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to internet, search the web, find your location, take a photo, make a note or add an reminder
New gesture option to enable quick Events access with a left swipe in Settings > System > Gestures
Swipe down from the top edge of the screen to open Top menu with lock action and ambiences. The currently active ambience is marked with an indicator.
Long-press power key also opens Top menu, but replaces lock action with power off
Lock Screen media controls for native Media app
Three finger volume control gesture enabled for tablet only
Ambience tones now follow global tone settings. You can override global tone settings by adding actions to ambience. Read more to understand the new behaviour better.
New ambiences based on the winners of the Jolla ambience photo campaign with Jolla tones set as default actions
Support for US English language in the OS
Support for Lohit Devanagari font (Indian fonts)
Support for Sunday as the first day of the week based on the locale set
Receiving multiple files via Bluetooth are now auto-accepted within same session from non-trusted device if initial transfer was authorized
Platform upgrade to using a new camera and media stack based on GStreamer 1.x
Improved user experience to guide the user on how to install Jolla apps if Jolla account creation is skipped during start-up wizard
Tutorial app updated to introduce the new homescreen
Notes can now be shared as text files
Browser graphics architecture updated
Android apps now use the "Chat" system tone for notifications, and alert with vibration and notification LED
Android app notifications now wake up the display
Camera records video clips in H.264 format now.
The next OS upgrade will include further improvements to the Sailfish user experience, thus completing the transition to Sailfish OS 2.0. Here is a glimpse of the changes expected:
Pick your favorite settings shortcuts to be shown in Events on the device
Perform favorite actions directly from Events on the device like connecting to internet, search the web, find your location, take a photo, make a note or add an reminder
New Settings app layout for both phone and tablet
Feeds support in events view
Enhance the speed of pulley menu selection animation
Improvements to ambience handling
Maps app layout updates for the tablet.
Usability changes w.r.t 1.1.7
The main driver for the new UI changes has been to improve the existing functionality while easing the learning curve for new users. We hope this list of changes gives you an insight on the usability changes compared to the old UI framework.
No more limitation of having only 9 open apps visible in Home, you can freely scroll to view all open apps
The first row of app launcher icons is no longer visible in the homescreen. The app launcher is now accessible from anywhere in the UI with a swipe up gesture from the bottom edge.
Open apps remain in the order they were launched in Home. Hence the last opened apps appear in the end of the grid. Now you can also drag to rearrange the apps in housekeeping mode. This change gives you the control to place the open apps in the order you prefer.
You will see dimmed app covers when they are closed due to low memory. This way, you can continue to access/relaunch the app from Home.
Active cover actions are now tappable. Swipe gestures are now reserved for view navigation in the homescreen
Active cover actions limited to one for Browser, Phone, Clock and Mail apps.
Enable silent mode by swiping from top edge of the screen and activating Silent ambience
Turn off all system sounds by long press on volume down key
Presence settings has moved from Events pulley menu to Settings > System > Presence.
Manage ambiences under Settings > System > Ambiences, moved from Gallery app. Read more.
Feeds support for Facebook and Twitter accounts are temporarily unavailable (will be re-introduced in the next release)
SMS and IM notifications use the same icon now
Faster flicking speed across the platform
Old default ambiences will be removed on upgrade.
Changelog
Click here to view the detailed changelog.
Upgrading your device
Upgrade path through 1.1.7.28 for early access users
As the issue update to 1.1.7 hang at 95 - 99% remains open, we've enabled persistent logs during software upgrade process in 1.1.7.28. Should this issue reoccur while upgrading to 1.1.9, you will be able to retrieve logs from the affected devices to assist the debugging (they are in /var/log/systemupdate.log ). To make this possible, we have forced the upgrade path to 1.1.9 through 1.1.7.28. Therefore, if your current OS version is 1.1.6 or earlier then your device will first get 1.1.7.28, and once installed it will get 1.1.9.28.
And now to the usual drill before attempting to upgrade your devices,
Take a backup of your data before attempting to upgrade your device. A successful backup operation is indicated by a green dot in the UI.
Make sure there is at least about 2-3 GB of free mass memory space in your device (see Settings > About product)
Restart your device before you start.
Do keep your device connected to a battery charger during the whole process.
Do not restart the device while the update is in progress, even if it appears to take a long time.
The device screen may blank out during the update process, you may waken the display by a short press on the power key to monitor the progress.
If you use Phonehook from OpenRepos, uninstall it before upgrading.
If you use Patchmanager, revert all applied patches before upgrading.
If your device is running software version lower than 1.0.4.20 and have WareHouse app installed (i.e you are using OpenRepos), disable all openrepo repositories before attempting to upgrade your device.
For detailed instructions on updating software, visit our support pages at Zendesk.
If connected to the internet, and your account is subscribed for early access releases, your Jolla should receive an OS update notification shortly.
Ambience and global settings
We have harmonized the system default tones and ambience tones to be global tone settings.
The system default tones on your device are listed under Settings > Sounds and feedback.
Available ambiences are now accessible under a separate menu in Settings > Ambiences.
When you create a new ambience from Gallery app, you now have the option to override one or all of the system default tones by adding "actions". this action will change the system default tones to the custom tones set globally, i.e for all ambiences. you can verify this by going back to Settings > Sounds and feedback, you should see your newly set custom tone applied in there.
For example: Consider that you have two ambiences A and B. A has an action for replacing default chat tone and B doesn't.
case1: Activating ambience A will change the current chat tone and that tone will be shown in Settings > Sounds and feedback
Activating ambience A will change the current chat tone and that tone will be shown in Settings > Sounds and feedback case 2: Activating ambience B will not change the current chat tone, it will continue to use the tone set earlier by ambience A
Activating ambience B will not change the current chat tone, it will continue to use the tone set earlier by ambience A case 3: If you want ambience B also to have a different chat tone, then set an action to change the chat tone to something you want. It will then change the current chat tone.
Known issuesSpaceX is just days away from shooting up a crew capsule to test a launch escape system designed to save astronauts’ lives.
Buster, the dummy, is already strapped in for Wednesday’s nearly mile-high ride from Cape Canaveral, Florida. He will be alone as the mock-up capsule is fired from a ground test stand and soars out over the Atlantic, then parachutes down.
SpaceX is working to get astronauts launched from Cape Canaveral again, as is Boeing. Nasa hired the two companies to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station to reduce its reliance on Russian rockets.
“It’s our first big test on the crew Dragon,” SpaceX’s Hans Koenigsmann, vice-president for mission assurance, told reporters on Friday.
The California-based SpaceX is aiming for a manned flight as early as 2017. It’s already hauling groceries and other supplies to the space station via Dragon capsules; souped-up crew Dragons will be big enough to carry four or five and possibly as many as seven astronauts.
Nasa is insisting on a reliable launch abort system for crews, something its space shuttles lacked in case of an emergency. That’s one of the hard lessons learned from the now-retired, 30-year shuttle program, said Jon Cowart, a manager in Nasa’s commercial crew program.
The 1986 Challenger accident occurred during liftoff, the 2003 Columbia disaster during re-entry. There was no way to escape, and each time seven astronauts died.
Nasa’s early Mercury and Apollo spacecraft had launch escape systems; the two-man Gemini capsules had ejection seats. The first four space shuttle flights also had ejection seats for the two-man crews, but those seats were removed as the crew numbers grew and the system was declared operational.
The Russian Soyuz spacecraft have long had escape backup in case of a rocket explosion or fire at the pad. The system saved two cosmonauts’ lives in 1983.
Wednesday’s test is expected to last barely 10 minutes. “I can hold my breath the entire time probably,” Koenigsmann noted.
The eight rocket engines on the Dragon will fire in unison to propel the capsule off the makeshift stand, just as they would fire atop a rocket on the pad or in flight. The stand occupies a launch pad at Cape Canaveral air force station.
Called SuperDracos, the engines were made from 3-D printing. It will be the first time that SpaceX fires all eight of them at the same time.
The capsule, rigged with sensors and cameras, is expected to soar more than 4,500ft high and come down 6,000ft offshore, due east. Buster will be subjected to four times the force of Earth’s gravity.
Koenigsmann said the escape system is designed for use throughout a Dragon’s climb to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, giving astronauts the ability to save themselves all the way up.
“Whatever happens to Falcon 9, you will be able to pull out the astronauts and land them safely on this crew Dragon,” he said. “In my opinion, this will make it the safest vehicle that you can possibly fly.”
There will be nothing to discard if the escape system is unneeded, which simplifies the operation, according to Koenigsmann.
“It’s innovative,” Cowart said, “and that’s really part of the whole reason we’re doing commercial crew.”
SpaceX plans an in-flight abort test sometime later this year from California.Town in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia
Muravlenko (Russian: Муравленко) is a town in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located 480 kilometers (300 mi) southeast of Salekhard. Population: 33,391 (2010 Census);[2] 35,926 (2002 Census).[6]
History [ edit ]
It was founded as the oil-extracting settlement of Muravlenkovsky (Муравленковский) in 1984.[citation needed] It was granted town status on August 6, 1990.[citation needed]
Administrative and municipal status [ edit ]
Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the town of okrug significance of Muravlenko—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, the town of okrug significance of Muravlenko is incorporated as Muravlenko Urban Okrug.[3]
Twin towns [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
Sources [ edit ]BEIJING: China on Monday refused to acknowledge the role played by the Indian Navy and joint efforts by the navies of both countries in the anti-piracy rescue operation in the Gulf of Aden The Chinese foreign ministry ignored the role played by Indian naval ships and claimed full credit for rescuing the cargo ship which was hijacked by Somali pirates.This is seen as a sign that China is still bristling about the visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, which borders its Tibet region, despite repeated objections voiced by Chinese officials. Beijing is not prepared to send out signals of friendship by acknowledging that navies of the two countries worked together on a rescue operation, observers said.The Indian Navy had said that INS Mumbai, INS Tarkash, INS Trishul and INS Aditya, which had been been deployed to the Mediterranean, responded to a distress call from a Tuvalu-registered ship that was boarded by pirates. Indian Navy helicopters provided air cover while the Chinese vessel Yulin sent a stem of 18 personal to sanitize the ship."The vessel Yulin set off for the area immediately," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said referring to their Chinese convey ship which had responded to the distress call. "Under cover of helicopters, special forces members of the navy rescued the 18 members on board. We believe the aforementioned operation demonstrated the effectiveness of Chinese naval forces in fighting against piracy".The message was flashed by United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) about the hijack of the Tuvaluan ship in the Gulf of Aden.Even the Chinese defence ministry earlier said that the country's PLA Navy conducted reconnaissance and rescued the vessel. It did not mention the Indian involvement in the rescue.In reply to a specific question about India's role, Hua said, "China is always open to international cooperation in combating pirates and ready for more cooperation in this regard"."The Chinese convoy," she added, "received reports from the UK MTO and conducted the rescue operation. As I just said, the Chinese side is positive towards international cooperation against piracy. This position is very clear”. She did not mention India again.Chapter 7 of the Otherworlds Campaign has arrived and with it the final zone of the campaign! Explore the Otherworlds of Camelot Hills, Vale of Mularn, and Lough Derg. Gather the Otherworldly Ore there and discover the power of the new Entropic and Somatic Legendary Weapons!
Check out walkthroughs for the Prologue and Chapters 1-6 as well as the new Chapter 6 notes by clicking the Campaign Calendar image above or read the notes below!
After completing Chapter 6, visit the following NPCs to continue on to Chapter 7: Albion: Master Sandy in the Otherworlds' Black Mountains South, Chapter 6 area Midgard: Master Cindy in the Otherworlds' Gotar, Chapter 6 area Hibernia: Master Mindy in the Otherworlds' Silvermine Mountains, Chapter 6 area
Decimate their forces! The realms have found a large force near the Otherworlds' Prydwen Bridge, the Southern Mularn Guard Tower, and in Tir na mBeo. Decimate the armies and defeat their general! Gather the Otherworldly Ore in order to be able to craft the new Legendary Weapons! Players will need to complete the quest 'Hoarder? No, I'm a collector' in order to be able to gather the ore. The quest, 'Smith Summons' in the Chapter 7 area will direct players to this quest.
Legendary Weapons
All Legendary Weapons now require 20 pieces of a new ingredient to be made: Otherworldly Ore Otherworldly Ore can be gathered in the Chapter 6 areas and beyond of the Otherworlds starting with Chapter 7. When gathering ore, players will have a chance to get 1, 2, 3, or 4 ores at once.
Craft-able Entropic (Energy) and Somatic (Body) Legendary Weapons are now available at 1099 Weaponcrafting and Fletching! Entropic Legendary Weapons will require a new ingredient, Orb of Entropy, in order to be created. Somatic Legendary Weapons will require a new ingredient, Pound of Flesh, in order to be created. The Orb of Entropy and Pound of Flesh will have a chance to drop off select Otherworlds Campaign boss encounters: chapters 3, 5, 6, and 7 All other Legendary Weapons will remain at 1080 weaponcrafting or fletching skill.
All newly crafted Legendary Weapons will have their default stats updated as follows: Old: 3 spellcraft-able slots 10 Armor Factor or 50 All Focus 3% Melee or Spell Damage New: 4 spellcraft-able slots 10 Armor Factor or 50 All Focus (All Focus is only available on caster staffs) 3% Melee or Spell Damage (Spell damage is only available on caster staffs and bows) 3% Style Damage or Cast Speed (Cast speed is only available on caster staffs and bows) Players will be able to determine if an un-spellcrafted Legendary Weapon is a new or old version by looking for the +3% style damage or cast speed. These changes are *not* retroactive. Meaning that Legendary Weapons crafted prior to this Hot Fix, whether they have been spellcrafted or not, will not have 4 spellcraft-able slots or the extra 3% style damage or cast speed. With this update, players are no longer able to craft the old versions of Legendary Weapons with only 3 spellcraft-able slots.
All Legendary Weapons now have newly created VFX effects. This includes the now-old weapons that only have 3 spellcraft-able slots.
With the introduction of the new Energy and Body damage Legendary Weapons, the armor resist tables for Energy and Body have been adjusted as follows (the Armor Resist Tables page has this info too!): Old Energy Resist Table Cloth, Leather - Neutral Studded, Reinforced, Scale, Chain, Plate - Vulnerable New Energy Resist Table Leather, Plate - Neutral Scale, Chain - Vulnerable Cloth, Studded, Reinforced - Resistant Old Body Resist Table Cloth, Leather, Studded, Reinforced, Scale, Chain, Plate - Neutral New Body Resist Table Scale, Chain - Neutral Plate - Vulnerable Cloth, Leather, Studded, Reinforced - ResistantTriathlete Won't Let Fat Get in the Way of Fit
Health: Dave Alexander is technically obese but in excellent condition. The combination is not as rare as some people assume, studies show.
"I am fat," he says. "I was born a big boy, and I'm always going to be big. But I'm healthy."
Those are pretty remarkable numbers. But Alexander has a few more: He's 55 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 260 pounds.
* Swam 9.6 miles, cycled 448 miles, ran 104.8 miles in a recent super-triathlon in eastern Hungary. His time, he says with perfect recall, was 85 hours, 46 minutes, 38 seconds.
Alexander's silver hair is thinning. His bright blue eyes are going bad. His barrel stomach is getting bigger. Other triathletes often mistake him for a race organizer.
"I'm a great bar bet," he says with a laugh. "I don't look like I can walk across the street, let alone run a triathlon."
Alexander attributes his great shape--corroborated by his doctor and others--to plain doggedness. He sometimes completes two triathlons in a week. He sleeps about 4 1/2 hours a night so he can put in long hours of training and work at the oil company he co-owns.
Experts say he's just what the world needs: Someone who doesn't let weight get in the way of physical fitness.
A surprising number of people are both fit and obese, says Steven Blair, a scientist at the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research in Dallas and senior editor of the 1996 Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health.
Blair recently conducted a study of obese men at the institute and found that 45% had no more than one of the major risk factors for an early death--smoking, poor eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, history of heart disease. These men, despite their obesity, had no increased mortality rate.
"Most people see an obese person walking down the street and they think, 'This guy's a time bomb.' It's not necessarily so," Blair says.
Dave Alexander is an extreme illustration. Although technically extremely obese, his body performs at the highest levels. Obesity is usually measured by the Body Mass Index, which is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. A person--man or woman--with a BMI of 25 or higher is considered overweight; obesity occurs at BMI 30 and higher.
Alexander's BMI is 40.
"Here's a guy that when you see his build and body, you say, 'How can he do this?' " says Andy Dzurinko, director of Arizona's Council on Health and Physical Fitness. "But he not only does it, he does it consistently. Inside that body mass, he's incredibly fit."
"Dave is one in a million," says Dr. Craig M. Phelps, Alexander's doctor for 15 years. "And I say that statistically. I haven't known of anyone his size who can do the swimming, the running, the cycling at the ultra-distances Dave competes at."
Alexander, interviewed in his office, surrounded by the antique maps he collects, is wary of being called a role model.
He knows his training schedule (in a week he'll usually swim 5 miles, run 30 and cycle 200) could kill another 260-pound, 55-year-old man.Roddenberry Productions proudly presents a celebration event of our upcoming comic graphic series "Days Missing" release.
Join Rod Roddenberry and a host of celebrities for another incredible Roddenberry party. This year it's taking place at Body English, the leading nightlife and entertainment venue of Las Vegas. Located inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, it will be a party you won't want to miss.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Time: 9:30pm - 1:30am (open bar only during this time)
Location: Body English (inside The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino)
4455 Paradise Rd. Las Vegas, 89169
This is a FREE Event!
1 Person per registration. Please don't arrive before 10:30pm. Admission is first come first serve.
Prizes: First 50 people get a free issue of Days Missing
Party Raffle:
Grand Prize: Prop replica of a Klingon Mek'Leth signed by Michael Dorn!
Framed Star Trek inspired artwork
Raffle Prices: $5 for 1 ticket, $20 for 5 tickets, $50 for 15 tickets
Tickets can be purchased at the Roddenberry booth. Raffle will be drawn at midnight.
The Annual Roddenberry 2009 Vegas Celebration Is Sold Out! However we have more events happening this year, so make sure you're on our subscriber list and we hope to see you at the next Roddenberry event! Name: Email: I'd like to also receive emails on new merchandise from Roddenberry.com.
Yes, keep me connected! : 9:30pm - 1:30am (open bar only during this time): Body English (inside The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino)4455 Paradise Rd. Las Vegas, 891691 Person per registration. Please don't arrive before 10:30pm. Admission is first come first serve. * * Special Party Raffle * *Prizes: First 50 people get a free issue ofProp replica of a Klingon Mek'Leth signed by Michael Dorn!Framed Star Trek inspired artworkRaffle Prices: $5 for 1 ticket, $20 for 5 tickets, $50 for 15 ticketsTickets can be purchased at the Roddenberry booth. Raffle will be drawn at midnight.
www.DaysMissing.comProblem: Your right-wing brother-in-law is plugged into the FOX-Limbaugh lie machine, and keeps sending you emails about "Obama spending" and "Obama deficits" and how the "stimulus" just made things worse.
Solution: Here are three "reality-based" charts to send to him. These charts show what actually happened.
Spending
Government spending increased dramatically under President Bush. It has not increased much under President Obama. This is just a fact.
Deficits
Note that this chart starts with Clinton's last budget year for comparison.
The numbers in these two charts come from Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2015. They are just the amounts that the government spent and borrowed, period, Anyone can go look them up. People who claim that Obama "tripled the deficit" or increased it or anything of the sort are either misled or are trying to mislead. President Obama inherited a budget deficit of $1.4 trillion from President Bush's last budget year and annual budget deficits have gone down dramatically since.
The Stimulus and Jobs
In this chart, the RED lines on the left side – the ones that keep doing DOWN – show what happened to jobs under the policies of Bush and the Republicans. We were losing lots and lots of jobs every month, and it was getting worse and worse. The BLUE lines – the ones that just go UP – show what happened to jobs when the stimulus was in effect. We stopped losing jobs and started gaining jobs, and it was getting better and better.
The leveling off on the right side of the chart shows what happened as the stimulus started to wind down: job creation leveled off at too low a level.
It looks a lot like the stimulus reversed what was going on before the stimulus. We have gone from losing around 850,000 jobs a month to gaining over 200,000 jobs a month.
Conclusion: THE STIMULUS WORKED BUT WAS NOT ENOUGH!
More False Things
These are just three of the false things that everyone "knows" because places like Fox News repeat them over and over and over. Some others are (click through): Obama bailed out the banks, businesses will hire if they get tax cuts, health care reform cost $1 trillion, Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme or is "going broke", tax cuts grow the economy, government spending "takes money out of the economy."
Actually This Reduced Spending And Lower Deficit Have Hurt The Economy
Government spending is literally, by definition, the things that government does to make our lives better. People have been tricked into thinking that government spending is somehow bad. The billionaires and giant corporations spread this nonsense around because they are greedy and just want their taxes lower. The top income tax rate used to be more than 90 percent and the top corporate tax rate used to be more than 50 percent. That was back when we built this country's great infrastructure, had good schools and defended the world against the Soviet Union. We also had higher economic growth and a growing middle class.
Government spending does not "take money out of the economy." In fact it puts money into the economy, creates jobs and lays the foundation for future prosperity. The decline in government spending shown in the charts above is the reason that the economy remains sluggish and jobs are still hard to get. Just look at that chart showing what the stimulus spending did for the job situation. But since the stimulus ended, Republicans have obstructed every effort to continue to use our government to help our economy.
For example, this chart from The Atlantic, "The Incredible Shrinking U.S. Government," shows how government spending to create government jobs helped us get out of the 1981, 1990 and 2001 recessions. But since the 2007 "Great Recession," we instead have laid off hundreds of thousands of government employees, obviously making unemployment even worse.
This chart shows only the loss of government jobs. Never mind the job losses in the stores where all of these people were shopping. The Atlantic article says this, "EPI argues that "these extra government jobs would have helped preserve about 500,000 private sector jobs."
And never mind the millions of jobs lost or not created because of "austerity" cutbacks in government spending on things like maintaining (never mind modernizing) our infrastructure! And beyond that, what if we had spent some money (public investment) to retrofit every building and home in the country to be energy efficient, or built high-speed rail around the country? How many millions more would have been hired to do those things – and how much would we be saving on energy and other costs from now on?
This chart from Roger Hickey's post, Continued Jobs Growth. But Highway Bill Shows Austerity Still Hurts., shows how "conservative budget cutting has undermined growth from mid-2010 through 2014":
"As you can see, the impact of austerity on the economy is projected to be reduced over the next two quarters, but the next budget is not expected to be expansionary – and Republicans are still writing budgets under the mistaken conservative theory that spending cuts somehow stimulate growth."
Family Budget?
They say that government is like a family budget – when the money isn't coming in you have to cut back. That's just nonsense if you think about it. First of all, if we make the big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes again, the money would be coming in. And anyway, families do invest in a mortgage, student loans and car loans so they can have a place to live, a good education to get a better job, and a car to get to and from work.
So don't fall for the nonsense the big corporations and billionaires are spreading through their right-wing outlets. When you look a little deeper, that stuff just falls apart. A country needs to invest to create jobs and have a better future.
Why This Matters
These things really matter. We all want to fix the terrible problems the country has. But it is so important to know just what the problems are before you decide how to fix them. Otherwise the things you do to try to solve those problems might just make them worse – just as laying off government workers in a recession makes unemployment worse.
If we get tricked into thinking that Obama has made things worse and that we should go back to what we were doing before Obama – tax cuts for the rich, giving giant corporations and Wall Street everything they want, when those are the things that caused the problems in the first place – then we will be in real trouble.
This is an updated version of the 2011 post, " Three Charts To Email To Your Right-Wing Brother-In-Law." This post has updated charts using more recent data, and has been rewritten somewhat, partially to note the disastrous effect of austerity (budget cuts) on people and our economy.
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This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF. Sign up here for the CAF daily summary and/or for the Progress Breakfast.George Soros, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton orchestrated a coup in the Vatican to overthrow the conservative Pope Benedict and replace him with radical leftist Pope Francis, according to a group of Catholic leaders citing evidence from various sources including WikiLeaks emails.
Pope Benedict XVI reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 before unexpectedly resigning in unusual circumstances. Becoming the first Pope to step down since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, Benedict is widely considered the first to do so on his own initiative since Pope Celestine V in 1294.
However the group of Catholic leaders cite new evidence uncovered in emails released by WikiLeaks to claim the conservative Pope Benedict did not actually resign on his own initiative, but was pushed out of the Vatican by a coup that the group of researchers are calling the “Catholic Spring.”
Soros, Obama and Clinton used the United States’ diplomatic machinery, political muscle, and financial power to coerce, bribe and blackmail “regime change” in the Roman Catholic Church in order to replace the conservative Benedict with the current Pope Francis – who has since become an unlikely mouthpiece for the international left, stunning Catholics around the world.
Now the group of Catholic leaders have sent a letter to President Trump urging him to launch an official investigation into the activities of George Soros, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton (and others) who they allege were involved in orchestrating Catholic Spring that resulted in their goal of “regime change” in the Vatican.
The Catholic leaders cite eight specific questions they seek to have answered concerning suspect events that led to the resignation of Pope Benedict, the first papal abdication in 700 years.
“Specifically, we have reason to believe that a Vatican ‘regime change’ was engineered by the Obama administration,” say the petitioners, in their January 20 letter to President Trump.
“We were alarmed to discover,” their letter notes, “that, during the third year of the first term of the Obama administration your previous opponent, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and other government officials with whom she associated proposed a Catholic ‘revolution’ in which the final demise of what was left of the Catholic Church in America would be realized.”
The letter includes links to documents and news stories underscoring their claims. It first directs attention to the notorious Soros-Clinton-Podesta e-mails disclosed last year by WikiLeaks, in which Podesta and other progressives discussed regime change to remove what they described as the “middle ages dictatorship” in the Catholic Church.
Regarding the Podesta e-mails in question, The New American reported last October:
“Podesta, a longtime Clinton adviser/confidante and hand-picked top activist for left-wing funder George Soros, revealed in a 2011 e-mail that he and other activists were working to effect a “Catholic Spring” revolution within the Catholic Church, an obvious reference to the disastrous “Arab Spring” coups organized that same year by the Obama-Clinton-Soros team that destabilized the Middle East and brought radical Islamist regimes and terrorist groups to power in the region. The Podesta e-mail is a response to another Soros-funded radical — Sandy Newman, founder of the “progressive” Voices for Progress. Newman had written to Podesta seeking advice on the best way to “plant the seeds of the revolution” in the Catholic Church, which he described as a “middle ages [sic] dictatorship.”
In their letter to President Trump, the group of Catholics leaders write: “Approximately a year after this e-mail discussion, which was never intended to be made public, we find that Pope Benedict XVI abdicated under highly unusual circumstances and was replaced by a pope whose apparent mission is to provide a spiritual component to the radical ideological agenda of the international left. The Pontificate of Pope Francis has subsequently called into question its own legitimacy on a multitude of occasions.”
“We remain puzzled by the behavior of this ideologically charged Pope, whose mission seems to be one of advancing secular agendas of the left rather than guiding the Catholic Church in Her sacred mission,” they say, expressing the thoughts of millions of Catholics around the world stunned by Pope Francis’s left-wing ideology. “It is simply not the proper role of a Pope to be involved in politics to the point that he is considered to be the leader of the international left.”
They continue:
“With all of this in mind, and wishing the best for our country as well as for Catholics worldwide, we believe it to be the responsibility of loyal and informed United States Catholics to petition you to authorize an investigation into the following questions:
– To what end was the National Security Agency monitoring the conclave that elected Pope Francis?
– What other covert operations were carried out by US government operatives concerning the resignation of Pope Benedict or the conclave that elected Pope Francis?
– Did US government operatives have contact with the “Cardinal Danneels Mafia”?
– International monetary transactions with the Vatican were suspended during the last few days prior to the resignation of Pope Benedict. Were any U.S. Government agencies involved in this?
– Why were international monetary transactions resumed on February 12, 2013, the day after Benedict XVI announced his resignation? Was this pure coincidence?
– What actions, if any, were actually taken by John Podesta, Hillary Clinton, and others tied to the Obama administration who were involved in the discussion proposing the fomenting of a “Catholic Spring”?
– What was the purpose and nature of the secret meeting between Vice President Joseph Biden and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on or about June 3, 2011?
– What roles were played by George Soros and other international financiers who may be currently residing in United States territory?”
The investigation the group of Catholic leaders is requesting of President Trump should be of interest to more than just Catholics. George Soros’s ability to co-opt leading political figures to assist his radical plans for nation states is well known; but his ability to force “regime change” in the Catholic church, an institution previously throught impenetrable from the outside, raises serious questions about his potential for global chaos. The investigation — and punishment — should begin at once.× Text
12 Game of Thrones House Sigils for the Internet
By Caldwell Tanner
Game of Thrones House Sigils for Websites House Google Image: A large flaming eye with a lower-case “g” for the pupil floats above two crossed magnifying glasses set on a four-color field of green, yellow, blue and red. Words: “We Are Feeling Lucky” or “Be Not Evil” House Buzzfeed Image: A lightning bolt arrow set on a field of white and red. It is surrounded by eight stars with the words LOL, WIN, OMG, TRASHY, CUTE, GEEKY, FAIL, and WTF Words: “REMEMBER the 90’s” House Twitter Image: A fearsome raven bird on a field of blue and light blue. Words: “Dark Wings, Dumb Words” House Tumblr Image: A flaming heart with a reblog icon inside of it set on a speech-bubble shield on a field of tumblr blue. Words: “CHECK your PRIVILEGE” House Reddit Image: An oval-shaped reddit kraken with upvote / downvote tentacle set on a field of light blue and grey. Words: “We Do Not Source” or “For Karma” House Imgur Image: An angry profile silhouette of a giraffe, similar to the Stark Direwolf set on a checkered field of lime green diamonds. Words: “Sworn to House Reddit” (above) and “Loyalty, Service, Puppy Gifs” (below) House DeviantArt Image: A green Targaryen three-headed dragon whose heads have been replaced with a creepy goth furry, a my little pony, and sonic the hedgehog. It rests on a field of grey. Words: “Ours is the Furry” *House Facebook Image: Two rows of the 4 facebook default avatars laid out on a field of blue. Words: “Everyone You Hate” or “Old Friends, Angry Updates” or “Friends, Foes, Family” House Netflix Image: An Eyeball with a play button in the pupil. An infinite film loop is set behind it. The field is a bright red. Words: “Ever Watching” *House Wikipedia |
Glasgow Warriors 111
Zebre 107
Toyota Cheetahs 96
Scarlets 93
Offloads
Zebre 124
Scarlets 123
Glasgow Warriors 123
Connacht 119
Munster 118
Guinness PRO14 Final 2018 Ticket Information: Fans can save up to 20% on selected tickets, and prices start at just €30 for adults and €5 for children, and can be booked via www.ticketmaster.ieMicrosoft’s search service Bing is today announcing the launch of airport maps for 42 major airports across the U.S., with plans to expand to other airports over time. The new feature is available now in Bing Maps on the desktop (some airport maps were previously available on mobile).
With this, you can see inside airports in order to locate terminals, check-in counters, restrooms, shops, restaurants, baggage claim areas, information desks and more.
You can find the new maps by searching for the airport name on Bing, the airport’s city or its code, or you can search for a flight number and click on the included “map” link. A link on the airport maps page also lets you send the map to your mobile device for later access.
The addition comes shortly after Google’s release of its new Google Flight Search feature, made possible through its acquisition of flight data company ITA – a move that Microsoft and others had fought. Flight and travel-related search had been one of Bing’s advantages, thanks to earlier integrations from travel price finder Farecast, acquired back in 2008.
Google offers its own airport maps (for example: my local airport here), but the maps are limited to airport layout in some cases, not what’s inside. For example, the interior of my airport shows just a couple of businesses, like Starbucks and car rental stations, but not check-in counters or restaurants. For larger airports, like LAX, Google may show a bit more data, but it’s still incomplete. However, with Google’s launch of Google Travel, it’s only a matter of time before Google’s own airport mapping offerings are filled out even more than they are today.
In addition, Google has been moving into the indoor mapping space, even going so far as to provide Street View shots inside businesses for Google Business Photos. That it would soon start providing a version of Street View for airports would not be surprising.MERCED, Calif. — New farmland-mapping research published today shows that up to 90 percent of Americans could be fed entirely by food grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes.
Professor Elliott Campbell, with the University of California, Merced, School of Engineering, discusses the possibilities in a study entitled “The Large Potential of Local Croplands to Meet Food Demand in the United States.” The research results are the cover story of the newest edition of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the flagship journal for the Ecological Society of America, which boasts a membership of 10,000 scientists.
“Elliott Campbell's research is making an important contribution to the national conversation on local food systems,” influential author and UC Berkeley Professor Michael Pollan said. “That conversation has been hobbled by too much wishful thinking and not enough hard data — exactly what Campbell is bringing to the table.”
The popularity of “farm to table” has skyrocketed in the past few years as people become more interested in supporting local farmers and getting fresher food from sources they know and trust. Even large chain restaurants are making efforts to source supplies locally, knowing more customers care where their food comes from.
“Farmers markets are popping up in new places, food hubs are ensuring regional distribution, and the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill supports local production — for good reason, too,” Campbell said. “There are profound social and environmental benefits to eating locally.”
Local food potential has declined over time, which Campbell said was an expected finding, given limited land resources and growing populations and suburbanization.
The surprise, though, was how much potential still remains.
Most areas of the country could feed between 80 percent and 100 percent of their populations with food grown or raised within 50 miles. Campbell used data from a farmland-mapping project funded by the National Science Foundation and information about land productivity from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
With additional support from the University of California Global Food Initiative, he found there is enough land to assure that eating locally doesn’t have to be a passing fad.
“These results are very timely with respect to increasing interests by the public in community-supported agriculture, as well as improving efficiencies in the food-energy-water nexus,” said Bruce Hamilton, program director for NSF, which supports a spectrum of emerging technologies that might help alleviate growing agricultural demands.
Campbell and his students looked at the farms within a local radius of every American city, then estimated how many calories those farms could produce. By comparing the potential calorie production to the population of each city, the researchers found the percentage of the population that could be supported entirely by food grown locally.
The researchers found surprising potential in major coastal cities. For example, New York City could feed only 5 percent of its population within 50 miles but as much as 30 percent within 100 miles. The greater Los Angeles area could feed as much as 50 percent within 100 miles.
Diet can also make a difference. For example, local food around San Diego can support 35 percent of the people based on the average U.S. diet, but as much as 51 percent of the population if people switched to plant-based diets.
Campbell’s maps suggest careful planning and policies are needed to protect farmland from suburbanization and encourage local farming for the future.
One important aspect of food sustainability is recycling nutrients, water and energy. For example, if we used compost from cities to fertilize our farms, we would be less reliant on fossil-fuel-based fertilizers,” Campbell said. “But cities must be close to farms so we can ship compost economically and environmentally. Our maps provide the foundation for discovering how recycling could work.”LONDON (Reuters) - A new trough in euro zone inflation pushed the euro to a two-year low on Tuesday, leaving the dollar on course for its biggest quarterly gain in six years and world stocks facing their largest drop since the peak of the euro crisis.
A man walks through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange August 5, 2011. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Falling food and energy prices saw euro zone inflation slow to 0.3 percent this month, piling the pressure on the European Central Bank to make clear when it meets Thursday that it is ready to take more preventative action.
World markets had already been in a hesitant mood as investors wondered what China’s response would be to civil unrest in Hong Kong, and as the dollar’s strength dominated the end of what has been a choppy third quarter.
On a broader scale, MSCI’s 45-country All World stock index, was on course for a drop of almost 3 percent on the month and its biggest quarterly fall since Q2 2012, when the euro zone’s debt crisis was at its most intense.
“We should not be more concerned than necessary on this,” said Didier Duret, chief investment officer at ABN Amro.
“This data is still backward looking. What is important is that the euro is going down substantially, the ECB is very active and the U.S. economy is holding up well.”
The new low in euro zone inflation kicked the euro below $1.26 for the first time since September 2012 and although the region’s stocks got a minor lift from ECB easing bets the impact was limited.
The greenback had already been at a four-year peak against a basket of major currencies and its gains of 3.5 percent so far this month were the largest since February 2013 and in six years on a quarterly basis.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was last up 0.5 percent at 1,379 points on the day, but it was barely changed on the month while the euro was staring at its biggest monthly drop since February 2013. [GVD/EUR][FRX/]
German government bonds, Europe’s benchmark in the fixed income market, were also heading for their first rise in yields — a measure of the interest markets charge governments to borrow — in seven months. [GVD/EUR]
HONG KONG
As well as signs the era of record low interest rates is finally coming to an end in the world’s largest economy, the United States, investors have also had to cope with a host of global geopolitical difficulties in recent months.
From Cold War-style tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine to U.S.-led bombing in the Middle East to combat Islamist fundamentalism, it has all been there.
In the latest of those tensions, tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters blocked Hong Kong streets on Tuesday, in one of the biggest political challenges to Beijing since the Tiananmen Square crackdown 25 years ago.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed another 1.3 percent to its lowest in three months. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.3 percent having already fallen sharply on Monday.
The unrest was an added complication for investors amid long-standing concerns about the health of China’s economy.
An HSBC survey of manufacturing (PMI) for September disappointed slightly by showing a final reading of 50.2, steady on August but down from its preliminary 50.5.
One bright spot was a measure of new export orders which climbed to a 4-1/2-year-high of 54.5. The official version of the PMI is due on Wednesday.
Chinese shares have been less troubled by events in Hong Kong, perhaps because news and images of the protests are hard to come by on the mainland. The Shanghai index inched up 0.1 percent to near a 19-month peak.
“We think the risks to growth are still on the downside and warrant more accommodative monetary as well as fiscal policies,” said Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC.
EMERGING STRAINS
One of the worst-performing major currencies this month was the New Zealand dollar, which is down nearly 7 percent.
Data on Monday confirming the Reserve Bank of New Zealand had intervened to weaken the currency sent it as low as $0.7708, before a bounce to $0.7802.
The stronger U.S. dollar has been a heavy weight on many commodities since it makes them more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Spot gold was down at $1,208.40 an ounce, not far from last week’s trough at $1,206.85 and poised to post its sharpest monthly loss since June 2013.
U.S. crude oil nudged up a couple of cents to $94.70 a barrel, after managing a modest rally on Monday. Brent inched to $97.53. but remained uncomfortably close to its recent two-year low.
Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic were on track for their third monthly loss in a row due to ample supply and subdued demand in Europe and China.
For emerging markets it has been a similarly tough struggle.
Emerging equities were set for their biggest quarterly loss in more than a year, currencies traded at multi-months low while emerging bond spreads were at their widest since March, having blown out 50 basis points over the quarter.
“What we are seeing is a change from the summer when markets were just starting to get uneasy about central bank action. That rally evaporated because of new negative top-down themes that wiped out any positives,” said Erste Bank’s Henning Esskuchen.The federal government has rejected claims by the opposition that it is doing a “con job” on Australians by promising to create one million jobs.
During last year’s election campaign, the coalition set a target of creating a million jobs over five years and two million over a decade.
But shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says figures released on Thursday showed it will fall 200,000 jobs short of the five-year promise.
The Parliamentary Library had used the government’s own employment forecasts and Australian Bureau of Statistics data to extrapolate the figures, he said.
“The government’s own figures released in their mini-budget before Christmas show that they will fall well short of that target,” Mr Bowen told reporters in Fairfield on Thursday.
“They will not create a million jobs over the next five years.”
Broken vows pile up as Coalition’s pledge of 1 million new jobs refuted http://t.co/v9tleHFJ92 via @smh — Chris Bowen (@Bowenchris) January 1, 2014
The data showed Mr Abbott’s pledge was a “hollow one”.
“It was a con job on the Australian people,” Mr Bowen said.
But Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the government was already working towards achieving its goal of creating one million jobs by working on scrapping the carbon and mining taxes, and reducing red tape costs for businesses.
He said the Labor party was “dishonestly” using an analysis of its last budget to predict the future performance of the coalition.
“The economy we inherited was an economy growing below trend, with unemployment rising and with the budget in a mess,” he said.
“We are working to turn that situation around.”
Chris Bowen misleading people. MYEFO update of Labor’s last Budget. We’ll deliver on our commitments. Our first budget next instalment. — Mathias Cormann (@MathiasCormann) January 2, 2014
Senator Cormann said there were always external factors to consider such as the Australian dollar, but the government was “sticking” to its election commitment, and accused Labor of trying to stand in the way of that promise.
Mr Bowen said blaming the previous Labor government was not a good excuse.As Donald Trump visits the White House and is planning his transition to Washington, DC, Hillary Clinton is contemplating life in the woods of Chappaqua, New York.
Clinton supporter Margot Gerster posted on Facebook that she was out for a hike in the woods near her home on Wednesday when she “heard a bit of rustling coming towards me …”
According to Gerster, whose Facebook post has since been deleted, but screen captured here, “I’ve been feeling so heartbroken since yesterday’s election and decided what better way to relax than take my girls hiking. So I decided to take them to one of (our) favorite places in Chappaqua.
“We were the only ones there and it was so beautiful and relaxing. As we were leaving, I heard a bit of rustling coming towards me and as I stepped into the clearing, there she was, Hillary Clinton and Bill with their dogs doing exactly the same thing I was,” she wrote.
“I got to hug her and talk to her and tell her,” she continued. The two posed for a photo that was taken by Bill.
“She hugged me and thanked me and we exchanged some sweet pleasanties and then I let them continue their walk,” Gerster wrote.
The moment occurred hours after Clinton’s concession speech late morning on Wednesday.
She looked remarkably more disheveled than she had during the speech at the New Yorker hotel.Development of course is progressing nicely, now as much to the point where we can do blog posts about progress, like I did back in 2007 and 2008! We’ve had some great community contributions and new developers jump on board and the project is rapidly regaining its health from the slow down in 2009.
Bugs:
Lots of quite important bugs have been fixed since the 0.9.0 release, but namely the three biggest ones which would be the largest deterrent to using 0.9.x have been fixed:
First of all, it looks like the dust from our GCC Problems has finally settled, which should mean no more random crashes, particularly on window open/close or plugin load/unload
Second of all, the reparenting bug with SDL applications has been fixed. This bug prevented users from using certain SDL applications, as they would fail to reparent (instead a small window frame would be displayed in their place).
Finally, the smaller issue of a non-clickable region around windows with a custom shape such as Docky and Avant-Window-Navigator has been fixed too.
There have also been numerous other small bugfixes and usability enhancements:
Atlantis no longer crashes compiz when loaded on startup
A bug which prevented the GConf settings backend from loading at all was fixed
Not being able to switch between windows on two different X11 screens using the mouse was fixed (input focus is now forced)
Input focus is now moved to highlighted windows in the switchers, such that you can close windows and the like with Alt-F4
The decorators no longer read compiz settings from GConf or DBUS. Such a method was clunky and depended on having certain configuration plugins loaded. Instead, compiz now writes shadow settings to X11 window properties and the decorators can just read this normally. You can now change gtk-window-decorator shadows on any settings backend, and you can change kde4-window-decorator settings without the use of the DBUS plugin.
Fix decorations appearing around KDE panels
Inside Cube mode not triggering fixed
A bug which affected snapping by giving all windows struts has been fixed
Old gdk functions which were deprecated by the rendering-cleanup branch have been removed, and replaced with cairo equavilents
Fix dock windows having their input stacked below normal windows but being displayed above them
Fixed GIMP “layers” window disappearing
Fixed window animations not firing at times due to incorrect plugin checking and also fixed tooltip animations not firing at all.
Fixed strange keyboard navigation in scale
Fixed certain plugins mouse actions not working when triggering them on the frames of windows and not the windows themselves
Fixed unnecessary dependency for resize on compiztoolbox.
Fixed session saving incorrectness when there was an “&” in window titles (session plugin now uses libxml2 to write data)
Fixed wrong texture filtering in ezoom
Re-add set_zoom_area dbus action in ezoom
Avoided constant polling for damage in ezoom
Fix options not displaying in loginout
Fixed fading bugs in Dim Dialog. The dialog plugin now uses the fade plugin
Fix crash in cubemodel if there are no models loaded
Added support for KDE 4.5 blur hinting
Fixed other viewports not painting correctly when cube is transparent with 3D plugin loaded “at rest”
Fixed broken size_matches in winrules
Saner defaults for winrules
Fix overzealous redrawing in shelf
Fixed cairo color/drawing bugs in wall
Fixed windows not activating on viewport change in wall
Fixed viewport size bugs in vpswitch
Added the ability to resize from center
Newly ported plugins:
Even more plugins were ported to work with the 0.9.x APIs, so now we have most of the unofficial plugins (which are possible to use with 0.9.x) in git master.
Features:
New Animations:
Thanks to a awesome Jay Catherwood (SenatorStretch) there are now a ton of new animations for you to enjoy and they all look particularly slick.
From left to right, they are Ghost, Black Hole, Dissolve, Flicker, Popcorn, Raindrop, Pulse and Fan. Many of them are based on a new framework, which will allow a whole bunch of similar animations (which draw the window a number of times in different positions on every pass).
I have also included a video so you can see them in action:
You can find all of this in the Animations Experimental and Simple Animations plugins.
New Scale Layout
A scale plugin layout was added to the scaleaddon plugin, based on KWin’s “natural” layout mode. Instead of the normal layout mode, which assigns windows to an even grid of slots on the screen, the “natural” layout mode iteratively pushes windows apart, and then scales the entire scene to fit on screen. The result is that windows are positioned proportionately to their original position on screen.
GLSL, Physics and FBO Frameworks
We also had some particularly awesome work by Alex Lang on some plugins which allow the loading of GLSL shaders for windows and GLSL shaders to be applied to an entire screen through an FBO. These plugins are mostly frameworks for the time being, and since I have not had time to write any useful shaders for them, I can’t give a demo of them. But if you know GLSL, I suggest you give them a try.
Alex has also created another physics engine plugin, this time based on the Bullet. I have included a video he made of this plugin below:
A much requested feature: theatre mode for EZoom
Scott Moreau (soreau) has also added a much requested feature into the EZoom plugin – which is a “theatre” mode. If enabled, it will automatically draw black bars around all non-selected items in a zoom area selection, which makes it perfect for watching zoomed-in videos on the web and the like.
Minimized Window Previews
As stated in a blog post before, in Compiz 0.9.2 it will be possible to have minimized window previews. Just check the appropriate box in the workarounds plugin and it will be handled in all plugins automatically.
Other New Plugins:
There are a few new plugins which allow for some useless eyecandy and other neat effects:
Reflective Surfaces: Allows docks to specify a “reflective surface” region, for compiz to paint a reflection of the desktop scene on.
Allows docks to specify a “reflective surface” region, for compiz to paint a reflection of the desktop scene on. Vignetting: Renders a “vignette” of window brightness around the edges of windows, rather than dimming the window continuously
Renders a “vignette” of window brightness around the edges of windows, rather than dimming the window continuously Drunken: Demonstration plugin to create a “drunken” effect
Demonstration plugin to create a “drunken” effect Trip: Demonstration plugin to create a simulated hallucinogenic effect (these would be great for april fools jokes!)
Demonstration plugin to create a simulated hallucinogenic effect (these would be great for april fools jokes!) Sound: Sound plugin take two, which uses GStreamer to play sounds on window events
Coming Soon
First of all, I have decided to try my hand at rewriting the group plugin again, since there were too many bugs the first time it was rewritten. This time I am using a more accurate porting approach, so hopefully there will be very few bugs, and then the plugin can be restructured appropriately
Second of all, I have also been working with Martin Gräßlin from KWin to port the Aurorae window decorator for compiz. Currently, it works in 2D mode, and I have been working to make it work in composited mode using the approach taken by the other window decorators.
After that, I think it is an appropriate time to do a 0.9.2.Image copyright Phantom Framer Image caption The Phantom Framer deliberately avoids safety signs, such as those for school crossings
A man who describes himself as a "Gilding Super Hero" has been roaming the streets at night on a crusade to beautify street signs with picture frames. Is it the work of a "middle class vandal" or is it art?
"Sometimes you might see a flash of gold out of the corner of your eye, if you do check the surrounding street signs for the work of the Phantom."
So says the Phantom Framer, who keeps his real identity a secret - just like Batman and Superman.
Since his first operation on 2 April he has framed about 25 street signs in picturesque Teddington, south-west London.
Image copyright Phantom Framer Image caption The Phantom Framers has framed about 25 signs so far, but some have been removed
With bling on everything from street names to dog fouling signs, his work has made many people smile.
But not everyone approves. The Richmond upon Thames council has been removing the frames because they are "not in keeping with our corporate policy for street signs and logos".
Now a petition for the frames to be saved has hundreds of signatures from supporters.
Should the council embrace the frames or get rid of them, and is the Phantom Framer creating genuine art?
Image copyright British Problems / Twitter Image caption The British Problems Twitter account said the Phantom Framer was a "middle class vandal"
"I like to think they brighten up people's daily lives," writes the Phantom, who has chosen to communicate by email to conceal his identity.
"If you see a sign asking you to clear up your dog mess with a gold frame around it you'll laugh."
He thinks the council does a lot of good work but he does not understand why it has removed his signs, and says the corporate policy seems like "a convenient excuse".
"In the past graffiti used to often be offensive. Perhaps that's when they [councils] drew up their rules," he writes.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Phantom Framer cites the work of Keith Haring as an inspiration
But things have changed, he believes.
"A lot of street art now enhances places and is liked by its locals.
"The works should be looked at on an individual basis. If street art enhances a place let it stay, but remove anything offensive."
When not wearing his cape, the Phantom wears T-shirts featuring the work of Keith Haring, who he regards as the godfather of street art.
Image copyright Phantom Framer Image caption Like Banksy, the Phantom Framer keeps his real identity a secret
The Phantom's own work has inevitably been compared to street artist Banksy.
Will Ellsworth-Jones, author of the biography Banksy: The Man Behind The Wall, very much approves of the Phantom's work.
"I think they are great, and I think it follows on a tradition of artists using one thing and turning them into another," he says.
"What is sad is that the London Borough of Richmond doesn't see the joke and they have taken them all off."
Image copyright Phantom Framer Image caption The Phantom says he is "framing the mundane to beautify Teddington"
He said the frames also highlight the "dreadful typography" of the original signs.
"They should see the joke, see the enjoyment and understand that you can see art in many different things, even in these rather bad signs telling us what to do, ordering us about our daily lives."
He believes art does not need to be complicated and the Phantom's work is simple but effective.
"I'm not claiming it to be Renoir or Matisse, but it is a piece of art that makes people think about their surroundings and what goes on around them," he says.
Image copyright Maggie Jones Flickr Image caption The frames have become a talking point in Teddington, as Mo Farah's gold post box is
The Phantom's fans include London athlete Scott Overall, who tweeted: "Got to love Teddington.. No wonder the house prices are so expensive when the street signs look like this..."
Teddington is already home to a gold post box to recognise the second gold medal for fellow London 2012 Olympian Mo Farah.
The gold frames complement the gold post box, according to Tracey Wardhaugh, founder of campaign group Totally Locally Teddington.
"Generally the overwhelming feeling is that it's a fun bit of street art," she says.
"We've got a town full of independents, we oppose the clone town and this makes the place unique."
She said the Phantom Framer has become a "mini celebrity" in a very short period of time.
Image copyright Scott Overall / Twitter
The Teddington Society, which aims to "maintain the historic character of Teddington" and works on projects to improve the environment, are also fans.
"We have no idea who is behind it but it's a bit of light-hearted amusement," says chairwoman Sheena Harold.
"It's a great talking point, possibly even more than the Mo Farah gold pillar box."
Even the council has admitted the frames it removed looked "beautiful".
Image copyright Phantom Framer Image caption The Phantom Framer said he "decided to put frames in my surrounding area to beautify Teddington"
However "they had to be taken down as they are not in keeping with our corporate policy for street signs and logos," a statement said.
"We have them at our sign shop ready for collection should the owner want them back."
The Phantom Framer is defiant and went out on Wednesday night to install new frames to replace those removed.
"As you talk I have hit a terrible dilemma," he writes.
"For the people I feel I should continue, but the authorities are upon me."In early July 1917, mobs of white workers in East St. Louis, Illinois, inflicted what was arguably the most heinous spate of racial violence in the 20th century. The unionized workers were whipped into a murderous frenzy after African-Americans replaced them on their jobs while they were on strike for better conditions at a local bauxite factory.
Although some historians have asserted that more than 100 blacks were killed, the official death toll was 39. Some of them died by lynching. Hundreds more were burned, beaten or shot at. Ultimately, many black families permanently fled East St. Louis, as National Guardsmen had proven ineffective at stopping the white mobs’ attacks.
The violence prompted the NAACP, then a young civil rights organization that would become the nation’s largest, to dispatch sociologist and civil rights icon W.E.B. Du Bois. His report on the riots came with a call to action for black New Yorkers, who staged the city’s first major protest against lynching and other anti-black violence, 100 years ago Friday.
An archival photo from the 1917 Silent Protest in Manhattan, New York. New York Public Library/Schomburg Center
“[They were] demanding respect for their lives, some dignity and the ability to work safely,” said Marsha Reid, an arts presenter and community organizer in New York City, who took a special interest in the story as a graduate student.
Without speaking a word, 10,000 black protesters, many dressed symbolically in all-white, marched down Fifth Avenue holding anti-lynching picket signs on July 28, 1917. It’s known as the Negro Silent Protest Parade.
Reid is restaging the protest along Sixth Avenue on Friday evening, through the cultural equity initiative, Kindred Arts. This time the march is called the People’s Silent Protest Art Walk, with broader scope to reflect continued violence against blacks, Muslims, LGBTQ communities, women and immigrants.
“The 100-year commemoration is respecting our ancestors who had the same, or similar issues to those that we have today,” Reid said in an interview ahead of the protest. “[We’re] asking for our lives to be respected, for black bodies to be respected, for our differences to be respected.”
Lynching, the act of stringing a suffocating victim up by their neck, was largely inflicted on blacks across the United States both during slavery and after its abolishment. According to a 2015 report of the Equal Justice Initiative, more than 4,000 lynchings of African-Americans were carried out between 1877 and 1950. As the 1960s gave rise to the civil rights movement — when blacks and other racial minorities would gain the right to vote and to be free from discrimination in housing, employment and education — lynching became virtually nonexistent.
Some of a crowd of 25,000 people march through the predominantly black central ward in Newark, N.J., April 7, 1968. The same area was torn by riots in July 1967. The march was dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., slain by a snipers bullet on April 4. John Duricka/AP
Lynching was never expressly made illegal. But brutality and extrajudicial killing through policing and other state violence became major concerns of civil rights activists. Excessive force inflicted in middle class and poor black neighborhoods sparked riots in Detroit, Los Angeles, Watts, California and Newark, New Jersey, from the 1960s to the 1990s. More recently, the officer-involved fatal shootings of black men and women have sparked protests, civil unrest and calls for reform.
According to a Washington Post database, 963 people were shot and killed by police in 2016 — 233 of them (24%) were black. The United States population is around 13% black.
“Black bodies in pain have been an American national spectacle for centuries.” Tweet
“Black bodies in pain have been an American national spectacle for centuries,” Reid said. “The lack of accountability for those [who carry out] violence on black bodies, that reaches us en masse, is a problem. If you want to equate these killings, this violence to the violence that was perpetrated 100 years ago, it’s an obvious connection.”
Many activists have called the August 2014 death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, an example of a modern-day lynching. For hours after he was killed, Brown’s body laid on the hot pavement of the St. Louis suburb, in plain view of residents in nearby apartments. The local protests that followed the teen’s death helped to enlarge the influence of the loosely formed Black Lives Matter movement. The protests spread nationally, seeming to eclipse the voice of legacy organizations like the NAACP, some historians have argued.
Protesters in Boston hold up signs while chanting “Black Lives Matter” during a demonstration against the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri, on Dec. 4, 2014. Charles Krupa/AP
The NAACP said it has issued many marching orders since 1917 to call out the various forms of injustice against African-Americans. It will continue to do so aggressively under the Trump administration, the national organization said in an essay first shared with Mic on Thursday.
“For more than a century, the NAACP has protested, litigated and legislated to defend our dignity and our lives,” the essay reads. “Today, we keep marching. We are at school board meetings, county courthouses, and in the halls of government fighting for our rights because we still cannot afford to stand idle in the face of an administration that is so keen on rolling back our rights.”
Noelle Trent, the director of interpretation, collections and education at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, said the NAACP’s 1917 silent protest was as innovative as it was trend-setting for demonstrations that followed.
“Du Bois was not a dumb man by any stretch of the imagination,” Trent said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “The optics of these people protesting the middle of Manhattan was a powerful statement.”
A archival photo shows marchers hold up signs at the NAACP’s Silent Protest in New York City, on July 28, 1917. New York Public Library/Schomburg Center
Newspapers published photographs of the 1917 protest. Decades later, television stations broadcast sound and moving pictures of flashpoints in 1960s civil rights movements, including the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights in Selma, Alabama. Now, it’s Facebook, Twitter and other social media that carry the hashtagged names of police shooting victims and videos of their deaths.
In the last 100 years, the mediums and methods of protest have changed, but the message of pleading black humanity have not, Trent said. The 1917 signs read, “Mothers, do lynchers go to heaven?” The 1960s signs read, “I am a man.” In 2017, the signs might read, “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
For Friday’s commemoration, and as an artistic expression, participants will carry signs that display messages similar to those held up 100 years ago, Reid said. Marchers are encouraged to dress in all-white. A marching band will lead the procession up Sixth Avenue from Bryant Park and Columbus Circle.
“We’re still asking for the same thing,” Reid added. “I’m asking the public to access their outrage or their desire to express their dissatisfaction with the status quo... It has to be done over and over again. It has to be done on Friday. It has to be done next week. It has to be done, until we see the change that we want to see happen happening.”
July 28, 2017, 3:50 p.m. Eastern: This story has been updated.Kevin McHattie made 16 appearances for Hearts in their 2014-15 Championship title-winning season
Kevin McHattie has signed a three-year deal with Kilmarnock on the same day that he left Hearts by mutual consent.
The 22-year-old left-back made more than 80 first-team appearances for the Jambos, many of those under Gary Locke, now manager at Kilmarnock.
"I am delighted to have signed for Killie and I can't wait to get playing first-team football," he said.
"I have worked with the manager before and after I spoke to Dale (Carrick) I was certain this was the right move."
Locke told the Killie website: "I am pleased to have secured Kevin for Kilmarnock. He is a very talented young left-back and we had to fight off competition from some really big clubs to sign him."
Earlier, McHattie told the Hearts website that he was leaving "with some great memories, not least winning the title last year. I'll miss this place".
Meanwhile, Kilmarnock's 18-year-old goalkeeper Devlin MacKay has joined Derby County on loan until January 2016.Choosing a Sleep System That’s Right For You
Since the goal of this blog is to get people outdoors, I think it is only fitting to do a series of posts on camping for beginners. If there is any specific thing you would like me to write about for this series, feel free to email me via the connect page. This will be the first of a few posts addressing some of the major considerations for people thinking about getting into camping. As the title states, it is all about selecting a sleep system.
There are three major “sleep systems”, or shelters, when it comes to camping/ backpacking. Each of these systems have a vast number of variations, so many I could write a blog solely about the types of sleep systems available. I will keep this post as simple as I can and address each of the three as generally as possible. So let’s dig in.
The tent
Arguably the most popular of the three systems, an image of a tent is probably what pops into peoples minds when they hear camping or backpacking. Because it is so popular, it is also one of the most varied pieces of equipment out there- styles include A frame tents, expedition tents, tents set up with hiking poles, tents that fit one person, tents that fit 10 people. The list goes on and on. So let’s look at some of the advantages of using a tent for your system. To start, they are available anywhere that sells outdoor gear. A good one will run you 2-300 dollars, but they can be had for $75 or even $50 if you’re lucky. They will easily shelter you and your gear from the elements at night, and depending on the type, can fit more than just one person. The major downside to tents are their bulk and weight. Most middle ground tents will weigh between one and three pounds, and that’s a lot if you plan on backpacking. They |
recipients, 16 MVP Award winners and 6 CY Young Award winners. Angels CF Mike Trout, Nationals OF Bryce Harper and Cubs 3B Kris Bryant are just a few of the major league stars that have come through. It's a star-driven league every year and the 2017 version will be no different. There are 11 players slated to play in the league that are currently on the top 100 prospects list at mlbpipeline.com. Five of those players are presently listed in the top 20: Nationals OF Victor Robles (2), Braves OF Ronald Acuna (5), Astros OF Kyle Tucker (7), Indians catcher Francisco Mejia (13), and Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (18).
Let's look through the White Sox selections and their possible rationale for selecting each player.
Seby Zavala
The recently-turned 24-year-old San Diego state product has had some success since being drafted by the White Sox in the 12th round of the 2015 Draft. He profiles as an OBP and power reliant catcher but he has played other positions in the past. Zavala played third base, outfield and catcher as an amateur and didn't move back behind the dish full time until his junior year with the Aztecs. He had Tommy John Surgery as a Freshman and missed all of the 2013 season because of it. Zavala has average arm strength behind the plate but his bat is his calling card. The 5'11", 205 pound backstop split time between Low-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem this year. Seby hit.259/.327/.514 with 13 homers and 34 RBI in 52 games for the Intimidators earning him a promotion to Winston-Salem. Zavala played 55 games at DH and C for the Dash with a triple slash line of.302/.376/.485. He added to his stellar.861 OPS by hitting 8 homers and driving in 38 runs. Zavala has a compact, efficient swing and had 104 strikeouts with 35 walks combining both A-ball affiliates.
Seby Zavala needs reps. He split time behind the plate with 2016 1st round pick Zack Collins this year and that will likely continue into the near future as they happen to be around the same place on the development path. With Collins working on some things during the Fall Instructional League the AFL is the perfect place for Zavala to hone his craft. The organization will get a look at how he handles higher level pitching from behind the dish (pitch blocking in particular) and in the batter's box. It is likely that Zavala will be splitting time with Collins again next season, this time at Double-A Birmingham with the Barons and he will be given every opportunity to stick in the organization as a catcher.
Danny Mendick
Mendick is an infielder capable of playing third base, second base and shortstop. The Rochester, New York native burst onto the scene in 2017 after being a 22nd round selection in the 2015 draft out of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. The 24-year-old bats and throws right-handed and has a compact frame at 5'10" and 190 pounds. Matt Cassidy profiled Mendick back in August and noted his above average contact rates, the fact that he plays good defense at premium positions and while he doesn't hold any standout tools he also doesn't possess any glaring weaknesses. In 84 games with the Winston-Salem Dash, the infielder collected 7 homers and 18 doubles over 305 plate-appearances while hitting.289/.373/.468. His sparkling.841 OPS earned him a late season promotion to Double-A Birmingham. Mendick struggled in Birmingham but he did keep his home run pace intact and he was a bit unlucky with a.219 BABIP in his 41 game audition. With this assignment, the White Sox clearly have Mendick on their prospect radar and it will be interesting to follow his progress against some of the best pitchers in the minors.
Tito Polo
The 23-year-old Colombian was acquired by the White Sox in a late July blockbuster with the New York Yankees. Polo hits and throws right-handed and is 5'10" 195 pounds. He only played in 21 games for Double-A Birmingham while battling some injuries. In 79 plate appearances, Polo hit.278/.342/.389 with a home run and four doubles for the Barons. While in the Yankees system, the outfielder slashed.382/.460/.545 in a brief run at Double-A Trenton after posting a.780 OPS in 60 games for New York's High-A affiliate in Tampa. The righty has developed a better approach at the plate over time and possesses more power than he showed in his teenage years after being an international signing of the Pirates. Polo possesses plus speed and is an aggressive base stealer with over 110 stolen bases in his minor league career.
Polo's scouting profile sounds like that of a typical 4th outfielder but he has a chance to be a regular with continued growth at the plate. His speed allows him to play solid defense in center and left but he might not have the arm to play consistently in right field. There are starting outfield positions available in the upper levels of the Sox system and the player development staff likely wants to see Polo against advanced competition this fall. He is also eligible to be selected in December's Rule 5 Draft and the club needs to make a decision on whether to use a 40-man roster spot to protect him.
Dylan Covey
Covey will be pitching in the Arizona Fall League for his 2nd consecutive year. The White Sox liked what they saw when he pitched with the A's in the 2016 edition and selected Covey in the Rule 5 draft last December. Not counting a long stint on the disabled list for an oblique injury, the right-hander spent most of the season in Chicago. The 26 year-old California native is listed at 6'2", 195 pounds and he struck out 41 batters in 70 major league innings this past season. Covey made 18 appearances including 7 starts for the 2017 White Sox and posted a record of 0-7 with a 7.71 ERA. With many of the club's pitching prospects at predetermined innings limits, Covey will get the chance to make up for lost time and make some starts in the AFL. White Sox Manager Rick Renteria told Scott Merkin of mlb.com that the organization is just trying to get Covey a few more innings. Renteria wants to see Dylan "command the zone and use what we considered to be a really good sinker".
Connor Walsh
This former Bearcat was a 12th round pick of the White Sox back in 2014. Walsh is right-handed and can run his fastball up into the high nineties with a quick, short arm delivery. The University of Cincinnati product has a live arm but he still needs work on his secondary offerings and command. The soon-to-be 25 year-old threw 42.1 innings this past season for the Barons at AA, where he posted a 3.19 ERA and only gave up one home run all season while striking out 50 hitters and walking 27. After a successful run in Birmingham, the right-handed reliever was promoted to Triple-A Charlotte. He did post a high 1.57 WHIP in an extremely small sample however: 14 innings with 13 strikeouts and 6 walks. Walsh is Rule 5 eligible this year and the White Sox have a decision to make in regards to whether or not they should use a 40-man roster spot on him. He will be front and center in the AFL for his second consecutive year showcasing his abilities to the White Sox who will have some open bullpen spots as well as scouts and front office personnel from the other 29 clubs.
Jace Fry
Fry made his major league debut for the Chicago White Sox on September 5th. In 11 September games, Jace threw 6.2 innings and struggled in his first go around in the big leagues to a tune of a 6.46 FIP. He is currently on the 40-man roster and likely will be given the chance to compete for a big league bullpen job in spring training. The 6'1", 190 pound lefty was a 3rd round pick of the organization in the 2014 MLB Draft. The southpaw missed his sophomore season at Oregon State after undergoing Tommy John Surgery in 2012. He battled back and had a very successful season as a Junior for the Beavers prompting the White Sox to give him a bonus of $760,000. Fry was used as a starting pitcher initially in Rookie Ball with the White Sox but injuries have relegated Fry to a future bullpen role. The left-handed pitcher had his 2nd Tommy John Surgery and missed the entire 2016 season in the process. He did pitch 45.1 innings for the Birmingham Barons this year however. Fry posted a 2.78 ERA in 33 games and struck out 52 hitters while walking 24. He is likely headed to the Arizona Fall League so that the White Sox can see him against good competition while accumulating more innings after missing as much time as he has.
Matt Foster
This former member of the Crimson Tide will get a chance to showcase his abilities in the AFL after missing a chunk of the 2017 minor league season. The right-hander was a 20th round pick by the White Sox in the 2016 class out of the University of Alabama. Foster signed quickly and dominated at both rookie affiliates after putting ink to paper. As FutureSox detailed here, Foster briefly retired due to some personal issues back in April and his status was unclear. He returned to the organization and joined the Kannapolis Intimidators in June. Over 14.1 innings in Low-A, Foster posted a 1.88 ERA with 19 strikeouts and just 2 walks. He earned a late season promotion to High-A and threw 13.1 innings for the Dash in Winston-Salem where Matt struck out 14 batters in just 10 games and had an ERA of 0.68. The 22-year-old profiles as a setup man or high leverage reliever with his fastball that sits in the 90-95 range and he possesses a sharp slider that he throws between 82-85. The White Sox have a plethora of bullpen candidates with big arm talent strewn across their minor league system. Foster's domination in A-ball has earned him the chance to pitch on a bigger stage. Some success against top talent in the AFL could lead to a promotion to AA Birmingham to start the 2018 minor league season.
Want to know right away when we publish a new article? Type your email address in the box on the right-side bar (or at the bottom, if on a mobile device) and click the "create subscription" button. Our list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.With the year just getting underway, we’re excited to share that Disney Cruise Line has received its first accolades of the year! Disney Cruise Line ranked first in 11 categories in the 6th Annual Global Cruise Critic Cruiser’s Choice Awards, receiving the most first place awards than any other cruise line. Disney Cruise Line was recognized in a wide variety of categories, from best overall ship (Disney Dream) to best dining, best entertainment, best service, best cabins and more.
Cruise Critic is one of the largest online cruise communities with more than 150,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 500 cruise ships. Winners in each category came straight from cruise passengers themselves as totals were calculated from reviews posted on the Cruise Critic website for sailings during 2015. Check out the full list of awards here.
It’s awards like these that are a true testament to our cast and crew members’ dedication to creating magical moments for our guests at sea and we couldn’t feel more honored!
So, tell us … what was best part of your last Disney Cruise?Studio Ghibli and Japan’s Polygon Pictures are joining forces to produce an animated TV series called Ronia, The Robber’s Daughter, based on the novel by Pippi Longstocking author Astrid Lindgren.
Goro Miyazaki, whose credits include the anime features Tales from Earthsea and From Up on Poppy Hill, will direct the series, his first TV venture. Polygon will handle animation production.
Here’s how they describe the new series:
“In Medieval Europe, Ronia is born as the only child of Matt, the chief of a clan of robbers in a large, ancient castle in grand woodlands. Under the loving care of her father, her mother and the clan of robbers, she grows to be a strong and active girl. One day, when Ronia is finally allowed to go into the woodlands for the first time, she discovers with much fascination the many mysterious creatures who live there. She learns how to live in the wildness with the help of her parents. Then she has a fateful encounter with a boy named Birk. … This tale of the growth of the young girl Ronia and her family will bring to children a new story of the joy of growing and of longing for the unknown, the love and hopes of parents for the growth of their child, and of the conflicts and reconciliations of parents and children.”
The series is scheduled for broadcast in autumn 2014 on NHK BS Premium.PROVOCATEUR John Safran wants to share the story of the religious undercurrent likely to have an impact on the Federal Election.
The satirist and filmmaker returns to the small screen tonight with a one-hour documentary for SBS called The Goddam Election.
For the past two months Safran has been investigating the micro parties contesting the Federal Election, revealing bizarre alliances that upend our perception of Australian multiculturalism.
According to a recent Newspoll, a record number of Australians, 15%, said they'd rather vote for an independent or minor party than Labor, the Coalition or the Greens.
As the nation heads towards a neck-and-neck election, the micro parties supported by Australia's religious minorities could end up with a balance of power.
"Australia's way stranger than you think," Safran told The Guide.
"If you've been watching the news and these (anti-Islam) rallies, it's actually way more confusing than that. So I'm bringing the confusion (with this documentary)."
Safran first gained fame in the ABC's Race Around the World, a competition for young documentary makers, in 1997.
He went on to produce a series of documentaries, television shows and host radio programs, but is perhaps best known for his pranks on celebrities including Shane Warne, Ray Martin and Rove McManus.
The 43-year-old was inspired to make a documentary about the micro parties while working on a book on Australia's anti-Islam movement.
"I was turning up to these street protests (for the book) and when the election was called I noticed some of the people involved in these parties were standing for election," he said.
"These people are usually quite difficult to get access to, but by turning up so many times I got my foot in the door.
"I would have thought because of my bad reputation as a prankster people would be apprehensive (to talk to me), but people were more glass-half-full about it."
He discovered a peculiar political fringe where some Sikhs, Hindus, alleged neo-Nazis and a Sri Lankan priest had joined forces.
He also spoke to Reverend Fred Nile, of the Christian Democratic Party, about the surprising support he has received from some immigrants.
"He was saying he's still in parliament because of immigration," Safran said.
"The rest of Australia is getting more secular and (some of) these immigrant communities are unashamedly Christian or religiously conservative.
"We think of immigration and multiculturalism as this lefty victory, but in the case of Fred Nile that's what's kept him in parliament. It's counter intuitive."
Safran also door-stopped controversial One Nation pollie politician Pauline Hanson.
"I wanted to talk to her because she was forming this political alliance with this guy from an anti-Islam party who had immigrated from an Asian country in the 1990s," he said.
"She tried to make out she wasn't anti-Asian immigration back in the '90s.
"She somehow made me feel like I was a jerk for bringing it up."
The Goddam Election with John Safran airs tonight at 8.30pm on SBS.Drug discovery and toxicology: the need for a new experimental system
There is a vast attrition in the number of drugs developed for potential therapeutic use during the transition from the laboratory bench to hospital bedside, with 89% of drugs that pass current in vitro and animal model screening tests being withdrawn in the clinical phase (Kola and Landis, 2004). Thirty percent of these failures are due to lack of efficacy, with another 30% due to safety concerns (Kola and Landis, 2004). This failure in early drug toxicity detection is proving extremely time-consuming and costly, and places people's health at risk. Cardiovascular toxicity is a major cause of drug withdrawal during clinical development, accounting for up to 33% of drug failure (MacDonald and Robertson, 2009). Approximately half of these are due to risk of arrhythmias, including QT prolongation and life-threatening polymorphic ventricular tachycardia or torsade de pointes (TdP) (Mandenius et al., 2011). Part of the reason for this failure in early pharmacological screening is that our current testing systems do not accurately replicate human cardiovascular conditions, particularly cardiac electrophysiology, and cannot account for individual variability. There is clearly a need for new and robust experimental systems to elicit organ dysfunction hitherto unmasked by standard toxicity testing.
This failure has been internationally recognized – the European Medicines Association have published guidelines on ‘safety pharmacology studies for human pharmaceuticals’ (ICH 2000). These guidelines highlight the need for further rigorous evaluation of functional and electrophysiological cardiovascular endpoints in drug screening. They stress that new testing models will need to achieve high specificity, sensitivity, reproducibility and predictive power.
A pharmacological agent, during development towards licensing, undergoes a series of safety tests before entering human clinical trials. The current testing model starts with in vitro single cells and then progresses through to ex vivo tissue and organ baths. Both these models would clearly benefit from using authentic human ‘adult’ cardiomyocytes to replicate the complex electrophysiological and mechanical interactions of human myocardium. Unfortunately, human cells are scarce, difficult and costly to harvest and are terminally differentiated with a low proliferative capacity. They have limited time in culture before they de-differentiate, altering structural features such as t-tubules, rendering the cells inadequate to perform the manipulations desired (Mitcheson et al., 1998). Declining transplant numbers, unpredictability over disease aetiology or previous treatment and absence of a true control, with even unused donor hearts frequently showing pathological changes, further highlight the need for a new human in vitro cardiomyocyte model.
Testing then progresses to animal models, but several factors contribute to their poor predictive power. Efforts to model findings in animal cardiomyocytes have shown quantitative differences with significant inter-species variability (Lu et al., 2001). There are differences in receptor subtypes, distribution and signalling across species (Brito-Martins et al., 2008). Furthermore, animal models may be inadequate for some advanced treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, as these have been developed specifically for human tissue. This has been a problem with monoclonal antibodies in other areas, such as the TGN1412 antibody, which produced unexpected cytokine storms in healthy human subjects (Suntharalingam et al., 2006). Some drugs cause cardiotoxicity with long-term use through moderate pro-apoptotic or stem cell-targeted necrotic damage, and these might not produce effects in animal models because the time course of investigation is too short. Drug cardiotoxicity may only become evident when there is prior underlying deterioration of the myocardium, as when used in an ageing or cardiac-compromised human populations. Cardiovascular deterioration during aging is difficult to reproduce in animal models. Cardiotoxicity is particularly evident when combinations of agents are used; for example, one trial detected cardiac dysfunction of NYHA class III or IV in 27% of the group given an anthracycline, cyclophosphamide and trastuzumab compared with 8% of the group given an anthracycline and cyclophosphamide alone; 13% of the group given paclitaxel and trastuzumab; and 1% of the group given paclitaxel alone (Slamon et al., 2001). Recapitulating the various possible combinations in animal models is difficult and costly. Lastly, the predictability of transgenic mouse models for diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Brugada syndrome are limited due to rodent heart size and electrophysiology, so alternative models are needed for testing disease specific therapies and toxicities (Lian et al., 2010).The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine is landing with subscribers around about now, and as usual, it comes with news about the now-shooting Doctor Who series 8. In particular, two more writers - both new to Doctor Who - have been confirmed as writing episodes for the new series.
First up is Peter Harness. He's previously worked on Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me and Case Histories. You can find him on Twitter here as well.
And then Jamie Mathieson, who penned the film Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel is also on board. He's on Twitter here. Both seem to have an episode each, although no details of their exact stories have been revealed.
Doctor Who Magazine is on sale now. It is also very good.
Thanks to the Guv'nor, Blogtor Who, for the heads up.
Our guide to what we know for definite about Doctor Who series 8 is right here.
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.It took them both a long time to understand that the boy was sick, though she would point out that she had been the first to notice that he was unhappy, and had sought to remedy his discontent with sweeter treats and more delightful distractions. She thought it was evidence that she loved him more—that she had noticed first that something was wrong—and she said as much to her husband, when they were still trying to outdo each other in love for the child. Neither of them had much experience with illness. They had each taken many mortal lovers, but had cast them off before they could become old or infirm, and all their previous changelings had stayed healthy until they were returned, unaged and unstuck from their proper times, to the mortal world. “There was no way you could have known,” said Dr. Blork, the junior partner in the two-person team that oversaw the boy’s care, on their very first visit with him. “Parents always feel like they ought to have caught it earlier, but really it’s the same for everyone, and you couldn’t have done any better than you did.” He was trying to make them feel better, to assuage a perceived guilt, but at that point neither Titania nor her husband really knew what guilt was, never having felt it in all their long days. They were in the hospital, not far from the park on the hill under which they made their home, in the middle of the night—early for them, since they slept all day under the hill and had taught the boy to do the same, but the doctors, Beadle and Blork, were obviously fatigued. The four of them were sitting at a table in a small windowless conference room, the doctors on one side, the parents on the other. The boy was back in his room, drugged with morphine, sleeping peacefully for the first time in days. The doctors were explaining things, earnestly and patiently, but Titania was having trouble following along. “A boy should not be sick,” she said suddenly to Dr. Blork, cutting him off as he was beginning to describe some of the side effects of the treatment they were proposing. “A boy should play—that is his whole purpose.” “It’s hard to see him like this,” Dr. Blork said, after a glance at his superior, “and I’m so sorry that your beautiful boy is so sick. It’s going to be a long haul, and he may be sicker before he’s better, but we’ll get him through it.” He started talking again then about the specifics, the drugs they would use—the names seemed rather demonic to her—and the timing of the treatments, which parts could be done at home and which parts must be done in the hospital. This was all of a sudden very boring. She waved her hand at them, a gesture practiced over centuries, and even though there was no magic in it, Blork was instantly quiet. “You will do your mortal thing,” she said sadly. “I know all I need to know.” “Pardon me?” Dr. Blork said. “Leukemia!” Oberon said, breaking the silence he’d maintained all through the meeting, and it sounded as if he were somehow trying out the idea behind the word. He was smiling, and crying into his lovely beard. “Can you cure it?” “Yes!” said Dr. Blork. But Dr. Beadle said, “Maybe.”
She could not remember the quarrel that had brought her the boy. A real or perceived dalliance or slight, a transgression on her part or her husband’s—who knew? They had been quarrelling for as long as they had been in love. She forgot the quarrels as soon as they were resolved, but the gifts her husband brought her to reconcile—even when she was at fault—she never forgot. The boy had been one of those gifts, brought home to the hill, stolen from his crib in the dark of the night and presented to her by dawn. “That is not sufficient to your crime against me,” she remembered saying, and remembered as well that she barely paid the child any mind during her restless sleep, except to push it away from her when it rolled too close. Oberon had rubbed poppies on its eyes to quiet its crying, so it was still sleeping soundly when she woke. For a while she lay on her back, watching the stars come out upon the ceiling of her grotto, listening to the little snores. Oberon was snoring more magnificently. She turned on her side to better look at it, and noticed for the first time how comely it was, how round and smooth were its face and shoulders and belly, how lustrous was its hair. It made a troubled face as it slept. She put her hand out to touch it, just very lightly. Right away it sighed and lost the troubled look, but then it gave a moan. She draped her hand over its shoulder, and when it did not quiet she rolled it closer to her. It stopped moaning only when she held it in her arms, and put her nose in its hair, and breathed in its scent—poppies and milk and warm earth. Oberon had woken, and was looking at her and smiling, propped on one elbow with a hand against his ear, the other lost under the sheets, but she could hear that he was scratching himself. “Do you like it?” he asked. “I am indifferent to it,” she said, holding the boy closer, and squeezing him, and putting her face in his neck.
“This place is so ugly,” Titania said. “Can anything be done about that?” She was talking to the oncology social worker, one of a stream of visiting strangers who came to the room, and a woman who had described herself as a person to whom one might address problems or questions that no one else could solve or answer. “Nonmedical things,” she had said. “You know—everything else!” “But you’ve made the room just lovely,” the woman said. Her name was Alice or Alexandra or Antonia. Titania had a hard time keeping track of all the mortal names, except for Beadle and Blork, but those were distinctive names, and actually rather faerielike. Alice gestured expansively around the room, not seeing what was actually there. She saw paper stars hanging from the ceiling, and cards and posters on the wall, and a homey bedspread upon the mattress, but faeries had come to carpet the room with grass, to pave the walls with stone and set them with jewels, and to blow a cover of clouds to hide the horrible suspended ceiling. And the bedspread was no ordinary blanket but the boy’s own dear Beastie, a flat headless creature of soft fur that loved him like a dog and tried to follow him out of the room whenever they took him away for some new test or procedure. “I don’t mean the room,” Titania said. “I mean everything else. This whole place. And the people, of course. Where did you find them? Look at you, for instance. Are you deliberately homely? And that Dr. Blork—hideous!” Alice cocked her head. She did not hear exactly what Titania was saying. Everything was filtered through the same normalizing glamour that hid the light in Titania’s face, that gave her splendid gown the appearance of a tracksuit, that had made the boy appear clothed when they brought him in, when in fact he had been as naked as the day he was born. The same spell made it appear that he had a name, though his parents had only ever called him Boy, never having learned his mortal name, because he was the only boy under the hill. The same spell sustained the impression that Titania worked as a hairdresser, and that Oberon owned an organic orchard, and that their names were Trudy and Bob. “You need to take care of yourself,” Alice said, thinking that Titania was complaining about feeling ugly. “It might feel a little selfish, but you can’t take care of him if you can’t take care of yourself. Did you know we have a manicurist who comes every Wednesday?” “You are so sweet,” Titania said, “even if you are homely. Did you ever wish you had the eyes of a cat?” “A hat? You can buy one downstairs. For when his hair falls out, you mean? That’s weeks away, you know. But the baseball caps are awfully cute. But, listen, not everybody wants to talk about this at first, and not everybody has to. I’m getting ahead of myself... of ourselves.” “Or would you rather be a cat entirely? Yes, I think that would make you lovely.” Titania raised her hands and closed her eyes, seeking words sufficient to the spell she had in mind. They came to her in an image, words printed on a little girl’s purse she had glimpsed in the waiting room outside the surgical suites downstairs. She started to speak them—Hello Kitty!—but Oberon walked in before she had the first syllable out. “What are you doing to the nurse?” he asked her. “She’s the social worker. And we were only talking.” Alice’s head was turned to the side, and she was staring at Titania with a mixture of curiosity and devotion. The glamour had slipped as Titania was about to strike, and the woman had seen her true face. “Her name is Alice.” “Stop playing,” Oberon said. “He’s almost finished. Don’t you want to be there when he wakes?” The boy was downstairs having things done to him: a needle in his hip to take the marrow from his bones, and another in his neck to give him a special I.V. that would last through the weeks and months of the treatment. “I’ll just stay here and wait,” she said, sitting on the bed and idly petting the Beastie when it sidled up to her. “He’ll be looking for you,” Oberon said. “You’ll tell him I’m waiting here with his Beastie.” She lifted it into her lap, as if to show him the truth of what she was saying. Alice, still standing between them, was looking back and forth, catching glimpses of their majesty as their mounting anger caused them to let it slip, and getting drunker on them. “Did I give you your meal tickets yet?” she asked them. “The cafeteria is really not so bad, for what it is.” “You’d rather rest your terrible ass than comfort him. Do you love him at all?” “More than you do, and more than you’ll ever understand. You like to see him undone and ailing, but I can’t bear to look at him like that.” “Those are very normal feelings,” Alice said. “I validate those feelings. Haven’t I been saying how hard it is to see him like this?” She turned to Oberon. “Haven’t I?” “Heartless and cowardly,” Oberon said. “A most unattractive combination.” “That’s normal, too,” Alice said. “The anger. But don’t you know it’s not her that you’re angry at?” “You stupid sour cock,” Titania said, and then they just called each other names, back and forth, while Alice turned back and forth so swiftly it seemed she was spinning. “How can I make you understand how totally normal all of this is?” Alice cried aloud at last, just before collapsing in a heap. The Beastie, whose nature was to comfort, tried to go to her, but Titania held it back. “Now look what you’ve done,” her husband said.
At first he had been like her own sort of Beastie, a creature who followed her around and was pleasant to cuddle with. It didn’t take long before he stopped his agitated weeping for the mortal parents he’d hardly known, and then he smiled for everyone, even Oberon, who barely noticed him for months. He was delightful, and she was fond of him in the way she was always fond of the changelings, and yet she had dresses and shoes of which she was just as fond. She liked to dress him and feed him, and took him to bed every night, even when Oberon complained that he did not like to have pets in the bed. He grew. This was unexpected—she had completely forgotten even this basic fact of human physiology since the last changeling—but quite exciting. He didn’t fit anymore in the footed pajamas in which he’d been stolen, and so after that she kept him naked. Many evenings she would stare at him hoping to see him get bigger. She liked to feed him. Milk and dew and honey on her finger to start. Then she woke one morning to find him attached to her breast, and she wondered why she hadn’t fed any of the other changelings this way. It was easy enough to make food come out of her nipple; not quite ordinary milk at first, and then less usual substances—weak wine and chocolate and peanut butter and yogurt. It wasn’t long before Oberon regretted his gift, and started to hide the child elsewhere on the hill, attended by faeries, so that he could have his wife to himself. She tolerated that for a few weeks, but soon she couldn’t stand to be apart from the boy, though she couldn’t really say why. Perhaps it was because he smiled at everything she said and never argued with her; for months and months he never even said a word, only babbled. The child grew, and changed, and became ever more delightful to her, and she imagined that they could go on forever like that, that he would always be her favorite thing. Maybe it would have been better if he had stayed her favorite thing—a toy and not a son—because now he would just be a broken toy. She ought to have had the foresight to make him dumb, or Oberon ought to have, since the boy had been his terrible gift to her. But one evening the boy ran to her and climbed upon her throne, and giggled at the dancing faerie bodies leaping and jumping all around them, and put his face to her breast, and sighed a word at her, “molly” or “moony” or “middlebury”—she still didn’t know what it was exactly. But it was close enough to “Mommy” to ruin everything.
They poisoned the boy exquisitely. Beadle and Blork had reviewed it all with them, the names and the actions and the toxicities of the variety of agents they were going to use to cure him, but of that whole long conversation only a single sentence of Blork’s had really stuck. “We’ll poison him well,” he’d said, rather too cheerily, and he had explained that the chemotherapy was harder on the cancer than on the healthy boy parts, but that it was still hard, and that for the next several months he would act like a boy who had been poisoned. The chemotherapy came in colors—straw yellow and a red somewhere between the flesh of a watermelon and a cherry—but did not fume or smoke the way some of her own most dramatic poisons had. She peered at the bags and sniffed at the tubes, but there was nothing in them she could comprehend. She was only reluctantly interested in the particulars of the medications, but Oberon wanted to know all about them, and talked incessantly about it, parroting what Beadle and Blork had said or reading aloud from the packets of information that the nurses had given them. He proclaimed that he would taste the red liquid himself, to share the experience with the boy, but in the end he made a much lesser faerie do it, a brownie named Doorknob, who smacked his lips and proclaimed that it tasted rusty in the same way that blood smelled rusty, and went on to say that he thought he liked the taste of it and was about to sample it again when he went suddenly mad, tearing at his hair and clawing at his face and telling everyone that his bowels had become wild voles, and perhaps they had, since there was an obvious churning in his hairy little belly. Oberon knocked him over the head with his fist, which brought him sleep if not peace, and it was weeks before he was himself again. The boy had a very different response. Right away the poisons settled him down in a way that even the morphine did not. That put him to sleep, but in between doses he woke and cried again, saying that a gator had his leg or a bear was hugging him to death or a snake had wound itself around the long part of his arm and was crushing it. Within a few days, the poisons had made him peaceful. Titania could not conceive of the way they were made, except as distillations of sadness and heartbreak and despair, since that was how she made her own poisons, shaking drops of terror out of a wren captured in her fist, or sucking with a silver straw |
, something, she pointed out, she had no immediate plans to do.The loudest part of the crowd seemed to have its mind made up before Inglis even began talking scolding him and applauding anyone who referenced the Constitution or denounced socialism. A man against the wall held a sign that stated Congress & CNN have awakened a sleeping giant.
One man stood up, said he considered himself a mainstream conservative and said, "I look at the government, and they're so far outside the Constitution and there's not a week that goes by that I don't hear talk about revolution in our country. The only one I know in Congress who abides by our Constitution is Ron Paul."
A standing ovation followed.
...Inglis had to point out that he did not think health care was a right, and he even had to remind people that he was a Republican, not a Libertarian. He did say, when asked, that if the current health care plan passes, he will opt out of the plan he has by virtue of his office and join the rest of us.
But the crowd was restless.
At one point, Inglis had to say, "You may not believe me, but I really don't have any secret plan to get you vaccinated."
“Probably,” Inglis said. “That’s what he does. That’s what Glenn Beck is all about. And Lou Dobbs. I’ve had the misfortune of listening to those shows a couple of times... I don’t listen often to Glenn Beck, but when I have, I’ve come away just so disappointed with the negativity… the ‘We’ve just gone to pot as a country,’ and ‘All is lost’ and ‘There is no hope.’ It’s not consistent with the America that I know. The America I know was founded by people who took tiny boats across a big ocean, and pushed west in tiny wagons, and landed on the moon. That’s the America I heard on the streets of Boiling Springs... The America that Glenn Beck seems to see is a place where we all should be fearful, thinking that our best days are behind us. It sure does sell soap, but it sure does a disservice to America... If Walter Cronkite said something like Glenn Beck said recently on the air, about the president being a racist, Cronkite would’ve been fired on the spot. But I guess the executives of these cable news shows are more enamored with the profits that come from selling this negative message than they are with undermining the faith of people in this wonderful constitutional republic.”
"During Kathy Castor’s healthcare town hall meeting on Thursday night, I sat in the second row with my 14-year-old daughter, Hannah. I saw firsthand the hatred and violence being aroused by the orchestrated efforts of the rabid right. Ms. Castor had no more said, 'Good Evening,' when the booing, cursing, and shouting began. Taking firm middle ground, trying to talk about the benefits of reform for small business owners, retirees, and families, she never completed a full sentence due to the volume of the fanatical right. Shouting turned to shoving which turned to fistfights. It was a grotesque display of the ability of misinformation to turn people, whom I guess are otherwise decent folks, into brown-shirted thugs on behalf of insurance industry profits. The leaders of the Republican Party, as well as Blue Dog Democrats, need to take an unequivocal stand against the hate speech being spewed by Limbaugh, Beck, and their ilk. If not, they can hold themselves personally responsible for the violence that will eventually befall one of our legislators. As for me, I will no longer allow my children to attend political functions out of concern for their safety."
Glenn Beck has said Barack Obama hates white people, and jokes about assassinating the Speaker of the House. Rush Limbaugh makes repeated and extended comparisons between Obama and Hitler. Mobs hang a congressman in effigy and physically attack people at a town hall meeting.
Members of Congress have death threats issued against them, while other Members make jokes about lynching their colleagues.
With all of this hateful and violent rhetoric going on, I haven't seen one Republican leader asking for people to cool their rhetoric, or heard them condemn any of these tactics. My question for Republican party, and their allies at conservative media companies that employ the kind of people making these remarks: what exactly would have to be said for you to distance yourself from these people? How far would someone have to go before you got uncomfortable with it? What would have to said before Fox News considered firing someone?
If Glenn Beck actually directly called for the assassination of someone, would it bother you guys? If Rush Limbaugh just screamed a racial insult referring to the President of the United States into his microphone, would it make you pause at all? If Lou Dobbs went so far as to call for the murder of random Hispanics in the street, would CNN consider firing him? If Michael Savage actually encouraged a caller to his show to go blow up a federal building like Timothy McVeigh did, would any Republicans suggest he pull his rhetoric back a bit?
Early on August 5th, as the corporate-funded, Limbaugh/Beck incited violence was just starting to roll, John McCain sent out a tweet : "Town hall meetings are an American tradition - we should allow everyone to express their views without disruption - even if we disagree!" He led; few in his party followed.Thursday evening South Carolina Republican Congressman Bob Inglis-- first elected in 2004; re-elected last year with 61% of the vote-- went a step further. Inglis is a mainstream conservative with a fairly lockstep party-line voting record. But he's more in the Lindsey Graham camp than the KKK/Jim DeMint camp in South Carolina politics. Thursday he felt the wrath of the KKK/Jim DeMint camp when he held a town hall meeting to talk with his constituents about health care reform, which he opposes. The 350 constituents who showed up oppose it too-- but they oppose a lot more than just health care reform and they were hell bent on having their say.Revved up by pent-up, self-righteous rage, too much Fox News, and enabled by corporately-funded astro-turf operations, many in the audience were looking for trouble. One man started screaming that "There is no way, shape or form we need to have a national healthcare system. No! Nothing!! None! It's got to stop now!" They heckled and shouted down Inglis even as he tried to tell them he opposes the health care legislation the Democrats are trying to pass. (By the way, if you're interested, in how badly South Carolinians are doing health care-wise and how the proposed legislation would help them specifically, there's a very informative report from the Center For American Progress, explaining, among other things, that South Carolina's uninsured rate has increased by 17% since 2007, that there are 760,000 uninsured people in the state and that the average family premium there will rise from $12,659 to $21,602 by 2019 without health care reform. Not the kind of information Inglis was interested in giving or this audience would have been receptive to in the slightest.) Instead they wanted to talk about forcing immigrants to be sent back to their countries, about the dangers of Obama declaring martial law, about Obama forcing them to get vaccinated, and about the horrors of Big Government. Inglis was mercilessly boo-ed when he suggested that in some cases government can play a positive role in people's lives.But the most calamitous moment in the meeting came when someone in the audience asked about fear mongering by Hate Talkers like Glenn Beck. "What I would suggest," said Inglis, "is turn that television off when he comes on." The place exploded in rage and many got up and left-- in effect, turning off Inglis, not Beck. Watch the video of an uncomfortable conservative Republican congressman facing his fascist base, reaping what his party has sown. Later Inglis talked with a local blogger who asked him if people exploded because he had used the word "fear-mongering" in relation to Beck:This morning I was on the phone with a very different kind of politician than Bob Inglis. Doug Tudor is a retired career Navy man who is running for Congress in the Polk County area of Florida, a seat being abandoned by Adam Putnam and also being contested by a far right Republican and an only slightly less far right Blue Dog. Doug is a progressive who very much believes in the good that government can do in people's lives and in the need to bring health care reform to this country. He's a grassroots candidate-- with no corporate funding-- and I want to ask you to read his account of a health care town hall he attended last week and then to think about donating-- even if only $5 or $10-- to his ActBlue page This morning Mike Lux, author of my favorite book of this summer, The Progressive Revolution posted a question for GOP leaders at Open Left: What would it take for you to condemn the hatefulness?
Labels: astro-turf, Bob Inglis, crazy extremists, Doug Tudor, Glenn Beck, Mike Lux, Ron Paul, teabaggers, violenceThe textiles industry is revolting. It causes 10% of the planet’s carbon footprint, while the dyeing and treatment of textiles is responsible for 17% of all industrial water pollution. Cotton uses 3% of global water, and the damage from cotton farming is $83bn. This eco cost is partially offset by longevity: a bath sheet should be in service for 10 years. I’m serious. So I was distressed to hear that 4,000 Wimbledon towels had been nicked as souvenirs by players. I make an appeal to Djokovic, Williams, Murray et al: please keep them towels in service.
Every time you make a purchasing decision, you’re also making a production decision, so when you come to replace towels and bed linen, go for organic. Currently, just 1% of the world’s cotton is organic. Let’s get that higher. Growing organic cotton is a far more responsible use of farmable land and fresh water, than conventional. The Textile Exchange surveyed 82,000 hectares of land in 2014 and found reduced global-warming potential, lower soil erosion, less water use and less energy demand from organic, as opposed to conventional, cotton growers.
A good project can lead to change for farming communities. The Chetna Organic coalition in India unites 20 brands collaborating with 7,000 organic and Fairtrade cotton farmers (it started with 200). The fruits of these looms are available at ethicalshop.org in the UK. There’s a good range of organic bed and bath linens certified by Gots (global organic textile standard) at greenfibres.co.uk.
I can get emotional about cotton towels (so can US brand Boll & Branch, whose blog features polemics such as “the truth about thread counts”). This is because conventional cotton represents the worst of globalisation, but organic cotton could be transformative, connecting us to the farmers of Burkina Faso or Gujurat and making a huge difference in their lives. Not many everyday products offer that promise.
The big picture: The Commonality of Strangers
Facebook Twitter Pinterest We are the world: from The Commonality of Strangers. Photograph: Mahtab Hussain
Two years ago, photographer Mahtab Hussain set out to capture the experiences of migrants to Britain. He walked through Nottingham and got to know and take pictures of immigrants from Algeria, Ghana, Iraq, Malawi, Sudan and Europe. He documented his sitters’ histories, aspirations in the UK and the stories of how their lives had changed. The day after Britons voted to leave the EU, the exhibition of this work, The Commonality of Strangers, opened in Favara, Sicily (until November). It’s extremely topical…
Well dressed: Toms + Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Good step forward: with the One for One system, you give when you buy. Photograph: Hagop Kalaidjian/BFA
Toms, the socially conscious alpargata shoe brand beloved of hipsters, is now 10. It pioneered a famous One for One business model: you buy shoes, and a pair of shoes is donated to kids in a developing country to protect them from picking up parasites and disease. Critics claim that it stifles local footwear industries where donations are made. But over the last decade Toms has sold millions of pairs, and therefore donated millions of pairs. It is one of few sustainable fashion brands that has made that enviable journey from ‘worthy’ to ‘wanted’ (many of those who buy them just like the shoes).
And in honour of being 10, Toms brings us a special collection developed with actor and activist Charlize Theron. For every pair of shoes or backpack (a first for them) sold, €5 goes to Theron’s great Africa Outreach Project, which funds HIV prevention in Africa. Shoes from £26, and backpack from £60, toms.co.uk. Also visit charlizeafricaoutreach.org.
Email Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @lucysiegleCrisis or Creation?
A Systematic Examination of "False Memory Syndrome"
by
Stephanie J. Dallam
Leadership Council
Citation: Dallam, S. J. (2002). Crisis or Creation: A systematic examination of false memory claims. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse,9 (3/4), 9-36.
Simultaneously published as a chapter in Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors (Charles L. Whitfield, MD, FASAM; Joyanna Silberg, PhD; and Paul Jay Fink, MD, Eds.) Haworth Press, 2002
Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address getinfo@haworthpressinc.com Webiste: http://www.HaworthPress.com
©2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved
SUMMARY
In 1992, the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF), an advocacy organization for people claiming to be falsely accused of sexual abuse, announced the discovery of a new syndrome in-
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volving iatrogenically created false memories of childhood sexual abuse. This article critically examines the assumptions underlying "False Memory Syndrome" to determine whether there is sufficient empirical evidence to support it as a valid diagnostic construct. Epidemiological evidence is also examined to determine whether there is data to support its advocates' claim of a public health crisis or epidemic. A review of the relevant literature demonstrates that the existence of such a syndrome lacks general acceptance in the mental health field, and that the construct is based on a series of faulty assumptions, many of which have been scientifically disproven. There is a similar lack of empirical validation for claims of a "false memory" epidemic. It is concluded that in the absence of any substantive scientific support, "False Memory Syndrome" is best characterized as a pseudoscientific syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse.
KEYWORDSs: Amnesia, child sexual abuse, epidemic, false memory, incest, legislation, pseudoscience, public policy, recovered memory, syndrome evidence, suggestibility.
Introduction
"False Memory Syndrome" has been described as a widespread social phenomenon where misguided therapists cause patients to invent memories of sexual abuse (McCarty & Hough, 1992). The syndrome was described and named by the families and professionals who comprise the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (see Freyd, March 1993, p. 4), an organization formed by parents claiming to be falsely accused of child sexual abuse. Proponents of the syndrome claim that it is occurring at epidemic levels, and some have gone so far as to characterize it as the mental health crisis of the 1990s (e.g., Gardner, 1993, p. 370). Critics, on the other hand, have suggested that the syndrome is based on vague, unsubstantiated generalizations, which do not hold up to scientific scrutiny (e.g., Page, 1999), and that the syndrome's primary purpose is to discredit victims' testimony (e.g., Murphy, 1997). This article critically examines the assumptions underlying the concept to determine whether there is sufficient empirical evidence to support "False Memory Syndrome" as a valid diagnostic construct. Epidemiological evidence is then examined to determine whether there is data to support claims of either a public health crisis or epi-
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demic.
THE MAKING OF A MOVEMENT:
The History of the FMSF
Two consistent findings have emerged from research on child sexual abuse: the problem is widespread (e.g., Finkelhor, 1994) and child abuse is extensively undisclosed and underreported (e.g., Lawson & Chaffin, 1992; National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, 1997). Even when reported, child sexual abuse is extremely difficult to prosecute and few perpetrators are ever brought to justice (Dziech & Schudson, 1989). Despite research showing that children rarely confabulate stories of abuse (e.g., Goodwin, Sahd, & Rada, 1979; Thoennes & Tjaden, 1990), offenders often convincingly argue that their accuser has falsely accused them. In addition, the legal system has historically viewed children as the property of their parents and professionals have discounted women's reports of incestuous abuse as wishful fantasies (Haugaard & Reppucci, 1988). As a result, legal and mental health professionals have tended to be overly suspicious of and unresponsive to reports of sexual abuse (Clevenger, 1992).
In the 1980s, some incest victims attempted to hold their abusers accountable by seeking compensation in courts for abuse-related injuries. Although, many had corroboration for their abuse, most lawsuits were disallowed because the time period (i.e., statute of limitations) in which they had to raise such a claim had expired. Most state laws consider sexual abuse to be a personal injury, which tend to have short statute of limitations. Consequently, actions were generally time-barred by a victim's 19th or 20th birthday -- an age where most people are still dependent on their parents.
Armed with a growing body of research and clinical literature (e.g., Herman & Schatzow, 1987; Terr, 1991) showing that many child abuse victims experience traumatic or dissociative amnesia, or for other reasons are unable to recognize the harm the abuse has caused them until they are well into adulthood, advocates lobbied state legislatures to extend the time period for filing suits. Many states responded by extending statutes of limitations for civil actions related to child sexual abuse and, for the first time, many incest perpetrators were within reach of the law. However, for the most part, only victims who claimed to have recently remembered their abuse qualified for this exception in the statute of limitations (Brown, Scheflin, & Hammond, 1998).
Accused parents, many of whom were affluent and respected members of the community, sought out defense lawyers and psychological experts for help in defending against abuse-related claims. A new concept, "False Memory Syndrome," was advanced by parents and professionals as an alternative explanation for delayed memories of sexual abuse (see, P. Freyd, March 1993, p. 4) and in March 1992 the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) was founded.
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The foundation's leaders, Pamela and Peter Freyd, were motivated because their adult daughter privately accused Peter of sexually abusing her as a child. They were put in touch with other parents claiming to be falsely accused by Dr. Harold Lief (Calof, 1993a), who was later revealed to be Pamela's personal psychiatrist (J. Freyd, 1993). Families were also referred by Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield, a husband and wife team who are prominent advocates for people accused of molesting children. A frequent defense expert witness, Underwager's philosophy concerning the prosecution of child sexual abuse has been summed up by the statement that it is "more desirable that a thousand children in abuse situations are not discovered than for one innocent person to be convicted wrongly" (Kraft, 1985, p. 1).
Underwager and Wakefield were also instrumental in helping the Freyds organize the foundation (P. Freyd, May 21, 1992; Underwager & Wakefield, 1994). The original toll-free number for the FMSF rang at Underwager's private Institute for Psychological Therapies, and Underwager and Wakefield developed the initial questionnaire used to survey families who contacted the FMSF (P. Freyd, May 21, 1992).1
With the help of Harold Lief and Marin Orne,2 the FMSF quickly gathered a respectable appearing advisory board, giving the new syndrome an aura of scientific acceptance (P. Freyd, June 1998, p. 1). Although, the FMSF was billed as a scientific organization, its actions were mainly geared toward defending parents against abuse accusations and blaming them on psychotherapists. According to Pamela Freyd (1992, May 1), "This Foundation came into being because many of us believe that we have been judged guilty by therapists who have never met us... " (p. 1). According to Martin Gardner (1993), a prominent member of the FMSF Scientific and Professional Advisory Board, the FMSF was formed "to combat a fast-growing epidemic of dubious therapy that is ripping thousands of families apart, scarring patients for life, and breaking the hearts of innocent parents and other relatives" (p. 370).
Despite the fact that "False Memory Syndrome" remained undefined and had never been the subject of any research, the FMSF focused its early activities on influencing the media and legal system. In its first official newsletter, supporters were told that the main activities the foundation would be: (1) "press releases with accurate information on topics such as child abuse statistics and memory"; (2) developing a resource center and database for legal cases involving repressed memories; (3) a study of beliefs of mental health professionals; and (4) "other things that you tell us need to be done to help you" ("Foundation Activities", March 1992, p. 2).
After surveying its members, the FMSF reported that most parents who joined the organization were concerned that they were going to be sued by their children ("Legal Actions," June 12, 1992, p. 2). Some had even been
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criminally convicted for molesting children (FMSF, 1993). An early FMSF newsletter assured these parents that, "the FMS Foundation Legal Advisory Board is working with all possible speed" ("Legal News," November 1992). The FMSF immediately began to disseminate information to the media concerning this burgeoning "epidemic" of what the foundation alleged to be false memories.
EVALUATION OF "FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME"
AS A DIAGNOSTIC CONSTRUCT
Definition of "False Memory Syndrome"
The definition of "False Memory Syndrome" did not evolve from clinical studies; rather the purported syndrome's description is based on the accounts of parents claiming to be falsely accused of child sexual abuse, usually by their adult daughters. As a result, more than a year after her organization was founded, Pamela Freyd, the FMSF's Executive Director, was still unable to articulate a list of the signs and symptoms that characterize the "syndrome" (Calof, 1993a). The FMSF later adopted the following definition, offered by research psychologist and then FMSF advisor John Kihlstrom3 (1993):
When a memory is distorted, or confabulated, the result can be what has been called the False Memory Syndrome --a condition in which a person's identity and interpersonal relationships are centered around a memory of traumatic experience which is objectively false but in which the person strongly believes. Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false memories as such. We all have memories that are inaccurate. Rather, the syndrome may be diagnosed when the memory is so deeply engrained that it orients the individual's entire personality and lifestyle, in turn disrupting all sorts of other adaptive behaviors. The analogy to personality disorder is intentional. False Memory Syndrome is especially destructive because the person assiduously avoids confrontation with any evidence that might challenge the memory. Thus it takes on a life of its own, encapsulated, and resistant to correction. The person may become so focused on the memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with the real problems in his or her life. (p.10)
According to Campbell Perry (1995), a member of the FMSF Scientific and Professional Advisory Board, the main distinguishing feature of "False Memory Syndrome" is that "an individual enters therapy with a `recovered memory' therapist; one who believes that all psychic distresses are the product of repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, and who interprets all failures
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to recall the incest as evidence of 'denial'" (p. 192). The therapist than uses "disguised" hypnosis (i.e., procedures such as guided imagery, relaxation, dream analysis, regression work and sodium amytal) to elicit abuse-related "memories" (p. 189). The real tragedy of "False Memory Syndrome," according to Pamela Freyd, is that afflicted patients lose their families and all their "memory of childhood happiness" ( Taylor, 1992).
The FMSF's Index Case
"False Memory Syndrome" is unconventional in that it is usually "diagnosed" without any supporting clinical evaluation. The earliest publicized case of what was purported to be "False Memory Syndrome" is that of Jennifer Freyd, the daughter of FMSF founders Peter and Pamela Freyd. In December 1990, Jennifer, a respected psychologist and memory researcher, privately accused her father of sexually abusing her. Ten months later, Pamela anonymously published an article in Issues in Child Abuse Accusations, an obscure journal devoted to defending against child abuse accusations published by Ralph Underwager. In the article, Pamela claimed her daughter had falsely accused her father of incest and that "the accusations arose during the course of therapy in which the therapist elicited `repressed memories'" (Doe, 1991, p. 154 ).
Although it appeared under the pseudonym "Jane Doe," Pamela mailed the article, and revealed both her own and her daughter's real identity, to many people including senior members of Jennifer's department, who received it at the time they were deciding whether to promote her. Hechler (1996) noted that the portrait that the article painted of Jennifer was far from flattering. "She was described during various periods of her life as sexually promiscuous, professionally unproductive, anorexic and sexually frustrated."
When Jennifer Freyd, PhD, (1993) finally told her side of the story, it became apparent that her case meets few of the characteristics of "False Memory Syndrome" described in FMSF literature. First, she did not spend months in therapy for an unrelated problem before she remembered the abuse. Jennifer consulted the therapist because of intense anxiety over her parents' upcoming visit. She recalled the abuse after her second session. Second, no memory recovery techniques were utilized; Jennifer's memories emerged at home after the therapist merely asked if she had ever been abused. Third, after recovering the memories, she did not sue her parents, threaten them with public exposure, and according to Jennifer, it was never her intention to cut her parents out of her life. Jennifer reported that she broke off communication only after "repeated and intense efforts to communicate constructively" (p. 20), and in response to her parent's ongoing "obsession" with her sexuality (p. 16). Finally,
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although "False Memory Syndrome" is said to disrupt all sorts of "adaptive behaviors" and to distract sufferers "from coping with the real problems in her life" (Kihlstrom, 1993, p. 10), in the wake of the charges, Jennifer did not abandon her career, neglect her children, or leave her husband. Rather than organizing her life around the accusation, Jennifer Freyd, has remained a respected and productive academic psychologist at the University of Oregon.
In answering her parent's charges, Jennifer Freyd (1993) also revealed information which casts doubt on their motives and the credibility of Pamela Freyd's published account of her daughter's case. For example, Jennifer revealed that Pamela introduced a number of fictional elements into what was billed as a true story of a mother's struggle with her daughter's "false accusation" of paternal sexual abuse. Throughout the story Pamela wrote, falsely, that her daughter had been denied tenure at her last job. Astonishingly, it is this fictional element that Pamela Freyd offers as a possible explanation for Jennifer's "false memories." She wrote: "Is `violation' a feeling that comes when tenure doesn't?" (Doe, 1991, p. 162).
Jennifer Freyd (1993) also revealed that her father was a chronic alcoholic throughout her childhood,4 and had himself been sexually abused as a boy by an older man, a fact he seemed to take pride in (according to Jennifer, he frequently described himself as having been a "kept" boy). She also noted that her abuse memories were consistent with never forgotten memories of her family's pattern of sexualized and intrusive behavior (p. 13); memories which Peter and Pam have for the most part confirmed (Fried, 1994; Hechler, 1996). Jennifer Freyd (1993) also noted that her only sibling, a sister, was already estranged from her parents at the time of the allegations. In addition, Peter Freyd's own mother (who is also Pamela's step-mother) and his only sibling, a brother, were also estranged from Pamela and Peter. It should be noted that these family members support Jennifer's side of the story. In a statement, Peter's brother, William Freyd stated, "There is no doubt in my mind that there was severe abuse in the home of Peter and Pam.... The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a fraud designed to deny a reality that Peter and Pam have spent most of their lives trying to escape" (W. Freyd, 1995, as cited by Whitfield, 1995, p. 7).
Lack of Empirical Validation for "False Memory Syndrome"
To date, no empirical validation has been offered for "False Memory Syndrome" as a diagnostic construct; nor have the symptoms that characterize this putative syndrome ever been systematically described and studied. As a result, "False Memory Syndrome" has never been accepted as a valid diagnosis by any professional organization and usage of the term has been the subject of
*page 16*
heated criticism in peer reviewed scientific journals. For example, 17 behavioral scientists coauthored a statement objecting to the term "False Memory Syndrome" as "a non-psychological term originated by a private foundation whose stated purpose is to support accused parents" (Carstensen et al., 1993, p. 23). Critics have suggested that the syndrome is based on vague, unsubstantiated generalizations, which do not hold up to scientific scrutiny. For example, Page (1999) noted, "FMSF members paradoxically claim to place great value on scientific inquiry, while permitting their syndrome to remain so vaguely defined that it is virtually impossible not only to study it, but to determine who suffers from it" (http://www.feminista.com/v2n10/cutlerpage.html ).
The FMSF has responded to such criticism by admitting that it does not have any evidence for its syndrome besides the stories that it hears from those who call the foundation seeking help:
We wish to emphasize the existence of a condition that needs to be considered and then confirmed or rejected when further information emerges. For that aim, the term "false memory syndrome" is satisfactory ("Our Critics," April 1993, p. 3).
Examination of the Assumptions Underlying the Construct
Due to the lack of research on "False Memory Syndrome", assumptions underlying the concept were examined. A review of the writings of, and media interviews granted by, false memory proponents reveals that their construction of the purported syndrome is, for the most part, based on 6 main assumptions. These assumptions are as follows: (1) A recovered memory is likely to be a false memory; (2) False/recovered memories are usually caused by incompetent therapists doing "recovered memory therapy;" (3) It is easy to implant false memories of traumatic events that never happened; (4) People who recover memories are highly suggestible; (5) "False Memory Syndrome" is common among psychotherapy patients who recover traumatic memories; and (6) Alleged perpetrators are somehow immune to developing false memories.
For "False Memory Syndrome" to be considered a valid construct, each of these assumptions must be tested and supported by scholarly research. Furthermore, to qualify as a syndrome, each assumed characteristic should be found in relation to the others. For example, a person who recovers a memory of sexual abuse should be found to be suggestible, to have recovered the memories only after undergoing extensive psychotherapy focused on finding memories, and no corroboration should be found for memories that "return" in this fashion (Brown, Scheflin, & Whitfield, 1999). A brief review of the scientific
*page 17*
literature fails to support these assumptions, both alone, and in relation to one another.
Assumption 1: A recovered memory is likely to be false memory. The most common argument offered in support of "False Memory Syndrome" is the purported lack of evidence for repression. An early FMSF publication stated: "Psychiatrists advising the Foundation members seem to be unanimous in the belief that memories of such atrocities cannot be repressed. Horrible incidents of childhood are remembered" (FMSF, 1992, p. 2). This statement implies that any traumatic memory that is forgotten and then recalled later must be false. Some false memory proponents have admitted that traumatic amnesia can occur for a single, traumatic event such as rape. However, they argue that there is no support for the claim that individuals can be completely amnesiac for repeated episodes of sexual abuse or that memories of abuse can be accurately remembered years later (e.g., Underwager & Wakefield, 1995).
The assumption that delayed memories should be considered false is countered by countless studies of traumatized populations. At last count, over 68 studies have documented the reality of recovering forgotten memories of trauma (Brown et al., 1999). At the same time, research has shown that the misremembering of childhood events is more often characterized by forgetting negative experiences that actually happened than it is by remembering ones that did not (Brewin, Andrews, & Gotlib, 1995). In addition, the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals (i.e., Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.) recognizes memory problems to be a common feature of five post-traumatic conditions: post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, dissociative disorder not-otherwise-specified, and dissociative identity disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).
As to the reliability of recovered memories, research suggests that recovered memories are no more and no less accurate than continuous memories (Brown et al., 1999). Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that individuals with legally documented abuse histories have recovered accurate abuse-related memories after claiming to have forgotten the traumatic experience (Corwin & Olafson, 1997; Duggal & Sroufe, 1998; Weene, 1995; Williams, 1995), and substantial proportions of those who recover memories of abuse have been able to find external corroborative evidence to support their memory (e.g., Andrews et al., 1999;Chu, Frey, Ganzel, & Matthews, 1999; Dalenberg, 1996).5 After reviewing the evidence, Scheflin and Brown (1996) suggested that if courts require an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether repressed memories are reliable, then they "must, consistent with the science, hold either that such memories are reliable or that all memory, repressed or otherwise, is unreliable" (p. 183).
*page 18*
Another problem with the assumption that a recovered memory should be considered false is that, while there is abundant research demonstrating the fallibility of retrospective recall (e.g., Loftus, Korf & Schooler, 1989), there has been no systematic research documenting "False Memory Syndrome" and no professional organization has officially recognized its existence. Conversely, at least one professional body has questioned the syndrome's validity. The British Psychological Society (BPS) surveyed 108 therapists on their patients who had recovered memories. The results revealed that many patients recovered their memories prior to beginning therapy, few therapists reported using any techniques to aid recall, and some form of corroboration was reported in 41% of cases (Andrews et al., 1999). Overall, the BPS could find no convincing evidence for a specific "False Memory Syndrome" leading the Society to issue a statement asserting: "There is now consistent evidence that `False Memory Syndrome' cannot explain all, or even most, examples of recovered memories of trauma" (Reaney, 2000).
Assumption 2: Recovered memories are usually caused by therapists practicing "recovered memory therapy." Anytime a therapy patient recovers a memory either inside or outside of therapy, false memory proponents are likely to accuse the therapist of engaging in "recovered memory therapy." Although many clinicians report that what critics call "memory recovery therapy" (e.g., hypnosis, guided imagery, sodium amytal, etc., that is focused solely on memory recovery) is not common among mainstream clinicians (e.g., Briere, 1995; Calof, 1993b), false memory proponents claim that such therapy is a nation-wide phenomenon that "has devastated thousands of lives" (Ofshe & Watters, 1993, p. 4). In fact, Underwager has asserted that when a person has no recall of abuse and they go to therapist and recover a memory, "it's common sense to realize that the therapy caused the memory" (Morris, April 24, 1992).
The assumption that recovered memories are usually caused by therapists using suggestive techniques is countered by numerous studies reporting that a substantial proportion of those who recover memories of abuse, do so without ever having participated in therapy (e.g., Albach, Moorman, & Bermond, 1996; Andrews et al., 1999; Chu et al., 1999). For example, Albach et al. (1996) found no significant differences in amnesia, memory recovery, or other memory phenomena between abuse survivors in the Netherlands who participated in psychotherapy and those |
he get into office?”... And the biggest one of all: Barky’s Sec. of State sold Uranium to Russia, not on America's approval but on her’s because she got to benefit from it to her foundation, and if you don't think Barky didn't know about all this, along with responding to her ‘email account that was illegal’ I have the George Washington Bridge to see you...
by 13 posted onby HarleyLady27 ('THE FORCE AWAKENS!!!' Trump/Pence: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!)
To: Drango
Hussein didn’t have fellow traveler Brennen off the Russian Ambassador to Turkey?
by 14 posted onby Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
To: ColdOne
He wants to start a war. That is much preferable to him to losing power.
To: ColdOne
What can Dorkbama the Muslm eunuch do? Fart in their general direction? I am sure that Putin is quakng in his boots while Dorkbama assembles her plan.
To: ColdOne
I’ll bet Putin immediately fled to his bunker and is holed up there nervously glancing at the flickering ceiling lights.
To: ColdOne
“Diplomatic censure,” whatever the heck that is, is probably within the Constitutional prerogatives of the Executive. However, without some sort of Congressional authorization, economic sanctions are not with the Executive’s Article II powers. “Economic Sanctions” are specifically reserved to Congress as the power “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations” under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3.
To: x1stcav
Can we get someone he idolizes to invite him to golf?
To: ColdOne
Do they have any evidence? NB: NY Times stories don’t constitute evidence.
by 20 posted onby oblomov (We have passed the point where "law," properly speaking, has any further application. - C. Thomas)
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FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John RobinsonInformed debate is a crucial part of public policy development. But the behind-the-scenes tug of war between banks and the government over the results of their recent stress tests strains the already tenuous credibility of the exercise. It also shows that banks have become too powerful.
How so? First, banks and their regulators run stress tests all the time, on individual products, divisions and the institutions as a whole. Without them, it would be very difficult to manage risk or allocate capital among business lines. The current crisis proved these tests were inadequate — or in some cases, ignored by bank managers. But that’s largely because of management incentives to take excessive risks, and the failure of the tests to use sufficiently grim projections.
So it’s curious that regulators have put so much stock in the tests they announced in February. The release of their results has been delayed while banks ask for clemency. Since the results will determine which institutions will be forced to raise private capital or take further government infusions, the stakes are high.
But like the banks’ earlier and insufficiently stressful stress tests, the government’s worst-case outlooks aren’t all that far-fetched. They also use banks’ own estimates, meaning unscrupulous managers could tweak them to get a better grade. And bankers say they’ll produce very little information that regulators don’t already have.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Because of this, bank risk managers (not the most credible group these days) tend to view these tests as a public relations stunt that regulators will use to force their institutions to toe Uncle Sam’s line. That, in itself, is worrying. Regulators shouldn’t have to invent justifications for regulating properly. The right response by a bank when its overseer says jump is, “How high?”On Tuesday, December 20th, we will release build 1108. This is our first Steam-only release, and we would like to remind you of our offer to migrate to Steam for free, which will be extended until January 31st, 2017.
To reiterate where we are, we are making really good progress with a new development team coupled with a new vision. As long time sim racers, we understand the need for a strong platform with great content, physics and visuals as well as competition, both online and offline.
A detailed changelog will be posted alongside the actual release, but some of the highlights of this build include a huge update to our Stock Car rules, better support for running Steam in offline mode – which can be very useful in LAN situations and a fix for the nVidia driver bug that has been plaguing some users of certain series of nVidia cards.
Good news! We’re ahead of our DX11 development schedule and are internally testing the first builds now. There is still a lot to do in terms of adding new features such as depth of field and motion blur effects on external cameras as well as overall improvements such as the shadow system. Needless to say, the results so far are looking good. We are really excited about the capability we have already and where it’s going. Our goal to keep the engine backward compatible seems achievable, and in the upcoming months we will start engaging the modding community providing information on the improved engine and how best to utilise it.
As we’ve announced last month, we are completely revamping the user interface of rFactor 2 to make it easier to use, nicer to look at and ready for VR. We’re leveraging modern web technology and are currently in the middle of the design phase. To give you a first impression, we’ve added a screenshot of a WIP car selection screen.
Concerning content, we are very excited with the direction we are headed, certainly in the way plan to match cars and tracks. We will start to develop this approach over the next few months.
We have a number of car developments underway. With our current focus on the Radical, we are adding the finishing touches to the 3D model right now while we wait for some additional data to complete the physics model.
More great news! We have just signed a license with General Motors for the 2016 model of the Corvette C7.R. Development of the model and physics will start early next year. The 2016 model has significant aerodynamic improvements with a new, larger splitter and a large diffuser to generate more downforce. The car is the weapon of choice for Corvette Racing in their 2017 IMSA campaign as well as their effort to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As an added bonus, this car will also contribute to improving car physics overall.
In terms of tracks, we’ve already shown you previews of NOLA Motorsports Park in earlier updates, and we’re now in the final stages of development. The track will feature 5 different road course layouts and 5 different karting layouts, and we’re currently placing track side objects, such as grand stands, trees and a ferris wheel and are working on AI paths. It’s looking good for release early next year.
Now let’s talk about online. Since the release of rFactor 2 the pricing consisted of a one time payment and an online subscription, with the option of buying a lifetime version of that subscription. Over the years we have received a lot of questions about charging extra for online access, and what people were getting for this in return.
We understand that online racing is key to the future of the platform. As online racers ourselves, we have decided to provide online access for everybody with the Steam version for free – simplifying the pricing model and encouraging everybody to race online. Steam will take care of automated updates. We recognise that some of you have made this purchase over the past few months, and it was a difficult decision. However, we’re positive that you’ll agree we’ve made the right decision for the future of the platform.
With the Steam Winter Sale approaching what better way for you to relax and driver rFactor 2. Look out for an exclusive offer for the holiday period!
That’s all for our last monthly update of 2016. Happy Simracing and have a great holiday. We hope to see you all in the new year!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
Householders have the right to take tough action and use "disproportionate force" against intruders in their homes as long as they reasonably believe such a high level of force is necessary, the High Court has ruled.
Senior judges declared the so-called "householder defence" - as strengthened by the Coalition Government - was not incompatible with European human rights laws.
They stressed in a landmark ruling they were not giving individuals "carte blanche" to use any degree of force to protect themselves and their loved ones.
But force was not necessarily unreasonable and unlawful "simply because it is disproportionate - unless it is grossly disproportionate".
Read more:
(Image: Getty)
The judges rejected a human rights challenge brought by the family of an alleged intruder who was left in a coma after being confronted by a householder in Gillingham, Kent, at about 3am on December 15 2013.
Police investigators found "householder B", had used a headlock to restrain Denby Collins - but the prosecuting authorities decided not to charge B with any offence.
The Collins family are confident that, had the incident occurred before the recent change in the law, B and possibly other members of his family, would have been charged and prosecuted for unlawful wounding or another offence of violence.
President of the Queen's Bench Division Sir Brian Leveson and Mr Justice Cranston used the case to give guidance to judges and juries throughout England and Wales on how to deal with similar cases.
The householder defence was introduced by Parliament when the Crime and Courts Act 2013 was used to insert a new Section 76(5A) into the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
Peter Collins, Denby's father, applied for a declaration that Section 76(5A) was incompatible with Article 2 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects the right to respect for life.
But both judges rejected his application.
In a ruling on Friday, Sir Brian declared: "In the circumstances I conclude that the criminal law of England and Wales on self defence in householder cases, taken as a whole, fulfils the framework obligation under Article 2(1).
But the judge warned: "The headline message is and remains clear: a householder will only be able to avail himself of the defence if the degree of force he used was reasonable in the circumstances as he believed them to be."
Agreeing with the president, Mr Justice Cranston said the "plain words" of the section read in their legal context "mean that in householder cases the force used in self-defence is not unreasonable simply because it is disproportionate - unless, of course, it is grossly disproportionate".
The Ministry of Justice welcomed the ruling. A spokesman said: "Being confronted by an intruder in your own home can be a terrifying ordeal.
"That is why the last Government strengthened the law to give householders greater protection to defend themselves from intruders.
"We welcome this judgment, which confirms that the provisions under the Crime & Courts Act 2013 are compatible with our obligations under human rights legislation."
Later the Collins family said they were "disappointed" but considering an appeal.
In a statement released by their solicitors, Hickman & Rose, they said: "Denby Collins has been in a coma since December 2013, having been put in a neck lock and restrained on the floor by a householder who claimed to believe that Denby was an intruder into his home.
"Denby's parents are confident that, had the incident in which Denby was subjected to life-threatening force occurred nine months earlier, then the householder - and quite possibly at least one of the other four persons involved in the restraint - would have been charged and prosecuted for unlawful wounding or another offence of violence."
The statement added: "Denby's family continue to believe that the current law insufficiently protects a member of the public from extreme violence being used in self-defence where, for example, the person is left in a coma or is killed because they're treated, rightly or wrongly, as an intruder into someone's home.
"They continue to hold the view that it should be sufficient for the CPS to prove that force used by anyone in self-defence is disproportionate for a person to be convicted for an act of violence of this type."Contracts $100m / 6 Years (2014 - 2019) + 1 Option Years (Edit)
+ 1 Option Years (Edit) signed by Washington Nationals on 2/26/2012 (Extension)
2014: $14M, 2015: $14M, 2016: $14M, 2017: $14M, 2018: $14M, 2019: $18M
$14M, $14M, $14M, $14M, $14M, $18M
2020 Team Option: $18M ($2M buyout)
$18M ($2M buyout)
No Trade: Full
Other Notes: 5 year, $10,000,000 personal services contract to begin once playing career ends. If traded in 2012 or 2013, salaries increase to $16,000,000 in 2014 and $18,000,000 from 2015 through 2018. Personal Services contract would be voided upon a trade in 2012 or 2013.
Agent / Agency: Brodie Van Wagenen
Originally Reported By: Adam Kilgore
Source: washingtonpost.com, Hat Tip: mlbtraderumors.com
Submitted by DCisforBaseball $45m / 5 Years (2009 - 2013) (Edit)
(Edit) signed by Washington Nationals on 4/20/2009 (Extension)
2009: $3.3M, 2010: $6.2M, 2011: $8.9M, 2012: $12M, 2013: $14M
$3.3M, $6.2M, $8.9M, $12M, $14M
Signing Bonus: $0.5M
Incentives: $75,000 for 500 PA's $50,000 each for 550 and 600 PA's $25,000 for ASG Selection
Other Notes: Zimmerman's 6/$100 mil extension did not replace the 2012-2013 seasons of this contract.
Agent / Agency: Brodie Van Wagenen
Originally Reported By: Chico Harlan
Source: voices.washingtonpost.com, Hat Tip: baseballprospectus.com
Submitted by DCisforBaseball Add New Contract Drafts 2005 June Amateur Draft - Round: 1, Pick: 4, Overall: 4
Team: Washington Nationals
School: U Virginia, VABernie Sanders’ campaign for president is drawing impressive crowds to rallies across the country—from 7,500 in Burlington, Vermont, to 300 in Birmingham, Alabama.
And it’s no wonder that many union members are part of this groundswell of support, or that he’s already won endorsements from a number of locals and support resolutions from the Vermont and South Carolina AFL-CIOs.
“It would be hard to find many other elected leaders in state or national office who have supported the issues of working families, working people, the working poor, and workplace justice any more than Senator Sanders,” said nurse Mari Cordes, a member of Vermont’s Teachers (AFT) local.
Sanders’ platform includes a $15-an-hour minimum wage, guaranteed vacations and sick leave, lifting the payroll tax cap on Social Security, and single-payer health care. He’s a vocal opponent of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the latest corporate-friendly trade deal. He rails against income inequality and how the “billionaire class” dominates politics.
“It’s clear that Bernie, like Elizabeth Warren, has been out there speaking about the issues that are boiling up in union halls across the country,” said Larry Hanley, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union.
While he and the ATU have backed Hillary Clinton for years, Hanley said, “Hillary thus far has not offered us the path that Bernie has.”
So endorsements pose a strategic dilemma. “We don’t want to bruise Hillary so much in the process that she can’t win. We don’t want to lead our members down a dark alley,” he said.
“But at what point do we get our share? At what point do workers get what we had 30 years ago? We don’t just get that by saluting the status quo.”
An invitation-only event in D.C. on July 13, hosted by leaders of the Postal Workers (APWU) and former Communications Workers (CWA) President Larry Cohen, drew presidents or their designees from 22 international unions to hear the candidate speak.
A similar number showed up for a Clinton event the next night at the home of her campaign manager, John Podesta.
“Bernie Sanders has been a champion of postal workers and consumers, and raising the question of $15 for all as a minimum wage,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “On that basis our union will give him serious consideration.”
ENDORSEMENTS PUSH
Organizers of Labor for Bernie—a grassroots effort to build labor support for the Sanders campaign—say one goal is to discourage the AFL-CIO from making an early Clinton endorsement.
They argue labor has little to gain from an early endorsement. And they want more time for pro-Sanders activism to raise union members’ expectations on the issues being highlighted in his campaign.
They want 5,000 signatures on their Labor for Bernie statement before the AFL-CIO executive council meets July 29-30. As of July 15 they had 3,500.
Sanders, Clinton, Maryland ex-Gov. Martin O’Malley, and Arkansas ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee are all expected to attend the meeting, where the council could endorse a candidate or decide to hold off. Hanley said the ATU opposes an early endorsement.
Presidential endorsements are the national AFL-CIO’s prerogative, as President Richard Trumka reminded state and local bodies in a recent memo after the Vermont and South Carolina federations passed resolutions backing Sanders.
AFL-CIO bylaws stipulate that these bodies may not “introduce, consider, debate, or pass resolutions or statements that indicate a preference for one candidate over another.” The rule also applies to personal statements by local and state officers.
But Labor for Bernie organizers hope that state and local fed bodies and officers are willing to flout the rules.
So far Sanders has the backing of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2222 in Massachusetts, IBEW Local 159 in Madison, Wisconsin, the Vermont National Education Association (NEA), and Lithographers Local One-L (a Teamsters’ affiliate), among others.
“We were really happy he decided to run, because it gave us an alternative,” said Myles Calvey, Local 2222’s business manager. “Elected Democratic officials have it in their minds that labor has no place to go.”
Calvey contrasts Sanders with Democrat John Kerry. Just a few weeks after CWA and IBEW settled a hard-fought contract with Verizon in 2012, he said, Kerry was sharing seats in the press box at a Patriots game with CEO Lowell McAdam.
Best-Selling Book Secrets of a successful organizer A step-by-step guide to building power on the job. Buy Now. »
The Electrical Workers (UE) executive board has also issued a statement supporting Sanders, urging “members and locals to take a serious look at Bernie Sanders’s campaign and to consider their active participation in it.”
AFT BACKS CLINTON
Clinton picked up a big endorsement July 11, when the executive council of the 1.6 million-member Teachers (AFT) became the first major national union to announce it would support her in the primaries.
President Randi Weingarten has close ties to Clinton, and serves on the board of the pro-Clinton super PAC, Priorities USA.
An AFT press release said members had supported Clinton 3 to 1 in a poll. But many members condemned the endorsement on social media, calling the process flawed and shallow.
“I was really flabbergasted. I think it seems so premature,” said Candi Peterson, vice president of the Washington Teachers Union, Local 6. She’d never heard about the union’s telephone town hall meetings or its “You Decide” website.
“It was the best-kept secret in town,” said Peterson, whose local is based in D.C., like the national union. “And that’s not typical of the AFT—we get bombarded with information.”
“It feels like the leadership did a ‘we know what’s best,’ that their influence with people in power is more important than the members,” said Jia Lee, a chapter leader of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City. “The top campaign contributors to Hillary Clinton are the same groups that support privatization of public education.”
The other big teachers union, the NEA, opted not to endorse early at its July convention. The Vermont chapter sent a delegation outfitted in Bernie T-shirts, with a box full of placards and stickers.
“People came up to us as soon as they saw our shirts and signs,” said President Martha Allen, “and they spread throughout the entire room. We ran out of all our stuff.”
The NEA could still issue an early endorsement in October, through its board and PAC council, or in February. Vermont NEA, meanwhile, will encourage members to knock doors for Sanders in New Hampshire's early primary.
MOVEMENT BUILDER
Cohen, who stepped down as CWA president in June, is now working as an unpaid Sanders volunteer.
The TPP is among the issues motivating him. Sanders has been a leading opponent of the trade deal, while Clinton refuses to take a position.
“What we learned from the trade fight,” Cohen said, “is the gap between what people say when they campaign for the Iowa caucuses and what they then do. I don’t think anybody’s worried about any gap like that for Bernie Sanders.”
For Donna Dewitt, former president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, the key is for Sanders’ message to reach deeper into the Democratic party base and non-voters.
A Sanders event in Columbia, South Carolina, last year drew local leaders from CWA, the Auto Workers, and the Steelworkers. “But the majority [of participants] were young Black workers with the Raise Up campaign, fighting for $15 an hour,” Dewitt said.
“[Bernie] was most impressed with them. The Democratic Party is expanding their base in the minority community, but nobody’s reaching these young workers. None of these people have ever voted before.”
School counselor Susan Sadlowski Garza won a tight race for alderman this year in Chicago’s 10th Ward, after Sanders came out to rally with her, mayoral candidate Chuy Garcia, and Chicago Teachers President Karen Lewis.
“His message is basic things: people before money, working-class people are getting the shaft,” Garza said. “He speaks exactly what we feel. I know people that are staunch Republicans that are swinging toward Bernie, conservatives. His message resonates and crosses party lines.”
Hanley said the ATU is figuring out a process to promote more member involvement in deciding on the presidential endorsement.
“If you don’t do that, you’re just another logo put on somebody’s campaign,” he said. “Our real leverage is in, first, organizing our members around a set of beliefs—and then, through our members, organizing the public around those beliefs.”If you've worked in any corporation for a time then you will have come to realise that it's not the Darwinian, survival of the fittest, lean and mean chess playing machine that exists in the fantasy land of Harvard Business Revenue (ed. sounds more apt than Review)
Your average organisation is full of
duplication. Examples of 100+ projects doing exactly the same thing in an organisation are not uncommon
Examples of 100+ projects doing exactly the same thing in an organisation are not uncommon bias. Lots of custom building that which is already a commodity
Lots of custom building that which is already a commodity miscommunication and alignment issues
and issues strategies which are a tyranny of action (how, what and when) with little to no strategic reasoning (why here over there) but instead endless meme copying from others
copying from others constant restructuring to bolt on new capabilities followed by further restructuring to remove it
to bolt on new capabilities followed by further restructuring to remove it constant missed opportunities where obvious changes are not taken advantage of.
The list goes on and on. As one chief exec told me not so long ago, "We survive because the other guys suck more". It's not so much survival of the fittest (which gives a positive image) but instead survival of the least sucky.
In this post, I'll talk about one relatively simple method to stop the worst excesses of self harm through the use of spend control. This is not about gaining some advantage over others but to solve a particular problem highlighted by another executive - "I've a hundred CIOs running around spending millions. They're like new born infants out of control. My first problem is not they keep burning the cash but that I need to stop them causing self harm. In other words, how do I stop them from wiping their faces in shit?"
Wiping their faces in shit? Sounds a bit excessive. But lets look at the problem. You've a 100 CIOs each operating IT within a business unit. That means you've probably got at least 100 different ERP, CRM, Order processing, Account receivable, Payroll, Storage and other systems. I say at least because it's actually common for a single business unit to have multiple of these things on its own.
As a naive youth, I used to think 380 customised ERP systems built by 380 different teams was a lot of duplication for a single company but in my more gnarled experience, I realise that a lot is when we get into the thousands. In my naive days of youth, I used to think that 80% of IT spending being wasteful was an outrageous and rare figure. These days, I assume that when I walk into a company that 95% of IT spend is being wasted on duplication, bias and no hope projects.
When people talk to me about enterprise content management (ECM), I know that in all probability we've got 200 to 300 different ECMs spread among those 100 business units along with at least 2 or 3 global ECM efforts being built by teams who don't know the others exist or only discover each other by accident. The old "We're building a global single sign on solution" followed by the "Oh, but that's what we're doing" followed by the "really? Same here" is an not an uncommon conversation when IT folk from a single corporation get to meet at conferences.
Of course when we talk about popular topics like IoT or big data then there'll be a few hundred business unit efforts, many more hundred skunk works along with a dozen or more global efforts buried under the portfolios of executives looking to be in charge of the next big thing. In a topic like this, you can easily get many hundreds and in the worst cases thousands of people involved in rebuilding the wheel again and again. I know of one global corporate that has 170 different teams building the same cloud projects.
On top of all this, you'll get projects trying to create interfaces between all the other projects. If you've got 80 different ERP systems and you want inventory list then you'll probably have half a dozen different projects either building interfaces or data warehouses or some other mechanism trying to get all the data together, translated and transformed into a single view. I say half a dozen because why build one when we have such a glorious history of doing the same thing many times at the same time.
Into the mix some CIO will be planning to spend another $10M or so on a data lake, oblivious to the 10 or 20 other data lakes we already have and the further 5 under construction. Naturally, a highly expensive consultancy report being commissioned will probably recommend a lake of lakes - to be home built of course - and is doomed to fail because everyone argues that their lake is special.
This is what most corporate IT is like. If you don't recognise it then you're either very lucky or you need to open your eyes more. For most of you, take your annual IT budget - in the above case say $3 billion. Now double it to $6 billion because a lot of IT costs get buried in other budgets (including basics like power, buildings or contracted out projects). Now multiply by 10% i.e. $600M. This is what you probably should be aiming to spend in total if you're a typical company. In the process of saving huge pots of cash, you'll be making users a hell of a lot happier. Except, you won't actually save anything as you'll end up doing more stuff. This is really all about efficiency.
However, you won't make the efficiency savings. Not because it's impossible but because you lack transparency, challenge and any common mechanism of describing the problem space and removing waste. Unfortunately, chances are you won't fix this problem.
Instead you'll probably hire a consultancy firm which will recommend several floors of consultants (surprise, surprise) and a death star project which involves massive cost overruns and never fixes the problem. If you're lucky, a strong CEO or CIO will go "bugger this" and force the entire company down the route of single cloud services. All hell will break lose as business units (egged on by local IT) claim that using Google mail (for example) doesn't fit their needs or the regulators say we can't or it'll impact differentiation or God or some random bloke on the street or the aforementioned consultants (out of fear of not gaining another floor) said it was a really bad idea or isn't "Enterprise Ready" or legal says the contracts aren't "right" for them or "we want to but we don't have time to migrate as we have to sign the new 10 year extension tomorrow"... blah, blah, blah, blah. Using the axe is a good thing at times like this.
Anyhow, lets assume you want to fix this and I mean permanently going forward. Well, this has to be iterative and so you can't do a big bang approach. You can't also just take the CIOs budget away from them. Instead what you want to do is encourage transparency and challenge. Spend control to the rescue!
First, create a spend control group staffed with a a dozen or so people from inside the organisation who have elements of engineering, business and architecture skills. The job of the group is simple - to create transparency and understanding about the IT landscape, to introduce challenge into the process of spending, to advise and support the CIOs on making better decisions and overtime to help the organisation learn and devise strategy. The latter parts are for another day, for the time being our only strategy is to "try and suck less".
The job of spend control is easy to explain. Before a CIO spends any sum of money above a specific limit (use $100K to begin with) then they need to submit a form to spend control, outlining the amount, who with, the user needs being met, the customer journey and a map. This is information the CIO should have and if they don't can be created in a day or so. The spend control group should help here by providing support on how to write a customer journey and a map.
A Wardley Map
Once spend control has this, they should look at the map and check does it focus on user needs? Focusing on user needs should be a core doctrine of the company and something that everyone does.
Now compare the map with other maps. To begin with, you start with no maps to compare or just a few but over time you have many and can create a profile of common components reappearing on different maps. What you're looking for is bias and duplication along with building a common lexicon and you can do this because the maps provide a common language and you have some transparency because people are sharing them.
Once you've identified duplication and bias in your map, you can challenge it.
Some of the components you'll have no other reference to in your other maps but you can still use a cheat sheet to challenge by looking at the properties.
You can also often find unmet needs i.e. those covered in other maps but should be in this one.
You can also look for more industrialised and common components that are suitable for shared services or cloud or common components (the green dots). Later on, you can use this to find new opportunities but that's not the focus of this post.
So, spend control, after a couple of hours work can go back to the CIO and say
---
Thanks for the info.
Around 80% of your project is currently being built by Team [XYZ]. By using those components you should be able to reduce your project cost from $10M to $2M.
The parking system you're thinking of building is likely to be available in the market as a product and doesn't have to be built from scratch. We've had a look and found this project [DEF] which might be suitable.
You're missing a bunch of user needs we think it might be useful for you to include [ABC].
---
The more maps you collect, the better your understanding of the entire landscape and the more you can challenge. This is an iterative process, you don't try to boil the ocean with floors of mega bucks consultants designing a death star but instead every time a system is designed or comes up for re-compete then it loops through spend control. Bit by bit you clean up the mess building common components as you go.
Now, sometimes spend control has to say No because a CIO wants to do something anyway. Hence it's important that spend control is involved early as some will try and railroad i.e. we have to sign this contract now or else.... blah, blah, blah. The key is, Spend Control doesn't take away the budget but instead introduces challenge and can (in the worst cases) force a CIO to find a better way.
Spend control fulfils the essential corporate roles of understanding the landscape, teaching others how to do this, introducing challenge to project and where necessary enforcing basic doctrine (focus on user needs etc).
Before someone says, we do this already - ask them how many ECMs they have in their organisation and how do they determine duplication and bias. In over 99% of cases, they don't.
Overtime, you can increase the doctrine i.e. you can ensure appropriate methods are applied...
... or you ensure projects are broken down into sensible contract size and FIST (Fast, Inexpensive, Simple and Tiny) principles are applied.
... or you ensure a sane organisational structure is applied (use small teams).
... or you can ensure that the organisation is designed for constant evolution by considering attitude.
After quite a long time, once you're on the path to getting rid of much of the waste then you can start to look towards more strategic play and at this point then spend control grows into your strategic arm of the company. You can start learning about common economic patterns, start anticipating change in your market through weak signal detection, find opportunities through common services and discover context specific gameplay which you can then use in iterative strategies. However, that's way beyond this post.
To begin with, we're focused on simply stopping self harm.
Oh and be warned... lots of people don't like the idea of challenge or transparency especially vendors and consultancy firms. Keep a close eye on those who try and derail it. You're going to get some and whilst the overwhelming majority will simply be innocent inertia, I'm afraid there's a more seedy side. You might well find a few who are "influenced" by your own suppliers - conference events, jollies, gifts etc etc. The problem is that by reducing waste you'll be hitting the bonuses of others. The same approach can also be used in finance, marketing, operations and the business but I'll leave that to another day.The 9 o’clock sun at night is no match for ISO 6 at f1.4. But I intended to shoot it like that. There is a “HolE” there, make sure you KEEP OFF At the end of the pier. Breakwater light. Beautiful.
My friend sent me two rolls of EASTMAN Fine Grain Duplicating Film and I loaded it into 135 cassettes and rated at ISO6. I figured I’d put it in my SRT 101 as at a glance that’s the camera that would actually meter at ISO6, which would make it easier. Besides the fact that I just worked on the camera and needed to test it. I developed it in Rodinal 1+50 Rotary. I think it turned out great, and this roll makes ISO 100 look horrible, as I developed a roll of ISO 100 right after. The film is slightly tricky to shoot and focus, but I like it. There are better shots than these yet, but I just didn’t post them. Film is totally usable for still.Mirchi Treasure Recovery in Fl.. In this game you have to find and recover the treasure from floating island. You have to solve some interesting puzzles and get some clues to complete..
AVM Cute Pet Dog Escape.. There were a few houses in a old village and a cute pet dog lived in one of them. One day the pet dog became trapped in the house. Save the dog by fin..
G2J clown Rat Escape We know that you are a great fan of escape games so that means you must like puzzles. So here we present you Clown Rat Escape, a cocktail with an esse..
G4k Squirrel Fruit Rescue.. There were a few houses in a beautiful and magnificent village. The place was beautiful to see. There was a peanut living there. That peanut was unexp..
Find My Camera in Historical T.. In this escape game, you came to a historical temple for research. But unfortunately, you missed your camera in that place. You have to find your came..French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault leaves the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, June 15, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
PARIS (Reuters) - France’s foreign minister said on Sunday that questions needed to be asked on whether Turkey was a viable partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
“There are questions that are being asked and we will ask them. It (Turkey) is partly viable, but there are suspicions as well. Let’s be honest about this,” Jean-Marc Ayrault told France 3 television.
He said |
this type of synchrotron radiation, typically referred to as “hard” X-rays, can penetrate millimeters into materials, compared with the micrometers possible with standard laboratory X-ray sources. The extended reach enables scientists to probe a working battery’s anode, its cathode, and the layer separating the two in real time and in the presence of electrolyte solution.
Working with other Argonne scientists, Okasinski used hard X-ray methods in a series of studies on lithium-air batteries. Li-air batteries could potentially provide much more energy per weight than lithium-ion batteries used in many current electronics. But Li-air batteries tend to fail quickly.
The studies turned up multiple findings. First, trace amounts of water in the electrolyte solution, likely from electrolyte decomposition, triggered unwanted reactions. For example, the reactions caused the lithium anode to continuously decompose and form lithium hydroxide. But the news wasn’t all bad. The team also found that the lithium hydroxide layer was riddled with microscopic channels that enabled the battery to continue running—albeit weakly—until all of the lithium was consumed.
Overall, the findings suggest that a decomposition-resistant electrolyte would mitigate some of the problems and improve battery performance.A PhD student of St Stephen’s College went to the police on Friday with a complaint of sexual harassment against a professor and accused principal Valson Thampu of trying to protect the faculty member when the matter was brought to his notice.
According to the complaint, chemistry professor Satish Kumar — who also discharges the duties of the bursar — molested the complainant on October 15, 2013. The student has also accused him of stalking her, passing lewd remarks and making inappropriate physical contact for months before the incident. Kumar once even threatened to “pour sulphuric acid on her if she didn’t wear a yellow sari to college”, the complaint read.
The woman said she stopped going to college after the incident but Kumar called her repeatedly, stalked her on social media and sent other students to look for her till she finally confided in her parents. When the family confronted Kumar later in the month, he apologised and “promised never to repeat such behaviour”, she said. But, she added, the harassment continued.
According to the FIR, the parents took their complaint to Thampu in December 2014, but he dismissed the issue as a “purely academic problem”. The complainant said Thampu discouraged her from filing a sexual harassment case, giving her two options instead — “go to Delhi University’s grievance redressal cell and jeopardise my degree or term the issue an academic problem”. She also accused Kumar of blocking her monthly stipend of Rs 18,000.
The student decided to approach the grievance redressal cell, which started looking into the matter on January 15. The cell is yet to reveal its findings and held its last meeting on May 19. Unhappy with the slow pace of proceedings, the student approached the police on Friday. A magisterial hearing in the case will be held on Saturday.
Thampu told HT, “I am unaware of the matter and have no involvement in it.”
The college’s media coordinator said, “An inquiry is nearing completion. It is reiterated that St. Stephen’s is uncompromisingly committed to the safety and dignity of women on campus and no effort will be spared to ensure justice is done. The college appeals to all concerned not to undermine the solemnity of the pursuit of justice for the allurement of ulterior gains of whatever kind.”
Despite repeated attempts by HT, professor Satish Kumar could not be contacted.
St. Stephen’s had found itself in a similar controversy last year when an administrative officer was indicted by the college’s sexual harassment committee. He, however, continues to be employed by the college at the principal’s residence.
First Published: Jun 19, 2015 21:12 IST15th-century King of England and Duke of Aquitaine
This article is about the king. For the Shakespeare play, see Henry V (play)
Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his early death in 1422. He was the second English monarch of the House of Lancaster. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against France, most notably in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe.[3] Immortalised in the plays of Shakespeare, Henry is known and celebrated as one of the great warrior kings of medieval England.
In his youth, during the reign of his father Henry IV, Henry gained military experience fighting the Welsh during the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr and against the powerful aristocratic Percy family of Northumberland at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Henry acquired an increasing share in England's government due to the king's declining health, but disagreements between father and son led to political conflict between the two. After his father's death in 1413, Henry assumed control of the country and asserted the pending English claim to the French throne.
In 1415, Henry embarked on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) between the two nations. His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt (1415) and saw him come close to conquering France. Taking advantage of political divisions within France, he conquered large portions of the kingdom and Normandy was occupied by the English for the first time since 1345–1360. After months of negotiation with Charles VI of France, the Treaty of Troyes (1420) recognised Henry V as regent and heir apparent to the French throne and he was subsequently married to Charles's daughter, Catherine of Valois.
Following this arrangement, everything seemed to point to the formation of a union between the kingdoms of France and England, in the person of King Henry. His sudden and unexpected death in France two years later condemned England to the long and difficult minority of his infant son and successor, who reigned as Henry VI in England and Henry II in France.
Early life [ edit ]
Henry was born in the tower above the gatehouse of Monmouth Castle in Wales, and for that reason was sometimes called Henry of Monmouth.[5] He was the son of Henry of Bolingbroke (later Henry IV of England) and Mary de Bohun, and thus also the paternal grandson of the influential John of Gaunt, and great-grandson of Edward III of England. At the time of his birth, Richard II, his first cousin once removed, was king. Henry's grandfather, John of Gaunt, was the king's guardian. As he was not close to the line of succession to the throne, Henry's date of birth was not officially documented; and for many years it was disputed whether he was born in 1386 or 1387.[6] However, records indicate that his younger brother Thomas was born in the autumn of 1387 and that his parents were at Monmouth in 1386 but not in 1387.[7] It is now accepted that he was born on 16 September 1386.[8][12]
Upon the exile of Henry's father in 1398, Richard II took the boy into his own charge and treated him kindly.[13] The young Henry accompanied King Richard to Ireland. While in the royal service, he visited Trim Castle in County Meath, the ancient meeting place of the Irish Parliament. In 1399, Henry's grandfather died. In the same year, King Richard II was overthrown by the Lancastrian usurpation that brought Henry's father to the throne and Henry was recalled from Ireland into prominence as heir apparent to the Kingdom of England. He was created Prince of Wales at his father's coronation and Duke of Lancaster on 10 November 1399, the third person to hold the title that year. His other titles were Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester and Duke of Aquitaine. A contemporary record notes that during that year, Henry spent time at The Queen's College, Oxford under the care of his uncle Henry Beaufort, the chancellor of the university.[14] From 1400 to 1404, he carried out the duties of High Sheriff of Cornwall.
Less than three years later, Henry was in command of part of the English forces. He led his own army into Wales against Owain Glyndŵr and joined forces with his father to fight Henry "Hotspur" Percy at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.[15] It was there that the sixteen-year-old prince was almost killed by an arrow that became stuck in his face. An ordinary soldier might have died from such a wound, but Henry had the benefit of the best possible care. Over a period of several days, John Bradmore, the royal physician, treated the wound with honey to act as an antiseptic, crafted a tool to screw into the broken arrow shaft and thus extract the arrow without doing further damage and flushed the wound with alcohol. The operation was successful, but it left Henry with permanent scars, evidence of his experience in battle.[16] For eighteen months in 1410–11, Henry was in control of the country during his father's ill health and took full advantage of the opportunity to impose his own policies. When the king recovered, he reversed most of these and dismissed the prince from his council.[17]
Role in government and conflict with Henry IV [ edit ]
The Welsh revolt of Owain Glyndŵr absorbed Henry's energies until 1408. Then, as a result of the king's ill health, Henry began to take a wider share in politics. From January 1410, helped by his uncles Henry Beaufort and Thomas Beaufort, legitimised sons of John of Gaunt, he had practical control of the government.[13]
Both in foreign and domestic policy he differed from the king, who discharged the prince from the council in November 1411. The quarrel of father and son was political only, though it is probable that the Beauforts had discussed the abdication of Henry IV. Their opponents certainly endeavoured to defame the prince.[13]
Supposed riotous youth [ edit ]
It may be that the tradition of Henry's riotous youth, immortalised by Shakespeare, is partly due to political enmity. Henry's record of involvement in war and politics, even in his youth, disproves this tradition. The most famous incident, his quarrel with the chief justice, has no contemporary authority and was first related by Sir Thomas Elyot in 1531.[18][13]
The story of Falstaff originated in Henry's early friendship with Sir John Oldcastle, a supporter of the Lollards. Shakespeare's Falstaff was originally named "Oldcastle", following his main source, The Famous Victories of Henry V. His descendants objected and the name was changed (the character became a composite of several real persons, including Sir John Fastolf). That friendship, and the prince's political opposition to Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, perhaps encouraged Lollard hopes. If so, their disappointment may account for the statements of ecclesiastical writers like Thomas Walsingham that Henry on becoming king was suddenly changed into a new man.[19][13]
Accession to the throne [ edit ]
After Henry IV died on 20 March 1413, Henry V succeeded him and was crowned on 9 April 1413 at Westminster Abbey, London, Kingdom of England. The ceremony was marked by a terrible snowstorm, but the common people were undecided as to whether it was a good or bad omen.[20] Henry was described as having been "very tall (6ft 3 in), slim, with dark hair cropped in a ring above the ears, and clean-shaven". His complexion was ruddy, the face lean with a prominent and pointed nose. Depending on his mood, his eyes "flashed from the mildness of a dove's to the brilliance of a lion's".[21]
Domestic policy [ edit ]
A gold noble coin of Henry V
Henry tackled all of the domestic policies together and gradually built on them a wider policy. From the first, he made it clear that he would rule England as the head of a united nation. On the one hand, he let past differences be forgotten – the late Richard II was honourably re-interred; the young Mortimer was taken into favour; the heirs of those who had suffered in the last reign were restored gradually to their titles and estates. On the other hand, where Henry saw a grave domestic danger, he acted firmly and ruthlessly, such as the Lollard discontent in January 1414 and including the execution by burning of Henry's old friend Sir John Oldcastle in 1417 to "nip the movement in the bud" and make his own position as ruler secure.[13]
His reign was generally free from serious trouble at home. The exception was the Southampton Plot in favour of Mortimer,[13] involving Henry, Lord Scrope and Richard, Earl of Cambridge (grandfather of the future King Edward IV of England), in July 1415. Mortimer himself remained loyal to Henry.
Starting in August 1417, Henry V promoted the use of the English language in government[22] and his reign marks the appearance of Chancery Standard English as well as the adoption of English as the language of record within government. He was the first king to use English in his personal correspondence since the Norman conquest 350 years earlier.[23][24]
Foreign affairs [ edit ]
Diplomacy [ edit ]
Henry could now turn his attention to foreign affairs. A writer of the next generation was the first to allege that Henry was encouraged by ecclesiastical statesmen to enter into the French war as a means of diverting attention from home troubles. This story seems to have no foundation. Old commercial disputes and the support the French had lent to Owain Glyndŵr were used as an excuse for war, while the disordered state of France afforded no security for peace.[13] The French king, Charles VI of France, was prone to mental illness; at times he thought he was made of glass, and his eldest surviving son was an unpromising prospect. However, it was the old dynastic claim to the throne of France, first pursued by Edward III of England, that justified war with France in English opinion.
Following Agincourt, Sigismund, then King of Hungary and later Holy Roman Emperor, made a visit to Henry in hopes of making peace between England and France. His goal was to persuade Henry to modify his demands against the French. Henry lavishly entertained the emperor and even had him enrolled in the Order of the Garter. Sigismund, in turn, inducted Henry into the Order of the Dragon.[25] Henry had intended to crusade for the order after uniting the English and French thrones, but he died before fulfilling his plans.[26][27][28] Sigismund left England several months later, having signed the Treaty of Canterbury acknowledging English claims to France.
Campaigns in France [ edit ]
Henry may have regarded the assertion of his own claims as part of his royal duty, but a permanent settlement of the national debate was essential to the success of his foreign policy.[13]
1415 campaign [ edit ]
On 12 August 1415, Henry sailed for France, where his forces besieged the fortress at Harfleur, capturing it on 22 September. Afterwards, Henry decided to march with his army across the French countryside towards Calais despite the warnings of his council.[29] On 25 October, on the plains near the village of Agincourt, a French army intercepted his route. Despite his men-at-arms being exhausted, outnumbered and malnourished, Henry led his men into battle, decisively defeating the French, who suffered severe losses. It is often argued that the French men-at-arms were bogged down in the muddy battlefield, soaked from the previous night of heavy rain, and that this hindered the French advance, allowing them to be sitting targets for the flanking English and Welsh archers. Most were simply hacked to death while completely stuck in the deep mud. Nevertheless, the victory is seen as Henry's greatest, ranking alongside the Battle of Crécy (1346) and the Battle of Poitiers (1356) as the greatest English victories of the Hundred Years' War.
During the battle,[30] Henry ordered that the French prisoners taken during the battle be put to death, including some of the most illustrious who could be used for ransom. Cambridge historian Brett Tingley posits that Henry was concerned that the prisoners might turn on their captors when the English were busy repelling a third wave of enemy troops, thus jeopardising a hard-fought victory.
The victorious conclusion of Agincourt, from the English viewpoint, was only the first step in the campaign to recover the French possessions that he felt belonged to the English crown. Agincourt also held out the promise that Henry's pretensions to the French throne might be realised.
Diplomacy and command of the sea [ edit ]
Command of the sea was secured by driving the Genoese allies of the French out of the English Channel.[13] While Henry was occupied with peace negotiations in 1416, a French and Genoese fleet surrounded the harbour at the English-garrisoned Harfleur. A French land force also besieged the town. To relieve Harfleur, Henry sent his brother, John of Lancaster, the Duke of Bedford, who raised a fleet and set sail from Beachy Head on 14 August. The Franco-Genoese fleet was defeated the following day after a gruelling seven-hour battle and Harfleur was relieved. Diplomacy successfully detached Emperor Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, from France and the Treaty of Canterbury in 1416 paved the way to end the Western Schism in the Church.
1417–20 campaign [ edit ]
With those two potential enemies gone, and after two years of patient preparation following the Battle of Agincourt, Henry renewed the war on a larger scale in 1417. Lower Normandy was quickly conquered and Rouen was cut off from Paris and besieged. This siege cast an even darker shadow on the reputation of the king than his order to slay the French prisoners at Agincourt. Rouen, starving and unable to support the women and children of the town, forced them out through the gates believing that Henry would allow them to pass through his army unmolested. However, Henry refused to allow this, and the expelled women and children died of starvation in the ditches surrounding the town. The French were paralysed by the disputes between Burgundians and Armagnacs. Henry skilfully played them off one against the other without relaxing his warlike approach.[13]
In January 1419, Rouen fell.[13] Those Norman French who had resisted were severely punished: Alain Blanchard, who had hanged English prisoners from the walls of Rouen, was summarily executed; Robert de Livet, Canon of Rouen, who had excommunicated the English king, was packed off to England and imprisoned for five years.[31]
By August, the English were outside the walls of Paris. The intrigues of the French parties culminated in the assassination of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, by the Dauphin's partisans at Montereau on 10 September. Philip the Good, the new duke, and the French court threw themselves into Henry's arms. After six months of negotiation, the Treaty of Troyes recognised Henry as the heir and regent of France (see English Kings of France),[13] and on 2 June 1420 at Troyes Cathedral, he married Catherine of Valois, the French king's daughter. They had only one son, Henry, born on 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle. From June to July 1420, Henry's army besieged and took the military fortress castle at Montereau-Fault-Yonne close to Paris. He besieged and captured Melun in November 1420, returning to England shortly thereafter. In 1428, Charles VII retook Montereau-Fault-Yonne, to once again see the English take it over within a short time. Finally, on October 10, 1437, Charles VII was victorious in regaining Montereau-Fault-Yonne.
1421 campaign and death [ edit ]
While he was in England, Henry's brother Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, led the English forces in France. On March 22, 1421, Thomas led the English to a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Baugé against a Franco-Scottish army. The duke was killed in the battle. On 10 June, Henry sailed back to France to retrieve the situation. It would be his last military campaign. From July to August, Henry's forces besieged and captured Dreux, thus relieving allied forces at Chartres. On October 6, his forces laid siege to Meaux, capturing it on May 11, 1422.
Henry V died suddenly on 31 August 1422 at the Château de Vincennes. He was thought to have died from dysentery,[32] supposedly contracted during the siege of Meaux. He was 36 years old and had reigned for nine years.
Shortly before his death, Henry V named his brother, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, regent of France in the name of his son, Henry VI of England, then only a few months old. Henry V did not live to be crowned King of France himself, as he might confidently have expected after the Treaty of Troyes, because the sickly Charles VI, to whom he had been named heir, survived him by two months. Henry's comrade-in-arms and Lord Steward, John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, brought his body back to England and bore the royal standard at his funeral.[33] Henry V was buried in Westminster Abbey on 7 November 1422. By Henry's request, he shared his grave with his friend, Richard Courtenay, rather than his wife. This was confirmed in 1953 when the grave was opened. Courtenay's death in 1415 had left Henry distraught. The closeness of the attachment has led to scholarly speculation that Courtenay played a critical role in mentoring Henry to become a respected monarch and that the attachment was more than a friendship.[34] However, the abbey says that Richard Courtenay's grave was found in the base of Henry's chantry, perchance disturbed when the king's memorial was built.[35] Also, Henry's last will and codicils, which gave specific instructions on how he should be buried, make no mention of a co-burial with anyone else.[36]
Arms [ edit ]
Henry's arms as Prince of Wales were those of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points.[37] Upon his accession, he inherited use of the arms of the kingdom undifferenced.
Henry's achievement as Prince of Wales
Royal achievement as king.
Marriage [ edit ]
In 1420 Henry V married Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France and younger sister of the widow of Richard II, Isabella of Valois (who died several years after her husband). Her dowry, upon the agreement between the two kingdoms, was 600,000 crowns.[38] Together the couple had one child, Henry. Upon Henry V's death, the infant Prince was made king and was crowned Henry VI of England.
Ancestry [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
In a lawsuit
filed today, the attorneys general of the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia claim that by accepting millions of dollars and countless more perks from foreign governments, President Trump is at the center of an “unprecedented constitutional violation.” Whether it’s $270,000 in payments from a lobbying firm working for the Saudi government or praise from the Ambassador of Georgia (also a paying customer), Trump’s hotels and properties continue to rake it in from governments across the globe, from Turkey to Kuwait to India to Afghanistan to Qatar.
The attorneys general claim that “President Trump’s personal fortune is at stake,” whenever he makes a policy decision, whether it be about taxes, climate change, or foreign relations — a troubling notion, to say the least. According to the lawsuit, Trump’s continued entanglement in his business violates the constitutional emolument clause that, in theory, prevents the president from taking payments from foreign governments. The lawsuit is damning, saying, “never before has a President acted with such disregard for this constitutional prescription.”
Trump, of course, still profits directly from his business dealings, since he has not divested from his business holdings in any way.
I’ve spent the last five months researching the Trump family’s global brand-based empire and the various ways that the president has turned the U.S. government into the ultimate extension of his for-profit brand, so far without any repercussion. So it’s good to see the law starting to catch up. But the lawsuit touches on a fraction of the ways in which Trump is actively profiting from the presidency. As I write in the introduction to “No Is Not Enough,” we are seeing this unprecedented level of self-dealing because Trump’s business model is itself relatively new, and certainly a first for a sitting president:
Trump was never the head of a traditional company but has, rather, long been the figurehead of an empire built around his personal brand — one that has, along with his daughter Ivanka’s brand, already benefited from its merger with the U.S. presidency in countless ways (membership rates at Mar-a-Lago have doubled; Ivanka’s product sales, we are told, are through the roof). The Trump family’s business model is part of a broader shift in corporate structure that has taken place within many brand-based multinationals, one with transformative impacts on culture and the job market. What this model tells us is that the very idea that there could be – or should be – any distinction between the Trump brand and the Trump presidency is a concept the current occupant of the White House cannot begin to comprehend. The presidency is the crowning extension of the Trump brand. We are in entirely uncharted territory, because let’s face it: human megabrands are a relatively new phenomenon. There’s no rulebook that foresaw any of this. People keep asking — is he going to divest? Is he going to sell his businesses? Is Ivanka going to? But it’s not at all clear what these questions even mean, because their primary businesses are their names. You can’t disentangle Trump the man from Trump the brand; those two entities merged long ago.
There’s a whole web of ways the Trumps can make money off their names and their official and unofficial roles in the White House. Patronage at Trump hotels and resorts by foreign governments and corporations is probably the least of it. Here’s an extract from another relevant chapter:
The conflicts tipped into self-parody on April 6, 2017, when, the Associated Press reported, “Ivanka Trump’s company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the world’s second-largest economy.” But that’s not the only thing that happened that day. “That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for a steak and Dover sole dinner at Mar-a-Lago.” A political summit whose details had been arranged by none other than Jared Kushner. This goes well beyond nepotism; it’s the U.S. government as a for-profit family business.
Photo: Alex Brandon/AP
And a new twist since the book went to press. In China, three labor activists were detained by the government in May while investigating conditions at factories that make shoes for Ivanka Trump’s brand. This news came not long after the U.S.-based China Labor Watch alleged that some workers in factories that produced for Ivanka’s brand were paid what amounted to less than a dollar an hour, while being forced to work 12.5-hour days, six days a week. Despite mounting international condemnation, the activists have yet to be released. Could it be that the Chinese government decided to provide the ultimate service to the Trump family of brands: silencing whistleblowers who were exposing ugly corporate truths?
A New York Times reporter wrote earlier this month that, upon visiting Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, she was given a (now-discontinued) brochure dangling the possibility of a treat from Trump himself: “If he is on-site for your big day, he will likely stop in.” Despite protestations to the contrary, the idea that Trump-the-man is still deeply involved in Trump-the-business is very much a part of the whole offer of Trump-branded hotels and clubs. And nowhere more so than at Mar-a-Lago:
Mar-a-Lago has already increased its membership fees, to $200,000 from $100,000. And why not? Now, for your fee, you might find yourself witnessing a high-stakes conversation about national security over dinner. You might get to hobnob with a visiting head of state. You might even get to witness Trump announcing that he has just launched an air assault on a foreign country. And, of course, you might even get to meet the president himself, and have the chance to quietly influence him. (No public records are kept of who comes and goes from the club, so who knows?) For decades, Trump has been selling the allure of proximity to wealth and power — it is the meaning of his brand. But now he’s able to offer, to his paying customers, the real deal. Anything that increases Donald Trump’s visibility, and the perception of him as all-powerful, actively increases the value of the Trump brand, and therefore increases how much clients will pay to be associated with it — to slap it on their new condo development, say, or, on a smaller scale, to play on his golf courses or buy one of his ties.
Meanwhile, the Trump Organization has worked relentlessly to expand its global reach. And why not? The brand is more visible now than ever before, and customers are willing to pay. As the lawsuit states, Trump’s “high office gives the Trump brand greater prominence and exposure.” And this is the heart of what we need to understand about how dangerous it is to have a president who is in the business of selling not any one particular product but his name:
Given that what the Trump sons — Eric and Donald Jr. — are selling is ephemeral (a name), a buyer could pay $6 million for it or could pay $60 million. Who’s to judge what constitutes a fair market-value price? More worryingly, who’s to say what services are being purchased when a private company pays millions to lease the Trump brand? Do they really think it’s that valuable to their condo tower, or do they think that by throwing in an extra $5 million, they might be looked on more favorably in other dealings that require a friendly relationship with the White House? It’s very difficult to see how any of this can be untangled. A brand is worth whatever buyers are willing to pay for it. That’s always been the appeal of building a business on this model — that something as ephemeral as a name could be vested with such real-world monetary value. What’s extraordinary about Donald Trump’s presidency is that now we are all inside the Trump branded world, whether we want to be or not. We have all become extras in his for-profit reality TV show, which has expanded to swallow the most powerful government in the world.
The Trumps aren’t going to stop coming up with new ways to cash in on the presidency anytime soon. Since I finished writing “No Is Not Enough,” they’ve announced yet another creative new way to turn the White House into a for-profit family business, which I wrote about last week.
Enter American Idea, “a new midscale brand” hotel chain whose first properties will be in Mississippi, a red state where Trump won 18 percentage points more of the popular vote than Hillary Clinton. This is not just an attempt at crashing the Comfort Inn niche by wrapping it in stars and stripes. It’s also the most vivid window yet into the myriad ways the Trump family is transforming the presidency into a for-profit family business, annihilating the line between government and their web of brands. It turns out that while the Trump kids were on the campaign trail last year, they weren’t just stumping for their father — they were conducting market research on ways to profit from Trump voters. The sons would return to Trump Tower and report on the quaint and old-timey tastes enjoyed in “real America,” as Eric Trump described it on “Good Morning America.” As Donald Jr. put it, he realized “there’s something here, there’s a market here that we’ve been missing our entire lives by focusing only on the high end.” And there were more perks to tagging along on the campaign trail. They also met people who donated to the Trump campaign, and some of those very people are now the first partners for this new venture. So let’s unpack that a bit. In Trump’s world, voters are future customers, campaign donors are future investors, and election results are a rich vein of consumer data.
The new lawsuit, though welcome, is only the first step of understanding the merger of the Trump Organization and the White House – with its almost infinite possibilities for corruption and influence peddling.
Naomi Klein’s new book, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need, will published by Haymarket Books on June 13. www.noisnotenough.orgA few months back, after the Brussels terrorist attacks, I pointed out on Coffee House that there is a certain routine after any such atrocity. One part of it is that, after a couple of days pause, we always get the ‘Muslim good news story’. This is the part when after a couple of days of everyone insisting Islam has nothing to do with the Islamist attack the national and international media gets to run almost as big a story suggesting that although Islam is not part of any problem, it is, however, a very major answer to almost everything.
Fortunately the slaughter of Father Jacques Hamel last week has already got its good news story. Near the top of the news agenda on Sunday was news that Muslims had attended mass across France and Italy in solidarity. It is the sort of heart-warming news story to which the media these days is enormously attracted and, therefore, enormously vulnerable.
I have been scouring through these stories and the striking thing about them is that in most cases the Muslim attendees at mass appear to have been – as I would have expected them to be – Ahmadiyya Muslims. This is the persecuted sect which many Muslims regard as non-Muslims and who are subjected to severe persecution around the world from other Muslims. Even here in the UK. Despite being a tiny minority sect within Islam they are also – as I have pointed out here before – the group which is almost always behind any positive outreach from the Muslim communities in Europe.
Anyhow – stories of the Muslims of Europe attending church in their dozens as a gesture of solidarity was clearly an Ahmadiyya initiative. Accounts of the Muslims attending mass in Rouen show that they unfurled an Ahmadiyya banner (the banner had the group’s outreach motto, ‘Love for all. Hate for none’ on it). Some accounts of the several dozen Muslims who attended mass in Rouen recorded that ‘Many of the Muslims’ attending mass there were Ahmadiyya.
Of course the BBC headline on this simply said ‘Muslims across France have attended Catholic mass in a gesture of solidarity’. The Archbishop of Rouen is quoted in the story saying that these Muslims told him ‘It’s not Islam which killed Jacques Hamel.’ We also learn that ‘Mosques are not a place in which fanatics become radicalised. Mosques do the opposite of terrorism: they diffuse peace and dialogue.’ This came on the same day we learned of the Imam of a mosque in Cardiff teaching his young male students that Islamic law allows them to take sex slaves.
Alas the BBC story found no time to mention Ahmadiyya Muslims in this beautiful lead story. Not their own persecuted status. Not their own minority status. And not the fact that wonderful as their message is, they are about as representative of their faith as the deeply non-wonderful Neturei Karta are of Jews.
If the BBC headlines had been true then the banlieues would have emptied as young Muslims attended Mass in solidarity. Instead a few dozen Ahmadiyya attended Mass and gave the Western media the good news story they are always on the lookout for. All of which makes one wonder, among other things, whether the historic role of Islam’s most persecuted sect will not in the end be the accidental covering-over of the most painful realities of a creed which has them in the cross-hairs as much – if not more – than everyone else who disagrees with them.This is a weird situation… and I wonder if any lawyers in the UK can shed some light on whether this is legal and what, if anything, can be done about it.
Steve, a British atheist, has been told by a judge that, as part of a divorce settlement, he must attend Roman Catholic mass with his kids.
The instruction to attend church was something the judge introduced without being requested by the mother. The judge declared his Roman Catholicism to the court. The children only occasionally attended church with their mother before the divorce. … Steve chooses not to take his children to mass, thereby leaving himself open to a charge of Contempt of Court and a prison sentence.
It gets even stranger: Steve’s ex-wife, who didn’t request this, is not required to go to mass with the kids, even though he is. In theory, if Steve belonged to a different church that gathered at the same time as the Catholic mass, he’d have to go to the mass, infringing on his own religious rights. The ruling applies until the kids are 18, and it presumably still holds even if the kids say they’re atheists. Steve appealed the decision, but higher courts refused to address the issue.
So many problems with this all around.
The British Humanist Association finds this appalling:
This strange judgment deserves to be overturn [sic], and shows some seriously wrongheaded thinking on the part of the judge about how the religious views of a parent, or a judge for that matter, should weigh against a young person’s own inalienable right to determine for themselves what they believe.
Any thoughts? I can think of options if this happened in the U.S. but I don’t know what the legal alternatives are overseas.
(via A Tippling Philosopher. Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to everyone for the link)This is despite Amnesty International and the Geutanyoe Foundation for Aceh urging the Indonesian government to allow the Sri Lankans to disembark and meet with UN refugee agency officials. The Sri Lankan women disembark the boat against the orders of the Indonesian authorities. Credit:Fadly Sabang navy commander Kiki said the boat was now fixed and would be escorted out of Indonesian waters by Indonesian navy ship Teluk Cirebon |
variety of "Hindi languages".[71] According to 2011 Census, 57.1% of Indian population know Hindi,[72] in which 43.63% of Indian people have declared Hindi as their native language or mother tongue.[73][74] The language data was released on 26 June 2018.[75] Bhili/Bhilodi was the most spoken unscheduled language with 10.4 million speakers, followed by Gondi with 2.9 million speakers. 96.71% of India's population speaks one of the 22 scheduled languages as their mother tongue in the 2011 census.
The 2011 census report on bilingualism and trilingualism, which provides data on the two languages in order of preference in which a person is proficient other than the mother tongue, was released in September 2018.[76][77][78] The number of bilingual speakers in India is 31.49 crore, which is 26% of the population in 2011.[79] 7% of Indian population is trilingual.[80] Hindi, Bengali speakers are India's least multilingual groups.[81]
First, Second, and Third languages by number of speakers in India (2011 Census) Language First language
speakers[82] First language
speakers as a percentage of total population Second language
speakers (in crores) Third language
speakers (in crores) Total speakers (in crores)[72][83] Total speakers as a percentage of total population Hindi 52,83,47,193 43.63 13.9 2.4 69.2 57.10 English 2,59,678 0.02 8.3 4.6 12.9 10.60 Bengali 9,72,37,669 8.30 0.9 0.1 10.7 8.90 Marathi 8,30,26,680 7.09 1.3 0.3 9.9 8.20 Telugu 8,11,27,740 6.93 1.2 0.1 9.5 7.80 Tamil 6,90,26,881 5.89 0.7 0.1 7.7 6.30 Gujarati 5,54,92,554 4.74 0.4 0.1 6.0 5.00 Urdu 5,07,72,631 4.34 1.1 0.1 6.3 5.20 Kannada 4,37,06,512 3.73 1.4 0.1 5.9 4.94 Odia 3,75,21,324 3.20 0.5 0.03 4.3 3.56 Malayalam 3,48,38,819 2.97 0.05 0.02 3.3 3.28 Punjabi 3,31,24,726 2.83 0.33 0.03 3.7 3.56 Sanskrit 24,821 <0.01 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.49
Literacy [ edit ]
Any one above age 7 who can read and write in any language with an ability to understand was considered a literate. In censuses before 1991, children below the age 5 were treated as illiterates. The literacy rate taking the entire population into account is termed as "crude literacy rate", and taking the population from age 7 and above into account is termed as "effective literacy rate". Effective literacy rate increased to a total of 74.04% with 82.14% of the males and 65.46% of the females being literate.[84]
S.No. Census year Total (%) Male (%) Female (%) 1 1901 5.35 9.83 0.60 2 1911 5.92 10.56 1.05 3 1921 7.16 12.21 1.81 4 1931 9.50 15.59 2.93 5 1941 16.10 24.90 7.30 6 1951 16.67 24.95 9.45 7 1961 24.02 34.44 12.95 8 1971 29.45 39.45 18.69 9 1981 36.23 46.89 24.82 10 1991 42.84 52.74 32.17 11 2001 64.83 75.26 53.67 12 2011 74.04 82.14 65.46
The table lists the "effective literacy rate" in India from 1901 to 2011.[ citation needed ]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
a b Prior to the creation of Telangana.New Yorkers only have until October 9 to register as a Democrat in order to vote for Bernie Sanders in the primary.
The New York primary might be in April of next year, but Bernie’s supporters need to start registering as Democrats if they are to vote for him in the primary election.
This means that volunteers need to mobilize quickly to start engaging supporters in New York, and ensure they register before the looming October 9 deadline.
Yes, that means you New Yorkers won’t even get a chance to see a Democratic presidential candidates’ debate to weigh up their options before registering. It’s no wonder the Sanders and O’Malley campaigns are pushing the DNC hard for more debates, before the deadline.
New Yorkers can register as Democrats with the Board of Elections.
Sanders faces fierce competition in New York, which is home to the Clinton campaign. Sanders was born in Brooklyn in 1941, but was living in Vermont by 1968.
The New York primary is set to be held on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.The Dell XPS 13 9370 offers strong performance, long battery life and a stunning screen in a chassis that's slimmer and more attractive than ever.
Update Jan. 8: Check out our review of the 2019 Dell XPS 13, which ditches that awkward 'nosecam.'
Dell's XPS 13 has remained our favorite consumer laptop for the past few years, thanks to its beautiful nearly borderless display, light weight and sleek aesthetic. Now, after multiple generations of sticking with the same chassis, Dell's premium flagship has a new design with slimmer dimensions and a beautiful white-and-gold color scheme. In other improvements, the XPS 13 9370 ($849 to start, $1,249 / $2,499 as tested) also offers an optional 4K display, a better webcam, support for eGPUs and a cooling system that promises stronger sustained performance.
However, to make its laptop thinner, Dell switched to a smaller battery and got rid of USB Type-A ports. As a result, some users will prefer the older, XPS 13 9360, which is still for sale and is powered by the same Intel 8th Gen Core CPUs. But if you want the best combination of design, portability and power, the XPS 13 9370 is the ultraporable to beat.
Specs
Design
If you put the last few generations of the XPS 13 in a lineup, you would not be able to tell them apart, unless you looked at the CPU sticker on the deck. However, the XPS 13 9370 stands out with its new, optional gold-and-white color scheme, along with a slightly slimmer and lighter profile. Dell also sells the 9370 in the XPS 13's traditional silver-and-black aesthetic.
Though it costs a little bit more ($50 extra on the base model), you'll definitely want to get the white color, because it's just plain stunning. The lid and bottom are made from gold-colored aluminum, while the white sides and deck are fashioned from woven crystalline silica fiber.
The deck's weave-like texture adds an air of sophistication and felt good against our wrists, though not quite as comfy as the soft-touch carbon-fiber deck on older XPS 13s and on the silver model.
No matter which color you choose, the XPS 13 is a little bit slimmer and lighter than its predecessor. The XPS 13 9370 weighs just 2.65 pounds and is a mere 0.46 inches thick at its thickest point (0.3 inches at its thinnest). The last generation XPS 13 9360 weighs 0.13 pounds more and is 0.14 inches thicker. HP's Spectre 13 is even svelter, weighing 2.4 pounds and measuring 0.41 inches thick. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon tips the scales at 2.49 pounds, but is 0.6 inches.
Ports
Unfortunately, when slimming the XPS 13 down to 0.46 inches, Dell had to ditch the standard, USB Type-A ports and full-size SD card reader that appeared on all the previous generations. On the left side of the XPS 13 9370, you'll find two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which can charge the laptop or connect to high-speed peripherals. There's also a Noble lock slot and a battery gauge, which shows the charge level on a series of five white lights.
On the right, you'll find a 3.5mm audio jack, a microSD card slot and a USB Type-C port, which can output DisplayPort video. Both the Dell XPS 13 9360 and ThinkPad X1 Carbon have standard USB ports in addition to the Thunderbolt 3, while the HP Spectre 13 also lacks USB Type-A connectors.
In a major improvement over the XPS 13 9360, the 9370's Thunderbolt 3 ports support four-lane PCI connections, so you can use the laptop with an eGPU for serious gaming.
In a major improvement over the XPS 13 9360, the 9370's Thunderbolt 3 ports support four-lane PCI connections so you can use the laptop with an eGPU (external graphics card) that enables serious gaming. Prior models had only two lanes of PCI connected to their Thunderbolt 3 ports, so they couldn't work properly with external graphics. We tested the XPS 13 9370 with an Aorus Gaming Box 1070, and it worked.
Display
The XPS 13 9370's 13.3-inch, InfinityEdge display has bezels that are 23 percent thinner than the almost nonexistent borders on the XPS 7360. Because there's virtually no frame around the top and sides of the screen, images just seem to pop more.
We tested the Dell XPS 13 9370 with both a 3840 x 2160 (4K, Ultra HD) touch screen and a 1920 x 1080 non-touch screen. Both models offered impressive brightness, color quality and sharpness, though the 4K screen was noticeably better. When I watched the 4K movie Tears of Steel, the neon pink and green lights impressed on both displays, but were richer on the Ultra HD panel. Fine details, such as the wires on a robot's body and the wrinkles in a character's jacket, stood out on both panels, and colors stayed true, even at 90 degrees to the left or right.
According to our light meter, the XPS 13 9370 with 1080p screen achieved an impressive mark of 372 nits, while the model with the 4K panel blew us away with 415 nits. Both numbers are significantly higher than the ultraportable laptop category average (290 nits), the X1 Carbon (275 nits) and the HP Spectre 13 (247 nits). The XPS 13 9360 with 1080p screen scored a similar 368 nits.
The 1080p screen on the XPS 13 9370 reproduced an impressive 117 percent of the sRGB color gamut, but the 4K panel was much more vibrant, hitting a full 130 percent. Both numbers compare favorably to the category average (105 percent) and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (104 percent with 1080p screen). But the 1080p panel is only 5 to 6 percentage points ahead of the XPS 13 7360 (112 percent) and the Spectre 13 (111 percent).
Audio
The XPS 13 9370's side-mounted speakers deliver audio that's loud, but rough around the edges. When I played AC/DC's "Back in Black," the music was boisterous enough to more than fill our lab, but the guitar and drums were a little harsh and tinny. The pre-loaded Waves MaxxAudio software allows you to fine-tune the equalizer. Disabling MaxxAudio, which is on by default, made the music sound hollow and distant.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The XPS 13 9370's keyboard offers a solid typing experience, even though the keys are a little on the shallow side. Perhaps because the laptop is so thin, the keys have 1.2 millimeters of travel (1.5 to 2mm is common on mainstream laptops), but they make up for it somewhat by providing a good 72 grams of required actuation force. On the Tenfastfingers.com typing test, I reached a modest rate of 94 words per minute with a 4 percent error rate, which is on the low end of my normal range.
Whether I was double-clicking on icons or highlighting small pieces of text in an article, the 4.1 x 2.4-inch, buttonless touchpad provided extremely accurate navigation, without any sticking or jumping. The left and right click areas provided just the right amount of tactile feedback. The pad also responded immediately and accurately to multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom and three-finger swipe.
Performance
For this review, we tested two different configurations of the XPS 13 9370. The high-end model sported a Core i7-8550U CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a 4K touch screen, while the mainstream model had a Core i5-8250U processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 1080p non-touch screen. From surfing the web to light gaming and writing portions of this review, both versions of the XPS 13 9370 handled everything we threw at them, without a hiccup.
Because it uses a new thermal setup with dual fans, dual heat pipes and special thermal insulation, the XPS 13 9370 is able to prevent its processor from throttling as aggressively as many other laptops.
Thanks to Dell's new cooling system, these laptops were also capable of delivering better sustained performance on long tasks, such as compressing a 4K video or running the same benchmark 10 times in a row.
As they heat up during intense tasks, most laptops slow their CPUs down to cool them down. Because it uses a new thermal setup with dual fans, dual heat pipes and special thermal insulation, the XPS 13 9370 is able to prevent its processor from throttling as aggressively as many other laptops.
We saw evidence of the performance improvement during our video compression test where we use Handbrake to transcode a 4K video to 1080p. The Core i7-powered XPS 13 9370 took just 16 minutes to complete this task. he XPS 13 9360, on the other hand, which had the same exact Core i7-8550U CPU, took 19 minutes and 35 seconds.
We also ran the Cinebench R15 benchmark, which measures processing power by drawing a 3D image 10 times in a row on a few different laptops. The XPS 13 9370 with the Core i7 processor got a score of 679 on the first run (higher is better), which dropped to 635 on run No. 10, a decline of 6.4 percent. Its Core i5-powered sibling, however, went from 666 to 633, a drop of 4.9 percent. When we tried the same task on a Microsoft Surface Book 2 (13-inch) with Core i7-8550U, it suffered a 26 percent decline from first to last run. An HP Spectre x360 with the same Core i7 processor remained perfectly stable, getting a much lower mark of 456 on both the first and final runs.
Using the Dell Power Manager app, you can configure the laptop's thermal management to offer "Ultra Performance," with warmer temperatures. We ran Cinebench 15 10 times in this mode, and the scores ranged from 707 on the first run to 655 on the 10th run. Though, those are higher numbers, we also experienced higher temperatures, with the function row hitting a balmy 115 degrees by the end of the last run. We recommend sticking with the default, "Optimized" mode, which gives you the best balance between performance and skin temperature.
When we ran Geekbench 4, a synthetic test that measures processing performance, the Core Core i5-8250U-powered XPS 13 9370 scored 13,254, while the Core i7-8550U-enabled version registered 14,180. The last-gen Dell XPS 13 9360 with the same Core i7-8550U CPU scored a very similar mark of 14,158. HP's Spectre 13, also with Core i7-8550U inside, scored a lower mark of 13,090. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon and its last-gen Core i7-7600U processor, hit only 8,571.
The XPS 13 9370 with Core i7 took just 1 minute and 6 seconds to match 50,000 names with their addresses in Microsoft Excel. The Core i5 model finished in 1 minute and 15 seconds, while the XPS 13 9360 fell in between the two with 1:08.
The 1TB PCIe SSD in the Core i7-powered XPS 13 9370 took just 13 seconds to copy 4.97GB of files, a rate of 399.4 MBps, while the 256GB unit in the Core i5 model performed the same task at a rate of 339.2 MBps. Both numbers are much better than the category average (232 MBps) and the X1 Carbon (242 MBps). The XPS 13 9360 with 256GB SSD was even faster, achieving a rate of 508 MBps. The HP Spectre 13 (339.3 MBps) basically tied the Core i5-powered XPS 13 9370.
Graphics
WIth its integrated Intel UHD 620 GPU, the XPS 13 9370 is good enough for doing light video editing or playing some games at low settings. Its Core i7- and Core i5-powered models scored 85,616 and 77,584, respectively, on 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, a synthetic graphics test. Both models were far ahead of the category average (62,573), the HP Spectre 13 (75,114) and the X1 Carbon (68,082). The XPS 13 9360 fell in between the two with a mark of 81,837.
No matter which Dell XPS 13 9370 configuration you choose, you'll get above-average battery life, but a model with the 1080p non-touch screen lasts several hours longer.
When playing Dirt 3, the XPS 13 with Core i7 returned a frame rate of 66.9 fps, whereas the Core i5 model got a still-strong 56.7 fps. The XPS 13 9360 (56 fps) and the HP Spectre 13 (57 fps) got similar rates, while the X1 Carbon (28 fps) and category average (42 fps) were way behind.
Battery Life
No matter which Dell XPS 13 9370 configuration you choose, you'll get above-average battery life, but a model with the 1080p non-touch screen lasts several hours longer. The XPS 13 9370 with 1080p non-touch screen lasted 12 hours and 37 minutes on the Laptop Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi. The model with the 4K display endured for 8 hours and 53 minutes. Those numbers compare favorably to the ultraportable category average (8:16) and the HP Spectre 13's time of 6:16.
However, Dell's slightly older XPS 9360 with 1080p screen lasted a much-longer 16 hours and 5 minutes on our test. That's because, in making its laptop thinner and lighter, Dell switched from a 60 watt-hour battery on the 9360 to a 52 watt-hour unit on the 9370.
Heat
Both XPS 13 9370 configurations we tried stayed pleasantly cool throughout our testing. After streaming a video for 15 minutes, the touchpad, keyboard and bottom of the Core i7-powered model hit 82, 86.5 and 88 degrees Fahrenheit, all well below our 95-degree comfort threshold. The Core i5 model got similar temperatures of 80, 85.5 and 88 degrees.
Dell's Power Manager app allows you to configure the laptop's thermal management for maximum performance, lowest temperature or least noise. We used the default, Optimized setting during most of our testing, and the laptop always felt cool to the touch. However, when we switched to the "Ultra Performance" mode we got slightly higher scores, but the top of the keyboard hit 115 degrees.
Webcam
With the XPS 13 9370, Dell has moved the webcam from the lower left corner of the bezel to the center bottom.
Yes, it's still a "nose cam" that looks up at you, but because the lens is centered, it gets much better angles. When I shot a selfie, I was able to get my head in the center top of the frame, with the camera looking up at me, by lowering and raising the lid.
Image quality was on a par with other premium laptops; colors like the blue and gray in my shirt were true, and there was only a limited amount of visual noise in the background.
Software and Warranty
Dell preloads the XPS 13 9370 with a few useful utilities and some bloatware. Dell Power Manager lets you tweak the system settings for maximum performance (with more heat and noise), coolest skin temperature, quietest fan noise or a balance among the three. Dell Help & Support offers tutorials and warrant information. Dell SupportAssist checks system health, shows configuration information and helps you download new drivers. Dell remote Desktop lets you remote-control the laptop from another device.
The system also comes with its fair share of bloat. Dell packs on a trial of McAfee LiveSafe and a Dropbox promotion, which gives new users 20GB of free space for a year. Microsoft packs on its standard set of Windows 10 pre-loads, including Minecraft, March of Empires, Bubble Witch 3 Saga, Autodesk Sketchbook and a link to purchase Drawboard PDF.
Dell backs its laptop with a one-year, limited warranty on parts and labor. See how Dell fared on our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Laptop Brand Ratings.
Dell XPS 13 Price and Configuration Options
Dell offers several configurations of the XPS 13 9370. The $849 base model has a 1080p non-touch screen, a Core i3-8130 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD; the rose gold and white model costs $50 more.
We recommend the $1,099 model, which includes a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The tricked-out, $1,869 model has a 4K touch screen, a Core i7-8550U CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. A 512GB SSD costs $150 more and a 1TB SSD runs $750.
If battery life is your highest priority, get a model with the 1080p non-touch screen, but the vibrant colors on the 4K panel make it an even more attractive choice.
Bottom Line
From its eye-popping 4K display to its speedy performance and beautiful design, there's a lot to love about the Dell XPS 13 9370. Although still not ideal, its centered webcam is a huge improvement over the left-aligned one on prior models. The 9370's ability to work with eGPUs also makes it a great choice for people who want to play demanding games.
Consumers who demand the longest possible endurance or who can't live without USB Type-A ports should consider the XPS 13 9360, which Dell will continue to sell for the foreseeable future. However, if you want the best combination of performance, portability and aesthetics, the XPS 13 9370 is made for you.The Department for Transport has published a study that will push forward the UK government's plans to build the world's longest road tunnel between Manchester and Sheffield.
The Trans-Pennine tunnel, which will be between 10 and 18 miles long, would cut commutes between Manchester and Sheffield by 30 minutes.
The study, which was released on Thursday (August 18), outlines five possible routes for the tunnel:
The tunnel could run across five potential routes. Department for Transport
All five routes join the M60 east of Manchester to the M1 north of Sheffield, with four options starting at the M67. Depending on which route is chosen, it could become the longest road tunnel in the world.
The Department for Transport described the scheme as "the most ambitious road scheme undertaken in the UK in more than five decades" in a statement about the project.
