers searched near the scene of the robbery, but were unable to find the suspect or the victim’s bag. Police are working with Seattle Public Schools officials to ensure the safety of students on their way to and from school. If you have any information about this case, please call 911.
This comes two weeks after the first in a recent string of West Seattle robberies, though police have said they haven’t found a connection between any of the cases except for the two in Admiral. The first one was January 15th near Myrtle Reservoir, in which a 14-year-old was robbed of his backpack while heading to a bus stop near 35th/Myrtle.
1:48 PM: Denny IMS principal Jeff Clark has sent us the letter that has gone out to Denny and Sealth families. Note that the location is described a bit differently, and this one is the same that we heard in a bit of police-radio discussion:
Dear Denny and Sealth Scholars and Families, We want to share with you information right away regarding a crime that occurred in our community this morning. At approximately 7:15am this morning an eighth-grade Denny scholar was walking down the staircase at Delridge Way SW and SW Holden St. When she arrived at the stair landing, an African American male who appeared to be in his late 20’s came into view. He pointed a gun at her, patted her down, robbed her, and then let her go. When the scholar arrived at school, she did the right thing by reporting this to school staff right away. Denny staff immediately notified the Seattle Police Department, who are actively investigating. The safety of our scholars is our top priority. After school today and before and after school on Monday, the Police, Seattle Public Schools Safety and Security, and school staff will be in that area. You can help your children stay safe by talking to them about personal safety. Tips to discuss are:
• walking in pairs or groups and being aware of their surroundings at all times
• report anything suspicious to a trusted adult (school staff and family member) More tips and information can be found on the Seattle Police Department website: seattle.gov/police/prevention/child/default.htm.
The letter is signed by Denny principal Clark and Sealth principal Aida Fraser-Hammer. We have more safety information in our report on this week’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting, at which police talked about the robberies as well as how to best try to protect yourself.
P.S. Reminder that Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole is coming to West Seattle next Tuesday for her first “community conversation” here, 6:30 pm February 3rd at the SW Precinct (Webster/Delridge, just a block from where today’s robbery happened).
FRIDAY MORNING NOTE: We checked with precinct leadership and they don’t know yet if this one was connected to any of the others. Capt. Steve Wilske did say in a note to neighborhood-council leaders, “We will be focusing a significant number of on duty and off duty resources toward this issue starting Monday morning, and for the foreseeable future until we either make some arrests or see the incidents stop.”Tokyo RPG Factory is a studio devoted to creating new titles in the style of the classic role-playing games of the ‘90s. The company’s first project, I am Setsuna, was an interesting first step toward capturing the essence of games like Chrono Trigger. However, as I noted in my review, some elements of the formula could use some adjustment.
The Lost Sphear is the next game from Tokyo RPG Factory, and from what I could tell during my demo at E3 (and a conversation with director Atsushi Hashimoto), the studio has clearly heard the feedback from players. It still looks and plays a lot like I am Setsuna, but with some important improvements. These are the areas of concern from the last game that The Lost Sphear appears to be addressing directly.
Combat Positioning
Certain combat skills have a defined target area or trajectory, but if you can’t control your characters’ positions, you can’t optimize those attacks to land where you’d like. The Lost Sphear fixes this problem, letting you manually maneuver your characters around the battlefield. For example, if you have an energy wave that shoots forward in a straight line, you can now move into the best place to strike as many enemies as possible. This should eliminate the frustration stemming from moments where your characters are just a few pixels shy of landing a big attack.
Varied Environments
I am Setsuna was unified by snowy visual theme. Though the icy surroundings were consistent and often beautiful, they did not offer much variety, and many areas and dungeons felt the same. The environments you visit in The Lost Sphear will offer more diversity, since the world is composed of different cultural regions. For instance, one is based on machinery, while another is focused on magic. Even so, Hashimoto tells us that the imagery of the moon is still an consistent visual theme tying the game together.
Skill Acquisition
I am Setsuna’s skill system was intriguing, allowing you to trade your spoils from battle in order to obtain new abilities. But if you failed to fight enough of a particular enemy, you might not earn enough of a particular item, which means you would miss out on the associated skill. Though we don’t have specifics on how this system is changing, the team is aware this system created problems for some players, and it is working on ways to make the process friendlier.
Inns
This may sound like basic RPG material, but towns have inns where you can rest to restore your health and magic. This was not in I am Setsuna, which instead had players using tents in the field (or at save points) to replenish resources. Though they are similar concepts, enough players apparently had problems with the absence of inns that the team decided to integrate this familiar feature into The Lost Sphear.
Of course, the game isn’t just about fixing old issues. Square Enix says that the game also has unannounced new features, but those details will have to wait for another time. But even from what I’ve seen so far, I’m excited for another dose of old-school role-playing.
The Lost Sphear is releasing on PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC in early 2018.This is Pharoah Hatshepsut of Ancient Egypt. She has a lovely smile for someone who’s been dead for thousands of years.
She wasn’t a queen, as some historians are trying to claim. She was a pharaoh and wanted to be referred to as such. She had her statues modeled after the male pharaoh’s statues to state her dominance and authority. She was actually one of the most successful pharaohs in all of Egyptian history and she reigned longer than any other woman in power.
The fact that we know about her at all is bordering on miraculous. The Pharaoh who succeeded her, Tuthmosis III, tried to erase Hatshepsut from history He had her name chiseled off of her monuments, covered the text on her obelisks with stone, and had her statues struck down and defaced. He even made sure her name was left off the list of pharaohs
Can you say “Insecure Misogynist Douchebag kids? Talk about enforcing a Patriarchy.
Hatshepsut’s name was lost for two millennia. Her body was found in a unmarked grave, in the early twentieth century. The depressing part is that, in Egyptian Mythology, if your are forgotten in the living world you don’t exist in the afterlife. So Tuthmosis was trying to kill her even in death. He wanted her forgotten not only by the living, but in fact he wanted to guarantee she wouldn’t be there with him and all the other male Pharoahs, getting her girl cooties all up in their Bro dip.
So spread this information. Get this knowledge back out into the world. Because the more living people know of this awesome incredible woman, (who reportedly wore a fake beard just to piss the men off), the more chance her soul will reach that afterlife, kick in the door of their Dead Pharoah Bros Club, and in her regal clothing and radiant aura proudly shout "Did ya miss me douchebros?”Kennel Club Picture Library/Roger Sjolstad The Kennel Club released the hounds this week. London's governing body for all things canine selected the best Dog Photographer of the Year in their annual competition, and the results are, predictably, adorable.
Out of 8,000 submissions, Roger Sjolstad from Norway won the overall "Man's Best Friend" category. He took a snapshot of his ten-year-old daughter Tea and the family dog Robbie running through a lake near their home in Oslo (at right).
"This photo was absolutely not planned," Sjolstad told The Kennel Club, "My young Dane had never been near water before this evening, so I was quite surprised when he took off into the water and he just ran, ran, ran!"
As part of his winnings, Sjolstad will have his Great Dane's photo transformed into a regal oil painting by renowned U.K. artist Sara Abbot.
Other dogs took home top honors for portraits, dogs at play, dogs at work, puppies and "I love dogs because," for contestants 16 and younger. Click through to see some of the runners-up and category winners.Maple-bacon biscuits. Chocolate-dipped donuts. A lavish spread of eggs. Is there any meal more comforting than breakfast?
Whatever time zone you wake up in, the best breakfasts will brighten your mood, fortify you for the day, and give you a taste of daily life in that destination. Our short list of memorable breakfasts, part of T+L’s coverage of the Best Places to Eat Like a Local, includes a Middle Eastern–inspired London café where platters of baked breads are served with the morning newspaper and a Tokyo fish market where early risers clamor for the freshest breakfast sushi.
See more Best Places to Eat Like a Local
Each was chosen not just for its standout food, but also for being a part of its hometown’s cultural fabric. So don’t settle for the hotel buffet; these breakfast joints are worth the trip.
—Nikki Ekstein
Restaurant Pricing Key
$ Less than $25
$$ $25 to $75
$$$ $75 to $150
$$$$ More than $150Maureen Pollack is many things: devoted mom of a 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, master of Jiu Jitsu, treehouse and rope swing builder, PTA mom, and mikvah-going Orthodox Jew who recently invented something fairly unorthodox: a “pleasure product” called the WaterSlyde, which does double duty as a sexual stimulant and a feminine cleanser. I interviewed Maureen about her newest endeavor and how it fits into her lifestyle of active mom and observant Jew.
How did you come up with the idea for the WaterSlyde?
I came up with the idea when I was 15. I was sitting in the bathtub and I reached for the faucet to sit up and the faucet popped off. The water shot me in my face, so I jumped back and the water hit me somewhere else. I probably took about four baths a day until my father fixed it.
About 15 years later, in my gynecologist’s office, we were discussing sex drive after childbirth, and I joked about how the old “bathtub technique” was the secret to my healthy libido. She was intrigued with the idea that the water could act as a mild stimulant while cleansing you at the same time, but she was concerned about the clumsy positioning.
READ: Talking About Sex, Woman to Woman
“What if there was something that could divert the water, so that it isn’t so awkward?” I asked her.
“That’s something I would invest in,” she replied.
This was the inspiration I needed. I designed the product, sent it off to a 3-D printer, refined the prototype based on feedback from friends, launched WaterSlyde, and the rest is history. Doctors love it because it serves the dual purpose of hygiene and personal pleasure, which is an important part of sexual health.
But you are an observant Jew. Is this a conflict?
I actually went to my rabbi to ask if what I was doing was permissible, if it was tznius (modest) enough. He told me that certain sex toys are not sanctioned if they separate a husband and a wife. However, I learned that something you can use with your husband is absolutely fine. The beauty of the WaterSlyde is that it stimulates you and makes you ready to be with your spouse. In addition, one of the mitzvahs before you go into the mikvah (ritual bath) is cleaning yourself, so it serves that purpose as well. The rabbi gave me his blessing, and I get WaterSlyde orders from some of the most religious women in the community.
READ: Sex After Baby: Myths vs. Facts
What has been the reaction from your family and friends?
My husband and close friends have been 100% supportive. In the beginning, some people didn’t want to publicly “like” the WaterSlyde on Facebook, which I totally understood. Recently, that changed after I had a booth at a Health and Wellness Fair at our local Jewish Community Center. Women were curious. In fact, 35% of the women who attended bought one, which is considered hugely successful, and it really sparked something in our community.
Now, everywhere I go, people want to talk about it; it’s like I have the WaterSlyde stamped on my forehead. People stop me in the supermarket and it’s brought up at every PTA meeting. Others privately tell me that they love it. And then they order one for their sisters.
Are you afraid of being “the Jewish mom who invented the sex toy?”
In the beginning, I was afraid of that. The last thing I would want is to ask for a playdate and have the parents say, “No, you can’t go to the Pollack’s house. You know what the mother does, right?” But that hasn’t happened. I also decided to call it a “pleasure product” rather than a sex toy. It’s a little bit more discreet.
[Author’s note: In the three days I interviewed Maureen, her house was a revolving door of 7 and 4-year olds.]
Besides your invention, you also practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (a martial art). What inspired you to train in this art?
READ: Let’s Get Real About Sex for Married Couples
I began practicing Jiu Jitsu soon after we signed our son up to start. I was training four to five times a week, and eight months after I started, I entered my first competition and won a gold in the white belt competition, after the toughest fight of my life (though interestingly, Jiu Jitsu translates to “the art of being gentle”) After that experience, I went home and felt this high of “I can do anything!” Soon after that, I met with my gynecologist and had the WaterSlyde conversation. Timing is everything. My confidence was there and I ran with it.
Finally, you are, first and foremost, a wife and mother. How do you balance your work, your sport, your religious commitment, and your family?
Two words: dedication and compartmentalization. I enjoy and feel very blessed to have each of those parts in my life. When it’s the “time” to do one segment, that is what I am 100% focused on. I love the term Mom-preneur. I’m a stay-at-home mom who is really involved with my kids’ lives and I get to be an entrepreneur as well. I know that I can’t make this a Fortune 500 company overnight. I just have to take it as it comes.
So to speak?
(Laughs) There’s a lot of puns. But of course, at the end of the day, my husband and children come first.Craciun Dan | December 1, 2011
Battle for Wesnoth
Battle for Wesnoth, or BfW for short, is a popular turn-based strategy game which takes place in a fantasy universe and has support for singleplayer and multiplayer, official campaigns (and more available to download), hotseat games. The game comes by default with 6 factions and takes place over hexagons, each player deploying his army and trying to kill his opponent. Wesnoth can be highly modded via WML (Wesnoth Markup Language), and the add-ons server includes many more maps, factions, eras and campaigns. Beside for the usual mode which allows up to 9 players to battle against each other or forming teams, there are also the rumble maps (very small maps), or the survival ones, or the multiplayer campaigns or role playing maps. There is also an unofficial ladder available. Wesnoth is really an awesome, complete game, with a great community, great online playing, music themes, map editor, a great helping system, and much, much more.
sudo apt-get install wesnoth
AssaultCube
Being based on the Cube engine, AssaultCube is a very fast-paced first-person shooter with a gameplay that changes from mode to mode. There are the usual TDM or CTF modes, but also TOSOK (Team One Shot One Kill), KTF (Keep the Flag), OSOK, LSS (Last Swiss Standing) or even PF (Pistol Frenzy). It doesn’t have high system requirements and the online servers are most of the time filled with players.
sudo apt-get install assaultcube
Neverball
Neverball is a 3D action where you control a ball and you have to collect coins. You can start with a beginner level and advance to more advanced levels. Although the concept seems pretty simple, the game is not easy to master and it becomes addictive even in the first minutes of playing. Neverball allows configuration of sound, resolution, graphics details. It can be played in fullscreen mode too, and you can choose from various ball models.
sudo apt-get install neverball
Xonotic
Xonotic is based on Nexuiz, the result of a fork which aims to keep it free and open-source. Xonotic is a shooter with a fast game style, single player and multiplayer modes, lots of maps, models and weapons to choose from.
Download
Hedgewars
This is a Worms-like game, completely free and open-source, which keeps the funny atmosphere the original Worms had. Players control the so-called “hedgehogs”, which take turns, and they have entire arsenals at their disposal to blow their enemies off the orbit. A very funny and addictive game.
sudo apt-get install hedgewars
Warzone 2100
Warzone 2100 is a real time strategy game set in a future, apocalyptic universe, and it provides single player mode, multiplayer, campaigns and lots of maps. The true thing that sets Warzone 2100 apart is the unit/building tech tree, which can be upgraded differently using over 400 technologies.
sudo apt-get install warzone2100Before there was Krusty, there was Rusty.
James Allen, aka Rusty Nails, hosted a run of children’s shows in the Portland area for 16 years. Allen passed away in 2015. He would have been 89 years old this week.
The red-haired clown was a touchstone for a generation of baby boomers, including “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening.
Groening, who grew up in Portland, would use his childhood memory of Rusty as inspiration for his cartoon masterpiece.
Except that Rusty Nails was nothing like the larger-than-life, boozy Krusty the Clown.
“[Rusty Nails] was very nice … a very sweet clown,” said Groening in the book “Planet Simpson.”
“But he had that name, Rusty Nails, which I found incredibly disturbing as a child because you know you’re supposed to avoid Rusty Nails,” Groening said.
A collection of rarely seen photographs (and some promotional material) of Rusty Nails from the archives of Georgia Allen.
On television, Rusty Nails would entertain his young audience with skits, songs, performances and of course cartoons, which he would bring to life in interesting ways. One of his frequent guests was fellow Oregonian Mel Blanc.
Rusty Nails’ local celebrity grew after his show ended. He could be found performing in grocery stores thanks to his longtime sponsorship with Alpenrose.
Rusty Nails was also a regular at the Rose Festival and county fairs around the region. He took his act to Sunday schools and Bible studies. James Allen was an ordained Baptist Minster.
It’s a bit strange that his legacy is intertwined with the bitter Krusty the Clown. Unlike Krusty, Rusty was loved by his community and not just by his TV audience.The first-place Houston Astros didn't acquire any major pieces ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline, drawing the ire of ace Dallas Keuchel for their "disappointing" haul last Monday, but general manager Jeff Luhnow isn't necessarily done wheeling and dealing.
In the last week, the Astros have had contact with the Detroit Tigers about a possible trade for veteran right-hander Justin Verlander, sources told Jon Morosi of FOX Sports, though it's unclear if there's any momentum building toward a deal.
While August trades can be difficult to pull off, it appears one hurdle has been cleared. Verlander, whose contract guarantees him another $64.4 million over the next two seasons, cleared waivers Friday, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, meaning that the Tigers are now free to shop him as they would've prior to last Monday's deadline.
Verlander also has complete no-trade rights, however, as a 10-and-5 player, so any potential deal will have to be approved by the six-time All-Star. As well, to be eligible for another team's playoff roster, Verlander must be traded by Aug. 31.
With right-hander Lance McCullers sidelined by a back injury, and manager A.J. Hinch seemingly keen to move Brad Peacock back to the bullpen, it's no surprise the Astros remain linked to the former MVP.
After finishing second in American League Cy Young voting last season, Verlander has regressed a bit in 2017, managing a 4.20 ERA (104 ERA+) and 1.41 WHIP in 23 starts, but the 34-year-old has been dominant of late. Over his last six outings, Verlander owns a 2.31 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, holding opponents to a.212 average while posting a 27.3 percent strikeout rate across 39 innings.Donald Trump just can’t help himself.
Even when he has something good to say about military veterans ― like those standing behind him Thursday night at a campaign event in Selma, North Carolina ― the GOP nominee just couldn’t pass up an opportunity for a little self-promotion.
“They’re so much more brave than me, I wouldn’t have done what they did,” Trump said. “I’m brave in other ways ― I’m financially brave. Big deal. These are real brave.”
There have been many stories about Trump’s “financial bravery” this election. For instance, it probably took a lot of guts avoiding hundreds of millions in taxes by using other people’s money. Or retooling his charity to give away somebody else’s money and claim the credit for himself. Or refusing to release his tax returns, a practice followed by every major party nominee over the last 40 years.
Trump’s humblebrag on Thursday isn’t the first time he has taken advantage of veterans with his comments. In August, Trump thanked an Iraq War veteran who had given him his Purple Heart as a gift prior to taking the stage.
“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump said. “This was much easier.”
Trump received four draft deferments for college and one for “bone spurs in his heels” during the Vietnam War, The New York Times reported.Scott Pomeroy, left, and James Ferrier
A Tennessee man has died in Louisiana after police say two friends performed wrestling moves on him.
Nola.com reports 45-year-olds Scott Pomeroy and James Ferrier were arrested Monday and charged with manslaughter in the death of 45-year-old Steven Knight of Woodbury, TN.
Westwego police spokesman Lt. Eric Orlando says the men were horse-playing after drinking. Pomeroy told detectives that Ferrier delivered a wrestling move known as an "elbow drop." Ferrier admitted to dropping his body and extended the elbow on Knight twice and said Pomeroy performed the move at least once.
Knight was found without a pulse Sunday morning.
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Orlando says there were no signs of foul play and the men had no intention to cause harm, but evidence led to manslaughter charges.So when the Dodgers were losing game after game for two solid months, why didn’t the team blow up into 25 selfish fireballs like everyone said they would?
Before going 21-5 in their past 26 games, the Dodgers were 30-42. In reality, it was even worse than that. Los Angeles started its season 6-3, then went 24-39, a.381 winning percentage that placed them among the worst teams in baseball.
Through that entire stretch, there were only two off-field issues of any note at all, and each of the people involved handled them gracefully.
Don Mattingly became the subject of daily rumors of his impending firing. Mattingly didn’t lash out, but kept his focus on the task at hand.
Mattingly did say the following on May 22:
“We’re last place in the National League West. Last year, at this point, we’re playing a lineup that basically has nobody in it, that fights and competes and battles you every day for every inch of the field. We talk about it as an organization. We’ve got to find the club with talent that will fight and compete like the club that doesn’t have that talent. If there’s going to be a message sent, it’s going to be over a period of time.”
Though Mattingly was speaking about the entire squad, Andre Ethier was benched the day Mattingly made these statements, something few people thought was a coincidence — including Ethier, who was clearly hurt by the comments.
Whatever negative reaction Ethier might have had after that day, however, he kept in the clubhouse, without pouting or making a stink in the press. And in the past two months, Mattingly has singled Ethier out for praise for his efforts.
And that’s it. No tabloid stories have come out of the Dodger clubhouse. No tales of infighting or finger-pointing. Beset by injuries and slumping players, the losses kept piling up — June began with an 8-14 record — and everyone had every reason to be frustrated. But no one, not even the so-called troublemakers from outside (Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford or Josh Beckett) caused trouble. Yasiel Puig has ruffled feathers, but those angry birds are opponents, not teammates, unless you call statesman Juan Uribe’s reactive counseling a conflict.
Maybe the Dodgers have just become experts at running an airtight clubhouse, but I doubt they’re that competent. More likely, the minor stuff has been settled in-house, but the major conflicts just haven’t happened.
I’m not crediting chemistry for the turnaround. It seems clear that improved health, solid pitching and a red-hot Ramirez have been the keys.
But I do think it’s worth noting that the narrative of the Dodgers as a chemistry-challenged team was severely tested this spring. And like so many other invented tales, it was found false.
Previously on Dodger Thoughts:
March 31: The Giants’ 2012 title: Dealmaking trumps chemistry
May 28: Twenty examples of Dodger grit in five minutesAssuming you saw the video that spawned another million gentrification conversations over the weekend, you'll be relieved to know that one of the guys involved, who is apparently a Dropbox employee and may have been playing in a corporate league, has apologized. Also, for what it's worth to the entire Mission soccer-playing community, Dropbox has issued a formal apology too.
It's not completely clear which of the men in the video is Jean-Denis Greze who posted the following tweet-apology over the weekend, after the video went wildly viral and after Valleywag made the Dropbox connection, via one of the guys' jerseys. This may be the guy in the photo above (and there's a second guy behind him also wearing a Dropbox shirt), but I'm still not sure what he said, specifically, that was insensitive. The guy who showed up with the permit was the most obnoxious one, and he's wearing a Hiscox t-shirt and he may have been part of an Airbnb team, according to Valleywag.
Here's the Dropbox statement, via SFGate:
We love San Francisco and are grateful to call it home. That’s why we were disappointed to learn that a couple of our employees weren’t respectful to this community. The employees involved are embarrassed and have apologized. We’re sorry, and we promise to do better.