The tunnel — which would cost around £6 billion, according to the Telegraph— is part of the government's next phase of road improvements, and funds for the schemes will be allocated in 2020.
Though the tunnel would cost a lot of money to build, it would also help improve the economy, John Cridland, Chairman of Transport for the North, said in the same statement from the Department of Transport.
"The study shows a tunnel beneath the Pennines would both boost the economy of the region, and potentially benefit the environment of the Peak District by reducing traffic in the national park," Cridland said.
The proposed tunnel is just one of the ways the government is looking to bolster the economy through infrastructure. Theresa May gave strong support to the "Northern Powerhouse," a proposal to boost economic growth in core northern cities like Leeds, Sheffield, and Manchester, on Thursday. She wrote in the Yorkshire Post that her plan is to "help the great cities and towns of the north pool their strengths and take on the world."
The government will "make massive improvements to transport, making it easier to get around, and more attractive for business to move here," May wrote.
May also pledged that the government will invest £24 million in British Cycling's bid to host the World Road Championships in 2019.
"The Government will underwrite the event and back it with £24m of investment so that we can get even more people to visit the region," said May. "Our backing will include £15m for cycling infrastructure projects, to encourage even greater participation in the sport and continue the proud legacy that has seen our athletes excel at the Rio Games."
The tunnel could steal the title of the world's longest road tunnel from Lædar Tunnel in Norway, which stretches 15.3 miles, and connects the cities of Læligrdal and Aurland.A landmark Indianapolis weekend for Juncos Racing continued in style as French rookie Timothé Buret took his first Pro Mazda Championship victory in the second race of a three-race slate.
Buret led the field to the green flag, but starting right behind him was Florian Latorre, the reigning USF2000 champion, who looked to put his colossal Thursday rollover behind him.
Latorre made an incisive start and dove to the lead briefly in the first corner but Buret was able to take first place back.
The first and only full-course yellow then flew as Expert class drivers Carlos Conde and Kevin Davis had collided at the back of the field.
Victor Franzoni, who moved up to Pro Mazda from USF2000 this weekend with M1 Racing, had jumped up three places from his ninth grid position over the first lap.
After the restart, Franzoni then passed Will Owen for fifth place, one lap after Weiron Tan made the move on Owen to get up to fourth, behind the lead group of Buret, Latorre, and Urrutia – all covered by less than one second.
As the lead four controlled the race ahead of the field, points leader Neil Alberico endured an abysmal run that saw him off track in the final ten minutes and finishing 17th.
Franzoni, in fifth, came under pressure from Juncos Racing teammates Garett Grist and Owen with three laps to go. Grist made his move into turn 8 on lap 19, but then locked the brakes allowing the Brazilian to keep fifth. Grist and Owen then continued to battle each other, but a slide by Owen allowed their teammate Jose Gutierrez to move past into 7th.
In the end, it was all green for Buret, who resisted the pressure to secure his first Pro Mazda victory, ahead of Latorre whose sensational recovery drive nets him 2nd. Urrutia finished 3rd and moved past the struggling Alberico for the championship lead, ahead of Tan and the debuting Franzoni who rounded out the top five.
Grist, Gutierrez, and Owen finished 6th, 7th and 8th for Juncos, ahead of Daniel Burkett in ninth and Pato O’Ward in tenth. Bobby Eberle was the highest-placed Expert Class driver in 18th overall.
Race results
Pos. Driver Team Time/Gap 1 Timothe Buret Juncos Racing 20 laps in 31:13.489 2 Florian Latorre Cape Motorsports w/WTR +0.798 3 Santiago Urrutia Team Pelfrey +2.180 4 Weiron Tan Andretti Autosport +2.606 5 Victor Franzoni M1 Racing +8.370 6 Garett Grist Juncos Racing +9.204 7 Jose Gutierrez Juncos Racing +10.332 8 Will Owen Juncos Racing +10.763 9 Daniel Burkett Cape Motorsports w/WTR +13.526 10 Pato O’Ward Team Pelfrey +14.674 11 Raoul Owens Team Pelfrey +16.076 12 Scott Hargrove JDC MotorSports +19.736 13 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport +21.292 14 Alessandro Latif World Speed Motorsports +24.817 15 Kyle Connery JDC MotorSports +27.551 16 Parker Nicklin JDC MotorSports +31.853 17 Neil Alberico Cape Motorsports w/WTR +38.941 18 Bobby Eberle World Speed Motorsports +50.533 19 Bob Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing Inc +1 lap 20 Kevin Davis JDC MotorSports +2 laps 21 Carlos Conde M1 Racing +17 lapsCallous thieves smashed their way into Glasgow's largest foodbank stealing thousands of pounds worth of Tesco vouchers, clothes and an iPad.
Around £1300 in cash was also nabbed during robbery at the Greater Maryhill Foodbank which is thought to have happened over the weekend.
The raiders managed to open a safe containing the supermarket vouchers and cash which was to be used to send Chelsea Somerville and her family on holiday.
Chelsea was injured during a car accident last year on nearby Sandbank Drive.
Her friend Sophie Brannan,11, was killed in the crash on November 14 2014.
Julie Webster, who set up the foodbank two years ago after seeing the need from locals was astounded to discover the centre on Chapel Street had been broken into.
Fighting back tears, Julie told the Evening Times: "I just can't believe someone would do this to us.
"I'd rather that they had robbed my house than robbed this place.
"This is the most disgusting act of inhumane behaviour I've ever seen in my whole life.
"I have got people who come to my door on their knees, and somebody has robbed us like this.
"It's unforgivable."
Thieves broke into the foodbank, which is run from a storage unit in Maryhill, by making a hole in the corrugated iron roof.
Dented pipes on the wall showed how they managed to lower themselves into the room and help themselves to piles of new clothes waiting to be handed out to the needy over winter.
The centre, staffed by around two dozen volunteers, helps more than 1000 people each month with clothes, food and support.
Julie said: "We were planning to start a new project on Wednesday where the clothes would be brought down and displayed for the service users to pick from.
"It was going to be for asylum seekers in the area.
"We're not going to be able to do that now. The biggest thing is the money for Chelsea, the wee girl who got knocked down on Sandbank Street.
"We had raised £500 at Christmas and we had raised a further £800 before that.
"That was going to be put towards sending the family on holiday but it's gone now.
"They've walked away with all of that."
The robbery, Julie said, will have a "massive" impact on the service she and her 26 volunteers can offer.
She said: "This isn't just a foodbank, it's a community hub. It is where people feel valued and feel like they mean something, a place of sanctuary.
"I've worked so hard to create a safe environment over the past two years, and now it doesn't feel like the foodbank anymore.
"When they've come through that hole in the roof, they've seen baby food, nappies, tins, clothes, and they've still stolen from us.
"This is a slap in the face.
"If somebody needed help, all they would have to do is come in here and ask me."
Mark Grant, the foodbank's driver, was the one who discovered the catastrophe when he opened the centre yesterday morning.
He said: "We just can't believe it.
"The police came and they helped us so much yesterday, they were really good.
"We just hope they find out who has done it because it's disgusting.
"I just don't know why someone would do this."
Police said enquiries were ongoing into the robbery, which was reported at 8.45am yesterday.
Anyone interested in helping the Greater Maryhill Foodbank can contact them on 0141 946 6828, find them on Facebook or call into the centre at 61 Chapel Street, Maryhill.
hannah.rodger@eveningtimes.co.ukA live possum snapped in half, attached to a lure by only its spinal cord. Another possum fighting ferociously as its baby is pulled from its arms and a leading dog trainer encourages a worker to "bash its head" in before the tiny animal is suffocated in sand. Wide-eyed piglets mauled and eviscerated as they scream for their lives. In at least one instance, a child, brought to the "breaking-in track", watches on as animals are savaged and killed. All of this precipitated, encouraged and paid for by many of the industry's biggest names - top-flight trainers and owners, a former steward (the "policemen of the sport") - who not only pay to have their dogs maul and kill defenceless animals but do it to defraud the punters who supply their livelihoods. They are grubs and cheats. It goes without saying the trainers and handlers shown on video mutilating live animals should be jailed. Animal cruelty laws exist for this purpose.
However, if a significant number of participants in a sport are prepared to break those laws - to torture and kill animals for gain and amusement - and the people charged with policing them are so clueless or so gutless as to say they had no idea, the sport should be banned. It's feral. Anybody with a passing familiarity of greyhound racing knows live baiting is an open secret. Attend a meeting and you'll hear punters, trainers and bookies say a dog is a good chance of winning because "it's had a kill". What Four Corners, Animal Liberation Queensland and Animals Australia have done is remove any possibility of denial. It's all there on camera. For the sport's regulators to claim ignorance is frightening. As Four Corners' Caro Meldrum-Hanna said in her report: "It's only an hour's drive from the CBDs of Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to each of the tracks where live baiting is frequently occurring. "And a small group of investigators, working on a shoestring, managed to quickly discover what the regulators, with their deep pockets, have deemed too hard to find for themselves."
Granted, these regulators might have their hands full keeping track of the abuses and killings of dogs in their sport when it actually plays by its rules. Granted, acts as despicable and cruel happen every day of the week to bring you your bacon, eggs, steak and milk. Granted, there are far more terrible things happening to human beings on the planet right this minute, but this should still not prevent our compassion for animals. Greyhound racing has no practical reason for being. It's as much a "sport" as fox hunting or bull fighting. It's very origins are founded on cruelty; two blokes in a paddock sicking their dog onto a rabbit to see who can kill it first.
The sport will tell you it's moved on from this but it appears many of its top echelon has not.
Back in 2007, Michael Vick, the former NFL quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons was one of the biggest sports stars in the US when he was convicted - on far less evidence than presented by Four Corners - of funding a dog-fighting ring and drowning and hanging animals that had not performed well. He served 21 months in prison. His jailing reverberated through the US, as should the jailing of the people involved in the greyhound industry's barbarism, who think so little of the welfare of the creatures we share the earth with |
all pregnancies in the Philippines are unplanned—10 percent more than a decade ago. In a first-of-its kind study in the Philippines, the Guttmacher Institute calculates that easy access to contraception would reduce those births by 800,000 and abortions by half a million a year. Furthermore, it would deliver a net savings to the government on the order of $16.5 million a year in reduced health costs from unwanted pregnancies, including the brutal medical consequences of illegal back-alley abortions.
Iran’s fertility rate:
7
IN 1980
1.7
TODAY
In Iran, the fertility pendulum has gone the other way in recent years. From a high of 7.7 in 1966, total fertility fell to 6 during the Shah’s reign, spiked to 7 during the Islamic Revolution (when marriage became legal for 12-year-old boys and 9-year-old girls), then plummeted 50 percent between 1988 and 1996, continuing down to 1.7 today. That plunge, known as the “Iranian miracle,” was one of the most rapid fertility declines ever recorded.
Iran’s demographic reversal was swift, uniform, and voluntary. Women of all childbearing ages in urban and rural parts of the country simply began to have smaller families practically overnight. Demographer Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi of the University of Tehran writes that the feat was engineered through a mobilization between government and media: Information was broadcast nationwide about the value of small families, followed up with education about birth control, implemented with free contraceptives. Progressive social measures further primed Iran: increasing public education for girls (today more than 60 percent of Iranian university students are women); a new health care system; access to electricity, safe water, transportation, and communication. Similar fertility reversals have occurred in Costa Rica, Cuba, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, and Morocco—as quickly as in China but minus the brutal one-child policy.
The United States, plagued by its own ping-pong policy, has been little help. Beginning with Ronald Reagan in 1984, the “global gag rule,” also known as the Mexico City Policy, prohibited US funding of any foreign family planning organizations providing abortions. The gag rule barred the discussion of abortion or any critique of unsafe abortions, even if these medical services were implemented with the group’s own money (a ruling that would have been unconstitutional in the US). Bill Clinton rescinded the policy in 1993, but George W. Bush reinstated it in 2001, and before Barack Obama could rescind it again, the flow of aid to developing countries slowed or even stopped, eviscerating health care and severely undermining family planning efforts in at least 26 developing nations, primarily in Africa.
Joanna Nerquaye-Tetteh, former executive director of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, testified before Congress in 2004 on the policy’s effects in her country. “The gag rule completely disrupted decades of investment in building up health care services,” she said. “We couldn’t provide contraceptives and services to nearly 40,000 women who had formerly used our services. We saw within a year a rise in sexually transmitted infections and more women coming to our clinics for post-abortion care as a result of unsafe abortions.”
Although it’s unclear how many babies were added to the human family as a result of the global gag rule, the UN estimates that at its height in 2005, the unmet demand for contraceptives and family planning drove up fertility rates between 15 and 35 percent in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Arab states, Asia, and Africa—a whole generation of unplanned Bush babies.
IN AN UPSCALE Kolkata suburb, I meet with Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, founder and chairman of Bandhan, a tall man with crooked eyeglasses and a straightforward smile. He speaks quietly of his father, a hardworking Bengali who owned a sweet shop that prospered modestly in good times and was among the first to suffer in bad times. “My mother did not work outside the home and could not help financially when times got tough,” he says. “From a young age, I realized the inflexibility of this model in an ever-changing world and vowed to change it.”
Sitting in with us is one of his finance managers, Maneeta Rathore, a bubbly young woman who shares the same devotional enthusiasm I saw among the staff in Bandhan’s field office in Bagnan, where Trideep Roy, Nabanita Mondal, and the loan officers work and live during the week. Many Bandhan staff members are stationed so far from home that they manage to return to their families only once or twice a month. Nevertheless, Ghosh’s people wear an aura of pride and purpose and a happiness not the norm among taciturn Bengalis, the New Yorkers of India.
When Ghosh opened the first Bandhan branch office in 2002 in Bagnan, he slept on the floor for months at a time, Soumitra Dutta tells me. Maneeta Rathore says Ghosh couldn’t get a single banker to listen to him back then, and now they’re knocking at his door. In only eight years, he has grown his hope for the poor from a single field office in Bagnan to more than a thousand field offices serving more than 2 million female clients in 14 Indian states. Two years ago, Forbes magazine voted Bandhan the No. 2 microfinance institute in the world based on size, efficiency, risk, and return.
Ghosh is not the original microloan pioneer. That credit goes to Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus, who founded Grameen (“villages”) Bank in 1983. His revolutionary model was to loan to the unloanable poor—notably women—who lacked collateral, enabling them to develop their own businesses and free themselves from poverty. This radical innovation won Yunus the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Empirical studies now support his intuition of 27 years ago: Women make better loan recipients than men if your aim is to increase family well-being. Compared to men’s loans, women’s loans double family income and increase child survival twentyfold.
Ghosh is bringing this program into the 21st century by adding the health forums and the sastho sohayika program, as well as an initiative called Targeting the Hard Core Poor, aimed at those who can’t meet the requirements for a microloan. “These are the homeless and the downtrodden,” he says. “The widows with children who beg for a living and who have no resources and no confidence. Rather than money, we give them an asset, a milk goat or cow or a roadside tea stall. We guide them through about 18 months of business development before they graduate into the microloan program.”
At the outset of our meeting, Ghosh makes a point of telling me there is no peace in money, no peace when others suffer, but peace only when everyone shares in it. When I ask if he imagines expanding his help for the poor beyond India, he says yes, but won’t reveal where. I suggest he try the US, likewise home to impoverished people unable to procure credit or health care—people whom no one believes in. He blinks, surprised. Then giggles.
IT’S DARK AT 4:30 in the morning near Darjeeling, the city of tea in the Himalayas. Nevertheless, 2,000 people are gathered at 8,500 feet atop Tiger Hill awaiting the cold sunrise. The crowd, milling in the dark, sipping chai from tiny throwaway plastic cups, speaks more than a few of India’s 1,600 dialects and wears more than a few of its traditional clothes mashed up with western sweaters, counterfeit “North Phase” parkas, and hiking boots.
The department of tourism has built a pavilion on Tiger Hill for viewing the sunrise. Its three stories provide an apt metaphor for one version of our future world. The top floor, the “super deluxe lounge with complimentary tea,” is enclosed within glass picture windows ideal for viewing. It seats about 50 people, or 2.5 percent of the crowd, in pink plush chairs and sofas, at a cost of 40 rupees (87 cents) to enter. The other two floors, which make up the “deluxe” lounge, charge half as much to house four times as many people, about 10 percent of the crowd, at a fraction of the comfort level and without the free tea. The remaining 1,750 people—87.5 percent—pay 5 rupees (10 cents) to stand outside in the cold.*
Perhaps somewhere out in the shivering crowd is a Supta Halder or two—a lucky, hardworking woman who’s benefited from the help and education she’s received. Her descendants will prosper, perhaps enough to watch the sunrise from the deluxe lounge. Fed better in childhood, they will grow taller and live longer. Better educated, they will have fewer children, whom they will also educate and who will marry later, also to bear fewer, taller, plumper, longer-living offspring. The best 21st-century contraceptive is a Yunusian device, a microloan.
The paradox embedded in our future is that the fastest way to slow our population growth is to reduce poverty, yet the fastest way to run out of resources is to increase wealth.
The business of microloans is growing exponentially. Between March 2008 and March 2009, 22.6 million people in India received them, 60 percent more than a year earlier, despite the worst global recession since the Great Depression. This innovative approach to development is rewriting the demographics of poverty. It’s also selling the loan recipients bigger ecological shoes—televisions, VCRs, larger homes, cars—though they’re still nowhere near the size of Western shoes.
Rajendra Pachauri, cowinner of a Nobel Prize for his chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warns that India’s growing population can’t afford increased consumption levels. “We can’t support lifestyles even remotely like those in Europe and North America,” he says. “We need policy initiatives to assure this doesn’t happen. But the movement has to take place in both hemispheres. Awareness has to be raised in both the East and the West to deglamorize unsurvivable consumerism.”
On the top floor of the Tiger Hill Pavilion, the people in the super deluxe lounge are sipping their complimentary tea. Among them are Indians who have returned from abroad, a few Europeans, Australians, and North Americans—the representatives of the fourth stage of the model of demographic transition, where population is stable and aging. In most industrialized countries, fertility has fallen below replacement level and population is declining. Many aging nations introduce pro-natalist policies, so-called baby bonuses designed to keep their retired populace comfortably retired, supported by younger, working people. It’s an effective strategy. “But it’s nutty,” says Paul Ehrlich. “These highest-consuming populations are exactly the ones we need to allow to naturally shrink.”
As of 2005, women in
18
of the
24
WEALTHIEST
NATIONS
were having more babies than in previous years. Nobody knows why.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the super deluxe lounge may be a person or two representing a trend that’s taken demographers by surprise. It’s the unexpected emergence of what appears to be a fifth stage in the demographic transition, a development important enough to warrant another paper in the preeminent scientific journal, Nature. This fifth stage is upending a key tenet of social science: that increasing wealth, education, and gender equality invariably and irreversibly trigger a decline in fertility and a smaller population. Instead, demographers have discovered that in 18 of the 24 most highly developed countries—the US, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Israel, Italy, Sweden, France, Iceland, the UK, New Zealand, Greece, and Ireland (the exceptions: Japan, Canada, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea)—fertility has flipped. As of 2005, women in these countries were having more children than in previous years—stalling out their nation’s straightforward decline in fertility (though birth rates still remain below replacement rates). This small but important fertility increase is good news for those who worry about Social Security deficits, but bad news for those who worry about societal security on a planet with finite resources.
The study leaves the causes unaddressed, leaving us to wonder: What portion is due to the cultural norms of new immigrants? Or to abstinence education? The only known correlates are the highest levels of economic and social development. Perhaps the core question is, how much has our silence around population growth contributed to the emergence of this fifth demographic stage? Even in rich nations, most families calculate the costs of each child in their household budget—in the size of their house, the need for quality child care, and college costs. So would these same families make different decisions if they were calculating the costs of each child in their (equally limited) planetary budget—in the costs of clean air, water, and adequate food for all?
Four decades ago, Norman Borlaug warned in his Nobel acceptance speech that his Green Revolution would grant only a temporary respite from the issue of our own population: “There can be no permanent progress in the battle against hunger until the agencies that fight for increased food production and those that fight for population control unite in a common effort.” In the next 40 years, as we add somewhere between 1 and nearly 4 billion more people, as at least some of these newcomers achieve a deservedly better standard of living, the challenges to survival will become daunting—not just for the people of India but for people everywhere.
The paradox embedded in our future is that the fastest way to slow our population growth is to reduce poverty, yet the fastest way to run out of resources is to increase wealth. The trial ahead is to strike the delicate compromise: between fewer people, and more people with fewer needs…all within a new economy geared toward sustainability. Perhaps this is the sixth stage in our demographic maturity: the transition from 20th-century family planning to 21st-century civilizational planning. The shift may seem daunting, but some of it’s already happening. Birth rates continue to fall. And slowly but surely our focus converges as we realize that our common future is entwined with the fate of this small world.
On Tiger Hill at dawn, the people in the crowd—inside and out—are awarded the same prize. A vision appears above the blue mountains of tea and cedar. At 28,000 feet—nearly five miles—above us, the five peaks of Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest mountain, broadcast the sunrise minutes before it reaches us. The snows convert from gold to silver to pink with blue shadows. Kangchenjunga means “the five treasures of snows” and is said to house the five treasuries of God: gold, silver, gemstones, grains, and the holy books—as good a metaphor as any for the life-giving vault of earth.
The onlookers cheer. A hundred cameras flash. The alchemy lasts a moment, people melding with mountain and each other, before the fog rolls in and parts us again.
Correction: This figure has been changed to correct an error in conversion.A communications system that can translate messages between the US Air Force’s most advanced and oldest fighters is back on the service’s expedited shopping list, according to a recent acquisition notice.
The Air Force Lifecycle Management Center (AFLCMC) is asking suppliers to provide information about how they could deliver and integrate a “5th to 4th Generation Gateway” system on the USAF’s fighters within 12 months.
Details of the USAF’s technical requirements for the gateway system are stamped “for official use only” in a 23 October request for information issued by AFLCMC, so are not publicly disclosed.
The RFI represents the “government's market research to assess the current state of existing technical capabilities and interest from industry to provide a 5th Generation to 4th Generation Gateway operational capability in 12 months on airborne platforms,” the AFLCMC says to FlightGlobal.
But the need for a system that can translate coded messages in stealth mode between fifth generation fighters, such as Lockheed Martin F-22s and F-35s, and fourth generation fighters, including Boeing F-15s and Lockheed F-16s, has been known for a long time.
The F-22 uses the intraflight data link (IFDL) to communicate with other F-22s in stealth mode with a low probability of detection or interception. The F-35 uses the multifunction advanced data link (MADL) for the same purpose, but only with other F-35s. Neither the IFDL or MADL is compatible with data links by so-called “fourth-generation” fighters, such as Link-16 and Link-11, which send encrypted messages using waveforms that can be detected by adversaries.
Developing a system that can bridge that gap has been pursued for more than a decade. In 2008, the USAF demonstrated that an F-22’s IFDL waveform could be translated into a waveform that could be received by Link-16. The demonstration used the Northrop Grumman Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN). That system is now fielded on USAF E-11s and RQ-4s, but still lacks the ability to bridge the IFDL and Link-16 waveforms operationally.
In responses to questions by FlightGlobal, the AFLCMC emphasises that the new RFI is not limited to potential new applications of the BACN gateway system.President Donald Trump again blamed the violence in Charlottesville on both sides on Thursday, when discussing a conversation with Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, the day prior.
On Thursday, on board Air Force One while returning from touring Hurricane Irma damage in Florida, Trump reinforced his previous controversial comments defending white supremacists by pointing to a sometimes violent group that opposes them, Antifa.
Trump told reporters he and Scott "had a great talk yesterday. I think especially in light of the advent of Antifa, if you look at what’s going on there. You have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also and essentially that’s what I said. Now because of what’s happened since then with Antifa. When you look at really what’s happened since Charlottesville, a lot of people are saying and people have actually written, ‘Gee, Trump may have a point.’"
Trump added, "I said there’s some very bad people on the other side also. But we had a great conversation. And he has legislation, which I actually like very much, the concept of which I support, to get people into certain areas and building and constructing and putting people to work. I told him yesterday that’s a concept I can support very easily.”
When told of Trump's comments, Scott, of South Carolina, told BuzzFeed News that it's unrealistic to think President Trump would have an immediate "epiphany" regarding race after their meeting.
Scott met with Trump on Wednesday to discuss the topic, especially after Trump defended white supremacists who marched on Charlottesville.
"At the end of the day, I voiced my concerns about the thought that somehow three centuries of American history of raping and murdering people based on their color is somehow equal to what Antifa is doing today," Scott said on Thursday.
When asked if he found it frustrating to see that Trump might not have gotten the message, Scott said, "No, I mean, listen. He is who he has been and I didn't go in there to change who he was, I wanted to inform and educate a different perspective. I think we accomplished that. To assume that immediately thereafter he's going to have an epiphany is just unrealistic."Rolling Stone's cover interview with David Letterman hits stands on Friday. Mark Seliger Viral videos helped to kill the late-night star.
As the late-night antics of Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel went viral, David Letterman identified one of many reasons it was time to retire from CBS's "Late Show."
The lack of ability to create viral videos is "a weakness of the show," Letterman told Rolling Stone as part of a wide-ranging interview set to hit newsstands on Friday.
"I hear about things going viral and I think, 'How do you do that?'" the 68-year-old told the magazine. "I think I'm the blockage in the plumbing."
Fallon and Kimmel have indeed served up many segments that have proved to be successful draws for the YouTube generation, such as Fallon's "Lip Sync Battle," which is now a hit Spike TV show, and Kimmel's "Mean Tweets" and infamous failed twerk video prank.
Despite the tough competition in late night, Letterman has some glowing praise for his colleagues. He calls Fallon's style "bright and colorful" and says Kimmel is "friendly" and "very sweet."
The longtime late-night host has had his own success with innovative sketches. We've all probably clicked on a video of Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks" and "Top Ten Lists," among other great segments, but he's probably right about coming just shy of the variety-show-like format of late-night programs nowadays.
"If you look around at the other people doing it and look at me, it's almost like a pair of shoes you haven't worn in a hundred years," he said. "'Gee, I think we can probably get rid of these.' I still enjoy what I'm doing, but I think what I'm doing is not what you want at 11:30 anymore."
On May 20, Letterman will say farewell to his show after 22 years at CBS, with the help of a cadre of big stars, including Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, and one of the Obamas. Even former nemesis Jay Leno has been invited, according to the magazine, though he has yet to say whether he will make an appearance.
Comedy Central's former "Colbert Report" host Stephen Colbert will take over "Late Show" on September 8.With record-breaking acres burned in states out west and a heat wave that hit California on Wednesday, which is likely to increase fire risk, according to the Los Angeles Times, firefighters are struggling to contain wildfires. Drought, the largest driver of wildfires, is responsible for the prime fire conditions that have consumed more than 7.1 million acres of the U.S. so far this year. Only 12 percent of the 472-square-mile Okanogan Complex wildfires in Washington are contained, according to the AP, and with wildfires blazing in many other western states, U.S. firefighters are turning to outside help:
U.S. Troops
The Department of Defense assigned more than 200 U.S. troops from Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord to assist with the fires in the West, the Los Angeles Times reported last week. It is the first time since 2006 that soldiers have helped battle fires. The Okanogan Complex became the biggest fire in Washington's history on Monday, after covering more than 400 square miles.
"Typically when we have this number of fires, we can draw on folks around the nation," Koshare Eagle, a spokeswoman at the Northwest Coordination Center in Portland, which monitors fire efforts in Oregon and Washington, told the Los Angeles Times. "[But] the other geographic regions are also trying to draw on folks around the nation."
Firefighters From Australia and New Zealand
On Monday, over 70 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand arrived in Boise, Idaho, to help extinguish fires in the Pacific Northwest. Although it marks the first time in seven years that the U.S. has accepted firefighting help from the Southern Hemisphere, a help system has been in place for more than 50 years. (Fire seasons peak at opposite time in the U.S. and New Zealand and Australia, making firefighting help naturally available.)
Prison Inmates
State prison inmates make up between 30 and 40 percent of California's forest firefighters, Mother Jones reported earlier this month. They make $2 a day for participating in the program and $2 an hour while they're actually fighting fires, compared to the $1 an hour wage many other prison jobs pay. The inmate program saves the state an estimated $80 million per year.
Several states, including Wyoming and Nevada, also offer inmate firefighting programs, NPR reports, but California's program is the largest, according to Lynne Tolmachoff, spokesperson for Cal Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The state currently has about 3,600 inmates fighting fires through the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Road Camps program, which was established in 1915 and began fighting fires regularily with Cal Fire around the time of World War II. Although they spend summer months mainly fighting fires, inmates in the program have also helped with other natural disasters, including floods, earthquakes, and building water pipelines for towns during droughts.
"These guys go out and fight fires, helping the engines and airplanes, but they’re also doing other project work, helping counties, cities, and smaller towns," Tolmachoff told Outside. "Everyone in California benefits from [the program] in one way or another."
In Other NewsA body has been found near to the High Level Bridge in Gateshead.
Police cordoned off part of the bridge and officers appeared to be carrying out a search in a nearby wooded area.
The man's death is currently being treated as unexplained.
Pipewellgate was closed while police carried out their investigations but it has now reopened and the cordon has been lifted.
A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said:
At just after 9am today (23 August) police were called to Buffalo Joes at Pipewellgate, Gateshead, following the discovery of a body.
“Pipewellgate has been closed and enquiries are ongoing.
“At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained but early indications suggest there is no third party involvement.”
We have a reporter at the scene to bring you the latest live updates.
To get breaking news sent straight to your phone, download our app hereStrongly dismissing Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took bribes from the Sahara Group, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said the Congress scion made those allegations to divert attention from the party's troubles in the AgustaWestland scam.
"Rahul Gandhi is leading his party to repeated disastrous defeat and hence he is levelling baseless allegations," Prasad said, adding that Rahul is frustrated with failures.
Hitting back at the Congress party, the Union law minister said that Rahul was the biggest patron of corruption, between 2004 and 2014, when the UPA was in power.
Questioning Rahul on his credentials, Prasad alleged he did not even utter a word on the series of stinking corruption which had become an integral part of the Manmohan Singh's govt.
Defending the prime minister's corruption-free image, Prasad said, "Our Prime Minister is as pure as the river Ganga."
He recalled that the Supreme Court had rejected a plea for a probe by a special investigation team against Modi on allegations that two companies paid Rs 65 crore to him ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, adding that the apex court observed there were no basis to the allegations.
He added that the Congress did not spare any part of the world while indulging in rampant corruption: Earth (CWG scam), space (Devas-Antrix deal), underground (coal scam), sky (AgustaWestland and 2G scam) and sea (submarine scam).
Criticising the Congress vice-president for not doing his homework while making 'false allegations' against Modi, Prasad added that he does not think before and after speaking.
Earlier in the day, Rahul, while addressing a rally in Gujarat's Mehsana, alleged that as the state's chief minister, Modi received kickbacks from the Sahara and Birla group, and demanded an independent enquiry into it.
Humare Ganga ke saaman PM ke uppar bebuniyad aarop laga rahein hain? Ye saare aarop kheejh mei laga rahe hain: RS Prasad pic.twitter.com/vCfmBS5JjS — ANI (@ANI_news) December 21, 2016
Congress did not spare the sky, space, land, under the land and even sea in corruption: RS Prasad pic.twitter.com/a6Pl2hMNqF — ANI (@ANI_news) December 21, 2016
Congress' history stinks with Corruption; The saga of Cong govt is to promote looters of public money & to protect them: Ravi Shankar Prasad pic.twitter.com/KSIKvuFFwl — ANI (@ANI_news) December 21, 2016
Rahul Gandhi leading his party to repeated disastrous defeat;Public doesn't think Cong is able enough to run municipalities-R Shankar Prasad pic.twitter.com/83ggLzhVvx — ANI (@ANI_news) December 21, 2016
Mr Rahul Gandhi is leading his party to repeated disastrous defeat and hence he is levelling baseless allegations in his sadness: RS Prasad pic.twitter.com/9h54E8treB — ANI (@ANI_news) December 21, 2016
With inputs from PTI
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.MOSCOW — A judge in Russia’s fourth-largest city has convicted a blogger who played Pokemon Go in a renowned Orthodox cathedral of inciting religious hatred and insulting the feelings of believers, the state RIA-Novosti news agency reported Thursday. Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, was given a suspended sentence of 3½ years for playing the mobile phone game during a service in the Church of All Saints in the Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg last August.
Ruslan Sokolovsky has been convicted of inciting hatred against believers by posting videos online showing him chasing Pokemons in a church. ( KONSTANTIN MELNITSKIY / AFP/GETTY IMAGES )
The argument could be made that he got off easy. The maximum sentence under a law that prevents the “violation of the right to freedom of conscience and belief” is seven years imprisonment, though prosecutors only asked for half of that. “But, you know, I didn’t catch the rarest Pokemon that you could find there — Jesus,” Sokolovsky, says at the end of a YouTube video he posted of himself playing the game. “They said it doesn’t even exist, so I’m not really surprised.”
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In the video, Sokolovsky dismisses warnings in the Russian media that playing the game, which had a wild run of popularity last summer, could result in jail time. The charge against Sokolovsky is the same offence that led to the two-year prison sentence handed to two women from the punk-rock collective Pussy Riot, after the group staged a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin at an Orthodox cathedral in Moscow in 2012. The Church of All Saints holds special meaning for Orthodox Christians because it was built on the site where Russian authorities say the last czar of Russia, Nicholas II, was murdered along with his family. The judge said that Sokolovsky had insulted not just Christians, but also Muslims, and that his actions had sent a message of hatred to the church and its leader, Patriarch Kirill, according to RIA-Novosti. Sokolovsky, 22, pleaded not guilty and expressed shock at the conviction, RIA-Novosti reported. “I may be an idiot, but I am by no means an extremist,” said Sokolovsky in a statement earlier this year, according to the Russian news site Meduza.
He compared the charge against him to those imposed under Joseph Stalin for joking about communism. The human rights group Amnesty International has called Sokolovsky a “prisoner of conscience” and criticized the Russian government for detaining the blogger “solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression.”
Article Continued Below
A Russian TV channel banned an episode of the popular cartoon The Simpsons in which Homer plays Pokemon Go during a church service after Russian Orthodox Church leaders complained it was offensive. Russia is not the only country to that tried to limit the Pokemon Go craze after the game was introduced last August. The altered reality game involves catching virtual monsters in public places using the mobile phone camera. A court in India said that the game “tramples religious sentiments.” The Holocaust Museum in Washington also publicly urged people to stop catching virtual monsters inside its halls. “Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism,” Andrew Hollinger, the museum’s communications director, told The Post. “We are trying to find out if we can get the museum excluded from the game.”
Read more about:“Not All Men”
Internet discourse about gender cannot get any worse than it is right now. Personally, I find the issue rather uninteresting, but it’s hard not to be bombarded with it wherever you look; people are becoming unhealthily obsessed with it and it’s doing practically nothing to change anything for the better. It seems the only product of this strange preoccupation is that everyone seems to hate each other more than they already did.
Vox has published a very poor article by Kelsey McKinney about the “not all men” meme. I said I find the issue uninteresting (and I do) but regardless, I still enjoy poking at whatever I consider faulty reasoning.
In the style of a high-school homework assignment, McKinney starts by defining ‘man’.
A man is an adult male of the species homo sapiens
So far, so good.
A man is someone who pays his female employees less.
A man is someone who interrupts a woman when she’s in the middle of saying something.
A man expects his wife to do all the cooking and cleaning.
My answer to this is “not all men”. If a man is someone who interrupts women, then I’m not a ‘man’, and a woman (using the definition I use) who interrupts a woman is a ‘man’. That is absurd; the definition clearly doesn’t apply to all men, and is therefore false.
Fortunately, McKinney anticipated my objection:
What’s that you say? Not ALL men pay their employees less? Not ALL men interrupt women? Thanks for pointing that out. You’re who this meme is about.
Her post is about me! I like this defence; by objecting to the claim being defended, I am inadvertently proving the claim true! If I had agreed to it, then it would have also been true:
McKinney might offer a better response by claiming that the “A” in “A man” is an existential quantifier rather than a universal quantifier. That would at least take care of “not all men”. The trouble is, you could substitute in so many different predicates that the exercise is practically pointless; not to mention that it’s poorly and confusingly worded, e.g. “a man is someone called John.”, “women like shopping”, “an elephant is something that has a trunk and no tusks”.
McKinney laments the inevitability of “not all men” cropping up in comment sections:
Let’s say a post is written on the internet about how men do not listen to women when they speak and interrupt them more often than men, an observation borne out by empirical research. At a blog or site of sufficient size, it’s practically inevitable that a commenter will reply, “Not all men interrupt.”
I can imagine. If you write an article about how philosophy is dead and science has fully replaced it as a method of inquiry, I’d say it’s pretty inevitable that you’ll get a lot of angry philosophers telling you “not in all categories”. I suppose in that case McKinney would say that proves the anti-philosophy article was right all along.
This phrase “Not all men” is a common rebuttal used (most often) by men in conversations about gender in order to exempt themselves from criticism of common male behaviors. Recently, the phrase has been reappropriated by feminists and turned into a meme meant to parody its pervasiveness and bad faith.
Well good to know that feminists are changing the world for the better! Sorry, not all feminists are that childish. Why does McKinney think “not all men” is about exempting oneself from criticism? If I say “not all men” you’re welcome to come back at me to show me either how I’ve missed the point or how, yes, it really is all men. What I’m doing is objecting to a claim made by someone, a claim that I don’t fully agree with. Simply disagreeing and explaining one’s reasons isn’t the same as trying to exempt oneself from criticism. I’d say making memes to try to mock and ‘discredit’ a common objection is an attempt to exempt one’s ideas from criticism.
How does McKinney defend the dismissal and mocking of “not all men”?
When a man (though, of course, not all men) butts into a conversation about a feminist issue to remind the speaker that “not all men” do something, they derail what could be a productive conversation. Instead of contributing to the dialogue, they become the center of it, excluding themselves from any responsibility or blame.
We’re never told why this is the case, but I suppose there’s no point in providing reasons if nobody is allowed to disagree. “Not all men” is not derailing, since it’s a direct response to the claim being made. If someone finds it cropping up a lot in their blog comments, perhaps they should think about writing and arguing with a little more clarity.
McKinney is defending sexism. Yes, sexism against men isn’t as historically harmful or prevalent, but it’s still sexism and it’s still wrong. If you understand why sexism is wrong, you’ll attack it no matter the gender of the target. To illustrate how McKinney is defending sexism, take this instance of sexism against women, documented by David Futrelle. Briefly, someone is claiming that because is was mostly men who participated in the landing of Curiosity on Mars, therefore we should celebrate it as an achievement by men. This commits the same error as those who receive comments saying “not all men”. Even if the majority of those who did x were men, it doesn’t justify us saying “x was done by men”. One could reasonably respond with “not all men” or “not just men”.
McKinney then starts clutching at straws:
On a very basic level, “not all men” is an interruption, and interrupting is rude.
Blog comments are not interruptions, so it fails to apply to those at all – in fact it only applies to verbal conversations. These “meme-filled gender wars” are largely confined to the online world, so this is a rather weak, somewhat contrived justification. Verbal interruption is often rude, yes. I’m always getting interrupted, and often find it hard to impose myself in conversations with more than one other person; I find this frustrating, so I can fully understand. There are |
entering an era where devices must be smart and connected. When a device is capable of understanding and responding to its environment, entirely new and unprecedented solutions present themselves.
As part of our RealSense™ vision and strategy, we built and acquired critical technologies to ensure our leadership in computer vision and perceptual computing. Simply put, computer vision enables machines to visually process and understand their surroundings. Cameras serve as the “eyes” of the device, the central processing unit is the “brain,” and a vision processor is the “visual cortex.” Upon integration, computer vision enables navigation and mapping, collision avoidance, tracking, object recognition, inspection analytics and more – capabilities that are extremely compelling in emerging markets.
With the introduction of RealSense™ depth-sensing cameras, we brought groundbreaking technology that allowed devices to “see” the world in three dimensions. To amplify this paradigm shift, we completed several acquisitions in machine learning, deep learning and cognitive computing to build a suite of capabilities that open an entirely new world of possibilities: from recognizing objects, to understanding scenes; from authentication to tracking and navigating. This said, as devices become smarter and more distributed, we recognize that specific System on a Chip (SoC) attributes will be paramount to giving human-like sight to the 50 billion connected devices that are projected by 2020.
For this reason, I’m excited to announce our pending acquisition of Movidius*. With Movidius, Intel gains low-power, high-performance SoC platforms for accelerating computer vision applications. Additionally, this acquisition brings algorithms tuned for deep learning, depth processing, navigation and mapping, and natural interactions, as well as broad expertise in embedded computer vision and machine intelligence. Movidius’ technology optimizes, enhances and brings RealSense™ capabilities to fruition.
We see massive potential for Movidius to accelerate our initiatives in new and emerging technologies. The ability to track, navigate, map and recognize both scenes and objects using Movidius’ low-power and high-performance SoCs opens opportunities in areas where heat, battery life and form factors are key. Specifically, we will look to deploy the technology across our efforts in augmented, virtual and merged reality (AR/VR/MR), drones, robotics, digital security cameras and beyond. Movidius’ market-leading family of computer vision SoCs complements Intel’s RealSense™ offerings in addition to our broader IP and product roadmap.
Computer vision will trigger a Cambrian explosion of compute, with Intel at the forefront of this new wave of computing, enabled by RealSense™ in conjunction with Movidius and our full suite of perceptual computing technologies.
Josh Walden is senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s New Technology Group.
* Transaction is subject to satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions.Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Swiss tests found abnormal levels of polonium on Yasser Arafat's body
French judges say they have dropped an investigation into claims Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned.
Arafat died in Paris in 2004, aged 75. His wife says he was poisoned, possibly by highly radioactive polonium.
The claims were seemingly backed up by tests carried out in Switzerland.
But a statement by prosecutors in Nanterre, near Paris, said polonium poisoning had "not been demonstrated" and that they would not continue their inquiries.
Exhumed
Arafat was diagnosed with a serious blood disorder and died of a stroke on 8 November 2004. But no post-mortem examination was carried out as his widow Suha did not ask for one.
In 2012, an investigation by al-Jazeera TV, in conjunction with Swiss analysts in Lausanne, found abnormal levels of polonium-210 on his personal effects.
Suha Arafat then called for her late husband's body to be exhumed.
Three teams of French, Swiss and Russian investigators were allowed to take samples from Arafat's tomb in Ramallah in November 2012.
But, earlier this year, one French prosecutor said the polonium samples were of an environmental nature.
Swiss scientists said they had detected high levels of radioactive polonium but could not say if it had caused Arafat's death, while Russian experts concluded he died from natural causes, not radiation exposure.
"We'll continue our investigation to reach the killer of Arafat, until we know how Arafat was killed," Tawfiq Tirawi, the head of the Palestinian Authority's inquiry, told the AFP agency.
Update 17 September, 2015: The findings of the Swiss and Russian investigations into the cause of Arafat's death have been included in the story.NEW YORK—Hailing it as a groundbreaking discovery with far-ranging benefits, pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced a new breakthrough Friday that vastly extends the lifespan of near-death patents. “Ensuring that every one of these patents lives a long and fruitful life is our highest priority, and we’re committed to doing everything in our power to make sure they survive,” said Pfizer spokeswoman Ellen Hilty, noting that the drug manufacturer with more than $50 billion in annual revenues had assembled elite teams of experts and dedicated years of intense work to finding a way to prolong the lives of dying patents. “At Pfizer, patents always come first. Our primary goal is, and always will be, keeping them alive and healthy for as long as possible. And that’s why we couldn’t be happier to announce this wonderful development.” Hilty added that nothing causes Pfizer officials more distress than seeing a once robust patent expire at a young age, a “terrible tragedy” that allows dozens of generic manufacturers to copy it and offer pharmaceuticals to customers far more cheaply.
AdvertisementHappy 21st birthday, Bryce Harper!
In two seasons to date, Harper has posted a 128 wRC+ while hitting.272/.353/.481 in 1094 plate appearances.
Steamer projections have Harper projected to hit.266/.347/.464 as a 21-year old, which would make for a 125 wRC+. But if Harper posts a lower batting average, OBP, and slugging than he did in either of his first two years, I imagine that would be a major disappointment, not just for fans of the Washington Nationals, but for fans of the sport of baseball. And also, perhaps mostly, for the player himself. (But at least the projections have him down for a career-high 23 home runs.)
Changing gears for a moment, how about that Mike Trout. You may have heard, but some people thought he was the American League’s most valuable player after he hit.326/.399/.564 in 639 plate appearances in 2012. Then he somehow got even better as a hitter in 2013, posting a.323/.432/.557 line in 716 PA.
But when Trout was 19, he hit.220/.281/.390 in a 40-game, 135-PA cameo in 2011. Harper would crush that line as a 19-year old rookie in 2012. Then, of course, Trout’s age-20 season set an impossible standard that Harper had about a 3.4×10^9 percent chance of surpassing, if we’re being optimistic.
Because of the one-year age difference, had Trout just ended up reasonably good rather than ridiculously great, he might have served as a decent guide for how Harper could develop. Sort of a one-year advance copy. But Trout’s 2013 season confirmed that he is ridiculously great, so that idea is out the window for now.
What about other players who got their starts as teenagers? According to the Baseball-Reference.com similarity scores, Harper through his age 20 season has posted numbers most similar to Tony Conigliaro (956), Ken Griffey (954) and Mickey Mantle (954). All three of these players debuted in their age 19 seasons.
Mantle was already a great hitter when he was 20, posting a.311/.394/.530 line in 626 PA (158 wRC+), but the other two players set more worldly, but still great-for-20, lines: Griffey a.300/.366/.481 (666 PA, 132 wRC+) and Conigliaro a.269/.338/.512 (586 PA, 131 wRC+).
Harper’s wRC+ in 2013 was 137, slightly better than either Griffey or Conigliaro, but he only put in 497 plate appearances. Still, the three players had awfully similar age-20 seasons.
When he turned 21, Conigliaro’s effectiveness decreased to a 123 wRC+ and.265/.330/.487, before a recovery when he turned 22 (144 wRC+,.287/.341/.519, 389 PA) prior to the disaster that occurred on August 18, 1967, when he was hit in the face by a pitch.
Griffey’s improvement was steadier, as he posted a.327/.399/.527 line when he was 21 and a.308/.361/.535 one at 22 years old, with wRC+ marks of 148 and 145, before experiencing his first two 160 wRC+ seasons the next two years.
One more player I want to talk about in this context is Giancarlo Stanton. He fiddled around in A+ and AA when he was 19, because the universe doesn’t just up and grant every great talent the ability to hit Major League pitching as a teenager. Stanton instead debuted in his age 20 season and hit.259/.326/.507 (118 wRC+ in 396 PA) before hitting 34 home runs in his age 21 season with a 141 wRC+ and a.262/.356/.537 line in 601 PA.
So where the heck are we now? I just shared a lot of names and players and numbers and slashes, but none belong to Bryce Harper. He’ll have a heck of a lot more to do with his development than Mickey Mantle’s ghost.
I think the record shows, however, that players who hit well when they are 19 and 20 generally don’t stagnate at 21. The projected line from the beginning of this post still seems low.
To conclude, here is a possible range of outcomes for Bryce Harper in 2014:
Worst-case: His health remains an issue. His stats end up about as projected…or worse.
Mid-case #1: He actually gets healthy but still faces a Conigliaro-like decline between his age 20 and age 21 seasons. (Although, Conigliaro’s decline still left him hitting at a darned good level.)
The Steamer projection is somewhere between this and the prior case.
Mid-case #2: Ken Griffey. Don’t let the version of Ken Griffey from his mid-20s in the mid-90s, the version who hit 56 home runs in consecutive seasons, interfere with the classification of this as a “mid-case.” A 10-20 point jump in Harper’s wRC+, as Griffey experienced when he turned 21, would be a welcome development and continue Harper on his perennial all-star path.
Best-case: Mike Trout. I might have skipped a couple mid-cases, but let’s get back to Trout. It’s going to always get back to Trout, I think, for years when we have conversations like this. But if Trout could struggle when he was 19–unlike Harper, Mantle, Conigliaro, Griffey (sorry Stanton)–and then explode when he turned 20, why can’t the other once-in-a-generation talent of this generation experience a similar jump? (Please allow me a “why can’t” when talking about best-case scenarios.) It wouldn’t be a change from bad to great, but good to unfathomable, and it would come a year later, but maybe instead of having Griffey’s age-20 season and Griffey’s age-21 season, Harper can skip right to Trout or Mantle’s age-21 season.
The “Griffey-Griffey” path is still a more realistic hope for those looking for Harper to exceed the computed expectations set by Steamer. I don’t think a 150 wRC+ is out of reach, but even a 140 or 145 wRC+ or so would be a nice continuation for Harper’s career.The market share of Chinese-developed phone screens saw a notable rise in the first half of 2017, thanks to technical breakthroughs by the country's manufacturers.
China's smartphone shipments hit 226 million during the period, more than 66 percent of which used domestically made screens, up 14.1 percent compared with the same period in 2015, according to a report released by the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology.
China's Tianma Micro-electronics, surpassing Japan Display Inc., topped the country's phone screen market during the period.
China's domestically produced screens also gained momentum in the high-end cellphone market in the first six months. About 19 percent of Chinese smartphones worth more than 3,000 yuan (445 U.S. dollars) used homemade screens, up 10 percent year on year.
Screen technology is a weak part of China's mobile phone industry. Domestic brands have been devoted to screen innovation in recent years and actively involved in the expansion of new production lines, the report said.While a half million international visitors flood into Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games, there’s a growing group of foreigners in Brazil who are scrambling to get out permanently: expats.
We’ve seen a decrease of almost 40% of expatriates in large companies
Aurea Imai, a managing partner in Sao Paulo for international headhunting firm Boyden, said many professionals flocked to Brazil between 2010 and 2013 when they saw growth potential and a demand for high-quality executives. Now, many of them are leaving – quickly.
“We’ve seen a decrease of almost 40% of expatriates in large companies,” Imai said, “and resumes from global executives have decreased to almost zero.”
Spaniard Javier García-Ramos is one of them. When BBC Capital first caught up with him in 2014 he had traded a sluggish economy in Madrid for a thriving one in Sao Paulo. Now, the investment banker has returned to Spain and said a number of friends and colleagues also returned home as the economic outlook soured in Brazil.
Brazil – once a fast-growing member of the so-called BRIC economies, which also include Russia, India and China – has seen its fortune fade in recent years. Its currency is weak, inflation is high and the economy has entered into a deep recession thanks to a corruption scandal involving the state-controlled oil company Petrobras and a political scandal that finds President Dilma Rousseff suspended from office pending an impeachment trial.
If anything, the Olympics have only heightened concerns about the health of the nation, giving disgruntled public workers a platform to express their anger. In June, a group of protestors made global headlines after they stood in the arrivals hall at Rio’s Galeao International Airport with banners that read: Welcome to Hell. The signs claimed, “police and fire-fighters don’t get paid,” and, “whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe”.
Statistics show a 62% decrease in foreign worker permits
Brazil isn’t the only Latin American economy struggling through upheaval at the moment. Neighbouring Venezuela is facing an economic crisis of much grander proportions, where for many it isn’t even possible to find adequate food in the supermarkets to feed a family.
Statistics provided by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour show a 62% decrease in foreign worker permits granted in the first trimester of 2016, compared with the same period in 2014, due to both a lack of foreign interest and fewer available jobs.
Multinational retreat
Several big companies have pulled out of Brazil over the past two years citing unfavourable conditions for growth. The British-based multinational HSBC joined Citigroup and Societe Generale last June in becoming the third foreign bank to abandon or scale back operations in the country in 2015. Barclays announced similar plans to retreat from Brazil earlier this year.
The situations in Brazil and Venezuela are markedly different
Unemployment in Latin America’s largest economy soared to 10.9% in the first quarter of 2016 from 7.9% a year earlier, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Meanwhile average monthly wages fell over that same period from 2,031 Brazilian reals ($620) to 1,966 reals ($600).
When to go?
Are expats in Brazil right to be concerned about instability?
Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin America programme at the non-partisan Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, believes the situations in Brazil and Venezuela are markedly different.
While there might be ongoing contraction in the Brazilian economy, “the caretaker government has been doing things that are helping to restore the confidence of the business community,” Arnson said, noting that the investigation of corruption “creates stability as opposed to disruption in the system.”
But that hasn’t kept expats from leaving so far.
That said, the International Monetary Fund predicts the Brazilian economy will hit rock bottom this year and bounce back with positive growth of 0.5% in 2017. Imai, of Boyden, also predicts a more upbeat outlook for the coming year. “Our perspective is that, from the second half of 2017 onward, companies will start hiring again,” she said.
For now, however, the economy remains too bleak for many foreign workers. And the Olympic Games may have arrived one year too early for Brazil to showcase its true potential.
To comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.'CSA would want to patch-up with BCCI'
N Srinivasan will be the ICC chairman from July © Hindustan Times
The ICC Board has gained the necessary votes to approve a large number of sweeping changes relating to the governance, financing and structure of international cricket. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and the PCB were the only two Full Members who abstained when a "comprehensive resolution" was put to vote.
The BCCI, in particular, but also Cricket Australia and the ECB can now anticipate a period of greater wealth and influence in the ICC, although their proposals have been reduced in some areas and the ICC continues to claim that all nations will be better off as a result of the changes adopted.
The ICC has presented key elements of the resolution as follows:
More revenue for all nations because of a programme designed to secure a lucrative new rights deal.
A Test cricket fund to sustain Test cricket through to 2023.
Contractually-binding agreements between nations about Test series.
A clear pathway for Associate Members to become Test nations.
Plans to give widespread powers to an executive committee dominated by India, England and Australia have been watered down. Although this committee will still draw up major policy, its decisions will need to be ratified by the full board.
BCCI president N Srinivasan will become the ICC chairman from July this year, while CA chairman Wally Edwards will head a newly-formed Executive Committee, which will report to the ICC Board. The ECB chairman Giles Clarke will continue to be the head of the Finance and Commercial Affairs (F&CA) Committee. This will be for an initial two-year transitional period to 2016.
The ICC confirmed that at the end of this transitional period "the Chair of the ICC Board will be elected from within the ICC Board with all Full Member Directors entitled to stand for election. BCCI, CA and ECB - will be represented on both sub-committees, along with two representatives of the other Full Members (who will be elected by the Board)."
An F&CA committee "working group" made up of Srinivasan, Clarke and Edwards had first presented the draft of their radical revamp to the rest of the ICC Board at an unscheduled meeting called in Dubai on January 9. Central to the draft was the ICC revenue distribution model which was reformulated to give the BCCI, ECB and CA a graded percentage share of ICC revenue, with a larger chunk going to these three Boards when compared to the rest.
Today the ICC said, "Full Members will gain greater financial recognition based on the contribution they have made to the game, particularly in terms of finance, their ICC history and their on-field performances in the three formats."
The release stated the decision around the new revenue distribution model was, "the outcome of a negotiation between Members that has been required to provide long-term certainty of participation of all Members in both ICC events and bilateral series against other Members." The absence of any such "certainty" would impact on, "the rights for ICC events, which are to be taken to market this year... and by extension, so would the financial support that has driven the growth of cricket around the world.
"The structure of the model will ensure that none of the Full Members will be worse off than they are at present and - if forecasts of revenue generation prove to be correct - all will be significantly better off. The agreement of the model has been an important part of a wider negotiation that will now provide long-term certainty of participation in ICC events by all of the Full Member teams."
The meeting confirmed the end of the FTP in its current form, with future schedules being dependent on "contractually binding" negotiations between boards. "There was also confirmation that all Full Members will enter into a series of contractually binding bilateral agreements as a matter of urgency so that they can confirm a comprehensive schedule of matches in a Future Tours Programme that will now be extended to 2023."
"With the ICC Champions Trophy alongside the ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 and the formats and venues already confirmed for all of these events the ICC has a really attractive package for 2015-23 to take to the market." The ICC claims it has a limited-overs package to make the TV companies drool
The ICC Board also paved a clearer path for high-performing Associate nations to gain Test status. "The winner of the next ICC Intercontinental Cup will be entitled to take part in a play-off against the bottom-ranked Full Member and, if successful, obtain Test status," the ICC said. "This complements the pathways that are already in place for any Member to be able to qualify for the major events in ODI and T20I cricket."
The ICC confirmed that the proposed World Test Championship would be scrapped and replaced with the Champions Trophy in 2017 and 2021 to strengthen their commercial property. "It proved impossible to come up with a format for a four-team finals event in Test cricket that fits the culture of Test cricket and preserves the integrity of the format," its release said. "The most recent ICC Champions Trophy event proved to be very popular with supporters around the world and the future events will build on this success.
"With the ICC Champions Trophy alongside the ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 and the formats and venues already confirmed for all of these events the ICC has a really attractive package for 2015-23 to take to the market."
At the same time, the governing body announced the introduction of a Test Cricket Fund "to help ensure all of the Test playing teams will be able to sustain a home programme of Test cricket through to 2023."
"The fund will be available to all of the Test playing Members except the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)."
The ICC release said, "several of these decisions" would need to be "considered and adopted" by the ICC's Full Council when it meets in June. While there were no specifications made as to what these decisions were, as full council voting is required of constitutional amendments, that procedure is largely regarded as a formality.
ICC president Alan Isaac said: "The Board has made some significant decisions today which provide us with long-term certainty in relation to the future governance, competition and financial models of the ICC. There were eight Full Members who were in a position to support the resolution today and the two [SLC, PCB] who abstained have pledged to further discuss the issues with an aim to reaching unanimous approval over the coming weeks."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.Human Rights Watch says it has identified 74 Syrian commanders and intelligence officials who ordered troops to indiscriminately shoot unarmed protesters, Radio France Internationale reported.
The claims were made in a report released Thursday, which is based on interviews with former soldiers who defected from the Syrian army.
More on GlobalPost: Navi Pillay, UN rights chief, wants Syria investigated for crimes against humanity
The report said the military officers “ordered, authorized, or condoned widespread killings, torture, and unlawful arrests."
Ole Solvang, a Human Rights Watch researcher involved in the report, told RFI that while the group had reached these conclusions before, the new evidence goes a step further.
“What is new in this report is the level of detail that the defectors have provided in terms of the structure of the security forces, how they operated and perhaps most importantly who were the commanders that gave the order to open fire on protesters to arrest thousands of people – and to subject them to torture.”
Solvang told RFI that the soldiers followed orders for fear of repercussions from the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Human Rights Watch is urging the United Nations Security Council to refer the case to the International Criminal Court.
This release of the report comes as activists say army defectors in Syria killed 27 soldiers and members of the security forces, Agence France Presse reported.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the soldiers died during three separate clashes in the southern province of Daraa, at dawn on Thursday.
More on GlobalPost: Syria bans iPhones due to protest footage online
The group also said 21 civilians had been killed across the country on Wednesday, mainly in the north-western province of Idlib and in the cities of Homs and Damascus.
A civil disobedience campaign that started on Sunday is continuing across the country, AFP reported.
Meanwhile the UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged world powers to act "in the name of humanity" against the ongoing violence.“There are some very strange sounds in the world, Phillip. It doesn’t mean you have to fear them.”
Grandpa’s voice was deep, slow-paced and calming.
“No, I was not exactly afraid, I was just a bit disturbed. I have never heard that sound before.”
Grandpa sighed and slowly sat on the boy’s bed.
“In other words, you were not afraid of the sound, you were afraid of not knowing what was happening?”
“Right.”
“Alright. That is not strange at all then Phillip, I would have reacted the same. That means you are cautious of your surroundings.”
“I suppose I am.”
“Well, now you know how it sounds when a typing machine falls out of the window.”
“And crashes on the asphalt!”
“That was a landing!” Grandpa laughed. “Can you name other sounds that are strange to you?”
“Of course I can,” the boy smiled. “But you start.”
Grandpa inhaled deeply and got silent for a minute. Then he continued with confidence in his voice.
“Well, books when you turn their pages, sound very particularly. Not all of them, just some. Have you noticed?”
“Yeah. The book that you read me yesterday. It makes a different sound than a book about the fish world.”
“Does it? Perhaps because the pages of the fish book are colourful and thick.”
“It smells a bit different too.”
“Phillip, you could be a detective,” Grandpa chuckled. “I never knew you are such a great expert of sounds! So now it’s your turn.”
Phillip paused for a moment.
“Glasses.”
“Glasses? Do they make a sound at all?”
“Mine do. When I put them, they slide on my skin on the sides of my face and make this sound. It’s more silent when it starts, but becomes louder approaching the ears. Whoosh…..”
“Whoosh you say? This sound reminds me of closing the window on a very windy day, but not the glasses at all. When the window doesn’t want to close, but you force it, you know. Then it makes this sound.”
“Not exactly. The whoosh of closing the window is more distant and comes together with a whiff of air into your face. Glasses make this very timid and soft sliding sound, almost unnoticeable.”
“I really have never noticed any sound that glasses make Phillip, you are making this up.”
“A smile then!” Phillip jumped in his bed. “You just smiled and it made a sound!”
“Did it? Oh my Phillip, you are unbeatable, what does it…”
“It makes a mild clicking sound, I have tried it many times myself! When your lips move up and detach from your teeth.”
Grandpa smiled again and again, and started to laugh.
“It really makes that sound! I wish I knew this earlier. Then I would have never smiled next to your grandma’s ear!”
Phillip laughed as well.
“I have another one,” grandpa started mysteriously. “Do you know which sound I fear the most?”
“Which?”
“An alarm clock!”
Grandpa seemed to feel so humorous and laughed so hard that his lungs started to whistle.
“Oh, Phillip, we should continue this conversation tomorrow. I will take my notebook and start a glossary of sounds, ok? Now I will be going to bed. Slowly sliding in my Christmas slippers… Now they will be making a whoosh!”
Phillip giggled for the last time.
“Alright grandpa, but can you leave the door a bit open?”
“To hear how little mice are running up and down the stairs?”
“There are no mice in our house, grandpa, otherwise I would have heard them!”
“See you tomorrow, detective.”
Phillip was listening to the steps, echoing in the hallway and disappearing in grandpa’s room. It was ten steps away, three floor squeaks ahead, passing two small cracks in the wall on the left. He heard his grandpa silently walking in the distance, and climbing to his bed at last. The bed squeaked, as everything is this house.
Phillip turned on his side. His bed made a crying sound as well, but a totally different one than his grandpa’s bed. A kind of sound that new beds experiencing first signs of their years of burden make. The boy was sleeping in it since he got out of his cradle and moved out of the parent’s room. That happened when his sister was born six years ago.
His sister’s room was just next to his, only four big steps to the right through a small passage between the wall and eight stair railings. His sister would always ask to keep her door open, as well as the table lamp. Phillip would sometimes hear his mom silently walking into his sister’s room and switching the light off. “Click-click”, the button would say, springing down and up.
His mom then would whether go straight to her room or come to check on him. He would always keep his eyes closed on this occasion, pretending to being asleep. Sometimes mom would stand in the doorway for a bit, breathing silently, probably looking at him. He didn’t particularly like it, but he never said anything. He just waited until she turned away and slowly closed his door, leaving just a tiny opening for him to always hear what is happening in the house.
Phillip liked some sounds better than others. He especially enjoyed those sounds which he was familiar with the best. His cat purring while sleeping next to him. The kettle buzzing with water miraculously trying to come out in the form of fumes, which would make his palm moisty and very warm if he held it above the kettle. His sister colouring with her pencils, some of which were shorter than others, especially red, because that was her favourite colour. He would sometimes find the shortest red pencil in her drawer, scribble something on a piece of paper, and hide it somewhere in her room for her to find.
Phillip didn’t enjoy the sound of biting an apple or a pear. It just sounded too violent perhaps, tearing a piece of a unit away viciously. He did not enjoy chewing sounds in general, and he would always think about the thing that is being eaten rather than concentrate on the eater. “Crush crush crush crush” echoed in Phillip’s ears whenever someone bit and chew something. “Gulp”, and there was no thing any more.
Phillip despised all sounds of absence. He could not stand a knock on a wall which was very thin and had a cavity behind it. That sound was particularly dull. He also disliked the clang of an empty bucket. If he would finish his sandwich and someone would tap on his lunch box, he would hate that sound enormously.
The most despicable sound he has ever experienced in his life was a man, not breathing. That sound scared him so much that he would wait until everyone has fallen asleep, get out of his bed as silently as he could, and go to the corridor. He would concentrate, and listen to every single sound surrounding him. There were not many sounds during the night in the house. Clearing all others out, he would only care to hear three deep breathings. He never wanted to hear the absence of this sound again.President-elect Donald Trump will meet with the New York Times on Tuesday, hours after announcing on Twitter that he had canceled their scheduled meeting because the newspaper had changed the terms—an account the Times disputed.
“I cancelled today’s meeting with the failing @nytimes when the terms and conditions of the meeting were changed at the last moment. Not nice,” Trump said early Tuesday morning. “Perhaps a new meeting will be set up with the @nytimes. In the meantime they continue to cover me inaccurately and with a nasty tone!”
In a statement Tuesday morning, the Times contradicted Trump’s account, explaining that the president-elect had tried to cut an on-the-record portion of the meeting.
“We were unaware that the meeting was cancelled until we saw the President Elect’s tweet this morning. We did not change the ground rules at all and made no attempt to. They tried to yesterday—asking for only a private meeting and no on-the-record segment, which we refused to agree to,” the Times said in a statement. “In the end, we concluded with them that we would go back to the original plan of a small off the record session and a larger on the record session with reporters and columnists.”
Hours later, Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Times, said the meeting was back on schedule. She said Trump would have an off-the-record meeting with the paper’s publisher and an on-the-record meeting with journalists and columnists. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks also confirmed to a pool reporter that Trump would meet with the Times.
Trump frequently uses Twitter to lash out at news outlets, particularly the Times, for their coverage of him. Tuesday’s Twitter tirade followed a meeting he hosted Monday with more than two dozen broadcast journalists, the New York Times reported. The contents of the meeting were off-the-record and have largely remained confidential, but some in attendance told the Times that Trump used the meeting to criticize news networks and anchors for their coverage of his presidential campaign.Robin van Persie has hailed Manchester United as "a special team" after his two goals helped them to a 4-0 win at Wigan Athletic.
Van Persie took his overall tally to 19 as United stayed seven points clear of their nearest rivals, Manchester City, with his first goal described as "absolutely magnificent" by Sir Alex Ferguson.
The goal involved the Dutchman collecting Javier Hernández's pass, stepping outside Iván Ramis, then inside the defender before curling expertly past Ali al-Habsi with his supposedly weaker right foot.
Van Persie said: "It was a good goal because every single touch was the right one. The first one was a little behind me and I had to drag it on to my left foot. Then I waited for the guy to slide in, had a good touch inside and then a quick finish. Three touches but all good touches."
Van Persie said his team-mates deserved to share the headlines, though, with Hernández also scoring twice.
"This is a special team," said Van Persie. "Everybody wants to help each other. Everybody's keen for everyone to score. Defenders are working their socks off for the midfielders, the midfielders are working for the strikers. Everybody wants to run and everybody has one target in their mind."
Roberto Martínez conceded his team were beaten by the better side, with the Latics lacking sufficient strength in depth to cope with a run of four games in 11 days. "We didn't have the legs or the reaction and you have to congratulate Manchester United," Wigan's manager said. "They had the luxury of making changes and Van Persie and Hernández looked brighter and sharper. In the end it was a mismatch."
Wigan have since completed the loan signing from United of the 18-year-old Chile striker Angelo Henríquez, whom Martínez called "a very young man with huge potential".Google/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
You may well have been having conflicted feelings over the last couple of years.
On the one hand, you know that Google is, at its core, an engineering company whose aim is to get your hands off the steering wheel and implant its search engine into your brain.
On the other, you're finding yourself feeling rather warm about Google, as if whatever the company says ultimately sounds mellifluous -- even if, at heart, it's menacing to your very being.
There's a reason for this. A company that once derided advertising as something beneath dwarf-tossing has embraced various facets of it, in order to make itself seem far warmer and more human.
Think of the doodles, which pop up at unexpected time to celebrate bizarre, quirky and often humorous anniversaries. They're involving, amusing and even educative. You love them, don't you?
Then there's Google's sudden and widespread embrace of conventional advertising. You know, the things that Eric Schmidt once referred to as "a video."
Three years ago, an ad called "Parisian Love" ran during the Super Bowl. At the time, Google advertising during the Super Bowl was as bizarre as Facebook respecting your privacy.
This warm and lovely ad seemed to give Google the confidence to encroach on what had, until then, been Apple's territory. For all the starkly white-backgrounded ads that Apple had run over the years for its products, Cupertino was always extremely adept at heartstring-tugging.
From "Here's To The Crazy Ones" to the iPhone 4's Face Time ad, Apple knew that if it was going to depict people at all, the residual feeling had to be like someone massaging you with warm whiskey and oil that smells of almonds.
In recent times, however, Apple hasn't been as sure with its heart.
The most glaring example of this is its recent "Designed by Apple in California" campaign. Here, it isn't clear whether Apple wants you to feel good about your life -- or about choosing Apple products -- or whether Apple wants to boast about just how wonderful Apple is.
The words "this is what matters" weren't juxtaposed with images of newborn babies. Instead, what suddenly mattered was "the experience of a product."
In this ad, we even saw a Caucasian man in an Asian restaurant ignoring all the locals around him, choosing instead to indulge in food porn with his iPad.
|
.To understand one of the most intriguing stories of the Greek debt crisis you don't need a degree in economics or an expert grasp of Brussels diplomacy – merely a willingness to get a bit muddy.
You start with a cramped 15-minute bus ride out of central Athens to a suburb called Zografou. Uphill past the blocks of flats that make this one of the most densely populated areas in Europe until you come to a fenced-off square. Navigate the bolted gate (clue: a few feet along is a trespasser-shaped hole) and crawl inside into one of the few green patches in the entire neighbourhood.
Just ahead is an abandoned three-storey 19th-century villa, its marble floors and fireplaces and balconies and busts still in good nick. It is magnificent, but spooky – as if the producers of Grand Designs had remade the Blair Witch Project.
It's also at the heart of a controversy that raises questions about how Greece racked up its debt – and whether some loans are illegal.
The essentials appear simple enough: in the early 2000s this estate was designated a communal green, not to be built on. The owners objected but in 2006, before their appeal was settled, the then-mayor led the council into buying half the plot.
According to former mayor Yiannis Kazakos, had the appeal been won some of the plot would have been turned into a shopping mall – a council purchase meant that locals got to exert some control over the development. But some residents say the land has not yet lost its green-belt status so a deal was unnecessary. Either way, to make the acquisition Kazakos' council borrowed €25m (£22m) from Kommunalkredit International, an Austrian bank operating out of the nearby tax haven of Cyrus. And it's claimed that the administration also broke the law, by not getting approval from the state's court of auditors.
It's also asserted that the loan was deemed illegal by the mayor's own officials at the council, who reportedly refused to pay any of the instalments. It was called "illegal" early last month by a government minister. This is disputed by Kazakos, who insists he followed all due procedure.
The upshot is a legally disputed loan. Yet in order to secure another slug of IMF cash this July, Prime Minister George Papandreou was reportedly forced to repay part of the debt owed by Zografou, and another council with an outstanding foreign loan. The details have not been made public, but the deal – IMF cash in return for repaying debts to overseas banks – has been widely reported by the Greek press.
Former mayor Kazakos has moved offices next door to a fishmonger.
Visitors are recieved in front of a 6ft by 3ft close-up photo of their host: heavy eyebrows, a widow's peak and plump cheeks. He's a lawyer at a university in Ukraine, he says, and did nothing illegal. He cites a directive from Brussels that he says exempts purchases with foreign loans.
In Athens, independent lawyers Stathis Chatzopolous and George Katrougalos believe Kazakos hasn't even got the right directive – which in any case doesn't apply to purchases over €1m. They're also shocked at the IMF's insistence that a possibly illegal loan between a council and a bank should be taken on by the state. "In the 19th century, when foreign governments wanted to impose their will they used gunships," says Chatzopolous. "Now they're using the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European community."
Campaigners believe many government loans are either unlawful or "odious", in not serving the national interest. This spring, they formed a campaign for an open audit of Greek state debt. "If this really is public debt, then the public has a right to know where it came from and decide what to do about it," says one of the campaign's founders and economist Costas Lapavitsas.
Meanwhile, the suburb's new mayor, former doctor Costas Kalliris, is facing up to paying a loan worth around €45m over its full term. Ask him what that means for his budget and he reels off a list of cuts: "We won't be able to pay for kindergartens, schools, to make a park … " And Zografou doesn't even have its shopping mall.
• The headline and introduction of this piece were changed at 9.30am on Tuesday 2 August, to better reflect its contentA massive security effort is in place to protect 51,000 runners and soft targets spanning five boroughs Sunday for the New York City Marathon, less than a week after the city suffered its deadliest terrorist attack since 9/11.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the "extraordinary event" spanning 26.2 miles will "be well protected" only days after a truck attack killed eight people in lower Manhattan.
The security detail will include hundreds of extra uniformed patrol and plainclothes officers, roving teams of counterterrorism commandos armed with heavy weapons, bomb-sniffing dogs and rooftop snipers poised to shoot if a threat emerges.
The Police Department is also turning to a tactic it has used to protect Trump Tower and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, using 16-ton sanitation trucks filled with sand. The trucks, along with "blocker cars," will be positioned at key intersections to try and prevent anyone from driving onto the course.
Marathoners from around the world who have been streaming into the city in anticipation of the race expressed mixed feelings about running so soon after the carnage.
"I can be really scared of it when I am at home and in front of the TV," Annemerel de Jongh, 28, of The Hague, Netherlands, told the Associated Press as she picked up her race number at a Manhattan convention center. "But when I am running I feel maybe a little bit invincible, like nothing can happen to me. I can run away from it."
The New York Police Department said it has no information pointing to any credible threat against the race, and that they'll use more of the blocker vehicles for the marathon than they've ever used for any other event.
WHY I AM RUNNING THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON AS A GUIDE FOR A DISABLED RUNNER
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state police, the National Guard, the state Office of Emergency Management and other agencies will provide added security and double the number of troopers posted at high-profile locations, including Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.
The attack Tuesday, on a bicycle path miles from the marathon route, was a grim reminder of how the Islamic State terror group is using its propaganda to encourage radicalized "lone wolves" to cause harm with unsophisticated means in easily accessible settings.
The attack by an alleged ISIS supporter "appears to have followed, almost exactly to a T, the instructions ISIS has put out in its social media channels," said the NYPD's top counterterrorism official, John Miller.
An online Islamic State group magazine posted last year extolled using trucks to kill innocent victims, saying, "Vehicles are like knives, as they are extremely easy to acquire." It also advised "surveying the route for obstacles, such as posts, signs, barriers, humps, bus stops, dumpsters, etc. which is important for sidewalk-mounted attacks."
Investigators say there's evidence the suspect, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, did reconnaissance before driving a Home Depot rental truck through an unobstructed entry to a bike path in lower Manhattan and mowing down cyclists and pedestrians. A police officer shot and wounded Saipov before he was arrested and charged with supporting terrorism and other federal counts.
The shift away from sophisticated large-scale attacks like the one on the World Trade Center's twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, to smaller ones on soft targets has forced law enforcement to become more adept at how to prevent and respond to terrorism, said Karen Greenberg, director of Fordham Law School's Center on National Security.
"I don't think people should be worried," Greenberg said. "The police know what they are doing. Look at how few successful attacks there have been."
Safety adjustments made by organizers of the New York City Marathon following the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013 — like banning backpacks and costumes — remain in place, said Chris Weiller, spokesman for New York Road Runners. Despite widespread news reports and images of the trail of bodies left by the truck attack, the cancellation rate has remained about the same, he said.
Boston Marathon organizers, working with local, state and federal law enforcement, also significantly enhanced security along the course after the 2013 attack, including more officers deployed on race day, a no-fly zone over the course and drones to help with surveillance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Now that we may have a date for the plebiscite on marriage equality, Andrea Myles’s account of the passengers on a Sydney bus ejecting a vocal racist should be mandatory reading.
As she says, it’s a “pretty neat example of 50-odd people keeping their cool, making it calmly clear that none of us was tolerating racism, and having the confidence to sort it out.”
That’s the kind of collective civic courage we’ll require to win the yes vote – and to keep the bigots quiet while we do so.
Tony Abbott’s plebiscite – floated, fairly transparently, so as to derail momentum for marriage reform – has provoked considerable controversy among progressives. But if it’s now upon us, we need a comprehensive victory for equality.
Western Australia premier opposes marriage equality plebiscite in February 2017 Read more
Here are a few thoughts on how that might be achieved.
First, we shouldn’t understate what’s at stake.
To win over waverers, activists will be tempted to downplay the significance of marriage equality, suggesting it’s a simple administrative reform that will leave society entirely unchanged.
That was more or less the approach republicans (under the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull, as it happens) took during the disastrous constitutional referendum of 1999.
But if you’re ensuring people that nothing will change, you’re implying that a Yes vote doesn’t matter. Why should anyone get excited about a campaign promising nothing? In fact, the plebiscite in 2017 will matter a lot – and we need to say that loudly and clearly.
A victory for the Yes case (which is what all the polls promise) will stand (particularly if it’s overwhelming) as a statement of mass opposition to homophobia and similar bigotry, something unparalleled in Australian history. It will be a democratic reform won in the face of the extraordinary incompetence and malice of the political class – and, for that reason, a reform in which millions of ordinary voters will feel a personal stake.
The implications will be felt within both major parties. Within the Liberal party, social conservatives pretend that their opposition to same-sex marriage reflects the common sense of ordinary suburbanites against the social engineering of elites. A popular vote for Yes will pull that particular rug out from underneath them, leaving the Liberal right exposed as the isolated extremists they truly are.
Inside Labor, the plebiscite will bring an end to the longstanding willingness of apparatchiks to pander to prejudice in return for perceived electoral advantage. Nicola Roxon’s endorsements of John Howard’s prohibition on same-sex marriage; Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard playing footsies with the Australian Christian Lobby: such shenanigans will be much less viable after a big Yes win.
That’s all quite a big deal. If we want to turn passive supporters of marriage equality into active campaigners for the Yes case, we need to stress how important a victory this might be.
The second point follows from the first.
We need to mobilise people. We want active involvement, not merely passive support at the ballot box. The most recent Melbourne march for marriage equality brought 10,000 people onto the street. Other cities drew equally impressive crowds.
By contrast, the anti-equality groups have never managed any sizeable crowd for a public event.
Mass mobilisations will inspire Yes supporters to take the arguments back to their friends, neighbours and workmates: a grassroots army agitating for change everywhere.
But a constant stream of pro-reform rallies, meetings and marches will also show people affected by whatever bigotry emerges in the campaign that they’re not alone; that thousand and thousands of others care about them and their well being; that it’s the bigots who are marginal and isolated and, well, weird.
Think of Myles’ piece. Being subjected to an anti-Asian bigot when trapped on public transport could have been a deeply dispiriting experience. Instead, Myles says that, after the passengers collectively shut the racist down, she left the bus with a massive spring in her step.
That’s the power of solidarity. It’s a power we can use to make the campaign that now seems upon us an inspiring demonstration of acceptance and inclusivity, despite the best efforts of those preaching hate.
Which brings us to point three.
We must hold the No side to account for any homophobia they unleash.
One suspects that, as soon as the campaign’s underway, the major anti-equality organisations will moderate their rhetoric. To make any showing in the plebiscite, the Australian Christian Lobby and similar outfits must pitch themselves to a secular mainstream that’s overwhelmingly hostile to scriptural-based homophobia. Expect, then, a rhetoric invoking “tradition” and calls for religious freedom rather than the old-fashioned Bible thumping (which only works when lobbying sympathetic politicians).
Hence the importance of insisting the leaders of the No case either denounce or wear whatever hate-mongering that does arise.
A splinter in my bloodstream has reached my heart – why I can't resign myself to a plebiscite | Rodney Croome Read more
If they refuse to stand against the more overt bigotry of their supporters, they’ll lose the mask of respectability they so desperately need. On the other hand, if they do condemn homophobia, they’ll split a campaign that in the final analysis, rests on the belief that same-sex attracted people aren’t entitled to equality.
That choice illustrates the profound problem that the right now faces.
Conservatives know that, if marriage equality won a popular vote in Ireland, it will almost certainly win here.
How, then, do they orient to their coming defeat?
One suspects that many of the pundits and politicians who have been most vocal in opposing marriage reform will seek to tip-toe quietly away from the issue, reluctant to be associated with a losing cause.
Again, we shouldn’t let them happen. If the vote’s now happening, we have a chance to prove, once and for all, that Cory Bernardi and Andrew Bolt and all the rest of the ilk, represent a sad little minority.
For understandable reasons, many progressives didn’t want a plebiscite. But it now seems almost certain. As Joe Hill famously said, don’t mourn, organise.Passing punctured West Virginia’s vaunted press throughout March’s Big 12 title game. Iowa State zipped the ball around the perimeter far faster than the Mountaineers’ wave of defenders could move their feet. A full-court trap hopes to coax silly passes, though. So when Nazareth Mitrou-Long stepped a few dribbles across the timeline, Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm froze, thinking “I can’t believe we’re about to throw this half-court alley-oop up 10, with two minutes to go.”
As the ball hung in the Sprint Center air, Deonte Burton’s pink hyperdunks launched towards the basket. A vicious clang on the rim followed. Burton’s left hand-thundering through the hoop pierced Elijah Macon’s ears. Prohm felt the rim rattle from the sidelines. “The best dunk I’ve ever seen in person,” he said. “By far.” Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg, the man who recruited Burton’s transfer to Iowa State, heard the jam through his television. The highlight induced flashbacks of Burton’s red-shirt season practices. “You’d see stuff like that all the time,” Hoiberg said.
Death I’ve seen you peek around the corner
I'm not afraid of you
you took a piece of me that I want and will get back
You are the darkness but I have grown fond of the dark
The volume of Burton’s finish also perked the ears of NBA scouts. At 6’4 with a 6’11.5” wingspan, he boasts a burly frame capable of banging against bigs as well as the length and athleticism to compete on the perimeter. He drained 40% of his collegiate three-point attempts and blocked nearly two shots per game as a senior. When Burton steps on the court, his presence is palpable. “It is a stark contrast on and off the floor,” Prohm said.
Frederick Breedon/Getty
Before each contest, Burton shrinks his powerful frame into the confines of his iPhone notepad. It is here where he scribes his poetry, pouring out an endless stream of consciousness, rendering his burdened mind a blank slate before tipoff. He found balladry in seventh grade at Westside Academy when local Milwaukee poets performed their work at a school assembly. “It’s fun seeing how a puzzle fits together when the puzzle is all words,” Burton said. He began crafting his own prose. He spent nearly as many hours watching Louder Than A Bomb videos on YouTube as he did workshopping his game in the gym. Burton can take center stage at the NCAA Tournament, but introverted nerves would never allow him to perform his words. “I’m way too shy to do it.” he said. He people watches at parties rather than commanding the dance floor.
Pain has brought me comfort
Depression has brought me joy
you are bringing me time
I thought I was supposed to be scared of you
But you are afraid of me
The youngest of six siblings usually harbors bashful behavior. As Barbara Malone’s older children left the house, time allowed for more isolated experiences with her two youngest boys. She would giggle and wrestle with Burton. He followed her to every store, holding her hand while she went shopping and picking off her plate when they went out to eat. When he became a star at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, she cut and laminated each newspaper clipping. Malone plastered pictures of all her children across the living room. But when guests visited, she would point at the stills of her youngest and shout, “That’s my baby!”
Their bond was everlasting. Which made the beginning of Burton’s sophomore year of high school all the more bewildering. Amidst a transfer to Brewster, Malone informed Burton’s girlfriend at the time she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She withheld the news from her children for two years. “Those type of things, that’s stuff the person has to be comfortable with themselves before they can tell anyone else,” Burton said. He accepted a scholarship from Marquette to stay close to his ailing best friend. Malone found solace in the stands of the Bradley Center, cheering for her baby and screaming at the officials. “She said something to pretty much everyone,” Burton chuckled.
Then on the morning of Oct. 6, 2014, just weeks before his sophomore campaign with the Golden Eagles, Burton awoke to a phone call. It was his sister Nicole. The family had braced for Malone’s death. She had even planned her own funeral, but the news shook Burton to his core. “It was surreal. I just… couldn’t believe it,” he said. Basketball no longer brought him joy. The game, the city of Milwaukee itself, everything he had ever known reminded him of the woman he had lost. Simply driving down a road prompted memories of a time they had rolled down that very block. “I couldn’t really heal with the constant reminder,” Burton said.
You are the one to blame for changing me
You took something that means more to me than you will ever know
Are you afraid of me because you see your death in me
If you die what will that make me
He needed to turn his thoughts into therapeutic verse and flee Milwaukee. Hoiberg’s staff had been enamored with Burton’s versatile skillset in high school and the Cyclones’ Ames campus provided a refuge across state lines. Before the end of that sophomore first semester at Marquette, Burton transferred to Iowa State. Hoiberg soon after took the Bulls’ job, but Burton’s spring red-shirt provided ample time to leave a lasting impression. He brought endless energy in practices. Before one shootaround at Hilton Coliseum, Burton dropped his bags, scooped a ball off the floor and sprung into an effortless windmill dunk while wearing Timberland boots. “In his jeans,” Hoiberg said. “It was crazy.”
Burton’s footwear became a staple of his Iowa State career. He first donned pink sneakers at Marquette as a fashion statement. His mother’s passing soon turned his shoes into a declaration of breast cancer awareness. “Those magical shoes,” Prohm said. He obtained a tattoo of a ribbon and often tucks pink socks into those fluorescent hyperdunks. He etched “Love you” and “Miss you” onto the soles and customized a pair of pink Kobes with his mother’s initials stitched onto the inside of the tongue. He’s started The Pink Legacy foundation in honor of Malone.
Age is no such thing I can't die unless I become afraid of myself
all I will have is time
I am death and death is me
When we all reunite I will be happy but can death be happy with me?
Burton will continue wearing rosy sneakers in the NBA now that he’s fulfilled his mother’s wish of finishing college. With the league’s shift towards a more malleable, pace-and-space style, his age is his only detraction. “I think he can guard really 1-4 and, shoot, a lot of 5s now, with the way our league has gone,” Hoiberg said. “Offensively, he can punish smaller guys and [defenses] with his ability to shoot the ball.”
Franchise-changing prospects can hide within second round big boards. First it was Draymond Green. Now teams are searching for “the next Malcolm Brogdon,” an under-the-radar, multifaceted ball of muscle primed for immediate minutes. One team Burton recently visited registered his max vertical at 40 inches. He can play both aspects of the pick-and-roll. He can connect from distance and bowl through opponents at the rim. “I don’t really have a position,” Burton said. “I’m a basketball player.” And a poet. And a son carrying on his mother’s legacy.U.S. nuclear company Westinghouse Electric is filing for bankruptcy, its Japanese owner Toshiba said Wednesday.
Westinghouse, which was bought by Toshiba in 2006, has suffered billions of dollars in losses due to delays and cost overruns at nuclear plants under construction in Georgia and South Carolina.
The bankruptcy filing is the latest embarrassment for the two industrial giants. Huge losses at Westinghouse have thrown its survival into doubt and raised questions about the future of the two U.S. nuclear power projects.
The financial disaster has spread to the Japanese firm, which last month wrote down the value of Westinghouse by 712.5 billion yen ($6.4 billion).
Toshiba (TOSBF) said the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will limit its exposure to future losses at Westinghouse. The U.S. company will no longer be under Toshiba's control and will be stripped out of its financial results, the Japanese conglomerate said.
Toshiba warns net loss could hit $1 trillion
"The environment of nuclear power is so severe at this moment, it was not a sustainable business," said Kazunori Ito, an equity analyst at Morning Star.
Westinghouse's bankruptcy filing "is the only way for Toshiba to limit or determine the amount of loss at this point," he said.
That loss is going to be huge.
Dumping Westinghouse could drag Toshiba to a net loss of about 1 trillion yen ($9 billion) for the financial year ending this month, the Japanese company said Wednesday, nearly three times the 390 billion yen ($3.5 billion) loss it had flagged last month.
Westinghouse and Toshiba are working with the owners of the two U.S. nuclear power projects to come up with plans to continue construction "during an interim period," the Japanese firm said. It wasn't immediately clear what will happen to the unfinished projects in the long term.
Toshiba first warned of a massive hit from its U.S. nuclear unit back in December.
Since that news emerged, the company has twice delayed its audited earnings, and its shares have more than halved in value.
Toshiba and Westinghouse, storied companies now struggling to survive
Westinghouse is what is left today of what was once a major industrial conglomerate that helped change the world during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Founder George Westinghouse, a prolific inventor, started making air brakes which greatly improved the safety of train travel and freight transportation. He was a key advocate of the alternating electrical current that is still used around the globe today, rather than the direct current which had been pioneered by Thomas Edison.
Related: Toshiba chairman steps down as company takes hit from U.S. nuclear business
Toshiba is an iconic Japanese company that now faces the threat of being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange because of its delay in publishing earnings and a $1.2 billion accounting scandal that was uncovered in 2015.
To help shore up its finances, Toshiba is looking to sell a significant stake in its prized memory chips business.
It's a humiliating fall from grace for a company that has been around since the 1870s. Toshiba manufactured Japan's first light bulb and gave the country its first electric washing machines, vacuum cleaners and microwave ovens.
Toshiba then charged into the tech industry, making a global name for itself as a pioneer laptop maker and developer of flash memory technology.
A nuclear bet gone sour
The company bet big on the nuclear industry in 2006, acquiring Westinghouse for $5.4 billion. It was a bold deal that came at a time of renewed interest in nuclear power.
But the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011 changed things. In the face of souring public opinion on nuclear energy and stricter safety requirements, hopes of a nuclear renaissance soon faded.
Analysts said Toshiba paid too much for Westinghouse, forcing it to maintain an aggressive nuclear power plant sales forecast. That led to Westinghouse acquiring nuclear construction business CB&I Stone & Webster in 2015.
The deal was supposed to help Westinghouse complete the U.S. reactor projects. Instead, costs spiraled out of control. Toshiba later admitted that it may have overestimated the value of CB&I Stone & Webster.
-- CNNMoney's Chris Isidore contributed to this report.FIFTEEN miles east of Philadelphia, Willingboro's Grand Marketplace is a chaotic place. Merchants hawk Christian T-shirts, Amish quilts, Chinese food, massages and Afrocentric literature. Salsa music blasts from a CD stall. Most of the shoppers are black; the shopkeepers are a variegated mix of blacks, Latinos, Asians, Arabs and whites, including Pennsylvania Dutch farmers in traditional garb. Welcome to bland, homogenous suburbia.
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In 1960 fewer Americans lived in suburbs than in central cities or the countryside. Ten years later the suburbs had overhauled both; by 2000 they contained more people than the cities and countryside put together. Despite more than a decade of urban boosterism, beginning with sitcoms like “Friends” and “Sex and the City” and continuing with expensive efforts to spruce up downtown districts, the drift to the cul-de-sacs continues. Between 1990 and 2006 the city of Chicago added 50,000 residents, reversing a long decline. Not bad—but in the same period the sprawling metropolis outside the city proper grew by well over a million.
As they swell, the suburbs are changing. Perhaps none ever quite resembled the colourless domestic enclaves popularised by 1970s television programmes such as “The Brady Bunch”; now, they look nothing at all like them. America's suburbs are ethnically and demographically mixed—sometimes more so than its cities. Many are less dormitories than economic powerhouses. Among the most changed is one of the most famous.
Willingboro, or Levittown as it used to be known, was built 50 years ago this summer. It was created by William Levitt, who kept costs down by bringing in ready-made walls and buying cookers and refrigerators direct from manufacturers. As he boasted to Time magazine, his company was the “General Motors of the housing industry”. The new suburb was composed of self-contained neighbourhoods, each with its own school and swimming pool. Every street was reassuringly curved and shared the first letter of its name with the neighbourhood to which it belonged. Holyoke Lane, Henderson Lane and Hummingbird Lane all lay within Hawthorne Park.
One of Willingboro's first residents was Herbert Gans, a sociologist who wanted to find out whether suburbia conformed to the popular image of bored commuters and alienated housewives. His great book, “The Levittowners”, proved it did not. But Gans had to admit that Willingboro was homogenous. Virtually all home-buyers were white people in their 20s and 30s, with young children. The population was overwhelmingly lower-middle-class and less than 1% black.
These days Willingboro is two-thirds black. Although it remains child-oriented, it is no longer exclusively so. One in eight residents is now aged 65 or over. As the proportion of children has fallen, schools have been converted to other uses. One has been turned into a community centre where, on a recent Friday afternoon, an R&B band entertained a mixed-race crowd of old folk. The music drifted into a small room where Muslims, a growing presence in the neighbourhood, had gathered for prayers.
Such diversity is now common in suburbia. According to William Frey, a demographer, the white population of big-city suburbs grew by 7% between 2000 and 2006. In the same period the suburban Asian population grew by 16%, the black population by 24% and the Hispanic population by an astonishing 60%. Many immigrants to America now move directly to the suburbs without passing through established urban ghettos. Having conquered suburbia, ethnic-minority groups are now swiftly infiltrating the more distant “exurbs”.
As the suburbs become more mixed, some inner-city areas are turning less so. Los Angeles, which markets itself as the city “where the world comes together”, and New York (“the world's second home”) both added whites and lost blacks between 2000 and 2006. So many blacks moved out of Los Angeles that, were the exodus to continue unabated, they would disappear from the city around 2050. Manhattan and San Francisco lost Hispanics as well as blacks, which is remarkable given that group's speedy growth in the country as a whole. Meanwhile, the world came together on their fringes.
Gary Gates, who follows the subject at the University of California at Los Angeles, says the number of gay and lesbian couples in suburbia is also increasing. Much of this can be put down to greater tolerance: more same-sex couples are coming out of the closet, at least to census-takers. But some of it is due to migration from central cities. Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia all lost gays and lesbians between 2000 and 2006. The suburban counties surrounding all three cities saw increases in the number of same-sex couples, sometimes huge ones.
Why are gays and ethnic minorities moving to suburbia? The obvious answer is that they can. No suburban developer would dare bar blacks or any other group from buying houses, as William Levitt did until 1960. It has taken longer to overcome local prejudices—and the fear that behind twitching net curtains live intolerant neighbours rather than merely curious ones. Yet such anxieties are now fading. The Rev Willie James, who launched a lawsuit in 1959 that led to the desegregation of Willingboro, says overt racism is no more, and the covert kind is so covert as to be almost undetectable.
To the extent that ethnic-minority groups have needs distinct from those of whites (which they do less and less) they can increasingly meet them outside city centres. Los Angeles' best dim sum is to be found in the largely Chinese suburb of Monterey Park. Its best Indian restaurants are in Artesia, another suburb. Gays can go online to socialise, points out Mr Gates—or they can go to ordinary bars and clubs, where same-sex couples raise fewer eyebrows than they used to. Many young gays hardly see the point of pricey enclaves like Chelsea in New York or the Castro in San Francisco.
Despite recent falls, property prices in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Washington have risen far more than the national average since the mid-1990s. Many Americans find it worthwhile to move out and commute to jobs in the city. And they may not have to commute at all. The most important reason people are moving to the suburbs is economic: that is where the jobs are.
From bedrooms to boardrooms
Even when seen from a car at 65 miles per hour, Valencia does not conform to the popular image of suburbia. Drivers heading north from Los Angeles along Interstate 5 see few houses, because most are hidden behind a golf course. Instead they pass factories, warehouses and offices. It is not a bad introduction to the place. With some 60,000 jobs and 20,000 houses, Valencia boasts a better ratio of employment to homes than the city of Los Angeles. And still its businesses grow. Between 2002 and 2009 its supply of offices will have increased by half.
Valencia was designed by Victor Gruen, an architect who did as much to shape American suburbia in the 1960s as William Levitt had done in the 1950s. Gruen was an idealist: his most enduring invention, the two-storey enclosed shopping mall, was supposed to evoke a European city centre. For Valencia he devised a dense urban core and a series of neighbourhoods connected to each other and downtown via walkways known as paseos. The settlement was supposed to be orderly and self-contained, unlike the chaotic San Fernando valley just to the south. As one of the town's early planners explained, it would be “an island of reason in the path of metropolitan sprawl”.
It didn't quite work out that way. Valencia contains no building taller than six storeys and few taller than three storeys. These days the paseos are used mostly for walking dogs, and by children. Everybody else drives. Nor did Valencia prove to be economically self-contained. Each morning about half of its residents leave for jobs in Los Angeles. Roughly the same number make the reverse trip over the Santa Monica mountains to toil in Valencia's offices, sound stages and warehouses.
This is an increasingly common pattern. In a forthcoming report, Alan Berube of the Brookings Institution, a think-tank, calculates that 45% of the jobs in America's 100 biggest metropolitan areas are found more than ten miles from the downtown core. Between 1998 and 2004 fully three-quarters of all new jobs emerged in this area. Many of these new positions were filled by local people, who were delighted to drop their long commutes to traditional city centres. But more and more Americans wake up in one suburb and go to work in another. Others, including many of Google's Bay Area employees, wake up in a city and go to work in a suburb.
America's suburbs have had shopping malls since the 1950s, and factories for longer. Increasingly, though, they are centres of white-collar work. The Inland Empire, a vast, sprawling area east of Los Angeles, accounted for more than a quarter of California's new professional and business-services jobs between 1998 and 2007. Over time, Mr Berube reckons, urban and suburban employment patterns will continue to merge. Health-care providers, for example, are drifting out of city centres to serve suburbia's increasingly aged residents.
Suburbs generally have cheaper land, newer offices and less crime than city centres. Companies that want to expand may well be able to do so in situ, and will not have to look for a new building across town. In Valencia they have another explanation for the suburbs' economic success. As Jim Backer, a developer, explains: “In the end, companies tend to move where their presidents want to move.” And many presidents want to live in places like Valencia.
To those who like their cities plain, without a dash of urban grit, Valencia seems delightful. Its streets are safe and well-kept. Its purpose-built “town centre” contains shops, cafés, wine bars and art studios. Although nobody would mistake it for San Francisco, it also lacks that city's homeless problem and has more public seating. Teenagers coming out of the cinema enter a vaguely Mediterranean village square, complete with fountains, that is a far more pleasant place to linger than anywhere in, say, New York's Chelsea.
Valencia was one of the first places in America to build a shopping district that evoked an old-fashioned town centre. These days such things are popping up all over the country. Rick Caruso, a master of the genre, has built them in the heart of Los Angeles as well as in suburbs like Glendale. San Jose, in the Bay Area, has the hugely successful Santana Row, which is vaguely French, whereas Mr Caruso's developments are vaguely Italian. The popularity of such confections suggests that Americans want to spend time in places that look like cities but feel like suburbs. They hint at a broader pattern: cities and suburbs are converging. This is not entirely good news.
Trouble in Wisteria Lane
Right-thinking people disapproved of suburbs when Gans moved to Willingboro, and they dislike them today. James Kunstler, an American urbanist, says they represent “the greatest misallocation of resources the world has ever known”. Richard Florida, an influential writer, sees them as incidental, at best, to cities' highest purpose, which is to concentrate young, creative folk who will come up with brilliant innovations. Now that America worries about global warming, the acres of bungalows and freeway exit ramps seem not just pointless but harmful.
Although much of this is nonsense, it cannot be denied that a little sheen has come off America's suburbs in the past year. Especially in the West, many have been hammered by foreclosures and falling house prices. As a result, their budgets are a mess. The fact that this is largely a consequence of success—the suburbs and exurbs grew rapidly at a time when lending standards were lax, and are now suffering the consequences—is little consolation. Nor is the fact that, as Joel Kotkin of Chapman University points out, the bottom has also dropped out of the city-centre apartment market.
Other problems are creeping into suburbia. The one that its inhabitants complain most bitterly about is traffic. America has failed to build enough roads to accommodate the suburbs |
cu(1): Written and maintained by Nicholas Marriott. Imported July 10, 2012 and first released with OpenBSD 5.4.
identd(8): Written and maintained by David Gwynne. Imported March 18, 2013 and first released with OpenBSD 5.4.
slowcgi(8): Written and maintained by Florian Obser. Imported May 23, 2013 and first released with OpenBSD 5.4.
signify(1): Written and maintained by Ted Unangst. Imported December 31, 2013 and first released with OpenBSD 5.5.
htpasswd(1): Written and maintained by Florian Obser. Imported March 17, 2014 and first released with OpenBSD 5.6.
LibreSSL: Started by Ted Unangst, Bob Beck, Joel Sing, Miod Vallat, Philip Guenther, and Theo de Raadt on April 13, 2014, as a fork of OpenSSL 1.0.1g. First released with OpenBSD 5.6. Portable version maintained by Brent Cook.
httpd(8): Started by Reyk Floeter. Imported July 12, 2014 and first released with OpenBSD 5.6. Maintained by Reyk Floeter and Florian Obser.
rcctl(8): Written and maintained by Antoine Jacoutot. Imported August 19, 2014 and first released with OpenBSD 5.7.
file(1): Rewritten from scratch and maintained by Nicholas Marriott. Imported April 24, 2015 and first released with OpenBSD 5.8.
doas(1): Written and maintained by Ted Unangst. Imported July 16, 2015 and first released with OpenBSD 5.8.
radiusd(8): Written and maintained by YASUOKA Masahiko. Imported July 21, 2015 and first released with OpenBSD 5.8.
eigrpd(8), eigrpctl(8): Written and maintained by Renato Westphal. Imported October 2, 2015 and first released with OpenBSD 5.9.
rebound(8): Written and maintained by Ted Unangst. Imported October 15, 2015 and first released with OpenBSD 5.9.
vmm(4), vmd(8), vmctl(8): Written and maintained by Mike Larkin and Reyk Floeter. Imported November 13, 2015 and first released with OpenBSD 5.9.
pdisk(8): Originally written by Eryk Vershen in 1996-1998, rewritten and maintained by Kenneth Westerback since January 11, 2016 and first released with OpenBSD 5.9.
mknod(8): Original version from Version 6 AT&T UNIX (1975), last rewritten by Marc Espie on March 5, 2016 and first released with OpenBSD 6.0.
audioctl(1): Originally written by Lennart Augustsson in 1997, rewritten and maintained by Alexandre Ratchov since June 21, 2016 and first released with OpenBSD 6.0.
switchd(8), switchctl(8): Written and maintained by Reyk Floeter. Imported July 19, 2016; released with OpenBSD 6.1.
acme-client(1): Written by Kristaps Dzonsons, imported August 31, 2016; released with OpenBSD 6.1.
syspatch(8): Written and maintained by Antoine Jacoutot. Imported September 5, 2016; released with OpenBSD 6.1.
ping(8): Restructured to include IPv6 functionality and maintained by Florian Obser. The separate ping6(8) was superseded on September 17, 2016, and the new, combined version was released with OpenBSD 6.1.
xenodm(1): Cleaned-up fork of xdm(1) maintained by Matthieu Herrb. Imported October 23, 2016; released with OpenBSD 6.1.
ocspcheck(8): Written and maintained by Bob Beck. Imported January 24, 2017; released with OpenBSD 6.1.
slaacd(8): Written and maintained by Florian Obser. Imported March 18, 2017; released with OpenBSD 6.2.
rad(8): Written and maintained by Florian Obser. Imported July 10, 2018.
Projects maintained by OpenBSD developers outside OpenBSDArea businessman Rick Gdovic's purchase of the Viva Motorsports team that raced until mid-June in the Xfinity Series is arguably the most significant national move by an individual in Peninsula-area stock-car racing in a decade. The most recent Langley Speedway alum to make such a national splash was former division champion Denny Hamlin, who debuted in a Sprint Cup Series car in 2005 and is now among its top drivers.
Xfinity is NASCAR's second-tier series, and the Viva team ran competitively in it for six years before ceasing operations because of finances in mid-June after the Michigan race. Gdovic purchased all of Viva's stock-car racing assets last week and will race out of its former China Grove, N.C., shop under the banner of his Precision Performance Motorsports team.
Gdovic said he is unsure when the team, which ran the first 13 Xfinity races of the season, will resume racing in the Xfinity Series. He said races at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1 and at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 8 are possibilities, because of his son Brandon Gdovic's familiarity with those tracks.
Rick Gdovic said that Brandon will be one of the drivers when the team rejoins Xfinity as PPM. Brando, a former K&N Pro Series East winner driving the full Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series schedule this year, raced twice this season for Viva in the Xfinity Series at Texas and Richmond.
The current plan, Gdovic said, is to run selected Xfinity races to finish this season, while securing additional sponsorship and drivers to run most of the races in 2016. He said that PPM Xfinity cars will be available to rent by others as well.
Jamie Dick and Jeffrey Earnhardt also drove for Viva this season. Earnhardt's finishes of 12th, 15th and 16th were the team's best.
"We are excited about the purchase of Viva's operation," said Gdovic, who said his Xfinity team will be sponsored by Pronius, American Messaging, WindStax and his own business, ComServe Verizon Wireless. "They have continued to build race assets and a reputation over the past few years.
"We plan to continue their drive to become a top-level Xfinity Series operation that offers great value for our sponsorship partners, and another step up the ladder for our driver development program."
Kaitlin McKeown, Daily Press Kaitlin McKeown, Daily Press
Gdovic, a former K&N driver, said that the purchase of Viva includes 12 cars for superspeedways, road courses, intermediate tracks and short tracks. He also purchased race engines, shop and office equipment and a hauler. He plans to employ about nine people at the China Grove shop.
Gdovic calls his new team "upper second-tier" in the Xfinity Series, or one that is just below the top-tier teams affiliated with Sprint Cup garages. Gdovic did not disclose the terms of the purchase, but said running an upper second-tier team costs about $3 million per season.
Joining the PPM Xfinity team in the China Grove garage will be the PPM K&N Pro Series East cars of driver Gray Gaulding.
Gdovic's Late Model and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified cars, and his increasingly active driver development program, will operate from his shop in Gloucester.
Purchasing the Viva team is part of Gdovic's plan to develop young drivers by providing them the equipment and coaching to succeed. The acquisition of the Xfinity team gives those development drivers a potentially bigger pathway to follow.
Brandon Gdovic, who had 21 top 10s and nine top fives in three-plus K&N seasons, does much of the coaching. He recently guided Justin Carroll to a seventh place K&N East finish in a PPM-built car in his series debut.
"Because of PPM's success developing young talent, we are receiving significant interest in our training programs," Gdovic said. "The seats for next season are filling up quickly."
O'Brien can be reached by phone at 757-247-4963.Last night, Glenn Beck and Jonah Goldberg tried an exercise similar to Rush Limbaugh's, in which they tried to construct a plausible argument that James von Brunn, the Holocaust Museum shooter, was actually a "figure of the left."
They ran through the same list: He hated Bush, he hated "neocons," may have targeted the neocon Weekly Standard too, and most of all, he hated Jews.
Somehow omitted: He also hated black people, and he especially hated Obama because he believed he was controlled by Jews. (See the note he left behind.) He also hated the Federal Reserve, taxes, the United Nations, the federal government generically, admired Hitler, urged the reciminalization of miscegenation laws, and promoted The Protocols of the Seven Elders of Zion as fact. He worked at one time for Willis Carto's right-wing publishing house, Noontide Press, and used to sell copies of Carto's house organ The Spotlight.
As Mark Potok put it to Keith Olbermann:
You know, the idea, though, that somehow, you know, this shooting at the Holocaust Museum was in any remote way an artifact of the left or Obama's fault somehow, you know—I mean, it's vile beyond words and just has no basis at all in fact of any kind.
Yep. "Vile beyond words" just about covers it. Especially when it comes to Jonah Goldberg.
Here's how he put it at NRO:
Never mind that von Brunn isn’t a member of the far right.
That is, of course, flatly, demonstrably and outrageously false. Or is Goldberg now trying to cast Willis Carto as a "man of the Left"?
Is there anyone more congenitally dishonest than Jonah Goldberg working in the right-wing media? Deeply, appallingly dishonest?
I mean, I really think Glenn Beck believes the amazingly dumb stuff that comes pouring out of his mouth. Bill O'Reilly is no doubt deeply cynical, but I think his ego keeps him from admitting to himself that he is in fact a bullying and manipulative propagandist. The rest of them -- Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin -- at some level actually really believe the garbage they emit.
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Goldberg, on the other hand, comes across as someone who at a basic level realizes he's just playing semantics games as a way to manipulate the debate. Deeply cynical, in other words. Because you can't help read his book, Liberal Fascism without recognizing the profound dishonesty of the entire enterprise -- which is, namely, to declare that "fascism is a phenomenon of the Left". It's not as morally appalling as Holocaust denial, but it's close.
Because anyone with any respect for history, and especially the importance of the its details, and who has studied in any serious sense the historical events surrounding the rise of fascism in the 1918-30 period knows just how profoundly wrong, how meaningfully false, Goldberg's claim is.
Goldberg recently published a length self-defense of his book, upon its paperback publication, in National Review. I wrote a long exegesis on it for Orcinus. You can go here to read it. It's titled: "Fascism is not liberal: The profound dishonesty of Jonah Goldberg".
And you can see the same gobsmackingly deep dishonesty on full display in this exchange.NBA free agency began at midnight Monday. There are two obvious stars -- only one of which may be on the move -- a pretty intriguing restricted class, a number of "stars" who will pick up big contracts and a score of role players who can be difference-makers in the right situation. In addition, new salary cap rules are coming into effect that will make the whole shebang more complicated and, yes, money-driven.
Here's a ranking of the top 19 free agents of the class, followed by brief vignettes on another 71 rotation players. Enjoy!
THE SUPER DUO
Howard had a rough 2012-13 season. He was still a legit All-Star and All-NBA player. He earned it.
That's how valuable a player like Dwight has become: even in a disastrous season in which his coach can't properly use his talents, in which he seems to be at open war with his teammates, in which he's recovering from back surgery while dealing with a shoulder injury, he's still good enough for 17 points and a league-best 12.4 rebounds per game. In his worst season in years, he finished No. 6 in total rebound percentage, No. 10 in block rate and No. 5 in effective field goal percentage.
UPDATE: Howard has agreed to a maximum contract with the Rockets for 4-years and $88 million. Here's Mike Prada's analysis of how the Rockets remade their roster to lure Dwight to Houston.
#StayD12 rolls on The Lakers are pulling out all the stops because, if healthy and in the right situation, he's a legitimate MVP candidate (He's finished as high as No. 2 in the past; he was the runner-up to Derrick Rose in 2011) and only one other 2013 free agent can say that. Because Howard can be elite at his critical position on both ends, he's the best free agent available. The fact that he might switch teams is a huge, huge deal.
You almost got a cop-out with Dwight being deemed 1a and CP3 coming in at 1b. But Paul -- while an extraordinary player and someone who could definitely win an MVP award in the next few years depending on circumstances -- will fight chronic knee issues potentially for the rest of his career. In addition to that, Howard's position is tougher to fill with quality. There are plenty of really good centers these days, but they are all locked up for the foreseeable future. Excellent point guards seem to move around a bit more freely.
Enough about that: with CP3, you're getting the best point guard in the game, a deft shooter and incredible passer who knows how to manage a game, gets teammates involved and be a leader on defense. He's also a little (err, a lot) dirty, has a permanent scowl and isn't known as a coach-killer. There is no record of him not getting along with teammates. There is no record of him half-arsing it. He's a gem.
UPDATE: Paul has verbally agreed to a five-year, $107 million contract to stay with the Clippers.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
THE BIG NAMES
We know Philadelphia will have no problem with this high ranking, right?
Bynum has the distinction of being the only free agent other than Dwight to have recently been the best center in the NBA. He's also one of the few on this list to have missed all of last season. Questions remain about how much Bynum actually cares about the sport, about being great, about winning. But we've seen Bynum at the top of his game and we know how incredible he can be. The so-called intangibles matter, but so does the talent and the production. I'm more inclined to bet on the latter, though signing Bynum to any major contract is obviously a huge risk.
The so-called intangibles matter, but so does the talent and the production.
Ideally, Bynum would be getting a high-dollar one-year deal. That's not going to happen. His agent will be pushing for a multi-year guarantee, and some team will give it. Possibly a team that strikes out on Howard. Possibly the Sixers -- though this is remote after they dealt Jrue Holiday for Nerlens Noel. Either way, he'll have a huge impact -- positive or negative -- on whatever team does ink him.
UPDATE: Bynum has agreed to a two-year, $24 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, only $6 million of which is guaranteed. Here's Prada's analysis.
Iguodala chose to become a free agent, as he's looking for a long-term deal. He should get one: he's one of the league's best defenders and most versatile offensive players. He was an especially nice fit for Denver in 2012-13, but it's unclear if the Nuggets will even keep that style given the dismissal of George Karl. (The presence of Ty Lawson, JaVale McGee and eventually Danilo Gallinari would suggest fast-paced remains the way to go, but we'll see.)
Iguodala isn't much of a featured scorer -- consider him a bigger, less likely to shoot, defensively superior Tyreke Evans.
UPDATE: Iguodala has agreed to a 4-year $48 million contract with the Warriors. Here's Prada's analysis of the move.
Smoove is quite possibly the second-best current NBA player without an All-Star appearance to his name. (Let's give the nod to Stephen Curry.) Only 12 players in NBA history have averaged four assists and two blocks per game in a season; Smith is one of them. He hasn't done that in a few years, however -- his block numbers have trailed off, and his career per-game averages are now 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
The versatility of his game has never been in question; the downside has always been scoring efficiency. He is both fond of taking long jumpers and poor at making long jumpers. That's a nasty combination. He's also an absurdly bad free throw shooter for a player who spends a good deal of time on the perimeter. In the right offense, he could be a great asset and he'll always have some spectacular individual defense mixed in with some, well, uneven team defense.
For Smith, perhaps more than for any other top-10 free agent, fit is the absolute key to setting his value.
UPDATE: Smith has agreed to a 4-year deal with the Pistons that's worth between $54 and 56 million. Here's Prada's analysis.
6. Tyreke Evans (restricted)
Hey, it's the smaller, more likely to shoot, defensively-inferior Andre Iguodala!
If you haven't checked in on Tyreke since his major fall from Rookie of the Year to small forward on an awful team, note that he's found his groove and is becoming a real solid NBA player. The 20-5-5 days may be gone (or not!), but his defense has improved mightily, he can actually shoot the ball now and he's still one of the better off-ball passers and two-guard rebounders in the game. He's also six years younger than Iguodala.
The Kings will likely match any reasonable offer sheet Evans signs, though, as he's quite possibly the team's best asset.
UPDATE: Evans has agreed to a 4-year $44 million deal with the Pelicans, who acquired him via a three-way sign-and-trade deal with the Kings and Trail Blazers. Here's Prada's analysis.
West has somehow gotten better in his 30s. He was extraordinary for Indiana in 2012-13, helping lead that team to within a game of the NBA Finals. He is, however, nearly 33 and it's unlikely the Pacers will let him get too far away from Indianapolis before re-signing him to a respectable short-term deal. He provides stout defense, efficient shooting, few turnovers and superlative leadership. Indiana really cannot afford to lose him.
UPDATE: West has agreed to a three-year, $36 million deal to stay with the Pacers. Here's Prada's analysis.
The Monster of Montenegro hits the open market for the first time this summer at age 27. He's a restricted free agent, so in all likelihood Minnesota -- painfully thin up front -- will make every effort to match any offer sheet Pekovic signs. But the opportunity to steal Pek away has to intrigue any number of teams. Pekovic has a rare, vital combination for a center: he can score frequently (16 points per game last season) and efficiently (.572 True Shooting) and doesn't turn the ball over (10 percent turnover rate). He's also a nasty defender in the pivot, a brilliant offensive rebounder and quite possibly the scariest guy in the NBA. (In 2012, we ranked him behind only Jerry Stackhouse and Ivan Johnson for that title.)
Will Minnesota keep Kirilenko? Canis Hoopus isn't so sure.
Andrei is similar to what Iguodala brings, but in a bigger body with more shooting efficiency. The rub? Kirilenko is often injured, and, at 32, is three years older than Iguodala. A multi-year contract would be dangerous business, despite Kirilenko's obvious gifts and talents. Kirilenko opting out of his $10 million contract for 2013-14 isn't a good sign for him becoming a bargain this offseason, either.
UPDATE: Kirilenko has agreed to a three-year contract worth over $9 million with the Brooklyn Nets. Here's Prada's analysis.
Splitter didn't have the best NBA Finals debut, but his improvement in 2012-13 was a big part of the Spurs getting there. Now 28, the Brazilian has put together two solid seasons for San Antonio. He won't be a featured scorer anywhere in all likelihood, but he can score more than his per-games indicate: he's at 15.5 points per 36 minutes for his career. His defensive rebounding numbers are strong, and he's not a turnover or foul machine at this point. And he's really efficient with a True Shooting percentage above.600. He's also the second-best big man defender among free agents (behind Howard -- West, who is much smaller, may beat him, too) and he's learned how to defend the San Antonio way, which is pretty much the best way.
UPDATE: Splitter agreed to a four-year, $36 million deal to stay with the Spurs. Here's Prada's analysis.
11. Paul Millsap
Millsap is the power forward version of an elite bench scorer, only he's probably going to be paid like a starter. Just 28, he's good for 17+ points per 36 minutes on efficient shooting, plus solid rebounding, few turnovers and surprisingly decent passing. Consider him a more affordable David Lee, assuming he comes in affordable. (Remember that David Lee was an All-Star last season.)
UPDATE: Millsap has agreed to a two-year $19 million deal with the Hawks. Here's Prada's analysis.
One of the very best perimeter defenders in the league. His offense is the problem -- he's a poor shooter and has a career assist-to-turnover deficit. But he's pretty effective cutting off of the ball, really athletic and... did we mention the defense? He's a defensive nightmare for opponents. He haunts opposing wings. Haunts them.
UPDATE: Allen will sign a four-year, $20 million contract to stay with Memphis. Here's Prada's analysis.
In a couple years' time, Teague may end up looking like a steal if he's paid like the No. 13 free agent from this class. His per-36 numbers are lovely: 16 points and eight assists on.496 effective field goal percentage. But he also turns the ball over quite a bit (17.6 percent turnover rate last season), isn't a great three-point shooter -- Evans, for example, was better pretty close to even with him from beyond the arc last season -- and doesn't have a strong defensive reputation. That's what holds him back from the otherwise (fairly sensible) Mike Conley comparisons.
If Teague cleans up on defense and gets better on long jumpers, though, he could be a Conley-esque steal as a restricted free agent.
UPDATE: The Hawks matched the Bucks' four-year, $32 million offer sheet to Teague.
Because any number of people will consider this low for Jennings, I'll just present my rationale:
A. Four seasons in the NBA, three of them under 40 percent shooting from the floor. Basic field goal percentage is an inarticulate weapon, but that's just a plain, simple indication of how poor his shooting efficiency has been. His career-high True Shooting percentage is.514, which is well below league average.
Bucks intend to keep Jennings Brew Hoop wonders if that's a good thing
B. His 6.5 assists per game look nice until you consider them holistically as he's a player who has the ball in his hands a lot. His assist rate is sub-30, which is firmly in combo guard territory. "Combo guard" isn't a bad word, but you need to be able to be at least a little efficient to pull it off without tanking your on-court value.
C. Scorers get paid more than non-scorers in the NBA. Jennings is a scorer. He's going to get paid more than he probably should given his value so he's an early favorite for Worst Contract Signed In The 2013 Offseason.
It's really too bad he's so inefficient; I really enjoy watching him play. He and his teammate Monta Ellis are really charter members of the I Wish I Never Met Advanced Metrics So I Could Enjoy These Guys All-Stars.
Scroll back up, read Paul Millsap's blurb, boost the scoring rate, slash the shooting efficiency, boost the rebounding and forget all that noise about decent passing... and you have Al Jefferson. Maybe add a few million per year, too. The efficiency difference is what makes Millsap such a better play than Jefferson, in my opinion, but a team in desperate need of rebounding may swap them.
UPDATE: Jefferson has agreed to a three-year, $41 million deal with the Bobcats. Here's Prada's analysis.
You get one thing with Kevin Martin: floor-spreading, highly efficient scoring. Well, you also get poor defense, but beggars can't be choosers. Martin's 30, but has never shot better than he did on weapon-filled Oklahoma City.
UPDATE: Martin has agreed to a four-year, $28 million deal with the Timberwolves. Here's Prada's analysis.
J.R. can be a much better defender and all-around player than Martin, but at a fraction of the efficiency. (Martin will score roughly 1.2 points per shooting possession. Smith will score about 1.00 to 1.04.) He's also a bit of a hot head and has no shooting conscience whatsoever. He can be valuable, but only to a point.
UPDATE: Smith has agreed to 4-year, $24 million deal to stay with the Knicks. Here's Prada's analysis.
There's little chance the Argentine leaves the comfort of San Antonio. There's an increasingly strong argument that the Spurs shouldn't pay much to keep him, though. While he's a far better playmaker than Smith or Martin, he's also much more turnover prone and in the middle of the pack in efficiency. The trend isn't pretty, though: he's been getting worse within the past two years and, at nearly 36 years old, there's not much left in the tank for him.
UPDATE: Ginobili's new deal with the Spurs will be for two years and $14 million. Here's Prada's analysis.
19. Monta Ellis
A great joy to watch... as long as he's not playing for your team. Ultra aggressive with the ball, extremely inefficient, in his prime and ready for an eight-figure salary. What's not to love?
Curtis Wilson-USA TODAY Sports
(ALMOST) EVERYONE ELSE, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
(R) denotes a restricted free agent.
Gerald Henderson (R): Most teams would rather have Henderson than a number of guys on the above list. He's a surprisingly decent scorer on a per-minute basis, but needs to get more efficient and defend well to make a dent in the league.
Ivan Johnson (R): Still terrifying.
Devin Harris: Devin Harris is 30 years old. Aaahh! He was also once an All-Star, which now seems shocking. (UPDATE: Harris agreed to a 3-year, $9 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks, but the deal was mutually scrapped because of a toe injury).
Kyle Korver: A specialist among specialists. Now No. 12 all-time in three-point percentage. (And No. 29 in number of makes.) (UPDATE: Korver has agreed to a 4-year $24 million deal with the Hawks)
Zaza Pachulia: The Georgian is only 29. He offers rebounding, defense and awesome spirit. He can't score at all, though. (UPDATE: Pachulia is going to Milwaukee, agreeing to a 3-year, $15 million deal with the Bucks).
Andray Blatche: Blatche averaged almost 20 and 10 per 36 last season. He was legitimately one of the most effective bench players in the league. Alas, he is Andray Blatche, and numbers are not to be trusted. (UPDATE: Blatche has agreed to a two-year deal with the Nets that starts at $1.4 million. Here's Mike Prada's take)
C.J. Watson: Watson turned down a $1.1 million option to stay with the Nets. Now they may end up needing to re-sign him with Bird rights to have a decent backup for Deron Williams. (UPDATE: Watson will sign with the Pacers for the bi-annual exception)
Byron Mullens: Charlotte surprisingly withheld a qualifying offer from Mullens this week, making him an unrestricted free agent. That means the Bobcats might be trying something big, want to throw Cody Zeller into the fire or just don't like Mullens much. And when the Bobcats don't like you...
Josh McRoberts: McBob was really good for Indiana two years ago. But as it remains his only decent season, it looks more and more like a fluke. (UPDATE: McRoberts has agreed to a 2-year, $5.5 million deal with the Bobcats.)
Reggie Williams: In 2010-11, Williams went 102-of-241 (.423) on threes. In the two years since, he's 55-of-179 (.307). He needs to prove he can shoot again, soon, or he's going to be stuck on minimum contracts. (UPDATE: Williams has agreed to a two-year, $5 million deal with the Rockets.)
Marco Belinelli: This guy doesn't produce enough to get 1,800 minutes a year. But hey, he's had three straight years with more than 1,800 minutes. He's doing something right. (UPDATE: Belinelli has agreed to a 2-year, $6 million deal with the Spurs. Here's Prada's analysis.)
Daequan Cook: He averages more than seven three-point attempts per 36 minutes. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to shoot them all that well anymore.
Nate Robinson: I would pay Nate Robinson before I'd pay J.R. Smith. In a heartbeat.
Wayne Ellington: A three-and-D guy missing that critical second element. (UPDATE: Ellington has agreed to a two-year deal worth more than $5 million with the Mavericks.)
Daniel Gibson: A career 40 percent three-pointer shooter. He's useful!
Marreese Speights: A poor man's Al Jefferson, only somehow less efficient. The Monta Ellis of Al Jeffersons. (UPDATE: Speights will sign a three-year deal with the Warriors)
Rodrigue Beaubois (R): It remains unclear whether Beaubois has or will get a qualifying offer. If not, someone will take a flyer on him based solely on the promise he showed in brief flashes early in his rookie deal.
Darren Collison (R): A solid backup point guard. Nothing more, nothing less. (UPDATE: Collison took less -- the remainder of the Clippers' mid-level exception after Matt Barnes' 3-year, $11 million deal, to be exact -- to be Chris Paul's backup)
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
O.J. Mayo: If a team offers Mayo a fat contract, you can tell they don't pay attention to advanced stats. No advanced metrics like Mayo. At all. (UPDATE: Mayo has agreed to a 3-year, $24 million deal with the Bucks. Here's Prada's analysis.)
Anthony Morrow: Seems like the Bulls could've given Morrow all of Belinelli's minutes and been better off. (UPDATE: Morrow has agreed to a two-year deal with the Pelicans.)
Brandan Wright: If a team offers Wright a solid contract, you can tell they do pay attention to advanced stats. Wright has quietly become quite a solid player, somewhat like a poor man's Millsap.
Timofey Mozgov (R): Kosta Koufos got traded on draft day for Darrell Arthur, but Denver still isn't likely bringing Mozgov back. And the 'Melo package continues to deteriorate...
Corey Brewer: Now whether Denver retains Brewer, who finally became an NBA player under George Karl, will be interesting. A run-and-D type will only fit on certain teams. (UPDATE: Brewer has agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal with the Timberwolves.)
Will Bynum: Like Collison, a solid backup point guard. This once can dunk. (UPDATE: Bynum will sign a two-year, $5.5 million deal to stay in Detroit).
Jose Calderon: Calderon could start for select teams that desperately need passing. But he's nearly 32 and a famously poor defender, so it has to be the right situation. (UPDATE: Calderon has agreed to a 4-year $28 million deal with the Mavericks.)
Jason Maxiell: Not gonna lie: I have no idea if Maxiell can still defend at a high level. Other than dunk, then, he might not do much else.
Jarrett Jack: Jack will be a very popular free agent who really should not be more than a backup point guard. A very good backup point guard. The Rolls-Royce of backup point guards. But please, no one try to make him a starter, okay? (UPDATE: Jack has agreed to a 4-year, $25 million deal with the Cavaliers.)
Carl Landry: Landry's always been a solid, fairly efficient scorer best suited for a bench big man role. But in 2012-13 he became a solid rebounder and got really efficient, possibly because he had teammates to spread the floor. It'll be interesting to see whether teams put more stock in his last season or rather his career as a whole. (UPDATE: Landry has agreed to a 4-year, $27 million deal with the Kings.)
Francisco Garcia: El Flaco found a solid role with a playoff team after the Kings finally traded him at midseason. He's a good shooter, decent defender and impeccable teammate. Don't let all that losing in Sacramento sully his name. (UPDATE: Garcia has agreed to a 2-year, $2.6 million deal with the Rockets.)
Tyler Hansbrough (R): If the question is ever "Is ____ worth his qualifying offer?" the answer is not a good sign for that player's free agency, restricted or otherwise. (UPDATE: Hansbrough agreed to a two-year deal with the Raptors.)
Jeff Pendergraph (R): You can do a helluva lot worse than Jeff Pendergraph, a poor man's Brandan Wright. (UPDATE: Pendergraph has agreed to a 2-year deal with the Spurs.)
D.J. Augustin: So that whole "take a one-year deal for a good team to prove my worth" gambit didn't really pay off. Augustin was bad in Indiana, but it turned out to be a poor fit. He'd probably need another one-year deal in a better location to set himself up for a future decent deal.
Matt Barnes: Matt Barnes is Matt Barnes is Matt Barnes. (UPDATE: Barnes has agreed to a 3-year, $11 million deal with the Clippers. Here's Prada's analysis.)
Chauncey Billups: Just mad Jason Kidd thought up the retire-to-the-bench idea first. (UPDATE: Billups has agreed to a two-year, $5 million deal with the Pistons.)
Ronny Turiaf: A Kendrick Perkins All-Star. (Also, Ronny Turiaf is now 30. Uggggggh.)
Devin Ebanks: The Lakers totally need to bring Ebanks back. Someone's gotta run their D-League team!
Andrew Goudelock: See above.
Darius Morris: See above. And note that the Lakers did not extend QOs to any of the three after reports had suggested Ebanks and Morris would get them.
Robert Sacre (R): Sacre got his QO, though! #StayBobSacre
Earl Clark: I know he was a thing this year, but Earl Clark's just not happening in the NBA. Sorry. (UPDATE: Clark has agreed to a 2-year, $9 million contract with the Cavs. Here's Prada's analysis.)
Jodie Meeks: Meeks' shooting aptitude will keep him in play for good teams.
Austin Daye (R): A fella always right on the cusp of a breakout. He's still young enough that it could happen, but teams have to be growing weary waiting for it.
Chris Andersen: The Birdman can't leave Miami at this point, can he?
Samuel Dalembert: Is Dalembert at the point in his career where he's okay with taking a dirt cheap deal to win? If so, he can be a great value because he's still a superb rebounder and shot blocker.
Mike Dunleavy: Lil' Fun remains a solid scorer who comes cheaply. A fine bench wing option. (UPDATE: Dunleavy agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal with the Bulls. Here's Prada's analysis).
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
J.J. Redick: Redick should probably sue Dwight Howard for derailing his route to a strong third contract. Redick will still make some decent coin, but he could have been on a fat deal. Alas. (UPDATE: Redick was dealt to the Clippers in a three-team trade involving Eric Bledsoe and Jared Dudley. He will sign a four-year, $27 million contract. Here's Prada's take on the trade).
Chase Budinger (R): Budinger missed most of last season due to injury, but Rick Adelman loves him so it'll be interesting to see whether the Wolves pay much to keep him. Bud taking the Q |
a map, this is like checking it has a border with France and a coast. This holistic ‘sum of the parts’ perception is thought to make recognising friends a lot more accurate than it would be if their features were assessed in isolation. Crucially, it also fudges the importance of some of the subtler details.
“Most people concentrate on superficial characteristics such as hair-line, hair style, eyebrows,” says Nick Fieller, a statistician involved in The Computer-Aided Facial Recognition Project. Other research has shown we look to the eyes, mouth and nose, in that order.
For somebody with an ‘average’ face it’s comparatively easy to find good matches
Then it’s just a matter of working out the probability that someone else will have all the same versions as you. “There are only so many genes in the world which specify the shape of the face and millions of people, so it’s bound to happen,” says Winrich Freiwald, who studies face perception at Rockefeller University. “For somebody with an ‘average’ face it’s comparatively easy to find good matches,” says Fieller.
Let’s assume our man has short blonde hair, brown eyes, a fleshy nose (like Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh), a round face and a full beard. Research into the prevalence of these features is hard to come by, but he’s off to a promising start: 55% of the global population has brown eyes.
Meanwhile more than one in ten people have round faces, according to research funded by a cosmetics company. Then there’s his nose. A study of photographs taken in Europe and Israel identified the ‘fleshy’ type as the most prevalent (24.2%). In the author’s view these are also the least attractive.
Finally – how much hair is there out there? If you thought this was too frivolous for serious investigation, you’d be wrong: among 24,300 people surveyed at a Florida theme park, 82% of men had hair shorter than shoulder-length. Natural blondes, however, constitute just 2%. As the ‘beard capital’ of the world, in the UK most men have some form of facial hair and nearly one in six have a full beard.
A simple calculation (male x brown eyes x blonde x round face x fleshy nose x short hair x full beard) reveals the probability of a person possessing all these features is just over one in 100,000 (0.00001020%).
That would give our guy no less than 74,000 potential doppelgangers. Of course many of these prevalence rates aren’t global, so this is very imprecise. But judging by the number of celebrity look-alikes out there, it might not be far off. “After the picture went viral I think there was a small army of us at some point,” says Douglas.
So what’s the probability that everyone has a duplicate roaming the earth? The simplest way to guess would be to estimate the number of possible faces and compare it to the number of people alive today.
You might expect that even if there are 7.4 billion different faces out there, with 7.4 billion people on the planet there’s clearly one for everyone. But there’s a catch. You’d actually need close to 150 billion people for that to be statistically likely. The discrepancy is down to a statistical quirk known as the coupon collector’s problem. Let’s say there are 50 coupons in a jar and each time you draw one it’s put back in. How many would you need to draw before it’s likely you’ve chosen each coupon at least once?
It takes very little time to collect the first few coupons. The trouble is finding the last few: on average drawing the last one takes about 50 draws on its own, so to collect all 50 you need about 225. It’s possible that most people have a doppelganger – but everyone? “There’s a big difference between being lucky sometimes and being lucky always,” says Aldous.
No one has any good idea what the first number is. Indeed, it may never be possible to say definitively, since the perception of facial resemblance is subjective. Some people have trouble recognising themselves in photos, while others rarely forget a face. And how we perceive similarity is heavily influenced by familiarity. “Some doubles when they get together, they say ‘No I don’t see it. Really, I don’t.’ It’s so obvious to everyone else; it’s a little crazy to hear that,” says Brunelle.
Even so, Fieller thinks there’s a good chance. “I think most people have somebody who is a facial lookalike unless they have a truly exceptional and unusual face,” he says. Friewald agrees. “I think in the digital age which we are entering, at some point we will know because there will be pictures of almost everyone online,” he says.
If you meet someone that looks like you, you have an instant bond because you share something – Francois Brunelle
Why are we so interested anyway? “If you meet someone that looks like you, you have an instant bond because you share something.” Brunelle has received interest from thousands of people searching for their lookalikes, especially from China – a fact he puts down to the one-child policy. Research has shown we judge similar looking-people to be more trustworthy and attractive – a factor thought to contribute to our voting choices.
It may stem back to our deep evolutionary past, when facial resemblance was a useful indicator of kinship. In today’s globalised world, this is misguided. “It is entirely possible for two people with similar facial features to have DNA that is no more similar than that of two random people,” says Lavinia Paternoster, a geneticist at the University of Bristol.
And before you go fantasising about doing a temporary life-swap with your ‘twin’, there’s no guarantee you’ll have anything in common physically either. “Well I’m 5’7 and he’s 6’3… so it’s mainly in the face,” says Douglas.
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Zaria Gorvett is a freelance science journalist. She tweets as @ZariaGorvett. Francois Brunelle is a photographer based in Montreal, Canada.
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If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.The Sixers are talking to Elton Brand and Shane Battier in the hopes they can serve as role models for the team’s slew of younger players, sources tell TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. It’s unclear whether the idea is for them to serve in a playing, coaching or front office capacity. Battier retired as a player after the 2013/14 season, while Brand, who spent the past two seasons with the Hawks, cast doubt on the idea of playing again during an interview this past summer. Zach Lowe of ESPN.com identified Brand on Friday as someone to keep an eye on as the team looks for veterans to add to its roster.
New chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo dismissed the idea that son Bryan Colangelo, the former Suns and Raptors GM, will join the Sixers front office, telling Aldridge that it’s mere speculation. Still, the team does plan to bring aboard Mike D’Antoni as an assistant coach, Aldridge writes.
Former commissioner David Stern played a role in bringing the Sixers together with Jerry Colangelo, a source tells Aldridge. The NBA was “irate” at the way the Sixers handled the reports of Jahlil Okafor‘s various off–court incidents, according to Aldridge. GM Sam Hinkie treated the news with his trademark silence.
“I would say I was present when decisions were made, but there are some things we can do better,” Hinkie said. “We purposely laid low, and I purposely laid low, for a number of reasons. And I’ve always been very comfortable, and [coach] Brett [Brown]‘s been very comfortable, being out front for us when need be, because we trust each other, and we’re attached at the hip in a lot of ways. But sometimes, another voice helps.”
Brand, a David Falk client who spent four years with the Sixers between 2008 and 2012, averaged 2.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game for a 60-win Atlanta team last season. This past spring represented the first time the former No. 1 overall pick appeared in the conference finals. Battier, a client of Jim Tanner, went to the finals in all three of his years with the Heat, with whom he last played, and twice won the championship. He averaged 4.1 points in 20.1 minutes and shot 34.8% from 3-point range in his final season on an NBA roster.Oil prices have climbed 45% in the last 12 months, and we see them going even higher in 2017. In fact, Money Morning Global Energy Strategist Dr. Kent Moors sees oil prices going nearly 20% higher in 2017, too.
And owning the right oil stocks in 2017 is the best way to profit from rising oil prices. Today, we've picked out two of the best oil stocks to buy for Money Morning readers.
Right now, WTI crude oil is currently priced at $51.67. That's up 13% from $45.74 just before the OPEC agreement on Nov. 30. Moors says oil prices will keep climbing because of OPEC's agreement to cut oil production. Producing less limits the supply of oil. As demand stays the same, the price of oil rises.
As oil prices rise, the best oil stocks in 2017 are poised to do even better. In a survey of financial analysts by Yahoo Finance, analysts projected up to 85% revenue growth for one of the top oil stocks on our list.
We'll show you why oil company stocks are going to benefit from higher oil prices. And to help you profit from higher oil prices, we'll give you our best oil stocks in 2017…
Why Oil Stocks in 2017 Will Receive a Major Boost
As prices rise, oil companies make more money from the oil they're already producing. But higher prices can also encourage these companies to expand their operations.
For example, shale oil has been expensive to extract. According to the Financial Times, U.S. shale oil is only profitable to extract when oil is trading above $60 a barrel. That means some oil companies leave oil in the ground when prices are too low.
That's why when U.S. production fell 12.2% from June 2015 to July 2016 when WTI crude oil prices fell 16.8%.
But with prices rising, oil companies are ready to expand again. And we're already seeing oil production increase.
Here's a look at the soaring U.S. oil production…
That's a 6% increase in oil production since July 2016 and a 3% increase since the OPEC agreement on Nov. 30.
So when we looked for the best oil stocks to buy in 2017, we specifically targeted companies that profit the most from climbing production.
Trending Now: Natural Gas Prices in 2017 Will Soar Double Digits
If you're worried rising oil production could push prices down again, then fear not.
While we noted above that shale oil is more costly to produce, that production cost has been dropping as U.S. oil producers innovate.
A November 2016 Reuters report explains low oil prices since 2014 have forced American shale oil producers to find cheaper ways to extract oil.
"In shale fields from Texas to North Dakota, production costs have roughly halved since 2014," reports Reuters.
That means the break-even price for shale oil producers is now around $30 a barrel, down from $60 a barrel just over two years ago.
If the cartel's agreement holds and oil stays above $50 a barrel, then we expect to see U.S. oil producers thrive.
That's why on Tuesday (Jan. 17), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) made a major expansion into shale oil. Exxon bought $5.6 billion worth of Bass family companies. The Bass family is a prominent player in the Permian Basin, a major shale oil field.
Exxon's purchase doubles its current holdings in the Permian Basin and brings its total investment there this year alone to over $10 billion.
American oil production is gearing up for a boom. And while an oil giant like Exxon is investing billions in U.S. expansion, it's only playing catch-up to other oil companies already there.
Our list of oil stocks features companies ahead of the curve who've already exploded for up to 49% gains as oil prices rose last year. That's why as oil prices continue to rise, these oil company stocks will continue to climb. These are the best oil stocks to buy now…
The Best Oil Stocks in 2017THE Louxor Palais du Cinema, north-west of the Gare du Nord in Paris, was once one of the jewels of Egyptian-inspired art deco. It opened in 1921 boasting pillars, papyrus motifs and pharaohs’ heads—to say nothing of a hall seating almost 1,200 film-goers. It was the heyday of silent films of the sort that “The Artist” recently brought back to life. Parisians thronged to the Louxor, cigarettes in hand, to see the hair-gelled heart-throbs and hear the live orchestra that accompanied them.
A decade later, as the talkies were taking over, the Pathé group bought the Louxor. They brought in bodice-rippers and American films, eventually replacing the neo-Egyptian décor with neo-Greek. After the second world war the cinema fell on hard times, as did its neighbourhood. Heavy immigration, mostly from the Maghreb and then sub-Saharan Africa, began to change the character of the “carrefour Barbès”, where three central arrondissements touch—the 9th, 10th and 18th. It became overcrowded and crime-ridden. By the 1970s the Louxor was showing Indian and Arab films, often in their original languages. A man who worked there recalls that what went on in the public lavatories was more interesting than the spectacles on screen. Instead of watching the films people were selling all sorts of things, women in particular.
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The Louxor screened its last film in 1983 before Pathé sold the building to a retail firm which wanted to build a store. But the firm’s plan did not prosper because the Louxor’s exotic façade had been listed for preservation. The place briefly became an Antilles disco and then the biggest gay club in Paris. From 1987 the building stood empty.
Two citizens’ groups were formed in 2001; one wanting to regenerate the Louxor, the other aiming to raise the tone of Barbès. They made their point. Paris City Hall soon bought the site and Philippe Pumain, an architect who knows his way around theatres, was appointed to restore the Louxor to its original function. The authorities gave permission for work to begin in 2010. Three years and €25m ($33m) later, the Louxor re-opened on April 18th, with “Grandmaster”, a Chinese martial-arts film, as its first offering.
The building is stunning. The main theatre, with space now for around 340 spectators, is a richly decorated triumph of gold-tinted walls, painted hieroglyphs, floral motifs and friezes, and an art-deco skylight. In the bowels of the building are two smaller theatres. Films from the developing world will make up much of the fare, which, it is hoped, will appeal to local residents. There is also a strong educational push as well as a desire to facilitate “community dialogue”. The Louxor will offer courses on film, and devise schemes to entice local residents through its doors, especially the young.
The intention behind a project which has cost a lot of money at a time when cash is short is as much social as artistic, according to Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris. Just as a number of clapped-out cities in Britain pinned their hopes on new museums to help regenerate a dead industrial heart, so Parisians believe in the redemptive power of cinema. That is hardly surprising. As the chart below shows, using data from IHS Screen Digest, the French are keen film-goers, beating Britons, Germans and Italians hands down. And Parisians are almost twice as likely to go to the pictures as people outside the capital, according to the Centre National de Cinéma, a government agency. Like the cinema industry everywhere, France’s has been hit by the increased popularity of watching films at home or on mobile devices. Despite this, the number of screens in Paris has risen from 369 in 1999 to what is likely to be 431 in 2015.
Building cinemas has helped to spur regeneration in the French capital, bringing customers with cash into scruffy neighbourhoods and encouraging restaurants and other businesses to open. The MK2 cinema complex has played a role in the revival of the Bassin de la Villette in the 19th arrondissement in eastern Paris, and the Etoile Lilas complex has helped lift parts of the 20th arrondissement near the ring road. Until now, the area around the Louxor had been singularly short of cinemas.
The question is whether it is also short of other requisites for regeneration, such as security. The quarter to the Louxor’s north, stretching from the Barbès-Rochechouart Metro station towards Chateau Rouge, is a by-word for crime, prostitution, drug-peddling and stolen or smuggled goods. It was designated a “Priority Security Zone” in 2012, and the police reckon their increased presence is helping to clean things up. But it remains hard to spot the bits of it that fans of the new Louxor describe as being “en pleine renaissance”. On the day the cinema re-opened your correspondent was struck mainly by the quantity of shifty-eyed men muttering “Marlbooros” in tones pitched to miss policemen’s ears. A weeping young woman in a head scarf had just been robbed on the main road in broad daylight. For all its beauty and good intentions, the new Louxor may prove to be a destination for trendy bien-pensants (especially those with bodyguards) rather than genuine locals.Sometimes business comes before business. So only after the Miami Heat took care of business on the court Wednesday night did they learn that their business of basketball would continue uninterrupted, with a deal reached on a new seven-year NBA collective-bargaining agreement.
While the agreement still must be ratified, which is now considered a formality, it means no lockout when the current agreement expires June 30 and at least six more years of NBA labor peace, with the agreement allowing the players or owners to opt out after the sixth year.
"It is relief," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, with three seasons shortened during his tenure by lockouts, including the Heat's 2011-12 championship run with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. "We've been through three of 'em. And you just come to expect it. That's how sad that is. You come to expect it, that come July that it'll turn into something else and then ugly and then stop communicating and then we're off, and we're not doing what we want to do and love to do.
"So, yeah, we're all very fortunate to be in this profession."
The agreement was completed just hours before Thursday's opt-out deadline for both sides. That had Heat union representative Wayne Ellington stroking a pair of 3-pointers in the 95-89 victory over the Indiana Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena while pen was being put to paper elsewhere.
"I found out after the game," Ellington said. "Obviously that's something that we all wanted to get done. We all wanted to continue to play, didn't want any lockouts or anything like that. So we're happy both sides can come together and come to a conclusion."
For players such as Ellington and others working on a year-to-year contract basis at the lower end of the NBA's salary scale, the new agreement raises minimum salaries and also makes salary-cap exceptions more lucrative. It is why the agreement is expected to be rubber stamped by the new January deadline set for approval.
CAPTION Erik Spoelstra on Heat victory over Warriors Erik Spoelstra on Heat victory over Warriors CAPTION Erik Spoelstra on Heat victory over Warriors Erik Spoelstra on Heat victory over Warriors CAPTION Dwyane Wade on his dramatic game winner against the Warriors. Dwyane Wade on his dramatic game winner against the Warriors. CAPTION Spoelstra: No need to show anger to appease outsiders. Spoelstra: No need to show anger to appease outsiders. CAPTION Dwyane Wade: Braids a tribute to Iverson Dwyane Wade: Braids a tribute to Iverson CAPTION Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra says his team showed grit in loss to the Phoenix Suns. Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra says his team showed grit in loss to the Phoenix Suns.
"The stars are always going to be taken care of," Ellington said. "They're always going to get top money. But there's a huge drop off. So obviously guys that are at the bottom aren't making those huge salaries, but they're still getting a nice push in the money, which is fair at the end of the day."
The new agreement will reduce the preseason schedule to a maximum of six games, after teams such as the Heat often had played the previous maximum of eight. That, in turn, will allow the NBA to start the regular season a week earlier and reduce the number of back-to-back games to the range of 14 per team.
Compared to what might have otherwise occurred in a lockout season, it provides a more breathable alternative.
"Obviously you want to keep the ball rolling," Heat captain Udonis Haslem said. "I always think about the lockout season when we had to play back-to-back-to-back. That was no fun at all.
"It helps the players go into the summer with a clear mind and, obviously, guys won't have financial issues and we can just give the fans what they want."
Among aspects of impact to the Heat in the new agreement:
-- Unlike the previous CBA, there will be no "amnesty" clause, eliminating one potential mechanism of the Heat removing Chris Bosh's salary from the salary cap.
-- Maximum salaries will rise as high as $36 million starting in 2017-18, which impacts the Heat's potential for adding two players at or near the maximum in free agency if Bosh's salary is excised, as expected, after Feb. 9.
-- The NBA has added incentives for teams to re-sign star players to more lucrative extensions, potentially reducing the number of top-tier players to change teams.
-- The one-and-done aspect of the NBA Draft will continue. While the new CBA does not start until after the coming draft, it means players might not be as quick to jump into the 2017 draft, with less fear of possibly being forced to remain in college for a lengthier period going forward. The Heat hold a potential 2017 lottery pick.
-- Salary-cap exceptions will increase, which could therefore reduce the buying power of teams with salary-cap space, such as the Heat in the 2017 offseason. The mid-level exception, for example, could rise in excess of $8 million.
-- The NBA's over-36 rule will be changed to an over-38 rule when it comes to averaging out salaries on multi-year contracts for older players. Had such a mechanism been in place in the current agreement, it could have made it easier for the Heat to reach a workable contract with Dwyane Wade during last summer's free agency.
-- Two-way contracts will be added, allowing teams to maintain rights to two players on their D-League teams beyond the 15-player NBA limit. Such a mechanism could have allowed the Heat to retain rights this season to Sioux Falls Skyforce players such as Briante Weber and Okaro White, who instead can currently be signed by any NBA team.
iwinderman@sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.windermanThe ladies of Sonic Agenda have been to many shows/gigs/parties/raves/festivals over our collective years in the music scene. As festival season is currently underway, I’ve decided to collect and share some very specific (and helpful) advice for all those girls attending Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) this weekend. Nothing can drag down a festival like one bad experience, and we’ve all had them. Rather than just having bad memories, disturbing twitter memes, and things to scare the crap out of our girlfriends with, SA is taking all those “oh $h!t why didn’t I think of that!?” moments and sharing our advice on how you can avoid them. From pre-festival planning to that crazy weekend on the speedway, here are some must-have tips!
PRE-FESTIVAL WORKOUT: SQUATS – We all know how easy it is to slack at the gym, but here is the ONE exercise that should be your best friend during festival season! Now just because you have a butt that would make J-Lo jealous doesn’t mean you can sit there and skip these. The men will thank you (especially if you’re wearing a micro mini tutu or thong bikini), you’ll be squatting A LOT to use the bathroom, and EVERYONE’S butt could always use a little more work. Do yourself and others a favor and work that gluteus maxiumus; you’ll thank me when you’re able to keep your balance avoiding those mystery fluids on the surface of the port-a-potty and are still able to get low after three days of twerking.
GETTING READY: Stop spending HOURS getting ready! More than likely, you’re sharing your hotel room with so many friends that it’s practically a brothel — with only one bathroom. No one wants to wait for you when you’re taking forever and you all agreed to be on the shuttle by 7pm, but it’s already 8pm and you still haven’t “done your hair” yet. Stop spending so much time on your appearance and look around you for a minute. Enjoy the fact that you’re on vacation, you’re at a festival, and by being cooped up in your room all day you’re missing out.
MAKE-UP: We know appearance is important, so as long as you don’t spend three hours putting it on, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of festival beauty prep. Unless you shellack your make-up on like RuPaul, remember that it’s going to migrate. It’s great to get creative, but don’t breach that fine line between artful and war paint; the clown look doesn’t work for anyone. If you’re going to a pool party, pool parties HAVE WATER — choose your products wisely! I love Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liner and Urban Decay’s 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner for day and night! And be sure to use a tubing mascara (like Bobbi Brown’s Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara) because no “waterproof” formula is ever truly waterproof after exposure to any oils. As for the actual festival it is DRY in the desert; it may be great for your hair, but it will wreak havoc on your skin if you were sunburned during the pool party. Be smart and take care of that skin! Use sunblock during the day, don’t bother with foundation, and use a tinted moisturizer! Don’t waste your time bronzing or putting glitter on yourself since it’s a NIGHT festival; it doesn’t look as cool as you think it does when you’re walking around in the dark.
OUTFITS: We all know that it can take months to plan that “perfect” outfit, and getting ready can feel seem like an eternity in “man time.” One is hard enough, but EDC means choosing three, not including all the pool parties you may do. Please be aware that all those articles online and in fashion magazines discussing how to dress correctly for your body type apply to your festival outfits too. So you’re probably thinking “what does hell does that mean to me?” Well it should mean a lot to you if you want to be looking your best! For example, an “apple” (see image above) shouldn’t wear a multi-layered mini tutu; it doesn’t balance out your body under any circumstance and you’ll end up looking like Saturn. Go for a longer, tutu that will balance your body by leading the eye downward. I’m not going to go into great detail about this since EVERY woman’s magazine in the world covers this topic. The biggest take home on this one is wear something that flatters your body type and makes you feel confident! If you’re wearing something that makes you uncomfortable for any reason, it will show.
TEST DRIVE YOUR OUTFITS! I can’t not stress this enough, as we’ve all had a wardrobe malfunction at least once in our life. That means jump, twerk, touch your toes, bend backwards…whatever it is you consider dancing…just move in every single direction to be sure it won’t fall apart on you mid-festival. For you brave ones wearing pasties, be sure to check/test the quality of the adhesive backing! The last thing you need is one to fall off and to be stuck looking like you’re ready to breast feed the entire festival. (EDC PRO ADVICE: Before applying pasties, apply rubbing alcohol where the pasties will reside for the evening. Less oils = better adhesion. Apply any creams or lotions AFTER you have the pasties on and avoid the seams.) Then again, if you’re that girl that just walks around and wants to “be seen” and have your photo taken, then don’t bother testing your costume. You’re an idiot thinking you’ll be “discovered” by a camera. It’s a NIGHTTIME festival…think about that.
So you’re probably thinking, “what about shoes?” Save yourself the luggage space and don’t bother to bring those cute, expensive shoes for the day club; during EDC week, the clubs are often packed and you are guaranteed to get wet. Unless you have cabana there is no place safe for valuables so flip-flops are ideal. You’ll be less upset if someone steals those as opposed to your adorable L.A.M.B. wedges you just got for the trip. At EDC I would like to think this is self explanatory, but I’ll say it anyways: wear comfortable shoes! The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is 90% concrete, so your little tootsies are going to be killing you after walking around all day. Doing a forward fold now and then can do wonders on your hamstrings and back. (This is where testing your outfit prevents your a$$ from hanging out or seams splitting). Don’t be afraid to stop and stretch throughout the weekend, you’ll feel better and able to keep the party going the next day.
TOILETRIES: As women I think we know better by now, but sometimes you’re stuck in a bind. Hand sanitizer and baby wipes are often allowed in when they are checking you at security. Make sure to have your “girl supplies” with you because those first-aid tents won’t always have what you need. When washing your hands at the port-a-potties be sure there is water at those pump sinks first BEFORE you put soap on your hands. Towards the end of the night they often run out of water and hand sanitizer so be prepared. (EDC PRO ADVICE: If there is soap but no water, look around on the ground for a deserted water bottle with water in it. More than likely the owner isn’t coming back for it so just lather your hands up with soap and ask a friend to pour the water to wash your hands.)
Well ladies, I hope you found this helpful and informative for your EDC journey and other festivals to come. Remember to cool it with the #selfies, stop recording every single second, and really be present. Have fun!The NFL’s ninth overall draft pick is locked in as a starter and is progressing nicely toward his massive potential.
And yet not a single “An-thon-EE, An-thon-EE!” chant could be heard for Vikings outside linebacker Anthony Barr during Saturday night’s 30-28 preseason victory over the Cardinals at TCF Bank Stadium.
Lost in the wake of rookie quarterback Teddy “Ted-DEE, Ted-DEE!” Bridgewater rallying the Vikings from behind not once, but twice in the fourth quarter was another sack and a forced fumble by Barr, the oversized (6-5, 255) 4-3 outside backer who is starting to flash the speed and athleticism that had the Vikings so giddy on draft day.
Barr leads the team in sacks (1 ½) and has its only forced fumble through two preseason games. His multiple skills also have allowed the Vikings to tinker with a variety of pass rushing packages. And this is the preseason, when teams don’t show everything that’s coming when the games start counting.
“He can give us that versatility on defense to where we can all kind of move around and have different parts of the defense and allow us to keep offenses offbeat,” left defensive end Brian Robison said. “[Offenses] can’t key in on one guy. If they have one guy they need to take care of, they can’t because they don’t know where he’s going to be.
“So whether it’s myself, [right end] Everson [Griffen] or Barr, you are not going to know where those rushers are coming from. You might be on the right side one time, you might be on the left side one time, you might be inside one time. You might be blitzing from the back end one time. You just never know where you’re going to be.”
On Saturday, the Cardinals had a third-and-two from their 13-yard line. Barr dropped into a three-point stance at Griffen’s right end spot. Griffen moved to Robison’s left end spot. And Robison moved inside to tackle, a spot where he first stood out as a pass rusher when Ray Edwards was the starter on the left side.
Robison and Barr got a good rush. So did Griffen, who ended up chasing down quarterback Drew Stanton, who essentially threw the ball away near the goal line.
“As a defensive end, you want to rush from the end,” Robison said. “But, bottom line, it creates mismatches. And if you can create mismatches, it gives your team more chances to win. Bottom line is I’m about winning games around here.”
Robison, 31 and in his eighth season, was asked to evaluate Barr, 22 and only three years removed from being a fullback at UCLA, as a down lineman rushing the passer.
“I think he’s got a little bit of a learning curve there,” Robison said. “He’s not used to having his hand in the dirt, but his willingness to learn is refreshing to see.
“He’s always coming up to me or Everson or [defensive line] coach Patterson or [assistant defensive line coach Robb] Akey. He’s always trying to learn. That’s what you see. He’s got such raw talent with just his speed and stuff. If he starts learning some of the hand techniques and stuff like that, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”The guided-missile destroyer, USS Stout, is on its way to a position in the eastern
Mediterranean to join four other destroyers in preparation of a possible attack on Syria.
The guided-missile destroyer, USS Stout, is on its way to a position in the eastern
Mediterranean to join four other destroyers in preparation of a possible attack on Syria.
In a surprising turn of events, the Tory government of Prime Minister David Cameron suffered a major defeat late Thursday when the House of Commons voted 285 to 272 against a motion that would have authorized military intervention in Syria pending the results of a U.N. inspection team's probe into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria. The vote came at the end of hours of debate with so many members of parliament wanting to weigh in that the speaker of the Commons finally had to limit each to three minutes apiece.
An amendment by the Labour delegation—calling for "compelling" evidence—was rejected by 114 votes.
The main vote was to have been the first of two. The second would have come after the inspectors returned from Syria, where they are expected to be until Saturday, and presented their findings. Given that MPs would have a second chance, it was expected that the first vote would succeed. But Conservative defectors ended that possibility.
Cameron said afterward:
I can give that assurance. Let me say, the House has not voted for either motion tonight. I strongly believe in the need for a tough response to the use of chemical weapons, but I also believe in respecting the will of this House of Commons. It is very clear tonight that, while the House has not passed a motion, it is clear to me that the British parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that and the government will act accordingly.
How this will affect the Obama administration's apparent determination to strike Syria is unknown. But Obama is said by aides to be willing to order a solo attack if nobody else goes along.
As anyone paying attention knows by now, the rationale for an attack on the regime of Bashir al-Assad is based on what everyone or nearly so says was a chemical attack in an area outside Damascus in which thousands were injured and, various sources say, as many as 1,300 killed. Leaders of the U.S. and British governments, including President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron, say they are certain that the attack was undertaken by Syrian government forces. The regime has denied that and claimed the rebels who have been fighting it since March 2011 launched the attack. U.S. experts say they are convinced the rebels do not have the capability to attack with chemical weapons.
The U.N. inspection team has been taking samples and interviewing victims of the attack. The team's mandate is only to determine whether an attack occurred not who was responsible for it.
Please read below the fold for more developments.It has all the cliché hallmarks of a Hollywood-created conflict somewhere on the African continent, with European mercenaries and various corrupt businessmen stoking the coals of war. However, the 1994 Rwandan genocide was not a Hollywood tale. It was all-too real and left an estimated 800,000 dead.
According to a French news outlet, documents reveal that Paul Barril, a |
may pose challenges when the credit cycle turns. Dah Sing Bank has maintained satisfactory capitalization, with Tier 1 ratios of around 10% since 2009. The bank also maintains adequate liquidity and is funded primarily by deposits. The bank's loan-to-deposit ratio stood at a healthy level of 73% at end-2012. Intense competition, low interest rates, and elevated operating expenses have weighed on the bank's profitability. Net income over average risk-weighted assets was 1.46% in 2012. What Could Change the Rating Up/Down A rating upgrade is unlikely as the bank's ratings are already high relative to its size. However, upward pressure could arise if: (1) its profitability improves, with a return of 1.8% or above on average risk-weighted assets; and (2) its franchise and market position strengthen substantially. Deterioration in the operating environment can trigger a downgrade for the bank's rating. A material rise in NPLs, whether in Hong Kong or Mainland-related would be negative for the rating. The bank's rating could also be downgraded if strong asset growth weakens the bank's capitalization, such that Tier 1 ratio falls below 9.5%, or if impaired loan ratio exceeds 1.5%. DBS BANK (HONG KONG) LTD DBS Bank (HK)'s BFSR/BCA of C+/a2 reflects its strong capitalization and adequate liquidity profile. Nevertheless, negative real interest rates, potential bubbles in the Hong Kong property market, and difficult operating conditions for small and medium enterprises pose risks for the bank. The bank's Aa3 deposit ratings incorporate a very high probability of support from its parent DBS Bank Ltd (deposits Aa1 negative, BFSR B/BCA aa3 negative), given the bank's strategic importance and its close affiliation with its parent and other members of the group. The outlooks on the bank's BFSR/BCA and deposit ratings were revised to negative from stable reflecting risks stemming from potential asset bubble in Hong Kong, and unfavorable operating environment for small and medium sized enterprises in the Pearl River Delta due to rising costs, appreciating RMB, and limited growth in export orders. Sizable exposures to Hong Kong properties and small and medium enterprises render the bank susceptible to deterioration in domestic and external economic conditions. The outlook on the parent's BFSR is also negative, and reflects its relatively fast changing risk profile as it pursues a regional expansion strategy. DBS Bank (HK)'s capital adequacy improved in 2012 due to strong internal capital generation and a decline in loan balances. The bank's Tier 1 ratio rose to 14.3% at end-2012. Capitalization will likely decline in 2013 with expected loan growth. The bank has adequate liquidity profile and is largely funded by customer deposits. The loan-to-deposit ratio was 82.7% at end-2012, down from 105.5% a year ago. DBS Bank (HK)'s asset quality metrics have improved in recent years, and the impaired loan ratio fell to 0.78% at end-2012. What Could Change the Rating Up/Down The deposit rating is already high and is therefore unlikely to be upgraded. For the BCA to be adjusted upward, the bank would have to substantially strengthen its franchise. The bank's deposit rating may be downgraded if there is a weakening in parental support or if the parent's BCA is adjusted downward. Deterioration in operating conditions or sustained economic imbalances may trigger a downgrade. Adverse developments in developed markets, Mainland China or the local property market can all negatively impact the bank due to its sizable property loans and exposures to SMEs. The BCA can be also adjusted downward if asset quality deteriorates due to aggressive credit growth, with impaired loans rising above 2% of gross loans. A material decline in capitalization with its Tier 1 ratio falling below 9.5% may also trigger a downgrade. INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA (ASIA) LTD ICBC Asia's BFSR/BCA of C-/baa2 reflect its sound capitalization and good asset quality. It also takes into account its corporate banking focus and underdeveloped retail presence, and its increasing exposures to Mainland customers through referrals from its parent Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (deposits A1 stable, BFSR D+/BCA ba1 stable). ICBC Asia's long-term deposit ratings of A2 incorporated three notches of uplift from expected strong support from the parent. The outlook on the BFSR/BCA was revised to negative from stable reflecting risks associated with the bank's fast pace of growth relatively to peers, underdeveloped retail franchise, and greater reliance on wholesale funding. Nevertheless, the outlook on the bank's deposit rating remains stable given our expectation of very strong support from its parent. ICBC Asia's total assets nearly doubled between end-2009 and end-2012, while customer advances rose by 50%. Trade finance loans made up 27% of total loan balance at end-2012. Most of the bank's trade finance loans are guaranteed by its parent, rendering them interbank exposures to its parent. ICBC Asia relies to a greater extent on wholesale funding than its peers. Customer deposits accounted for two thirds of overall liabilities at end-2012. Despite strong loan and asset growth, equity injections from the parent between 2010 and 2012 helped the bank maintain its capitalization. Tier 1 capitalization was strong at 12.04% at end-2012. The bank's asset quality metrics are comparable with the peer average in Hong Kong, with impaired loans amounting to 0.47% of gross loans at end-2012. What Could Change the Rating Up/Down ICBC Asia's deposit rating is one notch below that of its parent. The bank's deposit rating may be upgraded if its parent's deposit rating is upgraded. The bank's good capitalization and asset quality metrics are comparable to banks with higher BCAs. However, the bank's strong loan and asset growth in recent years, relatively under-developed retail franchise, and greater reliance on wholesale funding weigh on its rating. The bank's BCA may be adjusted upward if it can maintain its current capitalization and asset quality, strengthen its retail franchise, and reduce its reliance on wholesale funding. ICBC Asia's deposit rating may be downgraded if parental support weakens. The bank's BCA may be adjusted downward if its asset quality deteriorates due to aggressive and imprudent credit growth, with impaired loans rising above 2.0% of gross loans. A decline in its Tier 1 ratio below 9% may also trigger a review for downgrade. Further increase in direct Mainland exposures and deterioration in the operating environment may also lead to a BFSR downgrade. STANDARD CHARTERED BANK (HONG KONG) LTD Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd (Stanchart HK)'s BFSR and BCA of B-/a1 take into account its well-established franchise in Hong Kong, good asset quality, strong profitability and very good liquidity. These positive factors are partially offset by its increased leverage following three years of strong loan growth. The bank's Aa3 deposit rating incorporates Moody's assessment of very high likelihood of support from the Hong Kong government. The outlook on the bank's BFSR/BCA was revised to negative from stable reflecting the bank's higher balance sheet leverage relative to peers and Moody's expectation of more challenging operating conditions over the outlook horizon. Nevertheless, the outlook on the bank's deposit rating remains stable given our expectation of very strong support from its parent and the Hong Kong government. Strong loan and asset growth in recent years have led to increased balance sheet leverage. The bank's tangible common equity/total asset ratio declined to 4.7% at end-2012 from 5.5% at end-2009, and compares unfavorably against Hong Kong peers. Stanchart (HK) is the fourth largest bank in Hong Kong in terms of total assets and has strong market positions in retail and corporate banking. The bank has strong deposit gathering capability due to its strong branch network and status as one of three note-issuing banks. Stanchart (HK) has consistently maintained sound asset quality metrics since end-2006. The bank has generated above-peer average risk-adjusted returns due to its low funding costs, strong contributions from wealth management, treasury, and trade finance businesses as well as low credit costs. What Could Change the Rating Up/Down The bank's current ratings are high relative to global peers and a rating upgrade is unlikely. The bank's deposit rating could be downgraded if parental support diminishes. The BFSR could be downgraded if the bank maintains its higher balance sheet leverage than peers. Deterioration in the operating environment or an increase in economic imbalances can also lead to a lower BFSR. WING HANG BANK, LTD Wing Hang Bank's deposit rating, standalone BFSR and BCA of A2/C+/a2 reflect its good asset quality, sound capitalization and conservative liquidity profile. Nevertheless, prevailing low interest rates, elevated property prices, and growing exposures to Mainland China pose risks and potential challenges for Wing Hang Bank. The outlooks on the bank's BFSR/BCA and deposit ratings were revised to negative from stable reflecting risks stemming from potential asset bubble in Hong Kong, and unfavorable operating environment for small and medium sized enterprises in the Pearl River Delta due to rising land and labor costs, appreciating RMB, and slow growth in export orders. Wing Hang Bank has maintained sound asset quality metrics, with an impaired loan ratio of 0.45% at end-2012. Amid steady economic integration between Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China, developments on the Mainland will have growing influence on the bank's asset quality going forward. Advances for use in Mainland China accounted for 19% of total loans outstanding at end-2012. The bank maintained good capitalization with Tier 1 ratio of 10.0% at end-2012. The bank's liquidity profile also remained conservative with a loan-to-deposit ratio of 69%. Its average return on risk-weighted assets during 2010-2012 was 1.86% excluding large one-off gains on property sales in 2011. What Could Change the Rating Up/Down Wing Hang Bank's current ratings are high relative to its size, and are unlikely to be upgraded. Deterioration in operating conditions or an exacerbation in economic imbalances can trigger a rating downgrade. Any aggressive expansion that leads to deteriorations in capitalization and asset quality, with Tier 1 ratio falling below 9.5%, or impaired loans amounting to 1.5% of gross loans, may also lead to a rating downgrade. WING LUNG BANK LTD Wing Lung Bank's BFSR and BCA of C/a3 reflects its good capital adequacy and asset quality. These positive factors are offset by its fast pace of expansion and growing Mainland exposures. Parental support is highly likely in the event of need. The one notch decline in the bank's BFSR and BCA to C/a3 and the negative outlook on the bank's BFSR/BCA and deposit rating reflect Moody's concerns over the bank's growing Mainland exposures, unfavorable operating conditions for small and medium enterprises in the Pearl River Delta, and expected deterioration in overall operating conditions over the outlook horizon. The bank's deposit rating remains at A2 while the BFSR was lowered by one notch, given Moody's expectation of strong parental support. The bank has grown its loans and assets strongly since it was acquired by China Merchants Bank in 2009. Its total assets grew by 53% to end-2012 from end-2009. The bank has focused on serving the offshore banking needs of its parent's Mainland customers. Loans to Mainland customers grew to HKD30.2 billion at end-2012 from HKD3.9 billion at end-2009, and made up 34% of loans at end-2012. Wing Lung Bank has maintained good asset quality metrics amid its business expansion, and had an impaired loan ratio of 0.1% at end-2012. Nevertheless, the bank's capitalization has weakened as loan and asset growth outpaced internal capital generation, with Tier 1 ratio falling to 10.0% at end-2012 from 12.0% at end-2008. Wider margins on lending to Mainland enterprises and improved operating efficiency led to higher profitability. The bank's three-year average net return on average risk-weighted assets between 2010 and 2012 was 1.91%. What Could Change the Rating Up/Down The bank's BCA and long-term deposit rating are high and therefore unlikely to be upgraded. Deterioration in operating conditions or increase in economic imbalances can trigger a rating downgrade. Further increase in the bank's Mainland exposures may also lead to a downgrade. Any weakening in capitalization due to strong asset growth, with its Tier 1 ratio falling below 9.5%, or an increase in impaired loan ratio to above 1.5% may also trigger a downgrade. The principal methodology used in these ratings was Global Banks published in May 2013. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology. REGULATORY DISCLOSURES For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com. For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit support from the primary entity(ies) of this rating action, and whose ratings may change as a result of this rating action, the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity. Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures, if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity. Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review. Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating. Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating. The first name below is the lead rating analyst for this Credit Rating and the last name below is the person primarily responsible for approving this Credit Rating. Sonny Hsu
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Stephen?Long
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Moody's takes rating actions on nine Hong Kong banks No Related Data.
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Rewritten: 7,000 English Women’s Boobs Match TeethTexas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury is the coolest coach in college football.
He's admitted to flirting with the mothers of potential recruits, and isn't above busting out "The Stanky Leg" during a dance contest. But during a recent interview on the Dan Le Batard Show, Kingsbury admitted to arguably the coolest coaching move ever.
MORE: Coaches ranking | Preseason Top 25 | Epic Preakness photo
From CoachingSearch.com:
(Other show host): What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in an effort to have a good practice?
“When we were at the University of Houston (as an assistant under Kevin Sumlin), we brought an ice cream truck, but we filled it with some girls from one of the clubs, the bottle girls. That was impressive. That was a good practice.”
(Le Batard): Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What did you do? You filled an ice cream truck?
“The bottle service. The cute bottle service girls. In Houston, you can do that. You can’t do that in Lubbock. There is no bottle service in Lubbock.”
Forget trying to woo potential recruits with playing time or shiny new uniforms.
Not even Nick Saban can combat an ice cream truck full of attractive bottle service girls.Awkwafina is known for making guests on her new show TAWK awkward. There has yet to be a guest, however, that's been able to turn the tables and leave her speechless—until Heems. The New York rapper stops by TAWK in what seems like a catch-up between old friends. Considering they're both from Queens; there's a good chance they've rubbed shoulders before.
Heems makes himself right at home and begins ragging on British accents and American funerals. What's the craziest thing he's ever seen in New York? According to Heems, it's stuff that he's done himself, from spitting, shitting, and cumming(!!) on trains. If there's one thing Heems isn't, it's subtle. If there's one thing he is, it's entertaining.
Check out the full interview in the clip above. If you liked this, then check out a equally awkward exchange with Yung Simmie.Story highlights President Obama says opposing immigration reform will hurt Republicans politically
He says the GOP risks "losing a generation of immigrants"
Obama says he still plans to take executive action on immigration after the November elections
Republicans are committing political suicide and putting the support of an entire generation on the line by opposing an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws, President Barack Obama said Thursday night.
"It's anybody's guess how Republicans are thinking about this," Obama said during a town hall event in Santa Monica, California. "If they were thinking long-term politically, it is suicide for them not to do this."
"Because the demographics of the country are such that you will lose a generation of immigrants which says, 'That party doesn't seem to care about me,'" he said. "In the short term, they have a problem with the tea party and others who often express virulently anti-immigrant sentiment."
The President repeated his vow to sign an executive order making changes to the immigration system after the November 4 midterm elections. But he said "all the executive authority I legally have" won't be as effective as Congress approving legislation would be.
Obama said he will make visa changes to allow more technically skilled workers to enter the United States, and noted that naturalized Americans have won 25% of the country's Nobel Prizes in the sciences.
JUST WATCHED Obama to immigration activists: Cover me Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Obama to immigration activists: Cover me 00:26
"And so the idea that we would make it harder for talent to come here -- especially when so often that talent is coming to study here, going to school here, wants to stay here, wants to work here, wants to invest here -- makes no sense," he said.
Obama had planned to sign an immigration-related executive order by now as part of his "pen and phone" strategy to bypass a gridlocked Congress. But a flood of unaccompanied children over the U.S.-Mexico border over the summer led the White House to delay that move until after the midterm elections.
House Speaker John Boehner sharply criticized Obama on Thursday for the delay, which he called "raw politics," designed to help endangered Senate Democrats keep their majority.
The Ohio Republican issued a joint statement with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican.
"It's shocking that the White House now openly admits that President Obama is delaying his unilateral actions on immigration until after the November elections simply because of raw politics," the two said.
Boehner and Goodlatte said no matter the timing, it's "never acceptable" for presidents to issue executive decrees that rewrite laws.
"By taking unilateral action on immigration, President Obama will inject serious constitutional questions into an already heated debate," the two said. "Such shortsighted actions will undermine the American people's trust in the President's commitment to enforcing our immigration laws and will further set back any chance of enacting immigration reform."Police officers were called on Thursday to an on-campus Israel event at University College London after pro-Palestinian demonstrators were seen trapping attendees in the room where the talk was being held and preventing others from going in.
Israel advocate Hen Mazzig was to speak at the event hosted by the Friends of Israel at UCL in London and CAMERA on Campus, but the protests led by the Friends |
the Census Bureau is far from idle during the rest of the decade. In addition to running surveys such as the economic census, the Current Population Survey, and the American Community Survey, the early and middle parts of the decade give the agency time to analyze on the recently completed decennial survey and begin planning for the next population count.
This planning period is critical if the Census Bureau is to counteract the rising cost of counting each household. In 2010 it cost $96 per household to conduct the decennial survey, up from just $39 in 1990. Absent actions to control the cost of the count, the 2020 census could cost as much as $25 billion overall, according to the Government Accountability Office. That’s a 92 percent increase from the Census 2010 price tag of $13 billion.
The Census Bureau has pledged to keep the cost of counting each household from rising in the 2020 decennial census. In order to do that, the agency will need to design and pilot programs and statistical methods that could save money on the decennial count, and they will need to launch those pilots in the next few years in order to be ready for 2020. Budget cuts today could doom the potential for offering an Internet response option for the decennial count. This option allows households to reply to the census online, cutting printing, labor, and mailing costs considerably. In addition, some Census Bureau tests have shown that the Internet option also boosts the initial response rate of households, which reduces the need to hire door-to-door canvassers to follow up with nonresponding households. Budget cuts could also prevent the Census Bureau from finding cost-effective ways to use administrative records—data collected by other agencies through things such as tax records and benefit claims—while preserving individual privacy and survey accuracy during the 2020 count.
The Census Bureau simply will not be able to deploy potentially cost-saving methods in the 2020 decennial census if they do not have adequate time and resources to field test those methods well in advance. As a result, the population count could wind up costing billions more than it needs to cost.
Without being able to test these new approaches, the Census Bureau in the later part of the decade will have only two choices: ask Congress for more money to conduct an accurate count, or diminish the quality of the survey. The Census Bureau doesn’t want either of these outcomes, and both possibilities could easily be avoided if Congress adopts a more long-term view of the census budget.
The deficit hawks in Congress should take note. Not all budget cuts are created equal; accurate and timely data on the economy, the demographic composition of the population, and socioeconomic measures are necessary for efficient government and data-driven decision making. These are compelling reasons why policymakers should protect the Census Bureau’s budget.
The debate over the American Community Survey is more about messaging than governing, and will have real-world consequences
For 150 years a long-form census was distributed to a sample of the population as part of the decennial census process. The survey asked a range of detailed questions about everything from housing characteristics to how respondents commuted to work in order to guide federal policymaking. After the 2000 census the Census Bureau transitioned the long-form census from a decennial count to a continuous sample survey, which is conducted on an ongoing basis to provide more current socioeconomic data. This is the American Community Survey, an annual exercise that provides policymakers, researchers, and businesses with granular, real-time information about our constantly changing nation.
In 2012 the Republican-controlled House voted first on an amendment to make responding to the American Community Survey voluntary rather than mandatory, which would make the survey less accurate and much more expensive to administer, as more manpower would have to be devoted to following up in person or by phone with nonresponsive households. In the same debate, the House voted on another amendment to defund the survey entirely, claiming that it was unconstitutional. The Senate didn’t take up either proposal, and the American Community Survey was preserved.
But Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) have now introduced new legislation concerning the American Community Survey. Much like the 2012 amendment, the legislation would make ACS response voluntary. But it goes further than that. First, it would require the Census Bureau to explicitly note in the survey instructions that responding to the bulk of the form is not mandatory. Second, it would bar the Census Bureau from asking questions related to religious affiliation or practice. Because the agency is already prohibited by law from asking these questions, an amendment such as this would merely waste congressional time and resources.
Poe claimed in a press release that the survey is “intrusive” and that he hears from “countless Texans” who “feel intimidated” by the survey. In last year’s floor debate over defunding the American Community Survey, Iowa Republican Steve King summed up his support for the amendment to defund the survey, saying, “I think it’s important to have the information, but it’s important that people have freedom and liberty and we do not have an intrusive federal government that would impose a fine on people if they didn’t let the information come out about whether they had a flush toilet.”
Every question asked on the American Community Survey, however, must have a direct federal purpose. Housing questions, for instance, are used to determine fair market rents for housing-assistance programs, while questions about educational attainment and household income are used to help direct federal education dollars to low-income areas. The Census Bureau provides extensive information on its website about how the government uses the data collected. A 2010 analysis found that seven of the questions in the American Community Survey have been asked in every long-form census since 1850.
Businesses also use ACS data in a range of decisions, including where to build new stores. In a Bloomberg Businessweek story about last year’s attempt to defund the survey, the Chamber of Commerce’s chief economist, Martin Regalia, is quoted as saying that the survey “is especially important to some of our bigger members for trying to understand geographic distinctions and other granularity in the economy.” Tom Beers, the executive director of the National Association of Business Economists, said that ACS data prevent businesses from “flying blind.”
Simply put, there is no valid policy motivation behind legislation to make the American Community Survey voluntary. Not only is the Census Bureau already barred from asking questions related to religious affiliation or practice, but making the American Community Survey voluntary would also raise costs and make the results of the survey less accurate. We need only look to our neighbors to the north for evidence that voluntary censuses don’t work.
Canada conducts a short- and long-form census every five years, and after the 2006 count, the conservative Harper government made responding to the long-form survey—but not the short-form survey—voluntary. Canada is the only country to have made part of its census process voluntary, and the results are staggering. In 2006, when the long-form census was last mandatory, Statistics Canada, our neighbor’s Census Bureau equivalent, saw a 94 percent response rate. In 2011, when that same survey was made voluntary, the response rate dropped to just 69.3 percent. What’s more, the survey cost about $30 million more than its predecessor because Statistics Canada increased the sample size in an attempt to maintain data reliability.
The Census Bureau produced a report on the expected costs of a voluntary American Community Survey following last year’s attempts to defund it. They found that maintaining the current level of data reliability if the American Community Survey became voluntary would require a larger sample size and, ultimately, a bigger price tag—about $90 million higher in 2013.
Since the policies proposed in this legislation would be actively detrimental to the American Community Survey—or outright illegal—the astute observer is forced to conclude that the legislation is more about messaging than it is about governing.
Conclusion
The Census Bureau needs champions. When the House voted last year to defund the American Community Survey, business groups and researchers on both sides of the political spectrum spoke out in passionate defense of the survey’s purposes and the Census Bureau’s professionalism. But that broadside was just clearly the beginning of challenges to the agency’s ability to gather and publish data on the well-being, population, and socioeconomic status of the nation—data essential to the effective functioning of our government and our economy.
Kristina Costa is Speechwriter to the Chair of American Progress. She also conducts research and writes on social impact bonds and other topics in government reform.Features
Skimping on sunscreen sells your skin short
by Cathy Johnson
How long does a 110 ml tube of sunscreen last you? If you've used it more than three times to cover your whole body say, at the beach, then you haven't been using enough for proper protection.
[Image source: iStockPhoto | CentralITAlliance ]
If you think sunscreen doesn't work as well as it should, it might be that you're not using enough.
Sunscreen is sold in containers of all different shapes and sizes, but the 110 ml tube is a popular choice.
If you're aiming for whole body coverage (say, at the beach) though, and you use a 110ml tube more than three times, you haven't been using enough.
"It's very well known that people don't put enough sunscreen on," says John Staton. He's Australia's only tester of sunscreen SPFs, which refers to the length of time it takes for your skin to burn when you are in the sun while wearing sunscreen, and a representative of Standards Australia on a number of overseas sunscreen standards committees.
In fact, research shows people typically use only 25 to 75 per cent of the amount used by testers in the process that determines the SPF number on the container.
Since the protection factor varies with the amount of sunscreen applied, that means most users probably achieve a level of protection 20 to 50 per cent of that expected from the SPF on the label.
So your SPF50 might really giving be you as little as SPF10.
Teaspoon at the beach?
Advice given by health experts about how much sunscreen to use is often given in 'teaspoons'.
You should apply about one teaspoon per limb, one each for the front and back of the torso, and one for the face and neck. That's a total of seven teaspoons.
But very few of us take a teaspoon to the beach.
Seven teaspoons is 35 mls, "virtually a cupped handful", Staton says.
"You know you've only got to look at when people buy a 100 ml bottle and they use it ten times, you know you've underutilised it by about two thirds."
Like painting a brick wall
To understand why the amount of sunscreen matters, you need to recognise the surface of skin is not smooth but has lots of tiny dips and grooves on it, Staton says.
You need to apply enough sunscreen to fill those dips, he says.
"Until you fill the skin so you've got a continuous film, you're not anywhere near fully protected. Once you've done that, the amount you put on top of that is going to give you the extra protection."
Terry Slevin, education and research director at Cancer Council WA, likens applying sunscreen well to trying to paint a brick wall, where the mortar between the bricks sits at a lower level.
Two coats of paint are almost always needed for satisfactory coverage. With the first coat, the dips between the bricks where the mortar is can still be seen. It's often only with a further application that the mortar lines are covered and the surface becomes more featureless.
In an ideal world, this would mean applying a second sunscreen coat 15 to 20 minutes after the first coat has been applied, allowing "time for the first coat to bind to the skin and dry a little and penetrate slightly deeper into the skin", Slevin says.
Further reapplication of sunscreen is needed after vigorous activity that could remove sunscreen, such as swimming, towelling, excessive sweating and rubbing.JagsJungle.com has learned that running back Kaleb Blanchard of Denham Springs, LA has committed to South Alabama. A high-rated three star prospect, Blanchard had several SEC offers and was actually committed to Arkansas earlier in the recruiting process. A coaching change led to his recruitment opening again.
Blanchard visited Mobile this past weekend and saw all the Jaguar program and the city has to offer. A Mardi Gras parade, the Senior Bowl (with a chance to see USA alum BJ Scott participate) and a tour of the campus and the facilities. Suitably impressed, he was ready to commit but the South Alabama coaches took the low-pressure approach and told him to go home and think about it. Monday evening he was still ready to make the commitment and now has agreed to be part of the Jaguar family.
Despite injuries curtailing his junior season and some of his senior year, Blanchard was rated the #40 running back in the nation and the #536 prospect overall by 247 Sports. He was named the Offensive MVP of the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl last month.The national school chaplaincy program will soon come under a new line of attack. Despite the Gillard government's $222 million expansion of the program in the budget, the scheme may yet be struck down as unconstitutional by the High Court, which this month gave the go-ahead for a challenge to be heard in August.
Australia's constitution does not separate church and state. The closest it comes is in section 116, which says the Commonwealth cannot make any law for ''establishing any religion'', ''imposing any religious observance'' or ''prohibiting the free exercise of any religion''.
That section also says ''no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth''. A Queensland parent, Ron Williams, is relying on this in mounting his challenge. He argues the program is invalid because it sets a religious test for anyone who wishes to be a Commonwealth-funded chaplain.
The government's funding guidelines support his case. A chaplain need not possess expertise or training in counselling, despite providing guidance to students on ''human relationships'' and assisting ''student welfare services''. Instead, a chaplain is appointed due to ''formal ordination'', ''endorsement by a recognised or accepted religious institution'' or the like.
But the High Court's record of cases on section 116 suggests a tough battle. In the 110 years since the constitution came into force, every argument that a federal law breaches the section has failed.This build comes from the engineering master mind Walt Siegl, one of the top bike builders in the world today, hailing from Harrisville, New Hampshire. Walt was born and raised in Austria and he was attracted to design and motorcycles from an early age. He worked as a toolmaker and welder throughout Europe and Russia before immigrating to New York City in 1985 where mainly as a hobby, he worked on motorcycles, for many years, before relocating to New Hampshire to focus exclusively on building custom motorcycles. Walt Siegl Motorcycles is located on the ground floor of an 1860’s textile mill.
This build was the prototype for a small-scale production run and almost everything about the original Ducati Sport Classic has been replaced, rebuilt or re-designed. There are no computers and no CNC machines in his shop. It’s an organic process where custom parts are made by hand and for this Sport Classic, Walt started with an in-house built, TIG welded and heat stress relieved, trellis frame made from 0.65 chro-moly, with a rake angle increased by half a degree from 24.0° to 24.5°. At the front, the brakes have been upgraded to 4-pot Brembo calipers, and he went with fully adjustable Showa forks on Ducati triple clamps, WS risers and bars.
The fuel tank and seat are hand-made by Walt, as are the exhaust manifolds. At the rear he went with a stock 900SS swing arm and shock body fitted with a Ohlins spring. The engine is from a 1994 900SS, which has been bored up to 944cc with a big bore kit. Due to the higher displacement Walt chose to go with 39mm flat slide Mikuni carburators. The engine covers and cylinder heads have been polished to match the polished wheels and overall retro swag of the bike. The wiring harness that allowed Walt to relocate the electronics under the tail, was supplied by European Cycle Services. Instuments were provided by Motogadget, headlight from a Monster donor and rear light is a genuine 1970’s CEV.
List of Modifications:
1994 900SS engine
944cc big bore kit
Walt Siegl – trellis chro-moly frame
Ducati – triple clamps
Showa – forks
Walt Siegl – risers
Walt Siegle – handlebar
Mikuni – 39mm carburators
Walt Siegl – exhaust manifolds
Gianelli – mufflers
Walt Siegl – seat
Walt Seigl – gas tank
Kevin Rothe – seat cover
CEV – taillight
Ducati Monster – headlight
Nate Weiner – paint
European Cycle Services – wiring harness
Motogadget – instruments
Via: Walt Siegl, Heavy, Silodrome
Photos by Eric Ahlquist“The [common trait in] people that we have noticed are best at learning a language is that they have no trouble sounding stupid.” – Luis von Ahn
Luis von Ahn (@luisvonahn) is an entrepreneur and computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He is known for inventing CAPTCHAs, being a MacArthur Fellow (“genius grant” recipient), and selling two companies to Google in his 20’s. Luis has been named one of the 10 Most Brilliant Scientists by Popular Science Magazine, one of the 20 Best Brains Under 40 by Discover, one of the Top Young Innovators Under 35 by MIT Technology Review, and one of the 100 Most Innovative People in Business by FastCompany Magazine.
Luis is currently the co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, a language learning platform created to bring free language education to the world. With more than 100 million users, it is the most popular way to learn languages in the world, and it is the most downloaded app in the Education category on both iTunes (5-star average, 3,300+ reviews) and Google Play.
I first met Luis as an early investor in Duolingo, and every time I meet him, I learn something new.
In this conversation, we talk about:
What 2-3 books and resources he’d recommend to entrepreneurs
Language learning tips
The clever way he caught cheating students at Carnegie Mellon
Early mentors and key lessons learned
The story of building and selling reCAPTCHA
How to recruit and vet technical talent
Duolingo’s most surprising sources of users, and much more…
Enjoy!
#135: Luis Von Ahn on Learning Languages, Building Companies, and Changing the World https://rss.art19.com/episodes/5d9f23aa-acd7-4c1b-a960-dd258015305d.mp3 Download
Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear a conversation with an entrepreneur who sold a company for $800 million? Bryan Johnson, the rags to riches philosopher, tells the story of founding Braintree and later selling the company to eBay (stream below or right-click here to download):
#81: The Rags to Riches Philosopher: Bryan Johnson's Path to $800 Million https://rss.art19.com/episodes/985659ec-7f7e-4373-b2bb-3d64dc1a7c74.mp3 Download
This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.
I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run.
This episode is also brought to you by Headspace, the world’s most popular meditation app (more than 4,000,000 users). It’s used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace’s free Take10 program — 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It’s like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: In this episode, Luis laments that he didn’t get more formal business management training while at Carnegie Mellon. What resource has supported you most to make better management decisions? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
Twitter | Quora | Facebook
Show Notes
How Luis von Ahn entrapped cheaters in his class at Carnegie Mellon [6:23]
Where Luis von Ahn grew up, his proclivity for computer science, and transitioning from Guatemala the USA [10:28]
Parenting lessons [14:28]
Strange and effective lessons from Manuel Blum [17:28]
The milestones for CAPTCHA and how the project evolved [21:13]
On technology transfer and intellectual property while attending a university [28:38]
How Luis von Ahn recruits and vets computer science engineers [31:03]
Resources for a bright young entrepreneur [37:48]
The pros and cons of running a tech company [41:48]
When the idea of Duolingo started to germinate [49:33]
Duolingo’s evolving business model [53:03]
The languages available on Duolingo, and why Asian languages aren’t available at the time of recording [1:04:03]
How Duolingo compares to college instruction [1:13:43]
Plans for empowering users to practice conversation skills in-app [1:15:03]
Why Luis von Ahn left Google before his vesting phase was complete [1:19:23]
Optimal usage patterns for those using Duolingo [1:23:38]
The common trait of the people that are best at learning languages [1:27:43]
When you hear the word successful, who is the first person who comes to mind and why? [1:32:03]
Most gifted books or other resources [1:33:18]
Luis von Ahn’s morning run [1:34:43]
Favorite movies or documentaries [1:36:03]
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively affected your life in recent history? [1:37:48]
Bedtime, waking time, and morning habits [1:39:03]
The most important metrics to Luis von Ahn and Duolingo [1:40:23]
Origins of Duolingo’s green owl mascot [1:41:43]
What have you changed your mind about in the last few years and why? [1:48:43]
What is something you believe to be true even though you can’t prove it? [1:53:58]
If you could put one billboard anywhere, with anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [1:54:23]
Advice to your 20- and 30-year-old self [1:56:08]
An ask of the audience [2:14:53]
People Mentioned
Posted on: January 26, 2016.
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Please check out Tribe of Mentors, my newest book, which shares short, tactical life advice from 100+ world-class performers. Many of the world's most famous entrepreneurs, athletes, investors, poker players, and artists are part of the book. The tips and strategies in Tribe of Mentors have already changed my life, and I hope the same for you. Click here for a sample chapter and full details. Roughly 90% of the guests have never appeared on my podcast.
Who was interviewed? Here's a very partial list: tech icons (founders of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Craigslist, Pinterest, Spotify, Salesforce, Dropbox, and more), Jimmy Fallon, Arianna Huffington, Brandon Stanton (Humans of New York), Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ben Stiller, Maurice Ashley (first African-American Grandmaster of chess), Brené Brown (researcher and bestselling author), Rick Rubin (legendary music producer), Temple Grandin (animal behavior expert and autism activist), Franklin Leonard (The Black List), Dara Torres (12-time Olympic medalist in swimming), David Lynch (director), Kelly Slater (surfing legend), Bozoma Saint John (Beats/Apple/Uber), Lewis Cantley (famed cancer researcher), Maria Sharapova, Chris Anderson (curator of TED), Terry Crews, Greg Norman (golf icon), Vitalik Buterin (creator of Ethereum), and nearly 100 more. Check it all out by clicking here.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
SAUGET, IL (KTVI) – Extra, extra, extra innings; all weekend long. Local baseball players are looking to slide into the record books with a round-the-clock game. So if you like a good 7th inning stretch, or even a 77th inning stretch, you're in luck.
St. Charles native and Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buherle threw out that first pitch at 8 a.m. Friday at GCS Stadium in Sauget. For the next three days, players on the Blues and the Greys will eat, sleep, and play baseball round the clock.
The players are raising money for The Mission Continues.
A Guinness World Record was set at GCS Stadium in 2015 for a 70-hour game. These players are aiming to play 75 continuous hours, putting the last pitch around Monday morning at 10 a.m.As marketers duke it out in the critical holiday sales season, they'd be wise not to forget about a key demo: men.
Yes, men -- who outspend women during almost every annual holiday, according to a study from ESPN Research and Analytics.
While women often shop without buying and visit multiple stores, men expect to buy when they shop and prefer to buy many products at one store, according to the study's researchers Barbara Singer, VP-advertiser insights and strategies, and Patricia Betron, senior VP-multimedia sales, at ESPN.
'SportsCenter' on ESPN
A full 33% of men consider themselves the primary shopper for the household, up from 14% of men who described themselves that way in 1985, according to ESPN. That's in part because 70% of women are now working outside the home, Ms. Singer said. "Retail has always been aimed at women and how women shop and behave, but men are the prime target if you're looking to grow the sector," said Ms. Betron in an interview.
To complete the study ESPN Research and Analytics compiled online survey results from 1,800 adults ages 18 to 54 in December 2012 and February 2013 and interviewed 20 18-to-54-year-old men in two markets during October and December 2012. ESPN collaborated with research company Ipsos and the study included data from market researcher Gfk Roper and the National Retail Federation. The results are from the second round of research completed by ESPN; the first were released in 2011.
Marketers should consider that men "claim to be a faster shopper and a more directed shopper," said Ms. Singer. But around the holidays, 56% report spending more time on shopping trips. The ESPN research shows "they'll go in and get what they need and then as a reward they will wander and start to browse" the electronics and apparel departments for items for themselves.
"We like to say [men] are not shoppers. They're buyers," said Ms. Betron.
Men tend to be less price sensitive "because they want to get it done and please the person" being shopped for, said Ms. Singer. The study suggests men outspend women by 39% around the holidays and found that 44% of men said they spend more money during the holiday. Additionally, among their friends, "They want to brag that they spent 'X' amount of money," she said.
Another takeaway from the research: men seek value -- but don't only associate value with spending less. Value might mean spending more but getting the perfect item, based on plenty of research. Men are more likely than women to use the internet and mobile phones to research potential purchases and 87% more likely to check online, other stores or the same store after purchase to see if they got the best deal.
One retailer who's used ESPN to reach men is Kay Jewelers, which is sponsoring the company's new SportsCenter app for iPhone and Android. George Murray, the jeweler's senior VP-marketing, said the company's "communication with the sports enthusiast members of our target audience and the holistic approach to sports, which ESPN represents has well served both of us for many years, and this technology enhancement fits well with our company's evolving digital ecosystem."Lorde, Kasabian, London Grammar, Biffy Clyro and Plan B are among the new additions
The full line-up for BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend has been revealed – with the likes of Lorde, Kasabian, London Grammar and Biffy Clyro among the huge additions.
Also joining the previously confirmed Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, Little Mix and Stormzy will be Plan B, Alt-J, Lana Del Rey, James Arthur, Haim, Emeli Sandé, James Arthur, Zara Larsson, Galantis, Rag N’ Bone Man, Two Door Cinema Club, Imagine Dragons, Anne-Marie, Blossoms, Christine & The Queens, Royal Blood, Bastille, Sean Paul, Rita Ora, Dua Lipa and many more.
Notable appearances on the bill show that Plan B is now expected to soon release his first new material since 2012’s ‘Ill Manors’, while Haim are also expected to drop a new single any day now and Lana Del Rey is expected to unveil more tracks from her upcoming album ‘Lust For Life‘.
Christine & The Queens meanwhile, has also been working on her next album.
“This one was a debut album for me, so it feels just like an introduction,” she told NME. “Now we can dive deeper.”
She continued: “I’ve been writing since it was out, so I do have many songs now and I have to choose. It’s not really difficult though, because I know where I want to make Christine go. I know where she’s going to be, who she’s going to be, who she’s going to be in love with and what she will be angry for.”
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Speaking of the sound of her next record, Heloise Letissier told NME: “I can’t really tell much, because then that would spoil the fun – but it will definitely be more sweaty and tougher. Maybe more high-tempo, but still really sad because I’m just me and I’m just sad deep down, but I’ll be properly able to dance on it all the time.”
Radio One’s Big Weekend is now in its 14th year and will be taking place at Burton Constable Hall in Hull, the UK City of Culture for 2017, on May 27 and 28.ROCKY FLATS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Colo. — On a sunny morning in June, Dave Lucas sauntered among knee-high grasses with a machete in hand whacking down invasive musk thistles.
The manager of this 5,000-acre wildlife refuge is waging a two-front battle as he prepares to open these lands to the public.
The first is against the thistles, knapweed, toadflax, cheatgrass and goatgrass that have invaded this scenic expanse of rolling tallgrass prairie, shrub lands and wetlands about 16 miles northwest of Denver.
He plans to beat those back using prescribed fires, herbicides and grazing — plus a heavy dose of his machete.
His second fight is against public fear that his refuge is unsafe.
At the center of this refuge is the site of the former Rocky Flats weapons plant, where the United States government spent decades manufacturing plutonium detonators for nuclear bombs. The plant, which operated from 1952 to the early 1990s, leaked plutonium, uranium, volatile organic compounds and nitrate into the water and soil, earning it a spot on U.S. EPA's Superfund list.
After a $7 billion, decadelong cleanup, EPA and state regulators in 2007 announced the refuge lands — a donut-shaped buffer encircling the former weapons site — were safe for the public. Exhaustive soil sampling has confirmed that residual plutonium at Rocky Flats would cause a negligible risk of cancer for refuge staff and visitors, state and federal regulators say. Plutonium levels in the creeks at Rocky Flats are kept 100 times lower than Colorado's limits for drinking water.
The Fish and Wildlife Service, which acquired the lands surrounding the former weapons site from the Department of Energy, plans by this winter to begin construction of a visitor center, parking lots, trails and interpretive signs and hopes to open the refuge to the public by early 2018.
Yet many residents along Colorado's Front Range aren't ready. Critics argue that too little is known about where and how much plutonium was left behind during the Cold War and whether underground "hot spots" are truly sequestered from the public. Some argue that any exposure to radioactivity could cause cancer.
Proposed trails and visitor amenities
at Rocky Flats
"A single particle of plutonium taken into the body can possibly be destructive to one's health," said LeRoy Moore, who founded the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center in Boulder and believes Rocky Flats should remain off-limits for centuries. "It's better not to take the risk."
Stigmas around Rocky Flats are hard to break. The plant was shrouded in secrecy during its early years, when employees were forbidden to tell even their spouses what they did. In the late 1950s, barrels leaked radioactive oil and solvents into the soil, and plant workers later reported finding "highly plutonium-contaminated" rabbits. In 1989, scores of FBI and EPA agents raided the plant to investigate alleged environmental crimes, which a government contractor later pleaded guilty to in federal court.
"Secrecy and the government creates skepticism that has to be overcome," Lucas said.
Yet the public relations battle is worth it, Lucas said.
The refuge was established under a 2001 bill by former Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and former Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) to preserve open space that was fast disappearing along Colorado's Front Range.
The refuge contains a rare xeric tallgrass prairie, one of the largest remaining in Colorado — and possibly the continent — FWS said. It hosts abundant wildlife including an elk herd, mule deer, black bears, mountain lions and a moose, as well as 632 plant species. In creek bottoms among towering cottonwood trees, visitors lose sight of the Denver skyline. As a federally owned buffer to a weapons site, the refuge has been closed to humans for roughly a half-century.
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"You get a feeling for what this landscape was like 100 years ago," Udall said in an interview.
Fish and Wildlife plans to designate nearly 20 miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, bird watchers and photographers, much of which will follow historical dirt roads. Lucas said he envisions honeybees as a focal point of the refuge's interpretive programs; the pollinators, which are suffering declines elsewhere, are doing well here.
Another interpretive theme, he said, could be "Nature heals."
Is it safe?
Fish and Wildlife needs no additional regulatory clearances to open Rocky Flats, but it does need basic visitor amenities. It has about $10 million on hand for that, and it's hoping a consortium of local governments wins a $5 million grant from the Transportation Department to run a regional trail system known as the Rocky Mountain Greenway through the refuge, said FWS spokesman Ryan Moehring.
The Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant, which FWS and several local governments applied for this May, would facilitate construction of key pedestrian and wildlife crossings into the refuge from the east and north and extend the greenway closer to its proposed terminus at Rocky Mountain National Park.
But FWS needs the public's trust before its grand opening.
"The challenge that we face is breaking through that historic, sort of, specter that hangs over the property," Moehring said. "Our job is to engage with local communities to hear what they have to say and listen to their concerns, provide them opportunities to ask questions. With time, some of that will go away."
FWS has promised to perform additional soil sampling prior to construction of the new greenway infrastructure, Moehring said.
The agency is also paying Boulder-based communications firm Root House Studio roughly $76,000 to develop and implement a public engagement strategy for the refuge, he said.
Public skepticism is not surprising given the site's checkered past.
Rocky Flats in 1995 and 2014
Rocky Flats — its name comes from the 20-foot layer of surface gravel known as the Rocky Flats alluvium — was primarily used for grazing cattle and small-scale clay and coal mining before being purchased through eminent domain in 1951 by the Atomic Energy Commission.
Plutonium created in nuclear reactors in Hanford, Wash., and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina was shipped to Rocky Flats, where thousands of workers machined or shaped it into grapefruit-size "pits" or triggers that were shipped to Texas for assembly into nuclear bombs.
Plutonium, which was nearly nonexistent before 1945, is a silvery-gray radioactive element named after the planet Pluto.
Yet an unknown quantity of it escaped Rocky Flats.
Plutonium spontaneously combusted in 1957 and 1969, causing major fires that sent plutonium-laced smoke downwind toward Denver, where many assume it was inhaled by residents.
In the late 1950s, hydrochloric acid ate through barrels stored outside on what was known as the 903 pad, causing them to leak plutonium- and uranium-laced oil and solvents into the soil. By 1968, the barrels, sludges and remaining liquids were shipped to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory for burial, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) said |
one level.
• Village Courtyard: 20,000 square feet of retail space on one level.
• Village Center: 40,000 square feet of retail space in two stories.
The project architect is Shugart Wasse Wickwire. Hewitt is the landscape architect.
The building plans were first reported in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
Plummer said the center doesn’t have tenants yet for the proposed new sites and that it’s just getting started on the plans, with an early city design-guidance meeting scheduled for Dec. 19. “For now, we are still so early in the process that there isn’t anything specific yet to report,” she said.
She said it was too early to set completion dates or a dollar amount for the project.
Over the past few years, U-Village has added new buildings and many new tenants including a Virginia Mason medical center and restaurants including Din Tai Fung, Joey Kitchen, Liam’s and Eureka.
Retail analyst Jeff Green, owner and president of Jeff Green Partners, says University Village is doing well, estimating that it brings in an average $900 to $1,000 in sales per square foot. (Plummer declined to disclose sales per square foot.)
That compares with the $474 average sales per square foot for non-anchor mall tenants across the U.S., according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
“One thing that is unique about University Village is how much it has densified over its many years of operation, without ever expanding the site,” Green said. “My visits to the center have resulted in a little frustration in terms of access and parking.”
However, he added, “once you get to the center, the tenant mix is so unique that it makes the trip worthwhile.”
That mix includes “newer, hipper concepts that appeal to the millennial generation,” Green said, including formerly online-only retailers such as Amazon Books, eyeglasses shop Warby Parker and menswear retailer Bonobos.
“Very few shopping centers in the U.S. have been able to successfully appeal to this group,” he said. “This make University Village one of the most unique centers in the country.”SOURCE:-CM-WORKS BLOG
The Congress government has arrested one thousand communists during the last one month. Most of Central and Provincial leadership are in jail today. Gulzarilal Nanda has announced that he will not accept the verdict of the electorate (and he has not), and he has started telling absurd stories about guerrilla warfare. This offensive against democracy has begun because of the internal and international crisis of capitalism. The Indian government has gradually become the chief political partner in the expansion of American imperialism’s hegemony of the world. The main aim of American imperialism is to establish India as the chief reactionary base in South-East Asia.
The Indian bourgeoisie is unable to find any way to solve its internal crisis. The perennial food crisis, its ever increasing price level, are creating obstacles for the Five-Year Plan, and as a result of this, there is no other way for the Indian bourgeoisie to come out from this crisis excepting importing more and more Anglo-American imperialist capital. As a result of this dependence on imperialism, the internal crisis of capitalism is bound to increase day by day. The Indian bourgeoisie has not been able to find out any other way except killing democracy, faced with the instructions of American imperialism and its own internal crisis. There were imperialist instructions behind these arrests, since the American police chief ‘Macbright’ was in Delhi during the arrest of the communists, and the widespread arrests took place only after discussions with him. By killing democracy there can be no solution of this crisis, and the Indian bourgeoisie also will not be able to solve this crisis. The more the Government will be dependent on imperialism, the more it will fail to solve its internal crisis. With every passing day, the people’s discontent will increase, and with every passing day, the internal conflict of the bourgeoisie is bound to increase.
Imperialist capital demands the arrest of communists as a precondition before investing; so also it wants a temporary solution of the food problem. To solve this food crisis, some steps to stop trade and profiteering in food are necessary, and it is for this that control is necessary. In a country of backward economy like India, this control invariably faces Opposition from a large section. This conflict of the bourgeoisie is not mainly a conflict between monopoly capitalists and the national bourgeoisie. This conflict is mainly between the trading community and the monopoly industrialists. In a country of backward economy, trade in foodstuff and essential commodities is inevitable for the creation of capital, and control creates obstacles in the creation of this capital, and as a result of that, internal conflict takes the form of internal crisis. India is a vast country. It is not possible to rule the 450 million people of this country by following a policy of repression. It is not possible for any imperialist country to take such a big responsibility. American imperialism is writing in death pangs, in keeping its commitment to those countries of the world which it has assured of giving aid. Meanwhile, an industrial crisis has developed in America. It can be seen from President Johnson’s utterance itself that the number of unemployed is increasing in the country. According to the official statement, four million people are absolutely unemployed; 35 million people are semi-unemployed and in factories also semi-unemployment is continuing. So the Indian Government will fail to suppress the ever-increasing discontent of the people. This attack on democracy will inevitably transform the people’s discontent into struggles. Some indication of the shape of the protest movement of tomorrow is available from the language movement of Madras. So, the coming era is not merely an era of big struggles, but also an era of big victories. The Communist Party therefore will have to take the responsibility of leading the people’s revolutionary struggles in the coming era, and we shall be able to carry out the responsibility successfully only when we are able to build up the party organisation as a revolutionary organisation.
What is the main basis for building up a revolutionary organisation? Comrade Stalin has said: “The main basis for building up a revolutionary organization is the revolutionary cadre.” Who is a revolutionary cadre? A revolutionary cadre is he who can analyse the situation at his own initiative and can adopt policies according to that. He does not wait for anyone’s help.
Our Organisational Slogans –
1. Every party member must form at least one Activist Group of five. He will educate the cadres of this Activist Group in political education.
2. Every party member must see to it that no one from this group is exposed to the police.
3. There should be an underground place for meetings of every Activist Group. If necessary, shelters for keeping one or two underground will have to be arranged.
4. Every Activist Group must have a definite person for contacts.
5. A place should be arranged for hiding secret documents.
6. A member of the Activist Group should be made a member of the Party as soon as he becomes an expert in political education and work.
7. After he becomes a Party member, the Activist Group must not have any contact with him.
This organisational style should be firmly adhered to. This organisation itself will take up the responsibility of revolutionary organisation in the future.
What will be the Political Education?
The main basis of the Indian Revolution is agrarian revolution. So, the main-slogan of the political propaganda campaign will be–make the agrarian revolution successful. The extent to which we are able to propagate the programme of agrarian revolution among the workers and the petty-bourgeoisie and educate them in it, to that extent they will be educated in political education. Every Activist Group should discuss the class analysis among the peasantry, the propaganda of the programme of agrarian revolution.
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION
As revisionist thinking nestled in the Indian party for a long time, we could not build up a correct revolutionary party. Our primary task today is to build up a correct revolutionary party fighting uncompromisingly against this revisionist thinking.
(1) The first among revisionist thought is to regard ‘Krishak Sabha’ (peasants’ organisation) and trade unions as the only Party activity. Party comrades often confuse the work of peasants’ organisation and trade union with the political work of the Party. They do not realise that the political tasks of the Party cannot be carried out through the peasants’ organisation and trade union. But it should be remembered at the same time that the trade union and the peasants’ organisation are one of the many weapons for serving our purpose. On the other hand, to regard peasants’ organisation and trade union work as the only work of the Party, can only mean plunging the Party in the mire of economism. The proletarian revolution cannot be made successful without an uncompromising struggle against this economism. This is the lesson that com. Lenin has given us.
(2) Some comrades think and are still thinking today that our political task ends with the launching of a few movements on demands, and they regard a single victory through these movements as a political victory of the Party. Not only has that, these comrades sought to confine the responsibility of carrying out the political tasks of the Party within the limits of these movements only. But we, the true Marxists know that carrying out the Party’s political responsibility means that the final aim of all propaganda, all movements and all organisations of the Party is to establish firmly the political power of the proletariat. It should be remembered always that if the words “Seizure of Political Power” are left out, the Party no longer remains a revolutionary Party. Although it will remain a revolutionary Party in name then, it will be actually reduced to a reformist party of the bourgeoisie.
When speaking of seizure of political power, some mean the Centre. They think that with the gradual expansion of the limits of the movement, our only aim will be to capture power centrally. This thinking is not only wrong; this thinking destroys the correct revolutionary thinking within the party and reduces it to a reformist party. At the World Trade Union Congress in 1953, the well-tested and well-established Marxist leader of China, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, asserted firmly that in the coming days the tactics and strategy of the unfinished revolution of Asia, Africa and Latin America will follow the footsteps of China. In other words, the strategy and tactics of these struggles will be area-wise seizure of power. It was not only that comrade and member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Party, but Com. Lenin also mentioned area-wise seizure of power in his writings. Above all, the working class in Russia gave a concrete proof of Lenin’s conclusion when they kept the town of Kronstad under seizure for three days. In the era of socialism, all the elements of area-wise seizure of power are present in our framework.
A burning instance of the fact that this is possible is the Naga rebellion. The main condition of this area-wise seizure of power is weapons in the hands of the revolutionary forces. To think of seizing power without arms, is nothing but an idle dream. Our Party has a very long history of struggles. We gave the leadership to the peasants’ and workers’ movements in the extensive countryside of North Bengal. Naturally, we shall have to examine and analyse the movements of the past and draw lessons from them and we shall have to move forward anew in the present revolutionary era.
Analysis of the concrete events and experiences of the Tebhaga Movement in 1946 and 1947
The participant peasants in this movement numbered about six million. It should be remembered that in the entire peasant movement this was a golden era. In the massiveness of the movement, in the intensity of emotions, in the expression of class hatred, this movement was the highest stage of class struggle. To help understand that stage, I am citing a few moving instances of that movement.
A day’s event:–
I was then living underground in the interest of the movement. I have personally witnessed the tide of the revolutionary movement. We have seen how a single little note made a man ten miles away come running like a mad man. On the other hand, we have also seen standing beside the husband, a newly wed young Muslim woman who was subjected to demoniac barbarous assault by the class enemy. I have heard the pathetic appeal of that unarmed husband–Comrade, can’t you take revenge? The very next moment, I have seen the intense hatred of the exploited against the exploiter; have seen that aweful spectacle of killing a living man in cold blood by twisting his throat.
Comrades, the above mentioned incidents demand from us some analysis.
Firstly, what was the historical reason as a result of which this massive form of that movement in those days could create intense hatred against the class enemy?
Secondly, what again were the causes which turned that vast movement into a failure?
First, it was the slogan of seizure of political power that created the massive form of that movement of those days, created the intense hatred against the class enemy. On the opposite side, it was this slogan that made the class enemy adopt his class role. It is the expression of this that we find in the barbaric rape of the young peasant woman and the beastly violent attack to smash the movement. On the other hand the peasants also did not hesitate to attack the class enemy. This raises the question: Why couldn’t power be seized even after this? It couldn’t be seized for one reason only–it was because the fighting people of those days looked to the centre for arms; we then lost faith in the path indicated by Lenin. We hesitated in those days to accept that bold declaration of Lenin to carry forward the revolution by collecting arms locally and seizing power area-wise. As a result, the unarmed peasants could not stand up and resist in the face of arms. Even those who fought defying death had also to retreat finally. The lesson that has to be drawn from the mistakes of those days is that the responsibility of collecting arms lies with the local organisation, not with the centre. So the question of collecting arms will have to be put up before every Activist Group from now on. ‘Dao’, knives, sticks–all these are weapons, and with their help at opportune moments, firearms will have to be snatched. The events described above are manifestations of revisionist thinking in its theoretical aspect. Now, from the organisational point of view, those mistakes will have to be found out which were hurdles in the way of a correct leadership of the vast movements of those days, so that they may not find a nest afresh in the revolutionary Party. To smash all those mistakes in the Party, the Party will today first have to establish its leadership over the mass organisations. For, a review of the history of the party over a long period would reveal that as a result of the revisionist thinking of regarding leaders of trade unions and peasant organisations (krishak sabha) as the real representatives of the people, the party was reduced to a party of a few individuals. Because of this thinking, the party’s political activities became inert, and the proletariat also became deprived of a correct revolutionary leadership. All movements became confined within the bonds of movements on demands. As a result Party members became enthusiastic over a single victory and despondent over a single defeat. Secondly, as a result of overestimating the importance of this organisation, another type of localism is born. Comrades think that the Party will suffer a serious loss if any comrade is shifted from his area and they take this as a loss to personal leadership. From this localism another type of opportunism develops. Comrades think that their area is the most revolutionary; naturally nothing should be done here so that there is police persecution. Because of this viewpoint they do not analyse the political situation of the entire country. As a result, commandism develops and organisational and daily propaganda work suffers. As a result, when there is a call for a struggle, they assert that they will not do any small work and commit adventurism. Naturally the question arises–what are the methods which help to get out of these deviations? What are those Marxist directives which become essential tasks for building up a revolutionary party?
Firstly, all works of organisation of the future will have to be done as complementary to the Party. In other words, the mass organisations will have to be used as a part of serving one main purpose of the Party. For this reason, naturally, Party leadership will have to be established over the organisations.
Secondly, immediately from now the entire effort of the Party will have to be spent on recruiting newer and newer cadres and on forming countless Activist Groups consisting of them. It should be remembered that in the coming era of struggles, the masses will have to be educated through the illegal machinery. So every Party member from now on will have to be made habituated to illegal work. To get used to illegal work, it is an essential task for every Activist Group to paste illegal posters. It is only through this process that they will be able to act as the bold core in leading struggles in the era of struggles. Otherwise, the revolution will be reduced to a petty bourgeois idle dream.
Thirdly, it is through these active organisations that the Party will be able to establish its leadership over the mass organisations. So from now on we shall have to help the members of the Activist Groups so that they can fearlessly criticize the leaders of the mass organisations, and their work.
Fourthly, the work of the mass organisations will have to be discussed and decided upon in the Party before it is implemented in the mass organisations. It should be remembered here that the policies of the mass organisations have been wrongly practiced so long in the Party. To hold discussions on Party decisions is not called democratic centralism. This thinking is not in accordance with Marxism. And from all this thinking the conclusion has to be drawn that the Party’s programme will be adopted from below. But if it is adopted from the lower level, then the correct Marxist way is not implemented; in all these activities there inevitably is bourgeois deviations. The Marxist truth of democratic centralism is that the Party directive coming from higher leadership must be carried out. Because the Party’s highest leader is he who has firmly established himself as a Marxist through a long period of movements and theoretical debates. We have the right to criticise Party decisions; but once a decision has been taken, if any one criticizes it without implementing it, or obstructs work, or hesitates to implement it, he will be guilty of the serious offence of violating Party discipline.
As a result of having this idea of Party democracy as that of a debating society, the road for espionage inside the Party is thrown open. Naturally, the revolutionary leadership of the Party then becomes bankrupt and the working class is deprived of a correct revolutionary leadership. This petty-bourgeois sort of thinking inside the Party leads the Party on to the verge of destruction. And this is the manifestation of petty-bourgeois thinking inside the Party. Their comfortable living and attitude of undisciplined criticism reduces the Party to a mere debating society. This thinking becomes a hurdle in the path of building up a Party of the proletariat–strong as iron.
Fifthly, the undisciplined life of the petty-bourgeoisie draws them towards undisciplined criticism; that is, they do not want to criticize within the limits of the organisation. To get rid of this deviation, we should remain conscious of the Marxist viewpoint regarding criticism. The characteristics of Marxist criticism are: (1) Criticisms must be made within the Party organisation, that is, at the Party meeting. (2) The aim of criticism should be constructive. That is, the aim of criticism is to advance the party from the point of view of principles and organisation, and we must always be vigilant that there is no unprincipled criticism within the Party.
Come, comrades, in the present revolutionary era, let us complete the People’s Democratic Revolution by fighting uncompromisingly against revisionism.
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION
Comrades, Two events occurred in the world in the era after the Second World War. As, on the one hand, the naked form of the defeat of the so called Fascist powers was exposed before the people, so also, on the other, the world socialist state system under the leadership of Comrade Stalin created confidence in the minds of the people. As a result, a spontaneous revolutionary outburst was witnessed throughout the entire world. Above all, the success of the Chinese revolution in 1949, without the war itself, brought about a new revolutionary high tide in the midst of this spontaneous outburst about which the Communist Party of India could never make a correct assessment. As a result the revolutionary change in the whole of Asia, Africa and Latin America brought about by this great revolution was never noticed by us. Hence, we failed to understand the significance of this bold revolutionary slogan, the clarion call of the 650 million revolutionary people–“See, we have on our own taken ourselves on to the path of socialism. No, even US. Imperialism failed to check the tremendous motion of our irresistible revolutionary current.”
But the fighting people did not make the mistake. That revolutionary spark spread to Vietnam, Cuba, and every country in the whole of Latin America.
The people of India responded to that call. We saw the expression of this in the spontaneous democratic revolution of 1949 which was dimmed by us in trying to confine it within the narrow bounds of socialist revolution. Not only that, there was an attempt to negate the significance of the entire Chinese Revolution by openly criticizing the source of this spontaneous movement, the great Chinese Revolution and its Great Leader Comrade Mao Tsetung. Above all, later on, it was as a consequence to the denial of this Chinese Revolution that the slogan was raised within the Party that the revolution will be achieved not through the Chinese path but only through a truly Indian path. And from here itself was born today’s revisionism. It was because of that left sectarianism of those days that we were unable to guide that movement along the correct path.
But, no, Comrades! The tide of that revolutionary movement of 1949 could not be exhausted, because no imperialism could wipe off the Chinese Revolution, the Red Flag of hope of the city of Peking.
We saw again that ebbing movement turning into a huge tide in 1951 during the Korean War. It is a full blossoming of this that we saw in spontaneous meetings, processions, in greeting the counter attack made unitedly by China and Korea. It was the objective form of this that we witnessed in the great victory of the Communist Party in the 1951 election.
And it was the fighting-form of this, that we saw in the spontaneous erection of barricades by the fighting masses in 1953-54.
We could not understand. But the bourgeoisie could understand, could recognize the form of the fighting masses, and could know its course. It realised that this great revolution could no longer be ignored, so to dupe the people it turned its face towards the socialist State, towards the great Chinese Revolution. That is why it participated in Panch Sheel, in the Bandung Conference.
Decadent imperialism also realised that it was not possible to carry on in the old method. So it took a new form, introduced a new method of exploitation by giving dollars as gift. Neo-colonialism began.
When imperialism and all the reactionaries of the world were grouping for a way out, to save themselves, the revisionist policy of the traitor Krushchov in 1956 made its appearance before them with a light of new hope. The reactionary government of India found a way to create illusion about Krushchov’s independent capitalist path. But the reactionary government knew that it was impractical, illusory. That is why the reactionary government of India’s bourgeoisie entered into a secret pact with the U.S. imperialism in 1958.
That is why in 1959 as it launched an attack on democracy, on the one hand, by suspending the constitution in Kerala, so also it started, on the other hand, slandering against the source of the spontaneous movement, the great Chinese People’s Republic. It provided shelter to Tibet’s imperialist agent, Dalai Lama. But when in spite of this the people spontaneously started along the path of struggle, the bourgeoisie without any delay shot dead 80 people. Thus the last possibility of peaceful transition to socialism ended.
But, no, Comrades, even then the people did not stand still before the governments might. The spontaneous strike of 1960 spread all over India on a massive scale, because the light of Chinese Revolution, the container of a force hundred times, thousand times stronger than this force, is showing them the way. That is why, comrades, even without the Communist Party, the people started on the path of struggle.
When the fighting people of this spontaneous struggle, being defeated with arms, were thinking of still harder struggle, the slogan of alternative government of 1962 could not create revolutionary enthusiasm in their minds. Because they wanted a reply to the question–What will happen if the Kerala episode is repeated in Bengal? We could not give a correct answer to this question. We could not put forward this correct and bold slogan at that time–In the event of the Kerala episode recurring in Bengal, it is armed struggle that would be the only way of overthrowing the government.
But the bourgeoisie did not make any mistake in noticing the image of the militant masses. That is why in 1962 the panic stricken Indian government attacked the source of the struggle of the fighting masses; it attacked the great Chinese Democracy. But two events occurred as a result of which the bourgeoisie itself dug its grave. First, because of the defeat of the armed forces of the bourgeoisie, the naked form of the weakness of this government became as clear as daylight before the fighting masses. The fighting masses found a new light of struggle. Secondly, because of the unilateral withdrawal of the Chinese troops from the Indian areas, the poisonous influence of perverted nationalism could not touch the peasants. The bourgeoisie became panic-stricken; it imprisoned the communists.
But it could not stop the spontaneous struggle. Work stopped in Bombay. The “Dum Dum Dawai” was started. To get out of this terrible situation, the bourgeoisie released the communists and tried to utilise their internal conflicts. But the notorious letter of Dange, the running dog of imperialism, spoiled their hope. A new revolutionary Party was formed, Krushchov fell from power, and world revisionism received a terrific blow. The pillar, by depending on which the bourgeoisie had started attacks against China, began to shake in Viet Nam. The bourgeoisie saw the danger and found themselves, with their back to the wall, unable to make any retreat. So it attacked imprisoned two thousand communists. But the fighting masses gave their verdict in Kerala, the government saw the outburst of spontaneous movement. It tore off the last mask of democracy.
But no, this spontaneous movement cannot be prevented even by imprisoning hundreds and thousands of communists and resorting to thousand ways of repression. Because the Chinese Revolution cannot be destroyed. No stormy wind can put off the light of that Revolution. The delirious bourgeoisie knows that, so it has started raving about its own weak spots. It is trembling, imagining an organisation being formed within the military. It has started seeing the ghost of Telengana.
Yes, Comrades, today we have to speak out courageously in a bold voice before the people that it is the area-wise seizure of power that is our path. We have to make the bourgeoisie tremble by striking hardest at its weakest spots. We have to speak out before the people in a bold voice–See, how poor, backward China, within sixteen years, has with the help of the socialist structure, made its economy strong and solid. On the other hand, we have to expose this traitorous government which has, within seventeen years, turned India into a playground of imperialist exploitation. It has converted the entire Indian people into a nation of beggars to the foreigners. Come, Comrades, let all toiling people unitedly prepare for armed struggle against this government under the leadership of the working class, on the basis of the programme of agrarian revolution. On the other hand, let us lay the foundation of the New People’s Democratic India by building liberated peasant areas through peasant revolts.
Let us together, shoulder-to-shoulder, roar:
Long live the unity of the workers, peasants and the toiling masses!
Long live the imminent armed struggle of India!
We shall have to carry on daily the struggle against revisionism, adopting the tactics of area-wise seizure of power. Certain revisionist ideas are firmly rooted inside the party. We shall have to carry on the struggle against them. We are discussing some questions here.
(1) The question that has assumed importance today in the struggle against revisionism is the complete support given by the Soviet leadership to the reactionary ruling class of India. They have announced that they will give India an aid of Rs. 600 crores during the Fourth Five Year Plan. The idea that Soviet aid is strengthening India’s Independence is extremely wrong. For, there is no class analysis behind this. We shall have to place clearly before the people our views against this support. If support is given to the government of India which is following the path of co-operation with imperialism, and feudalism, it is the reactionary class which is strengthened. So Soviet aid is not strengthening the democratic movement of India, but is increasing the strength of the reactionary forces in co-operation with US-led imperialism and the Soviet. It is the Soviet-US. Co-operation of modern revisionism that we are observing in India–a satanic association against the people’s liberation struggles in the future. We are seeing from our experience in India that the dominance of the big monopolists exists on the production of the big industries that have grown in the public sector with Soviet aid. So the State will not be able to control the power of the monopolist employers through public sector industries, it is the monopolist employers who are controlling the production of the public sector industries. Our experience is the same in both the cases of steel and petroleum.
(2) The question that has become important to us to-day is bourgeois nationalism. This nationalism is extremely narrow and it is narrow nationalism that is today the biggest weapon of the ruling class. This weapon they are using not only in the case of China, but also on any question like Pakistan, etc. By raising the slogan of national unity and other slogans, they want to preserve the exploitation of monopoly capital. We should remember that the sense of unity of India has arisen as a result of anti-imperialist movement. As the Indian Government is carrying on compromising with imperialism, that sense of unity is being struck at its root. There is only one aim at the root of the slogan of unity given by the present ruling class, and that is unity for the exploitation by monopoly capital. So this slogan of unity is reactionary and Marxists must oppose this slogan. The slogan–“Kashmir is an inalienable part of India”–is given by the ruling class in the interest of plundering. No Marxist can support this slogan. It is an essential duty of the Marxists to accept the right of self-determination by every nationality. On the questions of Kashmir, Nagas, etc., the Marxists should express their support in favour of the fighters. The consciousness of a new unity will come in the course of the very struggle against this government of India of imperialism, feudalism and big monopolists, and it is in the interest of the revolution that it will be necessary to keep India united then. That unity will be a firm unity. It is from this consciousness of nationality that there have been struggles in South India against the imposition of Hindi and 60 people have lost their lives in this year of ’65. So if the significance of this struggle is belittled, the working class will isolate itself from the struggles of the broader masses. It is in the interest of the working class that the efforts for development of these nationalities should be supported.
(3) “Establishing class analysis in the peasants’ movement”. At the present stage of the revolution the entire peasantry is the ally of the working class, and this peasantry is the biggest force of the People’s Democratic Revolution of India and it is by keeping this in mind, we shall have to march forward in the movement of the peasantry. But all peasants do not belong to the same class. There are mainly four classes among the peasants–rich, middle, poor and landless–and there is the rural artisan class. There are differences in their revolutionary consciousness and ability to work according to the conditions. So Marxists must always try to establish the leadership of the poor and landless peasants over the entire peasant movement. The mistake that is often made while analysing the class of the peasants is to determine it on the basis of the title deeds of land. This is a dangerous mistake. It has to be analysed on the basis of their earning and level of living. The peasant movement will become militant to the extent we establish the leadership of the poor and landless peasants over the entire peasant movement. It should be remembered that whatever fighting tactics is accepted on the basis of the support of the broad peasantry, it can never be in any sense adventurism.
It should be remembered that all these years, basing ourselves on the support of the non-peasantry we have looked for narrowness of the peasant movement, and whenever repression came we thought that there must have been some adventurism. It should be remembered that no movement of the peasants on basic demands will follow a peaceful path. For a class analysis of the peasant organisation and to establish the leadership of the poor and landless peasants, the peasantry should be told in clear terms that no fundamental problem of theirs can be solved with the help of any law of this reactionary government. But this does not mean that we shall not take advantage of any legal movement. The work of open peasant associations will mainly be to organise movements for gaining legal benefits and for legal changes. So among the peasant masses the most urgent and the main task of the party will be to form party groups and explain the programme of the agrarian revolution and the tactics of area-wise seizure of power. Through this programme, the poor and landless peasants will be established in the leadership of the peasant movement.
(4) From 1959, on every democratic movement of India, the government has been increasingly launching violent attacks. We have not given leadership to any active resistance movement against these violent attacks. We gave the call for passive resistance in the face of these attacks, like the mourning procession after the food movement, among such instances. We shall have to remember Comrade Mao Tsetung’s teaching–“Mere passive resistance against repression drives a wedge in the fighting unity of the masses and invariably leads to the path of surrender.” So, in the present era during any mass movement, active resistance movement will have to be organised. The programme of active resistance has become an absolute necessity before any mass movement. Without this programme, to organise any mass movement today means to plunge the masses in despondency. As a result of the passive resistance of 1959, it was not possible to organise any mass rally on the demand for food in Calcutta in the years 1960-61. This organisation of active resistance will arouse a new confidence in the minds of the masses and the tide of struggle will arise. What do we mean by active resistance? First, preservation of cadres. For this preservation of cadres, proper shelters and communication system are necessary. Secondly, teaching the common people the techniques of resistance, like lying down in the face of firings, or taking the help of some strong barrier, forming barricades, etc. Thirdly, efforts to avenge every attack with the help of groups of active cadres, which has been described by Comrade Mao Tsetung as “Tit for tat struggle.” At the initial stage, in proportion to their attacks, we shall be able to avenge a few attacks only. But if even a little success is gained in one case, extensive propaganda will create new enthusiasm among the masses. These active resistance struggles are possible in cities and in the countryside, everywhere. This truth has been tested in the Negro resistance movement of America.
(5) There is no clear-cut idea in the Party about the underground organisation. A secret organisation does not grow merely if a few leaders stay underground. On the contrary, these very leaders face the danger of getting isolated from the Party ranks. If party leaders go underground and work as leaders of open mass organisations, they will invariably get arrested. So the underground leadership will have to go forward with the work of building a secret Party. So, it is not a fact that the task of forming a secret Party is solely that of the underground leaders; every Party member should work for the secret organisation and through those new Party cadres the Party’s links with the masses will be established. Only then the underground leaders will be able to work as leaders. So in this era, the main call before the Party is–every Party member will have to form a Party Activist Group. These Activist Groups will have to be enthused with revolutionary politics. This task of forming Activist Groups will be the main task for all Party members of all fronts. How soon we can raise these activists to Party membership will depend on how many new activists these activists will be able to collect. Only then we can get a large number of Party cadres unknown to the police and all the difficulties of underground leaders in maintaining links with the party ranks will disappear. Some revisionist ideas among us, about political and organisational matters and mass organisations etc. have been pointed out here. Today Party members will have to think anew about every mass movement. In the style of our movement, in our organisational thinking, in other words in almost every sphere of our lives, revisionism has built its nest. As long as we cannot uproot it, the new revolutionary Party cannot be built; India’s revolutionary possibilities will be hindered. History will not forgive us.
There are some comrades who get scared at the mentioning of armed struggles, and go on seeing the spectre of adventurism. They think that the work of building a revolutionary party has ended with the very adoption of the programme in other words with the adoption of the programme that is the strategic documents at the Seventh Congress of the Party. Merely from some resolutions on movements adopted at the Party Congress, they arrived at the decision as if besides the present stage of revolution and the class composition, the tactics of the present era had also been decided at the Seventh Congress. From their words, it appears as if peaceful mass movement itself is the main tactics of struggle of the present era. Although they do not openly state Krushchov’s tactics of peaceful transition to socialism, what they want to say almost amounts to the same thing. They want to say that there is no possibility of revolution in India in the near future. So at present, we shall have to move along the peaceful path. In the era of world-wide struggle against revisionism, they cannot openly state the revisionist decisions. But they are abusing as adventurist and police spies anyone who is speaking of armed struggle. Yet, even if we leave out the mass movement of Kashmir, the government has killed at least 300 people during the last eight months, the numbers of prisoners have risen to several thousands and one after another, the States have been shaken by mass movements. What programmes are we placing before these agitators? Nothing! On the other hand we are dreaming–under our leadership organised peaceful mass movements will grow up. This itself is a shameless instance of revisionism. We are still unable to realize that in the present era we cannot build up peaceful mass movements. For, the ruling class will not give us |
has been rewarded.
Polluter pays principle
Finally, it seems there is not a full degree of certainty as to whether or not this solution would meet the requirements of the EU water framework directive and with the polluter pays principle. The EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella has pointed out that Ireland does not have a derogation from domestic water charges. It does not seem likely that this arrangement will satisfy the European Commission, but the European Court of Justice is the final arbiter.
So where does it leave the water charges question politically. Independent Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh and his committee of 20 parliamentarians now take over the process. They will have until March next year to report back to the Oireachtas and make recommendations arising from their examination of the report.
Even before the committee has been formed, the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit have objected to his appointment. That gives a foretaste of what should be a rancourous and divided debate over this question. The AAA-PBP are opposed to all water charges and will see this formula as a back-door for charges. On Tuesday, the Cork North-Central TD Mick Barry said such a process had happened with bin charges.
Sinn Féin, which hardened its line on water charges in then run-up to the general election, is also likely to have difficulties on this matter.
Labour will support the recommendations as will Fine Gael. The critical party will be Fianna Fáil. It called for this arrangement so it would have to be brass of neck to stare down the report of a commission it requested. At the same time, some of its TDs, notably Thomas Byrne, said that water charges were all but finished. The party will be called out on its conflicting statements, mostly by Sinn Féin.
That will cause it much political embarrassment. But it will have to grin and bear it, otherwise it will be shorn of all political credibility on this issue.Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent confab back in September hit at 2 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday, and so far in 2016 stocks have had a tendency for a knee-jerk move higher the same day as the release.
But the day after, it is a different story. U.S. equities have had a tendency to deflate once market participants digest the inner thoughts of the Federal Open Market Committee. For each release this year, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.08% has traded lower the day following the minutes on all but one occasion, according to Bespoke Investment Group (as the following table shows).
Source: Bespoke Investment Group Fed minutes have resulted in a climb for stocks the day of the release but the day after markets tend to dip.
Of course, the sample size of Fed minute releases and the market’s reaction isn’t large, but it provides a flavor of the shift in sentiment following disclosures of the policy-setting committee’s deliberations this year.
What might be revealed is that there has been a growing sense that the Fed is getting closer to resuming its plan to normalize monetary policy since hiking once back in December.
Expectations of another increase in interest rates has borne out in recent moves in the dollar, which has gained about 3% so far in October, as gauged by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.12% and the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.27% which has climbed to its highest yield in months. Bond prices move inversely to yields and investors tend to dump existing government paper with expectations that higher rates will mean richer yields in new issuances.
On Wednesday, the Fed minutes from the Sept. 20-21 gathering indicated that officials wanted to raise rates “relatively soon” but would “wait for further evidence” of continued improvement in the economy before doing so.
Another point worth noting about Bespoke’s Fed minutes table is the changing severity of the day-after response. What began as a sharp drop lower this year has gradually moderated, with the most recent Fed minutes resulting in a positive move on the day following the minutes.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.13% ended marginally higher following Wednesday’s release of Fed minutes and were trading firmly lower on Thursday as worries about China ignited a rush of selling.
The Fed next meets Nov. 1-2 around the same time as the U.S. presidential election and then for the last time in 2016 Dec. 13-14, when markets are pricing in 70% chance for a rate increase.
Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.Gordon Douglas (December 15, 1907 – September 29, 1993) was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. He was a native of New York City.
Biography [ edit ]
Born Gordon Douglas Brickner, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in some films directed by Maurice Costello. He also worked at MGM as a book-keeper.[1]
Hal Roach and Our Gang [ edit ]
As a teenager he got a job at the Hal Roach Studios, working in the office and appearing in bit parts in various Hal Roach films. He made walk-on appearances in at least three Our Gang shorts: Teacher’s Pet (1930), Big Ears (1931) and Birthday Blues (1932).
By 1934 Douglas was assistant to director Gus Meins and served as assistant director on Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy’s 1934 film Babes in Toyland and on the Our Gang comedies made between 1934 and mid-1936.
Beginning with Bored of Education in 1936, Our Gang moved from two-reel (20-minute) comedies to one-reel (10-minute) comedies, and Douglas became the senior director of the series. Bored of Education won the 1936 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film,[2] and was the only Our Gang entry ever honored with the award. Douglas remained with the series as director for two years.
His Our Gang shorts, featuring Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Porky, Buckwheat, Waldo, Butch and Woim, are the most familiar in the series’ 22-year canon.
Douglas worked on the Our Gang feature General Spanky (1936). His shorts included Spooky Hooky (1936) and Pay as You Exit (1936).
Roach sold the Our Gang unit to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May 1938. Douglas directed two MGM Our Gangs on loan from Roach, The Little Ranger (1938) and "Aladdin's Lantern" (1938) before deciding that he could not get used to the more industrialized atmosphere at the larger studio.
Returning to his home studio, Douglas directed the feature Zenobia (1939) with Oliver Hardy teamed with Harry Langdon instead of Stan Laurel. It was a box office disappointment so Laurel and Hardy were reunited for Douglas' next film, Saps at Sea (1940) (Laurel and Hardy's last film produced by the Hal Roach Studio)[2] and All-American Co-Ed with former Our Gang member Johnny Downs..
Douglas then made Niagara Falls (1941), one of Hal Roach's Streamliners, a series of short features less than 50 minutes.
For Roach he co-wrote and directed the feature Broadway Limited (1941) and provided the story for Topper Returns (1941). His last film for Roach was the featurette The Devil with Hitler (1942). He might have stayed with Roach indefinitely, but Roach turned his studio over to the U.S. Army for the production of wartime training films.
RKO Films [ edit ]
Douglas moved over to RKO Pictures. He made a series of low budget comedies including The Great Gildersleeve (1942), based on the radio show; and its sequel Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943), Gildersleeve's Bad Day (1943) and Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944). He also helmed The Falcon in Hollywood (1944), Girl Rush (1944), A Night of Adventure (1944), First Yank into Tokyo (1945).
He made Zombies on Broadway (1945) with the comedy team of Brown and Carney, then San Quentin (1946), Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946) and If You Knew Susie (1948).
Columbia Films [ edit ]
In 1948 Douglas migrated from RKO to producer Edward Small who had a releasing deal with Columbia Pictures. For Small he made Walk a Crooked Mile (1948) and The Black Arrow (1948).
Columbia used Douglas on Mr. Soft Touch (1949), Between Midnight and Dawn (1950), Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950), and The Nevadan (1950). They loaned him to British Lion to make State Secret (1950) in England.
Cagney Productions and Warner Bros [ edit ]
James Cagney was making a film for Warner Bros, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) with his brother William, and they hired Douglas to direct. Douglas signed long-term deals with Cagney Productions and Warners.
For Paramount he made The Great Missouri Raid (1951). He was meant to make a second film for Paramount but they released him so Cagney could use him again on Only the Valiant (1951) a Western with Gregory Peck.[3]
Douglas went on to established himself as one of Warners' leading directors of the 1950s, working in all genres: I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951); Come Fill the Cup (1951), produced by Cagney starring James Cagney; The Iron Mistress (1952) a biopic of Jim Bowie starring Alan Ladd; Mara Maru (1952), an adventure story with Errol Flynn; So This Is Love (1953), a musical biopic of Grace Moore; The Charge at Feather River (1954), a 3D Western; She's Back on Broadway (1953), a musical; Them! (1954), a science fiction film about giant ants; Young at Heart (1955), with Doris Day and Frank Sinatra; Sincerely Yours (1955) with Liberace; The McConnell Story (1955), a biopic of Joseph C. McConnell with Alan Ladd; Santiago (1956) with Ladd; Bombers B-52 (1957) and The Big Land (1957), a Western with Ladd.
His three low-budget westerns starring Clint Walker – Fort Dobbs (1958), Yellowstone Kelly (1959) and Gold of the Seven Saints (1961, from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett originally commissioned by Howard Hawks)--have been compared to Budd Boetticher's contemporary minimalist westerns with Randolph Scott.[4]
He did The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958) at 20th Century Fox and Up Periscope (1959) for Warners.
He had a hit with Claudelle Inglish (1961) and The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961).
Freelance director [ edit ]
Douglas directed Elvis Presley in the comedy Follow That Dream (1962) made for Mirisch Productions and did Bob Hope's Call Me Bwana (1963) for Eon Productions.
He did a Western at Fox Rio Conchos (1964) then made the heist comedy Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964) for Frank Sinatra's company, starring Sinatra.
Douglas made two films starring Carroll Baker, Harlow (1965) and Sylvia (1965).
20th Century Fox [ edit ]
For 20th Century Fox Douglas directed Jerry Lewis in the science fiction spoof Way...Way Out (1966), did the remake of Stagecoach (1966) and made In Like Flint (1967) with James Coburn.
Douglas made Tony Rome (1967) with Sinatra at Fox, and the Western Chuka (1967) for star-producer Rod Taylor at Paramount. There were two more with Sinatra at Fox, The Detective (1968) and a sequel to Tony Rome, Lady in Cement (1968).
Later career [ edit ]
After the Western Barquero (1970), Douglas did Skullduggery (1970) and directed Sidney Poitier's They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) for the Mirisches. He did some uncredited directing on Skin Game (1971).
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) was a blaxploitaton film and Nevada Smith (1975) a TV movie.
Douglas returned to Warner Bros. for his final film, 1977's Viva Knievel!, in which the stuntman Evel Knievel played himself in a fanciful biography.
Reportedly, Douglas was the only person to ever direct both Elvis and Sinatra on film.[5]
Attempting to explain his prodigious directorial output, Douglas told Bertrand Tavernier, "I have a large family to feed, and it's only occasionally that I find a story that interests me."[5]
Death [ edit ]
Gordon Douglas died of cancer on September 29, 1993 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 85. He and his wife, Julia Mack Douglas, had son Gary Douglas and daughter Cathie Graham.[2]
Filmography [ edit ]I first found this article on Tumblr, but tracked the source down to the Skeptics Society. A downloadable PDF version with pictures is also from Atheism Resource.
If you have been looking for a simple, easy to follow quick guide to evolution, this is it. Below is the text. Learn it. Share it. Enjoy it… it’s science. It’s true. There isn’t a “debate” anymore over this stuff, so stop letting creationists say otherwise.
Original Text:
1. If Humans Came From Apes, Why Aren’t Apes Evolving Into Humans?
Humans, apes, and monkeys are only distant evolutionary “cousins.” We come not from apes but from a common ancestor that was neither ape nor human that lived millions of years in the past. In fact, during the last seven million years many human-like species have evolved; some examples include Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo neanderthalensis. All of these went extinct at different times, leaving just us to share the planet with a handful of other primates.
2. There Are Too Many Gaps in the Fossil Record for Evolution to Be True
In fact, there are lots of intermediate fossils. Archaeopteryx, for example, is one of the earliest known fossil birds with a reptilian skeleton and feathers. There is now evidence that some dinosaurs had hair and feathers. Therapsids are the intermediates between reptiles and mammals, Tiktaalik is an extinct lobe-finned fish intermediate to amphibians, there are now at least six intermediate fossil stages in the evolution of whales, and in human evolution there are at least a dozen intermediate fossil stages since hominids branched off from the great apes six million years ago. Considering the exceptionally low probability that a dead plant or animal will fossilize it is remarkable we have as many fossils as we do. First the dead animal has to escape the jaws of scavengers. Then is has to be buried under the rare circumstances that will cause it to fossilize instead of decay. Then geological forces have to somehow bring the fossil back to the surface to be discovered millions of years later by the handful of paleontologists looking for them
3. If Evolution Happened Gradually Over Millions of Years Why Doesn’t the Fossil Record Show Gradual Change?
Sudden changes in the fossil record are not missing evidence of gradualism; they are extant evidence of punctuation. Species are stable over long periods of time and so they leave plenty of fossils in the strata while in their stable state. The change from one species to another, however, happens relatively quickly (on a geological time scale) in a process called punctuated equilibrium. One species can give rise to a new species when a small “founder” group breaks away and becomes isolated from the ancestral group. This new founder group, as long as it remains small and detached, may experience relatively rapid change (large populations are genetically stable). The speciational change happens so rapidly that few fossils are left to record it. But once changed into a new species, the individuals will retain their phenotype for a long time, leaving behind many well-preserved fossils. Millions of years later this process results in a fossil record that records mostly stability. The punctuation is there in between the equilibrium.
4. No One Has Ever Seen Evolution Happen
Evolution is a historical science confirmed by the fact that so many independent lines of evidence converge to this single conclusion. Independent sets of data from geology, paleontology, botany, zoology, biogeography, comparative anatomy and physiology, genetics, molecular biology, developmental biology, embryology, population genetics, genome sequencing, and many other sciences each point to the conclusion that life evolved. Creationists demand “just one fossil transitional form” that shows evolution. But evolution is not proved through a single fossil. It is proved through a convergence of fossils, along with a convergence of genetic comparisons between species, and a convergence of anatomical and physiological comparisons between species, and many other lines of inquiry. (In fact we can see evolution happen – especially among organisms with short reproductive cycles that are subject to extreme environmental pressures. Knowledge of the evolution of viruses and bacteria is vital to medical science.)
5. Science Claims That Evolution Happens by Random Chance
Natural selection is not “random” nor does it operate by “chance.” Natural selection preserves the gains and eradicates the mistakes. To illustrate this, imagine a monkey at a typewriter. In order for the monkey to type the first 13 letters of Hamlet’s soliloquy by chance, it would take 26 (to the 13th power) number of trials for success. This is 16 times as great as the total number of seconds that have elapsed in the lifetime of the solar system. But if each correct letter is preserved and each incorrect letter eradicated, the phrase “tobeornottobe” can be “selected for” in only 335 trials, or just seconds in a computer program. Richard Dawkins defines evolution as “random mutation plus nonrandom cumulative selection.” It is the cumulative selection that drives evolution. The eye evolved from a single, light sensitive spot in a cell into the complex eye of today not by chance, but through thousands of intermediate steps, each preserved because they made a better eye. any of these steps still exist in nature in simpler organisms.
6. Only an Intelligent Designer Could Have Made Something as Complex as an Eye
The anatomy of the human eye shows that it is anything but “intelligently designed.” It is built upside down and backwards, with photons of light having to travel through the cornea, lens, aqueous fluid, blood vessels, ganglion cells, amacrine cells, horizontal cells, and bipolar cells, before reaching the light sensitive rods and cones that convert the light signal into neural impulses, which are then sent to the visual cortex at the back of the brain for processing into meaningful patterns. For optimal vision, why would an intelligent designer have built an eye upside down and backwards? This “design” only makes sense if natural selection built eyes from available materials, and in the particular configuration of the ancestral organism’s pre-existing organic structures. The eye shows the pathways of evolutionary history, not intelligent design.
7. Evolution is Only A Theory
All branches of science are based on theories, which are grounded in testable hypothesis and explain a large and diverse body of facts about the world. A theory is considered robust if it consistently predicts new phenomena that are subsequently observed. Facts are the world’s data. Theories are explanatory ideas about those data. Constructs and other non-testable statements are not a part of science. The theory of evolution meets all the criteria of good science, as determined by Judge William Overton in the Arkansas creationism trial:
It is guided by natural law.
It has to be explanatory by reference to natural law.
It is testable against the empirical world.
Its conclusions are tentative.
It is testable and falsifiable.
If you can find fossil mammals in the same geological strata as trilobites then evolution would be falsified. No one has ever found such contradictory data.
8. Evidence for Human Evolution Has Turned Out to Be Fake, Frauds, or Fanciful
Eager to discredit evolution, creationists ignore hominid fossil discoveries and cherry pick examples of hoaxes and mistakes in the belief that mistakes in science are a sign of weakness. This is a gross misunderstanding of the nature of science, which constantly advances by using both its mistakes and the successes. Its ability to build cumulatively on the past is how science progresses. The self-correcting feature of the scientific method is one of its most powerful assets. Hoaxes like Piltdown Man, and honest mistakes like Nebraska Man, Calaveras Man, and Hespero-pithecus, are, in time, corrected. In fact, it wasn’t creationists who exposed these errors, it was scientists who did so. Creationists simply read about the scientific exposé of these errors, and then duplicitously claimed them as their own.
9. The Second Law of Thermodynamics Proves That Evolution is Impossible
The Second Law of Thermodynamics applies to closed, isolated systems. Since the Earth receives a constant input of energy from the sun – it is an open-dissipative system – entropy may decrease and order increase (though the sun itself is running down in the process). Thus, the Earth is not strictly a closed system and life may evolve without violating natural law. As long as the sun is burning, life may continue thriving and evolving, just like automobiles may be prevented from rusting, burgers can be heated in ovens, and all manner of things in apparent violation of Second Law entropy may continue. But as soon as the sun burns out, entropy will take its course and life on Earth will cease.
10. Evolution Can’t Account For Morality
As a social primate species we evolved a deep sense of right and wrong in order to accentuate and reward reciprocity and cooperation, and to attenuate and punish excessive selfishness and free riding. As well, evolution created the moral emotions that tell us that lying, adultery, and stealing are wrong because they destroy trust in human relationships that depend on truth-telling, fidelity, and respect for property. It would not be possible for a social primate species to survive without some moral sense. On the constitution of human nature is built the constitutions of human societies.CHATROOM
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INTL Arab school in Sweden torched in 'planned attack'
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Timebomb2000
INTL Arab school in Sweden torched in 'planned attack' + Reply to Thread Results 1 to 22 of 22 Thread: Arab school in Sweden torched in 'planned attack' #1 Join Date Jan 2012 Location OK Posts 29,914 Arab school in Sweden torched in 'planned attack' An Arab school in the Swedish city of Malmo, which has a large migrant population, has been set on fire by unknown perpetrators, police say, adding that the incident may be viewed as a deliberate attack.
The incident took place at the private Al Salamah School in the Jagersro neighborhood of Malmo at about 11pm local time.
Police officers were patrolling the area when they heard an explosion near the school. When the officers arrived at the scene, they saw the building on fire.
Two officers then noticed a suspicious car trying to leave the scene of the incident. One of the officers stepped out of the police vehicle and reportedly attempted to stop the car by firing shots in its direction.
The driver of the car then allegedly tried to run the officer down, before driving off. The officer escaped without injury.
Several patrols are now searching for the perpetrators who are still at large, said Mia Sandgren, Skane county police spokesperson.
She added that the suspects may be charged with the attempted murder of the officer and attempted arson of the school.
Paul Bjurehag, from the local emergency services, said firefighters made efforts to save part of the building, but it was not easy.
There is a big fire in the Arab school. The building is completely in flames, he had told local media.
The emergency crew then managed to contain the blaze, but a large portion of the building was completely ruined by fire.
No injuries have been reported, but it is not yet clear if school staff or students were present at the time of the incident.
There was a fire which started in the kitchen... At this moment, we need to stick together and support each other, the school said on its website.
Al Salamah School, established in 1996, hosts about 300 students.
Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden, has a relatively young population, with almost half under the age of 35, according to local authorities.
In July the city was rocked by multiple blasts, shootings and arson attacks, prompting police to express alarm over the increasing violence.
According to statistics provided by local authorities, as of 2015, 31 percent of the citys 300,000 population were born abroad and nearly 43 percent of the residents have a foreign background.
Immigrants mainly come from countries which have been recently plagued by conflict migrant groups from Iraq, Syria, the former Yugoslavia and Somalia are among them. The data also say that about 20 percent of Malmos population are Muslim one of the most significant percentages in Scandinavian cities.
https://www.rt.com/news/339103-swede...-school-arson/ Last edited by Millwright; 04-11-2016 at 01:54 PM.
Member: Nowski Brigade
Deplorable
Proud Infidel...............and Cracker: Nowski BrigadeDeplorable #2 Join Date Aug 2012 Posts 8,137 Maybe all the vikings are not dead, and are awakening.
Good Dosadi
III
My family & clan are my country. #3 Join Date Mar 2007 Posts 50,036 Excellent. I hope the perps remain "unknown". https://soundcloud.com/user-309670005
Audio Bhagavad Gita downloadable
This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed. Audio Bhagavad Gita downloadable #4 Join Date Nov 2003 Location location, location... Posts 6,158 Long live the Vikings. COOL STUFF:
http://www.abardsmedley.com/
And...
https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson And... #5 Join Date Jul 2001 Location "outside the box" Posts 29,689 It is likely just another 'Hate Hoax' perpetrated by a rapeugee in an attempt to garner sympathy. Unfortunately it seems that the Viking Spirit has been washed away in Sweden. I hope I am wrong
Several hoaxes in the past few hours...
Teen Migrant Suspected of Starting Blaze in German Refugee Centre
10 April 2016
Police arrested a 17-year-old migrant on suspicion of starting a fire that burned down a refugee centre in the town of Winsen, Lower Saxony, on Sunday, April 10. An employee reportedly contacted the police after he saw an Afghan teen lighting a fire in the dorm. Some 200 firefighters battled the blaze but failed to save any part of the former gym hall. Nobody was reported injured in the fire.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/teen...172624497.html
Germany: Syrian refugee sets fire to house with refugees in it, daubs swastikas on wall, leftists call protest "against rightwingers"
The arson attack in Bingen-Sponsheim has apparently been cleared up: on Saturday evening at 10 pm the police in Bingen arrested an urgently wanted suspect - a 26-year-old man from Syria, who himself lived in the Eidt guest house in Sponsheim concerned.
As reported, the fire broke out on Wednesday/Thursday night at 3 in the morning in the cellar of the guest house. The fire brigade were able to rescue all 25 people who were in the building at that time. Six people, including two firefighters, suffered from smoke inhalation. The 25 people included 13 refugees who were housed permanently in the guest house, ten from Syria, three from Afghanistan.
At first the 26-year-old disputed the crime, but then admitted it, said a joint press statement issued by the police and the Mainz prosecutor's office on Sunday afternoon. According to these details, his confession relates both to the fire-raising and the spraying of three swastikas. He acted alone. He wanted to lay a false trail with the swastikas, he said.
The 26-year-old said he was motivated by a wish to draw attention to the cramped living conditions in the accommodation as well as the lack of future prospects people like him had. He underestimated the risks the fire would create.
... Despite the new development, a "Vigil against hate and violence" began at 2 pm at the Bürgermeister-Neff-Platz in Bingen. He did not think it was appropriate to cancel the event at short notice, said Senior Mayor Thomas Feser (CDU) when asked by this newspaper. It should remain: especially now, when the mood in the country is so stirred up, it is important to send a signal in favour of democracy.
Source
This was from a previous article on the same subject, before the "Syrian" "refugee" perpetrator had been discovered.
In a joint declaration, the different parties in Bingen city council said the following: "This is a slap in the face to our free and tolerant society." Right-wing extremism has now shown its hateful shape in Bingen too. "In the parliament of Bingen city council, we must now explicitly confront the major problem of right-wing extremism and xenophobia." Bingen is an open and "bunte" [colourful] city. The council encourages all people involved in giving help to refugees to continue their good work.w Next Sunday at 2 pm the association "Nie wieder 33" [Never Again 33] will set up a vigil in Bingen.
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Much like "vibrant" in English, "Bunt" [colourful] is one of the propaganda keywords the German ruling class likes to use to pretend that the European Genocide is something to be celebrated.
http://diversitymachtfrei.blogspot.p...s-fire-to.html #6 Join Date Oct 2014 Location South Florida Posts 5,222 Too bad that the explosion was at 11pm and not 11am. A 1965 To The Present Dime Is Worth $.10 Today.
A 1964 To The Present Dollar Bill Is Worth $1.00 Today.
A 1964 Or Earlier Silver Dime Is Worth Over $1.25 Today.
A lie told often enough becomes the truth - Lenin #7 Join Date May 2002 Location Beaverland Posts 11,961 In the Muslim world nothing is as it seems. This fire could have been set by the Sons of Odin or some other anti-Muslim group in response to the ongoing wave of young Muslims raping women at will. However, it could also have been set by militant Islamic groups, assuming the school taught girls, or to further radicalize young Muslims by this "attack on Islam." Yep, Sweden really set in stage the destruction of Sweden when they allowed masses of Muslim refugees to pour into a unified country with one language, one culture, one history and one value system. Now they have raping, stealing MUSLIM FILTH all over the country because they wanted to "help refugees." They now are on the second or third generation of Muslims who despise their hosts, rape at will, and are true enemies of the Swedish, the original white resident citizen ones.
Eventuallyl, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are going to deport all Muslims. The current governments won't do that so they will be voted out. Merkel in Germany is road kill. The EU is going to collapse as individual nations seal their borders.
I expect the violence to increase on all sides. Once the ISIS trained sleeper cells start to attack, we will see mass violence against any Muslim living in Europe the citizen mobs can get their hands on. If the government gets in the way of that citizen violence, they will simply be eliminated from the equation.
My end of the world e book "Day of the Dogs" is available for sale at the following url
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007BRLFYU Doomer Doug, a.k.a. Doug McIntosh now has a blog at www.doomerdoug.wordpress.com My end of the world e book "Day of the Dogs" is available for sale at the following url #8 Join Date Mar 2007 Posts 50,036 Hmm, seems as if the sons of Vikings really did it, they would do a better job. 99% of the time when swastikas are spray painted, it was done by the "victims" themselves. https://soundcloud.com/user-309670005
Audio Bhagavad Gita downloadable
This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed. Audio Bhagavad Gita downloadable #9 Join Date May 2004 Location South of Valhalla Posts 21,989 99% of attacks on Muslims have been perpetrad by Muslims, themselves. Look at the most recent one as an example:
EXPOSED: Molenbeek ‘Far Right’ Hit And Run Was Muslim-On-Muslim Attack
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016...muslim-attack/ Deo adjuvante non timendum - With God Helping, Nothing is to be Feared
"You are like a pit-bull..." - Dennis Olson
"No man knows but that the last backward glance over his shoulder may be his last look, forever." - Ernie Pyle Born: 1900 KIA: 1945 Shima, Okinawa #10 Join Date Mar 2007 Location West Virginia Posts 36,543 Why are they makeing this a bag thing? #11 Join Date Jan 2008 Posts 5,567 those pesky mice, gnawing on the wires again!! Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria. As true NOW as it was true THEN!! #12 Join Date Apr 2005 Location Lake City, MI Posts 1,362 Next the mosques! For Roman Catholic Latin Mass: [URL="http://www.sspx.org/"]http://www.sspx.org/[/URL]
Pray the Rosary Daily! [url]http://www.catholic.org/prayers/rosary.php[/url]
Furthermore, I consider that islam must be destroyed. #13 Join Date Jul 2004 Location North Central Louisiana Posts 8,378 Eventuallyl, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are going to deport all Muslims. The current governments won't do that so they will be voted out. Merkel in Germany is road kill. The EU is going to collapse as individual nations seal their borders.
I expect the violence to increase on all sides. Once the ISIS trained sleeper cells start to attack, we will see mass violence against any Muslim living in Europe the citizen mobs can get their hands on. If the government gets in the way of that citizen violence, they will simply be eliminated from the equation.
sounds like a plan.
Judy #14 Join Date Sep 2001 Location SW Va. in da mountains Posts 1,658 Millions and millions of $$ will pour in from Saudi Arabia to rebuild bigger and better... #15 Join Date Jun 2014 Location Central Plains of North America Posts 8,352 A note for future operations wherever they may be:
Disable all possible surveillance around the facility. Otherwise do not do it.
As the noose tightens around the native populations the number of cameras around these facilities will skyrocket. Going to need some high tech combined with low tech. #16 Join Date Feb 2012 Location Vermont Posts 6,064 Two officers then noticed a suspicious car trying to leave the scene of the incident. One of the officers stepped out of the police vehicle and reportedly attempted to stop the car by firing shots in its direction.
The driver of the car then allegedly tried to run the officer down, before driving off. The officer escaped without injury. Two officers then noticed a suspicious car trying to leave the scene of the incident. One of the officers stepped out of the police vehicle and reportedly attempted to stop the car by firing shots in its direction.The driver of the car then allegedly tried to run the officer down, before driving off. The officer escaped without injury. She added that the suspects may be charged with the attempted murder of the officer She added that the suspects may be charged with the attempted murder of the officer The word RACIST, and the ability to debate race-related issues rationally, are the kryptonite of white common sense.
After the first one, the rest are free. #17 Join Date Mar 2007 Location West Virginia Posts 36,543 Originally Posted by fishdawg Originally Posted by Millions and millions of $$ will pour in from Saudi Arabia to rebuild bigger and better...
And they wonder why their are going broke. #18 Join Date Jan 2012 Location OK Posts 29,914 Syrian refugee admits to setting shelter on fire, spray-painting swastikas to frame far-right
A Syrian refugee has admitted to setting fire to a German shelter where he was staying, spray-painting swastikas on the walls to make it look like a political crime. The asylum seeker said the arson attack was in response to poor conditions at the shelter.
"During police questioning, the man admitted that he had set [a] fire in the cellar of the multi-use building," police spokesman Achim Hansen told NBC News, adding that the refugee had also stated that he “had a lack of hope for the future."
The 26-year-old refugee sprayed three swastikas on the exterior in the building, located in the town of Bingen, in an effort to make it seem like the fire was started by far-right protesters.
A total of |
… EDITWow, I didn't expect this to become as popular as it has! Thank you everybody!Martin O'Malley huddled with House Democrats on Tuesday to pitch his long-shot bid for the White House.
The former Maryland governor faced an audience consisting largely of Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE supporters.
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Still, even those who've already endorsed the former secretary of State praised O'Malley's leadership chops and progressive agenda.
Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, characterized O'Malley as “an old friend.” And Rep. Xavier Becerra Xavier BecerraOvernight Health Care: Drug execs set for grilling | Washington state to sue over Trump rule targeting Planned Parenthood | Wyoming moves closer to Medicaid work requirements Washington state to sue Trump administration over rule targeting Planned Parenthood NY, California and Washington threaten to sue over Trump rule to restrict abortion referrals MORE (Calif.), who heads the Caucus, said the Maryland liberal received a hero's welcome.
“Not only was he well received, he received a standing ovation,” Becerra said. “So he's considered a great friend, a great Democrat and one of the best governors that we've seen in quite some time.”
Both Becerra and Crowley have endorsed Clinton.
Rep. Eric Swalwell Eric Michael SwalwellKamala Harris hits Trump on Fourth of July tweet: 'It’s America’s birthday, not his birthday' Dems mock Trump's pitch for Fourth of July celebration Pelosi's daughter slams NRA over 'target practice' article MORE (Calif.), the only congressional Democrat to back O'Malley, highlighted his track record as Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor. He emphasized O'Malley's push for tougher gun laws, an issue that's gained prominence since last Friday's deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado.
“He helped marshal through some of the most sweeping gun violence measures any state has taken, from universal background checks, to licensing and fingerprinting, to also limits on ammunition purchases,” Swalwell said. “He is also calling to reduce gun violence by 50 percent over the next 10 years, setting a clear deadline and a goal for our country to aspire to, but also meet, so that these types of tragedies do not continue to haunt and hurt people in our country.”
O'Malley's visit came as his campaign has struggled to dent the commanding lead enjoyed by Clinton, the overwhelming front-runner, and her top rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who's attracted much of the liberal support O'Malley is aiming for. Those dynamics are reflected in the congressional endorsement numbers. Clinton has the backing of 169 Democrats — including 132 House members — while Sanders has been endorsed by the lower chamber's two leading liberals.
Swalwell promoted the 52-year-old O'Malley as a fresh face who can appeal to younger voters in ways his older Democratic opponents cannot. O'Malley's message to House Democrats Tuesday, Swalwell said, emphasized that generational divide.
“They're hungry for a new leader who is proven, who has a progressive record of actually accomplishing stuff,” Swalwell said of voters. “So he put forward his accomplishments, his aspirations as president, and will leave it to members of the caucus and the people of the country to draw distinctions.”Dr. Richard Lapchick, the founder and director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, and the son of the basketball legend Joe Lapchick, agreed. “The fact that there’s no other man who has done this before speaks directly to how hard it must be for Rick to do this now,” he said.
Mr. Stern did not find the discussion with Mr. Welts awkward or even surprising; he had long known that his friend was gay, but never felt that he had license to broach the subject. Whatever I can do to help, the affably gruff commissioner said. He sensed the decades of anguish that had led the very private Mr. Welts to go public.
After what needed to be said had been said, the two men headed for the door. And for the first time in their 30-year friendship, they hugged.
The very next day, the gifted Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant, one of the faces of the N.B.A., responded to a technical foul by calling the referee a “faggot.”
A Feeling of Isolation
Rick Welts always knew.
Growing up in Seattle, he was the industrious kid who landed a coveted job with the SuperSonics basketball team, first as a ball boy, then as an assistant trainer. By the time he went to the University of Washington, he had enough good-will clout to have Lenny Wilkens, then the coach of the Sonics, visit his fraternity for a chat.
But for all the fraternal respect this earned him, Mr. Welts felt isolated. What little he knew of gay culture was stereotypical, and unappealing, he recalled. “In my mind, it was effeminate: a way that I would not define as masculine.”
His growing responsibilities with the Sonics allowed him to miss class dances and other awkward obligations, but even alone, he felt out of place. Late one night, he walked two miles to slip a long confessional letter under the door of a young minister at his family’s church, but the well-intentioned minister could not help him. So he resigned himself to adapt, in private.
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After college, Mr. Welts returned to the Sonics as assistant director of public relations, a position that came with a desk but not an office. His diligent omnipresence, from early morning to late evening, impressed the team’s coach at the time, the intimidating Bill Russell.
“Hey!” Mr. Russell would call. “White boy down the hall!”
And Mr. Welts would hustle up to do whatever was asked. The mutual respect that developed between the demanding basketball legend and the earnest employee gradually grew into a friendship close enough for Mr. Russell to judge him “a good teammate.”
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Immersed in a business where manhood is often defined by on-court toughness and off-court conquest, Mr. Welts rose to become the public relations director for the Sonics, at a time when the team won its only championship, in 1979. He still ticks off the names of the starting five as though they were family: Dennis Johnson. John Johnson. Gus Williams. Jack Sikma. Lonnie Shelton.
An N.B.A. Career
Mr. Welts was eventually recruited by Mr. Stern, then a rising star in the N.B.A.’s front office, to become the league’s director of national promotions. That is, to ask businesses to invest marketing dollars in what was then, perhaps, the least popular professional sport.
Mr. Welts accepted. By this point, he had established a relationship with an architect he had met by chance in a Seattle restaurant in 1977. Soon Rick and Arnie became just another Manhattan couple, enjoying the live-and-let-live anonymity of the big city.
At the same time, Mr. Welts helped to raise the N.B.A.’s profile and profits. In 1984, for example, he created the N.B.A. All-Star Weekend, with a slam-dunk contest and an old-timers’ game, just as Mr. Stern became the league’s commissioner. And in 1997, he and Ms. Ackerman won accolades for their roles in establishing the W.N.B.A.
“In many ways, he had a complete understanding of the soul of the N.B.A.,” a grateful Mr. Stern said. The N.B.A., though, did not have a complete understanding of Rick Welts.
Although he had opened up to his supportive parents and to his younger, only sibling, Nancy, Mr. Welts feared that if he made his homosexuality public, it would impede his rising sports career.
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“It wasn’t talked about,” he said. “It wasn’t a comfortable subject. And it wasn’t my imagination. I was there.”
But this privacy came at great cost. In March 1994, his longtime partner, Arnie, died from complications related to AIDS, and Mr. Welts compartmentalized his grief, taking only a day or two off from work. His secretary explained to others that a good friend of his had died. Although she and Arnie had talked many times over the years, she and her boss had never discussed who, exactly, Arnie was.
Around 7:30 on the morning after Arnie’s death, Mr. Welts’s home telephone rang. “It was Stern,” he recalled. “And I totally lost it on the phone. You know. Uncle Dave. Comforting.”
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Even then, homosexuality was never discussed — directly.
For weeks, Mr. Welts walked around the office, numb, unable to mourn his partner fully, or to share the anxiety of the weeklong wait for the results of an H.I.V. test, which came back negative.
Sometime later, he began opening the envelopes of checks written in Arnie’s memory to the University of Washington, and here was one for $10,000, from David and Dianne Stern, of Scarsdale, N.Y. In thanking Mr. Stern, Mr. Welts said they “did the guy thing,” communicating only through asides and silent stipulations.
“This was a loss that Rick had to suffer entirely on his own,” Mr. Stern said, reiterating that he was following Mr. Welts’s lead. “It’s just an indication of how screwed up all this is.”
When Mr. Welts left the N.B.A. in 1999, he was the league’s admired No. 3 man: executive vice president, chief marketing officer and president of N.B.A. Properties. By 2002, he was the president of the Suns who still kept his sexuality private — a decision that at times seemed wise, as when, in 2007, the former N.B.A. player John Amaechi announced that he was gay, prompting the former N.B.A. star Tim Hardaway to say that, as a rule, he hated gay people.
But again Mr. Welts paid a price. Two years ago, a 14-year relationship ended badly, in part because his partner finally rejected the shadow life that Mr. Welts required.
“My high profile in this community, and my need to have him be invisible,” Mr. Welts said, with clear regret. “That ultimately became something we couldn’t overcome.”
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He began to think: here he was, in his mid-50s, and maybe he had sacrificed too much; and maybe he should open up about his sexuality, in a way that might help others. He kept a journal, sought advice from his sister and close friends, listed the pros and cons. He also had long talks with his widowed mother, Phyllis, in the months before she died of lung cancer, at 85, last fall. She encouraged him to do what he thought was best.
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‘Of Course. Anything.’
On an overcast spring morning in Seattle, Bill Russell, wearing a green Boston Celtics cap adorned with a shamrock and No. 6 — his old jersey number — welcomed that white boy down the hall into his home, with Mr. Welts feeling as though he were about to slip another envelope under the door. They sat down near an autographed photograph of President Obama that thanked Mr. Russell “for the inspiration.”
Mr. Welts said what he wanted to say, and asked whether Mr. Russell, whose aversion to speaking with the news media is legendary, would agree to talk to a reporter for The Times. “Of course,” Mr. Russell recalled saying. “Anything.”
As Mr. Welts shook the massive right hand offered to him, he felt a rush of nervous relief. “I was really now on this journey,” he said.
Three weeks later, he met Ms. Ackerman for a tearful Sunday brunch at a trendy restaurant in TriBeCa, during which she reassured him that the step he was taking was worth it. Then, the next morning, he met with Mr. Stern, a longtime mentor who, he thought, would likely be drawn into whatever discussion might follow his revelation.
“He was supportive but didn’t ask questions,” Mr. Welts recalled, adding, “And the litigator in him was already directing a response.”
Mr. Stern held back — a little. “What I didn’t say at the time was: I think there’s a good chance the world will find this unremarkable,” he recalled. “I don’t know if I was confusing my thoughts with my hopes.”
The next day, by coincidence, the N.B.A. began filming a public-service announcement against hurtful language. In the script, a young ballplayer calls another player’s basketball moves gay, after which two Phoenix Suns stars appear.
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Grant Hill : “Using gay to mean dumb or stupid — not cool.”
Jared Dudley: “Not in my house — not anywhere.”
That night, Kobe Bryant called the referee the slur, forcing Mr. Stern once again to confront a culture in which the worst thing you can say about a man is to suggest that you think he is less than a man.
Mr. Stern quickly issued a $100,000 fine against Mr. Bryant, who has apologized. When asked weeks later about the persistent perception of the N.B.A. and other men’s team sports as homophobic, Mr. Stern removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes and said, “I think we’re going to get there.”
Meeting on the Mountain
Mr. Welts’s final stop before his public announcement was to a high-end restaurant perched on the side of Camelback Mountain, just outside Phoenix, for lunch with Steve Nash. A few weeks earlier, a mutual friend had given Mr. Nash the heads-up about what Mr. Welts wanted to discuss. Mr. Nash was surprised; he thought that everyone already knew that Mr. Welts was gay.
These two Suns employees are not friends, exactly, but they hold each other in high professional regard. “I just think it’s a shame, for all the obvious reasons, that this is a leap that he has to take,” Mr. Nash said.
With a spectacular view of Paradise Valley before them, the two basketball men talked about a topic rarely discussed in their work world. Mr. Welts asked for Mr. Nash’s support, and the ballplayer, honored by the request, said yes. Of course.
“Anyone who’s not ready for this needs to catch up,” Mr. Nash said later. “He’s doing anyone who’s not ready for this a favor.”Baghdad- Informed sources have confirmed that in the past two days about 10 Sunni mosques were bombed northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province. The sources added that some of these mosques were constructed hundreds of years ago and were classified as historical places of worship.
Independent political figure in Diyala, Turath Mahmoud al-Azzawi, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Sunni mosques’ bombing operations were perpetrated in Muqdadiya city at Diyala province, especially the first seven, that took place after announcing curfew restrictions after a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up in one of the markets where of supporters Popular Mobilization Forces gathered, leaving tens of them injured and dead.
Al-Azzawi pointed out that the bombings, according to witnesses, were perpetrated in an organized way and some of them were committed at security inspecting points. Armed men dismount from military vehicles, enter the mosque then bomb it using explosives, he explained.
On the other hand, armed groups are threatening Kurdish families that have been living in Baghdad for tens of decades.
Head of Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee, Hakem al-Zameli, said that tens of Kurdish families living in Sadr city have been threatened and driven out of Baghdad.
Khasru Abdullah Koran, a member of the Iraqi Parliament from Kurdistan Democratic Party, in a statement for Asharq Al-Awsat, described these threats as “purely racist”, adding that they are driven by specific political parties, in order to sabotage the relationship between Kurds and Shiites.Boca Raton Museum Of Art best art in boca review of boca raton museum of art boca raton don quixote picture of boca raton museum of art boca raton sculpture area picture of boca raton museum of art boca raton the childrens museum of boca raton 2019 all you need...
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Pier One Wall Art beautiful pier one living room joyhome lovely pier one metal wall art reykjavikruns us pier one wall decor 2019 metal wall art panels fresh 1 kirkland wall wall art unique pier e metal wall art pier e metal wall art lovely family collage art to...The front windows of 66 Malta Ave. are still cracked with bullet holes.
The shots smashed through the glass into the front foyer, a few metres from the apartment building's main door.
It was around 11:30 in the morning.
"A lot of people are pretty shaken up by it," one of the building's residents, who did not want to be named, said in an interview.
He noted the building's supervisor was sitting at a desk not far from where the bullets hit.
"It scared the crap out of her," the man said.
According to Peel Police, witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots the morning of the shooting, Aug. 24.
Brampton resident Mirko Gavz sits outside of his Brampton apartment building, not far from where bullets hit the front entrance during a shooting in August. (Trevor Dunn/CBC)
Police K-9 and tactical units were sent to the scene, which happens to be across the street from Peel police headquarters. Officers recovered several bullet casings.
Another resident, Mirko Gavz, wasn't home at the time of the shooting. He suspects the shooter or shooters were targeting someone.
"Must be drug dealers or something," Gavz, 68, said outside the building. "It was intentional."
Was it retaliation?
Investigators with Peel Regional Police are trying to determine if the incident is connected to another daylight shooting that took place two days earlier at a nearby home.
At approximately 6:45 p.m. officers were called to Chamney Court, near Kennedy Road, less than three kilometres away from Malta Ave.
Several shots were fired on Chamney Court in Brampton on August 22. A woman suffered minor injuries. (Trevor Dunn/CBC)
Witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots. A 39-year-old woman suffered minor injuries and several vehicles were struck.
Like the Malta Avenue investigation, no one has been charged and police are still searching for suspects.
A Chamney Court resident who asked not to be named told CBC Toronto the violence is concerning.
"I have grandchildren and I worry about them," she said.
Special team investigating
Officers at Peel Police 22 Division are now investigating whether a third shooting in the same area this past Saturday may also be connected to the first two.
Around 3:25 a.m. on Sept. 23, officers were called to the intersection of Queen Street East and Hansen Road.
It appears the shooting may have involved at least one vehicle, as police found a badly damaged black sedan that was left abandoned at the scene.
More bullet holes in the front entrance of 66 Malta Avenue in Brampton, the scene of a shooting on August 24. (Trevor Dunn/CBC)
An investigative team from 22 Division has now been named to probe the shootings and what could be behind them, a police spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
The investigation is looking to determine if the shootings are connected, if they have any "gang affiliation" or if they are "retaliatory in nature."
"Public safety is our first priority," the statement said.
Concern 'well founded'
The councillor representing the area is also concerned about public safety.
Ward 3 Coun. Jeff Bowman says he's heard from residents about the shootings and has been in contact with Peel Regional Police.
"Residents' concerns are well founded over the last several months, and as a resident I too am very concerned," Bowman said in an interview.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the recent shootings to contact them.
Anonymous tips can also be provided to Crime Stoppers.If you think that sounds like a new Tom Cruise action film, think again, this is deadly serious. The domain Canary Mission Dot Org was registered in February this year through a well-known proxy in Arizona to hide the identity of the owner; there is nothing sinister about this, nor is there anything particularly sinister about the website in this age of conspiriology and on-line hatemongering, but it is likely to backfire on those who set it up. So who did set it up? Well, the smears are typical of the Israel Lobby, the one we were once told did not exist, and only an anti-Semite would have suggested otherwise.
Thanks primarily to the Internet though, the cat has long been well and truly out of the bag, indeed as far back as 1993, the not-so-hidden hand of one of the Lobby’s most vociferous smearmongers was exposed when Roy Bullock and former police officer Tom Gerard were arrested for stealing government documents and leaking information to the Anti-Defamation League. Or should that be the Defamation League?
The ADL was founded in 1913, ostensibly to combat anti-Semitism, but it has long been engaged in far less honourable activity such as smearing legitimate critics of the Zionist régime, including anti-Zionist Jews, and indeed a significant percentage of the world population! There is no direct evidence that Canary Mission is the brainchild of anyone within or connected to the ADL, but its founder/s are clearly cut from the same cloth.
The Canary Mission’s ostensible mission statement is “to expose individuals and groups that are anti-Freedom, anti-American and anti-Semitic in order to protect the public and our democratic values.”
The truth is very different, those who defend Israel unconditionally are not the slightest bit concerned with either freedom or democratic values, and as the massive support afforded the bandit state by what PLO leader Yasser Arafat once alluded to as “those other Occupied Territories” (ie the US Congress) is largely responsible for the hatred so many Arabs, Moslems and others feel towards the US, they clearly don’t give a stuff about America either.
The Canary Mission’s database includes smears on dozens of pro-Palestinian activists on the American campus, including many anti-Zionist Jews. One of the organisations listed as anti-Semitic is the Mondoweiss website, which was set up by two New York Jews who believe the Palestinians should be treated like human beings instead of dogs.
One of the Jewish individuals so smeared is Liza Behrendt of Jewish Voice for Peace. One of the academics so smeared in Francis Boyle, a professor of law who is alluded to as a prodigious conspiracy theorist.
Professor Boyle is long in the tooth, but this website was set up to black ball primarily young people, to attempt to persuade corporations not to employ them, and clearly to frighten them out of supporting the Palestinian cause. There is all the usual rhetoric about the demonisation of Israel and its being an Apartheid state. The reality is that Israel’s leaders are responsible for that demonisation, and the comparison with Apartheid is unfair to the previous South African régime, which although a police state never bombed black townships murdering thousands of people including hundreds of children as the Israelis have done twice in the past seven years to Gaza.
The grain of truth in the smears used against the young people including students targeted here is that they use angry rhetoric, which is due more to their youthful enthusiasm than irrational hatred. It remains to be seen if any of them will have their employment prospects seriously damaged as happened in the UK when the Economic League operated a secret blacklist against people working largely in the construction industry. Political Zionism is now fighting a rearguard action due largely to its excesses having alienated all but the faithful. (Indeed it is likely that those behind Canary Mission realise this; the website domain expires next year; one would have expected them to have registered it for five years). There are now over well over 2 million Moslems in the United States, including many whites. In the future, no American graduate is likely to be out of work for long, at least not on account of the lies, innuendo, smears and hatemongering of a website which supports a nation that murders children while sticking up two fingers to the rest of the world.
[Archived webpages have been used in the above article to ensure the links will be valid long after Canary Mission has been consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs].
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of TheLatestNews. comWe wrapped up OTAs and minicamp in Philadelphia earlier this month, and I’m really excited about where we are as we head toward training camp and ultimately the 2016 season.
Those several weeks we spent together were great. It was an opportunity for us to grow as a team, and it’s all football. There were new guys trying to make the team and earn a job. This is kind of the first stage of accomplishing their goals, and guys were competing at an extremely high level.
For those of us who are back from last year, a lot of it was still new for us this time around. It was the first opportunity to understand what the standards are from Coach Pederson. Obviously, we hold ourselves to an extremely high standard, but every coach emphasizes different things, and guys are really responding well.
OTAs were the first opportunity for us to compete against each other and find out some things. I can tell already that our defense is going to be an extremely talented unit this year, and it’s been great going against them. Offensively, we’re really picking up the new system well, and guys are excited to be in a system like this.
Learning a new scheme is always tough at the beginning. In this system, there are so many different reads you can see, so you have to be spot on. It’s tough at first, almost like learning a new language, but guys are really starting to catch on and learn the different words that are associated with what we’re trying to do. It’s definitely a process, but guys are picking it up well. It’s a tight-end-friendly offense, so I’m also really excited for that.
There are so many ways as a football player that I can still grow, and I think Coach Pederson is the guy to help me reach my full potential.
IMPROVING MY GAME
I want to be a leader of this team. I want to be a guy that my teammates can lean on when they need something done, and I want to be a guy we can look to when we need to make a play. I’m working every day to be that guy. That’s not something that comes instantly. It’s built over time. It’s been building for three years, and I’m looking forward to taking the next step this year.
That means that every day after practice, I look for anything that wasn’t up to my standard. One play might stick out to me, and so the next day, I go in and say, “Hey, I’m not going to make that mistake again.” Each and every day I try to see something on film that I can improve on, and OTAs and minicamp gave me a great opportunity to try new things and see what works and what doesn’t work.
Coach Pederson is an unbelievable teacher both on and off the field. He sits up in the meeting room and details every single route exactly how he wants it, so there’s not a lot of ambiguity. You can line up a tight end or a receiver in a certain spot, and everyone has to know every spot in the playbook in order to be successful.
I’ve had the opportunity to move around a little bit, and it’s been fun for me to do that. It’s something that I did more in college at Stanford, that I wasn’t able to do the past couple of years. It’s not a knock on what I’ve been doing or the offense that I’ve played in before. It’s just something different, and something I like about this style of offense.
The one thing that hasn’t really changed is the blocking. Everybody has similar blocking schemes. Probably the main difference is that the quarterback and the running back aren’t going to be in a shotgun set 90 percent of the time. But at the same time, you’ve still got to make each and every block possible. It was that way last year and it will be that way this year.
SAM’S RETURN
Sam Bradford has come to the offseason workouts with a ton of excitement, juice and confidence, and has been running the first unit. From the standpoint of someone who will be catching his passes, I’m happy to have some continuity at the position.
The two of us together had a couple of great games in regards to our individual success at the end of last season, and that gives us something to build on. But at the same time, we didn’t achieve our goal as a team of winning games and that’s all that really matters.
We’re really focused right now on being the best team we can possibly be, and helping each and every person as an offense reach his potential, whether it’s the tight ends, the running backs, the offensive line, the receivers or the quarterback.
That’s what the spring and early summer is for: growing as individuals.
A FIRST GLIMPSE OF CARSON
Carson Wentz is a great kid, and he’s got a ton of potential.
He’s extremely hard working, so that bodes well for him in this league and for us as an organization. Carson’s got a big arm, and I think the game is slowing down for him every day. Every rookie has to adjust to the speed. I was the same way for sure. But he’s definitely adjusting well.
Each person, each rookie is different. With Carson, you can see and understand from the beginning that he gets it. He comes in with his head down, and all he wants to do is work hard and prove to his teammates that we can trust him. That’s something you respect as a veteran player.
I think he’s getting very comfortable and I know he loves Philadelphia already, so there’s a lot to like there.
AROUND THE FIELD
We’re all working every day to be the best team we can possibly be, and we feel like the sky is the limit for this squad in 2016.
Our group of receivers has been great. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do during training camp, during the pre-season games, and into the season. Our offensive line has been great to work with from a tight end’s perspective as well. This is a very deep and talented group and Couch Stoutland is the perfect coach to lead them.
The same goes for the defense under Coach Schwartz. It’s tough as an offense to go against this system, just the way he constantly attacks and puts pressure on the offense. It’s not just one guy making plays. The whole defensive scheme has stood out in the short time I’ve seen it under him and I know guys are really excited to play for him.
His defensive line is always tough, and we have an incredible front seven. Honestly, our entire defense is extremely talented, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can do when they’re going against someone else.
THE NEXT STEP
At the end of every year, you look back and analyze what you could have done better and how you can move on and be successful going forward. Right now, all 32 teams have that mindset. We’re improving each and every day in the offseason, and everyone is chomping at the bit for the start of training camp.
With minicamp done, we’ve got about a month now before we report back for camp. The time is going to fly by, but it’s an opportunity for us to focus on our individual weaknesses and improve those. Then when camp comes around, it’s kind of building the team camaraderie and really focusing on the team.
Some of us are going to get a head start on establishing some of that camaraderie and chemistry during our time off. We’ve put together a group of skill position players to go out to San Diego in July to train.
I went down there last year to work out with a strength coach I really like, Todd Durkin. I met up with a bunch of guys down there last year and we’re going to do the same this time. I know Sam will be there; Chase Daniel is always out there. Darren Sproles is always out there. It’s just a chance to get together, throw the ball around, and work on some things.
Personally, over these next several weeks before I report for training camp, there are a lot of things I can work on. First and foremost, I’m going to get with my blocking coach again. I’ve already talked to some of the linemen about doing it with me.
I’m also aiming to get in better football shape. When you’re training for a new season, you have to do it in stages. Spring is more of a strength time, to build your strength back from the season, and maximize your strength potential. Then in the summer you want to keep building strength, but also get in the best possible football shape you can be in.
The main goal is to be as healthy as you can be going into training camp. Last year, I wasn’t where I needed to be in that regard, so I’m really focusing on taking care of my body this offseason. I thought last year I did a good job, but obviously it wasn’t good enough. My body feels great, so I’m really excited about maintaining that and getting healthier. Conditioning-wise, there is never a level where you should feel conditioned enough, so the work never really stops.
So I’m definitely going to work on improving my blocking, my route-running, and getting in the best shape possible over this next month to finish the offseason on a high note.
After that, it’s back to Philly for training camp. I truly can’t wait.NEW DELHI: An association representing thousands of IRS officers today strongly opposed Goods and Services Tax Network ( GSTN ), a private company tasked to create Information Technology infrastructure for GST, and composition of Revenue Secretary-led GST council secretariat.The association of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) officers have sought Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's immediate intervention on these issues.BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has been opposing majority stake for private entities in GSTN and has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi objecting to this.The government of India holds 24.5 per cent stake in GSTN while state governments together hold another 24.5 per cent. The balance 51 per cent equity is with non-government financial institutions, like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and LIC Housing Finance."Management of GSTN be entrusted to Directorate General, Systems of Central Board of Excise and Customs, as GSTN is a newly created Special Purpose Vehicle, which does not have any experience in implementing any IT project or domain knowledge in Indirect Tax laws," the association said in a statement.It said since GSTN is funded by the central and state governments, there is no justification in entrusting its management to private individuals with heavy salary and allowance."DG systems has experience of implementing mega pan-India IT projects for over twenty years and has the necessary domain knowledge and expertise to manage GSTN," said the body.The cadre strength of IRS (Customs and Central Excise) is nearly 3,000.Opposing the composition of GST council secretariat, it demanded that the IRS officers be allowed to man it rather than those from Indian Administrative Service (IAS).The Union Cabinet today approved appointment of the Secretary (Revenue) as the ex-officio Secretary to the GST council and inclusion of the chairperson, CBEC, as a permanent invitee. Revenue Secretary has always been an IAS officer.The Cabinet has also approved creation of one post of Additional Secretary and four posts of Commissioner in the secretariat. The council will decide on the tax rate, exempted goods and the threshold.HOUMA — The body of a motorcyclist discovered Monday morning in Bayou Black was that of an offshore diver from Florida reported missing a day before, authorities said.
A passerby found Christopher Sims, 39, of Fort Myers, Fla., floating in the water at about 9:45 a.m., according to State Police. Sims was driving a 1992 Harley-Davidson west in the 4900 block of Bayou Black Drive in Gibson when he lost control in a left curve. The bike ran off the road to the right and overturned, ejecting him.
The motorcycle was found submerged in the water.
Sims was pronounced dead at the scene. The Terrebonne Parish Coroner's Office deemed his death an “accidental drowning,” said Bill Pitre, a coroner investigator.
“We didn't see any other types of trauma,” Pitre said.
Troopers suspect the crash happened about 1 p.m. Saturday, minutes after Sims left a friend's home to ride, said trooper Bryan Zeringue, a State Police Troop C spokesman. Sims |
, the Los Angeles film festival that takes place each November in downtown Hollywood. Now in its 44th year, AFI Fest has staked a curious and underestimated position for itself in the film festival world. Arriving late in the year, when most of its films have premiered elsewhere, and set in massive-capacity movie palaces in downtown Hollywood, amid fast-food joints and stores selling fake Oscars and LA-themed shotglasses, the fest doesn’t betray the snobbery of comparable festivals. And yet the films that screen at AFI — primarily the work of young, foreign, and independent directors — are just as cerebral and provocative as those you might see at Sundance. The difference is that at Sundance you shell out at least $450 for a pass and $20 for an individual ticket. At AFI Fest, all the movies are free and open to the public.
It’s a weird and wonderfully idealistic premise. The organizers of AFI Fest seem to believe that if you show the kinds of films that are fêted by the festival people to the moviegoing public, they will come, and even embrace their art-house aesthetics. If Friday night was any indication, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. The Lobster drew a nice crowd of shrewd filmgoers (many were wise enough to queue up an hour early) and young people (perhaps because this was the slower, but free, general-admission line.) Once the film started, however, it was harder to gauge whether they took to it. Even for a crowd this hip, The Lobster was an easy movie to admire and a very difficult one to love.
The movie begins with a random act of violence. When a woman driving through the rain notices a donkey on the side of the road, she disembarks with a rifle and shoots it dead. The scene is entirely unrelated to the ensuing plot — we never see the woman, or the donkey carcass she leaves behind, again. Yet her matter-of-fact manner effectively sets the surreal yet brusque tone of the rest of the film. Post-titles, we pick up with David (a paunchy, bespectacled Colin Farrell), who is checking into a seaside resort for single people. As David goes through an aggressive check-in process, which involves getting one hand locked behind his back in order to understand how much easier everything is “in twos,” we learn that at this hotel, people who have not yet found a “companion” have 45 days to identify a suitable partner. If they fail, they are turned into the animal of their choosing. In animal form, guests are also expected to find a companion. But only a companion who is of the same genus — no cross-breeding, according to the hotel’s manager, played by Olivia Colman. “That would be absurd,” Colman quips, without a trace of a smile.
For all the farcical absence of sentimentality in the hotel’s approach to dating, the film’s imagery is ironically, excessively romantic. Lanthimos arranges his players like lounging aristocrats in a François Boucher painting. He sets their awkward attempts to connect in the lush, organic environs of Ireland’s County Kerry. Were it not for the cutting dialogue and occasional violent outbursts, the setting is the very picture of a bucolic couple’s getaway, and a brilliant send up of the couple-hotel industrial complex.
As a new guest, for instance, David must submit to a cultish reprogramming. He changes into the same fitted blue shirt and slacks that other men at the resort wear, attends fearmongering seminars about the dangers of being single (the hotel staff acts out choking and rape scenarios) in the hotel’s Hilton-esque conference room, and identifies his “defining characteristic” before the other hotel guests — a distinguishing quality that might match him up with a similar person. According to hotel rules, if two hotel guests identify a shared characteristic, they can achieve couple status. Some of the defining characteristics that the guests around David identify will strike anyone familiar with dating-app experience as familiar. One guest identifies her “nice smile.” Others are monstrous perversions. One woman (played by Dogtooth actress Angeliki Papoulia) is known for having “no heart at all.”
At first, David bristles at the ruthless ways his friends Limping Man (Ben Whishaw) and Lisping Man (John C. Reilly) feign defining characteristics to get with eligible girls. Soon enough, though, he’s faking a sadistic streak to cozy up with the Heartless Woman. True to her name, the woman proves to be a nightmare to live with, which provides the cue for the film’s brilliant second act: David leaves his mate and joins up with a fringe group that hides out in the forest, the Loners. Led by a chilly Léa Seydoux, the Loners lead a militaristic lifestyle where the joys of singlehood — Masturbation! Dancing on your own with a CD player! — are tempered by the harsh and bloody punishments inflicted if one gets caught flirting, kissing, or worst of all, having intercourse. After brutally skewering couples culture, The Lobster turns its attentions to another false paradigm of modern romance: “single and loving it.”
Which is the less terrible option for a mateless individual? Lanthimos is careful to point out the horrors on both sides of the equation. At the hotel, David has to put on a front in order to feign coolness to the Heartless Woman. But life isn’t easy for him as a self-determining Loner, either. During his first few days in the woods, David meets a woman who just might be his match — a sweet, similarly short-sighted woman played by Rachel Weisz. The two devise a wordless language of body signals in order to telegraph attraction and the desire within a society that is hostile to any signs of affection. This is one of Lanthimos’s best touches: In a world where you’re either with someone or alone, anything in between is an awkward dance. In this movie, the two-step’s quite literal.
The impediment to their happily ever after in the movie is one that resonates with audiences in our era of digital dating. David and Short Sighted Woman’s world is rocked when they lose the one thing that they have in common. Their plight is an exaggeration of the way that apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Coffee Meets Bagel arrange and deny pairings based on clichéd, self-selected, and potentially false descriptions. In an ideal dating app world, both people in a perfect match will identify as “adrenaline junkies,” “after partiers,” and “bookworms,” to use Hinge parlance as an example — or some combination of these hackneyed characteristics. But when such people are matched based on these platitudes, what does that say about them? That they genuinely embody these clichés? Or just that they are pretending to, in order to be more statistically eligible for matches?
The Lobster points out that the central premise of the whole enterprise is false and misleading, and that to succeed in the system, participants have to be just as fake. The film challenges viewers to question the assumptions made by these technologies, and to direct equal scrutiny at the self-righteousness of defiant singles. It shows the misery and hilarity of buying into one ideal of how to live or another. It seems to be advocating for some kind of middle ground — though, true to form, Lanthimos doesn’t offer us the comfort of depicting what that might look like.
¤
Katie Kilkenny is a writer based in Santa Barbara, California, where she is an editor at Pacific Standard. Her stories have appeared in The Atlantic, Slate, Indiewire, and Hyperallergic. Follow her on Twitter: @katiekilkenny7.Ubisoft’s Assassins Creed Unity has had a buggy launch to say the least, what with all the texture popping, low frame rates and entity glitching problems. A Ubisoft Public Relations Manager has recently pinned the blame solely on AMD GPU and CPU configurations. The actual reason, however, lies inside the gritty details of bad optimization and porting.
An example of the plethora of glitches present in Assassins Creed Unity (PC) – Credit URL
Ubisoft PR blames AMD for ACU – Bad porting and optimization can explain the problem better
Here is a quote from the Ubisoft PR which can be found here:
We are aware that the graphics performance of Assassin’s Creed Unity on PC may be adversely affected by certain AMD CPU and GPU configurations. This should not affect the vast majority of PC players, but rest assured that AMD and Ubisoft are continuing to work together closely to resolve the issue, and will provide more information as soon as it is available.
It goes without saying that I had serious trouble believing that the entirety of the glitches present in Assassins Creed Unity are the cause of Catalyst Drivers (AMD). While modern drivers can be the cause of low frame rates in certain cases, they are not usually behind texture popping and entity glitches. One of the primary selling points of Assassins Creed Unity (from Ubisoft’s Marketing) was the fact that the game supported ‘thousands of NPCs on screen’. Well, they were right about that, but looks like they conveniently forgot to mention the performance hit that would ensue from using so many dynamic objects. We sent some emails and and found out what is really happening:
The game (in its current state) is issuing approximately 50,000 draw calls on the DirectX 11 API. Problem is, DX11 is only equipped to handle ~10,000 peak draw calls. What happens after that is a severe bottleneck with most draw calls culled or incorrectly rendered, resulting in texture/NPCs popping all over the place. On the other hand, consoles have to-the-metal access and almost non-existent API Overhead but significantly underpowered hardware which is not able to cope with the stress of the multitude of polygons. Simply put, its a very very bad port for the PC Platform and an unoptimized (some would even go as far as saying, unfinished) title on the consoles.
Games should be created with the target hardware in mind. And from what I have seen so far, high end rigs built with the likes of Titans (Nvidia) and R9 295Xs are glitching as well. So unless the Titan GPU was secretly made by AMD, I am not really sure what Ubisoft PR is on about. The game appears to be barely functional, something that would automatically merit low scores. The post-launch embargo on reviews seems to have foreshadowed the condition of the title. I really enjoyed Assassins Creed Black Flag, but to me, Ubisoft has been making bad calls after bad calls lately, and their PR is heading towards a colossal train wreck. Alienating PC users is one thing, but at this rate, pretty soon, even console users will be wary of their games. Still, Far Cry 4 has yet to be released, so maybe not all hope is lost yet (fingers crossed).Here's How Inflation Has Eroded American Workers' Overtime Eligibility
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
President Obama is once again poised to go it alone on labor policy, this time on overtime. The Labor Department is expected in the coming weeks to release a rule making millions more Americans eligible for overtime work — currently, all workers earning below $455 a week, or $23,660 a year, are guaranteed time-and-a-half pay for working more than 40 hours a week. The law may raise that as high as $52,000, Politico reports.
The rule would also change the regulations outlining which employees earning above that threshold are eligible — currently, employers can exempt some employees above that threshold if those workers could be considered "white collar."
This would add to a series of workplace policies that, failing congressional approval, the president has expanded in limited form through executive order — upping the minimum wage among federal contractors and attempting to shrink the gender wage gap among federal contractors. He also mandated paid leave for federal workers.
This particular rule change would be a long time in coming — Obama had in March 2014 directed the Labor Department to overhaul the overtime regulations.
The overtime threshold has only been changed once since 1975. At that time, it was set at $250 per week. Then in 2004, President George W. Bush updated it to $455. And that means inflation has slowly diminished the share of Americans who are guaranteed eligibility.
When you adjust for inflation, you can see how much the threshold has fallen — data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (going back to 1979) show that, as of the late 1970s, the threshold was right at or slightly above the median worker's pay level. Today, it's at around half.
The income line in the chart — that top one — represents the exact middle wage, with half the full-time working population above and below it at any given time. So while the threshold fell away from the median pay level, so did the number of workers legally guaranteed overtime pay.
Indeed, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, as of 2013, only 11 percent of full-time workers were guaranteed overtime. Bumping the threshold up to around $50,000, for example — roughly where it was in 1975, adjusted for inflation — would bring 47 percent of workers under the threshold, making around 6 million more workers eligible, by one estimate.
The debate over the overtime threshold sounds remarkably similar to the minimum-wage debate — in that debate, opponents in the business community say a higher wage would cost jobs. In the debate over overtime, the fear is that it could cost workers hours as employers decide they don't want to shell out time-and-a-half pay.
And as in the minimum-wage debate, advocates of higher overtime thresholds say lawmakers should simply index the level to inflation — not only would it save lawmakers from periodic fights over how much to change the law, but it would also help lower-paid hourly workers by making sure they're all paid fairly by keeping wage policies consistent with where prices go.
"The original notion was that the people who don't control their own hours, who need the protection of the law, get paid overtime," says Ross Eisenbrey, vice president at EPI. "Where the law set the threshold in 1975, that's really supposed to demarcate the people about whom there's no question — they are not the most powerful people."
Tying the level to inflation, he says, would ensure that the workers who need the overtime are consistently eligible for it.
The threshold has never been tied to inflation, and advocates like Eisenbrey and the liberal Center for American Progress have long pushed for such a change.
But opponents see reason to keep the level static. One reason, says one economist, is that an indexed overtime level doesn't give businesses enough leeway to deal with high inflation.
"I think it's a bad idea [to index the overtime threshold to inflation] because you want to preserve some flexibility," says Michael Strain, a resident scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. "We have been in a low-inflation environment for some time, and we're kind of used to that in how we look at things. But it's entirely conceivable that 10 years from now, we may be in a different environment."
And without that flexibility, employers might further restrict hours, or they might pressure employees to get even more work done in their 40 hours.
Another argument is that inflation isn't uniform everywhere. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce argued in a February letter to Secretary of Labor Tom Perez that the price index used to adjust wages is based on prices in urban areas — it could distort labor markets in rural areas.
But then, inflation will still happen, and the threshold would still periodically have to rise. So how do you ensure that Congress does it? Strain says one solution could be including a provision in the overtime law that forces Congress to revisit the policy every few years. That way, the policy isn't on "autopilot," he says, but it still changes regularly.
Even then, however, there's no guarantee Congress would actually regularly change the law. After all, it has an annual deadline to pass a budget. It hasn't passed all its spending bills on time in almost 20 years.Photo by Michael Kagdis
The Palm Beach Post made the bold decision to profile all 216 people who died of an opioid overdose in its coverage area last year, risking the wrath of victims’ families, some of whom were horrified to have their private pain publicized. The stark display of photos of each of the dead, accompanied by brief profiles, effectively served The Post’s goal–drawing attention to the magnitude of the crisis in a way statistics simply could not, while bringing addiction out of the shadows.
The “Generation Heroin” project, rolled out last month, was motivated by the reporters’ discovery that many people were overdosing inside controversial sober homes where they had gone to get better. When the reporters dug deeper, they realized the sheer scope of the problem was far worse than they had imagined: More people died in Palm Beach County from heroin, fentanyl, or illicit morphine overdoses in 2015 than in car accidents.
“We felt like we really wanted to make a major impact with this project,” says managing editor Nick Moschella. “We needed to go beyond what many outlets have done–and done well. We thought, how can we really wake up the state and the community to something that is killing a generation?”
The more standard story about the statistics behind the epidemic, with a few profiles of victims whose families agreed to participate to illustrate its toll, has been done before. The danger with those is its easy for readers to conclude that opioid addiction could never happen to a friend or loved one.
More and more local news outlets are waking up to the reality of the heroin epidemic in their backyards. Earlier this month, WXIA, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, did an impressive five-part investigation into addiction in the city’s wealthy suburbs, for example. The stories are shocking; the lack of response frustrating. But The Post’s creative treatment of the problem is worth a look.
The Post reporters and editors–Pat Beall, Joe Capozzi, John Pacenti, Christine Stapleton, Lawrence Mower, Mike Stucka, Melanie Mena, and Joel Engelhardt–spent months gathering records on each case. Then Beall, Capozzi, Mower, and Engelhardt divided up the names and made the difficult calls to family members.
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They started out dreading the reaction.
“I expected families to be very angry with me from the moment they picked up the phone,” Beall says. “We found this overwhelming support.”
In the end, family members of 98 of the victims supported the project, Engelhardt says. Another couple dozen were basically neutral. Ten asked The Post to pull their family members out of the project, with a few even threatening to sue. The Post was unable to reach family members of some 70 victims, but reconstructed their stories from police and autopsy reports.
The Post spent a good bit of time planning how to report the stories sensitively; reporters and Engelhardt, who is an editor, prepared a standard script before they started the calls.
Heroin: Killer of a generation, important special report from the Palm Beach Post https://t.co/TItDeqjETE pic.twitter.com/8V8SGhfXsZ — Lindsey Rogers Cook (@Lindzcook) November 21, 2016
“We felt we had to get certain things across very carefully and clearly,” Beall says. “If we were leaving a message, we didn’t know who was going to hear it. We were telling them ‘it’s our intent to show these people as individuals and not statistics.’ We felt very deeply that we could be hurting people.”
They were not, however, calling for permission. The newspaper insisted on printing every name, and every photo it could find, even if family members opposed it.
“The Palm Beach Post did not casually decide to publish the pictures and personal stories of every person in Palm Beach County who died after taking heroin, fentanyl or illicit morphine in 2015,” wrote Publisher Timothy D. Burke in a column explaining the decision. “Though most families of those who died and who spoke with The Post expressed gratitude for the decision, it will bring some others pain. But we believe that the staggering toll this epidemic is taking has been largely hidden from public view, and as a result has not been aggressively addressed.”
I spoke with Al Tompkins, a senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute. Tompkins has been teaching a series of seminars on how to cover the opioid addiction epidemic and he agrees with The Post’s execution of the project.
“That’s a really wonderful project,” he says. “A large public interest, in my judgment, overwhelms a family’s request for privacy. We know we’re going to cause harm sometimes. The question is the potential good. I don’t know of any large social problem that has ever become better by not looking at it.”
Poynter’s Kelly McBride, the Institute’s ethics guru, wrote recently about the ethics of publishing photos of heroin addicts after a pair of photos released by police in Indiana and Ohio went viral because they showed passed out parents next to terrified children. McBride came up with a checklist of questions to ask when deciding whether to report on pictures like those. If at least three were met, she deemed publication was ethical. One criteria was:
“Efforts to minimize harm. This would include cropping out or blurring faces of minors (there were no minor victims in Palm Beach County last year). It could also include not naming the adults or showing their faces. After all, the goal is to raise awareness, not shame people, right?”
But while the Post did name the victims, the paper also met several other criteria McBride laid out, including publishing an in-depth story looking at what other communities are doing to tackle opioid addiction, and what Palm Beach County and Florida could be doing.
In Huntington, (West Virginia) population 49,000, nearly every public official carries Narcan, the life-saving drug that reverses heroin overdoses. Police, firefighters, members of the mayor’s cabinet–even librarians carry it–and the health department gives it away to anyone willing to take a class. So when 27 people there overdosed in four hours in August, all but one were saved. In Palm Beach County, a few police departments and fire departments use Narcan. But (Palm Beach County) Sheriff (Ric) Bradshaw has refused to let his deputies carry it, even when offered the medicine for free. He cited liability issues.
The failure goes beyond local officials in Palm Beach County. The story noted that Gov. Rick Scott dismantled the state’s Office of Drug Control in 2011, replacing it with a powerless advisory council, which has helpfully suggested that something needs to be done. On the other end of the spectrum, Massachusetts declared a public health emergency after seeing a 15 percent spike in overdose deaths in 2014. The same year, Florida saw ODs rise 111 percent, with no corresponding response. On the national level, Congress passed the first major addiction legislation in 40 years last year. The bill to pay for it failed 48 to 47; Florida’s Sen. Marco Rubio skipped the vote.
“I remember saying ‘they’re doing so much and we’re doing so little by comparison,’” Beall says. “Joel said ‘They know them.’ That’s why we had to show their faces. So people here can know them like the people in West Virginia know them.”
In addition to looking for solutions for the community, The Post offered solutions for families and a story in which experts explain addiction. The newspaper also ran a story attacking the stereotype of a junkie by pointing to the normal and sometimes even successful lives of many of the victims.
But the heart of the project is the collection of profiles.
The stories are heartbreaking and sometimes chilling, like the one about the addict who admitted to The Post that when a friend overdosed, he decided to use the rest of the friend’s heroin first, then call 911. The friend died. The youngest victim was 19, the oldest 65. Eighty percent were men and 95 percent were white.
Some family members weren’t ready to talk about their loved ones, but sent the Post moving written responses.
The Post team realized early on that doing all those interviews caused its own form of trauma. “It’s really important for reporters to understand that trauma is contagious,” Beall says. “My job description included crying every day.”
Capozzi said decades in journalism hadn’t prepared him for the emotional toll of the months of interviews with grieving family members.
“In the course of my career, there’s always a case when somebody dies and you know, you call the next of kin,” he says. “We were doing that five times a day, coming in on Saturdays to do it because we realized that was a better time to reach people. And for these families, it was like ripping open a scab again. They had already begun to process the death. There were a lot of tears, by me and the families.”
Capozzi traveled to South Carolina to meet with one of the first families he reached, producing a moving prequel to the project, a 180-inch story–about a mother’s failed effort to save her son–that ran in September.
That families’ story reflected one factor common to so many of the stories–the victim was from out of state and came to Palm Beach County to get help. Palm Beach County has become a hub of rehab facilities and sober homes. “They’re coming down here trying to get help, but they are coming down here to die,” Capozzi says.
The Post journalists I talked to say they have been encouraged by the reaction to the project, especially from overwhelmed medical examiners and the police and firefighters who often feel helpless in the face of the epidemic. The Sheriff’s Office in Martin County, just north of Palm Beach, urged its Facebook followers to read the package, calling it “incredible” and “sad, shocking and eye opening.”
Shortly after the project came out, a Palm Beach County commissioner pledged to push for reforms to slow the epidemic. The daughter of her chief aide fatally overdosed the week before.
The Post is hoping for a more robust reaction in the weeks and months ahead. “It’s still early in the game,” Capozzi said.
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today
Susannah Nesmith is CJR’s correspondent for Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. She is a freelance writer based in Miami with more than 25 years working for regional and national outlets. Follow her on Twitter @susannahnesmith.The question is simple: In a software team using git and feature branching, what’s the best way to incorporate finished work back to your main line of development? It’s one of those recurring debates where both sides have strong opinions, and mindful conversation can sometimes be hard (for other examples of heated debate see: The Internet).
Should you adopt a rebase policy where the repository history is kept flat and clean? Or a merge policy, which gives you traceability at the expense of readability and clarity (going so far as forbidding fast-forward merges)?
A debate exists
The topic is a bit controversial; maybe not as much as classic holy wars between vim and Emacs, or between Linux and BSD, but the two camps are vocal.
My empirical pulse on all-things-git – scientific, I know! – is that the always merge approach has a slightly bigger mind share. But the always rebase field is also pretty vocal online. For examples see:
To be honest, the split in two camps – always rebase vs. always merge – can be confusing, because rebase as local cleanup is a different thing than rebase as team policy.
Aside: Rebase as cleanup is awesome in the coding lifecycle
Rebase as team policy is a different thing than rebase as cleanup. Rebase as cleanup is a healthy part of the coding lifecycle of the git practitioner. Let me detail some example scenarios that show when rebasing is reasonable and effective (and when it’s not):
You’re developing locally. You have not shared your work with anyone else. At this point, you should prefer rebasing over merging to keep history tidy. If you’ve got your personal fork of the repository and that is not shared with other developers, you’re safe to rebase even after you’ve pushed to your fork.
You have not shared your work with anyone else. At this point, you should prefer rebasing over merging to keep history tidy. If you’ve got your personal fork of the repository and that is not shared with other developers, you’re safe to rebase even after you’ve pushed to your fork. Your code is ready for review. You create a pull request, others are reviewing your work and are potentially fetching it into their fork for local review. At this point you should not rebase your work. You should create ‘rework’ commits and update your feature branch. This helps with traceability in the pull request, and prevents the accidental history breakage.
You create a pull request, others are reviewing your work and are potentially fetching it into their fork for local review. At this point you should not rebase your work. You should create ‘rework’ commits and update your feature branch. This helps with traceability in the pull request, and prevents the accidental history breakage. Review is done and ready to be integrated into the target branch. Congratulations! You’re about to delete your feature branch. Given that other developers won’t be fetch-merging in these changes from this point on, this is your chance to sanitize history. At this point you can rewrite history and fold the original commits and those pesky ‘pr rework’ and ‘merge’ commits into a small set of focussed commits. Creating an explicit merge for these commits is optional, but has value. It records when the feature graduated to master.
With this aside clear we can now talk about policies. I’ll try to keep a balanced view on the argument, and will mention how the problem is dealt with inside Atlassian.
Rebase team policy: definition, pros, and cons
It’s obviously hard to generalize since every team is different, but we have to start from somewhere. Consider this policy as a possible example: When a feature branch’s development is complete, rebase/squash all the work down to the minimum number of meaningful commits and avoid creating a merge commit – either making sure the changes fast-forward (or simply cherry-pick those commits into the target branch).
While the work is still in progress and a feature branch needs to be brought up to date with the upstream target branch, use rebase – as opposed to pull or merge – not to pollute the history with spurious merges.
Pros:
Code history remains flat and readable. Clean, clear commit messages are as much part of the documentation of your code base as code comments, comments on your issue tracker etc. For this reason, it’s important not to pollute history with 31 single-line commits that partially cancel each other out for a single feature or bug fix. Going back through history to figure out when a bug or feature was introduced, and why it was done, is going to be tough in a situation like this.
Manipulating a single commit is easy (e.g. reverting them).
Cons:
Squashing the feature down to a handful of commits can hide context, unless you keep around the historical branch with the entire development history.
Rebasing doesn’t play well with pull requests, because you can’t see what minor changes someone made if they rebased (incidentally, the consensus inside the Stash development team is to never rebase during a pull request).
Rebasing can be dangerous! Rewriting history of shared branches is prone to team work breakage. This can be mitigated by doing the rebase/squash on a copy of the feature branch, but rebase carries the implication that competence and carefulness must be employed.
It’s more work: Using rebase to keep your feature branch updated requires that you resolve similar conflicts again and again. Yes, you can reuse recorded resolutions (rerere) sometimes, but merges win here: Just solve the conflicts one time, and you’re set.
win here: Just solve the conflicts one time, and you’re set. Another side effect of rebasing with remote branches is that you need to force push at some point. The biggest problem we’ve seen at Atlassian is that people force push – which is fine – but haven’t set git push.default. This results in updates to all branches having the same name, both locally and remotely, and that is dreadful to deal with.
NOTE: When history is rewritten in a shared branch touched by multiple developers breakage happens.
Merge team policy: definitions, pros, and cons
Always Merge-based policies instead flow like this: When a feature branch is complete merge it to your target branch (master or develop or next).
Make sure the merge is explicit with –no-ff, which forces git to record a merge commit in all cases, even if the changes could be replayed automatically on top of the target branch.
Pros:
Traceability: This helps keeping information about the historical existence of a feature branch and groups together all commits part of the feature.
Cons:
History can become intensely polluted by lots of merge commits, and visual charts of your repository can have rainbow branch lines that don’t add too much information, if not outright obfuscate what’s happening. (Now to be fair, confusion is easily solved by knowing how to navigate your history; The trick here is to use, for example, git log –first-parent to make sense of what happened.)
Debugging using git bisect can become much harder due to the merge commits.
Decisions, decisions, decisions: What do you value most?
So what’s best? What do the experts recommend?
If you and your team are not familiar with, or don’t understand the intricacies of rebase, then you probably shouldn’t use it. In this context, always merge is the safest option.
If you and your team are familiar with both options, then the main decision revolves around this: Do you value more a clean, linear history? Or the traceability of your branches? In the first case go for a rebase policy, in the later go for a merge one.
Note that a rebase policy comes with small contraindications and takes more effort.
At Atlassian
The policy inside Atlassian’s Stash team is always to merge feature branches, and require that branches are merged through a pull request for quality and code review. But the team is not too strict around fast-forward.
Conclusions and acknowledgements
This article is the result of the confluence of insightful exchanges (pun intended!) with the Stash team on the topic.
This piece hopefully dispels the doubts on this, and allows you to adopt an approach that works for your team. Follow me @durdn for more git awesomeness.TWO “super bazooka” rocket launchers capable of destroying tanks on a battlefield were uncovered at the Noosa tip this morning.
Noosa Police were surprised to receive the two M20 3.5 inch Rocket Launchers from the Noosa Shire Council waste management contractors Cleanaway earlier today, the Sunshine Coast Daily reports. Noosa Police were surprised to receive the two M20 3.5 inch Rocket Launchers from the Noosa Shire Council waste management contractors Cleanaway earlier today, thereports.
Noosa Heads Police Officer-in-charge Ben Carroll said the discovery was made by rubbish sorters at the dump.
“The Council Waste management contractor did the run through Noosa-Eumundi Rd industrial area,” Senior Sergeant Carroll said.
“At some point they collected them from some bin along there.
“The waste management discovered them, thought it was unusual and grabbed them out.
“Then the guy from waste management contacted us and said ‘can we bring them in?’.
“We organised a time for them to come in because we didn’t want them to jump out of the car with two bazookas and walk up to the counter.”
While the rocket launchers were found with no missiles, Snr Sgt Carroll said it’s possible they could still fire.
“They’re both inert, there was no rockets found with them,” he said.
“Are they capable of firing? I don’t know. I doubt it, but we just don’t know.”
Snr Sgt Carroll said the weapons are described as “a portable anti-tank weapon” able to rupture 11 inches of armour with up to 900 yards accuracy, introduced in the 1950s.
He said he has come across similar rocket launchers in his policing career but it is an unusual find.
“It’s certainly something they (Noosa Police) haven’t seen in a long time.
“It certainly piqued the interest of the officers of the station.
“I’ve seen them before but they’re very rare. You come across them every now and then.”
Snr Sgt Carroll said the rocket launchers will likely be destroyed, along with firearms handed in to them during the national gun amnesty that ended on September 30.Fan-Favorite Artists, Dazzling Photo Covers and Metallic Foil Treatment Will Have Fans Lining Up Early for These Prized, Hot-Ticket Items
BURBANK, CA (July 14, 2017) – At Comic-Con International San Diego, DC Entertainment is teaming up once again with Graphitti Designs to bring fans an unbelievable collection of select comics featuring exclusive variant photo cover art of exciting Warner Bros. Pictures films, as well as highly sought after variant cover art from some of DC’s hottest artists. These variants won’t be available anywhere else except in San Diego during convention weekend.
Beginning on Preview Night (Wednesday July 19), the Graphitti Designs booth (#2314) is the place to be for SDCC fans to get their pick of these one of a kind items, all of which feature some of DC’s hottest storylines. Some issues will include special metallic foil cover accents and photographic covers, and also include bags and boards for protection. All books are priced at $15 each and available while supplies last.
This year’s title lineup includes:
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #10 – the opening chapter to the “Curse of the Kingbutcher” story arc includes a special silver foil photo cover featuring the cast of the highly anticipated Warner Bros. Pictures film, “Justice League.”
WONDER WOMAN #26 – The cover to part one of “Heart of the Amazon” spotlights Gal Gadot, star of the smash-hit Warner Bros Pictures film in a special photo cover with silver foil treatment.
DARK DAYS: THE FORGE #1/DARK DAYS: THE CASTING #1 – with DARK NIGHTS: METAL shaping up to be the biggest event of the year, Graphitti is offering both of these prequel titles with special metallic foil covers from two of DC’s Master Class artists. Andy Kubert provides the cover to DARK DAYS: THE FORGE #1, with John Romita Jr. creating the cover for DARK DAYS: THE CASTING #1.
HARLEY QUINN #24 – Amanda Conner provides cover art for this special convention variant, where Harley Quinn is faced with the unimaginable: a visit from her parents! The back cover of this variant issue also features an all-new logo |
kids.
GeekMom received a copy for review purposes.
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EmailMike Koozmin/S.F. Examiner File Photo
Mayor Ed Lee drafted an email policy last year allowing the Mayor's Office to delete any email deemed "routine" at his discretion.
As former Mayor Willie Brown famously says, the “e” in email stands for “evidence.” Now politicians sneaking sensitive records away from the public eye are drawing scrutiny.
Potential presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton drew fire last week for conducting work as secretary of state using her personal email account for years. She deleted 32,000 of those emails, which she claimed were personal.
And state legislators are coming down like hammers on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in New York for his policy of deleting government emails after 90 days.
So the nation, and New York, are getting tough on politicians who hide work emails — but is San Francisco?
Our very own Mayor Ed Lee drafted an email policy last year allowing the Mayor’s Office to delete any email deemed “routine,” at his discretion.
These messages are records that the public is entitled by state law to see. But Lee’s policy essentially says any email he doesn’t like can vanish.
Click. Gone.
A brief highlight of recent stories relying on political emails shows their importance: The San Francisco Examiner recently used emails to reveal how the police union bullied city supervisors, and that The City once planned to give Uber potentially unfair access to its wheelchair taxi services.
SF Weekly’s Joe Eskenazi used emails to dig out questionable spending on the new Central Subway tunnel.
The public has legal right to government emails to verify how their tax dollars are spent.
The most troubling section of mayor’s Records and Document Retention and Disposal Schedule says public records “which have no legal significance may be destroyed when no longer needed.”
“Specific examples include... routine emails,” among other documents. Many government sunshine-law advocates said this is a bad idea.
Last year, James Wheaton, senior counsel for the First Amendment Project, told me “We call these things ‘paper trails’... sources can be less than reliable, but an email speaks for itself.”
Now that Clinton is under investigation, I figured it’s a perfect opportunity to ask our good mayor if he’s “pulling a Hillary.”
“Well, I have my official emails on my official Blackberry that’s city issued, that I have open to all of the record-keeping requirements we have,” Lee told me at a news conference late last week. “Then I have my private [email] for private stuff. I accomplish that by having two phones.”
He doesn’t use his private email account to send work emails, he said. “No, no. That’s not what that’s for... I respond to a lot of emails and they’re all on public record.”
I asked him how he determines which emails are “routine,” and subject to deletion. “Well, that’s probably subject to some legal interpretation,” he said.
OK, now we’re getting somewhere.
“You’re the guy with your finger over the delete button, so what are they?” I asked.
“Routine? They could be stuff I get every single day,” the mayor said. “Reports I get on a constant basis, I have a number of departments that report to me. You know, they’ll say this month’s report on this is so and so. I read it, go over it and...”
That’s when the mayor’s spokeswoman, Christine Falvey, intervened.
“I think the mayor answered the question, I think we’re done,” she said, and led him away, saying he had a tight schedule to keep.
I wrote the Mayor’s Office late last year asking for any records of when people asked for Mayor’s Office emails and got them, during a three-week period in July.
The Mayor’s Office of Communications sent over 25 PDF files of emails requests and responses. The 1,098 pages were a lot to slog through, but using a search tool from the Investigative Reporters and Editors group called DocumentCloud, I scoured each document for relevant information, including emails from the mayor.
So how many of Lee’s own emails did the public get from these lawful records requests?
Zero.
Not a single one of Lee’s emails were released to the public in that period, despite a thousand pages worth of requests.
I then requested any communications to or from the Mayor’s Office and Ron Conway between May 1 to July 11 because Lee had high-profile public interactions with the famous tech investing billionaire during that period. Surely he coordinated his schedule with Conway via email at some point, right?
“This office does not have any documents,” Lee’s office responded.
The only mayor email we were given over the past year was a response Lee gave to transportation advocacy groups last week.
It looked more like a press release than a message, and was sent a few days after I asked the mayor pointed questions on his email policy. Read into that what you will.
So is Mayor Ed Lee pulling a Hillary?
If the mayor wants to reassure the public, I invite him to let me sit down at his office and look through his emails, personally.
Mr. Mayor, if you take me up on it I’ll even buy the coffee.
San Francisco Mayor's Office Record Retention Policy 3.7.14 by Joe Fitzgerald RodriguezShare Pinterest
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Dario Franchitti is one of the most successful IndyCar drivers in history, with three Indianapolis 500 wins, four IndyCar championships and 31 victories in a 17-year career that includes a six-year stint in Champ Car.
Autoweek caught up with the 43-year-old Scottish driver at the Autosport International event in Birmingham, England, where he talked about the emotions surrounding his forced retirement following a horrific crash in 2013 and his new career in the media.
Autoweek: First, let’s look back to 2013 and the crash—your career-ending crash in Houston. What were your thoughts when you were told that if you raced again, you would be risking everything?
Dario Franchitti: I didn’t have that big of a reaction, I think, because I was suffering from the effects of the head injury. I was actually just happy to be alive.
I was going through my rehab. The only time I got a little emotional was when I had to call (team owner) Chip (Ganassi) to tell him—that’s when it became quite real to me. I was a bit sad making that call, but he was amazing.
AW: You had won a championship two years before your accident. Was retirement on the horizon or was it still a million miles away during the 2013 season?
DF: I felt my retirement from IndyCar was getting closer. I could feel that to keep my motivation up I was going to need a finishing line in sight. I needed a time limit, and I felt that the end of 2014 would be it. That would have allowed me to go and do (the 24 Hours of) Le Mans.
I had kind of put a plan in motion to go and do Le Mans in ’15, and I was going to have those conversations with Chip—probably the end of that (2014) season is what I was thinking—because I always wanted to keep him informed because he was such a brilliant boss.
AW: With that in mind, you would have given yourself another year, possibly two in IndyCar. You’ve got three wins in the Indianapolis 500. One more would have matched the record. Does that eat at you a little bit that you didn’t have that chance?
DF: It doesn’t, no. I think once when I was back at Indy—I don’t know if it was ’15 or ’14—I thought that it would be nice to have a go after that fourth, but then every other time I think about it, I think, ‘Crikey, I’ve got three.’ I’d never have expected to get three wins here, so I’ll be happy with that, really.
Dario Franchitti's mangled Indy car is pulled off the fence in Houston. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC
AW: Would you consider racing in any other category? DF: I can’t. I’m just not allowed. I couldn’t even race in Formula Ford. I’m just not allowed to do it. I can demonstrate cars, so I get to go and do some fun stuff. I drove a Lotus 88 twin chassis at Goodwood last year, and that’s brilliant fun, but as far as the racing thing … I’d have liked to have done other things, but it’s just not an option. AW: Do you like the extra fan interaction that you can have at events these days? DF: On IndyCar weekends, I’m still pretty busy with my work for the Ganassi team, but I have a lot more space. Before, I literally just lived in a bubble, my focus was just on a bull’s-eye pinpoint, and that’s all I cared about. It’s much nicer now to be able to stay and chat with fans at the track. I can spend more time doing that, and it’s a lot more fun, that part of it. I get to relax a lot more at the tracks than I used to. I used to take it very seriously. AW: Since your retirement, you have done a lot of media work, specifically with Formula E. Is that a kind of thing that you ever envisioned yourself doing? DF: There were times in Indy when I had done the qualifying show with ABC and I thought to myself, ‘This commentary thing might be all right. I might be pretty good at it. I’ll give it a go.’ I was pretty lucky with the Formula E thing. I got teamed up with Jack Nicholls, and he’s young but very good and very experienced. We got along really well, and it’s worked very well for us, which led to the guys asking me if I’d fancy doing this at Goodwood. So I do a lot now with the Festival (of Speed), the Revival, the members meeting, classic-car shows. Lots of that stuff. It’s not something that I expected to do, not something I’m a natural at, so I’m still working at it. AW: Is a Franchitti racing team something that we might see in the future? DF: Not unless somebody else pays for it! No. I watch what my last two team owners—Michael Andretti and Chip Ganassi—go through, especially Chip. Michael, I talk to about it at Formula E races, some of the stresses that he faces. I see what Chip goes through, and it’s not an easy job. You’re not in control. You put all the pieces in place and you’ve got to let other people do their job. And a lot of times it doesn’t work out. You watch the stresses and you watch the frustrations that these guys go through—never mind the financial gambles that they have to take. Nah, it’s not for me!"Don't take any wooden nickels." — Famous adage
I have taken a few wooden nickels during my investment career, although when I bought them I thought they were solid gold. As it turns out the gold was merely a thin veneer which covered a piece of rotting wood. Most of my "wooden nickels" were a result of not paying attention to Philip Fisher's "Ten Don'ts For Investors."
The more I read about investing the more I appreciate the philosophy and writings of Philip Fisher. His influence upon modern investment thought is extremely pervasive; many of the concepts that he wrote about five decades ago have become nearly ubiquitous among value investors. Bits and pieces of his philosophy appear in almost every synopsis or profile of every value investor or fund manager who is worth his salt.
Today's article deals with the famous don'ts that Fisher explained in precise detail in his classic work, "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits." I will follow the don'ts with some personal analysis.
The Don'ts
1) Don't buy into promotional companies.
Have you ever bought into an early-stage company with little or no revenues? Perhaps it was a junior mining stock with great promise and large untapped reserves, or an Internet company that promised a new and unique business model. Or maybe it was a biotech company which was testing a new drug which would prolong the life of a cancer patient.
Frequently such companies become excellent "story stocks" and may move quite quickly based upon speculation. However, when one revisits their balance sheets years later, they generally display extreme accumulated deficits (negative earnings) and show high amounts of additional paid-in capital (they issued a lot of secondary shares).
In most cases these promotional companies never get "off the ground," although their management is frequently skilled at extracting money in IPOs or secondary offerings.
2) Don't ignore a good stock just because it trades "over the counter."
Back in the 1950s when Philip Fisher wrote "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits," "over-the-counter" referred to stocks that did not list or trade on the floor of a stock exchange. Fisher claimed that smaller and even medium-sized companies who did not qualify for the NYSE frequently chose to trade over-the-counter rather than listing on a regional exchange or the AMEX which was in its infancy. The smaller exchanges were frequently littered with disreputable stocks offering little or no value for the investor.
He felt that so long as a retail investor was treated fairly by his broker it made little difference whether a stock listed on an established exchange. At that time, over the counter market makers frequently handled significant shares and liquidity was rarely an issue in trading reputable stocks that did qualify for listing on the NYSE.
Today a similar example would be buying foreign stocks over the counter on the Pinksheets which did not list as ADRs on the NYSE. Such companies as pharmaceutical and chemical titan Bayer, which trades over-the-counter under the ticker symbol BAYRY.PK, would be a modern-day example. The quality of the company is the issue, not the method in which the stock is purchased.
3) Don't buy a stock just because you like the "tone" of its annual report.
Frequently annual reports are little more that glorified PR, complete with pretty pictures. I no longer receive annual reports through the mail and that suits me just fine. I prefer a company which cuts costs rather than attempts to influence my opinion of a stock by aesthetic means.
A perfect example of such an exhibition was the St. Joe (NYSE:JOE) annual report from the early 2000s. The Annual was one of the most brilliant pieces of art work I ever witnessed, but the information came with a coat of "high gloss" complete with beautiful pictures and management commentary that built upon that positive tone. Unfortunately for investors, the front part of the Annual contained almost no useful information. I must confess I was extremely impressed at the time; I should have paid more attention to Fisher.
4) Don't assume that the high price at which a stock may be selling in relation to earnings is necessarily an indication that further growth in those earnings has largely been already discounted in the price.
This principle applies to the Apple Computers (NASDAQ:AAPL) of the world, particularly when they are still in the early stages of their growth. Specifically, the best growth companies with the best long-term prospects appear to be expensive on the basis of their trailing PE ratio. In reality, their price is a function of their continued growth rather than their lofty trailing PE ratio.
Since 2003 Apple has appeared to have future growth priced into the stock; the stock price always appears to be expensive. The same is true for Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) since its IPO at around $100 a share. In both cases growth has been highly underestimated in relation to the companies' current earnings. In such cases the PEG ratio rather than the high trailing PE ratio becomes the more accurate valuation metric. Although Fisher never coined the term, it appears he laid the foundation for Peter Lynch in the formation of the PEG concept of valuing a stock.
5) Don't quibble over eights and quarters.
Before the decimal system, stock prices were reflected in fractions; a quarter referred to 0.25 in today's system. It seems like Warren Buffett is the only one who can quibble about a quarter and get his way.
I once put in a limit buy order for Scientific Games Corp. (SGMS) — 10 cents under the ask price when the stock was trading in the mid-$5s early in 2003. I never filled a single share; my limit order expired a few months later at nearly double its price. I almost called the bottom but in the immortal words of the late Maxwell Smart, "I missed it by that much." That was an extremely expensive dime in light of the fact the Scientific Games never quit rising until it hit the high $30s.
6) Don't overstress diversification
Now we are getting to the meat and potatoes of investing theory. Peter Lynch tabbed it as "diworsification." Warren Buffett recommended the practice only for those who do not understand what they are doing, and James Montier demonstrated statistically that holding only eight stocks would eliminate 83% of the risk to one's portfolio.
Once again it appears that the aforementioned investors brilliance in regard to limiting diversification was expounded upon by Fisher in the 1950s. Fisher found it appalling that professional investors would accord so high a percentage of their portfolios to companies that they did not understand well. The fear of "putting too many eggs in one basket" led to the overreaction of trying to watch too many eggs in too many different baskets. The result was underperformance.
Montier expounded upon the dangers or over diversification in Chapter 4 of his book, "Value Investing Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Investment." It seems that the fears of Fisher were born out in a study by Randy Cohen et al. That et al guy sure does conduct a lot of research; my apologies for the old joke.
Cohen's study demonstrated that the top ideas of US fund managers from 1991 to 2005 showed an average return of 19% vs. 12% for the market. However, the overall performance of the managed funds seldom outperformed the market index on a long-term per annum basis. In other words, precisely what Fisher feared turned out to be the case: The managers were generally successful in their best ideas but their overall performance was severely impaired by their tendency to invest in too many companies in the name of safety.
7) Don't be afraid to buy on a war scare.
Fisher noted that involvement in a war tended to drop equity prices but offered an excellent time to invest since inflation tended to rise in the countries which became involved. He also pointed out that it was paramount that the US won these world wars or the result might have been quite different. Typically, during inflationary times equity prices tend to increase at least in a nominal sense. The worst place to be is in cash which steadily loses it buying power.
The exception noted was WWI when the US entered late after accumulating a huge fortune by selling materials to Europe throughout the course of the war, resulting in an inflationary economic boom in the US. Of course the situation was temporary, and it helped set the stage for the first great deflationary bear market of the 20th century, which began in 1919 and ended in the late summer of 1921.
The main lesson that Fisher is teaching is that one must be heavily invested in stocks when inflation is imminent, although exactly the correct time to deploy one's capital is a difficult question.
8) Don't forget your Gilbert and Sullivan, i.e., don't be influenced by what doesn't matter.
This section could be translated as nothing is more worthless than a trailing PE; its all about the future and one's ability to foresee the future of company, based upon Fisher's famous 15 principles.
Fisher tells the story of his brilliant investment in Texas Instruments (TXI) when it was a very ordinary sort but was sitting upon the breakthrough which led to the age of semiconductors. Texas Instruments' earnings increased from 50 cents in 1955 to $3.50 per share in 1959, after four years of lackluster growth from 1952 to 1955.
I believe the section is insightful in viewing the cyclical nature of most technology stocks. Fisher pointed out that most tech stocks encounter a series of years of lackluster performance between large growth spurts. He further points out when a great technology company achieves extreme success one can expect its earnings multiple to increase as well as its earning per share.
I will credit Fisher as one of the first to discover the time to buy cyclical companies is when they appear overpriced at a point when they are approaching the bottom of their cyclical trough. That is a lesson that every investor should heed.
9) Don't fail to consider time as well as price in buying a true growth stock.
In other words if you know that the an innovative product such as an iPod is about a year away and you believe the product will be a game-changer, do not be afraid to purchase shares enough if you believe the stock appears overpriced based upon it current status.
Of course this implies that an investor holds extreme insight about the company, something that relatively few investors possess. Fisher was indeed an exception when it came to such insight, very similar to Buffett.
10) Don't follow the crowd.
Fisher, like all great investors, was a contrarian at heart. He particularly liked to purchase stocks during times of macroeconomic gloom or when a particular sector came into disfavor by the investment community. Many times depressed sectors resulted in unduly discounted companies which he believed had particularly good prospects looking forward.
He used the postwar period following WWII as an example of a buying opportunity for Dow Chemical (DOW). Although Dow was headed for record profits following the war, Wall St. was discounting its long-term prospects since prior post-war periods suggested that such earnings surges were temporary in duration, and both the Civil War and WWI were soon followed by deflationary periods.
Fisher on the other hand was quite familiar with the new products which Dow was set to introduce and did not buy into the argument that wars must be followed by a decisive bear market. Of course Fisher was proven correct about the prospects for Dow Chemical, although a deflationary bear market did develop from 1946 to 1949.
One of my favorite Buffett quotes describes the Fisher approach perfectly:
When investing, we view ourselves as business analysts — not as market analysts, not as macroeconomic analysts, and not even as security analysts.
Conclusion
Philip Fisher's ten don'ts for investors provides investors with timeless advice on how to avoid common pitfalls that lead to underperformance. Many veteran investors still fall prey to several of Fisher's key don'ts. Over-diversification and the tendency to follow the crowd are still nearly endemic in the Wall St. community. If an otherwise seasoned investor is able to rid themselves of those two investing flaws, the long-term capital appreciation of their portfolios is almost certain to improve decisively.
About the author:This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The 9/11 trials for the six Guantanamo prisoners charged by the Pentagon last week with conspiracy to commit war crimes might have been rigged from the start to rule out the possibility of any acquittals, this according to the latest statements to The Nation magazine from Colonel Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor for Guantanamo’s military commissions.
Colonel Davis recounted a 2005 meeting with the Bush administration-appointed Pentagon General Counsel William Haynes, who now oversees the prosecutions and the defense for the tribunal process. Haynes said, “We can’t have acquittals. If we’ve been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? We can’t have acquittals, we’ve got to have convictions.”
Colonel Davis resigned from the military commissions in October 2007, saying the system had become “politicized” and he could no longer be effective. His latest statements to The Nation magazine offer the most pointed evidence of the military commission’s bias and undermine the Bush administration’s claims of ensuring fair trials for the accused.
The article is up on The Nation magazine’s website at thenation.com and is called “Gitmo Trials Rigged.” Documentary filmmaker and journalist Ross Tuttle broke the story, joining us now from Los Angeles, California for this Democracy Now! exclusive. We’re also joined here in our firehouse studio by international law expert and Harper’s magazine legal affairs contributor Scott Horton.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Ross Tuttle, let’s begin with you. Start from the beginning. What exactly did you learn?
ROSS TUTTLE: Well, I was researching a story, actually, on just a detainee who had been in Guantanamo, or has been in Guantanamo for quite some time. I decided to call the former prosecutor. He had been quite vocal about his opinions since resigning. Before, he had been a staunch advocate of the commissions, spoke at length, actually, in another op-ed, before he resigned, in June lauding the commissions. Then he resigned in October. And I thought I’d give him a call just to see what he’d say about the recent events with the charges in February that were announced and to get his opinion about whether there could be some fair trials. And that’s when he told me about this conversation that he had.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain exactly who he is and the conversation that he had.
ROSS TUTTLE: Well, Colonel Morris Davis is a former prosecutor for the military commissions overseeing all the prosecutions, essentially. And he told me, basically — when I asked him, I said, “Will these men get a fair trial?” He said, “Well, when I had a conversation with William Haynes,” who was — or who is the general counsel for the Department of Defense, who’s essentially the chief legal officer at the Department of Defense — he said, “When we discussed the Nuremberg trials” — and that’s when Morris said, “Well, Nuremberg trials, you know, there were some acquittals at the Nuremberg trials, and if indeed there are some acquittals in our situation here, at least that will lend some legitimacy to the process.” And that’s when he said Haynes looked at him, eyes got wide, and said, “We can’t have acquittals.” He said, “How can we explain holding these people for so long?” and “We have to have convictions.”
AMY GOODMAN: Explain exactly the position that Haynes occupies to make this opinion so significant.
ROSS TUTTLE: Well, at the time — I mean, at the time, Haynes was an adviser to the Secretary of Defense. Haynes’s formal role in regard to the commissions — I’m not exactly sure what it was. But what Davis told me is that he resigned the moment that, or a few hours after, Haynes was inserted above him in the chain of command for the commissions. Basically, Haynes will — at the time, when the defense and the prosecution both report to deputies within the Department of Defense, who then both report to William Haynes, as it stands now.
So once Haynes was inserted above him, Davis had a couple of concerns. Haynes has also been linked to some memos that have been dubbed “the torture memos,” or one in particular that was released in November 2002. It was a report that he wrote for Donald Rumsfeld, and it was advocating the use of aggressive interrogation techniques. And so, I think Davis said he was also concerned about that, about the fact that this individual who he didn’t see eye-to-eye with, as far as coerced testimony and evidence that was obtained through coercion — that was one problem for Davis. And the other was this bias.
AMY GOODMAN: Scott Horton, talk about what Colonel Davis said and about Haynes’s significance.
SCOTT HORTON: Well, let me first say something about Colonel Davis. He is a very highly respected figure within the JAG court. I think a number of people saw him as someone who was likely to emerge perhaps ultimately as the Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, certainly one of the handful of candidates likely to move forward. And he’s hardly some civil libertarian. In fact, his attitudes are extremely conservative. He’s a prosecutor. The friction he had previously with the Pentagon was essentially over the fact that he was chomping at the bit, ready to go forward with these prosecutions.
Now, I think this — the news that Ross has broken here is absolutely devastating to the Guantanamo military commissions process, because they have been trotted out by General Hartmann, if you looked at his interviews the last few days, as an effort to replicate Nuremberg and the Nuremberg proceedings. And remember, Justice Robert Jackson, who was responsible for organizing them, said very clearly, repeatedly, it’s important not only that justice be done here, but that these proceedings appear to be just. In fact, the appearance of justice was more important even than the underlying result in the proceedings.
AMY GOODMAN: In fact, there were some people in Nuremberg who were acquitted.
SCOTT HORTON: Three in the opening proceeding alone. There were quite a few people who were acquitted. And I think there was a broad perception around the world that those proceedings were fair, that the defendants had a full opportunity to defend themselves. And the US accomplished its principal objective in those proceedings, which was demonstrating to the world, but particularly to the audience at home and Germany and then later with the Pacific tribunals in Japan, the evil that had been done by these people who were put on trial. So it was effective because it was just and fair.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, this statement, exactly what Davis said Haynes said — Davis said, “at which point, [Haynes’s] eyes got wide and he said, 'Wait a minute, we can't have acquittals. If we’ve been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? We can’t have acquittals, we’ve got to have convictions.'”
SCOTT HORTON: A devastating statement. It destroys the reputation for fairness of these proceedings. You have to remember that Jim Haynes is not just anybody. As the general counsel of the Department of Defense, he’s the person who stands near the apex of this process.
AMY GOODMAN: He’s not the prosecutor.
SCOTT HORTON: He’s not the prosecutor. The prosecutors report to him. The defense counsel report to him. The judges report to him. The convening authority reports to him. He stands over this entire process. And he already has an established track record of intervening in these cases for political purposes, for political manipulation. The Wall Street Journal broke that story the third week of September when they showed how he had intervened to mastermind the plea bargain in the Hicks case, in which the prosecutors were excluded. Haynes was involved doing this, and he was involved doing it basically to make good on pledges that Vice President Cheney had made to the Australian prime minister, to help out his friend in Australia in connection with an election. So that already set the tone here.
AMY GOODMAN: David Hicks was an Australian prisoner at Guantanamo —-
SCOTT HORTON: Exactly right.
AMY GOODMAN: —- who was ultimately sent back to Australia.
SCOTT HORTON: And is now free. He was sent back. He was given the minimum possible sentence that would allow his repatriation, his return to Australia.
AMY GOODMAN: Ross Tuttle, response to this explosive piece, “Gitmo Trials Rigged,” to what Davis — what Colonel Davis is saying Haynes told him?
ROSS TUTTLE: Well, I was — I mean, I guess — I don’t know if I was that surprised. I mean, I was surprised that somebody would say it or say it for attribution or say it to somebody who then say it for attribution, but, you know, in talking to a lot of people, I don’t know that that many people were surprised. You know, that sort of registers with “Uh-huh,” sort of “Yeah, I thought so.”
But I feel like this is the first time, and why it struck me and why I thought it was important to get out there, which was later confirmed by a lot of the people that I spoke to when reporting, that this really seems to be the first time that somebody at such a high level has made such a statement that appears to be, you know, what a lot of people have believed all along, that this process cannot result in fair, open — you know, fair, open trials. And so, that’s a concern.
And it, you know, hopefully — and I think what Davis is trying to do, being out front on this issue, is trying to get people to recognize that and get people to reevaluate the system and fix it, because I think everybody — everybody involved — the detainees, the people in the JAG Corps — I think, you know, most people involved, most people who pay attention to this issue, they want to see justice done, but this process seems deeply flawed.
AMY GOODMAN: Scott Horton, does conviction automatically mean death?
SCOTT HORTON: No, it doesn’t automatically mean death. There’s still a discretionary process here. The United States — the prosecutors have announced that they will seek the death penalty for at least some of these detainees if they secure a conviction. But in our military justice system, we haven’t had an execution since 1961. Our system — our military justice system very much — very strongly disfavors the death penalty.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the role of the JAGs. Talk about the role of the military lawyers and where they’ve stood over the years. Now, of course, Davis has resigned.
SCOTT HORTON: Well, I think one thing we should stress up front is that even the most severe critics of this process, for the most part, stand in awe of the JAG Corps and the way they’ve handled things. I mean, we’ve got a bunch of dedicated professionals who want to play their jobs, want to play their roles competently and professionally. And, in fact, professionalism has been the top note of the JAG Corps since the beginning of this process.
And the concerns that are being articulated are about political meddling with the work of the JAG Corps, intervention by political appointees — and Haynes, I think, has been the most aggressive of them — that stop the JAG officers from doing their proper roles and stop them from functioning independently. And we’ve seen them stand up and exercise independent judgment repeatedly. In fact, the first conflict that they had with Haynes was over the torture memoranda. And that memorandum that was described resulted in an order issued December 2nd, 2002 by Donald Rumsfeld that authorized torture techniques.
AMY GOODMAN: Have we ever seen this kind of standing up mass, standing up before in — among military lawyers?
SCOTT HORTON: Absolutely unprecedented. In fact, I’d say, most recently, when the Bush administration put forward the Military Commissions Act, which the JAG lawyers didn’t even get to see until forty-eight hours before it was put forward on Congress, the Judge Advocates General of the four service branches went to Capitol Hill and testified against the legislation put forward by Gonzales and Jim Haynes. That’s never happened before in history.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to read a quote of Colonel Morris Davis. He wrote a February 17th op-ed piece in the New York Times called “Unforgivable Behavior, Inadmissible Evidence.” He said, “Why a few others in positions of power still find it so difficult to admit the obvious about waterboarding is astounding. We can never retake the moral high ground when we claim the right to do unto others that which we would vehemently condemn if done to us. Once we condemn and stop all waterboarding, what do we do in cases where it was conducted? An obvious step is to prohibit the use of evidence derived by waterboarding in criminal proceedings against detainees.”
SCOTT HORTON: Well, he’s stating essentially the prosecutor’s dilemma. You know, he was charged with prosecuting these cases. He knew that waterboarding and other highly coercive techniques have been used on the people he was prosecuting. He was presented with their confessions to use as evidence. And he knew ethically and legally he couldn’t do that.
I think there’s another very important thing that’s latent in that statement and was also charged very recently by Lieutenant Commander Charlie Swift. He pointed to the fact that these proceedings are going forward within a week of the time that we see official after official of this administration, including President Bush and the head of the Office of Legal Counsel and Attorney General Mukasey, coming forward before Congress and other international fora to justify waterboarding. Why are they doing that? They’re doing that because they know that this hangs in the background of these proceedings in Guantanamo, and they want to press forward for the use of this coerced evidence, which is really going to taint the proceedings and make a mockery of them and embarrass the United States in the eyes of the world.
AMY GOODMAN: Ross Tuttle, you're also working on a piece on Benyam Mohammed, another prisoner at Guantanamo.
ROSS TUTTLE: Correct. That’s how I started on the story. It was a documentary I had been working on for an ACLU documentary series that covered rendition, extraordinary rendition, torture and habeas corpus.
Benyam Mohammed had, according to his own account, been a victim — well, had fallen in all three of those categories. He has now been in Guantanamo for about four years. Prior to that, according to a lengthy diary that he transcribed to or that he told to his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, he had spent eighteen months in a Moroccan prison as a victim of extraordinary rendition, being grievously tortured. The account that he provided to Smith then got out. It was declassified. And it’s really horrifying when you read it. And there are a lot of details that corroborate the claims that he makes. A lot of people have researched it, looked into it, and there are some — there is a lot of corroborating evidence. But, I mean, if even a fraction of what he says is true, it’s really — I mean, it’s a really horrific thing that he’s endured.
And so, I just felt like that his story needed to be told. I mean, I felt like a lot of people who are still in Guantanamo, who are languishing, who are awaiting trial, I mean, they just — you know, according to their lawyers, I mean, they’re just hoping — they just want a fair trial. They just want something to be able to — you know, they want to be able to face their accusers. And I felt like that was a story that had been not necessarily forgotten, but it just had kind of fallen out of the headlines. Not many people were paying that much attention to it. It felt like in Europe a lot of people were really focusing on this issue. And this story really disturbed me and was — yeah, it was troubling. And that was the story that I initially sought to tell when I contacted Davis.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, |
should elect the candidate that is most likely to play a “constructive” role in the peace process.
“We hope that Labour party members and supporters will consider when they vote which candidate is best placed to ensure that the next Labour government can play a constructive and engaged role in the crucial search for a two-state solution,” she said.
“We recognize the deep concerns which exist about positions taken, and statements made, by Jeremy Corbyn in the past and recognize the serious questions which arise from these.”
Ryan, a former Home Office minister and party whip, said Labour Friends of Israel would “continue to work with progressives in both Israel and Palestine who share our commitment to peace and co-existence.
The stuff on Corbyn (IRA, Israel, energy nationalisation) is like seeing a cinema trailer for what the Tories will do in the autumn. – Iain Martin (@iainmartin1) August 8, 2015
“At the same time, we remain adamantly opposed to boycotts and sanctions, which delegitimize Israel, do nothing to further these goals and have no place in the Labour Party.”
Corbyn was grilled by Channel 4 journalist Kristan Guru-Murthy in an interview in July for having previously called Hamas and Hezbollah “friends.”
During the interview the veteran left-winger rejected the idea that he agreed with the two organizations, which Israel considers to be terrorist groups.
Following intense questioning by Guru-Murthy, Corbyn explained his position.
“Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No,” the Labour MP said.
“There is not going to be a peace process unless there are talks involving Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas — and I think everyone knows that.”
Corbyn added that even the former head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad agreed that more comprehensive talks must be pursued. The Israeli intelligence chief argued at the time that any viable peace process would involve negotiations with people who hold opposing viewpoints.
The socialist candidate has faced intense criticism from Labour elites since announcing his candidacy, with a number of high-profile politicians urging voters to back other candidates.
Attacks on Corbyn’s campaign became even more heated after a YouGov poll, published by The Times newspaper on Monday night, found that Corbyn had doubled his lead over the past week and would now poll 53 percent, meaning he could secure a first-round victory without needing to count the second preferences of Labour supporters.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Blair-era PR guru Alistair Campbell have all urged Labour supporters to reject Corbyn, arguing he would make Labour “unelectable” in the 2020 general election.
This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News with permission or license.
Via RT.If you love the spin, lies and outrageous statements from the WH Press Secretary, then you should definitely vote for Hillary, or stay home on Election Day… or vote for a “Third-Party Candidate” –
Because you’ll definitely get four more years of this garbage.
Via Free Beacon.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest chastised a New York Times media columnist in a letter Tuesday for not acknowledging “the important and unprecedented steps the Obama administration has taken” to be the most transparent White House in history.
In his “Mediator” column on Aug. 28, Jim Rutenberg took presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to task for their respective antagonistic relationships with the press. Rutenberg wrote of Clinton, who has gone more than eight months without giving a press conference, that her potential administration could be even more secretive than the Obama administration, “with its abysmal record on fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests and its record of prosecuting whistle-blowers who have shared national security information with the press.”
Earnest took exception and fired back in a Letter to the Editor posted Tuesday, boasting about Obama’s availability to the media and fretting that if journalists did not praise his transparency, no one would:
President Obama, as a matter of policy, invites White House journalists to cover his formal remarks at fund-raisers, even when they are held in a private home. Previous presidents have granted, at best, intermittent access to such events….
The New York Times is not the only outlet to criticize Obama’s poor record on transparency, however, in spite of the president’s claim that he is running the “most transparent administration in history.” CNN’s Jake Tapper ran a segment in June slamming the White House for showing “disdain for the public” over an announcement of not releasing Clinton emails about the Trans-Pacific Partnership….Midfielder Nicky Law has agreed a three-year contract with Rangers as it was confirmed that forward.
The signings will take effect from 1 September as Rangers are currently subject to a transfer embargo.
Law, 25, has spent the last two seasons at Motherwell, with whom he scored 13 times in 86 appearances and twice qualified for European competition.
Daly, 30, is leaving Dundee United after six-and-a-half years.
The United captain scored more than 70 goals for the Tannadice outfit and won the Scottish Cup with the Tangerines in 2010.
Striker Daly will join Rangers on a two-year deal
"I didn't really want my agent to speak to any other clubs, I wanted to try to get this deal over the line and thankfully that has happened," Daly told the Rangers website
"I've taken a step back in terms of the level of football I'll be playing but in terms of club size, Rangers are massive.
"There's a huge fanbase and when the chance came up to come here it was a no-brainer for me. It was a challenge I wanted to take on."
Speaking about his move to Ibrox, Law said: "I'm delighted and honoured to sign for this great football club.
"I spoke to a few teams down south, but when I met the manager here and left that meeting, my gut feeling told me that this is where I wanted to be.
"I signed for Motherwell two years ago really on the gut feeling that that would be the best move for me and I've just gone with that again with this one.
"There are not many better places to go and play your football.
"I am ambitious and I want to win titles. When you think of Rangers, you think of titles and trophies.
"This was the biggest club that I could have signed for. It was as simple as that, really."
Earlier this week,
which is required to play league football.
Ally McCoist's side won this season's Third Division to secure promotion.
Rangers say the manager hopes to announce more signings "in the next few weeks".In what appears to be a concerted campaign out of Saudi Arabia, tens of thousands of Saudis are tweeting their support of U.S. President Donald Trump and his aggressive rhetoric against Iran, the other main power in the region that is challenging Riyadh for dominance.
Following Trump’s tweets after Tehran tested a ballistic missile last week, the president’s national security adviser Michael Flynn followed with a statement from the White House criticizing President Obama’s administration for failing to “respond adequately to Tehran’s malign actions,” and warning that the new administration was putting Iran “on notice.”
Last week, those words thrilled many Sunni Arabs in the region who fear Iran’s return to the international community. But this week, Saudi propagandists appear to have engineered a Twitter campaign to boost support for Trump in an apparent attempt to influence the new president.
Vocativ found the hashtags # TrumpStopsIranianTerrorism and # TrumpWarnsIranianTerrorism have appeared over 80,000 times since Saturday, and likely created in accounts of Saudi influencers who tweeted “Trump is the best leader in the world” and thanked Trump for his statements against the Iranian regime. Vocativ found that the vast majority of the tweets using these hashtags came from Saudi Arabia and that the most retweeted posts came from leading pro-Saudi accounts and influential journalists affiliated with the monarchy.
Tweets posted alongside the hashtags included portrayals of Trump as Captain America, James Bond or a knight in shining armor, standing atop a military tank. In one image Trump is carrying a bald eagle over his shoulder. “There is no Obama anymore,” the caption read. Others show Trump standing beside King Salman and that the two leaders are trying “to protect the whole world.”
#TrumpStopsIranianTerrorism TRUMP knows who the bad guys are and already targeted them (Iran ) thanks for that Trump pic.twitter.com/c8Jj4s3tmU — سنوسي عبيد (@3beds196629) February 5, 2017
#ما_هو_حلمك_في_كلمتين
My dream is to see peace in
the Middle East.
#TrumpWarnsIranianTerrorism pic.twitter.com/HmaRvB1ROy — فهد العصيمي (@F3saimi) February 5, 2017
#TrumpStopsIranianTerrorism Trump did in two weeks what Obama could not do in 8 years pic.twitter.com/AzADhR9B55 — حمّاد (@hammad_1980) February 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/wth_8/status/828385754938277888(Millbrook, NY) Wikipedia reigns. It's the world's most popular online encyclopedia, the sixth most visited website in America, and a research source most U.S. students rely on. But, according to a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, Wikipedia entries on politically controversial scientific topics can be unreliable due to information sabotage.
Co-author Dr. Gene E. Likens is President Emeritus of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. Likens co-discovered acid rain in North America, and counts among his accolades a National Medal of Science, a Tyler Prize, and elected membership in the National Academy of Sciences. Since 2003, he has monitored Wikipedia's acid rain entry.
Likens explains, "In the scientific community, acid rain is not a controversial topic. Its mechanics have been well understood for decades. Yet, despite having'semi-protected' status to prevent anonymous changes, Wikipedia's acid rain entry receives near-daily edits, some of which result in egregious errors and a distortion of consensus science."
In an effort to see how Wikipedia's acid rain entry compared to other scientific topics, Likens partnered with Dr. Adam M. Wilson, a geographer at the University of Buffalo. Together, they analyzed Wikipedia edit histories for three politically controversial scientific topics (acid rain, evolution, and global warming), and four non-controversial scientific topics (the standard model in physics, heliocentrism, general relativity, and continental drift).
Using nearly a decade of data, Likens and Wilson teased out daily edit rates, the mean size of edits (words added, deleted, or edited), and the mean number of page views per day. While the edit rate of the acid rain article was less than the edit rate of the evolution and global warming articles, it was significantly higher than the non-controversial topics. Across the board, politically controversial scientific topics were edited more heavily and viewed more often.
"Wikipedia's global warming entry sees 2-3 edits a day, with more than 100 words altered, while the standard model in physics has around 10 words changed every few weeks, " Wilson notes. "The high rate of change observed in politically controversial scientific topics makes it difficult for experts to monitor their accuracy and contribute time-consuming corrections."
Likens adds, "As society turns to Wikipedia for answers, students, educators, and citizens should understand its limitations when researching scientific topics that are politically charged. On entries subject to edit-wars, like acid rain, evolution, and global change, one can obtain - within seconds - diametrically different information on the same topic."
The authors note that as Wikipedia matures, there is evidence that the breadth of its scientific content is increasingly based on source material from established scientific journals. They also note that Wikipedia employs algorithms to help identify and correct blatantly malicious edits, such as profanity. But in their view, it remains to be seen how Wikipedia will manage the dynamic, changing content that typifies politically-charged science topics.
To help readers critically evaluate Wikipedia content, Likens and Wilson suggest identifying entries that are known to have significant controversy or edit wars. They also recommend quantifying the reputation of individual editors. In the meantime, users are urged to cast a critical eye on Wikipedia source material, which is found at the bottom of each entry.
###Daljinder Kaur gives birth to her first child at at the age of 70. (File Photo)
The couple from Amritsar, India, had been married without children for nearly five decades.Those long years were enough, Daljinder Kaur told her husband Mohinder Singh Gill. She was having a baby with or without him. "Due to a family feud we never focused on our dream to become parents," Gill told Barcroft TV. In September 2014, Kaur declared she was going to the National Fertility and Test Tube Baby Centre in Haryana. Her husband could come along if he wanted.In April, 46 years after Kaur and Gill married, Kaur gave birth to a son named Arman. Kaur is in her early 70s. Gill is 79.Kaur overcame the protestations of the Haryana fertility doctors, who ultimately agreed she was sufficiently fit -- as well as sufficiently stubborn -- to give birth. Arman was conceived through in vitro fertilization."I used to feel empty. There was so much loneliness," Kaur told the Agence France-Presse. "I feel blessed to be able to hold my own baby. I had lost hope of becoming a mother ever." Kaur's health appears to be as good as her spirits, as Barcroft TV noted she is breastfeeding her son, assuaging some of the clinic doctors' concerns.Kaur is one of -- if not the -- oldest women to give birth; it cannot be said definitively, however, because Kaur lacks a birth certificate. She believes she is about 70. Anurag Bishnoi, the physician who oversaw her pregnancy, told the Guardian that Kaur is possibly 72.Giving birth at 59, a woman named Dawn Brooke is thought to be the oldest mother who did not use reproductive treatments. When assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization enter into the picture, maternal records stretch significantly older. A 66-year-old Spanish woman, Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara, gave birth to twins in 2006; she later admitted to lying to doctors about her age -- she said she was 55 -- in order to have access to in vitro fertility treatments. Rajo Devi Lohan, who is from India like Kaur, claimed the record at age of 70, when she gave birth to a daughter in 2008. In 2013, the World Health Organization estimated the life expectancy for a woman in India to be 68 years old.During in vitro fertilization, or IVF, sperm meets egg in a petri dish rather than a fallopian tube. The advent of this technology, coupled with donor eggs, opened up pregnancy to women who had gone through menopause; one early study of women between 50 and 63 indicated that the likelihood of getting pregnant through IVF, as well as the rate of miscarriages, was on par with that of women in their twenties -- though the researchers reported a higher chance of complications among older women.In the U.S., though the number of births among postmenopausal women remain low, they are on the rise. Births among women aged 50 to 54 tripled between 2000 and 2013, the AARP reported in 2015, increasing from 255 births to 677 births over 13 years. There is no formal age cutoff in the United States for IVF, though fertility clinics are likely to decline women older than 55. In India, one guideline recommends that couples whose combined age is over 100 should not receive IVF.Bina Vasan, a former president of the Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction, noted that Kaur and Singh have a combined age of 150. "This sends the wrong message to society, that anyone can give birth to a child at any age," she said in an interview with the Times of India. "We condemn such a practice."Others take the view that denying women IVF procedures would be interfering their right to have a child. A strict upper limit on age is difficult to establish, Johns Hopkins University bioethicist Jeffrey Kahn told Time magazine in 2015, "because it contradicts reproductive liberties," drawing a parallel to men who father children at advanced ages.Bishnoi, Kaur's doctor, agrees. "Reproduction is a fundamental right," he said to the Telegraph. As for Arman's parents, Bishnoi added, "They have relatives who are ready to help take care of the baby. And you can make anyone a guardian."To some medical experts, a late-in-life pregnancy is not a question of medical possibility but unclear ramifications. "Someone has to look out for the best interests of children," bioethicist Arthur Caplan told the Los Angeles Times in 2007, in the wake of Bousada's reveal she had lied about her age.Caplan and Yale University fertility expert Pasquale Patrizio argue in a 2010 academic paper that while it is reprehensible to take away the right to a family, there is no "legal obligation to provide older persons with the technology requisite for them to reproduce." They conclude that there are three "morally appropriate" demands for older women who would use IVF: complete medical exams; safeguards to ensure that, whatever should happen, a child would have a parent or guardian; and establishing limits on age along with the number of donor embryos used each cycle."God heard our prayers," Kaur told the AFP. "My life feels complete now."© 2016 The Washington PostNewly appointed Essendon Coach John Worsfold expects Cale Hooker to return to defence in 2016.
The Crichton Medal winner continued his All-Australian form through the early rounds of 2015.
But injuries to key players and a misfiring forward line saw Hooker moved to attack.
The change paid off with the 26 year old kicking 20 goals in the final ten games of the season.
According to Worsfold though, Hooker’s forays forward may be less frequent in 2016.
“I think Hooker’s still a better defender in the competition than he is a forward even though he performed very well up there,” Worsfold told AFL Trade Radio.
“The challenge is to get some really good support for Joe Daniher who is going to be the cornerstone of that forward line for a long period of time.
“So to get another couple of good, strong key forwards – marking type players – as well as some really talented smalls that can put pressure on but also hit the scoreboard.
“I think there is more work to be done in the forward half than there is in the back half at Essendon.”
The Bombers were ranked 15th in attack last season, averaging ten goals a game.
“The thing we have to challenge ourselves with is to be a better scoring team,” Worsfold told 3AW.
“We don’t have a lot of guys that readily jump to mind when you say they’re going to kick bags of goals.
“So I really want to develop that.
“Guys in roles that know that they put pressure on in the forward line but they’ve also got to hit the scoreboard.
“Around Joe Daniher you’ve got something you can build something great around.
“We’ll be looking for guys that have got the talent to score and the other side of that is to move the ball quickly enough from the back half and through the midfield to get it in there and give them some space to work in.”Lamar Buffalo Ranch Renewable, Zero Emission Energy System Is Now Online
System Features 208 Re-used Camry Hybrid Batteries
May 12, 2015
Power Generation: 40kW solar system producing ~67,900 kwH annually. (40kW propane backup generator onsite for emergency use only)
Storage Array: 208 repackaged battery packs, each internally re-wired in parallel and arranged in series in four arrays of 52. Each array provides a nominal 375 volts. Total storage capacity of 85kwH.
Power Management: Indy Power Systems’ Energy Router™ manages and optimizes generation and use of energy between solar energy, battery storage, and/or propane generators (if emergency generator is needed).
Torrance, Calif. (May 12, 2015) – The lights are on where the buffalo roam.At the Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus in Yellowstone National Park, an innovative distributed energy system that combines solar power generation with re-used Camry Hybrid battery packs is now online. The result: reliable, sustainable, zero emission power to the ranger station and education center for the first time since it was founded in 1907.Announced in June 2014, the partnership among Toyota, Indy Power Systems, Sharp USA SolarWorld, Patriot Solar, National Park Service and Yellowstone Park Foundation is an innovative effort to extend the useful life of hybrid vehicle batteries while providing sustainable power generation for one of the most remote, pristine areas in the United States.Solar panels generate the renewable electricity stored within the 208 used Camry Hybrid nickel-metal hydride battery packs, recovered from Toyota dealers across the United States.“Through our long-standing partnership with Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone Park Foundation, Toyota has helped preserve Yellowstone for future generations,” said Jim Lentz, chief executive officer, Toyota North America. “Today, our relationship with Yellowstone continues, as more than 200 battery packs that once powered Toyota Camry hybrids have found a new home on the range.”On an annual basis, the solar system generates enough electricity to power six average U.S. households for a year, or plenty of power for the five buildings on the Ranch campus. The hybrid batteries provide 85kWh of energy storage to ensure continuous power, as the system charges and discharges. Onsite micro-hydro turbine systems, capturing energy from a neighboring stream, are scheduled to join the power mix in 2016.The Yellowstone system is the first of its kind to use recovered hybrid vehicle batteries for commercial energy storage. Each battery pack has been disassembled and tested, and every piece that could be was repurposed. New components were also designed and built by Indy Power Systems specifically for this application, including an onboard battery management system for each battery pack. The battery management system is designed to maximize battery life and will also provide important insights into real-world performance. These insights will help Toyota design future battery performance and durability improvements.“Toyota’s innovative response to solve a difficult problem has helped Yellowstone move closer to its goal of becoming the greenest park in the world,” said Steve Iobst, acting superintendent of Yellowstone.Hybrid batteries typically reach the end of their usable life in automobile-grade applications with significant remaining power storage capacity. While Toyota has a robust hybrid battery recycling program in place, the Yellowstone project reflects ongoing efforts to extend the life of existing hybrid batteries. Engineers expect this type of use to double the overall lifespan of the hybrid batteries.The Lamar Buffalo Ranch project is just part of Toyota’s extensive work with Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone Park Foundation, including providing hybrid vehicles to support park operations, and green building expertise and financial backing for the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, which opened in 2010.“As exemplified by the Lamar Buffalo Ranch project, Toyota’s mission-driven philanthropic focus and expertise in sustainability will make a difference in Yellowstone for generations to come,” said Karen Bates Kress, president of the Yellowstone Park Foundation.To learn more about Yellowstone National Park sustainability initiatives please visit http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/sustainability-contents.htmES 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
Pre-season is in full swing for London's Premier League clubs as preparations for the 2017-18 campaign continue across the globe.
Arsenal have finished their tour of the Far East and are now preparing to welcome Benfica, Sevilla and RB Leipzig to London for the Emirates Cup.
Chelsea thrashed the Gunners in Beijing before being taught a lesson by Bayern Munich in Singapore, while Tottenham put four past Paris Saint-Germain before losing to Roma thanks to a last-gasp goal.
West Ham and Fulham were in Austria, with the Hammers moving on the Germany with their headline-grabbing new signings. Crystal Palace are returning from Hong Kong where they finished third in the Asia Trophy.
The season curtain-raiser of the Community Shield between Arsenal and Chelsea takes places on August 6, but you have nearly 20 matches involving London clubs to get your teeth into beforehand.
Scroll through the pre-season schedule for your club below...
Selected London club's pre-season fixtures home and abroadChristian Benteke's agent says there has not been interest in his client and that the in-form Belgium striker is only focused on his Aston Villa career.
Benteke has been in sparkling form since Tim Sherwood became Villa manager in February, scoring nine goals in his last eight appearances after managing only three until then for previous boss Paul Lambert.
That form has led to speculation that the forward Villa signed from Belgian club Genk for £7million in August 2012 could move on at the end of the summer, with both Liverpool and Manchester United reported to be monitoring the situation.
Christian Benteke's agent has played down reports linking the Aston Villa striker with a big money move
Benteke has been in fine form under Tim Sherwood and scored in the FA Cup semi-final win against Liverpool
But Benteke still has two years left on his current contract and his agent Eris Kismet says the 24-year-old is solely focused on Villa's fight for Barclays Premier League survival and FA Cup final date with Arsenal on May 30.
'At the moment, there is no interest,' Kismet told Sky Sports News HQ.
'Every player and staff member is concentrated on avoiding relegation, anything else is just a distraction.
'I know everyone wants the same thing because I watch the games and I think Aston Villa are playing the best football in England right now.'
Villa are just two points clear of the relegation zone after Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Manchester City but have reached only their second FA Cup final since 1957, with Benteke on target in the 2-1 semi-final victory against Liverpool.Don’t worry. My wife’s taking care of it.
Photo by bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock
A revealing—and depressing—article in this month’s Harvard Business Review shows that no matter how much power female executives have accrued, or how much lip service male executives might publicly pay, family issues are still seen as a female problem.
Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg and research associate Robin Abrahams looked at interviews of nearly 4,000 C-suite executives conducted by HBS students from 2008-2013. Forty-four percent of the interviewees were female. And while the men and women often had the same job titles, the similarities stopped there.
The first difference between male and female execs is in the way they frame work-life conflicts. The men tend to choose work without regret when conflicts arise, because they frame their family role as “breadwinner.” This seems to alleviate any guilt. One interviewee says he doesn’t regret his divorce because he was always a good provider and was able to achieve his goals, and now he spends more time with his kids on weekends. Another says:
“The 10 minutes I give my kids at night is one million times greater than spending that 10 minutes at work.”
As the authors point out, most women would not brag about only spending 10 minutes a day with their children. Contrast this with how a female executive frames her experience: “When you are paid well, you can get all the [practical] help you need. What is the most difficult thing, though—what I see my women friends leave their careers for—is the real emotional guilt of not spending enough time with their children. The guilt of missing out.”
That women are paying for the practical help—while male executives tend to receive practical help from a stay-at-home spouse—might explain the guilt differential. Per the article, “Fully 88% of the men are married, compared with 70% of the women. And 60% of the men have spouses who don’t work full-time outside the home, compared with only 10% of the women. The men have an average of 2.22 children; the women, 1.67.”
Women interviewed were more likely to say that they avoided marriage and children entirely because they don’t want to deal with the potential conflict. “Because I’m not a mother, I haven’t experienced the major driver of inequality: having children,” one woman said. “People assume that if you don’t have kids, then you either can’t have kids or else you’re a hard-driving bitch. So I haven’t had any negative career repercussions, but I’ve probably been judged personally.”
The most disheartening thing about the survey results is that executives—both male and female—continue to see the tension between work and family as a women’s problem. Male executives admit they don’t prioritize their families enough, and they don’t seem too bothered by it. They praise their spouses for taking over the homefront entirely, while female executives praise their spouses for not interfering with their careers.
As Rebecca Traister recently pointed out in the New Republic, when we’re trying to solve the problem of not enough women in the upper echelons of business, tech, and politics, we always direct these conversations at women themselves. Lean in, we tell them! Marry a man who will stay at home! But the problem here isn’t women’s lack of ambition or, necessarily, their lack of support at home. The issue is that we need to get men to acknowledge work-life conflicts as an everyone issue, not a women’s issue or a mom issue.
But Traister is more optimistic than I am. She says that to get work-life balance issues on everyone’s radar, women need to “send aggressive messages about what’s wrong not just to each other, but to the dudes.” The problem, as outlined in the HBR piece, is that male executives—and here, we are talking about a very small percentage of super high-achieving men who run things, not men as a whole—don’t seem to care about being at home more. I don’t see how aggressively worded messages will change that. If there’s someone who will work insane hours, why would you give a promotion to someone who can’t or doesn’t want to? Indeed, even as stay-at-home dads with executive wives have gotten more ink lately, among two-parent households where women work, the number of stay-at-home dudes has slightly declined since the early ’90s.
So where does that leave us? The one silver lining of the article is that the HBS students who interviewed the executives were dismayed by the findings. Both male and female students resisted the notion that you can’t be an executive and also lead a balanced life. What remains to be seen is whether they’ll do anything to change it decades from now when they’re the ones in power.Classic Chevys are more loved for their classic lines than for their dated suspensions or even their cool sounding, but by today’s standards, power-lacking drivetrains. Given this, it’s no wonder that many gearheads opt to keep the body lines and update the rest. And that is exactly Tim Lee’s goal with his 1969 Camaro project.
It all started with a stalled project Tim found local to him in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The 1969 Camaro had been undergoing a complete restoration when the project ground to a halt. Since it was missing a drivetrain, something he would have discarded anyways, it was perfect for what he had in mind. Before work stopped on the Camaro it had been body worked straight and shot in Aztec Gold period-correct paint. Tim dug the retro color, feeling it would add to the Camaro’s sleeper status.
The first thing Tim did was to find a buyer for the car’s restored, stock suspension. Once that was handled he called up Roadster Shop and ordered one of their new SPEC chassis. He had seen one of these in action last year and was impressed with how it handled and, of course, its price. He also liked that he would be able to just drop the old suspension out of the Camaro and lower the body onto the new SPEC chassis. Easy peasy. The Roadster Shop chassis came with Afco shocks and a Strange housing (with axles) so to finish it off he picked up a Strange third member and a complete Baer big-brake kit. He was even able to order the massive 6P calipers in matching Aztec gold!
To get some bigger tires under the back of the F-body he had Phil Mandella over at PMR Racing stitch in a set of Chassisworks deep wheeltubs and add in a four-point rollbar for extra safety when he hits the track. While that was going on the chassis was blown apart and sent over to Young Gun Powder Painting in Rancho Cucamonga. The Camaro will be motivated by a 440-inch, RHS-blocked LS engine backed by an American Powertrain TREMEC Magnum six-speed transmission. It should make for a retro-cool Camaro that will handle and ride better than a modern one.Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) announcing his 2016 presidential candidacy at the Ohio State University on July 21, 2015. (Photo by Ty Wright/Getty Images)
John Kasich is the Republican governor of Ohio, a fact that you would be forgiven for not knowing. In a recent poll from Quinnipiac University, Kasich was the least-recognized presidential candidate of the 11 mentioned. Fifty-seven percent of all voters hadn't heard enough about him to have an opinion -- including just about half of Republicans.
He's been running for president since July.
Kasich is currently in ninth place, according to Real Clear Politics polling average. That's behind the outsider front-runners Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, as well as behind the insider strugglers Chris Christie and Jeb Bush. But Kasich has been one of the more outspoken critics of Trump's candidacy, bashing him on the debate stage and, earlier this month, creating a fake Trump-Putin 2016 campaign website.
Now Kasich is targeting extreme politics in another way: By advocating for reforms to how partisan congressional districts in his state are drawn.
Speaking with the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich called for redistricting reform (which, we'll note, has come up before this cycle). "I support redistricting reform dramatically," he said according to the paper. "We carve these safe districts, and then when you’re in a safe district, you have to watch your extremes, and you keep moving to the extremes."
In other words, creating a House seat that's safe for Republicans means the primary becomes about who can be most appealing to primary-voting Republicans, which can benefit more extreme candidates. The same thing can happen on the Democratic side, too, but 12 of the state's 16 seats are held by the GOP.
The delegation has, in fact, grown more conservative over the last few decades, as data from VoteView.com illustrates.
(That dip a few years ago was following the Barack Obama-led 2008 wave.)
In 2014, the closest House race in the state was in the 6th congressional District. The Republican won by 19.6 percentage points, which is not close at all. On average, the victors won by 34 points -- more than a third of the vote.
Kasich's idea is to reduce the number of safe seats, thereby making more of the seats contestable in a general election -- and thereby moving the political debate back toward the center (where, not coincidentally, he feels more comfortable). If adopted nationally, where most general election contests are won by 10 points or more, the net effect might be to shift the political debate from the extremes back toward positions of more inter-party compromise.
(We're only talking about Congress here, by the way, not state. After controversy surrounded the 2010 redistricting process, an initiative was passed earlier this year to reform how districts are drawn at the state legislative level. Ohio's sitting members of Congress are, understandably, less excited about changing how their own districts are drawn.)
Kasich's position mirrors that of the two men who preceded him in his current position. At an event in 2013, both Democrat Ted Strickland and Republican Bob Taft argued that gerrymandered districts distort the state's politics.
Unfortunately for Kasich, national politics, including the politics of his party, are rewarding more extreme positions these days. It's not the only reason that Kasich is in ninth place -- that people haven't heard of him is a bigger problem -- but it certainly doesn't help.Zhang Peng, LightRocket via Getty Images
After acquiring Uber's operations in China last year, Didi Chuxing is taking steps to ascend to the global stage.
The Chinese ride hailer is testing an English version of its smartphone application and the ability to accept payment by international credit cards, reports the South China Morning Post.
A full English interface is expected to be rolled out in China this spring, according to The Beijinger, quoting reliable but unnamed sources.
The move comes after Didi Chuxing's announcement of an international business unit last week. In October last year, Didi Chuxing President Jean Liu hinted to an audience at the WSJ.D Live conference that the company would be expanding into new markets.
Didi Chuxing has been working hard at solidifying its business worldwide. In addition to merging with Uber China, Didi Chuxing formed partnerships with ride-sharing companies in other regions, including Southeast Asia's Grab, India's Ola, and Uber's biggest rival in the US, Lyft, according to Business Insider.
The company also has some friends in high places -- Apple last year invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing.Transgender advocate, Attitude columnist and author Juno Dawson is convinced that there are a lot of gay people who are actually transgender but too chicken to come out and admit it, accepting a gay lifestyle as a "consolation prize."
Dawson says he lived as a "misdiagnosed" gay man before coming out as transgender in 2015.
“I think that there are a lot of gay men in the world who had the same personal misdiagnosis, because we didn’t have the information that we have now,” Dawson told Attitude. “I think there are a lot of gay men out there who are gay men as a consolation prize because they couldn’t be women. That was certainly true of me.”
The columnist is basing this bold claim by extrapolating from his mere personal experience coming out as transgender from a previously gay lifestyle.
“What I will say is that, and I think this is true of all trans people, once you are an out trans person, you become like a helpdesk," said Dawson. "There are two or three gay men who have come |
demand in the economy. Not much spending. So companies are operating factories at, say, 75% of potential; they don't need to borrow to expand their plant, equipment because there's not much demand for their goods. Or, in the housing market, sure there are low interest rates, but since house prices keep falling why would someone want to buy a house now? So, there's not much demand for credit. And so the interest rates reflect a weak economy. The conservative argument is that a lot of bad government policies scare businesses, deter investments--taxes, regulation, and so on. And that may be true, and I think it is true to some extent. But the liberal argument here is really all you need. I don't think it's a complete explanation of the recession, and I've argued to some extent against liberals on some issues like unemployment insurance and other things that I think are increasing the structural rate of unemployment in the economy. But on balance I think that when you have very weak nominal spending, the free market interest rate will tend to fall to zero even in an economy that doesn't have a lot of structural weaknesses. It's not an assumption you need to explain what's going on here.
35:49 But then what's the implication of what we ought to be doing? The left-of-center approach is, say: We just need to spend more. We need to get nominal income up--they agree with you. Nominal income has been falling or is not rising at a fast enough rate, so something needs to fill that gap by spending more money. That's their standard argument. Why are they wrong? They are arguing for government spending, which I think first of all won't really help very much. And second, monetary stimulus. The best way and probably the only way to promote faster nominal GDP growth is to get a more expansionary monetary policy. So, I think the mistake on the left is to put too much faith in fiscal stimulus. Fiscal stimulus is relatively weak, and it also tends to be offset or neutralized by monetary policy. But let's say monetary policy stayed as it is; the President and the Congress got the Keynesian religion; they listened to Paul Krugman and they increase government spending in the United States by over a trillion dollars this year, which is what many people are advocating who are Keynesians. They argue interest rates are too low; the Fed has no bullets left. So, they can't lower the interest rate any more; so the best thing to do is have government spend. Government spending a trillion dollars--isn't that going to increase nominal income? Here's the tricky part: When you said, let's leave monetary policy as it is, you slid over a very subtle and complicated question, and that is: What is monetary policy? And I find when I talk to people, everybody I talk to seems to have a clear and definite idea in their mind about what we mean by holding monetary policy constant. But they don't equate with each other. So, for some people that means the Fed keeping the money supply constant. For others it means keeping interest rates constant. Which is a very different policy. And I think both of those are wrong because it's not what the Fed is actually doing. What the Fed is actually doing is adjusting monetary policy to conditions in the aggregate economy. So, they'll do some quantitative easing (QE), then they'll back off; they'll do some more. Or Operation Twist. Or they'll promise to keep interest rates low for two years. And these policies are not highly effective, but they are probably effective in slightly nudging the economy a little bit faster, a little bit slower. So, what the Fed is doing is these on and off policies as it reads the incoming economic data. If the data gets stronger, the Fed does less. When the data gets weaker, the Fed does more. What that means is fiscal stimulus does succeed in promoting a little bit faster growth; the Fed will react by doing less quantitative easing and other policies of that sort; and it will very likely neutralize most of the effect of the fiscal stimulus. Now, I'm not trying to stake out an extreme position here. If the Federal government did an enormous amount of fiscal stimulus, yes, I think it would boost nominal GDP. Whether it would be a good idea would be another question. But obviously, if you took it to the extreme like the spending in WWII, it would definitely boost measured GDP in the economy. But for the amounts that are politically realistic, I really don't think--let me put it this way: The original stimulus bill was originally around $800 billion, in 2009. Ended up being $825 billion. I think it was a mixture of spending and some tax rebates. About 1/3 each--1/3 tax rebate, 2/3 spending, and of that 2/3, 1/3 on payments to the states and 1/3 on various so-called expansionary activities of various kinds. And that was done in early 2009. About the same time the Fed was getting very worried about the economy. It wasn't "done" in 2009. The legislation authorizing it was enacted. It took a while to spend it; it spent out over 2 or 3 years. Right. But importantly, by the way, a lot of modern theories say the effect on demand should come with expectations; so it should start even when the program is not enacted. You've got that program, then. The standard way of looking at it is to assume the Fed is just this passive bystander. But everything we know about Ben Bernanke, throughout his career, tells us very clearly he had no intention of allowing a Great Depression II on his watch. He's a scholar of the Great Depression. He passionately believes the Fed blew it by not being more aggressive. He's also insisted all along the Fed has lots of ammunition they haven't used. He's talked about things they could do, things he recommended the Japanese do that he hasn't done yet. So, the Fed has a lot of ammunition left including the most powerful tools, which they haven't pulled out yet. Which are? Setting a higher inflation or nominal GDP target is the most powerful one probably. If they could. That would be politically controversial, especially if they did it in terms of inflation. I prefer nominal GDP. But here's my point: Suppose Obama did nothing in 2009. There's no way the Fed would have just sat back passively and watched the economy collapse. What would have happened is with less fiscal stimulus there would have been a lot more monetary stimulus. I don't know exactly what it would look like. I'm not saying it would have exactly made up for the lack of fiscal stimulus, but my point is this: Any estimate of the effects of fiscal stimulus are probably really wildly exaggerated by not taking into account the reaction function of the monetary policy makers. And that's the big flaw in the way we think about fiscal stimulus. And no matter how many times I make this point, I find it's very hard for people to absorb it. They want to think in terms of other things equal--like, okay, there's the monetary policy; now let's see what fiscal policy can do. It doesn't work that way. If fiscal policy does more, monetary policy will do less. That's how things work.
42:21 I agree with your idea--I've always felt it's an interesting psychological insight--that the greatest living scholar of the Great Depression is Ben Bernanke. Nothing could be more embarrassing than for his legacy to be that he allowed it to happen under his watch. For one thing he's a great scholar of the Great Depression. For another, there's this famous conference where he, in the presence of Milton Friedman, who is not with us any longer and who I'd argue would be the number 1 scholar of all time, but fine, Ben Bernanke's second but now he's first because Milton's gone--but at that conference while Milton was still here, Ben Bernanke said: Don't worry, Milton, we won't let it happen again. Now, as you said earlier, maybe he's achieved that level. He did enough to avoid a Great Depression. He didn't do enough to avoid a Great Recession. But why would he even get this close? Why would he, when he saw that that $787, now $825 billion of stimulus wasn't doing very much, why would he counteract it? You are suggesting he counteracted it, and that's why it had no effect. Is that what you are saying? Yes. The way I would put this is: He didn't go out and say: Aha, I'm going to go out and counteract this now. If you asked him, he would deny counteracting it. No doubt. In his own mind he would not believe that he did that. But I believe that if you really think through the logical implications of what the Fed would have done in the absence of fiscal stimulus, that in essence it was sabotaged. I know that's a very counterintuitive and controversial statement, and almost nobody agrees with me. But I think that's because they are not thinking about the issue clearly enough. It's not that the Fed would ever set out to hurt the economy intentionally or anything of that sort. I happen to believe the Fed underestimated the amount of stimulus that was needed. If there had been no fiscal stimulus, their estimate of what was needed on the monetary side would have been substantially higher, and that's the logical point I'm making. Now, if you word it in a certain way, it sounds very appalling, like the Fed is sabotaging fiscal stimulus; and that's not it at all. But that's really kind of what it amounts to when you think about it logically. Let me give you an example of how the way we're thinking about these issues is so unlike the orthodox view. Can I take one minute to read a quotation--and I bet you cannot guess who said this, in 1999. This is about Japan. What continues to amaze me is this: Japan's current strategy of massive, unsustainable deficit spending in the hopes that this will somehow generate a self-sustained recovery is currently regarded as the orthodox, sensible thing to do - even though it can be justified only by exotic stories about multiple equilibria, the sort of thing you would imagine only a professor could believe. So, this is my view, interjecting. Continuing: Meanwhile further steps on monetary policy - the sort of thing you would advocate if you believed in a more conventional, boring model, one in which the problem is simply a question of the savings-investment balance - are rejected as dangerously radical and unbecoming of a dignified economy. So, he's amazed that people are suggesting that Japan do deficit spending when they already have this big debt and asking why aren't we doing the conventional monetary stimulus. Now do you know who said this in 1999? I'm going to guess it's Ben Bernanke from the way you are talking. No. Paul Krugman. That was my second guess! So, here's Paul Krugman saying exactly what I'm saying now, and I feel like my view of monetary and fiscal policy was the standard view, and in a sense the only reason we're even having this conversation right now is that in some strange way, the conventional view became very unconventional in 2008 and 2009. As you probably know, I'm not a particularly well known economist, at least prior to getting into blogging; and so the only reason we're having this interview is once I started blogging, I found that my view, which I thought was the conventional view, was in fact a fairly radical view and it got a lot of attention. A lot of people sort of thought of it as a very provocative, unconventional view. This is what I find so strange about what is going on. We have this situation where the standard view somehow twisted around from being monetary policy as the natural way of preventing a depression, which is the story that came out of the Great Depression, supposedly, to the view that it's actually fiscal policy that needs to do this. Now, some people will say it's different now because we're in a liquidity trap; but Japan had zero interest rates in 1999, roughly, when Paul Krugman made this statement. It's not really different. I'll just read you one really quick quotation out of the number 1 textbook in money: Monetary policy can be highly effective in reviving a weak economy even if short-term interest rates are already near zero. So, that's what we are teaching our students, right out of the number 1 textbook; and I found in late 2008 almost none of my colleagues believed this. They were all saying: Monetary policy can't do anything right now; we have to use fiscal stimulus. What textbook is that? Frederic Mishkin, Money and Banking.
48:03 So, one thing that Krugman's been saying a lot lately is that people who worried--this would be me, and others--that the injection of $2 trillion or so of reserves into the banking system is going to cause inflation--look how stupid they were. They were crazy. They were wrong. It didn't happen. When people ask me why didn't it happen, I quote Allan Meltzer. He said, on this program maybe two years ago: That's because they are not spending it. Then you come to the question of it's not in the economy; of course it didn't cause inflation. They are sitting on it. So, the question I think it comes down to is I think Krugman would justify his current position by saying: It's true that in theory monetary policy could do something, but when the banks aren't going to spend the money you give them, then you are stuck and the government has to step in. And you are suggesting that that's partly because of the bad policy on the part of the Fed of paying interest on reserves, and partly because of other things. Here's one other point he would make, and where I partly agree with him. He would say: What Japan really needed to do was to set a higher inflation target. That is, create expectations on the part of folks. To lower the real interest rate. So, if the nominal interest rate is stuck at zero--let's say you have a 4% inflation. I think that's the number Krugman recommended. Then the real interest rate becomes -4%. In other words, it doesn't really cost anything to borrow money because you are paying it back with cheaper dollars in the future. This is something Ben Bernanke recommended the Japanese do as well. Do what? Raise their inflation target. To 4% rather than its current appearance of zero. I don't know that he mentioned the number 4, but to do what's called level targeting, which means make up for the deflation. So, Japan has had some mild deflation, and what Bernanke said was they should have some inflation now to sort of catch up for the previous fall in prices. I can't remember the number, but I think it may have been numbers like 3-4% mentioned in his article. This is something he wrote I think in the early 2000s. But interestingly he's rejected that for the United States and his argument is that we don't have outright deflation like Japan, so that's the reason he's able to reconcile these positions. It's hard to know. Given the way that the Department of Labor calculates housing prices into the Consumer Price Index (CPI), they've made some arbitrary choices; they might be right; it's a bizarre method; I'm sure the measurement of it is flawed. They have all kinds of problems with quality control, holding quality constant. One quick example that's really striking: According to official CPI data over the last 5 years, housing costs are up about 7.5%, total. That's a little weird. According to the Case-Shiller index, they are down like 32%. That's a 40% discrepancy between Case-Shiller and the CPI on housing, and housing is like a third of the CPI, roughly. In other words, I'm not trying to argue that we are really in deflation this year. This particular year, probably inflation is a little bit positive. But what I would argue is that in general the CPI is unreliable, and that's why I tend to focus on nominal GDP. And if you look at nominal GDP, it's just unambiguous. Instead of the normal 5% a year growth in nominal GDP, for the last 3 years it's been going up about on average I think 1-1.5% a year. And that's barely above population growth. So, basically what we are doing is we are not providing enough income, where we could have a fast recovery even if our economy was perfect. In other words, even if we had none of these flaws that you and I don't like about the regulatory system, the tax system, and everything. It's very unlikely that this amount of income will allow for a fast recovery, because to get a fast recovery we'd have to have rapid deflation, and you just don't tend to see fast recoveries during periods of rapid deflation. At least in a modern economy where probably wages are stickier than they used to be.