The company of course has little to do with this, and all told the tensions surrounding the use of the field at Mission Playground seems to be the fault of Rec & Parks, who had not done enough messaging within the community about their relatively recent change to allow reserved gameplay on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. And perhaps the reserved gameplay concept was a bad idea for this field to begin with, given what all the kids who use it seem to be saying.
But everyone is really sorry! Except for Rec & Parks. Their spokesperson Connie Chan just said she recognizes that the city has "limited open space" and "we encourage all our park users to respect one another and share our parks."
Update: Welp, it looks like the San Francisco Latino Democratic Club is planning a protest at City Hall on Thursday morning to reject Rec & Parks' soccer-field reservation system. As they say in a statement, "The youth of our city should not have to pay to use our public parks." This protest will happen at 9 a.m., and as Uptown Almanac first reported, the demands include:
an immediate end to the privatization of Mission Playground and for all public access be restored
[that] all privatized use for adults of Mission Playground and other youth-used recreation spaces throughout the city undergo community review planned by the neighborhood
that community customs and park traditions be followed and supported by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.
[that] full-time San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department staff be assigned to monitor Mission Playground.
Previously: Video: Tensions Arise Over S.F. Soccer Field Between Neighborhood Kids And Recent TransplantsSF supervisor factions make nice, OK ballot measures
Supervisor Malia Cohensays there was “a willingness to bridge a gap” at this meeting. Supervisor Malia Cohensays there was “a willingness to bridge a gap” at this meeting. Photo: Jeff Chiu / Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Photo: Jeff Chiu / Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close SF supervisor factions make nice, OK ballot measures 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
Perhaps chagrined by the acerbic public display of animosity at last week’s board meeting, San Francisco’s supervisors played nice on Tuesday, and announced they had reached agreements on several proposed ballot measures that were in jeopardy because the progressive and moderate blocs were too mad at each other to compromise.
There was a little nudging along the way, as board President London Breed started the meeting by admonishing her colleagues that they were prohibited from acting in a manner “unworthy or unbecoming” of a supervisor. The tenor throughout Tuesday’s meeting was markedly different from last week, when the supervisors traded accusations of extortion and underhanded politics.
Public advocate deal
While hard feelings linger privately, the supervisors were able to reach consensus on several proposed November ballot measures, including requiring the city to take responsibility for street trees to establishing an office of public advocate.
Key to the goodwill was a last-minute deal on the measure that sparked last week’s meltdown — Supervisor Malia Cohen’s proposal to create a Department of Police Accountability, which would have the authority to audit Police Department policies.
Last week, the progressives refused to put it on the ballot as a stand-alone measure and, over Cohen’s objections, folded it into Supervisor David Campos’ proposed ballot measure to create a public advocate office, which Cohen and the other moderates oppose.
Cohen angrily accused the progressives of playing politics with the lives of black and brown people simply out of political retribution because, over their objections, she had sought to amend the public advocate proposal to require elected officials to sit out one term — four years — before running for the office. The progressives retorted that they were making her measure stronger by making the Department of Police Accountability independent of the mayor.
Campos’ caveat
But over the last week, as African American groups criticized merging the measures, the progressives changed their position. On Tuesday, Campos proposed allowing Cohen’s measure to go on the ballot by itself, with the caveat that the public advocate would appoint the department’s director.
“I know that it has been a very tense time for the last few days,” Campos said. “I am happy that both measures are moving forward. I think it really gives voters in San Francisco an opportunity to make a choice.”
Cohen also lauded the compromise. “What you heard today is a willingness to bridge a gap that occurred last week,” she said.
The moderates and progressives also reached an agreement on a measure to return tree maintenance to the city — it’s now the responsibility of property owners. While all the supervisors supported the idea, they have wrangled on the best way to pay for it.
Scott Wiener proposed a parcel tax. John Avalos wanted a bundled Charter amendment and carbon tax designed to bring in enough money to care for the trees. Norman Yee wanted to transfer maintenance much sooner, but without earmarked funding.
City to pay for trees
In the end, none of those proposals won out. Instead, the supervisors agreed that the city would pay for tree maintenance by using new anticipated revenues, including money from a proposed transfer tax on properties worth more than $5 million. The measure will still go on the ballot because it mandates a $19 million set-aside to ensure that the city always allocates the funding.
In an unusual love fest, Wiener thanked Avalos — with whom he often clashes — “for his partnership and his creative thinking” in reaching a compromise.
Avalos returned the nod. “We often don’t see eye to eye on issues,” Avalos said of Wiener. But trees, he said, are “an issue that can unite this Board of Supervisors.”
Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com
Twitter: @emilytgreenWith its latest Google doodle, the search engine honors archeologist Howard Carter on the 138th anniversary of his birthday.
The famed explorer is known for his discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, the most intact pharaoh's grave ever found in the Valley of the Kings.
The Google doodle depicts Carter gazing upon the golden riches and artifacts within the tomb. Behind the treasures is the faint outline of Google's usual logo.
Carter secured his place in history when he made the monumental discovery on November 4, 1922. The finding was a long time coming; Carter had worked as an archaeological excavateur for 30 years prior to stumbling upon the four-room chamber that contained the pharaoh's mummy.
The unearthing of the entrance to the burial chamber took months, and the recovery of the more than 600 groups of precious treasures took close to a decade.
After the finding, Carter retired from working in the field and chose instead to work for museums and private collectors. He died of lymphoma in 1939 at 64 years old.
Here's a screenshot of today's Google doodle in honor of Howard Carter.
Check out the gallery below to see some of our favorite Google doodles.Okay, so I know this kind of seems like bad timing, you know, considering the Braves are playing great baseball the past five games and have just crushed two playoff contenders. But yesterday a tweet by the great Mark Bowman caught my eye.
Tonight's Pirates starter Francisco Liriano will be just the 25th LH starter the #Braves have faced. @STATS_MLB says that's the fewest — Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) August 19, 2014
Remember a few years ago when one of the biggest issues many had with the Braves offense was that they were too lefty heavy? I always stated, whether it was here or at Capital Avenue Club or even at my old old blog the Bravesologist (what a terrible name), that being lefty heavy is a good thing. Ideally, you want your lineup to be lefty heavy and your rotation to be righty heavy. The reason being that there are more right-handed throwers and right-handed batters in the league than lefties. So, if you have lefty bats facing a lot of right-handed pitchers, that's good. Similarly, if you have right-handed pitchers facing a lot of right-handed batters, which there are more of than lefties, that's also good.
Unfortunately with the departure of Brian McCann, the Braves entered the season with only two left-handed bats in the every day lineup. So, what has that result led to?
The Braves have a 109 wRC+ against left-handed pitching and an 87 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. It looks like the lineup should be good, with a solid amount of talent across the diamond, but one of |
territory for discovering ways things can suck.
There are not enough words in the Kingdom of Suckdom to describe the humiliating disgrace of Bo Pelini and his inept staff and their inability to coach football
those worried about a SEC team wanting Bo as a coach can relax now
Auburn hung up the ph
TEXAS
god damn it McCoy...don't throw the game so obvious...make it look real.
Damn, Klein tough to take down like Ben Roethlisberger...but without the rape.
"Everyone hold up 4 so I can remember what quarter this is" M. Brown
Being a Texas fan isn't fun anymore. Is this what marriage will be like?
Oh, Case McCoy has a brother that played for Texas? Was he any good?
In all honesty I hope K State wins. I don't want OU being Big 12 Champions when K State beat OU in Norman. And in beating us I hope Klein throws for 10 TDs and 600 yards. That way he wins the Heisman and not Johnny. I know that's a horrible thing to say, and it makes me seem like a shit fan. But I don't care. We have nothing to play for other than the Cotton Bowl.
Colin Klein is so lucky. He gets to pad his stats against us right before the Heisman winner is chosen, just like RG3 last year. This is gonna be ugly.
How many points is a first down again?
Colt McCoy reference...drink?...fuck it I'm drinking either way
Coach Brown "RG3. Johnny Manziel? Nope, I'm going with Ash and Case"
K-State is pissed off and fired up (as expected), and Texas' offense is lethargic and unprepared (as expected).
SERIOUSLY FUCK
Every game we don't get a play in and waste a timeout. Every. Fucking. Game.
It's like the fucking Mayans have moved up the apocalypse to tonight!
INSIDE THE BALL YOU FEED BERGERON. IT'S LIKE THE GOONIES, LISTEN TO THE RULES OR THIS SHIT HAPPENS
GOD DAMN IT TEXAS....STOP FUCKING YOURSELVES OVER >.<!!!!!
I would just like to apologize to all Longhorn fans. I wasn't able to watch the game until the fourth quarter, and when I turned it on Klein had his 55 yard TD pass. Shit hit the fan after that. I then turned it off after Case's interception and subsequent touchdown. Sure enough we scored right after. I take full responsibility and am sorry. It won't happen again.
I actually wouldn't mind K-St. winning as long as we keep it close, that way OU gets fucked over, and Klein wins the Heisman. It's a win-win-win situation.
FUCK EVERYTHING
I swear Mack was about to fucking have a stroke, and Muschamp would need to return...right guys? He'll come back, right?...guys?
I hope and pray the Cotton Bowl is the last game Coach Brown is the head of our team.
Once Klein graduates, KSU will be back into CFB obscurity. Seriously FUCK KSU and their chants.
KLEIN JUST SCORED!!!! HOLY SHIT FUCK MANZEIL GIVE THAT DASTARDLY GENTLEMAN THE HEISMAN!!!
I know Mack can’t see his balls, because of his big ole belly, but I didn’t think he was actually devoid of them.
Damn,,,the SEC CCG made me realize how soft the Horns really are
WHY ARE WE THROWING THE FUCKING FOOTBALL? We have a noodle arm quarterback. Stop throwing out routes to the fucking far side of the field.
My granddaughter could have throw a pass with more zip on it.
Your granddaughter ain’t got half the moxie case does and you know it.
Just waiting for the asteroid to hit
This is like watching Romo. He can hit a lot of throws and get hot but all you’re doing is sitting here and waiting for him to make those laughable fuck-ups.
Harsin on sideline getting Head Coaching Practice is it clap-clap or clap-clap, pause clap clap clap
Hell we can’t even hold without a sack
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK FUCKING STUPID FUCK ASS SHIT FUCK
Announcers can fuck a spike. That was shitty, shitty out of place defense. Fuck me we suck.
FUCK YOU REFS FUCK YOU SO FUCKING HARD Give K-State 1 fucking penalty. JUST ONE and I won’t be so enraged
Running up the score? Okay. We'll remember that. See you guys in Austin.
I think Lake Travis could run the score up on this defense.
well the wife is gonna be pissed I just threw the iphone 50 yards into the lake behind my house
Fuck you Ash for throwing 2 picks in the red zone and fuck you Case for making one of the worst decisions ever with the game on the line. Oh and fuck you too, Mack Brown you worthless fuck, just retire already. You're bleeding the program dry, you did some great things, but those days are long gone. Mack Brown = Bobby Bowden, time to step aside
Fuck me wvu and tcu came into our fucking conf in our house and fucked us
There's more coaching ability in Gary Patterson's armpits than on our whole staff.
"Ill advised" covers about 95 percent of the decisions made in and around this program for the past five years. If not more.
I'd like to give thanks that at least I'm not the one being buttfucked on national television right now.
I think I'll take up heroin.
David Ash injured his ribs and is being evaluated by the medical staff.
Is ribs code for vagina?
havent lost to TCU at home since '67. mack settin all sorts of records
Macks fatass will not retire until he sets every shameful record on the books. I salute his resolve.
God how can we not find a decent QB in three fucking years.Today, millions of Americans watched in utter disbelief as the director of the FBI, the most powerful law enforcement body in the nation, said that no charges would be recommended in regards to Hillary Clinton’s home-brewed email server setup.
The facts were there. The damning evidence was there. What wasn’t there was someone willing to uphold the law. But this isn’t the first time that Comey has let the Clintons slide. Back in 2002, James B. Comey, was the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and was investigating a case involving the Clintons and suddenly, with very little explanation closed the case.
The case was concerning the infamous New Square Four, who were convicted of bilking the government out of tens of millions of dollars. Where the Clintons come in is that former President Bill Clinton reduced the sentences of the four Hasidic Jews from New Square, in Rockland County north of New York City. The move was controversial because Hillary Clinton had campaigned in the Hasidic Village, on the suggestion of her staff, The campaigning in fact did pay off as she grabbed 1,400 votes compared to 12 votes for her opponent Rick Lazio.
The eye popping margin of victory in that community was far greater than the vote totals she received in other similar nearby communities.
From a 2001 LA Times article:
After the election, the senator-elect attended a White House meeting on Dec. 22 with the village leader, Grand Rabbi David Twersky, and the president, in which Twersky urged clemency for the convicts. Former President Clinton’s decision to reduce the sentences of the four men–one of his many controversial acts of clemency–has drawn fresh scrutiny as critics have alleged a link between the commutations and senatorial politics.
A New York Times piece also shed some light as to what allegedly went down between the Clintons and the New Square Four:
In the investigation, Rockland County Democratic Party records were seized and politicians and community members testified before a grand jury. Prosecutors never disclosed what crime they suspected, but legal experts said possibilities included bribery or some kind of voter fraud. The four New Square men were convicted in 1999 of bilking government aid programs and funneling the money back to the yeshiva in their community of 7,000 people, about 30 miles northwest of Manhattan. Mr. Clinton reduced by several months the federal prison terms of the men, Benjamin Berger, David Goldstein, Kalmen Stern and Jacob Elbaum. They were released from prison this year. The mastermind of the scheme, Chaim Berger, 76, a founder of the village, was returned to the United States from Israel last summer. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to six years in prison and ordered to pay more than $11 million in restitution. Mrs. Clinton met with leaders of the community in August 2000 and again, with Mr. Clinton, in December 2000 after the election. New Square voters gave her 1,400 votes to 12 for the Republican candidate, former Representative Rick A. Lazio. Mrs. Clinton’s aides have said clemency did not come up in the August meeting and, when it was raised in the December meeting, she offered no comment.
An investigation into the New Square Four case was announced in 2001 by Mary Jo White of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan although at the end of a 15 month investigation, James Comey said:
”The investigation was closed because we thoroughly investigated and determined it wasn’t appropriate to bring charges against anybody in the case,” Mr. Comey said at a news conference on an unrelated case. ”I can’t really go into it because it was an investigation that didn’t result in charges. That may be a frustrating answer, but that’s the one I’m compelled to give.”
So, Comey closed this case out but there is more to the Clinton connection.
While Comey was an attorney in Manhattan he successfully prosecuted Marc Rich, a wealthy international financier, for tax evasion. On Clinton’s last day in office in 2001 he pardoned Rich, much to the dismay of many that were close to the case, including Comey. Said Comey in 2001, “I was stunned.”
Comey was now the top prosecutor in New York after being appointed by George W. Bush and as an incoming gift was now in charge of the criminal investigation into the 176 last minute pardons that Bill Clinton had made as he was walking out of the White House.
Many of the pardon recipients, including Rich, had donated to Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign and also to Clinton’s presidential library and allegedly in exchange were granted pardons. But despite the evidence, Comey surprisingly found no criminal wrongdoing.
Today we watched Comey let them off the hook again even as he read a laundry list of improprieties that the FBI found. I’ve seen all over the internet that this guy is a straight shooter and that he takes his job seriously, he even said himself today that no one affected this investigation in any way. But it is hard not to come to the conclusion that there is more to Comey and the Clintons than we are being told.
Don’t forget to ‘Like’ Planet Activist on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.Thirteen members of the Swiss parliament are asking the government to demand the right to adapt the source code of GEVER, the record management system commissioned by the government and under development since 2008. The MPs say this will help to end the government's lock-in by proprietary software firms.
In May, Swiss newspapers reported that the 100 million Swiss franc (about 80 million euro) GEVER project threatened to fail, depending on the outcome of a conflict over the renewal of licences with an Austrian software firm involved in the project. The federal authorities paid 9 million Swiss francs (about 7 million euro) to renew licences for the proprietary software solution for the next two years, using an exception to bypass procurement rules, according to the Swiss newspaper Sonntags Blick.
Show the code
In a motion submitted last week Friday, the MPs, all members of the Swiss parliament group on Digital Sustainability, are asking the government to demand the right to access the application's source code. "The public administration should have full access and the right to have other parties to adapt this code." The group also wants the government to retain copyright over any future modifications to the application.
The Federal government wants all government departments to switch to managing their business processes electronically, using the GEVER system, with 2015 as the deadline. The GEVER software has many government business processes built-in. However, ongoing development of the project was cancelled in 2011. The current solution is built on top of three proprietary software solutions. The proprietary vendors have locked-in the government, the MPs explain in a statement on the groups website. "The government was forced to renew the licences, blocking alternative solutions and solution providers."
Share the code
"There is a better strategy", the MPs write. They want to launch a new request for tender for the GEVER software, demanding that the source code is made publicly available and can be modified and re-used by others. They're asking for a licence that allows access to others, and makes possible to develop the solution together with other public administrations. "This ensures no new lock-in by individual companies, instead it will foster a growing community of public agencies and private enterprises."
More information:
Statement on the motion by the Swiss Parliamentary Group on Digital Sustainability (in German)
Open source GEVER workshop by the Swiss Parliamentary Group on Digital Sustainability (in German)Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The Ferrari was shown driving on top of an ancient Chinese monument
Italian sports car maker Ferrari has apologised after one of its cars drove on an ancient Chinese monument, prior to a publicity event, causing damage.
Ferrari suggested the incident was the fault of a local dealership employee.
The car was filmed wheel-spinning on top of a 600-year-old Ming-dynasty era wall in the city of Nanjing.
Footage of the screeching vehicle has infuriated China's online community, hitting a nerve in a society where such cars are a symbol of privilege.
One web user called it a "rude insult" to Chinese tradition and culture.
The incident, in the run-up to a Ferrari show, left tyre marks on the wall.
But most public anger has been directed at city officials after reports emerged suggesting they had agreed to rent the use of the wall to the Ferrari dealership for about $12,000 (£8,000).
City officials have retorted that the car company did not have approval.
"No enterprise or individual is allowed to use the city ramparts in Nanjing for commercial purposes," Nanjing Cultural Relics Bureau Captain Wu Jing said.
Ferrari has denied the episode was a publicity stunt and has laid the blame with a member of staff at a local dealership.
"Unfortunately, an employee of the dealership - not a Ferrari employee - took it upon himself to drive the car in the way that you will see in the video, with the very regrettable result that tyre marks were left on the ancient monument.
"Ferrari SpA has unreservedly apologised to the Chinese authorities and local community for any damage and offence caused, and has promised to work with the necessary officials to repair any damage caused by the negligence of this individual."
The BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai says that other than the tyre marks, physical damage to the monument does not appear to be substantial.
The night-time spin, shortly after the car had been hoisted on to the wall, reportedly led to the cancellation of the event itself, a celebration of 20 years since Ferrari entered the Chinese car market.
The word Ferrari has now been blocked on Chinese microblogs, perhaps as part of an effort to contain criticism of the actions of government officials, our correspondent says.Six months ago the Panama Papers, the biggest-ever leak in journalism, shook the world.
Let us, the reporters who broke the story, recap what happened: the revelations showed how – despite there being legitimate reasons in some cases for using offshore financial vehicles – dictators and current heads of states, drug cartels, terror financiers, arms dealers, tax evaders and other criminals stashed their wealth in tax havens and used the convenient anonymity of offshore companies to hide their traces.
Donald Trump is a 1%er. Paying taxes is optional to people like him | Kate Aronoff Read more
Demonstrations followed – in Iceland, Argentina, and Pakistan – and several governments tumbled. The then prime minister of the UK, David Cameron, was one of the prominent politicians who got into deep domestic trouble, even if in his case it was mainly because of the arrogance with which he handled the affair.
The Icelandic prime minister resigned, and so have ministers and bankers in Spain, the Netherlands and other countries. Official investigations have been launched in the US, Germany, Venezuela, Denmark, Australia and, a little unexpectedly, Panama.
Last Tuesday members of the European parliament witnessed the first hearing of the Panama Papers committee, which has the full title the Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA). But nobody has nailed the problem of offshore quite as succinctly as President Barack Obama, who said: “The problem is that a lot of this stuff is legal, not illegal.”
The Panama Papers showed that there is a whole parallel world offshore in which the rich and powerful enjoy the freedom to avoid not just taxes but all kinds of laws they find inconvenient. We would argue that if we don’t dismantle this world, if we allow this second set of rules for the 1% of rich people who know how to exploit it, our democracy is at stake.
When we first looked through the Panama Papers files we were stunned by their scale and the hundreds of famous wealthy people who used offshore companies. Every day we found another member of the super-rich elite who held stakes in companies, bank accounts, helicopters and paintings worth millions. Others used those vehicles to keep creditors or former wives away from their estates, or to avoid litigation. Many founded trusts to make sure their heirs won’t have to worry about inheritance taxes.
Attempts were made to to keep tax authorities in the dark, and lawyers used every trick in the book to ensure their clients only paid the minimum amount of tax. Most of the dealings were manifestly incredibly unfair – but by the letter of the law, perfectly legal.
The US presidential candidate Donald Trump seems to think it’s smart to play the tax system. But it’s not smart – it is antisocial. It’s anti-democratic.
Mossack Fonseca: inside the firm that helps the super-rich hide their money Read more
The offshore world is not designed for the blue-collar worker or the average earner. It’s not for the 99%. The Panama Papers showed us you need to own at least a solid million euros if you want to go offshore and see your taxes drop. And the more you have, the easier it is to pay less tax. This is wrong and we have to stop it. To be precise: we, politicians, citizens, taxpayers, have to stop it.
The rules that govern how lower- and middle-income earners pay tax have to apply to everybody. Otherwise our democracy is at stake. People will lose faith. There are already signs of deep hatred towards the elites and scorn for democracy. This will only increase if politicians keep ignoring this issue. Because here’s the thing – people know the world has got less equal.
And we all know what happens when faith in democracy diminishes: people vote for politicians who offer simple solutions, they vote for populists, for racists, for fascists.
A few weeks after we published our stories the leaker of the Panama Papers, an anonymous source who goes by the name John Doe sent us a statement. The first sentence was “income inequality is one of the defining issues of our time. It affects all of us, the world over”.
John Doe is right. Six months after the release of the Panama Papers the dust may have settled, but let’s not forget what we’ve seen. It’s time for action.Welfare Wasn't Always A Dirty Word In The Romney Family
Enlarge this image toggle caption Gerald Herbert/AP Gerald Herbert/AP
As Mitt Romney continues to deal with fallout from the secretly recorded "47 percent" fundraiser video that's gone viral, in which he dissed half the nation, more attention is being given to another recording featuring another Romney — his mother, Lenore.
President John F. Kennedy was in the White House in 1962 when the current Republican presidential nominee's mother sat down for an interview to speak on behalf of her husband, George, who was then making his first run to be Michigan's governor.
Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski posted the video online on Sept. 7, well before the former Massachusetts governor's controversial comments about Obama supporters began to get widespread coverage. Buzzfeed describes the interview as an infomercial. Jon Stewart used a snip of the old footage of presidential candidate's mother on The Daily Show Tuesday. (It starts at about the 4:48 mark.)
YouTube
George Romney, born into a family that saw its fortunes decline when he was a child because of political unrest in Mexico, where he was born, became relatively wealthy as an adult. He was chief executive of American Motors Co.
This led the 1962 interviewer to ask Mrs. Romney how her husband could relate to common people — given the high station he had achieved.
INTERVIEWER: "There are those who say that since he's a man of considerable means he really doesn't care about people."
What's ironic, of course, is that the same question has been asked about her son ever since his first political campaign in 1994, when he ran for U.S. Senate.
Back to her interview.
LENORE ROMNEY: "You know we've only owned our home for the last four years. He was a refugee from Mexico. He was on relief, welfare relief for the first years of his life. But this great country gave him opportunities. "The family was poor. He said they lived for a year on nothing but potatoes. He's known what it is to have to work for every dime he's had since he was 12."
The fact that the Republican presidential nominee's mother mentioned her husband's childhood on public assistance as part of her pitch to voters shows, if nothing else, how far the nation has moved on the welfare issue since the 1960s. George Romney won the 1962 gubernatorial election, the first of three he would win.
The story of how young George came to be on welfare is fascinating in its own right and is told in the biography "The Real Romney" by journalists Michael Kranish and Scott Helman.
The presidential nominee's great-grandfather Miles was asked in the late 1880s by Mormon officials to go to Mexico to create a colony where Mormons could practice polygamy far from the harassment of U.S. officials. It was there that Mitt Romney's grandfather Gaskell and father, George, were born into an increasingly prosperous family and Mormon community.
But in 1912, George, then 5, and his family fled, with thousands of other Mormons, to the U.S. — chased out by Mexican rebels and largely leaving their wealth behind.
"The Real Romney" reports:
"Fortunately for the Romneys, the U.S. government, which had once chased Miles to Mexico due to his polygamy, now welcomed the Romneys and other Mormons to the United States. Congress established a $100,000 relief fund that enabled the Romneys and other Mormon exiles to receive food and lodging. Initially, the [Romneys'] stay on U.S. soil was to be temporary. The El Paso Herald reported on October 25, 1912, that Gaskell Romney and his family, including little George, had gone to Los Angeles 'until it is safe for his family to return to the colonies in Mexico.' But Gaskell's family would never return to live there and made only a sentimental trip years later. Had they returned for good, Mitt Romney may never have been in a position to run for president."
Instead, he was in a position to run for president. That's how he came to be in that Boca Raton house at that May fundraiser where he made the "47 percent" comment and others that he's now trying to put behind him.Lockheed Martin is close to winning the orders it needs to rapidly produce the F-35 fighter, the most expensive weapons system in U.S. history.
The aircraft maker is nearing a deal worth between $35 billion and $40 billion to supply 440 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter jets to the United States and 10 allied nations over the next several years, Lockheed (LMT) executive Jeff Babione said on Monday at the Paris Air Show.
"This more than doubles the total amount of airplanes under contract, and that we'll be building," Babione said of the agreement with governments to ramp up production of the world's most sophisticated fighter jet.
Related: Paris Air Show: Decades of crazy, cool planes
The deal promises big economic benefits. It would secure jobs at Lockheed and international partner factories in Texas, Italy and Japan, where more than 140 jets are now in production. The deal would support about 150,000 jobs worldwide connected to the program and a projected 200,000 jobs that eventually would be added, Babione said.
If concluded, the agreement would bring much needed relief to Lockheed's troubled program, which carries an estimated total cost of $400 billion. The company has been under pressure from President Trump to lower the price tag of each individual plane.
Trump has made no secret about his dislike for expensive government aircraft programs. In April, he touted his prowess as a negotiator and promised to save money on the expensive F-35. His comments followed a statement from Lockheed in February that credited Trump for helping to accelerate negotiations.
Related: How the Paris Air Show made history
"This was a thing that was out of control and now it's great," President Trump said at the time. Trump was given credit by Lockheed executives for securing a lower price on the most recent deal, but estimates by Pentagon officials prior to Trump's election victory closely match the agreed price.
The proposed deal includes all three variations of the sophisticated fifth generation stealth fighter, including the F-35 B variant -- which is able to hover -- for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.K's Royal Navy.
Falling cost per plane
The cost of each F-35 has now dipped below $95 million, Lockheed said Monday. The company hopes to eventually get that down to $85 million in a few years.
The news emerged at the Paris Air Show, a gigantic aviation industry event at which aircraft makers show off their new planes to potential buyers. Itt's a welcome change for supporters of the F-35, who've endured a series of recent disappointments.
A unit of the jets at Luke Air Force Base was grounded after pilots reported problems with cockpit oxygen systems.
Related: Countries flex their military muscle in Paris
In April, a report from the congressional Government Accountability Office watchdog group recommended that the Pentagon refrain from making "significant new investments" in the fighter jet until the entire testing process is finished.
Testing is now 90% complete. Full rate production of the aircraft, which is scheduled for April 2019, could cost the U.S. Department of Defense more than a billion dollars more than what was budgeted in 2011 when the program was restructured.
The F-35 is the nation's most sophisticated fighter jet, outfitted with stealth technology and a cockpit helmet display that allows pilots to virtually see through the airplane at targets on the ground below.
-- CNN's Zachary Cohen and Ryan Browne contributed to this report.World Rally Championship YouTube
This weekend, the third round of the World Rally Championship kicked off in Mexico, and boy was it a wild one. The dust-filled stages made for some interesting action, and to top it all off, the race leader went off-course into a parking lot a few turns before the finish line, nearly throwing away the overall win.
It all started when Kris Meeke, driving his Citroën C3, went wide through a right-hand sweeper through the tall brush into a spectator parking area. Confused with where to go, Meeke veered left into the field of stationary cars looking for a way back onto the stage.
Eventually, he was able to get back on course, but not after convincing his co-driver the excursion had cost them the rally. You can watch the panic develop in the on-board video below as they pull past the finish line.
Ultimately, Meeke took the win by a mere 13.8 seconds in front of defending champion Sebastian Ogier. A buzzer beater if we've ever seen one.9.52am GMT
Welcome to our hub for all Edward Snowden, NSA and GCHQ-related developments around the world, as controversy over revelations leaked by the whistleblower continue to make headlines. As arguments rage over how much of our day to day life should be monitored in the name of security, we'll be tracking the growing global debate about privacy in the digital age. We'd like to know what you think about the whole NSA story, what you're worried about – and any new areas you'd like to read more about.
Good morning and welcome back to the Guardian’s live blog tracking the fallout from Edward Snowden’s leaks revealing vast programmes of US and UK surveillance.
Here are today’s headlines:
• A Spanish newspaper has published a document it says shows the US National Security Agency spied on more than 60m phone calls in Spain in one month alone. The report in El Mundo comes a week after Le Monde reported similar allegations of US spying in France, and German magazine Der Spiegel reported that a document shows that Washington tapped chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone. El Mundo said that a document provided by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shows that the NSA monitored the phone calls from 10 December 2012 to 8 January 2013, but not their content. The dates were the same in the French case.
• The US National Security Agency was forced on Sunday to deny that its director ever discussed a surveillance operation against the German chancellor with President Barack Obama, as the White House tried to contain a full-scale diplomatic crisis over espionage directed at allied countries. The Obama administration appeared in disarray as it struggled with the fallout over the disclosure that the National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of at least 35 world leaders, and that the phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, had been monitored.
Early on Sunday, the White House refused to comment on an overnight report in the German tabloid Bild, which alleged that Obama was personally briefed about by the operation to target Merkel's phone by the NSA's director, Keith Alexander, and allowed it to continue. That appeared to conflict with a second report, in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. It said that when Obama spoke to Merkel over the phone on Wednesday, he assured the German leader he had not previously known her phone had been monitored. Caitlin Hayden, the White House's national security council spokeswoman, declined to comment on the reports, telling the Guardian: "We are not going to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity." However just over three hours later, that position appeared to have been reversed, when the NSA said in a statement that Alexander "did not discuss with President Obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving German Chancellor Merkel, nor has he ever discussed alleged operations involving Chancellor Merkel. News reports claiming otherwise are not true".
• The first signs are emerging that Obama's administration may seek to distance itself from the NSA, concluding that the spy-agency has strayed beyond its remit and overreached. Many senior figures in Congress have already said the NSA failed to properly inform them of the nature and scope of its surveillance activities.
• A delegation of nine MEPs are due to travel to Washington today for a three-day visit, during which they will press senior US government and intelligence officials for answers on allegations of widespread spying by the US, and explore "possible legal remedies for EU citizens" resulting from the alleged surveillance. The EU's civil liberties committee will meet members of Congress to express their concerns over the impact on EU citizens' fundamental right to privacy. Separately, the German government said on Friday that a group of senior officials including the heads of its foreign and domestic intelligence agencies would travel to the US "shortly" for talks at the White House and with the NSA.
We’ll have all this and more throughout the day today.After Quantum Satellite, China successfully develops its own stealth spotting quantum radar system
After introducing the world’s first hack-free satellite, China has successfully tested its first next-generation quantum radar with an ability to detect objects, including stealth aircraft, within a range of 100 kilometres, according to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency. The radar is reportedly capable to detecting enemy targets up to 60 miles away and it was successfully tested last month.
This landmark technology was developed by the Intelligent Perception Technology Laboratory of the 14th Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). The CETC is a collaboration between researchers, industries and the former Chinese ministry of Information Industry.
In the target detection experiment, conducted in a real atmospheric environment, the detection ability of the system was proven to be over 100 kilometres.
The device employs single photon detection technology. It is believed that the radar uses quantum entanglement photons, which means it has enhanced detection capabilities than conventional radar systems. The theoretical basis of the quantum radar is that an object will change its quantum properties after receiving photonic signals. The new technology will enable the radar to even identify modern aircraft using stealth technology that can escape the radar, or baffle the enemy radar system.
Since quantum radar requires lower energy and can be used to non-invasively probe for objects with low reflectivity, such as cancer cells, the technology may also find use in biomedicine.
Recently, China launched the world’s first quantum communications satellite, which uses quantum entanglement for cryptography. Now, the new radar system will strengthen defence of China.
Claims of the new radar technology come after China announced it is considering building a manned radar station on the moon. The facility could include living quarters for astronauts and a powerful radar antenna, stretching at least 164 feet (50 metres) high.
A group of scientists received kick-start funding of 16 million yuan (£1.8 million/$2.4 million) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China for the government project that was launched earlier this year.
Professor Zhou Yiguo, a radar technology researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Electronics, said “Distance between the moon and Earth would cause enormous technological challenges but scientists are ready to face them and solve them for the mission.”There were tense moments at a meeting in High River Thursday night as angry residents confronted members of the RCMP over forced entries and gun seizures during June’s flood emergency.
About 300 people came to the meeting at the Highwood High School, which was organized by local MLA and Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith.
With the town under an evacuation order, RCMP went house to house, breaking down doors as they searched for victims of the flooding. Officers also took firearms that had been left out in plain view, officials said at the time.
Hundreds of weapons were taken to the High River detachment.
The seizures angered many residents and prompted the Prime Minister’s Office to demand that the RCMP give the firearms back to their owners as soon as possible.
Smith said two months later, homeowners still want to know who will pay for the damage.
"The RCMP are contracted to the provincial government. If the RCMP doesn't have the money to pay for this, the premier's going to have to come up with compensation," Smith said.
Resident Leslie Alexander said Mounties knocked down three doors at her house, even though two of them were unlocked.
"I thought I lived in a free country. What this whole flood taught me is that I don't," she said.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Ian Shardlow said he understands the frustration with the delay in an official response but promises their complaints are being taken seriously.
"It is difficult for me as well. But we're going to help you as best we can," he said.
In July, the head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP said a probe has been launched into the matter.
Shardlow said of the 1,900 complaints filed so far, about 500 have been forwarded to senior officials.Udine Thing a guest Jun 5th, 2015 894 Never a guest894Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 4.06 KB [11:18:19] EVE System > Channel MOTD: <loc><url=http://adashboard.info/intel>https://adashboard.info/intel</url></loc><br><color=0xffffffff>Join Nerfbat<br>54.200.93.100 (ts.harkley.net)<br>MashedPotato</color> [12:41:17] Jekhal > o/ [12:41:52] Igras Saisima > o/ [13:33:03] Harkley > <url=showinfo:1377//94088820>Aleczandria Sinclaire</url> who the fuck are you? [13:33:13] Harkley > and how do I not know of you joining? [13:33:39] Judy Mikakka > it's jordan [13:33:43] Harkley > so? [13:33:44] Aleczandria Sinclaire > https://forum.ncdot.co.uk/index.php?/topic/870-hi/?p=8322 [13:33:51] Judy Mikakka > that was bRs doing [13:34:03] Harkley > so [13:34:07] Harkley > you apply yesteday [13:34:10] Harkley > and get admitted [13:34:13] Harkley > without an interview? [13:34:14] Aleczandria Sinclaire > idk, bR wanted my super in UDIE. [13:34:20] Harkley > fuck that. [13:34:24] Aleczandria Sinclaire > im supposed to interview today [13:34:25] Harkley > I dont care who you are [13:34:29] Aleczandria Sinclaire > once people get on [13:34:31] Harkley > you dont get in without interview [13:34:39] Harkley > you could be my mother [13:34:47] Harkley > not your fault dude [13:34:53] Harkley > but this is not happening [13:35:12] Judy Mikakka > bR is doing the interview today if he is around i think [13:35:18] Harkley > so why are you already in corp? [13:35:37] Harkley > it seems like the interview process is being taken for granted [13:35:43] Harkley > and is being treated as a formality [13:35:54] Harkley > this kind of shit makes me want to start booting people [13:36:08] Aleczandria Sinclaire > id |
LA Galaxy after one season with the club’s USL side, LA Galaxy II. The former Galaxy Academy defender signed his first professional contract with LA Galaxy II ahead of the 2016 USL season, electing to forego his senior season at UCLA. With Los Dos in 2016, Smith appeared in 24 matches under then LA Galaxy II Head Coach Curt Onalfo.
Smith, from Clovis, Calif., is now one of eight LA Galaxy Homegrown Players, including Gyasi Zardes, Jose Villarreal, Raul Mendiola, Bradford Jamieson IV, Jack McBean, Hugo Arellano and Jaime Villarreal.
At UCLA, Smith earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 honors in his sophomore and junior years. In his junior year, Smith logged a team-high 1,744 minutes in 20 games helping UCLA to its 33rd straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Before joining UCLA, Smith spent time on the international scene with U.S. Soccer’s U-17 National Team, earning 23 caps. He competed for the U-17’s at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup and later helped lead the team to the 2011 U-17 CONCACAF Championship where he scored the game-winning goal in the final against Canada.
In his time with the LA Galaxy Academy, Smith helped lead the U-17s to the 2011 Generation Adidas Cup while also earning time with the Academy’s U-18 team.
The LA Galaxy will open the 2017 MLS Regular Season this weekend at StubHub Center when they take on 2016 MLS Supporters’ Shield winners FC Dallas on Saturday, March 4 at 1 p.m. PT live on Univision. Tickets to the LA Galaxy’s home opener, along with all Galaxy home games at StubHub Center, are on sale now at www.lagalaxy.com/tickets. For a full 2017 LA Galaxy schedule, visit www.lagalaxy.com/schedule.
LA Galaxy Season Ticket Memberships for the 2017 MLS season are available for purchase now. Season Ticket Members and Galaxy fans can go to www.lagalaxy.com/tickets/seasontickets to secure their 2017 LA Galaxy Season Ticket package.Consider the terrors that lurk in the storied history of forteana: alien abductions, poltergeists, black eyed kids. Mysterious disappearances and unexplainable slips through time. There are too many to mention, but now there’s one more nightmare to add to the list: the haunted toilet of Bangladesh.
Last week, about 3,000 workers put down their tools and rioted at a garment factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, demanding that a ghost be removed from the building. This after a female worker claimed to have been attacked by a spirit, which she said was living in a toilet in the women’s washroom.
The woman didn’t actually see a ghost. However, after falling ill, she assumed the vengeful toilet spirit was the cause of her illness. A djinn, perhaps.
Of course, while a ghost in a toilet may seem outlandish, poor factory conditions and sick workers aren’t something to laugh at. Apparently, thousands of workers in Southeast Asia have experienced unexplainable illnesses, specifically in garment factories. Couple this with poor working conditions and an already-superstitious culture and you have a recipe for, well, mass riots.
At any rate, a special prayer ceremony has been held to vanquish the toilet spirit and return the Bangledesh factory’s restrooms to normal. When it reopens, factory owners claim the building will be “ghost-free.”
Subscribe to receive posts from Stranger Dimensions by email.When Colorado started selling legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, it gave most tourists and some residents no place to consume what they lawfully bought.
A Denver initiative on ballots being sent out Monday aims to change that, and one state lawmaker said it could be a “shot across the bow” that persuades the legislature to act on a statewide policy.
While some smaller Colorado cities and towns have allowed cannabis clubs, Denver voters are being asked to approve a potentially even more expansive program: Initiative 300 would create a four-year pilot program allowing regular businesses, such as bars or cafes or even yoga studios, to seek permits for bring-your-own marijuana, over-21 consumption areas that are indoors (allowing vaping and edibles, but not smoking) or outdoors (allowing smoking).
But there’s a hitch: Applicants for annual or temporary permits would need backing from a single neighborhood group, such as a city-registered neighborhood organization or Business Improvement District. Those groups could set operating conditions in exchange for their support.
Nothing is simple when it comes to the regulation of marijuana — and that’s been borne out for an initiative its backers have named the Neighborhood-Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program.
The ballot measure, led by Denver Relief Consulting’s Kayvan Khalatbari and backed in part by marijuana entrepreneurs and smaller businesses, has sparked tensions among pro-marijuana activists who disagree on the right way to sanction social use. And it has drawn late organized opposition — under the name Protect Denver’s Atmosphere — from groups including Smart Colorado. They express concern the program would encourage more stoned driving, more mixing of pot with alcohol at bars that seek permits, and more public use of marijuana.
Thus this spectacle Oct. 11 in a Denver City Council committee briefing on the initiative: Several members of pro-marijuana Denver NORML, which failed to collect enough signatures to get a competing private clubs measure on the Nov. 8 ballot, argued in testimony that Initiative 300 was the wrong way to go.
Moments later, Bob Doyle from the American Lung Association in Colorado held up a vaping device and said, “This is the 21st century drug-delivery device. We do not need to be increasing the number of places we find these anywhere in Colorado, including Denver.”
Khalatbari and other supporters say the measure takes neighborhood sentiment into account on every permit, but some longtime neighborhood activists disagree. They argue the proposal would allow permit-seekers to shop for more friendly Business Improvement Districts as sponsors, while side-stepping neighborhood associations that are more skeptical.
“We do not want to get in a position of arguing and vying with BIDs,” said Margie Valdez, the zoning and planning committee chair for Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, a citywide alliance of associations. “This is a way to divide and conquer.”
INC members voted 18-5 to oppose Initiative 300 on Oct. 8, with some arguing only city-registered neighborhood organizations should have a say on the permits.
Initiative backers say they are getting some neighborhood group support, with Uptown on the Hill east of downtown recently endorsing the measure. Khalatbari attributed INC’s vote to “petty political reasons.”
State Rep. Jonathan Singer, who has endorsed the initiative, says it “will be a good bellwether to see whether there’s a real appetite among the electorate to solve this problem” of tourists and renters whose landlords don’t allow marijuana at home having no place to use it.
The Longmont Democrat has floated ideas for legislation that would allow for private clubs or even “tasting rooms” at dispensaries, with no success.
If Initiative 300 passes, he said, the Denver measure would give police another option besides issuing citations to people who violate prohibitions on public marijuana consumption.
“Finally, law enforcement is going to have the opportunity to tell people: ‘You know what, you can’t smoke in the park, you can’t smoke in a hotel, you can’t smoke in any number of places — but here is where you can go,’ ” Singer said.
City officials who have raised legal questions about Initiative 300 are waiting to see whether voters direct them to implement the permit program. Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration so far isn’t taking a firm stance for or against; his marijuana policy director, Ashley Kilroy, says voters should consider the initiative carefully.
If it wins voter approval, the council would be tasked with reviewing the permit program and deciding whether to continue it after four years. But rules for voter-initiated ordinances would allow the council to amend or repeal it any time after six months passes, if its members muster a two-thirds supermajority.
Under state law, licensed marijuana businesses cannot apply for the consumption area permits, but their owners could seek permits for an adjacent property, as a city attorney has pointed out.
Some of the activists behind Initiative 300 pulled a similar measure last year before it qualified for the ballot. They returned, Khalatbari and others have said, with an initiative that incorporated concerns they heard expressed this year by community groups during the council’s impassioned debates about marijuana industry regulations.
Smart Colorado, a group that supports tight restrictions to keep marijuana products from getting into the hands of children, is the top supporter of the Protect Denver’s Atmosphere opposition group, providing most of about $25,000 an organizer says the group has raised so far. That compares with $34,711 raised through Sept. 30 by Khalatbari’s pro-Initiative 300 campaign.
Both are relatively small sums to wage citywide campaigns. Khalatbari says the big players in the marijuana industry, which are branching out into chains of dispensaries, have stayed on the sidelines.
Among pro-marijuana activists, the withholding of support for Initiative 300 by the Denver chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) stands in contrast to endorsements by NORML’s state chapter and its national office.
Besides Smart Colorado, the opposition group includes the Colorado Restaurant Association’s Mile High chapter, the American Lung Association in Colorado, the state chapter of the Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution (GASP) and DUID Victim Voices, whose name includes the acronym for driving under the influence of drugs. Opponents note that bars and restaurants could face resistance to seeking consumption area permits from their insurers.