52:30 So, let's have a little fun. Let's suppose on December 31, Ben Bernanke writes a letter to President Obama and he says: I've always wanted to spend more time with my family, so I'm resigning. And to the surprise of many, the President, desperate for a healthy economy over the next 9 months, 10 months, for obvious reasons, puts in place Scott Sumner of Bentley University; he's approved, and on January 1st he takes control of the Fed's Chair. What would you do? What might you do? What would be your announcements and actions that you would think be the best in this situation? That's a good question. I'll give you a week if you want, but we are recording it now. You've got ten days, but let's pretend it's now. I can give you a quick answer, but it may not be a simple answer. First of all, any Fed policy has to be a strategy. It can't be just a tactic for the moment. So, I can't really know what's best for right now unless I know what the long term trajectory is. If I had to choose, I might just default to what the Fed was doing prior to the recession, which was promoting about 5% nominal GDP growth, maybe a little bit lower. Maybe 4%. That would be the long-term target. How do you get to a target like that? What would be your actions or words? Okay, but the second part is I think we need a little bit of catch up in the next two years because we are so far below trend. I don't think we should try to go all the way back up to the old trend line. I'd like to see us promote maybe 6-7% growth for the next couple of years, and then whatever we decide on. Let's say I pick 4% thereafter. Now, how do we get there? The ideal policy would be to create nominal GDP futures contracts. And peg the price of them. That is, issue enough money until the market expected nominal GDP to grow that fast. So, you would just keep injecting money until you got the nominal GDP futures contract showing the amount of growth that the goal of the policy was. How would you do that? How would you inject a sufficient amount of money given that the past injections have had no effect? First, if you want to make them more effective, you'd stop paying interest on reserves. That's a start. Now, let's suppose banks continue to sit on the money even at zero interest rates. You could always make the interest on reserves negative. You could charge them. That would be a fairly radical move. Now, I happen to think that's not necessary. That's a fairly radical option. That doesn't seem so radical. Well, it would probably for instance destroy the money market mutual fund industry, because people would be better off keeping money in safes in their house at zero interest--cash--than they would sitting in money market mutual funds at negative interest rates. I don't know if you see what I'm saying. I don't. There would be some distortions to the financial system. That would be really bad. I would prefer that instead of going to negative interest on reserves that the first option would be to simply buy as many assets as necessary. The Fed hasn't even scratched the surface for what they could buy. There's a lot of assets out there. But I think the more important point is that people tend to look at this problem backwards. What the Fed has been doing is injecting money and promising that they'll pull the money out again before we get a lot of inflation. Or anything of that sort. Mop it up. So, it's a temporary currency injection. Those are not going to boost GDP very much, or spending or inflation. To have an effect, it has to be more permanent. So, what the target does is it tells you the Fed is going to leave enough money out there permanently to try to hit this track that you've laid out, this trajectory that you are targeting for nominal income. Again, the optimal solution in my mind would be for the markets to determine how much money and what interest rates for this futures contract technique. Essentially the Fed just targets the price of the futures contract and passively adjusts the money supply as needed to make that target price stick. In other words, the analogy would be like the gold standard, except instead of pegging the price of gold, you'd be pegging the price of nominal GDP futures. In both systems the quantity of money in circulation is determined by how much the public wants to hold, given that trajectory for nominal GDP. Now, people will say: What if no amount of money gets you there? You can't really seriously argue that because in the reductio ad absurdum, the Fed would buy up all of planet Earth. And pay for it with currency. Obviously that's not an equilibrium outcome. Long before you got to that point, inflation expectations would start rising and you'd have to stop the injection. I would even go further, though. I would predict that if my policy were put into effect, the monetary base--that's the money created by the Fed--would actually go down. In other words, we have plenty of money in circulation right now. Too much to hit that target. The reason we are not having faster growth is that there is too much demand for money, partly because of the interest on reserves and partly because of the low expected nominal GDP growth. If we had a robust, more expansionary policy people and banks wouldn't want to be sitting on reserves. They would move the money into places where they could earn higher rates of return. And it would turn out we could actually need much less currency to achieve our target than we currently have in circulation. Or base money, to be precise. When I talk about the monetary base I mean including both money in the banks that they are sitting on--the so-called excess reserves--and also the cash in circulation. That you and I hold. What would happen is the banks would probably stop sitting on all those excess reserves. The public certainly doesn't want to hold $3 trillion in cash. So, what would happen is at some point the Fed would have to pull some of that money out of circulation that was injected during the emergency, because in a healthy economy you simply don't have that much demand for liquidity. So, I'm not really worried that the Fed wouldn't be able to buy enough assets to make that happen. I would expect once they started buying assets, expectations would increase sharply, and that very quickly they would have to reverse course and start pulling money out of circulation.A major pharmaceutical company lied and misrepresented its powerful opioid product for profit, putting people at risk in the worsening opioid epidemic, according to a new bombshell report by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO).
The report, which McCaskill’s office has described as the first round of an investigation into opioid companies, details the workings of Insys Therapeutics, which manufactures the fentanyl drug Subsys. According to the report, Insys misrepresented Subsys to get insurers to pay for it, letting the company sell its product to people who didn’t need and shouldn’t have access to such a powerful drug.
“In the case of Subsys patient Sarah Fuller, an audio recording reveals that an Insys employee repeatedly misled representatives of Envision Pharmaceutical Services to obtain approval for her prescription,” the report found. “The result, in the case of Ms. Fuller, was death due to allegedly improper and excessive Subsys use.”
McCaskill’s report provides a grim snapshot of one reason the opioid epidemic became the deadliest drug overdose crisis in US history: Driven by a quest for profit, opioid makers and distributors misled doctors, insurers, patients, and the general public about their drugs — claiming that they are safe and effective for conditions that they would turn out to be neither safe nor effective for. The drugs proliferated across the US, and tens of thousands of people have died annually for years as a result of opioid overdoses.
What McCaskill’s office found
In 2012, Insys found that Subsys got reimbursement approval from insurers in only about 30 percent of cases — a pretty low rate. So the company set up a special unit, known as the Insys Reimbursement Center (IRC), to try to get that number up.
There was a lot of pressure to do this, according to McCaskill’s report: “Led by an Insys employee named Elizabeth Gurrieri, IRC employees reportedly received significant financial incentives and management pressure — including quotas and group and individual bonuses — to boost the rate of Subsys authorizations.”
At the same time, an internal document uncovered by McCaskill’s team found that IRC failed to maintain “even basic measures” to make sure staff weren’t lying and misleading insurers so they would pay for Subsys when patients didn’t really need the drug. The unit took part in a lot of shady behavior as a result, even allegedly falsifying patients’ medical records to help them attain prescriptions.
Here’s the problem: Subsys is a very powerful drug. It is highly potent and addictive. That’s why it’s meant for cancer pain patients. These patients typically need end-of-life care, meaning the risk of addiction isn’t as big of a concern, and many have already developed a tolerance to opioids from previous use.
So when Insys representatives misled and in some cases flat-out lied about a patient’s needs, they helped push a dangerous drug to people who didn’t need it. The results are often misuse, addiction, and death.
Insys was apparently aware of this, McCaskill’s report found: “According to a class action lawsuit, Insys management ‘was aware that only about 10% of prescriptions approved through the Prior Authorization Department were for cancer patients,’ and an Oregon Department of Justice investigation found that 78% of preauthorization forms submitted by Insys on behalf of Oregon patients were for off-label uses.”
And the company allegedly knew, based on internal documents, “that the IRC lacked formal policies or monitoring procedures to ensure proper communication between Insys employees and healthcare professionals.”
In short, the company allegedly knew its very dangerous product was being used for unintended purposes — yet it continued pushing more prescriptions for higher profits anyway.
McCaskill’s report points to the story of Sarah Fuller as an example: Based on an audio recording, the team found that an Insys employee misrepresented herself as “with” the office of Fuller’s doctor to representatives for a pharmacy benefit manager. The Insys employee then suggested — albeit with careful wording to avoid the use of the word “cancer” — that Fuller, who did not have cancer, needed Subsys for “breakthrough pain.” The prescription was approved. Fuller later died “due to an adverse reaction to prescription medications.”
Insys did not respond to a request for comment. But the company told McCaskill’s office that it had “completely transformed its employee base over the last several years,” and has “actively taken the appropriate steps to place ethical standards of conduct and patient interests at the heart of [its] business decisions.” And in June, Gurrieri, the former head of IRC, pled guilty for conspiring to defraud insurers.
McCaskill’s office said it intends to “continue to evaluate whether these efforts have resulted in a true transformation of the Insys corporate culture.” And this is just one part of her office’s efforts to hold opioid makers accountable in the middle of the US’s overdose crisis.
This isn’t the first report to reach these types of conclusions
Perhaps no single data point makes the connection between drugmakers and the opioid epidemic clearer than the following chart from an analysis published in the Annual Review of Public Health, which shows how increases in opioid sales went hand in hand with increases in opioid overdose deaths and drug treatment admissions:
Much of this was the result of misleading marketing by major drug companies.
As an extensive Los Angeles Times investigation found, Purdue’s opioid OxyContin was marketed for its supposed ability to provide 12 hours of pain relief. But as Harriet Ryan, Lisa Girion, and Scott Glover reported, “Even before OxyContin went on the market, clinical trials showed many patients weren’t getting 12 hours of relief. Since the drug’s debut in 1996, the company has been confronted with additional evidence, including complaints from doctors, reports from its own sales reps and independent research.”
This was critical to Purdue’s competitive advantage: If it really didn’t provide 12-hour relief, then it wasn’t more effective than other similar painkillers on the market. In the face of the evidence, though, Purdue stood by its claim for years. And it told doctors that if patients weren’t seeing the promised results, then the problem was that doses were too low.
These efforts, it seems, were in the name of profit. One sales memo uncovered by the Times was literally titled “$$$$$$$$$$$$$ It's Bonus Time in the Neighborhood!”
This is alarming for public health: As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned, higher doses significantly increase the risk of overdose and addiction.
The Los Angeles Times investigation found, “More than half of long-term OxyContin users are on doses that public health officials consider dangerously high, according to an analysis of nationwide prescription data conducted for The Times.”
Opioid makers’ claims that their drugs are an effective treatment for chronic pain are similarly faulty. There’s simply no good scientific evidence that opioid painkillers can effectively treat long-term chronic pain as patients grow tolerant of opioids’ effects — but there’s plenty of evidence that prolonged use can result in very bad complications, including a higher risk of addiction, overdose, and death. In short, the risks outweigh the benefits for most chronic pain patients.
Yet opioid makers were highly influential in perpetuating the claim that their drugs can treat chronic pain. Several public health experts explained the recent history of opioid marketing in the Annual Review of Public Health, detailing Purdue Pharma’s involvement after it put OxyContin on the market in the mid-1990s:
Between 1996 and 2002, Purdue Pharma funded more than 20,000 pain-related educational programs through direct sponsorship or financial grants and launched a multifaceted campaign to encourage long-term use of [opioid painkillers] for chronic non-cancer pain. As part of this campaign, Purdue provided financial support to the American Pain Society, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the Joint Commission, pain patient groups, and other organizations. In turn, these groups all advocated for more aggressive identification and treatment of pain, especially use of [opioid painkillers].
As a result of the misleading claims, Purdue and several of its chief executives paid more than $600 million in fines in 2007.
But based on McCaskill’s report and other investigations, that kind of shoddy behavior has continued — likely making America’s deadliest drug overdose epidemic even worse.
The opioid epidemic, explained
In 2016, more Americans died of drug overdoses than any other year on record — more than 64,000 people in one year, based on preliminary figures from the National Center for Health Statistics. That’s higher than the number of Americans who have ever died from car crashes, gun violence, or HIV/AIDS during any single year.
This latest drug epidemic, however, is not solely about illegal drugs. It began, in fact, with a legal drug.
Back in the 1990s, doctors were persuaded to treat pain as a serious medical issue. There’s a good reason for that: About 100 million US adults suffer from chronic pain, according to a 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine.
Pharmaceutical companies took advantage of this concern. Through a big marketing campaign, they got doctors to prescribe products like OxyContin and Percocet in droves — even though the evidence for opioids treating long-term, chronic pain is very weak (despite their effectiveness for short-term, acute pain), while the evidence that opioids cause harm in the long term is very strong.
Painkillers proliferated, landing in the hands of not just patients but also teens rummaging through their parents’ medicine cabinets, other family members and friends of patients, and the black market.
As a result, opioid overdose deaths trended up — sometimes involving opioids alone, other times involving drugs like alcohol and benzodiazepines (typically prescribed to relieve anxiety). By 2015, opioid overdose deaths totaled more than 33,000 — close to two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths. (The figures for 2016 aren’t added up just yet.)
Seeing the rise in opioid misuse and deaths, officials have cracked down on prescriptions painkillers. Law enforcement, for instance, threatened doctors with incarceration and the loss of their medical licenses if they prescribed the drugs unscrupulously.
Ideally, doctors should still be able to get painkillers to patients who truly need them (and they can work for some individual chronic pain patients) — after, for example, evaluating the patient’s history of drug addiction. But doctors, who weren’t conducting even such basic checks, are now being told to give more thought to their prescriptions.
Yet many people who lost access to painkillers are still addicted. So some who could no longer legally obtain painkillers have turned to illegally obtaining the cheaper, more potent opioids: heroin and fentanyl, a powerful synthetic drug.
Not all painkiller users went this way, and not all opioid users started with painkillers. But statistics suggest many did: A 2014 study in JAMA Psychiatry found 75 percent of heroin users in treatment started with painkillers, and a 2015 analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that people who are addicted to painkillers are 40 times more likely to be addicted to heroin.
So other types of opioid overdoses, excluding painkillers, also rose.
That doesn’t mean pulling back on the number of painkiller prescriptions was a mistake. It appeared to slow the rise in painkiller deaths, and likely prevented doctors from prescribing opioids to new generations of people with drug use disorders.
But it must be paired with more access to addiction treatment. According to a 2016 report by the surgeon general, just 10 percent of Americans with a drug use disorder obtain specialty treatment. The report found that the low rate was largely explained by a shortage of treatment options.
So federal and state officials have pushed for more treatment funding, including medication-assisted treatment like methadone and buprenorphine.
Some states, like Florida and Indiana, have taken a "tough on crime" approach that focuses on incarcerating drug traffickers. But the incarceration approach has been around for decades — and it hasn’t stopped massive drug epidemics like the current crisis.One of the reasons why I became motivated to begin writing again was this long debate on Foseti’s now-mothballed blog.
To simplify, the arguments were split between:
those who wanted neoreaction to remain a small community of amateur scholarly correspondents uninterested in general influence
people who were interested in forming an influential political sect, which would require propaganda
those who saw merit in both approaches
The discussion was partly sparked by the style of Radish and the retirement of Moldbug from active blogging.
Going back to the comments on Foseti’s post, I was more persuaded by the arguments that Contemplationist, Spandrell, Surviving Babel, and Jim put forth than the others.
My general take on writing is that it is best used to provide information, to entertain, and to persuade other people. Writing for the public, which is what a blog does, necessarily means influencing members of that public.
There’s an alternative to writing for the public called “writing e-mails and letters,” which is more private and more effective at persuading people one-by-one besides.
Contemplationist wrote:
Lets also remember that Moldbug’s mission was to convert the Brahmin young, which is absolutely possible with a hipster intellectual attitude (I’ve done it myself).
The 60s counterculture was not supported by the old progressives. We can certainly create a reactionary counterculture. Culture is supreme.
What would be a simple example? Formal Fridays for one. Dress old school. Behave old school. Don’t take shit from women. Be the aristocrat if you can.
Also, as AnomalyUK has noted, we just need some threshold of intelligent common people to be aware that they know someone who holds the opinion for example that “the Queen would rule better than the Parliament.”
I see all of this as very doable.
Neovictorian recently wrote an article about how this sort of thing has impacted his attention span (with some direct reference to my work) along with some reference to the broader mass media, of which I’m a small part.
He and Bruce Charlton absolutely have a point in that. To the extent that you already agree with most of what’s being said, you should refocus your attention on bringing your real life in line with your changed beliefs rather than expending too much of your attention reading entertaining neoreactionary propaganda.
If you need to taper off your addiction, just skim headlines, read weekly round-ups like the ones published by Nick B. Steves or Free Northerner, or use an RSS reader to decrease the amount of time that you waste keeping up with the volume of production.
I’m a propagandist. I don’t really try to dress myself up as anything else. I do get repetitious sometimes, because repetition is necessary to get the desired effect. My writing is often derivative and makes no attempt to conceal that.
Part of the motivation that I have to write is also just to share what I’m reading with other people so that it doesn’t stay locked up in my head, which it otherwise would. No one is obligated to read what I write. Thousands of people do find it useful and interesting.
A lot of the writers who churn out of the reactosphere burn out because:
their work responsibilities become too heavy
they need to earn more money, which requires more of their attention
they stop enjoying it
they dislike the new people coming in to the space
they dislike the additional effort needed to grab reader attention
they become frightened of |
deployment(less than 1% for cooling electricity) No heatsinks, no fans, no noise, no dust 2,400 DataTank Immersion Blades (80x AM BE 200/board) Integrated power, managed networking, serverstotal cluster with deployed DataTank system on-sitetotal cluster with power, servers, networking (no DataTank System)cluster only without power, servers, networking (no DataTank System) Hardware produced in-house by DataTank Mining Estimated chip price based on recent data, future price may be lowerDue to our past experience with ASICMiner, we are committed to using ASICMiner hardware for our own capacity, until we see a reason not to. DataTank systems are compatible with any hardware, including with chips from Spondoolies Tech, InnoSilicon, Hashra, HashFast, GridSeed, Cointerra, Butterfly Labs, Bitfury, Alcheminer, Avalon, ASICminer and more. Bitcoin, Scrypt, any other hardware, including GPU computers.We are in direct contact with several of these manufacturers to get their hardware ready for immersion.DataTank Design Guidelines for ASIC board manufacturers can be found here (PDF):DataTank Mining Limited is a technology company founded by the Bitcoin cluster engineers at Allied Control. While headquartered in Hong Kong, the world's freest economy in the word for 20 years standing, the company focuses at overseas deployments, where electricity rates are low and renewable electricity (hydro, wind, geothermal) is available in abundant quantities. The team runs its own SMD and CNC production line and has produced immersion cooling systems and ASIC boards in large quantities. During years of engineering time, we have built a network of partners, resources and contacts in Asia, Europe and the USA. Our first larger scale immersion cooled cluster consisted of 6048 Xilinx®Spartan-6 FPGAs in 24 tanks and was built in early 2012 with the Bitcoin still below $5.YouTube: ASICMiner Bitcoin Cluster Hong KongAnalysis of Large Scale Industrial Bitcoin Mining OperationsWhy DataTank Immersion Cooling is cheaper than anything else for Bitcoin miningCase Study Uptime Institute Symposium: Immersion-2 SystemBitcoin 2-Phase Immersion Cooling & Implications for High Performance Computing2-Phase Immersion Cooling Concept for Intel® Xeon Phi Coprocessor Cluster Cuts investment in half or doubles hashrate with identical investment Rapid deployment leads to significantly higher profits, ROI in weeks Infrastructure at unparalleled low prices, reusable systems with zero overhead Most efficient ASICs are purchased in time for deployment DataTank is the result of a multi-year effort of miners and ASIC manufacturers Safety, transparency and reliability of operation Public ownership of capacity Maximize direct and indirect mining income for unit holders. Franchising or leasing spare capacity for profit share. ASIC co-location and hosting directly or with strategic partners. Introduction of spare capacity via bidding model. Digital marketplace, contracts, cloud mining.In case production cost of final mining hardware is lower than raised funds or there is a significant movement in Bitcoin price, the difference will be paid back in form of additional units or via dividend payments or both.The company will publish financial statements and certified audits frequently to make calculation of operating expenses transparent.The permanent measures of capacity at DataTank Mining are MW and kW. This is in contrast to MH/s, GH/s or PH/s or other measures of hashing power. These measures are important to calculate mining income at a certain period of time, but they change depending on network difficulty and currency being mined. What does not change over time is the available power, infrastructure and cooling capacity.As an example, today 1kW of Bitcoin ASICs may produce 1.66TH. When new hardware (ie. 28nm) is released, the same 1kW of power may produce over 3TH by simply pulling out the old board and replacing it with the new one. Alternatively, it could be used to mine a different currency altogether (Scrypt).Once in place, capacity will be used again and again, including its power supply, infrastructure, and anything else. Nothing, except the boards with chips, has to change.Detailed information:Questions are welcome and will be addressed in this forum before the date of public offering.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The goal is to deploy in the fastest time possible, but hardware and infrastructure deployments on a megawatt scale take time. It also has to be done internationally and safe without risks. Furthermore, it is not uncommon that manufacturers of electronic or infrastructure components take up to 12-16 weeks to deliver, or even longer on such a scale.Furthmore, we have to be frank to investors. We have good people involved and hands-on experience building some of the large mines ourselves. We also have our own production facility in-house, within our very own rooms. We believe we are capable of making such an assessment.DataTank Mining is a spin-off of Allied Control and we are indeed the same people. The purpose is to focus 100% on mining infrastructure.When hardware in DTMA capacity (hardware + capacity) stops being efficient, boards can be removed and DTMA effectively becomes the same as DMTB (capacity only).DTMA or DTMB holders can chose to purchase (at internal cost) new hardware either by reinvesting paid dividends or raising new funds. Alternatively unit holders can send in their own hardware and get it deployed instead. We are working with hardware and ASIC manufactures (SHA and Scyrpt) to make hardware available.DataTank Mining's profit comes from deploying 20% of _identical_ hardware alongside the public capacity. Hence, we only earn money if we are successful. The 20% fee on operating cost is used to fund the day-to-day operation, including on-site staff providing various services such as ongoing hardware re-deployments, maintenance and security etc.DataTank Mining and Allied Control builds and runs systems at-cost, there is no profit involved. In fact, running systems internally by ourselves also means that we can build them cheaper - we don't require bells and whistles on our own systems.To minimize risks, the most sensible approach is to immediately exchange BTC for USD as infrastructure is paid in fiat money. For managing BTC/USD for actual hardware, a sensible approach will be followed to bridge the time between IPO and hardware acquisition.As 100% of the income is paid out, it will be an individual decision to reinvest or not. DataTank Mining will not keep income as reserve for re-investment. 100% is paid out.DTMA and DTMB holders can deploy new boards by either directly purchasing hardware from DataTank Mining (at cost) or third parties and mailing hardware in. New funds can be considered, this will be a community approach.It will be measured in the currency that is being mined. Initially BTC in the case of DTMA. DTMB will be up to the individual miners using the capacity. This may be subject to change over time in order to provide a practial solution (dividend distribution may be BTC while mining for other currencies etc).-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here is a first progress update since the original announcement of DataTank Mining last week. The public sale of capacity units on HavelockInvestments.com has been pushed back (preliminary date Monday July 7, after the U.S. Marshall's Service Bitcoin auction and the July 4 weekend). In the meantime, early investors may contact us by email. We are in discussion with a manufacturer to provide ASIC hardware in return for DataTank capacity. This is an unexpected turn of events, but it may prove to be a very important development with the potential to (a) reduce the need to finance chips and outlay required at the time of deployment, and (b) to speed up the production pipeline earlier than expected. We have agreed not to post details before a consensus is reached. How this affects existing and future DTMA holders will remain to be seen when we have results. We have also received inquires for exclusive partnerships from two different known parties in the mining space, and at least one of them is seriously considered at the moment.Several questions have been raised in regards to the choice of locations. We would like to comment as follows: DataTank Mining is not fixed on a specific location (such as the USA) and can deploy in parallel if required, even internationally (minimum requirement for DataTank Mining systems is power feed and internet, deployment of containers can be indoors or outdoors). Next to pure electricity prices, consideration is given to other factors such as long term (and political) stability, unrestricted trade and access for staff and also local resources and talented personnel available. Average electricity price at DTM's first choice locations is below $0.03, while there are several more locations (including China) available with $0.03 to $0.05/kWh. We would like to hear opinions via email, especially in regards to US or China as locations of choice.We also would like to remind everyone that DataTank Mining is NOT offering shares in the company, but units of capacity ("units") of DataTank container mining systems (ie. one unit represents 0.01 Kilowatt (kW). 100 units are one 1 kW block).-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We are pleased to report several positive developments. DataTank Mining has received enough funding via direct investments in the pre-offering phase to proceed with the business plan. Offering of single DataTank Mining units on HavelockInvesetments.com has been cancelled for the time being. The internal platform (control panel) will be developed in parallel to the initial DataTank systems. The prospectus will be updated in the near future to reflect latest information and further changes. Most significant changes are that DTMA units (capacity and mining hardware) won't be necessary in its current form. This is a step towards reducing investment risks and making DataTank Mining a more predictable venture. DTMA and investment in future hardware for future deployment has caused confusion that can be avoided (we are working with DTMA direct investors to convert units). Direct investments into capacity units are always welcome by emailing to admin@datatank-mining.com. Please note that until the internal platform is available, a minimum purchase of 10,000 units (edit: 100kW). We apologize for the dust to the community and to HavelockInvesetments.com, please bear with us to make this not only the most efficient mining venture, but also to raise the bar for safe mining investments. We plan to make this as predictable as possible for participants and partners. Production for DataTank No. 1 has already commenced and AM BE200 hardware is the hardware of choice for initial deployment. We are currently evaluating if Scrypt hardware will be available in time for at least a partial deployment to use some spare capacity. We keep working with ASIC manufactures for their current and future chips to make them available as immersion blades. We are also offering capacity in DataTank systems and prototyping runs to existing and new ASIC manufacturers to get their hardware immersion ready. We will keep working on hardware support, deployment locations, and other partnerships while the initial DataTank container systems are built for deployment. We would like to re-emphasize that DataTank systems and the operation expenses include everything required for mining, including electrical switchgear, transformers, power supplies, cooling, rents, 24/7 on-site support staff, iPhone control panel, and anything else that is needed for operation. There are _no_ other costs. Reselling of ASIC hardware for air cooling users will be possible. Please note that immersion blades are based on a dual design for immersion and air cooling (1U form factor or tube-like) and we encourage manufacturers to follow our design guidelines. If reselling for air-cooling is indeed in demand by Q4 2014 or Q1 2015, DTM will make available at-cost DIY reselling packages that consist of inexpensive cardboard boxes, thermal paste, heatsinks and fans, with a compartment for immersion blades. DTM will also offer shipping services at a transparent small fee to unit holders to liquidate their hardware (with or without air cooling kit).Please also follow DataTank Mining on Twitter to receive updates:We also posted a couple of videos recently showing several chips in action and will keep posting progress reports and pictures frequently:Police said the car exploded in the western Berlin suburb of Charlottenburg early Tuesday, killing the male driver.
"Investigators are working on the assumption that it was an explosive device inside or on the vehicle that caused the blast," Berlin police spokesman Carsten Müller told the Associated Press news agency.
Police said that there was no indication the blast was a terrorist attack, adding that one possible link was to organized crime gangs.
Driver details sketchy
The driver, who had a Turkish background, has not been named, and was not the owner of the car, police confirmed.
It was not known whether the victim had been the intended target, officials said, but he was known to police over alleged drug dealing, forgery and illegal gambling.
Another avenue of inquiry was a possible revenge killing by Berlin's notorious biker gangs, one prosecutor at the scene said.
There were no other casualties or injuries in Tuesday's incident.
Rush hour blast
The explosion occurred on Bismarckstrasse which leads into the heart of Berlin. The force of the blast caused the silver VW "Passat" station wagon to overturn and ram into a parked vehicle. The debris-strewn street was cordoned off for several hours while forensics experts examined the scene.
Police tweeted video footage from the site in which officers warn local residents to stay indoors and keep away from windows.
They also tweeted photos showing the mangled car in the middle of the road with its windows blown out and its front end smashed in.
Police said no further explosive devices had been found at the scene.
mm/nm/kms (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)Mounties in Burnaby, B.C., are investigating after an apparent ecstasy lab was discovered in a residential neighbourhood.
Police were alerted after a complaint of strong chemical smells coming from a house in the 100 block of Ellesmere Avenue.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and entered the home early Saturday morning, where they found a drug lab, apparently manufacturing ecstasy.
Three people, whose names have not been released, were arrested at the scene and are being held in police custody.
"This is a perfect example of how members of the public can be active in their community and assist the RCMP," said Burnaby RCMP Sgt. Scott Rintoul.
"This criminal operation represented a significant public safety risk not only to the surrounding Burnaby residents and their homes but to anyone who might have ingested something produced under these filthy conditions."
No 'good batch' of synthetic drugs
Police say the drug lab in the home is "substantial," and say it will likely take several days to safely dismantle it.
The Burnaby RCMP is being assisted by the RCMP Federal Clandestine Lab Team, specialist chemists from Heath Canada, the Burnaby Fire Department and members of the B.C. Ambulance Service while dismantling the lab.
"There is no such thing as a 'bad batch' of synthetic drugs, because there is no good batch," said Sgt. Duncan Pound with the RCMP Federal Drug Enforcement Branch in BC.
"Every single tablet represents a potentially serious health risk, whether short-term or long-term. This successful enforcement on the part of the RCMP Burnaby Detachment is significant and an important contribution to the RCMP’s national synthetic drug enforcement initiative."
A chemical additive in esctasy known as PMMA has been blamed for several deaths in B.C. and Alberta going back to last summer.976 SHARES Share Tweet
Why do liberals seem to hate just about everything that is good and true and right about this country? Earlier today I was writing an article about Kathy Griffin and the hate-filled ideology that she represents, and it got me thinking about a lot of things. I truly believe that her now infamous photograph will turn out to be a defining moment in American politics. It has become exceedingly clear that Kathy Griffin and those like her have nothing to offer but anger, hate and violence, and that is not a message that most Americans are going to embrace. So if true conservatives can start communicating a message of love, peace, prosperity, liberty and freedom that is based on the principles and values that this nation was founded upon, there is no way that the left is going to be able to compete with that.
If we want to make America great again, we need to embrace the things that made us great in the first place. Unfortunately, the left tends to hate most of those things. In fact, many leftists will actually tell you that America was never great. These “progressives” want our nation to be fundamentally “transformed” into an entirely different place than our forefathers intended, and they plan to use big government as the tool to conduct that “transformation”.
If they ultimately win, the country that you and I love so much today will be gone forever. I want you to read the list below and imagine what the United States would be like if all of these things were eradicated. The following is a list of 100 things that liberals hate about America…
#1 The U.S. Constitution
#2 Liberty
#3 Freedom
#4 Success
#5 Big Trucks
#6 Capitalism
#7 Free Markets
#8 Wealthy People
#9 Economic Prosperity
#10 The Rule Of Law
#11 Traditional Values
#12 The American Flag
#13 The Founding Fathers
#14 Guns
#15 Limited Government
#16 Religious Freedom
#17 Homeschooling
#18 Private Schools
#19 Christian Schools
#20 Entrepreneurs
#21 Ronald Reagan
#22 Donald Trump
#23 Mike Pence
#24 Country Music
#25 Rush Limbaugh
#26 The Tea Party
#27 Lower Taxes
#28 Old-Fashioned Light Bulbs
#29 Jesus
#30 The Bible
#31 The Christian Faith
#32 The Drudge Report
#33 John Wayne
#34 Alex Jones
#35 NASCAR
#36 Tupperware
#37 Big Cheeseburgers
#38 Football
#39 Clint Eastwood
#40 The Army
#41 The Navy
#42 The Marines
#43 The Air Force
#44 Ron Paul
#45 Rand Paul
#46 Marriage
#47 Family
#48 Babies
#49 Wal-Mart
#50 Flag Pins
#51 Steakhouses
#52 Chuck Norris
#53 Bottled Water
#54 George Washington
#55 The 1st Amendment
#56 The 2nd Amendment
#57 The 10th Amendment
#58 The Pledge Of Allegiance
#59 McDonald’s
#60 Coca-Cola
#61 Fried Food
#62 Muscle Cars
#63 Charlie Daniels
#64 Dolly Parton
#65 Duck Dynasty
#66 Johnny Cash
#67 Sarah Palin
#68 Cheesesteaks
#69 Sean Hannity
#70 Rodeos
#71 Cadillacs
#72 Barbie Dolls
#73 Ted Cruz
#74 Fiscal Sanity
#75 Charlton Heston
#76 Israel
#77 Benjamin Netanyahu
#78 Miners
#79 Loggers
#80 The Coal Industry
#81 National Sovereignty
#82 National Borders
#83 Uncle Sam
#84 The Washington Redskins
#85 Small Businesses
#86 Self-Employment
#87 Harley-Davidson Motorcycles
#88 Military Veterans
#89 The Phrase “Islamic Terror”
#90 Big Families
#91 The Bible Belt
#92 The Creation Museum
#93 The 10 Commandments
#94 Anyone That Is Pro-Life
#95 Anyone That Disagrees With Them
#96 Hard Work
#97 Patriotism
#98 Winning
#99 The Truth
#100 The American PeopleMultilevel Marketing Primer – The MLM Startup Guide
I. Multilevel Marketing/Pyramids
Federal and state multilevel marketing and anti-pyramid statutes are components
of a comprehensive consumer protection umbrella. These laws are designed to protect
individuals from being defrauded through illegitimate programs which lure participants
with the promise of easy money by compensating them from the investments of
additional participants rather than from legitimate product sales. These programs have
been called "Ponzi schemes," "airplane plans," "pyramids," "chain letters," and many
other names. Although known in the United States only during the twentieth century,
such programs have cost their participants hundreds of millions of dollars. Federal and
state regulatory agencies have sought to proscribe such illegal activity in multiple ways,
including the use of anti-pyramid, mail fraud, business opportunity, franchise, lottery,
and securities laws. (Each of these areas will be discussed below.)
Whether a program is a legitimate multilevel marketing plan or an illegal pyramid
depends principally on: (1) the method by which the products or services are sold; and
(2) the manner in which participants are compensated. Essentially, if a marketing plan
compensates participants for sales by their ""enrollees," "recruits," and/or their downline
enrollees and recruits, that plan is multilevel. If a program compensates participants,
directly or indirectly, merely for the introduction or enrollment of other participants into
the program, it is a pyramid.
A. Legislative Intent and Judicial Interpretation
As a practical matter, it is impossible for legislators to anticipate the infinite
creativity of individuals who devise, implement, and promote legal and illegal
marketing programs. Accordingly, anti-pyramid and multilevel statutes, like most
consumer protection legislation, are drafted and interpreted very broadly so that they
might encompass all of the possible permutations of an illegitimate scheme, and thus
have a jurisdictional basis for regulating and eliminating them.
The analysis used by regulators to evaluate multilevel marketing programs is
essentially two-fold. The first of the two foci ("focuses" if you are from Idaho) involve
a review of the theoretical or conceptual design of the compensation plan. More
precisely stated, does the compensation plan, as written, appear to compensate
participants: (1) merely for the introduction of additional participants into the program;
or (2) for the sale of goods or services to "end consumers." If it does the former, it
constitutes the most classic example of a pyramid. If it does the latter, it will pass
through the first prong of the analysis. Suffice it to say that the vast majority of new
MLM companies do not run afoul of this first hurdle. Historically, they, as well as many
existing companies, have had problems with the second component of the analysis.
The second aspect of the analysis involves the "operational analysis" of the
compensation plan. Notwithstanding the conceptual or theoretical design of the plan,
what in fact do distributors spend their time doing. More precisely stated, in actual
operation, what type of activity does the compensation plan incent — the recruitment
of additional distributors or sales. As discussed below, despite the sale of products or
services by distributors, the compensation plan can nevertheless constitute a pyramid.
The operational analysis involves factual and subjective determinations. Over
the decades, courts have developed a litany of factors by which they evaluate
compensation programs. The definitive (and amorphous) test is, "what is the emphasis
of the program?" If the emphasis of an MLM program is on recruiting (rather than
product or service sales), it will be a pyramid. While none of us has a crystal ball by
which we can divine the future operation of an MLM program, having reviewed
countless plans, we have developed substantial prognosticating skills.
B. Is Your Program Multilevel?
Multilevel marketing companies must guard against being classified as a pyramid
on both the state and federal levels. The majority of states statutorily regulate
multilevel, or more precisely anti-pyramid, activity. Federal regulation, on the other
hand, is primarily a function of administrative and judicial decisions arising from a
series of private party and Federal Trade Commission litigation.
1. State Statutory Approaches
As regards pyramids and multilevel marketing plans, state statutes have taken
two distinct approaches. A sophisticated minority(1) of state laws specifically define and
regulate multilevel marketing plans. Georgia’s statute provides a typical definition of
a multilevel marketing company:
other business entity which sells, distributes, or supplies for a valuable
consideration goods or services through independent agents, contractors,
or distributors at different levels wherein such participants may recruit
other participants and wherein commissions, cross-commissions,
bonuses, refunds, discounts, dividends, or other considerations in the
program are or may be paid as a result of the sale of such goods or
services or the recruitment, actions, or performances of additional
participants. "Multilevel distribution company" means any person, firm, corporation, orother business entity which sells, distributes, or supplies for a valuableconsideration goods or services through independent agents, contractors,or distributors at different levels wherein such participants may recruitother participants and wherein commissions, cross-commissions,bonuses, refunds, discounts, dividends, or other considerations in theprogram are or may be paid as a result of the sale of such goods orservices or the recruitment, actions, or performances of additionalparticipants. (2)
The definitions of a multilevel company or multilevel marketing plan in the other
states that specifically define multilevel marketing are identical or very similar to
Georgia’s.
Broken into individual components, the elements that must be met to establish
a multilevel company or multilevel marketing plan include:
Elements of a Multilevel Compensation Plan Does Your Program Meet These Elements? (1) A person, firm, corporation or other business entity (2) which (a) sells; (b) distributes; or (c) supplies(3) (3) for consideration (4) goods or services (5) through independent agents, contractors, or distributors (6) at different levels (7) participants may recruit other participants (8) compensation to participants is paid as a result of or (a) the sale of such goods or services; (b) the recruitment, actions or performance of other
participants
C. Is Your Program a Pyramid?
The vast majority of states utilize an indirect approach by defining a “pyramid”,
“chain distributor scheme” or “endless-chain scheme” and proscribing such programs.
Regardless of the name used by the statutes, their intent is to prohibit plans or
programs that reward participants, either directly or indirectly, on the basis of
recruitment or enrollment of other participants rather than compensating them for sales
of products or services to end consumers. For example, North Carolina defines a
“pyramid” as:
[a]ny program utilizing a pyramid or chain process by which a participant
gives a valuable consideration for the opportunity to receive
compensation or things of value in return for inducing other persons to
become participants in the program.
N. C. St. 14-291.2(b)
New York’s definition of a “chain distributor scheme” is more precise, but nonetheless
representative of anti-pyramid statutes.
[A] “chain distributor scheme” is a sales device whereby a person, upon
condition that he make an investment, is granted a license or right to
solicit or recruit for profit or economic gain one or more additional
persons who are also granted such license or right upon condition of
making an investment and may further perpetuate the chain of persons
who are granted such license or right upon such condition. A limitation
as to the number of persons who may participate, or the presence of
additional conditions affecting eligibility for such license or right to recruit
or solicit or the receipt of profits therefrom, does not change the identity
of the scheme as a chain distributor scheme. As used herein,
“investment” means any acquisition, for a consideration other than
personal services, of property, tangible or intangible, and includes without
limitation, franchises, business opportunities and services, and any other
means, medium, form or channel for the transferring of funds, whether or
not related to the production or distribution of goods or services. It does
not include sales demonstration equipment and materials furnished at
cost for use in making sales and not for resale.
N.Y. Gen. Bus 359-fff.
The laws of Texas contain a similar definition for “endless chain” schemes.
“Endless chain” means any scheme for the disposal or distribution of
property whereby a participant pays a valuable consideration for the
chance to receive compensation for introducing one or more additional
persons into participation in the scheme or for the chance to receive
compensation when a person introduced by the participant introduces a
new participant.
V.T.C.A., Penal Code 32.48.
Anti-pyramid statutes provide that pyramids, endless chain schemes, or chain
referral schemes are illegal. Thus, so long as a multilevel compensation plan does not
fit within the parameters of the prohibited activities, it is permissible (at least as regards
anti-pyramid laws).
Elements of a Pyramid Does Your Program Meet These Elements? (1) A scheme, plan or program; (2) For which a participant renders consideration to join; (3) For the right or chance to receive compensation or
other things of value; (4) Which is contingent upon the introduction of
additional participants into the scheme, plan or program.
If any of the elements listed above are absent, the program does not violate state
antipyramid legislation.
1. Federal Administrative and Judicial Decisions
There is no federal anti-pyramid statute in the United States.(4) Nevertheless,
decisions of the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Courts, more so than
legislation from any individual state, have largely supplied the legal framework upon
which multilevel marketing companies have developed their programs. The most often
cited definition of a “pyramid” scheme is found in the Federal Trade Commission’s
decision in In the Matter of Koscot Interplanetary, Inc.(5) Therein, the F.T.C. held that
“entrepreneurial chains” are characterized by “the payment by participants of money
to the company in return for which they [the participants] receive (1) the right to sell a
product and (2) the right to receive in return for recruiting other participants into the
program rewards which are unrelated to sale of the product to ultimate users.”
Elements of a Pyramid – Federal Decisions Does Your Program Meet These Elements? (1) Payment of money to the company; (2) The participant receives the right to sell a product
(or service); (3) The participant receives compensation for
recruiting others into the program; (4) The compensation is unrelated to the sale of
products (or services) to the ultimate user.
D. Important Issues
The above discussion and tables are representative of the pyramiding issues
facing the multilevel marketing industry. Companies should be careful when developing
their marketing plans to stay within the parameters of these laws. However, designing
a program that strictly adheres to the literal terms of the law will not guarantee the
program will overcome all legal challenges. There are variables among the states in
the definition of a “pyramid scheme” which may result in a program being entirely legal
in one state yet illegal in a neighboring state. In addition, judicial interpretation of a
statute or a prior decision may result in a decision that is seemingly inconsistent with
its literal terms. Finally, the law always looks to substance over form. If a program uses
all of the right buzz words in its marketing literature, but fails to enforce its policies
which guard against pyramiding dangers, the program faces the same risks as a
program which does not incorporate appropriate safeguards into its plan.
Although the inconsistencies among the states and federal law pose difficulties
when designing a marketing plan, there are factors which both federal and state forums
consider when conducting a pyramid analysis. Although these criteria are typically not
specified by statute, they are taken into account because they provide evidence that the
dangers posed by a pyramid scheme are mitigated.
1. Substantiatable Sales of Products to End Users
As discussed above, a program that compensates its participants for the mere
act of recruiting or enrolling others into the program is a pyramid. Unscrupulous
promoters have attempted to circumvent the traditional definition of a pyramid through
a practice called “inventory loading.” Although participants in an inventory loading
scenario are technically compensated for the sales of products, the sale is in actuality
a subterfuge.
In an inventory loading scenario, new recruits are required or pressured to
purchase large quantities of products (often unconscionably overpriced and
nonrefundable). This, in turn, produces a large “commission” for upline participants.
The emphasis in such a program is not on the sale of products, but rather on recruiting
of new participants with the goal of “loading” them with as much inventory as possible.
In addition, there is usually a substantial improbability that the average distributor
would either use or be able to resell the quantity of goods that are involved in an
inventory loading setting. Because of these factors, courts have consistently held that
notwithstanding the “sale of products,” such transactions are tantamount to a
“headhunting” or “recruiting” bonus and thus constitute a pyramid. Accordingly, it is
important that sales to Distributors be reasonable in amount and price and documented
to reflect this.
2. Sales to “Ultimate Users”
Many multilevel marketing companies want to develop compensation programs
under which distributors receive commissions based on the purchase and consumption
of products by downline distributors rather than retail sales to third persons. This is a
logical approach since one of the greatest deterrents to enrolling in a multilevel
program stems from the general public reluctance to engage in sales. Indeed, the
entire industry has been built almost entirely upon the personal consumption of
products by distributors. Under a literal interpretation of the Koscot definition of a
pyramid, personal consumption satisfies the second element of the test because
distributors can be classified as “ultimate users” if they personally consume the
products they purchase.
Despite the literal language of the Koscot test, courts have interpreted and
state Attorneys General are increasingly interpreting the term “ultimate users” to
mean persons who are not participants in the program, that is to say persons who
are not distributors. The most recent federal decision on this issue was rendered by
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on March 4, 1996. In Webster v. Omnitrition
International, Inc.(6) the court found that personal consumption by a distributor’s
downline does not satisfy the Koscot requirement that sales be to the “ultimate user.”
Therefore, when designing a multilevel marketing plan, the approach presenting the
least risk is to institute and enforce a rule that at least 70% of a distributor’s purchases
result in true retail sales to persons who do not participate in the compensation
program.
3. Inventory Repurchase Requirements
The more sophisticated multilevel jurisdictions of Georgia, Louisiana,
Massachusetts, Maryland, Puerto Rico, and Wyoming require multilevel companies to
repurchase inventory that is returned by their distributors.(7) Additionally, these states
mandate that written notice of the policy must be given to distributors in the distributor
agreement. The rationale underlying buy-back requirements is that they tend to
prevent or substantially reduce the risks and concomitant evils of inventory loading.
Under some statutes, the requirements are only triggered when a distributor
terminates his relationship with the company. In other jurisdictions, like Maryland and
Puerto Rico, the company must repurchase returned inventory simply if the distributor
was unable to sell it within three months from its receipt. These statutes require
multilevel companies to repurchase resalable products from their distributors for not
less than 90% of their original purchase price. Any commissions or bonuses that have
been paid to the product-returning distributor which are attributable to the product
being returned (as opposed to commissions paid due to downline sales) may be
deducted from the repurchase price. Some statutes, like Georgia’s, also mandate that
a multilevel company repurchase goods that are no longer marketed if they are
returned to the company within one year from the date the company discontinued
marketing the goods.(8)
We emphatically recommend that all MLM companies include a 90% (or higher)
repurchase policy. Such a buy-back policy is probably the single best way to avert the
“cookie-cutter” class-action lawsuits that have plagued direct selling companies during
the last four years. (These lawsuits will be discussed below in Section VII, B.)
Additionally, a repurchase policy should provide that commissions previously paid to
upline Distributors will be “recaptured” or deducted from their respective future
commission payments to further reduce the incentive for inventory loading.
Return to Top of Page
II. Buying Clubs
“Buying clubs” are regulated by a significant majority of states. While they are
not illegal, they require compliance with several burdensome regulatory criteria which
are much better avoided. In general, the term means any business organization that
holds itself out as offering discounted prices to members by virtue of its “buying clout.”
A buying club need not possess any specific set of business or operational
characteristics. Whether a business organization is a buying club is simply a function
of the claims it makes. More precisely, the mere acts of an organization: (1) claiming
to offer discounted merchandise; (2) as a consequence of its size or other similar
attribute; and (3) allowing only “members” to purchase such merchandise, result in that
organization being a “buying club.” In Minnesota, a buying club is defined as
business enterprise organized for profit with the primary purpose of
providing benefits to members
or merchandise. [A]ny corporation, partnership, unincorporated association or otherbusiness enterprise organized for profit with the primary purpose ofproviding benefits to members (9) from the cooperative purchase of servicesor merchandise. (10)
Other states define buying clubs identically or similarly.(11)
Elements of a Buying Club Does Your Program
Meet These
Elements? (1) Is the organization a corporation? Partnership?
Unincorporated association?
Other business enterprise? (2) Is the enterprise organized “for profit”? (3) Does the enterprise have “members”? (4) Is the primary purpose of the enterprise to provide
benefits to members (i.e., discounted goods or services)? (5) Do these benefits result from, or are they promoted as
stemming from, the cooperative purchases of goods or
services?
The absence of any one of these elements allows an organization to avoid buying
club classification.
If a business enterprise is a “buying club,” several onerous impediments to
doing business exist. Buying club status triggers several requirements, including: (1)
registration with the state (usually the Attorney General);(12) (2) the payment of a
registration fee;(13) (3) the posting of a bond; (4) a right |
criminals. But alas, the recovered beer can't be resold—it's destined for the drain.
"We can no longer trust that that beer would be up to the quality standards that we as a brewery maintain, so unfortunately we have to destroy it all," Steve Farace, who handles marketing for SweetWater, told NBC.
It turns out that the warehouse where the beer was recovered is near the filming location for the 1977 action comedy classic Smokey and the Bandit, in which Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) hightails it cross-country in a big rig full of contraband Coors with the fuzz in hot pursuit. Burt Reynolds, playing the role of Bo "Bandit" Darville, drives a blocker car to distract the cops, and you better believe that hijinx and yuk-'em-ups ensue.
The stolen beers were SweetWater Summer Variety Packs, containing the popular pineapple IPA Goin' Coastal. Now, people in the Atlanta area are basically out of luck if they want to suck back those sweet pineapple suds.
The loss stings for the 140-employee SweetWater. "For a small company like us to lose that much beer, it really hurts," Farace said. SweetWater has asked retailers to get in touch if any suspicious outside sources try to sell them SweetWater beer.
But maybe the police should expand the search to our nation's interstate highways, where 18-wheeler brothers-in-arms full-up on a full tank of go-go juice obey a time-honored code of the open road. Out there, whether you're headed to Big D or Cow Town in a super chicken or a Jimmy, you're on the lookout for your fellow road dog even if he is a suicide jockey with a haul of illegal rocketsauce because you know what it's like to have a swarm of gumball machines or a bear in the air hot on your six.
By the way, has anyone seen Burt Reynolds lately?For all those city dwellers who have been dreaming about luscious summer gardens to come during the long winter, it’s time to start your own urban garden! For those with budding green thumbs, urban gardening can be an intimidating prospect. To clarify the sometimes-mysterious process, we’ve put together a very brief how-to guide on starting a flourishing container garden replete with herbs, veggies, and flowers so that you can get a jump start on spring gardening.
What you’ll need: Container(s), Seeds, Potting soil
Container gardens can be planted in anything deep enough to support root growth (8-12 inches ideally), as long as you put some holes in the bottom for drainage (think pots, buckets, recycled kiddie pools).
When choosing seeds, consider growing a bunch of herbs in a pot together. As for vegetables, almost everything will grow in a container. Leafy greens (chard, kale, collards) are one of the healthiest options with the most nutrients for your buck, but you can also try out tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, carrots and onions. For a little color, calendula and johnny jump-ups (violas) can be planted next to the vegetables and their petals are delicious sprinkled over a salad.
Fill your container with lightly-packed potting soil to about an inch below the rim and plant your seeds another half inch below the surface. Alternatively, buy baby plants from a nursery and re-pot into your containers. Water your garden and place it on a rooftop or sunny windowsill. Lettuce, peas, greens and the salad flowers can be placed outside mid-April; everything else should wait until mid-May. Remember that over-watering is the fastest and most common way to kill a plant – always let the soil dry out and then fill it up.
You can find affordable, 100% recycled garden pots at Seeds of Change
Food Map Designs Container Gardens
Green Fortune Stream Garden
Schiavello Vertical Gardens(Newser) – In what Reuters and Fox News call a "rare" move, four top officials in President Trump's administration will brief the entire US Senate on Wednesday. The topic? North Korea. It's not unusual for top administration officials to address members of Congress on Capitol Hill, but in this case all 100 senators have been asked to go to the White House for the 3pm briefing, which was convened by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will address the senators—an "unusual" configuration of officials, per Reuters. A similar briefing for the House of Representatives is reportedly in the works.
The news comes as US officials are increasingly concerned about North Korea's nuclear and missile tests and its threats against the US and other countries. President Trump recently spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by phone, Fox notes. Xi reportedly told Trump during the call that China opposes North Korea's nuclear weapons program and wants "all parties" to "exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation," while Abe agreed Japan would work to urge Pyongyang not to take any provocative actions. (Read more North Korea stories.)About
72 cards
24 dice
45 gold coins
20 silver coins
Instruction booklet in English
How To Play
"Luck O' The Dice" is a game of dice, cards, and coins for 2-4 players (ages 7+). The object is to accumulate the most coins by completing dice cards, rolling Pot O’ Gold combos, and stealing coins from other players. Each turn consists of three steps: Leprechaun Play, Dice Play, and "Press Your Luck."
During Leprechaun Play, players interact with their opponents by playing leprechaun cards. There are seven types: Subtracter, Snatcher, Sharer, Stealer, Skipper, Slicer, and Staller. As the names suggest, these cards allow players to impede their opponents' progress as well as speed their own.
During Dice Play, players roll their dice up to two times to complete combinations found on the dice cards in their hands. Players can earn more coins if they complete the combination in one roll than if it takes them two rolls. Pot O' Gold rolls are combinations that require all six dice to complete and do not require a card. These combinations are worth the most coins.
"Press Your Luck" is an optional step that allows a player to roll a third time. If unsuccessful, the player may be penalized.
The game ends as soon as a player completes five dice cards. The player with the most coins at the end of the game wins.
The video below shows just how easy it is to play "Luck O' The Dice," but please remember to watch it in HD (click on the gear on the bottom right side of the screen and select 1080p). You can also watch this presentation at your own pace on our website.
Visit our website to learn more about how to play "Luck O' The Dice"
Game Progression
"Luck O' The Dice" has evolved throughout the development phase. The initial game did not have coins, leprechaun cards, or "Press Your Luck" rolls. These elements were slowly added to the game as we experimented and played the different versions of the game. Click the link below to view the different versions of cards. We hope that you enjoy seeing how the game has come to be what it is today.
Click here to see the different versions of cards
Game Review
We recently had our first impartial review of our game. David McMillan is part of Nashville Area Gamers Association and approached us about receiving a copy of our game to test. We sent him a copy for his review and to get feedback from other gamers in the Nashville, Tennessee area. He really enjoyed the game and said that other gamers in the area also enjoyed the game. Please see his full review at: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1085048/luck-o-the-dice-truly-a-pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of
OR see it at: http://www.luckothedice.com/game-reviews.html
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Click here to see all leprechaun imagesThe Senate would then begin debate Thursday evening on trade promotion authority.
The agreement gives Democrats a chance to demonstrate broad, bipartisan support for a get-tough approach on countries that intentionally keep the value of their currency low to make their exports cheaper, which then effectively raises the cost of American-made goods. But if that separate bill can get through the House, it would then be vetoed by the president, who believes it would destroy the trade talks.
For the most ardent opponents of Mr. Obama’s trade push, the deal means delay, which can be perilous for trade negotiators. Under the terms of the trade promotion legislation, Congress could not consider a final Pacific trade deal for four months after it was completed, pushing it further into the election season, when major legislative initiatives become far more difficult. Final negotiations would not begin unless and until Congress approved the accelerated authority.
Republicans succeeded in fending off a Democratic push to attach the currency measure to trade promotion authority itself. The measure has the support of a strong majority in the Senate, including Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio and a United States trade representative in the administration of President George W. Bush. American automakers and some economists believe a currency measure is vital to a trade agreement that is intended to protect the interests of American workers.
Mr. Portman went to the Senate floor Wednesday evening and promised that he would push for a currency provision on the trade promotion bill itself. “Part of a level playing field is making sure countries don’t manipulate their currency,” he said.
But the White House fears that making the accelerated authority contingent on currency policy alterations could scare important partners from the negotiating table, including Japan, the second-largest Trans-Pacific partner.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, insisted on a legislative approach that would “provide our Democratic colleagues with a sensible way forward without killing the bill,” he said as he presented the plan on the Senate floor.
For his part, Mr. Obama preserved a clean path toward the Pacific trade deal, which includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, as well as the United States. “Yesterday, we made it clear we didn’t accept merely a fast-track foreign trade agreements,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader. “We must also enforce the trade agreements we make. The proposal today provides that path forward.”by
One of the issues driving protesters participating in the April 24, 2012 Occupy The Justice Department demonstration is an issue that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder knows well: prosecutorial misconduct.
Holder knows this misconduct issue well because he has criticized it during congressional testimony, in fact as recently as March 2012 when he was commenting on a special prosecutor’s report castigating the wrongdoing of federal prosecutors.
That wrongdoing, Holder acknowledged, unlawfully tainted the corruption investigation and 2008 trial of the late U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, who was convicted of corruption in his home state of Alaska.
Protesters, including fiery Philadelphia activist Pam Africa, want Holder to take action against the prosecutorial misconduct evident in scores of unjust convictions that have led to the wrongful imprisonment of political prisoners across America, most of them jailed for two or more decades.
Those political prisoners – ignored domestically while exalted abroad – include Native American activist Leonard Peltier, Puerto Rican Nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera, the Cuban 5, author/activist Mumia Abu-Jamal and other former Black Panther Party members like the Omaha Two (Ed Poindexter and Mondo W. Langa).
Demands of the Occupy The Justice Department protesters include the immediate
release of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the freeing all political prisoners, ending of the racist death penalty and the ending solitary confinement and torture.
Individuals and incidents underlying those demands are within the purview of USAG Holder to investigate and/or to act immediately to resolve.
April 24th is the birthday of Mumia Abu-Jamal, perhaps the most recognized U.S. political prisoner worldwide.
Abu-Jamal, for example, was the subject of two demonstrations held recently outside the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany, one of which included extending a 2,200-foot banner around that embassy building.
Pam Africa is the head of International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Philadelphia-based organization at the center of the international movement seeking Abu-Jamal’s release.
Africa is the dynamo who most Philadelphia police, prosecutors, politicians and many pastors love to hate because of her strident advocacy on behalf of both imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal and the MOVE members sentenced for a fatal 1978 shootout.
The advocacy of Pam Africa on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal – helping construct support networks while confronting incessant opposition – contributed to the climate where U.S. federal courts late last year finally killed the death sentence Abu-Jamal received following his controversial 1982 conviction for killing a policeman.
Abu-Jamal is now fighting against a life-without-parole sentence, which was automatically imposed when the death sentence was invalidated.
That elimination of Abu-Jamal’s government-sanctioned murder chagrined powerful figures across Pennsylvania and around America who had shamefully bent and broken laws (deliberately sabotaging court proceedings) in their various failed efforts to execute Abu-Jamal, known widely as the Voice-of-the-Voiceless.
While winning freedom for Abu-Jamal and the MOVE 9 is a prime focus of Pam Africa’s advocacy work, she is frequently found on ‘front-lines’ nationwide fighting for and end to the mistreatment of people regardless of their color and creed.
“Pam Africa is in each and every struggle for social justice in Philadelphia, the U.S. and abroad. It’s not just Mumia,” said Latino activist/writer Berta Joubert-Ceci, who recently chaired a program featuring former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in West Philadelphia.
Dr. Claude Guillaumaud, a professor in France who has known Africa for 20-years, said she’s “had time to appreciate her warm personality and total commitment to the cause of Mumia and the fight against racial discrimination and the barbaric death penalty.”
Temple University African-American history professor Dr. Tony Monterio first met Pam Africa during an ugly June 1979 incident in South Philadelphia where local police beat Africa. Philadelphia police pummeled her with nightsticks with one stick-strike knocking out some of her teeth.
The scholar in Dr. Monterio sees Pam Africa as a unique figure whose contributions locally, nationally and internationally merit both examination and recognition.
“She’s made history but she didn’t set out to make history. She started initially just to do the right thing,” Monterio said during a recent interview.
Monterio is a force behind two recent events honoring Pam Africa’s accomplishments. He has initiated a process for what he envisions as a study of Africa’s life works.
Prosecutorial misconduct is a core element in the Abu-Jamal case, albeit a festering injustice ignored by state and federal courts that have refused to grant legal relief to Abu-Jamal despite granting new trials to others where the evidence of prosecutorial misconduct was far less grievous than that evident in the Abu-Jamal case.
One example of prosecutorial misconduct in the Abu-Jamal case occurred during his 1982 murder trial, when the prosecutor perverted a comment Abu-Jamal made over a decade earlier when responding to a reporter’s question about the December 1969 murder by Chicago Police of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton.
The police assassination of Hampton, later linked to the FBI’s infamous COINTELPRO campaign, outraged many at the time, including leaders as diverse as the then head of the NAACP, Roy Wilkins and former U.S. United Nations Ambassador and Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg.
Hampton’s assassination, later documented by congressional and other investigations, was a part of a joint police-FBI campaign to slay BPP members which led to 28 BPP deaths between January 1968 and December 1969.
As a teenaged BBP member, Abu-Jamal told that reporter that Hampton’s murder proved that “power” comes from the barrel of a gun.
But the 1982 trial prosecutor shifted the context of Abu-Jamal’s comment from applying it to the police killing Black Panthers to a supposed proclamation of Abu-Jamal’s intent to kill police. It was one of many factual mischaracterizations that millions worldwide constantly cite when charging Abu-Jamal received an unfair trial.
That improper perversion of Abu-Jamal’s 12-year-old comment made when he was just 15 helped sway jurors to send an award-winning journalist with no criminal record to death row. That same prosecutor had improperly excluded blacks from Abu-Jamal’s trial jury despite their having declared their willingness to impose a death penalty if warranted by the arguments at trial.
Not only was the prosecutor, Joseph McGill’s, twisting of Abu-Jamal’s comment an improper tactic. It violated associational rights granted under the First Amendment.
The U.S. Supreme Court gave new hearings in the early 1990s to two convicted murderers –- a white racist prisoner gang member in Delaware and a white devil worshipper in Nevada -– while denying comparable relief to former BPP member Abu-Jamal three times on the exact same issue.
USAG Eric Holder, shortly after taking office in January 2009, went to court successfully to request dismissal of Sen. Stevens’ conviction, after finding that the federal prosecutor in that case withheld evidence of innocence from Stevens’ defense team and also tampered with witnesses and documents.
The recent release of the special prosecutor’s report in the Stevens case confirmed prosecutorial misconduct and wrongdoing that were also clearly rampant in the case of Abu-Jamal and other U.S. political prisoners.
The Occupy The Justice Department demonstrators are raising the issue of Holder’s credibility and of the ethical integrity of the Obama Administration in acting to dismiss the wrongful conviction of ex-Senator Stevens while ignoring the continued imprisonment of U.S. political prisoners who were also victims of misconduct by police and prosecutors.
On December 9, 2011 –- one day before the U.N. annual Human Rights Day –- Noble Peace Prize Laureate and noted anti-apartheid activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu asked America to “rise to the challenge of reconciliation, human rights and justice” in calling for the “immediate release” of Abu-Jamal.
Linn Washington, Jr. is a founder of This Can’t Be Happening and a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion, forthcoming from AK Press. He lives in Philadelphia.CLOSE For the first time in modern American history, a significant number of GOP leaders are parting ways with their party's presidential nominee. USA TODAY NETWORK
Buy Photo Gov. Dennis Daugaard (Photo: Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader)Buy Photo
A new nominee is the key to defeating Hillary Clinton in November, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Wednesday, but if none emerges he'll vote for Donald Trump on election day.
The comments come days after Daugaard on Twitter called on Trump to drop out of the race so that vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana could become the party's nominee, a scenario that appears increasingly unlikely.
Enough is enough. Donald Trump should withdraw in favor of Governor Mike Pence. This election is too important. — Gov. Dennis Daugaard (@SDGovDaugaard) October 8, 2016
“I believe the point in this country in terms of this presidential election should be to defeat Hillary Clinton.” Daugaard told Argus Leader Media. “Trump’s outrageous comments and his personal statements were out of line, certainly. My hope is that he would see that and step down in favor of Mike Pence."
Daugaard and Lt. Gov. Matt Michels joined Sen. John Thune and dozens of Republicans nationally in pulling their endorsements of Trump over the weekend. Their calls for Trump to withdraw followed the release Friday of a 2005 video in which Trump made vulgar comments about women.
Trump apologized and in a debate Sunday said he'd bragged about kissing and groping women against their will but didn't act on those comments.
MORE: Thune faces online backlash for anti-Trump comments
Noem says she'll vote for Trump despite lewd comments
No on Marsy's Law group to hold panel
In the days following the release of the video comments, South Dakotans have voiced frustration with Republican governor and the state's senior senator on social media, saying they didn't have the authority to make anti-Trump comments.
Daugaard defended the comments Wednesday, saying he had the right to express his frustrations with the nominee.
“I’m a voter like everyone else, and I can express my concerns about the candidates,” he said.
Voters also expressed their fear early this week that Daugaard and Michels, two of the state's three Republican electors, would back another candidate on election night.
South Dakota electors aren't bound to support the candidate who wins the state's popular vote, but Daugaard said he does not plan to cast a rogue electoral vote.
Daugaard encouraged voters, even those who are disenchanted or disappointed with the options, to cast votes for the Republican nominee.
“We have two very flawed candidates,” Daugaard said. “But I don’t know that our country can handle another four or eight years of what we’ve seen under Obama.”
Since calling for Trump to drop out of the race Saturday, Thune has said he'll vote for the nominee despite his “reservations about the way (Trump) has conducted his campaign and himself.”
Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately. — Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) October 8, 2016
“He has a lot of work to do, I think, to win this election,” Thune told the Rapid City Journal. “But, I’m certainly not going to vote for Hillary Clinton.”
In the days following the surfacing of the Trump recordings, Rep. Kristi Noem has said she also plans to back Trump at the polls. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has remained silent on the statements though his spokeswoman on Saturday said the comments were "deplorable and indefensible."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Dana Ferguson on Twitter @bydanaferguson, call (605) 370-2493 or email dferguson@argusleader.com
Read or Share this story: http://argusne.ws/2erPbXbFlop flop flop. The sound of a bird's wings batting futilely against the gloopy blanket of black oil echoes across the quarry. Then there is silence. A pigeon has crashed into this dark pool, 100 metres from the turquoise sea on the west coast of Guernsey. It sinks within seconds, resurfaces for a final flap, then joins the other small carcasses lying face down in the swirls of black slime. Since 1967, this deadly, oil-filled crater on the Chouet headland has acquired a new name: Torrey Canyon quarry.
On the morning of Saturday 18 March 1967, the Torrey Canyon ran aground on Pollard's Rock between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly. Over the following days, every drop of the 119,328 tonnes of crude oil borne by this 300m-long supertanker seeped into the Atlantic. Thousands of tonnes despoiled the beaches of Cornwall – and thousands more were propelled by winds and currents across the channel towards France.
At the time it was the biggest oil spill ever, and the first involving a new generation of supertankers. Looking back, the echoes of the BP disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico are loud and eerie. The slick imperilled a beautiful and popular tourist region. Inertia and dithering were worsened by the buck-passing of multinational companies implicated in the mess. And no one knew what to do. Even BP was involved: British Petroleum chartered the vessel to bring crude to the oil refinery in Milford Haven, Wales. But the Torrey Canyon disaster is not just a history lesson; it is living proof that big oil spills plague ecosystems for decades. Forty-three years on, the crude from the Torrey Canyon is still killing wildlife on a daily basis.
The Italian captain of the Liberian-registered Torrey Canyon was blamed for stranding the tanker on a well-known set of reefs. By nightfall, an eight-mile slick had slipped from its punctured tanks. The following day it was 20 miles long. In the past, tiny coastal oil spills had been cleaned up by mixtures of solvents and emulsifiers. These were called detergents, a deceptively cosy, domestic term for what were highly toxic chemicals. Within 12 hours of the spill, the navy tried to tackle it with them. Handily for BP, it manufactured these chemicals. The government warned that the stricken ship was "a bomb" and BP, as one man involved in the clean-up operation put it, "were making a bomb, literally, both ways". More charitably, the Guardian reported: "British Petroleum, which has the Torrey Canyon on charter but does not own her (and therefore disclaims any responsibility for the oil pollution) has sent all the detergent it can lay hands on."
Torrey Canyon quarry, Guernsey. Photograph: Graeme Robertson
The "sluggish black smear on the Atlantic" was an eyesore but Dutch experts dispatched by the ship's owners, the Bahamas-based Barracuda Tanker Corporation, itself part-owned by the American Union Oil company, insisted the ship could be salvaged. The government agreed, and its man in charge of the crisis, Maurice Foley, undersecretary for defence (navy) – a title that did not suggest the spill was a top priority – insisted there was "no question" of deliberately destroying the supertanker.
Dennis Barker, now 81 and still writing for the Guardian, was dispatched to report on the spill. "It was the first of those ecological disasters. Nobody knew what to expect. All that sunk in was that a boat was stuck on the rocks. The implications were slow to filter through," he says. Barker intercepted Harold Wilson, the prime minister, on the railway platform at Penzance. Wilson had been due to spend his Easter holidays on the Scilly Isles. "He rather liked to be at the scene of the action but it all seemed a bit slow by the standards of today," says Barker.
Like everyone, Barker most vividly recalls the smell. He leaned out of a helicopter to inspect "the greeny, browny gunge" in the sea below. "Suddenly I felt decidedly ill and I thought I was going to vomit over the Sun photographer. The stench was indescribable," he says. This "abominable smell of oil" – as the Guardian reported – could be smelt at Land's End on Good Friday. Waves of oil broke on the shores near St Just the following morning, a week after the shipwreck.
On Easter Monday, the tanker broke into two pieces. The oil, Barker noted in his reports, was winning. Using detergents to break up slabs of oil on the ocean was "like trying to pick up quicksilver with boxing gloves", he wrote: "There is this constant feeling that the government has fluffed the issue, and that an early political decision might have worked." The government continued to insist it was right to leave salvage attempts to the companies involved. "Clearly we have no responsibility in law for what has happened," observed Foley.
Les Hosking from Marazion, Cornwall, remembers the moment the government began bombing the tanker in an attempt to sink it and some of its deadly cargo, and burn off the slick. "We saw the Buccaneer bombers coming in. They dropped bombs and that didn't do anything," says Hosking. The press was critical because a quarter of the 42 bombs missed the target. Other methods also failed. Foam booms to contain the oil slick took ages to assemble and broke up in rough seas. Attempts to burn off the oil by dropping aviation fuel on it also foundered when high tides put the fires out. So, extraordinarily, the authorities dropped Napalm on the slick. "When that came in there was a sheet of flames," remembers Hosking. "I've never seen anything like it. The smoke went up into the sky for what seemed like miles."
The slick contaminated 120 miles of Cornish coastline. An estimated 15,000 birds were killed. Seals and other marine life also perished. An awareness of the environmental damage caused by oil "hadn't reached anywhere near the public consciousness that it has now," says Barker today. "It could have been an emergency from the last war. In an emergency you are not terribly worried about the pigeons."
Local residents fretted about their livelihoods in fishing and tourism, but were they angry? "Obviously there was a lot of anger and distress and then we thought, 'Let's just get this stuff off our shores'," says Hosking. Although the government got a kicking in the press, the attitude towards the implicated oil companies was strikingly mild compared with today's blame game. "If Wilson had been going on at the people responsible like Obama is, he would have been regarded as a bit eccentric or out of order," says Barker. In 1967, BP chartered the vessel but was widely exonerated. There was little hostility towards the ship's captain. "Today there would have been a lynch mob after him," observes Barker.
Residents of Cornwall did not realise it but they got off lightly. A freakish absence of prevailing south-westerlies in the weeks after the disaster kept much of the oil from hitting the mainland. The oil washed up on Britain's shores amounted to just 15% of the total that leaked from the Torrey Canyon. The vicissitudes of wind and current deposited more oil on the distant coastline of Brittany.
Nineteen days after the disaster, a huge slick hit western Guernsey. The oil lay so thick that 3,000 tonnes could be pumped directly into sewage tankers. "It was, 'We've got to clear our beaches, we're a tourist destination, right, there's a quarry, let's put it there.' It was a decision that had to be made very quickly," says Rob Roussel of Guernsey's public services department. Roussel remembers the oil on the island's beaches as a boy; he is now in charge of cleaning up Torrey Canyon quarry.
Moving oil to the quarry was a solution that created another problem. This dirty legacy of the Torrey Canyon has refused to disappear. "It stinks. It absolutely honks. Everybody's known about it but no one has wanted to do anything about it," says Jayne Le Cras, director of operations at the Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Because of its thickness and stillness birds see it as a solid surface, they land on it and then the weight of the oil holds them down. I would hate to know how many are underneath it."
A family of kestrels is nesting in the quarry wall and short-eared owls breed in adjacent pines trees. When passing walkers hear the flapping of stranded birds they alert the GSPCA but staff can't always reach the quarry quickly enough to rescue birds. Last autumn, a GSPCA officer filmed a pigeon struggling in the oil on his phone and posted it on Facebook. The resulting furore helped prompt the authorities into action again.
Guernsey's government says it has spent thousands trying to clean up the quarry. It was cleared in the 80s; more recently, 160,000 litres were taken to a processing plant in Hull. But each time the oil has been removed more has seeped from the sediment below, which cannot be dug out because the quarry was a German armaments dump when they occupied the island during the second world war. Last year, the water level rose and the changing pressure released more crude from the bottom. "The company that was responsible for the Torrey Canyon should be paying for it under the polluter-pays principle but the international laws weren't in place back then," says Roussel.
In 1967, as the cost of the clean-up grew, the British government sought £3m compensation from the ship's slippery owners. Eventually, the Torrey Canyon's sister ship, Lake Palourde, was "arrested" when it docked at Singapore. Legend has it that a young British lawyer was only able to board the ship to attach a writ to its mast because the crew believed he was a whisky salesman. The French, also seeking compensation, continued to pursue the company – and its ships – for many more months.
Meanwhile, long after the disaster had slipped off the front pages, Hosking remembers balls of oil, like giant Maltesers, washing up on Marazion's beach: "At the time we thought, 'This is it.' This is Cornwall messed up for the rest of our days. My first thought was, how the hell are they going to get rid of this lot? Mother nature is a very powerful thing. Eventually, I expect nature did most of it."
In fact it turned out that human ingenuity was not just powerless against the oil slick; it made it much worse. Three days after the ship ran aground, Anthony Tucker, then science correspondent of the Guardian, warned that no toxicity tests had been carried out on the detergents being sprayed on the oil and their effect on marine life had never been studied. "There may be little point in spending many millions of pounds simply to convert an unpleasant but visible marine poison into another kind of poison that is insidious and entirely unknown in its effects," he presciently wrote.
In the event, the use of detergents turned out to be "the worst thing possible", according to Dr Gerald Boalch, a marine biologist with 52 years' service for the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. After the spill, the MBA's staff devoted all their days to studying it. At first, the chemical sprays seemed to work. "The detergents made it look good," says Boalch. "We thought at the time it was doing a good job because the oil was disappearing." But colleagues conducted lab tests "and it was realised that it was making the oil more toxic because it was accessible to organisms". At sea, the oil was made soluble by the detergents, which then meant it was taken in by more living organisms. On shore, the chemicals destroyed lichens and other beach-life probably for ever, says Boalch. A year after Torrey Canyon, the MBA published its conclusions: it was scathing about the disastrous use of detergents, applied by methods "that were largely ineffective, uneconomic, and wasteful of effort".
The Torrey Canyon disaster did have some beneficial consequences. International maritime regulations on pollution were created. A charismatic young botanist called David Bellamy was asked to comment on the disaster and became a television star; he, and the oil slick, helped raise awareness of pollution. If our growing addiction to oil was not questioned, our methods for tackling spills were. When the supertanker Cadiz spilt crude oil off Brittany in 1978, Boalch "insisted" the authorities should not use detergents. "They didn't and it recovered much quicker," says Boalch now. But the French had already proved wiser than the British when cleaning up Torrey Canyon crude. Rather than bombard the slick with Napalm or toxic detergents in 1967, they used powdered craie de Champagne – humble chalk, which sunk the oil more effectively than expensive, toxic British detergents. "It would seem that the French were successful in preventing the bulk of this very large oil mass from coming ashore," the MBA researchers concluded.
In Guernsey, in 2010, the authorities are also now trying to remove the last of the Torrey Canyon oil in an environmentally friendly way. Last month, they began to pump micro-organisms into the oily water, which is aerated by a small generator running 24 hours a day. This process of "bioaugmentation" uses naturally occurring bacteria for whom oil is a food source to break down the oil. The government predicts that the rapidly multiplying micro-organisms will have eaten the oil by the end of the year. Does Le Cras think it will work? "Proof is in the pudding, isn't it?" she says. "I hope everything they say comes true. It will be a great day for us when it happens."March 13, 2014 4 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Ever bump into an acquentaince who is having a bad day? Maybe he's upset about work; you pause, nodding sympathetically as he goes on about his terrible boss and unhelpful colleagues. Up until the chance encounter, you were in a great mood. But chances are the exchange will dampen your day, at least slightly.
That's because, as numerous studies have suggested, other people's moods are as easy to catch as their germs, a phenomenon called emotional contagion. We tend to mimic the behavior of those around us (your acquaintance frowns, so you frown), which triggers genuine feelings of sadness. It's not all bad, of course. It's just as possible for us to "catch" a positive mood as it is for us to pick up a negative one.
But does this same process work over social media? Are emotions expressed online also contagious?
Yes, suggests a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, Yale University and Facebook, who analyzed data from millions of Facebook posts over the last three years.
Related: Want to Spread Your Message? An Angry Tweet May Be the Answer
The researchers started with a neutral variable: the weather (rain, after all, doesn't discriminate between happy and sad people). Turns out, a rainy day affects the overall mood of a user's activity on Facebook, raising the number of negative posts by 1.2 percent and decreasing the number of positive posts by the same amount.
The study also found that each sad status posted on a rainy day resulted in an additional negative post by a Facebook friend living in a city where it wasn't raining. Positive posts had an larger effect than negative ones; Each positive post resulted in a further 1.8 positive posts by a user's friends (i.e. each positive post created almost two additional positive posts), whereas each negative post resulted in 1.3 additional negative posts by friends.
While researchers behind the study speculated on the weighty significance of their findings, suggesting that emotions could "ripple through social networks to generate large-scale synchrony that gives rise to clusters of happy and unhappy individuals," the study only looked at how rain affected the general slant of Facebook posts, and the effect was quite small.
What’s more |
and other debris. Along with dendritic cells, they are foremost among the cells that present antigens, a crucial role in initiating an immune response. As secretory cells, monocytes and macrophages are vital to the regulation of immune responses and the development of inflammation; they produce a wide array of powerful chemical substances (monokines) including enzymes, complement proteins, and regulatory factors such as interleukin-1. At the same time, they carry receptors for lymphokines that allow them to be "activated" into single-minded pursuit of microbes and tumour cells.
After digesting a pathogen, a macrophage will present the antigen (a molecule, most often a protein found on the surface of the pathogen and used by the immune system for identification) of the pathogen to the corresponding helper T cell. The presentation is done by integrating it into the cell membrane and displaying it attached to an MHC class II molecule (MHCII), indicating to other white blood cells that the macrophage is not a pathogen, despite having antigens on its surface.
Eventually, the antigen presentation results in the production of antibodies that attach to the antigens of pathogens, making them easier for macrophages to adhere to with their cell membrane and phagocytose. In some cases, pathogens are very resistant to adhesion by the macrophages.
The antigen presentation on the surface of infected macrophages (in the context of MHC class II) in a lymph node stimulates TH1 (type 1 helper T cells) to proliferate (mainly due to IL-12 secretion from the macrophage). When a B-cell in the lymph node recognizes the same unprocessed surface antigen on the bacterium with its surface bound antibody, the antigen is endocytosed and processed. The processed antigen is then presented in MHCII on the surface of the B-cell. T cells that express the T cell receptor which recognizes the antigen-MHCII complex (with co-stimulatory factors- CD40 and CD40L) cause the B-cell to produce antibodies that help opsonisation of the antigen so that the bacteria can be better cleared by phagocytes.
Macrophages provide yet another line of defense against tumor cells and somatic cells infected with fungus or parasites. Once a T cell has recognized its particular antigen on the surface of an aberrant cell, the T cell becomes an activated effector cell, producing chemical mediators known as lymphokines that stimulate macrophages into a more aggressive form.
Macrophage subtypes [ edit ]
There are several activated forms of macrophages.[11] In spite of a spectrum of ways to activate macrophages, there are two main groups designated M1 and M2. M1 macrophages: as mentioned earlier (previously referred to as classically activated macrophages),[22] M1 "killer" macrophages are activated by LPS and IFN-gamma, and secrete high levels of IL-12 and low levels of IL-10. M1 macrophages have pro-inflammatory, bactericidal, and phagocytic functions.[23] In contrast, the M2 "repair" designation (also referred to as alternatively activated macrophages) broadly refers to macrophages that function in constructive processes like wound healing and tissue repair, and those that turn off damaging immune system activation by producing anti-inflammatory cytokines like IL-10. M2 is the phenotype of resident tissue macrophages, and can be further elevated by IL-4. M2 macrophages produce high levels of IL-10, TGF-beta and low levels of IL-12. Tumor-associated macrophages are mainly of the M2 phenotype, and seem to actively promote tumor growth.[24]
Macrophages exist in a variety of phenotypes which are determined by the role they play in wound maturation. Phenotypes can be predominantly separated into two major categories; M1 and M2. M1 macrophages are activated by four key mediators: interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). These mediator molecules create a pro-inflammatory response that in return produce pro-inflammatory cytokines like Interleukin-6 and TNF. These cytokines are essential in the initial process of wound healing. Unlike M1 macrophages, M2's secrete an anti-inflammatory response via the addition of Interleukin-4 or Interleukin-13. M2 cells are divided into four major types based on their roles: M2a, M2b, M2c, and M2d. How M2 phenotypes are determined is still up for discussion but studies have shown that their environment allows them to adjust to whichever phenotype is most appropriate to efficiently heal the wound.[23]
While M1 macrophages are the dominating phenotype observed in the early stages of inflammation, as the wound ages there is a significant decrease in M1 phenotype and an increase of M2 macrophages at the site. If this shift failed to occur, there would be prolonged inflammation. M2 cells are needed for production of collagen at the wound site. They are needed for revascularization and reepithelialization. It was previously thought that an increase of M2 macrophages may decrease the time it takes for wound closure. However, studies show that rate of wound closure is not affected by an increase in M2 cells.[23]
M2 macrophages are needed for vascular stability. They produce vascular epithelial growth factor-A and TGF-β1.[23] There is a phenotype shift from M1 to M2 macrophages in acute wounds, however this shift is impaired for chronic wounds. This dysregulation results in insufficient M2 macrophages and its corresponding growth factors that aid in wound repair. With a lack of these growth factors/anti-inflammatory cytokines and an overabundance of pro-inflammatory cytokines from M1 macrophages chronic wounds are unable to heal in a timely manner. Normally, after neutrophils eat debris/pathogens they perform apoptosis and are removed. At this point, inflammation is not needed and M1 undergoes a switch to M2 (anti-inflammatory). However, dysregulation occurs as the M1 macrophages are unable/do not phagocytose neutrophils that have undergone apoptosis leading to increased macrophage migration and inflammation.[23]
Both M1 and M2 macrophages play a role in promotion of atherosclerosis. M1 macrophages promote atherosclerosis by inflammation. M2 macrophages can remove cholesterol from blood vessels, but when the cholesterol is oxidized, the M2 macrophages become apoptotic foam cells contributing to the atheromatous plaque of atherosclerosis.[25][26]
Role in muscle regeneration [ edit ]
The first step to understanding the importance of macrophages in muscle repair, growth, and regeneration is that there are two "waves" of macrophages with the onset of damageable muscle use – subpopulations that do and do not directly have an influence on repairing muscle. The initial wave is a phagocytic population that comes along during periods of increased muscle use that are sufficient to cause muscle membrane lysis and membrane inflammation, which can enter and degrade the contents of injured muscle fibers.[27][28][29] These early-invading, phagocytic macrophages reach their highest concentration about 24 hours following the onset of some form of muscle cell injury or reloading.[30] Their concentration rapidly declines after 48 hours.[28] The second group is the non-phagocytic types that are distributed near regenerative fibers. These peak between two and four days and remain elevated for several days during the hopeful muscle rebuilding.[28] The first subpopulation has no direct benefit to repairing muscle, while the second non-phagocytic group does.
It is thought that macrophages release soluble substances that influence the proliferation, differentiation, growth, repair, and regeneration of muscle, but at this time the factor that is produced to mediate these effects is unknown.[30] It is known that macrophages' involvement in promoting tissue repair is not muscle specific; they accumulate in numerous tissues during the healing process phase following injury.[31]
Role in wound healing [ edit ]
Macrophages are essential for wound healing.[32] They replace polymorphonuclear neutrophils as the predominant cells in the wound by day two after injury.[33] Attracted to the wound site by growth factors released by platelets and other cells, monocytes from the bloodstream enter the area through blood vessel walls.[34] Numbers of monocytes in the wound peak one to one and a half days after the injury occurs. Once they are in the wound site, monocytes mature into macrophages. The spleen contains half the body's monocytes in reserve ready to be deployed to injured tissue.[35][36]
The macrophage's main role is to phagocytize bacteria and damaged tissue,[32] and they also debride damaged tissue by releasing proteases.[37] Macrophages also secrete a number of factors such as growth factors and other cytokines, especially during the third and fourth post-wound days. These factors attract cells involved in the proliferation stage of healing to the area.[38] Macrophages may also restrain the contraction phase.[39] Macrophages are stimulated by the low oxygen content of their surroundings to produce factors that induce and speed angiogenesis[40] and they also stimulate cells that re-epithelialize the wound, create granulation tissue, and lay down a new extracellular matrix.[41][better source needed] By secreting these factors, macrophages contribute to pushing the wound healing process into the next phase.
Role in limb regeneration [ edit ]
Scientists have elucidated that as well as eating up material debris, macrophages are involved in the typical limb regeneration in the salamander.[42][43] They found that removing the macrophages from a salamander resulted in failure of limb regeneration and a scarring response.[42][43]
Role in iron homeostasis [ edit ]
As described above, macrophages play a key role in removing dying or dead cells and cellular debris. Erythrocytes have a lifespan on average of 120 days and so are constantly being destroyed by macrophages in the spleen and liver. Macrophages will also engulf macromolecules, and so play a key role in the pharmacokinetics of parenteral irons.
The iron that is released from the haemoglobin is either stored internally in ferritin or is released into the circulation via ferroportin. In cases where systemic iron levels are raised, or where inflammation is present, raised levels of hepcidin act on macrophage ferroportin channels, leading to iron remaining within the macrophages.
Role in pigment retainment [ edit ]
Until recently[when?] it has been thought that artificially introduced pigment in human skin (tattoo) mainly stains dermal fibroblasts. However, a study on a mouse model showed that the pigment is taken up by melanophages – a subset of tissue-resident macrophages able to absorb pigment, either native to the organism or exogenous, from extracellular space. In contrast to dendritic juncional melanocytes, which synthesize melanosomes and contain various stages of their development, the melanophages only accumulate phagocytosed melanin in lysosome-like phagosomes.[44][45] This occurs repeatedly as the pigment from dead dermal macrophages is phagocytosed by their successors, preserving the tattoo in the same place.[46]
Clinical significance [ edit ]
Due to their role in phagocytosis, macrophages are involved in many diseases of the immune system. For example, they participate in the formation of granulomas, inflammatory lesions that may be caused by a large number of diseases. Some disorders, mostly rare, of ineffective phagocytosis and macrophage function have been described, for example.[47]
As a host for intracellular pathogens [ edit ]
In their role as a phagocytic immune cell macrophages are responsible for engulfing pathogens to destroy them. Some pathogens subvert this process and instead live inside the macrophage. This provides an environment in which the pathogen is hidden from the immune system and allows it to replicate.
Diseases with this type of behaviour include tuberculosis (caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and leishmaniasis (caused by Leishmania species).
In order to minimize the possibility of becoming the host of an intracellular bacteria, macrophages have evolved defense mechanisms such as induction of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen intermediates, which are toxic to microbes. Macrophages have also evolved the ability to restrict the microbe's nutrient supply and induce autophagy.[48]
Tuberculosis [ edit ]
Once engulfed by a macrophage, the causative agent of tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis,[49] avoids cellular defenses and uses the cell to replicate.
Leishmaniasis [ edit ]
Upon phagocytosis by a macrophage, the Leishmania parasite finds itself in a phagocytic vacuole. Under normal circumstances, this phagocytic vacuole would develop into a lysosome and its contents would be digested. Leishmania alter this process and avoid being destroyed; instead, they make a home inside the vacuole.
Chikungunya [ edit ]
Infection of macrophages in joints is associated with local inflammation during and after the acute phase of Chikungunya (caused by CHIKV or Chikungunya virus).[50]
Others [ edit ]
Adenovirus (most common cause of pink eye) can remain latent in a host macrophage, with continued viral shedding 6–18 months after initial infection.
Brucella spp. can remain latent in a macrophage via inhibition of phagosome–lysosome fusion; causes brucellosis (undulant fever).
Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, also establishes residence within macrophages.
Heart disease [ edit ]
Macrophages are the predominant cells involved in creating the progressive plaque lesions of atherosclerosis.[51]
Focal recruitment of macrophages occurs after the onset of acute myocardial infarction. These macrophages function to remove debris, apoptotic cells and to prepare for tissue regeneration.[52]
HIV infection [ edit ]
Macrophages also play a role in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Like T cells, macrophages can be infected with HIV, and even become a reservoir of ongoing virus replication throughout the body. HIV can enter the macrophage through binding of gp120 to CD4 and second membrane receptor, CCR5 (a chemokine receptor). Both circulating monocytes and macrophages serve as a reservoir for the virus.[53] Macrophages are better able to resist infection by HIV-1 than CD4+ T cells, although susceptibility to HIV infection differs among macrophage subtypes.[54]
Cancer [ edit ]
Macrophages can contribute to tumor growth and progression by promoting tumor cell proliferation and invasion, fostering tumor angiogenesis and suppressing antitumor immune cells.[55][56] Attracted to oxygen-starved (hypoxic) and necrotic tumor cells they promote chronic inflammation. Inflammatory compounds such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha released by the macrophages activate the gene switch nuclear factor-kappa B. NF-κB then enters the nucleus of a tumor cell and turns on production of proteins that stop apoptosis and promote cell proliferation and inflammation.[57] Moreover, macrophages serve as a source for many pro-angiogenic factors including vascular endothelial factor (VEGF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF/CSF1) and IL-1 and IL-6[58] contributing further to the tumor growth. Macrophages have been shown to infiltrate a number of tumors. Their number correlates with poor prognosis in certain cancers including cancers of breast, cervix, bladder, brain and prostate.[59][60] Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are thought to acquire an M2 phenotype, contributing to tumor growth and progression. Some tumors can also produce factors, including M-CSF/CSF1, MCP-1/CCL2 and Angiotensin II, that trigger the amplification and mobilization of macrophages in tumors.[61][62][63] Research in various study models suggests that macrophages can sometimes acquire anti-tumor functions.[56] For example, macrophages may have cytotoxic activity[64] to kill tumor cells directly; also the co-operation of T-cells and macrophages is important to suppress tumors. This co-operation involves not only the direct contact of T-cell and macrophage, with antigen presentation, but also includes the secretion of adequate combinations of cytokines, which enhance T-cell antitumor activity.[21] Recent study findings suggest that by forcing IFN-α expression in tumor-infiltrating macrophages, it is possible to blunt their innate protumoral activity and reprogram the tumor microenvironment toward more effective dendritic cell activation and immune effector cell cytotoxicity.[65] Additionally, subcapsular sinus macrophages in tumor-draining lymph nodes can suppress cancer progression by containing the spread of tumor-derived materials.[66]
Cancer therapy [ edit ]
Experimental studies indicate that macrophages can affect all therapeutic modalities, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy.[56][67][68] Macrophages can influence treatment outcomes both positively and negatively. Macrophages can be protective in different ways: they can remove dead tumor cells (in a process called phagocytosis) following treatments that kill these cells; they can serve as drug depots for some anticancer drugs;[69] they can also be activated by some therapies to promote antitumor immunity.[70] Macrophages can also be deleterious in several ways: for example they can suppress various chemotherapies,[71][72] radiotherapies[73][74] and immunotherapies.[75][76] Because macrophages can regulate tumor progression, therapeutic strategies to reduce the number of these cells, or to manipulate their phenotypes, are currently being tested in cancer patients.[77][78]
Obesity [ edit ]
It has been observed that increased number of pro-inflammatory macrophages within obese adipose tissue contributes to obesity complications including insulin resistance and diabetes type 2.[79]
Within the fat (adipose) tissue of CCR2 deficient mice, there is an increased number of eosinophils, greater alternative macrophage activation, and a propensity towards type 2 cytokine expression. Furthermore, this effect was exaggerated when the mice became obese from a high fat diet.[80] This is partially caused by a phenotype switch of macrophages induced by necrosis of fat cells (adipocytes). In an obese individual some adipocytes burst and undergo necrotic death, which causes the residential M2 macrophages to switch to M1 phenotype. This is one of the causes of a low-grade systemic chronic inflammatory state associated with obesity.[81][82]
Intestinal macrophages [ edit ]
Though very similar in structure to tissue macrophages, intestinal macrophages have evolved specific characteristics and functions given their natural environment, which is in the digestive tract. Macrophages and intestinal macrophages have high plasticity causing their phenotype to be altered by their environments.[83] Like macrophages, intestinal macrophages are differentiated monocytes, though intestinal macrophages have to coexist with the microbiome in the intestines. This is a challenge considering the bacteria found in the gut are not recognized as "self" and could be potential targets for phagocytosis by the macrophage.[84]
To prevent the destruction of the gut bacteria, intestinal macrophages have developed key differences compared to other macrophages. Primarily, intestinal macrophages do not induce inflammatory responses. Whereas tissue macrophages release various inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α, intestinal macrophages do not produce or secrete inflammatory cytokines. This change is directly caused by the intestinal macrophages environment. Surrounding intestinal epithelial cells release TGF-β, which induces the change from proinflammatory macrophage to noninflammatory macrophage.[84]
Even though the inflammatory response is downregulated in intestinal macrophages, phagocytosis is still carried out. There is no drop off in phagocytosis efficiency as intestinal macrophages are able to effectively phagocytize the bacteria,S. typhimurium and E. coli, but intestinal macrophages still do not release cytokines, even after phagocytosis. Also, intestinal macrophages do not express lipoplysaccharide (LPS), IgA, or IgG receptors.[85] The lack of LPS receptors is important for the gut as the intestinal macrophages do not detect the microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPS/PAMPS) of the intestinal microbiome. Nor do they express IL-2 and IL-3 growth factor receptors.[84]
Intestinal macrophages role in disease [ edit ]
Intestinal macrophages have been shown to play a role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn's Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). In a healthy gut, intestinal macrophages limit the inflammatory response in the gut, but in a disease-state, intestinal macrophage numbers and diversity are altered. This leads to inflammation of the gut and disease symptoms of IBD. Intestinal macrophages are critical in maintaining gut homeostasis. The presence of inflammation or pathogen alters this homeostasis, and concurrently alters the intestinal macrophages.[86] There has yet to be a determined mechanism for the alteration of the intestinal macrophages by recruitment of new monocytes or changes in the already present intestinal macrophages.[85]
Media [ edit ]
An active J774 macrophage is seen taking up four
conidia in a co-operative manner. The J774 cells were treated with 5 ng/ml interferon-γ one night before filming with conidia. Observations were made every 30s over a 2.5hr period.
Two highly active alveolar macrophages can be seen ingesting conidia. Time lapse is 30s per frame over 2.5hr.
History [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]A Green Bay, Wisconsin, city clerk refused to set up an early-voting site because she didn’t want it to help Democrats, newly released emails show.
According to the emails, obtained through an open-records request by the One Wisconsin Institute, City Clerk Kris Teske refused to open more than a single early-voting site because the local college students who would most benefit from it were likely to vote for Democrats.
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“I have heard it said that students lean more toward the Democrats,” she wrote on Aug. 26 to David Buerger, counsel at the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, according to a report by The Nation.
“I have spoken with our chief of staff and others at City Hall and they agree that budget wise this isn’t going to happen,” she wrote. “Do I have an argument about it being more of a benefit to the Democrats?”
One Wisconsin has been fighting the early-voting cutbacks in the state.
Teske was an appointee of Mayor Jim Schmitt, a Republican closely aligned with Gov. Scott Walker, who has been notorious for other attempts at voter suppression in the past.
In 2014, Walker pushed for a voter ID law that would have disenfranchised 300,000 people but was blocked by the Supreme Court. After that failure, a group called the Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia openly encouraged its members to physically intimidate anyone at the polls that they felt shouldn’t be there — apparently meaning minority voters, who were likely to vote against Walker, the group's preferred candidate (who was then up for re-election).
Last month a federal court ordered an investigation of the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles for failing to provide the voter IDs now required to vote in that state.
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“Recent news stories in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Nation have reported that DMV personnel have provided incorrect information to persons who have applied for Wisconsin IDs for voting,” federal district court Judge James Peterson wrote in that ruling. “These reports, if true, demonstrate that the state is not in compliance with this court’s injunction order."
An estimated 9 percent of Wisconsin’s registered voters, or about 300,000 people, don’t have a voter ID. Instead of following court orders requiring it to provide free IDs or voting certificates to all eligible citizens, Wisconsin has made residents in predominantly poor and minority areas jump through hoops in order to vote — often without giving them IDs in the end.Young Muslim Convert Explains Why She Ditched Christianity For Islam
A young British Muslim has explained why she decided to ditch Christianity for Islam during an extremely compelling interview.
Speaking to Iain Dale, Dionne said she had been brought up as a Christian, but soon found herself searching for something with more “integrity”.
The LBC caller said Christians “did not know their bible” and would “interpret things how ever they wanted to” - something she claims is not possible with Islam.
Picture: PA/LBC
She said: “With the Quran you can’t do that, you have to take every word literally.
“There is no modernising of the Quran… there is no modernising with this religion”.
Iain challenged Dionne, as he argued it was reasonable to have a “flexible interpretation” of the religious book in a modernised world.
He added: “Society changes, doesn’t it?”
"It does, but does that mean truth has to change,” the caller responded as she instantly rejected Iain’s argument.
Dionne continued: “Just because it sounds good to say that ‘surely it has to adapt to a modern age’ it doesn’t mean to say that’s factually true.”
Watch the fascinating interview in full above.President Trump's approval ratings have not only hit a new low but have fallen below both Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford's worst-ever numbers during their presidencies, Gallup said Monday.
Trump's approval numbers dropped to 36 percent over March 24-26, a time period that includes his failure to get Congress to pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.
According to Gallup, Clinton's all-time low was 37 percent in 1993. Ford hit his 37 percent low point in January and March of 1975.
Former President Obama's hit his all-time Gallup low of 38 percent in 2011 and 2014.
Other presidents, according to Gallup, that had worse all-time lows than Trump: George W. Bush hit 25 percent, George H.W. Bush hit 29 percent, Ronald Reagan hit 35 percent, Jimmy Carter hit 28 percent, Richard Nixon hit 24 percent, Lyndon Johnson hit 35 percent and Harry Truman hit 22 percent.
Gallup cautioned in an analysis that these ratings "are fluid, and all presidents have seen both upward and downward swings in their ratings at various points in their administrations — a historical precedent indicating Trump's approval could drop further or recover in the weeks and months ahead."
"An encouraging sign for Trump, perhaps, is that all presidents whose ratings fell below 36% — with the exception of Nixon — saw their ratings improve thereafter," the polling outfit said.This post may contain affiliate links, to view the disclaimer policy please Read More.
Crisp and chewy in texture, these dried fruit oatmeal bars are full of fibers and nutrients, no added sugar or refined sweeteners, naturally gluten and dairy free, suitable even for vegans. The sweetness comes from dried fruits. They are pre-soaked for a couple of hours to make them plumper, juicier, and softer.
I used dried prunes due to their general health-promoting benefits for the microflora in the digestive tract and also because they help regulate the bowel movements. These bars are really easy to make and also are gluten & dairy free, egg free!! Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days or more in the refrigerator.
Using organic dried fruit ensures that you don’t eat pesticide residues on the skin of the fruit. Also try to buy unsulphured version. Most dried fruits are sulphured which means that they’ve been treated with a sulphur dioxide solution intended to preserve the fruit’s bright color and moisture. If you are among those who have sensitivities to chemicals then you may experience from mild to serious allergic reactions.
You can vary the amount of dried fruits and oats in the recipe as per your own preferences. The organic unsulphured small packages of fruits sold in stores are quite expensive, so it’s more convenient and cheaper to buy them in bulk. You can find a decent quality online, that’s where I buy my blueberries and cranberries.
And when I don’t have time to make my own, I found a great alternative The GFB these are probably my favorite bars of any that I’ve tried, they pack a lot of nutrition for an “on the go” snacks.
Dried Fruit Oatmeal Bar, Gluten Fee, Dairy Free, Vegan Recipe:
Print Recipe 5 from 3 votes Dried Fruit Oatmeal Bars | Gluten, Dairy And Egg Free Healthy Low Sugar Dried Fruit Oatmeal Bars - Gluten, Dairy And Egg Free Prep Time 15 mins Cook Time 45 mins Total Time 1 hr Servings: 28 Calories: 155 kcal Ingredients 2 Cups rolled oats gluten free, organic
15 dried prunes, soaked
1/2 Cup sunflower seeds, soaked
1/2 Cup pumpkin seeds, soaked
3/4 Cup dried cranberries and raisins mix
5 Tbsp coconut oil
5 Tbsp maple syrup
Pinch salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon Instructions 1. Mix all ingredients and spread on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
2. Cook until lightly brown, approximately 45 minutes at 350 F.
3. Allow to cool, then cut into bars. Notes Soaking all ingredients (at least 4 hours) is going to glue everything together without any eggs. Nutrition Serving: 1 bar | Calories: 155 kcal
Read More: Healthy Cookies 4 Ways – Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Vegan
Read More: Gluten Free Quinoa And Seed Breadsticks
Read More: Healthy Gluten Free Dairy Free Snacks (On A Toast)AKP narrows campaign focus as polls show little chance of single rule
Nuray Babacan - ANKARA
AA photo
In a bid to heighten its chances of forming a single-party government, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has narrowed its campaign focus to 40 provinces where it hopes to increase its seat totals in the last week before the Nov. 1 snap election.“The goal is not increasing the percentage of votes, but to increase the number of seats,” said Mustafa Ataş, the AKP’s executive in charge of the party’s organization.As the AKP does not see a chance to form a single-party government according to recent surveys, the party will push for specific provinces. “If necessary we’ll transport those who want to vote but [are] outside of their provinces at that moment,” Ataş stated.The party held its last election strategy meeting on Oct. 22. During the meeting the party discussed all the surveys which have been conducted since the Oct. 10 Ankara bombing. The surveys indicated there was no chance for an AKP single-party government, though there was an increasing trend.Therefore, the party decided to increase their campaign push in 40 provinces where the AKP lost or won by a small number of votes in the June 7 elections.“We are working on which groups are not voting for the AKP and what their complaints are,” Ataş said, adding they would work to convince those did not go to the polls previously to do so this time.The AKP faces a tough challenge to be able to form a single-party government in the upcoming Nov. 1 snap election, former Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has acknowledged.“This is our goal. Current surveys show that we are very close to this but we are not there yet. They show that we are right on the border,” Yıldız told journalists on Oct. 22, stressing the importance of the last 10 days of campaigning before Nov. 1.“We need to achieve our goal of ruling on our own, not only for the AK Parti [AKP], but also to be able to maintain Turkey’s stability and ensure its normalization. I hope we will achieve it, even if only with a critical number [of seats],” he said, adding that the party was at “the critical threshold.”(CNN) -- A controversial Kansas church says members will picket before the memorial service Wednesday evening for two Florida teenagers allegedly killed by their mother.
In a press release, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, said it will demonstrate outside the service in Tampa because the mother is a military wife and "the doomed American military declared war on God & His church."
The controversial church and its pastor, Fred Phelps, have made their name picketing near funerals of people who died of AIDS, gay people and soldiers. The church plans to picket beginning at 5:15 p.m.and ending at 6 p.m., when the service is scheduled to start, according to CNN affiliate WFTS-TV in Tampa.
Julie K. Schenecker, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths Friday of her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, and her 13-year-old son, Beau. She was denied bail at a court appearance Monday, a court spokesman said.
Her husband, Army Col. Parker Schenecker, is with the U.S. Central Command, which is headquartered in Tampa. Police told WFTS that he was in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar when his children were killed.
King High School, which Calyx attended, and Liberty Middle School, where Beau was a student, are sponsoring the service at First Baptist Church of Temple Terrace in Tampa, the church said.
Josh Saliba, director of creative ministries, told CNN he would not comment on Westboro Baptist's plans to protest.
On Monday -- their first day back since the shootings became public -- students at Liberty Middle School wore blue and black in memory of Beau, who was an eighth-grader there.
CNN affiliate Bay News 9 posted a statement Monday from the Schenecker family:
"Colonel Parker Schenecker has returned from his deployment and is grieving with family and friends. He is devoted first and foremost to honoring the lives and memory of his beautiful children, Calyx and Beau," the statement said. "Parker and his family have been touched by the overwhelming support from the community both near and abroad. Arrangements and details are still being finalized with regard to the services to be held for Calyx and Beau."
A search warrant filed Tuesday said Julie Schenecker was unconscious and wearing a bloody robe, and her slain children were covered in blankets when police arrived.
Julie Schenecker was awakened and taken from a screened-in pool area to inside the home, where evidence was recovered, according to the warrant filed in Circuit Court in Hillsborough County.
The search warrant was posted on the website of CNN affiliate WTSP.
The warrant provides new details in the case: Five bullets, along with a Smith & Wesson box and instruction manual, were found in the master bedroom; 15 live rounds and five spent shell casings were in the master bath. Also indicated in the search warrant -- both inside and outside the house -- were cigarette butts, note pads, undisclosed medication and paperwork.
Police found Calyx's body in an upstairs bedroom. She had been shot twice in the head, police said. Beau's body was later found in the front seat of an SUV inside the home's garage, police said. They said he was shot while he was being driven to soccer practice.
Schenecker confessed to killing the children, according to a police statement, eventually recounting her rationale and thought process "in detail," according to a news release.
"She did tell us that they talked back, that they were mouthy," Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy told CNN affiliate WTSP last week. "But I don't think that will ever serve as an explanation to the rest of us of how you could take a child's life."
Schenecker had initially planned what she called the "massacre" -- killing the children and then herself, McElroy said on Monday -- for January 22, but she put it off after learning there would be a three-day check before she could buy a gun.
Police later found writings in the house, thought to be from Schenecker, in which she spelled out her intentions in detail.
"There are definitely indications that she planned this," McElroy said. "(The writing) was devoid of emotion."
CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this reportToday, Jeff Lemire, creator of Vertigo’s Sweet Tooth, announced the series would be ending in December with the double sized issue #40.
Lemire goes to some pains to make sure it’s clear that DC wasn’t the one to pull the plug.
To be clear, THE BOOK HAS NOT BEEN CANCELLED by DC Comics. The decision to end Sweet Tooth is totally my own and based on the natural conclusion of the story I’ve been building over the last three years. I’d like to thank Dan Didio, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and Karen Berger for all of their support of the book. I’d also like to thank all of the amazing editors I’ve worked with on Sweet tooth, Bob Schreck, Brandon Montclare, Pornsak Pichetshote, Greg Lockhard and Mark Doyle.
He goes into further detail on the Vertigo Blog.
I suppose I could have stretched it out a bit longer. I could have had a few more obstacles pop up along the way to Alaska to lengthen the journey (and the series), but it just felt like it was time. Gus wanted to get to Alaska now…and who am I to argue? I’ll miss my little antlered friend. But I owe it to him to finish his story properly. To “leave it all on the ice” as they like to say up here in Canada. And that means not prolonging the series just because I can. But don’t give up on me. I really feel the best is still to come. The final arc, THE WILD KINGDOM, will be full of everything you’ve loved about Sweet Tooth as well as many new surprises, new characters and new revelations. And it all builds to one final double sized, fully painted final issue with #40 this December.
So he’s got seven issues to wrap up the last three years of his end-of-the-world tale, and a lot of questions to be answered. One of the really impressive things about this series is that it was clearly Lemire doing his best version of himself, both writing and drawing on a monthly schedule, while also penning regular scripts for DC Comics. He built a fully fleshed out world, |
rape survivors contacted by Channel 2 disagree. She plans to transfer out of BYU after this semester. She feels let down by her school.
"I cannot stay here one more second," she said.
Follow Cristina Flores on Twitter for breaking news, updates and more.According to a community leader familiar with the neighborhood where the tragedy took place, the gang shoot-out which resulted in Pendleton’s death came about because of a poorly planned and poorly executed school boundary change. Two groups of kids with longstanding issues had been thrown together into a single school and the situation “exploded”.
Hadiyah Pendleton
Local community activists and other adult leaders had pleaded with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) not to go ahead with the change, but it was part of a long term plan to help gentrify the South Side Bronzeville community through school closings, consolidations and boundary changes. Profit was the priority.
Hadiya Pendleton was caught in the crossfire of two gangs that did not even exist before this ill-conceived CPS strategy.
School closings can kill
Living on the West Side of Chicago, Dwayne Truss is very familiar with a 15th Police District map of gang boundaries, carefully color-coded for easy understanding. Within the map are the locations of neighborhood schools in the West Side Austin area.
Referring to the map at a February West Side meeting, Truss, who co-chairs the Austin Community Action Council said,”This is what our babies, our kids have to go through.” Referring to the children of those who sit on the Board of Education Truss continued by saying,”Their kids don’t have to go through this.” ----from Austin Talks
Dwayne Truss (with Valerie Leonard) at a February 27th press conference at CPS headquarters
In January 2013 CPS took high schools off of the list of potential school closings because even the normally oblivious CPS leadership decided that the danger of crossing gang borders was just too great. As of March 2013, that still leaves 129 grade schools on what many Chicagoans call “Rahm’s hit list”, a grim wordplay in a city where gang affiliations can reach down as far as middle school and grade school.
CPS has been sponsoring a series of community meetings across the city where thousands of students, teachers and parents have come to plead for the survival of their neighborhood schools. The meetings have also become scenes of massive vocal protest against school closings. The issue of student safety when crossing gang boundaries comes up repeatedly in passionate, sometimes tearful testimony. There is suspicion that the meetings are just a charade in front of the stony-faced CPS representatives; that life and death decisions about which schools to close have already been made.
The Walton Foundation funds these meetings. The Waltons own Walmart. Their concern for the sanctity of human life can be seen among the charred bodies of South Asian textile workers who died making Walmart products in appalling sweatshop conditions.
Gang borders are the most lethal in the areas of the city hit hardest by racism and its accompanying poverty. These include South Shore, Englewood, West Englewood, North Lawndale, Humboldt Park and Austin. These are communities suffering from disinvestment, unemployment, foreclosures, withholding of city services, schools deprived of the most basic needs and what author Michelle Alexander calls the The New Jim Crow, mass incarceration as a form of social control.
Not surprisingly, these areas of the city have suffered population loss. Using questionable numbers one analyst called “wildly inappropriate”, CPS now says the schools are “underutilized” and may need to be closed. This is after decades of CPS malign neglect, what the Chicago Teachers Union calls educational apartheid. One of the factors that caused the exit of neighborhood residents was the deliberate CPS policy of withholding resources needed by schools in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods.
The “underutilization” argument is chutzpah in the first degree, especially since students from shuttered schools will likely have to cross gang boundaries to get to their receiving schools. That will only encourage more families to pack up and leave. Now combine this with the number of private charter schools that are opening up and competing for students. Do the math and the whole CPS “underutilization” rationale reads like a piece of satire from The Onion.
No wonder some veteran community activists feel that City Hall’s school closing blitzkrieg is really about emptying out areas of the city for redevelopment. New office buildings and condos will net banks and real estate moguls millions in profit. It will also make a whiter and more politically obedient city. Go ahead and label these battle scarred community activists paranoid and delusional if you want. I think their assessment is on the money...literally.
Pardon my bitter sarcasm, but City Hall probably views all of this as a “kinder, gentler” ethnic cleansing, as opposed to the variety which swept across the former Yugoslavia during the 1990’s.
Rahm sends in the Top Cop
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy appeared on WLS-Radio in mid February and announced that his department would guarantee the safety of Chicago grade school students who might have to cross gang borders resulting from school closings. Yes, he really said that---after one of the most violent years in recent Chicago history, with 506 murders and an average of 21 reported shootings a day.
At a press conference held at the Chicago Board of Education in late February, West Sider Angela Bowman talked about some of the dangers faced by young children:
“My concern with these school closings is the safety of our children. The CPS Board is not walking through these neighborhoods while they are making up these things about underutilization and why they want to close these schools… A lot of people live in drug infested, gang infested and pedophile infested neighborhoods. Students will have to get up extra early and walk in the dark, especially in winter time. Walk in the dark to these schools and then walk back in the dark.” ---
Angela Bowman
There are 129 public grade schools still on the closing list. And what about the high school students who are already crossing gang borders? And the charter school students? Don’t they deserve some protection also? How will City Hall pay for this and hire all the extra cops? I hate to ask you to do the math once again, but think about it.
McCarthy admitted that there was “a lot of work to do.” He referred to a plan to set up “safe passages” to be staffed by Chicago cops. Parents will be told of safe corridors from home to school that their children may travel. There was such a plan for school year 2011-2012 but McCarthy admitted that the scheme “had some problems”.
Police Chief Garry McCarthy
It’s hard to take McCarthy’s vague assurances seriously. He appeared on radio at 7 am on a Sunday morning, not in front of the TV klieg lights with a stern and concerned looking Rahm at his side nodding at strategic moments.
McCarthy’s low profile announcement suggests Rahm has his scapegoat in place if everything goes to hell and back at the start of the 2013 school year. He’ll be shown the same exit door that Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard was pushed through when the negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union turned into a political embarrassment for the Mayor.
Rahm wants Chicago companies to pony up $50 million
Unlike the nearly clandestine revelation about 2013 “Safe Passages” from Superintendent McCarthy, Rahm’s declaration that he would seek $50 million from Chicago CEO’s for anti-violence programs was greeted with intense, respectful & uncritical media attention.
Emanuel is putting his formidable fund-raising skills to work to raise money for early intervention programs for younger kids and provide jobs, mentoring, recreation and conflict-resolution programs to give troubled teens an alternative to the gang violence that claimed the life of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton. -----Chicago Sun-Times
He named Allstate CEO Tom Wilson and Jim Reynolds, CEO of Loop Capital Markets to co-chair the fundraising committee. The idea is raise $50 million over the next five years. Wilson grew up in Englewood, one of the areas plagued by gang violence:
“As I looked at the needs of the community, we needed to get involved, get back in there and make this city as great as it should be. But we can’t be a great city unless we really bring along all sectors, [including] the young people on the South and West Sides.”
Wilson is right about the South and West Sides, but the devil is in the details. There is supposed to be an “advisory committee of criminal justice experts and community leaders” to oversee the finances. Who decides who sits on the committee?
Rahm’s normal pattern would be to stuff it with his political cronies and cronies-to-be (those present community “leaders” whose souls are up for auction). After contracts are carefully padded and then awarded, some money will actually get to anti-violence programs, some of which will help. Summer jobs and recreation programs can get some kids out of harm’s way at least some of the time.
But Wilson knows that $5 million a year is a drop in the bucket. In 2010 Wilson personally made over $8.5 million in annual compensation. His total worth is estimated at $23 million. But by Chicago CEO comparison, Wilson is only modestly wealthy. Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, took in over $47 million in personal annual compensation.
Rahm’s $50 million over 5 years is a pittance and an insult to the working class people of the city.
Chicago’s working class has a better idea
“We cannot fix what’s wrong with our schools until we are prepared to have honest conversations about poverty and race. Until we do, we will be mired in the no-excuses mentality [that] poverty doesn’t matter. Poverty matters a lot when you are teaching children who are distracted by their lives. Poverty matters a lot when you are teaching children who have seen trauma like none of us in this room can imagine.”-- Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis
“Our analysis demonstrates clearly that high levels of poverty and income inequality are strongly correlated with elevated levels of violence, and that raising wages for Chicago’s low-wage workers, along with other targeted anti-poverty and employment programs, is the most effective means of achieving safer streets and stronger communities across the city.”-------- Stand Up! Chicago
All across the poorest working class areas of the city you can hear the same refrain. To get serious about defusing gang violence, people need good paying jobs and rational economic development to drastically reduce poverty. In areas of the city where poverty is minimal, there are no serious gang problems. There has not been a murder in the mostly white prosperous Northwest Side neighborhood of Edison Park since 2007. There were 128 murders in mostly black low income South Side Englewood since 2007.
This disparity is the direct consequence of Chicago’s traditional racial apartheid as well as the steep increase in income inequality in the USA as a whole. The map below makes this point.
Chicago has the 3rd highest US urban poverty rate and the worst African American poverty rate in the nation. One third of Chicago’s children are in poverty. Chicago’s income inequality is similar to that of El Salvador, a nation whose appalling income inequality fuels a shockingly high homicide rate.
An appalling income inequality? A shockingly high homicide rate? Sound familiar?
The link between income inequality and violence has been shown by numerous studies around the world, which simply confirms what many Chicagoans already know from direct observation. The loss of Chicago’s once plentiful unionized manufacturing jobs and the current attack on wages from the city’s elite have made the economics of working class life more uncertain and more dangerous.
During the summer of 2012, the Austin neighborhood on the far West Side suffered the highest number of homicides of any neighborhood in the city. Unemployment in Austin stands at 22%. Disinvestment there is symbolized by the sprawling urban ruins of the once bustling unionized Brach’s Candy factory. The presence of a low wage Walmart on North Ave does little for the 27,000 Austin residents in poverty. Many Austin workers commute to downtown retail stores and restaurants and Austin is #1 among Chicago neighborhoods in providing workers to downtown department stores. These downtown workplaces are mostly non-union and often pay poverty wages.
Throughout 2012, there were numerous public protests by low wage workers who make the connection between the pain of poverty and the agony of neighborhood violence. They want a pay raise for Chicago's poverty level workers---a very substantial pay raise that will narrow the income inequality gap. They are also calling for more jobs at decent wages to help the unemployed, not more minimum wage work that cannot support families. They are determined to reduce the appeal of gangs and eventually dissolve those dangerous borders that many Chicago students must navigate.
Workers demand an increase in the minimum wage
The Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago (WOCC) is one of the many groups addressing the central issues of poverty and racism that are at the root of gang violence. They have been leading the Fight for 15 campaign to raise wages in the downtown retail and food service industry to $15 an hour.
Lorgio Velez is a 19 year old aspiring musician from the South Side Bridgeport-Canaryville community. In the past two years there have been 114 murders within two miles of Lorgio’s home. A former worker at McDonalds, Lorgio has been active in the WOCC Fight for 15 campaign:
“I’m from the city and gets a little rough out there. In the past month of November I lost two friends. One of whom was my best friend and the other was a good friend. You know, there is a lot of gang violence and a lot of times...I kinda fear for my life when I be walking around here.
I just want to be able to pursue my dream and see my projects come to life...because everything is a struggle out here when you are making $8.25 an hour. I’m in these streets [at Fight for 15 demonstrations] rallying and marching and letting these voices be heard. It’s about time people see what’s going on.”
Lorgio Velez
For me, this is personal-- very personal
I once lived along one of those gang borders in the Logan Square neighborhood on the city’s near Northwest Side.
I kept a can of white paint handy to cover over the graffiti that regularly appeared on our garage. Sometimes it was to mark the territory of one the last remaining white gangs, the Gaylords, fighting a losing turf war against one of the newer latino gangs intent on expanding their territory. Sometimes it was two latino gangs contending with one another. I lost a modest amount of time and money painting over this wartime propaganda. The young people in these local battles were paying with their lives.
As a teacher on the city’s South Side in the last quarter of the 20th century I had students from neighborhoods like K-Town, Little Village, Gage Park and Pilsen. I learned about “Folks” and “People”, which were the two loose alliances that most Chicago street gangs belonged to.
I went to faculty orientations on the gang symbols of such organizations as the Latin Kings and the Two-Sixers, two of the more prominent gangs active in neighborhoods where our student originated. I was instructed to watch for gang graffiti on student notebooks and lockers. I learned some of the complex hand signals gangs used to communicate and the various “colors” which were their street attire.
It was an open enrollment Catholic women’s high school and yes we did have gang affiliated students there. But we also had a close-knit faculty and school community. For the most part, the school building itself was neutral territory. Some of the kids that I was reasonably sure had gang affiliations were good students and could contribute intelligent commentary in class discussions. But the war going on outside the schoolhouse door was never far away.
Students told me of painful personal losses in their extended families and in their neighborhoods. They spoke of community festivals where they were afraid to cross the street because a rival gang was patrolling the other side. A freshman student burst into tears one day when I passed out a Chicago Tribune article about gangs for a current events discussion. She knew one of the young men profiled in the article. He had been shot to death. Another student suddenly stood up in my 7th period world history class and started yelling incoherently. Two hours later she was a participant in a gang fight near the school. She knew she was going into combat and I think she was cracking under the strain. Some students displayed symptoms of PTSD.
As for me, I struggled against a tendency to develop a hard cynical self-protective exterior. A few teachers had succumbed to that and I didn’t like what I saw.
Sometimes I would walk up to the end of the 3rd floor corridor and look at the skyline of the Chicago Loop where the wealthy were moving vast fortunes around while young people tried to survive a war they did not start and did not know how to stop.
The skyscrapers seem to meld together into a single Dark Tower of Mordor where greed and lust for power were keeping multitudes of people struggling for economic survival while as the poet Mathew Arnold once wrote, “...ignorant armies clash by night.”
That was more than a decade ago, but how much has changed?
This is not the time to close a single school in the City of Chicago. There are lives in the balance.
Sources Consulted
Chicago Takes Leading Role In National Gun Debate by the Associated Press
Teen girl's killing ignites widespread outrage: 'Why did it have to be her'
Chicago shooting: A case of'mistaken identity'? by Mary Wisniewski
Student safety No. 1 concern if Emmet Elementary closes, community members say by Ellyn Fortino
McCarthy: Police can safeguard students ‘crossing gang boundaries’ by Fran Spielman and Lauren Fitzpatrick
Chicago's $10 million CEOs
School-closings panel has conflicts of interest, group charges by Lauren Fitzpatrick
Questions for the commission: enrollment, finances by Curtis Black
The High Inequality of U.S. Metro Areas Compared to Countries by Richard Florida
With Income Inequality Comes Violence by Michael Shank
Neoliberalism and Inequality: A Recipe for Interpersonal Violence? by Candace Smith,
Motorola Mobility CEO Jha's pay package triples to $47M by Sarah Skidmore
Fight For the Future: The case for raising wages to save lives by Stand Up Chicago
Emanuel launches plan to raise $50 million to help at-risk kids by Fran Spielman
Report: Don't Close CPS High Schools by Kyla Gardner
Teenagers 29% of Chicago homicide victimsImage copyright Getty Images
Sandwich and coffee chain Pret A Manger has suggested it will struggle to staff its outlets after Brexit because just one in 50 job applicants is British.
Its director of human resources, Andrea Wareham, said UK job seekers did not see it as a desirable place to work.
She said about 65% of its staff came from the European Union.
It would be possible to shift the balance of nationality to British workers, she added, but that would take place "over a long period of time".
Ms Wareham said she was "absolutely concerned" about the government's focus on skilled workers when looking at consequences of Brexit. She said it needed to focus on low-skilled as well.
Free food and drinks
Speaking to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, Ms Wareham said: "I would say that one in 50 people that apply to our company to work is British.
"If I had to fill all our vacancies in British-only applicants I would not be able to fill them... because of a lack of applications."
Pret a Manger pays its staff in London (and places with a similar cost of living) £8.05 an hour, including a bonus.
In other regional towns and cities its pay is £7.85 per hour. They get minimum contract hours, are paid for their breaks, and receive free food and drinks when working.
The government's National Living Wage will be £7.50 an hour from the end of this month, although campaigners say this should be far higher, with a realistic living wage in London of £9.75 per hour and £8.45 per hour in the rest of the UK.
Pret's starting package in London is about £16,000 a year, but Ms Wareham said staff can earn "really good money" with pay, including bonuses, rising to £40,000 to £45,000 "within a few years" of joining.
And she said she doubted whether improving the terms of employment would bring in more UK applicants: "I actually don't think increasing pay would do the trick, I can only talk for Pret on this, but we do pay well above the National Living Wage, we do have great benefits and we offer fantastic careers.
"It really is a case of do people want to work in our industry? We are not seen always as a desirable place to work and I think that's the trick."That unplanned stop at the ATM might be costing you more than you think.
The average fee of using an out-of-network ATM is now $4.57, according to Bankrate. This is the tenth straight year of increases.
That means that you'll pay 9% in fees for withdrawing $50 from an out-of-network ATM.
"Paying the fee every once in a great while isn't going to make or break you, but it's the habit of routinely paying these types of fees that is going to put you in the poor house," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.
Related: How to make a budget
Fewer people are using ATMs, which sounds like good news, but it's also what's driving up the cost of getting cash from an out-of-network machine.
"The cost of maintaining and upgrading ATM networks gets spread over fewer transactions each year," explained McBride.
There are two parts that make up ATMs fees: the surcharge from the ATM owner and the fee charged by the customer's bank for going out of network. The ATM charge increased to $2.90 from $2.88 while the bank's fee rose almost 2% to $1.67.
While the higher costs of accessing their own money isn't likely to sit well with customers, the fees are usually avoidable.
Using a debit card to make a purchase usually offers a chance to get cash back, and many banks' apps have maps to help find nearby in-network ATMs.
Plus, a few banks even have certain accounts that don't charge for using another bank's machine.
"There's plenty of competition in banking," said McBride. "So if there are fee policies you don't like at your current bank, there are plenty of other banks both large and small and credit unions that will be eager to have your business."
Related: Alternatives to traditional banks
ATM fees also differ by region.
Here are the cities with the lowest average ATM fees:
San Francisco $3.90
Cincinnati $3.92
Dallas $4.22
Los Angeles $4.28
Boston $4.33
Philadelphia $4.33
And the cities with the highest:
Phoenix $5.07
Atlanta $5.05
Cleveland $4.98
Miami $4.94
Denver $4.88President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, right, before a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. / Yonhap
By Kim Tae-gyu
Microsoft founder Bill Gates plans to start joint work with Korea on next-generation nuclear reactors, which are more cost-effective, safer and generate very little waste.
In a meeting with President Park Geun-hye, Monday, the software mogul talked about fourth-generation nuclear reactors, which are expected to become the norm in a few decades.
"Gates said he regards nuclear power as a stable energy source free of greenhouse gases although there are issues to tackle such as negative public perception, malfunctions and waste," Park's spokeswoman Kim Haing said.
"To address such problems, Gates asked for cooperation with Korea in the development of such reactors, which would involve computer technology."
Gates invested $35 million in 2010 to establish Terrapower, which aims to develop sustainable and economic nuclear energy, and has sought ways of working with Korea, one of the world's leaders in developing innovative nuclear technology.
In response, Park hoped the envisioned joint project of Terrapower and Korean firms on fourth-generation reactors will generate tangible results.
With regard to "creative economy," one of President Park's main goals, Gates stressed the significance of an eco-system where entrepreneurs can get over failures and venture capitalists prevail.
He also praised Korea's active aid to underdeveloped countries, citing it as a role model that transformed from an impoverished agricultural society to an industrialized economy in a short period of time.
The remarks are in line with those Gates made earlier during a meeting with lawmakers when he asked Korea to offer "smart aid" to undeveloped nations so they will be able to replicate its success story.
Defining smart aid as intensive investments in areas that affect the most people with the most urgent needs, he encouraged Korea to adopt the concept.
"I sometimes call this approach (of making the greatest impact) smart aid, and that is having the greatest impact in saving children's lives and helping people lift themselves out of extreme poverty," Gates said.
"When you think about it, the greatest asset of every country is the energy and talent of its people. Disease saps that energy and squanders that talent. Healthy people build thriving economies. Freeing people from the relentless burden of sickness and death will unleash more human potential than any other revolution in history."
He praised Korea's efforts to take advantage of foreign aid through a variety of official programs like the Saemaeul Movement, which was initiated by former President Park Chung-hee, the late father of the incumbent President.
"The Saemaeul (New Village) Movement and other innovative government programs were critical to the modernization of Korea. Another important piece was Korea's effective use of $13 billion in foreign assistance," he said.
"Korea's development experience is proof that development aid works, especially aid focused in areas such as health and agriculture. Koreans can be proud of the country's dedication in bringing its experience and resources to bear to help other countries still struggling to overcome big challenges."
He said he thought highly of Asia's fourth-largest economy for its commitment to raise its official development assistance (ODA) to 0.25 percent of its gross national income (GNI).
Yet, Gates suggested Korea still has a long way to go as that rate still falls far short of the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
"As Korea's economy continues to grow, my hope is that the people of this great country will embrace that opportunity, perhaps even to surpass the OECD average ODA-support level of 0.43 percent of GNI," he said.We have a simple and fun way you can help us save the free and open internet: texting.
We’re using texts to invite people to events, share important information and give them ways to take action. People like you can answer questions in real time — and way better than a bot can.
After you've signed up, we’ll send you everything you need to get started. You’ll get to connect with people all across the country who care deeply about this issue, and you'll do it right from your computer with our peer-to-peer texting program.
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Team Internet is a decentralized group of volunteers who are working together toward a shared goal of maintaining Title II Net Neutrality. We’re combining people power with technology to build a volunteer network of bold activists who can hold their leaders accountable!
We're working to persuade Members of Congress to support the CRA resolution to reverse the FCC’s repeal of Title II Net Neutrality and prevent legislation that could hurt the open internet.
At Team Internet, we see a future where our communities have the media and technology needed to build collective power, ask hard questions, and advocate for the issues that matter to us. Together we can make sure the internet is a tool for collective liberation.
*We'll be communicating with volunteers mostly via text and phone calls, so please add your cellphone number when you sign up!Do you remember the time you changed a stranger’s political opinion on the Internet by using your logic and your accurate data?
Probably not. Because that rarely happens. If you were paying attention during the past year, you learned facts don’t matter to our decisions. We think they do, but they don’t. At least not for topics in which we are emotionally invested, such as politics. (Obviously facts do matter to the outcomes. But not to decisions.)
So how do you win a political debate on the Internet when people refuse to change their opinions? I propose the Cognitive Dissonance test. If you can trigger your opponent into cognitive dissonance, you win. That’s usually as far as a political debate can go. Generally, you can’t change people’s minds, but you can back them into a corner and make them show a “tell” for cognitive dissonance. That’s essentially a white flag that says, “I have no logical argument, so I will say something ridiculous and act as though it is not.”
The problem with cognitive dissonance is that it can be hard to know whether your opponent is experiencing it or you are. It looks exactly the same to you. The person in the illusion can’t tell the difference. You need some sort of simple and objective sign to know when cognitive dissonance is in play and which one of you is experiencing it. And I have just that.
You can detect cognitive dissonance by the following tells:
Absurd Absolute
An absurd absolute is a restatement of the other person’s reasonable position as an absurd absolute. For example, if your point is there is high crime in Detroit, the absurd absolute would be your debate opponent saying something such as “So, you’re saying every person in Detroit is a criminal.” When your debate opponent recasts your opinion to include an “absolute” word, such as every, always, never, all, completely, universally, and the like, you are seeing cognitive dissonance.
Some people call what I just described a strawman argument. But a strawman argument refers to any sort of inaccurate recasting of your opponent’s argument. That is the generic case. I’m referring to a specific strawman argument that uses an absurd absolute. When your debate opponent recasts your point as an absurd absolute, you won the debate. That’s as far as you can go.
Analogy
Analogies are good for explaining concepts for the first time. But they have no value in debate. Analogies are not logic, and they are not relevant facts. An analogy is literally just two things that remind you of each other on at least one dimension. When I see a cauliflower, it reminds me of a human brain, but that doesn’t mean you should eat brains in your salad. When your debate opponents retreat to analogies, it is because they have no rational arguments. You won.
There’s a reason your plumber never describes the source of your leak with an analogy. He just points to the problem and says it needs to be repaired or replaced. No one needs an analogy when facts and reason can do the job.
Attack the Messenger
When people realize their arguments are not irrational, they attack the messenger on the other side. If you have been well-behaved in a debate, and you trigger an oversized personal attack, it means you won. When people have facts and reasons in their armory, they use them first. When they run out of rational arguments, they attack the messenger. That is the equivalent of throwing the gun at the monster after you run out of bullets.
People are mean on the Internet all the time. Being an ordinary jerk might not be a tell for cognitive dissonance. But when you see an attack that seems far angrier than the situation calls for, that’s usually cognitive dissonance.
The Psychic Psychiatrist Illusion
The Psychic Psychiatrist Illusion involves imagining you can discern the inner thoughts and motives of strangers. I’m talking about the unspoken thoughts and feelings of strangers, not the things they have actually said. If your debate opponents retreat to magical thinking about their abilities to detect secret motives and mental problems in strangers from a distance, you won.
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I’m not aware of any science to back my description of the tells for cognitive dissonance. But generally speaking, if your debate partner leaves the realm of fact and reason for any of the diversions I mentioned, you just won the debate. Declare victory and bow out.
—
You might enjoy reading my book because every person in the universe raves about it.
I’m also on…
Twitter (includes Periscope): @scottadamssays
YouTube: At this link.
Instagram: ScottAdams925
Facebook Official Page: fb.me/ScottAdamsOfficialAddressing Peak Energy Demand with the Tesla Powerpack
Last October, a catastrophic rupture in the Aliso Canyon natural gas reservoir caused a methane gas spill that displaced more than 8,000 Californians and released an unprecedented 1.6 million pounds of methane into the atmosphere. Today, the Aliso Canyon leak is considered the worst in U.S. history, with aggregate greenhouse gas emissions said to outweigh those of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Following the disaster, authorities closed the Aliso Canyon facility, which had been feeding the network of natural gas peaker plants in the Los Angeles basin, deeming it unfit to store the fuel safely and environmentally.
One year later, Los Angeles is still in need of an electric energy solution that ensures reliability during peak times. As winter approaches, homes and buildings in the basin will need more natural gas for heat. These demands apply uncharacteristically high pressure to the energy system, exposing the Los Angeles basin to a heightened risk of rolling blackouts.
Following the leak, California Governor Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency, and in May, the California Public Utilities Commission mandated an accelerated procurement for energy storage. Southern California Edison, among other utilities, was directed to solicit a utility-scale storage solution that could be operational by December 31, 2016. Unlike traditional electric generators, batteries can be deployed quickly at scale and do not require any water or gas pipelines.
Last week, through a competitive process, Tesla was selected to provide a 20 MW/80 MWh Powerpack system at the Southern California Edison Mira Loma substation. Tesla was the only bidder awarded a utility-owned storage project out of the solicitation.
Upon completion, this system will be the largest lithium ion battery storage project in the world. When fully charged, this system will hold enough energy to power more than 2,500 households for a day or charge 1,000 Tesla vehicles.
The Gigafactory’s ability to produce at a large scale will allow this system to be manufactured, shipped, installed and commissioned in three months. The system will charge using electricity from the grid during off-peak hours and then deliver electricity during peak hours to help maintain the reliable operation of Southern California Edison’s electrical infrastructure which feeds more than 15 million residents. By doing so, the Tesla Powerpack system will reduce the need for electricity generated by natural gas and further the advancement of a resilient and modern grid.
In order to achieve a sustainable energy future, one which has high penetration of solar and electric vehicles, the world needs a two-way, flexible electric grid. The electric power industry is the last great industry which has not seen the revolutionary effects of storage. Working in close collaboration with Southern California Edison, the Tesla Powerpack system will be a landmark project that truly heralds the new age of storage on the electric grid.CHICAGO, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A former Chicago journalist and aspiring film producer has sold a television series concept to CBS about the competitive business of organ transplantation.
The Chicago Tribune said Steve Boman shopped around his experiences as a transplant coordinator at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and CBS is casting and shooting a pilot inspired by them for a new, Pittsburgh-set, scripted drama called "Three Rivers."
The show reportedly would follow the physicians who perform organ transplants at a fictional medical center.
"It is a grueling job because it's at a moment's notice, and you have to be ready to go whenever and wherever," Boman told the Tribune.
"It is that high-stakes drama with a very strong ticking clock and it is always a life-or-death thing that is being pursued," said Boman, who also previously worked as a reporter for the former Daily Southtown in the mid-1990s. "With the major organ transplants... a heart or a liver, they can die."Bachmann Campaign Organizer Tied to "Kill the Gays" Backer in Uganda
The man running outreach to faith-based communities for Republican Michele Bachmann's presidential nomination campaign has been tied to the key backer of the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda.
The Atlantic reports that Peter E. Waldron had tried to be coy about his identity when confronted, at first refusing to provide his name, but journalist Garance Franke-Ruta discovered that the evangelical pastor was once imprisoned in Uganda for a supposed terrorism plot.
A film about Waldron's experience is apparently in the works, titled The Ultimate Price: The Peter E. Waldron Story. While Waldron was in Uganda from 2002 to 2006, the Republican political activist was reportedly arrested with a small weapons cache. The details are murky, but he spent more than a month in prison.
The surfacing of this name, tied to Uganda, got people wondering. And it turns out Waldron was spotted by happenstance while visiting the church of staunchly antigay, and dangerous, pastor Martin Ssempa. A journalist with The New Republic, Andrew Rice, bumped into them together while researching an article on evangelicals in the country.
Ssempa is well known for inflaming violence against gay people in Uganda, even screening gay porn to incite backlash. While no one is reporting that Waldron actively helped push for the "Kill the Gays" bill that is even now still being considered by the country's parliament, Rice says that Waldron regaled Ssempa's congregation with stories and seemed like a minor celebrity. Waldron spoke about his time in the military (which Waldron strongly implied was CIA-related), his visit to the White House, and he bragged about being cozy with the Ugandan president.
"My impression of Waldron at the time was that he was quite a vivid storyteller," wrote Rice on Wednesday. "The world is full of evangelists who confess to all sorts of heinous past sins; a nonbeliever might say that exaggeration makes their testimony about subsequent redemption all that much more powerful. But I wasn't exactly surprised, either, when I got a call from a St. Petersburg Times reporter a couple of years later, telling me the minister had been thrown in jail."
Bachmann has a clear history of antigay rhetoric, and her husband's Christian counseling clinics were found to practice so-called reparative therapy, documented by a hidden-camera investigation by a gay rights group. But The Advocate couldn't find comments on the Ugandan bill. As recently as this weekend, during an interview on Meet the Press, Bachmann claimed not to judge gay people and said they have "honor and dignity." While not asked directly about Waldron's association with the "Kill the Gays" church, the |
agojevich’s case, Zagel instructed jurors to convict Blagojevich on extortion charges if they found he had “attempted or conspired to obtain property or money knowing or believing that it would be given to him in return for the taking, withholding, or other influencing of specific official action.” In other words, the jury just needed to find that there was a connection between the request and the action to find him guilty, not an explicit promise. As Goodman contends: “Blagojevich was convicted under the same standard of proof as if he had solicited cash bribes.”
Essentially, says Goodman, Judge Zagel’s instructions contained a definition of wrongdoing that was too broad in the context of Blagojevich’s good faith defense and thus misstated the law. That, in turn, allowed the jury to convict Blagojevich just for trying to make what amounted to purely political deals, something he has never denied doing—and something that, in Goodman’s understanding of Supreme Court precedent, is not sufficient grounds to convict for corruption. Says Goodman: “It’s sort of like having a case where somebody is charged with inciting a riot for giving an incendiary speech: You instruct the jury that if you find that he, in fact, gave this speech, you should find that he had the intent to start a riot.”
To drive home this point, Goodman and his team may invoke a 2015 Supreme Court decision that overturned the conviction of a Pennsylvania man named Anthony Elonis, who’d written a series of Facebook posts disparaging his estranged wife and making reference to bombing a police station and shooting up a kindergarten classroom. A jury had convicted Elonis under a federal law that makes it a crime to send a message threatening harm to others, though Elonis said he never intended his words as a threat. In reversing Elonis’s conviction, the Supreme Court held that it mattered what the defendant was thinking when he wrote his posts and that the prosecutors’ instructions to the jury had been invalid. “Wrongdoing must be conscious to be criminal,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote. “Federal criminal liability generally does not turn solely on the results of an act without considering the defendant’s mental state.”
Goodman and his team are hoping to persuade the Supreme Court to see the parallel to Blagojevich’s case as clearly as they do.
This article appears in the October 2017 issue of Chicago magazine. Subscribe to Chicago magazine.
ShareRankings have come in version 3.0.0 and a few people are confused as the what exactly it is and whats changed. So I thought to put together a quick guide on how to take advantage of rankings and what its all about.
Rewards
First Lets look at what you get. The rewards are broken up into 3 ‘Bounty Rewards’, the better you do on whatever the current challenge is, the higher level reward you will get. For this guide we will use the Coby Helmeppo reward system because its the first we are introduced to.
Bounty level rewards:
Exceed 50,000 damage 5 times = 1 Yellow Elder Turtle Exceed 50,000 damage 15 times = 1 Cotton Candy ATK Power Up Exceed 50,000 damage 25 times = 3 Gems
The rewards are normally an Elder Turtle, 1 Cotton Candy and 3 Gems for each different fortnight stage. And the rewards reset with each new fortnight island that refreshed. If you score a level 3 bounty reward you also get the level 1 and 2 bounty rewards, and if you get a level 2 bounty you get level 1 bounty rewards.
How to get the Rewards
To get the rewards is pretty self explanatory, for example for the Coby Helmeppo Island you need to get as many 50,000 damage hits in as possible throughout the stage (excluding special attacks). The exact stage you need to do this on has a little Crown on it. (pic to the right)
To see the challenge you need to complete for the current fortnight island go to Friends > Ranking and click on the ‘Open’ tab, scroll down to read the rewards.
You are also given a bounty for how high your score is. You get new titles for having higher bounties. The highest bounty you can get is 1,000,000.
Strategy
To get the highest Bounty and rewards you cant just go putting together your strongest team and go powering through the stage. You need to strategise and think of an efficient team to score as high as possible without dying. For example on the Coby Helmeppo fortnightly island a team of 2 G3 Luffys and a high ATK INT like Rayleigh or Vista along with 3 weak evos would be perfect. Use the 3 evos to get 3 perfects without killing anyone and the 3 strong units to hit for over 50k. If you dont have a G3 Luffy look at who you do have and try and make it work. Remember its a challenge and is made to make you think.The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: A Christmas Carol A Ghost Story of Christmas Author: Charles Dickens Release Date: August 11, 2004 [EBook #46] Last Updated: March 4, 2018 Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHRISTMAS CAROL *** HTML formatting and additional editing by Jose Menendez. Many thanks to David Widger for scanning the illustrations from his copy of the 1843 first edition.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE BEING A Ghost Story of Christmas
BY
CHARLES DICKENS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN LEECH
PREFACE
I HAVE endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.
Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C. D.
December, 1843.
CONTENTS
MARLEY’S GHOST
STAVE II
THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS
STAVE III
THE SECOND OF THE THREE SPIRITS
STAVE IV
THE LAST OF THE SPIRITS
STAVE V
THE END OF IT STAVE ISTAVE IISTAVE IIISTAVE IVSTAVE V
ILLUSTRATIONS
Artist. Marley’s Ghost J. Leech Ghosts of Departed Usurers,, Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball,, Scrooge Extinguishes the First
of the Three Spirits,, Scrooge’s Third Visitor,, Ignorance and Want,, The Last of the Spirits,, Scrooge and Bob Cratchit,,
STAVE ONE. MARLEY’S GHOST. Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ’Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. The mention of Marley’s funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot—say Saint Paul’s Churchyard for instance—literally to astonish his son’s weak mind. Scrooge never painted out Old Marley’s name. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered to both names. It was all the same to him. Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often “came down” handsomely, and Scrooge never did. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!” But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call “nuts” to Scrooge. Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already—it had not been light all day—and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed. “A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!” cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. “Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!” He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. “Christmas a humbug, uncle!” said Scrooge’s nephew. “You don’t mean that, I am sure?” “I do,” said Scrooge. “Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.” “Come, then,” returned the nephew gaily. “What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.” Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, “Bah!” again; and followed it up with “Humbug.” “Don’t be cross, uncle!” said the nephew. “What else can I be,” returned the uncle, “when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in ’em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” “Uncle!” pleaded the nephew. “Nephew!” returned the uncle sternly, “keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.” “Keep it!” repeated Scrooge’s nephew. “But you don’t keep it.” “Let me leave it alone, then,” said Scrooge. “Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!” “There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,” returned the nephew. “Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!” The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded. Becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever. “Let me hear another sound from you,” said Scrooge, “and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation! You’re quite a powerful speaker, sir,” he added, turning to his nephew. “I wonder you don’t go into Parliament.” “Don’t be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us to-morrow.” Scrooge said that he would see him—yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. “But why?” cried Scrooge’s nephew. “Why?” “Why did you get married?” said Scrooge. “Because I fell in love.” “Because you fell in love!” growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. “Good afternoon!” “Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?” “Good afternoon,” said Scrooge. “I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?” “Good afternoon,” said Scrooge. “I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!” “Good afternoon!” said Scrooge. “And A Happy New Year!” “Good afternoon!” said Scrooge. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he was, was warmer than Scrooge; for he returned them cordially. “There’s another fellow,” muttered Scrooge; who overheard him: “my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas. I’ll retire to Bedlam.” This lunatic, in letting Scrooge’s nephew out, had let two other people in. They were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold, and now stood, with their hats off, in Scrooge’s office. They had books and papers in their hands, and bowed to him. “Scrooge and Marley’s, I believe,” said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. “Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?” “Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years,” Scrooge replied. “He died seven years ago, this very night.” “We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner,” said the gentleman, presenting his credentials. It certainly was; for they had been two kindred spirits. At the ominous word “liberality,” Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back. “At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.” “Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge. “Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again. “And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?” “They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.” “The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge. “Both very busy, sir.” “Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.” “Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?” “Nothing!” Scrooge replied. “You wish to be anonymous?” “I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned—they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.” “Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.” “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides—excuse me—I don’t know that.” “But you might know it,” observed the gentleman. “It’s not my business,” Scrooge returned. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!” Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew. Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him. Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way. The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a Gothic window in the wall, became invisible, and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. The cold became intense. In the main street, at the corner of the court, some labourers were repairing the gas-pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a brazier, round which a party of ragged men and boys were gathered: warming their hands and winking their eyes before the blaze in rapture. The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowings sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice. The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed. Poulterers’ and grocers’ trades became a splendid joke: a glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor’s household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty in the streets, stirred up to-morrow’s pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and the baby sallied out to buy the beef. Foggier yet, and colder. Piercing, searching, biting cold. If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit’s nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose. The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge’s keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol: but at the first sound of
“God bless you, merry gentleman!
May nothing you dismay!”
Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost. At length the hour of shutting up the counting-house arrived. With an ill-will Scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the Tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat. “You’ll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?” said Scrooge. “If quite convenient, sir.” “It’s not convenient,” said Scrooge, “and it’s not fair. If I was to stop half-a-crown for it, you’d think yourself ill-used, I’ll be bound?” The clerk smiled faintly. “And yet,” said Scrooge, “you don’t think me ill-used, when I pay a day’s wages for no work.” The clerk observed that it was only once a year. “A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!” said Scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin. “But I suppose you must have the whole day. Be here all the earlier next morning.” The clerk promised that he would; and Scrooge walked out with a growl. The office was closed in a twinkling, and the clerk, with the long ends of his white comforter dangling below his waist (for he boasted no great-coat), went down a slide on Cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honour of its being Christmas Eve, and then ran home to Camden Town as hard as he could pelt, to play at blindman’s-buff. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker’s-book, went home to bed. He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner. They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again. It was old enough now, and dreary enough, for nobody lived in it but Scrooge, the other rooms being all let out as offices. The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands. The fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house, that it seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold. Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including—which is a bold word—the corporation, aldermen, and livery. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven years’ dead partner that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change—not a knocker, but Marley’s face. Marley’s face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. That, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part of its own expression. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. But he put his hand upon the key he had relinquished, turned it sturdily, walked in, and lighted his candle. He did pause, with a moment’s irresolution, before he shut the door; and he did look cautiously behind it first, as if he half expected to be terrified with the sight of Marley’s pigtail sticking out into the hall. But there was nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on, so he said “Pooh, pooh!” and closed it with a bang. The sound resounded through the house like thunder. Every room above, and every cask in the wine-merchant’s cellars below, appeared to have a separate peal of echoes of its own. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes. He fastened the door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs; slowly too: trimming his candle as he went. You may talk vaguely about driving a coach-and-six up a good old flight of stairs, or through a bad young Act of Parliament; but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, with the splinter-bar towards the wall and the door towards the balustrades: and done it easy. There was plenty of width for that, and room to spare; which is perhaps the reason why Scrooge thought he saw a locomotive hearse going on before him in the gloom. Half-a-dozen gas-lamps out of the street wouldn’t have lighted the entry too well, so you may suppose that it was pretty dark with Scrooge’s dip. Up Scrooge went, not caring a button for that. Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it. But before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. He had just enough recollection of the face to desire to do that. Sitting-room, bedroom, lumber-room. All as they should be. Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the hob. Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. Lumber-room as usual. Old fire-guard, old shoes, two fish-baskets, washing-stand on three legs, and a poker. Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his nightcap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel. It was a very low fire indeed; nothing on such a bitter night. He was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. The fireplace was an old one, built by some Dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint Dutch tiles, designed to illustrate the Scriptures. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaoh’s daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts; and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient Prophet’s rod, and swallowed up the whole. If each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old Marley’s head on every one. “Humbug!” said Scrooge; and walked across the room. After several turns, he sat down again. As he threw his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and communicated for some purpose now forgotten with a chamber in the highest story of the building. It was with great astonishment, and with a strange, inexplicable dread, that as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing. It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. The bells ceased as they had begun, together. They were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below; as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine-merchant’s cellar. Scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains. The cellar-door flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder, on the floors below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards his door. “It’s humbug still!” said Scrooge. “I won’t believe it.” His colour changed though, when, without a pause, it came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes. Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, “I know him; Marley’s Ghost!” and fell again.
Marley’s Ghost
The same face: the very same. Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. His body was transparent; so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. No, nor did he believe it even now. Though he looked the phantom through and through, and saw it standing before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before; he was still incredulous, and fought against his senses. “How now!” said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever. “What do you want with me?” “Much!”—Marley’s voice, no doubt about it. “Who are you?” “Ask me who I was.” “Who were you then?” said Scrooge, raising his voice. “You’re particular, for a shade.” He was going to say “to a shade,” but substituted this, as more appropriate. “In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.” “Can you—can you sit down?” asked Scrooge, looking doubtfully at him. “I can.” “Do it, then.” Scrooge asked the question, because he didn’t know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. But the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fireplace, as if he were quite used to it. “You don’t believe in me,” observed the Ghost. “I don’t,” said Scrooge. “What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?” “I don’t know,” said Scrooge. “Why do you doubt your senses?” “Because,” said Scrooge, “a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!” Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre’s voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones. To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. There was something very awful, too, in the spectre’s being provided with an infernal atmosphere of its own. Scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was clearly the case; for though the Ghost sat perfectly motionless, its hair, and skirts, and tassels, were still agitated as by the hot vapour from an oven. “You see this toothpick?” said Scrooge, returning quickly to the charge, for the reason just assigned; and wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the vision’s stony gaze from himself. “I do,” replied the Ghost. “You are not looking at it,” said Scrooge. “But I see it,” said the Ghost, “notwithstanding.” “Well!” returned Scrooge, “I have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation. Humbug, I tell you! humbug!” At this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise, that Scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast! Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. “Mercy |
its citizens and foreign nationals, all the while shielding even its most mundane government functions from scrutiny under the aegis of national security. Uncomfortably for Assange, if he succeeds in his mission to any significant degree he is unlikely to match his hyperbole in damaging the US, and far more likely to drive it to renew its institutions into a more palatable and competent upgrade of the status quo. That's not a clear victory for anyone, but it's better than the current alternative and a goal that many Americans should be able to get behind.
That said, the leaks are fascinating and clearly in the public interest once made available. Andrew Napolitano at Fox explains it in legal terms to Newt Gingrich, who's in fine form atop his pedestal of bullshit (via LibertarianChristian), and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has no problem seeing the upside despite her broader reservations in terms of allowing a window into a professional bureaucracy that is usually denied the ability to defend its competence when attacked thanks to the nature of its work. One significant caveat is that the alleged source of the leak is in very dangerous territory legally; while precedents have been set in the past for whistleblowers operating on a similar scale, Bradley Manning's status as an active duty member of the military means that he can easily be held to a different legal standard and fried accordingly. Another worthwhile note would be that it is likely that Wikileaks and its partner newspapers will fail to vet more sensitive items to everyone's satisfaction, such as the recent "sensitive locations" item that has triggered discomfort even within the ranks of its supporters. It's bound to get worse as both sides up the ante, and it's important to focus on whether something is materially dangerous (so far unproven) or simply creates a convincing impression of danger from a distance.
Finally, the reaction of governments to these leaks should scare the hell out of you. The seemingly inevitable arrest (via Reddit) of Julian Assange by British authorities on Swedish sexual assault charges as encouraged by the American government likely represents a 21st century remix of the classic honeypot, and the willingness to use it on such a high profile individual should be worrisome irrespective of the veracity of the charges. It's just the tip of the iceberg, though. Apart from Facebook's notably understated position, the ease and rapidity with which corporations across the US and the world were reminded of where the fishes sleep should be of tremendous concern. If Amazon, credit card companies, Paypal, and Swiss banks are the big stories with their reliance on technicalities to wriggle out of their responsibilities in obvious response to government pressure, it is EveryDNS being brazenly strongarmed into abdicating its role as a neutral gatekeeper that should set the tone for future conversations about net neutrality.
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The potential for Comcast or Verizon abusing their place in the food chain pales in comparison to an overt example of governments colluding to silence what they can't defeat in court with intimidation and technological warfare. Naturally, some will point to the "hacktivist" response (apologies if that's your first exposure to that term) as an equal and opposite reaction: while possibly emotionally gratifying, in the end it has the same outcome of discouraging corporate work with transparency organizations since dealing with governments is not as easy to opt out of. As Senator Joseph Lieberman makes clear (via Cory), it's easy for unscrupulous advocates of censorship to view this as an opportunity, a watershed that brings together their traditional loathing of old media with contemporary technology.
The Chinese were criticized by the US for attacking Google, despite it not really being inconsistent with their stated policy priorities even with the Wikileaks bonus intel. It's now the United States' turn to reflect on what the last decade of enhanced government privacy has brought citizens of our nation as well as the world generally, and to do so in terms of the marginal benefits it has brought a tiny minority of bureaucrats, elected officials, and corporations relative to the general public. To paraphrase Machiavelli's views on the Roman republic into the American situation, it was when they were willing to learn from mistakes rather than simply condemn the messenger that institutions could be renewed in a manner that best maintained a balance between a functional government and individual liberty for citizens.
Roberto Arguedas is a public school teacher in Atlanta with a focus on diplomatic history. He served in the Marine infantry in Fallujah (post Phantom Fury) and Ramadi (during the surge). He blogs at Philistine Vulgarity about politics, games, and more.Thomas Sam remained passive as the jury delivered its verdict but Manju Sam's face crumpled and she buried it in her husband's shoulder. After the jury was discharged, the enormity of what had occurred came over her in waves, crying intermittently and then recovering. Justce Peter Johnson granted them bail on strict reporting conditions, but Thomas Sam was led into the cells to wait for $30,000 to be posted as surety. The couple, who had held hands through much of the case, hugged one another for a long time before he left with security.
The court heard the couple took Gloria to various health professionals, but while they abandoned each conventional medication she was prescribed within a short time of starting it, they solidly pursued homeopathic remedies. The Crown said these did not work, and all the while Gloria's tiny body required more nutrition than her mother's milk could provide, and her immune system became ever more depleted.
By the time she died, she was the weight of an average three-month-old, her body was covered with angry blotches and her once black hair had turned completely white. Gloria had developed eczema when she was four months old, a condition she probably inherited from her mother, which flared and subsided throughout the rest of her short life. But the couple, who were raised and educated in India where homeopathy is accepted as equivalent to conventional medicine, were steadfast to their homeopathic remedies and ignored completely or quickly discarded other treatment. A general practitioner booked them an appointment with a dermatologist they did not attend because they took the child to India instead, a course of action the doctor told them was "cruel". They also visited two doctors in India, but discarded the advice of one to return to him every second day, instead consulting a succession of homeopaths including Thomas Sam's brother, who had recently completed his dissertation on eczema.
Thomas and Manju Sam's lawyers said they had been devoted but misguided parents, and their conduct fell far short of gross criminal negligence. They had treated Gloria's eczema with the best intentions, and none of the health professionals they consulted - homeopathic and conventional - had warned them that the condition could imperil her life. But they did not deny that Gloria was uncomfortable for much of her life. Any improvements in her condition after homeopathic treatment were short-lived, and the rest of the time she was irritable and in pain, crying whenever she was moved and taking refuge only on her mother's breast. Gloria's miserable life proved all the more poignant by the evidence given at the trial by Dr Orli Wargon, the dermatologist with whom Gloria missed her appointment when the family went to India instead.
Dr Wargon said she would have applied an aggressive treatment program that should have seen the child recover within 24 hours: "Not completely cured, but her skin would look better very, very quickly." Nine days after they returned from India, Thomas and Manju Sam finally took Gloria to hospital for an eye infection they thought was conjunctivitis, and she was immediately rushed into emergency to be treated by a team of medical experts. It turned out her cornea was melting. Doctor after doctor told the jury that by the time they saw Gloria in those last few days her skin condition was unlike any they had seen before. Dr Susannah Cunningham, who was then a pediatric emergency registrar, said Gloria was among only a handful of children whose cases she had been unable to forget. "I think it's the pain that has made this case stand out for me in my memory," Dr Cunningham said.
"I can vividly recall where she was in the emergency department. I remember the 6? hours I was involved very clearly. She was in a lot of pain and had been suffering and that's something that doesn't sit well with any pediatrician." Another doctor, dermatologist Penelope Lee, said she had asked Manju Sam why she had not taken the child to hospital earlier: "And I don't think she gave me an answer for that. She just cried." Gloria died on May 8, 2002, in her mother's arms, unable in her weakened condition to combat the septicemia that had developed in her left eye. The pathologist who did the autopsy, Ella Sugo, said she had sought advice from experts outside Australia because she had never seen a child so malnourished and her condition was at a level more commonly observed in third world countries. Loading
But even after Gloria died, Thomas Sam adhered to his belief that homeopathy was equally valid to conventional medicine for the treatment of eczema. He told police: "Conventional medicine would have prolonged her life... with more misery. It's not going to cure her and that's what I strongly believe."Image caption Thousands took to the streets in Hong Kong to demand an investigation in Li's death
Police in China's Hunan province say that a second investigation into the death of leading dissident Li Wangyang shows that he committed suicide.
The conclusion was made in consultation with forensic experts and experienced investigators, authorities said.
Li was found dead in his hospital room in the central Chinese city of Shaoyang on 6 June.
His suspicious death caused an uproar in Hong Kong, with thousands marching to demand that Beijing investigate.
The finding was reported by Beijing-backed Hong Kong China News Agency.
Following that, the Hong Kong government released a statement saying it would not ''make any further comment''.
"We understand the concerns expressed by the people of Hong Kong on the Li Wangyang incident, and have conveyed the public's concerns and opinions to the Central Government and relevant Mainland authorities,'' the statement said.
''The HKSAR Government will continue to safeguard the freedom of speech and people's right to express their views."
Suicide doubts
Li spent more than 22 years in jail after taking part in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and his death has sparked protests in Hong Kong.
Following his death, just days after he vowed to press ahead the fight for universal suffrage, a senior Hong Kong official said he doubted the nearly deaf and blind activist could hang himself.
Li was freed from jail about a year ago, but had reportedly been put back under round-the-clock police watch after restating his commitment to pro-democracy reform in media interviews.
He was found by relatives in a hospital where he was being treated for heart disease and diabetes, with his neck tied in a white cloth hung from the bar running along the top of the window, his feet still touching the ground, reports said.
Officials said he had committed suicide while under police guard.
But friends were quoted suggesting that the suicide seemed to be staged and accusing authorities of rushing to cremate Li's body following an autopsy.
Apart from street protests in Hong Kong, thousands around the world signed an online petition calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances of his death.Police officers recovered a total of 1991 plants from the Queen's Head Inn in Selkirk.
Cannabis: Man jailed for almost six years over £1.6m cultivation. © STV
A man who cultivated more than £1.6m worth of cannabis in a disused pub has been jailed for five years and 11 months.
Bartosz Gloskowski, 23, of Edinburgh, was caught because a passer-by recognised the pungent smell coming from the building and called the police.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Gloskowski admitted producing cannabis at the Queen's Head Inn in Selkirk, Scottish Borders, between March and October 2014.
He also admitted the offence was aggravated by a connection to serious organised crime.
Jailing him judge Lord Matthews said: "Had this matter gone to trial I would have jailed you for eight years."
Defence counsel Matt Jackson said Gloskowski was a first offender and added: "It is unlikely he will reoffend. He is an extremely charismatic young man who has made a terrible choice in life."
The court was told that on March 8, 2014, Gloskowski, who claimed to be driving for his own company Speedtrans, was stopped by customs as he drove through the Channel Tunnel.
Two pallets full of scales, lights, vents, fans, chemicals and trays used in the cultivation of cannabis were found.
Customs seized £4800 worth of Polish Zloty under the Proceeds of Crime Act but allowed Gloskowski and his cargo into the UK.
Advocate depute David Taylor, prosecuting, said Gloskowski rented a flat above the Queen's Head Inn in Selkirk and began growing the plants.
Police were sent to check out the area after a woman phoned to saw she had noticed the smell of cannabis coming from there for a couple of weeks and the smell was growing stronger. She told police she believed someone was growing cannabis plants.
Mr Taylor said: "When police arrived they could smell cannabis in the street.
"They then saw the accused open the front door of his flat and noticed an overpowering smell of cannabis from within the property."
A search of the property revealed that using the attic space the next door flat could be accessed and, from there, there was a wooden panel screwed into the floor which gave access to the disused pub.
In the second flat there were 50 bags full of stripped plant stalks. When police officers entered through the hatch in the Queens Head Inn they found a large cultivation of cannabis plants. The court was told it was clear that the electricity supply had been bypassed.
Mr Taylor added: "It would appear that virtually all of the available floor space within the Queens Head Inn had been given over to an industrial scale production of cannabis. In total, 1991 cannabis plants recovered."
Gloskowski told police he rented the property for £500 but refused to answer any other questions.
His fingerprints and DNA were found on the inside of four pairs of disposable gloves and bottles of beer and water.
Police drug experts said the maximum street value of the cannabis obtained from the plants would be £1.66m.Ecommerce link building can be a huge pain in the ass, and it’s either done with great care or as straight-up spam. The Linkbuildr team has helped countless clients in this area over the years, as well applying Ecommerce link building principles to our own shops in our spare time. Those of you with SEO companies, who want to last more than a couple years in the industry, are going to have to be squeaky clean in your approach to this topic. In this article, we’ll take a look at some tactics that we personally employ, as well things we’d do for an ecommerce link building campaign for a client. Keep in mind that our main goal with such a campaign is to build some solid trust with the search engines, as well as with customers.
Photo Credit: Niall Kennedy
I hope to bring some fresh ideas to the table here, and not bore you with the same old tactics you’ve see everywhere else. Establishing a legitimate online brand isn’t cheap, so I’d prepare a budget of $50,000-100,000 USD over the next couple of years for those starting up in a competitive niche. I’m not making those numbers up, either!
Online shops in general are usually boring as hell and don’t offer any reason to get links. Unless your product is viral enough to advertise itself, you’re going to need a good content strategy in place to succeed. Successful link building is going to take not just links, but also excellent social engagement, mobile apps, link bait, blogging, and PR as well.
Build Trust And They Will Come:
One of the most important factors to consider in your ecommerce campaign is making your customers feel safe while they’re shopping. This also has a couple of different meanings, so let me get into that and then follow it up with some trust-building buys you can get right bloody now:
1) Security Seals
The proper placement of a security seal can and will significantly increase the conversion rate an online store. You’ve all seen many of these before, such as the ubiquitous Verisign one, and they are worth every penny. We always recommend placing these where your customers will see them straight away, as well throwing one down on the checkout page if you can, just to provide your customers with added peace of mind as they are filling in their payment information. An added bonus of these seals is that they sometimes produce a link, as some of them have companies/partners listed from their website.
2) Social Communities
Say whaaaaat? Depending on your niche, there’s a real good chance there’s a relevant online community out there which you could and should join. A good example of this would be the various Ning communities, which offer opportunities to network with other users in your niche, and also provide you with a badge that states “I’m A Member Of ….” which provides some subtle advertising value in and of itself. Being an active participant in these kinds of communities is a must in my books, as it will invariably lead to better sales and business partnerships.
Partnerships We Recommend:
– Truste
– Verisign
– Bizrate
– ResellerRatings
– Safe Shopping Network
– Trust Wave
– Better Business Bureau
– Trust Guard
– Valid Safe
– McAfee Secure
– Merchant Safe
While these are the security partnerships we recommend most, there are many more out there which can be found using Google or by doing some first-hand research on the biggest online shops. It’s obviously not necessary to get all of those (that perhaps is a little too much), but definitely plan to register for one or more. I will quietly comment on how some of our shops have seen some almost unreal ranking boosts from being listed on a couple of these. It could be an anomaly, of course, but the lack of links the sites initially had, combined with how they’ve been ranking top 5 for over 6 months now, definitely has us thinking.
Do Your Payment Options Provide A Link Opportunity?
This link building tactic is not so much a tactic, as it is a unique opportunity that will only be available to the bigger and more well-established brands. That’s one of the reasons I feel comfortable publicly dropping this info without worrying that spammers will have a field day with it.
There are more and more unique online payment methods these days, and a lot of them can lead to a nice link. Everything from Paypal to Google Checkout and various mobile payment methods like to list their strategic partners. Even Visa and other credit cards link out to trusted stores online, and these are just the kind of juicy links you’re going to want in your search engine profile!
Verified By Visa Program:
This is an highly sought-after link that will only come to brands with the right connections and a large enough size. As you can see from the sites listed here, the Verified by Visa Program features only the biggest stores online, and I can say with confidence that we did manage to get one of our Fortune 500 clients on the list. Although it took a long time to do so, a link from such an exclusive list brings huge benefits.
Google Checkout Opportunities:
Google’s move against Paypal in the world of online payments was a welcome one, and when you dig deep, you’ll find a whole whack of link building opportunities with it. Here’s one example: GCOAccepted.com, a site which lists Google Checkout-friendly shops. Putting your Google search skills to the test will produce many similar websites, all of which are potential link sources if you use Google Checkout.
PayPal Opportunities:
This is where you’ll find a ton of unique link building opportunities, each of varying quality, but all at least somewhat useful. Everything from forum posts, to blogs, to Q/A sites, and all sorts of old-school link/resource pages as well, can be taken into account with PayPal. This is just a good place to start to nab a few miscellaneous links, all of which will do an OK job of diversifying your link profile.
So Many More Options:
There are other credit cards and other online payment gateways to consider, and you can be sure there will be more to come in the future. You’ll need to sniff around Google a bit, but I can tell you there is a month’s worth of link building in this area, so get to work!
Contests, Contests, Contests!
I know this tactic has been done to death, but it needs to be said again because I’m still seeing companies pass on it. As our company slogan says, “we build brands and not just links,” which means that building online relationships is the key to marketing success, not just mechanical links. In this vein, contests are a great way to build buzz, produce a stronger connection with your fans, and draw in viral-style links as well. The Facebook & Twitter contest option is my favorite tactic as of late, so be sure to make use of these platforms as part of your contest.
Your Own Contest:
This is a contest that you host, via your website, social media profiles, etc. It should be a big gift giveaway, hopefully a product which you sell, and it should be done quarterly. The most effective strategy we’ve seen is launching the contest from your Facebook page, and providing backup with your official site blog and Twitter profile to get maximum exposure. We’ve also helped launch Youtube contests for companies, which is another awesome way to go; you get tons of user-generated content, which makes giving away something expensive worthwhile.
Partner Contest:
If your social media following is weak like a 1-month-old site’s link profile, then it’s time to look at a strategic partnering. This means finding an established blog, popular Youtuber, or robust forum community within your industry and trying to get them on board. I like to call this “social surfing,” as we ride their wave of their followers. I think everyone wins in this scenario because they get to give away something awesome (make sure the prize is fantastic), and you get exposure.
Generating contest buzz is crucial to getting the most out of it, so beware that a lot of prep work is in order. There are dozens and dozens of places you can submit your contest link to: bug people on Twitter, bug people on Facebook, and so on. Sit down way before the contest starts and put together a plan of attack, then stick to it. I previously talked about contests in our 2011 Link Building post, so read that section if you want some more ideas on how to approach this topic.
Twitter Is Good For Building Relationships… And Customer Interaction:
Ecommerce shops online are embracing Twitter more than ever. It’s definitely seen as a handy tool, and my main love with it is building relationships. For an ecommerce store, Twitter lets you advertise your business while mixing in a little fun with your customers (and potential customers). That’s one thing we always remind our clients to do: don’t just drone on about the latest product sales, because that’s not what it’s all about. Write some funny or intriguing tweets to keep your fans engaged.
There’s not much more that I can say other than to get someone fun from your company to manage the account. We don’t really recommend hiring a social media ghost writer, even if they claim to be some rock star. They don’t care about your company, your product, or your reputation as much as you do, no matter how much you’re paying them. Keep this one in-house.
Product Partnerships:
This is another tip for big brands and up-and-coming big shots on the web. A lot of shops online push huge sales, which in return gives them some bargaining power with their suppliers. I’ll bring Zappos in as an example of this because you could make a positive example of them any day of the week.
Zappos stocks shoes galore, and they sell a s$#!load of product. You can see from either their link profile or Google that they’ve been listed on numerous supplier websites. These are my favorite kind of ecommerce links. I’ll throw you all a bone here and list the New Balance shop online page which gives a few power house online retailers a phat link.
Sniffing Out The Goods:
If you think your sales and brand are big enough to compete here, then start digging out your partnership opportunities. We regularly do this for clients and are usually shocked when they’ve never bothered to try, especially when these folks have company reps they could have spoken to. It doesn’t hurt to try or ask and even if you only get one link out of twenty, that’s better than nothing.
Hammering out link requests to suppliers is actually pretty easy to do. We recommend creating a spreadsheet and setting it up with supplier/contact/url-of-partner-page. Now comes the boring part. You’ll need to go to every supplier website and hunt around for their “Shop Online”, “Online Resellers”, “Buy Online”, “Online Partners”, “Online Retailers” sections, and so forth. Brand URL + those keywords in Google should do a quick and easy job of locating the desired pages. By all means, try out some other keyword combos, but those are the gems that will make you or your client’s life easier.
Sell Wholesale Or Have Affiliates?
Photo Credit: A. Carrell
This is another topic I covered in our 2011 Link Building Tactics post, so please check there for more specific ideas and link building tips. The gist of it? If you sell wholesale to smaller shops or have an affiliate program, then you can build links. I know this isn’t the most authoritative link building secret, but it adds diversity as well as a chance to make some more money. And I’m all about making more money!
There are dozens of blogs and forums from which you can announce and manage your affiliate program. This will not only bring in links, but new business as well, which is even more valuable because it isn’t entirely Google-related. If you have a good, steady income coming in that isn’t from Google, then you’re on your way to lasting a long time. Those who are only getting their sales from Google are just 1 algorithm update away from waking up in serious pain.
Datafeed/Shopping Comparison Sites:
This is another must for shops online, mainly because newer sites cannot rank for difficult keywords. A lot of the shopping comparison sites already rank well for the keywords you’re targeting, and this can be used to your advantage. Some of the sites provide a proper link back, and it’s usually a deep link, which is nice for a change.
A lot of the comparison engines out there are free, but some charge PPC and others have PPS situations. Obviously, the paid ones will require your judgment after testing them out and seeing if they’re worth it. In our experience, most of the pay-per-click models are not worth a dime. I like the pay-per-sale option, and on our biggest shop we see a lot of good sales come through it, keeping in mind we’ll hopefully get more out of a return customer later on down the road. If not, then at least you’re benefiting from the brand exposure, even if the profit margins are embarrassing.
List Of Datafeed/Shopping Comparison Websites: http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/comparison-shopping-listing-guide/
Coupon Marketing:
I love coupon marketing because it lets you benefit in so many ways. First of all you can utilize this marketing tactic to get more deep links to your product pages. Secondly, you’re doing more to build up your brand name and image. There isn’t a day that goes by that our personal shop doesn’t have a coupon or two out in the wild. We also encourage our clients to do at least one coupon per month.
Why? Well, you’ll start to bring in those people who won’t buy at full price, and are only there for the bargain. You might as well make some money from these folks if you can. Having an active coupon set also leads to your shop getting a link from a lot of the bigger coupon databases online. They’ll usually make a store page for you once you get big enough, are big enough, or simply do a lot of coupon marketing.
How To Find Coupon Sites:
– Google search for intitle:submit coupon
– http://www.wisebread.com/50-best-deals-coupons-sites
– http://www.couponquestions.com/top-list-of-coupon-websites-like-groupon/
Social Shopping Networks:
Social web apps have obviously dived right into social shopping, and there’s something for everyone here. I’m sure some of your products are found on the sites listed below; if not, you can usually add them as the store owner without feeling guilty. Also, a lot of these sites provide a link, and it’s a great opportunity to add more deep ones.
These social networks are also a great place to network with customers and show them the personal side of your company. There are a lot of these social shopping sites out there, so stick to just a few and build up a good following on them. I personally recommend Kaboodle, Pikaba and Shopr.com. They all have a huge user base, provide links, and feature product inclusion. If you can, write unique descriptions so that you don’t outrank yourself or cause more post-Panda product page issues.
Mobile Ecommerce:
Mobile shopping is huge in Asia and Europe, and it’s finally gaining stride in North America. Chances are good that your site isn’t setup or ready for it, so where do you begin?
Depending on your shop software, you either have a pre-built option ready to buy like with Magento Commerce, or you’ll need a programmer. For those looking to start out in the ecommerce realm, then check out Big Commerce which is my next choice for my next shop.
Whenever a big player in the industry jumps on board with this, then you know there are link building opportunities to be had. We recently got one of our big ecommerce clients interviewed about their new mobile shop on a few industry blogs which was a big hit. It’s just another interesting way to make money, build buzz and get some links along the way.
Social Ecommerce with Facebook:
The latest “in thing” to do when it comes to selling online is the whole social ecommerce angle. Sadly I have no real hard data to tell you if it’s worth putting a lot of money into, but I tend to think it’s going to be huge. How does this differ from the social shopping sites…is that what I’m talking about? Not quite!
What I’m talking about are the Facebook store fronts you can have built and market with. We’ve already blogged about Vending Box and I’ll definitely mention them here again. I really like the platform because they only take a cut of your sales via Facebook…really slick! I don’t see why you shouldn’t have this already setup and going and let me tell you why. Facebook most likely has one of the best time-on-site averages in the world, and it’s only going to stay that way. Making people shop from Facebook is the logical next step, so don’t get left behind.
The other social ecommerce platform to check is Social Igniter, and it’s a web app I’ve been meaning to cover. I think it looks and feels much much better than Vending Box and they already have a few big brands on board which you can see here. I’d really take a good look at both of these software suites and see which is a good fit for your brand. Take note that if you’re a big brand and you join their platform, I can imagine a link will be coming your way!
Join In On The Discussion!
There are thousands of discussions from real people going on all over the web and social arena, so get in on it! You can find almost word-for-word questions about a product you carry, and they’re quite easy to find. We employ this strategy as a deep linking tactic several times a month.
Using only a few tools, you could find enough social discussion work to keep one employee, per client, working on it full-time. That’s not to say you should or will do that, but the point is that there are a plethora of relevant social discussions out there just waiting to be turned into links. So what does our company use? The combination of Google Discussions and a wicked web app called Social Mention.
Google Discussions:
The method we reommend is coming up with a document full of questions related to your product line, such as “where can I buy xxx” and “where can I get xxx cheap?”. You can filter your results by forums and Q/A sites, or combine both for an overwhelming onslaught of direct marketing opportunities.
Google Alerts:
I’m sure half of you folks are already using Google Alerts, but if you’re not then it’s time to sit down for 30 minutes and set up your account. You have a whole range of options to choose from, but be sure to stick to the ones that will convert into money so you don’t wind up wasting your time. I have over 15 alerts coming at me in the morning that I try and finish up before the 9am hustle begins.
Social Mention:
This is my favorite free web application for getting social alerts from ALL over, and it’s aptly named Social Mention. I’ve gained so many links from using this tool in the past 6 months that it’s a shame I haven’t mentioned it earlier. As you can see from the list below, it tracks a whole lot more than Google Alerts!
Video Product Marketing:
Last year, we decided to heavily focus on video marketing efforts for our main shop and saw some amazing results. We used Animoto to create slide-show videos that showcased our products. These, of course, were placed on Youtube, and we made sure that the video description was unique and included a link to the product. We also set up tracking via Analytics to see how many sales came in through the video links. After one year, and over 200,000 video views (thanks to great rankings in the Google SERPs), we netted just over $15,000 in sales! That was a shocker to us, especially since we’re in a niche that isn’t the largest.
So for as little as $500(which factors in your time), you can have really decent-looking videos up and pimping your product. More views, more comments, and more ratings will all lead to better rankings for your videos. Make sure to advertise these videos via your Blog/Twitter/Facebook and whatever else you’re working with. We also noticed the videos getting auto-embedded through other online social media applications.
Brand Updates:
Why not? Let your customer see the face(s) behind the brand; this will lead to a more secure-feeling buyer. Connecting with your clientèle is the key to long-term success, and video is the easiest way to do this. We usually do 2-5 videos a year talking about company news, showcasing new products, or just doing something silly. It’s that simple, and it works!
Commercials:
Whether it be a professionally-done HD commercial, or the cheesiest piece of crap your digital camera can cobble together, give it a try! I know a lot of online shop owners who make some serious bank, yet they’ll usually never get around to dropping $10,000 on a really good commercial. You can hire very talented people within your city and keep everything on a tight budget.
Product Reviews:
We always highly recommend that our clients see who’s got the gift of gab on Youtube within their industry. Just like the contest partnering idea, you should give a product or two away to people with an audience. You can get a great review in (or a bad one), but at least you know your brand/product is going to be seen by a lot of people. To expand on that idea even more, do a video product review contest and get more people to make you content for free.
Niche Forum Marketing:
Ok, I know what you’re thinking… Let’s go spam some forums for a signature and/or profile link. Wrong! I’m talking about establishing yourself on a few targeted forums that are active, and very on-topic to your brand. Be very upfront about it and treat it as a social media marketing extension. Be there to provide brand support, chat with like-minded people, and build your brand up to be respected within its community.
We worked on a company that sold $20,000-$300,000 USD watches, and the owners all happened to be exotic car owners. A few of the Ferrari, Porsche and Maserati forums had watch sections, as well as users who had bought from them before, but most importantly they were thrilled to have reps on the forum. This has lead to so many sales it’s not even funny, and it has also lead to friends being made in both business and in real life.
The opportunity for spam is obviously there, but be forewarned that this can lead to brand disaster. We even email forum owners before signing up, or just after signing up, to let them know who we are and that we’re there to participate.
Content Marketing Strategies For Ecommerce:
A lot of people say article marketing is a dying tactic, and while we agree on some levels, you just have to be creative. Stick to the best content sites that don’t allow junk, such as Infobarrel.com, Suite101, Associated Content, and so forth. Develop content that isn’t a run-of-the-mill article, get creative, and have some friggin’ fun with it! Do not, I repeat do not, re-use the same content anywhere else.
Take advantage of guest blogging opportunities on good niche-related blogs, and benefit from the link efforts there. Stay far away from bloggers that look like they’re selling links, and that means blog content as well.
As with anything else mentioned here, don’t employ this as your sole link building technique. Lasting a long time in the SERPs means having a diverse link profile, and anything overly unnatural looking can (and usually will) lead to trouble down the road.
Need Help? Hire us!
We specialize in unique link building and social media marketing campaigns for ecommerce. If you’re looking to extend your marketing department with a team that actually care about your brand, then get in touch. We work with only a handful of clients at any given time to ensure your needs are being met. Our team is here to help execute a high-quality marketing strategy that will drive sales and build brand buzz.By Timothy Inklebarger
Staff Reporter
Graduating Oak Park-area high school students active in the LGBTQ community have until April 1 to apply for $2,000 scholarships offered by the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association, according to a news release.
The program aims to provide support to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning students; the children of LGBTQ parents; and allies of the LGBTQ community.
Two scholarships are available. One is for "graduating high school students who have shown service, activism and understanding of the LGBT community" and another is for "continuing education students (for advanced degrees) who are planning to work with the LGBT community and its issues."
The scholarship program will accept applications from students graduating from Oak Park and River Forest High School, Proviso East, Proviso Math & Science, Morton East and Morton West high schools, Elmwood Park High School, Steinmetz Academic Center, Fenwick High School and Trinity High School.
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, when they missed 12 of 14 from beyond the arc and lost 114-85 at Denver in their most lopsided defeat of the season.
"We're not a team that's perfected anything," said Conley, who had eight points after averaging 24.3 during a three-game winning streak. "We're going to keep learning and keep figuring this thing out as the season goes on."
The Knicks (5-31) are finding things out the hard way, and it's not pretty. They've lost 21 of 22 games, and 11 in a row to move one shy of the team record set at the end of the 1984-85 season.
New York set another dubious record Sunday, losing its 10th straight at home by falling 95-82 to Milwaukee.
"Losing isn't enjoyable in any way shape or form," coach Derek Fisher said. "From an emotional standpoint, you just have to continue to manage what you can manage, what you can control.
"It'll turn for us, it just doesn't look that way right now."
It sure hasn't over the last four games, as the Knicks have averaged 80.0 points while shooting 36.6 percent from the floor and 65.5 from the line.
Injuries aren't helping, as New York is without Carmelo Anthony (sore left knee), Amare Stoudemire (sore right knee), Andrea Bargnani (strained right calf) and Iman Shumpert (dislocated left shoulder).
It's unclear when any of them will be back, but Stoudemire is ruled out for at least the next two games.
"I never thought I'd see this. When I first signed with New York that wasn't the game plan," Stoudemire said of the Knicks, who own the most losses in the NBA.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had a team-high 17 points against the Bucks after a concussion forced him to miss Friday's 97-81 loss to Detroit. Hardaway had 23 points off the bench in a 98-93 loss at Memphis on Feb. 18.
The Grizzlies have held the Knicks to 90.3 points per game while winning the last three home matchups, and Conley chipped in with 22 points in the latest.
Zach Randolph has averaged 19.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in four home games against his former team with Memphis, but he's missed seven games in a row with a sore knee.
There's still no timetable for a return, and coach Dave Joerger said it's "hard to tell" when Randolph will be back.
The Grizzlies have lost three of four at home after winning 12 of their first 13.
Copyright 2015 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibitedThe ratio of benefits to harms among patients taking new drugs tends to vary inversely with how extensively a drug is marketed
The inverse benefit law states that the ratio of benefits to harms among patients taking new drugs tends to vary inversely with how extensively a drug is marketed. Two Americans, Howard Brody and Donald Light, have defined the inverse benefit law, inspired by Tudor Hart's inverse care law.[1]
A drug effective for a serious disorder is less and less effective as it is promoted for milder cases and for other conditions for which the drug was not approved. Although effectiveness becomes more diluted, the risks of harmful side effects persist, and thus the benefit-harm ratio worsens as a drug is marketed more widely. The inverse benefit law highlights the need for comparative effectiveness research and other reforms to improve evidence-based prescribing.[1]
State of affairs [ edit ]
The law is manifested through 6 basic marketing strategies:
reducing thresholds for diagnosing disease,
relying on surrogate endpoints,
exaggerating safety claims,
exaggerating efficacy claims,
creating new diseases,
encouraging unapproved uses.
Impact [ edit ]
This is the reason why organizations like "Worst Pill, Best Pill" [2] recommend not to use/prescribe new medications before being in the market for at least ten years (except in the case of important new drugs that treat previously unsolved problems).
Agencies of drugs, committee of ethics and organizations of patients' safety should consider:
Requiring that clinical trials run long enough to pick up evidence of side effects and record all adverse reactions, including in subjects who drop out. [3]
Paying companies more for new drugs in proportion to how much better they are for patients than existing drugs, and marketing according to the value of the new drugs (ratio of benefits to harms and marketing). [4]
Considering that market could be a force against the best use of medications.[5]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Moreover, he offered a foreign-policy vision that’s more appealing than the standard Republican line. Like most Republicans, Trump promised to rebuild the military and vanquish America’s foes. But unlike John McCain or Marco Rubio, he emphasized that he’d vanquish those foes quickly, without getting bogged down in messy problems far away. Can Trump achieve that? Nope. Politically, however, he channeled Ronald Reagan, who spent massively on the military, loudly waved the flag, yet invaded only Grenada. Like Reagan, Trump on Wednesday night offered cost-free belligerence, which is the kind Americans usually like best.
Clinton, on the other hand, offered no vision at all. She was at her best discussing the processes of government. She explained, for instance, that when people leave the military, the Department of Defense often doesn’t transmit their records to the VA.
But on broader themes, she was lousy. Asked about her vote to invade Iraq, she apologized, and said, “It is imperative that we learn from the mistakes like after action reports are supposed to do, so we must learn what led us down that path so it never happens again.” Makes sense. But Clinton never explained what she had learned. She justified the war in Libya by arguing that Muammar al-Qaddafi had been about to massacre civilians and that if America had done nothing, Libya would followed Syria into civil war. But Libya has followed Syria into civil war, anyway. She said America would defeat ISIS in Iraq without sending in ground troops. But she said nothing about why ISIS exists and about how America should respond to the failure of the Iraqi and Syrian states, a failure that will endure even once ISIS is gone.
To be fair, Clinton is in a tough spot. As the de facto incumbent, she owns Obama’s failures. But because of her vote on Iraq, she owns George W. Bush’s too.
Still, she needed a story to counter Trump’s. Since she’s embraced Obama, that story should have echoed his. She could have started by talking about how, under Republican rule, America grew drastically overextended and lost much of its legitimacy in the world. Since then, she might have continued, America has pulled back from costly and bloody wars, strengthened its position in key regions like Asia and Latin America, begun addressing climate change, and used diplomacy, not war, to stop Iran’s nuclear program. America has also rebounded economically more effectively than its competitors. The next chapter in this American comeback is using diplomacy to forge coalitions that not only defeat ISIS, but also end the civil wars in Syria and Iraq so nothing likes ISIS emerges again.
That story has its problems. But at least it challenges Trump’s narrative of stupidity and disaster. It gets Clinton out of her defensive crouch on Libya and Iraq. It reminds Americans that, in fundamental ways, the US is in a better international position than when Obama took office. And it offers a sense of how she would make America stronger still.
When it comes to policy, Hillary has always done micro better than macro. But on Wednesday night, Trump exposed what a problem that is. On national security, he has an argument. Substantively, it’s ignorant and reckless, but to many Americans, it’s reassuring. And people know what it is. Her argument is that she’s not him. Wednesday night showed why, at least on foreign policy, that’s not enough.
The first presidential debate is less than three weeks away. She’s lucky it wasn’t Wednesday night.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.Under metadata retention legislation all citizens can become the object of suspicion. “The government now assumes if you want privacy you must be guilty of something” reports Jennifer Wilson.
There is something very rotten in the state of a nation’s politics when both its government and its opposition are able to co-operate on the introduction of legislation for intrusive mass surveillance of the nation’s entire population.
If you want to better understand the repercussions of this legislation for the individual, I’d recommend reading this piece, sending the suggested letter to your MP, then retreating to a corner to weep for what we’re becoming.
The government and opposition argue that these extreme surveillance measures are necessary to apprehend terrorists, pedophiles and major criminals, all of whom will by now have devised encryption methods to bypass government surveillance, and most of whom will have had such methods securely in place for years.
What has been most alarming in the lead-up to the Senate debate on the legislation today has been the apathy of mainstream media towards proposed state surveillance that frames every citizen who uses the Internet as a suspect. Not as a potential suspect, but as a suspect whose online activity can be accessed by agents of the state without a warrant, if they decide to go after you.
If you’ve nothing to hide, you’ve nothing to fear, claimed AFP Assistant Commissioner Tim Morris. However, in Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s own words institutions aren’t perfect, as we well know from the institutional abuses of all kinds that are exposed daily by whistleblowers, many of whom will be left without a means to reveal corruption under the new legislation.
The “if you’ve got nothing to hide you’ve got nothing to fear” argument implies that the state and its agents have the right to know everything about you in the first place, and that they will determine what is deserving of their attention in your daily activities. The term “hide” is used in this argument rather than the term “privacy.”
In the replacing of one word for another, the citizen’s right to a life kept private from the state is pejoratively reframed as having “something to hide”. We are now guilty until we can prove ourselves innocent, because what else can we be if our online lives can be investigated without even a warrant?
Metadata retention legislation does not uncover what every citizen is necessarily “hiding.” It destroys every single citizen’s right to privately go about her and his online pursuits under the assumption that privacy equates to hiding, and thus becomes the object of suspicion and intervention.
Like a suspicious spouse or the interfering parent of an adolescent, the government now assumes if you want privacy you must be guilty of something.
Those who have “something to hide” will continue to find ways to hide, just like Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull who uses an encryption service to send his text messages.
We know governments can’t be trusted simply because they are governments. We know institutions can’t be trusted simply because they are institutions. To give these bodies unrestricted access to our online lives is an insanity. We are now all at the mercy of the state and its agents to an unprecedented degree, a situation that is intolerable in a liberal democracy.
The ALP are a disgrace for supporting the Coalition in this Big Brother legislation.
Get encrypted. It’s not complicated. Senator Scott Ludlum makes some suggestions on RN Breakfast this morning.
And here’s a Get Up campaign that will help you go dark.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Tony Abbott tells us he was never worried about metadata collection when he was a journalist so what’s the problem?
That man really knows his onions. It’s breathtaking.
This article was first published on Jennifer’s blog No Place For Sheep.
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MoreCopyright by WOODTV - All rights reserved Mug shot of Bryson White.
Copyright by WOODTV - All rights reserved Mug shot of Bryson White.
Ken Kolker, Target 8 investigator -
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) -- Western Michigan University was aware of the criminal allegations against former football player Bryson White before his armed robbery arrest in Kalamazoo, according to White's high school.
WMU officials, including former head coach P.J. Fleck, have said they were unaware of his history.
White's prior trouble included four separate allegations of sexual assault, including gang rapes, in his hometown of Mason, Ohio, before WMU recruited him last year.
In an email obtained by Target 8, Mason (Ohio) High School said White's high school football coach told the Broncos that White "had significant troubles at school and with law enforcement during White's freshman and sophomore years."
The email detailed an internal investigation conducted by an attorney for Mason High School in response to a Target 8 report. The attorney, William Deters, did not respond to Target's request for an interview.
According to the email, the Mason High School coach told WMU that White was "relatively trouble-free" as a junior and senior.
"In my opinion, WMU had sufficient knowledge and warnings about White," the attorney wrote in the email.
That contradicts statements made repeatedly by WMU officials, including Fleck, who is now head coach of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. During his first press conference with reporters in Minnesota on Friday, Fleck said he knew nothing about White's past.
"I had zero knowledge, zero knowledge of that information prior," Fleck told reporters. "We investigated it and we did our due diligence with the high school, the high school coach, the high school principal at the time and the information we got back from them had no recollection of anything that that young man had done."
Broncos Athletic Director Kathy Beauregard said the same in September.
"It was absolutely stated to us that there were no issues at all with this young man, legally, when the coach talked to the coach," Beauregard said at the time.
White was a star running back and track star for Mason High School in suburban Cincinnati.
The Broncos athletic director said the team contacted Mason High School last spring after questions were raised about his character.
"I don't know what more homework we could have done on him than what we did," Beauregard told Target 8 in September. "We talked to the football coach directly; we talked to administrators at the school, teachers at the school."
In August, before the Broncos' football season started, White and another former player were charged with home invasion and armed robbery after allegedly stealing cash and marijuana and threatening a woman at an off-campus apartment in Kalamazoo. Those charges are pending. White has since been accused of choking a woman in Ohio.
A Target 8 investigation uncovered police reports that showed White had been accused in two separate alleged gang rapes and of forcing two girls to perform oral sex, all in Mason. He was never charged in any of the cases.
Then, in March 2016, he was arrested in Mason for driving under the influence of marijuana. Police said the passenger in his car had a gun and a mask.
At his press conference in Minnesota, Fleck said he has learned from White's case.
"Going through that has made me a better football coach, made me a better head football coach," he said. "It has made us all better recruiters to not just take people that we trust word for it. We're going to take that as part of the process but we're going to even dig down deeper, legally."
Target 8 could not reach Fleck for comment. WMU's athletic director said the university's legal counsel was reviewing Mason High School's email.
The Mason High School internal investigation also cleared its head football coach, Brian Castner, of wrongdoing.
The district had investigated after an alleged victim of White told Target 8 that a Mason High School football coach had asked her not to pursue the case.
The woman, now 18, said White and two other members of the Mason High School football team allegedly forced her behind a Catholic church, put a gun to her head and raped her when she was 15.
Mason High School's attorney said he interviewed the coach and others, including the alleged victim, and "did not substantiate" the claim against the coach.Fashion is a global, multi-billion dollar industry powered by people: makers, designers, wearers. Everybody has a hand in fashion because everyone gets dressed. Yet for decades, the public-radio domain has underserved the fashion community. The SEAMS wants to change that with magazine segments for NPR's Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, in addition to an independent podcast and website.