Rachel O’Bryan, campaign manager for Protect Denver’s Atmosphere, has speculated, though, that plenty of businesses near residential areas and along the 16th Street Mall would seek permits, affecting their neighbors negatively.
“Our belief is that this will not fix the problem in the city with open and public marijuana smoking,” she told The Denver Post. “This will only spread it throughout the city because the businesses are anywhere. The rooftops could be in any neighborhood.”
Khalatbari counters by predicting a slow and cautious roll-out of permits. He says businesses seeking them are more likely to gain a business district’s or a neighborhood group’s approval along grittier parts of Colfax Avenue and Santa Fe Drive, where he is on the board for the Art District on Santa Fe, than in, say, Cherry Creek North.
One possibility, he said, is to try out a limited consumption area permit during Santa Fe’s First Friday events.
“I think we all know how conservative our neighborhood (and business) associations are downtown, and I can’t imagine that they’re going to allow these places to exist, at least on the front end,” Khalatbari told the council committee. “So the thought, and the fear, that this is going to run rampant is pretty silly.”
The initiative has a fan in Mike Eymer, who has donated $7,500 through personal and company checks. He’s the founder and CEO of Colorado Cannabis Tours, which allows customers on its private buses and limousines to use marijuana.
He sees a need for Denver to keep up with other states and cities that may embrace legal marijuana — providing more competition.
“Denver would be sending the message that they want to continue to flourish,” he said. “It would be arrogant to say that cannabis tourism has not benefited the economy as a whole. … These are very reasonable laws we’re talking about passing. We’re not talking about people smoking on the street.”Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon expressed support on Thursday for continued Palestinian autonomy in parts of the West Bank, but not independence, and said the territory could hold one or two million additional Jewish settlers.
After speaking at a religious girls’ school in Beit Shemesh on Thursday, Ya’alon was asked his views about Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and about evacuation of Jewish settlements more generally.
Ya’alon said that as army chief of staff he had opposed the withdrawal. “My home is the kibbutz,” he said. “The border is marked by the furrows of the plow. The border is marked by the children’s house. Where there is no children’s house, there is no army. If you want to hold territory, you need for there to be people living there.”
Turning his attention to the peace process with the Palestinians, he said: “On one hand, I don’t see prospects for a [peace] agreement in the foreseeable future. The gap between us is not bridgeable. They have not agreed to any proposal to divide the land. They are not prepared even to accept a state along the 1967 borders and a division of Jerusalem. From their standpoint, that’s just 22 percent of Palestine,” he said.
Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv, September 1, 2017. Tomer Appelbaum
“I don’t foresee that they will have a leadership that will want to divide the land,” adding that he doesn’t foresee it among the leadership of Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority, or among Hamas, based in the Gaza Strip.
“On the other hand,” he said, “I don’t want a binational state,” noting that the Palestinians already have autonomy. “I say we will not evacuate Jews or Arabs. On the map that already exists at the moment, we can protect our interest that there not be a binational state. There won’t be settlers on every hilltop.”
Referring to the West Bank by its biblical name, the former defense minister said: “There is enough room in Judea and Samaria to settle one or two million more people in locations that suit us through a policy not to become a binational state. This is done through a policy that is thought out, not through illusions. The illusion of peace has now evaporated. The illusion of a Greater Land of Israel has also evaporated,” a reference to Israel’s remaining in control of all of the West Bank.
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“Between the two, we need to find a way for [the Palestinians] to live in political autonomy, not voting for the Knesset but rather for their own parliament. There isn’t peace now here. There won’t be. We need to manage things wisely, looking to our interests. That’s true [with regard] to a Palestinian state, Syria [and] Lebanon. If we conduct things wisely, there will be unprecedented quiet.”
Ya'alon also said that since becoming Labor Party chairman in July, Avi Gabbay has been pressuring him to join the party.
Gabbay was the environmental protection minister, representing Kulanu, when he resigned in 2016 to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing Ya’alon and replacing him with Avigdor Lieberman. Gabbay has said privately he has no political differences with Ya’alon.This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use
When Imagination Technologies bought MIPS in 2011, it was clearly aiming to create a new portfolio of CPU products that could challenge companies like ARM across multiple business segments. The move surprised a number of people — ARM’s success and ascension seemed to be unstoppable, particularly for a player like MIPS. While it was once the architecture that many of the world’s supercomputers and high-end workstations ran on, big design wins languished and MIPS gradually became a player in embedded markets and other low-visibility systems.
Bit by bit, Imagination Technologies has been working to change that, rolling out a series of cores with higher throughput, advanced capabilities, and better overall performance. Today’s unveil of the Warrior I6400 is the latest effort, and while it’s not MIPS’s fastest CPU for single-threaded performance, its multithreaded capabilities, CMT, and cluster options make it, in some ways, the most advanced part MIPS currently fields.
I am the Warrior
The new I6400 drops into the mid-range, with an estimated 2.3-3.0 DMIPS per MHz (a common measure of embedded performance). The full-sized “P-class” core has a performance rate as high as 3.5 DMIPS/MHz. The new I6400 will use the MIPS64 instruction set (Release 6) — but is also designed to implement multithreading within the core, as shown below:
This diagram will be familiar to anyone who has ever looked at a model of Intel’s Hyper-Threading (or simultaneous multithreading in general). Instructions fed from four separate threads are being scheduled and executed in two separate execution queues. This approach allows for what Imagination Technologies claims is a 30-50% improvement in performance for just 10% additional die space.
Simultaneous multithreading is optional in the I6400’s design — Imagination expects to see some customers opt for it while others won’t be interested — but it’s an excellent way to improve die utilization and overall efficiency. It’s the reason why the company estimates a performance range of 2.3 – 3 DMIPS/MHz.
The system can execute multiple threads in a given pipeline stage or operate in superscalar mode (meaning it dispatches multiple instructions within the same thread to different execution units across the processor.
So, just how powerful is the CPU core itself? Let’s take a look.
Architecturally, the I6400 bears a fair of similarity to the Cortex-A53 — a dual-issue, in-order core that can support between 1 and 4 threads with a wide array (for a low-power core) of execution units.
Interestingly, the integer pipelines can perform what Imagination calls instruction bonding. If two sequential integer operations arrive one right after the other, the I6400 can combine them into a single instruction. Two 32-bit integer operations become one 64-bit operation, two 64-bit operations can be combined into a single 128-bit access. Since the load/store unit is already 128 bits wide to accommodate the core’s SIMD units, this bonding mechanism can boost performance over relying on just a single load/store unit, while saving power and die area.
The cluster architecture is also interesting.
See the bit on the right side of the block — ACE/AXI4? MIPS is using ARM’s own interconnect standard for tying multiple clusters together — a bit of irony, considering the company wants to compete with ARM. Each cluster can be outfitted with an L2 cache of varying size from 512KB to 8MB and the clusters support DVFS (Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling). Rather than relying on snoop filters to maintain cache coherence — this is a system where every core monitors the contents of every other core’s caches — the I6400 relies on directory coherence. Directory coherence means that a section of the L2 is used to maintain a directory of what data is stored where — this drastically reduces bandwidth and power requirements.
Licensees and markets
MIPS wouldn’t name names when we asked for companies that are interested in evaluating the processor, but it pointed out that the I6400’s clustering capabilities and scaling are of great interest to companies in both the mobile and HPC space. China licenses the MIPS architecture for its supercomputer and homegrown processor efforts — we covered the MIPS ISA efficiency of the Loongson processor family in our recent ISA discussion. Once upon a time, MIPS was the public face of the entire RISC architecture movement and powered some of the most impressive computers of its day — it’s not impossible to think it could do so again, particularly if Imagination continues investing in the project.
Consumers, however, are likely to encounter MIPS in the low-cost tablet market where the architecture has already seen some limited adoption. Google has historically supported MIPS with Android, but the overwhelming majority of apps don’t natively support it on that platform.
There are two reasons to think Imagination Technologies might be able to mount a successful challenge at the low end of the market. First, the company has a robust and widely licensed set of GPU IP that it could potentially use to sweeten the deal with prospective licensees. ARM, of course, has its own Mali architecture, but PowerVR remains one of the largest GPU vendors by market share.
Second, we’ve already seen multiple manufacturers vying for space in entry-level markets. Just as Rockchip and MediaTek have emerged to challenge Qualcomm, other companies could emerge to challenge them — and MIPS might be useful as a means of differentiation.It’s no secret that Microsoft’s app stores lag behind the competition when it comes to breadth and quality, but at Build 2015, the company has announced how it is going to fight back.
Since its inception, Microsoft has always been focused on making developers' lives easier and today, they are making it simpler for Android and iOS developers to move to Windows with the announcement of four new SDKs.
iOS app running on Windows
The new SDKs are targeted for: Websites;.NET and Win32; Android Java/C++; and iOS Objective C. With these new tools, you can take existing apps and bring them to Windows with minimal work.
In fact, Microsoft has already ported Candy Crush Saga to Windows Phone using these new tools. The company says that there were only a few code modifications needed after conversion and the app currently has a 4.5 star rating.
Android app running on Windows Phone
These tools have been in the development process for several years as the company worked to perfect the new SDKs to make it easier for developers to move to Windows with their apps. Seeing that iOS and Android devs can now streamline their development process to allow them to tap into the Windows ecosystem, it appears to be a potential win-win for all involved.
The only question that remains is if this will be enough to convince devs to actually move and support an app in the Windows ecosystem. With the tooling ready and being released today, we won’t have to wait too long to find out.The 66th Emmy Awards ceremony has added to its list of presenters, with latenight names signing on for the telecast.
Host Seth Meyers announced Tuesday morning via Twitter that his latenight contemporaries Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel will be on deck to present at the kudos, where all three of their programs are nominated for outstanding variety series.
Colbert has already taken home a gong this year for outstanding writing for a variety, music or comedy series for “The Colbert Report,” while Fallon won for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for his hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live” during last week’s Creative Arts Emmy ceremony.
Other notable dark hour hosts Conan O’Brien, David Letterman, Craig Ferguson, Jon Stewart and late late-night host Jay Leno are not on the list of presenters.
Previously announced presenters for the awards include Halle Berry, Bryan Cranston, Viola Davis, Zooey Deschanel, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Woody Harrelson, Allison Janney, Keegan-Michael Key, Adam Levine, Lucy Liu, Julianna Margulies, Matthew McConaughey, Debra Messing, Jim Parsons, Jordan Peele, Amy Poehler, Julia Roberts, Andy Samberg, Octavia Spencer, Gwen Stefani, Sofia Vergara and Kerry Washington.
The 66th Emmy Awards will air live at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on Monday, August 25 on NBC.London should become “the world’s first Living Wage City,” said Sadiq Khan on Thursday and argued for a change in how the voluntary minimum pay rate is calculated for the capital so it more fully reflects high altitude housing costs. Khan believes if this is done – and a review of the methodology is underway – the London Living Wage would soon rise from its current £9.40 an hour to around £10 or more.
That was the headline news from his speech to the Resolution Foundation think tank. Khan will hope it was appreciated by the estimated 1.2 million Londoners enduring in-work poverty, part of his bedrock voter base. Just as striking, though, was the setting in which his call was embedded.
Within a week of become Labour’s mayoral candidate back in September, Khan informed the Financial Times that he intended to become “the most business-friendly mayor of all time.” This declaration was accompanied by criticisms of the then brand new shadow chancellor John McDonnell. Khan said that, unlike McDonnell, he was against further taxes on business and that he wanted to attract more companies to London: “If business does well, London does well.”
There’s been no retreat from this stance and it seems to have pleased its target audience. In October, when Khan wrote an open letter to London businesses inviting them to help him shape his policies, the influential newspaper City AM approvingly contrasted his approach with that of his party’s new leadership.
Last month, the same paper accused Khan’s only close rival, the Conservative Zac Goldsmith, of ignoring the City, which would not be afraid to back his Labour opponent. By contrast, it applauded Khan, saying he had met with “dozens of City figures” one of whom praised him for knowing “a lot about the issues” and “making noises we haven’t heard from the Labour Party for quite some time.” Khan told the Spectator recently that he welcomed London’s being the home of more than 140 billionaires. “If you shut your eyes it could be Peter Mandelson speaking,” his interviewer remarked.
Can Khan really be the friend of big capitalism in London as well as the champion of London’s poor? His critics accuse him of inconsistency and saying different things to different groups. However, his Resolution Foundation speech set out a vision of a thriving London economy in which the interests of its businesses and those of its lower paid were firmly reconciled.
Does that recipe have a familiar flavour? It is easy to forget that a very similar formula was fundamental to a version of the Labour Party that won three general elections in a row - a Labour Party that saw no contradiction between wooing the Square Mile and introducing minimum pay rates and which, by the way, created the London mayoralty. “New Labour” may have become a washed-up project and a bashed-up brand, but Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s shared insistence that private profit and social progress can advance hand-in-hand seems not to have been forgotten by the MP for Tooting. Nor has the relevance of their past successes to the London mayoral task.
As well seeking to make the running on the London Living Wage, which he described as “the strongest mechanism we have for challenging poverty pay,” Khan committed in his speech to “working with business to increase productivity,” including by setting up a strategic Skills for Londoners partnership along with educators and London’s 32 boroughs to match funding streams with skills gaps more efficiently.
He said he’d “offer our big businesses a new compact which recognises the driving contribution they make to our prosperity” while promoting “the principles of inclusivity and fairness” - a Khan mayoralty would be about “building a coalition for shared prosperity.” Small and medium-sized enterprises were promised his best efforts to secure from the chancellor the power to vary their business rates to make it easier for them to become London Living Wage employers. Attaining that status would be seen as “a badge of pride” by businesses of every size. He would “work towards that goal through partnering with employers, using carrots, not sticks,” he said.
Housing provision and childcare costs were also part of this picture of an “inclusive prosperity.” Khan said it is “a matter of both social justice and economic failure that so many skilled people, usually women” found that expensive childcare limited their incentive or ability to return to the workforce after having children and vowed to establish a London childcare commission with a view to enhancing provision across the capital.
He called the high cost of buying or renting a home in London “not simply a drag on living standards but on productivity.” According to Khan, “for the low paid it’s the difference between poverty and a decent standard of living” and that for “talented young people” it was “a massive disincentive to stay in London, when they could exchange their skills for a better quality of life elsewhere.” He said his promised Homes for London unit would “look at whether businesses could be invited to make a contribution to a new homes fund” with a proportion of any resulting, truly affordable homes being allocated to employees of the firms involved.
For cynics, all this may simply confirm that Khan, a “soft Left” politician who ran the campaign to make Ed Miliband Labour leader and became Labour’s candidate with the help of strong union backing, is only too adept at facing more than one way. A friendlier view might be that he is not so much borrowing from New Labour as joining up a more progressive bunch of policy dots into a coherent big picture in the way Miliband failed to. Either way, it is astute political positioning which also acknowledges that unless London mayors work effectively with business, not least in lobbying central government, it is much, much harder to get good things done - something “Red” Ken Livingstone spotted very quickly after becoming the first person to win the job.
What’s more, Khan’s platform recognises that a desire for more affordable housing, good living standards and a happy, high-quality workforce - “education, education, education,” anyone? - are common ground between both sides of industry in London, as are cheap and efficient public transport systems, low levels of crime, clean air and pleasant streets. New Labour may be dead, but if Khan becomes mayor of London he will have shown that some of its most basic tenets may yet have new life breathed into them.
Read Sadiq Khan’s speech to the Resolution foundation here.Books are beautiful in their own right, but these artists have managed to improve on perfection.
1. Books to infinity
Flickr
This crazy miracle in a library in Prague was designed by Slovakian artist Matej Kren. There’s a mirror inside so the tunnel of books looks endless when you lean into it.
2. Books as landscapes
Guy Laramee
Montreal-based artist Guy Laramee uses the texture of the pages to give the feeling of earth and rocks in his landscape sculptures.
3. Film Star
Flickr
This piece by John Latham was part of a special exhibition at the Tate Britain in 2005-2006.
4. Sunburst of books
Flickr
This wall-mounted sculpture is by Colombian artist Federico Uribe.
5. The Raven
Jaron James/Su Blackwell
Paper sculptor Su Blackwell makes delicate cut-outs that appear to be rising from the center of the book.
6. OMG LOL
Flickr
This sculpture made from a dictionary is by artist Michael Mandiberg.
7. Book ball
Flickr
This sphere made out of books is in Minneapolis.
8. Paging M.C. Escher
Brian Dettmer
This sculptor carves angular pathways into books, making convoluted three-dimensional figures worthy of M.C. Escher.
9. Sunset
Cara Barer
This book is reminiscent of wild, rainbow hair.
10. Creepy-crawlies
BookDust
Robert The unlocks creatures hiding inside books.
11. Color wheel
Flickr
This colorful sculpture is at Kansas City Public Library.
12. Books as canvas
Flickr
Artist Mike Stilkey uses acrylic paint on backdrops made out of books, including this piece on display at the Bristol Museum.
13. Flying books
Flickr
This is the ceiling of a booth made out of books by Jan Reymond for the Geneva Book Fair.Plus: Meghan Trainor will perform at this year's event, held during Aspen Gay Ski Week.
The Cast Of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 8 Will Be Announced At New Now Next Honors
Fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race will get their first chance to meet the queens of Season 8 during the New Now Next Honors, February 1 at 10pm on Logo.
The veil will be lifted with a series of videos starring this year’s contenders, introduced by Drag Race favorites Katya, Ginger Minj, Shangela and Ivy Winters at Aspen Gay Ski Week.
“This season’s queens are the most twisted yet,” declared RuPaul. “I fell in love with them the first moment we met, and I can’t wait to unleash these crazy and talented bitches onto the world.”
Logo also announced that Grammy nominee Meghan Trainor will perform during the show, where she’ll be joined by out pop star Who Is Fancy.
“I’ve always wanted to go to a Logo awards show,” said Trainor, who follows in the footsteps of Lady Gaga, who made her first television appearance at the NNN Awards in 2008.
“Not only do I get to attend and perform,” says the “Lips are Movin'” singer, “but I get to show my support for the LGBT community, who have always showed me so much love!”
Last year, Drag Race received its first Emmy nomination and helped Logo reach the highest ratings in its history. This year we can expect even more insane challenges, celebrity judges and more than a few surprises. Get ready, squirrelfriends!
Watch the 2016 New Now Next Honors, February 1 at 10pm on Logo.Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta
Sitting at the top of Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort Hotel is the highly signature dining experience that guests rave about. It’s Chef Brian Piasecki’s California Grill, where the genius of modern California cuisine highlights locally sourced foods and an exquisite Golden State Wine List.There’s a lot to like about the California Grill, from it’s upbeat atmosphere to the sweeping panoramic views and top notch service. However the reason guests return year after year to this favorite has little to do with it’s location and everything to do with the food.
One of the foods that I’ve always had trouble with is Polenta. I wanted to like it, I tried and tried at restaurants and in family kitchens across the country, but the flavors always feel flat. That is until I tried the polenta at California Grill. This creamy mixture of polenta with flavorful goat cheese and herbs, finally made me a believer. Thanks so much to our friends at Disney Food Bog for exclusive use of their picture, check out their story on the California Grill too!
I love to bring pieces of my Walt Disney World Vacations home with me, and this recipe is a new staple in our house. I thought that you might like to give it a try as well. Give this amazing polenta a try, then leave a comment to let me know what you think about this California Grill classic!
Goat Cheese Polenta
1 cup diced white onion
1 head garlic, diced and sautéed
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups polenta (less if you prefer a softer texture)
1 cup Asiago cheese, grated
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs-equal parts thyme, rosemary, sage, and chives (if using dried herbs, cut proportions in half).
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Sauté onion in a small amount of olive oil until transparent. Stir in garlic, then add water, milk and cream and bring to a boil. Whisk in polenta slowly, stirring until thick and bubbling. Continue to stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let thicken for 5 minutes.
Pour mixture into a pan and bake at 275 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and fold in cheeses and herbs. Add salt and pepper and serve it up! This is a great side dish to serve with pork tenderloin and asparagus.
Do you love Disney's Contemporary Resort? Join fellow fans over on our facebook page and follow us on our twitter feed @DisneyHotelsFan!MagnetoSperm performs a flagellated swim using weak oscillating magnetic fields. Image: I.S.M. Khalil/GUC & S. Misra/University of Twente
Microrobots which swim like sperm and are controlled by oscillating magnetic fields have been created by scientists to be used in drug delivery to parts of the body.
Researchers at the University of Twente (Netherlands) and German University in Cairo (Egypt) developed the 322 micron-long robots consist solely of a head coated in a thick cobalt-nickel layer and an uncoated tail.
When the robot is subjected to an oscillating field about the strength of a decorative refrigerator magnet it experiences a magnetic torque on its head, which causes it to oscillate and propel it forward.
The researchers are then able to steer the robot by directing the magnetic field lines towards a reference point.
The breakthrough is described in a cover article in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
Islam Khalil designed the MagnetoSperm microrobots along with Sarthak Misra and colleagues at MIRA-Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine at the University of Twente.
Dr Misra, principal investigator of this study and an associate professor at the University of Twente, said:
“Nature has designed efficient tools for locomotion at micro-scales. Our microrobots are either inspired from nature or directly use living micro-organisms such as magnetotactic bacteria and sperm cells for complex micro-manipulation and targeted therapy tasks.”
The range of biomedical tasks MagnetoSperm can perform include targeted drug delivery, in vitro fertilisation, cell sorting and cleaning of clogged arteries.
The microrobot was made by spin-coating onto a silicon support wafer a five-micron layer of SU-8, a polymer chosen for its ease of fabrication and mechanical stability. The cobalt-nickel layer was then added to the head by use of electron beam evaporation.
In the future, the researchers hope to further scale down the size of MagnetoSperm. The team is currently working on a method to generate a magnetic nanofiber.
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Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Party co-leader Marama Fox said it made more sense for New Zealanders to recognised the significance of Parihaka rather than Guy Fawkes, a foiled act of terrorism in a faraway land.
While many New Zealanders will light fireworks tonight in recognition of the failed Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords in 1605, a far smaller number will commemorate an event much closer to home.
On this day in 1881, about 1500 colonial troops marched on Parihaka, plundered the settlement and arrested and exiled prophets Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai |
the human cost has been much more powerful than the numbers suggest.
Emotional accounts of families separated by visa rules or children being forced to grow up without one of their parents have shocked researchers and triggered a concerted legal fight to change the rules.
Last year, a high court judgement found the rules were an "unjustified and disproportionate interference with a genuine spousal relationship" and suggested the benchmark should be set at £13,400.
Families affected by the rules are currently holding out for a court of appeal judgement on the original case.
An all-party parliamentary group on migration report into the rules saw MPs, peers and children's commissioners call for an immediate review of the rules.The court battle between Epic Games and Silicon Knights isn't over quite yet. A new filing yesterday has ordered Silicon Knights to destroy all game code using Unreal Engine, which includes Too Human and X-Men Destiny, and unreleased projects The Box/Ritualyst, The Sandman, and Siren the Maelstrom.
The developer also must cease producing or distributing any games using Unreal Engine and must recall and destroy any unsold games at its own expense. Additionally, Epic Games' original $4.45 million award has been doubled to $9 million. Silicon Knights has until December 21 and again on February 21, 2013 to notify the court and Epic Games concerning its compliance of the injections.
"Epic Games appreciates the court's careful consideration of the motions and is gratified by the order," the company said in a statement. Silicon Knights declined to offer comment on the order.
[Source: NeoGAF via Joystiq]For as long as I can remember, conservatives have been bemoaning “moral decline” in America. The reality may be different, as I’ve noted before. And now comes P. J. O’Rourke with a similar reflection. P. J., who has moved from editing an underground newspaper in the ’60s to writing for conservative magazines to cultivating a reputation as a curmudgeon, has a new book titled The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way (And It Wasn’t My Fault) (And I’ll Never Do It Again).
Talking with P. J. about the book, Will Pavia of the Times of London notes (gated page):
I’m not sure [the baby boomers were] better or worse than the current crop of American teenagers, to judge from some of the things they post on YouTube. O’Rourke disagrees. “I would say there has been a considerable improvement in public morality. It’s probably been going on since the anti-slavery movement at the beginning of the 19th century.” He gives the example of his own son, Cliff. “Admittedly, he goes to a little private day school. You know, a gentle place. I don’t think he’s ever been in a fight nor shown any desire to be. Nor have I seen his friends get in fights; it’s not just him. It’s definitely a less violent world, a more tolerant world.”
Less violence and more tolerance is a pretty good slice of morality. Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, backs up O’Rourke’s intuition in the New York Times:Moogfest aims to bring an incredible experience to Durham, North Carolina, next month, even if
Moogfest aims to bring an incredible experience to Durham, North Carolina, next month, even if the state’s new law is fucking crazy.
The music line-up includes some of the most influential electronic musicians in history, as well as modern headliners like Grimes, GZA, and Explosions in the Sky. Check out more about the tunes here.
But their daytime program has bene finalized and it looks equally impressive. Check out details via Moogfest below:
The Moogfest Day-to-Night Journey
Evening headliners will participate in a range of daytime programs including master classes that take audiences deep inside the artist’s creative process, workshops, conversations, film screenings, and improvisational performances. Highlights include:
Musical experimentalist Laurie Anderson will be interviewed by Jana Hunter of Lower Dens.
GZA will discuss Time Traveling with Hip Hop in a conversation moderated by Duke University Professor of Black Popular Culture, Mark Anthony Neal.
Master Classes will be led by legendary producer and musician Daniel Lanois (U2, Peter Gabriel), ambient house pioneers The Orb, and composer and producer Ben Frost with drone trailblazer Tim Hecker. The Orb will also host a screening of their film, Lunar Orbit. It will be the only screening with The Orb in attendance and in conversation.
Reggie Watts, Tyondai Braxton, Mykki Blanco will discuss Afrofuturism, which combines elements of science fiction, astral jazz, historical fiction, psychedelic hip hop, fantasy, and magic realism in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas but also to re-examine the historical events of the past.
Odesza will take apart one of the their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how it was made in a live recording of Song Exploder, the hit podcast hosted by Hirishikesh Hirway.
Claire Evans of YACHT will present ‘The Future is Unmanned,’ a condensed feminist history of the Internet, tracing the role of women from the human computers of the 19th century to the cyberfeminists who made videogames, hypertext novels, virtual reality projects, and non-narrative art pieces on websites and CD-ROMs before disappearing along with the bursting of the dot-com bubble.
Julia Holter and Empress Of will participate in live episodes of the No Effects podcast hosted by Jesse Cohen of Tanlines.
Mad Professor will host a Workshop on the History and Future of Dub and also join with Ras Kush, Tippy and Lister for Reggae Hacker Soundsystem, a conversation exploring the evolution of dub and home-made sound system culture, radiating outwards from its native Jamaica.
Pioneering synthesist Suzanne Ciani will perform in a four-hour-long experimental session with immersive visuals as part of the Durational series.
Conversations
The Future of Our Species
Cyborg artist Neil Harbisson joins Pau Riba, BJ Murphy, Rich Lee, and Daniel Lock to discuss how humans are taking an active part in their own biological evolution. By becoming technology, instead of using or wearing technology, humans are opening up the possibility of having additional organs and senses beyond the ones confined to our species.
Creating Music Tech with Kickstarter
Nick Yulman, curator of Kickstarter’s Design and Technology categories, will share some innovative music tech projects that have come to life with the help of the platform’s community, which allows instrument creators to test ideas and get feedback from music makers as part of an open development process.
“Technoshamanism: A Very Psychedelic Century!”
Paleo-ecologist turned multimedia performer Michael Garfield will take festival-goers on a playful, deep discussion on the new technologies that are dissolving boundary between the “made” and “born,” the “natural” and “artificial.” – and how the indigenous medicine traditions are just what are required to navigate this brave new digital society.
“Hyperinstruments: Opera of the Future Tod Machover (MIT Media Lab)”
Composer/inventor Tod Machover will describe the past, present and (potential) future of his Opera of the Future group at the MIT Media Lab, showing Hyperinstruments for soloists and ensembles, responsive stage technologies that go beyond multimedia, large-scale collaborative systems that enable entire cities to create symphonies together, and musical tools and concepts that promote wellbeing, diagnose disease, and customize compositions to individual needs and desires.
Synth Instrument Pioneers
Explore the art of musical instrument design with some of the synthesizer industry’s most influential analog architects; past, present and future. This year’s featured luminaries are David Friend, co-founder of ARP; Tatsuya Takahashi, Korg’s Chief Engineer of Analog Synth Development; David Van Koevering, inventor of the Van Koevering Piano; and Cyril Lance, Chief Engineer of Moog Music.
———————-
Tickets for Moogfest 2016 are available for $249 (Festival Pass) and $499 (VIP Pass) at www.moogfest.com.It's official: AMC's The Walking Dead companion series has a title.
Executive producer Robert Kirkman announced Friday that the companion series, which starts as a prequel to the original, will be titled Fear The Walking Dead.
"IT'S OFFICIAL! The walking dead companion show on AMC is called FEAR THE WALKING DEAD! Expect more news very soon! #FearTheWalkingDead," he posted on Twitter.
See more 'Walking Dead' Comes to Life: From Comics to the Small Screen
The news comes as the companion went through development season — and was picked up to series and preemptively renewed for a second season — under code names including Cobalt and Fear The Walking Dead.
On March 9, AMC announced the series pickup and renewal for the then-untitled series.
Kirkman, who created The Walking Dead comic series, co-wrote the pilot with Dave Erickson (Sons of Anarchy). Kirkman and Erickson will exec produce alongside Walking Dead's Gale Anne Hurd and Dave Alpert. Erickson will serve as showrunner, and Adam Davidson will direct the pilot. Walking Dead VFX guru Greg Nicotero will also exec produce the series.
While AMC has been tight-lipped on the series' premise, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the drama is a prequel that takes place in Los Angeles at the onset of the zombie outbreak. AMC confirmed that the companion series is set in Los Angeles but revealed nothing more beyond that it will focus on new characters and storylines.
See more 'The Walking Dead's' Most Shocking Deaths
Cliff Curtis (Gang Related) stars as Sean Cabrera, a teacher who shares a son with his ex-wife. Sons of Anarchy's Kim Dickens is set to co-star as Nancy, a guidance counselor who works at the school with Sean and is seeing him romantically. Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) co-stars as Nancy's son Nick, who has battled a drug problem. And Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Woods) is will play Nancy's ambitious daughter, Ashley, who is the polar opposite of Nick and dreams of leaving L.A. for Berkeley when the apocalypse strikes.
Fear The Walking Dead will premiere in the "late summer" with season two set for 2016. An official premiere date has not yet been announced. The season five finale of the flagship series airs Sunday at 9 p.m.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @SnooditFirst, Hulk Hogan took down Gawker, winning a court case against the website and its owner Nick Denton for a huge sum of money and essentially putting Denton on skid row.
Now….be still my beating heart….the man-hating cunt Sabrina Erdely might lose everything, along with the shitlib rag Rolling Stone which published her lies in a fake story about a fake rape on the UVA campus that never occurred except in the fevered imagination of Jackie Coakley, a girl who wanted a man to love her but became bitter and made up a false rape accusation when her love wasn’t reciprocated.
BREAKING: @HenryGraff reports: Sabrina Erdely found liable (w/malice) on 6 claims. Rolling Stone found liable on 3 claims. Waiting on Wenner — NBC29 (@NBC29) November 4, 2016
Here’s to hoping the suit bankrupts Rolling Stone and that shitlib Boomer narcissist Jann Wenner has to beg for paint huffing money under a bridge.
The pretty lies are being exposed, gentlemen and lady lovers, and the ugly truths are winning the day. When the dawn finally breaks, all I ask of you readers is that you remember the Chateau was there from the beginning, nestled deep in the Alsatian woods, a welcome retreat from the madness, speaking before all others in our post-America dystopia on behalf of Truth and Beauty.Maingear has released an all-new gaming PC, the R2 Razer Edition. The desktop possesses full-sized gaming power inside its methodically engineered and liquid-cooled small form factor design. It comes with a plethora of configurations, too.
The R2 is Maingear’s second PC that has been developed with Razer. It’s more compact than the R1, sporting less than half the size of its predecessor. Despite its frame, however, the R2 doesn’t mess around when it comes to specs.
The VR-ready machine houses up to an AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3.60 GHz 8-core processor. Users can also opt for up to an Intel Core i7 7700K 4.20 GHz quad-core chip or an Intel Core i7 6950X 3.0 GHz 10-core processor. Motherboard choices include the ASRock B350 Gaming-ITX/ac and up to MSI Z270I Gaming Pro Carbon.
Maingear’s new gaming PC also offers a handful of liquid cooling solutions, so users get to choose their setup based on budget and performance needs. The superstock liquid cooling either comes with a crystal hardline tubing made from shatterproof and crystal clear PETG, or a polished, nickel-plated metal hardline tubing. Every R2 is hand-assembled and put together by a single master builder, too, so users don’t have to worry about potential leaks or errors.
The R2, according to its maker, is “Razer on the outside and Maingear on the inside.” Maingear
The second Razen Edition desktop by Maingear has reliable storage options. It handles the latest NVME SSDs as well as colossal 10 TB HDDs, with up to 32 GB of high-end Kingston DDR4 memory. The desktop is also under control and discreet when in use.
“With options for maintenance-free or custom open loop liquid cooling, the R2 Razer Edition allows gamers and PC enthusiasts to crank up all settings to high and load up multiple applications all while staying cool and virtually silent,” according to Maingear. “Its whisper quiet operation is powered by the same liquid cooling options and radiator surface area of systems twice its size, making the R2 perfect system for serious Twitch streamers and YouTubers.”
The Maingear R2 Razer Edition starts at US$1,099 (AU$1,389). Interested buyers can also customise their way up to over US$12,000 (AU$15,200) with superstock open loop liquid cooling, power-packed components and other add-ons. Maingear ships internationally, as well.
Maingear R2 Razer Edition gaming desktop specs and features
B350 processor: Up to AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 8-core 3.60 GHz | 4.0 GHz Turbo | 16 MB L3 Cache with Hyperthreading (16 threads)
Up to AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 8-core 3.60 GHz | 4.0 GHz Turbo | 16 MB L3 Cache with Hyperthreading (16 threads) Z270 processor: Up to Intel Core i7 7700K 4-core 4.20 GHz | 4.5 GHz Turbo | 8 MB L3 Cache HD 630 with HyperThreading (8 threads)
Up to Intel Core i7 7700K 4-core 4.20 GHz | 4.5 GHz Turbo | 8 MB L3 Cache HD 630 with HyperThreading (8 threads) X99 processor: Up to Intel Core i7 6950X 10-core 3.0 GHz | 4.0 GHz Turbo | 25 MB L3 Cache with HyperThreading (20 threads)
Up to Intel Core i7 6950X 10-core 3.0 GHz | 4.0 GHz Turbo | 25 MB L3 Cache with HyperThreading (20 threads) B350 motherboard: ASRock B350 Gaming-ITX/ac featuring USB 3.0, SATA 6Gbps, Wireless 802.11 AC, Bluetooth v4.2
ASRock B350 Gaming-ITX/ac featuring USB 3.0, SATA 6Gbps, Wireless 802.11 AC, Bluetooth v4.2 Z270 motherboard: Up to MSI Z270I Gaming Pro Carbon featuring USB 3.1, Discrete Audio, Integrated Wireless 802.11 AC, Bluetooth v4.0
Up to MSI Z270I Gaming Pro Carbon featuring USB 3.1, Discrete Audio, Integrated Wireless 802.11 AC, Bluetooth v4.0 X99 motherboard: ASRock X99E-ITX featuring USB 3.1, Integrated Wireless 802.11 AC, Bluetooth v4.0
ASRock X99E-ITX featuring USB 3.1, Integrated Wireless 802.11 AC, Bluetooth v4.0 HDD storage: Up to 1 x 6 TB 3.5-inch drive
Up to 1 x 6 TB 3.5-inch drive SSD storage: Up to 2 x 1 TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD
Up to 2 x 1 TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD M.2 NVMe SSD storage: Up to 1 TB Samsung 960 Pro
Up to 1 TB Samsung 960 Pro Optical: Up to 6x Blu-ray Burner / 8x Super Multi Combo with playback software
Up to 6x Blu-ray Burner / 8x Super Multi Combo with playback software Power supply: Up to 850 watt EVGA Supernova 850 P2 80 + Platinum certified modular power supply ROHS
Up to 850 watt EVGA Supernova 850 P2 80 + Platinum certified modular power supply ROHS Air cooler: AMD: Maingear certified AMD Wraith Cooler | Intel: Maingear certified Intel Retail Cooler
AMD: Maingear certified AMD Wraith Cooler | Intel: Maingear certified Intel Retail Cooler Liquid cooling: Closed loop: Epic 240 Maingear CPU SuperCooler | Regular open loop: Custom liquid-cooling for CPU and GPU with total of 360 mm radiator, high airflow fans and distilled deionised non-conductive liquid | Superstock open loop: Custom handcrafted liquid cooling with crystal hardline or metal hardline tubing, premium chrome fittings, total of 360 mm copper core radiators, high airflow fans, distilled deionised non-conductive liquid
Closed loop: Epic 240 Maingear CPU SuperCooler | Regular open loop: Custom liquid-cooling for CPU and GPU with total of 360 mm radiator, high airflow fans and distilled deionised non-conductive liquid | Superstock open loop: Custom handcrafted liquid cooling with crystal hardline or metal hardline tubing, premium chrome fittings, total of 360 mm copper core radiators, high airflow fans, distilled deionised non-conductive liquid Networking: Integrated Wi-Fi up to Wireless 802.11 AC | Integrated Gigabit 10/100/1000 Ethernet | Integrated Bluetooth v4.2
Integrated Wi-Fi up to Wireless 802.11 AC | Integrated Gigabit 10/100/1000 Ethernet | Integrated Bluetooth v4.2 Dimensions (in inches): 14.37 (height) x 18.11 (depth) x 9.84 (width)
14.37 (height) x 18.11 (depth) x 9.84 (width) Average weight: 35 lbs
MORE HARDWARE NEWS:
Samsung is revving up production of its 8 GB HBM2 to meet growing industry demand
Samsung remains smartphone market leader; Apple shipments slightly dip while Windows Phones continue to plummetIn July 2013 a pair of studies set the cryptography world on fire. They were posted within days of one another to an online archive where researchers share their work, and together they described a powerful new method for hiding the secrets inside software programs.
Quanta Magazine About Original story reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences
The method was called “indistinguishability obfuscation,” or IO. The authors touted it as a “central hub” for all of cryptography—a unified basis upon which to reconstruct familiar cryptographic tools like public keys and selectively secure signatures. The papers also took a first stab at demonstrating what IO might look like mathematically.
The research produced a flurry of interest at the time, but in the two years since the announcement, computer science researchers have encountered a number of practical challenges that stand in the way of using IO. For one thing, IO is extraordinarily slow. Obfuscating a program adds delays that would be measured not in minutes or hours, but in lifetimes. In addition, the method is not nearly as mathematically secure as it needs to be.
But in the past few months, a number of studies have provided some of the most important advances since the 2013 announcement. Some researchers now think we could get a working system in a decade, or maybe even sooner than that. “As of right now it seems like there are no big limitations,” said Amit Sahai, a computer scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was a co-author on both of the papers. “IO is powerful and can do almost anything we’ve ever wanted to do.” And if IO can be constructed in terms of certain simple mathematical assumptions, researchers believe that even a quantum computer couldn’t break it.*
A Mountain of Small Steps
Indistinguishability obfuscation begins by positing two programs that compute the exact same outputs by different methods — for example, the equivalent functions f(x) = x(a + b) and f(x) = ax + bx. For any set of three inputs—a, b and x—each program produces the same result as the other, but arrives at that result by a different path. IO says that given two equivalent programs, it should be possible to encrypt them so that users cannot tell which version they have, no matter how much they poke around.
The 2013 papers convinced many people that IO has the power to dramatically broaden the scope of cryptography. But the studies didn’t specify how to make the idea practical. Researchers have two primary challenges: First, to speed up the process. And second, to ensure that IO is secure.
IO would be comically impractical to use today. Any encryption scheme is going to slow down a program at least a little. In the case of IO, the mountain of equations needed to achieve indistinguishability slows things down a lot.
“It probably takes hundreds of years to obfuscate and run a program,” said Vinod Vaikuntanathan, a cryptographer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has been heavily involved in IO research. “When it becomes that ridiculous you stop caring about the exact numbers.”
Ryan John Lee/Columbia University
One general strategy taken by computer scientists to speed up running times has been to reduce obfuscating one large program to obfuscating connected smaller programs. As computer scientists envision it, obfuscating a program would require two steps. Improvements in either step could increase efficiency overall.
The first step is the harder one. Current IO methods begin with a so-called “bootstrapping” program that is small enough to obfuscate. This program interacts with the large “target” program. The bootstrapping program acts like a secure bubble around the target program’s inputs and outputs—it obfuscates anything that comes in and out of it, effectively obfuscating the target program as a whole.
Yet no one has figured out how to efficiently obfuscate even the small bootstrapping program. It’s like trying to find the “first chink in the armor,” Sahai said. “The bootstrapping program is where we’re really stuck.”
Researchers have made more progress on the second step. Once the bootstrapping program is in place, the challenge is to obfuscate longer and more varied kinds of computations. At the annual Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) in Portland, Ore., in June, three teams of researchers presented work that demonstrated how to go from obfuscating any single circuit—which researchers already knew how to do in theory—to obfuscating a general-purpose computer (or Turing Machine, in the eyes of theoretical computer scientists).
It’s a big leap. In order to obfuscate a circuit, researchers need to know the size of the input and every step in the computation ahead of time. Computers, by contrast, are set up to read arbitrarily long inputs, making additional computations as more data come into view. The work presented at STOC showed how to use a technique called punctured programming to obfuscate these longer, open-ended calculations as a series of discrete, connected, circuit-size steps.
“The main technical achievement applies IO for circuits to the local steps of a computation and ties things together so you are protecting the computation globally,” said Allison Bishop, a computer scientist at Columbia University who co-authored one of the papers presented at STOC.
Mathematically Proven Security
Making IO more efficient would address a practical problem. Establishing that it’s highly secure would solve a fundamental one.
When Sahai and Brent Waters, a computer scientist at the University of Texas, Austin, described a way to use IO in 2013, it was largely a matter of belief that this style of obfuscation would protect the secrets inside a program. Their initial work was kind of like tying a very complicated-looking knot—it might appear very tough to undo, but without really understanding the structure of the knot, it’s hard to be sure there isn’t some simple way of unwinding it.
“At that point there was just a construction, it wasn’t even clear how to argue security,” Vaikuntanathan said. “There was no clue how to go about it.”
Portrait of Dr. Brent Waters in the Department of Computer Sciences, College of Natural Sciences for a feature story on cybersecurity. Christina Murrey
The situation has improved since then. Any good cryptography scheme rests on a mathematical foundation that defines the problems the intruder would have to solve in order to break the code. RSA encryption, for example, uses the product of two large prime numbers. To start reading your emails, an intruder would have to work backward from that product and identify the two primes that were multiplied to produce it—a task that’s understood to be impossible given the limits of current computing power.
The mathematical assumptions underlying a cryptography scheme need to be hard. They should also be simple, long-tested, and well-understood, so that cryptographers can be confident that a problem is as difficult as it looks.
“It has to be a mathematical problem we can understand. Otherwise experience has taught us that it’s likely to get broken,” Sahai said.
In 2013 there were no practical security assumptions behind IO. A year later, in April 2014, Waters, Bishop and Craig Gentry, a research scientist at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., released a pair of papers boiling the problem of IO down to a set of simple assumptions related to a type of mathematical object called multilinear maps. (Sahai was a co-author on one of the papers.) “We said if the attacker breaks [IO] in any way, he must be solving one of these problems,” Bishop said.
Yet multilinear maps were only introduced into cryptography in 2013. Experts haven’t had time to rigorously assess how reliable they are. “Right now, if these multilinear-map candidates got broken, you wouldn’t shock the world,” Waters said.
Currently, computer scientists are trying to figure out how to replace multilinear maps with a better-understood mathematical obstacle. The best hope seems to be “learning with errors” (LWE), a problem in machine learning. LWE and multilinear maps share a common mathematical ancestry in a field called lattice-based cryptography, which is why one seems like a good candidate to replace the other. However, no one has figured out how to make the leap.
“It’s like looking across a cliff. It’s so close, it looks like I can jump across it, but that really isn’t the case,” Vaikuntanathan said.