Clothing equates to culture and identity. The SEAMS travels the world of clothing as anthropology, symbol, and agent of change as well as exploration. With this journalistic approach, the stories we've already done on NPR for The SEAMS have been hits: 50 years of the Ebony Fashion Fair, the indigenous weavers of Mexico and designer Carla Fernandez, and the 600-plus women who contributed to Women In Clothes who talk about what they wear and why they wear it. Clothing and textiles are woven into the DNA of human history.
In addition to producing radio pieces like those above, our award-winning SEAMS team (learn more under "See full bio") will be podcasting, too. Podcasting lets us break loose and get personal, lets us give you a fun "bagatelle" about pockets or a very serious story about military helmets. As a veteran NPR host, I want The SEAMS to have conversations with writers who think about clothing, designers who make it, curators, and others who inspire, educate, and entertain us on the essential art and history of dress.
A few items on The SEAMS story wish list:
— the story of the 1940s Zoot Suit riots in Los Angeles, in which white servicemen and police officers attacked Mexican youth who wore big lapels and pompadours
— the "fashion anarchy" of Nigerian-born, New York-based artist Iké Ude, who practices dress as a philosophy; the hope is to return to Lagos with him, where he recently photographed the sartorial splendor of the Nollywood film industry
— the workwear-as-day wear trend, beginning with Hamilton Carhartt, who founded a company bearing his name in Michigan in 1879
— Irish tweeds, from Donegal to Killarney to New Zealand (because the wool usually comes from New Zealand!)
— The Leather Cow, a series about leather, hand-cobbled shoes, vegan leather, sustainability, and our human history with hide.
The most important part of this project is YOU, our community. WE ARE INTERACTIVE. As we craft our stories, we will be depending not just on your dollars, but also your story ideas. So please, join us and be a "stitch" in The SEAMS! These stories will air in 2015.
Just a few of the rewards for The SEAMS backers:
In addition to joining our newsletter and getting a thank you from us (on social media or handwritten on custom stationery), here is but a sampling of other rewards for your support.
$50 Package Includes Hand-Sewn Wine Bags
Bags made by Jean Gonzalez, the Richmond Seamstress.
$75 Package Includes The SEAMS T-Shirt OR Tote Bag
The SEAMS Ladies' Deep V-Neck Jersey Tee by Bella OR Unisex Short Sleeve V-Neck T-Shirt by Canvas.
The SEAMS tote bag by Enviro-Tote
$100 and $150 Package Includes Personalized, Signed Copy of Daughter of the Queen of Sheba: A Memoir
Daughter of the Queen of Sheba: A Memoir
$125 Package Includes One-of-a-Kind Vintage Hat (Here are just 2 of the 12 we're offering!)
$250 Package Includes Hand-Loomed Rebozo Wrap
Hand-looming the rebozos, Tenancingo, Mexico.
The finished rebozo!
$500 Package Includes Cardigan by Irish-Born Designer Margaret O'Leary (2 styles pictured below): choice of Aran Islands Coat, Long Pineapple Cardigan, Cork Circle Cardi, Dublin Cardi, or Coat Cardigan
Aran Islands Coat
Long Pineapple Cardigan
Studio Donegal Winter (large)Four games may not seem like much of a sample, but in the reality of the 16-game NFL, it is a key number. Not only does that represent the quarter pole for the season, but when teams break down film to prep for upcoming games, they scrutinize their opponents' previous four games. It's a rubric I've followed in my career and as an analyst, and I'm going to use it to help guide my QB Big Board.
This ranking is not an end-all-be-all, permanent evaluation. Guys will improve -- and regress -- and that movement will be represented on this ranking every four weeks. What this QB Big Board does is combine a quarterback's historical performance with how he is playing at a certain time of the season to form a ranking of the NFL's top quarterbacks at that moment.
There are a few changes to my previous list, including how I generated it. Last offseason, I watched every throw of every NFL quarterback from 2011 to generate my initial rankings. Due to time constraints, I can't make that same claim now. Rest assured, though, that this list is the product of regular film study from the NFL Films offices each week.In operating rooms at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, insects buzzed and temperatures dipped dangerously low, problems that could cause deadly infections, a federal inspection report shows.
The report provides a rare, unobstructed look at conditions inside the private nonprofit hospital, which risked losing its accreditation last year over a small but severe outbreak of infections related to hip and knee surgeries.
Mission Hospital is one example of how hospitals – even some with shining reputations and awards and special certifications – can fail to follow protocols aimed at preventing dangerous infections that can easily start and spread inside their facilities.
At some of the other big hospitals in Orange County, problems ranged from bad hand hygiene to rusty procedure tables to a dirty diaper strewn on the floor of a neonatal intensive care unit, a Register review of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection reports from the past five years has found.
Such reports are meant to help hospitals improve. They’re shown initially to hospital management and become available to the public after the hospital fixes it problems, often several months after an inspection. Obtaining a copy requires filing a Public Records Act request.
The Register reviewed the reports on Mission Hospital and others following the outbreak at Mission Hospital, where four patients developed serious and unusual infections following hip and knee replacement surgeries in May and June 2014. For about two weeks in October, the hospital closed operating rooms under pressure from regulators as it scrambled to find the source of that outbreak.
Mission Hospital stands out. Of the reports for five hospitals reviewed by the Register, Mission was the only one cited for having insects and for an under-staffed infection control department. It was one of two hospitals dinged for cold temperatures in operating rooms, a problem for which Mission Hospital was cited multiple times.
Linda Sieglen, chief medical officer for Mission Hospital, said at least one of the low temperatures in the report was a result of a misrecording, and she disputes they ever dipped as low as 54 degrees, as the report shows
But Sieglen and other administrators acknowledged the other problems, and said over the past year the hospital overhauled its infection control department and put a number of other fixes in place. The hospital’s response, they said, has been effective.
Still, Sieglen said the hospital never found the source of the infections.
Inspectors did not pinpoint a cause either.
A HOSPITAL IN TROUBLE
After an Oct. 14, 2014, visit, which was spurred by the infection outbreak, inspectors reported the following about Mission Hospital:
• The infection control department was short-staffed and under-funded. The hospital employed one full-time infection control doctor and a part-time consultant – not enough to “provide oversight of the infection control practices” at a hospital, which has two campuses in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach with 533 beds and that performs about 7,000 surgeries a year. Asked if enough funding was allocated to the department, the doctor who oversaw it told inspectors he “would have to say, ‘no.’”
• Several times in the summer and fall, temperatures in operating rooms were too cold, ranging from 54 to 66 degrees – well below the temperatures recommended by the nurses associations whose standards are used by regulators to prevent patients from developing hypothermia and surgical site infections. Three operating rooms recorded temperatures of 57, 56 and 59 degrees on Oct. 5, and for three days in August, they ranged from 54 to 58 degrees.
• A machine that circulates air to reduce airborne pathogens malfunctioned during an orthopedic surgery on July 29, 2014, in the operating room where three of the four patients who later suffered life-threatening infections had their surgeries.
• There was no evidence the hospital followed up on four abdominal surgical site infections from operations in April, May, July and August.
• There was black residue in a procedure room that had been cleaned and disinfected the night before.
• A “large fly” was seen in an operating room during a surgery on Aug. 8, 2014. Three weeks later, on Aug. 29, an insect dropped from an operating room ceiling during surgery. Insects aren’t strangers to hospitals, but they are especially hazardous in an operating room because they carry bacteria and fungus that can contaminate surfaces or incision wounds.
“These are issues that are both common and egregious,” said Leah Binder, CEO of Leapfrog Group, a health industry watchdog group that gives letter grades to hospitals for preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections. “Everyone should look twice at this hospital.”
The findings were so concerning to regulators that they told the hospital it had 12 days to fix the problems or it would lose funding from Medicare, which pays for one-fifth of its patient revenue.
Fewer than 1 percent of hospitals nationwide are denied accreditation each year, according to The Joint Commission, which certifies agencies for Medicare and Medicaid funding.
At the time of the inspection, Mission Hospital was the only hospital in California in jeopardy of losing its Joint Commission accreditation.
THE OUTBREAK
In May and June last year, four patients who underwent knee and hip replacement surgeries fell seriously ill when enterobacter, a bacteria that lives harmlessly in the gut, invaded their incision wounds. Each underwent one to three follow-up operations.
Mission Hospital isn’t identifying any of those patients, but Robert Driggers, 61, of Laguna Niguel believes he was one of them.
Driggers arrived at Mission Hospital’s Mission Viejo campus June 17, 2014, for a hip replacement, expecting to stay four days. He wound up staying three weeks because he contracted an enterobacter infection in his hip wound.
“They said they didn’t know where I got it; nobody would say,” he said of Mission Hospital. “They actually said, ‘We don’t know where it comes from.’”
Driggers needed three additional surgeries and extensive antibiotics. He said he suffered fevers, lost weight and couldn’t walk without a walker.
“My infectious disease specialist told me, ‘You really dodged a bullet.’ It was a really serious infection in his mind,” he said.
Driggers has recovered. In June, one year after his surgery, he filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital.
Doctors at Mission Hospital connected the four infections in late July. They came up with a plan to fix nearly a dozen issues, including the temperature and humidity in the operating room, sterilization of instruments, and cleaning of operating rooms, according to Sieglen and the report.
But the hospital did not alert state or federal health officials – and by law it did not have to. A hospital employee tipped off the Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which launched its inspection in October.
The state requires hospitals to report certain mistakes and errors, including: wrong-site surgeries, severe bed sores, wrong dosages of medication and contaminated devices that kill or disable a patient. These “adverse events” can trigger fines up to $100,000 per incident.
But an outbreak of infections like the one that hit Mission Hospital is not on that list.
Mission Hospital has been fined six times for adverse events in the past five years, more than any other hospital in the county.
TEMPERATURES UP, INSECTS OUT
Before the outbreak, Sieglen said, administrators hadn’t considered more staffing because the hospital’s infection rates were in line with industry norms. In 2013, its rates were on par with state averages for most infection types tracked by the California Department of Health, including infections related to hip and knee replacements.
Even in 2014, Mission earned high marks from the Joint Commission, which accredits most U.S. hospitals, for administering the appropriate amount of antibiotics to prevent infections during hip and knee replacement surgeries.
The situation was different last fall.
On Oct. 8, after the Joint Commission got involved, administrators voluntarily shuttered the hospital’s 14 operating rooms to elective surgeries for two weeks. It canceled 176 surgeries, one-quarter of which were never rescheduled.
The hospital since then has hired more infection control professionals; the department now consists of six full-time doctors and nurses, Sieglen said.
“We tripled the number of people as well as implemented a true program. … We put a lot of fixes in place,” she said.
Mission Hospital also installed a temporary replacement for the malfunctioning heating, ventilating and air conditioning system. The hospital has budgeted $1.5 million for a new, permanent system to be installed next year.
“There was a lot of planning that had to go into it, you can’t just pull it off the shelf,” Seiglen said of replacing the operating room air systems. “It’s a sensitive thing to try to control the balance between temperatures and humidity.”
Hospital administrators said they first became aware of high humidity in one operating room – a condition that can lead to growth of bacteria and infection – as early as February. But they continued allowing surgeries even as temperatures in some operating rooms dropped as low as 54 degrees in mid-August, the inspection report shows.
“I was not aware, or I had not heard,” Sieglen said. She later said some of the temperatures cited in the report were recording errors.
After a cricket jumped on a patient’s lower torso during surgery, Sieglen said the hospital resealed openings to the operating room area to keep insects out. There were no complications or infections in that case, she said.
It’s unclear if the cricket is the same insect referenced in the report.
‘AN EXEMPLARY MODEL’
At least one outside expert lauded Mission’s decision to temporarily close operating rooms.
“That’s a really tough decision to make because it immediately impacts patients and also the revenue stream for the hospital,” said Dr. Richard Martinello, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Yale University.
“Whether they’re operating or not, the hospital still has bills to pay. It takes a lot of courage for them to do the right thing.”
Though hospital administrators had come up with a plan in July to correct 11 issues that might have caused the outbreak, inspectors wrote that the hospital did not follow through in making all of the fixes.
In May, the hospital regained its good standing with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Next month, the Joint Commission is set to publish an article highlighting the hospital’s improvements.
Sieglen said the Joint Commission is holding up the hospital as “an exemplary model when dealing with issues such as this.”
“Mission Hospital remains a great community resource for outstanding care and we know our improvements are making Mission an even safer environment for patients to receive excellent care,” she said.
This article was produced as a project for The California Health Journalism Fellowship, a program of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Contact the writer: jchandler@ocregister.com Twitter: @jennakchandlerCLOSE President Trump's son Eric and his wife Lara are expecting their first child in September. Veuer's Nick Cardona (@nickcardona93) has the story. Buzz60
Eric Trump at official opening of the Trump International Tower and Hotel on Feb. 28, 2017 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo: Jeff Vinnick, Getty Images)
Eric Trump, the middle son of President Trump, announced Monday that he and wife Lara Trump are expecting their first child, a son, this fall.
"@LaraLeaTrump & I are excited to announce that we are adding a boy to #TeamTrump in September," Trump tweeted. "It's been an amazing year. We are blessed!"
.@LaraLeaTrump & I are excited to announce that we are adding a boy to #TeamTrump in September. It's been an amazing year. We are blessed! pic.twitter.com/ENrhdxdziA — Eric Trump (@EricTrump) March 20, 2017
Lara Trump also tweeted about the pregnancy, saying they are "thrilled to finally share the great news!"
Thank you to Gillian at @people - we are thrilled to finally share the great news! #BabyTrumphttps://t.co/Qn2B44zeV7 — Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) March 20, 2017
The couple granted an interview to People magazine.
“We found out on my birthday, which was pretty cool,” said Eric Trump, 33.
Lara Trump, 33, a former Inside Edition producer, said she’s in her second trimester and is feeling well but, “I was exhausted in the beginning."
Eric Trump is the younger son of the president's three oldest children, with his first wife, Ivana Trump.
His oldest son, Don Jr. and his wife, Vanessa, have five children. His elder daughter, Ivanka Trump and her husband, White House senior aide Jared Kushner, have three children.
The president and Ivanka tweeted their congratulations. "Very proud and happy for the two of you!" POTUS posted.
Congratulations Eric & Lara. Very proud and happy for the two of you! https://t.co/s0T3cTQc40 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2017
Congratulations @LaraLeaTrump & @EricTrump! We're so excited for you both. You'll be incredible parents & we cant wait to meet our nephew! — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 20, 2017
The president also has two younger children, Tiffany, 23, whose mother is his second wife, Marla Maples, and Barron, who turned 11 on Monday, with his third wife, first lady Melania Trump.
Eric Trump and his wife Lara on March 2, 2017 in Los Angeles. (Photo: Kevin Winter, Getty Images)
Since President Trump was elected, he has stepped away from his real estate and resort empire, the Trump Organization, and turned it over to Eric Trump and Don Jr. to run. Eric is in charge of the company's 17 golf courses. He's also president of the Trump Winery, in Charlottesville, Va., which the Trump Organization bought in 2011.
Most recently, he and Don Jr. presided over the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver, B.C., on Feb. 28, which is the Trump Organization's first new international property since Donald Trump assumed the presidency.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2mIzdI5Bajarin’s piece, posted Wednesday behind the Tech.pinions paywall, is called Peak Samsung. Thompson’s, posted the day before on his Stratechery site, is titled Smartphone Truths and Samsung’s Inevitable Decline.
They both start with the bad news Samsung released Tuesday — slowing smartphone and tablet sales leading to a 24% earnings decline year over year.
And they both, in their own way, say “I told you so.”
Thompson runs through a long list of bulleted items before landing on the broader point:
“Ultimately… Samsung’s fundamental problem is that they have no software-based differentiation, which means in the long run all they can do is compete on price. Perhaps they should ask HP or Dell how that goes. “In fact, it turns out that smartphones really are just like PCs: it’s the hardware maker with its own operating system that is dominating profits, while everyone else eats themselves alive to the benefit of their software master.”
I consider both pieces must-reads for anyone watching the smartphone market. Bajarin’s work is always worth the price of admission (25 cents per piece, $5 per month, $50 per year).
Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter at @philiped. Read his Apple (AAPL) coverage at fortune.com/ped or subscribe via his RSS feed.Un-Patched PHP-CGI remote code execution bug can expose Source Codes
A serious remote code execution vulnerability in PHP-CGI disclosed. PHP-CGI-based setups contain a vulnerability when parsing query string parameters from php files. The developers were still in the process of building the patch for the flaw when it was disclosed Wednesday, But the vulnerability can only be exploited if the HTTP server follows a fairly obscure part of the CGI spec.
-s” switch “show source” to PHP via the query string. For example, You could see the source via “ http://localhost/test.php?-s ”. A remote unauthenticated attacker could obtain sensitive information, cause a denial of service condition or may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the web server. According to advisory (CVE-2012-1823), PHP-CGI installations are vulnerable to remote code execution. You can pass command-line arguments like the “” switch “” to PHP via the query string. For example, You could see the source via “”. A remote unauthenticated attacker could obtain sensitive information, cause a denial of service condition or may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the web server.
The team that found the bug, known as Eindbazen. They said that it had been waiting for several months for the PHP Group to release a patch for the vulnerability in order to publish information about the bug.
What this vulnerability can do? It can help attacker to find out database passwords, file locations etc and Execute any file on the server’s local disk. Most important, using some trick if you have the possibility to upload a file to the server, execute any code.
So, When PHP is used in a CGI-based setup the php-cgi receives a processed query string parameter as command line arguments which allows command-line switches, such as -s, -d or -c to be passed to the php-cgi binary, which can be exploited to disclose source code and obtain arbitrary code execution.Being fired sucks, and naturally everyone thirsts for revenge. With this in mind, Japanese pharma firm Shionogi maybe should have been more careful when it canned IT peon Jason Cornish. Like, maybe change your passwords? Cornish got his vengeance.
IT World reports Cornish, who for some idiotic reason was held on as a consultant after being fired, proceeded to remotely wipe out almost all of |
year ago, headline the 2016 Watch List. Mayfield accounted for 3,700 passing yards and 36 touchdowns for the Sooners, while Watson passed for 4,104 yards and 35 touchdowns for the Tigers.
Twelve players on the 2016 watch list, including 2015 First Teamers Leonard Fournette (LSU, running back) and Myles Garrett (Texas A&M, defensive end), have previously earned Walter Camp All-America honors.
In all, 31 schools and 11 conferences (including independents) are represented on the list with national runner-up Clemson having three players. There are offensive players (15 quarterbacks, 11 running backs and four receivers) and 10 from the defensive side of the ball (5 linebackers, 5 defensive backs and 1 defensive end).
“We are proud to continue the great work of Walter Camp and recognize the best college football players in the nation,” Foundation president Robert Kauffman said. “This watch list is a great start to what is shaping up to be another exciting year of college football.”
The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2016 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 128 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 8. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s 50th annual national awards banquet on January 14, 2017 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
Please note: Appearing on the preseason Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Walter Camp award or be named to the All-America team.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org; @WalterCampFF) – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.
The Walter Camp Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast over 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story. The members of the NCFAA unveiled their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Sixteen of the association’s 22 awards selected a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates.
2016 Walter Camp Player of the Year Preseason Watch List
Quarterbacks
J.T. Barrett, Junior, QB, Ohio State
C.J. Beathard, Senior, QB, Iowa
Josh Dobbs, Senior, QB, Tennessee
Luke Falk, Junior, QB, Washington State
Chad Kelly, Senior, QB, Ole Miss
DeShone Kizer, Junior, QB, Notre Dame
Tanner Mangum, Sophomore, QB, BYU
Baker Mayfield, Senior, QB, Oklahoma #
Nick Mullens, Senior, QB, Southern Miss
Josh Rosen, Sophomore, QB, UCLA
Seth Russell, Senior, QB, Baylor
Brett Rypien, Sophomore, QB, Boise State
Anu Solomon, RS Junior, QB, Arizona
Greg Ward, Senior, QB, Houston
Deshaun Watson, Junior, QB, Clemson *
Running Backs
Nick Chubb, Junior, RB, Georgia
Dalvin Cook, Junior, RB, Florida State *
Leonard Fournette, Junior, RB, LSU #
Royce Freeman, Junior, RB, Oregon
Wayne Gallman, Junior, RB, Clemson
Justin Jackson, Junior, RB, Northwestern
Marlon Mack, Junior, RB, South Florida
Christian McCaffrey, Junior, RB/KR, Stanford *
Samaje Perine, Junior, RB, Oklahoma
Donnel Pumphrey, Senior, RB, San Diego State
Larry Rose, Junior, RB, New Mexico State
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Corey Davis, Senior, WR, Western Michigan
Christian Kirk, Sophomore, WR, Texas A&M
Jordan Leggett, TE, Senior, Clemson *
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Junior, WR, USC
Defense
Myles Garrett, Junior, DE, Texas A&M #
Eddie Jackson, Junior, DB, Alabama *
Derwin James, Sophomore, DB, Florida State
Malik Jefferson, Sopohomore, LB, Texas
Desmond King, Senior, DB, Iowa #
Jourdan Lewis, Senior, DB, Michigan *
Shawun Lurry, Junior, DB, Northern Illinois *
Raekwon McMillan, Junior, LB, Ohio State *
Jabrill Peppers, Sophomore, LB, Michigan
Anthony Walker, Junior, LB, Northwestern
# – 2015 Walter Camp First Team All-America selection
*- 2015 Walter Camp Second Team All-America selectionThe TC39 committee at EMCA International, responsible for developing the ECMAScript specification that provides the basis for JavaScript, is working on parallel versions of ECMAScript -- versions 6 and 7. Committee member Jafar Husain, cross-team technical lead for UIs at Netflix, talked about what's coming up for ECMAScript at this week's HTMLDevconf event in San Francisco and sat down with InfoWorld Editor-at-Large Paul Krill to elaborate on where JavaScript is headed.
Jafar Husain, TC39 committee member at EMCA International
InfoWorld: When are the planned arrival dates of ECMAScript 6 and 7?
Husain: The ES specification for 6 is planned to be finalized, I think, June 2015. ES 7 currently has no date of arrival, but the committee members have talked about a more regular cadence, and certainly I think you'll see that release for ES 7 is quicker than the one for ES 6, which is a very, very large release because it was so long overdue.
InfoWorld: Why the parallel development?
Husain: First and foremost, because it's a good idea. Parallel development allows us to design features with foresight because we can't do everything in one release. Knowing about what we plan to do in ES 7 will allow us to put in the groundwork in ES 6 and then [use] the same process going forward. But also simply because we want to be more responsible. The Web community moves so quickly and people are doing so much innovation that years and years of releases between JavaScript versions is not acceptable.
InfoWorld: Would you say ECMAScript 6 and 7 are about making ECMAScript, and by extension JavaScript, a far more sophisticated language?
Husain: I would characterize the ECMAScript 6 language in many ways as being true to JavaScript, truer to JavaScript as it was originally designed by Brendan Eich.
One of the unfortunate realities is that JavaScript was originally a very different-looking language. In fact, when Brendan Eich submitted it to Netscape, it had a completely different syntax, and for a variety of business reasons, Netscape, at the time partnering with Sun, told Brendan Eich to basically make it look like Java. When you do language design, it's really about picking your core idioms, and in the case of JavaScript, one could arguably say that was structural types, prototype inheritance, and closures; then, once you pick those core idioms that you hope are orthogonal and work well together, you design a syntax to make it easy to use those idioms.
Unfortunately, JavaScript's idioms have Java syntax, and Java has none of the three idioms I just said. That made JavaScript painful to use. When a language is so dependent on closures, having to type 26 characters to create a function is ridiculous. In many ways what we're doing, I think first and foremost with the sugar, the syntactic sugar in JavaScript 6, is actually creating syntax that makes it easy to use the idioms already in the language.
InfoWorld: Would you say async programming is the main feature planned in ECMAScript 7?
Husain: I don't know that I would say that. There are a lot of proposals in ECMAScript 7. The reality is that JavaScript, in many senses, serves two masters. It serves not just practitioners using JavaScript directly, but it serves compilers. I completely left out of my talk a huge number of features that are being introduced to make JavaScript a better compilation target for other languages. You could compile TypeScript into JavaScript or Dart into JavaScript and so on and so forth.
I don't think it's fair to say that async programming is the main focus. I would like it personally to be a large focus, and some of the proposals that I've put forward with representatives from Mozilla do a lot to make async programming easier, but it's very early in the stages, and there's no reason to believe that these are going to get rubber-stamped and go through. They might be too big and have to wait for ES 8, or they might never get accepted. Currently async functions are for ES 7, and async generators I'm proposing for ES 7.
InfoWorld: Explain the difference between async functions and async generators.
Husain: A function returns a value. The thing about a function is the consumer is in control. The consumer calls a function, and the world blocks until that function returns the value. Now an iterator is, basically, think of it as a function that can return multiple values. The consumer asks for an iterator, then pulls by calling next, pulls values out. Now in a reasonable time, the consumer requests a value, again everything blocks and the world stops until that consumer gets their value. I call it synchronous programming.
An asynchronous function is being proposed for JavaScript 7, and what it does is it pushes a value to the consumer. The consumer calls the function, but they get out a promise, then they register a callback with that promise, then the producer of the value, the function itself, pushes the value into their callback by invoking their callback….
The truth is JavaScript's async, whenever it does things like I/O, it has to be async. JavaScript doesn't have a choice. That's what differentiates it from many other languages like C# or Java. To the developer, what it means is that instead of async programming becoming very, very complicated and the code that they write to create async functions looking very, very different, the code that they write, now we can make, whether a function is async or not, just a detail. You add a little more syntax, but the code basically looks the same.
InfoWorld: So it makes it easier for developers to do async programming?
Husain: You said it shorter than I did, but yes.
InfoWorld: Which important features of ES 6 and 7 have already been implemented in browsers?
Husain: ES 6 has had a lot features [that have] already made their way into browsers. I think Mozilla, with Firefox, is the most ahead of the game. I'm going to forget a few here, but destructuring, fat arrows, generators are in Chrome behind an experimental flag. I'm just talking about JavaScript 6 at the moment.
I believe Firefox has implemented let, which is the replacement for var. Proxies made their way again into an experimental flag in Chrome. Generators are also in Firefox, incidentally. My recollection is that Internet Explorer is going to really start aggressively rolling out some ES 6 features in the near future. ES 7, as far as I am aware, the only feature that's made its way into a browser thus far is Object.observe, a feature that allows you to use any native JavaScript object without having to go through a special setter or a getter but allows you to track changes to that object.
InfoWorld: Intel has been promoting the speed of JavaScript applications by supporting inclusion of SIMD in ECMAScript. What has been the progress of this effort?
Husain: Certainly, my perception is that there's broad support for SIMD, and I think Intel has very impressive demos that show that SIMD performance can dramatically improve rendering. I think the committee is generally supportive of anything that's going to improve the speed of the Web, and it certainly looks like SIMD is a good choice.
InfoWorld: A developer of the Ceylon language told me that JavaScript is inferior for building large applications. How would you respond to that?
Husain: He might be saying that for a whole variety of different reasons. I'll tell you one reason why people say JavaScript is not a good language for building large applications: It is not statically typed. I can tell you that there are people on the committee who would like to add types to JavaScript, and there are probably people on the committee who would rather anything happen but types be added to JavaScript.
Personally, I think it's quite possible to build large applications in JavaScript, mostly because people are building large applications in JavaScript. I can tell you that there are now two options [for types in JavaScript]. One is TypeScript, which Microsoft releases and that is essentially just JavaScript plus types. Facebook also has a framework, Flow, which is very similar to TypeScript and it again adds types to JavaScript.
InfoWorld: Is Brendan Eich still involved in the development of JavaScript with the ECMA committee?
Husain: He's involved day-to-day in the development of JavaScript.When the FBI arrested LulzSec leader Hector "Sabu" Monsegur, they did so in a hurry—hours before the arrest, Sabu was doxed, his identity posted to the Internet. With his name public, federal agents feared that he would start destroying evidence to protect himself, so they ended their covert surveillance and moved in, according to Fox News.
Efforts to name and shame the LulzSec crew during its 50-day rampage were common. Many of these doxings were inaccurate, a result of faulty inferences or deliberate attempts to mislead on the part of the LulzSec hackers.
But not all were wrong. In fact, the game of doxing Sabu was over before it had even started. He was correctly doxed more than two months before his arrest—in fact, more than a month before LulzSec had even started publicly operating.
This first doxing happened after a group of former Anonymous members, displeased at the moralizing direction that Anonymous had taken and at Sabu's leadership role, decided to take action. Speaking to Gawker almost one year ago, the dissident group calling itself Backtrace Security announced that it was going to post chat transcripts and information about the identies of Anonymous members.
Several days later, it followed through on its promise, releasing IRC logs called "consequences.pdf" (MD5 checksum: a4084efa1713447d295919b4670769da) and a file called"namshub.pdf" (MD5 checksum: 042a645a1bf4cdfb433887424455234e) that showed a spreadsheet of online names, real names, locations, and other evidence about Anonymous members. (The files have now been pulled, allegedly at the "request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.")
While at least some of the information in namshub.pdf is incorrect—subsequent arrests have established the real identities of Topiary and Kayla, and they don't match Backtrace's claims—one name stands out. Sabu is identified as "Hector Xavier Montsegur." This is slightly misspelled, but it's the right name nonetheless. The document also claimed, correctly, that Sabu lives on New York City's Lower East Side.
The PDFs garnered some attention at the time—they even resulted in Backtrace Security being doxed—but apparently not enough attention to force the FBI's hand.
Backtrace then decided to out Sabu again. Early in the evening of June 7, the day of Sabu's arrest, the Twitter account belonging to Backtrace Security wrote: "Hector Xavier Montsegur -aka Xavier de Leon - aka (Sabu)." The same misspelling, but the same correct name.
Doxings continued even after Sabu's arrest and eventual co-operation with the FBI. These subsequent attempts retained the hit and miss pattern of Backtrace's "namshub" document. Sabu was variously claimed to be Hector Monsegur, Hector Montsegur, and, "Hugo Carvalho."
The bad information in the doxings had many convinced, however. After Jake "Topiary" Davis was arrested in the UK, some outlets even claimed that the police had got it wrong and that the person arrested couldn't be Topiary, because the dox (from Backtrace and others) fingered him as a Swede.
As for how Sabu was identified? Fox reports that the FBI depended on a mistake by Sabu: he accidentally joined an Anonymous IRC server from his own IP address rather than connecting via anonymizing service Tor. Backtrace might have similarly depended on this mistake.
But some of the doxers went a different route. Sabu occasionally mentioned ownership of a domain called prvt.org in his chats, including those in Backtrace's "consequences" document. Every domain registration is associated with corresponding information in the WHOIS database. This information is supposed to include the name and address of the domain's owner.
Often this information is incorrect (most domain registrars do nothing to validate it) or anonymized (many firms offer "proxy" domain registration, so the WHOIS database contains the details of the proxy registrar, rather than the person using the domain). Monsegur appeared to use one of these anonymizing services, Go Daddy subsidiary Domains By Proxy, for registering the prvt.org domain.
The registration for the domain was due to expire on June 25, 2011, requiring Monsegur to renew it. But for some reason—error on Monsegur's part perhaps, or screw-up by the registrar—the renewal was processed not by Domains By Proxy but by its parent, Go Daddy. Unlike Domains By Proxy, Go Daddy uses real information when it updates the WHOIS database, so on 24th June (the day before it was due to expire), Monsegur's name, address, and telephone number were all publicly attached to his domain name.
Monsegur quickly remedied the mistake, changing the WHOIS registration to use various other identities—first to that of Adrian Lamo (who reported Bradley Manning to authorities) and then to "Rafael Lima" and subsequently to "Christian Biermann". This attempt to mislead those relying on the WHOIS information successfully misled some would-be doxers. But not all: by August there were extensive dossiers on Sabu's true identity.
Ultimately, the doxers and Backtrace Security did more than just name Sabu; they also fingered him as co-operating with the FBI. Whether by luck or judgement, Sabu detractors regularly accused him of working for law enforcement. Turns out they were right about that, too.Maryland lawmakers spent last year’s legislative session pondering whether to allow ridesharing services like Lyft to operate legally in the state. As the new General Assembly session begins today, now they can summon a ride from the State House.
This week, Lyft expanded its service area around Baltimore to include Annapolis.
“We heard an overwhelming response from the people of Baltimore, that expanding access to reliable transportation options like Lyft has benefitted their community, allowing them to go out without worrying about getting behind the wheel,” Lyft spokesperson Mary Caroline Pruitt wrote in a chest-thumping email to Technical.ly Baltimore. “We’ve now decided to expand to the state’s capital so that our rides are also available for the people of Annapolis.”
It’s part of a larger expansion for the ridesharing service into Baltimore’s suburbs in all directions. Now, Lyft is available in Columbia, Owings Mills, Cockeysville, Reisterstown and Perry Hall. Riders can also be dropped off in D.C., Pruitt said. The full map is on the Lyft website.
Lyft’s expansion comes as Uber announced a price drop of 10 percent for its uberX and uberXL services in Baltimore. The company said the move was motivated by a post-holiday slowdown. Uber is already in Annapolis (and has had some drama there). Uber expanded to six more Maryland cities last fall.
The companies have this newfound freedom to operate after the General Assembly passed a law last year that creates a regulatory category for the ridesharing companies. Both companies lobbied hard for the law, which officially went into effect on Oct. 1.
-30-All it took to nearly blow up the state of Arkansas was wrong kind of wrench.
In 1980, a 19-year old safety technician was working at the Titan II Launch Complex 374-7, just north of the small town of Damascus, Arkansas. He had brought in the wrong type of wrench while working on the missile, causing a socket to fall, causing it to ricochet, causing it to hit and pierce the skin of the rocket's first-stage fuel tank, causing the fuel tank to leak. The leak caused the rocket to explode, killing a technician sent in to fix the situation, severely wounding 20 others, and sent the warhead a hundred feet into the air, flying off into a nearby field where it was later found.
The Damascus incident is the main story in Command and Control, a new documentary by the director Robert Kenner that adapts a book by journalist Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation fame. "At the time," Kennar says, "It was reported that there was no way the warhead could have gone off. Eric's reporting proves it could have." The equivalent of a light switch was all that kept Arkansas and any number of neighboring states, depending on the wind, from devastation.
When I met with Schlosser recently, he said his interest in nuclear weapons dates back to the Cold War. "As a writer," he says, "I try to write about things that are deliberately hidden, and this was definitely hidden." Once Cold War documents started to be declassified, he became fascinated by the sheer number of human errors reported, even by the most skilled technicians. Those errors went into the book version of Command and Control thatcame out in 2013 to rave reviews. The documentary version is currently making its rounds at art house cinemas and film festivals.
These nuclear technicians, known as Propellant System Transfer (PTS) teams, are the stars of the film. They are portraits of young masculinity, 19- and 21-year-olds eager to make names for themselves and to play with the heavy stuff. These are the people working with the Titan II, an eight-story behemoth that Schlosser says "cannot just be written about, but must be seen to be fully experienced." (In recreations of the accident, Command and Control was given access to the last Titan II, located at the Titan Missile Museum in Arizona.)
One of the technicians seen in the film, Greg Devlin, "was 17 years old when he signed up for the Air Force—his father had to give permission" to enlist, Schlosser says. Soon he was working intimately on some of the most complex and deadly systems ever created. "You're talking about very young guys who are given checklists," he says, "that's how they know what to do. And that's who's running our nuclear enterprise, even as we speak. Robbie had some footage that didn't wind up in the film of nuclear maintenance guys today, 18-year-olds, talking about how excited they are to work on these weapons."
A recreation of the PTS team working on the Titan II, seen in the film. American Experience Films
Age repeatedly comes in the film, along with the suggestion that more mature technicians would not have delayed telling their supervisors about their mistake for half an hour, which is what happened in Damascus in 1980. "Ideally," Schlosser says, "you'd have people with 20, 30 years of experience doing this." The movie includes footage of the PTS crew from back then, and watching their faces and those of their safety supervisors morph from patriotic technicians to people potentially dealing with the deadliest force in human history is mesmerizing, even in interviews 36 years later. The film calls to mind sci-fi thrillers like The Andromeda Strain, featuring good, smart people trying their best against a system that is not built for human control.
Schlosser expected the book to take 18 months to write, but the complexity of nuclear missile systems expanded the research to six years. "As critical as the book is and as critical as the film is about some of the management of our nuclear arsenal, it's just technologically unbelievable," Schlosser says. "Firstly, that these weapons were created. Second, that they were miniaturized and made as efficient as they were. And thirdly, that thus far the safety mechanisms have worked. And that's very impressive, when you think about how many have been submerged, dropped, subjected to fire, blown out of a silo. But the reality is, the laws of probability will eventually catch up with you."
While Schlosser gives high marks to President Obama for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to restrict Iran's nuclear capabilities, calling it "one of his greatest legacies," he still has massive concerns regarding the worldwide nuclear arsenal. "I think it's a bad idea to run Windows XP as an operating system for a Trident submarine," he says, referring to England's Vanguard–class submarines. As for the USA continuing to use the 16-bit IBM Series/1 for command and control, Schlosser admits their extended stay at the helm since 1976 has made them unhackable, but he worries about new dangers such as trying to repair one of these systems. Quite simply, "They're running out of parts!"
The Titan II was eight stories tall and no longer considered cutting edge at the time of the accident. American Experience Films
It's clear that he would rather just end the program altogether, as opposed to trying to control nukes with new, shiny systems. Consider a comparison to the space shuttles, Schlosser says, where engineers were sure they'd done everything right and the program still lost two vehicles in 165 launches. "To create a launch vehicle that you can land on a runway is unbelievable. But at the same time, there's always going to be an imperfection, there's always going to be something unanticipated. They never thought about how the O-rings [on the Challenger] would fail in cold temperatures, and the same is true of these nuclear weapons. There's a ghost in the machine."
While some could argue that loss of life, however tragic, should not stop space exploration, the mass casualties that a single nuclear weapon could unleash on home soil documented in Command and Control should give anyone pause.
"There's a human error inherent in all the designs," Schlosser says. "The software, everything is designed by people. But the ultimate human error is thinking that we can control these systems."North Korea has fired three short-range missiles from its east coast, South Korea's defence ministry says, but the purpose of the launches was unknown.
Launches by the North of short-term missiles are not uncommon, but the ministry would not speculate whether Saturday's launches were part of a test or training exercise.
"North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off its east coast," an official at the South Korean Ministry of Defence spokesman's office said by telephone.
The official said he would not speculate on whether the missiles were fired as part of a drill or training exercise.
"In case of any provocation, the ministry will keep monitoring the situation and remain on alert," he said.
Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett in Seoul quoted a government spokesperson who would not be named as saying it was probably a KNO2-type missile, that is a short-range guided ballistic missile - the shortest of North Korea's arsenal.
The missile travelled in a northeasterly direction, he said.
"That's interesting because it takes the missiles away not only from South Korean territory but also from Japanese territory."
The ministry said the country had reinforced monitoring and was maintaining a high-level of readiness to deal with any risky developments.
A Japanese government source, quoted by Kyodo news agency, noted the three launches, but said none of the missiles landed in Japan's territorial waters.
'Retaliation unlikely'
Tension on the Korean peninsula has subsided in the past month after running high for several weeks following the imposition of tougher UN sanctions against North Korea following its third nuclear test in February.
The North had for weeks issued nearly daily warnings of impending nuclear war with the South and the US.
Our correspondent said that this could be seen as a way of backing up some of the rhetoric, but doing so in a relatively conservative manner.
"These sorts of short range tests don't attract the same kind of approach that longer range or nuclear tests carry with them and they were fired north easterly. So they are likely not to provoke any sort of retaliatory measure from South Korea or Japan."
North Korea conducts regular launches of its Scud short-range missiles, which can hit targets in South Korea.
It conducted a successful launch of a long-range missile last December, saying it put a weather satellite into orbit.
The US and its allies denounced the launch as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead.
During the weeks of high tension, South Korea reported that the North had moved missile launchers into place on its east coast for a possible launch of a medium-range Musudan missile.
The Musudan has a range of 3,500km, putting Japan in range and possibly the US South Pacific island of Guam.A woman gave birth to a 10 pound baby girl less than one hour after discovering she was pregnant.
Katie Kropas, 23, from Weymouth, Massachusetts, was admitted to hospital for an ultrasound on Tuesday, after complaining of severe stomach cramps and back pain, only to be told by doctors that she was actually nine months pregnant and ready to give birth at any minute.
'I ended up having an ultrasound and with that they were like, "You're full term and giving birth now", she told local news channel NECN.
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A sweet surprise: Katie Kropas, 23, was told that she was expecting a baby just one hour before giving birth
New mother: The catering supervisor welcomed her 10-pound baby girl Ellen Olivia on Tuesday
Baby weight: Katie, from Weymouth, Massachusetts, thought that she had put on a few pounds over Christmas and had no idea that the extra weight was actually an indication she was pregnant
'I found out at 10.15, I had the baby at 11.06.'
The new mother admits she 'doesn't know' how the pregnancy went unnoticed - but insists she was using birth control right up until her daughter, Ellen Olivia, was born and had even been having regular monthly cycles.
Although she confessed she had put on some weight and noticed her feet had become swollen, she put it was down to a combination of over-indulgence during the holiday period and too many hours spent on her feet while working as a catering supervisor.
'At the time, I was like this has got to be a joke but, I had no idea what to think,' she added.
'I don't know, I wish I had a better answer but I think that being on my feet all the time for work, and Christmas is so busy as it is, it just caught everything off guard.'
Mother and baby: Despite the surprise, the young mom is loving her new role
'I didn't know what to think': The news of the pregnancy was a complete surprise to Katie and her boyfriend
After discovering his girlfriend was expecting, Katie's long-term boyfriend rushed to get hold of her mother so that she could be there to support her daughter as she welcomed a child of her own.
'[He said to me]: "Katie's nine months pregnancy and we didn't know she was having a baby"' new grandmother Karen Kropas said.
'And I said ha ha ha, put Katie on the phone and he was like, "Karen, this is serious, how soon can you get here?"'
She added that, while she had heard stories similar to that of her daughter in the past, she had never really taken them seriously. After seeing it happen to her own child however, she urged others to recognize that 'it is real and true and it happens'.
'This is just the beginning': Despite the initial shock, Katie admitted that she and her boyfriend are 'having a lot of fun' being parents
'It happens': Katie's mother Karen said that she had never thought situations like this were possible, but having seen it with her own eyes, she is urging others to accept that surprise pregnancies 'are real'
Professional opinion: South Shore Hospital's Dr Kim Dever said that it is not uncommon for first time mothers to be unaware of what some might see as obvious signs that they are pregnant
Indeed, one of Katie's doctors at the South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth explained that first-time mothers often don't know what symptoms to look for in a pregnancy and can often miss what some people might consider to be the most obvious signs.
'They aren't perceiving those symptoms,' Dr Kim Dever said. 'Whereas when you're on the lookout for them, you're waiting for it to happen.'
The family are now preparing to settle three-day-old Ellen Olivia in at home - but first have to rush out and buy all of the essentials for their new daughter, from a crib to diapers.
And despite the initial shock at finding out about the surprise pregnancy, Katie and her long-term boyfriend are overwhelmed with joy at the new addition to their family.At 22-years old, Rory MacDonald is one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster. He’s also one of the most highly-touted with a 12-1 record including wins over a number of respectable adversaries and his only loss involving last-second stumble against Carlos Condit costing him a likely decision victory. While his success at such a young age may surprise many fans it certainly doesn’t come as a shock to MacDonald.
MacDonald, who fights Che Mills this Saturday night at UFC 145, was oozing with confidence during a recent interview with Fightline where he discussed his upcoming bout and how he views himself as a competitor.
“From the very beginning I set goals for myself so I am not surprised that I have accomplished all that I have up until this point,” explained MacDonald, adding he’d fallen in love with martial arts at a very young age.
“One of my main goals has always been to be original and exciting at the same time,” he continued. “I want to win and entertain the fans all at once. I believe I am on the cutting edge of the sport and the future is very bright.”
In Mills, “Ares” will see action against another rising welterweight. He is currently on a five-fight winning streak including three opening round knockouts. However, outside of the basics, MacDonald couldn’t tell you much about what his adversary has to offer inside the Octagon.
“I really don’t know all that much about him,” admitted MacDonald of Mills. “That’s how I like it, the less I know the better. I normally don’t do a lot of research or watch a lot of video of my opponents past fights. I just kind of react to what I see in front of me. All I can do is worry about myself and making sure that I am in shape and prepared for anything and everything. My coaches are the ones who set-up my game plan and they train me accordingly. I can tell you that he is a kickboxer and that’s about it to be honest with you.”
Though MacDonald may subscribe to the theory of “ignorance is bliss”, it’s growing nearly impossible to overlook the young Canadian contender himself, especially with the momentum of another win potentially under his belt. Fans can catch his bout with Mills on PPV with things starting up at 10:00 PM EST.
PHOTO CREDIT – UFCMy biggest fear when I travel is that I am going to end up at a restaurant where a local person would never go. I always search before a trip to find a place that is recommended by a local blogger or talk to my friends that may have spent some time actually living in the city I’m visiting. But there is a new start-up in Krakow that is going to help eliminate this problem. Imagine being able to visit a city and eat at a local’s table, something traditional, something authentic, something you’ll never forget.
Welcome to Eataway.
Eataway is an online platform that allows cooks from all over the world to set up profiles (even you can do it!) and host meals in their homes to both locals and travelers in their city. For my first meal with the company, I chose to eat in Krakow so that I could bring a full report back to you. Since I live here, I’ve had my share of Polish food, so I wanted to go with something that I have never tried. However, there are plenty of Polish cooks on Eataway’s site that will cook you something deliciously Polish. Some are even using handed-down recipes from their families. But if you’re looking for something different, there are lots of cuisines to choose from in Krakow; including, French, Mediterranean, Turkish, Indian, Korean, and more. See Eataway’s full list of meals.
I chose the meal “Yummy India” as it had been recommended by a friend, and I had just met the cook at an event earlier in the month, and what a wonderful experience it was. Not only was the food delicious, but getting to gather around a table with so many new people was really exciting.
I met a man that owned a natural wine shop next to my apartment, some students, a newly married couple that lived close by, and a couple in town from Norway. We shared stories, experiences, and wine! Our cook Sheuli answered every question we had, teaching us all about the languages people speak in India, the social dynamics there, and of course about the food! We learned that Indians typically eat very late in the evening, but have a snack after work to hold them over. We were able to try both the traditional snacks and a traditional meal!
All said and done we were given 10 different dishes to try. They were all so delicious, so flavorful, and it was obvious that they had been homemade, from scratch. And what made it even more enjoyable was that Sheuli’s husband and son also came to talk to us. We asked them questions about traveling, how they ended up in Krakow, and what they like most about the city. For a local or a traveler this is a great option for a night out.
For anyone coming to Krakow, I can’t recommend enough booking a table at Sheuli’s or any of Eataway’s talented cooks tables.
And as always if you have any questions or want to get in touch, email us at emilysguidetokrakow@gmail.com
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on the air, the uneducated masses of whites will WRONGLY feel guilty about who they are. #FuckMTV #RaceWars — Jeff Major (@wanderingmind86) July 9, 2015
You should be ashamed. Your pathetic excuse for a tv channel has now turned to racism. #whitepeople #mtv #racist — Jeffrey Bird (@TheJeffBird1) July 9, 2015
@MTV is openly encouraging violence by making a #whitepeople defaming documentary hosted by (privilidged) ILLEGAL-immigrant @joseiswriting. — Shaun Ireland (@Ireland4ATX) July 9, 2015
#mtv #whitepeople documentary looks intriguing, but it better be fair. whites have done more good vs bad. 95% of all discovery and invention — Tureley (@Tureley) July 9, 2015
@MTV your channel will never be watched again. I'm beyond offended. #whitepeople kiss my white ass! — JENNA (@Beantown_baby79) July 9, 2015
That MTV #WhitePeople show is proof this country has gone off the deep end. — Harold (@Nikk1066) July 9, 2015
Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71
FOLLOW Paul Joseph Watson @ https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet
*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.Fast forward one year from today and our guess is that the world will be talking about the new mass-market Tesla Model 3, with the possibility that some early adopter discussion will also focus on reservation numbers. As of now, we have almost no clues on what this mass market, electric car will look like since Tesla is in the computer design phase, according to Musk. When asked about capital expenses, Musk said:
We’re doing quite a bit of advance work on Model 3, but this just doesn’t amount to a lot of CapEx. It’s like very early (design) engineering prototypes. We are hoping to show off the Model 3 in approximately March of next year. Again like, don’t hold me to that month, but that’s like – that’s our aspiration. And that’s–and then be in production with Model 3 in the, I’d like to say mid, but probably closer to late 2017 timeframe. Late 2017 is probably more realistic.
Until then, car geeks and Tesla fanatics are making guesses on what might be in store for the Model 3 design. Pictured below is a recent rendition from French car media site auto-moto.com (Source: Julien Jodry) showing a glimpse of what the future may hold. The back-end attributes reminds me of recent Dodge Dart models and Jag F-Type coupes, and similar in some respects to the Model S. However, this Model 3 design has a bit more of tapered back end.
According to comments by Musk in February, he’s not planning on getting as adventurous with the Model 3 design as he did with the Model X. “We’re not going to go super crazy with the design of the initial version of the 3. So, I do feel confident that we can make that happen–production deadline–in the second half of 2017.”
Also, the battery pack design will have similar form and function characteristics to the Model S. 2017 is coming quickly and they won’t deviate too much from the thin battery pack.
RELATED >>> Affordable Tesla Model 3 will utilize steel construction
Another car enthusiast is looking past the Model 3 car, see below, and longs for a compact, city car design. I like this design, with its wide-body (also see: Tesla Model S carbon fiber widebody kit) and its futuristic feel. But, again, a smaller wheel base design and compact nature would require some rethinking on Tesla’s battery packs.
Other thoughts on the Model 3:I suspect that no one reading this website is foolish enough to fall for this scam, but I thought I'd share my experience with it anyway. It starts with an email from someone you know: Hello, I'm sorry for this odd request because it might get to you too urgent but it's due to the situation of things right now. I'm stuck in London, England right now, I came down here for a short vacation then i was robbed, worse of it is that bags, cash and cards and my cell phone were stolen at GUN POINT, it's such a crazy experience for me, I need help flying back home, the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good thing is i still have my passport and return ticket but currently having troubles paying off the hotel bills and also getting a cab to take me to the airport. Please i need you to loan me some money, will refund you as soon as i'm back home, i promise.All i need is ($900 USD) but dont know how much you would be able to spare..we will be waiting to hear back from you on how you can get the fund to me please Thank You
--
Anna Cockerham (name changed) Cloudjackers Ltd | C.D.S.C Engineers
The first time I got one, I wrote back inquisitively: Hi Anna,
Sorry about that! We can do it.
How do you want the money sent? -Marvin Frankson and got a quick reply: Hey babe, Don't send any money!!! My gmail and facebook have been hacked any conversations that have taken place in the last 8 hours have not been me!!! Anna CockerhamPlease enable Javascript to watch this video
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- New plans have been revealed to revive the dead shopping center at Metcalf South and 95 West according to the Kansas City Business Journal.
The 63-acre site will be the new home of Central Square. The site will feature restaurants, retail, entertainment, 56,000 square feet of office space and 450 luxury apartments.
The plan would require the Metcalf South mall to be demolished. The Sears building, Olive Garden and Red Lobster would remain open.
The location is the metro's busiest intersection.
Lane4 Property Group Inc. of Kansas City and its Columbia-based partner, The Kroenke Group released the conceptual plans for the site Friday. The two companies bought the area from MD Management just a year ago.
Both property groups plan to attend the city council meeting Monday. The groups will ask for a public meeting to talk about public financing. The meeting, if it happens, will take place in March.
Click here to read more.We will be posting special Black Friday Gaming Deals all week. Gaming Deals is a special section of the website where you can find out about hot video game deals online. This post is all about some upcoming Lightning Deals that have a limited run. All of these sales are sure to be gone fast so camp out at your computer and grab them while they last!
Little Big Planet 3
Platform: PlaySation4, PlayStation3
Sony
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About: Be sure to grab Little Big Planet 3 before the sale is over!
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The Legend of Zelda: TriForce Heroes
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo
SALE TIME: Starts @ 7:55 AM PT
About: Don’t Miss this deal! Being one of the most fun and loved new games for the 3DS this Lightning Deal is sure to run out very quickly.
GET THIS DEAL!
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo
SALE TIME: STARTS @ 7:55 AM PT
About: This never goes on sale! Grab it before it’s gone!
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New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U Platform: Nintendo Wii U
Nintendo
SALE TIME: STARTS@ 7:55 AM PT About: Grab this before the lightning sale is over! This bundle includes the New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U games.
GET THIS DEAL!
Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash with Chibi-Robo amiibo bundle
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo
SALE TIME: STARTS @ 11:55 AM PT
About: CUTE ROBOT. MUST GET DEAL.
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BONUS DEAL!
Get 10% OFF on all vinyl decals from Cosplay & Fan Gear!
Personalize your laptop or console with these gaming decals.
On Cosplay & Fan Gear‘s Amazon Store use Coupon Code: BSMH10SV for 10%OFF your order.
GET THIS DEAL!
If you’re looking for our other Black Friday 2015 Posts Check them out here:
BLACK FRIDAY 2015 GAMING DEALS
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AMERICA'S GDP is growing, employment is finally expanding and the stockmarket is buoyant. Yet one thing has not changed: the Federal Reserve's monetary pedal remains firmly pressed to the floor. For more than a year it has kept its short-term interest-rate target near zero while pledging to keep it there for an “extended period”. It has also bought $1.7 trillion of long-term bonds, primarily mortgage-backed securities (MBS), to keep long-term interest rates down.
That is unsettling some inside the Fed, fuelling speculation it will soon signal an exit from that ultra-easy monetary policy, perhaps even by altering its “extended period” commitment when its next two-day policy meeting wraps up on April 28th.
The most vocal dissident is Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the Fed's longest-serving policymaker, who has twice formally objected to the Fed's “extended period” language. That commitment plus zero rates, he explained on April 7th, lead “banks and investors to search for yield… take on additional risk [and] increase leverage”. He argued the Fed should soon raise rates to 1% to “end the borrowing subsidy”.
The next day Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed, voiced a different concern: that the excess bank reserves created by the Fed's MBS purchases create the potential for high inflation. He advocated selling $15 billion-25 billion of MBS a month, which would clear the Fed's inventory in five years instead of the 30 it would take for the bonds to mature.
The rest of the Fed and its chairman, Ben Bernanke, have listened politely but are not ready to drop or even water down the “extended period” language, much less raise rates. Dropping the commitment would be tantamount to a tightening of monetary policy as bond yields rise in anticipation of short-term rate hikes. Mr Bernanke has already said the Fed would eventually sell some MBS, but not now. By pushing up long-term rates that too would be a tightening of monetary policy.
Bank credit is contracting and getting more expensive. Excess bank reserves will not lead to inflation so long as the Fed can still raise interest rates, which it can. Indeed, the Fed has an embarrassment of ways to tamp down inflationary pressure when the time comes, from raising interest rates on excess reserves to selling bonds to telling banks to tighten lending standards. It has far fewer tools at its disposal for battling deflation, not a remote risk.
Still, as long as the recovery proceeds, the debate cannot be put off forever. The Fed will spend a lot of its policy meeting talking about how to talk about its exit. The Bank of Canada has helpfully provided a tutorial. On April 20th it dropped its own commitment to keeping its short-term rate at 0.25% until the second half of this year, citing stronger growth and firmer inflation than expected. “The need for such extraordinary policy is now passing, and it is appropriate to begin to lessen the degree of monetary stimulus,” it said. Bond yields and the Canadian dollar rose in response.
The Fed also sees its “extended period” commitment as conditional. It does not mean six months, as many seem to think, but only as long as unemployment remains high and inflation (both actual and expected) stays low. If those things change, so will interest rates.VANCOUVER — VANCOUVER - Two climate-change protesters who disguised themselves as catering staff to climb onto a stage next to Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a Vancouver event won't be facing charges, the city's police force confirmed Tuesday.
The activists — who have publicly identified themselves as Sean Devlin and Shireen Soofi — orchestrated the brief protest on Monday at a downtown hotel, where Harper was fielding questions at an event hosted by the Vancouver Board of Trade.
Devlin and Soofi walked into the stage each holding a sign attacking the Conservative's record on climate change before they were swiftly removed and arrested.
They were released a short time later, but the incident raised immediate questions about how a pair of activists could get that close to Harper despite the presence of his personal RCMP security detail.
Vancouver police Sgt. Randy Fincham said that, after consulting with the RCMP and Crown prosecutors, investigators have declined to recommend charges.
"After reviewing what happened and speaking with the RCMP, it was determined that charges were not appropriate in this case," Fincham said in an interview.
"It was determined that it wasn't in the public's best interest to pursue an investigation into criminal charges."
Devlin said when he was released by the police, he didn't believe he would face charges, but he hadn't yet received official confirmation until he was contacted by a reporter on Tuesday.
"I'm certainly happy to hear there aren't going to be any charges," Devlin said in an interview.
The Prime Minister's Office and the RCMP have each declined to discuss what happened, but the Mounties are reviewing the incident.
Devlin has said he and Soofi arrived at the hotel wearing second-hand formal wear they picked up at a thrift store in order to blend in with the serving staff.
He said they weren't approached by security at any point before they walked on stage, which was situated in a large hotel ballroom packed with audience members.
While a police dog went through the equipment of reporters and television camera operators, there appeared to be little outward display of security at the event that would have prevented anyone from walking into the room.
Devlin and Soofi walked onto the stage behind Harper and board of trade CEO Iain Black, who were sitting in lounge chairs for the casual question-and-answer event, before holding up their signs toward the audience.
One sign said Climate Justice Now, while the other said Conservatives Take Climate Change Seriously, with a dark line crossed through the sentence.
The two protesters were hurried away by security. Devlin fell down a small flight of stairs as he was pushed off the stage, while Soofi left on foot.
For his part, Harper appeared unfazed by the interruption, telling the audience: "It wouldn't be B.C. without it."
Devlin and Soofi are affiliated with Brigette DePape, the former page who walked onto the Senate floor holding a Stop Harper sign during a 2011 throne speech.
DePape was immediately fired from her job at the Senate and has since become an activist against the Conservative government. That work has included forming a group with Devlin known as SHD — a profane acronym that roughly translates to Stuff Harper Did.The best place to go to find an unfiltered critical take on today’s hottest novels is the book-oriented social network Goodreads. Goodreads users, I’ve noticed, tend to be a group of serious pleasure readers who are more honest than pretentious. They’re informed, too; rarely do you encounter the misguided outrage you might find on Amazon, but neither do you find the back-patting assessments of highbrow critics. Quite the opposite, in fact. I often go to Goodreads to find out what its citizens are saying about the latest book to get a gushing write-up in the Sunday New York Times or some equivalent. Sometimes the Goodreads masses agree with an effusive critic, but often they offer a completely opposite view — a full-on takedown.
What you find in these online reviews is very often an assessment of the temporal experience of reading itself — the initial expectations, the rewards, the letdowns, the respective levels of interest and boredom as the process of reading goes on. Statements like these abound: “the writing is good, but the middle dragged on, it was so boring.” Or, “started out promising, but really weak, muddled ending.” Or sometimes exhortations like this: “really slow getting into it, but amazing ending — keep going!.”
In other words, they’re judging the novel piece by piece, installment by installment, and then arriving at Goodreads to combine that piece-by-piece judgment with the whole. This is exactly the approach to art that TV critics like Willa Paskin are arguing in favor of in a spate of recent pieces that have added to the long-standing novels vs. television debate.
Paskin “gave up” on True Detective‘s second season partway through, feeling like the episodes themselves weren’t giving her enough reason to hang on for the entire season. She said the oft-bandied “TV-to-novel analogy generally encourages haters and quibblers and critics to hold fire from a series” before it fully develops, which might be beneficial in certain respects. But, she continues, “that means it just as often guilts haters and quibblers and critics to hold fire from a series in the midst of unraveling.” She accuses True Detective of fully unravelling, displaying consistent humorlessness, “gibberish” dialogue, and more. None of these qualities are worth enduring, she says, no matter what happens: “Sunday night’s episode was really, really bad, and not as an outlier, but as an apotheosis.” Paskin was doing the TV watcher’s version of putting down a novel down midway through, which can actually be truly satisfying. It’s a declaration that your time, the reader’s time, is more valuable than this book deserves.
Paskin’s pronouncement has set off a wave of responses, mostly from TV critics, many of whom make really excellent points about how we have to assess shows by single units — scenes, episodes — as well as larger arcs, seasons and entire runs. This is how people read novels, too, they note — first as a page-by-page, chapter-by-chapter experience, and then as a total one.
But it can be agonizing to decide whether to stick something out or abandon ship. Once in a while, we’ll be wrong. Yet more interestingly, this debate made me consider my own habits of assessing books and television shows that have bad, dull, or difficult sections. For instance, I occasionally slog through difficult Henry James novels because I sense that there’s going to be an emotional and intellectual payoff. And there usually is — a brilliant one. Yet the reason I universally consider Edith Wharton to be a better writer than Henry James is because her novels have the same kind of payoffs but tend to engross me from beginning to end with brisk, alive writing. In other words, I don’t think James’ denseness is some sort of inherent virtue, a type of literary whole wheat. It’s difficult to imagine James without that denseness, and it’s part of his mystique, but I don’t have to think it makes him superior.
Similarly, I have always appreciated the fact that Mad Men used later episodes to bring back themes, characters, and symbols from its inevitably slow and perplexing early episodes. “See,” Matt Weiner defenders always cried. “It was worth it. It was all part of Matt’s master plan.” Though it was satisfying to see those threads get tied, I don’t think that makes all those plodding early episodes one of the show’s strengths. To me, it’s a weakness that was counteracted by other strengths. And as for shows I have dropped when their quality dropped off — The Good Wife, Nashville, Downton Abbey — I feel mostly unrepentant about jumping off the train. I got to enjoy the shows when they were at their peak, and they remain un-ruined in my memory by mediocre later seasons.
Once, I stopped reading one of the most critically acclaimed novels of the early 21st century because I found it unbearably slow and pretentious. Over the years, I discovered a secret cabal of others who had put it down too, including my extremely erudite grandmother. This gave me a great deal of gratification, and an assurance that sometimes it’s OK not to “wait for the payoff.” Sometimes we just don’t like something, and we know that early on. There is so much good art to consume that occasionally, we can choose to leave a book or a TV show unfinished.Kobo will be releasing their first tablet dubbed “Vox” this Friday at Chapters/Indigo locations and from their website in the USA. It will be competitively priced at $199 vs. the Kindle Fire. We just got back from Toronto, where we were at the Kobo HQ and got a full hands on review a few days before it officially comes out!
Hardware
The Kobo Vox features a 7 inch capacitive multi-touchscreen display with a resolution of 1025×600. The colors absolutely pop on this unit and the entire interface of the new apps the company released are optimized to fit the screen. Many of the apps, books, and menus maintained Landscape/Portrait orientations, but the main screen did not switch.
It has 8 GB of internal memory and you can expand it up to 32 GB via the MicroSD card. This seems like a fine amount of space to store your video, audio, and books. Most Kobo devices just have a simple drive that you insert your card into. It does not have a protective clasp made of rubber or anything else so dust does not get into it. I wish they would have thought about that small level of protection, because people frequently take their device out on holidays, exposing it to all different kinds of elements.
Things move fast with the 800 MHZ CPU processor and 512 MB of RAM. Scrolling through various menus was very snappy and apps seemed to load fairly quickly. I did notice graphics intensive books, such as graphic novels, comics, and PDF files sometimes took a while to load up. When they did load, page turn speed was fast.
Let’s take a look at the form factor and the physical buttons on the unit. At the top there is a speaker on the right hand side. It is a single mono speaker and does emit fair quality music or audio books when turned to maximum. You might want to take advantage of the 3.5 mm headphone jack on the bottom. There is a single press down power button and not the slider variant you see packaged with most e-readers and tablets.
On the right hand side of the unit is your volume button to physically adjust it. On the left hand side there is a microSD port and button includes Micro USB to charge the unit and facilitate a data connection.
The front of the unit sports physical home touch panels for the standard Android fair. You have the options for Back, Settings, and Home. I like these sorts of buttons on the unit because frequently tablets are made to be purely software driven. If things start to slow down or crash altogether you have to physically reboot it. Some of the nagging problems are solved with physical buttons to press.
The back of the unit is fairly clean and simplistic. You are greeted with the standard quilted background that is popular with the Kobo Touch and WIFI. The quilt on the Vox honestly looks more polished and does not look cheap. It does not seem to be made of the same material as the ones found on the e-ink variants.
The Kobo Vox feels slick in your hands and really reminded me of the original Samsung Galaxy Tab that was released last year. That is a good thing, it was my favorite Android device of 2010. It quickly went from landscape to portrait mode and the hardware made menus load fairly quick.
Software
The Kobo Vox runs the Google Android 2.3 operating system and the GUI is not as evident as with the Nook Color. The user interface on on the Nook Color is heavily modified and if you were not a huge tech user, you would never even know it was Android. Honestly, I did not really notice any kind of unique GUI or UI at all, so Android users will feel right at home.
Kobo has packaged very unique programs with the Vox and one that stands out is “Kobo Pulse.” Pulse was initially unveiled at the big Facebook Developer conference a few weeks ago. The CEO disclosed the company was working on a new social media tool and briefly described how it worked. There were no visuals or images and the project mainly just sounded good on paper. Now, however, we got a chance to use it, and let us say Kobo Pulse is AMAZING!! It combines elements from Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. Want to know how it works?
You purchase a book from Kobo and there is a little red pulse at the bottom of the page. The size of the pulse is determinate on how many people have purchased the book. The pulse appearing as you shop for books includes an option to just shut it off, if you don’t care or don’t want to use the feature, but I fail to see why you would. Once you open the pulse you are presented with a really solid one page social media screen.
At the top it shows you how many times the book has been read, the number of user comments, likes and dislikes. This gives you a short list of how popular the book is and how active the community chatting about it is. It also gives you the number of people who are currently reading the book. As an example, I used the new Steve Jobs book and 341 people were currently reading it as part of the internal beta testing team. I can imagine that when this goes live, this number will go into the thousands.
After all of the statistics are presented to you, there are a series of profile pictures. This would be your avatar found in your Facebook or Twitter account. You do have to connect with one of those social media services using the app to be able to comment and partake in the commenting. Speaking of commenting, users are given a very Youtube-esque commenting field. You can write a few brief lines of text and vote up/down peoples replies. This will ensure the best comments are ranked higher then trolls baiting people. Kobo told us that they are trying to get users to police themselves and that the moderation team would be very small. Likely the official Kobo moderators would only check out the most popular books or on a case by case basis if a number of users complain. The company also told us that they are making sure privacy concerns are being adhered to. There will be options to opt your profile out, so you would appear as a generic avatar and people who not have direct access to your social media account.
Pulse feels edgy and is the number one selling point on the Vox. It is the most unique and excellent example of social media found in any e-reader or tablet. Most other readers like the Kindle or Nook only allow you to share particular passages or quotes with Facebook or Twitter. Sure it’s fine to update your status with some profound revelation, but I can honestly say I have NEVER done it. Most of my friends are tired of people waxing philosophical or spamming. The beauty of pulse is that it allows you to be social by reading a book. Often my friends and I do not have the same taste in books, if we do, we often are not reading the same book at the same time. Pulse allows you to connect with other users in real time and chat about the book, its characters, or whatever you want. It brings the community aspect found in Youtube comments and integrates that with reading.
Kobo has told us that pulse will be implemented in their entire product line of readers, such as the Kobo Touch and Kobo WIFI. They are also updating their iOS, Android, Blackberry, and other programs to make this feature compatible across all platforms. They are big on this and it’s something that has been in development for six months.
A core Kobo staple found in their apps and Touch Reader is Reading Life. This was a new program they developed last year that allows you to check out your overall statistics for reading. You can track how long it takes you to read a book to how many books you have read total. They blend in an Xbox version of awards and achievements. There is a myriad of options and they look great in high resolution and in full color.
The main homescreen is a compilation of the last four books you have read with quick links on the bottom to Reading Life, Pulse, the store, and your library.
Your library has a standard shelf that has all of the books you have purchased and bookmarks appear on the ones you are currently reading. When you exit a book you can pick off exactly where you left off. There is also the ability to organize collections and even load in your own books with the MicroSD cable. The device natively reads EPUB files, but you can really load in any format you want with the 10,000 applications found with Getjar.
Applications are easy to install with Getjar. Kobo basically filtered a ton of bad apps or ones that did not look good on a seven inch screen. They organized them in a more intuitive way and gives you options to download and install. When we spoke with the CEO of Kobo he mentioned that it is very important to the company not to have a closed ecosystem. You have the ability to sideload in your own applications or alternative markets. There is no restrictions on what you can load on the device.
Let’s talk content! The main Kobo bookstore received an update for the Vox that allows you to purchase cook books, kids books, graphic novels, and comic books! The kids books are something that parents worldwide will enjoy. There is a ‘read to me’ feature that narrates the book to your kid. You do have the option to turn it off if you don’t want to utilize it, or if it gets old quick.
I checked out a few book that were loaded on the device and it supports full pinching and zooming on all of the kids books. Some of the books had hidden text on the page, so you had to pinch and zoom to find clues. Colors were really vibrant with the high resolution screen and the books looked great in portrait/landscape mode. Some of the books took a while to initially load, but once they did, page turn speed was very quick and there was no lag at all when you zoomed in and out.
Similarly, you have the options to buy comics and graphic novels. There was an Archie comic loaded on the device and it had elements from popular Android Comic Book readers. You could double tap and it would zoom in on a specific panel, hit it again and it would go to the next panel. There were settings to even set the timer on the panel scrolling so you did not even need to touch the screen after the set time had passed. There is no a huge selection of content yet for both comics and kids books, but Kobo said in the coming weeks we should see a drastic increase in books available.
As always, you have full access to all of the 2.3 million books that Kobo offers under their ecosystem. You can find popular bestsellers and on the front page a number of lists with a books that are popular at that time. Obviously, the Steve Jobs book was the number one seller already.
The reading experience overall is excellent! Kobo did a great job utilizing the full color screen for new content not previously offered. It feels like the Nook Color situation where they could present so many more options and really get kids into the reading aspect. I can see the Vox being very popular with parents who want to foster their love of reading with their little ones. Since the entire line of Kobo e-readers are internationally friendly, I think it has more reach with its kids line of books then the Nook Color does. I think this will eventually attract more publishers and independent authors to submit content. There is no word yet on how authors can submit their content directly to Kobo to be in their new sections of the store. Maybe Smashwords will come to the rescue and give new features to submit it.
There are some 3rd party applications installed by default on the device like Zinio, Rdio, and newspapers from Pressreader. Many other Android tablets come with some or all of these programs, but Kobo manages to give you content right away. Zinio is contributing 12 totally free, full featured magazines to get you into their stable of magazines. I use Zinio on my Apple iPad and there were tons of scrolling issues. Some magazines had you swipe down to continue the news item and some you had to scroll. It lacked in consistency which alienated some of the users that found the entire process convoluted. The magazines we checked out with the Zinio app on Kobo felt more refined. The other apps also give you a bunch of free content to get you in the door. If you want to take out subscriptions you can deal directly with them instead of going through Kobo.
The internet experience on this device was average and depending on your local wireless connection could warrant you some high speed. I found webpages loaded up reasonably quickly. I was able to watch embedded Youtube videos and Flash content. There were not a ton of settings with the default web browser other than bookmarking.
In the end, Vox on a pure software side feels like the standard Android 2.3 tablet. This is good in a way that you can easily update the operating system or load in your own applications. It feels familiar, but it’s really the Kobo custom applications that make the unit shine. I am in love with Pulse and Reading Life is consistently a perennial favorite of mine. The home screen is unique and well laid out and gives you options to load in widgets or live wall papers. Internet is fast and robust and watching Youtube Videos and multimedia content is lush.
Our Thoughts
I had the Kobo Vox in my hands for about a solid hour and a half today and it is one of my favorite devices of the year. Kobo is a great company that is doing two things right; branching out internationally and developing social media. Living in Canada, sometimes we get the short end of the stick (same with Australia). Many companies simply focus on the USA market as a means to the end. It is expensive for new companies to compete in the USA market because of the expectations of low cost, high-end devices. Internationally, the quality of e-readers and tablets are overpriced and under performing. Considering Canada is a very high-tech nation, the only e-readers commonly available are Sony, Amazon Keyboard, Kobo, Pandigital, and Aluratek. In many cases, the newest models are not commonly available and most companies do not bother. Kobo is doing the right thing by focusing on markets often neglected by other companies. They have opened up markets in the last year with Australia, New Zealand, UK, France, Germany, and Spain. They find retail partners to carry their devices and buy books directly from Kobo. They have special versions of their store in foreign language markets that puts the emphasis on homegrown authors and also independents.
There are really no e-reader companies that focus on the social media elements like Kobo, and they are in a class of their own. All you need is their official app in most cases to take advantage of it and they don’t mandate you buy their dedicated reader to take part. Reading Life is not only seen on Kobo products, but is a built in element to Samsung’s entire line of tablets and smartphones.
Kobo Pulse continues to expand on the social media approach and makes books less of a solitary activity and more fun. I can see this catching on big time.
What does the company have planned in the near future? We talked about a bunch of things Kobo has in the pipe. One feature being released soon is audio narration in books. If you are listening to the book walking your dog or commuting and pause it, then you can open it on your e-reader and it will automatically be synced to where you left off. They have a ton of content partners lined up, but we can’t talk about it for now. Needless to say, it’s going to really open up the amount of books and other media you can get.
The Kobo Vox is simply a great social experience and that is what separates it from the Pandigital Novels and Aluratek Readers of the world. Most tablets being billed as e-reders often rely on 3rd parties to provide all of the content. They may preload the Amazon Android app and say, “Look! It’s an e-reader!” It really isn’t in almost all cases, it is a thinly veiled attempt to peddle a low quality tablet for the purposes of reading. Normally, people then install Angry Birds and Facebook and that’s all they do.
The Kobo Vox is a dedicated reader first and foremost. The company has the competitive advantage of offering their own hardware and content distribution system. It allows you to freely participate in their ecosystem without locking you into it exclusively. I love the freedom associated with dealing with their hardware because I can use Adobe Digital Editions and just borrow books from the library or buy them via other stores.
Rating: 8/10
Update: Oct 28 2011 – Have a Vox? We compiled a list of the essential applications you will want on it! Adobe Flash, Kindle Reader, Nook Reader, and other app stores. Check it out HERE.
Update 2: Many people have been asking about the new screen Kobo is using on their Vox. It is a AFFS display which is being billed as Anti-Glare! When we were in Toronto it was raining like crazy and we could not test it out in direct light. The one thing I can say is the screen pops, and I found it way better then resistive screens found in lower-end tablets. The big thing I noticed was that the resolution was tremendous and even with lots of overhead light there was little to no glare at all.
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Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.A subtle adjustment in Curtis’s putting grip caused a seismic shift in his fortunes and served as a reminder — as if any pro requires one — that the difference between success and distress in golf can be as thin as a worry line.
At the suggestion of Herb Page, who coached him at Kent State, Curtis moved his right hand over the top of his left for his fourth start, in San Antonio. The payoff was immediate. He won last weekend’s Texas Open, sealing his two-stroke victory with the help of a 22-foot par putt on the penultimate hole.
Justin Leonard, a 12-time tour winner, was on |
(hee)
*This is the fishiest logic, to me. After millenia of oppression, violence against women, centuries of being legal property, straight women will still find something to love about and root for in straight men. But one bad relationship is an excuse to hate women and think they deserve fewer rights than men? Oh wait. Except for you. You the shining exception to all other women. Until you mess up in some way, of course.
**Apologies to actual libertarians out there in the crowd. 18-year-old me was definitely one of the obnoxious ones who ruins it for the rest of y’all.
January 25: Well, the MRAs have found us, judging from the amount of sexist drivel and “shut up you fat cunt” comments now circling the drain of my moderation queue. FYI, my banhammer is a ball peen hammer, the most hilarious of hammers. I’ve harvested enough male tears for my morning tea, and I’ve got things to do today besides systematically oppress men and censor their free speech, so comments are closed. Have a good Sunday, y’all.Get the biggest Manchester United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Ryan Giggs believes Manchester United could finally have found the perfect replacement for free-kick specialist Cristiano Ronaldo in the form of Memphis Depay.
Depay scored seven of his 22 Eredivisie goals from set-pieces last season, and the Dutchman is renowned for his dead ball abilities - just like Ronaldo was.
The Portuguese star netted a number of memorable free-kicks during his six-year spell at Old Trafford, and Giggs doesn't think he has been replaced since leaving for Real Madrid in 2009 - until now.
"One thing we probably have lacked since Cristiano - and Becks (David Beckham) before him – is free kicks," Giggs told the Sunday Times. "And it looks like Depay has a great track record from free kicks as well.
(Image: Getty)
"Over a season, if you can score more from free-kicks and corners it adds up and makes a real difference in winning games. So, no pressure… but hopefully he'll score 10 free kicks every year!"
Giggs also believes that Depay has chosen the best place to develop his career, due to the club's supporters' patience with young players.
The Welshman added: "Old Trafford is the right stage for a player like him, because if you try things that don't come off the fans will stay behind you. You're at a club where they want you to do things off the cuff, to entertain them."
Depay will finalise his move from PSV when the summer transfer window officially opens at midnight on Wednesday 1 July.
Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play nowCrochet Flower Lattice Shawl
This crochet flower lattice shawl is based off of the crochet flower lattice scarf that I recently made a video tutorial for. I really wanted to work it up as a triangle to make a shawl so I worked up 2 rows of flowers and sat and looked at it trying to figure it out.
I tried a few things but nothing was working and I thought I was crazy because when I made the scarf version I had to rip it out multiple times because I kept mistakenly increasing on both sides of my work. How was it that I could do it mistakenly but I couldn't seem to do it when I was intentionally trying?
I looked at my test rows for 2 days and nothing until last week I made a test sample and found something that worked. I would love to see many of these shawls made, please share your pictures with me on my Facebook WALL.
If you are looking for the square version of the flower lattice it can be found HERE.
UPDATE: This pattern has been translated to German and can be found HERE.
Crochet Flower Lattice Shawl Pattern Notes..
DIFFICULTY RATING
COMPETENT
Click HERE for pattern difficulty ratings.
Yarn: Ice Yarns Magic Baby (1 ball = 100g/360m ±5%) For the crochet flower lattice shawl in the images I used magic baby's white-pink-orange-multicolor-lilac-blue-shades. (You could also use Baby Luv yarn with a US G6/4.00mm hook)
Hook: US E4/3.50mm
Size: This crochet flower lattice shawl can be made in many different sizes from child to adult. 1 ball of magic baby will work up a shawl of 19 complete rows of flowers and the side row. Instructions are for adult sizing and will require 2 balls of magic baby.
Special Stitches:
~Each row is worked from the left to right and back right to left.
~Each flower has 4 petals, to make it easier to reference I've numbered them and the numbers will be used within the pattern, the star on the 3rd petal marks the left joining corner.
Gauge: 1 complete flower = 1.5" square
Notes: To help you work up this crochet flower lattice shawl I've included a video tutorial of the first 4 rows of work and the finishing row.
Sl St into the last dc you just worked (as shown below)
**Each row will have a half flower which only has the 2nd & 3rd petal, the other 2 petals will be finished on the last row of work.**
Crochet Flower Lattice Shawl Pattern..
If you've made a crochet flower lattice shawl please share your pictures on my Facebook WALL or hook up your project on Ravelry
~Happy Hooking~Cyclists gearing up for a 175-mile charity bike ride beginning Wednesday to benefit sick Jewish kids have collected an eye-popping $2.4 million for the cause.
Nearly a third of the donations for the July 31-Aug. 1 Bike4Chai trek hit the charity’s bank account in the past three weeks, organizer said, as word of the two-wheeled effort spreads around Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish enclaves.
The money goes to Camp Simcha, a camp for children suffering with severe ailments, near Monticello.
“I like biking and I want to do something positive,” said Abe Banda, owner of the city’s largest kosher supermarket, Pomegranate, in Midwood.
Banda is leading a team on the ride from Asbury Park, N.J. to Camp Simcha in Glen Spey.
More than 275 cyclists have signed up for the trek.
To donate to the Bike4Chai campaign, visit http://www.chailifeline.org/events/Bike4Chai/
Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing!This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Today we spend the hour with David Simon, the man behind The Wire, what some have described as the best television series ever broadcast. Nearly a decade ago in Slate, Jacob Weisberg wrote, “No other program has ever done anything remotely like what this one does, namely to portray the social, political, and economic life of an American city with the scope, observational precision, and moral vision of great literature.” President Obama met with David Simon earlier this year and described himself as a big fan.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: At the front end, I’ve got to tell you, I’m a huge fan of The Wire. I think it’s one of the greatest, not just television shows, but pieces of art, in the last couple of decades. I was a huge fan of it.
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama, speaking at the White House during a meeting in March with David Simon. In The Wire, Simon captured the city of Baltimore from the angles of street-level drug dealers, beat police officers, journalists covering corrupt politicians. David Simon said he aimed to portray how, quote, “raw, unencumbered capitalism” devalues human beings. He created the show after leaving The Baltimore Sun, where he worked on the city desk for over a decade. The Wire helped launch a new national discussion about the failings of the criminal justice system and the so-called war on drugs. In 2011, then-Attorney General Eric Holder urged Simon to do another season of The Wire. Simon responded he was prepared to do so if the Justice Department would, quote, “reconsider and address its continuing prosecution of our misguided, destructive and dehumanizing drug prohibition.”
Well, after The Wire ended, David Simon went to create Treme, looking at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, which hit the city 10 years ago this week. In 2010, Simon was awarded a MacArthur Genius award. In a statement summarizing his work, the MacArthur Foundation said, quote, “With the nuance and scope of novels, Simon’s recent series have explored the constraints that poverty, corruption and broken social systems place on the lives of a compelling cast of characters, each vividly realized with complicated motives, frailties, and strengths.”
David Simon’s latest project is titled Show Me a Hero. It’s six-part mini-series now airing on HBO. It looks at what happened in Yonkers, New York, in the 1980s when Yonkers was faced with a federal court order to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of his town.
NICK WASICSKO: [played by Oscar Isaac] Well, don’t tell anybody, but I always wanted to be the mayor. I used to talk about it all the time growing up. The other kids used to call me the mayor.
NAY NOE WASICSKO: [played by Carla Quevedo] Really.
NICK WASICSKO: It wasn’t a compliment.
UNIDENTIFIED: The city intentionally segregated its housing for 40 years.
UNIDENTIFIED: The whole damn city government’s white.
MARY DORMAN: [played by Catherine Keener] This judge wants to take low-income housing and put it here, in East Yonkers.
HANK SPALLONE: [played by Alfred Molina] The trash, the drugs. We will die from what the city is trying to shove down our throat.
UNIDENTIFIED: I live here, and I am nothing like what they describe.
VINNI RESTIANO: [played by Winona Ryder] So what are you going to do?
NICK WASICSKO: It’s that guy from Yonkers again, asking if he can get any help from the state of New York.
PROTESTERS: No justice, no peace!
NICK WASICSKO: The matter with these people?
ROBERT MAYHAWK: [played by Clarke Peters] You wanted to live somewhere better, but everything has a cost.
HANK SPALLONE: It’s time you recognized your failure as a leader.
NORMA O’NEAL: [played by LaTanya Richardson Jackson] You want to live where people were angry at you?
NICK WASICSKO: You know, it’s all property values and life and liberty. Underneath it all, it’s fear. I played into that fear, too.
JUDGE LEONARD B. SAND: [played by Bob Balaban] Quite a year for you, Mr. Mayor. Justice is not about popularity.
NICK WASICSKO: No, it’s not. But politics is.
AMY GOODMAN: Highlights from the new HBO miniseries, Show Me a Hero. Joining us for the hour is the show’s creator, David Simon.
Welcome to Democracy Now!
DAVID SIMON: Thanks for having me back.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s great to have you with us. Tell us the story of Yonkers and desegregation.
DAVID SIMON: Well, it was one of the first places where a sort of a new generation of public housing policy was undertaken, which is to say there were a lot of mistakes that happened in the '50s, ’60s, ’40s even, in terms of the construction of public housing. Condensing everything into high-rise projects or mass—sort of mass incarcerating your poor in very tiny areas, like the—you know, Robert Taylor or Cabrini-Green in Chicago, or in my city in Baltimore, Lexington Terrace or Murphy Homes, it proved incredibly destructive and destabilizing to those neighborhoods, and it creates almost permanent ghettos. And so, the new revolution of scattered site housing kind of began in Yonkers, which was to say, a few units here, a few units there, don't destabilize the neighborhood, truly try to integrate your poor into the rest of society.
And it actually was a quiet revolution that was successful. Unfortunately, everybody who heard that 200 units had to be built in white areas, because of a court settlement, imagined the past and not the future. And so, it aroused incredible white anger, in the late '80s and early ’90s, and incredible upheaval. And you could not convince anyone to risk even the slightest of their property values or of the status quo in order to try to achieve the result. And so, Yonkers blew up. And it was—in winning the victory that they did, the cost, the political cost, was so exhausting that it wasn't replicated elsewhere around the country.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to another clip from Show Me a Hero, showing one of these heated meetings in Yonkers over public housing.
PROTESTERS: Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare!
NICK WASICSKO: [played by Oscar Isaac] As indicated by our last vote, we elected to appeal the affordable housing portion of the judge’s order to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court has refused—
PROTESTER: Appeal all of it, you coward!
NICK WASICSKO: Roll call, Mr. Clerk. Roll call.
CLERK: [played by Ray Iannicelli] Mayor Wasicsko.
NICK WASICSKO: Aye.
CLERK: Vice Mayor Spallone.
HANK SPALLONE: [played by Alfred Molina] No.
CLERK: Majority Leader Cola.
CHARLES COLA: [played by Daniel Oreskes] No.
CLERK: Minority Leader Longo.
NICHOLAS LONGO: [played by Jim Bracchitta] No.
CLERK: Councilmember Fagan.
EDWARD FAGAN: [played by Allan Steele] No.
CLERK: Councilmember Chema.
PETER CHEMA: [played by Danny Mastrogiorgio] No.
CLERK: Councilmember Oxman.
HARRY OXMAN: [played by Dan Ziskie] Abstain.
CLERK: I have one aye, five nays, one abstention. The measure fails.
NICK WASICSKO: Meeting adjourned.
AMY GOODMAN: There you have one of those moments. Now, let’s go back, David Simon. Talk about what forced the desegregation.
DAVID SIMON: It was a court ruling by a federal court that was upheld by—well, it was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court, but—
AMY GOODMAN: But this was a lawsuit brought by the NAACP?
DAVID SIMON: Absolutely. It came out of the Carter Justice Department in '79, was the original suit. And then the NAACP joined it as a friend of the court. And it was fought—it actually wasn't settled completely until 2007. That’s how long the litigation took. Basically, what was proven, beyond any doubt—I mean, it was upheld by a three-judge panel, including two Reagan appointees, the original decision. But what was proven was that Yonkers, like many American cities, like most American cities, used their federal housing money to purposely and willfully segregate their low-income housing. They used it for racial hypersegregation. And the case was proven by going back to, you know, even the minutes of the Housing Authority, for decades. You would hear people saying bluntly, “Well, don’t put it anywhere else but here. We don’t want—we don’t want blacks moving into that neighborhood or this neighborhood. Keep it”—so they built every single unit of low-income housing in one square mile of Yonkers.
AMY GOODMAN: So they used federal money—
DAVID SIMON: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: —to further segregate the city.
DAVID SIMON: Right. And, of course, you know, anybody who’s read Nick Lemann’s Promised Land or, notably, recently, Ta-Nehisi Coates’s reparations piece in The Atlantic, the case is definitive that—I mean, just definitive, that the country as a whole has used social engineering to create this hypersegregated world. I mean, we had done this as a matter of policy, of plan, of purpose for the last 40 years, 50 years, up to this point.
So here comes the NAACP and the Justice Department, that basically says, “Look, you took the money, and you did this, you know, contrary to Brown v. Board of Education. You know, this is a Plessy v. Ferguson type behavior. You can’t do this. This is depriving people of their constitutional rights.” And the remedy, of course, was desegregate your public housing stock. And they asked to build 200 units in a city of 200,000 on the white side of the Saw Mill River Parkway.
AMY GOODMAN: And it was going to be in different places.
DAVID SIMON: Right. Well, that’s the part that eluded the opponents, which was, there were people who had learned something about public housing and about the mistakes of public housing and of this very active hypersegregating all of your poor into one small area. And it was the beginning of scattered site housing and defensible space theory and a lot of things that actually work in terms of integrating the poor with the rest of society.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s the difference between segregation and hypersegregation?
DAVID SIMON: Degree, degree. I mean, I would say that, you know, certainly, when you are trying to place every single person of color in a context where they are not interacting with the rest of society, if you were to go to look at the Schlobohm high-rise projects, which are still there in West Yonkers, they’re actually built in this incredible gully in the middle of West Yonkers with a high retaining wall, so that—I mean, there’s a 20-foot retaining wall around it. I mean, you look at it, and you realize the poor are being made to—
AMY GOODMAN: They are—it’s like a walled-in community.
DAVID SIMON: It’s like in a gully, and there’s a 20-foot wall that surrounds it. I mean, it is so segregated from the rest of Yonkers that the intent is absolutely clear, which is: Let’s make no mistake, this is where we took the money—we took the—for the housing stock. And by the way, the people—let’s be honest, the reason cities started taking the federal money was these projects originally—not the Schlobohm, but the ones before that, the low-rises, Mulford Gardens, places like that—in every city, they were for white people. They were for people struggling to hold families together at the end of the Depression, and some of the earlier projects go back to the ’30s. And particularly after the war, after World War II, they were for returning veterans. And they were heralded. Public housing was heralded as a viable and advantageous federal policy. It was only when it gravitated to people of color, when they became the next immigrant wave, either from the South or from other countries, that it became problematic politically.
AMY GOODMAN: David, I want to go to another clip from Show Me a Hero. Here, a representative with the Housing Education Relocation Enterprise program speaks with the Mary Dorman, a main character in Show Me a Hero, played by Catherine Keener, an older East Yonkers resident.
ROBERT MAYHAWK: [played by Clarke Peters] As I began to explain, I run a group called the Housing Education Relocation Enterprise, or HERE. We have been commissioned by the Yonkers Housing Authority to help these tenants move into the new homes—thank you—and to do so in the best possible way for the tenants and for the existing neighborhood residents. We intend to make sure that what is going to happen, happens in the best possible way for everyone. May I ask, Mrs. Dorman, how do you feel about the housing presently?
MARY DORMAN: [played by Catherine Keener] Honestly?
ROBERT MAYHAWK: But of course.
MARY DORMAN: Honestly, I don’t—I don’t believe in it.
ROBERT MAYHAWK: You don’t believe in the purpose of the housing, or you don’t believe that the housing is coming to your neighborhood?
MARY DORMAN: I don’t believe in the idea of it. I know the housing is coming.
ROBERT MAYHAWK: It is. Oh, pardon me. You are exactly right, it is going to happen. And what is left for all of us to decide is exactly what it will be, or more importantly, perhaps, what it will not be.
AMY GOODMAN: This woman, Mary Dorman, is a very interesting figure, one of the leading activists against desegregation, who begins to change, David Simon.
DAVID SIMON: Yeah, she had an incredible journey. I got to meet her before she passed, because we started research on this project back in about 2002, 2003.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s based on the former New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin’s book.
DAVID SIMON: Lisa Belkin’s book. And Bill Zorzi and I, who worked on the scripts, we felt the need to—we have to get the voices, as well, as well as the prose story. So we went to Yonkers, and Bill, particularly, dug into the story, and of course he met Mary. And Lisa tells a fascinating story about reading to Mary her book, when she was finished with the manuscript. Mary is reading visions of herself from when she was one of the most vocal and furious opponents of the public housing, and she denied saying those things. And Lisa had to go back and show her the record, what she had said at hearings and at protests. And Mary, at that point in life, didn’t recognize herself. She didn’t recognize her earlier version of herself. She was astonished. It really was a hero’s journey for her. And she’s—you know, Catherine Keener plays the turn so beautifully.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, you show the wrath of this section, this segment of the white community against the desegregation.
DAVID SIMON: Right. People think it’s hyperbolic. People think that we sort of exaggerated it. All you’ve got to do is go to—there are documentaries, there’s film footage of the council hearings. I mean, we’re going verbatim.
AMY GOODMAN: But what about the black community and where they stood on this? There’s a point early on where you have—I think he was a leader of the NAACP, sort of throwing up his hands and saying, “This isn’t even worth it anymore, 200 houses.”
DAVID SIMON: There was a level of exhaustion. By the time we come into the story, we’re at 1987. And there had been a remedy ordered in 1985. The case had dragged on for six years. There had been repeated attempts to settle the case out of court, that had failed because the Yonkers City Council couldn’t even approve one unit of public housing anywhere, so that, you know, even more benign—I mean, there was one settlement that had called for only 100 units, but the council vetoed that. So, you know, you’re talking about a level of exhaustion on the part of black activists, that by ’87 the attorney, one of the attorneys who brought the case, Michael Sussman, he told us he clearly felt as if the fact that this was incredible precedent, legal precedent, that they had established, that cities that did this were—the remedy had to be an attempt to desegregate, even on the part of the advocates, there was a level of exhaustion because of the resistance.
And there is to this day. Yonkers stands as—if you go to those townhouses that they built, they’re not a source of additional crime. They didn’t bring down the neighborhoods. The property values remain fairly constant. In fact, they’re increasing now because of Yonkers’ availability, a sort of renaissance downtown. But that’s the victory on the ground. The emotional cost of it—you know, I mean, the federal government had the—the same dynamic in Dallas right now, going on right now, is going on in Dallas, and the federal government doesn’t have the—HUD doesn’t have the stomach to fight it through. They’re basically pulling up stakes and giving up on the case.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, the judge forced this through by basically saying, “We will bankrupt Yonkers if you don’t follow through.”
DAVID SIMON: Well, yeah. Yonkers was in contempt.
AMY GOODMAN: Every day another fine.
DAVID SIMON: At a certain point—I mean, at a certain point, there had been this decision, it had been appealed, the appeal had been upheld, and Yonkers still wasn’t obeying a federal court order. At that point, a federal judge has remarkable power, if he wants to use it, to enforce an order, to enforce a legal order. And Yonkers was—he was going to fine the city to the point of bankruptcy. And Yonkers still couldn’t get four votes on the council to approve a housing plan.
AMY GOODMAN: But you’re not seeing the backbone of Obama’s HUD, of the Obama administration, in Dallas to push this forward?
DAVID SIMON: Well, not in Dallas. I mean, I think they’ve done—you know, they’re using, I think, these last two years very effectively. And I think you’re seeing—you know, the opening up of the data for local groups to now pursue these cases on their own, I think, is a very effective thing that they’ve done. But, yeah, I think in Dallas you’ve seen, yeah, I would have to say, a lack of backbone. And there haven’t—you know, if you think these problems are—that we did something that’s 25 years old and it’s an anachronism, two towns up the Hudson right now, in Tarrytown, this same rhetoric, the same demagoguery, same guys running for office claiming that they can in some way turn back this decision. They’re finding it in Tarrytown now instead of Yonkers. So—
AMY GOODMAN: And in Yonkers, the mayor, Nick Wasicsko, he ran on an anti-desegregation platform, and simply because of the judge saying he was going to bankrupt the city—I mean, it wasn’t a moral awakening, though it came to be one, it seems like.
DAVID SIMON: It came to be one. Nick grew, too.
AMY GOODMAN: Yeah.
DAVID SIMON: You know, obviously, we spent a lot of time talking to his widow, Nay Wasicsko. And he came to see that—you know, in the beginning what it was, was a political opportunity to run to the right of the existing mayor, who was ready to comply. And Nick was arguing that they should still exhaust every possible appeal, even though everyone in city government knew there were no grounds for appeal. So, almost before, I would say a couple weeks before his inauguration, after he won, running to the right of the mayor, the call comes from the lawyers, and they say, “We lost the appeal. You’ve got to do it.” And Nick then had to turn around to the voters and say, “I know what I ran on, but, hey, we lost the case. Now we have to build the units.” And that was not well received.
AMY GOODMAN: And what captured your imagination? I mean, you dig in. You throw yourself completely into these projects. In a moment, we’re going to talk about New Orleans in Treme and then The Wire.
DAVID SIMON: I thought this piece was—you know, there’s been a lot of writing about the American pathology of race and how it’s an overlay on all of our urban problems, our failure to deal with it. I mean, it still—it remains for the 21st century the most fundamental question of, well, if we don’t get this right, it’s problematic that we’re going to get the city right. If we don’t get the city right, I don’t see how this society becomes anything but second-rate, because we are an urban people. And, you know, if you’ve read anything about the construct of segregation and what it’s done in terms of creating these two separate Americas—you know, Andrew Hacker’s book, Two Nations, or The Promised Land by Nick Lemann or—I mean, there’s just so much reporting that basically says this is the great stumbling block of American society. It’s what we’ve—you know, we’ve wasted an incredible amount of treasure, time and lives because we can’t get this right.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to David Simon for the hour, the former Baltimore Sun journalist. Baltimore Sun figures prominently in the remarkable series, The Wire, and is—also spent a lot of time in New Orleans. We’re going to talk about Treme next. It’s the 10th anniversary of Katrina. This is Democracy Now! Stay with us.Children, Church, Kitchen
“Kinder, Kirche, Kuche.” Designating the social role of women, the old slogan continues to haunt Germany, today. Suffering the lowest wages in the EU (23.2% less than men) and amongst the poorest representation in corporate leadership (only 3.7 percent sit on the boards of listed firms, according to Germany’s Labor Minister) to foreign women with executive experience, such statistics can be shocking.
Well, perhaps not so much. Though I have not had the same experience working in this country, it’d be impossible to make oneself oblivious to the feelings of marginalization expressed by German women. For example, in August, Berlin witnessed one of Europe’s more charged Slutwalks, with women protesting every manner of discrimination imaginable. Though the city is not exactly unknown for being outspoken, such demonstrations come from very real places.
This sticker, taped to a lamp post near my home, sums up the anger one can pick up here quite nicely. Yes, it’s a bit over the top, and its subject is violence, not labor. However, sometimes it is only because of such posturing that men, and other women, will sit up and take notice. Would somebody please prevail upon the Chancellor? I recognize that she’s a conservative. However, one would think that being female, it might occur to Frau Merkel that something is really wrong here.
Photograph courtesy of the authorSteve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunc Stephen Curry made arguably his strongest political statements to date on Wednesday when he mocked both President Donald Trump and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank's praise of Trump.
Plank was highly complimentary of Trump in an interview on Tuesday with CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report," saying "to have such a pro-business president is something that is a real asset for the country."
That didn't seem to sit well with Curry, one of Under Armour's top athletes. In an interview with Marcus Thompson II of The Mercury News, Curry responded to the comments.
"I agree with that description," Curry said, "if you remove the 'et' from asset."
Curry told The Mercury News that he spent most of Tuesday on the phone with Plank and others at Under Armour. Plank explained to Curry, according to Thompson, that the comments on Trump were meant "exclusively from a business perspective."
Curry went on to explain that Plank's involvement as part of a collaboration with Trump and other business leaders won't cause Curry to leave the brand. Rather, he wants to make sure Under Armour doesn't adopt Trump's values.
"It's a fine line but it's about how we're operating," Curry said, "How inclusive we are, what we stand for. He's the President. There are going to be people that are tied to them. But are we promoting change? Are we doing things that are going to look out for everybody? And not being so self-serving that it's only about making money, selling shoes, doing this and that. That's not the priority. It's about changing lives. I think we can continue to do that."
Under Armour released a statement clarifying Plank's remarks.
"At Under Armour, our culture has always been about optimism, teamwork, and unity. We have engaged with both the prior and the current administrations in advocating on business issues that we believe are in the best interests of our consumers, teammates, and shareholders. Kevin Plank was recently invited at the request of the President of the United States, to join the American Manufacturing Council as part of a distinguished group of business leaders. He joined CEOs from companies such as Dow Chemical, Dell, Ford, GE, and Tesla, among others to begin an important dialogue around creating jobs in America. We believe it is important for Under Armour to be a part of that discussion.
"We have always been committed to developing innovative ways to support and invest in American jobs and manufacturing. For years, Under Armour has had a long-term strategy for domestic manufacturing and we recently launched our first women's collection made in our hometown of Baltimore, MD. We are incredibly proud of this important first step in the evolution of creating more jobs at home. "We engage in policy, not politics. We believe in advocating for fair trade, an inclusive immigration policy that welcomes the best and the brightest and those seeking opportunity in the great tradition of our country, and tax reform that drives hiring to help create new jobs globally, across America and in Baltimore. "We have teammates from different religions, races, nationalities, genders, and sexual orientations; different ages, life experiences, and opinions. This is the core of our company. At Under Armour, our diversity is our strength, and we will continue to advocate for policies that Protect Our House, our business, our team, and our community."(CNN) — Within hours of meeting with a mining company CEO, the new head of the US Environmental Protection Agency directed his staff to withdraw a plan to protect the watershed of Bristol Bay, Alaska, one of the most valuable wild salmon fisheries on Earth, according to interviews and government emails obtained by CNN.
The meeting between EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Tom Collier, CEO of Pebble Limited Partnership, took place on May 1, Collier and his staff confirmed in an interview with CNN. At 10:36 a.m. that same day, the EPA's acting general counsel, Kevin Minoli, sent an email to agency staff saying the administrator had "directed" the agency to withdraw an Obama-era proposal to protect the ecologically valuable wetland in southwest Alaska from certain mining activities.
In 2014, after three years of peer-reviewed study, the Obama administration's EPA invoked a rarely used provision of the Clean Water Act to try to protect Bristol Bay after finding that a mine "would result in complete loss of fish habitat due to elimination, dewatering, and fragmentation of streams, wetlands, and other aquatic resources" in some areas of the bay.
"All of these losses would be irreversible," the agency said.
The area is regarded as one of the world's most important salmon fisheries, producing nearly half of the world's annual sockeye salmon catch. Its ecological resources also support 4,000-year-old indigenous cultures, as well as about 14,000 full- and part-time jobs, according to the EPA's 2014 report.
Pruitt's move to rescind the plan to protect the area, if finalized, would allow Pebble to submit plans to mine there, but does not guarantee that those plans would be approved.
"This is a process issue," Collier told CNN in an interview. "[Pruitt] is not saying he's not going to veto this project. He's just saying that the rule of law says that you do an environmental impact statement first, right? That's Mr. Pruitt's position. And this is process, period. That's what we've always said."
Collier's spokesman, Mike Heatwole, told CNN three additional people were present at the meeting on May 1.
The EPA declined CNN's repeated requests for an interview with Pruitt, saying, most recently on September 5, that "we're focused on Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma."
"The meeting was an opportunity for Administrator Pruitt to let [Pebble Limited Partnership] know that they are simply being granted a fair opportunity to apply; he did not prejudge the outcome of the process, nor make any assurances about the final decision on the project," Liz Bowman, an EPA spokeswoman, said in a statement issued to CNN on Friday.
The agency took issue with the fact that the EPA under the Obama administration moved to veto mining in Bristol Bay before permit applications had been filed.
"EPA's review will be based on the whole record, all the science and an actual proposal from the company," Bowman said.
Pebble plans to file mining permit applications in December, according to Collier.
'Homework assignment'
The communications with the new administration started well before the Pruitt-Collier meeting.
Pebble had been trying to get this administration's ear before Pruitt was even confirmed as President Donald Trump's pick to head the EPA, according to government emails obtained by CNN from a public records request under the US Freedom of Information Act.
On February 15, two days before Pruitt's swearing in, a lobbyist for the Pebble Partnership contacted a member of Trump's EPA transition team, according to the emails.
Bristol Bay's fisheries support about 14,000 full- and part-time jobs, according to a 2014 EPA report.
"As you may know, Pebble is trying to develop a world-class copper mine in southwestern Alaska," the lobbyist, Peter Robertson wrote. "We have yet to submit the first of the permit applications necessary to move ahead with the mine -- the permit application under section 404 of the Clean Water Act... Do you have time for me to meet with you in the near future?"
The EPA transition staffer, David Schnare, replied the next morning.
"I am aware of the problem in general but do not have specifics," Schnare wrote. "Can you bring with you a timeline of events and a status on the legal actions? The preemptive strike by the last administration was indeed unprecedented and I don't want to see it become a precedent, particularly because it is a violation of Pebble's due process rights."
"In any case, I need to get this set up for the Administrator |
body language and don’t go in like a bulldozer (I have definitely done this in the past!).
In terms of learning style, without this becoming a paper on pedagogy, understand that your advice need to be tailored to different students. Some (a lot) need to learn through a physical engagement with their material, others needs to have an intellectual structure in place in order to progress. Throughout a project, course or programme, try to understand this and direct your advice accordingly.
Agreed direction
Tutorials shouldn’t just be general ‘chats’ about the project or world, they should give direction, tasks and a course of action. I have a rule: Don’t end the tutorial until you’ve both agreed a direction. This can be pretty tough to manage in terms of time, as I get more experienced, I get better at reaching an agreement within my tutorial time allocation, but I still often can overrun by hours. The important thing to work towards is the idea that you both understand the project, and you both understand how it could move. End the tutorial when this been reached.
Read and respond
It’s really important, in design, to respond to what is in front of you. To actual STUFF. It’s far too easy to let students talk without showing evidence of their work. This is a dangerous game. Words can deceive, hide and misrepresent action. Dig into sketchbooks, ask to see work they’ve done. If they haven’t done anything, ask them to go away and do something to represent their ideas and thoughts. Production is key to having a productive tutorial. Only through responding to actual material evidence of action can a project move forward. At its worst, students can develop the skill to talk about stuff, making it exciting in your mind, but fail to produce the project in the end. But this isn’t the main reason for this section, it’s more about the ideas of design residing in the material production, not just the explication. You can tell me what you believe something does or means, but it’s only when it’s in front of me that I can fully grasp this.
The art of misinterpretation
Another reason why it’s important to dig into sketchbooks and look at work, is that looking at something and trying to work out what it means – the space of interpretation – is an important space of learning. By interpreting and indeed misinterpreting work, you and your student can find out things about the project. If the student intended one thing and you understand something else by it, you’ve at least learnt that it was poorly (visually and materially) communicated. But the exciting stuff happens when misinterpretation acts as a bridge between your internal mental processes (with all references etc) and your students. Your reading of a drawing acts as a way to generate a new idea or direction. This is when there is genuine creative collaboration.
References
One of the roles of a tutor is to point students towards relevant and inspiring resources. In the age of the internet, when student’s roam the halls of tumblr and are constantly fed inspiration by their favourite design blogs, the use, meaning and impact of tutor driven references has changed. Be focussed with reading, ensure students know why they are looking at a particular reference and make sure that you contextualise the work within the ideas that they have.
51.504405 -0.085827
AdvertisementsChina outlined on Tuesday a strategy to expand the reach of its military, as it continues to press its territorial claims in the South China Sea. The strategy came amid a series of louder warnings to the United States to divert its military presence in the area.
The Chinese Navy will shift its focus to "open seas protection" rather than "offshore waters defense" alone, according to a policy document issued by the State Council, China’s government cabinet. Meanwhile, China's air force will shift its focus from territorial air defense to "both defense and offense.”
The new plan threatens to escalate tensions in a region already closely watching the extent of Beijing’s maritime ambitions. The State Council criticized neighboring countries that take “proactive actions” on reefs and islands claimed by China.
While the document highlights four key areas of China's national security – the ocean, outer space, nuclear force, and cyber space – its naval strategy carries the greater sting, given its recent activity in the South China Sea. Satellite images released last month show the construction of a runway on Fiery Cross Reef, part of the Spratly Islands, an archipelago claimed by at least three other countries.
China building islands and bases
The construction on Fiery Cross Reef is part of a larger Chinese reclamation project on at least five islands in the South China Sea, reports The New York Times. China is converting tiny reefs into islands big enough to handle military equipment.
US officials say China has created about 2,000 acres of dry land since 2014 that could be used as airstrips. State news agency Xinhua reported Tuesday that two lighthouses are under construction on the Spratly Islands.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun defended China’s reclamation work by claiming that it was no different to building roads or bridges on the mainland. "Looking from the angle of sovereignty, China's development of construction on its islands is no different,” he said, according to The Associated Press.
China threatens to 'engage'
Mr. Yang added that island building was "beneficial to the whole of international society" because it aided China's search and rescue, and environmental protection work. He also delivered a strong message to the United States, as Reuters reports:
Some countries with "ulterior motives" had unfairly characterized China's military presence and sensationalized the issue, he said. Surveillance in the region was increasingly common and China would continue to take "necessary measures" to respond. "Some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs. A tiny few maintain constant close-in air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance against China," the strategy paper said in a thinly veiled reference to the United States.
Yang’s comments followed an incident last week in which a Chinese navy dispatcher warned off a US spy plane as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef. On Monday, the official Communist Party newspaper Global Times warned in an editorial that Washington should not test Beijing's restraint or China would have "no choice but to engage."
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China has overlapping claims with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei in the South China Sea, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. An estimated $5 trillion in trade passes through every year.
The US Navy regularly patrols waters in the region to monitor the shipping lanes and keep them open and undisturbed.Many TV shows and movies available online in the U.S. are blocked to users in Canada, but Canadians are still among the most voracious consumers of online video in the world.
Canadian companies could take advantage and cash in or lose big, technology analysts say.
Canadians watch more hours of videos on average than internet users in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, said Bryan Segal, vice-president of sales for the market research company comScore Canada.
Top 4 online video providers in Canada in Feb. 2009 Source: comScore Inc. Company Market share Google sites (incl. YouTube) 52% Microsoft sites 1.8% Yahoo sites 1.5% Megavideo.com 1.2% Top 4 online video providers in the U.S. in Feb. 2009 Source: comScore Inc. Company Market share Google sites 41% Fox Interactive Media 3.5% Yahoo 2.7% Hulu 2.5%
In February, comScore found that 21 million Canadians, or about 88 per cent of internet users, watched an average of 10 hours of videos online for the month — 53 per cent more time than they spent watching videos online a year ago. The numbers even include pornography or sites that require a person to pay.
Only 76 per cent of internet users in the U.S. watched videos online, and they spent an average of just five hours, even though they have access to an enormous range of TV episodes and movies through websites such as Hulu.com and youtube.com. Much of that content is blocked to viewers in Canada due to distribution rights or copyright issues.
Segal said the numbers don't surprise him, as he sees Canadians as news- and entertainment-hungry people.
"I think at the end of the day, the growth of video is a great thing for advertisers, media companies and consumers," he said. "Online video's a great opportunity."
So far, in Canada the big winner is Google and its YouTube brand. The site allows Canadians to access the short, low-resolution videos, many of them generated and uploaded by the public. It does not let them watch the full episodes of TV shows such as Beverly Hillbillies and movies such as Casino Royale, something it recently started offering to viewers in the U.S.
Google dominates in Canada
Google had 52 per cent of the Canadian market share for online video in February, followed by Microsoft with just 1.8 per cent.
Segal's numbers show that Google had just 41 per cent market share in the U.S., while Fox Interactive media, an internet veteran that owns MySpace.com and has been streaming some TV episodes online since 2005, came second with 3.5 per cent market share. Hulu, which offers TV episodes and movies from many networks at a high enough quality to be viewed on a full-size computer screen, including some in high-definition, had 2.5 per cent market share just a year after it launched in March 2008. Hulu is backed by News Corp., which owns Fox, and NBC Universal.
Mark Tauschek, a lead research analyst for Info-Tech Research Group who studies the network and wireless industry, said he's not surprised that Canadians watch a lot of online videos as the country has historically had a solid broadband infrastructure.
Companies are still only just beginning to think about how they can take advantage of the medium to boost revenue, he said.
Canadian TV networks not pushing online: analyst
Canadian media companies have so far chosen a different model than the U.S., he said.
While Hulu buys television programs from content providers, and then sells its own ads to make money, Canadian television networks such as CTVglobemedia and Global TV have chosen to stream their own episodes of shows such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Heroes with their own revenue-generating ads.
"But the truth is they're probably not the right guys to deliver that content," Tauschek said, noting that a lot of infrastructure is needed to stream high-definition content to thousands of people. "Should they have embraced something like Hulu by now? They probably should have, but at least they recognized that they have to somehow get on the bandwagon."
The latest numbers show CTVglobemedia achieved 0.8 per cent of the market share for online videos and Global TV had just 0.1 per cent for their efforts.
"I think the fact is that they're not really pushing it too hard," Tauschek said, suggesting that they are really just testing the waters. He added that they may be concerned about eroding viewership on TV, irking their cable and satellite partners and whether or not they have the streaming capacity to support higher online viewership.
But Tauschek said Hulu is "working feverishly" to make its service available in Canada and other Western countries. He thinks they'll be successful and Canadian television networks should take heed.
"They really ought to embrace it because if they don't … they run the risk of the same thing happening to them that happened to the record labels," he said, adding that when the music industry fought the internet, it led to an increase in piracy and a loss of revenues for their industry.
If the content providers do take the right approach, they could end up being the big winners, he predicts.
"I have a feeling that Hulu's really going to start to explode."
The cable and satellite television stand to lose revenues once consumers can get a wide range of TV with high image quality over the internet for free.
Cable, satellite companies could lose
"I think we're just sort at the leading edge of that," he said. "In Canada, I think Rogers and [Bell] Expressvu are going to start feeling that."
Rogers seems to have recognized the looming storm. At CRTC hearings in March on the regulation of new media, Rogers proposed an online video platform similar to Hulu as a means of ensuring Canadian broadcasting content has a home on the internet. The proposed service would require a Rogers' cable subscription for access, although Rogers' head of regulatory affairs, Ken Engelhart, said the company was open to partnering with other cable providers on the service.
Tyler Chamberlin, who researches corporate strategies for technology-based firms, said barriers remain to the wider adoption of online TV in Canada, such as the CRTC's concern about cultural protection.
"I don't think that we've really figured out yet exactly what to do with the online world where it comes to culture … which, personally, I think is to the detriment of the country economically. I think it holds us back culturally as well."
Chamberlin, a lecturer at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management, added that Canadian companies may be reluctant to sell their content to a company like Hulu, as it may seem more advantageous for them to get access to the online market themselves than to give up the online rights.
"If people stop watching it on TV and … stream American content directly from Hulu, what's left for them?"
Chamberlin also believes that people have only just scratched the surface of what's possible in the online world and many opportunities remain in online video, not just when it comes to TV, but also when it comes to streaming to the next generation of mobile devices and networks.
Tauschek also believes that there are money-making opportunities for non-media companies in online video, as it can be used to deliver all kinds of content to clients, although he is concerned that Canadian broadband infrastructure may not yet ready to deal with that.
While everyone agrees there's money to be made in online video, it's still not entirely clear who's going to be making it. Both Chamberlin and comScore's Segal said no one should be discouraged by Google's dominance in online video in Canada.
Chamberlin said that's the kind of thing that can change very quickly in the online world.
"You can go from a market leader to out-of-business rapidly."
Segal said it's not necessary to even dethrone the leader to make money — given the popularity of online videos, even a small market share can represent a lot of dollars.
"Being a leader is great, but being behind the leader can be very profitable as well."Prerequisite:
— Understand JavaScript’s “this” With Ease, and Master It.
— JavaScript Objects
— Understand JavaScript Closures
(This is an intermediate to advanced topic)
Duration: About 40 minutes.
Functions are objects in JavaScript, as you should know by now, if you have read any of the prerequisite articles. And as objects, functions have methods, including the powerful Apply, Call, and Bind methods. On the one hand, Apply and Call are nearly identical and are frequently used in JavaScript for borrowing methods and for setting the this value explicitly. We also use Apply for variable-arity functions; you will learn more about this in a bit.
On the other hand, we use Bind for setting the this value in methods and for currying functions.
JavaScript’s Bind Method
We will discuss every scenario in which we use these three methods in JavaScript. While Apply and Call come with ECMAScript 3 (available on IE 6, 7, 8, and modern browsers), ECMAScript 5 (available on only modern browsers) added the Bind method. These 3 Function methods are workhorses and sometimes you absolutely need one of them. Let’s begin with the Bind method.
We use the Bind () method primarily to call a function with the this value set explicitly. It other words, bind () allows us to easily set which specific object will be bound to this when a function or method is invoked.
This might seem relatively trivial, but often the this value in methods and functions must be set explicitly when you need a specific object bound to the function’s this value.
The need for bind usually occurs when we use the this keyword in a method and we call that method from a receiver object; in such cases, sometimes this is not bound to the object that we expect it to be bound to, resulting in errors in our applications. Don’t worry if you don’t fully comprehend the preceding sentence. It will become clear like teardrop in a moment.
Before we look at the code for this section, we should understand the this keyword in JavaScript. If you don’t already understand this in JavaScript, read my article, Understand JavaScript’s “this” With Clarity, and Master It. If you don’t understand this well, you will have trouble understanding some of the concepts discussed below. In fact, many of the concepts regarding setting the “this” value that I discuss in this article I also discussed in the Understand JavaScript’s “this” article.
JavaScript’s Bind Allows Us to Set the this Value on Methods
When the button below is clicked, the text field is populated with a random name.
// Get Random Person // var user = { data :[ {name:"T. Woods", age:37}, {name:"P. Mickelson", age:43} ], clickHandler:function (event) { var randomNum = ((Math.random () * 2 | 0) + 1) - 1; // random number between 0 and 1 // This line is adding a random person from the data array to the text field $ ("input").val (this.data[randomNum].name + " " + this.data[randomNum].age); } } // Assign an eventHandler to the button's click event $ ("button").click (user.clickHandler);
When you click the button, you get an error because this in the clickHandler () method is bound to the button HTML element, since that is the object that the clickHandler method is executed on.
This particular problem is quite common in JavaScript, and JavaScript frameworks like Backbone.js and libraries like jQuery automatically do the bindings for us, so that this is always bound to the object we expect it to be bound to.
To fix the problem in the preceding example, we can use the bind method thus:
Instead of this line:
$ ("button").click (user.clickHandler);
We simply have to bind the clickHandler method to the user object like this:
$ ("button").click (user.clickHandler.bind (user));
Consider this other way to fix the this value: You can pass an anonymous callback function to the click () method and jQuery will bind this inside the anonymous function to the button object.
Because ECMAScript 5 introduced the Bind method, it (Bind) is unavailable in IE < 9 and Firefox 3.x. Include this Bind implementation in your code, if you are targeting older browsers:
// Credit to Douglas Crockford for this bind method if (!Function.prototype.bind) { Function.prototype.bind = function (oThis) { if (typeof this!== "function") { // closest thing possible to the ECMAScript 5 internal IsCallable function throw new TypeError ("Function.prototype.bind - what is trying to be bound is not callable"); } var aArgs = Array.prototype.slice.call (arguments, 1), fToBind = this, fNOP = function () { }, fBound = function () { return fToBind.apply (this instanceof fNOP && oThis? this : oThis, aArgs.concat (Array.prototype.slice.call (arguments))); }; fNOP.prototype = this.prototype; fBound.prototype = new fNOP (); return fBound; }; }
Let’s continue with the same example we used above. The this value is also bound to another object if we assign the method (where this is defined) to a variable. This demonstrates:
// This data variable is a global variable var data = [ {name:"Samantha", age:12}, {name:"Alexis", age:14} ] var user = { // local data variable data :[ {name:"T. Woods", age:37}, {name:"P. Mickelson", age:43} ], showData:function (event) { var randomNum = ((Math.random () * 2 | 0) + 1) - 1; // random number between 0 and 1 console.log (this.data[randomNum].name + " " + this.data[randomNum].age); } } // Assign the showData method of the user object to a variable var showDataVar = user.showData; showDataVar (); // Samantha 12 (from the global data array, not from the local data array)
When we execute the showDataVar () function, the values printed to the console are from the global data array, not the data array in the user object. This happens because showDataVar () is executed as a global function and use of this inside showDataVar () is bound to the global scope, which is the window object in browsers.
Again, we can fix this problem by specifically setting the “this” value with the bind method:
// Bind the showData method to the user object var showDataVar = user.showData.bind (user); // Now the we get the value from the user object because the this keyword is bound to the user object showDataVar (); // P. Mickelson 43
Bind () Allows us to Borrow Methods
In JavaScript, we can pass functions around, return them, borrow them, and the like. And the bind () method makes it super easy to borrow methods.
Here is an example using bind () to borrow a method:
// Here we have a cars object that does not have a method to print its data to the console var cars = { data:[ {name:"Honda Accord", age:14}, {name:"Tesla Model S", age:2} ] } // We can borrow the showData () method from the user object we defined in the last example. // Here we bind the user.showData method to the cars object we just created. cars.showData = user.showData.bind (cars); cars.showData (); // Honda Accord 14
One problem with this example is that we are adding a new method (showData) on the cars object and we might not want to do that just to borrow a method because the cars object might already have a property or method name showData. We don’t want to overwrite it accidentally. As we will see in our discussion of Apply and Call below, it is best to borrow a method using either the Apply or Call method.
JavaScript’s Bind Allows Us to Curry a Function
Function Currying, also known as partial function application, is the use of a function (that accept one or more arguments) that returns a new function with some of the arguments already set. The function that is returned has access to the stored arguments and variables of the outer function. This sounds way more complex than it actually is, so let’s code.
Let’s use the bind () method for currying. First we have a simple greet () function that accepts 3 parameters:
function greet (gender, age, name) { // if a male, use Mr., else use Ms. var salutation = gender === "male"? "Mr. " : "Ms. "; if (age > 25) { return "Hello, " + salutation + name + "."; } else { return "Hey, " + name + "."; } }
And we use the bind () method to curry (preset one or more of the parameters) our greet () function. The first argument of the bind () method sets the this value, as we discussed earlier:
// So we are passing null because we are not using the "this" keyword in our greet function. var greetAnAdultMale = greet.bind (null, "male", 45); greetAnAdultMale ("John Hartlove"); // "Hello, Mr. John Hartlove." var greetAYoungster = greet.bind (null, "", 16); greetAYoungster ("Alex"); // "Hey, Alex." greetAYoungster ("Emma Waterloo"); // "Hey, Emma Waterloo."
When we use the bind () method for currying, all the parameters of the greet () function, except the last (rightmost) argument, are preset. So it is the rightmost argument that we are changing when we call the new functions that were curried from the greet () function. Again, I discuss currying at length in a separate blog post, and you will see how we can easily create very powerful functions with Currying and Compose, two Functional JavaScript concepts.
So, with the bind () method, we can explicitly set the this value for invoking methods on objects, we can borrow
and copy methods, and assign methods to variable to be executed as functions. And as outlined in the Currying Tip
earlier,
you can use bind for currying.
JavaScript’s Apply and Call Methods
The Apply and Call methods are two of the most often used Function methods in JavaScript, and for good reason: they allow us to borrow functions and set the this value in function invocation. In addition, the apply function in particular allows us to execute a function with an array of parameters, such that each parameter is passed to the function individually when the function executes—great for variadic functions; a variadic function takes varying number of arguments, not a set number of arguments as most functions do.
Set the this value with Apply or Call Just as in the bind () example, we can also set the this value when invoking functions by using the Apply or Call methods. The first parameter in the call and apply methods set the this value to the object that the function is invoked upon. Here is a very quick, illustrative example for starters before we get into more complex usages of Apply and Call: // global variable for demonstration var avgScore = "global avgScore"; //global function function avg (arrayOfScores) { // Add all the scores and return the total var sumOfScores = arrayOfScores.reduce (function (prev, cur, index, array) { return prev + cur; }); // The "this" keyword here will be bound to the global object, unless we set the "this" with Call or Apply this.avgScore = sumOfScores / arrayOfScores.length; } var gameController = { scores :[20, 34, 55, 46, 77], avgScore:null } // If we execute the avg function thus, "this" inside the function is bound to the global window object: avg (gameController.scores); // Proof that the avgScore was set on the global window object console.log (window.avgScore); // 46.4 console.log (gameController.avgScore); // null // reset the global avgScore avgScore = "global avgScore"; // To set the "this" value explicitly, so that "this" is bound to the gameController, // We use the call () method: avg.call (gameController, gameController.scores); console.log (window.avgScore); //global avgScore console.log (gameController.avgScore); // 46.4 Note that the first argument to call () sets the this value. In the preceding example, it is set to
the gameController object. The other arguments after the first argument are passed as parameters to the
avg () function. The apply and call methods are almost identical when setting the this value except that you pass the function parameters to apply () as an array, while you have to list the parameters individually to pass them to the call () method. More on this follows. Meanwhile, the apply () method also has another feature that the call () method doesn’t have, as we will soon see. Use Call or Apply To Set this in Callback Functions
I borrowed this little section from my article, Understand JavaScript Callback Functions and Use Them. // Define an object with some properties and a method // We will later pass the method as a callback function to another function var clientData = { id: 094545, fullName: "Not Set", // setUserName is a method on the clientData object setUserName: function (firstName, lastName) { // this refers to the fullName property in this object this.fullName = firstName + " " + lastName; } } function getUserInput (firstName, lastName, callback, callbackObj) { // The use of the Apply method below will set the "this" value to callbackObj callback.apply (callbackObj, [firstName, lastName]); } The Apply method sets the this value to callbackObj. This allows us to execute the callback function with the this value set explicitly, so the parameters passed to the callback function will be set on the clientData object: // The clientData object will be used by the Apply method to set the "this" value getUserInput ("Barack", "Obama", clientData.setUserName, clientData); // the fullName property on the clientData was correctly set console.log (clientData.fullName); // Barack Obama The Apply, Call, and Bind methods are all used to set the this value when invoking a method, and they do it in slightly different ways to allow use direct control and versatility in our JavaScript code. The this value in JavaScript is as important as any other part of the language, and we have the 3 aforementioned methods are the essential tools to setting and using this effectively and properly.
Borrowing Functions with Apply and Call (A Must Know) The most common use for the Apply and Call methods in JavaScript is probably to borrow functions. We can borrow functions with the Apply and Call methods just as we did with the bind method, but in a more versatile manner. Consider these examples: Borrowing Array Methods
Arrays come with a number of useful methods for iterating and modifying arrays, but unfortunately, Objects do not have as many native methods. Nonetheless, since an Object can be expressed in a manner similar to an Array (known as an array-like object), and most important, because all of the Array methods are generic (except toString and toLocaleString), we can borrow Array methods and use them on objects that are array-like. An array-like object is an object that has its keys defined as non-negative integers. It is best to specifically add a length property on the object that has the length of the object, since the a length property does not exist on objects it does on Arrays. I should note (for clarity, especially for new JavaScript developers) that in the following examples, when we call Array.prototype, we are reaching into the Array object and on its prototype (where all its methods are defined for inheritance). And it is from there—the source—that we are borrowing the Array methods. Hence the use of code like Array.prototype.slice—the slice method that is defined on the Array prototype. Let’s create an array-like object and borrow some array methods to operate on the our array-like object. Keep in mind the array-like object is a real object, it is not an array at all: // An array-like object: note the non-negative integers used as keys var anArrayLikeObj = {0:"Martin", 1:78, 2:67, 3:["Letta", "Marieta", "Pauline"], length:4 }; Now, if wish to use any of the common Array methods on our object, we can: // Make a quick copy and save the results in a real array: // First parameter sets the "this" value var newArray = Array.prototype.slice.call (anArrayLikeObj, 0); console.log (newArray); // ["Martin", 78, 67, Array[3]] // Search for "Martin" in the array-like object console.log (Array.prototype.indexOf.call (anArrayLikeObj, "Martin") === -1? false : true); // true // Try using an Array method without the call () or apply () console.log (anArrayLikeObj.indexOf ("Martin") === -1? false : true); // Error: Object has no method 'indexOf' // Reverse the object: console.log (Array.prototype.reverse.call (anArrayLikeObj)); // {0: Array[3], 1: 67, 2: 78, 3: "Martin", length: 4} // Sweet. We can pop too: console.log (Array.prototype.pop.call (anArrayLikeObj)); console.log (anArrayLikeObj); // {0: Array[3], 1: 67, 2: 78, length: 3} // What about push? console.log (Array.prototype.push.call (anArrayLikeObj, "Jackie")); console.log (anArrayLikeObj); // {0: Array[3], 1: 67, 2: 78, 3: "Jackie", length: 4} We get all the great benefits of an object and we are still able to use Array methods on our object, when we setup our object as an array-like object and borrow the Array methods. All of this is made possible by the virtue of the call or apply method. The arguments object that is a property of all JavaScript functions is an array-like object, and for this reason, one of the most popular uses of the call () and apply () methods is to extract the parameters passed into a function from the arguments object. Here is an example I took from the Ember.js source, with comments I added: function transitionTo (name) { // Because the arguments object is an array-like object // We can use the slice () Array method on it // The number "1" parameter means: return a copy of the array from index 1 to the end. Or simply: skip the first item var args = Array.prototype.slice.call (arguments, 1); // I added this bit so we can see the args value console.log (args); // I commented out this last line because it is beyond this example //doTransition(this, name, this.updateURL, args); } // Because the slice method copied from index 1 to the end, the first item "contact" was not returned transitionTo ("contact", "Today", "20"); // ["Today", "20"] The args variable is a real array. It has a copy of all the parameters passed to the transitionTo function. From this example, we learn that a quick way to get all the arguments (as an array) passed to a function is to do: // We do not define the function with any parameters, yet we can get all the arguments passed to it function doSomething () { var args = Array.prototype.slice.call (arguments); console.log (args); } doSomething ("Water", "Salt", "Glue"); // ["Water", "Salt", "Glue"] We will discuss how to use the apply method with the arguments array-like object again for variadic functions. More on this later. Borrowing String Methods with Apply and Call
Like the preceding example, we can also use apply () and call () to borrow String methods. Since Strings are immutable, only the non-manipulative arrays work on them, so you cannot use reverse, pop and the like. Borrow Other Methods and Functions
Since we are borrowing, lets go all in and borrow from our own custom methods and functions, not just from Array and String: var gameController = { scores :[20, 34, 55, 46, 77], avgScore:null, players :[ {name:"Tommy", playerID:987, age:23}, {name:"Pau", playerID:87, age:33} ] } var appController = { scores :[900, 845, 809, 950], avgScore:null, avg :function () { var sumOfScores = this.scores.reduce (function (prev, cur, index, array) { return prev + cur; }); this.avgScore = sumOfScores / this.scores.length; } } // Note that we are using the apply () method, so the 2nd argument has to be an array appController.avg.apply (gameController); console.log (gameController.avgScore); // 46.4 // appController.avgScore is still null; it was not updated, only gameController.avgScore was updated console.log (appController.avgScore); // null Sure, it is just as easy, even recommended, to borrow our own custom methods and functions. The gameController object borrows the appController object’s avg () method. The “this” value defined in the avg () method will be set to the first parameter—the gameController object. You might be wondering what will happen if the original definition of the method we are borrowing changes. Will the borrowed (copied) method change as well, or is the copied method a full copy that does not refer back to the original method? Let’s answer these questions with a quick, illustrative example: appController.maxNum = function () { this.avgScore = Math.max.apply (null, this.scores); } appController.maxNum.apply (gameController, gameController.scores); console.log (gameController.avgScore); // 77 As expected, if we change the original method, the changes are reflected in the borrowed instances of that method. This is expected for good reason: we never made a full copy of the method, we simply borrowed it (referred directly to its current implementation).
Use Apply () to Execute Variable-Arity Functions To wrap up our discussion on the versatility and usefulness of the Apply, Call, and Bind methods, we will discuss a neat, little feature of the Apply method: execute functions with an array of arguments. We can pass an array with of arguments to a function and, by virtue of using the apply () method, the function will execute the
items in the array as if we called the function like this:
createAccount (arrayOfItems[0], arrayOfItems[1], arrayOfItems[2], arrayOfItems[3]);
This technique is especially used for creating variable-arity, also known as variadic functions.
These are functions that accept any number of arguments instead of a fixed number of arguments. The arity of a function specifies the number of arguments the function was defined to accept.
The Math.max() method is an example of a common variable-arity function in JavaScript:
// We can pass any number of arguments to the Math.max () method console.log (Math.max (23, 11, 34, 56)); // 56
But what if we have an array of numbers to pass to Math.max? We cannot do this:
var allNumbers = [23, 11, 34, 56]; // We cannot pass an array of numbers to the the Math.max method like this console.log (Math.max (allNumbers)); // NaN
This is where the apply () method helps us execute variadic functions. Instead of the above, we have to pass the array of numbers using apply () thus:
var allNumbers = [23, 11, 34, 56]; // Using the apply () method, we can pass the array of numbers: console.log (Math.max.apply (null, allNumbers)); // 56
As we have learned earlier, the fist argument to apply () sets the “this” value, but “this” is not used in the Math.max () method, so we pass null.
Here is an example of our own variadic function to further illustrate the concept of using the apply () method in
this capacity:
var students = ["Peter Alexander", "Michael Woodruff", "Judy Archer", "Malcolm Khan"]; // No specific |
etc.
Getting Current Execution Stack Before Java 9
Prior to Java 9, if someone wanted to get this information, he/she would invoke the getStackTrace() on a Throwable instance. Let us see how it was done with an example:
package com.javatutorials.runtime; public class StackTraceExample { public static void main(String[] args) { Sums sum = new Sums(); sum.addInts(3, 4); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 package com. javatutorials. runtime ; public class StackTraceExample { public static void main ( String [ ] args ) { Sums sum = new Sums ( ) ; sum. addInts ( 3, 4 ) ; } }
package com.javatutorials.runtime; public class Sums { public int addInts(int a, int b){ StackTraceUtility.getStackTrace(); return a+b; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 package com. javatutorials. runtime ; public class Sums { public int addInts ( int a, int b ) { StackTraceUtility. getStackTrace ( ) ; return a + b ; } }
package com.javatutorials.runtime; public class StackTraceUtility { public static void getStackTrace(){ StackTraceElement[] traces = new Throwable().getStackTrace(); int count = 1; for(StackTraceElement e: traces){ System.out.println(" Trace number : " + count++); System.out.println(" at Class : " + e.getClassName() + " Method: " + e.getMethodName()+" Line number : " + e.getLineNumber()); } } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 package com. javatutorials. runtime ; public class StackTraceUtility { public static void getStackTrace ( ) { StackTraceElement [ ] traces = new Throwable ( ). getStackTrace ( ) ; int count = 1 ; for ( StackTraceElement e : traces ) { System. out. println ( " Trace number : " + count ++ ) ; System. out. println ( " at Class : " + e. getClassName ( ) + " Method: " + e. getMethodName ( ) + " Line number : " + e. getLineNumber ( ) ) ; } } }
Output for the above code will be as follows:
Trace number : 1 at Class : com.javatutorials.runtime.StackTraceUtility method: getStackTrace line number : 6 Trace number : 2 at Class : com.javatutorials.runtime.Sums method: addInts line number : 6 Trace number : 3 at Class : com.javatutorials.runtime.StackTraceExample method: main line number : 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 Trace number : 1 at Class : com. javatutorials. runtime. StackTraceUtility method : getStackTrace line number : 6 Trace number : 2 at Class : com. javatutorials. runtime. Sums method : addInts line number : 6 Trace number : 3 at Class : com. javatutorials. runtime. StackTraceExample method : main line number : 7
In the above example, we saw how to use getStackTrace() for getting class name, method name, and line number. But if we want to get the Class objects of each class in the execution stack, we will have to create a subclass of java.lang.SecurityManager and invoke the protected method getClassContext() from that subclass.
There are a few problems while following this approach:
First of all, it impacts performance and will not contain all details that we want because the snapshot thus produced is that of the entire stack, but will not contain hidden frames.
We need to examine all the frames in the process, which is, again a costly approach.
The specification for getStackTrace() method added to java.lang.Thread and java.lang.Throwable allows the JVM implementation to return partial information for the method call. So getStackTrace() method may return partial stack information as a result of optimization of getStackTrace() in the JVM implementation. This partial stack information may not be desirable in situations where we need the full stack information.
The Stack-Walking API
Java 9 (JEP 259) introduced java.lang.StackWalker class as an alternative to SecurityManager.getClassContext() and Thread.getStackTrace() or Throwable.getStackTrace(). The StackWalker class addresses most of the problems faced while using the old methods as discussed earlier. Unlike getStackTrace() which will be giving StackTraceElement array per thread, a single StackWalker can be used by multiple threads for traversing their own stack as it is thread-safe.
There are a nested enum and a nested interface available inside StackWalker class:
StackWalker.StackFrame – This is the nested interface inside StackWalker class. The obtained object represents a method invocation by StackWalker. From this StackFrame object, it is possible to get information like the file, class, method name and even line number and the corresponding StackTraceElement object for the particular stack frame.
StackWalker.Option – This is the enum available that denotes which all information of the stack shall be accessed. This enum value is used to get a customized StackWalker object which will be discussed in next subsection.
Getting A StackWalker Instance
There are four overloaded getInstance() methods of StackWalker that can be used to get a StackWalker object:
getInstance() – returns a StackWalker instance.
getInstance( StackWalker.Option option ) – returns a StackWalker instance which contains the stack frame information according to the specified enum value.
getInstance( Set[StackWalker.Option] optionsSet ) – returns a StackWalker instance which contains the stack frame information according to the set of specified Option enum values. In case the optionSet is empty, the returned StackWalker will not contain hidden frames or class references.
getInstance( Set[StackWalker.Option] optionsSet, int estimateDepth ) – similar to the previous method mentioned. This returns a StackWalker instance which contains stack frame information according to the optionSet values. The estimateDepth value is used to tell how many numbers of stack frames the instance shall traverse. If the estimateDepth is less than or equal to zero, this method will throw an IllegalArgumentException.
package com.javatutorials.stackwalk; import static java.lang.StackWalker.Option.RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE; import java.io.BufferedReader; import java.io.File; import java.io.FileNotFoundException; import java.io.FileReader; import java.io.IOException; public class StackWalkerDemo { private static final String PATH = System.getProperty("user.dir") + File.separator + "wonder.html"; public static void main(String[] args) { method1(); } private static void method1() { method2(); } private static void method2() { method3(); } private static void method3() { try { method4(); } catch (FileNotFoundException e) { testWalker(); } } private static void method4() throws FileNotFoundException { BufferedReader bufReader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(PATH)); try (bufReader) { String input; while ((input = bufReader.readLine())!= null) { System.out.println(input); } } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } private static void testWalker() { StackWalker w1 = StackWalker.getInstance(); System.out.println(" Default getInstance will give the following frames: "); w1.forEach(System.out::println); StackWalker w2 = StackWalker.getInstance(RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE); System.out.println(" getInstance with single Option gives the following frames:"); w2.forEach(System.out::println); Class<?> classRef2 = w2.getCallerClass(); System.out.println("Caller class of second StackWalker: " + classRef2.getName()); // Enabling the following will throw exception. // Class<?> classRef1 = w1.getCallerClass(); // System.out.println("Caller class of first StackWalker: " + classRef1.getName()); } } 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 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 package com. javatutorials. stackwalk ; import static java. lang. StackWalker. Option. RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE ; import java. io. BufferedReader ; import java. io. File ; import java. io. FileNotFoundException ; import java. io. FileReader ; import java. io. IOException ; public class StackWalkerDemo { private static final String PATH = System. getProperty ( "user.dir" ) + File. separator + "wonder.html" ; public static void main ( String [ ] args ) { method1 ( ) ; } private static void method1 ( ) { method2 ( ) ; } private static void method2 ( ) { method3 ( ) ; } private static void method3 ( ) { try { method4 ( ) ; } catch ( FileNotFoundException e ) { testWalker ( ) ; } } private static void method4 ( ) throws FileNotFoundException { BufferedReader bufReader = new BufferedReader ( new FileReader ( PATH ) ) ; try ( bufReader ) { String input ; while ( ( input = bufReader. readLine ( ) )!= null ) { System. out. println ( input ) ; } } catch ( IOException e ) { e. printStackTrace ( ) ; } } private static void testWalker ( ) { StackWalker w1 = StackWalker. getInstance ( ) ; System. out. println ( " Default getInstance will give the following frames: " ) ; w1. forEach ( System. out :: println ) ; StackWalker w2 = StackWalker. getInstance ( RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE ) ; System. out. println ( " getInstance with single Option gives the following frames:" ) ; w2. forEach ( System. out :: println ) ; Class <? > classRef2 = w2. getCallerClass ( ) ; System. out. println ( "Caller class of second StackWalker: " + classRef2. getName ( ) ) ; // Enabling the following will throw exception. // Class<?> classRef1 = w1. getCallerClass ( ) ; // System.out.println("Caller class of first StackWalker: " + classRef1.getName()); } }
In the above class, testWalker() is called from method3(). So, there will not be any stack frame corresponding to method4() in the StackWalker instance. The method4() will throw a FileNotFoundException as the file mentioned in PATH is not created yet. Note that we have created two instances of StackWalker and printed them. This is to show how RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE Option is used.
Output for the above will be as follows:
Default getInstance will give the following frames: com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.testWalker(StackWalkerDemo.java:58) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method3(StackWalkerDemo.java:35) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method2(StackWalkerDemo.java:27) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method1(StackWalkerDemo.java:22) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.main(StackWalkerDemo.java:17) getInstance with single Option gives the following frames: com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.testWalker(StackWalkerDemo.java:61) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method3(StackWalkerDemo.java:35) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method2(StackWalkerDemo.java:27) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method1(StackWalkerDemo.java:22) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.main(StackWalkerDemo.java:17) Caller class of second StackWalker: com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Default getInstance will give the following frames : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. testWalker ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 58 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method3 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 35 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method2 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 27 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method1 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 22 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. main ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 17 ) getInstance with single Option gives the following frames : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. testWalker ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 61 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method3 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 35 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method2 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 27 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method1 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 22 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. main ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 17 ) Caller class of second StackWalker : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo
If we uncomment the last two lines, it will throw UnsupportedOperationException as the object w1 was obtained without explicitly specifying RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE option. The output will look like:
Default getInstance will give the following frames: com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.testWalker(StackWalkerDemo.java:58) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method3(StackWalkerDemo.java:35) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method2(StackWalkerDemo.java:27) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method1(StackWalkerDemo.java:22) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.main(StackWalkerDemo.java:17) getInstance with single Option gives the following frames: com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.testWalker(StackWalkerDemo.java:61) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method3(StackWalkerDemo.java:35) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method2(StackWalkerDemo.java:27) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method1(StackWalkerDemo.java:22) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.main(StackWalkerDemo.java:17) Caller class of second StackWalker: com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException: This stack walker does not have RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE access at java.base/java.lang.StackWalker.getCallerClass(StackWalker.java:551) at com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.testWalker(StackWalkerDemo.java:64) at com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method3(StackWalkerDemo.java:35) at com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method2(StackWalkerDemo.java:27) at com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.method1(StackWalkerDemo.java:22) at com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackWalkerDemo.main(StackWalkerDemo.java:17) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Default getInstance will give the following frames : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. testWalker ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 58 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method3 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 35 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method2 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 27 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method1 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 22 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. main ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 17 ) getInstance with single Option gives the following frames : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. testWalker ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 61 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method3 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 35 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method2 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 27 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method1 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 22 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. main ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 17 ) Caller class of second StackWalker : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo Exception in thread "main" java. lang. UnsupportedOperationException : This stack walker does not have RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE access at java. base / java. lang. StackWalker. getCallerClass ( StackWalker. java : 551 ) at com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. testWalker ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 64 ) at com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method3 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 35 ) at com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method2 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 27 ) at com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. method1 ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 22 ) at com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackWalkerDemo. main ( StackWalkerDemo. java : 17 )
Using StackWalker.StackFrame
As discussed in the section ‘The StackWalker API,’ the nested interface StackFrame can be used to get more information about the execution stack.
package com.javatutorials.stackwalk; public class StackFrameDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { method1(); } private static void method1() { method2(); } private static void method2() { Sum sum = new Sum(); int ans = sum.add(9,5); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 package com. javatutorials. stackwalk ; public class StackFrameDemo { public static void main ( String [ ] args ) { method1 ( ) ; } private static void method1 ( ) { method2 ( ) ; } private static void method2 ( ) { Sum sum = new Sum ( ) ; int ans = sum. add ( 9, 5 ) ; } }
package com.javatutorials.stackwalk; import static java.lang.StackWalker.Option.*; public class Sum { public int add(int a, int b) { StackWalker sw = StackWalker.getInstance(RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE); sw.forEach(stackFrame -> { System.out.println("
*******************************************
"); System.out.println(" Class name : " + stackFrame.getClassName()); System.out.println(" Declaring Class name : " + stackFrame.getDeclaringClass()); System.out.println(" File name : " + stackFrame.getFileName()); System.out.println(" Bytecode index : " + stackFrame.getByteCodeIndex()); System.out.println(" Line number : " + stackFrame.getLineNumber()); System.out.println(" Method name : " + stackFrame.getMethodName()); System.out.println(" Is method native or not? : " + stackFrame.isNativeMethod()); }); return a+b; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 package com. javatutorials. stackwalk ; import static java. lang. StackWalker. Option. * ; public class Sum { public int add ( int a, int b ) { StackWalker sw = StackWalker. getInstance ( RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE ) ; sw. forEach ( stackFrame -> { System. out. println ( "
*******************************************
" ) ; System. out. println ( " Class name : " + stackFrame. getClassName ( ) ) ; System. out. println ( " Declaring Class name : " + stackFrame. getDeclaringClass ( ) ) ; System. out. println ( " File name : " + stackFrame. getFileName ( ) ) ; System. out. println ( " Bytecode index : " + stackFrame. getByteCodeIndex ( ) ) ; System. out. println ( " Line number : " + stackFrame. getLineNumber ( ) ) ; System. out. println ( " Method name : " + stackFrame. getMethodName ( ) ) ; System. out. println ( " Is method native or not? : " + stackFrame. isNativeMethod ( ) ) ; } ) ; return a + b ; } }
In the above code we use methods from each StackFrame object to get more information about that frame. Output for the above code will be as follows:
******************************************* Class name : com.javatutorials.stackwalk.Sum Declaring Class name : class com.javatutorials.stackwalk.Sum File name : Sum.java Bytecode index : 13 Line number : 7 Method name : add Is method native or not? : false ******************************************* Class name : com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackFrameDemo Declaring Class name : class com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackFrameDemo File name : StackFrameDemo.java Bytecode index : 12 Line number : 18 Method name : method2 Is method native or not? : false ******************************************* Class name : com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackFrameDemo Declaring Class name : class com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackFrameDemo File name : StackFrameDemo.java Bytecode index : 0 Line number : 11 Method name : method1 Is method native or not? : false ******************************************* Class name : com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackFrameDemo Declaring Class name : class com.javatutorials.stackwalk.StackFrameDemo File name : StackFrameDemo.java Bytecode index : 0 Line number : 6 Method name : main Is method native or not? : false 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 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Class name : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. Sum Declaring Class name : class com. javatutorials. stackwalk. Sum File name : Sum. java Bytecode index : 13 Line number : 7 Method name : add Is method native or not? : false * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Class name : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackFrameDemo Declaring Class name : class com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackFrameDemo File name : StackFrameDemo. java Bytecode index : 12 Line number : 18 Method name : method2 Is method native or not? : false * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Class name : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackFrameDemo Declaring Class name : class com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackFrameDemo File name : StackFrameDemo. java Bytecode index : 0 Line number : 11 Method name : method1 Is method native or not? : false * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Class name : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackFrameDemo Declaring Class name : class com. javatutorials. stackwalk. StackFrameDemo File name : StackFrameDemo. java Bytecode index : 0 Line number : 6 Method name : main Is method native or not? : false
Note that in the above program, if the StackWalker is not created using RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE option, it will throw an UnsupportedOperationException while invoking getDeclaringClass().
Partial Traversal Of Stack Using walk() Method
In a large project, if we are invoking the StackWalker, there will be many frames in the execution stack. As developers, we may want to traverse only a part of the stack instead of the full stack. It is possible to limit how many StackFrames are inspected using the walk() method. Using filter(), skip(), limit() etc, we have multiple ways to filter the stack frames according to our need.
package com.javatutorials.stackwalk; public class WalkingTheStack { public static void main(String[] args) { Messenger msg = new Messenger(); msg.getResponse(); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 package com. javatutorials. stackwalk ; public class WalkingTheStack { public static void main ( String [ ] args ) { Messenger msg = new Messenger ( ) ; msg. getResponse ( ) ; } }
package com.javatutorials.stackwalk; import java.lang.StackWalker.Option; import java.lang.StackWalker.StackFrame; import java.util.List; import java.util.Scanner; import java.util.stream.Collectors; public class Messenger { public void getResponse() { sayHello(); } private void sayHello() { Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.println("Enter your name"); String name = sc.next(); printHello(name); } private void printHello(String name) { System.out.println("Hello, " + name + "! Welcome to StackWalker Tutorial."); /** * limit(2) limits the frames to two. Thus, the framesList will contain * only the top two frames of the execution stack */ System.out.println("******Printing the partial stack after limiting******"); List<StackFrame> framesList = StackWalker.getInstance( Option.RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE ).walk( stream -> stream.limit(2).collect( Collectors.toList() ) ); framesList.forEach(System.out::println); /** * skip(2) in the code below skips the top two frames and returns the remaining to framesList */ System.out.println("******Printing the partial stack after skipping two frames******"); framesList = StackWalker.getInstance( Option.RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE ).walk( stream -> stream.skip(2).collect( Collectors.toList() ) ); framesList.forEach(System.out::println); /** * the code below shows how to limit the frames by a particular class name. * To achieve this, we use filter method. */ System.out.println("******Partial Stack with Filtered Frames by Class******"); System.out.println(" Filtered By : " + WalkingTheStack.class.getName()); List<Class> classFilter = List.of(WalkingTheStack.class); framesList = StackWalker.getInstance(StackWalker.Option.RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE).walk( s -> s.filter(f -> classFilter.contains(f.getDeclaringClass())).collect(Collectors.toList())); framesList.forEach(System.out::println); } } 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 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 package com. javatutorials. stackwalk ; import java. lang. StackWalker. Option ; import java. lang. StackWalker. StackFrame ; import java. util. List ; import java. util. Scanner ; import java. util. stream. Collectors ; public class Messenger { public void getResponse ( ) { sayHello ( ) ; } private void sayHello ( ) { Scanner sc = new Scanner ( System. in ) ; System. out. println ( "Enter your name" ) ; String name = sc. next ( ) ; printHello ( name ) ; } private void printHello ( String name ) { System. out. println ( "Hello, " + name + "! Welcome to StackWalker Tutorial." ) ; /** * limit(2) limits the frames to two. Thus, the framesList will contain * only the top two frames of the execution stack */ System. out. println ( "******Printing the partial stack after limiting******" ) ; List <StackFrame> framesList = StackWalker. getInstance ( Option. RETAIN_CLASS _ REFERENCE ). walk ( stream -> stream. limit ( 2 ). collect ( Collectors. toList ( ) ) ) ; framesList. forEach ( System. out :: println ) ; /** * skip(2) in the code below skips the top two frames and returns the remaining to framesList */ System. out. println ( "******Printing the partial stack after skipping two frames******" ) ; framesList = StackWalker. getInstance ( Option. RETAIN_CLASS _ REFERENCE ). walk ( stream -> stream. skip ( 2 ). collect ( Collectors. toList ( ) ) ) ; framesList. forEach ( System. out :: println ) ; /** * the code below shows how to limit the frames by a particular class name. * To achieve this, we use filter method. */ System. out. println ( "******Partial Stack with Filtered Frames by Class******" ) ; System. out. println ( " Filtered By : " + WalkingTheStack. class. getName ( ) ) ; List <Class> classFilter = List. of ( WalkingTheStack. class ) ; framesList = StackWalker. getInstance ( StackWalker. Option. RETAIN_CLASS_REFERENCE ). walk ( s -> s. filter ( f -> classFilter. contains ( f. getDeclaringClass ( ) ) ). collect ( Collectors. toList ( ) ) ) ; framesList. forEach ( System. out :: println ) ; } }
Output of the above code will be as follows:
Enter your name Smith Hello, Smith! Welcome to StackWalker Tutorial. ******Printing the partial stack after limiting****** com.javatutorials.stackwalk.TheMessenger.printHello(TheMessenger.java:35) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.TheMessenger.sayHello(TheMessenger.java:23) ******Printing the partial stack after skipping two frames****** com.javatutorials.stackwalk.TheMessenger.getResponse(TheMessenger.java:13) com.javatutorials.stackwalk.WalkingTheStack.main(WalkingTheStack.java:7) ******Partial Stack with Filtered Frames by Class****** Filtered By : com.javatutorials.stackwalk.WalkingTheStack com.javatutorials.stackwalk.WalkingTheStack.main(WalkingTheStack.java:7) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Enter your name Smith Hello, Smith! Welcome to StackWalker Tutorial. * * * * * * Printing the partial stack after limiting* * * * * * com. javatutorials. stackwalk. TheMessenger. printHello ( TheMessenger. java : 35 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. TheMessenger. sayHello ( TheMessenger. java : 23 ) * * * * * * Printing the partial stack after skipping two frames* * * * * * com. javatutorials. stackwalk. TheMessenger. getResponse ( TheMessenger. java : 13 ) com. javatutorials. stackwalk. WalkingTheStack. main ( WalkingTheStack. java : 7 ) * * * * * * Partial Stack with Filtered Frames by Class * * * * * * Filtered By : com. javatutorials. stackwalk. WalkingTheStack com. javatutorials. stackwalk. WalkingTheStack. main ( WalkingTheStack. java : 7 )
Summary
In this article, we have discussed the new Stack-Walking API introduced in Java 9. It effectively helps us to get a snapshot of the execution stack efficiently. Class references and hidden frames are excluded by default when you get an instance of StackWalker using StackWalker.getInstance(). The API was designed in this way to make sure that there is no loss in performance while traversing the execution stack. In addition to this, further enhancement in performance can be done by adding certain criterion as a lambda expression parameter to walk() method, as discussed in the last section. The StackWalker API shows better performance than getStackTrace() and SecurityManager.getClassContext().
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Like this: Like Loading...AT&T has issued a press release today announcing that MMS will become active for iPhone users on September 25.
We've been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches - and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.
AT&T points to the need for the company to build out its network infrastructure to handle the demands of heavy MMS messaging volumes as the primary reason for the delay in launching the service compared to carriers in other countries that have offered MMS since the launch of iPhone OS 3.0 in June.As announced in June, MMS messaging will be included at no additional cost to users with an iPhone text messaging plan.There has been much speculation on the availability of MMS from AT&T, some with dubious origins. Next week's Apple media event had been the subject of some speculation as a possible venue for AT&T to launch MMS, which was first promised at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in June, though today's news has put all such rumors to bed.TBogg is Tom Boggioni, a writer based in San Diego, Ca. More specifically in Pacific Beach. Okay, in Crown Point, if you must know. Happy now? He was once known as a "somewhat popular blogger" back when blogs were a 'thing'. He is writing the Great American Novel, minus the 'great' part.
It’s hard out there for a man’s man.
The kind of guy who willing to strap on the shooting irons, leave the wife and little ones behind and go out and administer some old fashioned western justice just like John Wayne would have done. Steely-eyed men who use assault rifles for rabbit hunting and wear kevlar vests in case the bunnies shoot back. Men who see evil in the world – at least since there has been a black guy in the White House – that must be put down before there can be peace in the valley. These grim-faced men just need a cause – or in this case: a cause célèbre, – to get them to saddle up the mini-van, kiss the wife goodbye at the break of dawn and ride off into destiny, not knowing if they will ever come back – but if they did, remember to pick up milk and dryer sheets at the store.
For a brief moment in time these itchy-fingered gun nuts, anti-government ‘patriots’, conspiracy lunatics, anger management counseling drop-outs, T-shot junkies, weekend warriors and guys who were just trying to get out of mowing the lawn, had a man they would follow into hell if need be, in the person of Cliven Bundy: a pigheaded deadbeat welfare rancher in the Nevada desert.
Bundy’s story is as old as the west: scuffling, barely-getting-by cattle rancher’s livelihood threatened by big property owner who is trying to squeeze him off of the ole homestead that has been in his family for generations.
Except, in this case, it’s more: cattle rancher illegally grazing his cattle on land that is not his for over twenty years, refuses to pay for it, keeps going to court and losing, threatens anyone who goes near his welfare cows, uses the word ‘sovereign’ like it is magic, and vows to go to Alamo/Ruby Ridge/Waco/Masada on anyone’s asses who argues with him.
But there are cowboy hats, so it’s pretty much the same.
This story caught the eye of the normally law and order media types across the country who saw Bundy’s lawlessness and threat of a full fledged range war between jack-booted BLM men and simple salt-of-the-earth townsfolk as ratings gold. Ham-headed Sean Hannity, who recently decried the twerking crime wave gripping America’s youth, jumped in with both Gucci loafers, saying Bundy was only trying to keep the price of beef down for America’s poor, while excitedly playing up the possibility of some rootin’ tootin’ gun shootin.’
Bunker bound radio crazy Alex Jones had a seventy-two hour boner over the story, urging his followers to head on down to Bundy’s ranch and stop the Illuminati Bilberberg Chemtrail UN Agenda 21 cattle wrangling, or die trying. Alex his own bad self couldn’t make it because he was washing his hair/cleaning out his closets/waiting for the cable guy.
And with Cliven Bundy owing in excess of a million dollars, child-support deadbeat father former congressman Joe Walsh dispatched himself to the Nevada desert, to lend his expertise in getting out of paying court-ordered fines, penalties and overdue payments. Also, to strike a heroic pose:
Unfortunately for these guys the Cow Apocalypse Shoot-em Up never came, as the feds decided shooting a bunch of dumb animals (the militia guys, not the cows) would be counterproductive, and now all the militia guys are going home secure in the knowledge that they ‘won’ and they stood up to ‘the man’ and, “Woman! Bring me a beer and a sandwich, I have returned.”
And there will be peace in the valley … until she reminds him that he forgot the dryer sheets.
It’s hard out there for a man’s man.
[Headline credit to Steve Zorowitz]
[Cow by Robert J. Beyers II on Shutterstock]Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Shane Greene delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Photo: Charles LeClaire USA TODAY Sports)
Shane Greene for Cy Young? So far, so good.
After Greene's eight-inning, three-hit outing in a 2-0 win Tuesday night at Pittsburgh, the new addition to the Detroit Tigers' rotation is tied for the American League lead with a 2-0 record and a 0.00 ERA, is second with a 0.50 WHIP and fourth with a.132 batting average allowed.
By comparison, the defending AL Cy Young winner, the Cleveland Indians' Corey Kluber, is 0-1 with a 2.63 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP and a.208 BA allowed.
But as excellent — and maybe surprising — as the 26-year-old Greene has been, |
headlines. CNN put him on a list of "Japan's greatest sports heroes." And he remained unbeaten—and virtually synonymous with competitive eating—for six years. But then a new and even greater virtuoso emerged.
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut grew up in Vallejo, California. Being the third of four boys, he was always searching for something he could beat his older brothers at. And that thing seemed to be eating very fast. He showed such a talent for it that in 2005, his youngest brother entered him into a lobster competition in Reno.
"I'd never eaten lobster before," Joey told me. "I was 21. I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I was scooping guts. But I tied for third. And the two men who beat me didn't look good. One was Bob Shoudt. He seemed in pain. And I felt fine! I was 'Oh, my God, they look like they're dying. And I can eat so much more!' I knew I was made for it after that contest."
Joey decided that night to dedicate his life to the pursuit. He became obsessed—"nervous, always nervous"—and his discipline paid off in Coney Island on July 4, 2007, when he scarfed down sixty-six hot dogs before an audience of 40,000, besting Kobayashi by a three-dog margin. Joey defended his title the next year and every year since. At the 2009 Nathan's contest, he set a new world record with sixty-eight hot dogs. Last year, between his prize money and sponsorships, he raked in $205,000.
Kobayashi, meanwhile, hasn't competed in an IFOCE-sanctioned contest since 2009, the year he finished second to Joey at Nathan's for the third time in a row. ("Kobayashi won't talk to me," Joey says. "He hates me.") I assume this is due to his shame over becoming second best, but when I reach him on the phone, he denies this. Through an interpreter, he tells me that the Sheas "love to say, 'Kobi isn't man enough to eat up against our dude Chestnut.' But it has never been that. They wanted me to sign a contract that gave away all my human rights!" The IFOCE contract, he says, forbade him from competing in any non-Shea contests, which he took as a declaration of war. Nowadays, Kobayashi is still a draw, but he exists in a parallel universe of events that seem more about appearance fees and PR than official competition.
When a sport starts spawning feuds and sideshows, that's when you know it's turning into something truly large.
At the corned-beef contest, no one was surprised that Pat Bertoletti came in second, with eighteen and a half sandwiches. He and Joey were neck and neck until the final moments, when Pat, a 26-year-old caterer from Chicago,** **floundered and Joey seemed to accelerate. It was who came in third (with fourteen and a half sandwiches) that shocked everyone—and announced the arrival of a rising star. The bronze went to the waifish mystery kid, Matt Stonie.
I found him after the contest, sitting in the shade. Unlike Joey, he looked fine. We got to talking about his life. He's 19. Back in middle school, he said, "I was an A student, but then I went down to B's and C's. My parents freaked out and sent me to boarding school. I hated it. It was really strict. I kept myself isolated. I got kind of confused about who I am." He paused. "I've always loved food. But I began to have a hard time telling myself what was correct. I remember thinking, If I lose five pounds now, I can go home this weekend and have a good time with my friends, eating burgers...."
That's how the anorexia started. It wasn't long before he weighed eighty-five pounds. His life became all about doctors and psychiatrists. Finally he decided to reclaim some control. "So I utilized competitive eating to try to take care of myself in general."
"Have any doctors suggested that competitive eating may not be the best way to get over an eating disorder?" I asked.
"My doctor loves it," Matt said. "I'm super healthy. I've got normal cholesterol levels. I'm weighing anywhere between 120 and 130 pounds. It's a disorder that sticks with you, so it's a process I'm still working on. But I'm hitting the gym a lot more. I'm trying to build up. Even though it's nice to be skinny, having a little more mass on you makes it a lot easier to deal with the contests."
"Joey told me he thinks he'll always have the psychological advantage over you, because your anorexia will make you hesitate. And in that hesitation he'll triumph," I said.
"Joey talked about me?" Matt said. He looked thrilled. "I guess I'll tell him what I've had to say to a lot of people." He addressed my voice recorder: "Joey, I'll prove you wrong."
A cloak-and-dagger meeting at a Dunkin' Donuts in Clifton, New Jersey. Maria Edible arrives at 9 p.m., looking furtive. She's the beautiful woman with the food tattoos.
Back in Florida, she told me about her strange "double life." Her parents, with whom she lives, were unaware of her competitive eating. "It's quite challenging," she said. "I train in my room. So I'm literally sneaking past my dad's office with my tray of corned-beef sandwiches."
"What about the smell?" I asked her.
"The room airs out by the time they wake up in the morning," she said.
I offer her a doughnut, but she declines. She's fasting for the upcoming Isle Waterloo World Cupcake Eating Championship, which is two days away in Iowa. She shows me photos of her "training area"—her tiny bedroom. Thirty-six cupcakes are piled up on the dresser. She's 27, a shy person, she says. By day she works in a "corporate environment" in New York City. She won't say where.
A couple of nights ago her parents found her TooJay's competition T-shirt, which led to some feverish Googling. And they discovered that she actually leads a triple life. She's not just a competitive eater but also a lingerie/pinup model who sometimes incorporates food into her shoots. Soon they found topless photographs of their daughter on her hands and knees, alluringly clutching a hot dog. Another topless shot had her on her back, covered in chili and tortilla chips. "My mom was, 'This is a disorder.' My dad was, 'This is so bad, you're going to die early. I want you to see a doctor.' "
As it happens, binge eating is not currently considered a mental disorder. But that's probably about to change. In May 2013, the American Psychiatric Association will publish the fifth edition of its manual, the DSM, and binge eating is expected to be included.
"Do you think it's a disorder?" I ask Maria.
"I wouldn't call it that," she says. "But I'd always turn to food when I was stressed. And I'd feel bad sitting at home stuffing my face."
She says her parents are more worried about her than ever, but she's actually never felt happier. "There's the whole being-on-stage thing—I can feel like a star. And now if I stuff my face, people give me money and attention. So that feels better. Plus, there's the travel, the people I meet. We're like a family."
She says she's tried explaining to her parents that "for the first time in my life I've found something I'm committed to, but they don't want to know."
I wanted to know about Bob Shoudt, the man who beat Joey at the lobster contest in Reno, so I e-mailed IFOCE co-founder Rich Shea. Rich replied with something strange: "Bob is the one guy I have never been able to figure out, ever." He didn't elaborate.
Bob, who's currently ranked fifth in the world, lives in the Philadelphia area and does IT work for Hewlett-Packard clients. I meet him at the offices of one of them, and we go to Applebee's for lunch. But he doesn't eat. Like Maria, he's fasting in preparation for the cupcakes. He's not a lunch person anyway, he says. In fact, he first noticed he was an exceptional eater when he began skipping breakfasts and lunches. He figured that if he missed breakfast, he could sleep for twenty minutes longer, and if he worked through lunch, he could get home sooner. "So at dinner I eat a lot of food," he says.
I scrutinize Bob as I eat. He seems to have something about him that Joey and Maria and Matt lack. Then I work out what it is. He seems content.
"I've got the house, the car, the picket fence," Bob says. "I'm living my dream life. So the competitive eating on weekends is great, but it's not my life."
Joey said as much about Bob. "He's the weekend-warrior type," he told me. I could tell Joey found this approach to be a weakness. To be a titan, you need twenty-four-seven commitment.
"Joey thinks your happiness is the reason you rarely win," I tell Bob.
"Oh, he knows it," Bob says. "I was talking to him Tuesday night. He said, 'Why aren't you training for the cupcakes?' I said, 'Joey, I got to pick up my daughter, drive her to dance class, drive my other daughter to basketball...' " A faraway look crosses Bob's face. "But when I'm at the table...I can't let on in an interview how seriously I take it, because I'd probably be committed to a mental hospital."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Time slows down," he says. "You don't hear the announcer. You just have this...flow."
"When were you last in that altered state?" I ask.
"Probably when I did ninety-five hamburgers [sliders] in eight minutes," Bob says. "I was just totally locked down." He pauses. "I know it's viewed as horror, shock, a sideshow. But when people see us up there, it blows them away. Which is why the groupies are insane."
"Groupies?!" I say.
"I'm thoroughly happily married, so I'm on the sidelines," says Bob. "But I've seen stuff. Doors open."
"I'd imagine it would be a turnoff," I say.
"Me, too." Bob shrugs. "But no."
We're in Waterloo, Iowa, at the Isle Casino Hotel, a bleak resort plopped into a mass of gray nothingness—miles of farmland. First prize for the cupcakes contest is just $1,500. The stage has been ignominiously set up in the shadows under the lobby escalators, far from the slot machines, which is the only bustling part of the building. And by bustling, I mean a handful of elderly people robotically pressing the spin buttons as if toiling on a production line. I can't imagine how even a competitive-eating contest will lure them from the slots.
The world's number two and three—Pat Bertoletti and Tim "Eater X" Janus—are somewhere in the building, but Joey is not. He has skipped this event, believing it to be shoddily organized. Matt Stonie is absent, too. Casino contests are 21 and over, so Matt has to wait two years before he's allowed to compete.
I stand with Bob Shoudt in the lobby. He seems happy, energetic, I suppose because, with Joey not here, he has a chance to win.
Bob tells me he'd love the opportunity to have an illicit look at a cupcake.
"Would you eat it?" I ask him.
"I'd probably just put it in my mouth and spit it out," he says. "Will it be dense? Dry?"
"Wouldn't that give you an unfair advantage?" I ask.
Bob looks at me. And then something happens. Perhaps this forlorn casino has made him feel forlorn about the sport he loves so much. But it all pours out. Competitive eating, he says, is rife with unfair advantages.
"I've seen everything," he says. "People throwing hot dogs under the table. People making the biggest messes you can imagine."
My eyes widen. "So there's such a mess under the table it's impossible to determine what counts as an eaten thing?" I ask.
"Oh, there's techniques," says Bob. "People suddenly get happy feet." He mimes an eater dropping an item of food and then covertly stamping it into the ground. I'm appalled. Cheating makes everything pointless. And then Bob confesses that—if need be—he will be one of those cheaters. When his wife is in the crowd, they use pre-arranged signals. "If the eaters are dropping stuff like crazy, she'll give a meaningless cheer. I'll understand. Suddenly the food gets very slippery for me."
He gives me a look that says: Don't judge me until you've walked in my shoes. Leave the Gandhi-like behavior to the fools who don't mind losing to the cheaters.
Suddenly something over my shoulder catches Bob's eye. "The cupcakes!" he exclaims.
A man is wheeling some silver cabinets toward the eating table. We hurry over. "Is it possible to look at a cupcake?" Bob asks the man.
"Sure," he says. Bob takes one and instantly scurries to the toilets. He's gone so fast I don't have time to follow.
The contestants drift in. Maria keeps to herself in the shadows. I've calculated that each cupcake contains around 500 calories, which means the contestants will be eating something like 25,000 calories in eight minutes. It would take a normal person eating a normal amount of calories ten days to consume that many. I find this horrifying, but no one else seems to care.** Also horrifying: **There are buckets under the stage. Today's emcee, Dave Keating, explains they're for "reversals. We don't use the V-word on the circuit." A reversal, by the way, results in immediate disqualification.
"We're OUT OF CUPCAKES!" yells Dave the emcee. "It's first to finish! First to finish, ladies and gentlemen!" Nobody seems to know what this means, but Dave keeps yelling it.
A few dozen gamblers amble into the lobby, joining the small crowd of fans and family members who've made the journey. And then there's the countdown, and the contest begins.
I don't know if it's the absence of Joey that's spurring the eaters so frenziedly on, or whether the sugar rush is giving them a kind of frantic energy, but within a few minutes their eyes are bulging, their bodies are shaking, and there's no slowdown. Each cupcake only seems to fire them up for more. And suddenly it is pandemonium. Something happens that (I'm later told) has happened only once before in the history of competitive eating.
"We're OUT OF CUPCAKES!" yells Dave the emcee. "It's first to finish! First to finish, ladies and gentlemen!" Nobody seems to know what this means, but Dave keeps yelling it: "First to finish! I've never seen anything like this! This is an absolutely new record, ladies and gentlemen!"
He's putting on a brave face, trying to make the debacle seem exciting, but it isn't. It's confusing. Some competitors, like Bob and Pat, have no cupcakes left, so they're just standing there. Others, like Maria, are still eating. Bob starts yelling at Dave. I leap onto the stage, my voice recorder in my hand, to chronicle the chaos. Some casino staff members run across the lobby to intercept me. "Sir!" they're yelling. "Sir! Sir! Competitors only on the stage!"
"But I'm from GQ!" I yell back. "I'm ACCESS ALL AREAS!"
"Get to the side!" the security guard is hollering at me. "TO THE SIDE."
Maria is standing there, a cupcake in her hand, staring limply into space. This commotion doesn't really involve her, nobody's looking at her, and she looks lost.
Bob is still shouting. Dave continues in vain to make it sound historic. "Six hundred and sixty cupcakes eaten in six minutes! It's a brand-new record!"
Things finally calm down after ten minutes or so, and I wander over to Dave. "What a calamity," I say.
"It really sucked," he says. "And of course we have a fucking reporter here."
"What went wrong?" I ask.
"The cupcakes were lighter than last year," he says. "We had a wider field. It was a perfect storm."
The top five competitors agree to split the prize money, with a little extra going to the clear front-runner, Pat Bertoletti.
I try to interview Pat, but to no avail. He's so hyped-up on sugar he's pacing around the lobby like a man on fire. They all are. I manage to catch Bob for a moment. "I'm not happy," he says. "I woke up at 3:45 a.m. I'm going to get home at midnight. And I had to talk my way into prize money to cover my expenses." And then he's gone, too. I'm beginning to reassess my idea that Bob seems content.
I've never seen so many people experience such a profound sugar rush all at the same time. They're like windup dolls, lost in the middle of nowhere, discombobulated without enforceable rules to keep them steady, pacing around and around, starving for order.
And now the big one. Coney Island. The Fourth of July. The Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Championship, with a $10,000 first prize. "The only one," Pat Bertoletti tells me, "the public really cares about."
Thousands have gathered on the boardwalk by the beach. Many are chanting "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" Onto the giant stage marches a procession of stilt walkers, dwarves dressed as Uncle Sam, cheerleaders, bodybuilders, a girl singing "The Star-Spangled Banner." Presiding over the pageantry is the legendary emcee George Shea, wearing a straw boater. ESPN is filming it all for a 3 p.m. broadcast.
The eaters are crowded into a little room backstage where thousands of hot dogs are being mass-cooked. They're like gladiators sharing a dressing room with the lions. Matt Stonie is separate from the others. He's outside, pacing nervously. I wave at him but know to leave him alone. Last night I bumped into him at the Manhattan hotel where many of the eaters were staying. "I'm dreading the thought of eating all those hot dogs," he told me, seeming agitated. "It's so miserable. It's going to be hot, and the taste of it will be awful. It's like a bor knowing that every punch is going to hurt." But when I ask if he thinks he has a chance to win, he says, "If Joey Chestnut pukes, if Pat Bertoletti's not on his game, if I have a good day..."
Joey and Pat sit next to each other backstage but say nothing. Joey once told me they rarely talk before an event. Sometimes they'll heartily slap each other on the back in the moments before a contest begins, feigning friendliness, when what they're actually trying to do is irritate each other. So it was all the more remarkable when, last night at the hotel, I saw the two men huddled in a corner, speaking quietly. It was a melancholy and surprising conversation. Pat was asking Joey, "When you retire, will you give me the secret?"
"You've seen everything I do," Joey replied.
I turned to Pat. "Do you sometimes feel like Buzz Aldrin to Joey's Neil Armstrong?"
"For sure," he said. Despite the tough-guy mustache and scary Mohawk, there was a real sweetness to Pat. He seemed resigned to the fact that he has hit the ceiling, that he'll always be second best. And he's had enough, he said. He's getting out of this crazy sport.
"I don't think I can ever win [hot dogs]," he told Joey and me. "And I've done everything else."
"You might quit everything?" I asked.
"Yeah," said Pat.
Then Joey said, "I've thought about getting out, too."
"You want out, too?" said Pat, incredulous.
"I do," said Joey.
"Why?" I asked him.
He backpedaled slightly. "It's not that I want out," he said, "but I don't want to linger."
What he meant is that once you're number one, there's nowhere to go. Joey is trapped at number one like Pat is trapped at number two.
"My goal is seven [Nathan's titles] in a row," Joey said. "Next year could very well be my last."
"Do you also want to quit because you realize it's a bizarre way to live your life?" I asked him.
"Probably," Joey said.
The truth is, rarely have I done a story about something that's so utterly, existentially pointless and so emblematic of the American tendency to go way too far. And Joey and Pat know it.
"I'm more than just a competitive eater," Joey told us. "I'm a smart guy. I could be an awesome park ranger."
"That would be a great job," I agreed.
"A park ranger in Alaska!" said Joey. "You get a gun! 'Hey! Make sure you put out that campfire! Hey! Clean up your garbage!' "
Joey looked at me then, and he smiled.
It's time for the women's contest. Which brings the first great surprise of the day. Maria Edible. She's a disaster. Onstage she looks ghostly white, in agony. She manages only eighteen and a half hot dogs (two fewer than her personal best). The winner for the second year in a row is Sonya Thomas, a.k.a. the Black Widow, the fourth-ranked eater in the world, who sets a new women's record with forty-five. I find Maria after it's over. She's slumped against a wall backstage. "I don't know what happened...," she's murmuring.
I want to ask her more, but the floor manager hurries in. It's time for the men to line up.
Halfway through the contest, something impossible seems to be happening. "Matt Stonie!" George Shea is yelling into the microphone. "Many are calling him the new Joey Chestnut! This is amazing, ladies and gentlemen! Matt Stonie is doing so well he's only four hot dogs behind Joey Chestnut. Nineteen years of age! And yet he's the only one truly putting pressure on Joey Chestnut!"
Matt is out in front of Bob Shoudt and Pat Bertoletti and Tim "Eater X" Janus. He's a man possessed, like Kobayashi on that famous day in 2001. He's gaining on Joey, all those years of pain propelling him on. Twenty-eight hot dogs, twenty-nine hot dogs, thirty hot dogs, thirty-one...
But then, suddenly, heartbreakingly, at thirty-four dogs into the contest, Matt hits a wall. ("Died out," he'll later say on Facebook.) The manic pace with which he'd been inhaling hot dogs slows dramatically, and a look of defeat crosses his flushed, sweaty face.
"Their dreams and hopes begin to fade as they approach the end!" George Shea hollers as Joey's lead widens. "If fate and destiny existed, they would surely concern themselves with the affairs of this man. But they do not exist! The future is the property of the iron-willed, and there is only one man who has an iron will and it is he, Joey Chestnut!"
The final score: Joey, sixty-eight (matching his world record); Tim Janus, fifty-two and a quarter; Pat Bertoletti, fifty-one. Matt ends up fourth, with a total of forty-six, a personal best. It's Joey's sixth Nathan's title in a row, tying Kobayashi's streak from 2001 to 2006. The audience—many of whom are wearing Joey Chestnut T-shirts and holding Joey Chestnut signs—is screaming his name as he stands before them, exhausted and utterly spent, basking in their love.
A few minutes later, as Joey wades triumphantly into the throng, holding his championship belt aloft, I remember something he told me a few months earlier: "I have to learn to ignore my feelings. Not just the feeling of hunger and the feeling of full, but the feeling of embarrassment, too. I have to remember that this is only weird if I make it weird."
Soon Joey is swallowed by the crowd, and I lose sight of him. All I can see now is the belt itself, its painted gold glinting in the relentless sun, bobbing along in a surging tide of red, white, and blue.Anchor Down Ultra 6 hour. I showed up to the 2nd running of this race ready to rock a 50k. I figured if I could do a more technical 50k in 6:10, I should easily be able to knock out 31 miles of the relatively flat, partially paved course that winds through Colt State Park in Bristol, RI. Unfortunately that’s not how the race played out for me. Things rarely turn out as expected, but most of the time something more magical happens…
The plan was for myself and my friends Elise, Mallory, and Wendy (my pacer from VT) to run the 6-hour, and my friend Eric to run the 24. Elise and Wendy were trying for their first 50k, Mallory was going for as many miles as she could get, and Eric wanted 100 miles. Yep, we are all a bit crazy – but that’s why we make such a good group (birds of a feather, you know). Elise’s mom and sister were acting as our crew and cheering section (a repeat of last year’s event). Of course the old adage about the best-laid plans never crossed our minds, so we charged blissfully ignorant, but thoroughly excited, into the abyss.
The week leading up to the race was spent obsessing about the weather, shopping for aid station food, and packing gear. Mother Nature’s predictions hovered between seasonally hot and humid and mildly cooler with a chance of showers. Personally, I’d rather have the showers. But since the 6-hour race starts at 7pm, I really didn’t mind what the weather turned out to be. I did have plans to pace Eric in the 24-hour race the next day, so I still hoped for the cooler option. I was again unfortunately disappointed.
My husband Joe was registered for the 6-hour as well, but has been unable to run since February. He chose to attempt to walk a marathon in the time limit. I know it was difficult for him to watch me run off the start line while he was reduced to walking, but I felt his support and encouragement follow me as I disappeared down the trail. The first few laps of the 2.5-mile course literally flew by. I by-passed the mid-point aid station but chowed down at the start/finish area. We had brought the goodies that had served me well at the VT100k – pickles, chocolate chip cookies, V8, and Coke. The race aid station also had PB&J and salted potatoes, so I was well-fed on each lap.
By lap two or three the sun had gone down, so it was a bit cooler. The course is just gorgeous. The first mile or so is in the woods and consists of very non-technical trail with one small hill. Then you come out along the paved bike path that follows the shore of Narragansett Bay for the next mile. The last ½ mile is bordered on one side by waving grasses and a little cove. As you can imagine, it’s quite peaceful and serene after dark. By this time the field is well spread out so you are sometimes running with nothing but your own thoughts. My dad has passed away a week earlier, so he was often on my mind. As a matter of fact, I wore his Masonic ring on a chain around my neck – although I didn’t need this reminder to know he was with me the whole time.
I was chugging along quite peacefully for a few hours. Then the fatigue started to set it. It really had been quite an emotional week, with little sleep, and I knew I wasn’t fully recovered from Vermont. The laps now consisted of walking the (small) hill on the trail while running the rest of the loop. I was still eating and drinking well, and I even passed Joe and got a hug. Elise’s mom said everyone looked good as they came through, except that Eric was having some GI issues. Ugh, not what one wants at the virtual beginning of a 24-hour race.
Somewhere around mile 17 I saw Mallory at the aid station, not looking very good. She wasn’t feeling well and no amount of cajoling was getting her to eat anything, but she didn’t want to quit. We left the aid station together and I told her I would stay with her and get her to her goal of 23 miles. Halfway through the loop she felt better and wanted to run but I was gassed so kept walking, thinking she would wait for me at the aid station. When I arrived, I was greeted by Wendy who had fallen off her pace and was now on the same lap as I was. She told me that Mallory had just departed, so after I got some food we set off in hot pursuit.
We walked the trail section, as neither one of us had much energy at this point. We popped out on the paved section and could see Mallory’s blinking red light about a tenth of a mile ahead of us. Convinced we could catch her, we flew (ok, it felt like we flew) through the next mile without overtaking her. Just as we arrived at the aid station, we saw her heading out. Checking our watches, we realized we were running about a 9:30 pace on that paved section, so apparently Mallory was feeling better! Joe had dropped at the 20 mile mark, so now my race became getting the marathon distance for him, as I knew the 50k was out of reach.
The next two laps went exactly the same way: walk the trail section, and run the paved section in small bites. Run to the ½ point aid station, walk a minute; run to the road crossing, walk a minute; run to the start/finish aid station, get some food. We headed out one more time, knowing we only had 45 minutes to complete the lap in order to get credit for it. I got that burst of energy that happens when I know I’m almost done, so I was pretty confident that we’d finish in time. Well, that energy only lasted for half the lap, and with a mile to go I was worried that we wouldn’t make it. I pushed hard for that last mile and tried to ignore all the check engine lights that were coming on. It was no longer about me; it was about doing something for someone else. I needed to get that marathon for Joe. The physical stress transformed into emotional breakdown, and poor Wendy had to deal with a blubbering runner as we came into the finish line. We finished in 5:48, with way more time to spare than I had anticipated.
Another race done. I was disappointed that I hadn’t gotten the 50k mark. Elise, however, was about to get hers. Wendy and I had crossed the finish line and then hung around to watch Elise come in to complete her first 50k in 5:50. Even though I was tired and hungry, I stayed at the finish line to cheer her on for this amazing accomplishment. We 6-hour racers were done, but somewhere out in the dark Eric was still marching along towards his 24-hour finish. Since I had offered to run some miles with him, it was time for me to get some food and try to get some rest.
After napping off and on for 5 or 6 hours, I gave up on getting some real sleep and gave in to the desire for coffee. Hobbling from the tent back down to the start/finish area, I was amazed at how good some of the 24-hour runners still looked. Clearly they were in a completely different athletic universe than I was!! We made coffee and breakfast and sat down trailside to wait for Eric and assess his condition. He arrived a little while later looking not bad, but still unable to get the GI issues under control. He had now decided that 100 miles was not going to happen, so the new plan was to complete 100k and call it a day. It would be his first 100k so I knew this was a huge accomplishment and not a defeat in any way. I told him I’d join him in a few hours and we’d get the job done.
As I headed back to the tent to change into my next set of running clothes and shoes, I thought to myself that I must be insane. I ran 27 miles the night before, and here I was gearing up for another 15. Only those people who run crazy distances understand the drive to do what we do. Not only did I feel incomplete without having finishing my own 50k goal, I knew that Eric would do better having some company and encouragement. So, I laced up my shoes, put on the pacer bracelet, and off we went.
Each lap we ran was the same as my final laps had been: walk the trail segment, and then run the paved segment in sections. The smaller bites were easier to digest (for both of us, I think) and it was nice to enjoy some of the scenery. Eric looked good for those last few miles, and he finished his 100k in 18:45. By this time we were both ready to chill out, slip on our Oofos, and get some real rest. Despite my failure to complete my own 50k, I had run a marathon for my husband and ran Eric to his first 100k. That was the real magic of the weekend.
Anchor Down Ultra was an amazing experience. Thank you to race director Jason Paganelli for his tireless (literally) presence throughout the entire 24 hours and for his hard work in creating a great racing atmosphere; to all the volunteers who gave up their weekend to help a bunch of crazy runners do impossible things; and especially to my husband Joe, whose continued support on this ultra journey makes it all possible.
AdvertisementsArthur Nunes-Harwitt's LISP Implementation in BASIC
In the summer of 1989, I was exploring parsing algorithms. The only computer I had available was an Atari 800 with Atari BASIC. I did write a couple of recursive descent parsers in BASIC, but I longed for a more powerful language. I decided to write my own! What emerged was a dialect of Scheme.
Atari BASIC is not the fastest implementation language. I could have chosen assembly language, but I generally choose portability over speed. In fact, my implementation took six minutes to compute three factorial. That was a bug in Atari BASIC that I never tracked down. I did port it to the PC and the Mac. On a 3Mhz PC running Microsoft's interpreted BASIC, three factorial came back instantly.
I decided to make this code available, when I noticed that Randall Beer had also written a LISP interpreter in BASIC and made it available from his website. Enjoy!
LISP Implementation
Sample Interaction
Initializing Memory... Initializing Lisp Environment... LISP in BASIC v1.3 by Arthur Nunes-Harwitt 0](define fact 1] (lambda (n) 2] (if (= n 0) 3] 1 3] (* n (fact (- n 1)))))) FACT 0](fact 5) 120 0]“I’ll make a peanut butter and matzoh sandwich since I can’t have bread,” Lizzie said, grabbing a knife from the drawer. My daughter, at 13, has decided she’s a little Jewish. Her ancestors, Irish Catholics, are as Jewish as I am, but the only dad she’s ever really known, who came into our lives when she was 4, is a nonreligious Jew. And, as an agnostic ex-Catholic married to him, I don’t mind at all that Lizzie is experimenting with religion. But I do hope it's non habit-forming.
Lizzie has been trying on bits and pieces of religions for years now, discarding each after a little wear. A few years ago, as we read the decidedly secular Nancy Drew together one night, she asked out of the blue if I believed in God. As she snuggled into the crook of my arm, chewing on a strand of dark blond hair, she waited for an answer.
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“Well, some people believe in God,” I answered, carefully putting on the same serious but accessible voice I’d used to answer previous uncomfortable questions about where babies come from and why there are Republicans.
“Do you believe?” Lizzie said, stressing the you so I could almost see the italics flying out of her mouth. There was no getting around it. I had to answer.
“No, I don’t,” I said as concern creased her face.
Should I have lied and just said I believed? After all, God seems to lurk in almost every nook and cranny of this country. Way back, in kindergarten, the Pledge of Allegiance told her she’s part of one nation under God. Lizzie sees friends and family go to church or temple each week and smiles at the store clerk who tells her to “have a blessed day.” Giant decorated trees and huge menorahs are everywhere she looks each December (rather, menorahs used to be everywhere -- then we moved to Portland). Every time I dig through my wallet to find bills to buy a gallon of milk -- or anything at all -- I see His name. In God some may trust, but not all of us.
There are chunks of society saying if you don’t believe in God you’re a bad person. Will Lizzie intuit that she’s bad if she doesn’t believe -- or that her mother is? Or is it OK to tell her what I believe: It’s a superstition that many people believe but I |
100-meter-deep pit.
Developed by Shanghai Shimao Property Group and to be managed by InterContinental Hotels Group, the hotel, named InterContinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, is expected to extend 19 stories into the bottom of the pit.
It's due to open in late 2014 or early 2015.
Once completed, the deepest story of the luxury resort will be approximately 700 meters lower than the top floor of the world’s-highest-hotel-to-be, the Shanghai Tower J Hotel in Shanghai Tower, set for completion around the same time.
19 stories, 380 rooms, underwater restaurant
The pit now and what it's expected to look like in two years.
Located about 45 kilometers southwest of Shanghai's city center, the pit in Tianmashan is 100 meters deep, 240 meters long and 160 meters wide.
The lowest 20 meters are filled with stagnant rainwater, which the hotel will retain.
“The pit has served as a quarry since the 1950s,” said Yao Qi (姚琪), senior branding manager of Shanghai Shimao Property Group. "It has been abandoned since the year 2000."
Shimao purchased the surrounding land in 2006 in order to build Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, a large-scale theme park integrating hospitality, leisure and entertainment elements. The hotel is planned as part of the wonderland complex.
Construction of the 380-room InterContinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland commenced last month.
The 19-story hotel will have three levels above ground, and 16 underground, including an underwater restaurant.
“A 60-meter glass curtain will be built to mimic a waterfall next to the resort’s main structure,” said Yao.
Designed by UK-based engineering firm Atkins, the company behind the ostentatious Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the quarry hotel design bagged a Gold Medal at last year's commercial real estate MIPIM Asia Awards.
Extreme sports in plan
Hotel planners are considering taking advantage of the site's surrounding cliffs by hosting activities such as rock climbing and bungee jumping.
Industry experts believe nightly room rates will start from RMB 2,000 (US$320), twice the price currently charged by nearby five-star hotels.
Shimao is investing a total of RMB 3.5 billion (US$555 million) in the 428,200-square-meter Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, of which RMB 600 million (US$95 million) will go toward the subterranian resort.
The Shanghai property group has yet to reveal detailed plans for the rest of the wonderland complex.
More on CNNGo: 10 hotel rooms where history was madeToronto Raptors basketball was non-existent for a long time. There was more booing than cheering, the word “retooling” became too familiar, and games rarely gathered genuine excitement.
That was their identity, or lack thereof.
I went to my first Raptors game at the age of 13. Toronto had a good team that year, they won 47 games and finished first in the Atlantic Division. The Raps were hosting the Denver Nuggets at Air Canada Centre, a hot team with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson on the roster. Coming from a small town in Eastern Canada the idea of walking into an arena that held 20,000 people was enough to excite me. I walked into the arena from Union Station and thought: “Why are people wearing Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys?” I saw over a dozen people wearing the white and blue to the game that day. The Raptors were a second-tier team in Toronto.
From 2006-2008 Toronto was winning. Chris Bosh was leading the show with an entertaining cast behind him. Sam Mitchell won NBA Coach of the Year and Brian Colangelo won Executive of the Year. But it never felt real, fans didn’t truly believe those Bosh-led teams could be successful. Toronto was missing something: stability.
And just like that, the NBA’s Coach of the Year was gone. Fired only 17 games into the 2008-2009 season.
That was just the beginning of what would be years of disappointment for Toronto.
The Raptors experiment with six-time all-star Jermaine O’Neal was failing. The Raps dealt him for Shawn Marion of the Miami Heat just prior to the 2009 all-star break.
Then came the Hedo Turkoglu catastrophe. For those who aren’t familiar, Turkoglu was coming off an impressive season with the Orlando Magic when Toronto swooped in and signed him. Dedicating a full-page ad to the team’s website, they were overjoyed to say the least. The actual acquisition of Turkoglu was by far the climax of his time in a Dino’s uniform. One incident sums up his time in T.Dot fairly well. After leaving a game at halftime due to a stomach virus, he was spotted out on the town partying just hours later. He was traded after one season with the team.
The 2010-2011 season was as ugly as it gets; finishing 14th place in the East with only 22 wins. “The Decision” had stripped the Raptors of its franchise guy, and without Bosh, Toronto was back at square one.
Despite a lockout during the 2011-2012 season, Raps fans were beginning to get excited again. Prior to the season they had hired Dwane Casey and were riding high on young talent DeMar DeRozan. This is where the turnaround begins, although the results weren’t seen for two more seasons. Casey, an assistant on the Dallas Mavericks championship team, was about to teach Raptors players something foreign to them: defense. Toronto finished 30th in points allowed the year before and were in desperate need of a coach who could tighten that up. But even with the excitement, Toronto still found itself on the outside looking in. On draft night Colangelo would be ridiculed for drafting Jonas Valanciunas. Fans were fed up with the selection of another “foreigner” who was a year away from playing in the league.
With another high draft pick, Toronto selected Terrance Ross from the University of Washington. The summer prior to the 2012-2013 season, Kyle Lowry was brought over from the Houston Rockets for a first round pick. Little did they know, but not landing Steve Nash may have been the best thing for the organization long-term. With a core of Lowry, DeRozan, Valanciunas, Ross, Casey, and new general manager Masai Ujiri – Toronto was ready to win.
With no expectations to succeed, the Raptors were one trade away from success or failure. Ujiri picked success. In a mid-season deal, the GM would package Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings for a collection of players including Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. The losses quickly turned to wins and by the all-star break Toronto was looking like a playoff team for the first time in years. The season came to an end at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets in Game 7 of the first round. It was hard to swallow, but for a team with no expectations, it was pretty darn good. That same year Drake became the global ambassador and #WeTheNorth was born.
Finally, the Raptors had an identity.
An identity they carried into the 2014-2015 season. With a veteran like Amir Johnson and signings such as Lou Williams and James Johnson, the roster is deeper than ever before.
Prior to a game in Detroit against the Pistons Friday, thousands of Raptors fans throughout the Palace could be heard singing the Canadian National Anthem. Landry Fields thanked the fans for coming out and said: “Hands down, best fans in the league.”
The ACC sells out each game. It’s not your traditional NBA atmosphere, it has a collegiate feel to it. Simply put, Raptors fans are some of the best/craziest in the association.
For the first time in a long time, there are expectations to succeed, to be the best in the Atlantic, and for some to be the best in the East. So far, those expectations have been met.
Toronto has had an easy schedule thus far, but regardless, a 22-6 record doesn’t just happen with a lot of home games. Perhaps the true test for this team will come over the next six games, all on the road against tough competition. They haven’t been challenged yet, now they are. The trip begins Monday in Chicago and doesn’t conclude until Jan. 4 in Phoenix.
With DeRozan nursing a groin injury, role players are needed to step up during the six-game stretch. But adversity builds character, and Toronto has dealt with a lot of adversity.
This road trip matters, a lot. In the words of Raptors color analyst Jack Armstrong: “Just win baby!”
It’s been a roller coaster ride for the franchise over the last decade, but eventually the ride has to lift off the ground. They’ve paid their dues, now it’s their time.
Brett Poirier is a contributor to Sheridan Hoops. Follow @BrettNBAALAMEDA — A special City Council meeting to consider a moratorium on rent increases was briefly put on hold Tuesday when police arrested two men who allegedly became rowdy as passions flared.