The Security Rush
Despite the challenges facing IO as a field, experts express confidence that an IO-based security scheme is coming. Sahai points out that the lag time in cryptography from idea to implementation has been as high as 30 years. Given the pace of progress that’s been set in the last two years, he thinks IO could be ready much sooner than that. “We’re hoping to shorten it to 10-15 years,” he said.
The major milestone to watch for is the establishment of a simpler mathematical basis for IO security. The most prominent figures in the field think the circumstances are right for IO adoption to move quickly. Bishop said she “wouldn’t bet against” a simple set of hard security assumptions developing in less than a decade. Vaikuntanathan is even more bullish. “I would even go so far as to say a couple years.”
The optimism owes in part to all the resources that have flowed into IO research over the last two years. Sahai now serves as the director of the Center for Encrypted Functionalities at UCLA. The center, which is devoted to obfuscation research, was founded in 2014 and is funded by a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, with Waters and Bishop as co-principal investigators. Also last fall, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced the creation of SafeWare, a research program that supports the creation of “highly efficient and widely applicable program obfuscation methods with mathematically proven security properties.”
The rush to develop IO speaks to its power but also to the cat-and-mouse game intrinsic to cryptography. At the same time that researchers are developing new security strategies, others are hard at work on quantum computers. If and when they arrive, their computing speed will lay waste to most existing cryptographic schemes. Except — perhaps — for IO.
* Quantum-secure cryptography is a tricky subject; no methods have been proven to be completely secure from quantum-based algorithms.
Original story reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent publication of the Simons Foundation whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.Leading credit ratings agency S&P has warned that the current construction of the European Union is “unsustainable” and needs far-reaching reform.
In a report published on Monday (25 July), S&P Global Ratings added its voice to the growing number of politicians and analysts calling for change.
“The problem is this: the EU, as it’s currently constructed and operates, doesn’t embody a coherent ‘pooling’ of the various dimensions of nation-state sovereignty, and therefore it’s unsustainable in its current form,” S&P said.
“There are too many moving parts in the electoral politics of 28 nation states, and too many conceivable random-like events that could push political and economic developments in one direction or another, with impossible-to-predict consequences and timelines,” the agency added.
A clear response is needed to address uncertainty about the future of the EU and to make it relevant to citizens, especially since the UK’s vote to leave on 23 June, the report said. “Brexit can be seen as just one, rather rude, manifestation of the underlying incoherence” of the EU.
S&P stripped the UK of its AAA credit rating on 27 June, just three days after the country voted to leave the European Union.
A new survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), published on Monday (25 July) has shown that confidence among UK manufacturers has slumped sharply to a six-year low.
The monthly industrial trends survey found that just 5% of firms are more optimistic about the general business situation than three months ago, but 52% are less optimistic. That gives an outcome of -47%, the lowest figure since January 2009, the height of the financial crisis. Firms also reported that export orders have fallen this month, despite the weaker pound.
S&P Global’s chief economist Paul Sheard said the UK referendum should act as a “wake-up call to the rest of the EU.”
He added that it should be “answered in a way that calls forth an abundance of clear-mindedness and statesmanship”.
UK political confusion puts world markets on edge Britain’s vote to leave the European Union continued to reverberate through financial markets, with the pound falling to its lowest level in 31 years, despite government attempts to relieve some of the confusion about the political and economic outlook.
For the ratings agency, Europe has to choose between two ways forward. The first is to pool more sovereignty and develop a tighter and more coherent political union. The second is for member states to take back sovereignty over certain areas and turn the EU into a “looser form of political and economic federation”.
“The time has come for Europe to think big and to convene a constitutional convention,” said Sheard, “with a view to coming up with one or more recommendations for the future state of Europe and the outline of treaty changes necessary to bring it about.”A Houston man overcame a murder conviction to become valedictorian of Texas Southern University.
On his way to graduation, Ren Moore ran into trouble that almost side-tracked him.
“I had to go to the restroom and my class is already marching up the steps,” he said.
However, it seems catching up is the 42-year-old’s purpose.
“People used to say I was dumb growing up,” Moore said. “I believed it.”
The kid from north Houston did time as a teenager. He later served 20 years in prison for murder. Moore killed a man during a dispute over a drug deal.
“If I would have died a long time ago, I would have just been known as a guy who killed another guy,” Moore said. “Now, I’m being known for something different.”
Behind bars he learned to rap. At first, it helped him release rage. Later, ambition and college credit earned in prison changed his heart.
“All of that self-worth that I was looking for in the streets: that money, that power, that respect I didn’t get it,” Moore said. “I got degraded.”
It pushed him to enroll at Texas Southern where he earned all “A’s,” respect and the self-worth he craved.
“The temptation is to say to all of y’all that told me I wasn’t going to do nothing (and) all of y’all (who) told me I was dumb, look,” he said. “But that may cheapen it.”
Instead, Moore focuses on his crafts: rapping, acting and inspiring others to find their purpose too.
“If I can do it, everybody can,” Moore said.Sworn Donald Trump enemy John McCain admitted Wednesday that he passed the dossier of claims of a Russian blackmail plot against the president-elect - calling it 'what any citizen should do'.
McCain - a longstanding anti-Trump Republican who had disassociated himself from the candidate's campaign weeks before the election - cast himself as an innocent and concerned member of the public as he justified his move.
He claimed he had no idea whether it was accurate or not - but that he believed the FBI should have it because it was'sensitive'.
'I did what any citizen should do. I received sensitive information and handed it to the FBI,' he told CNN - the network which broke the story that the document existed. It was then published in full by Buzzfeed.
'What any citizen should do': The Arizona senator, 80, claimed he was simply acting as a concerned member of the public when he had his face-to-face meeting with the FBI Director
'That's why I gave it to the FBI. I don't know if it is credible or not but the information I thought deserved to be delivered to the FBI, the appropriate agency of government.'
He added: 'It doesn't trouble me because I don't know if it is accurate or not. I have no way of corroborating that.
'The individual gave me the information. I looked at it. After receiving that information I took it to the FBI.'
He added that he was now aware from media reports that the FBI was apparently already in possession of the information. '
The Arizona senator had issued a public statement amid mounting questions of his exact role in the affair - and how a document riddled with errors and unverifiable claims came to be published.
'Late last year, I received sensitive information that has since been made public,' he said.
'Upon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgment about their accuracy, I delivered the information to the Director of the FBI.
'That has been the extent of my contact with the FBI or any other government agency regarding this issue.'
But the 2008 Republican loser, who disowned his party's candidate weeks before the election, may have been far more intimately involved than that.
John McCain admits he handed the report w over to FBI Director James Comey late last year. The agency were first handed parts of it in August
Donald Trump, pictured, has denied allegations contained in an explosive dossier compiled by a former British MI6 agent claiming on Twitter he is being subjected to a 'political witch hunt'
The dossier claims Russian authorities filmed Trump in a Moscow hotel room with two prostitutes who 'defiled a bed' which had previously been used by President Barack Obama
Trump branded the leaked dossier as 'fake news' and 'a total political witch hunt'
The chain of how the document reached the FBI is not officially known.
However Carl Bernstein, the Watergate reporter who contributed to the first story about its existence, published by CNN on Tuesday afternoon, suggested that McCain was handed it by a former British ambassador to Moscow.
Bernstein told CNN: 'It came from a former British MI6 agent who was hired from a political opposition research firm in Washington who was doing work about Donald Trump for both republican and democratic candidates opposed to Trump.
'They were looking at Trumps business ties, they saw some questionable things about Russians, about his businesses in Russia, they in turn hired this MI6 former investigator, he then came up with additional information from his Russian sources, he was very concerned by the implications of it, he then took it to an FBI colleague that he had known in his undercover work for years, he took it to this FBI man in Rome who turned it over to the bureau in Washington in August.
'And then, a former British ambassador to Russia independently was made aware of these findings and he took the information to John McCain – Senator John McCain of Arizona – in the period just after the election, and showed it to McCain – additional findings.
'McCain was sufficiently disturbed by what he read to take it to FBI director James Comey himself personally, they had a five minute meeting the two men, very little was said, McCain turned it over to him and is now awaiting what the FBI’s response is to that information.'
The identity of the former British ambassador has not been disclosed.
Only one former British ambassador to Moscow remains in UK government service, Sir Tim Barrow, who went on to be Foreign Office political director and is now Britain's ambassador to the European Union.
McCain's long-standing opposition to Trump is well known although he only formally ended support for the Republican candidate in October, when the notorious |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer story called "Is 'Reserve' the new face of Starbucks?" its author writes, "There's little doubt that [chairman and CEO Howard Schultz's] vision of the future of Starbucks is very much aligned with the more upscale products." Uptown Dallas, with its abundance of steakhouses and high-dollar apartments, seems like a place where "upscale" might thrive.
A modern spin on a classic favorite — the undertow. #StarbucksReserve espresso floated atop cream and Madagascar vanilla bean syrup. #StarbucksRoastery #Regram: @seattleswade A post shared by Starbucks Reserve Roastery (@starbucksroastery) on Mar 31, 2017 at 4:34pm PDT
It's too early to know what will be on the coffee menu at the Starbucks Reserve bar in Dallas, what drinks will cost or what the interior of the shop will look like. Perk up, y'all; I'll have much more info to come. The Starbucks Reserve bar in Uptown is expected to open June 29 in the McKinney & Olive high-rise at 2021 McKinney Ave., Dallas.Two tornadoes struck New York City on Sept. 8. One swept out of the sea and hit a beachfront neighborhood and the second, stronger twister hit moments later. (Photo11: Jake Dobkin, AP) Story Highlights Reinsurer Munich Re reports climate change behind rise in disasters
Weather disasters in North America are among the worst
Other experts take issue with Munich Re's findings
The number of natural disasters per year has been rising dramatically on all continents since 1980, but the trend is steepest for North America where countries have been battered by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, searing heat and drought, a new report says.
The study being released today by Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurance firm, sees climate change driving the increase and predicts those influences will continue in years ahead, though a number of experts question that conclusion.
Whatever the causes, the report shows that if you thought the weather has been getting worse, you're right.
The report finds that weather disasters in North America are among the worst and most volatile in the world: "North America is the continent with the largest increases in disasters," says Munich Re's Peter Hoppe.
The report focuses on weather disasters since 1980 in the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Hoppe says this report represents the first finding of a climate change "footprint" in the data from natural catastrophes.
Some of the report's findings:
-- The intensities of certain weather events in North America are among the highest in the world, and the risks associated with them are changing faster than anywhere else.
-- The second costliest year of the study period, 2011, was dominated by strong storms. Insured losses in the U.S. due to thunderstorms alone was the highest on record at an estimated $26 billion, more than double the previous thunderstorm record set in 2010.
-- Insured losses from disasters averaged $9 billion a year in the 1980s. By the 2000s, the average soared to $36 billion per year.
Global warming combined with natural cycles such as the El Niño or La Niña phenomena also intensify the risk of severe weather. "This will result in higher natural peril losses and affect not only the onset of heat waves, droughts and thunderstorms but also, in the long term, the intensity of tropical cyclones," the report finds.
Reinsurers such as Munich Re offer backup policies to companies writing primary insurance policies. Reinsurance helps spread risk, so the system can handle large losses from natural disasters.
"We see some trends that are linked with changes in atmospheric conditions, such as more water content in the atmosphere due to global warming," Hoppe says. Additional water vapor in the atmosphere is the fuel for the big storms, he says.
However, other experts take issue with Munich Re's findings. "Thirty years is not an appropriate length of time for a climate analysis, much less finding causal factors like climate change," says Roger Pielke, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado.
Another reinsurer, Axa, isn't quite sure of the link either: "While a clear upward trend arises from the figure with respect to the number of reported natural events, the attribution of this rise to a climate change signal should be investigated very cautiously," the French company says in its report "Climate Risks" released earlier this month.
Atmospheric scientist Clifford Mass of the University of Washington also has a problem with Munich Re's findings, saying that once the data are adjusted for population there is no recent upward trend in tornado or hurricane damages. Also, he adds that there is no evidence that global warming is causing more extreme weather in the USA.
Hoppe, however, says that even if we adjust for population spread and increased property values, Munich Re still says there were significant increases in the costs of weather disasters over the past few years.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/SQA4QaThis Week in Chemistry is taking a break over the festive period, but as I did last year, I’ve put together a selection of some of 2016’s biggest chemistry stories into one summary sheet. I’ve included 12 stories from all of the year’s This Week in Chemistry summaries, based on a combination of their significance and their popularity.
You can click on the graphic above to enlarge it and make it easier to read, but I’ve also posted each individual story in its own image below. I’ve also included the links to both articles and original studies (where relevant) for the stories featured, so if you wanted to read up on any of them in more detail you can!
This list is largely subjective of course, so do feel free to comment below if you think I’ve missed anything important, or if there are simply other stories worthy of highlighting.
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Keep track of older ‘This Week in Chemistry’ posts on the category page, or via the #TWIChem hashtag on Twitter.
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TumblrYEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. A group of public figures, including the first Ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan and environmentalist Karine Danielyan, addressed a letter to the UN Secretary General against Polad Bülbüloğlu, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Russia, nominated for the post of UNESCO Director General.
In addition to the UN Secretary General, the letter has been sent to all members of UNESCO council, as well as to those countries which have nominated candidates.
Representatives of another 8 countries are nominated for the position.
“Against legal Arbitrariness” NGO president Larisa Alaverdyan said this fact is important not only for the UN Secretary General, but also for other states.
“UNESCO has gained rather great reputation during decades of work, as a champion of cultural, scientific and other values. With this letter, we expect that in no event a leader be elected who is actively struggling against these values”, Alaverdyan said.
According to her, it seems like many are joining in sending the letters, not only organizations but also individuals.
Karine Danielyan, president of the “For Sustainable Human Development” NGO and member of the Public Council, said Azerbaijanis and Turks are putting all efforts in order to enter international structures, especially the UN staff.
“Our organization cooperates with UN structures, and when we go to big events, conferences or discussions, then we always see that the organizer or secretary of the given event is either a Turk or an Azerbaijani. Everywhere, even in case of very little chance, issues are solved in favor of Azerbaijan and to the detriment of Armenia”, Danielyan said. She was sad to mention that Armenia, having a big Diaspora, doesn’t take action in this direction.
Media expert Samvel Martirosyan urged to “bombard” the UN, UNESCO head and member-state offices with letters, in order to strengthen impact.
Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Russia Polad Bülbüloğlu is infamous for his belligerent rhetoric and Anti-Armenianism. In an interview to “Govorit Moskva”, he said the diplomatic ways of settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict proved to be ineffective, therefore Baku is ready to choose the military path. In addition, when Bülbüloğlu served as Culture Minister of Azerbaijan, the Armenian cross-stones were destroyed in Nakhijevan.The Annual NoLibs Rib Cook-Off is one of the very best culinary competitions in Philly, and it's back for a 7th go-around on October 27 from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. There's a change of venue this time around, though, as this year's event is setting up shop at the Philly Homebrew Outlet at 1447 N. American Street as part of the Simply Succulent Swine block party.
The good people at the Philadelphia Homebrew Club have taken over hosting duties from the lovely ladies of Cedar Point Bar and Kitchen (formerly A Full Plate Cafe), as they're too busy getting everything just right at their new restaurant.
The $30 admission gets you an all-you-can-eat ribs and endless samples of fall homebrews with a souvenir PHBC tasting glass to keep. If you're looking to skip the beer and just want food, tickets are just $20. Tickets can be purchased online, or at the door for an extra $5.
Teams of four will work the grills to impress expert and celebrity judges in the hopes of being crowned this year's champion. Impressing the general public is important, too, if they hope to win the People's Choice vote. Rib-Off categories will include racks of ribs, a Veggie Quickfire Challenge, as well as the Anything Goes Mac N' Cheese round. And for those of you who aren't interested in eating or drinking, there will be a big bouncy castle.
-- Annie Fogarty
· 7th Annual NoLibs Rib Cook-Off and Simply Succulent Swine [Official]CARSON, Calif. - L.A. Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez said that during Sunday's Western Conference final first leg match between his squad and the Seattle Sounders, referee Kevin Stott told one of his teammates that he wouldn't hand out a second yellow card to any player during the match, so that they would be assured of playing in next weekend's second leg in Seattle.
The Galaxy won the game 1-0, but took issue with Stott's perceived leniency, especially with regard to Seattle defender Zach Scott. Scott received a yellow card in the 37th minute for a foul on Galaxy forward Robbie Keane. According to statistics compiled by ESPN Stats and Information, Scott committed five fouls for the game, three of which came in the last 10 minutes of the match. Galaxy substitute forward Alan Gordon was on the receiving end of all three.
LA Galaxy LA Galaxy Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC 1 0 FT Leg 1 Game Details GameCast
Lineups and Stats
"It's tough when Stott says to one of your players that he's not going to give another yellow because he wants the best players to play in the next game," said Gonzalez in the Galaxy locker room. " I think it's not his job to focus on the next game. It's his job to focus on the game tonight, the game at hand. For him to say that to one of our players is pretty ridiculous."
Gonzalez's sentiments were echoed by teammate Robbie Rogers, who said he was surprised that Scott didn't get a second yellow for persistent infringement after committing several more clear fouls. "It's an absolute joke," said Rogers.
When told of what Gonzalez said about Stott, Rogers added, "That's just a joke for the league to behave that way."
For his part, Seattle manager Sigi Schmid acknowledged that Scott had caught a break by not receiving a second yellow for persistent infringement.
"We benefited a little bit," he said. "In most games, I think the referee would've pulled out a second yellow."
Peter Walton, the general manager of the Professional Referee Organization, which trains and manages MLS referees as well as assigning them to games, said he knew nothing about Stott's alleged comments. There has been no directive from PRO to the referees to go easy on second yellows, according to Walton.
"There has certainly been nothing coming out of our office saying as such [about second yellows]," Walton said via telephone. "There has been nothing remotely said to any of our referees about that. They should referee the game the same way they did during the regular season. That way there are no surprises.
"I am surprised in fairness, if [Stott] went into a game with that attitude, especially with Kevin being the vastly experienced guy that he is. I'll be interested to see what his take on that is when I speak to him during our post-match debrief during the week."
A total of four yellow cards were handed out in the match, none of which will result in a suspension. The Galaxy and the Sounders are set to meet in the second leg next Sunday at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese tech firms have fallen out of love with America, and it shows - a growing number of them are looking to drop their listings in New York and head back home.
Many Chinese tech executives are betting on higher share valuations in China where stock markets have recently caught fire. They also hope to evade any legal mess when Beijing formally outlaws foreign shareholder control of firms in protected tech sectors.
An exodus of Chinese tech firms would spell the end of a profitable line of business for Wall Street underwriters. Last year, the $25 billion IPO of e-commerce giant Alibaba - the world’s largest initial public offering ever - generated more than $300 million in fees.
The numbers are hard to resist. China’s tech-driven ChiNext composite index has gained nearly 180 percent this year, eclipsing the 30 percent rise in the Nasdaq OMX China Technology Index that tracks offshore listed mainland firms.
Firms listed on the Nasdaq index get an average share price equal to 11 times their earnings. On ChiNext, they get 133 times. There’s a debate over which ratio is more accurate, but Chinese executives blame U.S. ignorance of China.
“American investors don’t understand the business model of Chinese gaming companies,” said a senior executive of one such firm planning to eject from New York and move back to a Chinese listing, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this year, New York-listed Chinese gaming firms Shanda and Perfect World said they would go private, whilst online dating service Jianyuan.com and medical R&D services provider Wuxi Pharmatech said they are thinking about it.
Analysts expect dozens of lesser-known companies to follow if they can, and they see the pipeline of Chinese companies trying to list in New York drying up.
“The possibility of stirring interest among U.S. investors is slim,” said Shu Yi, CEO of Beijing-based advertising technology company Limei Technology, which recently gave up on plans to list in New York and now is hoping to IPO in Shanghai or Shenzhen.
On Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang encouraged more of such companies to return, particularly those with “special ownership structures,” referring to the contractual loopholes employed by many Chinese firms to evade restrictions on foreign ownership.
China is lining up the finances to assist the repatriation. Investment bank China Renaissance has teamed up with Citic Securities to raise funds to help delist and underwrite new listings in China, whilst Shengjing Management Consulting has launched a fund-of-funds that intends to repatriate about 100 Chinese firms.
THING OF THE PAST
That Chinese internet companies would list in the United States might seem strange, analysts say, but it once made sense.
For one thing, Chinese investors’ enthusiasm for startup listings is relatively recent, whereas U.S. investors have been rewarding internet startups with high share prices for decades.
But more important was the fact that Chinese regulators wouldn’t let such firms list in the first place. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has required any company to be profitable for several years before listing – a rule which ruled out most Chinese internet companies.
But Beijing aims to make Shanghai a global financial centre on par with London, Hong Kong and New York by 2020, and it can’t do that without making room for its most innovative companies.
“The obstacle to coming back has been removed,” said China Renaissance in an email to Reuters. “The issue is not whatever valuation you can get in China. Hot market themes are fleeting.”
Profitability requirements are being eased, and there’s also a shortcut: a merger with a Chinese company with a listed shell.
Chinese display advertising giant Focus Media, which bailed out of New York in 2013, said this week it will relist in China via a $7 billion reverse merger with rubber manufacturer Jiangsu Hongda in what analysts say is a model for returnees to follow.
BAD CONTRACT
Even if the stock market rally cools, the delisting trend is expected to continue as Beijing closes a key legal loophole.
Chinese law bans foreign investment in domestic internet firms. Investors get around the restrictions by buying into variable interest entities (VIEs) set up by the internet companies, including Alibaba. U.S. courts recognise that as equivalent to ownership of the companies.
A man walks past the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York's Times Square, August 23, 2013. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
But now Chinese regulators are revising the foreign investment law. A draught version of the document published by China’s cabinet explicitly forbids “effective control” by foreigners of a Chinese company in a prohibited sector.
Paul Gillis, professor of accounting at Peking University, said there will likely be an exception for VIEs such as Alibaba, which are wholly controlled by Chinese management, but that offers scant protection to foreign investors.
“Are you comfortable buying a stock where you really have no say?”The chilling tome that launched an entire genre of books about the often gruesome but always tragic ways people have died in our national parks, this updated edition of the classic includes calamities in Yellowstone from the past sixteen years, including the infamous grizzly bear attacks in the summer of 2011 as well as a fatal hot springs accident in 2000. In these accounts, written with sensitivity as cautionary tales about what to do and what not to do in one of our wildest national parks, Whittlesey recounts deaths ranging from tragedy to folly—from being caught in a freak avalanche to the goring of a photographer who just got a little too close to a bison. Armchair travelers and park visitors alike will be fascinated by this important book detailing the dangers awaiting in our first national park.Over at Climate Progress Joe Romm is insisting that we look at and consider this extremely interesting graph.
I agree with him that it is both interesting and very cheering. For it shows the decrease in the price of solar PV over the decades. And it is also true, as Romm says, that solar PV is now already price competitive with the grid for some locations and uses and that, as he also says, it's going to continue to get cheaper and become price competitive in ever more locations and ever more uses. In this sense we can indeed at least begin to make the claim that we're capable of beating climate change: for we're getting to the point where we can generate the energy we desire without impoverishing ourselves and without making many of those pesky carbon emissions (by the way, solar does indeed have carbon emissions associated with it. About one tenth those of natural gas for the same energy produced, about two to three times hydro or wind).
However, where I disagree is here:
Much of the credit for the sharp drop in solar prices goes to state and federal governments here and around the world for decades of R&D support, PV purchases, subsidies, and renewable energy standards.
Well, I'd say that was arguable actually. Certainly, one of the reasons for price drops recently has absolutely nothing at all to do with any subvention from any government at all. It's about a technological change in how you make silicon metal: and also, incidentally, the reason that Solyndra went bankrupt. Time was that solar PV cells were made from silicon ingot that had failed the rigorous quality standards of the silicon chip industry. Then solar PV volumes rose, the silicon ingot industry were making fewer of these mistakes and that source wasn't enough any more: prices soared to $450 per kg. So several silicon ingot manufacturers had their individual looks at how to change the way that this silicon metal is manufactured. After all, conceptually it is really only boiled beach sand so there's no inherent reason why it should be so expensive. Various methods were found and the price of silicon ingot is now in the $20 to $25 a kg range.
Which brings us to the little aside about Solyndra. Their design for solar cells assumed, indeed was based on the thought, that silicon ingot would remain expensive. Their design thus used very little Si but made the most of the little it did use by trying to focus light onto what it was using. When Si became cheap as chips of course this design decision turned out to be a very bad one and they went bust. That it was government supported with a loan made no difference at all: although given hindsight there's a case to be made that perhaps subsidising those silicon ingot manufacturers might have been a better idea than Solyndra. But then again, as we know, the ingot manufacturers didn't actually need the subsidy.
But moving on from the specific to the much more general. Here's a chart of the falling cost of storage media:
Or here's one of pixels per dollar:
Or the cost of processing power:
My point being that there's not really all that much difference between the cost reductions/improvements in performance per dollar of all of these technologies. For a fairly good reason too: to a certain (and not very great) level of accuracy they're all about working out how to write more circuits onto a substrate. It just shouldn't be all that surprising that broadly similar technologies get better at about the same time and at about the same rate. That's actually what we would expect to happen.
It's undoubtedly true that there's been a great deal of government (ie, your and my) money thrown at solar power over the decades. But it's really rather difficult to see that it has made all that much or even any difference at all.
Just for clarity here my own view is that solar will be truly competitive on a non-subsidised basis within the next decade and that's the point at which everyone will happily start using it. I am not anti-solar in the slightest: I'm just taking issue with the idea that the price reductions have been because of all that government subsidy. For it's very difficult to see any actual evidence that that final point is true.Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Sofa, so good!
Trundling along at 30mph this crazy couple try to get home with TWO sofas strapped to their roof.
Shocked motorists on the A30 in Devon couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the Nissan Micra with its load precariously balanced and held on with just rope.
At least they could have a well deserved sit down on their new sofa once they got home.
They're not the first to prove that there's no obstacle to carrying more than looks humanly possible... so long as you pack it together right.
Gravity defying loads of sacks, polystyrene, wicker baskets, bananas and even people can all be shifted with a bit of imagination and know-how.
And what's the point of two journeys when you can move everything in one?I republished this post, as it’s a compliment to my last post, How to Use Sex: Understanding the Fundamentals of Frame and Achieving Greater Alpha.
All women the world over are the same they just have varying degrees of sluttiness.
I firmly believe that you can make any slut loyal to you. The only issue is the length of time you can be away before she bangs another guy. I think even with the most hard core sluts, that can be a week or more. This is just reality. No girl will remain loyal to you forever in your absence.
What drives her slutty behavior is a woman’s need for male attention. Women are horribly insecure, they are generally people that haven’t accomplished much and have never dealt with any real adversity or even hard work that would give them and independent sense of value.
The result is a weak minded person and so it’s no surprise that rather than doing something of merit, they take the easy way out in search of self worth by trying to be sexy. This dynamic causes an almost inexhaustible need for male attention/validation also known as attention whoring.
It doesn’t matter who the girl is, they all have Daddy issues, whether from Abandonment to Hero Worship, they are relating to men through the prism of their father’s presence (or lack thereof).
There are several different types of sluts, and knowing which one you are dealing with should allow you to tailor an interaction that will cause her to be loyal to you. Though this list is not comprehensive, there are 4 basic sluts.
The Average or Below Slut (In Looks 5 or less)
This slut hangs around with her hotter friends and is a total fucking bitch or overly nice. She is either going to cockblock you (under the guise of just looking out for her friends but really it’s out of spitefulness) or she is hoping to get the leftovers of what her friends don’t get. Drunk guys hit on her so she probably does have an inflated sense of her attraction level.
How to Fuck Her
This girl is not worth fucking. Forget it. Use her to capture the interest of other girls around. Chances are she is the mother hen and will try and cockblock you. Just win her over to your side by being engaging and including her occasionally. Isolate the girl you like from her as soon as possible. She resents you simply because you want nothing to do with her.
The Almost Smoking Hot Slut
This slut is probably between a 6 and a 7.5 in looks. She’s horribly insecure and get’s off on turning down men who make advances towards her because she feels as though it makes her hotter than she actually is. She shamelessly takes selfies in sexy poses and posts them on Facebook and Instagram. The one where she takes a photo of herself sitting in the car and says “I’m at so and so, can’t wait for dinner” even though all you see is her looking attractive…IN THE CAR. This girl has been pumped and dumped many times and is now trying to “stand up” for herself even though she is the cause of her own situation.
How to Fuck Her
This girl responds to one thing and one thing only, a STRONG FRAME. Nothing gets her more turned on than a guy that is barely interested because she interprets that behavior as him having higher value than her. She wants this guy to be attracted to her and will go out of her way to make him find her so. If at any time you act as though you like her more than she likes you, it’s off. She doesn’t like herself so she will think something is wrong with you. Being aloof but not overly so is the way to capture her initial interest, turn things sexual with her as soon as possible by touching. Make sure to never call her again after you bang her unless you want her to be a regular in your harem.
The Actually Hot Slut
This girl is an 8 or above but she’s so narcissistic, the looks in the mirror and sees flaws where there are none, thinks certain features that are unique are defects, or she is not classically pretty. It’s really a shame because under what should be normal circumstances, this is the type of girl you’d want to date, but because of variables with the fragile female psyche, she is now just a girl that’s unhappy. The truth is, this girl WOULD be happy if she were in a classic gender role taking care of an alpha male. Alas, she listens to her less attractive and painfully unsuccessful friends because she’s the type of person to follow the advice from the last person she spoke to.
How to Fuck Her
This girl is probably easier to bang than the almost hot slut because while she knows she is hotter than most, she isn’t getting off on rejecting guys. She will politely refuse them. The way to engage them is to talk to them without pedastalizing them. Acting aloof will more than likely be mirrored so being engaging and charming without tossing out a bunch of compliments is the way to go. She will start qualifying herself if you have properly asserted your higher value.
The Unrepentant Slut
This girl has casual sex with anyone she’s attracted to. She can be almost anywhere on the 1-10 scale. She has a guy’s mentality when it comes to sex and sees nothing wrong with sleeping around. She has also very rarely been with anyone that has made a lasting impression. To her, sex is about being dirty and getting pleasure. She is otherwise fairly confident and has value other than her sexual attractiveness.
How to Fuck Her
Don’t be a pussy about talking to her. This girl responds to direct game and likes confidence with provocative intentions. Compliments with her are received as neutral, you should show your attraction with body language and touching. Once you’ve got her attention, it’s a matter of fuckup avoidance game. Get her out of whatever venue you met her in as soon as possible because someone may catch her eye.
How to Make Each Girl Loyal
Observe this formula:
Make them FEEL special + Treat them almost like shit.
With these girls you have to make them “feel” special while treating them just on the other side of the line from complete shit (It’s unfortunate, but treating them well is thought of as weakness and you’ll lose her interest or she’ll find someone else that uses that formula). You do this by maintaining and even increasing your perceived higher value by keeping your frame and not playing in to her shit tests and you let her know that there’s “something” you find attractive about her without getting specific so that her hamster (mind) is in constant wonder and hoping she doesn’t “lose” whatever it is that has you interested. It’s good to flirt in front of her subtly and command the attention of other girls. You put her in an atmosphere of “push/pull”. When you’re away you are emotionally distant, when she is alone with you, you make her feel as though she is the only girl in the world.
In the cases with these girls, tell them about themselves, talk about the nature of sluts as though you don’t consider her one. Talk about their motivations, why they need male attention, why it’s so pathetic etc. She will try and prove she’s not like other girls (child psychology).
Let them know you expect them not to let another man near them on no uncertain terms. Have them believe you have a godlike power to know if anyone has touched them and make sure they know that you will be turned off and find her repulsive if that happens. Don’t say something like “if you are with someone else, I’m gone” That will frame it as a challenge. If you frame it in terms of her losing her “special something” or attractiveness, she will stay loyal longer since that’s what they hold to be the most important (it ties in with her need for validation).
Sexually you have to fuck the ever loving shit out of her. She has to cum like never before. This is where you really establish control. You cultivate the idea that other men are not worthy of touching her, only you. She begins to be repulsed at the thought of anyone but you being with her.
When you are fucking her, and especially when she is cumming, make her tell you that you own her. Make her say you can do whatever you want to her. This act of submission is key.
All women really want, is to feel feminine and special. When you manhandle her, move her around the way you want sexually, grab her in public in a sexual way, she feels both wanted (feminine) and special. This is the nature of sluts.
Treat Her Like A Little Girl
People are animals,the idea that somehow women don’t respond to a dominant male personality the way other female animals do in the wild is some intellectualized bullshit myth.
When she throws a tantrum call it that and tell her she’s cute. I will sometimes pick them up, throw them on the bed and start tickling them or pinching their ass. I’ll bite their nose and ears and faces like I’m playing with my pet. I’ll pin them down and wrestle with them while sticking my tongue in their nose or biting their toes. I’ll have them laughing and begging me to stop and I just keep going. The more invasive you get the better. I’ll pretend I’m eating their face “nom nom nom nom”. They’re incredulous but they LOVE it.
They have never been treated like this before in their adult life but you are going to make them feel like little girls again. Your dominance over them will make them feel like you dominate everything around you (and you should be able to). Get in their head, push the boundaries of their comfort zones. THIS makes them feel special.
Be like a father figure with them, discipline them as you would a child. When she acts up, give her a stern look and tell her to “knock it off or I’ll send you home”.
These girl’s see things through the prism of their father when relating to men, be the father she wished she had.
PS: here’s a pair of tits for your enjoyment, click the NSFW below:
[expand title=”NSFW pictures CLICK HERE” tag=”h6″ trigclass=”swoop”][/expand]"Young people just don't care about politics."
Every election, that line gets wheeled out to explain why so many young people aren't enrolled to vote, or turned off by the whole process.
(One million people are not on the electoral rolls - you have until May 23. Get on it. PSA over and out.)
But guess what, you've told us you DO care.
Quite a lot, actually.
Recently we surveyed over ten thousand 18 - 29 year olds on all sorts of things - from job satisfaction to sexual health (*ahem* we know how many of you have had an STI), to living with your parents and how much money you've got in the bank.
So of course, with election season kicking off, we had to ask you about politics.
Skip Animated Gif FireFox NVDA users - To access the following content, press 'M' to enter the iFrame. A photo posted by triplejHack (@triplejhack) on May 9, 2016 at 12:38am PDT
69 per cent (LOL) are swinging voters. That is, you're not diehard fans of one political party and can be swayed to change your vote.
Political strategists across the country salivate over how to convince'swingers' to vote their way. So your voice is important! And there's evidence to suggest that young people had a significant influence on the 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010 elections.
At the time of this survey, over half had not yet decided who to vote for.
Skip Instagram Post FireFox NVDA users - To access the following content, press 'M' to enter the iFrame. A photo posted by triplejHack (@triplejhack) on May 9, 2016 at 12:42am PDT
So what do you care about this election? Apparently, terrorism...not so much.
Skip Instagram Post FireFox NVDA users - To access the following content, press 'M' to enter the iFrame. A photo posted by triplejHack (@triplejhack) on May 9, 2016 at 12:42am PDT
We've got plenty more data where that came from.
We'll be using the triple j survey to inform our political coverage so we're focusing on the issues that matter to you.
triple j - we love electionsBaby names (Photo: Photospin)
OWENSBORO, Ky. — An anti-circumcision group has erected its first billboard in the United States in Kentucky.
The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports Texas-based nonprofit Your Whole Baby is behind a billboard that went up Dec. 14 in Owensboro, reading: "Circumcision harms. Bring your whole baby home."
A local, anonymous donor provided a year's worth of funding for the sign, which will move to different parts of the city.
YWB founder Jen Williams says she wants to remind parents they have a choice when it comes to circumcising sons.
In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement saying the health benefits of male circumcision outweighed the risks, but did not recommend universal circumcision.
Another anti-circumcision group, Saving Our Sons, reported the 2009-2010 circumcision rate in Kentucky was the second-highest in the country.
___
Information from: Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, http://www.messenger-inquirer.com
Read or Share this story: http://ohne.ws/2BTB9FUWorking as I do in the Rails world these days, I’m periodically reminded of the difference between me and most Rails programmers. That is, the fact that I came to Rails via Ruby, rather than vice-versa. Usually this happens when someone at work or in the blog world expresses delight (or perplexity) about some Ruby feature that I thought everyone knew about. This then prompts me to put on my best “old coot” voice and ramble on about “young whippersnappers” with their Rails and their fancy conferences and their big pants and… get off my lawn, ya darned kids!
One of the biggest disconnects for me is the fact that almost no one I know in the Railsverse reads “ruby-talk”:http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/ruby/ruby-talk/index.shtml regularly. Having gotten into Ruby somewhere between five and seven years ago, it’s difficult for me to imagine being |
ate: American beauty Devon Windsor shimmered in blue and green jewels
See ya later: The 21-year-old revealed the back of the stunning costume and cheeky see-through underwear
Dynamite: Sara Sampaio - a native of Portugal - wore an explosive look
To occupy themselves between their catwalk spells, the girls also took turns snapping cheeky Instagrams of one another - posing semi-naked as they awaited their moment on the stage.
Newly-minted Angels Elsa and Stella were determined to stand out from the crowd and both posted very racy Instagram pictures before the show.
Swedish model Elsa, 27, shared a naked snap while posing in a corridor while Brit Stella, 24, who was briefly romantically linked to Miley Cyrus, shared a cheeky topless image.
Coming through: Valery Kaufman from Russia glided past Ellie in a pink jewel-encrusted look
Seeing red: Jasmine Tookes from California looked red hot in her vibrant ensemble
She's got the booty! Brazilian Izabel Goulart was a dark angel in a black fringed jacket and golden wings
She's a natural poser: Gracie Carvalho from Brazil struts her stuff in pink lingerie and a blue silk jacket
Beauty in blue: Pauline Hoarau from Rhode Island strut her stuff in pastel shades
Birds of a feather: Brazilian beauty Barbara Fialho showed off an extravagant feathered look
The finale: In April, Victoria's Secret announced its 10 new Angels - Elsa Hosk, Martha Hunt, Stella Maxwell, Sara Sampaio, Lais Ribeiro, Jac Jagaciak, Kate Grigorieva, Jasmine Tookes, Romee Strijd and Taylor Hill
In April, Victoria's Secret announced its 10 new Angels - Elsa Hosk, Martha Hunt, Stella Maxwell, Sara Sampaio, Lais Ribeiro, Jac Jagaciak, Kate Grigorieva, Jasmine Tookes, Romee Strijd and Taylor Hill.
Following last year's show, two of the most well-known Angels - Karlie Kloss and Doutzen Kroes - parted ways with the brand.
Excitement about the annual show has been building for months. The moment that Gigi nailed her audition - and burst into tears after being told she had been cast in the show - was revealed on Instagram back in October.
What a beauty: Maria Borges, 23, was raised by her siblings during the Angolan civil war and only signed professionally three years ago
That's cheeky! The show was Victoria's Secrets chance to show off their new line; seen is Rachel Hilbert
All the girls: The models flooded onto the catwalk for the big finale as a glitter bomb exploded
Pretty ladies: The Victoria's Secret girls sparkle as they dance to the music
It's all about the wings: New Victoria's Secret Angel Romee Strijd and Brit Joan Smalls rocked colourful embellishments
Busy as a bee: Brazilian beauty Bruna Lirio shows off her long legs as she poses in her billowing yellow gown
On Monday evening, the 20-year-old came home to find a pink rose, a T-shirt with the words 'babe is busy' scrawled across it and a sweet note from her mother Yolanda Foster, who is currently battling Lyme disease.
Just before the show, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star shared a picture of her daughter as a young girl in angel wings with a note saying she was looking forward to seeing the model's 'childhood dream' come true.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will air on CBS on Tuesday, December 8 at 10/9c.
What a beauty: Elsa Hosk from Sweden rocked a furry pair of mittens in her lacy white outfit
White hot! Newly-minted Angels Elsa was determined to stand out from the crowd
Backstage cheekiness: Swedish model Elsa posed naked and ran around topless before the show
Steaming up Instagram: Stella Maxwell also teased fans with this racy shot before the show
All together now: The Victoria's Secret models posed up a storm behind the scenes as they celebrated the successful show
Taking centre stage: Behati reclined on the floor backstage and flashed a big grin for the camerasJuly 15, 2018
(Camp New World Order, 1977 confab)
Mankind has been subverted by a satanic cult, the Illuminati, based on Cabalism.
Bohemian Grove has flown under the radar but each year the Illuminati meet
during the third week of July for depraved rituals that ensure conformity to their sick agenda. 2018 is no exception.
"My purpose at the Grove was sexual in nature, and therefore my perceptions were limited to a sex slave's viewpoint. As an effective means of control to ensure the undetected proliferation of their perverse indulgences, slaves such as myself were subjected to ritualistic trauma." Cathy O'Brien
Updated from July 21, 2010
by Henry Makow Ph.D.
The Satanist cult that has colonized mankind is meeting this week at Bohemian Grove, 80 miles north of San Francisco.
Over 2000 members -- the political, corporate, cultural and military elite of the US -- will be gathered for Satanic rituals, possibly including human ritual sacrifice. They have been meeting here since the 1880's.
According to "Treee," a young Las Vegas woman who claims to have contacts inside the secretive club, a ritual sacrifice of Mary Magdalene took place Tuesday, July 21, 2010; and the ritual sacrifice of Jesus Christ took place Wednesday, July 22. A human body or effigy was burned in front of a large owl symbolizing Moloch, the pagan Canaanite God. Alex Jones filmed a similar ceremony called "Cremation of Care" on July 15, 2000. It can be viewed here.
If having our world leaders belong to a satanic cult weren't bad enough, the Las Vegas woman says the Illuminati are actually an alien reptilian species that occupies human bodies and feeds off our energy. I find this hard to believe, but then I would also find it hard to believe the world leadership is sacrificing babies and making sacrifices to owls. So, I reserve judgment.
This reptilian species is called "Sangerians;" they are a "fourth dimension race" and make up 3% of the world's population. She claims to have met "more than one, more than once." They have three-hearts, shift shapes, are cold-blooded, but are developing human feelings from devouring human flesh and blood.
"Ten percent now get their blood from the Red Cross." Except for sacrifice, their every ritual involves sex. Queen Elizabeth is a leading reptilian. "It all sounds sci-fi and unbelievable," the woman says. "But everything fits."
Treee planned to demonstrate outside the gates of Bohemian Grove dressed in luminescent robes. She invites people to join her. She said we must send the Bohos the message that we know who they are. She said humans must open a dialogue with these creatures or else both species are doomed.
SATANISTS AND THEIR PERVERSIONS
There is stronger evidence that the Grove members are Satanists rather than reptilians. Alex Jones points out that their "Cremation of Care" programme actually shows a baby's body being devoured by the flames. This Youtube photo montage taken from the estate of a BG member leaves little doubt that serious Satanist practices take place. One of the pictures shows a dead body, presumably a human sacrifice.
As for perversion, let's start with the trivial. In 1978, the club actually argued in court that it shouldn't have to hire female staff because members at the Grove "urinate in the open without even the use of rudimentary toilet facilities" and that the presence of females would alter club members' behavior." See Wikipedia entry.
An all-male enclave, Richard Nixon was heard on the Watergate Tapes describing it as "the most faggy goddamn thing you could ever imagine, that San Francisco crowd that goes in there; it's just terrible! I mean I won't shake hands with anybody from San Francisco."
In the Franklin Coverup Scandal of 1989, Paul A. Bonacci claimed that he had been kidnapped and flown to the Grove by Republican leader Lawrence King and was forced into sexual acts with other boys.
In Ch. 18 of The Tranceformation of America, Cathy O'Brien writes" I was programmed and equipped to function in all rooms at Bohemian Grove in order to compromise specific government targets according to their personal perversions.
'Anything, anytime, anywhere with anyone' was my mode of operation at the Grove. I do not purport to understand the full function of this political cesspool playground as my perception was limited to my own realm of experience. My perception is that Bohemian Grove serves those ushering in the New World Order through mind control, and consists primarily of the highest Mafia and U.S. Government officials.
(Reagan and Nixon)
"I do not use the term "highest" loosely, as copious quantities of drugs were consumed there. Project Monarch Mind-Control slaves were routinely abused there to fulfill the primary purpose of the club: purveying perversion. Bohemian Grove is reportedly intended to be used recreationally, providing a supposedly secure environment for politically affluent individuals to "party" without restraint. The only business conducted there pertained to implementing the New World Order, through the proliferation of mind-control atrocities, giving the place an air of "Masonic Secrecy". The only room where business discussions were permitted was the small, dark lounge affectionately and appropriately referred to as the Underground.