One man suffered a bloody nose after officers forced him to the floor. A city staffer and police officer were also reportedly injured.
According to KNTV, police said an officer suffered bruises and the interim assistant city manager was hospitalized for his injuries. His condition was not immediately known, police said.
Firefighters and paramedics responded before the meeting continued. Firefighters and paramedics responded before the meeting continued, when the council took steps so that both supporters and opponents of the moratorium could have turns in the room to plead their case.
The City Council imposed a 65-day moratorium on rent increases of 8 percent or higher after a special meeting that stretched more than seven hours and attracted 90 public speakers.
Reach Peter Hegarty at 510-748-1654 or follow him on Twitter.com/Peter_Hegarty.Mr. VanBrocklin ultimately left empty-handed, but with a promise to return with his wife. He is a fairly typical Peter Lik buyer, someone who hasn’t spent much on art in the past and didn’t start the day planning to spend $4,000 on a photograph.
Most Lik sales are a kind of high-end impulse buy. The setting is designed to valorize the jaunty, tripod-toting bloke scouring the nation in search of beauty. A plaque on the wall tallies up a list of honors, including the fellowship he received from the British Institute of Professional Photographers and his master photographer award from the Professional Photographers of America. Another plaque boasts about the “world record” set by “Phantom.” Still another describes him in the shorthand of an online dating profile:
“Best loved food: Thai & Indian or anything that is bloody hot!”
Seeking Resale Value
There are plenty of repeat clients who don’t need this spiel because they’ve already heard it. Mr. Fatoohi said a handful of collectors had spent north of $1 million, and more have spent in excess of $100,000.
One regular buyer is Craig Bernfield, a real estate developer in Chicago. He politely demurred when asked to tally up his outlays over the years, but he says he has purchased 50 Liks, all of them on the walls of his homes, his office or the homes of his children. He and his wife, Donna, began their collection during a visit to Hawaii in 2003, when the couple happened across the gallery in Maui.
“We were not art collectors,” he said in a phone interview, “but we had this wonderful trip with our kids, and at the time the gallery featured some photography that Peter had done on the island, shots of places that we’d been. So we bought a handful of photographs that we were in love with — the serenity and beauty of places that he captured.”
Early on, Mr. Bernfield and his wife didn’t consider whether they were making a good investment — specifically whether the art would sell well on the secondary market, a realm dominated by auction houses. But as the Bernfields’ inventory grew, it was time for what Mr. Bernfield called a “gut check” about new acquisitions. “We had to ask, hey, is this worth it?” he said. The businessman in him wouldn’t mind what they call in the real estate world “comparables,” a sales history of similar properties. He just has never found any.
“If you find some comparables,” he said, “I’d be interested in seeing them.”
Arguably, the person best versed in Peter Lik comparables is David Hulme, a fine-art valuer based in Australia for a company called Auctionata. For years, he has been getting calls from Lik owners around the world, and he finds the calls depressing.
“People tell me all the time, ‘I’ve been in touch with the gallery, and they say my photograph is now selling for $150,000 a copy,’ ” he says. “So they want to know what they can sell theirs for.”Representational Image.
A Mumbai-bound Air India flight from Newark Liberty International Airport with over 250 persons on board was forced to return and make an emergency landing today due to a serious engine problem, sources said.
The pilot, however, made a safe landing, they said. "The flight had taken off for Mumbai at around 1650 hours (US time) and landed back at Newark (US) after being airborne for about two hours due to violent vibrations in one of the engines of the Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft", Air India sources said.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed the incident and said the passengers are being adjusted in its Delhi flight.
The aircraft was at a height of 29,000 feet when the vibrations occurred, the sources said. "After landing one of the blades of the engine was found fractured due to stress and this resulted in violent vibrations," they said.
Sources said the pilot's prompt action averted a disaster. The pilot had to dump some 60 tonnes of fuel and keep the engine idle for a safe landing under the "serious" situation, the sources said.Russia managed to hit the U.S. on several diplomatic and strategic fronts on Friday, capping a week of rapidly deteriorating relations between the two super powers.
Within the span of a few hours, Russia's parliament approved a treaty with Damascus allowing Moscow to keep its military forces in Syria indefinitely. Russia also announced that it would be flying bomber patrols close to U.S. military bases in the Pacific, while a spokesman said Russia is considering reopening its bases in Cuba and Vietnam.
And in the U.S. Friday morning, Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia and Syria should be investigated for possible war crimes. In the afternoon, other top U.S. officials officially blamed Russia for the hack of the Democratic National Committee and other related political organizations.
All this came a day after a Russian military spokesman said U.S. warplanes could be shot down over Syria if they strike government forces, and just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled out of an agreegment to destroy weapons-grade plutonium.
Experts in U.S.-Russian relations say the events are the fruit of failed diplomacy, yet President Obama has no chance of making things right before leaving office in January. So it will all be up to his successor.
Because of its time as a world power, the U.S. has forgotten how to do diplomacy and weigh what it is willing to give up in exchange for what it wants, which is especially problematic as it continues to butt heads with Russia around the world.
"We're used to the notion that we just tell other countries what we want. If they don't do it, we punish them in some way," said Matthew Rojansky, an analyst with the Wilson Center. "That's not an option with Russia."
Asked what he'd advise the Obama administration to do to take the first steps toward these kinds of negotiations with Russia, Rojansky said it's too late for Obama to make any impact in this arena.
Because of the short amount of time left in Obama's term, Putin will negotiate much harder with Obama than with the next commander in chief because he knows that time is not on Obama's side, according to experts.
"I think that's going to be really really hard," Boris Zilberman, the deputy director of congressional relations at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said of Obama making progress in the Russian relationship. "I don't think the Russians take him seriously."
That means it'll be up to either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton to solve this issue. While both candidates have presented ideas with respect to Russia that "do not sound like comprehensive, well-thought-out policies," Rojansky said he is confident the next president will have a Russia strategy "because we don't have another choice."
After Russian lawmakers approved the treaty with Syria to allow Russian forces to stay indefinitely in the country, Reuters reported that Russia has built up its presence in Syria, including more troops, planes and advanced missile systems, since the U.S.-brokered cease-fire fell apart late last month.
It's not just the Middle East where Russia is increasing its presence. Russia is reportedly expanding its bomber patrols in the Pacific near U.S. bases in Hawaii, Guam and Japan. The Russian military is also considering reopening its Soviet-era bases in Cuba and Vietnam, two places it pulled out of in 2001 to improve relations with the United States, the Associated Press reported. Without offering specifics, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov told Russian lawmakers the ministry is "reviewing" the decision to leave.
Rojansky said that if the wants to repair the situation, it must first accept that Russia is not its friend and that it cannot beat Russia into submission. Then, American officials must look at what they really want, such as an end to the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
If so, it's time for the U.S. to offer up something Russia wants that is less important to the U.S. than the humanitarian crisis that is seeing thousands being slaughtered. Some options are relief from sanctions or input into the European security process, Rojansky said.
"We can't care equally about everything, that's a fallacy," he said, noting that because of the American position of power, it has not had to undertake this kind of diplomacy in a long time. "So I think there are deals to be made, there is diplomacy to be done, but we have to start from a rational premise."
Zilberman also urged the next administration to not back down on its words, pointing to both Obama's red line about using chemical weapons in Syria that had no follow-through and to Kerry's call to the Russians days after vowing to end talks.J.J. Abrams has released the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and now that we're done screaming and crying all at once, we're ready to break this thing down. Behold our shot-for-shot, spoiler- and speculation-filled dissection of the new Star Wars trailer.
Warning: a lot of the links have unconfirmed spoilers in them. And there will be mild spoiler talk in this breakdown.
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Trailer starts with a narrator saying, "There's been an awakening… Have you felt it?"
Is that Benedict Cumberbatch? That certainly sounds like his dragon voice. Does this mean BC is in the new Star Wars movie? Or is that new character played by Max von Sydow? It sounds more like Cumberbatch, but Sydow is actually confirmed to be in this movie. But... it sounds like Cumberbatch. We've reached out for confirmation, will let you know. UPDATE: WAIT it might be Andy Serkis which makes sense as Andy Serkis was actually cast in this movie. And now it's confirmed. That's Andy Serkis.
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Up pops a very sweaty John Boyega, and OH MY GOD HE'S WEARING A STORMTROOPER SUIT. We're in. In. In. In. Why? Because here is a character in a stormtrooper suit who doesn't have the silly CG face of Boba Fett plastered onto his head. (UPDATE: Apologies, I meant Jango Fett.) This is real; this is tangible. And look at that suit, it's scuffed! It's dirty! This is the dirty, broken future world that we remember from the days of New Hope past.
But that's just projecting; let's get to the facts. And the facts are John Boyega is scared, or upset. He turns around like he doesn't know where he is (in a desert) and breathes heavily. Did he feel the tremor that the narrator was referencing? Is that what happened? Why is he in this get-up? Is Boyega a stormtrooper? Does this mean fractions of the Empire's forces are still operating? Or is he pretending to be a stormtrooper? Or have the suits been repurposed for something else? We have no idea. The rumor mill on this character is that he's the central hero (along with Daisy Ridley) and starting the teaser with his face could be bolstering that suspicion. But in the end, it is all just suspicion. However, we do know for a fact that Attack the Block (which starred Boyega) is amazing and he was amazing in it and we are all better people for having Boyega in this movie because he is a talented actor.
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HOLD THE PHONE. 00:23-:25 That sounds like an Imperial Probe Droid. No seriously, go back and listen.
Next is a new robot of some kind. It is ultra adorable. This is very similar to an artist's concept of unconfirmed droid concept art that has been floating around. It's a ball with a split in the middle so the head can be propped up while the droid rolls around. Allegedly, this little thing belongs to Daisy Ridley's character. But more on her later. Also, it's making this wonderful little Star Wars beep beep booop noise.
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NEW FUCKING STORMTROOPER HELMETS. *PASSES OUT*
Olly Moss makes an interesting point...
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Could the one in the middle be Boyega?
Cut to a blurry image of an armed stormtrooper holding what looks like a blaster. Clearly, director J.J. Abrams isn't ready to give up his new blaster concept just yet. So maybe we shall see an upgrade from the standard, E-11 blaster rifle.
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And getting ready to...take the beach? This amount of armed stormtroopers, getting ready to run out and seemingly kick some rebel ass on this transport drop implies a whole list of things. Perhaps the teaser is implying that the Empire is not down, and certainly not done. If they still have the manpower and firepower, why would they be? Not every single soldier and general had to be aboard the Death Star in Return of the Jedi. The revolution may not be over. Even 30 years later (when Star Wars: The Force Awakens picks up), the fight is still very much on. Earlier rumors suggest that one scene in Episode 7 depicts a group of stormtroopers burning down a village, could this be that assault?
On to another new character, meet Daisy Ridley. She's rumored to be playing a character named Kira which is 100% not confirmed, but that hasn't stopped every single commenter (and ourselves) from calling her that. And while we're kicking around rumors, she's also alleged to be the daughter of Han and Leia. One thing we do know is that this ride she's mounting has been spotted before in leaked concept art, and the presence of this glider kind of corroborates that past art a bit. If you want to check out more shots of the desert planet, look here.
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Like Boyega and the droid, Daisy is also on a desert and planet and—oh hell, it looks just like Tatooine. A lot of rumors have been pushing that this is a NEW desert planet, not Tatooine. But our heart beats Tatooine.
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Plus, we're suspicious of the all the "No it's another planet" rumors. Seems a little thou-doth-protest-too-much.
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UPDATE: Note the goggles on Daisy's head turns out those are salvaged goggles from an old Stormtrooper helmet. That's a neat touch. (via Making Star Wars).
Here's an official high-resolution shot still of Daisy's ride. It just looks great and our hearts are officially working on overdrive right now.
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Another new character! It's Oscar Isaac in a Rebel Alliance wingsuit. It's beautiful. Can anyone read the Aurebesh on his jacket? UPDATE: It's translated!
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Our own James Whitbrook pointed out that the symbol on Oscar's cheek kind of resembles the signage on Biggs Darklighter and Jek Tono Porkins' past uniforms. Could this be a squad sign? Or maybe it's just a scratch.
And oh sweet jesus, new X-Wings. Check out how the X-Wings' S-Foils open. This is clearly a new addition or change (or possibly an upgrade). Remember 30 years have passed, so things change. Plus, you gotta be able to sell new toys.
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The narrator returns and says, "The Dark Side, and the Light." So his message is "There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The Dark Side and the Light." Any guesses as to what that means?
And now this guy. The trailer switches from the desert planet of not Tatooine to a colder place. So far we've only heard of two planets that will be showcased in Episode 7, a desert planet (that is supposedly not Tatooine) and an ice planet. This appears to be the latter.
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The cloaked figure stumbles through the wind and reveals a new lightsaber with a tiny little (and probably very dangerous) crossguard. Note the way the saber crackles, sputters and flickers as it's switched on—this is a sign of shoddy workmanship. Does this mean the lightsaber was cobbled together in secret? Is this person meddling with things they have no idea how to handle?
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Here is the official high-resolution shot of the new saber, so go ahead and start ogling.
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We've seen this lightsaber before, in super freaky concept art showing a masked person holding the lightsaber. There has been A LOT of speculation about the person wielding this weapon, and it is deeply spoilery — so maybe head over here if you want to know more.
At first pass, I thought this might be actor Adam Driver, who has been cast in this movie and is rumored to be the villain. But I'm not so sure anymore.
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CUE THE MOTHERFUCKING JOHN WILLIAMS, IT'S THE MILLENIUM FALCON.
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The MF is back and looking better than ever. Note the desert planet location, and note that she is being attacked by TIE Fighters! This means the Empire (or perhaps its successor) still has massive firepower at their disposal, and that they are still not afraid to attack. Interesting. And oh hell, we're crying again.
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And FYI
And we shall end this with a high-resolution shot of the Millenium Falcon, WITH a brand-new, rectangular radar dish.by Robert Annis
Many racers will spend thousands of dollars on a lighter or more aero bike. But how many are willing to spend a lot less for what could potentially lead to more significant time or power gains?Jonathan Juillerat has been fitting riders for more than 20 years. He runs the Bluegrass Bicycling Company with his wife Tania out of their Brownsburg, Ind., home, and is renowned as one of the best bike-fit experts in the Midwest. He says a proper bike fit may be the best dollar-for-dollar way to increase your performance on the bike.Juillerat says he makes “substantial” changes on most of the bikes he fits. While most of his clientele are enthusiast or casual riders, he has fit many racers over the years. Many of the competitive riders mistakenly set their bikes up in ways they believe will maximize their power or aero profile, but instead result in pain in the knees, back, neck, feet and elsewhere.“Usually it’s a half-dozen or dozen smaller things,” Juillerat said. “The seat might be too high, the saddle angled in a bad way. The rider might be too stretched out and need a shorter stem or the saddle pushed forward more. All of these little things add up and cause various aches and pains that limit your comfort on the bike (and saps your power). … Your body type is ultimately going to determine how we fit your bike.”Before making an appointment with a fitter, ask around your local cycling community about their experiences. After making an appointment from your preferred candidate, find out what you’ll be paying for. Expect to spend at least two hours for your initial fitting.Over the years Indianapolis racer and USA Cycling official Tim Wozniak has undergone six different fits for various bikes. In his experience, the best fitters do a pre-fit interview to understand his riding style, injury history and what he hopes to get out of the fit. From there, the fitters took measurements of both he and his bike and assessed his flexibility. Afterward, they set the bike up on a specially designed trainer, where they observed his riding style and took additional measurements.“As I learned more about fitting over the years, I have been impressed by how complex a process it is to connect the bike to the body, including subtle changes after an injury,” Wozniak said. “My first impression, even after doing some reading on the Internet, was ‘why should it take this long?’ As we got into the process, I appreciated the personalized fitting and goal of (getting things perfect). … Each fitter I’ve worked with has their unique talents and knowledge to fit for a specific aspect or discipline within cycling. For the first set of fittings, I noticed the changes right away, such as the elimination of neck and upper back pain, or improved comfort and performance on the bike. Knowing how subtle the changes were, I was amazed at the large, noticeable differences.”Many fit studios have gone high-tech with their fittings, using the Retül 3D computer-imaging system that allows the rider to keep pedaling throughout the process (instead of stopping at different points while the fitter takes another measurement).“The body engaged in motion is completely different than when the rider stops and attempts to stay in the same position for a measurement,” claims California-based coach Bruce Hendler, adding he believes this allows a quicker and more accurate fit. Wozniak said a 3D fit from Ball State University’s Human Performance Laboratory detected a wobble in his hip motion (it should have been flat and not moving up and down), as well as an over-extension of his left leg during the downstroke of his pedaling. Based on the data, fitter Jeff Frame added cleat wedges to Wozniak’s shoes, as well as a lift spacer between the shoe and cleat on his left foot. Those simple additions eliminated Wozniak’s previously undiagnosed problems, not only resulting in a smoother pedaling motion, but also a 20-watt power increase.Expect to pay at least $200 for a professional fit. Look for a shop or studio that offers lifetime fits and adjustments. If you switch out equipment (say a new bar or perhaps a new type of shoe), are coming back from an injury or just feel you need a little tweak, it’s always worthwhile to check in with your fitter. It can take up to six months or more to dial in the perfect fit, Juillerat claims, although you should be able to notice significant improvements after the first session.“It’s amazing what your body can do when you’re not devoting so much mental energy fighting discomfort,” Juillerat said.Google’s little Chromecast dongle is pretty awesome. The device plugs into the HDMI port on any HDTV or monitor and instantly gives users access to movies, TV shows, videos, music, photos and more that can be streamed from any Android device. Best of all, perhaps, the Chromecast is wonderfully inexpensive at just $29.99.
For a limited time, however, Amazon is making Google’s Chromecast an even better value by offering a deal that really may be too good to pass up.
DON’T MISS: Windows 10: The 5 best new features
The Google Chromecast has been a best-seller in the electronics category on Amazon since the day it launched. If you haven’t pulled the trigger yet, however, your patience is about to pay off.
From now through 11:59 p.m. PDT time on August 9th, Amazon is offering shoppers a free $10 Amazon gift card with the purchase of a new Chromecast dongle. The Chromecast is also eligible for free Prime shipping, further sweetening this great deal.
To take advantage of the sale, simply visit this link and add both the Chromecast and the $10 Amazon gift card to your shopping cart. When you check out, the total will be just $29.99.
The offer is only good while supplies last — though there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of Chromecasts — and remember, it ends on August 9th.
Get the Chromecast and free $10 Amazon gift card dealOne of the films screening at the Cinematheque is The Iron Mask (1929), directed by the prolific Allan Dwan, an innovative filmmaker Kehr rates as "second only to D. W. Griffith in the development of the narrative film in the United States". The musketeers in Iron Mask. Credit:Philippa Hawker It is based on Alexandre Dumas' tales of The Three Musketeers, and it has many elements of transformation and farewell. It was one of the last major roles of the silent star Douglas Fairbanks Sr, and it was made on the cusp of the sound era. Part way into production, as the filmmakers saw the success of the new "talking pictures", they decided to add a music and sound effects track, as well as three passages in which Fairbanks could be heard speaking. These sound elements were lost until recently, when a collector in California found the original discs for the Vitaphone process. They matched up with the original negative that Fairbanks himself had given MOMA in the 1930s. This relatively straightforward restoration "brings the film back to pretty much what people saw and heard when they went to the film in 1929", Kehr says. The sound was cleaned up a little, but "it's not tricked up to sound like a contemporary movie. When you do restoration work, you try to get as close as possible to what the filmmaker intended – of course, while using modern digital technology and restoration techniques".
The other restored film he is screening is Raoul Walsh's Wild Girl, 1932, "which was acquired by the museum when 20th Century Fox decided that they were going to throw away all their old nitrate prints back in the Seventies". Wild Girl, 1932, will screen as part of the Cinematheque. Credit:Philippa Hawker One of MOMA's current restoration projects is Rosita (1923), the American debut of the great German director Ernst Lubitsch, who went on to have a long career in Hollywood. The film was a critical and commercial hit, but its star, Mary Pickford, turned against it "for reasons that are still mysterious to me, after all the research I've done," Kehr says. She was a good archivist of her own films, but the print of Rosita was the only one that she allowed to disintegrate. What appears to be the only surviving print was found in the Moscow Film Archives in the 1970s. It has Russian intertitles: one of the next tasks for MOMA will be to reconstruct the intertitles, using, among other things, Russian, German and Swedish sources, and an incomplete music cue sheet. Dave Kehr.
MOMA's film archive was founded in 1935, and is the oldest in the world. A visionary British critic and curator, Iris Barry, was its first curator, and she amassed a remarkable collection of prints. It is nevertheless a relatively small archive compared to the Library of Congress and the UCLA Film &Television Archive, Kehr says. It has the resources to work on around 10 restoration projects a year. "We have to raise separate funding for each one, so there are lot of different priorities, and tough choices to be made", often taking into account matters such as urgency and overall cost. And priorities aren't always obvious. "One of the things you learn as an archivist is that if it's not to your taste, it doesn't mean that someone in 10, 20 or 30 years from now won't find it interesting." At the same time, he worries about the audiences for some of the films MOMA has in its collection. "More and more we are going to be the monks in the Dark Ages for the next little while," he says. It seems to him that there is a waning interest in what is regarded as the classic period of Hollywood filmmaking. His cut-off point for this is around 1980, when directors from that earlier period were making their final movies and the new generation of Coppola and Scorsese had "fundamentally changed the aesthetic of American film". He doesn't understand why people have lost interest in the precursors of the new generation. "I'm really kind of amazed that it all changed so quickly," he says, so that when he gives talks at universities, there are often students who don't know who Howard Hawks is, or even Humphrey Bogart. But he's also clear about the archivist's mission. "We have to hold on, protect, and wait for it to be discovered again." The Iron Mask and Wild Girl screen at the Melbourne Cinematheque at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image on Wednesday, April 22. The Iron Mask screens in Sydney at the AFTRs Theatre, in the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park, on Thursday, April 23. Dave Kehr will speak at both screenings. melbournecinematheque.orgIf you’ve managed to pick your jaw up off the floor, Flash producer Andrew Kreisberg is here to explain all those shocking twists and turns.
Spoilers ahead for the Season 1 finale of The CW’s Flash!
Wow. Just, wow. That was one heck of a season finale, and let it never be said Team Flash don’t know how to up the stakes. Big time. Just when it seemed like Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanaugh) was poised to take out Barry and everyone he loves, Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett) makes the ultimate sacrifice to erase his great-great-great |
, the Devil is derived in part from Eliphas Levi's famous illustration "Baphomet" in his Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855). In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Devil has harpy feet, ram horns, bat wings, a reversed pentagram on the forehead, a raised right hand and a lowered left hand holding a torch. He squats on a square pedestal. Two naked human demons (one male, one female) with tails stand chained to the pedestal. Levi's Baphomet has bat wings, goat horns, a raised right hand, lowered left hand, breasts and a torch on his head, and also combines human and animal features. Many modern Tarot decks portray the Devil as a satyr-like creature. According to Waite, the Devil is standing on an altar.[1] He is actually perched on a half-altar, or a half a cube, which shows he only knows half the story - the sensory half. Because of this, he can not make an informed decision.[2]
In pre-Eliphas Levi Tarot decks like the Tarot of Marseille, the devil is portrayed with breasts, a face on the belly, eyes on the knees, lion feet and male genitalia. He also has bat-like wings, antlers, a raised right hand, a lowered left hand and a staff. Two creatures with antlers, hooves and tails are bound to his round pedestal.
Le Diable, from the early eighteenth century, from the early eighteenth century Tarot of Marseilles by Jean Dodal.
The card represents: Being seduced by the material world and physical pleasures; lust for and an obsession with money and power. Also: Living in fear, domination and bondage; being caged by an overabundance of luxury; discretion should be used in personal and business matters.Livermore Lab justifies big laser project LIVERMORE
In a dry California valley, outside a small town, a cathedral of light is to be dedicated Friday. Like the cathedrals of antiquity, it is built on an unrivaled scale with unmatched technology, and it embodies a scientific doctrine that, if confirmed, might lift civilization to new heights.
"Bringing Star Power to Earth," reads a giant banner that was recently unfurled across a building the size of a football stadium in Livermore.
The $3.5 billion site is known as the National Ignition Facility, or NIF. For more than half a century, physicists have dreamed of creating tiny stars that would inaugurate an era of bold science and cheap energy, and NIF is meant to kindle that blaze.
In theory, the facility's 192 lasers - made of nearly 60 miles of mirrors and fiber optics, crystals and light amplifiers - will fire as one to pulverize a fleck of hydrogen fuel smaller than a match head. Compressed and heated to temperatures hotter than those of the core of a star, the hydrogen atoms will fuse into helium, releasing bursts of thermonuclear energy.
The project's director, Ed Moses, said that getting to the cusp of ignition (defined as the successful achievement of fusion) had taken some 7,000 workers and 3,000 contractors a dozen years, their labors creating a precision colossus of millions of parts and 60,000 points of control, 30 times as many as on the space shuttle.
"It's the cathedral story," Moses said during a tour. "We put together the best physicists, the best engineers, the best of industry and academia. It's not often you get that opportunity and pull it off."
In February, NIF fired its 192 beams into its target chamber for the first time, and it now has the world's most powerful laser, as well as the largest optical instrument ever built. But raising its energies still further to the point of ignition could take a year or more of experimentation and might, officials concede, prove daunting and perhaps impossible.
For that reason, skeptics dismiss NIF as a colossal delusion that is squandering precious resources at a time of economic hardship. Just operating it, officials grant, will cost $140 million a year. Some doubters ridicule it as the National Almost Ignition Facility, or NAIF.
Even friends of the effort are cautious. "They've made progress," said Roy Schwitters, a University of Texas physicist who leads a federal panel that recently assessed NIF's prospects. "Ignition may eventually be possible. But there's still much to learn."
Moses, while offering no guarantees, argued that any great endeavor involved risks and that the gamble was worth it because of the potential rewards.
He said that NIF, if successful, would help keep the nation's nuclear arms reliable without underground testing, would reveal the hidden life of stars and would prepare the way for radically new kinds of power plants.
"If fusion energy works," he said, "you'll have, for all intents and purposes, a limitless supply of carbon-free energy that's not geopolitically sensitive. What more would you want? It's a game changer."
NIF is to fire its lasers for 30 years.
Like the dedication of a cathedral, the event Friday at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is to be a celebration of hope. Officials say some 3,500 people will attend. The big names include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Energy Secretary Steven Chu (whose agency finances NIF) and Charles Townes, a Nobel laureate and laser pioneer.
In preparation, workmen washed windows and planted flowers on the lush campus, the day auspiciously sunny.
Moses, who runs science programs for high school students in his spare time, broke from his own preparations to show a visitor the NIF complex.
In its lobby, he held up a device smaller than a postage stamp. This is where it all starts, he said. From this kind of tiny laser, beams emerge that grow large and bright during their long journey through NIF's maze of mirrors, lenses and amplifiers.
The word laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. And each particle of light, or photon, is amplified, Moses said, to "around 10 to the 25th" photons. Or, "10 million, million, million, million."
A nearby stand held a thick slab of pink glass about the size of a traffic sign - an example of an amplifier. NIF has 3,200 in all. Moses said the big step occurred when giant flash tubes - like ones in cameras but 6 feet long and 7,680 in number - flashed in unison to excite the pink glass. Laser photons then zip through, stimulating cascades of offspring, making the beam much stronger, such amplification happening over and over.
Photons moving in step with one another is what makes laser light so bright and concentrated and, in some instances, so potent.
Moses picked up a mock capsule of hydrogen fuel. It was all of 2 millimeters wide, or less than a tenth of an inch.
"It heats up," he said. "It blows in at a million miles an hour, moving that way for about five-billionths of a second. It gets to about the diameter of your hair. When it gets that small, that fast, you hit temperatures where it can start fusing - around 100 million degrees centigrade, or 180 million degrees Fahrenheit."
Hairnets, hard hats and safety goggles were donned before entering NIF proper. Repeated steps on sticky pads pulled dirt from shoes. Dust is NIF's bane, Moses said. It can ruin optics and experiments. He said the 33-foot-wide target chamber was evacuated to a near-vacuum, much the same as outer space - a void where light can zip along with almost no impediments.
Moses said the team fired the laser only at night and did maintenance and equipment upgrades during the day. "This is a 24/7 facility," he said.
The previous night, he said, the laser had been fired in an effort to improve coordination and timing. The 192 rays have to strike the target as close to simultaneously as possible.
The individual beams, he said, have to hit "within a few trillionths of a second" of one another if the fuel is to burn, and be pointed at the target with a precision "within half the diameter of your hair."
The control room, modeled on NASA's mission control in Houston, was buzzing with activity, even though some consoles sat empty. Phones rang. Walkie-talkies crackled. The countdown to firing the lasers, Moses said, took 3 1/2 hours, with the process "pretty much in the hands of computers."
The operations plan for NIF, he added, is to conduct 700 to 1,000 laser firings per year, with about 200 of the experiments focused on ignition. There is no danger of a runaway blast, he said. Fusion works by heat and pressure, not chain reactions. Moreover, the fuel is minuscule and the laser flash extraordinarily short. During a year of operations, Moses said, "the facility is on for only three-thousandths of a second," yet will generate a growing cascade of data and insights.
Next on the tour, after more sticky pads, was the holy of holies, the room surrounding the target chamber. It looked like an engine room out of a science-fiction starship. The beam lines - now welters of silvery metal filled with giant crystals that shifted the concentrated light to higher frequencies - converged on the chamber's blue wall. Its surface was dotted with silvery portholes where complex sensors could be placed to evaluate the tiny blasts.
"When it's running," Moses said, "there's a lot of stuff at the chamber's center."
Despite the giant banner outside and its confident prediction, it is an open question whether NIF's sensors will ever detect the rays of a tiny star, independent scientists say.
"I personally think it's going to be a close call," said William Happer, a physicist at Princeton University who directed federal energy research for the first President George Bush. "It's a very complicated system, and you're dependent on many things working right."
Happer said a big issue for NIF was achieving needed symmetries at minute scales. "There's plenty of room," he added, "for nasty surprises."
Doubters say past troubles may be a prologue. When proposed in 1994, the giant machine was to cost $1.2 billion and be finished by 2002. But costs rose and the completion date kept getting pushed back, so much so that Congress threatened to pull the plug. Today, critics see the delays and the $3.5 billion price tag as signs of overreaching.
Moses, who was put in charge of NIF a decade ago in an effort to right the struggling project, said that a decade from now, as NIF opened new frontiers, no one would remember the missteps. He compared the project to feats like going to the moon, building the atom bomb and inventing the airplane.
"Stumbles are not unusual when you take on big-risk projects," he said.
Moses added that the stumble rule applied to cathedrals as well.
Having grown up in Eastchester, close to New York City, he noted that the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, was still under construction after more than a century. Is it worthwhile, despite the delays?
"Of course it is," he said. Taking on big projects that challenge the imagination "is who we are as a species."Hall of Famer Mike Ditka in-studio before Eagles-Bears MNF Game on Monday, Sept. 19
Photos via ESPN Images
Chris Berman and ESPN will welcome NFL legends to Monday Night Countdown throughout the 2016 NFL season. Beginning this week, the Monday Night Football pregame (6 p.m. ET) will feature a special guest who will join Berman for the entire two-hour show at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios to talk football and preview the MNF game.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka, who led the Chicago Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX and was part of ESPN’s Countdown shows with Berman from 2004-2015, will be the first guest in the series. He will join Berman on Monday, Sept. 19, in advance of ESPN’s Eagles vs. Bears MNF game.
“Having these football greats in the studio sharing their stories, as well as insights on today’s games will be a dream-come-true for me, more importantly for our viewers,” said Berman. “They forgot more football than the rest of us remember. This will be nothing short of Christmas every Monday night.”
Added Seth Markman, ESPN senior coordinating producer, NFL studio shows: “We have some of the biggest names in the history of pro football coming to Bristol this season to talk football and share stories with Chris Berman. It’s going to be a lot of fun and a great addition to our weekly Monday Night Countdown pregame.”
Upcoming Monday Night Countdown guests include (subject to change):
Date Special NFL Legend Guest MNF Game Sept. 19 Mike Ditka Hall of Fame player/coach and Super Bowl champion Eagles vs. Bears Sept. 26 Michael Irvin Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion Falcons vs. Saints Oct. 3 Joe Theismann Washington Redskins Super Bowl champion Giants vs. Vikings Oct. 10 Dick Vermeil St. Louis Rams Super Bowl champion head coach Buccaneers vs. Panthers Oct. 17 Joe Namath N.Y. Jets Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion Jets vs. Cardinals
Other guests planned for the remainder of the season include Buffalo Bills Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith and Washington Redskins Super Bowl-winning quarterback Doug Williams.
In addition to Berman’s interviews with the NFL legends, Suzy Kolber hosts coverage of Monday Night Countdown from the site of each week’s Monday Night Football game joined by analysts Trent Dilfer, Matt Hasselbeck, Randy Moss, Charles Woodson and Steve Young. NFL Insiders Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen (currently on medical leave) have the latest news from around the league, and Michelle Beisner-Buck contributes a weekly feature.
-30-Feelings – should we have them? The Conspiracy decides!
This American Life episode about Testosterone
Julia Galef’s presentation on The Straw Vulcan. Also – a text summary of same
Less Wrong article: “Feeling Rational”
Steven Universe is The Best!
Sam Harris speaks with Paul Bloom against empathy
Less Wrong article: “Scope Insensitivity”
“One death is a Tragedy, a million deaths is a Statistic” – Eneasz attributed this to Joseph Stalin, but modern research casts this into doubt. It was first attributed to him by a third-party in 1947, but it’s possible/probable he never actually said those words.
Nonviolent Communication
Kaj Sotala on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Less Wrong article by FiddleMath: “Handling Emotional Appeals“, wherein they ask (among other things) – Can you postpone being moved by an emotional appeal until after making a calm decision about it? Can you somehow otherwise filter for emotional appeals that are highly likely to have positive effects?
The Christian orphanage that wouldn’t accept money from atheists.
Don’t take money from The Templeton Foundation
Eneasz’s brief recap of The Sad/Rabid Puppies vs Worldcon. Also – Salaris’s briefer recap of the same issue received twice as many upvotes, so maybe their’s is better.
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s novella “Three Worlds Collide” (also available in audio form)
Small Pox: 500 Million, But Not a Single One More
It was Andrew Jackson who reportedly said “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” Here’s a fascinating More Perfect podcast episode about the story behind that quote (as well as the US Supreme Court’s ascent to power)
Andrew Jackson beat up his would-be assassin with a cane at 67 years old.Since launching in 2008, Airbnb has absolutely exploded in popularity. It’s posted impressive growth numbers every single year since its early San Francisco beginnings, and despite how ubiquitous the platform already seems, it shows no sign of slowing down. As with any global platform, though, some cities have become vastly more popular than others. The chart below shows the top ten cities with the highest number of Airbnb properties available there.
Topping the list is Paris, where you can choose from 78,000 properties dotted around artistic and trendy Le Marais, diverse and picturesque Belleville, and the rest of the city's twenty arrondissements. The City of Light has plenty of unique options to suit your mood, ranging from whitewashed minimalist studios to spacious artist lofts, with more being added every day. In the three months spanning June 1 to September 1, 2016, Airbnb saw a 20% increase in guest arrivals in Paris and an impressive 80% increase across the rest of France. Those figures firmly secure France's place as Airbnb's second-largest market in the world, trailing only the United States.
Number two on the list is London, which boasts 47,000 Airbnb properties across the city. London has also seen widespread growth in its number of Airbnb properties over the past couple of years, leading to options ranging from a backyard yurt to a Shoreditch hipster haven. After London, four more European cities make the list, as New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Rome, Copenhagen, Sydney and Amsterdam round out the top ten, respectively.
Looking at things from a per capita perspective, the high concentration of Airbnb listings in Paris is astounding, even to those who know the city well. Paris’ 78,000 listings equates to approximately one Airbnb property per every thirty residents, while second-place London’s 47,000 properties works out to one Airbnb property for every two hundred residents. Compare Paris' figures to Shanghai, which has a population approximately ten times greater, and you'd be surprised to learn that Shanghai hasn’t cracked the top ten. In fact, none of the world's twenty largest megalopolises by population—a list which includes Beijing, New Delhi, Istanbul, Tokyo, São Paulo, Mexico City and others—make the top ten here. Clearly, Airbnb has spread through the United States and Europe much more quickly than it has Asia, Africa and beyond.
If ever William Gibson’s famed line jumps to mind, it's here and now. “The future is already here—it’s just not very evenly distributed.”
Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)The Canada-U.S. border is unlikely to see any thickening under president-elect Donald Trump despite the Republican's protectionist campaign rhetoric, former American security czar Tom Ridge said Tuesday.
While Trump's views on Mexican migrants and Syrian refugees appeared to be sharply at odds with Canada's approach, Ridge said Canada needs to take a deep breath and wait to see what actually emerges from a Trump administration.
Ridge, appointed as first Homeland Security secretary in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, was fiercely critical of the campaigning Trump, denouncing his "bumper-sticker approach" to policy and a bombastic tone that "reflects the traits of a bully."
Now that the campaign is over, Ridge said he hoped Trump would "substantially alter his approach" to borders.
"There's always a difference between the political rhetoric and actually the governing posture that he takes," Ridge told The Canadian Press in an interview.
"There'll be strong and countervailing influences on some of these issues within the legislative branch as well."
But one Canadian diplomat, Doug George, consul general to Detroit, wasn't so sure the road ahead will be smooth.
"Protectionism and anti-trade sentiment have been pervasive throughout the election cycle," George told a Toronto conference on public private partnerships, where he was a last-minute stand-in for Canada's ambassador to Washington.
"We do not anticipate this sentiment will wane."
George cited "Buy American" legislation in the U.S., noting that such provisions are "politically popular."
Still, Ridge said it's important to watch who Trump appoints to his cabinet before drawing any conclusions about policy directions.
One thing is certain, he said, Trump won't be building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico as he famously pledged to do during the campaign.
"Let's not be so arrogant to think that everybody who crosses our border from the south wants to be a citizen," Ridge said. "We're not going to build the wall."
Either way, he said, Trump's pronouncements have tended to be about the border with Mexico, not with Canada. He also suggested the U.S.'s northern border could be a model for Trump.
'Make Canada first visit'
Any thickening of the northern border in particular would be a "huge mistake" given the critical relationship Canada and the United States have, he said.
"If you want to look at a relationship that has proven to be very sensitive to the needs of both countries, and the culture of both countries, take a look at the Canada-U.S. border."
One piece of advice he would offer the incoming president is to make Canada the destination for his first foreign visit.
"There's a very unique and very special relationship and I would hope at the very outset that he recognizes that with his first foreign trip," Ridge said. "That would be very important for both countries."
Trump might also want to dust off and revive the "smart border accord" he and former deputy prime minister John Manley forged years ago, Ridge said.
The former governor who now runs a cybersecurity company was in Toronto for a conference at which he warned of the increasing threat to critical public and private infrastructure posed by hackers from foreign states such as China as well as from organized crime.The report, the result of several months of interagency legal policy deliberations, reads like a legal brief that the Justice Department might file if detainees were brought to a prison on American soil and a lawyer for one of them sought a judicial order freeing his client.
“There are a number of statutory provisions that should render Guantánamo detainees relocated to the United States inadmissible under the immigration laws,” it said. “Such inadmissible aliens should generally have a limited set of statutory and constitutional rights, even when they are physically present in the United States.”
It added that for such people detained as wartime prisoners, “any arguably applicable constitutional provisions should be construed consistent with the individuals’ status as detainees held pursuant to the laws of war, and the government’s national security and foreign policy interests and judgments should be accorded great weight and deference by the courts.”
The report works through a series of legal defenses the government would muster, including that the laws of war permit the indefinite detention of such prisoners and do not make them eligible to invoke immigration or asylum law. And even if a court nevertheless ruled that the prisoners were able to invoke those laws, it says, they restrict the release of noncitizens who are deemed potential threats to public safety or who may have committed serious crimes abroad.
The hardest question raised by detention law is what should happen if a judge orders a detainee freed because the laws of war no longer permit his detention — either because the armed conflict is over or because the facts do not support the conclusion that he was an enemy fighter — but he cannot legally be repatriated because it is more likely than not that his home country’s government would torture him."Non-vegetarian mark" redirects here. Both the marks are included in one article to avoid duplication, since other than for the color of the marks, all information associated with them is the same. "Green dot (India)" and "Brown dot" redirect here.
Vegetarian and non-vegetarian marks The green dot symbol (left) identifies lacto-vegetarian food, and the brown dot symbol (right) identifies non-lacto-vegetarian food. Warning: Someone who is color blind may get confused. Effective region India Effective since 2006[1] Product category Packaged food products Legal status Mandatory Mandatory since 2011[1]
Packaged food products sold in India are required to be labelled with a mandatory mark in order to be distinguished between lacto-vegetarian and non-lacto-vegetarian.[1] The symbol is in effect following the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Act of 2006, and got a mandatory status after the framing of the respective regulations (Food Safety and Standards [Packaging and Labelling] Regulation) in 2011.[1] According to the law, vegetarian food should be identified by a green symbol and non-vegetarian food with a brown symbol.[1]
Restaurants use voluntary Vegan Friendly mark to denote availability of vegan options. Packaged food manufacturers also use a variation of Vegan Friendly mark for their vegan offerings.
See also [ edit ]Police recovered Rs 20 lakh which the con men had extorted from the family. The cops are probing the role the role of an insider or a distant relative who may have told the men about the cash in the house (Photo grab from video provided by RWA)
For six men, it was a near-perfect con plan that went horribly wrong.
Posing as income tax officials, the plan was to cheat a businessman’s family and flee with their cash and jewellery. On Sunday, in a vehicle bearing the Haryana government’s sticker, the six alleged con men knocked at the door of a south Delhi businessman.
With the air of importance that usually surrounds officers on government duty, the men first took away the cell phones of the businessman’s family members, warning them that the I-T team was there to investigate a charge of tax evasion worth over Rs 20 crore.
The men would have succeeded in their plan too had a family member of the businessman not found their behaviour suspicious and raised an alarm. A crowd of around 150 locals soon gathered outside the trader’s house and the fake I-T sleuths were nabbed, roughed up, interrogated, made to apologise and later handed over to the police.
The incident was reported from Malviya Nagar on Sunday around 9am. Family members told police that the six men had come in a Tata Safari car that had a Haryana government’s sticker fixed on the windscreen. CCTV footage recovered from the colony showed one of their associates in a Honda City car waiting outside the house.
At around 9.05am, the men, some of them carrying files, knocked at the door of Ramesh Chand, a Malviya Nagar-based businessmen dealing in electronic goods. The men then took away the mobile phones of the family members alleging that they had come on government duty to investigate a tax evasion charge of Rs 20 crores.
Eyewitness Sanjeev Rao, also RWA president, who was recently appointed a police mitra (civilians appointed to help the police) told HT, “I live next to their house. As I was stepping out, Chand’s daughter told me about some men whom they suspected were posing as I-T officials. I entered the house and saw those men. I asked them for their identity cards and they flashed a laminated identity card, which seemed fake,” said Rao.
The ID card, which police later seized, shows the accused Mitesh Kumar, was posing as an assistant commissioner with the central board of direct tax in the finance ministry.
At one place on Kumar’s identity card, the word neck was spelt as ‘nack’.
Rao told HT that he called I-T department to check if they were involved in any such raid. Rao said no I-T department officer confirmed the raid.
“By the time I was questioning them, a crowd of at least 100-150 residents had gathered outside the house. Some of them even entered the house and thrashed the men. We called the police, interrogated them and handed them over to the police.”
Chinmoy Biswal, additional deputy commissioner of police (south), confirmed that all the six men posed as fake income tax officers. The accused were identified as Mitesh Kumar, Naunhyal, Yogesh Kumar, Govind Sharma, Amit Aggarwal and Parvinder. Parvinder, police said, was posing as the driver of the group. A seventh accused, Gaurav, was waiting outside the house in a car and managed to flee.
DCP Biswal said that police recovered Rs 20 lakh in cash from the Tata Safari car that they had extorted from the family.
Police said they are probing the role the role of an insider or a distant relative who may have told the men about the cash in the house. Though police denied the men were I-T officials, they are probing if the men have worked in the I-T department in the past.
First Published: Sep 18, 2017 12:59:090 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
According to the USO, in the history of television no one has ever done a week of shows from a combat zone that is until Steven Colbert announced on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report that he is taking his show to the Persian Gulf. Colbert’s announcement is great news for the troops who get too little live entertainment.
Here is the funny video of Colbert’s announcement:
Colbert’s bit in the video above about not being allowed to disclose where he will be filming is actually true. Here is the official announcement,”The Colbert Report will be the first TV show in USO history to produce more than one episode in a combat zone. As part of the tour, the series will shoot a week of shows at an undisclosed location to be broadcast on COMEDY CENTRAL (dates TBA).” This is a terrific idea not only for Colbert’s show but for the troops.
It is no big secret that celebrities have gone on USO tours to meet the troops, but few of them, except for comedians, have gone to entertain the troops. The USO has struggled to get top talent to go the Gulf. So far in 2009, the biggest singer that the USO has featured has been James Taylor, and he didn’t go to the Persian Gulf. The NFL tour is scheduled to be there in 2009, Gary Sinese and the Lt. Dan Band will be there. In fact, most of the acts listed on their schedule are not going to the Gulf. Trace Adkins and Toby Keith were the biggest singers to perform for the troops in the Gulf last year.
This is why Colbert’s taping in the Gulf is such a big deal. The WWE is the other big entertainment event that has made a yearly tradition out of going to the Gulf. I don’t mean to demean anyone who takes the times to go meet the troops, but as far as actual entertainment goes the USO slate has been pretty weak over last couple of years. We all know that it is dangerous in Iraq and especially Afghanistan, but don’t the people who are serving over there deserve a little quality entertainment? I am sure that Colbert will put on a heck of a show, but it would be nice if more entertainers followed his lead.
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:Shiv Sena workers on Monday were seen tearing banners of Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's concert which is scheduled to be held on April 30.
A Shiv Sena worker said that it was very condemnable that Pakistani artists are coming to India when the country is suffering from various problems like drought, etc. "There is a problem of drought here. There are so many problems in the country. It is very condemnable that in such a situation Pakistani artists are coming," he said.
"The Shiv Sena is opposed to Pakistani artists coming to India. The people, who are business-concerned, are calling these artists for their motives. We will attack all artists if they come. We will tear all posters of him," he added.
The Shiv Sena workers had on Friday staged a protest against Pakistani ghazal singer Ustad Ghulam Ali in Varanasi. Holding placards in their hands, the protestors took to the streets and raised slogans against the Pakistani singer.
Ghulam Ali is expected perform at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple in Varanasi during the inaugural day of an annual music concert beginning on April 26. The performance by Ali, who had participated in the concert last year as well, will be preceded by classical singer Pandit Vishwanath.Welcome to YouTube Millionaires, where we profile channels that have recently crossed the one million subscriber mark. There are channels crossing this threshold every week, and each has a story to tell about YouTube success. Read previous installments of YouTube Millionaires here.
For Steven Suptic, the “alternative lifestyle” is the way to live. That descriptor, delivered with eye-winking humor, serves as the tagline for Sugar Pine 7, a project Suptic has focused on since leaving his previous gig at SourceFed and linking up with Rooster Teeth earlier in 2017. On its surface, Sugar Pine 7 appears to be a standard vlog channel, but watch any of its videos long enough and you’ll discover both its satirical nature and its absurd characters. Beyond Suptic, the Sugar Pine 7 cast includes Clayton “Cib” James, James DeAngelis, and Autumn Farrell. Dive into their adventures, and you’ll discover a world where anything goes — so long as it’s sufficiently irreverent.
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers on your channel? What do you have to say to your fans?
Steven Suptic: We haven’t had much time to really even think about it. It hasn’t exactly set in for us yet, but we’re grateful to everyone watching and allowing us to make videos we’re truly proud of.
TF: How would you define an “alternative lifestyle” vlog for someone new to your channel?
SS: I would describe our version of Alternative Lifestyle as: Freeze-frame narrated, hyper-surrealistic, improv-based comedy that uses the vlog format as a vehicle to promote a character-driven story. Or just shitty videos, that works too.
TF: How did the members of Sugar Pine 7 come together?
SS: 5 years ago I stumbled into a house during a convention and a naked man was lying in bed, ass out, dead asleep. He later became my best friend Cib. I met James when I hosted at SourceFed. He was a smaller man. One I had little interest in. Eventually, he proved his worth during a conversation about the Dakota Access Pipeline and we bonded over inequality. I found Autumn on Craigslist — sorry — at SourceFed as well.
TF: It’s my understanding that your videos are improvised. Why have you opted for a less “scripted” approach?
SS: There’s something about shooting the shit without a script that allows for a more organic and authentic experience. The funniest moments happen off camera, but doing improv each scene allows us to catch some of those moments.
TF: What’s the most unusual message you’ve received from a fan so far?
SS: Cib got a crayon-drawn letter of him and a little black boy holding hands that said “This was us, why did you leave?”
TF: What strategies do you use to weave real-life events into videos that otherwise seem to take place in their own little universe?
SS: We think about 2 things usually: Vlog-esque ideas and storylines. We know where we want to go with the story, but the hard part is fitting it into a vlog format to be more approachable to the YouTube audience. After those 2 ideas are set, we’ll bulletpoint potential ‘bits’ and the rest is left to THE SKYBRIDGE CHANCELLOR.
TF: Is there anyone/anything in particular that Sugar Pine 7 is satirizing within its videos?
SS: We’re indirectly satirizing both vlogging and the LA lifestyle. We’re satirizing vlogging because we take the “people care about our lives so we’ll film every waking moment of them” aspect and intercut that with stories that have been created solely for entertainment. We’re satirizing the LA lifestyle by embracing it full throttle and hating how much we love it.
TF: Given that many members of Sugar Pine 7 are video game fans, do you see gaming content becoming a bigger part of the channel in the future?
SS: Coming from a gaming background, I’m totally done making consistent gaming videos. However, we’ve filmed a couple bits involving video games, maintaining a similar “alternative lifestyle” vibe and had a lot of fun doing so. If we can do it right, we might do a ‘Rooster Teeth only’ gaming series that will hopefully be true to SP7.
TF: What’s next for your channel? Any fun plans?
SS: I’m a firm believer that if you talk about any big plans you have, you’ll be less likely to commit to them. We have a two year plan right now and are hoping to fund an “off of YouTube” episodic project. If I say any more, I’ll feel like I already completed it. Super big problem that’s plagued me my entire life and I think it’s been the cause to many unfinished projects.EL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired José Calderón and two future second round draft picks from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the draft rights to Ater Majok, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
“Not only is José an elite shooter, he is also an established and versatile player whose skill and professionalism will supplement the talent on our roster,” said Kupchak.
In 11 seasons with the Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks, and New York Knicks, Calderón has averaged 9.9 points, 6.5 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game while shooting 41.2% from three-point range, 47.4% from the field, and 87.5% from the free throw line over 748 games (546 starts). He led the league in three-point shooting percentage (46.1%) during the 2012-13 season and free throw shooting (98.1%) in 2008-09, making 151 of his 154 attempts.
The 6’3’’ native of Spain played domestically in his home country prior to coming to the NBA, and is one of the most decorated international players in his country’s history. He was a member of the gold medal-winning teams at the 2006 World Championships and 2011 European Championships, and owns two Olympic silver medals from the 2012 games in London and 2008 games in Beijing. Calderón was honored with the responsibilities of team captaincy at the 2004 Olympic Games, and also owns medals from the 2013, 2007, and 2003 European Championships.Story highlights Giant panda twins born Monday evening
Last panda twins born in U.S. were in 1987, zoo says
Twins would go on public display in late fall
Fewer than 2,000 giant pandas thought to survive on planet
America has its first panda twins in 26 years.
The tiny pair were born to mother Lun Lun, a 15-year-old giant panda, |
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"There were very few trees to be protected to begin with as a part of the mitigation process that we went through with the hearing examiner and the city and developer and lawyers. To find out that two weren't protected, you might look at that and say that's not a big deal, but really in the scheme of things these are really old growth trees, and we have two that are down," Cynthia Garlough said.
The two trees were big leaf maples, one 18 inches in diameter, the other about a third of that size. Neighbors are glad the city did something. It forced crews to stop work for a few days and pay $100 per tree in fines.
"I didn't know if the city would do that so I was happy to see that," Garlough said.
Garlough has called this a "David and Goliath" battle, as neighbors fought the development company to protect any trees they could.
"Goliath's leash holder, if you will, the city, stepped in and found a mistake and did what they said they were going to do," Garlough said.
Developers will also have to plant 12 new trees on the project site.
Copyright 2017 KINGIsrael has approved the construction of 900 settler homes in East Jerusalem, peace activists have said. It comes less than a day after newly-reelected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of a right-wing coalition government.
The homes will be built in East Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, Peace Now group spokeswoman Hagit Ofran told AFP on Thursday. “They’ve approved the request, and now they’re allowed to build,”she said.
READ MORE: Israel destroys EU-funded West Bank shelter for Palestinians while expanding settlements
It comes five years after the Interior Ministry announced a plan to build 1,600 settler homes in Ramat Shlomo. That 2010 announcement was made during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, sparking American opposition and tensions between Tel Aviv and Washington.
The plan came one step closer to being realized in November 2013, after passing a further stage of approval. But construction was delayed after the planning committee said that new roads must be built before any building could take place, according to Peace Now.
However, Ofran said Thursday that “the plan [for 900 units] has been approved even though they don’t have the roads.”
However the interior ministry has denied that the new units were approved. “The discussion that took place last night was about a technicality for a plan that had already been approved years ago," a spokeswoman told AFP.
The news comes less than a day after Netanyahu made an 11th-hour deal to form a coalition government that will include the far-right Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi) party, which strongly backs settlement building and opposes a Palestinian state.
READ MORE: Settlement rush: Record Israel construction tenders in occupied territories
The pro-settlement stance of the new government – which is expected to be officially sworn in Monday – could worsen Israel's rift with the US and EU.
During his re-election campaign in March, Netanyahu vowed to step up settlement construction in East Jerusalem – a practice that the international community sees as a major hurdle against peace with the Palestinians.
The Israeli-occupied territories have been seeking full Palestinian statehood and independence from Israel for decades. However, despite international criticism, the Israeli government encourages the Jewish population in the West Bank to build new settlements.
More than 500,000 Israelis live in over 120 settlemenLife expectancy in the United States is falling for the first time in nearly thirty years, according to a report released Thursday by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
The average American had a life expectancy of 78.8 years in 2015, a decline of one-tenth of a year from 2014. Male life expectancy fell two-tenths of a year, down from 76.5 years in 2014 to 76.3 years in 2015. Females still live, on average, several years longer than men. Female life expectancy, however, decreased 0.1 year from 81.3 years in 2014 to 81.2 years in 2015. This is the first time since 1993 that life expectancy registered a decline in the U.S.
The causes for declining life expectancy can be traced to the growing list of serious and deepening health concerns in the United States. The top 10 leading causes of death in 2015 remained the same as 2014.
The most deadly health problems facing the American people last year were heart disease, cancer, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Morbidity rates increased for heart disease, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and kidney disease.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. One out of every four deaths in the U.S. is due to heart disease.
Unintentional injuries that result in death are also on the rise, and those include: drug and alcohol overdoses, motor vehicle crashes, and other accidents. Compounding the number of drug-related deaths nationally is a heroin epidemic, with fatalities from heroin more than quadrupling across the U.S. in 2015. Also on the rise are deaths from suicide, the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. Suicides rose from 42,773 in 2014 to 44,193 last year.
The CDC aggregates death certificates filed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and then compiles into national data known as the National Vital Statistics System.
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According to the latest reports, the mosque and the premises have now been sealed off. The decision follows a morning of fierce clashing between various elements and the Israeli police.
During the raid, the Israelis surrounded the compound, detaining two guards and entering through the Chain Gate. Scores of worshipers were inside the mosque at the time.
NOW Sound bombs and gas bombs inside AlQible mosque inside Masjed AlAqsa.. #AlAqsaUnderAttack#Palestinepic.twitter.com/HIfdfyaEBZ — Abbas Sarsour (@iFalasteen) September 13, 2015
Dozens of people were removed, the International Middle East Media Center reports. Meanwhile, all men below the age of 50 were prevented from entering the mosque grounds, as they headed there for Sunday morning prayers. Palestinians responded by throwing stones and fireworks, Israel’s Ynetnews.com reported, adding that several of the worshippers also barricaded themselves inside the mosque.
Reports by the Jerusalem Post indicate the raid was part of a security operation, involving a search for explosives. The police and the Shin Bet security forces earlier received information of a security threat posed by Muslim elements. This led to a city chase, with several masked Arab youths reportedly making their way toward the Al-Aqsa mosque, setting up road blocks on the way, to slow the Israelis down.
The clashes come just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, with celebrations to begin at sunset and continue until Tuesday evening.
Occuption forces firing bombs inside Masjed AlAqsa attacking worshipers and kicked out the AlAqsa guards. pic.twitter.com/HXm9bczply — Abbas Sarsour (@iFalasteen) September 13, 2015
Sonic and gas bombs could be heard, according to eyewitnesses. The masked men targeted by the Israeli forces are reported to be among the worshippers, engaging the police.
RIGHT NOW occuption forces king out Masjed AlAqsa guards... #AlAqsapic.twitter.com/85bCOWcQdq — نور الكيلاني (@mohammad1171991) September 13, 2015
The Al-Aqsa mosque is considered to be the third holiest place of worship for Muslims, with locals fiercely against Jews praying near the Noble Sanctuary, known to Jews as Temple Mount. The site, however, is also considered holy by the Jews, with groups on both sides clashing over it.
Tensions have been boiling for months at the site in Old Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967. Clashes took place in July, as Palestinians threw rocks at Jews trying to visit the site on one of their most important holidays – the Tisha B-Av.
READ MORE: Palestinians clash with Israeli police near Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (VIDEO)
After the 1967 war when Israel captured East Jerusalem, Jews were restricted from praying on the Al-Aqsa plaza. Today, Jewish ultranationalists are pushing Israeli authorities to allow Jewish prayers on the compound outside Al-Aqsa, which stands above the Western Wall, something that irks Jerusalem’s Muslims.
Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often accused of supporting the Jewish ultranationalists. On the Muslims side, however, are the Murabitat and the Murabitun - women's and men's groups, translated as 'the sentinels'. They closely monitor Jews who are allowed, under police guard, to visit the holy site five days of the week. They hurl abuse at them and often throw rocks.
Israel considers the two groups the main cause of tension at the flashpoint site, holy to both religions. The Muslim groups, outlawed on “security” grounds, have been accusing Israelis of trying to change the situation on the ground and give the Jews expanded rights over the holy site.As someone who calls herself a writer, my first inclination in this time of tragedy is to write. I use the word “tragedy” because that’s the mood on my college campus.
Everything was silent this morning. The student union is usually crowded by 9:30 a.m., with students tabling for various causes, waiting in line to get bagels and coffee, cramming before class, or goofing off with friends. This morning, it was almost empty. The few students wandering through on their way to class barely looked each other in the eye. The bagels were untouched. The coffeemakers were full.
I passed through the student union while on the way to office hours with one of my favorite professors. I’ve gone to her office countless times to discuss difficult topics — sexual assault, mental health, an epic LSAT failure — and managed to keep it together. Today, I couldn’t. It felt like nobody could.
Students were teary and red-faced. We weeped in the library. In class. In the dining hall. Walking between buildings. There was even an impromptu panel set up this afternoon so students could come together and look to our professors for answers.
I’ve heard from many that it feels like someone died.
I’m what my college calls a community advisor. (We are very quick to point out that we are not residential advisors, but I’ll just say I’m one of the overly peppy upperclassmen who leads orientation activities, puts on dorm events, and makes myself available for emotional support throughout the year.) Last night, I sent my first-year residents texts with information about suicide and LGBTQ hotline numbers because I was that afraid for them. I was afraid they felt like this world doesn’t care about them. I was afraid they felt as hopeless as I did.
I was also afraid they heard the cheers of other students.
I didn’t stay in the student union to watch the election results come in. I left around 10:30. I had already held several friends while they cried and told me they were scared for the lives of their loved ones. After being talked down to by a straight, white guy who was certain this “wasn’t a big deal,” I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and walked home. I called a few friends. I checked Twitter every ten seconds. And by around 2 a.m., I somehow fell asleep. But by the time I was already in bed, many students were still in the student union. Stunned. Sobbing. All the while, I’ve been told that a small group of students cheered. After all, as I have been reminded many times today, there are Trump supporters on this campus.
When this anecdote came up with other community advisors, the following questions inevitably arose: How do we support our residents in a time of tragedy when part of the campus is cheering? How are we supposed to respond to this tragedy when some people — people who teach us, who sit next to us in class, who stand behind us in line to get bagels and coffee, who my family will clap for while at my graduation ceremony in May — believe this isn’t a tragedy at all, but a victory?
How do we try to move on knowing there are people at this school who so openly cheered for the notion that some students on our campus shouldn’t exist? Or at least think they deserve to be shot by police. Or deserve to be deported. Or deserve to be raped. Or deserved to be targeted for going to the bathroom. Or deserve to be tortured. Or bombed. Or banned. Or killed.
In my devastation and disbelief, I’m tempted to say this is a unique situation, one that we are in no way equipped to handle. I’m tempted to say this isn’t the way my campus usually operates, to allude to the idea that the tragedies we face are clear-cut and well-defined. But doing so would erase the history of this place. Doing so would ignore the fact that hate crimes happen here. Racism happens here. Homophobia happens here. Transphobia happens here. Anti-Semitism happens here. Rape happens here. Hell, Billy Bush graduated from here. In no way are we strangers to the ideology and actions fueling our fear and sadness today.
These same cheers exist every time tragedy hits us. But if we’re lucky, we usually do not have to hear them quite so loudly.
As a campus, we’re trying not to rush the grieving process. I expect it will take at least until the end of the week before people stop spontaneously crying in class or walking to the library. But once we have grieved, once we have processed and protected one another and held each other close, once we have retraced our steps to white supremacy and misogyny, once we have questioned everything we hoped about the communities in which we thought we had a chance of belonging, we will do what we always do when tragedy hits our campus: We will organize. We will act. We will name hate for what it is. We will practice mindful allyship. We will never stop questioning this world around us. And we will refuse to be silent.Unreal Engine 4 offers a way to export your game to various platforms such as PC, PS4, Xbox etc… The PC export however, can be played in PCs that already have the engine installed. Having said that, chances are that your friends won’t have UE4 already installed in their PCs so in order to distribute your game to them you need to make an installer that includes all the required libraries for your game.
In this post, we’re going to use Innosetup in order to create an installer for our packaged UE4 game. Before you continue reading the tutorial, make sure to package your game using the editor.
Packaging an exported game
Once you package your game and have Innosetup installed, open up the Inno Setup Compiler and select the “new script file using the Script Wizard” option displayed in the screenshot below:
Then, fill in the Application Information and Application Folder forms to match your needs and in the Application files section, point the main executable file to match the exported.exe of your game (located inside the WindowsNoEditor folder):
Moreover, include the whole WindowsNoEditor folder to the Other Application Files (in case Innosetup asks you if you want to include any sub-folders, click yes):
By doing that, our installer will also install the prerequisites that UE4 includes in the Redist folder.
After configuring the Application Shortcuts to match your needs you have the option to include specific information or licence files which will be displayed when the end-user (meaning the future player) executes your installer. You can omit these files if you so desire. In the compiler settings type in the name of your exported.exe (this will be used to start the game) and point the installer to the folder you wish your installer to be created:
You do need to provide any password or custom icon file.
In the Setup Preprocessor tell your script to use the #define compiler directives and then click the finish option.
Innosetup will generate a script based on the previous information we assigned through the wizard and will ask you if you want to compile the new script:
Once you click Yes and save your script, innosetup will start creating your installer:
Once your installer is completed, a compressed installer named MyAwesomeGame will appear in your desired folder. Use this installer to distribute your game to your friends!
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LinkedinWashington (CNN) Discord between President Donald Trump and his chief diplomat is at an all-time high, spilling into public view in recent days and peaking with a NBC News report Wednesday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a "moron" in a Pentagon meeting.
Trump was aware before Wednesday's report that Tillerson had referred to him as a "moron" at the Pentagon this summer, a source familiar with the conversation told CNN, but it's unclear whether Trump discussed the remark with Tillerson. Trump was not present at the Pentagon meeting. A White House source also confirmed to CNN that Trump knew about the insult prior to Wednesday.
During a hastily arranged statement Wednesday morning, Tillerson insisted he enjoys a close relationship with Trump and called him "smart." But he would not directly deny that he'd called Trump a "moron."
"I'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that," Tillerson said from the State Department Treaty Room. "I'm just not going to be part of this effort to divide this administration."
Though Tillerson didn't deny calling Trump a moron, Trump tweeted: "The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!"
I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...
Trump was flying aboard Air Force One at the time to greet survivors of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Trump later told reporters inside a Las Vegas hospital he has "total confidence" in Tillerson and called reports that the secretary of state called him a moron "fake news" and "totally made up."
Trump answered the question after praising the work of doctors and nurses who responded to Sunday's mass shooting on the Las Vegas strip.
Not pleased
After Tillerson's comments, a person familiar with Trump's thinking said the President is not pleased that Tillerson's terming him a "moron" has been made public, but isn't on the verge of asking for his resignation. On Thursday morning, the President tweeted that Tillerson never threatened to resign.
The President and Tillerson have an uneasy relationship, the person said, but Trump is wary of another high-profile departure from his administration after a tumultuous eight months in office.
Trump is cognizant that his administration and inner West Wing operation are shedding staff at an alarming clip. Trump has either dismissed or seen quit a chief of staff, national security adviser, press secretary, two communications directors, chief strategist, acting attorney general, FBI director, and -- as of Friday -- a Health and Human Services secretary
Trump, above all, wants to project a sense of competence and believes the rapid turnover of staff helps fuel the notion his administration is in chaos, according to the source.
Over the past several months, Trump has been agitated -- but not outright furious -- at the distance Tillerson has put between himself and the White House on issues like Qatar, Charlottesville and North Korea.
Tillerson's pressure on Trump to certify Iran's compliance with the deal in July made him more upset, but nearly every national security official within the administration was on Tillerson's side, making it harder for Trump to fully blame his top diplomat.
Separately, another official suggested Tillerson will want to help Trump get through his November slog through Asia, an exhausting five-country tour that includes a high-stakes visit to Beijing. Tillerson was in Beijing last week to lay some of the groundwork for those talks.
Sources say Vice President Mike Pence has become a bit of a sounding board for Tillerson, and the two men often have lunch together. After the "moron" remark, an aide says Pence advised Tillerson on "setting expectations" and counseled him on how to work with the administration toward the President's goals.
Pence's spokesman denied Pence discussing with Tillerson the chief diplomat's potential resignation.
"At no time did he and the secretary ever discuss the prospect of the secretary's resignation from the administration. Any reporting to the contrary is categorically false," said Jarrod Agen, Pence's spokesman.
A senior White House adviser said there is "certainly some friction there to say the least" between Tillerson and the White House but pointed fingers at West Wing staff rather than directly at the President. This person said Tillerson is "obviously growing frustrated because of the unpredictable nature of his job."
'They're all good'
Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, said that Tillerson and Trump spoke after the secretary of state's remarks on Wednesday.
"It was a good conversation and they're all good," she said. Nauert also said Tillerson told her he'd never used "moron" to describe the President.
But Trump isn't the only person in the West Wing who Tillerson has been at odds with. He became so "irate" with national security adviser H.R. McMaster earlier this year on a conference call that Defense Secretary James Mattis had to step in, an administration official directly familiar with the incident says.
"Tillerson and McMaster do not do well together," said the official, who left the administration several weeks ago in an unrelated matter.
This person, who is directly familiar with other multiple interactions involving Tillerson, declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
During that conference call, Tillerson, Mattis and McMaster were discussing the way ahead on the proposed strategy for fighting the war in Afghanistan. McMaster was pressing for a faster decision-making process from the Pentagon and State Department. As the official described it, Tillerson finally became so irritated with the White House pressure, he said they could move ahead without him. It is not clear if that was a threat to resign.
"Voices were raised" during that call, the official said. Mattis then stepped in and reminded McMaster that the State Department and Pentagon did not have a significant number of Senate-confirmed senior staff officials who could quickly work these problems. The official said McMaster then realized "he overstepped" and backed off.
JUST WATCHED Haley: 'Tillerson is not going anywhere' Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Haley: 'Tillerson is not going anywhere' 00:52
But the official also describes a series of meetings and interactions in which Tillerson has become repeatedly irritated. The official said Mattis has tried to "mentor" Tillerson and treates him "with the respect of a peer, with talent, but maybe a guy without the political skills."
The official described private meetings in which Tillerson has become "a little more hotheaded" than he appears in public, using salty language, a trait that Mattis shares.
Though Tillerson's departure seems imminent, the friction between the President and his top diplomat may not have reached its boiling point yet. A person close to Tillerson said it has always been his plan to stay on at the State Department through the first year of the Trump administration but acknowledged again Wednesday that his future is "up to the President."
Trump recently seemed to undercut Tillerson when he said he was wasting his time attempting new dialogue with North Korea.
"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Save your energy Rex. we'll do what has to be done!"
Despite this, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday that Trump still had confidence in Tillerson, despite their different messages on North Korea.“Don’t feed the trolls,” the saying goes, as if it were really that easy. As a prescriptive for navigating the harassment, hatred and bile that now fester on and darken the Internet and social media, it’s both woefully inadequate and unrealistic advice. Like its closely related partner, “Don’t read the comments,” the suggestion that we all just ignore the toxic venom spewed online by actors who often travel in packs and attack in hordes, underestimates the unignorable provocation, emotional trauma and bonafide fear they purposely create and instill. The bunk idea that we can all just look away—or more annoyingly, log off, shut down or shut up—is the quaint, ineffective (and in our current troll-glutted climate, offensive) relic of a bygone era. It’s a holdover from a time when the internet was a kinder, gentler digital space and the trolls who roamed it less malicious monsters than playful pranksters.
The evolution of trolling, like that of the internet itself, has occurred with surprising and unpredictable speed. In the early days of the World Wide Web, trolling took the form of a relatively innocuous—though intrusive and annoying—type of merry pranksterism. Fusion contributor Kristen V. Brown describes 1990s Usenet forums as sites where trolling was considered “a little like a prank phone call”; one 2002 Urban Dictionary entry defines trolls as people who post “deliberately provocative message[s]…with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument,” while another states that “trolling does not mean just making rude remarks: shouting swear words at someone doesn’t count as trolling…and isn’t funny.”
Examples of latter-day trolling might include putting up wantonly obtuse, logically circuitous, mind-blowingly stupid, off-topic or antagonistic messages (often dubbed “flaming”), crafted solely for the purpose of frustrating or otherwise irritating more sincere members of an online community. The idea was that trolls didn’t mean the dumb things they said, though successful trolling—and this is key—required that those they aimed to piss off believe that they did. “Troll” was a label the angry members of an online community imposed on troublemakers, a way to identify and ferret out those hellbent on ruining an otherwise good conversation.
“There would be guys who would go onto the Star Trek newsgroup and say, ‘You know, I think Spock was actually human,’” says Jon Hendren, who has become one of the internet’s most revered trolls based on a series of outrageous stunts, including appearing on a TV news segment about Edward Snowden and instead discussing the plight of Edward Scissorhands. “It would garner these huge lengthy responses from guys who would list every time Spock said something about being Vulcan. You knew the guy who said that [Spock was human] was not being serious, but he also wasn’t breaking any rules. He’s getting his jollies from that—and I think that’s what trolling is to me. It’s where you play within the bounds of an established system…to highlight the absurdity within those systems, hopefully in a funny way.”
4chan and Reddit went live in 2003 and 2005 respectively, and the two sites become epicenters for trollish behavior. Whereas trolling had previously been a thing you were accused of by those who disapproved of your behavior, now “trolls” began to claim the title for themselves, considering it a source of pride.
“4chan was when people really started to take that label on as something that they wore almost as a badge of honor,” says Whitney Phillips, a media folklorist and actual scholar on internet trolls, whose doctoral thesis served as the foundation for 2015’s This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things : Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. “This was a point of subcultural identification. It was a way to connect with the people who were around you who were engaging in similar behaviors. It was a way of marking an in group, essentially.”
Phillips, who has spent nearly a decade e-staking out the virtual spaces trolls frequent, such as 4chan, Reddit, Facebook and Twitter, notes in her book that there is “every indication that the vast majority of subcultural trolls—certainly the ones I interacted with—are relatively privileged white males for whom English is either a first or second language.” In the mid-aughts, as the particularly white-male dominated spaces of 4chan and Reddit grew exponentially, trolls began taking up more and more digital space, not just on those sites but across the internet in general. Just as in real life (or IRL), when groupthink and mob mentality are added to the churn of toxic masculinity, sexism, racism, white supremacy and male fragility, the results were predictably ugly. Trolls had long claimed they were in it “for the lulz,” which is sort of like lolz, but at other people’s expense. In the decided shift in the tone of trolling, the incredibly unfunny invective was often directed at women, African Americans and other people of color, as well as other historically marginalized groups.
In many ways, internet forums in the U.S. offer an unvarnished look at America’s essential character; a transparent account of what this place is really about when you strip away accountability and offer anonymity in its place. On Reddit and 4chan, particularly the latter’s anything-goes /b/ board, extreme racism and vicious misogyny flourished, with cruelty and abuse becoming key traits of the hivemind personality. Administrators at 4chan and Reddit responded to the explosion of hate speech and vitriol by doing absolutely nothing, then followed that up by turning their inaction into a policy of sorts, framing it as vague, overly simplistic advocacy for free speech. That approach quickly succeeded in creating an environment less known as a site for the unimpeded exchange of ideas than a welcome haven for white nationalists, anti-Semites and women haters.
Along with the teeming masses of neo-Nazis and misogynists, this attitude attracted creeps whose interests included things like incest, rape and graphic pictures of dead children. One of the most prolific Redditors, a guy who went by Violentacrez until he was outed in 2012 as Texas military dad Michael Brutsch, created and/or moderated subreddits including r/chokeabitch, r/niggerjailbait, r/Hitler, r/jailbait and r/Jewmerica. (Not to wade too deep into the weeds here, but if you can conceive of it, or it’s so horrible you’d desperately like to forget it exists, there’s probably a 4chan board or subreddit dedicated to it.)
Dan McComas, a former higher-up Reddit until the site’s highly public reshuffling last year, reflected on the direction of trolling since the internet’s nascent days—when the worst thing you saw was “maybe sending somebody a disgusting picture and disguising it”—and what we’re seeing now. “I guess one thing leads to another, but I don’t know,” said McComas, who recently founded IMZY, a social media site focused on creating online communities where abuse and harassment don’t get in the way. “I have a hard time really buying into the slippery slope thing. I think that terrible people exist, and terrible people were given platforms to thrive. Not only to thrive, but to teach people and to influence people. For those things not only to become accepted, but to become encouraged, and that it turned into something huge.”
There are harmless, beloved memes and other internet ephemera that have come from 4chan and Reddit. We have those troll bastions to thank for LOLcats and Rickrolling, and the “hacktivist” collective emerged from the masses of 4chan’s Anonymous contributors. But in the same way that Reddit (the 11th most visited site in the U.S., with 542 million monthly visitors), can take cat memes and inadvertently turn them into widely shared, culturally embedded viral touchstones, the site is also very good at reflecting and amplifying the kind of hate that’s already pervasive in American society.
As those voices have become ever louder on Reddit, they’ve often drowned out, in volume and by sheer force of will, the voices of others attempting to build communities for themselves. (A kind of “free speech for me, but not for thee,” I guess.) What’s more, many of those trolls have played up their actions as a sort of heroic pushback against “political correctness” (i.e., the idea that the people who have always been able to say whatever abhorrent things they want might now be held accountable for saying those things), which they suggest somehow violates their First Amendment rights. Never mind that the sheer amount of hateful language they freely espouse all over the internet is proof that they’re wrong.
“When people talk about free speech online, they’re often referring to the very cartoon, weak version of what free speech is actually about,” Whitney Phillips told me. “The spirit of free speech is preserving the greatest amount of speech for the greatest amount of people. That’s the ideal. The problem with notions of free speech that privilege the voices of the antagonist, [is that they] create an environment in which there is actually less speech….The fact of the matter is that they’re not championing free speech on the whole. They’re championing their own speech and their own ability to do whatever they want without having to answer to anyone. They feel threatened because it could potentially take away their ability to do whatever they wanted. In defending that, they get the spirit of the thing totally false.”
“I believe in plurality of conversation,” Phillips adds. “I believe in debate. I believe in disagreement. You can’t have that if the biggest assholes have the floor. Rolling your eyes at the free speech defense online, that’s not rolling your eyes at free speech. That’s rolling your eyes at a very myopic, deeply privileged misunderstanding of what free speech even is or is supposed to be.”
A 2014 Daily Dot article recounts how members of the subreddit r/Blackladies were inundated with horrifying messages from racist trolls. Volunteer moderators of the group had to delete those messages one by one, even as new threats and insults flooded in, an experience that left them “exhausted and demoralized.” Likewise, one of the moderators of the subreddit r/rape, a group for survivors of sexual violence, told writer Aaron Sankin, “[W]e regularly get visitors who are sexually aroused by the stories that some of our users tell and often feel the need to inform them of that fact in the most graphic of ways possible. You could imagine how that makes a rape survivor feel, especially those with fresh trauma.” Another r/rape moderator abandoned the task after being endlessly harassed and “doxxed,” meaning her personal information and identity was published online, ensuring the abuse could follow her offline, too. Stories like these have become disturbingly typical.
“Reddit, like any other site, is a culture,” Dan McComas told me. “You can kind of guess what you’re going to see in every Reddit group. You click on a Reddit thread, and if it’s popular you know that the first highly voted comment is going to be a joke playing on the [subreddit name], and the second highest vote is probably going to be something terribly misogynistic. Then the fifth is super racist. That’s just the culture, right? I think this is the same problem you have with Twitter. It’s just a culture. And once something becomes the culture, I don’t think you can change it.”
That culture has long left the confines of places like Reddit and 4chan and infected the entire internet. Read any YouTube comment thread—regardless of the video subject—and you’ll encounter some random bit of misogyny or a racist slur. Anonymous eggs and alt-righties send tweets about the Jewish menace and fake stats about rampaging black criminals, which Donald Trump then retweets. Scroll down news articles written by or about women and people of color and you’re guaranteed commentary from readers with nothing to add but racism and sexist name-calling or worse, threats of violence.
Re/code, In 2014, women-focused website Jezebel had to publicly call out parent company Gawker (R.I.P.) for refusing to do anything about “violent pornography” being strewn across its comment sections. Earlier this year, the Guardian conducted a study that found “eight of [its] 10 regular writers who got the most abuse from commenters online were women (four white and four non-white) and two were black men. (The 10 regular writers who got the least abuse were all men.)” Over the last couple years, the race hate and other garbage trolls have left behind have led to shutdowns of comment sections on the Daily Beast, Reuters, Mic, Verge NPR, The Week, National Journal, the Chicago Sun-Times and Popular Science.
A 2014 Pew Research Center study found that “73 percent of [U.S.-based] adult Internet users have seen someone be harassed in some way online and 40 percent have personally experienced it.” While that indicates the internet is pretty gross all over, women of all races and people of color in particular find themselves in the crosshairs of the worst and most relentless bad actors online. An Australian study this year suggests that online harassment against women may be on its way to becoming “an established norm in our digital society.” The Pew study concluded that while “men are more likely to experience name-calling and embarrassment…young women are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and stalking.” That’s the difference between a man online being called a jerk or an asshole, and a woman being told by an anonymous man on Twitter that he is going to “look you up, and when I find you, im going to rape you and remove your head,” as journalist Amanda Hess was. Writer Joel Stein, in a recent piece on trolls for Time Magazine, noted that “nearly half of the women on staff have considered quitting journalism because of hatred they’ve faced online, although none of the men [have].”
Women of color, especially those expressing feminist or womanist ideas online, often find themselves the targets of sickeningly violent threats and harassment. Broadway actress Pia Glenn, who has a healthy Twitter following, told writer Terrell Jermaine Starr how it too often goes for black women whose very existence online trolls resent. “It takes fewer back-and-forth vollies to get to ‘nigger bitch,’ ‘nigger cunt,'” Glenn said. “I’ve had lynching threats. People send me terrible historical pictures of our ancestors being lynched. So proportionately speaking, if you’re not a person of color, you will not get that. Let’s say there are 100 insults in the world, there are more of them that apply to us. When a white woman gets terrible harassment about being raped, attacked or |
wasn't too pleased with this movie. And it's a shame, because it started out so wonderfully and I almost started to like it. I think it's so sad that nowadays its hard to find a good movie these days...On Monday, I wrote a column breaking down every remaining playoff scenario and explained why it’s futile to fixate on the Ohio State vs. Penn State argument because the Buckeyes are getting in regardless of who wins Saturday night.
Clearly, you didn’t listen. I could fill this entire Mailbag with questions about that particular controversy. (Don’t worry, I won’t.)
Hi Stewart: I get that Ohio State is almost a lock to get in the CFP. That being said, I think it would be an injustice if Penn State won the Big Ten and was left out of the CFP. If Ohio State truly is the second-best team in the country, shouldn’t the conference champion that handed OSU its only loss be included as well?
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— Scott Saxton, Windsor, Ontario
I’ve got to imagine Barry Alvarez is not the only committee member pulling for Wisconsin on Saturday, because there’s no question that scenario would make a lot of people uncomfortable. The head-to-head aspect is one thing; how do you leave out the champion of the toughest conference in the country this year?
But it’s important to remember why we’re facing this scenario in the first place.
If Penn State, like Ohio State, was 11-1 with its only loss to Michigan, there’s no question in my mind the Nittany Lions would be ahead of the Buckeyes already. They’d be no lower than No. 3. The reason they’re not is because they also lost a non-conference game at 8-4 Pittsburgh while Ohio State went to Oklahoma, now 9-2, and won by three touchdowns. Those games count just as much as any conference games — including Ohio State at Penn State.
I understand the unease about ignoring a conference’s own standings, I do. But if, like many, you believe “if you can’t win your own division, you shouldn’t make the playoff,” then you’re basically saying September is exhibition season. Teams might as well schedule all MAC/Sun Belt opponents, because only your eight or nine conference games dictate who makes the playoff.
Furthermore, consider that if Iowa had missed a last-second field goal against Michigan, Ohio State’s in Indianapolis this week and we’re not having this discussion. Why should the Iowa-Michigan game determine whether Ohio State and/or Penn State is one of the four best teams in the country?
As for head-to-head — if these two had the same record and played the same conference schedule then yes, absolutely, Penn State should get in before Ohio State. But the committee has made clear that head-to-head is to be used as a tiebreaker, not a trump card.
The unfortunate aspect of this whole debate is that it’s caused me to spend a whole bunch of time denigrating a very good Penn State team. The Nittany Lions have morphed into an offensive juggernaut over the second half of the season behind much-improved QB Trace McSorley.
But unfortunately, they weren’t remotely close to that level in September. And there’s no preseason in college football.
Are we a Washington and Clemson upset away from the B1G East getting three teams in the playoff?
— Scott Dean, Alabama
I’d certainly place greater odds at this point on three Big Ten teams making it than I would one Big 12 team.
As I wrote Tuesday night, Kirby Hocutt seemed to be telegraphing something with his relentless repetition of the “small margin of separation” between Washington and Michigan. Either he’s pre-emptively propping up the Wolverines or setting up the possibility of the Big Ten champ passing the Huskies. But of course if Colorado beats Washington, the only question will be which Big Ten team gets the second berth. I still believe it will be the winner in Indianapolis.
But if both Washington and Clemson lose, you’re basically down to three contenders — Michigan, Colorado and the Big 12 champ. We now know the committee feels CU is better than Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, even before a possible Colorado victory over fourth-ranked Washington that should trump the Bedlam result.
So if the Big 12 is out, then you’re looking at Michigan vs. Colorado, and while clearly head-to-head is a selective criteria for this committee, I have to believe the Wolverines’ 45-28 victory won’t help the Buffs overcome Michigan’s currently superior resume.
Stewart: Mike Slive was adamant that the selection committee should take the “four best,” with a nod to Jim Delany and the Big Ten’s desire to having only conference champions in the mix. With Ohio State and possibly Michigan possibilities this year, is Slive’s desire coming to fruition this year but not in favor of the conference for which he envisioned it?
— Stan Lewis, Vidalia, GA
It sure looks that way.
I covered every little step of the roughly six-month negotiations in 2012 leading up to the playoff’s inception, so I remember well the various commissioners’ stances. Remember, we were fresh off the 2011 LSU-Alabama BCS championship rematch. Slive was obviously going to fight to preserve the SEC’s ability to keep putting multiple teams in contention for the national championship. The Pac-12’s Larry Scott was actually the most adamant about restricting to conference champs. Delany was somewhere in between, but at one point actually said, “I don’t have a lot of regard” for a team that doesn’t win its division.
(Cough, cough, Ohio State, cough.)
The main reason we have a selection committee now instead of using polls or another BCS-type formula is that Delany for one did not think traditional pollsters paid enough credence to scheduling inequities. In particular, he and Scott did not want to see their champions rewarded for playing tough non-conference schedules and nine conference games while the SEC’s and others played eight. The entire concept of a selection committee was basically a compromise. It would provide both the freedom to pick the four best regardless of whether they won their conference, as Slive desired, but also lay out a set of criteria they should emphasize — one of which is winning your conference.
If you’ve never done so before, I highly recommend reading the official selection committee protocol document — nicknamed the “Federalist Papers” by CFP officials. Delany’s unique voice is prevalent throughout, and you’ll notice just how deliberately it essentially beats the drum for conference championships without explicitly making them a prerequisite.
Stewart: Will the 2017 college football slogan be, “Make the SEC great again?” Has Nick Saban scared away coaches from wanting to take jobs in the SEC? The league clearly is lacking star power in the coaching ranks, and it seems that coaches around the country would rather coach elsewhere else then deal with Saban and the empire he has built. Do you think the league is filled with mediocre coaches as a result of Saban?
— John, Summit, NJ
That’s an interesting theory. I don’t know how much it’s been put to the test. Besides Jimbo Fisher and Tom Herman, there’s not a long list of accomplished coaches who’ve recently turned down SEC overtures. But there’s no question the quality of the coaching roster in that conference has slipped recently.
Part of that is attrition. In the last year alone, a Hall of Fame coach, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, and a four-time Big 12 or SEC division champ, Missouri’s Gary Pinkel, both retired. Both Georgia (Mark Richt) and LSU (Les Miles) ran off mainstays who’d won at a very high level for a very long time. Vandy’s James Franklin parlayed his historic success there for Penn State.
As Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel wrote this week, the most detrimental Saban ripple is that he’s affected several schools’ hiring choices. Florida (first with Will Muschamp, now with Jim McElwain), Georgia (Kirby Smart) and South Carolina (Muschamp) are all trying to topple Saban by hiring his assistants. Smart in particular is basically trying to recreate Tuscaloosa in Athens. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. But an underwhelming 7-5 debut season has many wondering why Smart was Georgia’s one and only after firing Richt.
Finally, there’s this: As much as SEC schools like to throw around money, they’ve also hamstrung their ability to make a change when warranted. Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin makes $5 million a year yet has failed to finish above.500 in the conference the past four seasons, but it would cost the school $15 million to fire him. So, status quo. Tennessee’s Butch Jones has become a walking train-wreck, but it’d cost nearly $11 million to fire him. So, he’ll be back to play for another Championship of Life.
I watched the Michigan vs. Ohio State game last weekend and there were some game-changing calls the refs made. With that in mind, why is that coaches are basically forbidden from stating their opinion about the quality of officiating after a game? Would Urban Meyer have been fined for lauding the “great” quality of officiating if he had done so in his press conference? Is there some real reason coaches are not allowed to comment on refs?
— Tom Koziara, Chapel Hill, NC
I understand why Jim Harbaugh was upset with the officiating right after the game — he’d just suffered a heartbreaking loss — but he didn’t know any better than the rest of us whether the spot on J.T. Barrett’s run was correct. People are still freeze-framing it days later. And while there were a couple of other questionable calls, none were glaringly awful. There was no Oklahoma State-Central Michigan-level controversy surrounding the outcome of that game.
All sports leagues frown on coaches criticizing the officiating because it undermines their credibility. Scorned fans of a losing team are already crazed enough without the coach lending credence to their conspiracy theories (of which Michigan fans have authored many.) And let’s be honest, 95 percent of coaches on the wrong end of a close loss would happily scapegoat the officials were there no consequences. That’s especially true in college basketball, where no coach in history has ever agreed with a foul call against one of his players.
I would like to see more transparency in college officiating. If there’s a controversial call, they should come to a press conference rather than releasing a statement. Meanwhile, conferences grade officials’ performance in every game but they don’t publicize those like the NBA does. Coaches can’t publicly critique the officials, but I don’t see why their supervisors can’t.
It seems rather odd that LSU was quick to fire Les Miles in fear that he would make a mid/late-season run and save his job, only to keep his interim replacement. I can’t believe they didn’t have “their guy” lined up, as Texas obviously did. Did LSU expect to hire Tom Herman only to have him stolen away at the 11th hour, or is this just a lack of vision on LSU’s part?
— Chris A., Chicago
By all accounts, LSU AD Joe Alleva’s No. 1 target for a full year was Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher. But he had to realize it was no sure thing he’d leave Tallahassee. When that didn’t come to fruition, his Plan B was to basically try to beat Texas to the punch for Herman. That was either arrogance on his part, ignorance regarding Herman’s Texas’ roots, or both. I suppose he could have waited on Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, North Carolina’s Larry Fedora or another sitting head coach, but none of them inspire more confidence than the guy who was a yard against Florida from going 6-1 as the Tigers’ interim coach.
Remember, Alleva had no way of knowing the strong impression Orgeron would make at the time he fired Miles. The official stated reason for the move at the time (as opposed to the real reason of, his offense stunk) was to “put (the players) in the best position to have success on the football field each week,” and he largely accomplished that.
And perhaps just as importantly, LSU saved money by hiring a guy with no outside suitors. Whereas Herman would have cost $5 million a year, Orgeron will reportedly make $3.5 million, which gives the school more money to spend on assistants. He’s already locked up Dave Aranda by making him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the country, per our Bruce Feldman, and we all know his top target for OC: Lane Kiffin.
Stewart: It’s Saturday at 11 p.m. PT, and I just left Stanford Stadium. I witnessed Christian McCaffrey wandering all by himself on the field in an empty stadium after his press conference. I couldn’t help but feel heartily for him as he’s facing a tough decision about his future. The question always comes back for junior superstars, but if you’re him, where do you play in the fall of 2017?
— Blaise Collin, Idaho Falls, ID
Wow — that may be a tougher call than any playoff scenario. Personally, if I were a student at Stanford I would not want to leave that little oasis any earlier than I had to. But I also did not choose a profession where you can become a multimillionaire the day you leave college. And perhaps more pertinently in his case, I wasn’t running with a football straight into a scrum of tacklers 250 times a year.
I know McCaffrey loves the school and is close with some of the guys in his class who are only now seeing significant playing time. I’m sure it’s tempting to want to come back and try to win another championship together. He’s also very driven by doubters, and after falling completely out of the national conversation after a couple of bad games and an injury, only to still wind up rushing for 1,600 yards, I’m sure part of him wants to come back and make another run at the Heisman.
But McCaffrey plays the one position where there’s a definitive shelf life, and the more carries he racks up in college — 632 to this point, plus 190 receptions and returns — the fewer he’s probably going to make it to in the NFL. I’m not a trained draft evaluator nor plugged in enough to know where his stock is at this point, but assuming it’s somewhere in the mid-to-late first round, he probably needs to turn pro. The good news is, he’s got a former All-Pro father to help with the decision.
Stewart: What effect does off-field news have on 18–22 year olds and their ability to focus on Saturdays? Did the whirlwind of news concerning Charlie Strong/Tom Herman get into the players’ heads more than we would hope? Strong himself said his players were trying too hard to save his job. Did Houston’s seeming flop against Memphis stem from the players knowing their coach was leaving?
— Michael, Brasstown, NC
Absolutely, it has an effect. Coaches can implore their guys all they want not to “read the blogs,” or to “block out the noise,” etc., etc., but these days the news comes to them. Literally.
This week on The Audible, Bruce relayed a story of how the morning of the Kansas game, players were seeking out Strong because they’d just gotten an ESPN Alert on their phone with a report that the boosters wanted him fired. Clearly, that has an effect on guys’ performances. I certainly think the ‘Horns were playing with an added sense of pressure down the stretch knowing their beloved coach’s precarious status, and that’s not a great recipe for success.
In Houston’s case, the Herman-to-Texas rumors were there from the moment the Cougars knocked off Oklahoma. They played the entire season under that cloud. I can’t say without having been there how it affected their play, but Herman said at his press conference that dealing with those months of rumors was “exhausting.” If that’s the case for him, it probably trickled down to his players.
Stewart, give me five good reasons why Butch Jones should not be fired. Heck I’ll settle for three.
— Joe Simmons
I can’t give you three reasons. But I can give you 10.625 million.Chapter Text
It was the first time I really felt like Aerb had failed me. It hadn’t exactly been fun before, though parts of it certainly were, and it hadn’t been easy. And for all that, I wouldn’t even say that it was particularly gamelike, just maybe able to be mapped onto a game. This garbage? This felt like I was sitting through an unavoidable cutscene where Amaryllis got taken from me, and there was nothing that I could have done.
Maybe what I was supposed to have done was go full shonen anime. On hearing that we weren’t likely to win the fight, I should have given a rousing speech about going beyond the impossible and kicking reason to the curb, or believing in the heart of the cards, or being the very best there ever was. I had a really hard time believing that the result of that would actually have been a victory. Aumann hadn’t really known who he was going to find at Caer Laga, and he’d come anyway, probably because he assumed that he was strong enough to fight whoever was there.
While I was sitting propped up against the wall, feeling sorry for myself and idly changing the Anyblade’s form, Fenn pulled out the black glove and began depositing things onto the floor.
“There,” she said, when the clonal kit hit the floor, “This is what we have to work with. Box that makes something from someone’s profession, jar that’s slowly filling itself with marzipan fairies of healing, artillery bow, amulet that we don’t know what it does but neither of us can use, void rifle, and extradimensional glove. Plus a sword that can be any sword we want it to be, which doesn’t seem all that much more helpful than a dagger.”
“No obvious plan is jumping out at me,” I said. “We had all this stuff when Amaryllis was still here. If there was a way to escape Caer Laga and get back to Barren Jewel, we would have found it then.”
“We weren’t in dire straits then, plus there were things going on,” said Fenn. “Look, I’m not good at the pep talk thing, so if you want to just go ahead and assume that I consoled you about whatever it is that’s upsetting you, it would probably work out better for both of us.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m just not seeing it.” I looked at the laid out items. “You’re missing a few though. We have Caer Laga and its wards, we have packed up furniture, we have everything else there is stashed away here … at least the clonal kit can make us proper food so we don’t have to eat fairies.”
“See, isn’t it better to focus on something?” asked Fenn. “I think tricking the clonal kit is the right path to success here. All we need to do is think of the right travel occupation. Oh, or maybe we could make some gems!”
“Gems,” I said.
Fenn touched the top of the clonal kit, screwed her face up in concentration, then opened the box. Sitting inside were eight small gems, six of them in the colors of the rainbow, arranged in a circle on the wooden bottom of the box, and a clear diamond next to a black jewel in the center.
“Ta da!” said Fenn. “Alright, now do your thing.”
“Um,” I replied. “Am I correct in thinking that you want me to learn gem magic, right here and now?”
“Yes,” said Fenn. “That’s your whole thing, right? The reason that the princess has, or had, such a throbbing erection pointed your way? To hear her tell it, you were able to give yourself a three-year course in three different types of magic within hours with almost no instruction.”
“I was under the impression that gem magic was more of an offensive tool,” I said. I reached into the clonal kit and pulled out the diamond, looking it over. I wasn’t an expert on gems or how they were cut, but this one seemed to be unpleasantly asymmetrical, as well as being quite small.
“Yes,” said Fenn. “The important word there isn’t offense, it’s tool, as in a thing that we can use, if need be. If you’re strong enough to grasp a diamond and shoot the white light, that might be enough to stave off thaum-sucker attacks for a few hours. That’s not a solution, but it might be part of one.”
I grasped the diamond in my hand. I had seen a gem mage, as it happened, back in the bathhouse. He’d been naked, jumping into the air, blasting a thick beam of red light at someone who was presumably his attacker. Cut and polished gemstones had power to them, which mostly came out in the form of light, with variance in them produced by the color, cut, clarity, and size. It was on the more systemic end of magic systems I’d learned of in Aerb, though I didn’t know the full set of rules that governed it, nor how to get my start as a gem mage.
I tried a lot of analogies, since those had been helpful in the past. “Think of X as Y,” seemed like a good starting point for trying to conceptualize most of the magic I had come across so far, maybe because it was borrowing from familiar mental pathways. I wouldn’t be surprised that those analogies were wrong on a fundamental level, like most analogies were, but they were still helpful in me gaining skill. None of the analogies I thought up helped me though. Really, I’d been hoping that the answer would just be the first thing that I thought up, because Aerb was infused with my memories, preferences, and intuitions, or at the very least, I was warped in such a way that I could make predictions about the world.
Gems were not the light pouring from them, they weren’t filters, they weren’t lasers, they weren’t faucets, they weren’t distillations of power, they weren’t a color wheel, or anything else I tried. No matter what I did, I couldn’t feel even the smallest scrap of latent power from them, not even for a moment, which meant I never had a crack to dig my fingers into and pry the magic open. Maybe one of those analogies really was right, and I just didn’t have a firm enough grasp, but either way, I put the gems down after half an hour of trying everything I could think of. In retrospect, it had been wildly optimistic for me to think that I could learn a new school of magic just from base principles and a handful of reagents.
In the meantime, Fenn had been making her way through Caer Laga, looking for things of use. She brought everything that wasn’t nailed down to a large room off the hallway I was practicing in, placing things noisily down with the glove.
“This glove is great,” said Fenn as she watched me put the gems down in the box. “It needs a name though, all the best magic items have names. Shadow Fingers? Sable Palm? No, neither of those are right, I’ll think on it. I assume from the lack of searing light that you’ve had no luck with gems?”
“None,” I said. “Did you find anything we can use?”
“Furniture, mostly,” said Fenn, “I’d assume that it’s a few hundred years out of style, if I knew anything about fashions of the rich and famous. There are a few pieces of art, but from what I can see they took all the stuff that was worth anything, leaving behind whatever was not worth the cost of transport. I did find a much more mundane armory, probably the place where hired help would keep their equipment. Most of what was there is gone, but a few pieces remain, probably as part of the emergency retreat plan. There is a kitchen, with nothing in it, there are bathrooms that I assume lead to a dry septic system somewhere, there are pipes stuck to the walls, probably put in after construction, that I know lead to a cistern near the top of the fortress, confirmed dry, and there are bedrooms with no mattresses.” The armory was a boon, but other than that, it was more or less what I expected.
Fenn held out her gloved hand and a metal box came crashing down to the ground next to her.
“I also found a lockbox with half a million obols worth of paper money, stocks, bonds, and gold,” she said with a smile. “That’s the kind of find that would normally get my heart hammering, except that we don’t have any way to get back and spend it. Yet.”
“It’s something we can feed the kit,” I said. I paused. “That seems like a lot of money.” I wanted to tell her that in the first editions of D&D, experience points were awarded based on number of gold pieces obtained, but I held back, because it was of interest only to me. It annoyed me to not be able to share things like that. I would have said I missed my friends, but I didn’t even really have that many friends left on Earth.
“It is a lot of money, to the likes of you and I,” said Fenn. “To the ruling class of Anglecynn, not so much. A cool half million, locked away for years? Well, no problem, there’s a whole lot more where that came from. I don’t mock her for being spoiled without cause.”
“She was captured,” I said. “I would appreciate if you were a little less flippant.”
“I suppose I can make the effort, for the boy I’m probably going to die with,” said Fenn. “But do you know what I think we’ll find if we get back to Barren Jewel? I think we’ll climb up the tall castle that we think she’s sequestered in, and when we get to the top, we’ll see twenty or thirty dismembered bodies, with your princess standing in the middle of them, dressed in her fancy armor and with her fancy sword coated in blood.” She was getting into this, talking faster and with more animation. “Then she’ll turn her sword off and the blood will fall to the ground in a perfect little line, and she’ll look at you and say, ‘What took you so long?’” The impression she did of Amaryllis was terrible.
“I think her situation is a bit more dangerous than that,” I said. I looked down at the clonal kit, then at her glove. “Do you think that the extradimensional space of the glove counts as latent or passive magic?” I asked.
“No clue,” said Fenn. “Our dear Mary would know, I’m sure, bless her heart.”
“I’d think that it depends on how it functions,” I said slowly. “I don’t know how extradimensional space is defined on Aerb, but if the glove is magically folding space around it, I’d assume it’s passive, while if it’s sending things somewhere and then calling them back, I’d assume that it’s latent when not in use and active when it’s calling or retrieving. That’s the distinction that the thaum-seekers care about, right? Your bow isn’t a magic bow to them until it does something magical, just like my blood is just latent blood until I do something with it? I guess the glove is black, but I’m not sure it’s supernaturally black, since we have vantablack on Earth.”
“And what, exactly, are you thinking, human?” asked Fenn with narrowed eyes. “We obviously can’t take things out of the Obsidian Hand while we’re in the desert, for fear of calling the thaum-suckers to us. We can take whatever we’d like from Caer Laga, because I’ve yet to find an upper limit on what Raven’s Claw can pack inside it, but how does that actually help?”
“You need a single word name for it,” I said. “The adjective-noun construction says that you’re trying too hard. Just call it Sable.”
“And what is it you want to do with Sable?” asked Fenn.
“Well,” I said. “You know how you said we should never travel by glove again?”
“Yes,” Fenn said slowly.
“Well, I’m thinking that we might be able to travel by glove the entire fifty miles back to Barren Jewel,” I said.
“That’s,” said Fenn. “I’m trying to think of the word, but stupid doesn’t seem to quite cover it. You’d have to … well, first of all …” She stopped again, not seeming to know where to start.
“I can list the objections,” I said. I was momentarily frustrated by my lack of pen and paper, before realizing that we had the clonal kit in front of us. I laid my hand on it and tried to figure out what profession would get me what I wanted. Scribe? I opened the box to find a quill, a sealed pot of ink, and some thick papers. I closed the box again, not quite satisified with that, in part because I had no idea how to use a quill. Computer, that was a profession here, right? I opened the box and found a slender pen and thin, scratch paper.
Is the glove latent magic or passive magic? Can the glove be used on its own wearer? How can we move the glove fifty miles …
… in the right direction …
… without the ability to control it? How can we breathe for long enough to get to Barren Jewel? How can we ensure the thaum-seekers don’t get us?
“So,” I said, “That’s two things that I think we can test fairly easily, and a few problems to solve, but we’re closer than we were before.”
“How are we going to test whether the thaum-suckers will go after it?” asked Fenn. “You know even less about wards than I do, and I have no idea whether we’ll be allowed back into this place if we leave. Amaryllis gave us something like a guest right, but do you normally allow your guests to freely move in and out of your house?”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “So we get some string.”
“You are not throwing this glove out the window,” said Fenn. “It’s my friend. I’ve named it.”
“Do you have a better idea for getting across the desert?” I asked.
“We climb down the cliff and walk,” said Fenn. “Like we’re not actual, legitimate morons. We have the clonal kit, it can make us as much food and water as we need, especially now that we have money to feed it when it gets hungry.”
“And you’d be willing to leave the glove behind?” I asked. “Because if the glove attracts the thaum-seekers, we aren’t going to be able to move with it. We need to figure it out either way.”
“I hate it when other people are right,” muttered Fenn. “Okay, but we’re going to dink around with the clonal kit for long enough that we get some really good string.”
The clonal kit was actually sort of a pain. You couldn’t ask it for specific items, all you could do was think of a profession that had that item as part of its “standard” set of tools and materials. You couldn’t just grab an awl, you had to think “leatherworker” at it. This alone wouldn’t have been so bad, but there were some professions that were either too specific or just not recognized. On top of that, the way we were using it was basically generating a “kit” and pulling a part of it out, then “repaying” the box for what we’d taken.
“Two problems,” said Fenn. “First, this fucking thing does not give us the change we are due, and second, it’s absolutely gouging us.”
“Probably to prevent arbitrage,” I replied. I got a blank look. “One of the problems with a magic item that can create things is that people will try to sell those things. The clonal kit has a restriction on that already, in that you have to pay it back for what you created, but that could still lead to other problems. Say you know the clonal kit values pliers at 12 obols, and you find a place where you can sell pliers for 14 obols, then all you’d have to do is sit there, make a kit with pliers, take the pliers out and sell them, then put some of the money back in the box, making a profit indefinitely.”
“Well, until the guy you’re selling pliers to has enough pliers,” said Fenn.
“Sure,” I replied. “But then you move on and figure something else out, and that becomes your profession: figuring out what the box values things at, then finding someone who will buy them for less. And that’s … not really what games are about. Or at least not D&D.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Fenn. “You’re positing this world where … what, magic items have no value?”
“No,” I said, “That’s not it at all, the value they have is always about adventuring, not about setting up shop somewhere and becoming a boring merchant who spends his days with his nose in spreadsheets. Or ledgers, whatever you guys use here.”
“But that’s not this world,” said Fenn. “People with magic set up shop with it all the time, that’s practically the entire function of magic. I keep forgetting that your entire life in this world covers about two weeks, but Fireteam Blackheart? They are not the norm. Amaryllis is not the norm, she’s … do you have equalists on Airth?”
“I’m not sure what that is, but there’s probably a correlate, yes,” I replied. “Also, it’s pronounced Earth and I think we’ve known each other long enough that you can stop pretending you don’t know that.”
“Amaryllis Penndraig is everything that the equalists rail against,” said Fenn. “She is basically privilege incarnate, born with power vested in her by her bloodline and by the vast sums of money her ancestors have accrued. Most of that money comes, directly or indirectly, from the heirlooms passed down from the time of Uther Penndraig. You see what I’m getting at? On Aerb, magic items aren’t like what you’re describing.”
“Except this one is,” I said with a nod at the clonal kit. “And there are other ways of limiting utility, if you wanted to. The teleportation key is extremely valuable, so valuable that we can’t really use it to make money because of the risk that someone would come after us and try to take it. Or with some of the others, maybe the market has already reacted to magic being able to do certain things, or a magic item is undercut by existing services, or something like that. The jar of fairies? We could use that to heal people and charge for that, but would we really be making that much money when a blood or bone mage could do the same?”
“Yes,” said Fenn flatly. “You understand that healing you wasn’t cheap, right? If I could set up shop somewhere selling dead fairies, I could live a comfortable life. Not a fancy life, but a comfortable one.”
“And you’d have me believe that you’d actually do that?” I asked.
“No, of course not,” said Fenn. “I’d get bored within a week. Mostly likely I’d pawn the work off to someone else and go for something bigger and better, but that’s me, right? You could give me a goose that lays golden eggs and I would probably get myself killed trying to get a second one. I suppose that’s why I’m out here in this abandoned castle trying to figure out a way to get back to civilization, instead of in Barren Jewel working a trade.” She sniffed. “I suppose that’s also why I’m on board for rescuing the princess.”
“Really?” I asked. “Then let’s go throw a glove out a window.”
Except that it wasn’t actually that simple, because things kept getting in my way. The first problem was finding the right kind of material to anchor to the glove. We ended up settling on thick, cabled wire, which took about thirty different iterations of looking in the clonal kit to get. Second was the problem of fashioning some way of attaching the glove that would absolutely ensure that the glove wouldn’t slip off once we threw it out the window. In the course of making a holder for the glove, my engineering leveled up, which led to …
“You have to practice it up,” said Fenn. “If your life were on the line, would you go up against someone with three swords when you could have ten swords by holding off a few hours?”
“Three levels and ten levels?” I asked. She nodded. “No, I guess not --”
“Then you have to make sure that the number in your head is as high as it will go before we try this, and we’re still doing a dry run first, with a different, non-magical glove,” said Fenn. “And stop looking at me like that, I know I’m being too cautious.”
“It’s not that,” I replied. “You’re being paranoid, that’s good, I just … didn’t expect it from you. I am a little worried about how much time we’re going to eat doing all this stuff, especially given what might be happening to Amaryllis.”
“She’ll keep, even if they resort to torture, which I don’t think she’d let it come to,” said Fenn. “I know you’re sweet on her, but we have to trust that she can hold her own. For now, stupid experiments with gloves.”
“She knows about the things we have,” I said. “All loyalty and emotion set to the side, the longer we wait, the more likely she is to reveal that we’re here, which means a repeat visit from the gold mage, which … probably doesn’t end well for us, does it?”
“Fuuuuck,” said Fenn. “Alright, point taken. But I’m not letting you lose this glove.”
Skill increased: Engineering lvl 10!
New Virtue: Material Analysis!
Material Analysis supposedly allowed me to see “weak points”, though I noticed nothing terribly obvious when I started looking around (which made me really hope that this wasn't one of those things silently disabled by Verisim mode). It certainly didn’t flash red on anything or give me a targeting reticule. I could see the weak points of Fenn, the places where I could hit her to inflict the most damage |
passes were intercepted. The Bears figure to get out to a lead. Lovie Smith is 5-1 against Jim Schwartz. The Lions have scored only 50 points in the first three quarters of games. They've scored 73 points in the fourth quarter.
8. Tale of two offenses: The Patriots run a high-tech offense. Bill Belichick will either spread the field with receivers or use a fast-tempo running offense out of two-tight end sets. The Jets run a train-wreck offense. The Tim Tebow Wildcat is averaging only 3 yards a play. Although people talk about Mark Sanchez's improvement, he's putting up Tebow-like passing numbers. He's completing only 49.7 percent of his passes. For his career, he has never averaged better than 6.7 yards an attempt, and he's been at 6.5 or 6.4 for the past three years. Still, the Jets and Patriots are part of a four-way tie for first in the AFC East. Rex Ryan still talks about how he can beat the Patriots, but those words don't seem to be as convincing lately.
Mistakes late in games have hurt the Panthers -- and their opponent, the Cowboys. Mark LoMoglio/Icon SMI
9. Clock management seminar: The Dallas-Carolina matchup features two offenses that can't get over the top in the fourth quarter. A Cam Newton fumble prevented the Panthers from getting a critical first down in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. A goal-line stand by the Seattle Seahawks' defense cost the Panthers another game. Newton has been taking these losses hard, and he needs a victory to get more positive vibes going in the locker room. Poor clock management by Cowboys coach Jason Garrett in the final seconds in Baltimore cost the team. Garrett had time to run one more play to set up an easier field goal, but the clock ticked down and the Cowboys missed the long field goal. If this game is close, who knows what will happen?
10. Climbing back: The Packers looked as though they were back with Sunday night's victory over the Texans. This week, they travel to another dome -- the Edward Jones Dome -- for a winnable game against a combative St. Louis Rams team. Jeff Fisher has brought a great attitude to the Rams. No matter the opponent, the Rams don't concede. This might be a tougher game than expected.
The Buffalo Bills finally got better play out of their defense in a 19-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals. They play a Tennessee Titans team that salvaged the first half of the season with a Thursday night win over the Steelers. Both teams have problems on defense. The Bills are giving up 32 points a game. The Titans are surrendering 34. This could be a high-scoring game.The Reds took a big step backward in their first season under manager Bryan Price, and they now face a number of worrisome contracts and an uncertain future.
Guaranteed Contracts
*The exact details of Iglesias’ seven-year, $27MM contract have not been reported, although it reportedly included a large signing bonus.
Options
Arbitration Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections via Matt Swartz)
Free Agents
2014 was a disappointing season for the Reds, who followed a 2013 Wild Card appearance with a sub-.500 finish in a year marred by injuries to Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Mat Latos, Homer Bailey and others. Going forward, they’re in a tough spot, and looking at the list of salaries and arbitration cases above, it’s not hard to see why. The Reds are a veteran team. They’re not old, exactly, but many of their stars are reaching, or have reached, that nexus where the Reds have to pay them what they’re worth, or even more than that.
It may be painful for the Reds to decisively address their payroll issue. They owe Votto, Phillips, Bruce and Bailey a total of about $48MM in 2015. In 2016, that number jumps to about $65MM, an enormous figure for a team that has never had an Opening Day payroll over $115MM.
So what can the Reds do? With the guaranteed salaries they already have in place for next season, and the raises they’ll have to pay key arbitration-eligible players like Aroldis Chapman and Mike Leake, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be serious bidders for top free agents.
They could make a few minor tweaks, hope for healthier and more productive seasons from their core players, and take one more run at contention. Beyond 2015, though, the Reds’ future becomes murkier, since Cueto, Latos, Leake and Alfredo Simon are all eligible for free agency. The Reds have a fairly good crop of starting pitching prospects led by a very strong one in Robert Stephenson, but replacing all their departing talent will be tough. It’s difficult, then, to see them fielding a competitive team in 2016 without getting very creative or lucky.
Another possible route for them this winter, therefore, might be to get a head start on their tricky 2016 season by trading Cueto for youth. Cueto’s $10MM option is a bargain in 2015, and he ought to be able to fetch a terrific return as a much cheaper and lower-risk alternative to Max Scherzer, Jon Lester or James Shields. Dealing Cueto for, say, an outfielder and two pitching prospects would allow the Reds to head into 2016 with those prospects supplementing a new-look rotation centered around Stephenson, Bailey, Raisel Iglesias, Tony Cingrani and perhaps one of Latos, Leake and Simon. Judging from the recent returns for pitchers like Jeff Samardzija (who had a year and a half of control before free agency but is a lesser pitcher) and R.A. Dickey (who had a year remaining before free agency and fetched two top prospects), a year of Cueto at a team-friendly salary could return two top-50 prospects or talented young big-leaguers. Another possibility, as ESPN’s Buster Olney suggests (Insider-only), is for the Reds to trade Cueto along with someone like Phillips to give their payroll some breathing room for the next few seasons.
The Reds could consider trades involving other starters as well, and MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently explored those possibilities. Bailey, who finished the year on the disabled list and has five years remaining on his contract, almost surely will not be traded. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal recently cited Latos as the Reds pitcher most likely to be dealt, although that’s probably much less likely now than it was in August, since Latos missed most of September with an elbow injury. His diminished velocity in 2014 will likely also be an obstacle. Trading Simon, who’s coming off a very strong 2014 season, might provide the Reds with good return value, although it would only do so much to save them money. Dealing Leake, who projects to make $9.5MM in 2014 and doesn’t have a worrisome injury history, might make the most sense.
The Reds already began shedding salary for 2015 when they traded Jonathan Broxton to the Brewers in August, but it’s hard to get a read on their level of interest in more radical moves. GM Walt Jocketty (whose contract the Reds recently extended) told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that he still sees his team as a potentially competitive one. “This year is disappointing because of the injuries,” he said. “From the very beginning, we had 11 DL guys and eight were key. … I feel we still have a small window if the guys come back healthy.” While the Reds will keep Jocketty, though, they’re expected to make significant changes to their front office, so it’s hard to say whether Jocketty’s outlook might be swayed by whoever else the Reds end up hiring.
The Reds’ core of position players is mostly set for 2015, if only because most of their starters are either cost effective or difficult to move. The Reds were the worst offensive team in baseball in the second half of the season, hitting a paltry.221/.277/.326 since the All-Star break, with Billy Hamilton, Ryan Ludwick, Bruce, Phillips, Skip Schumaker and Brayan Pena all struggling. Hamilton, Bruce and Phillips appear likely to return, however. Hamilton provides most of his value in the field and on the bases, and the Reds probably have little choice but to either stick with Bruce and Phillips or trade them for meager returns.
The Reds are also set at catcher (with Devin Mesoraco posting a breakout season, and Pena signed through 2015), first base (where Votto’s contract will likely be impossible to move) and third base (where Todd Frazier quietly had a terrific year). That leaves shortstop and left field. Shortstop Zack Cozart is an awful hitter, but he provides plenty of value in the field, and he ended up with 1.4 fWAR in 2014 despite a.223/.269/.302 line. It might be possible for the Reds to upgrade at the position, perhaps with someone like Jed Lowrie. But given Cozart’s.256 BABIP this season, it would also be defensible if they hoped for a modest offensive rebound and kept him at shortstop in 2015, particularly given that the free agent market doesn’t have much to offer and Cozart should be fairly cheap in his first season of arbitration eligibility.
In left field, Ryan Ludwick has struggled through his two-year contract, and the Reds probably ought to pass on their end of his $9MM mutual option, even given the steep $4.5MM buyout cost. Chris Heisey can be an effective bench piece, but he probably shouldn’t be considered a starter. The Reds could also move Frazier to left field and pursue a free agent third baseman like Aramis Ramirez, although such a strategy seems like a waste of Frazier’s good glove. The Reds will probably be fairly limited in their ability to sign a left fielder as a free agent, and top outfield prospects Jesse Winker and Phil Ervin are each at least a year away, so the Reds’ best path might be to acquire an outfielder if they trade one of their starting pitchers. A deal with a team like the Red Sox, who have plenty of outfielders and are in need of good starting pitching, might make sense, and someone like Daniel Nava might be a good target as part of a larger deal.
With Heisey, Pena and Kristopher Negron, the Reds have the beginnings of a reasonable bench. They’ll likely decline their option on Jack Hannahan, who didn’t play much in 2014 and didn’t hit at all when he did. But upgrading the bench likely won’t be a big priority for the Reds, particularly given that they already have the light-hitting Schumaker to fill one of the remaining spots.
Other than the extraordinary Chapman, the 2014 bullpen was not a strength, and it became weaker when the Reds shipped Broxton to Milwaukee. The Broxton trade suggests, however, that the Reds understand that when there’s a budget crunch, highly paid relievers ought to be the first luxury item to go. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if they didn’t spend much on bullpen help this offseason, instead sifting through arms they already control, like Manny Parra, J.J. Hoover, Sam LeCure, Curtis Partch, Jumbo Diaz, Pedro Villareal, Carlos Contreras, and Sean Marshall (who will be returning from a shoulder injury). Iglesias might be another possibility. Logan Ondrusek, who had a poor season in 2014, is a non-tender candidate.
One outside-the-box idea might be for the Reds to trade Chapman. He’s so good that it would be difficult to get fair value for him, but it’s worth considering, since he’s only under team control through 2016, and he won’t be cheap by then. The Reds might be able to get a couple potential regulars in return for Chapman, which would dramatically improve them as they build for 2016 and beyond. There haven’t been many rumors yet about a potential Chapman trade, and perhaps there won’t be. But if the Reds make any surprising moves, that’s the kind they’ll likely make, with the big names on the way out of town rather than on the way in.The 2018 Game Developers Conference is just a few months away, and today organizers are excited to debut the 20 games selected to exhibit at alt.ctrl.GDC, the on-site showcase of alternative control schemes and interactions in games.
GDC 2018 attendees who stop by the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit will have the chance to play all of these inventive and innovative games using unique, one-of-a-kind controllers.
You could, for example, pilot a spaceship while shouting madly at a nearby friend/coworker/stranger to plug different-colored wires into your controller, or play games on a special sphere studded with LEDs.
You might also play virtual golf by blowing madly into a set of sensors, or help virtual disco-loving cops save their city from a zombie invasion by slapping fake zombie heads in time to the beat.
If you're really feeling adventurous, you could climb inside a special unicorn controller and play a game with your horn and feet, or try your luck at a game of foosball played only using your voice!
As always, it promises to be a fantastic showcase. This year's roster of alt.ctrl.GDC finalists is as follows:
Striker Air Hockey (Guerrilla Nouveau) - Guerrilla Nouveau has been hard at work on a new touchscreen technique. We made air hockey to demonstrate the possibilities of this low resolution touch screen technique, but couldn’t resist throwing in some extras.
Too Many Captains (And Not Enough Wire) (Avi Romanoff, Giada Sun) - A game where two or more players work together to pilot a spaceship through outer space. The engineer has the controller, and they plug colored wires into panels on the game's controller. However, the engineer can't see the screen -- they need to rely on the other players, the captains -- to guide them to victory.
Vaccination (Installation Required) - Two players must work together to keep the patient alive for as long as possible against the onslaught of bacteria racing towards the patient's heart. One player is in charge of scanning the body, on the lookout for the bacteria and relaying what vaccine and where the other player, equipped with the injector, should administer.*
Clunker Junker (HNRY) - Clunker Junker is an experimental arcade game in which two players attempt to keep their space transport intact as they outrun space pirates through an asteroid field. As the ship takes damage in-game, physical panels will fall off of the ships 4 main modules, disabling them until they are repaired using the custom-made repair tool. The tool boasts two main components. First, the specially made tip which must be used to connect to the 4 ship modules. Second, the uniquely fabricated crank which provides actual power and rotates the tip, allowing players to perform actions such as steering, changing turret direction, supercharging their engine, or repairing their hull.
Grave Call (Totally Not a Game Studio) - Grave Call is a time-based, asymmetrical multiplayer game based on communication between two players, one is buried alive and one is a police dispatcher. A phone holds clues for the coffin’s location, which has to be identified before the phone battery runs out.
Living Orb (Jonathan Giroux) - Living Orb is a tangible game console, with which you can easily create your own enlightened games. The device is an sphere covered by LEDs. It's like its surface is the screen! And you only control it by rotating it, that's all. This allows for unique games!
Wind Golf (Pepijn Willekens) - A game where you play golf by blowing on physical sensors!
Puppet Pandemonium (Fluffy Games) - A puppet show video game that uses the puppets as the controllers, and has an element of audience participation.
Disco is Dead! (Third Floor Games) - Disco is Dead! is a 2-player buddy cop comedy horror arcade game that follows the story of Reggie and Kenny -- two disco-loving cops who must save their city from a zombie outbreak with their ultimate handy dandy weapon… slapping! The game plays with slappable zombie heads and disco ball controllers for a more immersive experience!
Voiceball (Alex Turbyfield, Stephen Borden, Ilya Polyakov, Talal Alothman, Ali Yaldrim) - Voiceball is like foosball played with your voice. Using microphones, players hit the ball with a waveform representation of their voice. Make sounds to create waves to hit the ball into the other player's goal in this party game pitting your vocal skills against your friends.
Wobble Garden (Robin Baumgarten) - Wobble Garden is a hand-crafted arrangement of sensing springs combined with reactive lighting. Players wobble springs to interact with the installation and play games. It creates a unique visual and tactile experience, and will be scaleable to a several meter large installation.
Unicornelia (The Sad Rainbows) - A game about the life of a young unicorn with an office job, played by mounting a horn on your head and inserting it into special motion-sensing compartments while also managing emotions via special pressure-sensitive pillows.
Mark Wars (Matthieu Alves, Louis Bernot, Alessandro Cheinisse, Gaëtan Cloarec, Florian Eschalier, Matthias Johan, Pierre Llanusa) - Our intention was to make a game accessible for a wide audience using no screen and one instinctive button. With Mark Wars, using a marker pen, the players will be able to trace their own unique path! This path will be followed by the player's small model ship (either a TIE Fighter or X-Wing) and can be altered by the opponent.
Pump the Frog (7 Holy Frogges) - Pump the Frog is a 2d-puzzle-platformer where you control the Frog and your environment, roll, slip and squeeze around the levels, devouring any fly in your path!
Bot Party (Phoenix Perry and Frieda Abtan) - Bot Party in an interactive sound experience for humans. The bots have a problem. They have no way to communicate with their friends. Can you help? They need you to touch another human holding a bot. Through you the bots use the proprietary bot to skin to skin to bot communication protocol (BSSB) to send encoded secret messages to each other. Hold hands with other players to get the bot sound spectacular started!
Yo, Bartender! (Kraken) - Yo, Bartender! puts you in the shoes of a modern day bartender mixing cocktails in a bustling city. Survive the night rush by mixing and serving as fast as you can while making sure you always have the orders right. Do you have what it takes to be a bartender?
Doors to the City (Looking Glass) - An artist is lost in the divisions of his mind as he attempts to organize the vast arrays of his own creative process. The planets of his mind, NYC-LA-Newark-Oakland, take shape as he comes to battle them in their own respective ways.
Lemonade (Jing Sun, Yaying Zeng, Yuchen Huang, Ziqiang He) - A two-player game in which each player controls one (real) water pipe they can use to control the angle and flow of virtual on-screen water pipes. Shoot lemons, avoid cupcakes, make lemonade!
Hi-5 Heroes (Bobby Lockhart and Marty Meinerz) - Hi-5 Heroes is a 2-player cooperative rhythm game where two people high-five, low-five, and fist-bump to the beat.
Scissors The That Than and Shcocoococo VS (Miyazaworks) - One is a a game played with huge scissors controller. Use the joystick on the left to move, press the button on the right to search nearest enemies, cut the enemies in order to survive. The other is a multiplayer game in which you use special soap bottle controllers (modified with a Raspberry Pi) to control an on-screen soap bottle bird. Depress the soap bottle nozzle, and the bird will shoot liquid at germs!
As always, the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit is open to all GDC attendees and will make its fifth appearance at the conference from Wed-Fri, March 21-23 in the Moscone Convention Center, near the Independent Games Festival pavilion. Any questions about the showcase should be directed to alt.ctrl.GDC co-creator and organizer John Polson.
So don't miss your chance to play these unique, one-of-a-kind games -- GDC 2018 may be your only chance to do so! For more information on GDC 2018, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.
Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM AmericasRubio won 168 delegates during his primary run, according to the Associated Press as of Wednesday morning. Taking into account the arcane Republican Party rules that vary from state to state, at least 98 of those will be up for grabs, a Roll Call analysis of the RNC regulations found.
That same analysis shows 45 delegates are still required to vote for Rubio at the convention for at least the first ballot, and other delegates will automatically fall to another candidate based on rules set up by each state.
But because of those unique state processes, it may be some time before we know where all of Rubio’s delegates will end up.
“We’ve had to go back and forth with them on our rules,” said Jake Parsons, the director of operations for the Oklahoma Republican Party of the RNC.
At this point, Donald Trump has 621 delegates, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has 396 and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio has 168. If none of those three candidates reach the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination before the convention, a contested convention could occur where no one candidate secures the majority of delegates on the first nominating ballot. Here’s a look at just some of the various rules states have set up for where delegates for a drop-out candidate go:
Many states, such as Iowa, require delegates to stay with their candidate through at least the first round.
Some, like New Hampshire, free the delegates to vote for whomever they choose.
And still others, such as South Carolina, have processes that automatically reallocate delegates.
In the Palmetto State, delegates supporting a candidate who has dropped out are required to vote for the candidate that came in second in the area the delegate represents.
“It was jokingly referred to as the Lindsey Graham rule,” South Carolina GOP Chair Matt Moore said, referencing the senator who attempted a presidential run earlier this year. “So if he were to win the state delegates, but not continue to the convention, it would still force candidates to compete in the state.”
On the Democratic side, the national party sets rules for how delegates can vote if their candidate drops out. Delegates from all states are free to vote for whomever they choose if their candidate releases them, a Democratic National Committee spokesman said.
Jason Dick contributed to this report. Related: Super Tuesday Vote Closer Than It Appears Roll Call Race Ratings Map: Ratings for Every House and Senate Race in 2016 Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone.The resolution on Syria passed by the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council is biased and neglects mentioning the violence of the rebels drawn up in a recent report by an Independent Commission, said the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"For instance, while enumerating the violations of human rights the resolution does not make any mentioning of violence on the part of rebels that was described in the report in detail - mass executions, abductions of women and children, sexual violence, the use of children soldiers, mortar shelling of densely populated areas, as well as the terrorist acts committed by the groups making up the Syrian Free Army and closely linked to the Islamic Front," the ministry said.
The Foreign Ministry added that some of the groups that committed these atrocities, the West is “trying to pass off as a moderate opposition.”
Each radical group runs a jail in a village or town controlled by jihadists and tortures are rife in those jails, said the independent commission in its report as cited by the Russian ministry.
"A one-sided appeal to the Syrian government to publish a full list of penitentiaries sounds rather strange," the ministry said.
The ministry also said that it is puzzling to them that UN refused Russia’s suggestion concerning the wording of the document – to condemn terrorism in Syria.
"The Russian side has been actively working with a group of co-authors and proposed a number of amendments for a balanced text. Most of our proposals, however, were not taken into account.”
“This is despite the fact that the agreed counter-terrorism clause is in Resolution 2139 of the UN Security Council.”
Moreover, the UN Council on Human Rights went far beyond its mandate, offering to urge Damascus to accelerate the implementation of the chemical disarmament program, the statement added.
“UN Council on Human Rights is not authorized to interfere in the process, to dictate priorities and decide which provisions of the Geneva communiqué need special attention,” the ministry stressed.
The UN’s top human rights body voted overwhelmingly on Friday to renew its war crimes investigation in Syria for another year. The 47-nation Human Rights Council adopted the resolution that again condemns the violence in Syria’s ongoing civil war and holds the Syrian government responsible for the atrocities. The resolution was initiated by the UK, Germany, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, US, France and Turkey. Russia, China, Venezuela and Cuba voted against it. 11 countries declined to vote including Algeria, Vietnam, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Congo, Namibia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Syrian envoy to UN’s Geneva HQ, described the latest resolution as biased against his government.
The resolution was adopted with three aims - to renew the investigation, condemn as strongly as possible violations of humanitarian and human rights laws, and support efforts to hold culprits accountable, said UK Ambassador Karen Pierce.
The violence in Syria has killed more than 140,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and triggered a regional humanitarian crisis dubbed worst in the latest decades.Homicide investigators have identified the man and woman killed in a shooting in Langley last week and a young man is facing two charges of murder in their deaths.
Thirty-four-year-old Brandy Petrie of Burnaby and 20-year-old Avery Levely-Flescher of Surrey were gunned down in the early hours of Friday morning near the intersection of 232 Street and 64 Avenue.
They were both discovered inside a vehicle at the scene, according to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). Petrie was pronounced dead on arrival by first responders, but Levely-Flescher survived long enough to be transported to hospital.
Langley resident Travis MacPhail, 21, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in their deaths, as well as a charge of possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm.
At an IHIT news conference Tuesday afternoon, Cpl. Frank Jang declined to provide any details about how the accused man and the two victims were connected.
MacPhail has also been charged with aggravated sexual assault and uttering threats in connection with a separate incident or incidents. He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
Police say the double slaying does not appear to be random, but there is no connection to other recent violence in the Lower Mainland.Graphene, that 2D sheet of carbon atoms with some impressive qualities, has its flaws. Namely, it can’t block electricity from flowing, which makes its chances of being incorporated into solar panels slimmer. Scientists are working on ways to tweak it to be more compatible, but they’re also on the lookout for alternatives that perform just as well.
Na 3 Bi, a combination of the metals sodium and bismuth, is the most recent emerging option. SLAC and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers were able to create a sample of the material and reveal its structure for the first time, confirming what scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences had theorized: Na 3 Bi’s electrical properties mean it really would perform similarly to graphene. Basically, it could absorb and transmit electrons really, really fast.
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“Ever since graphene was isolated in 2004, researchers around the world have looked for ways to take full advantage of its many desirable properties,” said Yulin Chen, who led research at Lawrence Berkeley’s facilities, in a press release. “But the very thing that makes graphene special — the fact that it consists of a single layer of atoms – sometimes makes it difficult to work with, and a challenge to manufacture.”
Unfortunately, Na 3 Bi has its own flaws. While one of graphene’s amazing qualities is that it is stable and capable of surviving sitting out in the open at room temperature, Na 3 Bi isn’t. It bubbles and turns to powder when it comes in contact with air. That means there’s no way it could currently be incorporated into electronics.If you are active in the field of Gun Violence Prevention, you can tell you are making a difference if you get attacked by the NRA, or better yet by Breitbart, which is one and the same thing. Breitbart has been pimping for the NRA since it first started up in 2007 because if you want to become known as the loony voice on the Right, what better way to do it than to say something crazy about guns? And at least for the next couple of months the craziness will be spread even further by a guy named Trump.
So it was no surprise to me that yesterday’s NRA-ILA political blog would carry a lead story attacking (and distorting) the views of one of our most dedicated and distinguished public health scholars, who happens to be Shannon Frattaroli, a faculty member at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Professor Frattaroli has been an outspoken advocate in many areas of gun violence, in particular helping to frame the discussion around taking and keeping guns away from individuals involved in domestic disputes. She is also an authority on the issue of restricting gun use by persons who are strong self-harm candidates, and helped the California Legislature draft its 2014 law that allows family members and intimate partners to directly petition a judge to determine if an individual might be a threat to themselves or someone else.
The gun industry has always been reluctant to acknowledge the fact that two-thirds of gun deaths each year are caused by people who use a gun to end their own lives. For some of the more extreme Gun-nut Nation elements, this isn’t a worrisome aspect of gun violence, it’s all about ‘personal choice.’ But there are more enlightened approaches being taken about gun suicide by the gun-owning community, witness the recent announcement by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to partner with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to develop resources for gun dealers, shooting ranges and gun owners about suicide and guns.
About the last thing that the NRA is going to endorse is any effort by anyone to develop ‘educational’ resources about anything; their definition of ‘education’ is to have an invented YouTube character with a phony name like Colion Noir prance around with his AR, or home-school queen Dana Loesch come down from her perch and lecture all those soccer moms on how they could defend the ‘real America’ if only they would all go out and buy guns.
But when the NRA really wants to concoct an argument completely out of whole cloth, they can always count on Breitbart to help them out. And the story they relied on for this week’s attack on Shannon Frattaroli comes right out of the Breitbart land of make-believe. Pulling some of Frattaroli’s comments out of context from an article in New America Media, the Breitbart writer, a Gun-nut Nation noisemaker named AWR Hawkins, accuses her of trying to disarm the senior, gun-owning population because older gun owners tend to be the most adamant supporters of 2nd-Amendment rights.
Actually, what Frattaroli is really saying reflects nothing more than common sense, namely, that guns are problematic when they are on the hands of an aging population, because the older we get, the more we become susceptible to physical and mental conditions that make us more vulnerable to the risks posed by guns. The CDC reports that in 2014, for example, while the overall gun-suicide rate per 100,000 was 6.54, the rate for ages 70 and above was 12.4, more than twice as high.
The NRA has never felt comfortable with saying anything about guns which leads to a discussion about risk. This is because the only gun-risk they believe exists is when you don’t own a gun. Which is why they find it convenient and necessary to attack what Shannon Frattaroli says. All the more reason why it’s very important to read what she has to say.
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FacebookMadhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in his advocacy for vegetarianism, has taken a stance against a proposal that calls for serving eggs to children as a part of the anganwadi meals.
Anganwadi was started by the central government in 1975 to counter Child hunger and malnutrition. An anganwadi centre also provides basic healthcare in the village.
The vegetarian Chief Minister has now shot down a proposal for kids from tribal areas of Alirajpur, Mandla and Hoshangabad districts to get egg curry or boiled eggs as a part of their anganwadi meals, according to a report by The Indian Express.
The report, citing health experts and activists said that malnutrition is a major concern in tribal areas and having eggs at least two to three times a week, would be a solution to the problem but Chouhan is adamant and has said that eggs will never be served in the State as long he was Chief Minister.
“It has been a sentimental issue with the CM from Day One. Moreover, there are better, more nutritious options available,” the report quoted S K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, as saying.
The Jain community in the State has also been lobbying for eggs to be taken off the menu and have reached out to the CM for the same.
“Do eggs grow on trees? No. Its consumption has several side-effects. When children eat non-vegetarian food, their sensitivity dies,’’ Anil Badkul, spokesperson for the Digambar Jain Mahasamiti, was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
Vegetarian meals have also in the past been imposed in mid-day meals at schools. In fact a Frontline feature earlier this year also reported that Madhya Pradesh excludes eggs from mid-day meal schemes too due to pressure from upeer caste lobbies.
Only vegetarian meals are also not uncommon in Chattisgarh and Rajasthan. Frontline cited the example of a government primary school in Bhawargarh village in Rajasthan’s Baran district which had strictly enforced vegetarian meals as part of the mid-day meal scheme as "Rajasthan is of the new states to have resisted the introduction of eggs in the midday meal scheme bowing to pressure from upper-caste lobbies as well as private contractors who supply the midday meals." Even Karnataka in 2007 under the leadership of BJP had put on hold the proposal to give eggs once a week under the State government’s midday meal scheme due to pressure from Hindu and Jain religious leaders.
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.CTVNews.ca Staff
Police in Sydney, Australia believed they were dealing with a case of domestic abuse when they responded to reports of a woman screaming hysterically and a man yelling death threats earlier this week.
But after they arrived on the scene, all police found was one injured spider and one embarrassed man.
Police said they received a number of calls early Sunday morning over a woman screaming hysterically, a man yelling "I'm going to kill you,” "You're dead," and "Die, die!", along with sounds of furniture being tossed around the home.
Upon knocking on the apartment door, police said an "out-of-breath and rather flushed" man answered the door. The rest of their exchange was documented on the Harbourside LAC – NSW Police Force Facebook page.
Time again for the news......Once again we had another Drug Dog operation in the North Sydney CBD and once again we had... Posted by Harbourside LAC - NSW Police Force on Saturday, November 21, 2015
Police: "Where’s your wife?"
Male: "Umm, I don’t have one."
Police: "Where’s your girlfriend?"
Male: "Umm, I don’t have one."
Police: "We had a report of a domestic, and a woman screaming. Where is she?"
Male: "I don't know what you're talking about. I live alone."
Police: "Come on mate, people clearly heard you yelling you were going to kill her and furniture getting thrown around the unit."
Police said at this point, the man became “very sheepish.”
Police: "Come on mate, what have you done to her."
Male: "It was a spider."
Police: "Sorry?"
Male: "It was a spider, a really big one!"
Police: "What about the woman screaming?"
Male: "Yeah sorry, that was me. I really, really hate spiders."
Police said the man was chasing the spider around the unit with bug spray.
"After a very long pause, some laughter and a quick look in the unit to make sure there was no injured party (apart from the spider) we left," police wrote on the Facebook post.
The post has generated plenty of feedback, with many Facebook users commenting that they may have reacted in a similar manner.
"Can relate to the spider issue," Christopher Noy commented. "I had a spider in my car (and) it disappeared…sold the car….true story."
Fleur Cheri commented: "I can almost relate to the incy-wincy-spidey one, although my man of the house doesn't squeal at it. Just jumps and turns pale!"
To which an officer with the police force responded: "Well he is a better man than me. I have been known to let the odd girly squeal out when it comes to the 8-legged Satan."Get the biggest football stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
West Ham are trying to snap up Paris Saint-Germain starlet Jean-Kevin Augustin on the cheap.
The exciting France U18 international striker is out of contract this summer.
He has a clutch of top European clubs chasing him including Juventus, Roma, Benfica and Porto.
Augustin joined the Ligue 1 champions from ACBB in 2009 but is yet to make an appearance for Laurent Blanc's side |
comes to streaking in 2017, which makes it hard to pin down exactly where the team stands heading into October.
One thing we know: the Dodgers, even with their 16-of-17 nosedive, are going to the playoffs. That was clinched on Tuesday night. The division title is well within their sights as well, with a 10 game lead with only 16 games left to play.
The question always comes up every season. Does a team’s finish to its regular season matter come October?
I have seen too many examples on both sides to put much stock in how a team finishes in September. The 2006 Dodgers won their final seven games and nine of 10 heading into the playoffs, only to get swept in three games in the NLDS by the Mets. Last year, the Dodgers limped to the finish with five losses in six games in the final week, then won the NLDS and held a 2-1 NLCS lead before falling to the juggernaut Cubs.
The 2015 Royals lost 16 of 24 games during a September stretch, then won the World Series. There are plenty of examples of winners who finished strong, too. The 2011 World Series featured the Cardinals — winners of 15 of their last 20 and 21 of their last 30 — and Rangers, who finished 16-4 and 22-8.
I am of the belief that how a team plays in October is the main determinant of how said team will fare in October, much more so than how the team played in September, or how they played in any of the other months of the season. But I wanted to check to see if this has played out in reality.
Back in 2009, Jay Jaffe at Baseball Prospectus studied the issue and found there was little to no correlation between September performance and playoff success:
As the postseason unfolds over the next few weeks, you're going to hear a lot about momentum and its importance to a ballclub, and while it's undoubtedly a good idea to bear Earl Weaver's famous maxim in mind, the take-home message is that the conventional wisdom that a team's recent performances foreshadows their playoff fate is generally wrong.
No team wants to finish their season on a low note, heading into the playoffs, but the key is finding out if it actually matters. Admittedly, these Dodgers seem to have broken the norm.
Per Madison McEntire of SABR, no team in MLB history has ever won 100 games and lost 10 or more games in a row in the same year. The Dodgers have 94 wins with 16 games remaining, and already have an 11-game losing streak under their belt.
The Dodgers earlier this season also won 11 straight, and had a 10-game winning streak to boot. Again per McEntire, they are the first team in MLB history with two double-digit win streaks and a double-digit losing streak in the same season.
Seemingly no matter what the Dodgers do these final two-plus weeks of the regular season, they will be a historically unique team heading into the postseason.
“It’s easy to say that momentum does matter, and any team if they had their choice would they want that momentum? Absolutely,” manager Dave Roberts said in San Diego, back when the 11-game losing streak was in its infancy. “But every team if you see has had momentum how they fared going into the postseason, compared to teams that didn’t have it, the winning kind of balances itself out.”
Also back in 2009, I looked at all the playoff teams in the wild card era and found more of the same as Jaffe. That post only looked at the years 1995-2008, but this week I updated my research through 2016.
I looked at every playoff team of the last 22 years, and scrutinized these points in each series (or wild card game):
Overall seasonal record
Home field advantage
Record in last 10 games of regular season
Record in last 20 games of regular season
Record in last 30 games of regular season
I excluded the 1995-96 home field advantage numbers for the division series, because in the first two years of the format the team with the “advantage” would start the first two games on the road before finishing up with three at home.
In cases when the records were tied — the 2013 ALDS, for instance, featured the Tigers and Orioles, both of whom finished their regular seasons 13-7 — those were discarded for that category.
Division series
Teams with home field advantage won 42 of 80 division series (52.5%)
Teams with the better regular season record won 44 of 86 division series (51.2%)
Teams with the better record in the final 10 games won 39 of 71 division series (54.9%)
Teams with the better record in the final 20 games won 40 of 74 1st round series (54.1`%)
Teams with the better record in the final 30 games won 42 of 77 1st round series (54.5%)
Nothing really stands out here, to me.
League championship series
Teams with home field advantage won 23 of 44 league championship series (52.3%)
Teams with the better regular season record won 24 of 43 league championship series (55.8%)
Teams with the better record in the final 10 games won 17 of 30 league championship series (56.7%)
Teams with the better record in the final 20 games won 21 of 39 league championship series (53.8%)
Teams with the better record in the final 30 games won 18 of 39 league championship series (46.2%)
Wild card games
MLB introduced a wild card game in each league in 2012. Here are those results, with only five years of data:
Teams with home field advantage won 3 of 10 wild card games (30.0%)
Teams with the better regular season record won 2 of 6 wild card games (33.3%). *there were four games with tied records.
Teams with the better record in the final 10 games won 5 of 8 wild card games (62.5%)
Teams with the better record in the final 20 games won 4 of 8 wild card games (50.0%)
Teams with the better record in the final 30 games won 4 of 8 wild card games (50.0%)
This seems like more of the same, with the caveat that true momentum is that day’s starting pitcher, which is more prevalent in a one-game “series.”
So while finishing the regular season strong might be good for the soul, there isn’t a ton of evidence that it provides much of an advantage come playoff time. I stand by my earlier thought: if you want to success in October, it’s better to play well in October than to play well in September.The Guess Who suck, the Jets were lousy anyway…
I hate Winnipeg
–The Weakerthans, “One Great City!”
Yes, Winnipeg has awoken to a jollier future than the one Manitoba’s brilliant John K. Samson ironically wrote about in 2003.
The reconstructed Jets are playoff-bound, and Winnipeg is singing a new song.
Titled “The Playoff Anthem” and set to the tune of Eminem’s “Without Me,” Virgin 103.1 radio host Ace Burpee released this fun playoff parody rap Friday — with a video to boot.
Sample lyric: “It’s tragic / You got stopped by Pavelec.”
“It took me ages to write. Like, weeks and weeks. I would sit there watching Jets games with my laptop trying to make things fit, delete everything, and start again,” Burpee writes on the station’s blog. “I probably picked one of the hardest songs ever to parody but I thought it might work if I stuck with it and think it turned out ok.”
There’s a catch, however.
The same Marshall Mathers’ smash was parodied back in 2002 (the year the song was actually released) by fans of the Detroit Red Wings (Eminem’s hometown team). To be fair, Slim Shady’s hits have a bit more mass appeal than Mood Ruff. (Much respect to Mood Ruff, though.)
The code says no biting allowed, but the “Without Me” hockey parody does carry some good luck. The Wings won the Cup the spring “Without Stanley” dropped.
Sample lyric: “And Irbe? / You can get stomped by Sergei.”
(h/t Puck Daddy)Game Summary
The Cavaliers continue preseason play Tuesday night at home when they take on the Chicago Bulls. Tipoff from Quicken Loans Arena is at 8:00 p.m. (ET).
Heading into their penultimate game of the preseason against Chicago (2-2), Cleveland (0-3) continues to get prepared as the regular season is only a week away.
The Wine & Gold are looking to regain steam after their 102-94 loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday. Despite the loss, both younger and more experienced players made a few big statements, which showed off the Cavs' depth.
Forward Jeff Green made numerous highlight reels thanks to an impressive jam in the second quarter. Green also led his team in points (19) and rebounds (7). Second year guard Kay Felder also balled out, scoring 12 points and recording a team-high 11 assists.
Like the Cavs, the Bulls are also looking to rebound after falling to the New Orleans Pelicans, 108-95, this weekend. Guard Denzel Valentine came off the bench for Chicago, scoring 15 points, while forward Nikola Mirotic and center Robin Lopez both dropped 13.
Where to Catch the Action
TV: ESPN
Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega
For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.
Probable Starters/Status Update*
#20 - Kay Felder #26 - Kyle Korver #32 - Jeff Green #16 - Cedi Osman #41 - Ante Zizic G G F F C #2 Jerian Grant #7 - Justin Holiday #16 - Paul Zipser #44 - Nikola Mirotic #42 - Robin Lopez
Status Update: (Cavs) - LeBron James, (Left ankle, Questionable), Iman Shumpert, (Left foot, Questionable), Isaiah Thomas, (Right hip, Out)
Status Update: (Bulls) - Kris Dunn, (Left index finger dislocation, Out), Zach LaVine, (ACL, Out), Cameron Payne, (Right foot, Out), Quincy Pondexter, (Left hamstring, Out)
*Subject to change.
Head-to-Head Matchup
Despite dropping the last seven of eight regular season matchups with the Bulls, the Wine & Gold have recently dominated Chicago during the playoffs in recent years. In fact, Cleveland has won the last two postseason series with the Bulls, defeating them 4-1 in 2010 and 4-2 in 2015.
Of course, many fans will be excited to see former-Bulls Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade take on their old team. Rose averaged over 19 points a game and won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award in 2011 during his tenure in the Windy City.
While he only played a single season in a Bulls jersey, Wade considers Chicago his home, as he was born and raised in the Chicagoland area.
The Cavs' first regular-season meeting versus the Bulls will take place on Tuesday, October 24 at The Q.
On Deck
Following their matchup with the Bulls, the Cavs will round out the preseason with a trip to the Sunshine State as they take on the Orlando Magic on October 13 at Amway Center.
VIEW FULL SCHEDULEUnfortunately for Artem Lobov, his TUF Finale bout with Ryan Hall played out in a completely contrasting light to the performances that got him to the all-important bout.
‘The Russian Hammer’ crushed three opponents by KO when given a second chance to impress for Team Europe on the latest season of TUF. James Jenkins, Chris Gruetzemacher and Julian Erosa all fell to the SBG fighter on route to the final of the tournament, but a last ditch switch of opponent from Saul Rogers to jiu-jitsu wizard Ryan Hall certainly shifted the goal posts for Lobov.
For 15 gruelling minutes, the European KO artist evaded the submission attempts of Hall who constantly looked to force his strengths on his counterpart. Nobody batted an eyelid when the decision was read out in Hall’s favour, but for Lobov, the fact that he lost didn’t really bother him. It was the way that he was defeated that made the night hard to swallow for him.
“When you’re in the UFC it doesn’t really matter about wins, losses or your record,” said Lobov, back at home in Dublin. “Now you’re in the UFC, it’s time to perform. It’s very simple really–if you’re exciting and you’re winning, you stay. If you’re boring and you’re losing, you go. That’s what it’s about right now and not only did I lose, I lost the most boring fight ever.
“I went into that fight hoping for this great finale. I was hoping for my Forrest Griffin/Stephan Bonnar moment, but then I didn’t even get to fight. I woke up the next day and there wasn’t a scratch on me, but I had a loss. It’s just so disappointing.”
Hall seemed to be a particularly bad matchup for Lobov. Although he had put a lot of work into his takedown defence in the lead up to the UFC’s reality platform, he believes there was nothing that he could have done to prepare for the unorthodox approach of ‘The Wizard.’
“He fought a completely different fight against me,” he explained. “When you look at the fight he had with Saul Rogers he spent a lot of his time striking. He threw hands and he welcomed the exchanges, but with me, he did not throw a single jab. He didn’t do anything. Any time I took a step forward he just fell to his back.
“Fair enough, it paid off I guess because he got the win, but I always say that if you’re going to step up to the UFC, this is the Ultimate Fighting Championships, you have to fight. You shouldn’t just be falling onto your back every time.
“I’m not too sure what I could’ve done differently. My takedown defence is pretty good, I’ve worked on it a lot because it’s been a problem for me in the past. The way he went for takedowns, you can’t even call them takedowns because he was constantly just tying me up and dropping to his back. It was very hard to prepare for because how many guys do you see that actually do that? He’s the only one who does that.”
Lobov is finding it hard to pull any positives out of the fight. Although he did fantastically well to avoid a multitude of submission attempts from one of the most distinguished grapplers on the UFC roster, ‘The Russian Hammer’ maintained that he “would’ve preferred to get killed in there than have taken such a boring loss.”
“I guess it was good that I was able to survive the submissions, but most of the time I’m able to do that. Whenever I’m in a submission, I don’t event think about tapping. Tapping is not an option. To me it’s always get out of there, get choked out or get your arm or leg broken. I just keep fighting until I’m out.
“Luckily, I didn’t have any injuries after this fight. Potentially I could’ve had my knee torn and that would’ve been even worse because not only would I have lost I would have lost and I wouldn’t be able to walk. In that sense, I can take some positives from it, but I would’ve preferred to get killed in there than have taken such a boring loss.”
But it hasn’t been all bad news for him. According to Lobov, some VIPs from UFC’s backroom have informed him that he will get another chance to showcase his ability in the Octagon.
It makes sense, really. Considering that the SBG man was such a big factor on the television series having made it to final on the back of a spectacular run of finishes, it wouldn’t make sense for UFC to hand him off to be another promotion’s poster boy.
As far as fights he would like are concerned, Lobov did not hesitate to mention the name of a UFC veteran and a man who has never shied away from a firefight, Diego Sanchez.
“The people who I spoke to, who are very important people in the UFC, they’ve all said to me that I’m getting a second shot. In that sense it’s good, I’ve gotten what I’ve wanted. I can say now that I am in the UFC and I’m just waiting for the next fight.
“I hope it’s a good matchup. Obviously, I’m not in the position to turn down any fights at the moment so I’m just going to take whoever they give me, but I really hope it’s someone that will exchange, even a little bit. I want to get a chance to show what I can do.
“They’ve left what weight division I will compete in up to me, it’s whichever one I want between lightweight and featherweight. I feel like it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s a good matchup.
“Someone like Diego Sanchez, you could fight him at any weight class because he always comes to fight. He’s always going to stand and bang with you. Even though he has great wrestling and great jiu-jitsu, he just loves a good scrap. You know that it’s going to be an exciting fight no matter what happens.
“If you take someone like Ryan Hall, he’s probably a 135er really. Still, he managed to make our fight a boring contest, so I guess the weight category is not an issue for me anymore. It’s more about the style of opponent that I get. And again, I wouldn’t mind getting a wrestler either, because I feel like I can deal with them at the moment,” said Lobov.
The Dubliner also revealed that Sanchez has shown some interest in meeting him while the TUF series was being broadcast:
“The reason why I mentioned Diego is because he has expressed a bit of interest in fighting me. He tweeted me saying that I would be one of the few guys that would actually stand and trade with him and he is right when he says that. I think he’s at that point in his career where he probably just wants to have a few more fights, make a bit of money and put on a good show.
“That works for me. We would make for an unbelievable matchup for the fans. I think it has the potential to be a fight that people talk about for a long, long time.”
The durability of Sanchez is a legend in itself. The only time the Jackson-Winkeljohn fighter has ever been stopped was when doctors stepped in and deemed the cut he suffered in his lightweight title bout against BJ Penn too much of a danger to continue with. That being said, Lobov is confident that he could put ‘The Dream’ to sleep should they ever face off.
“I definitely think I have the power and the accuracy to land that finishing shot on him. He is really tough to finish, Lamas couldn’t finish him and many others have tried and found it very difficult to get that finish. I do think I would be able to get that finish against him if we ever meet in the Octagon.”
@PetesyCarrollA machinist logged more than 5,000 hours last year and earned more than the railroad's president the year before
Buy Photo A train passes as Metro-North employees finish pot welding a rail near the Hastings-on-Hudson station. (Photo: File photo by Tania Savayan/The Journal News)Buy Photo Story Highlights At least 40 track workers made more in OT than salary in 2013 and 2014
Track workers are allowed to work around the clock
Capital projects have been put on hold while the railroad fixes its tracks
Eduardo Vargas logged 5,043 hours last year fixing the machinery Metro-North uses to repair its track, which averages roughly to 14-hour days, seven days a week for an entire year.
Coverage: Crumbling ties cost Metro-North in OT
Vargas’ overtime for 2013 and 2014 — when Metro-North was rallying to repair long-neglected track amid several derailments — totaled more than $300,000.
In 2014, Vargas’ $309,000 total payout ranked him third among all Metro-North employees. Vargas, a machinist, earned some $41,000 more than the commuter rail’s president, Joseph Giulietti, that year, according to Metro-North labor costs obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
“These high numbers are definitely an eyebrow raiser for me,” said Tim Hoefer, the executive director of the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank in Albany that studies MTA overtime. “At the very least they warrant asking questions about the spending and whether or not projects and hours are being managed properly.”
Vargas is not alone.
In recent years, workers who repair and maintain Metro-North’s 775 miles of track have supplanted engineers and conductors for the top spots among the railroad’s biggest overtime earners, according to the documents. At least 40 track workers made more in overtime than they did in salary in 2013 and 2014, with half of those making six figures in overtime alone, the data shows.
Chart:Top 10 overtime earners, 2013
Chart:Top 10 overtime earners, 2014
Database: 2013 Metro-North OT
Database: 2014 Metro-North OT
Two other rail workers stand out for their overtime totals.
Buy Photo The Metro-North railroad Brewster maintenance facility and train yard Jan. 15, 2016. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)
Track supervisor Robert M. O’Connell worked 4,876 hours last year, meaning he would have had to work a little more than 13-hour days every day of the year, records show. He led Metro-North with $154,000 in overtime in 2013, allowing him to triple his $74,000 annual salary. And in 2014 O’Connell pulled in $184,000 in overtime.
Track supervisor Richard R. Bourt Jr. worked 3,832 hours last year, Metro-North says. In 2013, Bourt ranked third in overtime with $141,000, nearly tripling his $75,000 salary. In 2014, he made $169,000 in overtime and a salary of $77,000.
The findings come as Metro-North’s overtime costs have soared to their highest levels in years. Last year, the railroad paid out some $89 million in overtime after handing out $98 million in 2014, up from $68 million in 2013 and $55 million in 2012. Overtime for track workers has ranged between $10 million and $15 million in recent years, Metro-North said.
But Metro-North said the year-by-year increase is artificially higher than it should be since a large chunk of the recent payouts are due to retroactive salary and overtime increases resulting from a labor agreement in 2013. And they said back-to-back winters with heavy snowfall that fell on weekends contributed as well.
By Metro-North’s calculations, overtime would have been some $20 million lower in 2014, while figures for 2012 and 2013 would have been higher. The 2014 total represented 19.2 percent of Metro-North's total payroll, up from 15.6 percent in 2011.
Costly mistakes
How did this happen? How did some track workers double and, in some cases, nearly triple their salaries?
The answer is rooted in the costly, sometimes deadly, mistakes that conspired to take the glint off the reputation of a commuter rail regarded among the nation’s best and forced a top-to-bottom re-examination of whether passenger safety was sacrificed in the rush to keep trains on time.
Related: Metro North Customers happier with service in 2015
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“I’ve made it a point to not be critical of the past administrations but, at the end of the day, we have to admit that we’re still in a situation right now that maintenance got deferred,” Giulietti told The Journal News. “We’re trying to now catch up.”
The beginnings of the track workers’ surging overtime payouts dates to May 2013 when a New Haven line train bounded off the tracks in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It sideswiped an oncoming train, injuring more than 70 passengers. Bourt was among those who supervised track workers who repaired the tracks in the area following the crash.
“These high numbers are definitely an eyebrow raiser for me.” Tim Hoefer, the executive director of the Empire Center
It continued through July 2013 when a CSX train carrying municipal garbage went off the rails in the Bronx. No one was injured in a crash that federal officials attributed to track failure, including crumbling concrete rail ties.
The derailments, coupled with the deaths of two track workers and a derailment in December 2013 that killed four passengers when an engineer fell asleep at the controls, reverberated through Metro-North.
“The most important part for all of our passengers is can they rely on the trains and know that the trains are going to be there,” said Giulietti. “That’s kind of what we lost. We lost that by adding more and more trains and not taking care of the core maintenance responsibilities, and that’s what we’re trying to get back to.”
An investigation by The Journal News/lohud.com shows that a host of factors contributed to the overtime payouts for track workers.
Among them:
Overdue track repairs. Federal investigators found that ties used to hold rails together were not being regularly inspected, repaired and replaced.
Loss of skilled workers. A “hollowed-out” workforce lost to retirements left the railroad with a dwindling number of workers with the skills to perform key tasks along the tracks.
Track workers are scheduled to work regular weekday shifts but log overtime for night and weekend work when the bulk of the repairs need to get done. Unlike other Metro-North workers, nothing prevents them from working around the clock.
Veteran workers get first crack at overtime, a longstanding practice which allows those in their last years on the job to bump up their pension payouts.
Since May 2013, Metro-North workers have replaced some 100,000 railroad ties. Nearly 17 miles of rails have been welded and 32 railroad crossings were improved.
“I've made it a point to not be critical of the past administrations but, at the end of the day, we have to admit that we're still in a situation right now that maintenance got deferred.” Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti
In a statement issued last month, Giulietti heralded the “extraordinary system-wide track-reconstruction effort.”
“Our rails are safer today as a result of this concerted increase in track-renewal work,” he said.
Metro-North has revamped the way it detects track flaws and identifies metal fatigue, and employs state-of-the-art track geometry cars to ensure that rails remain smooth.
But it’s come with a hefty price. Some $11 million was spent on a drainage project after concrete ties in the Bronx were damaged by water. Another $2.5 million went to a Colorado-based consulting company which investigated the railroad’s track failures and offered recommendations.
The Bridgeport derailment caused $18.5 million in property damage and has led to more than $10 million in settlement and legal costs to resolve lawsuits filed by passengers and workers aboard the trains, records show. The CSX accident caused nearly $1 million in property damage.
Playing catch up
Giulietti says the cost likely won’t be passed along to riders in the way of ticket fares, which have increased five times over the past seven years. But it means that capital projects like the purchase of new train cars and other upgrades will be delayed as the railroad plays catch up with its maintenance.
“If you look at our capital program for the next five years, somewhere in the vicinity of 80 to 90 percent is just for state of good repair,” Giulietti said. “It would be nice to have a capital program dedicated towards what are the next levels that we’re going to take this service to, but we’re not there yet.”
Buy Photo Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti (Photo: File photo by Mark Vergari/The Journal News)
Giulietti replaced Howard Permut in February 2014 in the months after the Bronx derailment killed four and unleashed a series of federal safety investigations. The crash had been the deadliest in Metro-North’s history until February 2015 when a commuter train slammed into a sport-utility vehicle at a grade crossing in Valhalla. Six died, including the SUV driver, Ellen Brody of Edgemont.
Giulietti refocused the railroad’s attention to fixing and repairing its track, starting in Bridgeport and the Bronx.
In Bridgeport, the National Transportation Safety Board investigators cited Metro-North for not assigning someone to visually walk the track to look for potential dangers.
The NTSB said the derailment of a rush-hour train was caused by a broken joint bar that left a gap between two pieces of rail that were not welded together properly. A Metro-North vice president told federal investigators the railroad lacked skilled welders.
“He said that many of the welders with the skill level to perform the recommended welding technique had retired,” the 2014 report said.
Giulietti said retirements have contributed to overtime payouts for track work.
"Right now we’re catching up with the fact that we had a 30-year plateau, an awful lot of people walked out the door and we’re tying to fill positions," he said. "And while we’re trying to fill positions we have to cover with overtime."
Union work rules
Unlike conductors and engineers, track workers are not bound by so-called “hours of service” rules that would prevent them from working long days. Many refuse promotions because it would mean a reduction in pay, according to a report prepared by a Metro-North consultant.
“The most important part for all of our passengers is can they rely on the trains and know that the trains are going to be there.” Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti
Giulietti acknowledged that fatigue is an issue, especially in the wake of the Bronx derailment. Federal investigators found that engineer William Rockefeller was suffering from an undiagnosed case of sleep apnea and a recent shift change.
Since then, all Metro-North engineers have been tested for sleep apnea.
“Even if I want to, I cannot turn around and designate that the lead person there shouldn’t get the overtime because of the amount of hours they’ve already worked,” Giulietti said.
For those nearing retirement the payouts will factor into their pensions, which are based on their average pay in the last five years on the job. O’Connell, who started in 1978, is among the railroad’s most senior track supervisors. Bourt started in 1984, Vargas in 1994, records show.
For the next few years, though, Giulietti says the work will continue.
“We have to expend what we’re spending now to get the railroad back,” he said. “There isn’t another answer at this moment in time… Thank God we’ve got employees that are willing to put in the additional time to bring this railroad back.”
Read or Share this story: http://lohud.us/1VaqrO4He was arrested a few hours after he escaped to meet his girlfriend.
Booking photo of Joseph Andrew Dekenipp, an inmate who escaped by climbing two walls and crawling through razor wire and was reportedly meeting his sweetheart on Valentine's Day. (Photo: AP)
A Pinal County, Ariz., inmate looking to spend some time with his valentine was taken into custody more than three hours after he escaped from jail earlier Friday.
Officials said Joseph Andrew Dekenipp, 40, was arrested without incident in Coolidge, about 10 miles southwest of Florence, where the Pinal County Adult Detention Center is located.
Dekenipp had made his way to the Gallopin' Goose Saloon & Grill, where he was set to meet with his girlfriend.
She had just barely arrived by the time authorities caught up with Dekenipp, according to bar patrons.
A statement issued by the sheriff's office said he would receive medical treatment before being returned to county jail.
Officials say Dekenipp would have had to scale a 12-foot fence, crawl through razor wire, and scale another wire-topped fence in order to leave the premises.
Sheriff's officials are investigating what part, if any, other inmates may have had in Dekenipp's escape. Officials say he told other inmates he was broken-hearted for having been away from his girlfriend for so long.
The couple may be parted for even longer now.
Dekenipp has been in jail since his arrest Jan. 10 on suspicion of vehicle theft, trafficking in stolen property, unlawful flight, theft and driving on a suspended license. His bond was set at $5,000.
Given he's now facing an escape charge, it's unlikely a judge will allow his release on bond.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1eAXQu7I write this post sitting at a table in an Edinburgh cafe, with three other PhD students and two ECRs. At this very moment we are not talking, but focused on our laptops or notebooks, pausing occasionally for a swig of coffee. Some of us have met outside this group, and for some this is the only capacity in which we know each other. This is the (unofficial) Edinburgh Arts & Humanities Writing Group, a haven of writing productivity and mutual support.
The idea for this group was started a few months ago on Twitter, inspired in part by a writing group at Oxford University run by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (Torch).* I was about to loose my temporary office space, and with the prospect of lots of solo-working looming in my near future, I was very keen on finding a new rent-free, moveable workspace which centred on group motivation. We now have a Facebook group with 18 members, and we meet twice a week in various cafes around Edinburgh. At the start of the week we commit to the sessions we are able to attend, and usually around 5 or 6 people come to each session. The sessions are structured as follows:
10-15 minutes of chatting, catching up and ordering coffees
10 minutes of discussing what we will each be working on
3 X 45 minute timed sessions of focused writing. No chatting, no social media, and no emails. We usually have breaks in between the sessions of around 10 minutes, but to be honest, these often run over.
There are a few other important unwritten rules that keep this group going, the most important is that there is no judgement on how quickly someone is working, what they are working on or how many words they clock up in a session. If someone is struggling with their work, we’ll try and support them and give suggestions on how to overcome the issue. We cover different subjects but all come across the same road blocks. And finally, we aim to grow as many trees as possible. (We are all loyal advocates of the ‘Forest’ app, which grows a tree if you leave your phone untouched for a set time period. I for one spend far too much time on social media, and this is a social media free space 90% of the time!)
As someone who is easily distracted, I am incredibly grateful for this sacred writing space and the motivation of peers. I do appreciate that group working does not work for everyone, but I genuinely believe that if I had started this earlier in my PhD my thesis would be in much better shape by now! I asked other members of the group to share why this format works for them too:
Aparna, a Masters student, and Sam, a first year PhD student, both commented on the warm and supportive atmosphere in the group, with Sam noting: ‘I value the time to focus on writing, and enjoy hearing about everyone’s projects. Sharing ideas, challenges and strategies between periods of focused writing keeps my energy and enthusiasm up more than sitting alone!’
Three members who, like me, are in the final year of their PhD, picked up on why the group helps when you have pretty much constant guilt about not writing, but pressure to do so many other things. Catherine wrote about how great it was ‘to take a solid afternoon away from all the admin, tutoring and other distractions of the PhD to just focus on writing – it restores the feeling, I’ve found, that you’re actually doing work, and you’re surrounded by encouraging people who are in the same boat!’ Laura spoke about the benefits of ‘having other people around when writing not only to keep you accountable, but also to bounce ideas off of. I think we have all figured out tough bits of what we are writing by talking it out with everyone. I also like the fancy beverages!’ And finally Nell said: ‘It takes away the burden of making yourself write and the responsibility of deciding when and where you’ll do it. I don’t worry about writing as much as I did because I know there are a couple of times a week at least when I HAVE to do it. And magically, when I sit down with you guys to work on a bit I’ve been dreading, stuff just appears, cos I get total performance anxiety.’
Freya is one of a few ECRs who come to the group, and was in fact the main driver in getting this group going. (THANK YOU Freya!) Her comment shows that this format has leverage beyond the PhD; and it is certainly something I will attempt to emulate anytime I undertake long-term writing projects in the future! She wrote: ‘I would add that as a postdoc with a relatively heavy teaching load the group has been vital in allowing (forcing) me to spend time writing. I know this blog is aimed more at PhD students, but if readers want to think forward to the post-phd period and working on publications whilst also adjuncting, a writing group could be a good way of maintaining steam during what can be a really overwhelming and isolating time.’
I am a little over-tired and over-emotional this week, with conference planning taking over most days (and some nights), but I felt a proper warm glow when I read the comments coming in from the other members of the writing group. As I wrote in my last post, it is easy to feel isolated as a PhD student, and finding a supportive group where you actually get |
reform. Like the New Dealers, today’s Democrats have a unique opportunity to build a majority coalition that dominates American politics well into the century.
***
For the 1928 GOP House majority, victory was unusually short-lived. About one in five GOP House members elected in the Hoover landslide served little more than a year and a half before losing their seats in November 1930.
On a surface level, the Great Depression was to blame.
The stock market crash of October 1929 destroyed untold wealth. Shares in Eastman Kodak plunged from a high of $264.75 to $150. General Electric, $403 to $168.13. General Motors, $91.75 to $33.50. In the following months, millions of men and women were thrown out of work. Tens of thousands of businesses shut their doors and never reopened.
But in the 1920s—before the rise of pensions and 401Ks, college savings accounts and retail investment vehicles—very few Americans were directly implicated in the market. Moreover, in the context of their recent experience, the sudden downtick of 1929-1930 was jarring but not altogether unusual. Hoover later recalled that “for some time after the crash,” most businessmen simply did not perceive “that the danger was any more than that of run-of-the-mill, temporary slumps such as had occurred at three-to-seven year intervals in the past.”
By April 1930, stocks had recouped 20 percent of lost value and seemed on a steady course to recovery. Bank failures, though vexing, were occurring at no greater a clip than the decade’s norm. Yes, gross national product fell 12.6 percent in just one year, and roughly 8.9 percent of able-bodied Americans were out of work. But events were not nearly as dire as in 1921, when a recession sent GNP plunging 24 percent and 11.9 percent of workers were unemployed.
In fact, Americans in the Jazz Age were accustomed to a great deal of economic volatility and risk exposure. It was the age of Scott and Zelda, Babe Ruth, the Charleston, Clara Bow and Colleen Moore—the Ford Model T and the radio set. But it was also an era of massive wealth and income inequality. In these days before the emergence of the safety net—before unemployment and disability insurance—most industrial workers expected to be without work for several months of each year. For farm workers, the entire decade was particularly unforgiving, as a combination of domestic over-production and foreign competition drove down crop prices precipitously.
In hindsight, we know that voters in November 1930 were standing on the edge of a deep canyon. But in the moment, hard times struck many Americans as a normal, cyclical part of their existence.
Unsurprisingly, then, many House and local races in 1930 hinged more on cultural issues—especially on Prohibition, which in many districts set “wet” Democrats against “dry” Republicans—than economic ones.
If the Depression was not a singular determinant in the 1930 elections, neither had Herbert Hoover yet acquired an undeserved reputation for callous indifference to human suffering. Today, we think of Hoover as the laissez-faire foil to Franklin Roosevelt’s brand of muscular liberalism. But in 1930, Hoover was still widely regarded as a progressive Republican who, in his capacity as U.S. relief coordinator, saved Europe from starvation during World War I. When he was elected president, recalled a prominent journalist, we “were in a mood for magic... We had summoned a great engineer to solve our problems for us; now we sat back comfortably and confidently to watch problems being solved.”
In 1929 and 1930, Hoover acted swiftly to address what was still a seemingly routine economic emergency. He jawboned business leaders into maintaining job rolls and wages. He cajoled the Federal Reserve System into easing credit. He requested increased appropriations for public works and grew the federal budget to its largest-ever peacetime levels. In most contemporary press accounts, he had not yet acquired the stigma of a loser.
Still, in 1930 Hoover’s party took a beating. Republicans lost eight seats in the Senate and 52 seats in the House. By the time the new House was seated in December 1931, several deaths and vacancies resulted in a razor-thin Democratic majority.
If the election was not exclusively or even necessarily about economics, the same cannot be said of the FDR’s historic landslide two years later. As Europe plunged headlong into the Depression in 1931 and 1932, the American banking and financial system all but collapsed. With well over 1,000 banks failing each year, millions of depositors lost their life savings. By the eve of the election, more than 50 percent of American workers were unemployed or under-employed.
In response to the crisis, Hoover broke with decades of Republican economic orthodoxy. He stepped up work on the Boulder Dam and Grand Coulee Dam (popular lore notwithstanding, these were not first conceived as New Deal projects). He signed legislation outlawing anti-union (“yellow dog”) clauses in work agreements. And he chartered the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a government-sponsored entity that loaned money directly to financial institutions, railroads and agricultural stabilization agencies, thereby helping them maintain liquidity. The RFC was in many ways the first New Deal agency, though Herbert Hoover pioneered it. Even the editors of the New Republic, among the president’s sharpest liberal critics, admitted at the time, “There has been nothing quite like it.”Newly published scientific evidence is bolstering calls for greater regulation of some of the world’s most widely used pesticides and genetically modified crops.
Earlier this year, three independent studies linked agricultural insecticides to colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that leads honeybees to abandon their hives.
Beekeepers have reported alarming losses in their hives over the last six years. The USDA reports the loss in the United States was about 30 percent in the winter of 2010-2011.
Bees are crucial pollinators in the ecosystem. Their loss also impacts the estimated $15 billion worth of fruit and vegetable crops that are pollinated by bees in the United States.
The studies, conducted in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, all pointed to neonicotinoids, a class of chemicals used widely in U.S. corn production, as likely contributors to colony collapse disorder. The findings challenged the EPA’s position—based on studies by Bayer CropScience, a major producer of the neonicotinoid clothianidin—that bees are only exposed to small, benign amounts of these insecticides.
The new studies found that bees are exposed to potentially lethal amounts of neonicotinoids in pollen and in dust churned up by farm equipment. They also found that exposure to neonicotinoids can reduce the number of queen bees and disorient worker bees.
An alliance of beekeepers and environmental groups filed a petition on March 21 asking the EPA to block the use of clothianidin in agricultural fields until the EPA conducts a sound scientific review of the chemicals.
Meanwhile, farm chemicals and the biotech industry have come under fire for the problem of pest resistance. Some weeds and bugs have become less susceptible or immune to the chemicals or biotechnology used to control them.
In March, national experts on corn pests published a letter to the EPA describing how rapidly rootworms are becoming resistant to the larvae-killing gene in Monsanto’s genetically engineered “Bt” corn. The letter warns that the EPA should move to regulate Bt corn—by requiring, for example, non-GM buffer zones—with “some sense of urgency.”
In a similarly alarming trend, Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” soy and corn, which are genetically modified to tolerate the active ingredient in Roundup, are associated with the creation of “super weeds.” The widespread use of these crops has led farmers to vastly increased use of the herbicide, leading to the development of resistant weeds.
The agriculture industry has responded to Roundup’s failure by developing new crop varieties resistant to another pesticide/herbicide, 2,4-D. An ingredient of Agent Orange, 2,4-D is linked to birth defects, hormone disruption, and cancer. Last December, Dow AgroSciences LLC asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve the new varieties for cultivation.Immy, a tech startup based in Michigan, said it has been granted a patent on a way to design a new generation of augmented reality and virtual reality products.
The Troy, Michigan-based company said it has been awarded a patent for “natural eye optics” technology, which the company says replicates how humans see in the real world. That, in turn, leads to the most natural and comfortable viewing experience.
It’s the brainchild of Doug Magyari, who worked to perfect his design for 10 years. The Immy optical system is a direct retinal projection technology. The light rays travel through air, never entering another medium, and that alleviates eye strain.
Image Credit: Immy
In all other technologies, the light rays travel through refractive lenses, diffractive elements, waveguides, or holographic elements — and they all produce distortions and aberrations that can cause eye strain and headaches.
Immy’s technology enables a large field of view (FoV), as much as 135 degrees, which lets you see pretty much everything around you, unobstructed. It can also be made in a compact, lightweight package. The patent was approved on Feb. 2, 2016, and is No. 9,250,444.
Immy was also issued patents in Japan and Mexico. Additional supporting and utility patents have been issued for the device’s structural frame, the micro display alignment, the non-pupil forming optical path and the assembly mechanism. Other international patents are pending.
“Immy has succeeded in creating a unique set of optic innovations and design alternatives for VR/AR that can deliver outstanding immersive virtual reality and augmented reality experiences,” said Magyari, CEO and founder of Immy, in a statement. “The Immy technology is designed to enable multiple near-to-eye VR/AR products. We are pleased that the U.S., Japan, and Mexico Patent Offices have acknowledged this groundbreaking technology.”
Here’s a video of what the glasses look like.Robin Keith, chair of the surgical technology at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, describes the school's offerings to 11th District U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Buncombe, during a tour last month. Meadows played a major role in pushing revisions to the Affordable Care Act through the U.S. House recently. (Photo: Mark Barrett/mbarrett@citizen-times.com)
ASHEVILLE – Federal spending to help lower- and middle-income wage earners buy health insurance would drop dramatically in North Carolina under the health care law winning approval in the U.S. House last week.
Only one other state would see a sharper per-person decline, according to one analysis.
The Republican-backed plan would also mean North Carolina would get an estimated $6 billion less in federal dollars to fund Medicaid, a figure that represents an almost 7 percent drop. Medicaid pays for care for children, the elderly and disabled people.
Supporters of the plan note that some businesses would be helped by changes in regulations and tax cuts and the nation stands to benefit from decreased pressure on the federal budget.
Higher wage earners – those making $152,400 a year or more – also would come out ahead.
And North Carolina would have more flexibility to direct the spending of federal dollars on Medicaid and other programs to provide health care, including an opening to re-establish a program that provided insurance to people with expensive medical conditions who otherwise would be unable to get coverage.
The American Health Care Act passed the House on a 217-213 vote on Thursday. Supporters and opponents differ over whether the law that would rewrite major portions of the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, carries more benefit or harm for the state and nation.
But almost everyone agrees the AHCA would significantly reshape the way health care is delivered for hundreds of thousands – or millions – of North Carolinians.
That is, if the AHCA passes in something like its current form.
Several Republican senators have said they will take a different approach to revamping Obamacare, suggesting features of the House-approved AHCA could change dramatically before the Senate signs off on the legislation.
How much is anyone's guess.
The consensus in Washington is that the Senate will make big changes to the AHCA. However, 11th District U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Buncombe, indicated he was already consulting with some members of the Senate on the act’s prospects there before the bill passed the House.
Meadows was a key player in writing a compromise that secured House approval.
Jonathan Oberlander, a professor in social medicine and health policy at the UNC School of Medicine, says that won't be enough to bring many senators around.
The House plan "has zero chance of passing in the Senate in its current form," he said. "The Medicaid cuts are far too draconian."
Care for kids, elderly
By the numbers, Medicaid has at least as large an impact on North Carolinians as the Affordable Care Act and would also see big changes under the House proposal.
About 2 million people in North Carolina rely on Medicaid for their health care. That includes 42 percent of all children and 21 percent of senior citizens and the disabled. It generally does not cover people who are poor but do not fit into one of those three categories.
The AHCA would cut Medicaid nationally by $880 billion over 10 years, with $6 billion in cuts happening in North Carolina, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In related news
North Carolina's share of the cuts is relatively small because it did not accept federal funds to expand Medicaid as many states did, said Brendan Riley, a health care analyst with the left-leaning N.C. Justice Center.
But losing an average of $600 million a year in federal funds for a program that cost $13.7 billion in fiscal year 2014-15 is still nothing to sneeze at, he said. Federal money accounts for about two-thirds of the program's cost and the state makes up the rest.
The state will have to either put more money into the program, cut benefits, tighten enrollment rules or cut payments the program makes to providers, Riley said.
"With this kind of federal cut... North Carolina's going to be the one on the hook. It's really a shift," he said. "There's not really any fat in the Medicaid program."
The impact on providers is already causing concern. A stingier Medicaid program played a big role in Mission Health’s recent decision to stop delivering babies at its Angel Hospital in Franklin, system President and CEO Dr. Ron Paulus said.
A few years ago, North Carolina regularly experienced Medicaid budget overruns but has made changes so that it now has the lowest growth in Medicaid spending among the states, said Katherine Restrepo, a health care analyst with the conservative John Locke Foundation in Raleigh.
She said the AHCA would force North Carolina and other states to look more closely at how Medicaid works and make it run better.
"The value that patients get out of Medicaid is low," she said. "With the bloated health care system, the patient gets lost in the mix."
"The focus should be, yes, this is a critical safety net, but how can we make it more efficient?" she said.
Uncle Sam tightens up
The ways the House's AHCA would help people pay for insurance would have a huge impact on the roughly 500,000 North Carolinians who get federal assistance to buy health insurance today through the Affordable Care Act.
"They stand, in rural areas, to really get hit hard," Oberlander said.
The amount per person in federal help to buy insurance through the ACA that people in North Carolina would lose is the second-highest in the country, behind only Alaska, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Tax credits the federal government gives North Carolinians enrolled in ACA insurance plans would fall by an average of $5,546 a year, the center says.
Many people who get insurance through the ACA would become uninsured because they could not afford premiums under the House plan, Oberlander said.
When they get sick, "They're going to be showing up at the emergency room," he said.
The Affordable Care Act bases payments on participants' income and the cost of insurance where they live. That results in more generous payments in North Carolina because insurance costs are higher here.
The AHCA would employ a different formula to distribute benefits that does not factor in insurance costs but would extend tax credits for buying insurance to many people who now make too much to qualify for federal help.
The changes would drastically increase costs for many people between 50 and 65, according to figures from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
For instance, the net cost of insurance for a 60-year-old making $30,000 a year in Buncombe County is $2,480 under current law but would jump to $18,360 under the AHCA.
But a 60-year-old making $100,000 a year would get a $1,500 tax credit under the AHCA as opposed to no direct assistance under Obamacare.
Supporters of the House plan say the opportunities it gives states to ease rules on what insurance must cover or to put people with high health care costs in a separate insurance pool will make health insurance more affordable.
"I believe the revised AHCA will substantially reduce health care premiums and provide a strong net of protection for the most vulnerable Americans," Meadows said after the bill passed the House.
Riley said paying less for insurance will mean people will get less.
He said if he took the same approach to transportation, "I could buy a golf cart instead of a car. Now, if I want to get out on the highway or drive in the rain, I've got problems."
The tax bite
The Affordable Care Act was financed in part by increases in taxes on investment income and payroll tax. Those increases would be repealed, along with taxes imposed on tanning beds and medical devices and the tax penalty paid by people who choose not to buy health insurance.
The result would be a tax cut of about $765 billion spread over 10 years, by one count. The requirement that large employers provide insurance for their workers would also go away.
Those changes would benefit the national and the North Carolina economies, although they and other cuts would not boost the growth rate in the national economy as much as President Donald Trump has projected, said Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University.
Benefits from the cuts would flow to people up and down the income scale, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Tax Policy Center, although the wealthy would benefit much more than middle- or low-income wage earners.
The center says 64.2 percent of the cuts would go to those with annual incomes greater than $152,400, and the average cut for that group would be $2,780 a year. The average cut for all taxpayers would be $600, but because wealthier taxpayers get such a large share of the proceeds, most Americans would see cuts of less than $390 a year.
The biggest reductions would go to those with the top 1 percent of income, and Walden said most of those people live in the Northeast, California or cities like Dallas and Houston.
However, some of that money would be invested and find its way to North Carolina, he said.
"Even if you're a wealthy person who has their taxes cut in New York City, the world is their investment oyster, if you will," Walden said.
Jumping into the high-risk pool?
Much attention in the debate over the House plan has focused on a provision to allow states to set up high-risk insurance pools to cover people with expensive medical conditions.
The theory is the government-subsidized pools would make insurance cheaper for everyone else because their insurer would not have to pay the cost of care for a baby born with a birth defect or a cancer victim.
About 35 states had such pools before the Affordable Care Act went into effect. Reviews of the results are mixed at best. Many observers say most pools were chronically underfunded, still had very high rates for insurance and left their customers with ruinous bills for care that insurance didn't cover.
It is unknown whether North Carolina would restart its high-risk pool, which began in 2009 and was phased out when the Affordable Care Act went into effect. It is debated how successful it was or how well one would operate in the future, or whether the AHCA would provide enough money to run the pools.
Restrepo said reviving the pools would be cost effective, even though she called their record nationwide "a mixed bag."
The pool covered 12,000 to 13,000 people at its peak and "was always a solvent plan,” said Louis Belo, former chief deputy insurance commissioner for North Carolina. Belo served on the board that governed the plan.
The law creating the pool said it could charge no more than double the average cost of insurance and Belo said the rate was usually 50 percent more than the typical North Carolinian paid.
"It made (insurance) a little more affordable. I won't say it was cheap," he said. Many states had difficulty funding their pools – no one expects them to break even – and Belo said the fact that North Carolina's had a dedicated stream of funding from a tax on all health insurance premiums helped keep it from losing money.
But the fact that the risk pool's books balanced doesn't mean that those who were covered could balance their household budgets, said Adam Searing, a former advocate for health care access in North Carolina. Searing is now a professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.
The plan paid out a maximum benefit of $1 million over the lifetime of those covered and did not cover pre-existing conditions for the first 12 months someone was covered, Searing said. Some of those covered "could blow through a lifetime (benefit) cap in a year or two years."
"Probably some of the hardest conversations I ever had with people who needed health insurance... (were) to explain to them that the high-risk pool was too expensive and it wasn't going to solve their problems," he said.
Establishing the pool was a positive step, but touting high-risk pools as a way to cover many people or dramatically lower health insurance costs for others is "a false hope," Searing said. "It helped a few people, but it was never the right answer."
Read or Share this story: http://avlne.ws/2q123IGIn a press conference Thursday, President Donald Trump touched on the important matter of narcotics use in the U.S., calling America a “drug-infested nation.”
“We’ve ordered the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to coordinate on a plan to destroy criminal cartels coming into the United States with drugs. We’re becoming a drug-infested nation. Drugs are becoming cheaper than candy bars,” he said to illustrate his point.
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This is not the first time Trump has used candy to make a statement this week, previously comparing intelligence leaks to candy. And it’s also not the first time that Twitter has had a field day with his particular choice of words as it tends to do with these things, collectively scratching its head over this comparison. He may have been exaggerating as RehabCenter network points out, the average cost of marijuana is actually $15 per gram, heroin is $15-20 per dose, and cocaine and methamphetamines are over $80 per gram. A Snickers, meanwhile, will run you $0.89 at Target.
Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com.Lawmakers reached a deal Friday to place a long-term spending cap on Louisiana's film tax credit program, which is both derided as wasteful and championed as an economic driver.
With a 33-2 vote, the Senate gave final passage to a compromise reached with industry representatives. A day earlier, the House voted 89-8 for the measure, which heads next to Gov. John Bel Edwards' desk.
The governor, whose administration helped craft the legislation, is expected to sign it.
The deal will continue a $180 million limit on the amount that taxpayers will spend each year on the tax credits doled out to film and TV productions. The cap was set to expire next year.
In addition, the state economic development department could only issue $150 million of those credits annually, in an effort to pay down a $280 million backlog of credits that producers haven't yet cashed into the state.
Incentives have been added to encourage more of a homegrown industry and to encourage productions to film outside the New Orleans area. The entire program will expire on July 1, 2025, unless lawmakers agree to renew it.
The tax breaks have been contentious in the legislature over the last decade as Louisiana has struggled with repeated financial problems but continued to spend tens of millions -- sometimes hundreds of millions -- annually on the tax breaks for Hollywood South.
Critics slam the program as a wasteful giveaway in a tight state budget, returning only pennies on the dollar to the state treasury.
Rep. Kevin Pearson, a Slidell Republican who voted against the bill, said he can't consider proposals to raise taxes to balance Louisiana's budget as long as the state keeps doling out millions in tax breaks to Hollywood.
"I can't vote for any tax when I see a situation like this," Pearson said. He added: "The return on investment is slim."
Supporters credit the program with bringing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in spending to the state.
"This has been good for the state. It's been good for our local economies. It's going to be even better now with the compromise," said Rep. Jean-Paul Coussan, a Lafayette Republican. "This is reining in a program that already has shown benefits to the state, and I believe it's going to show many more benefits in years to come."
Lawmakers praised industry leaders for negotiating on the legislation and agreeing to some limits on the spending.
"I've never been a big fan of the tax credit, but I will say this: I commend the industry for putting their five pounds of flesh on the table," said Rep. Barry Ivey, a Republican from Central.
Tax breaks on "The Green Lantern" cost the state $37 million. HBO's "True Detective" cost $14 million. And "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" cost $33 million, just to name a few on the long list of productions that have filmed in Louisiana under the generous subsidy program.
Meanwhile, a cottage market for reselling the tax credits to local taxpayers has blossomed.Florida high school star Darrian McNeal flipped his commitment from Arizona to Oregon after Willie Taggart was hired by the Ducks. McNeal joined me on the Bald Faced Truth radio show (12-3p on 750-AM and 102.9-FM) on Monday to download on why he flipped his commitment.
Said McNeal: "I'm a dawg, they're dawgs... the program needs dawgs to win."
McNeal, who sees himself as a slot receiver, said he'll join the Ducks as an early-enrollment candidate this Spring. He has not visited the campus in Eugene, but he says he's seen a lot on the Internet, and that's good enough.
"I feel I can come and contribute right away. That's what I'm going to do," McNeal said. "I want to win."
He also said that his commitment will be the first of many from the state of Florida for Taggart.
Loved this kid. Loved the interview more. He has a lot of confidence, great energy, and is the kind of player that Taggart can utilize to attract other commitments. Thing is, though, I'm wondering if he has any friends who can play defense.
I like the flip. I'd like it more if he were a defensive tackle or linebacker.
Listen:Mark Hurd, chairman, CEO and president of HP speaks at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Pasadena, California, in this July 24, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Fred Prouser/Files
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oracle Corp has offered a job to Mark Hurd, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co who resigned amid a scandal involving inaccurate expense receipts related to a female contractor, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The source said a final decision has not yet been made. Oracle was not immediately available for a comment.
Hurd resigned on August 6, after a probe into sexual harassment allegations. HP said he filed inaccurate expense reports related to Jodie Fisher, a marketing contractor who worked for Hurd’s office from 2007 through 2009.
A separate source had previously told Reuters that Hurd had received job overtures from private equity firms and public companies immediately after his shocking departure from HP, the world’s largest technology company by revenue.
It was unclear what job Hurd was offered.
On August 9, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, in a letter, slammed HP’s decision to oust Hurd, his close friend, calling the actions of HP’s board “cowardly.
Shares of HP are down 13 percent since Hurd’s resignation. Plucked from relative obscurity to head HP, Hurd is credited with resuscitating the technology giant by cutting costs and pursuing ambitious acquisitions.
HP said the expense reports were meant to hide a “close personal relationship” with Fisher, a sometime actress who has appeared in television shows and movies.Serampore: BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday threatened to deport Bangladeshi immigrants if NDA comes to power, saying they were being welcomed with red carpets for vote bank politics.
"I want to warn from here, brothers and sisters write down, that after May 16, beyond the border with their bags and baggage," Modi said alleging that Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was pursuing vote bank politics.
"You are spreading the red carpet for the Bangladeshis for the sake of vote bank politics," he said in this largely mixed constituency, where there is a large chunk of Hindi-belt population who are the main work force in the jute mills here. If people from Bihar come, they seem to be outsiders to you, if people from Odisha come, they seem to be outsiders to you, you feel bad if Marwaris come. But if some Bangladeshi comes, your face seems to shine," he said alleging that Banerjee was insulting the people of the country.
"This country cannot run like this. We won't allow you to destroy the country for the sake of your vote bank politics," he thundered. "You have done more damage in 35 months than the Left had done in 35 years," Modi said attacking Banerjee's TMC government in West Bengal. "When I say what about the employment of the youths, they say what about secularism. When I say what about the welfare of farmers, they say what about secularism. I say what about two square meals for the poor, they say what about secularism. I talk of security for women on whom atrocities are being met out, they say what about secularism. They don't want to talk on issues, except for vote bank politics, they got nothing to say," the Gujarat Chief Minister said. "When I say what about the employment of the youths, they say what about secularism. When I say what about the welfare of farmers, they say what about secularism. I say what about two square meals for the poor, they say what about secularism. I talk of security for women on whom atrocities are being met out, they say what about secularism. They don't want to talk on issues, except for vote bank politics, they got nothing to say," the Gujarat Chief Minister said.This has been one of the best presidential election seasons in my memory. For the first time we have several candidates who do not go into the fetal position when they think they may have to make a stand based on principle. One of the champions, in my view, is Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
On Friday, Senator Rubio, dismissed the call for increased background checks for gun purchases.
“None of these crimes that have been committed — or what I believe is a terror attack in California — would have been prevented by the expanded background checks,” the GOP presidential candidate and Florida senator said Friday. “The fact of the matter is these individuals would have passed.” “None of the major shootings that have occurred in this country over the last few months or years that have outraged us would gun laws have prevented them,” Rubio added. “In fact, many of them existed despite the fact that local jurisdictions had gun laws even stricter than what you find in other jurisdictions.”
The is exactly the case. Enhanced background checks are a surrender to the “we have to do something” kneejerk impulse that Democrats like because passing a law will fix a problem with its roots entirely in the mental processes of the shooter. There are already laws against murder so it is very difficult to see how more background checks do anything. All recent shooters have acquired their weapons without breaking the law. It is difficult to see the call for more and better background checks as anything other than a move that everyone knows is bogus but is a stalking horse for more “we have to do something” legislation aimed at curtailing legal possession of firearms.
Even though the clip is over 7:00, you should watch some of it to see how well Rubio handles this issue when faced with a panel of three interviewers who are not Second Amendment fans.
Perhaps the most pernicious idea percolating around progressive circles is the idea that people placed on the no-fly list should be prevented from legally purchasing firearms. I addressed that idea in some detail last week, but [mc_name name=’Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’R000595′ ] dismantled it yesterday on CNN’s State of the Union.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says a majority of the people on the federal “no-fly list” do not belong there and therefore should not have their right to purchase firearms taken away. “These are everyday Americans that have nothing to do with terrorism, they wind up on the no-fly list, there’s no due process or any way to get your name removed from it in a timely fashion, and now they’re having their Second Amendment rights being impeded upon,” Rubio said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. The GOP presidential hopeful said the lists are far from perfect and a poor measure of who should and should not have access to a gun.
“The majority of the people on the no-fly list are often times people that just basically have the same name as somebody else who doesn’t belong on the no-fly list,” he said. “Former Senator Ted Kennedy once said he was on a no-fly list. There are journalists on the no-fly list. There are others involved in the no-fly list that wind up there.” “Sometimes you’re only on that list because the FBI wants to talk to you about someone you know, not because you’re a suspect. And, again, now your Second Amendment right is being impeded with,” he added.
I’ve been a critical of Senator Rubio’s recent strategy of attacking Senator Ted Cruz over his vote to stop government surveillance that does nothing to make us safe while doing a great deal to erode civil liberties. But let there be no mistake about it. I would be ecstatic to cast my vote for him in November should he emerge as the nominee.Star midfielder Yaya Touré has arguably been Manchester City’s most important player over the last three seasons, during which the club has won two Premier League titles. Just a few days after Touré lifted the Premier League title and paraded around Manchester, the Ivorian midfielder’s agent says his player is now considering leaving the team… over a birthday “snub.”
Touré celebrated his 31st birthday on May 13th, two days after Manchester City’s season finale. After the season concluded, Manchester City went to Abu Dhabi, where team owners celebrated the title with a giant cake.