"My purpose at the Grove was sexual in nature, and therefore my perceptions were limited to a sex slave's viewpoint. As an effective means of control to ensure the undetected proliferation of their perverse indulgences, slaves such as myself were subjected to ritualistic trauma. I knew each breath I took could be my last, as the threat of death lurked in every shadow. Slaves of advancing age or with failing programming were sacrificially murdered "at random" in the wooded grounds of Bohemian Grove, and I felt it was "simply a matter of time until it would be me". Rituals were held at a giant, concrete owl monument on the banks of, ironically enough, the Russian (rushin') River. These occultist sex rituals stemmed from the scientific belief that mind-controlled slaves required severe trauma to ensure compartmentalization of the memory, and not from any spiritual motivation.
"My own threat of death was instilled when I witnessed the sacrificial death of a young, dark-haired victim at which time I was instructed to perform sexually "as though my life depended upon it". I was told, "...the next sacrifice victim could be you. Anytime when you least expect it, the owl will consume you. Prepare yourself, and stay prepared." Being "prepared" equated to being totally suggestible, i.e., "on my toes" awaiting their command."
IMPLICATIONS
Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a member of the all-female "Belizean Club" which is the female equivalent of Bohemian Grove. The emerging picture is that the elite is chosen by virtue of being sexually and morally compromised so they will obey the dictates of Cabalist central bankers who are establishing the New World Order.
I feel sorry for the innocent people who think Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9-11, the media tells the truth and we live in a free country. We live in a world designed and controlled by satanist central bankers according to the blueprint of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. We are being harassed by terrorism, war, financial crises and viruses just as the Protocols promised. The purpose is to make us throw up our hands and accept world government, which is a euphemism for banker tyranny. Whether it's climate change, wars, bank bailouts or "hate laws," there is less distinction every day between the perversity of the Illuminati bankers and the actions of our governments.
Bohemian Grove is more evidence that our natural leadership has been replaced by Satanists and perverts. We cannot take ourselves seriously as a society as long as these impostors control us. We must ensure that all political campaigns are publicly funded. The media cartels and academia need to be shaken up so they reflect all viewpoints. The central bankers and their lackeys must be banished or the human race is doomed to further degradation.
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Related- Paul Bonacci · Bohemian Grove · Elitist Pigs & Pedophile Murdering Lust
Paul and his friend were told to eat the testes off the dead kid.
Makow -Illuminati Sex Slaves Paint Horrifying Picture
First Comment from Amanda-
My grandfather was close to Winston Churchill in W W 2
he said that Both Churchill and his pal Aleister Crowley both 33rd-degree freemasons with a group of occultists used to sacrifice young orphan boys on the south coast, the author Dennis Wheatley in his books particularly "they used dark forces" wrote about this.
Locals would see posh cars in convoy with their lights out heading to a spot called the Devils Chimney, where what Lord Dowding called the Black Group would hold these rituals, several locals crept up close and what they described sounds very like the Bohemian Grove antics.
My grandfather said Churchill was a big believer in the occult and surrounded himself with these types.
Great article and I can vouch for all of it from what has been passed down through my family.Video: Horrific Ride Failure Kills One and Injures Seven at Ohio State Fair
One person has been killed and seven injured after a ride malfunctioned on the opening day at the Ohio State Fair, Fox News reported.
The ride broke down on Friday evening, authorities said. The ride that malfunctioned is called the Fire Ball.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich shut down all rides at the fair after the tragic incident.
Note: See video of the ride failure below the article. Warning: disturbing content.
“I am terribly saddened by this accident, by the loss of life and that people were injured enjoying Ohio’s fair,” said Kasich said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to those grieving and injured. I have ordered a full investigation into this incident and have ordered that all fair rides be shut down until additional safety inspections can be completed.”
One of the injured is a 13-year-old girl.
According to Battalion Chief Steve Martin, some or all of the victims were tossed from ride, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
The official State Fair Twitter account confirmed the incident.
“We are investigating and will report information as available,” said a Twitter message from the Ohio State Fair.
The cause of the fatal malfunction is unknown. Inspectors spent long hours scrutinizing the rides following recent storms and flooding.
“The rain slowed us down a little bit. Usually a lot of this stuff would be up a lot faster,” inspector Ron Dean said.A Fort Pierce woman who introduced herself to an undercover officer as the "Million Dollar Ho" was arrested Tuesday night, according to an arrest report.
Debra Thomes, 49, approached a Fort Pierce police officer who was sitting in an unmarked car in a parking lot at North 13th Street and Avenue D and asked if he wanted a "date," the report said.
Thomes then got into the car, referring herself as the "Million Dollar Ho" and offering a list of services for $40.
"You’re the first one today," Thomes told the officer before lifting her dress and exposing herself, the report said.
Thomes is accused of prostitution and the charge indicates it’s at least the woman’s third offense. She is being held at the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of $3,750.
Have you seen them? Wanted fugitives in Palm Beach CountyA young driver who killed two Winnipeg girls in a Halloween crash in 2010 has been sentenced to serve two years in jail and a third year of supervised probation in the community.
The woman, who is now 21, was led from the courthouse in tears and handcuffs on Wednesday, while family members of the victims embraced and cried.
Lots of tears and hugs among victims families. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcmb?src=hash">#cbcmb</a> —@meaganfiddler The Crown had sought a five-year prison term, which would have meant sentencing the woman — 17 at the time of the crash — as an adult. But the judge ruled against that request.
The sister of one of the victims told reporters the decision was a letdown.
"Today was definitely a disappointment, but I guess, talking to a lot of lawyers in the last five years, this is supposed to be deemed fair — although I don't think it's fair," said Heidi Subramaniam, whose 17-year-old sister Amutha was killed.
Subramaniam wore a T-shirt with her sister's face on it to court on Wednesday.
"This is what happened. This is who died. This is the result of drinking and driving," she said. "She had a lot of vision. She would've been a great leader."
Subramaniam said she doesn't believe the driver who killed her sister has owned up to her behaviour and said she should have gotten a a harsher punishment.
Amutha Subramaniam, 17, was also killed in the crash. ((CBC)) "It took this individual almost five years to plead guilty, and [she] did so because this person was running out of options to, I guess, get out of jail sentence. The lack of empathy. The lack of remorse," she said. "I almost feel like we're sending another message out, not just to youth but to people in general, that drinking and driving, impaired driving, distracted driving is not going to get you in trouble." "It took this individual almost five years to plead guilty, and [she] did so because this person was running out of options to, I guess, get out of jail sentence. The lack of empathy. The lack of remorse," she said. "I almost feel like we're sending another message out, not just to youth but to people in general, that drinking and driving, impaired driving, distracted driving is not going to get you in trouble."
The defence said the woman, who cannot be named because she was a youth when the crime occurred, has learned her lesson and now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
She pleaded guilty in September 2014 to two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
During her trial, court heard the girl was drunk, speeding on cruise control and texting when she ran a red light at Bishop Grandin Boulevard and St. Mary's Road without braking.
Her Cavalier slammed into a Pontiac Sunfire carrying five people heading home from a Halloween party. Amutha Subramaniam and another passenger in the Sunfire, Senhit Mehari, 19, died from their injuries.
Mehari's father was visibly upset following the sentencing hearing and would only say his family lives in a country where criminals are treated better than the victims.
Lysbeth Arthur, who was critically injured in the crash and suffered a brain injury, attended Wednesday's hearing and gave an impact statement.
Afterwards, she told reporters she is angry it wasn't a longer sentence — something that could have sent a stronger message to the public.
"We heard in court that she was taking selfies. She went out to a bar for her 18th birthday. She showed no remorse in the days after," she said. "We believe actions speak louder than words."
In addition to Arthur, Subramaniam and Mehari, another person in the Sunfire was seriously injured and a fifth person was treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Subramaniam said a foundation is being started in her sister's name to help inner-city youth and new Canadians.When Professor and media researcher Roger Wallis left the stand yesterday, the court asked whether he wanted to be reimbursed for his appearance. “You are welcome to send some flowers to my wife,” he responded. In the hours that followed, many Pirate Bay supporters took this suggestion to hand.
Professor and media researcher Roger Wallis appeared as an expert witness at the Pirate Bay trial yesterday. He was questioned on the link between the decline of album sales and filesharing. Wallis told the court that his research has shown that there is no relation between the two.
He was heavily attacked by industry lawyers Danowsky, Pontén and Wadsted who did everything they could to discredit and slander his reputation. When Wallis was asked whether he wanted to be reimbursed for travel expenses etc, he light-heartedly suggested sending some flowers to his wife.
His statement was picked up by the large audience listening in to the live audio from the trial and flowers soon began arriving at the Wallis’ house.
Mr. and Mrs. Wallis and their flowers.
Roger’s wife, Görel Wallis, wasn’t surprised by her husband’s whim in court:
“We have been married for 38 years. He proposed half an hour after we met and I said maybe. After a day, he had convinced me”, she said.
At a local flower store in Stockholm they had received 100 orders by 20.30 last night. Owner Kristian Skald said that two nearby stores had received an equal amount of orders.
“Last delivery was 33 bouquets Thursday night. There will be more to come on Friday,” the owner of the flower shop commented.
Today, Friday, the couple celebrates their wedding day anniversary and on Saturday it’s Görel’s birthday. Roger Wallis feels she is worth all the flowers she gets.
“She was very worried before the trial. They questioned my competence and that made her very sad. She hadn’t slept for two days,” Roger said.
A web page has been set up that collects what has been given so far, complete with an ever-growing stack of CDs that show how many sales the music-industry has lost by slandering the Professor.
Thus far, in an amazing show of generosity from a section of society labeled by the music industry as ‘thieves’, more than 4100 Euros worth of flowers, chocolate and gifts have been sent to the couple.
The Wallis’ soon ran out of vases for the flowers but Görel knows that sharing is caring and will distribute the flowers to all residents in their apartment building.
“We will make sure it will be beautiful here.”A total of 71,000 people are also on zero hours contracts, researchers found.
Employment: Research from Labour force survey. Dave Thompson / PA Archive/Press Association Images
More than a quarter of a million workers in Scotland are thought to be in insecure employment, according to new analysis.
Figures from the independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre, (Spice) show an estimated 274,000 people in Scotland are in insecure work.
A total of 71,000 are on zero hours contracts and a further 43,000 in insecure temporary work, excluding those on fixed short term contracts.
Researchers estimate 160,000 workers in Scotland are in low-paid self employment, based on a Social Market Foundation estimate of the proportion of self employed workers on low pay, applied to Scottish estimates of the number of self employed workers.
The research, commissioned by Labour, is based on the Office for National Statistics April-June Labour force survey.
'Too many jobs in Scotland are insecure, without guaranteed hours or income.' Jackie Baillie
Scottish Labour economy spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: "Too many jobs in Scotland are insecure, without guaranteed hours or income.
"That insecurity then flows through our economy holding it back - from the stress it puts on working people, to the pressure it puts on family finances.
"People can't plan ahead if they don't know what next month's pay cheque will be - if it turns up at all."
She added: "The next Labour government will ban zero hours contracts, and we will press the SNP to stop handing taxpayer money, in the form of public contracts and grants, to companies who use them.
"But there is a wider issue here around the quality of jobs in our economy. We need a move towards high wage, high skill jobs that can only be delivered by a proper industrial strategy and an end to austerity."
'Wages in Scotland are growing overall and we have seen a fall of 6000 in the number of people on zero hours contracts.' Scottish Government
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Wages in Scotland are growing overall and we have seen a fall of 6000 in the number of people on zero hours contracts.
"Latest figures also show that the overall level of temporary employment in Scotland fell by 5.7% over the year to July 2016 to June 2017 however we are mindful that temporary employment can also be a choice for individuals who want to work flexibly.
"The figures used here for low income earners are UK wide figures and not specific to Scotland.
"In recent months we have seen employment rates close to record highs and unemployment rates close to record lows - clearly the UK Government's stance on Brexit continues to present a huge threat to jobs and prosperity in Scotland."
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The activist whose failed campaign to become Labour's parliamentary candidate in Falkirk sparked Ed Miliband's radical reorganisation of the party's union links has condemned an internal investigation into voting irregularities in the constituency.
In her first statement since she was forced into standing down in the central Scotland seat, Karie Murphy said the report had not proven any allegations of voting irregularities levelled against her. On Monday night the Guardian published the full investigation online for the first time.
Disclosure of the internal report, commissioned by the party's national executive committee in May, comes as Labour's hierarchy prepares for a crucial NEC meeting on Tuesday that is expected to redefine its historic relationship with the unions.
The report cited "evidence that members were pressured into completing direct debit forms" by activists from trade union Unite, as they sought the nomination of Murphy. One new recruit, Lorraine Kane, was said to have told a Labour investigator that Murphy had put her under pressure to sign one of the forms.
But those who are subjects of the report dispute what has emerged of its findings. In an emailed statement, Murphy, a friend of Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, dismissed the claims: "NONE of the allegations were supported by evidence. I didn't recruit the Kanes or ask them to sign recruitment forms."
In September, Kane clarified her statement in an affidavit, suggesting she had never meant to allege any wrongdoing.
The report raises questions over the Labour leader's response last summer when Murphy and Stevie Deans, a leading Unite figure and the then Falkirk constituency party chairman, were suspended from the party and police were invited to launch a criminal inquiry. Miliband has refused to release the report despite saying there was evidence of "a politics of the machine, a politics hated" in Falkirk.
He has faced repeated demands to release it from Tom Watson, the MP whose office employs Murphy and who resigned as Labour's campaign co-ordinator over the Falkirk affair, as well as the local party's executive.
At no point were any of Labour's allegations formally put to Murphy or Deans. Friends of both said the report was inaccurate and damaging.
Both were later reinstated to the party but with their reputations shredded by leaks to the media.
The report shows that as candidates including Murphy recruited increasing numbers in Falkirk, swelling the membership to nearly 300 by May 2013, the party became reliant upon the union to tell them who had joined and when.
It lists eight conclusions in its executive summary, which were widely leaked to national newspapers. But the Guardian's own analysis of the report can only find evidence to fully support two of these critical conclusions. The others appear overstated at best.
The 20-page report entitled Falkirk Membership Inquiry and marked "strictly private and confidential", was written by an unnamed author or authors last June. The seat, which has a majority of 7,800, had been vacated by Eric Joyce, the Blairite MP who stood down after taking part in a brawl in a House of Commons bar.
The report reveals Labour's fears over the the threat from Scottish Nationalists, noting that "this seat is targeted by the SNP and should a by-election be called following Joyce's most recent arrest, the contest could be highly marginal."
There is no doubt that Unite had been actively recruiting members across Falkirk to Labour, many of whom had been asked to sign up under the "union join" scheme – an agreement between Labour and unions which allowed union members to be recruited to the party. In exchange for having their first year of fees paid for by the union, the new members would sign a direct debit to the party for at least a year.
Linda Gow, a Falkirk councillor, former care home worker and another prospective candidate, first raised questions over Unite's recruitment drive in March, the report said. She wrote a letter alleging that members of two families – the Kanes and the Millars – had been signed up under the scheme without their knowledge.
Investigators compiling the report noted that the party has a muddled system of processing new members. "Some of the forms submitted by Unite were disputed … This was due to some confusion over the rules agreed with TULO [Trade Union and Labour party Liason Organisation] in accepting union application forms," the report states.
Matthew Jackson, the party's head of member services, submitted evidence saying on one occasion a batch of around 40 application forms arrived with a letter from McCluskey saying that Watson had said they were "OK". "The Labour and Unite general secretaries agreed that these would be processed," the report said.
Jane Shaw, a Labour compliance officer, was asked to take on the inquiry by meeting a sample of 31 people who were recruited. She was accompanied by a Scottish Labour activist Hannah Lister. However, they were able to contact just five households.
They did not investigate any of the 11 people whose joining fees had been paid with a single cheque by Gregor Poynton, a Blairite prospective candidate. Poynton has said that he behaved properly and kept the Labour party fully informed of payments that he made.
Shaw, accompanied by Lister, did interview three members of the Kane family and wrote in the report that their recruitment by Deans may have breached Labour rules.
The investigators' final visit in Falkirk resulted in a tense stand off with Deans. Shaw and Lister knocked on the door of Brenda McDermott and her parents, Catherine and Peter McDermott, for a pre-arranged meeting about their membership of the party.
"The door was answered by a man who later identified himself as Stephen Deans, chair of Falkirk," the report says. Shaw asked to speak to Brenda McDermott but was told by Deans that she had felt "pressurised" by the two investigators. Shaw said this was not her intention.
Deans pointed out that Shaw had met a number of his relatives and friends – Lorraine Kane, who is his wife's aunt, and Jim Millar, one of his close friends.
Shaw assured him it was not her intention to target his friends and relations and "then asked if there was anyone else she should not call upon," the report said.
Watson is understood to have never seen the report, was not asked to contribute to it and has never verified any membership applications for Falkirk or any other constituency.
A solicitor for Deans said: "Our client has been completely exonerated on two separate occasions by the police and separately by the Labour party. There is no case to answer as has been clearly shown."
Lister said she had no part in determining who was to be interviewed or the report's conclusions.
A Labour spokesman said: "We have selected a candidate in the constituency. The important thing now for the people of Falkirk is that we concentrate on getting a Labour MP elected to represent them."
Unite did not respond to a request for a comment.Russia’s US$400-billion natural gas deal strengthens Vladimir Putin’s hand and gives China greater leverage to secure better pricing deals with Canadian and other exporters looking to capture a slice of the Asian market.
“This is the biggest contract in the history of the gas sector of the former USSR,” said Mr.Putin, after state-controlled Gazprom signed a deal with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) Wednesday.
The deal, a decade in the making, is a coup for Mr. Putin who is keen to demonstrate his ability to find alternative markets as his primary energy customers in Europe are seeking new supply sources in the aftermath of the showdown in Ukraine.
The deal also gives Russia a strategic market share in the world’s fastest growing major natural gas market. The International Energy Agency expects China’s natural gas demand to rise 6% per year through 2035.
While details of the deal were not disclosed, analysts believe Russia secured the 30-year deal to supply 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum via pipeline at US$10 per million cubic feet, compared to the US$14-US$15 per mcf for Asian gas imports. Russia intends to invest US$55-billion to develop the project with the Chinese footing an additional US$22-billion.
“The deal removes a part of the demand that would have been met by LNG,” said Peter Howard, president of the Canadian Energy Research Institute. “It makes the game a little more congested with regard to LNG projects in Western Canada, Western United States, Gulf of Mexico, Australia and Mozambique — it is going to make it a little more complicated.”
The China-Russia agreement may also simply “knock out” some of the marginal projects, Mr. Howard said, noting that Japan, South Korea remain major importers of natural gas.
Indeed, natural gas demand is rising at a fast clip across key Asian markets with Canada, Russia and Australia among two dozens countries jostling to capture a slice of the natural gas-guzzling region.
Most project proponents have struggled find a sweetspot price for LNG amid pressure from Asian buyers who are reluctant to pay US$15-US$18 per million British thermal units, compared to US$8-US$10 per mBTU paid by their counterparts in Europe.
Most Canadian LNG projects can run economically at US$10-US$13 per mBtu, especially as South Korea and Japan — two of the biggest LNG markets — are unlikely to secure a deal similar to the Chinese, according to a Ziff Energy analyst.
“The Russia-China deal has zero impact on Canadian LNG projects,” said Bill Gowzd, senior vice-president of gas services at Calgary-based Ziff Energy, a unit of Solomon Associates. “China is only one of many countries that buys LNG. South Korea and Japan, [which make up a huge chunk of the LNG market] are victims of their geography, and you can’t get the gas their cheaply.”
Pricing remains a key consideration as companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Petronas Bhd mull final investment decisions on Canada’s West Coast, while also keeping a sharp eye on costs.
Chevron Corp. which is considering an LNG project on the West Coast along with partner Apache Corp. has repeatedly said a “robust pricing” mechanism is crucial for the companies to go ahead with the project. Others like Petronas Bhd. are derisking their project by combining investment with long-term off-take agreements with Chinese, Indian and Japanese partners.
Asian natural gas importers such as Japan, China, India and South Korea, are also securing more favourable spot and long-term deals with a number of suppliers.
However, Asia’s desire to diversify source of supplies will mean Russia’s deal will not “crowd out” other LNG exporters, says Mary Hemmingsen, a partner at KPMG.
Still, the LNG space is fast becoming a buyers’ market and Canadian projects will have to be mindful of their costs.
“It is a very large concern,” Ms. Hemingsen said. “I was in Asia a couple of weeks go, and exposure to cost overruns is hugely concerning for Asian buyers. Many of them have been stung by the Australia experience.”
Ten out of the last 12 projects have seen their costs rise as much as 50%, KPMG said in a report published Wednesday.
International natural gas companies that have underpinned their new projects with sales contracts “will be neutral to this deal, i.e., relative winners,” said RBC’s Hutton, pointing to Total SA and ExxonMobil Corp. as beneficiaries.
For companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron Corp. that are looking to secure sales deals, the deal does not bode well.
“For companies with more spot exposure or looking to sign long term contracts to support potential LNG liquefaction, the competition may just have got harder,” Mr. Hutton noted.
If all goes to plan, Russia will start delivering the natural gas by 2018, beating the most advanced West Coast proposal by Petronas which expects to transport its first frozen gas shipment by 2019, if the company signs off on the project before the end of this year.It had hit me, while looking for a storage unit to house a set of '50s nightstands, the absurdity of paying money to store a bunch of stuff. Yet there is so much of it in my home, my car, and hell, even my desk. But mainly, it's the stuff in my home that gives me the most grief. I had been under the impression that living in a small 1-bedroom would mean that I would downsize accordingly. However, I left my boyfriend (who collects comic books and action figures) out of this equation. And I forgot that I have a tendency to hoard anything that looks like it would belong in Don Draper's house. So you can imagine what my living situation is like.
Here's a short list of what I'm seemingly powerless to do anything about:
- Three typewriters.
- Hundreds of DVDs. Half of them involve WWE matches.
- Four full china place settings.
- Stack of video games, most are in the wrong box.
- More CDs than a Sam Goody in 1996.
- Hundreds of records. The moving process resulted in mix-ups that lead to Hatebreed albums filed alongside Bob Newhart comedy albums. I'll let you decide which person in my relationship owns what.
And it all keeps growing by the day. We contemplate moving, or getting storage, or finding someone to store it, instead of parting with it.
The point of this reflection? That George Carlin (who died on this day in 2008) was right about "stuff." Watch the video above and you too will start |
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