مع اخواني الشيخ محمد وسيف ومنصور وعبدالله بن زايد وأعضاء مجلس الوزراء احتفالا بفوز مانشستر سيتي بالدوري الانجليزي pic.twitter.com/yUAAbs9mr5 — HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) May 12, 2014
The owners did not shake Touré’s hand to wish him a happy birthday, however, and he’s very upset. Touré’s agent, Dimitri Seluk, told the BBC that Manchester City owners failed to do the “minimum” in honoring Touré.
“None of them shook his hand on his birthday. It’s really sick…. He got a cake but when it was Roberto Carlos’s birthday, the president of Anzhi [Makhachkala] gave him a Bugatti. I don’t expect City to present Yaya with a Bugatti, we only asked that they shook his hand and said ‘we congratulate you’. It is the minimum they must do when it is his birthday and the squad is all together…. Of course Yaya is upset about this. If this happened to you as a journalist in the BBC and nobody shakes your hand, you will say bye-bye and go to work for somebody else. It is normal.”
Touré tweeted that everything his agent said is true, and that he will address the situation after the World Cup.
https://twitter.com/Toure_yaya42/status/468737910897131520
https://twitter.com/Toure_yaya42/status/468738019894525952
https://twitter.com/Toure_yaya42/status/468749431073148928
https://twitter.com/Toure_yaya42/status/468752594631143424The Rhino Slider will be available for pre-order here after the campaign ends.
Want to show us some love? Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our YouTube videos.
Hey guys I'm Kyle, a filmmaker and inventor from Seattle, WA. I've spent the past couple years learning ways to get cinematic motion. Stabilizers (Rhino Steady) and jib cranes have their place but a camera slider is one of the best.
The problem is that most sliders in the market fit into one of 2 categories: inexpensive "friction based" tracks that stick easily, or heavy over-priced full roller bearing units.
My goal was to create the ultimate slider that used roller bearings, could be lightweight, and adapt to any environment or camera. Meet the Rhino Slider.
The Rhino Slider is an ultra-smooth 48" camera slider that uses 12 bearings inside of 6 self lubricating rollers. The system has so little friction you can use gravity to move your shots. All you have to do is mount your camera to the carriage, set up your shot and start filming. If you've never used a 48"+ slider before, you'll be in for a treat. It makes a huge difference having the extra foot or two.
Locking all-terrain legs are standard on the Rhino Slider and include micro adjustable rubber feet that can fold up for travel.
The entire systems disassembles for cleaning and storage with only 4 tool-less fasteners.
2 mounting screws are included, a standard |
. We on the other hand do not fear fascists and we do not fear confrontation. We are prepared to lose certain brawls in the interest of winning the coming war. We stand for no platform for fascists and will never apologize for street confrontations. We will not sit back in our desk chairs and scoff off antifascist resistance. Supporters on the ground informed the social-democratic event that fascists were openly marching in Austin, the social-democrats failed to take up the call to help antifascists in Austin prevent this and in the final analysis gave the fascists what amounts to a marching permit. They chose to let other leftists be outnumbered out of their own cowardly reformism, which they pass off as a “sober decision”. They have failed to be antifascists in that instance. Others arrived to back up and defend the city of Austin against fascism, these include Oh Shit What Now?, Anarchist Black Cross, and a few members of Fight For 15. To these comrades we extend the greatest thanks and gratitude. We will return the favor and stand or fall beside you. It is our hope that the revisionists can come to their senses, abandon their dogmas of legalism and actually join into real united front organizing. To do this they must hold police collaborators in their ranks (including a leader of Austin Socialist Collective) accountable and drop their sectarian activity. They talk a big game on the internet but when blows are exchanged on the streets of Austin between Communists and Fascists they are nowhere to be found. Let it also be stated that regardless of our differences, should they be attacked by the far-right we will gladly show up and help to defend them against fascism—no one should be allowed to be attacked by fascists without stiff resistance, whether they be organizers who we disagree with, unpoliticized people, or even liberals. When fascism is concerned an injury to any of the people is an injury to all of the people.
The fascists specifically targeted people they assumed to be women with violence, at one point even attacking a comrade in a wheelchair who was defended by those around. One person was briefly arrested but was released without being taken to the jail. In spite of their best efforts and their importing of fascists from around the state, we suffered no major injuries and no charges stuck. We defended ourselves and one another and we will continue to do so. We successfully extracted all those in attendance with mobility impairments and made sure everyone else got out safely without being dogged by the fascists scum.
BETTER AN UNDERDOG THAN A RUNNING DOG
It must be mentioned that without hesitation social democrats and Trotskyites wasted no time using this as an opportunity to attack the Maoist left. Their ideology, like that of Trotsky, rushes to attack actual revolutionaries when the fascists make their move. Meanwhile they engaged in “civil disobedience,” voluntarily allowing some of their people to take arrests. These arrests were for show and no one was booked. We insist that getting arrested should never be something revolutionaries accept willingly, that while we should not fear arrest we should not volunteer for it—we should always resist arrest. The White “May Day All Day” event saw some minor heckling from a small group of fascists who were actually looking to confront the Red May Day event. Their leaders gloat that this was due to having larger numbers, we insist that it was due to not being targeted by the bulk of the fascists. It also must be made evident that they refused to utilize these “larger numbers” to actually halt fascists who were marching in Austin. Instead they left the revolutionary left to battle on their own then chose to use this for political ammunition. These cretins showed their true colors on May first and abandoned any claim to being antifascists they showed once again that social democracy, liberalism, and revisionism can often serve as the left wing of fascism itself.
The fascists themselves will probably be emboldened by this event and they will surely try to march openly in our streets again, even though most of them are not AustInites. We should all take this seriously and take every measure to shut them down. We must not hesitate to sharpen our specific fighting skills with the understanding that there are a number of ways to fight. We must persist in political education geared towards the masses themselves and we must learn from the people while we provide communist leadership. As the U.S. marches steadily toward the open terrorist dictatorship of the bourgeoisie we must fight inch by inch, with advances and principled retreats understanding that revolution never proceeds along the straight and narrow path, that there are set backs and losses and this is part of the class struggle. With heavy hearts but heads held high we proceed in careful training, preparation, and mass work so that when the fascists arrive in our city they shall not pass!
It is everyone’s duty to oppose fascism tooth and nail
Buy a gun, learn to use it
Without a people’s army the people have nothing
-Red Guards Austin May 2017Fran Maier, president of TRUSTe, a San Francisco-based firm that certifies Web sites using privacy best-practices, recently lost her digital camera on a trip to Germany. In this LastWatchdog guest post, Maier describes how the use of her camera by the strangers who ended up with it underscores new privacy risks facing us all.
By Fran Maier
In the past few years the Internet has spread beyond the desktop to phones, cars, cameras, utility meters, even home appliances, or what I refer to as “The Internet of Things.”
A personal story of mine is instructive: while in Germany earlier this year my brand new digital camera went missing. A month later the camera began wirelessly uploading photos to my Eye-Fi account.
The photos came from an unsuspecting German family who had used my camera without realizing I had previously synced it to upload photos to Eye-Fi. Moreover, the photos were embedded with geo-tags, so I could identify with GPS-precision where this German family had taken the photos.
In this new world of the Internet of Things, a family photo can be much more than that. It may be a sensitive piece of personal data inadvertently shared with a stranger because of insufficient privacy safeguards.
Connecting our everyday devices to the Internet promises greater efficiencies, lower costs and bigger tech profits. Yet, consumer privacy is potentially at stake as the scope of this ecosystem grows. Without a sound privacy framework, sensitive consumer information collected and processed by these Internet-enabled things can put consumers’ reputation and safety at risk.
An individual’s real-time location — collected by a GPS-enabled car or camera for example — could be dangerous information in the hands of someone who wishes to do the individual harm. Data relating to an individual’s electricity consumption could result in a bombardment of advertisements from an overzealous marketer.
Privacy is poised to become even more important as the “Internet of Things†grows and data about the more traditionally “private†part of our lives becomes part of shared or public domains.
Consumers care about privacy. A recent study found that 57 percent of adult Internet users check their reputation on search engines and another study found that 86 percent of adults believe third parties should get permission before uploading photos or videos of them online.
Maintaining privacy in an increasingly public world is possible. Designers and suppliers of these new devices and services must incorporate transparency, accountability and choice into their products.
Transparency means letting consumers know what’s going on behind the scenes with their information. Accountability means being responsible in the event of misuse or compromise. Choice means giving individuals meaningful and timely decisions to make about how their personal information is used.
Implementation of these three principles will require tailoring according to the individual device and its capabilities. The power of these principles will only grow as more and more devices become connected to the Internet.
September 1st, 2010 | Guest Blog Post | PrivacyFrom outside the programming world, programming languages mostly just look like programming languages—a garble of mathematical symbols dotted here and there with isolated English words. Any structure or organization to the code mostly lies within the meanings of these symbols and words within a particular programming language or family of programming languages. A non-programmer is likely to just see a mess, whether they're looking at Javascript, Java, or Brainfuck.
If the esoteric programming language (esolang) Asciidots looks like a mess, it is at least a very different-looking and even aesthetically pleasing mess. Simply, its mechanics and syntax are based on Ascii art. Before going any deeper, let's quickly look at an example Asciidots program.
What the program above does is pretty simple. It takes a variable and increments it by 1 every time the code executes. So, if we started with a variable x with a value of 0 and then ran the program three times we'd wind up with an x that's equal to 3.
How it does this is probably not obvious. Asciidots is a unique sort of programming language known as a dataflow language. In this sort of language, we can imagine units of data (like our variable x) following a data go-kart track that's interrupted in different places with pit stops that change the value of the data go-kart that's following the track around. One pit stop might add 1 to the variable, while another might chop it in half. At some points, the track might even split, with the data go-kart picking one fork depending on its current value. If, say, it's greater than 2 it might go left; otherwise, it goes right.
Other examples of dataflow programming languages include LabVIEW, Pure Data, Max/MSP, Verilog, and Simulink. They're often used to simulate electronic hardware systems. Pure Data and Max/MSP are generally used for music composition and performance.
In Asciidots, the aforementioned go-kart track is represented by lines (|,-,/,\). The program below just directs a unit of data from start to end without actually doing anything to it.
Most of the other non-line symbols are mathematical operators, but there are also symbols that direct the program to request input from the user, set values, print values, and change the direction of the unit of data. That unit is itself represented by a single dot. So, the dots in a program represent the entry points for new units of data. Let's look at another program.
So, here we see two dots entering the track. Each one is set to a value using a hash symbol followed by the desired value. The two data units then meet at a minus symbol, which does its work and then spits out a result, which then travels to the dollar sign at the top. Its meaning is to print any values that it receives.
Here's a whole game coded in Asciidots. Remember that the dollar sign means to print whatever values it receives, which, in this case, are instructions to the user.
Under the hood, Asciidots is a Python program. An Asciidots program is just fed into that underlying program and digested into normal Python code, which is then executed. A lot of languages are like that, including Python itself, which is usually translated into C code.
I kinda doubt Asciidots will transcend its "esolang" status, but esolangs often have the benefit of forcing programmers to look at their work from a new perspective. I think Asciidots at least accomplishes that. And, of course, it looks really cool.Condom machine blown up in attempted robbery leaves one man dead
Posted
A man has died after a piece of metal from a condom machine that he and two accomplices blew up in an apparent attempted robbery struck him in the head, police say.
The 29-year-old man was taken to hospital in the western German town of Schoeppingen, near the Dutch border, by two other men who fled the scene of the explosion in a car.
Police said money and condoms were left scattered around the gutted vending machine after the robbery attempt on Christmas Day.
The two men told hospital officials that their friend had fallen down the stairs, injuring his head.
However officials became suspicious of their story, and called the police.
Police said during questioning one of the men admitted they had blown up the condom machine and that the injured man was hit in the head by metal as he tried to take cover from the explosion.
Reuters
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, death, germanyTomorrow a new patch is going to come out on EU servers which introduces a new champion - Hecarim, the Shadow of War. I will analyze the most important changes in this patch which are worth mentioning and how they are going to affect champion picks in solo queue and 5v5 premade matches, as well as for new players starting their adventure with League of Legends.
Full patchnotes link:
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=2029873
I will start with changes to interface and overall performance of game that come with this patch:
• Animated Combat Text - Improvements to combat text are quite incredible. After those changes you will receive much more information such as snares, crowd control status and types of damage dealt to you and by you. They seem to be more smooth than before as well.
• Hp and Mana regen displayed on bars - This change will make you feel better when playing the champions that have a HP/Mana Regen abilities or passives because you will be able to actually see how your HP regeneration changes when you HP or Mana is not at 100%.
• Announcement System - It's actually pretty awesome. When I first saw it on PBE I was pleasantly surprised, because it's simply better. There are new announcements for Killing Spree, Killing someone on a killing spree and for First Blood.
• Masteries Pages - Now masteries will be saved on an account just like rune pages. On the PBE server we can see as well quite nice visual changes to the mastery pages.
• First win of the day status - Now in your Summoner’s Profile you will be able to see when first win of the day is available.
• Search function in custom games - Nice new feature that will make searching for a Go4LoL and other tournament's matches much easier.
Now more about changes for each specific champion and how it going to influence gameplay:
Akali
• Base armor increased to 20 from 17
• Base health increased to 530 from 510
Those changes might seem not important at all, but Akali early game trading potential against bruisers on top lane is going to be increased by fair amount. I can't predict how much it will help her since I'm not an Akali player, but possibly she will be able to out poke and win trades against some top laners which could make her more a viable pick in competetive scene.
Kayle
• Divine Blessing (W)
- Heal amount increased to 60/105/150/195/240 from 45/85/125/165/205
- Movement Speed increased to 18/21/24/27/30% from 15/17/19/21/23%
- Movement Speed duration increased to 3 seconds from 2.5
- Mana cost increased to 60/70/80/90/100 from 60/65/70/75/80
Those changes are to make Kayle a viable support, so I will compare this sustain ability with other supports heal abilities. Compared to Soraka, her heal is only just a little worse at early levels, which will make her sustain on lane quite good (though it doesn't give armor buff), but it has advantage over Sorakas Astral Blessing - it has almost double range, it gives movement speed buff, it has lower cooldown and cost only 100 mana at max rank (Soraka heal at max level cost 200 mana).
When I look at Kayle base stats I think that she can be a really viable champion right now. She has more mana and hp/mana regeneration, more CC, damage and debuffs than Soraka. In my opinion a lane such as Urgot + Kayle might be really good right now - an armor shred from Kayle + Urgot passives, a strong initiation with Urgot + Kayle ultimates,a great poke (and kill potential), mobility and sustain.
Janna
• Howling Gale (Q) now knocks the target further into the air the longer it is channeled (now 80 + 10 per second channeled from constant 100)
• Monsoon (R)
- Mana cost reduced to 150/225/300 from 200/275/350
- Knock back distance reduced to 875 from 1000
As everyone knows lately Janna was a top support pick in every single tournament thanks to her shield and amount of the utility she brings to her team (which made per a perfect pick to protect AD carry in all stages of the game). As we can see here the second part of what made Janna really great support is getting hit by reasonable amount (CC part). In my opinion she will still be a really great pick, because RIOT didn’t touch one thing that made her so incredible - her global movement speed passive, which kind of surprises me that they didn’t nerf it in the first place since many pro players were talking about her passive being broken.
Orianna
• Command: Attack (Q) mana cost reduced to 50 at all ranks from 50/55/60/65/70
Now maxing a Command: Attack [Q] on Orianna won’t hurt you in any possible way. Before if you maxed Q and spammed it more and more you would possibly lose too much mana while trying to poke enemy if your blue buff was stolen. Now maxing Q is even more rewarding. Great change since Orianna was one of the hardest AP mids and thanks to that change maybe more players will start to pick her up.
Sejuani
• Arctic Assault (Q) mana cost reduced to 70/75/80/85/90 from 70/80/90/100/110
• Glacial Prison (R) cooldown reduced to 130/115/100 seconds from 150/130/110
Still the main issues of Sejuanni are not going to be fixed with this patch. In my opinion the main problem that Sejuanni is facing right now is a lack of damage, which leads to her slow clear speed in jungle. It will help her little bit, but her main issues are not resolved.
Swain
• Basic attack frame speed increased
• Ravenous Flock (R) upkeep cost reduced to 5/6/7 from 5/7/9
Terror of Swain is lack of blue buff. With this change RIOT tries to make him less reliable on blue buff, but there are still more issues that Swain have right now - He needs almost every single stat in game, so if he isn't farmed enough to get HP + Resists + AP, he will not be able to go into enemy team to do damage, which makes him vulnerable to quick burst. Passive resists on his ultimate and reducing its healing would be best possible way to balance him out in my opinion.
Teemo
• Move Quick (W) cooldown reduced to 17 seconds from 22
• Fixed a bug where Teemo's Toxic Shot (E) was doing less damage than intended at higher attack speeds.
I did test out a new Teemo on the PBE, but to be honest I didn't see much difference. His split pushing and 1v1 against bruisers is going to be even better, but his team fight is still going to be really poor. I’m not sure if Move Quick buff was really needed especially that it's mostly a split pushing tool for Teemo players. Buff to his E is going to be really nice increase in his DPS but not sure if enough to make him as good team fighter as any of current toplane picks.
Zilean
• Time Warp (E) mana cost reduced to 80 from 100
• Chronoshift (R) mana cost reduced to 125/150/175 from 200 at all ranks
Nice changes that can bring him back into competitive scene. I don't think that we will see him more in solo queue since his skill cap is pretty high and his late game isn't as good compared to other AP mid line champions. (Basically he is too reliable on your AD and top lane carrys).
Hecarim, the Shadow of War
• Warpath (Passive): Hecarim ignores unit collision and gains attack damage equal to 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20 / 22.5 / 25% of his bonus movement speed.
• Rampage (Q): Hecarim cleaves nearby enemies, dealing physical damage. (50% damage to minions and monsters)
If Hecarim damages at least one enemy unit with this attack, he gains a stack of Rampage, reducing the base cooldown of this skill by 1 second for a short duration. This effect can stack up to 2 times.
Cost: 25 mana
Cooldown: 4 seconds
Physical Damage: 50 / 85 / 120 / 155 / 190 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage)
• Spirit of Dread (W): Hecarim surrounds himself with the spirit of dread for 4 seconds, dealing magic damage per second to all enemies within its reach. Additionally, Hecarim is healed for a percentage of the damage enemies within the area taken from any source. Healing from damage dealt to minions is capped per minion.
Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 mana
Cooldown: 14 seconds
Magic Damage Per Second: 20 / 31.25 / 42.5 / 53.75 / 65 (+0.2 per ability power)
Maximum Magic Damage: 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+0.8 per ability power)
Damage to Heal Ratio: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%
Minion Healing Cap: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180
• Devastating Charge (E): Hecarim gains increasing movement speed for 4 seconds. His next attack knocks the target back, dealing physical damage based on how far Hecarim has traveled during Devastating Charge's duration.
Cost: 60 mana
Cooldown: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 seconds
Minimum Damage: 40 / 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 (+0.5 per bonus attack damage)
Maximum Damage: 80 / 150 / 220 / 290 / 360 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)
• Onslaught of Shadows (R): Hecarim summons spectral riders and charges forward, dealing magic damage to anyone they strike.
Hecarim releases a shockwave when he finishes his charge, dealing additional magic damage and causing nearby enemies to flee in terror away from Hecarim for 1 second.
Cost: 100 mana
Cooldown: 140 / 120 / 100 seconds
Initial Magic Damage: 100 / 200 / 300 (+0.8 per ability power)
Shockwave Damage: 50 / 125 / 200 (+0.4 per ability power)
I feel like he is designed to be a jungler. I tested him on PBE realm and first feeling I had it was him being quite similiar playstyle to Nocturne. He got everything on just decent level - AoE clear speed, quite good sustain (that is as well his defensive ability), decent pre-6 ganks with only 1 CC and movement speed boost for short amount of time and awesome after level 6 ganks.
There were additionally few other important changes in gameplay that involved:
Wit's End
• Combine cost increased to 700 from 550 (total cost increased to 2150 from 2000)
150 gold is around 1 wave of creeps or 2 small jungle camps more (which is 30sec delay on this item) to kill before you can go back and buy whole Wit's End. In my opinion it's quite a big deal since this item is one of most important for many junglers such as Udyr or Shyvanna and for many toplaners as well. Im not sure if that was really needed nerf.
Doran's Ring and Blade
• Health reduced to 80 from 100
Those items needed tuning down, because their only weakness was that they took the space in your inventory. Both of those items value (stats for gold spent) is extremely good. Comparing them to other items (Ruby Crystal, Long Sword/Amplification Tome, Vampiric Scepter/Meki Pendant), they real cost should be around 800 gold for actual stats you gain from them.
Atma's Impaler
• Health to Damage conversion lowered to 1.5% from 2%
It seems like really huge nerf to the Atma's Impaler. If you look at numbers more clearly it's basicaly 20 damage nerf at 4000 hp (which means late late game). When you have 2000hp it's only 10 damage nerf. It's still something but in my opinion not game breaking. It still going to be one of best bruiser items but can be overshadowed by Bloodthrister that is recently getting more and more popular especially on champions like Lee Sin.
Hexdrinker
• Passive shield duration increased to 5 from 3
Quite nice change to make the Hexdrinker a more reliable defensive item for bruisers. It's not much more behind this change except that you probably won’t be able save your cooldowns as AP to wait till it expires on your target and then start damaging target again since 2 seconds more is huge.
Runes
• Marks of Warding - Magic Resist reduced by 20%
• Glyphs of Warding - Magic Resist reduced by 10%
• Quintessences of Warding - Magic Resist reduced by 11.1%
• Glyphs of Insight - Magic Penetration increased by 20%
• Quintessences of Insight - Magic Penetration increased by 15%
• Glyphs of Potency - Ability Power increased by 20%
Basic tought process behind this change it to make agressive AP/MPen runes more rewarding than defensive MR runes, which could lead to more agressive midlane playstyle and champions. Now MPen Marks will outscale more a MR Marks [will nerf MPen to MR Quints ratio which was before over 235% in favor of MR (4.5MR 1.89MPen) now it will be around 180% (4.0MR 2.17Mpen)].
Small monster sigils
• Monster regeneration sigils now restore up to 40 mana (from 30)
This change won't change anything in the current metagame where the best junglers are fast clear speed junglers - they don't have problems with mana regeneration anyways. For junglers that have mana issues i doubt that 10 mana increase per camp will make them more viable than before.
Champion Gold and Experience rewards
• Champions gain more experience for killing higher level champions (especially 2 or more levels) but less experience for killing lower level ones
• Maximum bounty for killing a champion on a long killing streak increased to 600 from 500
• Experience split when two or more champions are present increased; situations with two or more champions splitting experience now earn 30.4% more total experience than solo, up from 26.1%
Those changes are in fact buffs to a junglers and a duo lanes especially duo kill lanes such as a Jarvan + Leona. Junglers will be rewarded more for killing a solo laners, since they are higher level than them after 6-8minutes. (in first 3-4 minutes junglers can keep up with level since they have 2 buffs to take which give a lot of EXP). In first teamfights if one of teams get a kill duo lane and jungler as lowest level champions will get more EXP for killing solo laners. Roaming comeback is as well possibility after this change comes on life servers.
Summary of this patch:
- Buffs - Akali, Kayle, Sejuanni, Swain, Orianna, Teemo, Zilean, Magic Penetration Runes, Hexdrinker;
- Nerfs - Janna, Magic Resist Runes, Atma's Impaler, Wit's End, Doran's Ring, Doran's Blade;
- New champion - Hecarim - He is good jungler with the potential to be on Nocturne level.A new study looked at the genome of honeybees and found they most likely originated in Asia and not Africa as was previously suspected.
One-third of the world's food depends on pollination from bees. Honeybee population has been significantly declining over the past several years, much to the concern of researchers, Uppsala University reported. Bees are currently threatened by disease, climate change, and management practices. Researchers hope to gain insight into how bees have adapted in the past in order to save them in the future.
"We have used state-of-the-art high-throughput genomics to address these questions, and have identified high levels of genetic diversity in honeybees. In contrast to other domestic species, management of honeybees seems to have increased levels of genetic variation by mixing bees from different parts of the world. The findings may also indicate that high levels of inbreeding are not a major cause of global colony losses," said Matthew Webster, researcher at the department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University.
The team also found honeybees come from cavity-nesting bees that arrived in Asia 300,000 years ago and then spread to other continents such as Africa.
"The evolutionary tree we constructed from genome sequences does not support an origin in Africa, this gives us new insight into how honeybees spread and became adapted to habitats across the world", says Matthew Webster.
They identified specific gene mutations dealing with innate immunity and morphology. In the past the bee population size is believed to have declined during the ice age, meaning the insects are effected by climate change.
"The study provides new insights into evolution and genetic adaptation, and establishes a framework for investigating the biological mechanisms behind disease resistance and adaptation to climate, knowledge that could be vital for protecting honeybees in a rapidly changing world," said Webster.WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has slammed Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for mocking an Indian call centre worker during an election rally this week, saying it shows disrespect towards the community and is reflective of his divisive rhetoric."Donald Trump mocking Indian workers is just typical of his disrespect that he has shown to groups across the spectrum," said John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton Campaign."He has run a campaign of bigotry and division. I think that's quite dangerous for the country when you think about the fact that you need friends, allies. The kind of campaign he is running breeds disrespect across the globe and breeds division and danger here at home," he told reporters in Germantown, Maryland after formally launching 'Indian- Americans for Hillary', an effort by the community to rally behind the Democratic presidential front runner.Podesta was reacting to Trump's apparent use of a fake Indian accent to mock a call centre representative in India during a campaign rally in Delaware this week.The real estate tycoon said that he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas.At the same time, he described India as a great place, asserting that he is not angry with Indian leaders.Meanwhile, an Indian-American entrepreneur also hit out at Trump, calling his comments "demeaning"."When Donald Trump fakes the accent of an Indian at the help desk, it is demeaning and demonising to me personally," said Frank Islam, a top Indian-American bundler in the Clinton campaign who has helped raised more than USD 100,000 for her.A resident of Maryland, Islam is part of the newly launched 'Indian-Americans for Hillary'.He also disagreed with the remarks of Republican Governor from Maine, Paul LePage, who had said that Indian workers are "worst" and "hardest" to understand."I do not know, where he got that impression. I consider Indian-Americans very hard working and they aim high," he said."I consider Indian-Americans to be thoughtful, constructing, hardworking and resilient. So I do not agree with him," Islam said, adding that the community played a key role in strengthening the country.Air pollution raises the risk of death for many decades after exposure, according to the longest-running study to date.
The analysis of 368,000 British people over 38 years also showed that those living in the most polluted places have a 14% higher risk of dying than those in the least polluted areas. Those exposed to particulate air pollution were more likely to die from respiratory problems, like pneumonia, emphysema and bronchitis, and also from cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks.
“What this study shows is that the [health] effects of air pollution persist for a very long time,” said Dr Anna Hansell, at Imperial College London, who led the new study. “There is an imperative that, because the effects are so long-lasting, we really ought to act on it. We have to think about what we are doing to the long-term health of the population.”
Many Britons are currently exposed to illegal levels of air pollution, with 29,000 premature deaths a year - or 5% of all deaths - blamed on air pollution. The UK government lost a supreme court legal battle in 2015 and was forced to produce an action plan.
If successful, this will cut air pollution to legal levels by 2020 in most cities and 2025 in London. The impact on children, whose lungs can be stunted for life, has been of particular concern to experts.
The truth about London's air pollution Read more
The new research, which is published in the journal Thorax on Tuesday, selected individuals at random from anonymised Office of National Statistics data and tracked them via the national censuses in 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001. The study also estimated their exposure over time to particulate air pollution, which is produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels in power stations and by vehicles.
“We found a statistically significant association between [air pollution] exposure in 1971 and mortality in 2002-09,” said Hansell. The risk of death rises by 2% for each extra unit of pollution (10 micrograms of particulates per cubic metre) a person was exposed to in 1971.”
Hansell added: “The more recent exposures appear to be the more harmful to health.” For each extra unit of pollution exposure in 2001, the risk of death in 2002-09 rises by 24%. Hansell said this gave another urgent reason to reduce air pollution, as cuts now would improve health in the next few years as well as in the long term.
The reason the risk of death falls with time since the exposure is probably because the health impacts of air pollution fade over time, said Hansell, although the different mix of pollutants today compared to 1971 might be more toxic.
The researchers found that the 36,800 people exposed to the highest levels of air pollution had a 14% greater risk of dying than those exposed to the lowest levels of air pollution. By coincidence, that applied to exposure in both 1971 and in 2001, although overall particulate pollution levels have fallen significantly - about 80% - in the decades between.
Gary Fuller, an air pollution expert at King’s College London and not part of the new new study, said: “It feeds into the developing body of evidence about air pollution affecting us throughout the course of our lives. It increases the imperative for action to reduce the way in which the air that we breathe today can compromise our health and our children’s health later in life.”
The research did not assess the impact of nitrogen dioxide, a toxic pollutant present at very high levels in some of the UK’s cities, which is linked to the failure of car manufacturers including Volkswagen to produce cars with emissions below official limits in real driving conditions.
Hansell said: “It’s important to remember that the effects of air pollution are small compared to other risk factors. Your risk of dying early is much more dependent on other aspects of your lifestyle, like whether you smoke, how much you exercise and whether you are overweight.”
In the study, those who died in accidents or could not be traced in later censuses were excluded. The researchers adjusted the data for the effect of age, sex, and social deprivation. They also accounted for lung cancer deaths, which are strongly related to smoking, but this made little difference to the conclusions.(Keep reading until near the end for a video showing you how to retwist dreads yourself.)
Can I let you in on a secret?
Although I absolutely love the look of dreadlocks, I don’t have the patience nor the commitment necessary to grow them.
It’s true: I’ve tried four times so far and no matter what I do, about six months into the locking process, I simply wash out my dreadlocks and do something else with my hair.
Still, every so often, I decide to try again.
As you can probably infer, I am flirting with the idea right now hence this post.
Want to flirt-with-the-idea along with me?
How about it?
Today, let’s talk about dreadlocks!
READ ALSO: How to Keep Your Sensitive Skin Safe This Summer
First, I’ll share with you a little of what I’ve learned on my previous four dreadlock journeys, including what I know about how to retwist locs and then you, by leaving a comment on this post, can share what you know about growing dreadlocks.
Let’s begin!
What’s Your Motivation?
First things first, let’s talk about the motivation to grow dreadlocks.
For those of you who sport dreadlocks (or have done so in the past), what was your main reason for beginning to grow them?
Was it simply about fashion, or did you have a deeper, more meaningful reason to start growing locs?
For me, the very first time was because I was going through some sort of phase.
I was at university and was simply tired of all the effort that we women were going through to alter ourselves and our appearances, so I decided to go natural.
This first time, I kept it simple: I simply stopped combing my hair (among other things that I stopped doing 😆 ).
That was an interesting experiment!
Booking.com
On subsequent dreadlock journeys, my reasons were a little less radical.
For the most part, after that, I started to grow dreadlocks for aesthetic reasons.
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through the poppy campaign. Of each dollar, the local legion keeps 88¢. A 63-page Poppy Manual spells out rules for distributing poppies and spending the proceeds.
“Somebody might need a walker or a wheelchair,” says Ms. Robson of the Legion Nutana Branch 362 in Saskatoon. Her legion also funds the military family resource centre: “We help younger vets through some of the stresses.”
There remains one dilemma: how to keep your poppy in place. You wear the poppy on your left lapel, closest to your heart; this is also where a driver’s seatbelt crosses the shoulder.
The legion denies that it designs poppies to fall off; in fact, it last year produced 2.3-million “poppy keepers,” little plastic earring backings that slide on a pin to hold it in place. Still, says Mr. Underhill, “we have made the conscious effort to make the cost of poppies as low as possible, while supporting Canadian business by manufacturing the poppy domestically.
“At the core of the poppy campaign is a fundraising activity. If we made poppies so people would keep them for years, it would negatively impact the poppy campaign.”
pkuitenbrouwer@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/pkuitenbrouwerHalloween 2015 is the perfect time to try out a new perfume brand, right? Well, this Halloween I decided I was going to purchase these four perfumes from Possets new Halloween 2015 collection. I was a little on the fence about Asanbosam because the unique note of bitter almond… let’s see how they fared!
Asanbosam (African Tree Vampire): bitter almond, cardamom, arabica coffee, clove from Zanzibar and Vietnamese cinnamon.
In the bottle: The immediate sharpness of bitter almond stings my nostrils but it is fleeting, it is very heavy but short lasting. The cardamom note is at the forefront with a backing of the rich, dark, arabica coffee.
Wet on the skin: It blooms into something very different wet on the skin, gone is the sharp bitterness of the almond, it no longer singed the insides of the nostrils. The coffee really presents itself in its full form, but not creamy coffee, true rich dark coffee beans.
Dry on the skin: Dry down was fairly quick and my skin amps the cinnamon as it always does. I’m really finding the dry down on this surprising. It is sleek and sexy and truly captivating. It is spicy without being too spicy.
As a note this blend does contain natural spices and might irritate the skin of sensitive people, make sure you patch test!
Jurogumo (Japanese Spider Demon): vanilla musk, cardamom, nectar of peaches squeezed in the summer sun and concentrated to make a sugary peach liquor.
In the bottle: The vanilla is powerfully at the forefront with my first sniff. It is very rich and musky, which I adore. Musks and Vanillas are some of my absolute favorites but most vanillas are saccharine sweet but not this, it is very subtle yet seductive and light but rich. I know, a lot of contrasting adjectives but trust me, it is exactly what it is to my nose. The rich cardamom is present but not overwhelmingly so with a little sweet hint of the peach liqueur.
Wet on the skin: While wet on my skin, I’m getting more of that peach liqueur with our the typical astringent smell of liquor. It is sugary and slightly peachy, not at all like Arcana’s rich robust peach note, this is dainty and beautiful.
Dry on the skin: Dry the vanilla is light and appealing while being musky and sexy. It reminds of a peach ring with vanilla added in.
Ghost Fart: From the website,“Oh good grief! It must be a ghost fart! This annual blend is back to haunt us all again. Ethereal, very unusual and about as easy to explain as spiritual flatulence. Actually, its real nice stuff and you really should try it, but don’t try to explain it. Foody gourmand.”
In the bottle: It is very lightly almond, like an almond syrup. I get a very clean marshmallow smell and a little windex? It is really odd. Almost like an almond wet napkin.
Wet on the skin: It pulls a little cinnamon but with that same astringent cleaning product smell.
Dry on the skin: My skin as usually has ramped the cinnamon and spicy to 100% which in this case I don’t mind because dry is the first time I can say I almost like this perfume. It is a little creamy now, maybe some marshmallow.
Zombie: toasted marshmallow, oude, and smoky.
In the bottle: Who doesn’t love toasted marshmallow? But, do you know what is better resinous, smoky, sticky marshmallow. It isn’t in your face sweet marshmallow like ghost puffs from Haus of Gloi, Goofballs from Khemistrii or Toasted Marshmallow from Sixteen92. In bottle it is really interesting and I like it a lot.
Wet on the skin: White wet it reads very similar to in the bottle smoky yet sweet but not super foody sickening sweet.
Dry on the skin: I lose absolutely anything I liked about it. It goes straight deodorant on my skin. Kind of like baby wipes. Hopefully I can let this bottle age a bit and maybe, just maybe it will help a little bit.
Overall thoughts: My first time with Possets is most successful. I absolutely adore Asanbosam and Jurogumo which funnily enough are the scent’s I was least sure about from the beginning. Admittedly I did sort of just pick out Ghost Fart for the name, I mean can you blame me?
I think I’m going to give Ghost Fart and Zombie some extra time to age in a nice dark place and come back to them in a few months and see if they change at all.
I definitely think that I’ll be trying some more Possets perfumes even with my mixed results.
Advertisements× Direct Flights to Philadelphia from Des Moines Announced
DES MOINES, Iowa – Direct flights from Des Moines to a new East Coast destination have been announced.
The Des Moines International Airport revealed Thursday that American Airlines is adding twice-daily flights to Philadelphia, starting in May.
“Currently there are over 35,000 passengers a year traveling between DSM and PHL, and that market is growing,” said Executive Director, Kevin Foley. “This new nonstop service to PHL makes travel to Europe more convenient an improves connections to many domestic destinations as well.”
The American Airlines flights will begin May 4th with the first flight of the day leaving Des Moines at 6:25 a.m. and arriving in Philly at 10:00 a.m. The second flight leaves Des Moines at 1:31 p.m. and arrives in Philadelphia at 5:07 p.m.
Booking for the new flights will be open starting October 9th.A super political action committee tied to Hillary Clinton’s campaign claims a newly launched “digital task force,” developed to combat Bernie Sanders supporters, had nothing to do with a coordinated attack on Sanders Facebook groups. It also denies any role in the posting of pornography, including child pornography, which was allegedly posted to the pages of groups to trigger the shut down of group pages.
The Clinton super PAC announced the formation of “Barrier Breakers 2016,” following Clinton’s win in the New York primary. The project is the “brainchild” of well-known Clinton operative, David Brock, who founded the super PAC. It is overseen by the super PAC’s president, Brad Woodhouse, and it also involves “former reporters, bloggers, public affairs specialists, designers, Ready for Hillary alumni, and Hillary super fans who have led groups similar to those which the task force plans to organize.”
Clinton’s new “digital task force” has been characterized as a paid troll army. In fact, the super PAC is spending $1 million to engage with “Bernie Bros” online and “help” Clinton supporters, who fear “online harassment.” The team aims to stand up to “cyber-bullying and sexist attacks from swarms of anonymous attackers.” On top of that, it will “push out information to Sanders supporters” and encourage the very supporters, which the “task force” targets, to support Clinton.
On April 25, the night before one of the most critical primary days for the Sanders campaign, a coordinated attack occurred, where at least one person from a known group of Hillary supporters, Bros 4 Hillary, put up postings that would push Facebook to shut down a Sanders Facebook group page. This same individual boasted about his actions to fellow Clinton supporters, who praised him for being “fierce.” Multiple people urged others to engage in the same act to shut down freedom of expression in Sanders groups.
Worse, several Sanders supporters saw pornography posted in the groups to trigger a shut down. Multiple members of the groups insist they saw child pornography or bestiality, and some said they reported it to the FBI. Many believe what happened last night, ahead of primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware, was connected to Correct The Record’s new “task force.”
Salon reported the communications director for Correct The Record, Elizabeth Shappell, issued a statement strongly condemning “any form of online harassment, vile language, explicit content, or bullying.”
“Barrier Breakers 2016 had nothing to do with this incident, and anyone reporting otherwise is not reporting the truth. Barrier Breakers 2016 is currently engaging in only positive content supporting Hillary Clinton’s campaign to be our next president,” Shappell said.
It is very difficult to confirm whether it is true that no “Barrier Breakers” had a role in what happened. It also is very hard to prove that any of these people have worked with Correct The Record. But it is remarkable that the official statement by Correct The Record does not specifically address what happened.
Yes, “explicit content” covers pornography, however, the fact that there appears to be strong evidence Clinton supporters are involved in posting pornography—potentially illegal pornography—to have Sanders Facebook group pages shut down is quite an attack on freedom of expression. It goes beyond offensive and demeaning messages directed at a person to triggering a response by a social media company that will possibly disrupt campaign organizing and result in censorship of a group of people.
The attack involves pornography. If the group pages are not shut down, the people visiting the pages may be turned off by the thought that this is acceptable to the Sanders campaign and its supporters. There has been a narrative manufactured that supporters are “Bernie Bros,” who cannot contain their misogynistic hatred for Clinton and unleash it regularly on social media. Perhaps, Clinton supporters think voters might believe “Bros” are the kind of people, who share pornography in these groups even as they support political revolution. Or, maybe there is no effort on the part of the small group of supporters to think any of this through.
Regardless, this cannot possibly be feminist or intersectional or even an act of love and kindness to take lewd images and put them in comments threads to sabotage and undermine support for the Sanders campaign.
A person, who was removed from the Bros 4 Hillary group, posted a “credible threat of violence.” Supporters applauded when the group was shut down over this “threat” because they believed the group deserved it, since they believed many supporters post “threats” of violence against Clinton all the time and get away with it. So, they deserved this.
Bros 4 Hillary, put out a press release stating ties to the person who had a Sanders Facebook group page shut down were severed.
“A former member by the name of Casey Champagne decided to engage in harassing behavior toward Facebook groups of Bernie Sanders and posted about it in the B4H Facebook group,” the group said. “This was not promoted or supported by the leadership of B4H, nor were we immediately aware of this conduct.”
“We removed the offending posts and member as soon as possible. While our leadership team of administrators tries to catch every questionable post and comment, with over 7,000 members and on a 24-hour posting cycle, some fall through the cracks. We rely on members to ‘flag and report’ harmful, offensive, or trolling behavior, and apologize to the groups that were affected. This member acted on his own authority, is not a part of our leadership team, and does not represent our ideals or our opinions,” the group added.
It is hard to believe this fell through the cracks and administrators missed this event. Numerous supporters from these groups were in an uproar during the period from 9 pm to midnight that Bernie Sanders Activists, Bernie Believers, Bernie Sanders Is My Hero, Bernie or Bust, Bernie Sanders for President, Bernie Sanders – Ideas Welcome, Bernie Sanders Revolutionaries, and Bay Area for Bernie were suspended by Facebook and inaccessible.
Why should anyone believe the Bros 4 Hillary person was a “rogue member”? If one reads the screen shots of comments in reaction to what Champagne did, it is clear this was a product of a toxic culture within the group that would reward this kind of action.
Sanders supporters have engaged in no such behavior. There have been no reports of Sanders supporters taking action to sabotage Facebook group pages and trigger the shut down of groups.
Finally, while it is impossible to confirm whether Correct The Record is telling the truth about no “Barrier Breakers” being involved or connected to what happened, it is not outlandish to suspect the super PAC had some role. The group has spread some of the most vile attacks and lies about Sanders and his campaign.
It promoted the idea that Sanders thought the Sandy Hook massacre and gun violence in general was a “laughing matter,” when the reason he laughed was because Clinton defended a lie about Vermont being somehow responsible for gun trafficking in New York. It has repeatedly accused Sanders of standing with the National Rifle Association (NRA). It pushed the lie that he has supported Minutemen vigilantes, who patrolled the Mexico border to shoot down immigrants. It has bolstered the “Bernie Bro” narrative as the Clinton campaign and its supporters target female politicians, who have endorsed Sanders. David Brock’s super PAC even started a rumor that the campaign was planning to bus in students to engage in election fraud and win the Iowa caucus.
Given the past conduct of this super PAC, and the manner in which it is explicitly undermining campaign finance regulations through its operations, it is justifiable if supporters demand more information from Correct the Record and the Clinton campaign itself on this “Barrier Breakers” task force, and whether there weren’t a few Clinton super fans, who crossed the line by posting pornography or threats of violence to shut down groups.Trainers,
Professor Willow has discovered Togepi and Pichu hatching from Eggs! Starting later today, Trainers will have the opportunity to hatch these and several other Pokémon that were originally discovered in the Johto Region in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games. These are the first of more Pokémon coming to Pokémon GO over the next few months. Be sure to use the hashtag #PokemonGO on Twitter to share your experiences as you explore your local neighborhoods with family and friends, walk to hatch these Pokémon from Eggs, and register them to your collection this holiday season. We can’t wait to see what Pokémon you’ve hatched!
We also have another special treat for you. Starting later today through December 29, 2016, 10:00 A.M. PST, you’ll find limited edition Pikachu all over the world. These Pikachu will be wearing a festive hat to celebrate the season! Use the Pokémon GO AR camera when you encounter them in the wild to take their picture and share it with us using #HolidayPikachu.
—The Pokémon GO teamNew Scientist has a fascinating story this morning (December 2, 2011) about avalanches of dust on Mars seen by orbiting spacecraft. They’re thought to be caused by meteors penetrating the Red Planet’s thin atmosphere, creating craters, yes, but also shock waves in the Martian atmosphere that spread across an area about a million times larger than the craters themselves.
You can find this study online today here. It’s part of the January 2012 edition of the journal Icarus.
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spots about 20 new craters on Mars each year. The craters are between 1 and 50 meters across (3 to 150 feet). Closer scrutiny of the spacecraft images revealed thousands of small avalanches near 16 of the craters, thought to be caused by the shock waves in the Martian atmosphere, created by incoming meteors.
The avalanches discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appear as dark streaks on the hilly terrain that surrounds the craters. They show up only in areas where there is a lot of light-coloured dust on the ground. To form, it seems the surface’s dust coating was shaken loose and slid downhill, revealing the darker rocks beneath.
We all know Earth is geologically active, with active earthquakes and volcanoes, and plus we have winds and water, not to mention life. Earth is a world of change. That’s one reason avalanches on Mars are so much fun. I can remember a time just a few decades when the other walkable worlds in our solar system – Mercury, Venus, Mars and the moons of the outer planets – were assumed to be “dead” in comparison to Earth. At that point, there was little evidence for any sort of movement on their surfaces, with the exception perhaps of seasonal changes seen to cross the face of Mars, now known to be caused in part by planet-wide dust storms that kick up every two years, when Mars is closest to the sun in its orbit.
How stunned we all were in 1979 when the Voyager 1 spacecraft found active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io! It was like pointing a finger at a dead rock and saying, “It lives!”
Today, with spacecraft in orbit around our neighboring world Mars and other worlds in our solar system, we’re able to see all sorts of change on other worlds. That includes shifting sand dunes on Mars and … avalanches. Isn’t the picture above wonderful? Wouldn’t you love to go there and see it?
Bottom line: Orbiting spacecraft have now seen avalanches of dust on Mars. They’re thought to be caused by meteors penetrating the Red Planet’s thin atmosphere, creating shock waves in the Martian atmosphere that spread across an area about a million times larger than the meteorite craters. Images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed thousands of small avalanches near 16 of Martian meteorite craters.
Read more: Airbursts trigger dust avalanches on Mars
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Kevin Toner will be offered a fresh new contract at Aston Villa as reward for his recent breakthrough into the first-team.
The 19-year-old has started the last two Premier League games and looks set to extend his stay at the club as discussions start.
Villa have drawn up a new deal with fresh terms and Toner is expected to sign in the coming weeks.
Remembering the Sports Argus - 10 years on
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It marks an incredible turnaround for the defender who was heading for the exit door under former manager Remi Garde.
Just a few months ago he was Villa’s SIXTH choice centre-half and after a loan spell at Kidderminster Harriers he returned to the Under-21 set-up with his long-term future up in the air.
It’s thought the Republic of Ireland youth international was on the verge of being released as Villa were in no hurry to take up a one-year option which was written into his current deal.
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But impressive performances against Watford and Newcastle have sparked the club into life and now they’re determined to keep hold of him.
Over in his homeland Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers were keeping a close eye on his situation but have now given up hope of landing the youngster.
Toner is expected to start against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium as Villa complete their Premier League season on Sunday.Google is partnering with password management service Dashlane to build what they’re calling Open YOLO, a new API that will allow Android apps to securely access your login credentials to sign you in without any fuss.
Of course you’re wondering that name is about. Here, YOLO stands for You Only Login Once. The project is open source, which means anyone can scrutinize the code used to build it and find bugs, or even contribute and improve the API.
That also means that it’ll be available for other password management services to implement in their tools. Dashlane will be the first to integrate it; the company noted in a blog post that other services are also collaborating on this project and will likley follow suit soon. It also hopes that Open YOLO will eventually launch on other operating systems as well.
That’s good news for anyone who uses a mobile device. Passwords are a pain, no matter how you manage them with existing methods. By negating the need to deal with login screens in the first place, Google’s project could ease a lot of the stress of keeping your accounts safe, while boosting security at the same time.
Dashlane and Google Establish New Open Source API Project to Enable Simple, Secure App Logins for Android Users on Dashlane
Read next: Japan's favorite candy launches campaign to get kids codingKolkata: Actor Irrfan Khan on Wednesday termed as "debatable" the reported decision of the censor board asking the makers of his forthcoming film Hindi Medium to issue a disclaimer stating it is a work of fiction.
Hindi Medium stars Irrfan and Pakistani actress Saba Qamar in the lead.
"Well, whether the film is inspired by a real life incident... It should say inspired by or based on real life incidents. It is a debatable thing and one should debate upon it," the actor told the media here.
Directed by Saket Chaudhary, Hindi Medium is a story about how education that is supposed to be a tool of enlightenment has become a tool to create inequality.
This inequality is created on the basis of English medium schools versus regional language schools and private schools versus government schools.
It has been described as a light-hearted romantic film about a young couple in Chandni Chowk in Delhi who aspire to move into society's upper crust.
Chaudhary had earlier denied allegations that the film was copied from the 2014 Bengali family drama film Ramdhanu.
"We have researched our script over a year and it is based on original material," Chaudhary had said. It will hit the screens on May 19.
Asked on the challenges faced by couple in the film, Irrfan acknowledged it is challenging nowadays to put kids in a good school.
He also advocated scholarship over job-oriented approach.
To a query on his preference for education versus institution, he batted for the former.
"Education is more important that the institution. Because education has a direct connect with the person and helps shape one's personality," he added.Anson Burlingame (November 14, 1820 – February 23, 1870) was an American lawyer, Republican/American Party legislator, diplomat, and abolitionist.
Early life [ edit ]
Burlingame was born in New Berlin, Chenango County, New York. In 1823 his parents (Joel Burlingame and Freelove Angell) took him to Ohio, and about ten years afterwards to Michigan. Between 1838 and 1841 he studied at the Detroit branch of the University of Michigan, and in 1846 graduated from Harvard Law School. On June 3, 1847 he married Jane Cornelia Livermore. They had sons Edward Livermore Burlingame (born 1848) and Walter Angell Burlingame (born 1852), as well as a daughter Gertrude Burlingame (born 1856).
Early career [ edit ]
Burlingame practiced law in Boston, Massachusetts, and won a wide reputation by his speeches for the Free Soil Party in 1848. He was a member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention in 1853, of the state senate from 1853 to 1854, and of the United States House of Representatives from 1855 to 1861, being elected for the first term as a Know Nothing and afterwards as a member of the new Republican Party, which he helped to organize in Massachusetts. He was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Sigma chapter).
Burlingame vs. Preston Brooks [ edit ]
In May 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts delivered a vituperative denunciation of President Franklin Pierce and Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Bleeding Kansas. In particular, Sumner lambasted Senator Andrew Butler, a cousin of Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina. Three days later, Congressman Brooks advanced upon Sumner while he worked at his desk in the Senate chamber. Using his cane, Brooks beat Sumner into unconsciousness, with Sumner ripping his bolted-down desk from the floor as he attempted to escape. Brooks received no official censure from the House of Representatives, and was instead hailed as a hero in much of the pro-slavery South.[1]
Shortly afterwards, Burlingame delivered what The New York Times referred to as "the most celebrated speech"[2] of his career: a scathing denunciation of Brooks' assault on Sumner, branding him as "the vilest sort of coward" on the House floor. In response, Brooks challenged Burlingame to a duel, stating he would gladly face him "in any Yankee mudsill of his choosing". Burlingame eagerly accepted; as the challenged party, he had his choice of weapons and location. A well-known marksman, he selected rifles as the weapons and the Navy Yard on the Canadian side of the U.S. border in Niagara Falls as the location (in order to circumvent the U.S. ban on dueling). Brooks, reportedly dismayed by both Burlingame's unexpectedly enthusiastic acceptance and his reputation as a crack shot, neglected to show up, instead citing unspecified risks to his safety if he were to cross "hostile country" (the northern U.S. states) in order to reach Canada.[3] Burlingame's solid defense of a fellow Bostonian greatly raised his stature throughout the North.[4]
Minister to China and Chinese envoy to Washington [ edit ]
[5] Burlingame was given this Daimyo Oak bonsai when he passed through Japan during his return to the U.S. It is on display at the Gardens of Lake Merritt, Oakland, California.
On March 22, 1861, after Burlingame lost his bid for re-election, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Burlingame as Minister to the Austrian Empire, but Burlingame, who had championed the Hungarian Lajos Kossuth and his drive for independence from the Austrian Empire, was not acceptable and did not serve.[6]
On June 14, 1861 Lincoln instead appointed Burlingame as minister to the Qing Empire. Burlingame worked for a cooperative policy rather than the imperialistic policies of force which had been used during the First and Second Opium Wars and developed relations with the reform elements of the court. As he put it, the "cooperative policy... substituted for the old doctrine of violence one of fair diplomatic action," and the representatives of the Western powers agreed that they would not interfere in the internal affairs of China. Burlingame reported that he had used his diplomacy to get the European powers to agree that they would "give to the treaties a fair and Christian construction; that they... never would menace the territorial integrity of China." [7]
The success of this diplomacy was not lost on Qing dynasty court officials. On November 16, 1867, when he was set to retire and return to his political career at home, the Chinese government appointed Burlingame envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to head a Chinese diplomatic mission to the United States and the principal European nations. The mission, which included two Chinese ministers, an English and a French secretary, six students from Peking, and a considerable retinue, arrived in the United States in March 1868. Burlingame used his personal relations with the Republican administration to negotiate a relatively quick and favorable treaty. In a series of speeches across the country, he displayed eloquent oratory to advocate equal treatment of China and a welcoming stance toward Chinese immigrants.
On July 28, 1868 the mission concluded at Washington, D.C. a series of articles, supplementary to the Reed Treaty of 1858, and later known as the Burlingame Treaty. The treaty provided that Chinese subjects in the United States should enjoy the same rights as citizens of the most favored nation, a legal strategy which up until that point had only been used to expand foreign privileges in China. Burlingame worked successfully to include a clause permitting Chinese to become citizens, which was barred by American law. This treaty was the first equal treaty between China and a western power after the Opium War.[8]
Subsequently, Burlingame also negotiated treaties with Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and Prussia.[9] He died suddenly at Saint Petersburg on February 23, 1870, while negotiating terms for a treaty with Russia. He was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[10]
Family [ edit ]
His son Edward L. Burlingame was founding editor of Scribner's Magazine.
Legacy [ edit ]
After Burlingame's death, the spirit and many of the specific provisions of the treaty bearing his name were reversed. Foreign powers continued to encroach upon China, and Congress passed strict laws against Chinese immigration. The success of the Communist Revolution of 1949 led to animosity between the two countries and Burlingame's reputation was as a naive and euphoric advocate of China. After warming of relations in the 1980s, Burlingame's reputation began to rise again, however.[11][12]
Burlingame, California, Burlingame, Kansas, and Anson, Wisconsin are all named after Anson Burlingame.[13] The ranch which Burlingame purchased in San Mateo on the San Francisco Bay retained his name and was eventually developed after his death.[14]
References [ edit ]
Citations [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]America's Gays & Lesbians Are Buying Guns In Record Numbers, And Gun Owners Are Teaching Them How To Shoot!
America's Gays & Lesbians Are Buying Guns In Record Numbers, And Gun Owners Are Teaching Them How To Shoot!
The hub of gay Los Angeles is suddenly brimming with posters with the LGBT flag and one hashtag - #ShootBack.
And it’s not just the rainbow flag waving breed of activism - Americans are rallying behind their nation's gays and lesbians after the homophobic attack at Pulse, a gay Orlando nightclub. Gun owners are coming together to teach people of "all backgrounds and stripes" to use and carry firearms after the Orlando shooting proved how unsafe America can be.
hankhession flickr 8
Don't Miss 94.6 K SHARES 49.1 K SHARES 64.9 K SHARES 19.8 K SHARES 35.3 K SHARES
On Facebook a woman named Erin Palette began putting together a lineup of friends who could give free coaching for firearm use and safety, inclusive gun range time, ammo, gun handling, safety - everything to get people introduced to gun safety and gun laws.
This real time map (to be viewed on Desktop versions of Indiatimes) shows the hundreds of people willing to give time, energy and effort to help "total strangers learn how NOT to be the next ISIS terrorist’s victim."
Peretz Partensky flickr
In my books, this is much real and credible than the solidarity candle light marches and open letters that happen after any attack on minorities in America.
From Erin’s blog post
So, to all my gun-owning friends who have volunteered yourselves: Bless you. You’re doing a great thing. And if you want to volunteer, just contact me with your name, city & state, and your preferred method of being contacted (email, telephone, etc). To all the preppers out there who are wondering if they ought to learn how to use guns, the answer is a resounding YES.
skyandsea876 flickr
INQUISITR reported that gun sales are shooting up among the LGBT demographic, and they're "rushing to...pick all kinds of weapons and ammunition, apparently to protect themselves from similar such incidents"
While the shooting happened in Florida, gun sales are shooting up as far as Colorado, a state on the other side of America
George Horne, the owner of The Gun Room, Denver’s oldest firearms dealer spoke about booming sales. “Business has been booming at my store. For this time of year I’d say it’s three to four times what we normally have.” While gun sales see a spike after shootings in America, LGBT buyers aren't the kind of audience normally flocking to gun stores. One of America's biggest gay guns rights organisations, the Pink Pistols, saw its members double within a day of the shooting.Patrick Sweany closes out the night at RiverMusic on July 8. (Photo: Courtesy of Dave Creaney)
1. Rock 'n' soul 'n' blues on the river at RiverMusic.
For its third celebration of the season, on July 8, RiverLink’s RiverMusic calls to the stage three rock, soul and blues masters for an all-star evening by the French Broad River. Live music from Tim Easton starts at 5:30 p.m. Aaron Lee Tasjan takes the stage next, at 6:45 p.m., and, while the suns starts setting behind the mountains, Patrick Sweany will swing into his set at 8:15 p.m. RiverMusic provides free parking for its patrons and is completely free to attend, with food and drinks for sale on site. The picturesque outdoor show is held at the RiverLink Sculpture and Performance Plaza, 144 Riverside Drive, near Asheville's River Arts District. Though parking is free, RiverLink encourages guests to bike, paddle up on the river or carpool — and, unfortunately, no dogs (or outside food and beverage) are allowed at the venue. Three shows down; three to go this summer.
2. Yonder Mountain String Band at Pisgah Brewing.
Yonder Mountain String Band truly is from a yonder mountain — though it's yonder-er than the hills that Ashevillians call home. Forming in Colorado in 1998, YMSB has been redefining bluegrass for nearly 20 years, taking the traditional acoustic genre and expanding it beyond its old-time Appalachian roots. But the band is no stranger to our hills: It's played in Blue Ridge territory plenty of times before, and it's coming to Pisgah Brewing Company on July 9. The show starts at 7 p.m. and includes performances from the Jon Stickley Trio and Brushfire Stankgrass. Tickets are $25 in advance at pisgahbrewing.com and $30 the day of the show.
Yonder Mountain String Band will play at Pisgah Brewing on July 8. (Photo: Courtesy of Dorothy St.Claire)
3. Midnight launch for latest "Serafina" sequel.
From 8 p.m. to midnight on July 9, Barnes and Noble in the Asheville Mall will keep its lights on for a midnight launch of the locally penned middle grade children's book "Serafina and the Twisted Staff," the sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel "Serafina and the Black Cloak." The series is set in Asheville at the Biltmore Estate, and main character Serafina is tasked with solving the mysteries that arise at the mansion and beyond. Author Robert Beatty will be at the release party, and attendees are encouraged to dress in costume for an evening of Serafina activities, including a live presentation of the hawk and barn owls from the book, a performance from 12-year-old fiddler Lillian Chase, a dramatic reading, a meet-and-greet with costumed characters, a Q&A session with the author, a storewide scavenger hunt and other games and free food and drinks. No tickets are necessary for the launch.
A midnight release of the new Asheville-centric kids' book "Serafina and the Twisted Staff" will keep kids up well past bedtime. (Photo: Courtesy image)
4. Get your adventure on with "The Goonies" at the Orange Peel's movie night.
You know them. You love them. Goonies never say die. The 1985 kids' adventure film will be playing at The Orange Peel as part of the venue's free summer music series. If you've never seen it (and you should — and now is your chance), "The Goonies" is an adventure film filled with promises of pirate treasure, '80s preteens (and their teen siblings), Indiana Jones-style booby-traps and a scowling family of criminals, who will stop at nothing to beat these rotten kids to the gold. It's a classic, really. Follow Mikey and the gang into the Orange Peel at 8 p.m. July 11. The movie is rated PG. Movie-goers are welcome to bring their own food, but the Peel will have snacks and drinks available at the bar, including buckets of beer from Oskar Blues on special.
A free screening of 'The Goonies" is just one of the many treasures to behold this week. (Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros.)
5. Abby the Spoon Lady at the coffee shop.
One of Asheville's favorite characters, Abby Roach (known to many as Abby the Spoon Lady), will be sharing stories from her life of train-hopping and street-performing on July 14 at Trade and Lore Coffee House downtown. Uniquely playing a pair of spoons, the musician is known to perform all over town with her band The Fly By Night Rounders, who will accompany Roach at the event. The coffee shop storytelling event is a ticketed affair and costs $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
Recently, Abby Roach was featured in a tourism video released by the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau. (Photo: Courtesy photo)
Read or Share this story: http://avlne.ws/29jQUGTThe letter from Mayor Garcetti on refunding parking tickets (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)
When Mayor Eric Garcetti discovered in November that parking officers were handing out bogus parking tickets in Los Angeles, he wasn't very happy about it. In fact, he said he was "pissed," and vowed that folks who were wronged would be refunded by the city. And hey, it looks like our mayor has kept to his promise. Kudos to him!
I recently received a letter in the mail last month from Garcetti's office, |
urlencode_form(fields, uservar, username, passvar, password) + local parts = {} + for _, field in ipairs(fields) do + if field.name then + local val = field.value or "" + if field.name == uservar then + val = username + elseif field.name == passvar then + val = password + end + parts[#parts+1] = url.escape(field.name).. "=".. url.escape(val) + end + end + return table.concat(parts, "&") +end --- -- Detect a login form in a given HTML page @@ -132,14 +214,54 @@ -- @return Form object (see http.parse_form() for description) -- or nil (if the operation failed) -- @return Error string that describes any failure -local detect_form = function (host, port, path) - local response = http.get(host, port, path) +-- @return cookies that were set by the request +local detect_form = function (host, port, path, hostname) + local response = http.get(host, port, path, { + bypass_cache = true, + header = {Host = hostname} + }) if not (response and response.body and response.status == 200) then return nil, string.format("Unable to retrieve a login form from path %q", path) end for _, f in pairs(http.grab_forms(response.body)) do local form = http.parse_form(f) + for app, val in pairs(known_apps) do + local match = true + -- first check the'match' table and be sure all values match + for k, v in pairs(val.match) do + match = match and string.match(form[k], v) + end + -- then check that uservar and passvar are in this form + if match then + -- how many field names must match? + match = 2 - (val.uservar and 1 or 0) - (val.passvar and 1 or 0) + for _, field in pairs(form.fields) do + if field.name and + field.name == val.uservar or field.name == val.passvar then + -- found one, decrement + match = match - 1 + end + -- Have we found them all? + if match <= 0 then break end + end + if match <= 0 then + stdnse.debug1("Detected %s login form.", app) + -- copy uservar, passvar, etc. from the fingerprint + for k, v in pairs(val) do + form[k] = v + end + -- apply any special mangling + if val.mangle then + val.mangle(form) + end + return form, nil, response.cookies + end + -- failed to match uservar and passvar + end + -- failed to match form + end + -- No known apps match, try generic matching local unfld, pnfld, ptfld for _, fld in pairs(form.fields) do if fld.name then @@ -159,13 +281,57 @@ form.method = form.method or "GET" form.uservar = (unfld or {}).name form.passvar = (ptfld or pnfld).name - return form + return form, nil, response.cookies end end return nil, string.format("Unable to detect a login form at path %q", path) end +-- Recursively copy a table. +-- Only recurs when a value is a table, other values are copied by assignment. +local function tcopy (t) + local tc = {}; + for k,v in pairs(t) do + if type(v) == "table" then + tc[k] = tcopy(v); + else + tc[k] = v; + end + end + return tc; +end + +-- TODO: expire cookies +local function update_cookies (old, new) + for i, c in ipairs(new) do + local add = true + for j, oc in ipairs(old) do + if oc.name == c.name then + old[j] = c + add = false + break + end + end + if add then + table.insert(old, c) + end + end +end + +-- make sure this path is ok as a form action. +-- Also make sure we stay on the same host. +local function path_ok (path, hostname, port) + local pparts = url.parse(path) + if pparts.authority then + if pparts.userinfo + or ( pparts.host ~= hostname ) + or ( pparts.port and tonumber(pparts.port) ~= port.number ) then + return false + end + end + return true +end Driver = { @@ -173,9 +339,26 @@ local o = {} setmetatable(o, self) self.__index = self - o.host = nmap.registry.args['http-form-brute.hostname'] or host + if not options.http_options then + -- we need to supply the no_cache directive, or else the http library + -- incorrectly tells us that the authentication was successful + options.http_options = { + no_cache = true, + bypass_cache = true, + redirect_ok = false, + cookies = options.cookies, + header = { + -- nil just means not set, so default http.lua behavior + Host = options.hostname, + ["Content-Type"] = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" + } + } + end + o.host = host o.port = port o.options = options + -- each thread may store its params table here under its thread id + options.threads = options.threads or {} return o end, @@ -187,26 +370,49 @@ end, submit_form = function (self, username, password) - -- we need to supply the no_cache directive, or else the http library - -- incorrectly tells us that the authentication was successful local path = self.options.path - local opts = {no_cache = true, redirect_ok = false} - local params = {[self.options.passvar] = password} - if self.options.uservar then params[self.options.uservar] = username end + local tid = stdnse.gettid() + local thread = self.options.threads[tid] + if not thread then + thread = { + -- copy of form fields so we don't clobber another thread's passvar + params = tcopy(self.options.formfields), + -- copy of options so we don't clobber another thread's cookies + opts = tcopy(self.options.http_options), + } + self.options.threads[tid] = thread + end + if self.options.sessioncookies and not (thread.opts.cookies and next(thread.opts.cookies)) then + -- grab new session cookies + local form, errmsg, cookies = detect_form(self.host, self.port, path, self.options.hostname) + if not form then + stdnse.debug1("Failed to get new session cookies: %s", errmsg) + else + thread.opts.cookies = cookies + thread.params = form.fields + end + end + local params = thread.params + local opts = thread.opts local response if self.options.method == "POST" then - response = http.post(self.host, self.port, path, opts, nil, params) + response = http.post(self.host, self.port, path, opts, nil, + urlencode_form(params, self.options.uservar, username, self.options.passvar, password)) else local uri = path -.. (path:find("?", 1, true) and "&" or "?") -.. url.build_query(params) +.. (path:find("?", 1, true) and "&" or "?") +.. urlencode_form(params, self.options.uservar, username, self.options.passvar, password) response = http.get(self.host, self.port, uri, opts) end local rcount = 0 while response do if self.options.is_success and self.options.is_success(response) then + -- "log out" + opts.cookies = nil return response, true end + -- set cookies + update_cookies(opts.cookies, response.cookies) if self.options.is_failure and self.options.is_failure(response) then return response, false end @@ -217,7 +423,19 @@ end rcount = rcount + 1 path = url.absolute(path, rpath) - response = http.get(self.host, self.port, path, opts) + if path_ok(path, self.options.hostname, self.port) then + -- clean up the url (cookie check fails if path contains hostname) + -- this strips off the smallest prefix followed by a non-doubled / + path = path:gsub("^.-%f[/](/%f[^/])","%1") + response = http.get(self.host, self.port, path, opts) + else + -- being redirected off-host. Stop and assume failure. + response = nil + end + end + if response and self.options.is_failure then + -- "log out" to avoid dumb login attempt limits + opts.cookies = nil end -- Neither is_success nor is-failure condition applied. The login is deemed -- a success if the script is looking for a failure (which did not occur). @@ -255,9 +473,18 @@ local passvar = stdnse.get_script_args('http-form-brute.passvar') local onsuccess = stdnse.get_script_args('http-form-brute.onsuccess') local onfailure = stdnse.get_script_args('http-form-brute.onfailure') + local hostname = stdnse.get_script_args('http-form-brute.hostname') or stdnse.get_hostname(host) + local sessioncookies = stdnse.get_script_args('http-form-brute.sessioncookies') + if not sessioncookies then + sessioncookies = true + elseif sessioncookies == "false" then + sessioncookies = false + end + local formfields = {} + local cookies = {} if not passvar then - local form, errmsg = detect_form(host, port, path) + local form, errmsg, dcookies = detect_form(host, port, path, hostname) if not form then return stdnse.format_output(false, errmsg) end @@ -265,11 +492,15 @@ method = method or form.method uservar = uservar or form.uservar passvar = passvar or form.passvar + onsuccess = onsuccess or form.onsuccess + onfailure = onfailure or form.onfailure + formfields = form.fields or formfields + cookies = dcookies or cookies + sessioncookies = form.sessioncookies == nil and sessioncookies or form.sessioncookies end -- path should not change the origin - local pparts = url.parse(path) - if pparts.scheme or pparts.authority then + if not path_ok(path, hostname, port) then return stdnse.format_output(false, string.format("Unusable form action %q", path)) end stdnse.debug(form_debug, "Form submission path: ".. path) @@ -293,12 +524,18 @@ end -- convert onsuccess and onfailure to functions - local is_success = onsuccess and function (response) - return http.response_contains(response, onsuccess, true) - end - local is_failure = onfailure and function (response) - return http.response_contains(response, onfailure, true) - end + local is_success = onsuccess and ( + type(onsuccess) == "function" and onsuccess + or function (response) + return http.response_contains(response, onsuccess, true) + end + ) + local is_failure = onfailure and ( + type(onfailure) == "function" and onfailure + or function (response) + return http.response_contains(response, onfailure, true) + end + ) -- the fallback test is to look for passvar field in the response if not (is_success or is_failure) then is_failure = function (response) @@ -312,7 +549,11 @@ uservar = uservar, passvar = passvar, is_success = is_success, - is_failure = is_failure + is_failure = is_failure, + hostname = hostname, + formfields = formfields, + cookies = cookies, + sessioncookies = sessioncookies, } -- validate that the form submission behaves as expected @@ -330,6 +571,7 @@ local engine = brute.Engine:new(Driver, host, port, options) -- there's a bug in http.lua that does not allow it to be called by -- multiple threads + -- TODO: is this even true any more? We should fix it if not. engine:setMaxThreads(1) engine.options.script_name = SCRIPT_NAME engine.options:setOption("passonly", not uservar) _______________________________________________ Sent through the svn mailing list https://nmap.org/mailman/listinfo/svn _______________________________________________ Sent through the dev mailing list https://nmap.org/mailman/listinfo/dev Archived at http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/ By Date By Thread Current thread: Call for testing: http-form-brute major upgrade r35542 Daniel Miller (Dec 31)A federal government public tender to purchase ammunition for the Canadian military is shedding more light on one Canada’s most secretive counter-terrorism international assistance programs.
The tender notice posted on the government’s Byandsell.gc.ca website is for 1.2 million cartridges for “AK-47 type weapons.”
The AK-47, which stands for Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 in Russian, is one of the world’s most mass-produced and iconic assault rifles.
Extremely rugged and simple to use, the AK-47 and its more modernized variants are used by dozens of militaries, militias, guerilla groups, narcotrafficers and terrorists around the world.
But it’s not part of the day-to-day arsenal of Canadian Armed Forces.
So why would the Canadian military need 1.2 million rounds, enough to start a small war?
Operation Naberius
The ammunition is for a little-known training and capacity building program run by the Canadian military in the West African nation of Niger under the codename Operation Naberius, said Capt. Vincent Bouchard, a spokesman for Canadian Joint Operations Command Headquarters.
A member of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command coaches a member of the Niger Armed Forces during marksmanship training as part of Exercise Flintlock 2017 in Diffa, Niger, Feb. 28, 2017. Flintlock is a special operations forces exercise designed to hone the capabilities of U.S. and partner nation military units in Trans-Saharan Africa. © (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Klutts)
A handful of Canadian soldiers have since 2013 helped train the Niger Armed Forces in marksmanship, reconnaissance and other basic military skills under the auspices of Operation Naberius, the CBC News reported earlier this year.
The little-advertised operation is part of Canada’s Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building (CTCB) assistance program that “provides training, funding, equipment, technical and legal assistance to other states to enable them to prevent and respond to terrorist activity,” according to Global Affairs Canada.
As part of that training and material assistance, Canadian military trainers supply the ammunition used in the marksmanship course, Bouchard said.
“We’re bringing a little part of it (ammunition) each time we’re going,” Bouchard said. “And this purchase is meant to be for the next few years, providing training to our international partners.”
The last training course was conducted in the spring of this year and ended in June, said Bouchard.
‘Getting ready for the next editions’
A member of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command observes members of the Niger Armed Forces during marksmanship training as part of Flintlock 2017, in Diffa, Niger, March 1, 2017. Flintlock is a special operations forces exercise designed to hone the capabilities of U.S. and partner nation military units in Trans-Saharan Africa. © (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zayid Ballesteros)
The training happens twice a year but its details are kept under wraps for operational security reasons, Bouchard said.
“But we’re getting ready for the next editions in the next few years,” he said. “And that’s why this procurement was required.”
Most of the ammunition will be used in Niger but part of it will be used in Canada to train the Canadian trainers, since most Canadian soldiers do not usually operate AK-47 type weapons, Bouchard said.
Retired Lt.-Col. Steve Day, former commander of Canada’s elite anti-terrorism unit Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) and president of Reticle Ventures, a security consultancy and training company, said there is nothing unusual about Canadian soldiers bringing their ammunition when training the militaries in less developed countries.
Depending on the level and the intensity of training the Canadian soldiers provide in Niger, 1.2 million rounds can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple years, Day said.
It takes about 1,000 rounds to train a soldier to a decent level of marksmanship, Day said.
On the higher end of the spectrum, it’s not uncommon for special forces troops to go through 50,000 to 70,000 rounds of ammunition a year, Day said.
Royal 22nd Regiment takes over from special forces
A Canadian Special Operations Forces Command medic provides instruction to a member of the Niger Armed Forces during medical training as part of Flintlock 2017 in Diffa, Niger, February 25, 2017. Niger is one of seven African nations to host Flintlock 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zayid Ballesteros)
Operation Naberius training used to be conducted by Canadian Special Forces but a year ago the responsibility for training was transferred to the Canadian Army. About two dozen soldiers from the French-speaking 1st Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, based in Valcartier, Quebec, took part in training this year.
Citing operational security concerns, the Canadian military has refused to disclose the exact location of the training but media reports and a photo gallery of an international anti-terrorism training exercise published by the U.S. Army in February suggest that Canadian soldiers are deployed in one of the most dangerous parts of Niger, near the town of Diffa, in the southeast of the country.
Heavy fighting between government troops and Boko Haram militants in 2015 forced Canadian trainers to briefly pull out of Diffa, which sits on the border with Nigeria and the heartland of the Boko Haram insurgency.
The operation flew almost entirely under the radar since it was first ordered by the former Conservative government.
There is no mention of it anywhere on the DND website, which lists all current Canadian operations abroad, including the well-known Operation Impact in the Middle East and Operation Reassurance in Eastern Europe.
Training Sahel forces
A Canadian Special Operations Forces Command medic provides instruction to members of the Niger Armed Forces during medical training as part of Flintlock 2017 in Diffa, Niger, February 25, 2017. Niger is one of seven African nations to host Flintlock 2017. © (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zayid Ballesteros)
However, Operation Naberius, named either after a powerful three-headed demon and marquis of hell or an equally nefarious character in the World of Warcraft online role-playing game, is not the only Canadian undertaking in the region.
The Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) has for years also participated in the U.S.-led training plan known as Exercise Flintlock to assist in training Western African countries in anti-terrorism operations.
The exercise brings together North American, European and African military members from 24 countries to train together in seven host nations across North and West Africa during the three week event, said Maj. Alexandre Cadieux, CANSOFCOM spokesman.
“Exercise Flintlock is designed to foster regional cooperation to enable our African partners to stabilize regions of North and West Africa, while reducing sanctuary and support for violent extremist organizations,” said a statement from the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). “FL17 provides increased interoperability, counterterrorism, and combat skills training while creating a venue for regional engagement among partner nations.”
Along with Canada and the U.S. other countries that participated in the program include Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, France, Germany, Italy, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, South Africa, The Netherlands, Tunisia and United Kingdom, according to AFRICOM.Abed’s birthday is right around the corner, and the Community crew is celebrating it the only way they know how — Pulp Fiction-style!
Sources tell me that Community has another awesome episode in the can, and it revolves around the Greendale gang — namely Jeff (played by Joel McHale) — planning a surprise party for Abed (Danny Pudi). And what better way to mark the birthday of a pop culture fiend than with a little love for Pulp Fiction?
Community‘s Return to Warfare: Exclusive Details!
Of course, themed costumes are mandatory at the festivities, so we’ll see Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) in her Samuel L. Jackson finest and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) channeling Uma Thurman’s knockout. But the best part of it all might be that the cross-networks love letter between Community and ABC’s Cougar Town continues throughout the episode, in which our other favorite TV comedy figures largely into Abed’s dialogue.
I’m hearing that the NBC comedy’s homage to Tarantino is chock full of some very, very strange stuff — what, Big Kahuna Burgers? Foot massages? Adrenaline shots? — and could top Community‘s growing list of obscure, and thus brilliant, installments.
What are your thoughts on Community‘s latest genre-bending adventure? Anyone else hoping to see Ken Jeong as The Gimp? Hit the comments!LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Bad news for motorists across Southern California — the price of gasoline is expected to spike once again.
On Friday, officials said the average price of self-serve regular gasoline is expected to increase between 20 and 30 cents by the end of the weekend. The retail state average of regular gas was $2.306 per gallon on Thursday.
According To the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch, the cause of the price jump is due to problems with the incoming summer blend of fuel. The 2015 refinery explosion that took place in Torrance is also believed to be playing a part in the price increase.
“Refineries are having distribution problems with the summer blend of gasoline, which needs to be in gas pumps by April 1,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “Pump prices in coming days will be affected by [this] blend of fuel, although [it is] not even being sold yet.”
Officials say gasoline burns better during hot months, but costs more.
Earlier this week, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline reached the lowest levels since 2009.The Rockford IceHogs had a slower week than usual, picking up three of a possible six points, and staying put in the AHL’s playoff race, for now. The IceHogs also saw one of their most dynamic forwards depart for the final time, and welcomed a new face, and some familiar ones, back to the club.
Game Recaps
Friday, February 28th @ Oklahoma City Barons
After a load of Division games, the IceHogs headed to face the OKC Barons for the first time since mid-December. The ‘Hogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Bobby Shea and Terry Broadhurst, but the Barons equalized with two power-play markers. Rockford led late in the third, but OKC tied once again with just under 3 minutes remaining. In overtime, it only took 46 seconds for Tyler Pitlick to seal a 5-4 win for the home crowd. Jason LaBarbera made 32 saves, while both Shea and Broadhurst led the way offensively with a pair of goals each.
Saturday, March 1st @ Oklahoma City Barons
There wasn’t any time to sulk over the loss, as both teams were back at it the next night, in their final meeting of the regular season. This time it was the Barons that held the 2-0 lead with two power-play goals, but the ‘Hogs tied it up early in the second with goals from Jeremy Morin and Adam Clendening. After two more OKC goals, Brad Mills drew Rockford within one with the final goal of the six-goal period. Brandon Pirri knotted the score half-way through the third, but Austin Fyten scored a late game-winner for the Barons’ second straight 5-4 win. Kent Simpson was pulled after allowing 3 goals on 23 shots, and LaBarbera made 9 saves in relief. Pirri was the game’s Second Star with a goal and an assist.
Tuesday, March 4th vs. Rochester Americans
The ‘Hogs looked for their first win of Week 21 against the Rochester Americans, a team that has had their number in the past. Jeremy Morin, Pat Mullane, and Terry Broadhurst put the game away before Rochester even had a chance to respond, with three unanswered goals to start the game. After the Americans drew within one, Brandon Mashinter put the game away with the empty-netter. LaBarbera made 33 saves in the win, earning First Star honors. Jeremy Morin followed up with a Third Star.
Standings Update:
The IceHogs’ 11-game point streak came to an end with the loss on Saturday, but they are firmly cemented in playoff position, eight points above the cut-off line.
Transactions
Philippe Lefebvre and Pat Mullane both made the jump from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye on Sunday.
The IceHogs said goodbye to leading goal-scorer Brandon Pirri, who was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for two draft picks. Pirri leaves after spending four years with the IceHogs, amassing 68 goals and 200 points (franchise record) in that time. He had 26 points in 26 games with Rockford this season.
Rockford added Matheiu Brisebois to their roster, after the Blackhawks traded for him along with David Rundblad on Tuesday, just before the trade deadline. Brisebois had four points and 30 PIMs in 28 games with the Portland Pirates this season, who are tied for last in the entire AHL.
Player News
Jeremy Morin‘s point streak has now stretched to 13 games. He trails Adam Clendening (46) for the lead in team scoring, with 44 points in 44 games.
Brian Connelly‘s assist on Friday is his first point in his second stint with the IceHogs. He is already the teams’ all-time leader in points by a defenseman, with 127.
Since being acquired from the New York Islanders, Pierre-Marc Bouchard has 1 goal and 12 points in his first 10 games as a member of the IceHogs.
Week 21 Schedule
Friday, March 7th @ Milwaukee Admirals (25-19-6-6)
Saturday, March 8th vs. Milwaukee Admirals (25-19-6-6)
Thanks for tuning in to this week’s edition of the Rockford IceHogs Report. Check back each and every Friday for the new weekly edition. For more Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs conversation, “Like” us on Facebook: Blackhawk Up, and follow us on Twitter: @Blackhawk_Up. Check back each day for pre- and post-game reports, as well as unique content about the Blackhawks you won’t find anywhere else!If Senate GOP leaders have their way, the check may not be in the mail.
Many consumers collected unexpected rebates after the Affordable Care Act became law, possibly with a note explaining why: Their insurer spent more of their revenue from premiums on administration and profits than the law allowed, so it was payback time.
More than $2.4 billion has been returned to customers since the provision went into effect in 2011, averaging about $138 per family in 2015.
Those rebates could end under the Senate proposal — now on hold until after the July Fourth holiday — to repeal Obamacare.
Insurers consider the requirement — known as the medical loss ratio (MLR) — onerous, and some had to change the way they do business because of it. To be sure, the rule didn't resonate much with consumers. Even if they received a rebate, because the amounts were relatively small, possibly enough to cover a family dinner out.
The MLR has fans among policy experts, who say it pushes insurers to be more efficient and creates a better value.
"When they struggle to pay premiums, when they're making those sacrifices, [consumers] want most of the value of those premiums to go to actual medical care," said Mila Kofman, a former insurance commissioner in Maine, who now runs the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority.
Like much else related to Obamacare, the provision was controversial from the start. It states that insurers can spend no more than 15% of their customer revenue on administration and profits when selling large group plans to employers, or 20% for individual coverage. If plans exceed this mark, they have to pay back the excess, either to employers or to people who bought coverage from them on the individual market. Employers who got rebates for their work-based plans could decide how to redistribute the money as long as it was used to benefit employees.
The Senate GOP health proposal, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, would end that requirement in 2019 and let states decide whether to continue such limits and rebates.
Related: Senate bill wold cut Medicaid spending dramatically
In some ways, this change would be a gift to insurers.
The provision, as is, "limits their profitability" and, along with other factors, may have contributed to an exodus of plans from some markets, explained Christopher Condeluci, of CC Law & Policy in Washington.
"By allowing states to craft more flexible" rules, the Senate measure may make it "easier for insurers to operate," said Condeluci, who served as tax and benefits counsel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee when Obamacare was being drafted.
From the start, insurers argued the one-size-fits-all rule was too strict and sought the broadest possible definition of medical expenses. Supporters maintained it could help slow premium increases or at least make them more in line with the underlying growth of medical costs. This point is "really important," said Tim Jost, an emeritus law professor who studies the health care law and serves as a consumer advocate before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
When the Affordable Care Act took effect, health care inflation had slowed, but "insurers were still regularly raising premiums far above the actual growth in claims," he said. "They were making a huge profit."
Related: Senate health care bill would mean big coverage losses in these states
The first year the provision was in effect, insurers paid more than $591 million in rebates for policies covering more than 8.8 million customers, averaging $98 per family. Not all insurers exceeded the limit, and the amount of rebates varied by insurer and state.
Over time, the number of customers in plans that exceeded the limit fell but was still nearly 5 million at last count.
The reason: Insurers both trimmed administrative costs and, in some cases — especially in the individual market — saw their spending on sicker-than-expected customers rise, making it less likely they would exceed limits. Indeed, some insurers were spending more than 90% of revenue on medical costs by 2014, according to a report by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Some insurers have also reported losses on their individual market coverage.
Before Obamacare, many states set rules on how much of their premium revenue insurers must spend on medical care — although those rules often did not apply to job-based insurance. The amounts varied, and they were often lower than what Obamacare requires. North Dakota, for example, required 55% of revenue be spent on medical care, while New Jersey set the percentage at 80, according to a 2010 issue brief in the journal Health Affairs.
Like many other aspects of the Senate bill, the impact on consumers would vary by state.
Related: Deep cuts to Medicaid put rural hospitals in the crosshairs
The Congressional Budget Office, in its review of the bill, predicted that about half of people live in states that would maintain the current requirement. Others would loosen it and allow a greater share of premium costs to go toward administrative costs and profits.
"In those states, in areas with little competition among insurers, the provision would cause insurers to raise premiums and would increase federal costs for subsidies through the marketplaces," noted the CBO. The analysis also said the provision would have "little effect" on the number of people who have insurance.
Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit health newsroom whose stories appear in news outlets nationwide, is an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation.The hacktivist group 'Anonymous' posted instructions on how to use anonymising services on the internet such as TOR [REUTERS]
A graphic: in the shape of Syria, populated with tiny individuals, each one representative of one of 2,316 individuals killed between February and the end of August by authorities. A caption: “2,316 reasons why Assad is finished.” A note: “This does not include the names of thousands of detainees and missing persons suspected of being killed. The truth will remain unknown until after the fall of the regime.”
This is the content of a defacement conducted this past weekend by the hacking collective Anonymous across several websites of the Syrian government, including the sites of seven Syrian cities. Anonymous perpetrated a similar defacement last months against the Syrian Ministry of Defence, resulting in a retaliatory attack by Syria’s Electronic Army.
A distributed network
Anonymous skyrocketed to notoriety last year when, following the denial of service from several American companies - such as PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard - the collective launched a series of DDoS (or distributed denial of service) attacks on the companies’ websites, resulting in periods of downtime.
Fourteen individuals were arrested for their alleged participation in the attacks on PayPal.
The attacks conducted in support of the Syrian opposition - and earlier this year, in support of Tunisian protesters - have mostly been of a different variety. Whereas a DDoS attack renders a site unavailable for a period of time, a defacement is an attack that changes the visual appearance of a site. While DDoS attacks have been likened by some, such as Evgeny Morozov, to sit-ins, and by others, to lockdowns, a defacement is not unlike its real life equivalent: it requires some clean-up, but is nonetheless a temporary measure designed to draw attention to a political cause.
These attacks are both strategies in what has become known as “hacktivism,” a strategy of direct digital action. Biella Coleman, an assistant professor at New York University who studies these movements, has noted that they have emerged organically, “[taking] not to the streets where protest activity traditionally unfolds, but to the digital agora to act on their own accord, to loudly assert their opinion on a matter, and to act directly against those actors they felt were acting unjustly.”
The varied targets and methods of these attacks serve as a reminder that Anonymous is - as it has always claimed to be - both decentralized and leaderless, contrary to the mainstream media narrative, which often paints the movement as a group of disaffected, even privileged youth. Furthermore, the movement is international, evidenced by their support of disparate causes not only in Tunisia in Syria, but also in Spain, Greece, Turkey, and elsewhere.
Changing the face of activism?
Online methods of protest, such as DDoS attacks and defacements, may be changing the face of activism, or at least offering an online component through which global supporters of a cause can participate. Legalities aside, the fact of the matter is that many Anonymous members and supporters view hacktivist activities as legitimate means of protest or dissent.
Support may spread beyond participants: a recent analysis of online comments, conducted by NYU’s journalism department webmaster Tim Libert, found broad support in some cases for “online vigilantism.” Libert’s analysis found less approval for hacks targeting individuals than those targeting corporations.
Therein lies the rub: While attacks on the Syrian government are roundly cheered, those that expose sensitive information about citizens (such as the recent hack of San Francisco’s BART customer site, that resulted in the disclosure of 2,000 usernames and passwords) may be viewed as more malicious.
Furthermore, attacks that target “innocent” sites misconstrue intent further. Included amongst the Syrian government sites hacked last weekend was that of the Syrian Red Crescent, whose members have been targeted by the regime while seeking to provide medical assistance to injured demonstrators. That defacement, though probably unintentional, sparked ire amongst segments of the online Syrian community. Syrian activist Anas Qtiesh called the defacements “a wasted effort,” suggesting that the hacktivists - who included in their defacements a guide to online safety - would be better off providing technical help to opposition sites.
Though the defacements conducted this weekend did include a link to a page containing tips for online safety - including the use of Tor, and HTTPS - the pages remained up for only a few short hours before their administrators became aware of the situation and took them down, minimizing the impact such tips might have.
Sign of solidarity or a wasted effort?
Still, there are many who see the defacements as a sign of solidarity by actors who otherwise feel helpless in the face of the real-life conflict in Syria. Legalities once again notwithstanding, neither side is necessarily wrong. These visual statements are seen and reported upon widely and can raise awareness about the situation on the ground.
At the same time, in light government surveillance and interference with social networks, Qtiesh’s recommendation that solidarity activists could “use their bandwidth to provide TOR bridges, [or] help opposition sites patch their security vulnerabilities” is dead on. Defacements may help raise awareness, but they do little to provide help to activists.
The hacking community would therefore be well-advised to consider channeling their efforts toward devising and disseminating solutions that would keep Syria’s online activist community safe from harm.
Jillian York is director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. She writes a regular column for Al Jazeera focusing on free expression and Internet freedom. She also writes for and is on the Board of Directors of Global Voices Online.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.Physicians should no longer automatically opt to perform a cesarean section in the case of a breech birth, according to new guidelines by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.
Released yesterday, the guidelines are a response to new evidence that shows many women are safely able to vaginally deliver babies who enter the birth canal with the buttocks or feet first. Normally, the infant descends head first.
"Our primary purpose is to offer choice to women," said André Lalonde, executive vice-president of the SOGC.
Story continues below advertisement
"More women are feeling disappointed when there is no one who is trained to assist in breech vaginal delivery," he adds.
Since 2000, C-sections have been the preferred method of delivery |
to reach and land on than the moon.
DSI's prospecting spacecraft will be called "FireFlies," a reference to the popular science fiction television series of the same name. The FireFlies will hitchhike on rockets carrying up communication satellites or scientific instruments, but they will be designed so that they also have their own propulsion systems. The larger mining spacecraft to follow have been named "DragonFlies."
Efficiencies
It all sounds like science fiction, but CEO David Gump said that the technology is evolving so quickly that a space economy can soon become a reality. Providing resources from beyond Earth to power spacecraft and keep space travelers alive is the logical way to go.
That's because the most expensive and resource-intensive aspect of space travel is pushing through the Earth's atmosphere. Some 90 percent of the weight lifted by a rocket sending a capsule to Mars is fuel. Speaking during a press conference at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying in California, Gump said that Mars exploration would be much cheaper, and more efficient, if some of the fuel could be picked up en route. (Related: "7 Ways You Could Blast Off by 2023.")
Although there is little competition in the asteroid mining field so far, DSI has some large hurdles ahead of it. The first company to announce plans for asteroid mining was Planetary Resources, Inc. in spring 2012—the group is backed by big-name investors such as Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, filmmaker James Cameron, and early Google investor Ram Shriram. DSI is still looking for funding.
Owning Asteroids
While these potential space entrepreneurs are confident they can physically lay claim to resources beyond Earth, there remain untested legal issues.
The United Nations Space Treaty of 1967 expressly forbids ownership of other celestial bodies by governments on Earth. But American administrations have long argued that the same is not true of private companies and potential mining rights.
While an American court has ruled that an individual cannot own an asteroid—as in the case of Gregory Nemitz, who laid claim to 433 Eros as a NASA spacecraft was approaching it in 2001—the question of extraction rights has not been tested.
Moon rocks brought back to Earth during the Apollo program are considered to belong to the United States, and the Russian space agency has sold some moon samples it has returned to Earth—sales seen by some as setting a precedent.
Despite the potential for future legal issues, DSI's Gump said his group recently met with top NASA officials to discuss issues regarding technology and capital, and came away optimistic. "There's a great hunger for the idea of getting space missions done with smaller, cheaper 'cubesat' technology and for increased private sector involvement."
Everyone involved acknowledged the vast challenges and risks ahead, but they see an equally vast potential—both financial and societal.A word often leveled against transgender people is "selfish" -- selfish for desiring to change our appearance through medical means in order to more closely align our physical appearance with our self-identification of gender. Webster's dictionary defines "selfish" as "concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself: seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others." By definition, the transition process is then a selfish act, although being transgender is not inherently selfish. A case could be made that people who smoke, eat fast food, drink alcohol, take recreational drugs, or even lie around the house every day watching television are also being selfish. These actions diminish health and life expectancy, thereby depriving family and friends of a longer, happier, and healthier life with the person indulging in them.
All of humanity is selfish. How else could we have evolved and developed from a single-cell organism had we not at times been selfish when it came to our own growth and development? When it comes to transgender people, though, a broader view demonstrates that it is not the one particular act of transition that is viewed as selfish but rather the sum of our choices. As in the example of the fast-food junkie, the smoker, or the coach potato, a single act is not viewed as selfish unless done to excess. Therefore, the more pertinent question is whether the person in transition should be viewed more as self-centered than as selfish.
The first 18 to 24 months of transition for the transgender person can be an awkward period in terms of physical appearance, a period very similar to puberty. It is during this time that a self-centered person in transition might fail to take into consideration allowing time for his or her family and friends to adjust to and accept this new exterior. It is common for people in transition to feel as if they have finally exited the cave, and now that they have accepted themselves, they want the world to accept them now. But just as it takes transgender people years to accept themselves, they must also allow a reasonable period of time for family and friends to adjust. Expecting anything else can be very self-centered and selfish.
The transition process for a transgender person is a very isolating time, but it is also a time of discoveries regarding oneself and one's relationship with other people. The human condition is to resist change, to fight the correct course of action one knows must be taken -- that is, until the pain of not changing is greater than the fear of making that change. It is at this tipping point that a transgender person's pain of not being his or her real self is greater than the fear of change, and the fear of losing everyone and everything, including family, friends, employment, acceptance by society, etc. It is very common for family and friends to turn their backs on transgender people, thereby leaving us isolated and alone."Is this is all that is left to us to do: to give our breasts to the foreign drivers?" a Saudi woman named Fatima Shammary was quoted as saying by Gulf News.
If they're not granted the right to drive, the women are threatening to breastfeed their drivers to establish a symbolic maternal bond.
But a group of Saudi women has taken the controversial decree a step further in a new campaign to gain the right to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom, media reports say.
Many were stunned when Saudi cleric Sheik Abdel Mohsen Obeikan recently issued a fatwa, or Islamic ruling, calling on women to give breast milk to their male colleagues or men they come into regular contact with so as to avoid illicit mixing between the sexes.
Obeikan argued in his decree that if the women give their drivers their breast milk, the chauffeurs would be able to mingle with all members of the family without having to worry about violating Islamic law. Some Islamic scholars frown on the mixing of unmarried men and women. Islamic tradition, or hadith, stipulates that breastfeeding establishes a maternal bond, even if a woman breastfeeds a child who is not her own.
Drawing from the cleric's advocacy, the women have reportedly chosen a slogan for their campaign that translates to, "We either be allowed to drive or breastfeed foreigners."
The current driving ban applies to all women in Saudi Arabia, regardless of their nationality, and it's been a topic of heated public debate in recent years.
The ban on driving was unofficial at first but was introduced as official legislation after 47 Saudi women drove cars through the streets of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in 1990 in an attempt to challenge authorities.
The incident brought harsh consequences for the women, who were jailed for a day and had their passports confiscated. Many of them were said to have been forced to leave their jobs after the driving protest.
Still, every now and then, reports of Saudi women driving in defiance of the ban emerge in the media.
Two years ago, 125 women in Saudi Arabia signed a petition that called on the Saudi interior minister to lift the ban.
One of the Saudi female signatories, Wajeha Huwaider, posted a video of herself driving on YouTube in a direct appeal to the Saudi authorities to allow women to drive.
"For women to drive is not a political issue," Wajeha said as she sat behind the wheel. "It is not a religious issue. It is a social issue, and we know that many women of our society are capable of driving cars. We also know that many families will allow their women to drive."
-- Alexandra Sandels, in Beirut
Photo: Saudi women look under the hood of a new car at a showroom in Riyadh, where women sell cars to female buyers. Women can still own cars in Saudi Arabia, but they are banned from driving them. Credit: Associated PressThe loss of isolated forest patches has seen forests move farther on average from any given point in the continental US. In a new PLOS ONE study Giorgos Mountrakis and colleagues looked at data from 1990 to 2000 and found that the shifting distance was more pronounced in rural areas than in urban settings, as they are at higher risk of losing forested patches.We spoke with Mountrakis of the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York about the work.It indicates how far the nearest forest is from a given location, in our case any location within the continental US. We used this metric as an indicator of forest quality under the assumption that spatially unique forests may perform additional key services as opposed to larger continuous forest patches.For the continental US, the average distance was 3674m in 1992 and increased by 514m, or 14 percent, in 2001.We looked into changes from early 90s to early 2000s. This was partially driven by satellite-derived maps available during that period that allowed a consistent comparison across the two times.Yes, our results indicate that forest attrition is considerably higher in the western United States, in rural areas, and in public lands.You can think of these isolated forest patches as small but key environmental sanctuaries for biodiversity. They provide essential habitat and their loss could result in severe decline of population sizes and species richness. These declines do not only affect that particular area but also adjacent locations, as these isolated patches often act as transportation islands for migratory species, similarly to an oasis in the desert.The changes were determined by analyzing satellite-derived maps depicting land cover and associated changes. These maps were fed in specialized geostatistical software where we calculated the observed distance change. We also looked whether these losses were randomly distributed or penalized more isolated forest patches, which they did.While our study did not focus on the drivers, typical causes are urbanization, agricultural expansion, logging, and fires.Not all forest is equal. Our work scratched the surface of using geographic analysis and satellite data to establish a national policy of prioritization of forest conservation efforts. Typical large intact forests receive the majority of attention but in some cases smaller isolated forest patches, that are under a larger threat and are of equal importance, are left behind. We would like to thank the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council and the McIntire Stennis program, US Forest Service for supporting this work.Featured image courtesy of Trey RatcliffThroughout 2014, Kyoto prefectural police began an initiative having taxi drivers and late-night convenience stores work together to reduce incidents of armed robbery. Although still early, the program has so far been rousing success, leading to a 48% decrease in convenience store robberies compared to the previous year. They also get extra points for giving it the cool name of “Midnight Defender Strategy”.
■ Vigilance through hanging out
In every convenience store you are likely to see a line of people at the magazine rack reading entire manga volumes and issues of Vogue. Such free reading is allowed because, in a roundabout way, these people are helping to guard the store by keeping it from emptying out.
However, these readers are usually your average students and office workers who have to go home at some point, leaving the stores without any loiterers to protect them. It’s during this dangerous window of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. that most convenience store robberies occur.
This is where the humble cab driver comes in.
■ Midnight Defenders
In Kyoto, about half of the convenience stores had signed on for the Midnight Defender Strategy. These 500 or so shops hung posters with slogans such as “vigilance strengthening” written on them in their windows. These signs are indicators to taxi drivers that they are allowed to park there as long as they like during breaks. The stores lose a few parking spaces in the process but gain some extra eyes which may be enough to deter a would-be bandit from making their move.
Since the program started in September 2013, the number of armed robberies among participating stores dropped to four compared to 18 in the previous year. On the other hand, the shops which were not in the Midnight Defender Strategy saw an increase in robberies, up from seven to nine incidents compared to the year before. Overall the total number of robberies was nearly halved in the prefecture.
Police are clearly happy with the results and the shops are also pleased with not have knives waved in their faces, with one manager commenting: “Having the drivers around for any amount of time leads to a sense of security. Our midnight staff especially thanks them.” Taxi drivers are also pleased with the arrangement. “It really helps to have a guaranteed spot to park for breaks,” said one, “and I’m happy to contribute to crime prevention too.”
It appears to be a win-win-win situation for all involved, and if the number of robberies continues to be low we can expect to see the Midnight Defender Strategy pop up in other prefectures across Japan.
Source: Yahoo! Japan News
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- The Secret Slang of Japanese Cabbies -- Japanese 7-Eleven asking public’s help in stopping feline crime -- Japanese driver fails to stop at a yellow light, turns herself in to the police
© RocketNews24Posted October 28, 2008 By Presh Talwalkar. Read about me, or email me.
[update: welcome readers from The Club for Growth]
Update: Vi Hart and Nicky Case have created an interactive animation that explains the model using triangles and squares. Check it out: parable of the polygons.
Fidel Castro says America is “profoundly racist.” What do you think?
His statement made me think about segregation. I thought about racially divided neighborhoods in big cities. I thought about the “racial cliques” I observed among peers at Stanford. I thought about how few CEOs are of color. Is Castro right-do these things mean America is deeply racist?
The surprising answer is no. There is an alternate and perhaps more convincing explanation of why segregation happens.
During the 1960s the economist Thomas Schelling researched segregation and racial preferences. He suspected segregation was the result of a subtle interaction and he created a model to investigate. Not only did the model confirm his suspicion but it showed something very surprising: even very small preferences among otherwise civic individuals could lead to segregation.
I’ll cover the model and then explain its implications which affect everything from housing sales to company hiring policies.
Agent based models
Schelling analyzed racism by a technique called “agent based modeling.” It’s a computational idea that’s now being used to model everything from traffic flows to the spread of a disease.
The focus of such models is on creating autonomous “agents” who act according to relatively simple rules. Some rules of interaction might involve learning or randomness. The interesting part of these models is seeing how these simple agent rules can create complex global patterns or emergent behavior. (In Schelling’s language, the agents have “micro-motives” and the emergent pattern is a “macro-behavior”).
The Schelling Segregation Model (a.k.a. Schelling Tipping Model)
The model is easy to create if you have common household items. Here is how it is set up:
The game takes place on a checkerboard, which represents a city. The checkerboard is filled with dimes and nickels representing two different types of agents. The different types of agents can be thought of a different races, genders, etc. Each agent evaluates its current position based on a “happiness rule,” which depends on the adjacent squares. Unhappy agents are allowed to switch places with each other (there are various ways one can model this). The game continues until agents are happy, and this represents the equilibrium outcome.
The outcome primarily depends on the happiness rule. One example of a happiness rule would be “I want all my neighbors to be the same race.” Not surprisingly this rule leads to an outcome of complete segregation.
The interesting part is playing around with other rules. Schelling found even small preferences could result in complete segregation.
Try playing yourself
Schelling played the game during the 1960s and 1970s with nickels and dimes on a physical board. Now we can simulate them on computer. I highly encourage you to try a few simulations to get the feel for how things work.
Update: It seems NetLogo applets are not working. Vi Hart and Nicky Case have created an interactive animation that explains the model using triangles and squares. Check it out: parable of the polygons
NetLogo has a good model here with instructions. Here’s a link directly to the simulation (requires Java).
Here’s a simulation I ran with 2500 agents and a happiness rule of wanting 30 percent of neighbors to be of the same color (red or green). This is a mild preference of race.
The results are absolutely stunning-there appear to be neighborhoods that are completely segregated! Although each run is different because the initial setting is random, these results are typical. Try it for yourself.
What do these results mean in practical terms? I’ll rephrase an explanation from The Atlantic. A 30 percent happiness rule would mean the following:
[Notice that] these “people” would all be perfectly happy in an integrated neighborhood, half red, half [green]. If they were real, they might well swear that they valued diversity. The realization that their individual preferences lead to a collective outcome indistinguishable from thoroughgoing racism might surprise them no less than it surprised me and, many years ago, Thomas Schelling. (source)
Four implications of the model
The Schelling model is not perfect but it can give us good insight into racial and other segregation. Here are a few insights:
1. Don’t assume groups are deeply racist
I would imagine most people are not racist but have small preferences. Schelling’s model illustrates how these individual preferences can aggregate into complete segregation. It’s impossible to assign blame to any particular person, and it is not necessary that group members are deeply racist (though that is a possibility).
2. If you can, get it right the first time
In the Schelling model, initial conditions matter. If some neighborhood starts highly segregated, natural interaction would keep it that way.
The implication is that if you want diversity, you should try to get it right from the start. This applies for races as well as for other categories. For instance, teachers that want genders to interact in class should not leave it to chance. They should assign alternate boy-girl seating from the start. Who knows, the students might even like it.
3. Intervention may be necessary to maintain diversity
How can a neighborhood maintain integration? The issue is the integration may not be a stable: if one or a few families of one race moved out randomly, there might be a flight that could lead to complete segregation. This is the concept of “tipping.”
The book Thinking Strategically explains one city’s effort to maintain diversity:
The racially integrated Chicago suburb of Oak Park provides an ingenious example of policies that work. It uses two tools: first the town bans the use of “For Sale” signs in front yards, and secondly, the town offers insurance that guarantees homeowners that they will not lose the value of their house and property because of a change in the racial mix. (page 244)
Such policies seem to work but they have been criticized. Some point out the ban on “For Sale” signs is unconstitutional. Here is another good article (pdf) that analyzed and questions the practices.
4. Intervention may be needed to “fix” things
What should you do when a group has become segregated? In the NFL, head coaches are predominantly white and there was an investigation about why. The Schelling model implies it might not be deep racism but the consequence of mild racism.
The NFL changed its free-for-all hiring practices and adopted the Rooney rule. This rule stipulates that teams must interview at least one minority applicant when filling a head coaching position. This intervention has created much controversy and some question its effectiveness. But one thing is evident: since the rule, more minority coaches have been hired.
What is your take on segregation in America?Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria on Monday rejected Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont's call for direct negotiations and set a fresh deadline of Thursday to drop a bid for independence.
Saenz de Santamaria told reporters in Madrid that the central government had wanted a simple "yes or no" answer from Puigdemont about whether Catalonia had declared a split from Spain by 10 a.m. local time (0800 UTC/GMT) on Monday and he had failed to give one.
Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria called for clarity from Puigdemont
"It wasn't very difficult to say 'yes' or 'no,'" Saenz de Santamaria said. "It is not difficult to return to reason in these next three days."
Puigdemont's gambit: talks with Rajoy
In a two-page letter sent ahead of Monday's deadline, Puigdemont didn't clarify whether he had declared independence from Spain. Instead, he asked for two months of negotiations on the issue with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
"Over the coming two months, our main objective is to appeal to you to dialogue," and allow "international, Spanish and Catalan" mediators to open a path of negotiation, the letter to Rajoy said. Puigdemont wrote that his regional government's "suspension of the political mandate" to declare independence showed his government's "firm intention to find the solution rather than generate confrontation."
Read more: Catalonia: Carles Puigdemont's roots and the struggle for independence from Spain
However, the letter did state that Catalonia's parliament had a "democratic mandate" to declare independence after October 1's disputed referendum. Puigdemont's government defied Spanish authorities by staging the vote. Fewer than half of eligible voters participated, but of those who did, roughly 90 percent supported secession.
Catalonia's status has been in question since last Tuesday, when Puigdemont issued a symbolic independence declaration — only to suspend it moments later and say he would seek talks with Spain's government.
Watch video 12:03 Share Crisis in Catalonia Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2lprx Crisis in Catalonia: A society divided
se/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)Microsoft has already confirmed that the Surface with Windows 8 Pro would be released this month, but the company is yet to announce the official launch date.
A source close to the Redmond campus told us that Microsoft may actually unveil the Surface tablet on January 29, with sales to begin the next day in the United States.
The cheapest model will be priced at $899 (€690) and will offer 64 GB of storage, while the second version will come with 128 GB of storage space and a price tag of $999 (€770).
Microsoft won’t offer the Surface with Windows 8 Pro with a Touch Cover, but those who want one can purchase it separately for an additional $119 (€90). The package will, however, include a Surface pen with Palm Block technology.
Here are the complete tech specs of the upcoming Surface with Windows 8 Pro.Introduction
This coming Shabbat morning Jews around the world will listen to the verse (Devarim 8:3): ‘So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.’
An unbroken chain links the Jews who heard those words from Moshe and those who will hear them in the synagogue this week. Orthodox Jews, of whatever stripe, hold fast to the belief that God spoke to Moshe and gave him the Torah. We believe that we were founded as a people by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that we went down to Egypt and were enslaved there, that God took us out and brought us to Mount Sinai. There, a truly mysterious event took place, which we shall never understand and none of our ancestors understood. The Infinite met the finite, Heaven and earth touched and God transmitted His words and His will to the Jewish People.
That is the source and origin of Hamisha Humshei Torah.[1] They are not a product of inspiration or ‘channelling the Divine,’ in a way that later biblical books or even the rabbinic literature might be described. We believe that ‘this is the Torah which Moshe placed before the Children of Israel, by the mouth of the Lord, by the hand of Moshe’.[2]
That is my faith as an Orthodox Jew and it is what took me to the Orthodox beit midrash of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School (YCT). It is the belief I will teach as an Orthodox rabbi, just as I have been taught it by my rebbeimin the yeshiva. If some graduates of the yeshiva take a different view, that is a matter for them, though we should respect the integrity of an honest struggle. Like any yeshiva, YCT can only be held responsible for what it teaches and the beliefs and conduct of its current students – just ask Gateshead Kollel about Louis Jacobs.
The Place of Torah Min Hashmayim in Traditional Jewish Thought
This is not the place to rehearse the rabbinic literature on Torah Min Hashamayim. Suffice it to say that Hazal took it as given that there was a Revelation on Sinai. Their main concern was that people might argue that while Moshe went up the mountain he brought down a forgery, and they declared that anyone who claimed that Moshe wrote the Humashof his own account would have no place in the World to Come. This is a very serious statement considering that in general every Jew has a portion of the Afterlife. It certainly never entered the heads of Hazal that Moshe is a fictional character and that the whole text, both its sources and its current form, dates from much later than his supposed lifetime.
Indeed, until relatively recently no-one at all thought that. From Moses Maimonides in the twelfth century to Moses Mendelssohn in the seventeenth, there was unanimity that the Torah’s status as the product of unmediated revelation was the basis of the whole of Jewish life and belief. Even some early proponents of the academic study of Jewish literature, for example Nachman Krochmal and Zacharias Frankel who were otherwise fairly radical, drew the line at Higher Criticism of the Humash itself.[3] In recent times, even David Weiss Halivni, whose view of the composition of the Humash as we have it is novel, would not abandon the commitment to the revelation at Sinai.
Must We Accept the Documentary Hypothesis?
Of course that is not a good argument for Torah Min Hashamayim. An idea is either true or it is not. However, the claims of the Documentary Hypothesis have been thoroughly dealt with by traditionalists like Rabbi David Tsevi Hoffman, moderate traditionalists like Umberto Cassuto and radicals like Benno Jacob. The Documentary Hypothesis proceeds from the premise that the text is human, and then concludes how it could have been assembled as a human text. It is driven by its starting assumptions. Furthermore, it is the product of hyper-modernity, in which everything can be dissected, including literature, using methods that were described as ‘scientific.’ Scholars of literature and of history would be embarrassed to use such a term today. Literary theory and historical practice have both come a long way since then, but simply accepting the Documentary Hypothesis takes none of that development into account. It is odd that sometimes we are more concerned about the Documentary Hypothesis than the academy, many parts of which concentrate on more interesting and fruitful literary questions.
As we well know, the problems that bible critics have identified have been dealt with by traditional scholars for millennia. The explanations of Hazal, the Rishonim and Aharonim have all addressed the same questions of different accounts of events or expressions of laws. There has been no diminution in the brilliance or insight of these explanations in recent years. Two examples of this approach are Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik’s explanation of the two accounts of the creation of man in Lonely Man of Faith and Rabbi Mordecai Breuer’s entire approach. More recently, the work coming from the journal Megadim, Aviva Zornberg, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks or Rabbi Shalom Carmy all assumes the unity and Divine nature of the text of the Humash.
The Breadthand Boundaries of Orthodox Opinion
As these scholars, and their predecessors, have shown, the Humash is a far from simple text. There are also many questions to be asked about which parts of the Humash are to be taken literally, which are allegorical or might be dreams, although we should note that those question go to its meaning not its authorship or its authority. The Talmud discusses how it was communicated to Moshe and compiled by him. Did it come in one revelation or was it given piece by piece and then collated at the end of forty years? Is Devarim different in some respects from the earlier four books? Did Moshe write the account of his own death or did Joshua? Were there some small sections added later, as Rabbi Yehuda HeHassid and the Ibn Ezra thought? It is possible to say that about some other parts, as Rabbi Yuval Cherlow and others have suggested? Has the text been corrupted over time or must we believe that it was transmitted entirely without scribal error, as Rabbi Yehiel Yaakov Weinberg thought? These are all ideas to explore and they have a place in Orthodoxy because they are authentic elements of our Mesorah. We have to resist any attempts to narrow our intellectual vision by expelling them or their advocates.
All of these positions have the support of traditional authorities, or at least traditional roots, and they are a world away from JEPD or any variation on it. To accept the Documentary Hypothesis and still claim to believe in ‘Torah Min Hashamayim’, or ‘Torah MiSinai’, is no more than playing with words. I can claim to believe in any term I like if I change its meaning enough. However, words and phrases have integrity; they communicate meaning based on their usage across space and time. To appropriate them for new positions, simply because of a desire to hold onto traditional language, is untenable. Only in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There does a word means just what the speaker chooses it to mean – neither more nor less. On any non-tendentious reading, I find it hard to see how a rejection of the classic formulation of Torah Min Hashamayim can be consistent with Orthodox theology
Does It Matter?
Acceptance of the Documentary Hypothesis is therefore unnecessary and a radical break with Jewish tradition. But does it matter? Classical Torah Min Hashamayim may have become one of the recognized boundaries between Orthodoxy and non-Orthodoxy, but should it be? Surely if we come to the conclusion that the text is Divine, the mechanics of its writing and editing are immaterial. I think that is an error. This is a dogma we should care about andhalakhic Jews should not delude themselves that they can abandon Torah Min Hashamayim and maintain the Judaism they cherish. Their attempts to do so fail even on their own terms, both in theory and practice.
The rejection of Torah Min Hashamayim makes a nonsense of both parshanut and the Gemara. The varied explanations of the traditional commentators might be inspiring but they do not give us an insight into what the words were meant to convey. We can only hope to uncover their meaning through the study of authorship and context, like any other text. Traditional and modern exegesis cannot exist alongside each other. It would make no more sense to devise a devar Torah based on Vayikra than on the Code of Hammurabi. In the realm of Talmud, for one who accepts the Documentary Hypothesis, when Hazal seeks sources in the Humash for halakhot, they are on a wild goose chase, because to a modern critic the words of the Torah never meant what the Rabbis took them to mean. The entire halakhicliterature becomes an elaborate intellectual folly. It might be interesting or valuable in the study of a particular people in order to understand how they constructed their spiritual life, but it cannot be taken as a real explanation of the biblical text.
This has profound implications for halakhah. Judaism stands on its belief in heteronymous law, the idea that we are commanded by Another (God) and His law is unconditionally binding. He communicated His will to Moshe in the form of the Torah shebikhtav (Humash) and the Torah shebal peh (oral explanation) that accompanied it.[4] Once we come to the view that the Humash is, as a matter of history, a human work, it might well be an attempt by a series of writers in the ancient near east to reach out to God, but how do we know He reached back? Some parts are very challenging but we keep faith because we believe it represents the direct Divine will. If we cease to believe that we are mandated by the Divine Will how is Humash any different than the Koran, the Gospels or the Baghavad Gita, all of which contain parts we like and parts we don’t?
The founders of the Conservative Movement claimed that although critical scholars were correct about the composition of the Humash, the authority of the mitsvot was unaffected. They argued that a human text could receive the Divine imprimatur through its survival and acceptance. history legislates. However, they failed to persuade their followers to lead halakhic lives, because while an individual might feel that, they cannot transmit that belief. Furthermore, that total commitment sooner or later gives way even in its advocates.[5] Louis Jacobs who at first claimed that under ‘halakhic non-fundamentalism’ all mitsvot were Divine and binding, later found he could not justify institutions such as themamzer. All who have rejected Torah Min Hashamayim have come to the view that the Humash contains higher as lower parts, and have therefore broken its binding nature. It is not a chance of history that Reconstructionism came out of the Conservative Movement and lived for a long time within it. It is the logical outcome of the process which begins with rejecting Torah Min Hashamayim.
Finally, supporters of progressive Orthodoxy should also be extremely wary of accepting the Documentary Hypothesis. If God did not speak directly to us, but has rather endorsed whatever we happen to construct for ourselves, then we create a Panglossian world in which ‘whatever is, is right.’ If I have heteronymous, authoritative texts and traditions which I can study, investigate and probe there is room for development on issues as diverse as relations with non-Jews and non-observant Jews, the role of women and family law. If history is the voice of God, if the status quo is always what God wants us to live by, where is the capacity for change, which has always been a feature of the Mesorah? We come to pick and choose based on whatever feels right at any particular time, or the halakhic process is frozen. Neither is the way of traditional Judaism.
In Sum
I am Open Orthodox. I do not want to throw anyone out of Orthodox communities. We have to provide a home for people of varying levels of observance as well as those wrestling with difficult theological questions. Nevertheless, I am clear that accepting the Documentary Hypothesis, or any similar theory, is not only a breach with tradition, it is also unnecessary and harmful. There is a great deal to discuss and debate and the study of Mikra is becoming richer every day. I am lucky to have access to master teachers of Tanakh, whose insights are innovative and compelling, all within the bounds of tradition. We must continue to live in the knowledge that when we pick up a Humash we hold in our hands the word of God. It contains a sacred gift He gave us 3,000 years ago, and because that revelation is pure and direct, it contains infinite wisdom, beauty and goodness. That is the way for modern and open Orthodoxy to flourish, and any alternative would be a tragic error.
Ben Elton is a student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School
[1] I will address later in this essay which parts of the Torah were given, and when. I acknowledge it is not necessary, or even sensible, to believe that the entire Torah was given on Sinai. [2] I am aware that this verse does not have that expansive meaning in its original context. However, that is the way the verse is used in our liturgy. It expresses our belief in the nature of the entire Torah, as it is lifted up and we look at it. [3] Leopold Zunz and of course Abraham Geiger did accept the Documentary Hypothesis. [4] If one holds that the Humash is a single text then it follows that there must have been an oral accompaniment, because otherwise it makes no sense. There is a great deal of debate among the classical authorities about how expansive that original Oral Law was, but that is not a question for now. [5] Louis Finklestein may be an exception.
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Like this: Like Loading...Liberals say Donald Trump’s choice to head the nation’s housing agency could scrap a recent regulation that subordinates housing rules in Americans’ suburbs and small towns to the political preferences of political leaders in the nation’s Democratic-run cities.
Trump picked Dr. Ben Carson to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which means that Carson will inherit Obama’s new “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) program.
The program allows federal officials to grant or withhold federal housing dollars to local zoning boards, depending on their willingness to comply with federal race and diversity demands.
The program is touted as a fix for racial discrimination in cities, and it would allow federal regulators to punish any town in any state than did not offer homes to non-white, low-income residents who are not wanted by Democratic political leaders in New York of Chicago. That power would allow the Democratic planners to move many of their low-income supporters into GOP districts outside cities, and also boost their supporters’ property values in the major cities.
The expansive AFFH rules would prevent also would landlords from asking possible tenants if they had a criminal record, meaning ordinary renters could not be sure their landlord would exclude criminals from moving into the next-door apartment.
There have been few statements by either Carson or the President-Elect on what either have in mind for HUD policy, but |
of executive officials who continue to assault the rights of the American people using our tax dollars.
Unfortunately, those officials are not the only ones who have violated their oaths of office. By approving these powers without even understanding their full contours, members of Congress from each of the corporate political parties have rendered themselves complicit in dragnet domestic surveillance. Rather than check or balance the executive branch, Congress has become its lapdog, leaving the American people at risk of the arbitrary government intrusions that our Constitution was written largely to prevent.
Several other casualties have gone largely unnoticed in the debate so far. Beyond the loss of judicial independence and democratic transparency, which I've addressed elsewhere, lies a more troubling phenomenon: outright corruption.
The NSA operates in secret, channeling secret amounts of taxpayer dollars (at least dozens of billions of dollars each year, in a time of budget crisis) to essentially engage in wartime activities against the American people. Even worse, it does so in complicity with private corporations that facilitate unconstitutional surveillance, yet have won congressional immunity from worthy lawsuits seeking to vindicate the rights of law-abiding Americans assaulted en masse.
What could possibly be more corrupt than using taxpayer dollars to fund private corporations' activities violating fundamental constitutional rights, then lying about it in public, and prosecuting the conscientious individuals who reveal tips of the iceberg to the press and the public?
Welcome to America in 2013.
Shahid Buttar is executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.Long before the Internet itself was invented, Walt Disney and Warner Brothers invented furries.
Assuming that the Internet bred furry fandom is an easy assumption to make. It’s certainly the assumption I made, despite running with a crowd of scene kids and furries in Bush-era suburban Georgia. But furries—fans of anthropomorphic animals—go back both further and not as far as you might think.
In mainstream culture, furry fandom is largely known by a reputation best codified by the 2003 CSI episode “Fur and Loathing,” which depicted all furries as sex-crazed fetishists utterly heedless of prosaic concerns like dry cleaning bills. Even in geek culture at large, furries remain a niche among niches—and often a convenient punching bag for geeks of all other stripes to say, “Well, at least I’m not like those weirdos.”
Which is why I find furry fandom so interesting as someone outside of it. Fandoms that develop in isolation or otherwise non-traditional ways fascinate me, and furry fandom operates on a wavelength that owes more to old-school science fiction fandom than contemporary media fandom. It’s a creator-centric fandom that places more value on generating original material than fanworks, and it can extend into a lifestyle in a way that media fandom can’t.
While anthropomorphic animals have existed in folklore for nearly all of human history, furry illustrator Taral Wayne posits that furries actively resist association with their ancient counterparts. In the program book for 1992’s ConFurence 4, they explain: “Furries draw their imagery from a common background of Saturday morning cartoons and comic books, and have imbued these images with meanings that could only arise from growing up in the boomer years.” While every furry, of course, is different, one only has to look at the cheerful cartoon aesthetic of most fursuits to realize that furries are more Bugs Bunny than Bast.
Which takes us neatly to the origins of furries—the dawn of American animation.
Before we begin, I want to make two things clear. Firstly, I’m using the term furry a bit anachronistically at points here—it came into common usage in 1986, at the first official Furry Party at WesterCon 39. Before that, ‘morph, funny animal and furry appear to have all been used interchangeably.
Secondly, I want to give credit to furry fandom elder Fred Patten’s illustrated timeline, which was hugely helpful in wrapping my head around the history of furry fandom. It’s an interesting read all on its own, so I highly recommend it.
Now, were where we? Oh, right, the invention of furries.
Walt Disney v. Warner Brothers (1930 to 1969)
Before there were furries, there were funny animals. Felix the Cat, Oswald the Rabbit and, of course, Mickey Mouse were among the first animated funny animal characters in the 1920s. When Mickey went supernova in his eponymous short film series, Warner Brothers decided to compete with Looney Tunes, a riff on Disney’s also-popular Silly Symphonies. When the original two animators walked on the series in 1933, taking all their intellectual property with them, Warner Brothers hired new personnel like Chuck Jones and Tex Avery, who were the creative forces behind iconic shorts like Duck Amuck! and What’s Opera, Doc? and what we now recognize as the core cast of the Looney Tunes.
What set the Looney Tunes apart from the House of Mouse was their petty, contemporary swagger, purposely meant as a riposte to Disney’s squeaky-clean critters. The world of Walt Disney featured funny animals on slapstick adventures meant to be enjoyed by the whole family wholesomely. The Looney Tunes, on the other hand, were well aware of the fourth wall, riffed on pop culture and behaved as badly as they liked. In the hands of Jones, Avery and the murderer’s row of talent at Warner Brothers, Disney’s funny animals were no longer just animals.
Or, to put in another way, they were now animals of a different type altogether.
Robin Hood (1973)
Looney Tunes proved that funny animals didn’t have to be animals; Disney’s Robin Hood proved that funny animals didn’t have to always be funny. It also proved and continues to prove the one thing the entire Internet can agree on: that fox is a fox.
The reason why that fox is such a fox is two-fold. Firstly, theatrical actor Brian Bedford voices Robin Hood as straight as possible. Bedford’s Robin is a dashing, romantic hero, equally at home pulling cons in the name of justice as he is romancing Maid Marian by a waterfall to the sound of Nancy Adams’ crooning as they look longingly into each other’s eyes.
Secondly, the film doesn’t dwell on the fact that it’s about anthropomorphic animals. While there are plenty of jokes that play on the characters’ species—elephants using their trunks instead of trumpets, for instance—not all of them are based on the idea that talking animals are inherently funny. There are honestly thrilling and poignant moments in the film. They just happen to be played out by a cast of anthropomorphic animals.
Adult-oriented work featuring funny animals in dramatic settings certainly existed prior to Robin Hood, such as Fritz the Cat and the work of Dan O’Neill, but it was largely limited to underground comix utilizing the idea for the shock value. Robin Hood’s great contribution to furry fandom—besides generating, by my rough guesstimate, all the furries—was that it was the first mainstream film to present funny animals as a genre-agnostic stylistic choice.
Animalympics (1980)
In 1980, furry fandom was just starting to coalesce out of science fiction fandom. At NorEasCon II in 1980, furry artist Steve Gallacci submitted a work of art featuring his feline soldier character Erma Felna to the art show. Interested attendees congregated around the piece and Gallacci, resulting in the first groups of furries regularly meeting at conventions through the early '80s to discuss works featuring anthropomorphic animals and trade art.
This “Gallacci group” eventually gained enough critical mass that it spun off into Rowrbrazzle, the first furry-focused amateur press association (think a fanzine, but more exclusive), in 1984. Sacramento’s WesterCon played host to the first unofficial and official furry parties in 1985 and 1986, hosted by fans Mark Merlino and Rod O’Riley, of the furry commune The Prancing Skiltaire. Slowly but surely, furries already in fandom for other reasons were discovering that they weren’t the only ones.
Animalympics was an important part of this stage in furry fandom. A parody of the Olympics featuring anthropomorphic animals commissioned by NBC for its 1980 summer Olympics coverage, it had a troubled release history. When President Carter boycotted the Moscow Summer Olympics, the network only aired the Winter Olympics portion of the special. Both portions were turned into a theatrical release that debuted at the 1980 Miami Film Festival but was only released overseas that summer. The entire special finally came back Stateside in 1984, when it was aired on HBO and Showtime.
(Several members of the production team for Animalympics went on to bigger and brighter things: Lisberger co-wrote and directed Tron, art director and animator Roger Allers directed The Lion King, animator director Bill Kroyer wrote and directed FernGully, and animator Brad Bird became, well, Brad freaking Bird.)
This tortured release history meant that it dropped Stateside just as nascent furry fandom began to start meeting for room parties. Its all-ages humor meant for the Olympics audience appealed to furries fighting the assumption that anthropomorphic animals were “kid stuff.” It also boasted an incredibly diverse cast of animals, including many species that had not been anthropomorphized in animation before or since. It was definitely screened at the 1985 WesterCon party and went on to become a popular selection at furry parties through the decade, to the point that it’s nicknamed “The Rocky Horror of Furry Fandom,” as fans can recite dialogue from memory.
The Renaissance Age of Animation (The Mid-'80s to the Millennium)
The mid-'80s and '90s were considered a renaissance age for animation, especially television animation. Think about it: This spans the lifespan of the WB Television Network (rest in peace, Michigan J. Frog), the Disney Renaissance (The Little Mermaid to Tarzan) and the mainstream rise of anime in the United States. A little less than 50 years after they’d crafted the content that would snag the first furries, Warner Brothers and Disney were hard at work creating content that ended up delighting and inspiring a new generation of furries.
It all started with Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears in 1989, the first Walt Disney Animation Television production to develop real legs and net enough episodes for ruthless syndication. It was swiftly followed by the more popular Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, Duck Tales and TaleSpin, each more high-concept than the last. This all resulted in the Disney Afternoon, a two-hour syndication block that was nearly wall-to-wall anthropomorphic animals in any variety of genres: heartwarming family adventure, superhero riff, sitcom and whatever Timon and Pumbaa was supposed to be. Warner Brothers Animation, which had been limping along ever since it had been reopened in 1970, had a hit in 1990 with Tiny Toon Adventures, which was followed by Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. They even branched out into films like Space Jam and Cats Don’t Dance.
In short, this may be why millennial furries exist: sheer supply.
The Renaissance Age of Animation coincided with the dawn of furry conventions. In 1989, room party organizers Merlino and O’Riley helped organized ConFurence Zero in Costa Mesa, California. It was meant to be a test to see if an exclusively furry convention could work. Despite the slim attendance, the first official furry convention, ConFurence 1, was held the next year. When furries on the East Coast felt discriminated against by Philcon in 1994, they decided to hold their own convention, Furtasticon, which showed that there were enough furries on that side of the country to support a convention of their own. After fits and starts, Pittsburgh’s Anthrocon debuted in 1999, and went on to become the world’s biggest furry convention.
Becoming Their Own Demographic (2000 to Now)
The dawn of the millennium saw a steady increase in numbers in furry fandom, as those who discovered they were furries during the Renaissance Age of Animation found their kind online. These numbers led to the rise of both regional conventions such as Furry Weekend Atlanta and international conventions such as the UK’s RBW and Australia’s MiDFur. The rise of DeviantArt, SheezyArt and FurAffinity also provided ways for furry artists and writers to connect with each other and share their work in a space expressly designed for them. (FurAffinity is to furry fandom as Archive of Our Own is to media fandom.)
Of course, with increasing visibility in fandom came increasing visibility in mainstream media and in Internet culture that has ranged from disapproving to actively negative, to the point that even an xkcd comic pointing out the hypocrisy of geek culture treating furries like dirt nonetheless assumes all furries have a sexual fetish for fur. In my anecdotal experience, this seems to have calmed a bit in the teens. Not so much because people have calmed down about it, but more because Bronies are drawing the fire previously reserved to furries at large.
The aughts and the teens have continued to provide furries with more than enough material to keep them sated—Avatar, the world’s most forgettable $2.7 billion-grossing movie, was about sexy cat aliens, and Rocket Raccoon bears the furry standard in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the most important shift is that the companies that originally inspired the community all those decades ago are now courting their erstwhile children.
Disney’s Zootopia was destined to become a touchstone for the next generation of furries on release. It’s a cop story about a fox and a rabbit putting aside their prejudices to save the city of Zootopia, utilizing its anthropomorphic conceit to tackle issues of race and class in a massively accessible way. (Which makes it a lot easier to sell your non-furry friends and family on.) It’s family-friendly, but not expressly kids’ stuff, like DreamWorks’ Sing! And Nick Wilde sounds like Jason Bateman and looks like Robin Hood, creating consternation in non-furries who still nonetheless find themselves crushing on Nick. Essentially, it’s catnip for furries.
And Disney knew that because the original marketing push for the film had a firm reaching out directly to the furry meetup group Furlife to encourage them to share the movie on social media. Furries have gained such critical mass as a fandom that they’re being marketed directly to by the very things that they love, a far cry from the days of getting the side-eye from Philcon.
Over the course of the last 80 years, furries have gone from a niche among niches in science fiction fandom to a firmly entrenched fandom to their own marketing demographic. The future of furry fandom, like any fandom, is hard to predict, although their focus on original work does give them unusual legs (four of them? I’m sorry, I’ll stop) that media fandom lacks. So I can’t say for certain what’ll happen next.
But I can safely say one thing—whatever happens, this is all the work of Disney and Warner Brothers.The 1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait was carried out from August 13, 1990 to October 20, 1990 after the Invasion of Kuwait. Air India helped evacuate 175,000 people by civil airliners. The operation was carried out before the Persian Gulf War in 1990 to evacuate Indian expatriates from Kuwait. Following this operation Air India, the flag carrier Indian airline entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most people evacuated by a civil airliner.[1][2][3] Mathunny Mathews, Harbajan Singh Vedi, Abey Varicad, V.K Warrier, Ali Hussain and few others based in Kuwait helped immensely in the evacuation efforts of fellow Indians.[4]
Background [ edit ]
The invasion of Kuwait started on August 2, 1990, and within two days of combat, most of the Kuwaiti armed forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or fell back to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Emirate of Kuwait was annexed, and Saddam Hussein announced a few days later that it was the 19th province of Iraq. More than 171,000 Indians were stranded on Kuwaiti soil.
Response [ edit ]
Initial efforts were made by the government of India to evacuate nationals by military aircraft. However, due to difficulties in air-space clearances the switch was made to civilian aircraft. India had initially requested permission to evacuate its citizens by Air India but the request was not approved by the UN and the government of Kuwait in exile. India was required to use planes supplied to them under the UN banner. Complications arose due to the significantly higher number of nationals requiring evacuation, a lack of travel documents and poor communications. The airlift was completed before the start of Operation Desert Storm. About 111,711 people were evacuated (airlifted) from Amman, Jordan, to Bombay – a distance of 4,117 km (2558 mi) – by Air India, operating 488 flights in association with Indian Airlines, from August 18, 1990 to October 20, 1990 – lasting 63 days.
Buses are also used after winning Baghdad's approval to ferry Indians through Basra, Baghdad and to Amman in Jordan.
Popular culture [ edit ]
The event was the basis for the 2016 film Airlift starring Akshay Kumar, who played a character inspired by the works of Mathunny Mathews and Harbajan Singh Vedi. Some historical facts were however changed in the film for example downplaying the efforts put by the Indian Government.Clouds of ashes raise from the Mount Agung volcano erupting in Karangasem, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. Indonesia authorities raised the alert for the rumbling volcano to highest level on Monday and closed the international airport on tourist island of Bali stranding thousands of travelers. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
KARANGASEM, Indonesia (AP) — The Latest on a rumbling volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali (all times local):
11:50 a.m.
Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency says as many as 100,000 villagers need to leave the expanded danger zone around the Mount Agung volcano on Bali, but that less than half that number have left.
Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in Jakarta that the extension of the danger zone to 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the crater in places affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people.
The volcano’s alert was raised to the highest level earlier Monday and ash clouds have forced the closure of Bali’s international airport.
Nugroho said about 40,000 people have evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don’t want to abandon their livestock.
He said that “authorities will comb the area to persuade them. If needed, we will forcibly evacuate them.”
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10:50 a.m.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Land Transportation says 100 buses are being deployed to Bali’s international airport and to ferry terminals to help travelers stranded by the eruption of Mount Agung.
Bali’s international airport was closed early Monday after ash from the volcano reached its airspace. Hundreds of flights were canceled and tens of thousands of travelers affected.
The agency’s chief, Budi, said major ferry crossing points have been advised to prepare for a surge in passengers and vehicles. Stranded tourists could leave Bali by taking a ferry to neighboring Java and then travel by land to the nearest airports.
Authorities say the airport closure is in effect until Tuesday morning and is being reviewed every six hours.
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9:50 a.m.
Video released by Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency shows water and volcanic debris flowing down the slopes of the ash-spewing Mount Agung on Bali as rain falls on the island.
Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said people should stay away from rivers and not enter the 10 kilometer (6 mile) exclusion zone around the volcano.
He says lahars could increase as it’s rainy season in Bali. The mudflows can move rapidly and are a frequent killer during volcanic eruptions.
Mount Agung has been hurling ash thousands of meters into the atmosphere since the weekend, forcing the closure of Bali’s airport and stranding tens of thousands of travelers.
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8:30 a.m.
Tens of thousands of travelers are stranded in Bali after ash from the Mount Agung volcano on the tourist island forced the international airport to close early Monday.
Flight information boards showed rows of cancelations as tourists arrived at the busy Bali airport expecting to catch flights home.
Airport spokesman Air Ahsanurrohim said 445 flights were canceled, stranding about 59,000 travelers.
Authorities say seven flights were diverted to airports in Jakarta, Surabaya and Singapore when the closure was announced early Monday.
Mount Agung has been hurling ash thousands of meters into the atmosphere, which forced the small international airport on the neighboring island of Lombok to close Sunday as the plumes drifted east. It has since reopened.
Airport authorities say the decision to close Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport was made after tests showed ash had reached its airspace.
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6 a.m.
Indonesian authorities raised the alert for a menacing volcano on the tourist island of Bali to the highest level Monday and ordered people within 10 kilometers (6 miles) to evacuate.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said Bali’s international airport had closed for 24 hours and authorities would consider reopening it Tuesday after evaluating the situation.
Mount Agung has been hurling ash thousands of meters into the atmosphere, which forced the small international airport on the neighboring island of Lombok to close Sunday as the plumes drifted east.
Geological agency head, Kasbani, who goes by one name, said the alert level was raised at 6 a.m. on Monday because the volcano has shifted from steam-based eruptions to magmatic eruptions. However he says he’s still not expecting a major eruption.
“We don’t expect a big eruption but we have to stay alert and anticipate,” he says.
Previously the exclusion zone around the volcano ranged between 6 and 7.5 kilometers.
The volcano’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.The EU-US trade deal mostly benefits David Cameron and the United States: for the UK prime minister, it’s a crucial part of his plan to win support to keep Britain in the EU. For the Obama administration, it’s an economic victory that will boost jobs and exports, believes the Wall Street Journal and the German press.
For The Wall Street Journal, the announcement of trade talks is the result of months of backroom wrangling by British diplomats, both to secure support for the trade deal and in order to ensure a diplomatic coup for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, as he hosts the G-8 leaders in Northern Ireland. The economic daily writes –
For Mr Cameron, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP) is far more than just a trade deal. It is central to his campaign to reconcile the UK to its membership of the EU before his promised referendum in 2017. [...] Mr Cameron is betting that a successful TTIP will substantially reduce the pressure on him to deliver a comprehensive renegotiation of the terms of British membership before 2017. [...] The TTIP offers a politically palatable way for Mr Cameron to put the UK squarely at the heart of Europe, his enthusiastic backing for such an ambitious project helping to undo some of the mistrust caused by his past mishandling of key European relationships.
For Die Welt the agreement on a free-trade zone between the EU and the United States will “mainly be of benefit to the US.” According to a study commisioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation and conducted by the Ifo Institute, which probes the consequences of the the implementaion of a free-trade agreement on 126 states —
for the United States the creation of such a zone will generate 1.1m extra jobs and increase per capita GDP by 13.4 per cent. However, it could be detrimental to non-member countries, because member countries would import less from them. This would harm traditional US trade partners, such as Canada and Mexico, which could see a decline in average per capita income of 9.5 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung points out that a further result of an agreement would be reduced trade within the EU —
The volume of trade would decline by 30 per cent between Germany and the countries of southern Europe [...] and by 23 per cent between Germany and France [...] while increasing by a factor of two with the United States. [As a result] the customs union [established by the EU in 1968] would be devalued.
For its part, Tageszeitung shares the concerns voiced by an association of 22 NGOs, which has pointed out that safeguards for consumers will be undermined when European markets are opened up to the US.As a new
regime prepares for its first offseason, Florham Park is poised to become the epicenter of the 2015 NFL Draft and hold the
. Yes, the Jets, currently holding the No. 6 overall selection in the April 30-May 2 spectacle in Chicago, may own the key to how the entire first round plays out. With reports surfacing,
, of Tampa Bay's preference of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, the No. 1 overall pick likely won't be Mariota. When scouring the teams selecting 2-5—Titans, Jaguars, Raiders, Redskins—a good case can be made for each franchise passing on the duel-threat Heisman trophy winner. Enter the Jets, a major impending decision and the
possibly on the phone with an offer to bring head coach Chip Kelly's handpicked quarterback aboard to run a high-octane attack.
Watch the video above for my thoughts on the Jets' options at No. 6, why Mariota will likely be there when the team is on the clock and how so much will change based on decisions in Florham Park.
Agree? Disagree? What should the Jets do if Mariota falls to No. 6?
Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.James Watson is a Nobel Prize winning scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA. On the flipside, he is also known for controversial opinions that include advocating the “right” for women to be able to abort their children for being gay, his obvious sexism, and most damning of all, his opinions about race in relation to intelligence. His behaviour has cost him the respect of his peers and his position in the scientific community, and in response he’s decided to sell his Nobel Prize, no doubt as a symbolic gesture of his disillusionment. My take on all this leads me to a number of conclusions about the nature of intelligence and people like Watson.
This man is really fascinating. He’s smart enough to be partly responsible for what is definitely among the greatest scientific achievements of the 20th century, yet he has the social grace of warthog. It’s really interesting how people can be so contradictory in everything they are. His work is the basis of the careers of all contemporary biologists, yet it didn’t occur to him that saying racist things to a journalist would somehow make it into his or her article (a mistake even he admits to being “stupid”). He’s capable of transforming his field with his peers using hard science, yet he’s perfectly comfortable using anecdotal evidence about black employees he’s had to support his highly controversial statements (he told journalists that believed that different races are born with the potential for intelligence that those “who have to deal with black employees find this not true”). This man was part of something that literally changed history, but he’s too dense to realize all the social and historical implications of his commentary.
I’m not naïve enough to believe intelligence has any actual bearing on one’s character, Watson’s own scientific memoir The Double Helix is evidence enough of that. The way he discussed his equal partner in discovering the structure in DNA, Rosalind Franklin, was patronizing at best, and monstrously sexist at worst. In that regard, I think this quote from him speaks for itself: “Though her features were strong, she was not unattractive, and might have been quite stunning had she taken even a mild interest in clothes. This she did not”. The fact that she was dead by at the time of writing really doesn’t do him any favours in the “being a decent human being” department either. So yes, this man is clearly has the character of a wet cat and the self-awareness of a goldfish, but in an interesting twist he’s also kind of an idiot.
There is no doubt that there are many other scientists who hold thoughts rooted in eugenics, but most of them are either intelligent or at least discerning enough to hold their tongue. There is too much social and political context tied to those theories, and publicly pursuing them is career-suicide at this point. Furthermore, it actively goes against what many consider the purpose behind science in the first place (benefiting “mankind”) since all it could possibly lead to is divisions that would help absolutely nobody. The aspect of this I find funny though, is the thought process Watson has going into this. Just reading through his writing and his interviews, I’m definitely getting the sense that he sees himself as a vanguard, someone with the bravery and gumption “real-talk” the scientific community.
What he doesn’t realize is that by pulling this thread, he comes off like the opposite of that. He’s clearly under the impression that his peers “know what’s up” deep down, but his thoughts actually give an impression that is more akin to a child loudly declaring someone with a different skin tone “looks weird”. He isn’t displaying scientific bravery or making some kind significant stand, he’s just spouting acidic statements that people less than a quarter of his age would realize aren’t meant to be shared, and what’s worse is that he has the gall to submit his personal history with employees as support for his claims. When it’s all said and done, it’s fitting how someone who considers himself to be so intelligent can end up turning the last years of his life into a bad punchline. His scientific genius aside, nothing he has done shows him as anything more than an awkward oaf. Coincidentally, the IQ tests he holds in such high regard don’t measure his poor decision making skills, his lack of understanding regarding the social and historical position he belongs to, or his inability to display any measure of self-awareness. These things are as valid signs of intelligence as any whether you like it or not, lest you seriously want to argue that Watson’s choice of words were anything more than foolish. The truth is, intellect and measuring it is far more complex than people like Watson would like you to believe. Ironically enough, it’s Watson himself, an esteemed champion of his field, and his unexpected display of foolishness that shows us this more than anything else. If a brilliant scientist can come off as an idiot while discussing the subject of human intelligence, what does that say about human intelligence itself?
Quote of the Day:
Steven Hawking (after being asked about what his IQ was): “I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers.”
AdvertisementsFirst off, the design of this compact is so pretty – some people might find it a little bit old ladyish, but I’m totally in love!
This particular cushion compact comes in three shades, #1 Bright Light, #2 Soft Light, and #3 Healthy Light. Being the ever pale ghost that I am, I went for no.1 in hopes that it would be a good enough match for me.
The pictures below explain that #1 has a pink base, whilst #2 and #3 have a yellow base. I have mostly pink undertones so I figured #1 would be my best bet!
Now I guess one of the main selling points of this pact is that it has two nets for dispensing the foundation. The first is a fine mesh net and the second an elastic tension net (with a really lovely rose pattern) intended to better distribute the foundation onto the cushion.
Upon first testing on my arm, I was a little worried that even the #1 shade would be too dark for me. Granted I am much paler on my arms than on my face but even so, for a second there I had a little moment thinking I’d be handing this pact over to my Mum since she has a darker skin tone.
But PRIASE, the make-up gods blessed me, and the pact turned out to be an amazing match on my face; I could hardly believe it. To be fair though, I think part of the reason it lightened up on my face is because I use Banila Hello Sunny Sun Block as my primer/moisturiser before make-up which has a fair amount of white cast to it. I’ve no doubt that this mixed enough with the Missha Geumseoul pact to lighten it to my skin tone.
Before picture; with a lot of pigmentation from a breakout I’ve been having on my cheeks and chin T.T
After picture; PRAISE BE TO THE GODESS MISSHA
I took these pictures in the exact same place, and tried to apply the product as quickly as possible so as to avoid any change in lighting in my room, and as you can see; holy moly that coverage.
Seriously I was totally stunned at how well it covered my spots and blemishes with just one application on my face. It initially goes on with a medium to light coverage but it’s definitely buildable. I always want my foundation to look as natural as possible so I’m inclined to wear less and let a few blemishes show through, than wear more and feel like I have a lot of product on my face.
The texture is really light and silky on the skin, and the finish definitely leans towards the glowier, shinier side of foundations – which is great if you strive for that natural look but not so great if you like your finish more matte. It did get a little bit shiner throughout the day, but honestly my face kind of does that with all foundations so a little pat of blotting paper and I was good to go!
I’m now totally head over heels for this pact, since it seems to give me serious cover without the need to be caking my face in make-up and concealer.
I bought mine here on JOLSE for $26.33
Thanks for reading ~ have a lovely day everyone! ❤Ron Paul: Syria is a "false flag" The conspiracy-prone ex-congressman uses conspiracy theorists' favorite phrase to describe the war effort
Former Rep. Ron Paul does not just oppose a potential military intervention in Syria, or think the government is exaggerating the case for war, or think we're moving too quickly, but thinks the government is outright lying -- "I think it's a false flag," he says, invoking the favorite phrase of conspiracy theorists everywhere.
"[Syrian President Bashar al] Assad, I don't think is an idiot. I don't think he would do this on purpose," Paul told Fox Business host Neil Cavuto of the allegation that Assad used chemical weapons on civilians.
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"Oh, so you question whether Assad even used the gas, of if he's just being set up?" an incredulous Cavuto responded.
"Yeah, just look at how many lies were told us about Saddam Hussein prior to that buildup. More propaganda. It happens all the time," Paul replied. "I think it's a false flag. I think really, indeed. And nobody knows if indeed he was slaughtering people by the thousands with poison gas. If he was that's a different story, but that's not the case."
"The implication is that Assad committed 100,00 killings -- there are a lot of factions out there. Why don't we ask about the Al Qaeda? Why are we on the side of the Al Qaeda?" he added.
Paul spoke before he saw the unclassified intelligence assessment released today by the White House, so perhaps he would change his mind with the new data. But we're guessing not.
Last summer, Paul took to the House floor to tell the warmongers to leave Syria alone. "Falsely blaming the Assad government for a so-called massacre perpetrated by a violent warring rebel faction is nothing more than war propaganda," he said.
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And he could be right, of course. The rebels have been accused of using chemical weapons and there's some evidence they have, even though the administration says they found no evidence of it.
Paul's old buddy Alex Jones seems to be with him on this. InfoWars is blaming the rebels for last week's chemical weapon attack, and accusing Secretary of State John Kerry of inflating the number of dead.
For what it's worth, Paul appears to be using the term wrong. "False flags," in the standard conspiracist's lexicon, usually refer to acts of violence perpetrated by the The Powers That Be that get blamed on some other group for the purpose of ginning up support to crack down on said group. Or just to create a general sense of the panic that the government and the Powers That Be can exploit. The Reichstag Fire is the archetypical example. In that case --according to the conspiracist lore -- Nazi agents set fire to the building, blamed it on the communists, and then seized power. In the Syria case, what Paul is describing is more a typical psyops job.Conworlding, also called worldbuilding, is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe. The resulting world may be called a constructed world or a conworld. The term "worldbuilding" was popularized at science fiction writers' workshops in the 1970s. Developing an imaginary setting with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, and ecology is a key task for many science fiction or fantasy writers. Worldbuilding often involves the creation of maps, a backstory, and people for the world. Constructed worlds can enrich the backstory and history of fictional works, and it is not uncommon for authors to revise their constructed worlds while completing its associated work. Constructed worlds can be created for personal amusement and mental exercise, or for specific creative endeavors such as novels, video games, or role-playing games. From English Wikipedia.Brayden Schenn suspended 3 games for hit on T.J. Oshie
Brayden Schenn fought T.J. Oshie to start Game 5 for a cross-check he had on Evgeny Kuznetsov earlier in the series. (Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)
VOORHEES — When the Flyers begin their season in October, they will be without one of their top players for three games.
Brayden Schenn was suspended by the league Tuesday for his hit on Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie at 14:24 of the second period in a Game 6 loss on Sunday. Schenn had a phone hearing with the NHL's department of player safety Tuesday.
Washington coach Barry Trotz said he sent video clips to the league with some plays that he |
Grandjean have now added six more chemicals to that list. They are: Manganese, tetrachloroethylene, a class of chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or flame retardants; and two pesticides, chlorpyrifos, which is widely used in agriculture, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT and most importantly… fluoride!
That’s right the Doctor from the prestigious Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Doctor from the equally prestigious Harvard School of Public Health have both publicly named and shamed Fluoride! Yes, Fluoride is a known neurotoxicant. So why is is still being added to our public drinking water supplies?
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States (Known more commonly as the CDC) has listed water fluoridation as amongst their Top Ten Great Public Health Achievements in the 20th Century. Let’s hope that CDC administrators have CNN on their web browser favourites list.
It doesn’t stop there though. Much to my amazement CNN actually posted another article and also linked to it in the article i mentioned above. Here it is here. It calls out yet another seven potentially harmful chemicals put into our food. Chemicals that are also found in some strange places. Such as varnishes, resins, adhesives, Viagra, cosmetics, cigarette filters and even ground up insects.
It’s still even more strange that this study has seen the light of day and made its way into the main stream. Even the Sydney Morning Herald picked up on it here in Australia. Either way it’s great to see this type of research getting exposure.
AdvertisementsAT&T has always been hesitant to allow customers to use video chat applications on its cellular network. The company previously blocked Apple’s FaceTime service from iPhone devices, only recently allowing customers on a tiered data plan to use the feature. AT&T further angered customers when it blocked Android users from using the video chatting feature in Google’s new Hangouts application unless connected to a Wi-Fi network. In a statement given to The Verge, the carrier confirmed that it will update its controversial policy later this year and will enable preloaded video chat applications over its cellular networks for all customers, regardless of their data plan or device. AT&T’s statement follows below.
For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers.
Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by year end.
Today, all of our customers can use any mobile video chat app that they download from the Internet, such as Skype.An investigation by the WSJ reveals that companies like Intel have begun transferring taxable deferred compensation for senior execs into traditional pension plans, thus saving money on taxes.
This sounds like a scandal, but it really isn't: if companies get tax breaks for regular-employee pension plans, why shouldn't they get them for executives as well? One could presumably argue that companies are just now discovering a tax break that they should have been taking advantage of all along:
In recent years, companies from Intel Corp. to CenturyTel Inc. collectively have moved hundreds of millions of dollars of obligations for executive benefits into rank-and-file pension plans. This lets companies capture tax breaks intended for pensions of regular workers and use them to pay for executives' supplemental benefits and compensation.
Any outrage here should be directed at executive compensation in general. The key issue with regard to taxation is whether the pension practices "discriminate" between low-paid rank-and-file employees and fat-cat execs:
IRS rules say pension plans must not "discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees." If a company wants to give its executives larger pensions -- as most do -- it must provide "supplemental" executive pensions, which don't carry any tax advantages.
And don't worry: the companies provide these supplemental plans, too. As with all tax and accounting rules, there's a lot of room for interpretation, and companies are obviously doing whatever they can to interpret the rules in their favor. In some cases, no doubt, they've gone too far. In others, probably, not far enough.
So, are we really talking about corporations getting "hundreds of millions of dollars" in de facto government subsidies? Yes, if Intel is a proper example:
[Intel's] tax saving: $65 million in the first year. In other words, taxpayers helped finance Intel's executive compensation.
Meanwhile, the move is enabling Intel to book as much as an extra $136 million of profit over the 10 years that began in 2005. That reflects the investment return Intel assumes on the $187 million.
See Also:
Millions For Dead CEOs: The Newest Exec Comp Outrage (CMCSA)
Wall Street Bonuses To Plummet in 2008, New York Economy DoomedDe Void will cop to slow-response reflexes but this one probably takes The Clogged Artery Prize, because a nerve ending or a synapse or whatever should’ve fired back in 2011. That’s when, in the aftermath of MUFON’s published analysis of the UFO that apparently buzzed President Bush’s Texas ranch in 2008, the Federal Aviation Administration decided to exempt ERIT from public scrutiny.
ERIT, or En Route Intelligence Tool, gathers raw data from individual radar sites collecting ping returns on everything that flies in U.S. air space, and sometimes things that don’t fly at all. It’s a bit of a jumble because it can pick up everything — hills, contrails, storm turbulence, false echoes, birds, etc. In fact, ERIT picks up so much extraneous material that air traffic controllers usually don’t see it. What shows up on ATC screens instead are combined subsets of ERIT returns, filtered by the FAA, which focuses largely on planes with transponders. Low-flying helicopters and light aircraft operating away from commercial airports and below the major sky-traffic corridors aren’t required to have transponders and therefore don’t light up the screens. UFOs aren’t known for packing transponder beacons, either.
Anyhow, in 2008, Glen Schulze and Robert Powell filed FOIAs with a number of government acronyms, civilian and military, to establish the UFO’s path. The FAA supplied them with unfiltered ERIT returns. The data not only substantiated eyewitness UFO accounts of its southeasterly trajectory, it also confirmed eyewitness reports of jet fighters in the area, which the Air Force initially denied.
Later that same year, with more UFO activity reported in the Stephenville, Tex., vicinity, Powell fired off another FOIA for more of the same. And this is where it got interesting. This time, the FAA bureaucracy ruled that relinquishing ERIT material could endanger national security. In formally announcing its ERIT ban in 2011, the feds said public dissemination could illuminate vulnerabilities in American radar coverage. The FAA also left behind a paper trail of the email chatter that informed its decision, with the argument that the piecemeal ERIT returns “could be stitched together to make a complete/continuous air picture.”
Powell thinks the Stephenville report likely caught the FAA off guard. “No one had really asked for radar data for a major UFO event before,” he says. “The FAA is a giant bureaucracy that doesn’t want to mess with UFO data. They’re really only interested in known pings, like what you’d get from an airliner with a transponder. What they’re releasing now is what you’d see on an air traffic controller’s screen.”
Powell says evil-doers who want to exploit gaps in radar surveillance can always fly at low altitudes. But the FAA’s clampdown on ERIT, he charges, underscores some illogical priorities.
“Someone who wants to fool our radar controller operators would not want to study ERIT data but would want to study the data that the ATC operators actually see. And ironically enough, that is the data that the FAA is willing to give out.
Last year, Schulze sent an email to the FAA/Department of Transportation’s inspector general’s office alerting them to the discrepancy: “The net result of the FAA releasing only NTAP (National Track Analysis Program) data astoundingly permits moderately intelligent recipients to easily identify and precisely locate … unmonitored radar coverage gaps across the United States.” Schulze provided attachment examples but has not received a response.
So there you have it. When it comes to the public evaluation of ERIT returns for true unknowns, evidently what we don’t know won’t hurt us.CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Wisconsin trucking company filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Browns owner Jimmy Haslam's family company, Pilot Flying J, that specifically names Haslam as a defendant accused of defrauding the trucking business and others like it.
The class-action lawsuit is the first of five lawsuits filed in the case to name Haslam and other top company officials as individual defendants in the case of Pilot Flying J's rebate program, which is under federal investigation. The company also is named in the suit, brought by Edis Trucking of Franksville, Wis., in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
The suit says that Haslam, as chairman and CEO of Pilot Flying J, "exercised control, authority, responsibility and/or supervision" of the company's employees and officers. It also said he oversaw "corporate culture, operations, policies, procedures, the fuel rebate/discount program and the scheme to defraud (Edis and other companies)." (See the full lawsuit below. Mobile users can view it here.)
The suit said Haslam "also engaged in and/or caused" Pilot Flying J to take part in the scheme. Others named as individual defendants include the company's president, Mark Hazelwood, chief financial officer Mitch Steenrod and several salespeople.
The suit alleges that Haslam and the others took part in a pattern of unlawful activity to defraud the trucking companies. It says the company and its executives took part in "multiple, repeated and continuous acts of mail fraud and/or foreign wire fraud."
The suit points to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tenn., that says Haslam knew about the fraud committed by his top sales staff, as he had been in sales meetings where the scheme was discussed. The document says that Pilot Flying J sales employees withheld fuel price rebates and discounts from certain companies to boost the profitability and increase their commissions.
The document was used to obtain a judge's approval to search Pilot Flying J's offices last month. Court records show FBI and IRS agents had intended to search Haslam's office, but it is unclear whether that took place.
No one has been charged in the case.
Haslam has attempted to contact several companies that lost money. He has denied wrongdoing, but he has stressed that he is simply trying to make his customers whole.
A spokeswoman for Haslam could not be reached. But last week, she released a statement that said: "We've been advised by counsel class-action lawsuits in a matter like this are expected and no surprise. Our counsel will review them as they come and defend them."
Companies also have filed lawsuits against Pilot Flying J in Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia. A trucker in Mississippi also has filed suit.In 2012, four left-handed pitchers touched 93-plus on my radar gun. In Onelki Garcia and Chris Reed, Dodgers prospects accounted for half the list. This is nothing new. Two minor league baseball seasons living in the Atlanta area has yielded many hard-throwing Dodgers prospects. What’s new is every top prospect I’ve seen from the Dodgers has been right-handed before this.
Big arms, along with deep pockets have allowed the Dodgers to acquire three All-Stars in the past six months. Trading Nathan Eovaldi, Rubby De La Rosa, Ethan Martin, Josh Lindblom and Allen Webster would decimate most minor league systems. For the Dodgers, it’s simply a sign to reload.
Seeing both Reed and Garcia pitch on the same September day against a prospect laden Jacksonville Generals team left me focusing on their similarities. Chris Reed started the game for Chattanooga. After a rocky first-inning, the left-hander settled in. With a 91-93 mph fastball, the pitch featured late drop anchoring a ground ball heavy arsenal. With fringe average command, he’ll need to become more efficient to handle a starter’s workload.
Reed mixed in an 83-85 mph slider as a primary off-speed pitch. With sharp bite, it profiles is an out pitch at the major-league level. Similar to the fastball, he needs to command it better. Reed also flashed a changeup, but it was a below average offering.
With a long and lanky, six-foot-four frame, Reed’s stuff plays up due to deception. Not only does Reed utilize a drop and drive delivery, but throwing across his body allows him to hide the ball. From behind home plate, it appears as if Reed is throwing harder than he actually is.
At a minimum, Reed profiles as an above average reliever at the Major League level. With a refined changeup and increased workload, there’s room for more.
Listed at six-foot-three, the big-bodied Garcia boasts a power arsenal. The Cuban pitcher’s deception comes from staying tall in his delivery with a high release point. Like Reed, Garcia features a 91-93 mph fastball, only with more consistent sinking action. In this appearance, he was wild in the zone which kept Jackson hitters off-balance.
How dominant was Garcia? Here’s the recap from milb.com.
Jackson Top of the 4th Pitching Change: Onelki Garcia replaces Chris Reed.
Stefen Romero strikes out swinging.
Mike Zunino strikes out swinging.
Rich Poythress strikes out swinging. Jackson Top of the 5th Jesus Sucre grounds out, third baseman Luis Nunez to first baseman J. T. Wise.
Johermyn Chavez strikes out on a foul tip.
Chih-Hsien Chiang strikes out swinging. Jackson Top of the 6th Denny Almonte walks.
Brad Miller strikes out swinging.
With Francisco Martinez batting, Denny Almonte caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Gorman Erickson to second baseman Jake Lemmerman.
Francisco Martinez strikes out swinging.
In three innings, Garcia’s strikeout victims included three of the four best position prospects in the Seattle Mariners system.
Garcia’s primary off-speed pitch was an 83-85 mph “slurve” with 1 to 7 break. The pitch is a swing-and-miss offering at present — Flashing plus when down in the zone.
His changeup also flashes potential and supports a starter profile should Garcia’s durability return after a long layoff.
In a weak 2012 draft, Garcia dropping to the third round is a steal for the Los Angeles Dodgers. His signing for under slot money forces me to question why 29 other organizations passed on the talented left-hander as I’ve seen lesser pitchers awarded seven figure signing bonuses.
For 1.6 million, Reed was considered an overdraft at 16th overall. And while the innings and results aren’t there yet, the stuff is.
Instead of a cozy office, I imagine Logan White’s in a laboratory somewhere cloning the next crop of flame throwing Dodgers pitching prospects. In Reed and Garcia, the next wave of talent to surface at the Major League level will be from the left side.A Liberian military policeman holds his rifle with gloves to avoid contact with the deadly Ebola virus during the burial of several Ebola victims in the Johnsonville community outside Monrovia, Liberia 02 August 2014. EPA/AHMED JALLANZO
While the public discourse on Ebola has so far been fixated on the public health hazard caused by the disease itself, it may also have awoken an older fear for anti-terror agencies: Could a lethal disease actually be used as a bio-weapon? That fear is made worse by the fact that the current outbreak is occurring near a volatile region that has seen the rise of a variety of terrorist groups nearby such as Boko Haram – the group that abducted more than 200 girls earlier this year.
The potential terror risk posed by Ebola does not only add a new dimension to the African outbreak, but it may also speed up efforts to find an effective treatment. The "secret serum" used to treat two Americans who are infected with the virus was developed by a biotech firm called Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which reportedly works with the National Institutes of Health as well as with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (the latter a military agency specializing in bio-defense). There are also other examples of U.S. interest in Ebola research. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a $140 million contract with a company called Tekmira to develop a treatment for Ebola infections, according to a statement by the company. After the collaboration was extended in 2013, Tekmira was granted a so-called Fast Track designation in March 2014 when the first cases of Ebola began to reemerge.
"That the U.S. government takes the potential of Ebola as a bio-terror agent seriously is clear from the fact that it has invested tens of millions of dollars in vaccine and therapy research over the last decade," says Peter D. Walsh, a professor at Cambridge University. When asked by The Post if the Department of Defense thought there was a serious risk of Ebola being used as a bio-weapon, Amy Derrick-Frost, a spokeswoman for the department, replied: "The Department of Defense maintains research interests both for protection against intentional use and natural exposure to many diseases that can impact the health of its personnel around the world, and that concern extends to viruses, such as Ebola."
Tekmira's studies were closely tied to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases and partly funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Project Manager Transformational Medical Technologies Office. On the program's Web site, its mission is defined as "protecting the Warfighter from emerging, genetically altered, and unknown biological threats."
While the U.S. government seems to be funding the Ebola vaccine research out of national security considerations, the outcome could save lives abroad. Without such support, the fight against Ebola would lag even further behind as it does today. "There are no financial incentives to develop a treatment because Ebola is such a rare disease," says University of Texas Medical Branch Professor Thomas W. Geisbert, who is currently working on a different Ebola project.
The fear of Ebola being abused by other states or terrorists is not theoretical: It dates back to the 1970s when the Soviet Union launched a program called VECTOR, aimed at researching biotechnology and virology. Kenneth Alibek, who claims to have worked for the secret biological weapons program of the Soviets, said in a 1998 interview that among his tasks had been "the creation of Ebola and Marburg biological weapons." And while some of his remarks and testimonies before Congress have since been questioned, the fear they raised never really went away.
In 1996, a magazine reported about another worrisome case involving a Japanese cult group called Aum Shinrikyo that traveled to Zaire in 1992 with the purpose of collecting samples of the Ebola virus. While the group's Ebola efforts probably failed, it ended up killing several dozen people with sarin nerve-gas in the Tokyo subway system in 1995. The U.S. government's recent funding efforts on Ebola research seem to be directly related to these incidents. "We have a long standing interest in highly fatal hemorrhagic fevers," Derrick-Frost explained. "Ebola is among a handful of emerging infectious diseases that have historically been explored as a potential biological weapon, and we are closely monitoring these types of infectious diseases."
Efforts to transform Ebola into a bio-weapon seem to have failed in the past, but could they succeed today? Experts doubt that west African terror groups are currently capable of abusing the Ebola virus for attacks in foreign countries. "You would need to have a lot of scientific skills to transform the virus in a way that it can be easily used as a weapon," Geisbert explains. Another reason to doubt Ebola's abuse by terrorists is that the virus does not spread readily between people, which would limit the number of casualties.
In 2013, Amanda M. Teckman published an essay in the Global Policy Journal that called on policymakers to not underestimate the danger posed by Ebola. The increase in recent outbreaks as well as the potential recruitment of experts aimed at acquiring the virus "should lead policymakers to consider the risk of a deliberate outbreak," Teckman wrote.
In an interview conducted via e-mail last weekend, she said that Ebola research was a national security issue, but had not been treated as such enough because of a low political will to make the issue a priority. Despite her criticism, she called a terror-attack "not probable" for two reasons: First, a terrorist organization would have to obtain a sample of Ebola with the help of "a highly trained scientist with knowledge of how to handle the virus." Second, the scientist would have to weaponize it. "This includes being able to create the necessary characteristics to use it, to store it, and to disperse of the agent. And this is very complicated," Teckman said.When Nancy Pelosi said that illegals should be treated like the “baby Jesus,” the former Speaker became the latest liberal politician to opportunistically use Christianity to guilt trip Americans into giving away their country. [ Pelosi: Border Children Should be Treated Like Refugee Baby Jesus, Breitbart, July 22, 2014] Unfortunately, the former Speaker the American Thinker called an “occasionally devout Catholic” is not alone, as evidenced by the widespread use of the deeply dishonest slogan “Who Would Jesus Deport?” [ Nancy Pelosi’s ‘Baby Jesus’ Argument, by Jeannie DeAngelis, July 23, 2014]
“Who Would Jesus Deport?” is widely deployed by open borders advocates in articles, cartoons, t-shirts and even its own Facebook page. And as you might guess, those asking the question already have an answer—certainly not illegal aliens. The loaded question is designed to force American Christians into supporting destructive policies out of misplaced morality.
Elvira Arellano, an illegal who made a great show of holing up inside a church to avoid deportation and used her anchor baby son Saul as a prop, tried to cast herself as a Christian martyr using the slogan. Here’s a photo of Elvira back in 2006 wearing a “Who Would Jesus Deport?” t-shirt.
Things to know about immigration activist Elvira Arellano, MySanAntonio.com, May 7, 2014
Though some are simply misguided idealists, many of the activists who use this slogan are less concerned with living a Christian life than with using the faith as a way to get Americans to sabotage their own interests. A typical example is the Evangelical Immigration Table—financed in part by atheist globalist George Soros.
Of course, “Who Would Jesus Deport?” is an extension of the famous question, “What Would Jesus Do?” Coincidentally, “Who Would Jesus Deport” forms the same acronym (WWJD)—and it’s basically the same argument.
As a Christian, I disagree somewhat with “WWJD”—especially the careless way it is used. Naturally, Christians should follow Jesus Christ—as I John 2:6 states, “whoever says he abides in him [Christ] ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
However, the questions “What Would Jesus Do?” or “Who Would Jesus Deport?” aren’t calls to lead to a Christian life—just slogans. A Christian should think about the real world consequences of catchphrases that owe more to marketing than theology. He should also think about what Jesus really came to Earth to do.
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, God the Son, was incarnated as a man to accomplish a mission—to die for us and be resurrected.
Therefore, there are many things in this life that Jesus did not do, not because they were wrong, but simply because they weren’t part of His mission to preach the Good News.
Jesus Christ was not a government official. If a contemporary Christian is a government official, he can’t say “I’m going to do my job as a government official just as Jesus did.” There may not be specific examples from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John about how to perform a specific task.
Nevertheless, although Christ was not in government, he did recognize governmental authorities, both Jewish and Roman. His famous distinction between rendering to God and rendering to Caesar teaches his followers to recognize the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdoms of Men. Though the Kingdoms of Men are certainly not identical to the Kingdom of God, under God’s authority they serve providential purposes.
Some things that governments do (or should do) include protecting the country’s borders and, yes, deporting illegal aliens. These are not specifically Christian duties, but they’re not anti-Christian either. They are simply functions of human governments.
The folks who ask loaded questions can’t imagine Jesus deporting illegal aliens, so they conclude nobody should deport illegal aliens. (Or at least, the United States shouldn’t, because I don’t hear them complaining when other countries do it.)
But deporting illegal aliens simply wasn’t part of Christ’s mission on Earth (though today’s plutocrats should take a hard look at what he did to the moneychangers in the Temple). That doesn’t mean He forbids deportation..
The real question is not “Did Jesus Deport Illegal Aliens?” The real question is “Do human governments have the authority to control their borders and deport illegal aliens?”
There is nothing in the Bible or Christian doctrine that denies such authority.
In fact, in Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul, in his discourse to the Aereopagus, states that God “…hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation..” (Acts 17:26, KJV)
The Greek word for Nation used in the text is ethnos (?????), from which derives our English word “ethnic”. We find in this verse a justification for ethnic-based nation states with definable borders.
Besides, open border fanatics are very selective in their moral indignation. They claim the United States mistreats illegal aliens but have nothing to say about how the governments of Mexico and Central America cynically export their own problems to the gringos.
Wouldn’t it be of more relevance for Christians to focus their concern on Latin Americans who abandon their families? Or on Latin American parents who send their children alone to travel thousands of miles? Or on criminals who kidnap, abuse, and kill illegal aliens?
Or, most important of all, on the responsibility of Christians in other nations to improve life in their own homelands?
Sadly, actually solving problems instead of bashing the gringos doesn’t bring the same favorable media attention—or donations from George Soros. It’s much easier and more popular to criticize ordinary Americans who simply want their laws to be enforced.
One exception is Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. I criticized Rodriguez in previous articles as an amnesty supporter. Nevertheless, during the present crisis, Rodriguez has publicly appealed to Mexicans and Central Americans not to send their kids to the United States. (See the video Faith Leaders Preach Tough Love to Migrant Parents,The Christian Broadcasting Network, July 10, 2014).
Bravo to Rodriguez for that, and credit where credit is due. We ought to see more of that, but sadly, we don’t.
My advice to patriotic American Christians is to stand firm. Don’t be bamboozled by pious-sounding sound bites that don’t add up. Demanding that our government fulfill its duty by controlling our borders is not evil or anti-Christian. It’s the best thing for our country—and in the long run, it’s better for the people in Mexico and Central America.
It’s not righteous to use migrants for your own selfish purposes like Pelosi or Soros. Real compassion means recognizing our duty to our neighbors and our country—and understanding that actually helping Latin America will take more than self-congratulatory slogans.
American citizen Allan Wall (email him) moved back to the U.S.A. in 2008 after many years residing in Mexico. Allan's wife is Mexican, and their two sons are bilingual. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here ; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.Discovery at Xultún
Battered by time and largely uncharted, the archaeological site known as Xultún sprawls over 16 square miles in Guatemala’s Petén rainforest. It was home to tens of thousands of people in the age of the Maya, the powerful Mesoamerican empire that reached the peak of its influence around the sixth century A.D. and collapsed several hundred years later. Discovered in 1915, the once-thriving metropolis features the remains of thousands of structures, including buildings up to 115 feet high. Looters have robbed the site of many of its treasures and exposed previously sheltered ruins to the destructive elements.
Oddly enough, it was a looters’ trench that two years ago led to one of the most remarkable finds in the recent history of Maya archaeology. In 2010, while participating in an excavation directed by Boston University professor William Saturno, an undergraduate student spied faint traces of pigment on a wall bared by looters. Saturno examined the spot, located just several feet below the surface, but didn’t expect to find anything substantial. “Maya paintings are incredibly rare, not because the Maya didn’t paint them often but because they rarely preserve in the tropical environment of Guatemala,” he explained.
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Venturing deeper into what appeared to be a surprisingly intact house, Saturno spotted additional murals more unspoiled than the first. Once he and his team decided the structure warranted a closer look, the race was on to protect it from the oncoming rainy season. The National Geographic Society provided grants for the conservation work as well as further excavations in 2010 and 2011. The resulting discoveries are being reported in the June issue of National Geographic magazine and in the May 11 issue of the journal Science.
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Figures on the Wall
Only 56 square feet in size, the room is decorated with murals dating back to roughly 800 A.D. on each of its three intact walls. The north wall features a seated king wearing an elaborate headdress with blue feathers, an attendant peeking out from behind the plumes. Painted on a recessed surface, this image could be hidden behind a curtain that hung from a partially preserved bone rod. Kneeling beside the king is a man holding a stylus, possibly to identify him as a scribe, Saturno said. The meaning of an accompanying label, which roughly translates to “Younger Brother Obsidian” or “Junior Obsidian,” remains unclear.
Three male figures painted in black appear on the west well, each sporting identical feathered headdresses and medallions. One of them is labeled “Older Brother Obsidian” or “Senior Obsidian,” a title whose significance has yet to be understood. The east wall of the room features a figure painted in black that has badly eroded due to its proximity to the exterior.
An Astronomer’s Whiteboard
While the paintings are rare and intriguing, another element festooning the north and east walls proved even more astonishing to the researchers. Scrawled in red and black are charts of numbers represented by bars and dots in the typical Maya fashion. After examining the figures, experts realized they denoted time spans corresponding to cycles of the Mayan calendar. “This was a calculator, so to speak, for a calendar priest or a Maya astronomer to calculate moon ages,” said David Stuart, a professor of Mesoamerican art and writing at the University of Texas at Austin, who helped decipher the hieroglyphs.
Until now, Mayan astronomical tables have only been found in books, most famously the 1,000-year-old text known as the Dresden Codex. But the newly discovered examples, which predate the Dresden Codex by at least 200 years, appear on the walls of a dwelling, scribbled alongside artwork. For this reason, the researchers believe the room once served as a workshop for scribes, calendar priests, mathematicians, astronomers or others who would have been observing the heavens. While puzzling over a formula or predicting the next eclipse, they would have conveniently worked out their calculations right on the wall. “It’s kind of like having a whiteboard in your office,” Stuart said.
Debunking the 2012 Myth
In recent years, popular culture has latched on to theories that the Maya predicted an apocalypse on December 21, 2012. That date corresponds to the end of the Mayan calendar’s current cycle, which lasts for 13 of the 144,000-day intervals known as baktuns. But scholars have long argued that, while Mayan astronomers saw each cycle’s conclusion as significant, they never foresaw an apocalypse. According to the researchers who studied the Xultún house, the calculations on the walls confirm once again that the Mayan calendar stretches far beyond this December. One notation in particular records an interval of 17 baktuns, a period of time that extends past the alleged doomsday.
“This sort of popular culture conception of the Maya calendar having an expiration date on it is in and of itself a fallacy,” Saturno said. He compared the system to odometers that reset to zero after 99,000 miles because they can’t display more than five digits. “If we’re driving a car, we don’t anticipate that at 100,000 miles the car will vanish from beneath us,” he said. Stuart said that, rather than covering a finite period of time, “the Maya calendar is going to keep going and keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future.”
Saturno acknowledged that the new discovery might not sway people with absolute confidence in the December 2012 prediction. “I think that as a general rule, if someone is a hardcore believer that the world is going to end in 2012, no painting is going to convince them otherwise,” he said. What may do the trick, however, is waking up on December 22, he added.You guys remember Bump? It's been a while since we've had a reason to discuss the app, but that changes today; Google just bought the company. For those who may not be familiar with Bump, it's an app that allows files, images, apps, and the like to be transferred from device to device by touching the two together. It was actually pretty popular a few years ago, before NFC and Android Beam (which, honestly, still doesn't work correctly half the time) came along.
The thing that makes Bump a more compelling option over NFC, however, is that it's cross platform – as long as both parties have the Bump app installed, it makes transferring information from Android to iOS incredibly easy.
The acquisition was announced today on the Bump blog, though details are basically non-existent at the time. Bump's CEO and co-founder David Lieb penned a short entry that announced the company's joining with Google, but also confirmed that "Bump and Flock will continue to work as they always have for now" (emphasis mine), which alludes to possible changes in the future.
At this point, it's unclear what Google wants with Bump – maybe they'll put the team on fixing the way Android Beam works (read: making it actually work).
Time will tell.
BumpWASHINGTON (Reuters) - As many as 129 million Americans under age 65 have health problems that could hurt their ability to obtain health insurance or force them to pay higher premiums, a U.S. government study said on Tuesday.
Pharmacy tech Maria Santoyo (C) works in Clinica Sierra Vista's Lamont Community Health center in Bakersfield, California October 20, 2009. REUTERS/Phil McCarten
The Department of Health and Human Services released the study as the House of Representatives prepared to take up a Republican bill to repeal the healthcare overhaul that was one of President Barack Obama’s biggest legislative achievements in 2010.
U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the House debate on the Republican-backed proposal, which starts on Tuesday, would provide an opportunity to spell out the benefits of the legislation that would provide coverage to as many as 33 million people who lack medical insurance.
“Under the old rules, if you had any kind of medical condition, whether you were a child born with a medical disability, a cancer survivor, a pregnant woman or, in some cases, even a victim of domestic violence, insurers could freely deny you application,” Sebelius told reporters in a telephone briefing on the report.
The vote by the Republican-led House that is set for Wednesday will be largely symbolic since Democrats remain in control of the Senate and are unlikely to advance the repeal effort. But the repeal vote will help Republicans fulfill a campaign pledge and meet a key demand of conservative Tea Party activists, who were crucial to their winning control of the House and picking up seats in the Senate.
REPUBLICANS SCORNFUL
Republicans dismissed the government study as a political talking point for Democrats.
“The new health care law raises taxes on the chronically ill and its high-risk pools are so badly underfunded that nearly half of the states have opted out,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.
“We need to repeal the law and start over with solutions that help states expand their high-risk pools and lower costs for all Americans, including those with pre-existing conditions,” he said.
Sebelius said the study found that as many as 129 million non-elderly Americans have at least one medical condition that could trigger rejection or higher premiums in the individual insurance market.
About 50 million of those people have serious conditions that could qualify them for coverage under the temporary high-risk pools created by the healthcare overhaul, she said.
Many provisions of the law enacted last year have gone into effect. They include requiring insurers to cover children with pre-existing conditions, allowing young people to stay on their parents insurance until age 26 and creating temporary high-risk pools to help people with medical conditions obtain health coverage.
Other provisions such as the creation of insurance exchanges to help individuals and small business compare and purchase plans do not go into effect until 2014. A controversial requirement that people purchase health coverage is not set to take effect until 2014, providing some time for legal challenges on the provision to work their way through the courts.POLITICO Influence: Islam & Driesman to host Van Hollen, DSCC — Podesta Group hires Terry Neal for PR — Wyatt |
charging driver Carlos Pino was flawed because of improper grand jury testimony. Prosecutors contended the grand jury testimony was proper, but the judge disagreed.
The courtroom erupted in uproar from victims' families, who were seated in the jury box facing the judge as he announced his decision. One relative yelled, "How could you look at him and do this? He doesn't deserve it!"
Pino was indicted in March on four counts of criminally negligent homicide, four counts of assault, reckless driving and other crimes in the Cutchogue crash that killed Brittney Schulman, Lauren Baruch, Stephanie Belli and Amy Grabina. All of them were in their early 20s.
Judge Drops All Charges Against Limo Driver in 2015 Crash That Killed 4 Women
All charges have been dropped against the limousine driver in the July 2015 crash that killed four women who were touring vineyards on Long Island to celebrate a birthday, a judge said Wednesday. Greg Cergol reports. (Published Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016)
The four women were touring vineyards in a limousine when Pino tried to make a U-turn on state Route 48 and was hit by a truck driven by an alleged drunk driver. Four other women, including a bride-to-be, and both drivers were hurt in the crash.
The charges against Pino stemmed from a reconstruction of the crash that concluded he tried to make a U-turn on the highway while his view was obstructed by a Jeep Liberty in an opposite U-turn lane.
Authorities said there was no evidence that the limousine came to a stop to check for oncoming traffic and that Pino couldn't have seen the truck until it was less than 200 feet away.
In dropping the charges Wednesday, Camacho said, "I have agonized over this decision more than any other in my 20 years. I applied the law as I believed it to be. I am sorry for your loss."
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota pledged to appeal.
Pino left court without commenting.
Limo Driver in Fatal Long Island Crash Faces New, Serious Charges
EIght months after four women died in a horrible limousine accident while touring Long Island wineries with their friends, a grand jury has decided the limo driver is to blame. Greg Cergol reports. (Published Thursday, March 17, 2016)
His lawyer, Brendan Ahern, said his client never should have been indicted.
"On Day 1, we told you the lines between civil and criminal liability were blurred here. Today, with this decision the lines are crystal clear," Ahern said. "We are grateful that the case was before a Judge who is well respected for his experienced, ethics, and knowledge of the law, who issued a decision based on the law, and the law alone."
Pino is the defendant in several lawsuits brought by the families of the women who were killed and injured in the crash. Family members of some of the victims attended the court proceeding Wednesday but declined to comment.
Ahern conceded that his client, as well as the truck driver, might have liability in the civil cases.
"He should've seen the oncoming car," Lato said. "Was there civil liability? Yes. Was it a criminal case? No."
Steven Romeo, the truck driver who hit Pino's limousine, allegedly told police he had drunk "a few beers" before getting behind the wheel. He was later indicted on DWI charges, but a grand jury declined to charge him with manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. The judge's ruling did upload misdemeanor drunk driving charges against Romeo, but the district attorney has said he was not to blame for the crash.
Authorities Reconstructing Long Island Crash That Killed 4
Authorities are reconstructing last month's alleged drunk driving crash that killed four women touring the Long Island vineyards with friends, prosecutors tell NBC 4 New York. Greg Cergol reports. (Published Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015)
The four women who survived the crash have filed civil lawsuits.Untitled a guest Sep 24th, 2015 749 Never a guest749Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 7.81 KB PM to-Admins: the CMO pretty much smashed my skull for suspected tresspassing, and the captain didn't even arrest the fucker. Is this legit or no? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I'll investigate Echoes but security not arresting them is very, very likely IC. PM to-Tainavaa: alright, thanks Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Apparently you were stealing stuff with Horowitz? PM to-Tainavaa: I asked Horowitz if he could get me some sugar. He took me to chemistry and let me in PM to-Tainavaa: apparently he wasn't supposed to have access, and they beat the shit out of me because of that Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Oh god. That sounds like you were dragged into a shitty situation. PM to-Tainavaa: yeah, and now the guy who was arresting me took me to medbay and forgot about me PM to-Tainavaa: so Im basically fucked Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Things like that happen. You were dragged into a shitty situation. PM to-Tainavaa: oh... PM to-Tainavaa: I mean, it isn't really the situation that was shitty, moreso the players Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Them's the breaks, unfortunately. Though from an outsider's perspective it was really funny. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: How were the players shitty? PM to-Tainavaa: I mean, if it's okay to nearly kill someone and put them out of the round because you think they did a minor crime, I guess I'll keep that in mind PM to-Tainavaa: the CMO bashed my skull in for practically no reason, and the captain did absolutely nothing against him, and sent me to the brig PM to-Tainavaa: and the security cadet who took me to brig was a retard who left me in the sleeper and left to do something else Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: You're forgetting that the world goes on without you there. You don't know the motivations, you don't know what happened prior or anything like that. It's not black and white and they didn't just bash your skull in for no reason. IC, there is no "taking people out of the round". Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: The medical bay and its staff aren't always happy-go-lucky people that have no strifes of their own before you show up. PM to-Tainavaa: so bashing someone's skull in for tresspassing, when they have a fully working flash and baton, is okay? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: It's stupid and dangerous IC. But it isn't breaking any rules. PM to-Tainavaa: "Only escalate conflict in a realistic manner. Some characters might overreact, but you would not realisticall go berserk or attempt to kill someone if they stole your prized pen, for instance. " Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I don't think that's the only thing that happened this round. And they didn't have a baton; their flash broke while spamming flash on you so you wouldn't getu p. PM to-Tainavaa: bullshit PM to-Tainavaa: they flashed me after they started beating my skull in PM to-Admins: also, that was the only interaction I had with the CMO that round Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: But that isn't the only interaction the CMO had with Horowitz. PM to-Tainavaa: that doesn't pertain to me at all, and it doesn't justify the CMO beating someone's skull in Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: True or false. Horowitz led you into chemistry. PM to-Tainavaa: true Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: You are now an associate of Horowitz and potentially any weight that Horowitz puts on the CMO is now put on you. PM to-Tainavaa: man that's fucking stupid and you know it PM to-Tainavaa: if you went to a hospital and asked a doctor to help you with something Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: No, it's not stupid. Association is a thing, and nor are people psychic. PM to-Tainavaa: then he took you to a room, and suddenly the director of the hospital burts in and sasy YOU AREN'T ALLOWED HERE Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Okay, let me put it to you this way. Real life situation number one, exact same situation with you and Horowitz last round but in real life. PM to-Tainavaa: and then knocks you down, pulls out a gun, and literally cracks your skull in PM to-Tainavaa: is that a situation that can ever happen? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I walk into the chemistry lab and I see Horowitz in there taking shit, and you're there with him. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Am I going to think "There's no way they're involved"? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: No I'm going to think, these two fuckers are in cahoots. PM to-Tainavaa: no, of course you will PM to-Tainavaa: but are you going to crack my skull in? PM to-Tainavaa: without even asking questions Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: That depends who I am, and what's happened to me prior. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: If I was playing Anna Lee, I'd probably beat the shit out of you. Especially if I thought you were an active accomplice of Horowitz, some fucker I hate. PM to-Tainavaa: no it fucking doesn't Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Yes it does. Because if I was playing Tina, I'd called security and probably not enter the chemistry lab at all depending. PM to-Tainavaa: besides, beating the shit out of someone for tresspassing is pretty much psychotic, which is against the rules Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Are you suggesting violence is against the rules? PM to-Tainavaa: I don't care about tina or anna, nor do I know who they are Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: See now you're completely ignoring circumstance. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Not all characters are the same, is my point. Which for some reason you don't care about. PM to-Tainavaa: I have no idea who Tina or Anna are, why would I care? PM to-Tainavaa: anyway, answer a question for me Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: It isn't who they are that you have to worry about; it's the abstract concept behind what I explained to you. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: That is, they're different people. They will not react the same. They will not do the same things. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Echoes etc. etc. is not you. PM to-Tainavaa: if someone in real life sees someone tresspassing in their workplace and beats their skull in without asking questions, are they psychotic? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: That really depends on circumstance, doesn't it? PM to-Tainavaa: okay PM to-Tainavaa: the circumstance is that the person beating the other person's skull in is a director of a hospital Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: What else can you tell me about the director of the hospital? PM to-Tainavaa: dude now you're just being intentionally obtuse Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: No, I'm not. You're just asserting confirmation bias. PM to-Tainavaa: under what circumstances would it be okay for the director of a hospital to smash someone's skull for tresspassing PM to-Tainavaa: that isn't what confirmation bias means Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Now you're having an issue differentiating IC and OOC. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Yes it is. You are completely ignoring all factors taht don't favor your clami. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: claim. PM to-Tainavaa: except that isn't what Im doing because you haven't presented any factors counter to my claim, you've just said that its possible for there to be factors PM to-Tainavaa: but that's besides the point Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Except these factors exist, and definitely account for his behavior. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: The situation is handled. If you believe it was handled wrongly, you can make a complaint on the forums regarding either me or the character in question. PM to-Tainavaa: dude you didn't handle it Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: You can freely bring that up on the forums with a staff complaint. PM to-Tainavaa: I don't even care if you do anything about it, but crossing your arms and saying that it's handled because you can't argue your position is just irresponsible PM to-Tainavaa: it's okay to admit you're wrong Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I know. And I've been wrong before. I've admit I was wrong before when I was. But I wasn't. The situation has been handled. PM to-Tainavaa: if you say so, man
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PM to-Admins: the CMO pretty much smashed my skull for suspected tresspassing, and the captain didn't even arrest the fucker. Is this legit or no? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I'll investigate Echoes but security not arresting them is very, very likely IC. PM to-Tainavaa: alright, thanks Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Apparently you were stealing stuff with Horowitz? PM to-Tainavaa: I asked Horowitz if he could get me some sugar. He took me to chemistry and let me in PM to-Tainavaa: apparently he wasn't supposed to have access, and they beat the shit out of me because of that Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Oh god. That sounds like you were dragged into a shitty situation. PM to-Tainavaa: yeah, and now the guy who was arresting me took me to medbay and forgot about me PM to-Tainavaa: so Im basically fucked Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Things like that happen. You were dragged into a shitty situation. PM to-Tainavaa: oh... PM to-Tainavaa: I mean, it isn't really the situation that was shitty, moreso the players Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Them's the breaks, unfortunately. Though from an outsider's perspective it was really funny. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: How were the players shitty? PM to-Tainavaa: I mean, if it's okay to nearly kill someone and put them out of the round because you think they did a minor crime, I guess I'll keep that in mind PM to-Tainavaa: the CMO bashed my skull in for practically no reason, and the captain did absolutely nothing against him, and sent me to the brig PM to-Tainavaa: and the security cadet who took me to brig was a retard who left me in the sleeper and left to do something else Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: You're forgetting that the world goes on without you there. You don't know the motivations, you don't know what happened prior or anything like that. It's not black and white and they didn't just bash your skull in for no reason. IC, there is no "taking people out of the round". Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: The medical bay and its staff aren't always happy-go-lucky people that have no strifes of their own before you show up. PM to-Tainavaa: so bashing someone's skull in for tresspassing, when they have a fully working flash and baton, is okay? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: It's stupid and dangerous IC. But it isn't breaking any rules. PM to-Tainavaa: "Only escalate conflict in a realistic manner. Some characters might overreact, but you would not realisticall go berserk or attempt to kill someone if they stole your prized pen, for instance. " Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I don't think that's the only thing that happened this round. And they didn't have a baton; their flash broke while spamming flash on you so you wouldn't getu p. PM to-Tainavaa: bullshit PM to-Tainavaa: they flashed me after they started beating my skull in PM to-Admins: also, that was the only interaction I had with the CMO that round Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: But that isn't the only interaction the CMO had with Horowitz. PM to-Tainavaa: that doesn't pertain to me at all, and it doesn't justify the CMO beating someone's skull in Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: True or false. Horowitz led you into chemistry. PM to-Tainavaa: true Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: You are now an associate of Horowitz and potentially any weight that Horowitz puts on the CMO is now put on you. PM to-Tainavaa: man that's fucking stupid and you know it PM to-Tainavaa: if you went to a hospital and asked a doctor to help you with something Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: No, it's not stupid. Association is a thing, and nor are people psychic. PM to-Tainavaa: then he took you to a room, and suddenly the director of the hospital burts in and sasy YOU AREN'T ALLOWED HERE Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Okay, let me put it to you this way. Real life situation number one, exact same situation with you and Horowitz last round but in real life. PM to-Tainavaa: and then knocks you down, pulls out a gun, and literally cracks your skull in PM to-Tainavaa: is that a situation that can ever happen? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I walk into the chemistry lab and I see Horowitz in there taking shit, and you're there with him. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Am I going to think "There's no way they're involved"? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: No I'm going to think, these two fuckers are in cahoots. PM to-Tainavaa: no, of course you will PM to-Tainavaa: but are you going to crack my skull in? PM to-Tainavaa: without even asking questions Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: That depends who I am, and what's happened to me prior. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: If I was playing Anna Lee, I'd probably beat the shit out of you. Especially if I thought you were an active accomplice of Horowitz, some fucker I hate. PM to-Tainavaa: no it fucking doesn't Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Yes it does. Because if I was playing Tina, I'd called security and probably not enter the chemistry lab at all depending. PM to-Tainavaa: besides, beating the shit out of someone for tresspassing is pretty much psychotic, which is against the rules Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Are you suggesting violence is against the rules? PM to-Tainavaa: I don't care about tina or anna, nor do I know who they are Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: See now you're completely ignoring circumstance. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Not all characters are the same, is my point. Which for some reason you don't care about. PM to-Tainavaa: I have no idea who Tina or Anna are, why would I care? PM to-Tainavaa: anyway, answer a question for me Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: It isn't who they are that you have to worry about; it's the abstract concept behind what I explained to you. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: That is, they're different people. They will not react the same. They will not do the same things. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Echoes etc. etc. is not you. PM to-Tainavaa: if someone in real life sees someone tresspassing in their workplace and beats their skull in without asking questions, are they psychotic? Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: That really depends on circumstance, doesn't it? PM to-Tainavaa: okay PM to-Tainavaa: the circumstance is that the person beating the other person's skull in is a director of a hospital Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: What else can you tell me about the director of the hospital? PM to-Tainavaa: dude now you're just being intentionally obtuse Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: No, I'm not. You're just asserting confirmation bias. PM to-Tainavaa: under what circumstances would it be okay for the director of a hospital to smash someone's skull for tresspassing PM to-Tainavaa: that isn't what confirmation bias means Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Now you're having an issue differentiating IC and OOC. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Yes it is. You are completely ignoring all factors taht don't favor your clami. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: claim. PM to-Tainavaa: except that isn't what Im doing because you haven't presented any factors counter to my claim, you've just said that its possible for there to be factors PM to-Tainavaa: but that's besides the point Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: Except these factors exist, and definitely account for his behavior. Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: The situation is handled. If you believe it was handled wrongly, you can make a complaint on the forums regarding either me or the character in question. PM to-Tainavaa: dude you didn't handle it Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: You can freely bring that up on the forums with a staff complaint. PM to-Tainavaa: I don't even care if you do anything about it, but crossing your arms and saying that it's handled because you can't argue your position is just irresponsible PM to-Tainavaa: it's okay to admit you're wrong Moderator PM from-Tainavaa: I know. And I've been wrong before. I've admit I was wrong before when I was. But I wasn't. The situation has been handled. PM to-Tainavaa: if you say so, manFrontier Developments has rolled out a new update for the alpha version of Elite: Dangerous that adds support for Oculus Rift and stereoscopic 3D. Not only that, but this update comes with support for anaglyph rendering – old school Red/Cyan rendering for those without Oculus Rift or a 3D TV but with some vintage red/cyan glasses – as well as support for TrackIR. You can view below the complete changelog for this new update of Elite: Dangerous.
Elite: Dangerous – Update 1.1 Changelog:
• A selection of stereoscopic 3D support options added
-Oculus Rift
-Side-by-side 3D rendering for use with 3D TVs / monitors
-Anaglyph rendering: old school Red/Cyan rendering for those without Oculus Rift or a 3D TV but with some vintage red/cyan glasses
• Track IR Support added
• Dashboard brightness option added
• Improved build stability
• Assorted improvements from Alpha feedbackFirst published Sat Dec 8, 2001; substantive revision Tue Jun 2, 2015
This essay will focus on the general forms of skepticism that question our knowledge in many, if not all, domains in which we ordinarily think knowledge is possible. Although this essay will consider some aspects of the history of philosophical skepticism, the general forms of skepticism to be discussed are those which contemporary philosophers still find the most interesting.
Much of epistemology has arisen either in defense of, or in opposition to, various forms of skepticism. Indeed, one could classify various theories of knowledge by their responses to skepticism. For example, rationalists could be viewed as skeptical about the possibility of empirical knowledge while not being skeptical with regard to a priori knowledge, and empiricists could be seen as skeptical about the possibility of a priori knowledge but not so with regard to empirical knowledge. In addition, views about many traditional philosophical problems, e.g., the problem of other minds or the problem of induction, can be seen as restricted forms of skepticism that hold that we cannot have knowledge of any propositions in some particular domain that is normally thought to be within our ken.
Even before examining the various general forms of skepticism, it is crucial that we distinguish between philosophical skepticism and ordinary incredulity because doing so will help to explain why philosophical skepticism is so intriguing. Consider an ordinary case in which we think someone fails to have knowledge. Suppose Anne claims that she knows that the bird she is looking at is a robin and that I believe that if Anne were to look more carefully, she would see that its coloration is not quite that of a robin. Its breast is too orange. Further, it seems that it flies somewhat differently than robins do, i.e., this bird seems to flitter more than a typical robin.
Thus, there are two grounds for doubting that Anne knows that it is a robin:
The color of this bird isn't typical of robins. The flight pattern of this bird is not typical of robins.
This is a case of ordinary doubt because there are, in principle, two general ways that are available for removing the grounds for doubt:
The alleged grounds for doubt could be shown to be false; or It could be shown that the grounds for doubt, though true, can be neutralized.[1]
Taking alternative (1), Anne could show that there are many robins with the coloration of the bird in question by citing the Audubon Field Guide for Birds in which many of the pictured robins have very orange breasts. In other words, Anne could show that (a) is false.
But in order to remove grounds for doubt, it is not necessary that Anne show that the alleged grounds are false. Alternative (2) is available. Consider ground (b). It could be granted that the bird in question flies in a way that is not at all typical of robins. But suppose that on closer inspection we see that some of its tail feathers have been damaged in a way that could cause the unusual flight pattern. Because the bird has difficulty gliding and flying in a straight line, it flaps its wings much more rapidly than is typical of robins. Thus, although we can grant that (b) is true, we would have explained away, or neutralized, the grounds for doubt.
The point here is that in this case, and in all ordinary cases of incredulity, the grounds for the doubt can, in principle, be removed. As Wittgenstein would say, doubt occurs within the context of things undoubted. If something is doubted, something else must be held fast because doubt presupposes that there are means of removing the doubt.[2] We doubt that the bird is a robin because, at least in part, we think we know how robins typically fly and what their typical coloration is. That is, we think our general picture of the world is right—or right enough—so that it does provide us with both the grounds for doubt and the means for potentially removing the doubt. Thus, ordinary incredulity about some feature of the world occurs against a background of sequestered beliefs about the world. We are not doubting that we have any knowledge of the world. Far from it, we are presupposing that we do know some things about the world. To quote Wittgenstein, “A doubt without an end is not even a doubt” (Wittgenstein 1969, ¶ 625).
In contrast, philosophical skepticism attempts to render doubtful every member of some class of propositions that we think falls within our ken. One member of the class is not pitted against another. The grounds for either withholding assent to the claim that we can have such knowledge or denying that we can have such knowledge are such that there is no possible way either to answer them or to neutralize them by appealing to another member of the class because the same doubt applies to each and every member of the class. Thus, philosophical doubt or philosophical skepticism, as opposed to ordinary incredulity, can not, in principle, be removed. Or so the philosophical skeptic will claim!
To clarify the distinction between ordinary incredulity and philosophical doubt, let us consider two movies: The Truman Show and The Matrix. In the former, Truman is placed, without his knowledge, in a contrived environment so that his “life” can be broadcast on television. But he begins to wonder whether the world surrounding him is, in fact, what it appears to be. Some events seem to happen too regularly and many other things are just not quite as they should be. Eventually, Truman obtains convincing evidence that all his world is a stage and all the men and women are merely players. The crucial point is that even had he not developed any doubts, there is, in principle, a way to resolve them had they arisen. Such doubts, though quite general, are examples of ordinary incredulity.
Contrast this with the deception depicted in The Matrix. When everything is running as programmed by the machines, there is no possible way for the “people” in the matrix to determine that the world as experienced is only a “dream world” and not the real world (the world of causes and effects). The only “reality” that it is possible to investigate is a computer generated one. (See Irwin 2002, 2005 for collections of articles on The Matrix.)
The Truman Show is a depiction of a case of ordinary incredulity because there is some evidence that is, in principle, available to Truman for determining what's really the case; whereas The Matrix depicts a situation similar to that imagined by a typical philosophical skeptic in which it is not possible for the Matrix-bound characters to obtain evidence for determining that things are not as they seem (whenever the virtual reality is perfectly created). Put another way, the philosophical skeptic challenges our ordinary assumption that there is evidence available that can help us to discriminate between the real world and some counterfeit world that appears in all ways to be identical to the real world. Ordinary incredulity arises within the context of other propositions of a similar sort taken to be known, and, in principle, the doubt can be removed by discovering the truth of some further proposition of the relevant type. On the other hand, philosophical skepticism about a proposition of a certain type derives from considerations that are such that they cannot be removed by appealing to additional propositions of that type—or so the skeptic claims.
These movies illustrate one other fundamental feature of the philosophical arguments for skepticism, namely, that the debate between the skeptics and their opponents takes place within the evidentialist account of knowledge which holds that knowledge is at least true, sufficiently justified belief. The debate is over whether the grounds are such that they can make a belief sufficiently justified so that a responsible epistemic agent is entitled to assent to the proposition.[3] The basic issue at stake is whether the justification condition of knowledge can be fulfilled. A corollary of this is that strictly reliabilist or externalist responses to philosophical skepticism constitute a change of subject. A belief could be reliably produced, i.e., its causal pedigree could be such that anything having that causal etiology is sufficiently likely to be true, but the reasons available for it could fail to satisfy the standards agreed upon by both the skeptics and their opponents.
Consider some proposition, p. There are just three possible propositional attitudes one can have with regard to p's truth when considering whether p is true. One can either assent to p, or assent to ~p (that is, deny p), or withhold assenting both to p and to ~p. For example, consider the belief that there is a god. The three possible propositional attitudes are: to be a believer, to be an atheist, or to be an agnostic. Of course, there are other attitudes one could have toward p when not considering whether p is true. One could just be uninterested that p or be excited or depressed that p. But, typically, those attitudes are either ones we have when we are not considering whether p is true or they are attitudes that result from our believing, denying or withholding p. For example, I might be happy or sorry that p is true when I come to believe that it is true.
I just spoke of “assent” and I mean to be using it to depict the pro-attitude, whatever it is, toward a proposition that is required for knowing that proposition. Philosophers have differed about what that attitude is. Some take it to be something akin to being certain that p or guaranteeing that p (Malcolm 1963, 58–72). Others have taken it not to be a form of belief at all because, for example, they claim that one can know that p without believing p as in a case in which I might in fact remember that Queen Victoria died in 1901 but not believe that I remember it and hence might be said not to believe it (Radford 1966). For the purposes of this essay we need not attempt to pin down precisely the nature of the pro-attitude toward p that is necessary for knowing that p. It is sufficient for our purposes to stipulate that assent is the pro-attitude toward p required to know that p.
Let us use “EI-type” propositions to refer to epistemically interesting types of propositions. I will take such types of propositions to contain tokens some of which are generally thought to be known given what we ordinarily take knowledge to be. Thus, it would not be epistemically interesting if we did not know exactly what the rainfall will be on March 3 in New Brunswick, NJ, exactly ten years from now. That kind of thing (a fine grained distant future state) is not generally thought to be known given what we ordinarily take knowledge to be. But it would be epistemically interesting if we cannot know anything about the future, or anything about the contents of someone else's mind, or anything about the past, or anything at all about the “external world.” We think we know many propositions about those types of things.
Now, consider this (meta) proposition concerning the scope of our knowledge, namely: We can have knowledge of EI-type propositions. Given that there are just three stances we can have toward any proposition when considering whether it is true, we can:
Assent that we can have knowledge of EI-type propositions. Assent that we cannot have knowledge of EI-type propositions. (That is, deny that we can have knowledge of EI-type propositions.) Withhold assent to both the proposition that we can have knowledge of EI-type propositions and withhold assent to the proposition that we cannot have such knowledge.
Let us call someone with the attitude depicted in 1 an “Epistemist.”[4] Such a person assents to the claim that we can have knowledge of EI-type propositions.
The attitude portrayed in 2 has gone under many names. I will follow the terminology suggested by Sextus Empiricus. He used the term “Academics” to refer to the leaders of the Academy (founded by Plato) during the 3rd to 1st century BCE. According to Sextus, they assented to the claim that we cannot have knowledge of what I have called EI-type propositions—although it is far from clear that this was an accurate description of their views. (See the entry on ancient skepticism.) Perhaps the prime example was Carneades (214–129 BCE). Other philosophers refer to this view as “Cartesian skepticism” because of the skeptical arguments investigated by Descartes and his critics in the mid-17th century. And still others refer to it as “switched world skepticism” or “possible world skepticism” because the arguments for it typically involve imagining oneself to be in some possible world that is both vastly different from the actual world and at the same time absolutely indistinguishable (at least by us) from the actual world. What underlies this form of skepticism is assent to the proposition that we cannot know EI-type propositions because our evidence is inadequate.
Those assenting neither to the proposition that knowledge of EI-type propositions is possible nor to the proposition that such knowledge is not possible can be called “Pyrrhonian Skeptics” after Pyrrho who lived between ca 365–ca 275 BCE. The primary source of Pyrrhonian Skepticism is the writing of Sextus Empiricus who lived at the end of the second century CE. The Pyrrhonians withheld assent to every non-evident proposition. That is, they withheld assent to all propositions about which genuine dispute was possible, and they took that class of propositions to include both the (meta) proposition that we can have knowledge of EI-type propositions and the (meta) proposition that we cannot have knowledge. Indeed, they sometimes classified the Epistemists and the Academic Skeptics together as dogmatists because the Epistemists assented to the proposition that we can have knowledge, while the Academic Skeptics assented to the denial of that claim.[5]
Another difference between Academic and Pyrrhonian Skepticism is closely related to the charge by the latter that the former is really a disguised type of dogmatism. The Academic Skeptic thinks that her view can be shown to be the correct one by an argument (or by arguments). The Pyrrhonian would point out that the Academic Skeptic maintains confidence in the ability of reason to settle matters—at least with regard to the extent of our knowledge of propositions in the EI-class. One way of understanding the so-called problem of the “Cartesian Circle” illustrates the Pyrrhonian point: Descartes is relying throughout the Meditations on his power of reasoning to remove the skeptical doubts that he raises, but to do so requires that he exempt at least some of the propositions obtained through reasoning from the doubts that he raised in the “First Meditation” about the epistemic reliability of our faculties. A possible Cartesian reply could be as simple as paraphrasing Luther: Here I stand, as a philosopher with confidence in reason, and as such I can do no other.[6] We will consider another way to respond to this objection later. But regardless of the adequacy of either of the responses, the point here is that the Pyrrhonians did not claim that they had a compelling argument whose conclusion was that withholding assent to non-evident propositions was the appropriate epistemic attitude to have.
Although recently there has been a renewed interest in Pyrrhonism |
One (and PC) for Titanfall, for example. It doesn’t appear that Respawn has plans to expand noticeably any time soon. Emslie explained that Respawn’s size enables a particular kind of flexibility. "I like smaller teams," he said. "I’ve worked on smaller teams in my past. The advantage is communication. And I think that when you have a team our size, we can get stuff done real fast. There’s not a lot of red tape, the management structure is smaller, we can get to the root of a problem really quickly. So I think if you run a crew as efficiently as possible, we can still go toe to toe with certain games and bring a triple A title to market. It all boils down to what we focus on. We focus on quality. "It’s a crew that wears many hats, and I think that’s how we get by."Robbed of their Safe Harbor protection, US cloud giants are taking shelter behind a new data-export and privacy fig leaf.
Microsoft and Salesforce have become the first to publicly invoke “model clauses” – saying customers can continue shipping data outside the EU and onto their servers in the US despite Tuesday's ruling by the European Court of Justice striking down Safe Harbor.
Model clauses are template agreements from the European Commission that let firms in EU member states send personal data to countries or territories lacking “adequate levels” of protection as defined under the 1998 Data Protection Act.
Unlike Safe Harbour, model clauses put limits on sharing personal data with those involved now open to potential legal action in the event of any breach of the rules.
Salesforce has said it’s now letting European customers update their agreements with a data-processing addendum that inserts the Commission's model clauses.
“In light of the European Court of Justice’s decision on 6 October, 2015, regarding the EU-US Safe Harbor Framework, Salesforce is immediately offering customers a data processing addendum incorporating the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses, commonly referred to as “model clauses,” Salesforce said in a statement here.
The CRM-as-a-service giant follows Microsoft, who on Tuesday told the world that its cloud services already come loaded with the model-clause defense.
Azure Core Services, Office 365, Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Intune all comply with model clauses the software giant said.
Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, blogged following Tuesday’s court ruling that model clauses meant companies in the European Union can continue to transfer data to the US “relying on additional steps and legal safeguards we have put in place".
Microsoft would not be drawn further on the details of its model clauses.
Microsoft, which began introducing model clauses in 2011, saw its implementation receive EC Article 29 Working Party approval in 2014. That’s the Commission working group set up in 1995 working on the movement and protection of personal data. It was created under the Data Protection Directive.
Model contract clauses are already available for Google Apps, too.
That would seem to mean that Gmail, Docs, Spreadsheets another Google collaboration apps are covered. These are pieces of software widely used by UK and European businesses and governments in the handling of their own staff’s details and information relating to their customers or citizens.
Amazon's AWS agreements also incorporate model clauses that have, again, been ratified by the Article 29 Working Party.
Model clauses were created by the Commission as a way to let organisations transfer data to others outside the EU in countries with different data-privacy rules. They predate Safe Harbour, which came into action in 2000.
Under the model clauses, all parties must agree to comply with the data protection standards of the Data Protection Directive in respect of data.
That is, for example, the importer of data can't subcontract that data’s handling without prior written consent of the organisation exporting the data while the data importer is fully liable for the activities of the firm that it sub contracts with.
Both agree to meet requests from “data subjects” to access the personal data and agree they might be sued if damage is caused to data subjects.
Also, the firm importing the data must agree to limit its data processing to that specific area mentioned in a contract and must ensure all its staff adopt appropriate levels of security and received appropriate training.
Anybody proposing to send data outside the EU must first conduct a risk assessment on whether moving the data would “provide an adequate level of protection for the rights of the data subjects". If the assessment find negative, it’s over to model clauses.
It's an added level of bureaucracy and accountability US cloud giants will be reluctant to embrace, and that Safe Harbour neatly sidestepped.
Microsoft's Smith blogged the ECJ decision raised "important points" and makes it "even more important for the European Commission and the US Government to reach agreement on a path forward".
"It also makes clear the need for broader reforms of digital privacy laws around the world to strike a better balance between personal privacy and public safety."®Last weekend was my kick-off for wedding season. I decided to do something I always have wanted to do and lucky for me I had just the right couple that would think my idea was amazing.
In short, it involved a lot of sweat and muscles.
Can you guess what we did? No we didn’t do push-ups… we climbed a Mountain! Go us!
Leanne being the super rad client she is, was totally down with my explanation of “oh it will only take an hour and a half, in and out”. Something that turned out to be more like two hours! (that’s why it was definitely important to give yourself enough time for formal photos of you and your hubby ladies!).
As we tired and contemplated giving up at the 3/4 mark by the waterfall, a lovely man told us to keep going. Apparantly it would only be ten more minutes to the prettiest lake and it was up “only up a few stairs”.
This wonderful man neglected to tell us that these stairs were about 4 steps high per one stair deep and the remainder of the hike was like climbing up a ladder. Also the ten minuets was more like 20 if your’e not an enthusiast. (Note I haven’t worked out in about six years and my extent of recent “extreme” activity was hitting up Disney Land for 10 hours in one day with Leigh and repeating it again the following day in Disney California Adventure Park – side side note … definitely worth it – I LOVE me some Disney!). After a quick chat with Justin and Leanne we decided it was totally worth it, plus we could take the easy route back down the mountain. So we pushed on.
Going up the stairs from hell paid off in the end. At the top you get this amazing view of the valley and a lake, the natural colors are amazing, the blues and greens make me smile. Not to mention moss, everywhere had moss.
I love when algae propagates in a lake, if I could bottle it and bring it home it would be sitting beside me right now.
After stumbling upon a random but amazing wooden tipi we headed back down the mountain.
Please note most of these teaser photos I’m either standing on the edge of something or basically sweating profusely as I’m apparently scared of falling off a mountain while I’m stubborn enough to want to get the best angle nature is letting me get.
Thanks Justin and Leanne for being so amazing and going on such a fun adventure with me and Crystal. I loved being part of your day and I cant wait to blog more of your wedding in the coming weeks!
*Note to Brides – If your looking for a wedding photographer who is willing to climb a mountain for amazing photos I’m now officially your girl! :PA translucent material allows light to pass through, but if we try to look an object behind such a material, the image will appear blurred or distorted. Think, for example, of the semitransparent glasses commonly used as showers screens. The reason why the image deforms when passing through the glass is the scattering of light. The initial trajectory of the light is disturbed by the molecules in the glass, which scramble the spatial information, disabling in this way the formation of a sharp image. In situations where the scattering is very strong, such as for example a heavy-fog day, the visibility may be completely impaired. The scattering media behaves as an opaque material and objects become invisible.
Diffusion of light in media results sometimes in unwanted effects. For example, it may become a severe obstacle in diagnosis techniques. Nowadays, multiple disciplines, ranging from biosciences to nanotechnology, use optical imaging techniques as an essential tool for diagnosis. The so called optical coherence tomography is by now an established medical imaging technique used, for instance, to obtain images of the retina and coronary arteries. Another example of optical imaging application is the characterization of semiconductor wafers, such as surface and cross-section imaging. Optical coherence tomography can obtain sharp image through semitransparent media, but only for moderate scattering. For stronger scattering, its applicability is limited. Other methods are more successful with higher scattering but they are invasive, in the sense that they require being able to modify the conditions around the object (like placing a detector or a nonlinear material). The range of applications of these methods is bounded by both its invasive nature and its limited resolution capabilities.
Being able to obtain a sharp image when “looking” through a strong diffuser has become possible for a team from the MESA+ Institute for nanotechnology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. The team, led by Dr. Allard Mosk, succeeded in imaging a fluorescent object hidden behind a scattering layer.
The method devised by the team of Mosk has a relatively simple setup, which is schematically shown in Figure 1. An opaque glass is placed between the object to be imaged and a detector. The test object used is the Greek letter “π“, about 50 μm across, written with fluorescent ink. The screen is a ground-glass diffuser. To excite the object fluorescence, a green diode laser is fired towards the object, however, by first crossing through the opaque screen. A speckle pattern emerges at the other side of the screen and this is superimposed on the object.
Speckle effect is a well-known phenomenon that results from the interference of many waves of the same frequency, with random phases and amplitudes. A familiar example is when shining a laser beam on a rough surface. A random pattern shows visible with dark and bright areas that resemble a surface with salt and pepper spread on top. In our setup described above, those areas of the object illuminated by the bright parts of the speckle will create more fluorescence that those areas illuminated by darker parts of the speckle. The total intensity reaching the detector is proportional to the integral of the speckle pattern over the entire area of the object. Despite the spatial information carried by the light is scrambled by the diffuser screen and the detector is not able to resolve the image, the transmitted fluorescence still retains the information of the overlap between the object response and the speckle intensity pattern on the object.
Very ingeniously, the team of Mosk devised a method to decode such information and extract the object fluorescence response, creating in this way the desired image. To achieve it, they scanned the angle of incidence of the green laser on the screen. This resulted in a speckle pattern moving across the object. The key element here is that when this rotation angle of the laser is sufficiently small, the speckle pattern does not change its spatial distribution but only translates over a distance. This is called “memory effect” and it allowed the group of researchers to mathematically separate object and speckle autocorrelations in the detected intensity. By scanning the laser angle within a small range, the intensity on the detector contains, for all the measurements within the range, the overlap between the object response and the very same speckle pattern.
After measuring the total intensity as a function of the scan angle, and using mathematical manipulation of the data, the team separated the autocorrelation of the speckle pattern from the autocorrelation of the fluorescent object. Formally, an autocorrelation cannot be inverted to form the original object, although, an approximate inversion is still possible. Iterative algorithms developed for astronomy and X-ray scattering applications were applied here to reconstruct the image. The result of the inversion shows the resemblance between the microscope image of the object obtained before placing the opaque screen and the image obtained after processing the detector signal.
To show the feasibility of the technique in biological systems, the authors applied the same method to image a slice of stem of lily of the valley, a plant that presents intracellular auto fluorescence. The obtained image showed again a faithful similarity with the image obtained by using conventional microscopy.
The method developed by Mosk and his colleagues offers a great potential for non-invasive imaging. By decreasing the size of the speckle spots, the resolution can be increased up to the diffraction limit. The authors also point to using the same concept but with other signals that also depend on the speckle intensity. This can allow, for example, sampling in a third dimension, to obtain three-dimensional images.
Both the potential applications of the technique and the simplicity of the experimental setup are big achievements of this work. In fact, the research was considered one of the breakthrough publications in 2012 by Nature. “Imaging through opaque materials” found its place among the top ten of the year, next to the discovery of Majorana fermions, the violation of time-reversal symmetry and neutrino-based communication. Certainly, it is expected that optical imaging techniques will experience in the coming years a great development as a result of this work.James Kennedy is on top of the world – he and his girlfriend, Raquel, have just moved into a beautiful apartment together, he's getting along with (almost) everyone, and he’s playing his music to huge crowds each week as SUR's resident DJ. Unfortunately, his wild success throws his already inflated ego into overdrive, leading James to lash out at the people around him. When rumors of his infidelities surface and everyone begins to take note of his increased drinking, James must face the consequences as his friends start to turn on him one by one. James's brother just returned home from college and his father just returned from England, so now his entire family is reunited for the first time in years. Unfortunately, every single one of them is looking to James for financial support. If James's temper and ego ultimately cost him his job, it's not just him who will suffer, but his entire family.Taking movies to the next level seems to be the raison d’être for B-Movies these days. As each straight-to-DVD flick battles among the onslaught of cinema made with more chutspa than money, and often-times talent, we are witness to crazier and crazier themes to grab our attention.
So take every single B-Movie horror trope and drop them into one flick and you have Sky Sharks.
The synopsis pretty much says it all:
A team of Arctic geologists stumble across an abandoned laboratory in which the Nazis developed an incredible and brutal secret weapon during the final months of WW2. Deep in the ice, they accidentally awake a deadly army of flying zombie sharks ridden by genetically mutated, undead super-humans, who are unleashed into the skies, wreaking their bloodthirsty revenge on any aircraft that takes to the air. An elite task force is assembled to take on this deadly threat and stop the Sky Sharks from conquering the air, but as time runs out, the task force realizes they will have to fight fire with fire, and the stage is set for the greatest flying super-mutant zombie shark air battle the world has ever seen….
Directed by Marc Fehse, it stars Cary Tagawa (Mortal Kombat, Planet of the Apes, Pearl Harbor), Robert LaSardo (Death Race), Lar Park-Lincoln (Friday the 13th Part VII), Lynn Lowry (The Crazies).
I am not entirely sure if you can jam more awesomeness into one flick but of course it remains to be seen if it can deliver. The artwork does look promising though…Scott Jones says he was just trying calm his girlfriend down after they both had been hit by Vancouver police when the now-famous photos of them lying in the street and kissing was taken in the midst of Wednesday night’s riot.
"They started beating us with the shields, like trying to get us to move," Jones told CBC News in an exclusive television interview Friday.
"We weren’t being aggressive towards [police] or anything like that. But eventually they passed over us. And that’s when we were on the ground. She was a bit hysterical afterwards, obviously, and I was just trying to calm her down," said Jones, 29, an Australian who’s been in Canada for six months.
Alex Thomas said she wasn’t sure how she fell, although a witness has told CBCNews.ca that the Canadian woman was hit first by rioters and then pushed over by riot police trying to clear the street after rampant vandalism and looting spread through the downtown streets following the Vancouver Canucks' Game -7 Stanley Cup loss to the Boston Bruins.
"Tripped up? I’m not sure. I was starting to get really frightened because I’d never experienced anything like that before, and it’s really scary," Thomas told CBC News. "I was upset, and I fell down, and didn’t really know exactly what was happening."
Jones said they had been trying to get out of the downtown area but found themselves on a street filled with police in riot gear.
Photos gone viral
"They were literally charging at us and we tried to run away," he said.
Neither Thomas nor Jones blames the police for what happened, but understand they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The 'Kissing Couple,' Alex Thomas and Scott Jones, told their story to CBC News Friday. CBC (CBC) "[The police] were doing their job," Thomas said.
Jones has been working as a bartender and trying to break into acting and standup comedy. At least one of his comedy routines has been posted on YouTube.
Following the Canucks' loss to the Boston Bruins, images of the kissing couple surrounded by riot police were splashed around the world.
On Twitter, Facebook and other social media, there was early speculation that the picture was staged. CBC.ca immediately launched a search to uncover the identity of the two.
Hannah Jones, Scott's sister from Perth, told CBC News earlier Friday in an email that the man in the pictures is her brother, and he recently started dating Thomas, a former student at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
The two are overwhelmed by all the coverage the picture has gotten, she said, fielding calls from media around the world.In wake of British riots, New York police prepare for unrest
By Bill Van Auken
19 August 2011
New York police anti-riot units assembled last week at a training facility on Randall’s Island to prepare for an outbreak of civil unrest similar to those that have occurred recently in Britain.
The August 12 “mobilization exercises” brought together police from all five of the city’s boroughs, including specialized units such as mounted police and aviation.
The riot training was held just days after the New York City Police Department (NYPD) announced the formation of a new “juvenile justice unit,” which is to include detachments of cops assigned to troll Internet social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in search of any indication of impending disturbances.
During and after the British riots, police and politicians have launched a hysterical witch-hunt against social media, blaming its use for the spread of unrest across the country. Police have admitted that they contemplated shutting down Twitter and other sites and are still considering the use of such measures against any future disturbances.
A British court this week sentenced two young men to four years in prison for material they posted on Facebook dealing with the riots, although there is no evidence that their online activities had any connection to or resulted in any criminal actions.
The British riots were triggered by a police attack on a peaceful protest against the August 4 police shooting death of Mark Duggan, 29.
The British government and media have incessantly argued that the riots cannot be attributed to social conditions, but rather are the product of the moral failings—lack of responsibility, greed, etc.—of those involved.
The training mobilization of the NYPD, however, makes it more than clear that the ruling elite on the other side of the Atlantic is quite conscious that the conditions of social inequality, poverty, police abuse and attacks on social services and conditions that exist in both Britain and America can trigger an explosion in New York City.
In terms of income distribution, New York City, the capital of the US financial sector, is the most unequal major city in the US and is among the most unequal cities in the world. According to recent figures, the city’s top 1 percent monopolizes 44 percent of income. The city’s boundaries encompass both Wall Street, where top executives rake in salaries and bonuses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, and the Bronx, the poorest county in the country. If it were a country, New York City would be one of the most unequal in the world, ranking between Chile and Honduras.
Sitting atop this social powder-keg is Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the richest of New York City’s 58 billionaires.
While Bloomberg as well as New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo have carried out drastic cuts in social programs, and city payrolls are shrinking as thousands of jobs are eliminated by means of layoffs and attrition, one area spared the budget ax has been the NYPD. Its total reduction in spending in the mayor’s budget amounted to less than 1 percent. Last month, the city hired another 1,400 new cops into its Police Academy, which will swell police ranks to over 35,000.
This massive force has been deployed in the city’s working class and poor neighborhoods, where young people, the great majority of them black and Hispanic, are subjected to continuous harassment. Last year, the NYPD broke its previous record, stopping and frisking a total of over 600,000 people, nearly 90 percent of whom were neither arrested nor charged with any offense. During the first quarter of this year, cops stopped and frisked over 183,000 people, putting the NYPD on track to break the 700,000 mark for the year as a whole.
In recent months, New York police have acted with increasing provocation in enforcing the “zero tolerance” principles first introduced under former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who has been contracted by Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron as a consultant on policing in wake of the riots.
On July 28, dozens of police attacked a group of Uruguayan football fans in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, who were celebrating their national team’s victory in the Copa America. Police responded to the peaceful crowd with random arrests, clubbings and the ripping down of Uruguay flags. A number of people were injured in the police action, including young girl whose leg was broken as cops pushed back the crowd.
And on June 28, police broke up an album-release party organized by the rap group Smif-N-Wessun at a night club on the Lower East Side, severely beating and arresting a number of those in attendance.
The combination of stark social inequality, depression-level unemployment in many city neighborhoods, ever-escalating budget cuts and relentless police harassment are creating the conditions for a social eruption in America’s largest city.During a pre-taped interview with "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd that aired Sunday morning, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump came to the defense of longtime frenemy, Roger Ailes, calling him "a good person," and "very talented," while downplaying allegations of sexual harassment made against the recently ousted Fox News chief.
When asked by Todd to address rumors that Ailes is advising his campaign, Trump said: "Well, I don't want to comment, but he's been a friend of mine for a long time.
"I can tell you that some of the woman that are complaining, I know how much he's helped them. And even recently," Trump explained to Todd, referring to charges made by Gretchen Carlson and other Fox employees that Ailes sexually harassed them during their time at the conservative media network. "And when they write books that are fairly recently released, and they say wonderful things about him. And now, all of a sudden, they're saying these horrible things about him. It's very sad."
In fact, the "help" to which Trump seems to be referencing is connected to one of the more odious allegations made by Carlson, who charges that workplace advancement at Fox News correlated to her tolerance (or lack thereof) of Ailes' harassment and propositions.
Trumps comments come after months of friction between the two moguls, exacerbated by Trump's treatment of Fox anchor Megyn Kelly during the primaries, for which Ailes reportedly asked Trump: "What the hell is wrong with you?" and demanded the candidate apologize. Trump, for his part, was alleged by New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman to be in possession of an "arsenal" of secrets about the Fox boss, which may have been used for leverage to receive preferential treatment from the network.
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Whatever secrets might have been in Trump's possession may now be moot, as Ailes' News Corp bosses have begun the process to remove the Fox News founder in response to the harassment allegations.
Trump continued his Ailes adulation, telling Todd, "I've always found him to be just a very, very good person. And by the way, a very, very talented person. Look at what he's done. So I feel very badly."
As for Todd's original question as to whether Ailes is, or would soon be, actively working to put Trump in the White House? It's a charge Trump seemed to dismiss, saying simply: "My campaign's doing pretty well."There’s a wave of youngsters taking office worldwide—or so headlines will have you believe. Certainly, more political leaders are skewing young these days. Canada’s three major parties are now each led by late Gen-Xers (Justin Trudeau, 45, Andrew Scheer, 38, and Jagmeet Singh, 38). Likewise, France and New Zealand recently elected their first leaders to not know the horror of writing a college paper without the internet, and the incoming chancellor of Austria, 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz, hardly knows a time before cellphones.
In 2015, a then-43-year-old Justin Trudeau became one of Canada’s youngest prime ministers, second only to Joe Clark, who took office the day before his 40th birthday. Trudeau’s cabinet, by extension, is often characterized as youthful—a cohort of green, starry-eyed keeners finding their way at the outset of their political careers.
In reality, Trudeau’s government is not particularly young.
The average age of his cabinet is 50.7—a whisker younger than Brian Mulroney’s cabinets (1984-93), which averaged 50.9 years old, and nearly four years older than John Turner’s brief cabinet (1984), which evidently took to heart the motto “live fast, die young.” Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s cabinets (1968-79, 1980-84) were younger than his son’s, as were the cabinets of Joe Clark (1979-80) and Kim Campbell (1993).
Of course, that’s just looking at the average age in cabinet over the course of each government’s time in office. Perhaps more interesting is the proportion of youthful ministers in each cabinet. Overall as a cabinet, the current Liberals are on the younger side: five of them—about 15 per cent—are, or have been at some point during their term, under 40. But Trudeau Sr.’s first cabinet was younger still, with nine members—just under 16.5 per cent—under 40. Both Harper’s and Turner’s cabinets were close behind, with about 14 per cent under 40 at some point.
It’s worth noting that cabinets tend to be younger in their early years in office than at the end, simply because most members stick around and age with the government. That may be one reason why the short-lived governments of Clark, Turner and Campbell skewed so young. Likewise, it might seem reasonable to assume Trudeau’s government would be young now but that it won’t be by the end of its first or perhaps second term.
But just two years in, not only is the government not young—it’s old. Trudeau’s cabinet has more senior citizens than any other in recent history—and by a substantial margin. So far, it has had seven cabinet members over 64. That’s more than 21 per cent of its total members, and about six per cent more old folks than the next oldest government, Stephen Harper’s.
Comparing the Canadian PMs
Justin Trudeau Liberal • 2015–present Cabinet’s average age: 50.7 Percentage over 64: 21.2%
Stephen Harper Conservative • 2006–2015 Cabinet’s average age: 52.6 Percentage over 64: 15.4%
Paul Martin Liberal • 2003–2006 Cabinet’s average age: 54.4 Percentage over 64: 12.5%
Jean Chrétien Liberal • 1993–2003 Cabinet’s average age: 52.4 Percentage over 64: 11.1%
Kim Campbell Progressive Conservative • 1993 Cabinet’s average age: 50.1 Percentage over 64: 0%
Brian Mulroney Progressive Conservative • 1984–1993 Cabinet’s average age: 50.9 Percentage over 64: 4.3%
John Turner Liberal • 1984 Cabinet’s average age: 47 Percentage over 64: 0%
Pierre Elliott Trudeau Liberal • 1980–1984 Cabinet’s average age: 49.3 Percentage over 64: 0%
Joe Clark Progressive Conservative • 1979–1980 Cabinet’s average age: 48.2 Percentage over 64: 0%
Pierre Elliott Trudeau Liberal • 1968–1979 Cabinet’s average age: 49.7 Percentage over 64: 5.5%
Correction: due to an editing error, an earlier version of this infographic misstated the political party of Kim Campbell, Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney.Just two weeks ago, the Sun Belt officially announced who plays who in 2016. There was debate and curiosity regarding the fixtures, as usually seems to be the case regarding the #FunBelt.
Now, it appears a lot more information about the future has been lent our way.
The Idaho Spokesman, in an article dated January 15th, the same day the Sun Belt 2016 slate was released, showed not only the Vandals' 2016 Sun Belt schedule, but also their 2017 slate.
Idaho in 2016 will host Georgia State, Troy, New Mexico State and South Alabama while traveling to UL Lafayette, App State, UL Monroe and Texas State.
The 2017 slate leads to the first conclusion.
There Will Be Minimal Change To The Sun Belt Schedule Between 2016 And 2017
Seven of the eight opponents on the Vandals' 2017 slate are a flip of their 2016 list of foes with Coastal Carolina replacing Texas State as a home game.
So it looks like whoever Sun Belt teams don't play in 2016 will also be who they don't play in 2017, with a new addition.
Another nugget came last week on Coastal Carolina's message board when someone posted their home and away opponents for the Chanticleers' inaugural 2017 Sun Belt season. The source has CCU hosting Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Texas State and Troy while traveling to Appalachian State, UL Monroe, Arkansas State and Idaho.
While not 100% credible, Clue B does line up with Clue A. Texas State would need a new road opponent and it has Coastal traveling to Moscow.
And FYI, the vote to extend or remove Idaho and New Mexico State as football-only is about extending or removing then after the 2017 season. So that March vote has no effect on this.
If these two things are true, it does appear to validate a couple of things.
It Appears The Sun Belt Will Not Have Divisions In 2017
Seriously, look at the Idaho and Coastal slates. Idaho doesn't play everyone in the west and Coastal likewise for the east. Unless there's some insane zipper conference or going north/south, then it appears unlikely.
That leads to the next deduction.
There Will Be No Sun Belt Conference Championship Game In 2017
If there's no round-robin between all league members or no round-robin between equal divisions in a conference, there can be no football conference championship game. So unless the Idaho and Coastal schedules are false, it's not happening.
Furthermore, Karl Benson said back in the fall that he was shooting for a conference championship game in 2018 after all 10 or 12 members (depending on the Idaho/NMSU vote this March) are eligible, so it lends further credence to these reports.
Trying to prognosticate the 2017 Sun Belt home and away opponents for all 12 teams isn't easy with the apparent guidelines. Still, we tried. using some deductive reasoning like teams that didn't play in 2014/15 won't be affected and came up with this monstrosity. It's not gonna make everyone happy.
You're Way-Too-Early, Possibly-Wrong 2017 Sun Belt Schedule Predictions.
Appalachian State
Home: New Mexico State, Georgia Southern, UL Lafayette, Coastal Away: Idaho, UL Monroe, Georgia State, Texas State DNP: Arkansas State, South Alabama, Troy
Arkansas State
Home: Troy, Coastal Carolina, Texas State, UL Lafayette Away: South Alabama, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, Georgia Southern DNP: Idaho, Appalachian State, Georgia State
Coastal Carolina
Home: Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Troy, Texas State Away: Appalachian State, UL Monroe, Arkansas State, Idaho DNP: South Alabama, UL Lafayette, New Mexico State
Georgia Southern
Home: Arkansas State, Georgia State, South Alabama, New Mexico State Away: Coastal Carolina, Troy, Appalachian State, UL Lafayette DNP: Texas State, Idaho, UL Monroe
Georgia State
Home: Idaho, Appalachian State, Troy, South Alabama Away: Texas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, UL Monroe DNP: New Mexico State, UL Lafayette, Arkansas State
Idaho
Home: UL Lafayette, Coastal Carolina, UL Monroe, Appalachian State Away: South Alabama, Troy, New Mexico State, Georgia State DNP: Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Texas State
UL Lafayette
Home: Georgia Southern, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, Texas State Away: South Alabama, Arkansas State, Appalachian State, Idaho DNP: Troy, Georgia State, Coastal Carolina
UL Monroe
Home: Georgia State, Arkansas State, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina Away: Texas State, Idaho, UL Lafayette, South Alabama DNP: New Mexico State, Troy, Georgia Southern
New Mexico State
Home: South Alabama, Idaho, Arkansas State, Troy Away: Texas State, Georgia Southern, UL Lafayette, Appalachian State DNP: Georgia State, UL Monroe, Coastal Carolina
South Alabama
Home: UL Monroe, Idaho, Arkansas State, UL Lafayette Away: Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Troy, New Mexico State DNP: Appalachian State, Texas State, Coastal Carolina
Texas State
Home: Appalachian State, Georgia State, UL Monroe, New Mexico State Away: UL Lafayette, Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State, Troy DNP: Georgia Southern, South Alabama, Idaho
Troy
Home: Texas State, South Alabama, Idaho, Georgia Southern Away: Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State, Arkansas State DNP: UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, Appalachian State
The best quick fix scenario for 2017 using the above info drops 2016 games Appalachian State vs Troy, Arkansas State vs Georgia State, Georgia Southern vs UL Monroe and and the aforementioned Texas State vs Idaho. Then you flip the 2016 schedule and plug in Coastal against those eight teams and not mess with the teams not playing the Chants. The only big negative is taking away App State vs Troy, but it seems to be the only thing that fits to make the rest easy.
Again, this might not be 100%, but with the info collected so far, it's looking decent. Amazing what you can do with some tidbits of info.POLICE: Good Samaritan stops robbery at Cumberland Park mall Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Video
TYLER, Texas (KETK) - UPDATE: One man was arrested after attempting to rob a couple, before being stopped by two good Samaritans in the Village at Cumberland Park's parking lot.
According to a press release by the Tyler Police Department, 34-year-old Chad Boening approached a man and woman in the parking lot between FD's Grill House and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Police say he brought out a knife and threatened the woman saying "do you want to see her die."
Police say that a father and a son saw the incident from their vehicle and confronted the man. Both men brought out their concealed handguns to subdue Boening.
Boening was held on the ground until an off-duty Game Warden who was in the area took him into custody.
He was later arrested when Tyler police arrived.
Boening is being charged with aggravated assault.
The incident is still under investigation.(written from a Production point of view Real World article
Several studio models of the Galaxy-class were created for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise. Two differently sized physical studio models were initially constructed for The Next Generation, to be joined by an intermediate sized one at a later stage. Advances in computer technology resulted in CGI model versions of the class being introduced, first in Generations, and subsequently during the run of Deep Space Nine for use in that series and beyond. Apart from these, several specialty models were also constructed of the Galaxy-class, or its components, to fulfill specific functions when the need for those arose due to specific script requirements. Various Galaxy-class models appeared in both the series premieres of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and the series finales of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Enterprise, making it the only Starfleet vessel of which external views were seen in all four spin-off television series, and the only one seen in all four finales.
Contents show]
Design Edit
When it came time to design a new starship Enterprise for The Next Generation, history did not repeat itself. Where Matt Jefferies had to produce hundreds of sketches to come up with the design direction for the original USS Enterprise, the main design work for the exterior of the USS Enterprise-D was done long before another Star Trek television series had even been considered.
Design origins Edit
In 1979, long before the new Star Trek series was announced, Andrew Probert, upon completion of his work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, painted an illustration of a future starship concept, strictly for his own enjoyment. "I actually did a little painting (8"×5.6") of a ship that would have been the Enterprise had I been able to |
it just wouldn't make sense," Alvarez said. "I never pick fights. If I get a bout agreement in the mail, I'll sign it. I'm just letting you know that."
Alvarez, 31, would much rather take a fight that would point him toward a title. He still doesn't quite understand why Diaz had an attitude with him, though.
"He said some dumb sh*t like that and was looking at me," Alvarez said. "It's foolish. It's really stupid. If that's what gets him to the fight and gets him riled up, then whatever. He just hasn't been fighting, and I think he has a lot of pent up stuff or whatever his deal is. It's whatever. It happened and it's over with."Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher have 11 F1 world titles between them
Sebastian Vettel paid tribute to his childhood hero Michael Schumacher after taking a "dream" first victory for Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
He said it was an "incredible" feeling to beat Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in only his second race for the team.
"It's been my dream," he said. "Michael was my hero. All the kids at the go-kart track looked up to him.
"When he turned up to shake hands every year it made our lives. I don't understand yet how special it is."
Vettel is following in the Ferrari footsteps of Schumacher, who won five consecutive titles with the team from 2000-2004.
Media playback is not supported on this device Vettel beats Mercedes to Malaysia win
Schumacher sustained a severe brain injury in a skiing accident at Christmas 2013, and is still undergoing rehabilitation at home, adding to the emotion of the occasion.
Vettel said: "Michael left very large footsteps but the target is not to fill those but to leave some new ones."
His victory marked a remarkable turnaround in form for Ferrari.
They had their worst season for 21 years last year, a performance that convinced Fernando Alonso that he had to leave the team after five years and move to McLaren.
Vettel was signed to replace the Spaniard and the team made major changes to their engineering department, sacking almost their entire group of senior engineers and changing team principal.
Media playback is not supported on this device Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel celebrates shock win in Malaysian Grand Prix
The German, who won four consecutive titles with Red Bull from 2010-2013 but decided to leave after a difficult 2014 in which he was out-paced by team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, said: "I'm speechless. Last year was not a good year for me. We had a great car but I was struggling to extract the performance. This year's car suits me very well.
"It's been a while since I was on the top step. The first time with Ferrari.
"We made big changes over the winter and the welcome the team gave me has been amazing. Great achievement. We have a great car.
"It is a bit emotional. Today is a very special day and will always remain part of me."
Vettel managed to beat Mercedes, who have dominated since the start of 2014, by having better tyre usage and strong race pace.
Sebastian Vettel holds up his infamous one-finger victory salute
"The race, really spot on, the whole team was there - great strategy, great pace, we beat them fair and square," he said.
"Our goal is to bring the World Championship back to Maranello, we know these guys are incredibly strong and very difficult to beat.
"The key was the way the tyres lasted. That's where we were able to close the gap compared to Mercedes.
"It is a bit of a surprise for us but we need to take it. We need to confirm that and then try to catch these guys."
Malaysian GP results
Malaysian GP coverage detailsRichard Winger, the longtime editor of Ballot Access News and encyclopedic expert on ballot access topics procedures, has a message for the people of North Carolina. If you care about North Carolina’s ballot access laws, take a few moments to read this, then contact Gov. Roy Cooper to let him know what you think about S.B. 656.
As already noted, on October 5 the North Carolina legislature passed the ballot access bill, SB 656. There is a danger that Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, will veto it. There is a provision in the bill, unrelated to ballot access, that cancels the 2018 primaries for state judicial elections, and Democrats are opposed to this.
Ballot access reform bills have been proposed in North Carolina for 31 years, and this is the first time one has passed the legislature. North Carolina requires a higher percentage of signatures to get a minor party or independent presidential candidate on the ballot (using the easiest method) than any other state. The current law required 89,366 signatures in 2016, and will require 94,221 in 2020 if the law remains unchanged. The law requires 2% of the last gubernatorial vote. Because North Carolina elects its governors in presidential years, 2% of the vote total in a high-turnout presidential year is significantly worse than the other 2% states (Indiana and Wyoming) because in presidential years their 2% is based on the midterm turnout.
Here is the form by which anyone may send a message to Governor Cooper. If you would rather send him a postal letter, the address is 20301 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-0301.
Important presidential candidates who have been kept off the North Carolina presidential ballot include Eugene McCarthy in 1976, Ron Paul in 1988, Ralph Nader in all the years he ran, all of the Green Party presidential nominees, all of the Constitution Party nominees, and Evan McMullin in 2016. The right to vote includes the right of choice for whom to vote.Tell me about your clever or creative use of STL algorithms!
I am looking for examples of really clever or creative applications of STL algorithms to solve problems.
I am working on a book on STL algorithm usage. You folks are all much smarter than me, so I would love to add some amazing examples of any and all algorithms in the STL tool chest, with generous attribution to the authors!
C++11/14 or C++98 are both great. We have people trying to solve problems in both the old and new worlds, so solutions in either are fine. Lambdas? Sure! Bind? No problem.
So if you’ve solved some problems creatively with clever use of one or more STL algorithms, please share it with the world. If it looks good, I’ll post it on my blog and consider it for inclusion as an example in the book.
Please comment below or email meBANG Showbiz
Usher found being a vegan too expensive.
The 'Good Kisser' hitmaker has confessed he ditched the diet - on which you cannot eat meat or any other animal products - because he was spending too much money on maintaining it.
Referring to the private chef he had travel with him on tour, he said: "That was opulent as hell. It was just difficult to find people who can make vegan food taste great."
However, the 36-year-old star - who has sons Naviyd Ely Raymond and Usher Raymond V from his marriage to ex-wife Tameka Foster - is now following an even stranger food regime.
He explained to Billboard magazine: "These days, I try to eat for my blood type when I'm not eating for the fat kid inside me."
Quizzed on what he meant by eating for his blood type, he added: "A doctor I know came up with it, but hasn't released it yet, so I don't want to tell you too much about it.
"But the idea is to eat the foods that work best for your body. For my blood type the meats I can eat are pork, beef and fish."On permanent display in the Royal Armouries’ collection at Fort Nelson, Hampshire are two huge, steel pipes bolted together and projecting high into the air. They’re enormous, big enough for someone to crawl through.
These giant cylinders are one of the few remaining pieces of a contender for one of the most audacious pieces of engineering ever designed: a “supergun” called Big Babylon, which could have fired satellites into orbit from a 156m-long barrel (512ft) embedded inside a hill.
Its Canadian inventor, Gerald Bull, who was one of the world’s leading artillery experts, had high hopes that it would revolutionise space launches, removing the need for conventional rockets. “Bull was an outstanding scientist and a charismatic figure, and this is the physical reminder of what he did on a monumental scale,” says Nicholas Hall, Keeper of Artillery at the Royal Armouries.
But Big Babylon was never built, and no-one has got close since. So what happened? The answer is a tale of hubris, thwarted ambitions and military secrets. At a time when Bull’s expertise should have been in high demand by all of the world’s superpowers, he chose to make his supergun for Saddam Hussein instead, a decision that would end in murder.
Decades later, tantalising questions remain: could Bull’s supergun idea have worked? And might the idea that died with him ever return?
A gifted academic, Bull began working with the Canadian and US governments researching supergun technology in the 1960s. Initially, engineers used his designs to test supersonic flight without the need for an expensive wind tunnel, by firing projectiles short distances through the barrel of a large gun. But although he would end up spending much of his career in government-funded weapons research designing rockets and guns for warring countries, his personal ambition was to use his designs to launch satellites not missiles.
“Low cost was the concept, at least,” explains Andrew Higgins, a professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University, Canada. “Rather than throwing away the first stage of a rocket, using a large gun for the first stage would enable this hardware to be reused and easily serviced.”
In 1961, Bull began working on the High Altitude Research Project (Harp), a joint venture between the US and Canadian governments. Using modified ex-Navy guns, Bull and his colleagues fired weather probes into sub-orbit and back down again. The costly and controversial Vietnam War meant the project was canned in 1967 before they could get any objects into orbit, but it teased Bull with the possibility of creating a satellite-launching supergun – a spacegun.
By using a supergun you can bypass the costly first moments of a rocket launch
The idea appealed to Bull because it would remove the need for multiple rocket stages to reach orbit. The first moments of a conventional rocket launch require a huge amount of energy to get the rocket moving, because this is when the vehicle is filled with the most amount of fuel, and the atmosphere is at its thickest. What’s more, rocket motors are expensive.
The Harp launch guns could reach 2km/s, explains Higgins, and if you used gas to power the projectiles, you could go much faster. “They really replace the first 1.5 stages of a conventional launch vehicle,” he says.
You might think that no satellite could survive the huge g-force of acceleration of a spacegun launch, but this is “often over exaggerated”, according to Higgins. “Military artillery shells today have GPS and laser-guidance optics and electronics that survive these accelerations, so it can be done. Obviously, not everything can be launched this way, but gun launch is well suited for launching fuel and building materials.
“Punching through the lower (denser) part of the atmosphere at high speed is an intense heat transfer problem, but ablative coatings and heat shields on the nose of the projectile should be up to the job,” says Higgins. One of the main downsides would be the sonic boom, an environmental, or even political, concern, he adds.
Bull was convinced that his supergun designs were the way forward, he just needed the funding. The problem was that by the 1970s the rest of the world had lost interest in superguns and were now looking elsewhere. To find money, Bull began to sell weapons and continued to develop his space supergun as a side project. He set up a private company – the Space Research Corporation of Quebec – and soon started selling arms to the South African government.
In 1976, Bull was arrested in South Africa for violating the United Nations arms embargo and he served six months in a US prison, wrote the New York Times after his death. On release he began selling to South Africa again, and this time was fined $55,000 for international arms dealing. Fed up with the involvement of the Canadian and US governments in his work he moved to Brussels, Belgium, and began operating through a European company.
Bull was not tricky to work with, according to Hall, but he did seem to have become darker towards the end of his career – more autocratic. “I don’t think he was the archetypal mad genius figure,” adds Hall. “But he was slowly alienating himself from the Western world.”
In 1981, the Iraqi government contacted Bull to design artillery for them to use in the Iraq-Iran war. At this time, Saddam Hussein was the Iraqi defence secretary; he liked Bull and his designs after they proved vital in their campaign.
“He was particularly interesting to Hussein because he could help him with their artillery problems,” says Hall. “At the time, working with Iraq wasn’t such a strange decision because they weren’t a threat to the West. Hussein wanted to be the leader of the Arab world and show his success with their technology. He did wish for some sort of space programme, so this would have appealed to Bull. He was a great catch for Hussein as an expert.”
Hussein wanted to be the leader of the Arab world and show his success with their technology – Nicholas Hall
Finally, in 1988, the Iraqi government paid Bull $25 million to begin Project Babylon – the first true spacegun project – on the condition that he continued to work on their artillery. Project Babylon began life as three superguns; two full-sized Big Babylon 1000mm calibre guns and a prototype 350mm calibre gun called Baby Babylon. The full-size Big Babylon barrel would have been 156m in length with a one metre bore. In total it would have weighed 1,510 tonnes; far too big to be transportable, and so instead would have been mounted at a 45 degree angle on a hillside.
Big Babylon would have overshadowed all previous supergun designs for size – including guns built for military use like the giant German guns from the two World Wars and later spacegun designs – although we can only estimate other details, like launch velocity.
You can see a larger version of this graphic here (Credit: Nigel Hawtin)
Using nine tonnes of special supergun propellant, Big Babylon would have been theoretically capable of firing a 600kg projectile across 1,000 kilometres, putting Kuwait and Iran well within striking distance from inside Iraq. Alternatively, the gun could be used to launch a 2,000kg rocket-assisted projectile carrying a 200kg satellite.
The full-size Big Babylon barrel would have been 156m in length and it would have weighed 1,510 tonnes
To do this would have required an enormous charge. “One very considerable technical problem with a gun of this size is how you ignite the charge,” says Hall. “It burns quickly, but with such a long barrel you need a sustained release. This means you need to solve some far more complicated calculations than with smaller types of artillery.” He believes Bull could have worked it out though.
“We know roughly what the projectiles would have looked like. Something similar to an anti-tank round, where the projectile is housed in a light-weight casing which falls away at the muzzle of the gun. Beyond that, we don’t really know.”
Had Bull been able to solve these issues, the capabilities of Big Babylon would have made the supergun an attractively cheap way to launch satellites. The cost was roughly $1,727 per kilogram, adjusting for inflation. By comparison, Nasa estimates that it costs $22,000 per kilogram to launch a modern satellite into orbit using conventional rockets.
Bull wasn’t the only one who saw the potential in superguns – experiments elsewhere around the same time supported the idea that it could work. In the late 1980s, a scientist at the US Lawrence Livermore National Lab called John Hunter with a background in magnetic guns began to work on gas-powered guns with a few million dollars in funding and the project name Super Harp (or Sharp), as an homage to Bull’s earlier endeavours.
A powder gun like the one used in Harp and a gas gun like Sharp both work in the same basic way – expanding gases. The lighter the gases molecular weight, the faster it expands in air. Gunpowder has a molecular weight of 22, slightly less than the average molecular weight of the gases in air at around 28, but ignited gunpowder is incredibly hot, so that’s why it expands so quickly. The hydrogen used in gas guns, however, has a molecular weight of two so expands extraordinarily quickly in air.
“Harp would have used a powder gun to get [the projectile] to about 2 km/s, then used a rocket to get the rest of the way to the 8 km/s required for orbit,” says Higgins. “Gas guns (like Sharp) have proven to get to speeds of 6 km/s.” So the projectile is already travelling much closer to the required speed to enter orbit.
The benefit would be that less space would be needed for propellant to carry it fully into orbit, providing much more room for satellites, fuel or building materials.
Sharp demonstrated that gas gun technology could reach escape velocity – and Bull was aware of Hunter’s work – but there’s no evidence he was inspired by this technology.
Bull wasn’t ignorant to the possibility that Iraq could use his supergun technology to fire missiles, but he justified his actions by pointing out that it would be an impractical weapon, says Hall. Its size meant that it would not be possible to move the gun once it was constructed; it only pointed in one direction, was slow to fire, could be easily located and easily destroyed if anyone wished to. Everyone would know where it was, and everyone would immediately know if it had been fired from the seismic tremors it caused. The recoil force from the gun would have totalled 27,000 tonnes – equivalent to a nuclear explosion – and would have registered as a major seismic event around the world. “It was completely vulnerable to air attack,” says Hall. “You couldn’t move it. But of course when one allows one’s brain to think about what Hussein then did, it’s tempting to consider it as a military threat.”
When the gun fired it would have registered as a major seismic event around the world
It’s possible, of course, that the Iraqi government wanted the weapon despite its weaknesses. “It was meant for long-range attack and also to blind spy satellites,” General Hussein Kamel al-Majeed, who supervised Iraq’s weapons development programme, is quoted as saying after he defected to Jordan to work with the United Nations. “Our scientists were seriously working on that. It was designed to explode a shell in space that would have sprayed a sticky material on the satellite and blinded it.”
By May 1989 Baby Babylon, the 45-metre long prototype gun, was completed and mounted on a hillside, and tests began. The smaller gun should have been easily capable of launching a projectile 750km.
Components for the Big Babylon gun were manufactured in Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Italy. The enormous steel pipes on display at Fort Nelson were manufactured in the UK by Sheffield Forgemasters – known for manufacturing high quality steel.
Less than a year later, however, it would all come to an end.
On March 22 1990 Bull was shot three times in the back and twice in the head as he entered his Brussels apartment. No one witnessed his assassination – the gun was silenced – and a killer was never identified. In the months before his killing, Bull’s flat was broken into on several occasions. With hindsight, this might have been a warning of what was to come. The New York Times reported that when police arrived at the scene they found the key still in his door and his unopened briefcase containing nearly $20,000 in cash.
It’s not known who killed him. The Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, was linked with the assassination of Bull, not because of the supergun directly, but because of the work he was doing additionally to improve Iraq’s ballistic missile technology. Others linked the US, UK and South African intelligence services, as well as Iraq themselves.
After his death, Project Babylon went cold. Two weeks later, UK customs seized supergun components leaving the port of Teesport. Iraq invaded Kuwait shortly after and that ended Western involvement with the Iraqi regime.
So could superguns ever make a return? Some have tried. In 2009, Hunter and two other colleagues began a new venture off the back of Sharp. The project was called Quicklaunch, and it hoped to use hydrogen-powered gas guns to fire fuel to space station depots for use in manned spaceflight to the Moon and to Mars.
The launcher was designed to be 1,100m long and to float in the ocean almost entirely underwater with only the 3m wide muzzle projecting above the waves. The advantage of this over all the earlier land-based designs is that the gun could be moved and angled easily, allowing more than one launch a day to different orbits. Hunter even suggests, in this Google Tech Talk from 2009, that the gun could launch a payload every two hours.
However, the project never really got going because of “internal issues”, according to Hunter. “It’s no more. There’s some intellectual property there but the members have split up.”
It also looks unlikely that any supergun projects will restart given that Space X’s reusable rocket launchers have been dominating the headlines. “For now, with the work Elon Musk is doing with Space X there’s no room for a project like Quicklaunch,” says Hunter. “But I’m happy as a clam for Elon, I really am, because it takes the monkey off my back.”
Someone with Musk’s financial clout could explore superguns if he wanted, Hunter adds, but it’s probably not in his interest to undercut his efforts with rockets. “Elon is a smart businessman, he understands that if he pursued a less conventional method he would lose the backing he has,” he says. “He would rock the boat too much. He would lose his base. It would be a mistake to support this even if he knows the physics is right.”
There’s also the fact that Bull clouded the potential of superguns by his choice of politically controversial backers. “There’s a stigma around superguns that mean they are unlikely to be considered even if they’re a better technology for launching satellites,” says Hall.
There’s a stigma around superguns that mean they are unlikely to be considered – Nicholas Hall
Hunter is optimistic about the future though. “I think we’ll see superguns again. There’s a chance that I will take it forward if Elon drops the ball, but for now we need too many miracles for it to work out.”
However, a handful of universities and research facilities around the world do still use supergun-like technology on a smaller scale for aerospace engineering. Only not to launch satellites, but to test high-speed impacts of space debris on satellites’ protective layers.
The gif above shows high-speed impact of a 1cm diameter aluminium projectile on 3mm aluminium satellite shielding – essentially the same protection used on the International Space Station – at 6.5km/s (Credit: Andrew Higgins)
At the end of the war the UN seized and destroyed the one working Baby Babylon prototype
“I operate a gun in my lab here at McGill that is nudging up to 11 km/s (almost escape velocity),” says Higgins. And there are even plans to design guns that reach up to 15km/s. These incredible speeds are needed to test what happens when tiny fragments of space debris strike the outer layers of satellites, something not possible to achieve without these high-powered gas guns. So while no satellites are being launched with Bull’s technology, it is being used to protect the ones that are already up there.
Meanwhile, the remaining parts of Bull’s supergun are mostly sitting in storage, or in museum displays. At the end of the war the UN seized and destroyed the one working Baby Babylon prototype and the remaining components of the two Big Babylon guns, as well as evidence of Iraqi designs for their own supergun.
Some parts survived though: those seized by UK customs. “After they were not needed as evidence, they would normally have been sold or cut up,” says Hall. “Because customs were interested in the story, they arranged for some of the pipes to be given to museums, and the MOD kept some.”
To the outside eye, those two giant cylinders in the Royal Armoury don’t look like much – you could mistake them for an oil pipe – but these chunks of metal are some of the last remaining fragments of Gerald Bull’s legacy: a man whose dreams of aiming high brought him crashing back to Earth.
--
William Park is BBC Future’s social media producer. He tweets at @williamhpark.
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If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.AMMAN (Reuters) - Military support from Iran and its Shi’ite ally Hezbollah has given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad new impetus in his fight against the insurgents intent on ousting him, but at a price.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad heads the plenary meeting of the central committee of the ruling al-Baath party, in Damascus in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA July 8, 2013. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters
Assad now risks losing much of his autonomy to Tehran and becoming a pawn in a wider sectarian war between Sunni Muslims and Shi’ites that may not end even if he is forced to step down, military experts and diplomats in the region say.
Having lost thousands of troops and militiamen from his Alawite sect as the war grinds through its third year, and anxious to preserve his elite loyalist units, Assad is now relying on Hezbollah from Lebanon and other Shi’ite militias allied with Iran to turn the tide of battle.
Alawite army units with their vast arsenal of artillery and missiles have been taking a back seat in combat, using these weapons supported by the air force to obliterate rebellious neighborhoods and blow holes in rebel lines for Iranian-and Hezbollah-trained local militias.
In some cases men from Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group that is one of Lebanon’s most powerful military and political forces, have been doing the street fighting, according to rebel commanders and other opposition sources.
Under this new arrangement, Hezbollah and Iran have become directly involved in the command structures of Assad’s forces, eroding his authority and the Alawite power base that has underpinned four decades of family rule by him and his father.
The Alawites, to which Assad belongs, are an offshoot of Islam that has controlled Syria since the 1960s.
Unlike the Shi’ites in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, Syria’s Alawites tend to be secular and lack the religious zeal that has helped motivate thousands of Shi’ite militia to come to Syria.
Security sources in the region estimate there are about 15,000 Shi’ite fighters from Lebanon and Iraq in Syria, and they have helped produce success on the battlefield, reversing gains made by rebels in two years of fighting.
When rebel fighters have held confined areas, such as the border town of Qusair, which was overrun by Hezbollah and Assad loyalists two months ago, they have put themselves at a serious disadvantage, the sources said.
Rebellious Sunni districts in Homs to the south are being hit hard and Damascus suburbs, a main concentration of the Arab- and Western-backed Free Syrian Army, are under siege as the war’s death toll climbs above 90,000.
But Assad’s newfound military advantage may prove short lived, despite the increasing pressure on the rebels, military experts and diplomats believe.
The fall of Qusair, and Hezbollah’s triumphant rhetoric, spurred regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia into action. The kingdom, diplomats say, has assumed the main role in backing the opposition in coordination with the United States.
TRAINED MILITIAS
Signs of renewed support for the opposition are showing in the northern city of Aleppo, where a government counterattack backed by Hezbollah, which trained Shi’ite militia in the area, has stalled, according to the opposition.
Even if Assad can capture Homs, hold Damascus and overrun neighborhoods that had fallen to rebels, such as Jobar, Barzeh and Qaboun, he would preside over a much reduced country.
Kurdish fighters are consolidating their hold on a de facto autonomous region in the grain- and oil-producing northeastern province of Hasakah that came to being after Assad’s forces withdrew to concentrate on defending areas in the interior.
Hardline Islamist brigades are ruling much of two provinces east of Hasakah and they are strongly present in Aleppo. Assad is mainly left with Damascus and a corridor running through Homs to his Alawite heartland and army bases on the coast and to Hezbollah’s strongholds in Lebanon.
Andrew Terrill, research professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Army War college, said the rebels will “hang on” because Assad has lost too much of the country.
“Winning battles is very different than winning wars because people who are under assault are going to recoup at some point. The rebels remain armed and remain able to strike at him,” Terrill told Reuters.
“Assad may be able to win in the sense that he may stay in power and he is not overthrown directly, but I cannot imagine him pacifying the country because I just think there are too many rebels and too much resistance,” he said.
Terrill said new weapons expected from Saudi Arabia are bound to redress the balance of power as well as promised U.S. arms. Salim Idriss, head of the Free Syrian Army’s command, is due to visit the United States this week to press for speedy U.S. arms shipments.
Iran meanwhile, continues to supply Assad with military assistance and financing estimated at $500 million a month, according to opposition sources.
“The Iranians and Hezbollah go in and train people and if they can whip these militias into shape then Assad could increasingly rely on them and spare his crack troops,” Terrill said.
Hezbollah has openly acknowledged its involvement in Syria, but Assad and Iran have not commented.
PRAETORIAN GUARD
Faced with losing large areas of Syria to mainly Sunni rebel fighters, Assad has adjusted tactics in the last few months to preserve his mostly Alawite Praetorian guard units — the Republican Guards, the Fourth Division and the Special Forces — and started relying on Hezbollah, especially to capture the central region of Homs, the sources said
Mohammad Mroueh, a member of the Syrian National Council, said Hezbollah and Iran have been training the militias Assad is using for street fighting in Homs and have established, together with Iranian officials, operations rooms in the city.
“When there is an area where the army and the militia encounter stiff resistance, they’re calling Hezbollah to do the fighting,” said Mroueh.
Abu Imad Abdallah, a rebel commander in southern Damascus, said Hezbollah fighters and Iraqi Shi’ite militia were key to capturing two areas on the south-eastern approaches to the capital — Bahdaliyeh and Hay al Shamalneh — in recent weeks.
“They went in after saturation bombing by the regime. They are disciplined and well trained and are fighting as religious zealots believing in a cause. If it was the army we would not be worried,” he said.
But veteran opposition activist Fawaz Tello said that using Hezbollah was a sign of Assad’s weakness, pointing to his inability to rely on Sunnis who form the bulk of the army.
“Remember that Assad started this conflict with about a million men under arms between conscripts and the army and the security apparatus. Now more and more he is relying on foreign troops and without them he will lose, especially if the rebels begin to receive advanced weapons,” Tello said.
Assad was now becoming an Iranian proxy, Tello said, while Mamoun Abu Nawar, a Jordanian military analyst, said the Syrian leader was forced to bow to the will of Tehran.
“He can no longer call a division head and tell him to bomb the hell out of this neighborhood or that. His command has been eroded and the command structure is now multinational,” Abu Nawar said.
A diplomat in the region put it more bluntly: “Whether Assad stays or goes is becoming irrelevant. The conflict is now bigger than him, and it will continue without him. Iran is calling the shots.”The research project “The Social Costs of incarceration” is the largest study of imprisonment and return to a normal life that has ever been conducted in Europe.
In the study, researchers looked at prison sentences linked to recidivism. In addition, the researchers looked at the extent to which former inmates have returned to work. What makes the project unique is linking large administrative data sets to data sets from the courts. They have done this to measure the effect of what happens when the criminals have received different penalties for the same offense because they randomly met different judges in court with different leniency towards incarcerating. In other words: if a judge incarcerates differently for the same offense, what will be the consequences for the offender in the long term?
“The results show that the Norwegian prison model with extensive use of labour training while serving time, gives surprisingly good results,” says Professor Katrine Løken at the Department of Economics, University of Bergen (UiB), who led the research project.
The study shows:
• Five years after conviction, there is a 27 per cent lower risk that convicts who have been in prison have committed new crimes, compared to those who were given more lenient penalties, like probation and community service.
• For the 60 per cent of inmates who had not been employed for the last five years preceding the conviction, the decline in criminal activity is even bigger.
• Among these the risk that they have committed new crimes after five years was reduced by 46 per cent. In addition, the proportion who are working are 40 per cent higher after five years, contrasted with those who have received more lenient penalties.
• The group of inmates who lose their jobs because they have gone to prison, have no positive effect of being imprisoned, however they do not commit more criminal offences than the other group when they are released.
The study is published as a Working Paper in Economics at the University of Bergen.
Work is the key
The effect of imprisonment on a criminal path is not well known. In Western countries there are major differences in the incarceration systems. In Scandinavian countries such as Norway, the prison system focuses on rehabilitation and job training.
If rehabilitation programmes in prison work, is your opinion that we should send more offenders to jail?
“Not necessarily. Work is the key to get out of a criminal pattern. We see that labour-programmes in prison give people opportunities, while those offenders that are not sentenced to prison, are more difficult to follow up,” says Løken, adding:
“A relevant question is whether we should aim for full package of job-training outside prison. But research shows that work training outside of prison is more difficult to enforce. It appears that a certain element of coercion is needed to get offenders on a new track.”
Katrine Løken stresses that the research does not take a stand on the principle of imprisonment, but simply says something about how prison is perceived for the individual, and shows the effects of different sentencing.
Opposite results in the US
The idea for the project came after researchers heard about a couple of American studies of imprisonment with similar research method. In one of the newer US studies,from Texas, they find however that time served in prison leads to relapse into crime and exclusion from working life. The Norwegian researchers were curious if they would find the same tendencies in Norway.
“But the main reason why we thought the area could also be interesting to study in Norway is the unique data sets that exist here. While the US study was only conducted in one particular state in the US, we could get a total overview of all convicts in Norway over a long time period,” says Løken.
Unique Norwegian registry
In Norway there are data for the whole population from Statistics Norway (SSB). In addition there are data records of all criminals in Norway.
The researchers intertwined these datasets against the Norwegian legal data base “Lovdata” and could thus identify how different judges sentenced the same offense differently. Then they measured the effect of the prison sentence and whether it was conditional or unconditional, and saw how this influenced future criminal behaviour and attachment to the labour market.
“By focusing on the direct impact of a judge’s sentencing, we ended up with a better set of data, which told us much more about the effect of prison than most previous studies have been able to,” says Løken.The Labour Party has always been at the forefront of tackling prejudice, whether it was workers uniting against fascism on Cable Street in east London in 1936 or when the last Labour government legislated for “freedom of religion” through the human rights act in 1998.
It is those values of equality and solidarity that led the Greater London Council to sponsor the first ever black history month event 30 years.
In the last few days, Islamophobia awareness month has come to an end. It’s a time that should remind us of the continuous struggles Muslims go through on a daily basis. As a black Muslim both months are significant to me – they remind me of the barriers I face, one due to the colour of my skin, and the other due to the God that I worship. Nevertheless, this month shouldn’t be marked by simply highlighting the levels of Islamophobia in our society, but by looking at how government policies have fuelled those shocking levels and put forward objective solutions to eradicate this form of prejudice from our society.
Hate crimes on British mosques doubled in 2017, rising from 47 last year to 110 incidents. With the largest increase in Islamophobic hate crimes taking place in Greater Manchester and London, both indicated the spike in hate crimes following terrorist attacks.
Islamophobia isn’t unique to one part of society, in fact political parties have been engulfed in it, now more than ever. The Tories have more high profile examples, Zac Goldsmith’s disgusting and Islamophobic mayoral campaign is a prime example, when he linked Sadiq Khan’s Muslim background to the 7/7 bombings.
This autumn Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, hosted an event in parliament with a prominent anti-Islam campaigner, Tapan Ghosh, a notorious nationalist linked to the English Defence League, who recently said “Backwardness is the most powerful ‘weapon’ of Islam. Rohingyas are glaring example.” Blackman claimed he was unaware of |
. It’s possible to look back on the year and remember a list of grievances, but it might be better to remember it as a wake-up call. Earlier this year, John Cho told me, “I think, while my career is fucking great for an Asian actor, I haven’t been given the chance to do all that I can.” Here’s hoping to 2017.Contributing editor Colin Liddell published an article with title Is Black Genocide Right? and a photograph of a vulture hovering over a young African child. The article advocates exactly what the title states - genocide of the Black race:
This is not just a tit-for-tat idea either. In the changing nature of the New South Africa, which is still essentially a collection of White-created-and-maintained institutions being gradually but inexorably Africanized – i.e. corrupted, ground down, and barbarized—we see the true nature of the society that will emanate from the continuing exaltation of the Black man; a world of savagery, disease, and death, replenished by a wild, thoughtless fertility; a world that will set no store on the higher values that have characterized the civilizations created by other races.
The basic habits, ideas, and practices that help civilization to survive and prosper in other parts of the world seem largely absent among large elements of South Africa's Black population, and it seems that it is only a matter of time before the country sinks to the level of poverty and savagery endemic in most of the rest of Africa and places like Haiti and Detroit. If this is the case, then, rather than the question of White Genocide, shouldn't the debate really be focused on whether Black Genocide is something worth considering?
This is the race that history and the present example of South Africa proves is least able to take care of itself; a race that has contributed almost nothing to the pool of civilization and which even shows little inclination to stay within the bounds of that civilization; a race that also seems to harbor a potent inferiority complex and savage hatred towards the creators of that civilization;
And Liddell is not just thinking about Blacks living in South Africa:With civilized Whites having fewer children and the planet's resources being depleted by "savages" there can only be one - final - solution:I believe strongly in Free Speech and the First Amendment, but a piece like this cannot stand. Somewhere there is another Anders Behring Breivik on the verge of carrying out a murderous rampage, and someone like Liddell could push him over the edge.
And if Liddell's piece were not disgusting enough, the comments from the Alternative Right's readers are even more alarming. Here is a typical comment:
Negros are an obsolete race. They can serve no purpose. While they were, like all low IQ people, at one time useful as dumb labor, technology has long since made them non-economical. The world in general would be better off if they went extinct.The cast of pro-war Republican candidates again argued for aggressive sanctions and pre-emptive strikes on Iran in Thursday’s Republican Presidential debate. But the real battle was between Rep. Ron Paul on the one side and Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum on the other.
Ron Paul argued that jumping the gun on Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program would lead America down the road to another bloody, expensive war.
“To me the greatest danger is that we will have a president that will overreact, and we will soon bomb Iran,” he said. “We ought to really sit back and think, not jump the gun and believe that we are going to be attacked. That’s how we got into that useless war in Iraq and lost so much.”
He went on to say it makes more sense to stop threatening Iran in our rhetoric and our policies and open up a diplomatic engagement.
Senator Rick Santorum, in defiance of the evidence and everything that is known about Iran, said the Shiite Iranian leadership is the equivalent of al Qaeda, a Sunni jihadist group. Escaping an explanation about how an entire country would aim to be incinerated in a nuclear retaliation by bombing Israel and the U.S. with atomic weapons, he made explicit how certain war would be under his leadership.
Michele Bachmann decided to take another route of fact-less war rhetoric: “We know without a shadow of a doubt that Iran will take a nuclear weapon, they will use it to wipe our ally, Israel, off the face fo the map. And they’ve stated they will use it against the United States of America. We would be fools and naves to ignore their purpose and their plan.”
Ron Paul responded by reiterating the facts, that there is “no U.N. evidence” of an Iranian nuclear program. Indeed, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, concluded that Iran is not diverting nuclear materials towards a weapons program.
The GOP field for President of the United States is virtually unanimous in their aims for military confrontation with Iran, a country that has not been shown to be a credible national security threat to Israel, the U.S., or any other country. Ron Paul exhibited his variance with the establishment by arguing for peace.
Last 5 posts by John GlaserThunder Bay Police suspect a 23-year-old man died Sunday morning from injuries he sustained after being struck by a train. Just after 7 a.m., Canadian Pacific Railway employees found the man lying beside the tracks near Pacific Ave. and N.
Thunder Bay Police suspect a 23-year-old man died Sunday morning from injuries he sustained after being struck by a train.
Just after 7 a.m., Canadian Pacific Railway employees found the man lying beside the tracks near Pacific Ave. and N. Hardisty St.
The police press release reads, "it appeared the male had been struck by a train."
The man was taken to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Thunder Bay Police and CP Police are performing a joint investigation.
Police would not say whether foul play is suspected. More information is expected once an autopsy is conducted.Photo by w?odi / CC
Over at ReadWriteWeb I take a look at the controversy surrounding the Lieberman-Collins bill:
It doesn’t sound like a “kill switch.” The bill would require the President to submit a report describing, among other things, “The actions necessary to preserve the reliable operation and mitigate the consequences of the potential disruption of covered critical infrastructure” (pg. 84 lines 1-4). That sounds like the opposite of a kill switch: this legislation describes a process by which the president is expected to take action to ensure access to “critical infrastructure” -including the Internet.
There’s plenty of room to debate the merits of the federal government dictating the security policies of private companies, the ability of the president to continually extend any provisions beyond 30 days, the value of establishing new cyber security departments within the government, and the vagueness of the language in the bill. But this is nothing nearly so radical as some are making it out to be.
In fact, as Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ web site for the bill points out, the President already has a legislative (but of course, not technological) “kill switch.” The Communications Act of 1934 gave the president power to shut down “wire communications.”The 2016 campaign is spawning a new axiom in presidential politics: You can’t spell POTUS without pot.
For the first time, marijuana is becoming a significant policy issue for Republican and Democratic candidates — thanks in part to softening public attitudes toward the drug and Colorado’s prominent place on the political map.
“(Marijuana) is a topic that 2016 presidential candidates will not be able to avoid or dismiss with a pithy talking point,” said John Hudak, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a think tank whose research has focused on the legalization push. “It is one that candidates will have to think about and engage.”
In the Republican primary, the candidates are making marijuana an issue on their own. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he would enforce federal laws to crack down on pot use in states such as Colorado. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul became the first major candidate to attend a fundraiser with the weed industry in his recent Denver visit.
But pot politics hit prime time with an extended exchange in last week’s GOP debate on CNN, which drew an audience of 23 million.
The focus on the topic is likely to intensify as the campaign trail leads to Colorado for the next GOP debate, in October.
“It’s a national debate that’s occurring, and Colorado has led the way,” said U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican who opposed legalization.
On the GOP side, he said, “I don’t think you can talk about the states’ rights issue without talking about the biggest states’ rights issue of modern time.”
The Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library served as an appropriate backdrop to mark marijuana’s evolution. Three decades ago, Reagan championed the “war on drugs” and first lady Nancy Reagan popularized the “Just Say No” campaign.
The taboo remained when then-candidate Bill Clinton admitted in 1992 that he tried marijuana with the qualifier, “But I didn’t inhale.”
But the public’s mood is shifting. In 2013, Gallup found a 58 percent majority of Americans favored legalizing marijuana, for the first time. And this year, the well-regarded polling firm reported that 44 percent of Americans acknowledged they tried weed, the highest ever.
“In years past, marijuana was being brought up as sort of a gotcha question,” Hudak said in an interview. The most recent debate “was really the first time in a presidential debate that marijuana was brought up as a public policy.”
For Republicans, the issue remains a challenge, perplexing a number of candidates who have taken contradictory positions on the issue at different times.
Josh Penry, a Colorado adviser to Republican candidate Marco Rubio, said it’s an important issue that is here to stay.
“It becomes a proxy to argue, ‘Are you consistent or are you not consistent on these issues?’ ” he said. “I think it will continue to percolate in the national election, in part because of the importance of Colorado.”
In the debate, a few candidates engaged on the issue; others remained on the sidelines. The question, which the moderator said originated on social media, forced former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to confess marijuana use in high school and served as a litmus test for the other candidates.
Paul cast it as a measure of conservatism, saying he supports a state’s right to legalize weed and suggested the enforcement pledged by Christie is federal overreach.
“I personally think this is a crime where the only victim is the individual,” Paul said of marijuana use. “And I think America has to take a different attitude.”
Bush opposed a 2014 ballot measure in Florida to legalize medical marijuana, but he agreed it’s a state issue.
“What goes on in Colorado, as far as I’m concerned, that should be a state decision,” he said.
Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, voiced concern about marijuana legalization. She invoked the story of her daughter’s death after addiction to alcohol and prescription pills.
“We must invest more in the treatment of drugs,” she said. “I agree with Sen. Paul. I agree with states’ rights. But we are misleading people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having a beer — it’s not.”
The comparison is a misnomer to the cannabis industry, but Gina Carbone, a co-founder of Smart Colorado, a group that wants greater protections for children, said it was an important moment.
“I think everyone needed to hear that kind of thing because that is exactly what we in Colorado are facing,” she said.
On the Democratic side, the legalization issue is a measure of liberalism, but so far the candidates are staking out middle ground.
The Marijuana Policy Project recently issued a report card on the stances of the candidates and is watching the election closely as it seeks to educate and influence both parties, said Mason Tvert, the group’s communications director.
A day after the debate, Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley visited Denver to meet with pot industry supporters and learn more about Colorado’s system.
“We should have this conversation and be informed by the true facts and the experience the people of Colorado are having on the ground here,” he said of marijuana legalization.
O’Malley and rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders support decriminalization moves and medical marijuana. But Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is more cautious. All say they are watching Colorado for guidance.
Eric Sondermann, a Denver-based political analyst, said this attention is “both good news and bad news.”
“On the plus side, Colorado continues to be at the epicenter of the political world,” he said. “On the more problematic side, many leaders — starting with the governor and the economic development community — continue to be worried about pot being so increasingly central to the Colorado brand.”Matthew Todd is feeling uncharacteristically nervous. "It's a big taboo, we're expecting it to cause quite a stir," admits the editor of Britain's award-winning gay lifestyle magazine, Attitude. Above the obligatory cover shot of a shirtless Adonis-type torso, this month's mag is labelled "the issues issue". Todd has good reason to be wary of how it will be received. The theme is the worryingly high rates of mental health and dependency problems among gay men.
"There is this cliché that we are all having a great time partying, but actually we know, and the research is now showing, there are a hell of a lot of unhappy gay people; far higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide than among straight men; far higher rates of self-destructive behaviour; substance abuse and sex addiction; and high levels of issues around intimacy and forming relationships."
Evidence shows that gay men are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide. A research project at London's University College hospital found "significantly higher" rates of mental illness among gay men than their straight peers. "It's an incredibly sensitive issue that gay men are very defensive about," said Todd, "because we fought so long to say we're equal, we're happy with who we are. While that's true, we're are also suffering from the trauma of the journey, the isolation, the secrecy and the shame, and the resulting effect on your mental health that is more likely to happen to you if you grow up gay than if you grow up straight.
"It's about low self-esteem and the self-hating gay man. But the time has come to find the strength to face it and realise that, while it's not our fault this has been inflicted on us, we do need to deal with it." For Todd, realising he was gay at the age of 10 sent him "freefalling into shame". "It was the beginning of the worst five years of my life. I feel for me then and for kids now totally let down by society. I should have been able to talk to my teacher, to my parents. I don't think many people really understand the trauma."
The isolation begins in childhood. "They pick up on the fact that the parents are sensing there's something different too, and that's bad. The child is absorbing all this. Another level of shame. It's a painful thing for people to deal with. Not everyone comes out of the closet shouting hurray!"
After several years of therapy, Todd is starting to deal with his own compulsive behaviours. "The gay scene is incredibly sexualised. Kids come out into this sexualised world where there is lots of booze and lots of drugs, there's nothing that's just healthy, gentle and relaxed. It's empowering to have lots of sex, but only if that's what you actually want, if it's you making the choice."
Some luckier gay men found themselves in supportive environments. Author and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe said going to Sussex University saved him and that the taboo of talking about mental health issues had to end: "Growing up with a burden of guilt is many people's story, mine is just the gay man's story. We have to learn to unlearn the self-hating thing. We need more honesty with each other, less insistence on gay solidarity all the time."
But still, as one gay blogger wrote: "The gay community is truly a wounded lot. In essence, young gay men have no role models in the home, no one to guide them through feelings of insecurity. They know deep down that they are different, but as young people tend to do, they don't view 'difference' in a positive, healthy light. They come to believe that they are inherently flawed, unlovable, second-class citizens."
A lack of high-profile role models is often complained about. Many of the most visible gay celebrities are those whose own "issues" have become only too public – Michael Barrymore, George Michael, Lindsay Lohan, Boy George, Alexander McQueen. It may be true, as Julian Clary said, that "the British people have a soft spot for a gay entertainer", but many men do not feel confident in coming out. In May, Treasury minister David Laws had to resign after his efforts to keep his sexuality secret were undone when it was revealed he was paying rent to his partner in breach of parliamentary rules.
Afterwards he said: "I suppose it was pretty stupid because all the people I have spoken to have accepted it [my sexuality] without hesitation."
Rugby player Gareth Thomas, 35, lived a lie for many years before coming out as gay, but only after attempting suicide. This month, he topped an impressive list of talent, the annual Pink List of the 101 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain. In the words of one of the judges, Clare Balding, they "challenge the accepted view of gay men and women. They are supremely successful, confident and bold, they are very visible, and they happen to be gay. They don't need to march or wave a placard but, in their own way, they have had a huge impact."
Things may be changing, but the damage inflicted by homophobia and growing up "different" has already been done for many gay men. "Homosexuality" was not taken off the list of psychiatric disorders until 1993, making it especially difficult for older gay men to reveal their sexuality to mental health providers, said Dominic Davies, director and founder of Pink Therapy, the UK's largest independent counselling organisation working with gender and sexual minority clients: "If you don't feel you can trust your doctor, you are not going to disclose to them. We have had quite robust research that shows significantly poorer mental health among gay men and lesbians than in the general population and significantly higher rates of drinking, smoking and drug-taking. The result of living as a stigmatised minority is that you self-medicate."
Tim Franks of the gay and lesbian charity Pace said mental health providers in Britain are blind to the problem. "Of the young people coming into our workshops, around one in four has already attempted suicide. They are isolated and in hiding almost, they don't know who the safe people are. The current word for bad in British schools is 'gay', and children internalise this stuff very easily, they think in terms of good and bad. So by the age of 10 kids have understood that bad people are gay – then they discover they are one of them. They enter a dreadful stage of secrecy which can last 20 minutes or 50 years. Even when you make contact with the adult world, it can be a very sexualised one.
"Imagine if we expected a young heterosexual girl to get her first lesson about relationships in a singles bar. All this is traumatic and has an impact on mental health. It's certainly a far bigger issue than something like HIV and a greater health inequality. A key failure is that mainstream health providers are not assessing this huge need. In effect, you have a system that is blind to a particular type of person."
In his ground-breaking book The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World, US psychologist Alan Downs examines the pain that permeates the lives of gay men and the destructive choices they sometimes make. "Yes, we have more sexual partners in a lifetime than other groups of people," he writes. "At the same time, we also have among the highest rates of depression and suicide, not to mention sexually transmitted diseases. As a group, we tend to be more emotionally expressive than other men, yet our relationships are far shorter on average than those of straight men.
"We have more expendable income, more expensive houses, more fashionable cars, clothes, furniture than just about any other cultural group. But are we truly happier?"
Todd hopes Attitude will help gay men to tackle that question: "If there is a gay community, we need to look after people who are having a bad time. For the first time, we have concrete answers. If you have these issues, there's a way to deal with them."Christopher C. Burt ·
Above: VIIRS infrared (I-5) image of Typhoon Haiyan, taken at 1639 UTC on November 6, 2013, a little more than a day before it struck Samar Island. Image credit: Courtesy Dan Lindsey (NOAA), via VIIRS Imagery and Visualization Team Blog.
A study published in October in the journal Weather (British Royal Meteorological Society) has proposed that the central pressure of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which ravaged the Philippines in November 2013, fell to 860 mb (25.40”) on November 7, when the storm attained its peak intensity just prior to making landfall on Samar Island. If true, this would establish a new world record for lowest sea-level pressure yet observed or estimated on Earth’s surface, surpassing the currently accepted figure of 870 mb (25.69”) attributed to Typhoon Tip on October 12, 1979.
Below is a table of all the tropical cyclones that have estimated or measured central pressures of 885 mb or lower. It is likely that there were other such extreme events, especially in the West Pacific Basin, prior to regular remote monitoring of tropical cyclones. This monitoring includes aerial reconnaissance that began in the Pacific and Atlantic in the late 1940s, and satellite observations that began in the late 1960s.
Figure 1. Lowest observed and measured barometric pressures at sea level during tropical cyclones worldwide since 1950. Sources: JTWC (Joint Typhoon Warning Center), JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency), NHC (National Hurricane Center). Note: Super Cyclone Monica had an estimated central pressure of 879 mb on April 23, 2006 in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia according to a post-storm analysis by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. However, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has officially designated a minimum pressure of 915 mb to the storm. Note that the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center do not always agree to the same figures so far as minimum pressure or maximum wind speeds attained during tropical cyclones in the West Pacific. For instance, Typhoon Mike (at the bottom of the list above) had a minimum pressure of 885 mb according to the JTWC, but only 915 mb by the JMA.
Figure 2. The eye of Super Typhoon Forrest as photographed from the window of a typhoon reconnaissance aircraft over the West Pacific in September 1983. This image is looking up into a pinhole eyewall structure whose diameter at the time was about 6 km (4 mi). The lowest measured central pressure in Forrest was 876mb (25.86”), the fourth lowest ever measured or estimated during any tropical storm on Earth. The storm also holds the world record for the fastest intensification observed in a tropical cyclone over a 24-hour period: a pressure fall of 100 mb, from 976 mb to 876 mb (28.82” to 25.87”) on September 22-23. Photo courtesy of Scott A. Dommin.
Did Typhoon Haiyan have a new record-minimum pressure?
Above is the title of the report recently published in Weather and authored by climate scientists Karl Hoarau, Mark Lander, Rosalina De Guzman, Chip Guard, and Rose Barba. Using data from Guiuan on Samar Island—the only weather station that came close to the eye of Haiyan at the time the storm was at its peak intensity—the authors compared Haiyan to two other powerful tropical cyclones where actual measurements of barometric pressure were made rather than just estimates of such. These two storms were Hurricane Patricia (see table above) and Super Typhoon Megi, which was part of a special study of the impacts of typhoons on the Pacific Ocean in 2010. Both storms were closely monitored by aerial reconnaissance.
Routine aerial reconnaissance of Western Pacific typhoons ceased in 1987, and since then a variety of different methods have been employed to estimate the intensity of Western Pacific tropical cyclones. The method used since 2009, and that which was employed to measure Haiyan’s intensity, hinges on satellite-based pressure-wind relationships analyzed by John Knaff and Ray Zehr (NOAA/Colorado State University/CIRA) and Joe Courtney (Australian Bureau of Meteorology). For more background on the Knaff-Zehr-Courtney technique and wind-pressure relationships, see this presentation from the three researchers and this 2014 conference presentation.
Of the many different types of satellite imagery, the one that storm scientists have found best measures a storm’s intensity is the infrared Dvorak image. The variations in temperature that appear in a Dvorak image across the very cold cloud tops and warm eye of a tropical cyclone are calibrated to support the Dvorak technique of storm intensity classification (see this explanation of the technique). The JTWC and the JMA concluded that the minimum pressure of Typhoon Haiyan was 895 mb using the pressure-wind relationship method. However, a post-storm analysis of the storm’s Dvorak imagery concluded in 2016 that the pressure was 878 mb.
In the Weather article, the authors based their conclusion of an 860-mb minimum pressure by comparing pressure gradients actually measured across the eyewalls of Patricia and Megi to that of Typhoon Haiyan, based upon the 910-mb measurement observed at the Guiuan site when the eye of Haiyan was still 28 km away. The storm destroyed the station just after this final measurement was made at 2100 GMT on November 7.
Figure 3. Devastation at the airport serving the town of Guiuan on Samar Island in the Philippines on November 17, 2013, following the passage of Super Typhoon Haiyan on November 7. This airport may have been the site where a pressure measurement of 910 mb was made before the weather station was destroyed. At the time of the measurement Haiyan’s eye was still some 18 miles (28 km) away. Image credit: defenseimagery.mi via Wikipedia.
The pressure gradients across the eyewalls of Patricia and Megi were around 4 mb per km at similar distances from the center of their respective eyes, but increased steeply the closer to the eye they came. Some typhoons have much steeper pressure gradients than others, as was the case of Patricia and Megi. Patricia was a small and intense hurricane with an extraordinarily steep pressure gradient of 8.2 mb per km from the center of the eye to a position just 9 km away. Megi, on the other hand, was a large typhoon, and its pressure gradient was about half that of Patricia’s from a similar distance (Megi’s measured minimum pressure was 890 mb versus Patricia’s 872 mb). The authors surmised that Megi was a closer approximation to Haiyan given the storm’s size and thus had a pressure gradient closer to that of Megi than Patricia, though probably not even quite as steep as that of Megi’s since Haiyan and its eye were larger then Megi’s.
The authors used three possible scenarios to determine Haiyan’s minimum central pressure based upon the time of the 910 mb measurement from Guiuan when the eye was 28km distant. One scenario employed an average gradient of 3.5 mb/km, another 4.0 mb/km, and another 4.5 mb/km. In the low-gradient scenario, the central pressure of Haiyan was estimated at 866.5 mb; the median scenario resulted in an 861-mb central pressure, and the steep gradient scenario an 855.5-mb central pressure. The authors settled on the 861-mb figure, rounded off to 860 mb.
As for the wind-pressure relationship, Patricia officially holds the record for the strongest winds attributed to a tropical cyclone with 185 knots (213 mph) sustained at its peak strength (central pressure 872 mb). This compares to Typhoon Tip’s 165 kts (190 mph) with 870 mb, and Haiyan’s 170 ktd (195 mph) with a minimum ‘official’ pressure of 895 mb. From these facts alone, we may surmise that the pressure of Haiyan was almost certainly lower than 895 mb, since we know Haiyan was a large typhoon. Using the Dvorak technique, Haiyan was a perfect 8.0 (on a scale of 1 to 8). That being said, several other tropical cyclones have attained that exalted status aside from Haiyan, Tip, and Patricia.
Figure 4. An enhanced infrared (rainbow) satellite image of Typhoon Haiyan just as it made landfall on Samar Island at 21:30 GMT on November 7, 2013. This was 30 minutes after observers at the weather station at Guiuan made their last observation prior to the station’s destruction. Image credit: Japan Meteorological Agency, via Wikipedia.
Would the WMO accept this estimate?
The World Meteorological Organization’s Global Weather and Climate Extremes Archive includes global pressure records in its database and lists the pressure observed during Typhoon Tip as the official lowest sea-level pressure yet measured on the planet (870 mb). The problem is that because aerial reconnaissance ceased in 1987 in the Western Pacific, the lowest pressure attained in typhoons is virtually always simply an estimate rather than an actual measurement. If one looks at the table at the top of this blog, you see that all the lowest pressure records for the Western Pacific occurred prior to 1987 (with the possible exception of Typhoon Mike).
Obviously typhoons have not suddenly become weaker (so far as pressure is concerned) since 1987. So perhaps the methods of estimating minimum pressure on a routine basis over the past 30 years are off the mark. Whether or not the WMO would accept ‘estimates’ rather than actual measurements of barometric pressure is an open question. If they do not, then there is virtually no chance that Typhoon Tip’s record will ever be beaten (unless the JMA and JTWC change their methods of evaluating such).
Typhoon Haiyan is a rare case when the storm reached its maximum intensity just prior to landfall, and thus we have an actual measurement—the 910mb at Guiuan—to work with. Perhaps the WMO will launch its own investigation into whether or not Haiyan should hold the new record for lowest barometric pressure yet observed on Earth.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
The full analysis by Hoarau et al., "Did Typhoon Haiyan have a new record-minimum pressure?" is online (behind a paywall) at the journal Weather.What are the United States' best regional foodstuffs? Its worst? These are the questions that bedevil the mind of man—but no longer! For here, we have ranked them. Rigorously scientific (not), ardently researched (nope), and scrupulously fair (not even a little bit): this is the Great American Menu!
Each state (plus the District of Columbia) gets one, and only one, signature foodstuff. And we selected actual food preparations; no state gets credit merely for being the geographic location where a certain edible flora or fauna happens to grow or swim or graze. But enough of that bullshit. On to the rankings! (For a full-size version of Jim Cooke's map, click here.)
The Greats
1. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (Illinois)
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Man is mortal. He frolics upon the grass of life for but a short season, and then is snatched back to the inanimate dirt of his origin. The Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, America's greatest regional foodstuff—all those toppings, good God so much cheese and meat, I can hear my heartbeat, this can't be right, it sounds like a goddamn chainsaw, can that be right?—will greatly hasten that day's arrival, but it will also fill at least a little part of at least one of those days with a transcendent, mind-boggling, outrageously indulgent sensory experience. This is the best thing any food can do, and certainly far beyond the capabilities of [stares daggers at New York] a sheet of soggy cardboard with a flap of waxy melted cheese stretched across it.
2. Shrimp and grits (South Carolina)
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Shrimp. Grits. Tasty, satisfying, authentically South Carolinian. Perfect.
3. Mission-style burrito (California)
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The Mission-style burrito is especially great because, nowadays, you don't have to go all the way to California to get a good one. In fact, you can even leave California at 125 miles per hour, screaming and crying because your organ systems are rightly rejecting the state of California like a grafted-on walrus tail because California is awful, and still get a tasty Mission-style burrito pretty much wherever you end up! This is because a Mission-style burrito is just a really fuggin' large burrito with extra rice and (figurative) shit in it. Mmmmmmmm.
4. Crab cake (Maryland)
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As we've established (here, here, and here), blue crab—particularly the Chesapeake blue crab—is the best of all ingestibles. However, the Maryland crab cake ranks fourth on this list, simply because so many of the various foodstuffs calling themselves crab cakes are really just mildly crab-flavored bread wads for ninnies, which are nonetheless priced as though they contain some quantity of actual by-God crabmeat measurable in units larger than the zeptogram. This means that the best way to obtain a genuine crabcake, rather than an OldBayseasoningandcrushedcrackerscake, is to make one at home—and, so long as you can find yourself a tub of crabmeat to work with, you don't have to be anywhere near Maryland to do that. (That's a good thing. Maryland drivers. Holy shit.)
5. Peach pie/cobbler (Georgia)
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Peaches are good. Pie crust and/or biscuit dough are/is good. Good on ya, Georgia.
6. Gumbo (Louisiana)
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Yeah, yeah, Louisiana also has the po' boy and the beignet, but really, those are New Orleans foods, and New Orleans already thinks more than highly enough of itself. Besides, neither of those is as tasty as Creole gumbo, which, factually, is the sole credible argument for not sinking that state into the Gulf of Mexico.
7. Key lime pie (Florida)
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But what about the Cuban sandwich?!?!?!?! First of all, there's some controversy about the Cuban sandwich's origins: Either it is from Cuba, in which case it is Cuba's sandwich and not Florida's, or it is from Tampa, in which case it is not a Cuban sandwich and has a dumb name, in which case it sucks because things from Tampa suck because Tampa sucks. In any case it is not as definitively Floridian as Key lime pie, which originated in Florida and is made with ingredients—Key limes—that are native to Florida and nowhere else. (It also doesn't taste as good as Key lime pie. So there.) Anyway Key lime pie is very good and I don't know how we wound up talking about the Cuban sandwich this whole time so let's just move on.
8. Fried green tomatoes (Alabama)
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... at the Whistle Stop Cafe, yawl! There is nothing to say about fried green tomatoes. They taste very good and you should eat some.
The Goods
9. Stacked enchilada with green chile (New Mexico)
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This is really, really fucking tasty. It loses some nonexistent points, though, for the notion that you can just leave the tortillas unrolled and pretend you've created a new foodstuff. That's horseshit, New Mexico. Horse. Shit.
10. Marionberry pie (Oregon)
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Mmmmmmm, pie. Oh man. Nobody tell any Oregonians how high their state food is ranked, though. They can't fit any more self-congratulation into their busy schedules.
11. Hot wieners (Rhode Island)
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I'm not gonna lie here. The name is a big reason Rhode Island's signature food is ranked so high. It's a tasty hot dog, too.
12. Burgoo (Kentucky)
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Kentucky's signature food, a whatever-you-got stew that never tastes the same twice, gets a million imaginary bonus points for its wonderful communal nature: People just bring whatever ingredients they can, and everybody puts what they've got into the stew, and out comes burgoo, and that is just fucking beautiful, even though in reality probably 78 percent of its ingredients were scraped off I-64 with a snow shovel.
13. Pulled pork barbecue (North Carolina)
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Pulled pork is more reliably tasty than burgoo—that is to say, there's virtually zero chance of it containing a fistful of raccoon fur—but a lot less wonderful. Science.
14. New England clam chowder (Massachusetts)
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Demerits for New England.
T-15. Kansas City-style ribs (Missouri)
T-15. Memphis-style ribs (Tennessee)
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For real, they're the same shit. But hey, let's fight about it!
17. West Virginia slaw dog (West Virginia)
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This is a hot dog with a chili-like meat sauce, mustard, and coleslaw on it. (Sometimes it has chopped onions on it, too.) Which, yeah, you can get variations of that pretty much anywhere, but West Virginians are serious about the coleslaw part. It's tasty. Like so much else in its home state, it is also low-grade, disreputable, and makes you feel kinda sad and gross if you think about it for too long.
18. Chimichanga (Arizona)
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Somebody dropped a burrito into a deep-fryer and out came Arizona's signature food, which no one in Arizona eats, because half the people in Arizona are too old for solid foods, and the rest are on the run from white-supremacist paramilitary border militias.
19. Frozen custard (Delaware)
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Suggested advertising language for your frozen custard shop: Frozen custard! It's just like ice cream, only not particularly significantly unlike it, and only preferable if you grew up with it! Bonus points for the fact that ice cream |
with our international small plates menu pretty exciting," he said. "We are focused on being a socially progressive company that employs adults with developmental disabilities, partnering with Sample Supports."
Samples is expected to open in May.
South Main Station
You need to cross Third Avenue heading south to find the big downtown project for 2015.
"This is a huge focus right now, Butterball — South Main Station, 332 units, a brewery, in phases," said McKee.
The old turkey plant site is now being called the South Main Station, centered around the First Avenue and Main Street intersection. The former Butterball plant will become four or five four-story buildings containing approximately 300 apartment units and 10,500 square feet of commercial space along Main Street.
Late last week, crews began taking down the west wall of the plant. It will be reduced to rubble and hauled away.
Wibby Brewing is planning to open a brewery and taproom at the 209 Emery St. property just east of where the plant was located.
"We moved forward with our location because of how much we believe in downtown Longmont," said Ted Risk, co-founder of Wibby Brewing.
"The excitement is only growing," Risk said. "I really think that this growth is due in large part to the collaborative efforts of the folks at the LDDA, the Longmont Area Economic Council, The Longmont Chamber of Commerce, Visit Longmont and the City of Longmont."
But downtown is more than food, with more 70 stores and shops and hundreds of other local business in the district.
"It's much more vibrant," said Ron Cheyney who has owned Ron's Printing Center on Main Street since the 1970s.
"Back then Main Street was the retail shopping area in town," he said.
He's been pleased with all the new businesses in the area.
"I've watched a lot of buildings change hands over the years," he added. "New people come along and fix things up."
Road ahead
There remains a list of items downtown that still needs work.
"I would like to see the colored concrete cross walks replaced with brick pavers," said Mayor Coombs. "I would also like to see the street lighting along Main Street replaced with LED lighting that has a 5,000 degree K color index."
Others point to the growing need for more parking, better signage, and finishing the Alleyscape program on the west side, which was delayed by the flood in 2013.
"We're still doing some investigation," McKee said in regard to the alley program. "We're looking at the east side (alley) and seeing how it's holding up two years later and what kind of things we're going to tweak. We're getting ready to go to bid in the next month to see for the west side where we are on that. Hopefully we'll see the first part of that start; not sure when, maybe in mid-summer. It'll go from Third Avenue to Sixth Avenue."
The LDDA is also exploring other designations for Longmont's downtown area.
"One of the things we're focusing on now, between Third and Fifth, is looking to submit an application to the state to have a National Registered Historic District," McKee said. "Being on the National Registered Historic District will bring a lot of acclaim and attention to the downtown and it also opens up for the property owners some incentives if they do want to bring their buildings back to the historic look and feel."
As for more parking, that's something the LDDA is always exploring.
"The more visually appealing we make it and the more comfortable you are, the more willing you are to walk a few blocks," McKee explained. "We do continue to look at parking as an issue, but we certainly hope we're making it a destination where walking a block or two is well worth where you are going."
Vince Winkel: 303-684-5291, winkelv@times-call.com or twitter.com/vincewinkelThe White House says President Trump is sending a certified letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham attesting that the president has no connections to Russia.
Graham told CNN on Tuesday he wants to explore possible ties between Trump's businesses and Russia. The South Carolina Republican chairs a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer says Mr. Trump has asked a Washington law firm to send a certified letter to Graham stating that he has no connections to Russia.
Spicer says Mr. Trump has no business in Russia or ties to the country. He says based on that Graham's inquiry "should be a really easy look."
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the election in attempt to help Mr. Trump.
The news of the letter came earlier in the day, before the president fired the FBI director, who had been overseeing an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia.Bring back your childhood memories with the newest beer from Nickel Brook Brewing Co. Nickel Brook announced yesterday “Dreamsicle”, an Orange Vanilla Pale Ale evoking memories of the classic orange Creamsicle™ dessert. The beer will come in at 4.1%ABV and 25IBUs. Dreamsicle will be available in 375ml bottles for a limited time at the Burlington Bottle Shop starting Friday July 8th, the Arts & Science Beer Garden and at very select licensees starting July 11th.
Be sure to check out Nickel Brook’s social media for more details. Full press release below.
Nickel Brook To Release “Dreamsicle” Orange Vanilla Pale Ale
BURLINGTON, ON – July 6th, 2016 – Nickel Brook announced today the newest beer to come from its Burlington funk facility will be “Dreamsicle”, an Orange Vanilla Pale Ale evoking memories of the classic orange Creamsicle™ dessert. Designed by the brewing staff and Head Brewer Patrick Howell, this one-of-a-kind summer treat is unlike any beer you’ve ever tried before. Brewed with orange peel, natural vanilla extract and lactose sugar, the beer combines citrus and ice-cream notes with the classic American Pale Ale base. “This beer is my childhood summer memories in liquid
form” said Howell. “Eating a melting popsicle on the front porch on a warm summer night, that was the idea we had when designing this beer.” The beer comes in at 4.1%ABV and 25IBUs.
Dreamsicle will be available in 375ml bottles for a limited time at the Burlington Bottle Shop starting Friday July 8th, the Arts & Science Beer Garden and at very select licensees starting July 11th. Details of licensees pouring Dreamsicle will be available on Nickel Brook’s social media feeds.
For more information please contact:
Matt Gibson, matt@nickelbrook.com, (289) 208-8295
About Nickel Brook Brewing Co.
Nickel Brook Brewing Co. was founded by John and Peter Romano in Burlington, Ontario in 2005. They have since expanded operations to Hamilton, Ontario when they co-opened the Arts and Sciences Brewery with Collective Arts Brewing. They are committed to using only the finest natural ingredients from around the world, and brew them in small batches for the highest standard of quality. Nickel Brook continues to be an award-winning Ontario craft brewery that constantly strives to push the boundaries of brewing culture.
864 Drury Ln, Burlington, Ontario
www.nickelbrook.com/ @NickelBrookBeerBy Rose Cahalan in Alcalde on LHN, Features, Nov | Dec 2012, Special on |
UT lecturer and juvenile justice reformer Michele Deitch, whose class was recently voted the most valuable in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, says Texas prisons are no place for kids. Now she and her students are changing laws and saving lives.
“I haven’t seen sunlight in two years,” the teenager said.
He was 16, sitting under fluorescent lights in a dingy dayroom at the Harris County jail. The teen sat at a table with UT lecturer Michele Deitch, her student Anna Lipton Galbraith, and three other teens, whose ages ranged from 14 to 16. All four young men had been accused of crimes and certified to stand trial as adults. They were awaiting trial.
It was a humid day last October. Deitch—an attorney and nationally renowned prison expert —and Lipton Galbraith, a graduate student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, had driven from Austin to visit the Houston jail, doing research for a report on jail conditions.
The 16-year-old told Deitch and Lipton Galbraith that he had been in jail for two years, since age 14. When he said he hadn’t seen natural light, he probably wasn’t exaggerating—the jail’s only windows, in its small gym, were blanketed in dark mesh, and there was no outdoor recreation area.
Staff at the jail told the researchers that they were struggling to accommodate the four teens. Texas law requires that juvenile inmates be physically separated from adults, so the Harris County jail isolated the teens in their own cell pod. Adult inmates were so overcrowded in the remaining space that jail officials were renting extra beds.
“The staff said, ‘We’re not equipped to handle these kids. They don’t belong here. We hope you tell the Legislature that,’” Lipton Galbraith recalls.
For two years now, Deitch and her students have been telling legislators—and anyone else who will listen—just that. The data they’ve collected paint a disturbing picture of the dangerous conditions faced by the 1,292 teenagers certified as adults from 2005 to 2011.
“It’s a small number, but for those kids, it’s a big deal,” says Deitch, a New Yorker-turned-Texan whose faint Staten Island accent comes out in moments of strong emotion. “They’re at incredibly high risk for suicide, sexual violence, mental health issues, and a whole host of other problems.”
Even more alarming, Deitch argues that teens sent to adult prisons are no more violent than their peers sentenced to state-run youth lockups— and they’re much less likely to be successfully rehabilitated.
The Harris County jail visit confirmed what Deitch says her research has shown again and again about the adult criminal justice system: “Kids don’t belong there. It’s not good for them, it’s not good for the prisons, and it’s not good for public safety.”
Is she right—and can she change Texas’ notoriously troubled system?
The ‘Worst of the Worst’?
Deitch found that 72 percent of certified youth do not have a prior violent criminal history, and 89 percent have never been in the state’s juvenile system.
Texas established its first juvenile court in 1907 to “[mend] the ways of erring children,” as Bexar County judge Phil Shook described in 1908. Politicians of the era believed that young lawbreakers should be reformed with a balance of severity and compassion, “as a wise and merciful father handles his own child,” wrote a judge in a 1909 Harvard Law Review article.
From these beginnings, U.S. juvenile courts long emphasized rehabilitation hand-in-hand with punishment. But attitudes changed drastically in the 1980s and ’90s, when a fear of young “super-predators” swept the nation. Highly publicized tragedies like the 1989 Central Park jogger rape and the 1999 Columbine High School shooting spurred politicians to stress punishment over therapy. For the first time, states began transferring juveniles to the adult system.
In Texas courts today, the age of legal adulthood is 17. Teens as young as 14 can be “certified,” or ordered to stand trial as adults. The intent is to put away only youth guilty of the most violent crimes—delinquents so dangerous that the juvenile system can’t reform them.
But Deitch says statistics tell a different story. “No one set out to put non-violent youth in adult prisons,” she says, “but the law allows it, so that’s what happens.”
In a 2011 study, Deitch found no significant differences between those Texas teens certified as adults and those given blended sentences, which begin in the juvenile system and allow for transfer to the adult system if the teen can’t be successfully rehabilitated.
Deitch found that 72 percent of certified youth do not have a prior violent criminal history, and 89 percent have never been in the state’s juvenile system. That defies the perception that certified youth have exhausted all other options.
Aggravated robbery is the most common crime among both certified and non-certified youth, Deitch found. Only 17 percent of those certified are accused of murder—contrary to the popular belief that most teens in the adult system are killers.
The only big difference, Deitch says, is by county. Judges in Houston’s Harris County certified 301 teens from 2006-09—more than twice as many as any other county in Texas. Why? “They’re a huge county, and they’re struggling,” Deitch says, though she notes that Houston’s numbers have gone down recently.
“These youth simply aren’t the worst of the worst,” Deitch says. “We should limit transfer to the most serious and violent crimes.”
But not everyone agrees, including Mario Davila, a training coordinator and longtime probation officer with the Cameron County Juvenile Justice Department. Davila says he’s worked with hundreds of struggling teens—and the certified ones tend to be the most troubled, in his day-to-day experience. “There’s always a reason why a kid was certified,” Davila says. “I think her research is on the right track, but just because they look the same on paper doesn’t mean they are the same in reality. Paper isn’t everything.”
Life on the Inside
The Texas juvenile-justice system has its own troubles, including recent reports of increased youth-on-youth violence. But Deitch says it’s still a far better place for young offenders than the adult system. Marc Levin, BA ’98, JD ’02, who directs the Center for Effective Justice at the right-leaning Texas Public Policy Foundation, agrees.
“Across the board, there’s a widespread belief that youth are more likely to be reformed,” Levin says. “Juvenile facilities emphasize education, therapy, and rehabilitation much, much more than adult prisons do. Most of the youth in adult prisons are not in school.”
Statistics support that claim. In 2008, Deitch and her student Terry Schuster, JD ’09, found that only 38 percent of certified youth in the Clemens Unit, an adult prison, were attending classes—versus 96 percent of youth taking classes in the juvenile system. Researchers are optimistic that those numbers are improving, but there’s still no question that rehabilitation is less of a priority in the adult system.
What about public safety? National data show that putting teens in adult lockups actually makes them more likely to break the law again: a 2007 Centers for Disease Control study found that youth transferred to the adult system were twice as likely to re-offend as their peers in youth lockups.
Jason Wang, 22, says he’s a juvenile-justice success story. At 15, Wang committed aggravated robbery and was sentenced to the juvenile system’s therapy program for the worst young offenders. The program has a nationally recognized 95 percent success rate.
“I turned my life around,” Wang says. He did so well that the Texas Juvenile Justice Department gave him a full-ride college scholarship. Wang graduated in three years from UT-Dallas, where he’s now working on an MBA.
Wang may be an outlier—but so was Rodney Hulin.
In 1996, 16-year-old Hulin set fire to a dumpster. He was certified as an adult and convicted of arson. In the Clemens Unit, the adult prison near Brazoria where male certified youth are housed, Hulin was repeatedly raped by other young cellmates. In a letter requesting protective custody, he wrote, “I’m afraid to sleep, to shower, and just about everything else. I’m afraid when I’m doing these things that I may die at any minute.” After his request was denied, Hulin hanged himself.
Hulin became a national symbol of why kids don’t belong in adult prison (though his attackers were other certified teens). Sadly, suicides like his still happen. Youth in adult prisons are 36 times more likely to kill themselves than those in the juvenile system, according to a 2007 study from the advocacy group Campaign for Youth Justice.
The sobering statistics about what happens to youth in adult prisons make it easy to understand why some might come out worse than they went in. In 2003, Congressional research cited in the Prison Rape Elimination Act found that youth are five times more likely to be raped in adult prisons—often within 48 hours of arrival.
Making an Impact
Deitch recently spoke to an audience of sheriffs. “I looked out and saw 10-gallon cowboy hats, boots, and guns—lots of guns,” she laughs. “You think, ‘Boy, I better not mess this one up.’”
She didn’t. Deitch has worked in and around prisons everywhere from England to Boston to Arizona. Justice reform first caught her attention as a student at Harvard Law School, where she represented inmates in a prison assistance project. “This stuff got into my blood and never left,” she says.
While still working on her law degree, Deitch also found time for a master’s in psychology, specifically criminology, from Oxford. “I approach prisons from a psychological perspective,” she says. “They are communities, and we need to understand how people relate to each other within them.”
“Michele is a top person nationally,” says Ana Yáñez-Correa, PhD ’11, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, an Austin advocacy group. “She has the practical experience, the policy experience, the academic experience. Her data has filled a big gap in Texas.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Deitch has supporters on both sides of the aisle. “Many legislators on the House Corrections Committee are Tea Party folks, working closely with Democrats,” says Yáñez-Correa. “This reform is about saving lives and saving money. Those are nonpartisan issues.”
Levin, at the right-leaning Texas Public Policy Foundation, has collaborated with Deitch and says juvenile justice reform is a rare area of bipartisan consensus. “Everybody wants to reduce crime and not waste taxpayer money,” Levin says. “Ultimately policymakers want to see the research, and Michele brings that to the discussion.”
And for years, Levin notes, the Texas Republican Party platform has stated, “We condemn incarcerating juveniles and adults in the same facility.”
Deitch’s impact has been significant. Her research was directly responsible for the passage of two new juvenile justice laws in Texas. One, Senate Bill 1209, gives judges the option to put certified youth in juvenile jails rather than adult ones while they await trial. Though it’s a minor tweak to the law, it’s already caused major change. The bill recently led Harris County to pass a policy keeping youth out of adult jails.
Then there’s her teaching. Students line up to get in Deitch’s class on juvenile-justice policy, recently voted the most valuable in the LBJ School. Last fall, students loved the class so much that they talked Deitch into adding an advanced version in the spring. “I always left Michele’s class on a high,” recalls former student Schuster, now working on juvenile-justice reform in Ohio. “She continues to inspire and energize me.”
Deitch has sent her students out to service-learning placements with judges, state agencies, and other stakeholders. “When they believe in the importance of the work, students live up to the demands you place on them,” she says.
Those demands have led to real change: Hannah Miller, JD ’09, created a model that gave Texas counties $25 million to treat juvenile offenders in their own communities. And Schuster drafted House Bill 4451, which increased the state’s options for treating mentally ill juveniles. Both collaborated with Travis County District Judge Jeanne Meurer, JD ’77. “Michele has this unstoppable energy,” Meurer says, “and she really believes in her students.”
Deitch says Texas’ reputation for criminal justice that doesn’t get to the root causes of crime is only half of the story. “Texas is ground zero,” she says. “We’ve become a national model on some issues, and you don’t often hear that side of things.”
Five months after visiting the Harris County jail, Deitch took three students on another research trip to the Clemens Unit, where Rodney Hulin committed suicide in 1996. Founded in 1893, Clemens is one of the state’s oldest lockups. The prison lacks air conditioning, strips of paint hang from the walls, and Deitch describes the architecture as “cage upon cage upon cage.”
There, they spoke with two 15-year-old inmates about the realities of prison life; one teen said he feared contracting HIV through sexual assault. Deitch was turning to leave when Lipton Galbraith recognized one of the prisoners. “That’s the guy we met in Harris County,” she told Deitch. The 16-year-old who’d said he hadn’t seen sunlight in two years was sitting alone in a corner cell. Deitch and Lipton Galbraith chatted with him through the bars.
“It must be good to see the sun,” Deitch said, since his cell looked down on a huge window. Deitch says she’ll never forget what happened next. “He was so happy that we remembered him, that we treated him with respect. A huge smile spread across his face.”
Read UT alum Jorge Antonio Renaud’s firsthand account of his time in the Texas prison system, “In Prisons, Youth Are Prey.”
For more on Michelle Deitch and Jorge Antonio Renaud’s work in juvenile justice, watch this video from the Alcalde show on Longhorn Network:
Photography by Steve Liss.The New American Man Doesn't Look Like His Father
Enlarge this image toggle caption Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images
This summer, All Things Considered is exploring what it means to be a man in America today. In some ways, the picture for men has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. More women than men are going to college, and the economy is moving away from jobs that traditionally favored men, like manufacturing and mining. Attitudes have also changed on the social front, with young men having more egalitarian attitudes toward women and expectations of being involved fathers.
Pedro Noguera, a professor at New York University and head of the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, says the biggest shakeup has been in education. In 1962, men made up about 65 percent of college enrollees; today they make up about 43 percent.
The other side of that figure is the dropout rate for men. Noguera tells NPR's Audie Cornish that in some states, it's twice as high as the female dropout rate.
Follow Us On Twitter Use #menpr to follow our conversation about men in America.
"These patterns speak to a larger problem, because we know now that the jobs of the future require college degrees," Noguera says.
The education imbalance between men and women is also having an impact on the dating scene, Noguera adds, something that's been already true in the African-American community: "A growing number of well-educated, professional women... are unable to find men of similar education."
But sociologist Michael Kimmel, a professor at Stony Brook University and director of the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities, says the changing landscape hasn't come with changed attitudes about masculinity.
"Survey after survey shows that 60 to 70 percent of men still agree with the notion that masculinity depends on emotional stoicism — never showing fear, never showing pain," Kimmel says. "So, the world has changed dramatically, and yet most men still cling tenaciously to an ideology of masculinity that comes off the set of Mad Men."
The world has changed dramatically, and yet most men still cling tenaciously to an ideology of masculinity that comes off the set of 'Mad Men.'
But Kimmel says today's boys and young men have a much better sense of gender equality than many of their fathers did. He sees a clear example in cross-sex friendship. For 25 years, Kimmel has asked his students if they had a good friend of the opposite sex. When he first started asking, about 10 percent would answer yes. Today, almost everyone does.
"Think about that. You make friends with your peers, right? You make friends with people you consider your equals, not your boss or your servants. I mean, my students today are more experienced with gender equality in their interpersonal relationships than any generation in our history," he says.
Noguera also has seen men become much more involved with raising their children and general housework.
"But what hasn't come with that is a new definition of what it means to be a man as a nurturer in the family," Noguera says. "Can you be strong and be a nurturer? Well, many women have figured out, yes, they have to be, in fact. Because they have to raise the kids on their own, and they can't afford to just expect some man to save the day."
He says today's men are searching for a way to reconcile old ideas related to strength with the need to be better listeners, more cooperative and more open to others.Christmas is just a few days away, which means getting rid of your Christmas tree in a timely manner is just a few days away +1. In the below video, taken in 1990, Hunter S. Thompson demonstrates one disposal method: dumping on two cans of fire starter and tossing a lit match, as the Cowboy Junkies "Misguided Angel" soundtracks the quick burn.
The tree was in his own Owl Farm living room fireplace, and as one reporter who happened to be on hand noted, very nearby "the original manuscript of Hell's Angels was on the table... and there were the bullets." But Hunter declared he wanted to "give the journalist a memorable experience to write about." Everyone in the room fled for the safety of the outdoors, according to the account:
"When Hunter tossed a lit match at the Christmas tree, it exploded into flames. He took a few pulls on the fire extinguisher and then joined us outside. The view from the porch through the window resembled something out of Watts in 1965. The chimney was on fire. His five peacocks, whose roost was separated from the living room by a thin pane of glass, were not happy. Nor was Hunter, who yelled at me, 'GET BACK IN THERE, FOOL!' He had given me an iron prodder with which I was to keep pushing the tree into the fireplace. 'I'M NOT GOING BACK IN THERE,' I yelled back. The whole room was full of smoke, and flames kicked up onto the mantel and on toward the ceiling. Thompson dashed back in and did battle with the tree."
You can see all of this in the below video:
Hunter, unsurprisingly not a huge fan of Christmas, offered these thoughts up on the holiday that same year, in a Rolling Stone piece: “It is still a day that only amateurs can love. It is all well and good for children and acid freaks to still believe in Santa Claus—but it is still a profoundly morbid day for us working professionals. It is unsettling to know that one out of every twenty people you meet on Christmas will be dead this time next year... Some people can accept this, and some can’t. That is why God made whiskey, and also why Wild Turkey comes in $300 shaped canisters during most of the Christmas season.”Top GOP Official: Trump’s White House Chief of Staff John Kelly Voted for Hillary Clinton (Video)
Republican campaign consultant and Trump supporter Ed Rollins told Lou Dobbs that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly did not even vote for Trump. General John Kelly voted for Hillary Clinton.
John Kelly was appointed to replace White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus in July. Kelly reportedly filters the president’s news sources and controls the president’s schedule.
John Kelly made headlines on Tuesday when he was spotted covering his face during President Trump’s speech.
Ed Rollins: At least what I’ve heard from sources inside who know Kelly, he is an honorable man and a good general. He didn’t vote for him. He voted for Hillary. So I don’t think basically he is a Trump supporter or ideologically a Trump supporter.
Via Lou Dobbs Tonight:Mykola Martynenko
Detectives of the National anti-corruption Bureau (NAB) arrested former people’s Deputy Nikolay Martynenko, reports “Interfax-Ukraine”.
Information about the arrest Martynenko, the Agency confirmed in NABOO.
Related news: the NAB will continue investigations into the illegal procurement of “Energoatom” in the “business.”
Prior to that, on the detention of ex-MP on the page in Facebook said the MP Serhiy Leshchenko.
“Martynenko arrested by the forces of NABOO in the case of kickbacks on contracts “Energoatom” on its Panamanian company with an account in Switzerland,” he wrote.
The edition “Ukrainian news” with reference to its own source reports that Martynenko is currently being transported to NABOO to report the suspicion.
It is also reported that Martynenko was detained after he left a reception of one of the members of Parliament.
As reported, on January 16, the Solomensky district court of Kiev announced the text of the decision, which obliged the EMB within 10 days to close the so-called case Martynenko. The court has no right himself to close any business, but is obliged to do it NABOO in the only way possible, which is determined by the criminal procedure legislation.
Later, the NAB said that it will not close the criminal proceedings against Nikolay Martynenko, and also that the investigation against the Deputy is at an advanced stage.
As you know, NABOO is investigating two cases in which appears eks-the Deputy Nikolay Martynenko. He was summoned for questioning as a witness in the pre-trial investigation in the case upon purchase of SE “Eastern mining and processing plant” uranium concentrate from Austrian companies STEUERMANN Investitions – und Handelsgesellschaft mbH, as well as on the fact of receiving bribes in the procurement of NAEK “Energoatom” of equipment from the Czech Skoda JS.
Related news: SAP has won an appeal regarding the closure case against Martynenko, – Holodnitsky
I 112.ua in your Telegram
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Quickly and succinctly about the most important.
SourceMike Bossy was yet again in the bowels of Nassau Coliseum, shaking his head with something resembling disbelief as he thought about the first half of the Islanders season.
“I have to admit, this whole season is a little surreal,” Bossy said Thursday morning, before the Islanders’ 5-2 loss to the Bruins when he was next in line from the dynasty teams to be honored. “I don’t think anybody expected the team to be where they are today.”
That would holding a three-point lead atop the Metropolitan Division and in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference. This is the final season for the franchise at the only home building they’ve known, that crumbling barn out in Uniondale where Bossy and his compatriots won four consecutive Stanley Cups.
With each win this season, the fans have become more engaged. And it has created a whirlwind of excitement — yet one that has this bitter aftertaste, knowing that come October, the team will be calling Brooklyn’s Barclays Center home.
“It’s kind of bittersweet for the fans that have been trekking here — the diehards, who have been trekking here for the last while and waiting for this moment to come,” Bossy said. “You never know. You’ve seen teams come from nowhere to win Stanley Cups, and it’s certainly a possibility with this team.”
There, he said it. The Hall of Famer and one of the great goal-scorers of all time said the Islanders have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. And he said “the reasons are simple” for why they’re in the position they are.
“You have a goalie that is stopping pucks, which is what you absolutely need to win hockey games,” Bossy said of Jaroslav Halak. “You have a defensive corps that can get the puck out of their own end. And — this is not said with any disrespect to previous teams that were here — but they seem to have found a chemistry. They seem to have found certain players that are getting the job done.
“It’s funny, since I’ve been back for the last eight years, the young guys that have come on to the team, you keep saying, ‘They’re young, they’re going to mature. They’re getting older.’ And it’s finally sunk in.”
Bossy said in his time playing for the Islanders, “We just took for granted that the place was going to be full and the crowd was going to be loud.”
That was not the case over the past decade or so, when the team was struggling and the amenities in the building were substandard, often leaving it half-full.
But now there is a connection with the fans that is unmistakable. The team has adopted the “Yes! Yes! Yes!” chant, and when they win, they gather at center ice and pump their arms in the arm just as the 16,170 do after every goal.
“That ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ chant, for starters, gets you really fired up,” said newly appointed alternate captain Cal Clutterbuck. “The fans have been really good here. Obviously, it’s an exciting time. It’s kind of bittersweet for them and for us, with us leaving the building. We’ve played well here, and I think they appreciate that. And we appreciate the support we’ve been getting. So I think it’s just a perfect storm.”
The confluence of events has made this the Islanders’ most memorable first half of a season since Bossy was running around making 50-goal seasons look commonplace. If it’s “surreal” now, imagine what it will be like if the Islanders make a postseason run.
“You know, when I came here, there was a lot of talk about rebuilding and doing things,” captain John Tavares said. “So it’s just bringing that year after year. It feels like everything is coming together. It makes it special because it’s the last year [of the Coliseum]. And the way we’ve been playing, we’re feeding off of that kind of momentum a little bit.”
Clutterbuck was fined $2,000 on Wednesday for his second “embellishment” offense of the season. It came from the 7-4 win over the Flyers on Jan. 19, when he was hooked by Jakub Vorachek, who was penalized on the play while Clutterbuck was not called for a dive.
“Kind of caught me by surprise,” Clutterbuck said of the fine. “Not really sure what else to say. When I get hooked in the slot when I have scoring chance, I guess I’ll try to react differently.”
Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky (upper body) remained out the lineup, even though he took the morning skate and said afterward, “I’m ready.” Visnovsky, 38, will now have missed nine straight games.
“I’m sure he’s close, and I’m sure he’s itching to get back in,” coach Jack Capuano said. “But right now, for our staff, we’re going to go back to the same six defensemen. They’ve been playing real well, just day-by-day make that decision.”Good things come to those who wait. After six years of lessons learned and a few false starts, today the city approved Bewegen (Be-Wee-Gen, hard "g") as the City's official bike share vendor. The system, which is set to launch in Fall 2016, will include in it's initial phase 50 stations and 500 bikes, 200 of which will be Pedelec bikes making it the largest fleet of pedal assist bikes in North and South America.
Bikes
The bikes, which we got to test ride today, are some of the lightest bike share bikes on the market. The non-pedal assist bikes feature eight gears. Both bikes feature a front basket that can hold up to 55 pounds. Both bikes feature a skirt guard, front fender, enclosed drivetrain, front and rear lights, and a digital display and speaker.
The Pedelec bikes feature a battery that can operate autonomously for one day (60 miles, or 24 hours) on a single one hour charge.
Stations
The stations are fully modular. The City purchased 5 solar canopy stations. Stations can also be quickly configured using geofence technology--creating flexibility to create additional stations to coincide with special events (think O's games or Artscape).
The stations automatically lock the bike once docked, and have an option to lock the bike using an integrated cable lock if the station is full. The system also allows you to temporarily lock the bike outside of the system to help accommodate quick errands. But similarly to how Zipcar works, in that only the member with that car reserved can unlock the vehicle, new riders can only unlock bikes from official docking stations or kiosks, and the member using that bike can only lock or unlock it outside the docks.
Station locations have not been finalized. Bewegen will work closely with the City and Bikemore to engage in a thorough and equitable community engagement process to ensure citizens needs are considered. We can say with confidence though, that given the size of the initial launch and the need for the system to remain densely sited, it's impossible for every Baltimore neighborhood to receive a station during Phase One. Bikemore will be advocating for priority areas that balance the need for bike share to serve as a transportation option--connecting our downtown work centers to surrounding neighborhoods, and providing equitable access to bike share as a viable recreation option in places like Druid Hill Park and Lake Montebello. Removing barriers to bicycling begins with providing access to biking as a form of recreation.
Check Out Process
Membership pricing has not yet been determined. We do know however, that bikes will be available for check out using a credit card at kiosk for daily rentals and RFID key similar to Capitol Bike Share or a cash membership option for the unbanked for monthly or annual members. One of the most exciting payment options includes integration with the Charm Card transit pass, and the ability to check out the bike using a mobile phone app.
It's important to note that integration with Capital Bike Share in DC was not part of the initial contract, but the barriers to integration have more to do with coordinating each jurisdiction, and less to do with technology. Bewegen is confident that the technology available on their bikes leaves the door open to integrating with Capital Bike Share down the line. We will continue to advocate for this integration with Capital Bike Share and look forward to beginning discussions with our partners in DC.
Building Community Support |
Anne.
The Atwoods grew up in Fairfax County. Ginny and Christopher enrolled in Christian schools and were involved in many activities. But unlike his older sister, Christopher became withdrawn, and his mom says he was starting to get into trouble.
“To some extent, you chalk that up to, he’s a young teenager and he’s making that transition. It’s not easy for anybody,” Anne says.
“It wasn’t until I discovered a needle hidden in a chair in his room that I confronted him. He had just turned 16 the summer we knew something was wrong.”
The Atwoods enrolled Christopher in several drug rehab centers over the next couple years. Some facilities cost more than $1,000 a day.
“Dear Christopher,” Anne reads a letter she wrote as part of his treatment. “I’m on your side Christopher, and I love you more than anything in the world. Love, Mom.”
He graduated from a Utah wilderness program with several months of sobriety under his belt.
“His brain finally had a chance to be clean and mature. And I wish to God we never brought him home,” Anne says.
When he returned, he relapsed and was rushed to Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. He survived, but his struggle wasn’t over.
“Every day that I came home I wondered if I would find him overdosed. And one day I did,” Ginny said.
One month after the relapse, on the morning of Feb. 22, 2013, Ginny says her brother was acting weirdly and hadn’t slept the night before.
“I went to work and I just was overcome with this horrible feeling that something was wrong. Something in my head said, ‘Go home.’ I walked in and he was laying on his bed and his arm was a funny color … I turned him over and he had been choking … I tried to do CPR but it was too late,” Ginny says.
She called 911 but his brain had been deprived of oxygen too long.
“He was basically brain dead. Eventually we made the decision that we were never going to have him back,” Ginny says.
His mother Anne fights back tears recalling that day.
“His struggle was over … He wasn’t suffering anymore. It’s really, really hard as his mother to see your healthy 21-year-old boy that worked out and was the picture of health and so strong and handsome … I just wanted to crawl into the hospital bed with him and just … be gone with him,” she weeps.
“It’s just an evil, wicked, wicked disease.”
Ginny still harbors some regret.
“He was my only brother and I loved him more than life itself. How could I not help him? How could I not cure him? How could that not be enough? And so even though I know I couldn’t save him because this was a battle he had to fight on his own, I’m always going to live with regrets.”
But the Atwoods are saving lives. They started the Chris Atwood Foundation to help recovering addicts.
“Christopher felt like a freak because of his disease. He felt like he was shunned and would never be normal, never be like anyone else again. So we’re trying to take that word and make something good out of it,” Ginny says.
Their acronym, F.R.E.A.K.S., means Friends and Relatives Embracing Addicts and Kicking the Stigma.
Two years later, Christopher’s bedroom looks the same. Posters hang on the walls, pictures on a desk. A whiteboard near the closet mirror is still covered in his handwriting: A to-do list, a funny cartoon, some places to apply for jobs and Ginny’s graduation photo.
“I would say the greatest danger is the belief that it can’t happen to me. It won’t happen to me. It won’t happen to my son. But it can. And until we start to take this seriously as a brain disease and not a moral shortcoming, it will happen.”
Efforts to get heroin off the streets
Movies and television often glamorize the work of undercover narcotics officers. It only takes an hour to solve the case and the bad guys almost always lose. But real detectives say it can be a grueling, thankless job.
“I have 50-plus detectives that do undercover narcotics investigations. Most of those guys put in between 14 and 20 hour days. The average 10-hour workday doesn’t exist in narcotics,” says Captain Paul Cleveland, the Commander of the Organized Crime and Narcotics Division in Fairfax County.
He’s done it all, including the undercover drug buys and the all-night surveillance.
“I enjoy this job because every day is something different.”
Taking drug dealers off the streets can be dangerous, so detectives want to catch the big fish — the suppliers. They collect evidence, sometimes for months, before they get enough probable cause for a court-ordered search warrant or wiretap. A suspect’s cellphone records, bank accounts and social media posts are tracked. Informants trade information for plea deals.
“We don’t wiretap your average dealer. These are cases that are high-level, high-profile and in the end we expect a big return,” Cleveland says.
“That wiretap has to be renewed every 15 days. The probable cause has to continually exist.”
Cultural change: A need for treatment
When heroin first came on the scene in the 1960s and 1970s, the culture was much different.
“Before, it used to be that if you possessed heroin, we’re going to take you to jail. Now, we’re trying to break the cycle by the way we’re viewing it. Trying to get you help up front,” Cleveland says.
Heroin is primarily smuggled into the United States from Afghanistan, Mexico and Colombia.
It’s a big problem in Northern Virginia. The area experienced about a 165 percent increase in heroin deaths between 2011 and 2013. Those autopsy reports often land on the desk of Ray Morrogh, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
“You’re actually playing Russian roulette every time you use heroin. This drug is just pure evil,” Morrogh says.
He actually represented heroin addicts earlier in his career.
“We have probably between 30 to 50 drug cases a week. And a rising percentage of those are heroin cases.”
Drug users can be unpredictable and even violent while under the influence. Morrogh cites the 2010 Vanessa Pham murder case as an example. Julio Miguel Blanco Garcia was sentenced to 49 years in prison for stabbing Pham at least 13 times while high on PCP.
“You can call heroin dealers nonviolent criminals, but I can tell you that violence does result from the sale of heroin, PCP and cocaine,” he says.
“I get it that not everyone who uses drugs is a monster. In many cases, they’re sick. It is consistent with my role as a prosecutor to try to reach out and help these people. But when it comes to selling drugs, I have no sympathy for those people. And I don’t think we should be releasing them.”
The call to increase funding for mental health and drug treatment centers has never been louder. One of the most vocal proponents is Virginia Sen. Creigh Deeds, whose son suffered from mental illness and took his own life.
Morrogh says access to adequate health care and treatment is a big part of changing the drug culture.
“It takes about three months to get into treatment, even if you’re court-ordered. It’s not popular to put money into treating addicts.
“Every human life is worthy of saving.”
What Maryland is doing
Hogan, Maryland’s governor, says he’s acting immediately.
“I was shocked at how widespread this problem had become … Dealing with this problem is an emergency which we simply must address,” Hogan said at a news conference in February, where he outlined his plans to fight fatal heroin overdoses.
“Let’s be very clear, addiction is a disease and we will not be able to just arrest our way out of this crisis.”
He formed a state-wide council and task force to investigate the issues surrounding the drug problem. He also announced Kaleo Pharmaceuticals will donate 5,000 EVZIO kits, which are similar to epi-pens and contain naloxone, a drug that counteracts a heroin overdose. A $500,000 federal grant will go toward treatment programs in state prisons.
Last Friday, Maryland House lawmakers approved changes to Hogan’s budget, including a plan to provide $2 million for heroin treatment. Critics say the cuts to Medicaid championed by former Gov. Martin O’Malley and continued by Hogan limit access and funds to addiction recovery programs.
Mike Gimbel, a former director of Baltimore County’s substance abuse office, tells the Baltimore Sun that there is no plan for long-term, residential drug-free treatment.
Two bills before the Maryland General Assembly, HB 222 and SB 303, seek to hold drug dealers accountable for the death of a drug user.
“We are talking about people who are distributing drugs for profit and killing people in our community,” says Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
If the bills pass, drug dealers could be sentenced for up to 30 years in prison and grants immunity to anyone who witnesses an overdose and calls for help.
What Virginia is doing
A similar bill died in the Virginia General Assembly but three others that deal with the heroin crisis were approved:
Law enforcement will be able to administer naloxone, which has reversed more than 10,000 overdoses between 1996 and 2010. “It’s very difficult now to get naloxone. Everybody ought to have access to it,” says Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
A Safe Reporting bill grants immunity to someone who witnesses an overdose, stays on the scene and calls for help.
The Prescription Monitoring Program grants probation officers access to Virginia’s Prescription Monitoring Program to make sure convicted criminals are not receiving unauthorized pills.
McAuliffe says reining in fraudulent prescriptions needs to be a priority.
“People have been picking up drugs to take to folks in hospice and that individual in hospice has already died. We need to strengthen how we deliver prescription drugs in the Commonwealth.”
The heroin epidemic is making a splash in Congress, too. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is working on a Good Samaritan bill that would protect people who give lifesaving drugs to users who overdosed.
A happy ending
“My disease took total control of my life. And I had to make a decision. Do I want to live? Or die?”
It’s a chilly November night in Montgomery County but courtroom 3E is packed.
A guest of honor stands before an audience of recovering drug addicts. It wasn’t too long ago that she was sitting where they are now.
“When I got here I was a mess and I wanted everybody else to be a mess.”
Shuletta Moore used heroin for years.
“Crack and heroin told me that you don’t need to take care of your son, you need to take care of us,” says Moore.
That was until she was accepted into the county’s drug court in 2008 and graduated from the program in 2010.
“I had to accept the fact that I needed somebody to show me how to live,” she says. “If you don’t want to use somebody’s needles who has full-blown AIDS, you better let somebody show you how to live. If you don’t want to be on the side of the curb, pulling up water, putting it in a syringe and putting it in your neck, you better let somebody show you how to live, Shuletta. Because the next time you might not make it back.”
Drug court participants are nonviolent offenders who are offered a chance to get clean under strict rules: Regular drug tests and meetings with case workers every day for two years.
Sitting in the front row, eight people in this class have completed the program and they’re graduating on the 10th anniversary of drug court.
“I was killing myself. When I got to drug court, it was not comfortable. And they were helping me to save my life … I’m actually grateful. I just got married. I would never think someone would want to marry me,” says Moore.
The crowd erupts in applause.
Like several of the other graduates, Brett fell off the wagon a few times.
“I have no shame in saying that before I came into drug court, I was a total scumbag. I would lie, cheat, rob, steal and manipulate to ensure I could stick a needle in my arm on a daily basis.”
But he decided to turn his life around.
“Today I have over two years clean. In that time I’ve met and married the love of my life. We now have a beautiful 10-month-old daughter. You can do it. Anybody can do it. There’s a good life out there waiting for you. You just have to go and get it.”
Another graduate, Jonah Carter, has been sober since he entered the program in 2012.
“There was a time not too long ago when I would have traded my very last breath for a hit of crack. Using was more important than living,” he says as he breaks down while thanking his mentors and fellow participants.
“You never let me go astray and you never left me behind. And when I felt like crawling back into the rock I came from, you were always there to lift me up.”
A poem Carter wrote moved the courtroom to tears.
The words ‘drug’ and ‘court’ have always shared a page.
One stands for justice, while the other is a cage.
As long as there is freedom, their paths will always cross.
One gives us liberty. The other gives us loss.
These graduates and their families are also surrounded by current participants. Some have committed to their sobriety but others have fallen back into old habits. About 15 percent never finish.
To them, Shuletta says, “My recovery comes first. My recovery comes first. My recovery comes first. I hope and pray that everybody makes it. Shuletta, a recovering addict.”
Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
© 2015 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.THE MASTERMIND of the deadly Istanbul airport attacks was due to be extradited to Russia to face terror charges – but a European court deemed it was against his human rights.
IG MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Chateav was due to be extradited to Russia in 2010, but Europe intervened
The one-armed ISIS militant fled Russia 12 years ago and was granted refugee status in Austria while he radicalised disenfranchised youngsters from the Chechen Republic – which fought two years of independence with Russia after the break up of the USSR. He is one of the three men who detonated suicide belts in Ataturk airport, Istanbul on Tuesday – killing 44. A Chechen himself, Akhmed Chateav spent several years in prison – where he claims his arm was chopped off. He joined ISIS in 2015 and fought in Syria, according to Turkish media.
PH SMILERS: The bombers were caught on CCTV before detonating their suicide belt
“He could face an unfair trial and would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment” Amnesty International He played a leading role in training extremists who went on to commit terrorist attacks in both Russia and western Europe, a Russian spook claimed. The news comes as Turkish police nabbed 11 non-nationals linked to the attack in Istanbul this morning. Chateav had been long wanted by authorities for terrorism-related offences but after he was granted asylum in Europe he managed to dodge extradition rules which would have seen him hauled in front of a court. When he was arrested in Ukraine in 2010 on suspicion of masterminding a deadly bomb attack, The European Court for Human Rights ordered that he could not be handed over to Russia.
DAILYSTAR HOLIDAY FEARS: Holiday Brits are unsure whether to board flights to Turkey this summer
Human rights charity Amnesty International also urged authorities to leave him alone as he "could face an unfair trial and would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment". Similar rulings from the court helped fuel the Leave campaign in the run up to the EU Referendum. Home secretary and frontrunner to be the next prime minister Theresa May said that while she wished to remain in the European Union, the UK should should quit the separate European Convention on Human Rights which it subscribes to.
AMNESTYINTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS: The Amnesty International vault reveals the charity campaigned to block his ex...Long before the intervention in Libya -- before Afghanistan or Iraq, or even Vietnam -- the United States found itself involved in a peculiar operation on the southern coast of Cuba, at a place called the Bay of Pigs.
Starting in the early hours of April 17, 1961, approximately 1,400 Cuban exiles, supplied and backed by the CIA and Pentagon, attempted to invade their homeland and overthrow Fidel Castro. The exile force was routed within days and sent fleeing to the swamps. Castro crowed with victory, while the new administration of John F. Kennedy wallowed in humiliation. “How could we have been so stupid?” President Kennedy muttered to his aides.
Sunday is the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Cuba, and it arrives with Kennedy’s question still begging for an answer. Not just regarding the Bay of Pigs, but a host of other entanglements that followed. The United States went on to engage in no fewer than two dozen forceful foreign interventions after 1961, from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Central America. And that was just the 20th century. Then came the 21st, and 9/11, and Iraq and Afghanistan. And now, Libya.
Click for a timeline detailing the Bay of Pigs invasion
Given the variety of American interventions -- some small, others massive; some covert, others overt; some undertaken for humanitarian goals, others for self-interest or self-defense -- it may be misleading to lump apples and oranges and draw conclusions about the fruits they bear. Nonetheless, if there is one element that nearly all U.S. interventions have shared since the Bay of Pigs -- the elephant, as it were, in the Situation Room -- it is their tendency to merit the observation Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. made in his journal after the 1961 debacle: “We not only look like imperialists; we look like ineffectual imperialists, which is worse,” wrote the presidential adviser; “and we look like stupid, ineffectual imperialists, which is worst of all.”
Certainly, there have been arguable successes. President Ronald Reagan’s minor foray into Grenada and President George H.W. Bush’s into Panama are good candidates, as is the Persian Gulf War of 1991 (if we can forget that it set the stage for what came later in Iraq). President Bill Clinton’s 1999 effort in Kosovo also qualifies. But it is worth asking, given this country’s generally sorry history of intervention over the past 50 years, why we keep going back for more, like a child who can’t keep his hand off a hot burner. We seem driven by an almost pathological compulsion to revisit the pain -- or to suffer the delusion that somehow, this time, we’ll get a more pleasant result.
Regarding the current intervention in Libya, President Obama has assured us we will not be there long this spring. But Obama, born four months after the Bay of Pigs, has lived through enough of these interventions to know that reality has its own way of intervening on even the best laid plans. Already, the days have turned into weeks, and soon will become months.
Clearly, there are times when the United States simply cannot avoid applying force abroad. But our leaders should never be fooled into thinking it’s going to be easy, as John Kennedy apparently was by the CIA’s assurances that the Cuban population would rise up in support of the Bay of Pigs invasion.
By the same token, when a president tells the American people that an intervention will be quick and painless, he should be greeted with no less skepticism than you’d give a home-improvement contractor bidding to renovate your kitchen. You can be pretty sure the job’s going to cost twice as much and last twice as long as promised. If you’re lucky.
As the U.S. and NATO allies enter the fifth week in Libya, and as the price tag rises to more than $1 billion, let us recall that the Bay of Pigs lasted just five days and cost a mere $46 million (less than the average budget of a Hollywood movie these days). There is no denying that the suffering it caused was acute. American casualties numbered 114, including Cuban exiles and four airmen from the Alabama Air National Guard. The Kennedy administration did not fully recover from the setback until the Cuban Missile Crisis eighteen months later, and the credibility of the United States took years to heal. But reflecting back on those fateful days in 1961, we know that things could have been worse. Indeed, to judge by our more recent history of interventions, they usually are.
Jim Rasenberger (jimrasenberger.com) is the author of the new book, “The Brilliant Disaster – JFK, Castro, and America’s Doomed Invasion of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs.”Word that 6 million young people are not working or studying comes as no surprise to anyone with a millennial in the basement.
While their parents weren’t looking, Generation X gave way to Generation Vex, an amiable, tech-savvy, yet minimally employable crop of Americans who will ultimately need more subsidies than a dairy farmer. Staying on the family health insurance until age 26 is just the beginning.
“They just need a chance,” soothes Mark Edwards, executive director of the Boston-based Opportunity Nation. That’s the advocacy group that recently released the study showing that 15 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds are the new American idle.
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This does mean that 85 percent of this age group is in school or working — albeit many in low-wage jobs. Six million, however, is not an insignificant number. And researchers say people who begin their adult lives without jobs are more likely to be unemployed in the future. Bodies at rest remain at rest, even when a portion of one’s idle time is dispatched at the neighborhood gym. Even more unnerving, this generation has contrived a new level of inertia, which the Japanese call “hikikomori.” It’s young people who don’t leave the house at all, not because they’re scared like agoraphobics, but because their needs are met and they’re content.
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Thirteen years ago, Neil Howe and the late William Strauss called millennials — children born between 1982 and 2000 — “the next great generation” in their book “Millennials Rising.” Sure, there are isolated successes — for every 10,000 college dropouts, there’s one Mark Zuckerberg. But Howe and Strauss, it seems, were indulging in happythink.
Recent economic woes are partly to blame, as middle-aged workers cling to jobs once held by 20-somethings. But as the recession recedes, it’s getting harder to believe we’ve given millennials the skills and, more important, the motivation to provide for themselves. In MTV’s 2012 study on these “No Collar Workers,” half said they’d rather have no job at all than a job they hate.
In colonial times, nine out of 10 people worked on food production, hence John Smith’s famous edict at Jamestown: “He who works not, eats not.” (There was no enabling 99-cent value menu then.) The millennials, alas, are trophy kids, a generation spawned not for their usefulness at harvest but because they look so precious in those matching pajamas from Hanna Andersson. Not that we all had children as accessories; we also have all these extra bedrooms. The housing boom, a multi-generational villain, shares responsibility when the nest refuses to empty.
In pregnancy, “nesting” is a mammal’s proclivity to burrow into a home, surrounded with comfortable things like twigs and leaves. Once our national nesting habits expanded to include pillow-top mattresses and media rooms with big screens and theater seating, we might as well have hung a sign over our kids’ doors, saying, “Abandon all ambition, ye who enter here.”
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More so than previous generations, millennials incubated in beauty and comfort and spaciousness unknown to their parents at that age. There was no Rachael Ray or Martha Stewart then. There were no four-car garages, master suites, and cathedral ceilings unless your name was Kennedy or Bush. There was lime-green shag carpeting in ’50s-style ranches with bedrooms the size of today’s walk-in closets. In quarters that close, kids couldn’t wait to move out at 18, even to the shabbiest of apartments.
Today’s kids simply can’t imagine downsizing to quarters like that. They’re victims of their parents’ success and frustrated that they see no way to replicate it. And why should they, if they’re already livin’ the dream?
A story circulates about the old fisherman who encounters a Harvard MBA who asks why he doesn’t work hard to expand his business. Then, the businessman promises, after 20 or 30 years of hard labor, he can go public, reap millions and then sleep late, fish a little, take a nap, enjoy his family.
The fisherman smiles and says — ba da boom — “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”
So, too, our millennials. In his new book, “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams credits his millennial assistant, adding, “If any of you are worried about the next generation, don’t be. They make us look like chimps.” Chumps, too, if parents keep gathering their bananas when we’d rather be swinging from the trees.
Jennifer Graham writes regularly for the Globe.While Thomas Ligotti has been cited by authors as the greatest living writer of the Weird, mainstream recognition of his work has seemed to lag behind. However, this month Penguin is publishing a new work in its series of classics that combines two of Ligotti’s earliest collections, Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe: His Lives and Works. With Penguin adding Ligotti’s work to its classics lineup, it would seem that Ligotti might finally be getting the long overdue exposure he deserves for his seminal contribution to dark fiction. The following interview was done on the occasion of the publication of Thomas Ligotti’s Songs of a Dead and Grimscribe in the Penguin Literary Classics series.
Were there any particular events in your life that pushed your imagination to contemplate horror?
I think the first and foremost source of horror that preoccupied my mind were nightmares. I’ve been a professional at bad dreams all my life. Hamlet had nothing on me as far as that’s concerned. Nightmares are the only realm in which we are without help and absent of all hope of being saved from the worst and most unnatural fates. But that’s all very abstract, and I don’t think it’s the response you’re looking to get from me. No doubt I did have more than my share of nightmares. There were other things, though, and I’m not sure I can put my finger on what they were or how much any one of them might be blamed or credited for my obsession with the artistic expression of horror. I was often sick as a child. Often my illnesses were accompanied by fevers and deranged perceptions that they bring about — malignant faces on the ceiling of my bedroom, shadows in corners, shapes watching me from dark places, that sort of thing. When I was two years old, I was hospitalized and operated on for an abdominal rupture. In my reading on authors of supernatural writing, I came across an article on childhood surgical procedures, focusing on one in particular that had been undergone by Bram Stoker. The person who wrote the article had a theory on what effect this may have had on the man who would later write Dracula and other tales of things that did not exist and could not exist in our so‐called normal world, the real and orderly world where the substance of our lives is assumed to be played out. And of course H. P. Lovecraft recorded at length in his letters the journeys he made to a world without any rules concerning what should be and what should not be. I have to say that my destinations were more mundane but it’s the emotions aroused by nightmares affects us most. They have no counterpart in intensity and suggestion in our daylight lives. Throughout my youngest days I used to think that if I had a bad dream the night before it was less likely I would have another on the next one. I’m not claiming to be unique in the nightmares and traumas of my early life, or even that they were material to my later preoccupation with horror movies and literature. They just happened. So did night terrors, which have continued to this day, in which I feel myself awake but am paralyzed in body. Those may account for what is possibly my worst fear: the syndrome of being “locked in” your body and unable to give a sign that you’re aware of what is happening. It’s that sort of disorder that I believe alone makes anyone’s continued existence not worth the risk. Like many other potential sufferings, at least for me, it’s simply too awful to contemplate. A bestselling book was written by someone in that condition. This sort of heroic accomplishment is supposed to assure us all that we have reservoirs of strength that can get us through the most strange and terrible ordeals. That may be true for some people. But I can’t help trembling when I think of those for whom it is a lie. So many lies are told in order to keep us from collapsing into a heap should we give too much attention to the thousands of potential nightmares that threaten us both day and night.
Could you talk about your religious background?
I attended Catholic school from grades one through three and remained a theist throughout my teenage years. No incident or study on my part that I can name led to my becoming an atheist around the age of nineteen. To my recollection, I became aware of my lapse from religious belief while doing homework for a college history class. It was not a momentous occurrence to say the least. Looking back, I would have to say that my Catholicism, which was rather elaborate and obsessive for a child, was a matter of observance of ritual and private practice without being directed by emotional or spiritual feeling. Even in grade school I realized that I lacked any sentiment positive or negative for my creator. This didn’t seem strange to me. I think I assumed that everyone felt, or failed to feel, the same way. I found Jesus Christ singularly uninspiring as a messiah or useful in any way to me in my life. What I did feel was a profound sense of sympathy for others. The sound of an ambulance siren always inspired a prayer from me, though at some point this became a knee‐jerk or superstitious response. Later, the sound of an ambulance siren aroused nothing but fear in me. I’ve made a number of trips in such a vehicle for problems ranging from a broken leg to emergency surgery for diverticulitis in 2012 in the early hours of April Fool’s Day. You can’t make this stuff up, as they say. While suffering an ego‐annihilating pain just before I underwent anesthesia, I did experience a confused awareness that my death during surgery would not be a bad thing. This became a lucid thought and a hope without ambivalence prior to subsequent surgeries to repair my guts.
The essay “Professor Nobody’s Little Lectures” reads like an early attempt at addressing the themes you would later explore in your nonfiction book “The Conspiracy Against the Human Race.” Why did you feel it needed to be included in a collection of fiction?
I’ve been a didactic writer to a greater or lesser extent from the beginning. It may be deluded to think that the world simply must hear what you have to say, but I think this delusion is necessary if one is to write anything at all, whether it’s poetry, fiction, or a sermon. So didacticism is inherent in every effort to spill ink on a page. It’s more a matter of the way that urgency to tell the world what you think about it is dressed up for the reading public. Should a work of fiction be poorly garbed in its technique and manner of telling, its didactic undergarments will show through. That’s about the worst thing that can happen to a fiction writer, at least from viewpoint of readers who want to “get lost” in a narrative and not in what ideas and emotions a writer wants to express in so many words. Personally speaking, my own favorite literary forms are designed for the expression of their authors’ thoughts and feelings. As a reader, I’ve devoted myself almost entirely to essays, lyric poetry, expressionistic stories and dramas, aphorisms, moral tales, and any other form in which a writer stands at a podium or on a soapbox. It’s not really that I prefer short forms as much as I’d rather hear what someone has to say about their experience of being alive — what they like, what they hate — than listen to them spin a yarn. I like to feel close to a writer’s character more than I do to a made‐up character maneuvering within a set of circumstances that is neatly resolved in the end. Admittedly, I also like those things. I can get lost in them as much as any Harlequin Romance‐reading schoolgirl. But with few exceptions, I’d rather see those stories on my TV or DVD player. Reading them, especially when they reach toward the thousand‐page mark, is a chore I can’t perform. There have been exceptions in my life as a reader. The detective novels of Raymond Chandler particularly stand out. Then again, the first‐person voice of Philip Marlowe definitely leans toward didacticism, and one can’t avoid feeling that it’s the voice of the author speaking through him. Certain literary critics and linguistic philosophers would chortle contemptuously over such a perspective, but who really cares what they think except their colleagues and students? As far as I’m concerned, school’s out as long as my veins are still coursing with blood and not formaldehyde.
You wrote of the paradoxical nature of supernatural horror fiction, how it grants us a reprieve from the true horror of existence while also affirming it. Do you see a point where the everyday horror reaches the point of absurdity that would make supernatural horror irrelevant?
I really don’t see such a point in future. However, I don’t think that position may be argued any more than its antithesis. At present, however, it certainly seems that supernatural horror is more relevant than ever and everyday horror is more prevalent, or at least more in our minds, than it has been in some time. I definitely would argue that.
How has your style changed/evolved over the years? What have you explored more recently that you didn’t early in your career, if anything?
To revisit the matter of my didacticism, I think I evolved more in that direction than in any other. Of course, this tendency appears most conspicuously in my nonfiction book The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. However, even though this is a late work, it’s actually the culmination of themes and thoughts that had been developing in one way or another throughout my writing life. In my chronologically first story that I thought worth preserving, “The Last Feast of Harlequin,” I portrayed a depressed narrator who discovers a cult of supernatural anti‐natalists—avant le lettre, of course, but anti‐natalists all the same — who inhabit a small Midwestern town. I wrote the first draft of this story, which was longer and more detailed than the published story, in the late 1970s. The story didn’t appear in a polished form until ten years later, but it was in every thematic respect the same story. I simply removed some narrative details. Something else was also there in my work beginning with “The Last Feast of Harlequin” and it later played a leading role in my purported career. In a word it was Darkness. I won’t give away the finale of “Last Feast of Harlequin,” but I will say that the darkness which is the prominent symbol and motif of the story predominates in the end, as one might expect in one of my stories.
I continued this use of darkness as a device and practically a character throughout a number of the stories I’ve written. Now, between the emphasis on pessimism in “Professor Nobody’s Lectures on Supernatural Horror” and the prominence of depression, darkness, and the rest of it in “The Last Feast of Harlequin,” which is easily my best‐known story, you might think that readers would take me seriously on these matters. Yet that doesn’t seem to have been the case until I wrote The Conspiracy against the Human Race. It was as if they couldn’t wholly bring themselves to believe that the dark nature of my fiction reflected a corresponding turn of mind and set of sentiments in their author. But there it was, as big and ugly as life. And it seems to have been there from the beginning. I just wasn’t quite as didactic in those days.
What do you see as the distinction between your work and that of Lovecraft?
There are a few ways I could answer this question. One of them is that in Lovecraft’s defining stories, meaning such later works as “The Shadow out of Time” and “At the Mountains of Madness,” there is a sense of adventure. In his letters, Lovecraft often wrote of experiencing moments of what he called “adventurous expectancy,” by which he meant feeling oneself on the brink of some weird and hyper‐exciting revelation that is always held in suspension and never known in its particulars. This is patently an aesthetic perception of existence. Borges described a similar feeling of the imminence of a revelation that never occurs as the definitive aesthetic experience. In Lovecraft’s work, unlike that of Borges, the origin of his feeling of adventurous expectancy derives from something terrible that is associated with the inconceivable spatial and temporal nature of the physical universe. I think that a great many people experience the same thing in their lives. I have myself. But it never occurred to me to express this feeling as a source of adventure in my stories.
My focus has fairly consistently been on what I have thought of as an “infernal paradise,” a realm where one wallows in something putrid and corrosive that lies beyond exact perception. In his stories, Lovecraft’s adventurous expectancy ultimately has its origin in something terrible, and not the child’s picture‐book wonderland you find in the work of a lot of writers of fantastic fiction. But it’s still thrilling in its own way. It isn’t purely hellish, as is the case with my stories. Lovecraft was an astronomy buff as a child and so this feeling probably stemmed from that time. I was a pathological Catholic as a child, and one might make a connection between my early life and my later writings on that basis. Ultimately, the difference I’m trying to articulate between Lovecraft’s adventurous expectancy and my infernal paradise may seem superficial. I would say as much myself. But it seems to me that what captivates a reader’s interest in one writer’s work as opposed to another’s is quite often based on superficial qualities, even when there are |
bugs.
If you're the sort of person who likes to jump straight to the end of a book to see how it ends, then you can find the code on in my GitHub "Bridge.React" repo or you can add it to a Bridge project through NuGet (Bridge.React). But if you want to find out more of the details then keep reading! I'm not going to presume any prior knowledge from my previous post - so if you've read that, then I'm afraid I'm going to re-tread some of the same ground - however, I imagine that I don't have that many dedicated followers, so figure it makes more sense to make this entry nicely self-contained :)
As simple as could be
In the past, I've also written about writing bindings for TypeScript (which is a language I liked.. but not as much as C#) and bindings for DuoCode (which is a project that seemed to have promise until they spent so longer thinking about their pricing model that I gave up on them) as well as a couple of posts about Bridge - and, often, I've got quite technical about how the bindings work under the hood. Today, though, I'm just going to deal with how to use the bindings. I'm happy that they're finally fully-populated and I've tried to make an effort to make them easy to consume, so let's just stick to getting Bridge apps talking to React and not worry about the magic behind the scenes!
I'm going to assume that you're familiar with React - though I won't be going into too much depth on it, so if you're not an expert then it shouldn't be any problem. I'm not going to assume that you have tried out Bridge yet, because it's so easy to presume that you haven't that it won't take us long to start from scratch!
Hello world
So, let's really start from the basics. You need to create a new solution in Visual Studio - choose a C# Class Library. Now go to References / Manage NuGet Packages, search for "Bridge.React" online and install the package. This will automatically pull in the Bridge package as a dependency, and this sets up a "demo.html" file under the "Bridge/www" folder to make getting started as frictionless as possible. That file has the following content:
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <title>Bridge BridgeReactBlogPost</title> <script src="../output/bridge.js"></script> <script src="../output/BridgeReactBlogPost.js"></script> </head> <body> <!-- Right-Click on this file and select "View in Browser" --> </body> </html>
Note that the title and the JavaScript filename are taken from the project name. So the file above mentions "BridgeReactBlogPost" because that's the name of the project that I'm creating myself alongside writing this post (just to ensure that I don't miss any steps or present any dodgy demonstration code!).
We need to add a few more items now - the React library JavaScript, the Bridge.React JavaScript and an element for React to render inside. So change demo.html to something like the following:
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <title>Bridge BridgeReactBlogPost</title> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/0.14.3/react.js"></script> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/0.14.3/react-dom.js"></script> <script src="../output/bridge.js"></script> <script src="../output/bridge.react.js"></script> <script src="../output/BridgeReactBlogPost.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="main" /> </body> </html>
(Aside: If you want to, then you can add the line
"combineScripts": true
to your bridge.json file, which will cause ALL of the project JavaScript files to be built into a single file - including "bridge.js" and "bridge.react.js" - so, if you used this option, you would only need to include a single JavaScript file. In this example, it would be just "../output/BridgeReactBlogPost.js").
Now change the "Class1.cs" file (that was created automatically when you requested the new "Class Library" project) thusly:
using Bridge.Html5; using Bridge.React; namespace BridgeReactBlogPost { public class Class1 { [Ready] public static void Main() { React.Render( DOM.Div( new Attributes { ClassName = "wrapper" }, "Hiya!" ), Document.GetElementById("main") ); } } }
.. and then right-click on demo.html, click "View in Browser" and you should be greeted by some React-rendered content. Good start!
Update (2nd December 2015): I originally showed a non-static method above with a [Ready] attribute on it - this worked in earlier versions of Bridge but does not work any longer. In the examples in this post, using an instance method with the [Ready] attribute will result in the method NOT being called at DOM ready (it will appear to fail silently by doing no work but showing no warnings). Don't make my mistake, make [Ready] methods static!
Now, let's be slightly more ambitious -
[Ready] public static void Main() { React.Render( DOM.Div(new Attributes { ClassName = "wrapper" }, DOM.Input(new InputAttributes { OnChange = e => Window.Alert(e.CurrentTarget.Value), MaxLength = 3 }) ), Document.GetElementById("main") ); }
Re-build then use "View in Browser" again. Now each change to the input box is thrown back in your face in an alert. The type of "e.CurrentTarget" is "InputElement" and so there is a string "Value" property available. And the "InputAttributes" class allows the setting of all of the properties that are specific to an InputElement, such as "MaxLength". This is one of the great things about using a type system to document your API - you use types (such as requiring an InputAttributes instance when DOM.Input is called) to inform the user of the API; what can and can't be done. And, while I've got a lot of respect for the people maintaining the DefinitelyTyped TypeScript type definitions, you don't get as much detail in their React bindings as are available here!
In fairness, I should really give credit where it's due here - the "InputElement" type comes from the Bridge.Html5 namespace, so I haven't had to write all of those definitions myself. And the "InputAttributes" class was based upon the InputElement's source code; I only had to remove read-only properties (for example, the html "input" element has a "valueAsNumber" property - only applicable to input elements with type "number" - that is read-only and so it would not make sense for this to be settable as a React attribute). I also had to remove some unsupported functionality (for example, checkbox input elements support an "indeterminate" flag in browsers but this is not supported by React).
All of the element factory methods in React ("div", "span", "input", etc..) have corresponding methods in the bindings, with types that express any additional properties that should be available - eg. we have
ReactElement TD( TableCellAttributes properties, params Any<ReactElement, string>[] children );
where the "TableCellAttributes" introduces additional properties such as "int ColSpan" and "int RowSpan" (note that the bindings all use pascal-cased function and type names since this is what is more commonly seen in C# code - where the functions are translated into JavaScript they will automatically use the camel-cased JavaScript names, so "Div" becomes "div", for example).
Creating your own components
But this is the boring stuff - as soon as you start using React, you want to create your own components!
React 0.14 introduced a concept, the "Stateless Component". In native JavaScript, this is just a function that takes a props reference and returns a React element. But to make it feel more natural in C#, the bindings have a base class which can effectively become a Stateless Component - eg.
public class MyLabel : StatelessComponent<MyLabel.Props> { public MyLabel(Props props) : base(props) { } public override ReactElement Render() { return DOM.Label( new LabelAttributes { ClassName = props.ClassName }, props.Value ); } public class Props { public string Value; public string ClassName; } }
The "StatelessComponent" base class takes a generic type parameter that describe the "props" reference type. Then, when "Render" is called, the "props" reference will be populated and ready to use within Render. If any other functions are declared within the class, they may be called from Render as you might expect (see further down). So we are able to write very simple custom components that React will treat as these special Stateless Components - about which, Facebook say:
In the future, we’ll also be able to make performance optimizations specific to these components
Creating one of these components is as easy as:
React.Render( new MyLabel(new MyLabel.Props { ClassName = "wrapper", Value = "Hi!" }), Document.GetElementById("main") );
It is important to note, however, that - due to the way that React creates components - the constructor of these classes must always be a no-op (it won't actually be called when React prepares the component) and the only data that the class can have passed in must be described in the props data. If you tried to do something like the following then it won't work -
public class MyLabel : StatelessComponent<MyLabel.Props> { private readonly int _index; public MyLabel(Props props, int index) : base(props) { // THIS WON'T WORK - the constructor is not processed _index = index; } public override ReactElement Render() { return DOM.Label( new LabelAttributes { ClassName = props.ClassName }, props.Value + " (index: " + _index + ")" ); } public class Props { public string Value; public string ClassName; } }
You can use instance members if you want to, you just can't rely on them being set in the constructor because the constructor is never called. Side note: I'm thinking about trying to write a C# Analyser to accompany these bindings so that any rules like this can be pointed out by the compiler, rather than you just having to remember them.
public class MyLabel : StatelessComponent<MyLabel.Props> { private int _index; public MyLabel(Props props) : base(props) { } public override ReactElement Render() { // Accessing instance fields and methods is fine, so long as it // isn't done in the constructor SetIndex(); return DOM.Label( new LabelAttributes { ClassName = props.ClassName }, props.Value + " (index: " + _index + ")" ); } private void SetIndex() { _index = MagicStaticIndexGenerator.GetNext(); } public class Props { public string Value; public string ClassName; } }
You can also create custom components that have child elements. Just like "DOM.Div" takes an attributes reference (its "Props", essentially) and then an array of child elements, the StatelessComponent class takes a params array after that first "props" argument.
This array has elements of type "Any<ReactElement, string>", which means that it can be the result of a React factory method (such as "Div") or it can be a string, so that text elements can be easily rendered. Or it can be any class that derives from StatelessComponent as StatelessComponent has an implicit cast operator to ReactElement.
(Note: There used to be a ReactElementOrText class mentioned here but it didn't offer any benefit over Bridge's generic Any<,> class, so I've changed the NuGet package - as of 1.3.0 / 27th September 2015 - and have updated this post accordingly).
So, we could create a simple "wrapper" component that renders a Div with a class and some children -
public class MyWrapper : StatelessComponent<MyWrapper.Props> { public MyWrapper(Props props, params Any<ReactElement, string>[] children) : base(props, children) { } public override ReactElement Render() { return DOM.Div( new Attributes { ClassName = props.ClassName }, Children ); } public class Props { public string ClassName; } }
And render it like this:
React.Render( new MyWrapper(new MyWrapper.Props { ClassName = "wrapper" }, DOM.Span(null, "Child1"), DOM.Span(null, "Child2"), DOM.Span(null, "Child3") ), Document.GetElementById("main") );
or even just like:
React.Render( new MyWrapper(new MyWrapper.Props { ClassName = "wrapper" }, "Child1", "Child2", "Child3" ), Document.GetElementById("main") );
The "Children" property accessed within MyWrapper is exposed through StatelessComponent and will echo back the child elements passed into the constructor when the component instance was declared. If there were no children specified then it will be an empty array.
This brings us on to the next topic - Keys for dynamic children. To aid React's reconciliation process in cases where dynamic children elements are specified, you should specify Key values for each item. Each Key should be consistent and unique within the parent component (for more details, read the "Keys / Reconciliation" section from the Facebook docs).
If you were declaring React components in vanilla JavaScript, then this would be as easy as including a "key" value in the props object. Using these Bridge bindings, it's almost as simple - if your component needs to support an optional "Key" property then its Props class should include a "Key" property. And that's all that's required! You don't need to set anything to that Key inside your component, you merely need to allow it to be set on the props. React will accept numeric or string keys, so I would recommend that you declare the "Key" property as either an int or a string or as an Any<int, string>, which is built-in Bridge class that allows either of the value types to be used. To illustrate:
public class MyListItem : StatelessComponent<MyListItem.Props> { public MyListItem(Props props) : base(props) { } public override ReactElement Render() { return DOM.Li(null, props.Value); } public class Props { public Any<int, string> Key; public string Value; } }
Note: In the earlier examples, the "Child{x}" elements were fixed at compile time and so didn't need Key properties to be set, but if you were displaying a list of search results that were based on data from an api call, for example, then these elements would NOT be fixed at compile time and so you should specify unique Key values for them.
"Full" Components
So far, I've only talked about stateless components, which are like a slimmed-down version of full React components. But sometimes you need a stateful component, or one that supports the full React lifecycle.
For these times, there is another base class - simply called Component. This has two generic type parameters, one for the "props" data and for "state". However, the constructor signature is the same as the StatelessComponent; it takes a props reference and then any children element that the component instance has. The state reference is controlled by the two React component lifecycle functions "GetInitialState" and "SetState". "GetInitialState" is called when the component is first created and "SetState" can be used to not only update the internal "state" reference but also request that the component re-render.
The most basic example would be something like this:
// Note: I've not even declared a class fortthe State, I've just used // "string" since the state in this class is just a string value. But // that's because I'm lazy, the state was more complicated then it // could be a separate class, just like Props. public class StatefulControlledTextInput : Component<StatefulControlledTextInput.Props, string> { public StatefulControlledTextInput(Props props) : base(props) { } protected override string GetInitialState() { return ""; } public override ReactElement Render() { return DOM.Input(new InputAttributes { ClassName = props.ClassName, Type = InputType.Text, Value = state, OnChange = ev => SetState(ev.CurrentTarget.Value) }); } public class Props { public string ClassName; } }
Each time the input's value is changed, the component calls its own SetState function so that it can re-render with the new value (there's a good Facebook summary article if you've forgotten the difference between "controlled" and "uncontrolled" components; the gist is the controlled components only raise events when the user requests that their values change, they won't be redrawn unless React cause them to redraw).
This isn't all that the Component class allows, though, it has support for the other React component lifecycle methods - for example, sometimes the "OnChange" event of a text input is raised when the content hasn't really changed (if you put focus in a text input and [Ctrl]-[C] / copy whatever value is in it and then [Ctrl]-[V] / paste that value straight back in, the OnChange event will be raised even though the new value is exactly the same as the old value). You might consider this redraw to be unacceptable. In which case, you could take advantage of the "ShouldComponentUpdate" function like this:
public class StatefulControlledTextInput : Component<StatefulControlledTextInput.Props, string> { public StatefulControlledTextInput(Props props) : base(props) { } protected override string GetInitialState() { return ""; } protected override bool ShouldComponentUpdate( StatefulControlledTextInput.Props nextProps, string nextState) { return (props!= nextProps) || (state!= nextState); } public override ReactElement Render() { return DOM.Input(new InputAttributes { ClassName = props.ClassName, Type = InputType.Text, Value = state, OnChange = ev => SetState(ev.CurrentTarget.Value) }); } public class Props { public string ClassName; } }
Now, in the cases where the input's value doesn't really change, the component's "update" will be bypassed.
Clearly, this is a trival example, but it demonstrates how you could do something more complicated along these lines. All of the other functions "ComponentDidMount", "ComponentDidUpdate", "ComponentWillMount", "ComponentWillReceiveProps", "ComponentWillUnmount" and "ComponentWillUpdate" are also supported.
And, of course, the Component base class has the same "Children" integration that StatelessComponent has and the same support for specifying a "Key" props value.
There is one little oddity to be aware of, though: In React, "setState" has (in my opinion) a slightly odd behaviour in that it will accept a "partial state value" that it will then merge with the current state reference. So if you had a MyComponentState class with properties "Value1" and "Value2" then you could, in vanilla JavaScript React, call setState({ Value1: whatever }) and it would take that "Value1" and overwrite the current "Value1" in the current state reference, leaving any existing "Value2" untouched. In these bindings, you must specify an entire State reference and this merging does not occur - the old State reference is replaced entirely by the new. This is largely because the "SetState" function in the bindings takes a full "State" class reference (C# doesn't really have a concept of a part-of-this-class representation) but it's also because I think that it's clearer this way; I think that you should be explicit about what you're setting State to and having it be a-bit-of-what-was-there-before and a-bit-of-something-new is not as clear (if you ask me) as a complete here-is-the-new-state reference.
More to come
In React, it is strongly recommended that props and state be considered to be immutable references. In the examples here I've used immutability-by-convention; the "props" classes have not actually been immutable types. I'm intending to write a follow-up article or two because there is more that I want to explore, such as how to use these bindings to write React apps in a "Flux"-like manner and how to take more advantage of genuinely immutable types. But, hopefully, this has been a nice enough introduction into the bindings and got you thinking about trying to use C# to write some React apps! Because, if you're aiming to write a web application in a "Single Page Application" style, if your application is of any serious complexity then you're going to end up with quite a lot of code - and, while I have a real soft spot for JavaScript, if it comes to maintaining a large app that's written in JavaScript or that's written in C# then I know which way I would lean! Thank goodness Bridge.net has come along and let us combine JavaScript frameworks with C# :)
Posted at 23:29FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2016, file photo, a television news correspondent, right, reports live from Trump Tower in New York. Long before he tweeted about wiretaps, President Donald Trump was worried about who was listening in on his calls. The president claimed in a series of early morning tweets over the weekend that his predecessor had ordered that his phones in Trump Tower be monitored in October, suggesting that “a good lawyer could make a great case” out of it.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long before he tweeted about wiretaps, Donald Trump worried about who was listening in on his calls.
As a real estate mogul and reality TV star — well before he alleged on Twitter that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones during the campaign — Trump expressed regular concern that his phone lines were not secure, according to three former Trump Organization executives.
At times he talked about possible listening devices and worried that he was being monitored, two executives said. In other times, he was doing the monitoring. One of the executives said Trump occasionally taped his own phone conversations using an old-school tape recorder, although Trump once denied this.
“I assume when I pick up my telephone, people are listening to my conversations anyway, if you want to know the truth,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on December 1, 2015, when asked about NSA spying powers. “It’s pretty sad commentary, but I err on the side of security.”
The former Trump Organization employees, whose collective tenure with the company spanned decades, detailed Trump’s concern for surveillance on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution for disclosing internal practices.
A spokeswoman for the White House didn’t return an email seeking comment on Trump’s past use of, or concern about, possible surveillance.
Trump is hardly the only private businessperson concerned with security, experts said.
Rob Kimmons, a Houston, Texas-based private investigator who Trump hired to monitor the activities of another private detective his first wife had hired during their divorce, said wealthy individuals and businesspeople concerned about both thieves and competitors often engage in counter-surveillance.
“It’s more common than people think,” he said.
But to the former executives, Trump’s recent accusations felt familiar.
The president claimed in a series of early morning tweets over the weekend that his predecessor in the White House had ordered that Trump’s phones in Trump Tower be monitored in October, suggesting that “a good lawyer could make a great case” out of it. A spokesman for Obama immediately denied the claims and neither Trump nor the White House has offered any proof to substantiate them.
It wasn’t the first time that worry was expressed. During his presidential bid, Trump campaign aides mentioned suspicions that their offices in Trump Tower were being bugged and that their communications were being monitored, though there was never any proof of that.
Others have claimed Trump recorded their own conversations with him.
In 2000, a reporter for Fortune wrote in a story questioning Trump’s stated net worth that the then-real estate mogul “admitted he had begun taping” a conversation in which he threatened to sue the publication, a practice confirmed by one of the former Trump executives.
But when asked about tape-recording in a 2007 deposition by lawyers representing journalist Tim O’Brien, Trump denied he had done so, arguing he may have warned journalists that he would tape record in order to keep them honest.
“I think I might have said I want to tape,” Trump testified.
___
Associated Press writers Jeff Horwitz and Julie Pace contributed to this report.Soccer Nation: What are your thoughts on the American soccer pyramid, and the current state of professional club soccer in this country?
Jason Gerlach: Right now it feels confusing, overcrowded, and frankly, ripe for some consolidation. On the one hand it’s very exciting that so many leagues and teams have launched across the country over the last decade. On the other hand, while soccer is more popular than ever here in the U.S., I doubt that all of these soccer “start-ups” can and will survive.
The good thing is that equilibrium almost always prevails in business and I do not think soccer will be an exception. Over the next decade, I have little doubt that we’ll see a proper three (possibly four) tier pro/rel style soccer system emerge here that will reward the clubs that are run the best and weed out the clubs that are run poorly. And there will be plenty of teams around the country for communities of all sizes to rally around.Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has denied all claims made by a newspaper that his father helped Lee Harvey Oswald distribute leaflets promoting Fidel Castro's communist regime in 1963.
The National Enquirer published photos of John F Kennedy's killer, claiming to have concrete evidence the man beside him is Cuban-born Rafael Cruz.
On Saturday, the Republican nominee blasted the new claim linking his father's Castro activism to Lee Harvey Oswald, branding it 'garbage'.
'This is another garbage story in a tabloid full of garbage,' Cruz's communications director Alice Stewart told the Miami Herald. 'The story is false; that is not Rafael in the picture.'
A newspaper article claims this man (circled) is Rafael Cruz. The man on the far right is Lee Harvey Oswald, who is seen distributing propaganda about Fidel Castro's communist regime in New Orleans in 1963
It would not be the first link between the elder Cruz and Castro; Ted (pictured together) said last year that his father tried to join Castro's guerrilla army during the 1950s revolution. But he has never been linked to Oswald
The images, released by the US government amid an investigation into JFK's 1963 assassination, show Oswald and a group walking around a street in New Orleans in 1963 handing out leaflets to passers-by.
They were used as evidence against New Orleans-based Oswald, who was murdered by Jack Ruby days after the Dallas shooting, in an investigation into the president's death. But the man in the white shirt beside him was never identified.
It would not be the first link between the elder Cruz and Castro; Ted admitted last year that his father tried to join Castro's guerrilla army during the 1950s revolution which overthrew the Batista regime in 1959. But he has never been linked to Oswald.
Photo experts sought out by the newspaper compared the images to pictures of Rafael Cruz at the time to find similarities.
'There’s more similarity than dissimilarity... it looks to be the same person and I can say as much with a high degree of confidence,' Mitch Goldstone, president and CEO of ScanMyPhotos, told the Enquirer.
The Cruz campaign claims it is 'garbage' that Rafael Cruz (pictured in January campaigning for his son) was involved with Oswald. The elder Cruz wrote in his January book about trying to fight for Castro in Cuba
'They seem to match,' Carole Lieberman, a University of California - Los Angeles forensic psychiatrist, told the Enquirer.
The images were the only source of evidence the newspaper cited for its May 2 cover story headlined 'Ted Cruz Father Now Linked to JFK Assassination!'
The Enquirer has officially endorsed Donald Trump, and wrote a defense for the story, claiming an anonymous tipster approached the editorial team with the images.
'In this instance, we believe American voters have a right to know the truth about the Cruz family,' the defense read.
The National Enquirer published a story last month that speculated about five women with whom the Republican presidential candidate was rumored to have had extramarital affairs.
He has called the claims 'complete garbage' and on April 4 told Fox News: 'I have always been faithful to my wife.'
The statement was almost a week after he had first been asked by Daily Mail Online whether he could make clear he had never cheated.
Asked directly to 'tell us on the record that you've never been unfaithful to your wife?' Cruz dodged the question and attacked Trump.
Oswald seen handing out the leaflets that read 'hands off Cuba' a few years after Castro's guerrilla army overthrew the Batista regime
Cruz said the story was 'total lies' and was 'planted by Donald Trump's henchmen'.
Cruz's evangelical faith has been central to his campaign and he has contrasted his family values with those of Trump.
In his 2015 book A Time For Truth, Texas senator Ted Cruz writes that, after his Cuba-born dad was briefly jailed for urban insurgent activities, he asked if he could join Castro at his mountain camp.
He says his father couldn't reach Castro, and instead fled to Texas, eventually renouncing Castro after he took power in 1959 and declared himself communist.
His father had already admitted to the connection, and provided more detail in his book A Time For Action released this January.
'The U.S. government was duped,' he wrote.
'The American people were duped. I was duped. When people ask me why I supported Castro in over-throwing the Cuban government, I readily admit that I didn’t realize he was a communist.'PARIS — Satellite machine-to-machine (M2M) messaging provider Orbcomm Inc. on Nov. 5 said it remained cautiously optimistic that launch service provider SpaceX will return to flight in December with a new-version Falcon 9 by launching 11 Orbcomm second-generation satellites.
The launch will complete Rochelle Park, New Jersey-based Orbcomm’s second-generation constellation after the six satellites launched aboard Falcon 9 in July 2014.
Orbcomm had expected to be second or third on the flight manifest following Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX’s June launch failure. But in October, Orbcomm, SpaceX and SpaceX’s putative return-to-flight customer, fleet operator SES of Luxembourg, agreed to switch the two launches’ order to allow SpaceX to test reignition of the upgraded Falcon 9’s second-stage engine.
Orbcomm’s satellites will be dropped off at about 600 kilometers in altitude some 14 minutes after the Falcon 9 lifts off, after a single burn of the second-stage engine. The second stage then will test a 20-minute coast and reignition, which will be required to launch heavy satellites, like SES’s, into geostationary transfer orbit.
The 11-satellite Orbcomm payload, including the satellite dispenser, is about one-half the weight of a single large telecommunications satellite headed to geostationary orbit.
The new-version Falcon 9 has more-powerful first- and second-stage engines.
In a conference call with investors, Orbcomm Chief Executive Marc J. Eisenberg said he expected the launch to occur in the first half of December. “While there is still some work to be done, primarily on the SpaceX side, December is achievable as long as their preparation continues to go well,” he said.
One of the most immediate effects of placing into service the full second-generation Orbcomm constellation will be filling what Eisenberg called “a hole in the sky” that has caused service delays for some customers.
In particular, subscribers to Orbcomm’s Automatic Information System marine vessel tracking service will see increased flyovers of a given sea lane, to 135 flights per day, with AIS data refresh rates increased to once every 15 minutes, Eisenberg said.
Increased visibility of ships means more AIS revenue. Orbcomm has said its current annualized $5.6 million in AIS revenue will be growing to $10 million to $15 million over time once all 17 second-generation satellites are in service starting in 2016. The company reported that AIS-based revenue for the three months ending Sept. 30 was $1.4 million.
AIS is a side business for Orbcomm, whose focus is to sell service and hardware related to tracking commercial assets on land and sea. Eisenberg said the company would be using its technology to track the arrival, by road, of the 11 remaining satellites as they leave the Nevada facility of builder Sierra Nevada Corp. and head to the launch base at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
Orbcomm has been growing its asset-tracking business rapidly in part due to acquisitions as it seeks scale in an exploding M2M market in which new competition appears regularly.
Eisenberg said Orbcomm has some 40 patents covering different aspects of cargo monitoring by satellite and asset monitoring that should provide protection against incursions by new competitors.
“We’ve had three or four occasions where we thought there were patent violations,” Eisenberg said. “We’ve been pretty successful in defending our patents.”
Helped by two acquisitions that closed early this year, Orbcomm reported huge increases in revenue, gross profit and net income. Stripping away the effects of the new purchases, the company grew its organic revenue by 33 percent in the three months ending Sept. 30.
Orbcomm Chief Financial Officer Robert G. Costantini said during the call that Orbcomm expects to spend $40 million at the end of this year in costs related to the delivery, launch and insurance of the 11 satellites, but will still report free cash flow in its fourth-quarter results.
Once this spending is completed and the satellites are in orbit, Orbcomm will begin a capex holiday that will allow it to focus on growing the business, Costantini said.
As he has in the past, Eisenberg told investors that the M2M business is growing so fast that the opportunities for investment are too many to count. With some of the biggest names in commercial rail, road and maritime transport now adopting satellite M2M — from Orbcomm and others — he said no commercial shipper of goods would be able to do without the service.Pin Reddit 8 36 Shares
Christine wrote an article the other day talking about the Kardashian Kard. Apparently Kim Kardashian and her sisters decided to come out with a pre-paid debit card. I don’t know much about Kim Kardashian (I couldn’t even tell you her sisters’ names), except that she is pretty and popular.
When I first heard that they were releasing a pre-paid debit card, I hoped it was a good idea. I figured that they could use their popularity to teach people (especially teens and young adults) about personal finance.
The Kardashian Kard’s Pricing
Initial Purchase Options:
6 Month Payment Option (save $2.70) – $59.95
12 Month Payment Option (save $10.40) – $99.95
These options include the following charges:
One-Time Card Purchase – $9.95
Card Arrives Loaded with $5 – $5.00
Monthly Fee – $7.95/month
So, when you first purchase this card, you can either buy a 6-month package or a 12-month package. Then after that initial period, you must pay $7.95 each month! This means that in the first two years of owning the card, you will have to pay at least $195.35. Keep it for 3 years and you’ll be out almost $300 in fees!!!
I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to pay $300 to buy a pre-paid card!
The Kardashian Kard’s Teaching Promise
There are some things about this card that could make it a good teaching tool for a young person with no credit:
No Credit Check
No Overdraft Fees
It’s pre-paid, so there is an automatic limit set on the card (basically, whatever you deposit)
No Minimum Balance
Monitor your teen’s spending via text messages from the bank
Having a or pre-paid debit card can be a great option for teaching someone how to manage their finances. They deposit $200 (for example) into a bank account, and then use the debit card like a credit card until the account is empty.
Wait, that sounds an awful lot like a checking account to me! If you want to train your teen to manage money, have them help you create a budget, or get them a FREE checking account with a debit card. You can even have them help you set up your debt snowball!
The Kardashian Kard’s Hidden Fees
I think the best lesson that you can teach with this card is to examine everything intensely before agreeing to anything! If the $100/year price tag doesn’t scare you, maybe the fees will:
There are fees for the following:
ATM withdrawals
ATM Inquiries
ATM Declines
Point of Sale Declines
Transfers to or from an external bank account
Transfers to another Kardashian Kard
Adding Money to Your Account
Canceling Your Account (when requesting a refund by check)
Calling Customer Service
Paying a Bill
Replacing Your Kardashian Kard ($25!!!)
Yes, you have to pay a fee for everything except looking at the card! Maybe that’s why the sisters put their face on the card rather than a boring logo.
KNS Financial’s Verdict on The Kardashian Kard
If your kid runs up to you asking for a Kardashian Kard, just go through all these negatives with them and teach them to evaluate options! Doing so can help them to avoid a lifetime of bad habits!
I think it would be a great idea to get your kid a checking account and work with them as they manage it. They may have a moment where they incur a fee due to their lack of self-control; but it will then give you a chance to work with them and help them avoid the same mistakes that most of us didn’t!
If these fees weren’t included with this card, then I probably wouldn’t have a problem recommending it. Maybe Kim Kardashian will help to spur more financial conversations between kids and their parents; or maybe this is just more proof that we have passed the point of no return when it comes to celebrity worship!
Either way, I cannot recommend this card to any responsible person!
Reader Questions:
What are some ways that you are working to teach your kids about personal finance?
Will you buy this card for yourself or your kid? What do you think about all of these fees?A beloved favorite nighttime spectacle of the Magic Kingdom, SpectroMagic is no more. Having disappeared from the park just over three years ago in June 2010, many fans hoped the popular parade would some day return. But following reports of its backstage destruction last week, today it is confirmed that SpectroMagic is indeed gone for good.
When asked if these reports were true, a Walt Disney World spokesperson affirmed they |
much flow will cause all the media to become pressed against the top of chamber, too little and it will sit still on the bottom. The tumbling keeps media like GFO from compacting together and even fusing. It also makes sure all the media is exposed to the water and does its job. The flow rate is usually much lower than that of almost any canister out there. With most media reactors you buy the pump separately. I prefer the small Rio pumps/powerheads. Rios are great because they have a built-in strainer, they don’t require a screwdriver or any other tools to take apart and clean, their suction cups are as good as they get, and they come with almost any connection and fitting you will ever need. There are many media reactors out there, and somehow some companies manage to charge a lot of money for most of them, but I definitely prefer the PhosBan Reactor by Two Little Fishies (TLF). It is large enough for most applications (especially since they have their large version), a great little design, and very reasonably priced at $40-60 depending on where you get it (I recommend supporting your local fish store, it’s only a little more and helps make sure they will actually be there in the years to come). I used three media reactors connected one after the other on my reef. The first housed carbon, the second GFO, and the third held Purigen.
Aluminum-based phosphate absorbing medias are similar to GFO in that they remove phosphate and silicate, however they absorb until saturation and then dump it all back, unlike GFO which locks it in. So don’t waste your time or money messing with these. They are white so they are easy to avoid. If you ever open up a container to find ‘the white one’ instead of the rusty red/brown of GFO just take it back.
Crushed coral is not usually considered a chemical media, but although it isn’t removing chemicals, it is altering the chemistry. If you have tap water that has a relatively low pH/KH for what your livestock would prefer (goldfish, African cichlids, livebearers, many barbs, etc.) you can safely use crushed coral to increase the pH/KH. Put it in a filter bag just like carbon. Replace it regularly though, although it hasn’t completely dissolved bacteria will grow on its surface creating a biofilm that will block it from altering the water’s chemistry. If you decide crushed coral is a good option for your tank most local fish shops will have it in small bags (5-10 pounds). Rinse it quickly before use. Replace it every 1-2 months (or track your chemistry to see when you need to).
Peat and Peat Granules are used by some people to alter the water chemistry in the opposite direction, lowering the pH/KH. Peat releases tannic acid and tannins. The tannic acid uses up KH which allows the pH to drop. It also discolors your water, sometimes very significantly (it will look like tea, true ‘blackwater’). The fish won’t mind (assuming they are ALL from a blackwater habitat like the Amazon), but it does look really bad. I personally don’t like using peat, it isn’t permanent and can allow a pH crash. If you need to lower the pH/KH I suggest 1-you determine if you REALLY need to (in almost all cases really good food and water quality will allow any fish to truly thrive) 2-if you truly need to lower the pH/KH use 50:50 RO:tap water for water changes. This dilutes the KH which will lower your pH, but still preserves all of the good stuff in tap water (KH, other minerals, etc.) unlike using pure RO. This will produce a lower, but still stable, pH/KH.
Ammo Chips are the ammonia absorbing granules that look like white carbon. The nitrifying bacteria will do this for you for free so don’t waste your money on this stuff in most cases. However, if your tank does get thrown off balance (you clean the filters too well which removes too much of the nitrifying bacteria, you add way too many fish at once, you have a long power outage that allows your nitrifying bacteria to die, etc.) you can use this for damage control. Water changes are always essential in these situations though so ammo chips should only be used in addition to water changes, not in place of. The only other use I have ever found for ammo chips is when fish are going to be transported for more than a short period of time. Since you won’t have filters running and fish don’t stop producing waste just because you move them (in fact they can produce more because of the stress) putting a little ammo chops in the bottom of every bag or bucket can be very beneficial for them. I wouldn’t do this for a short drive, but perhaps anything over one hour would be worth tossing in a little ammo chips.
Nitrate absorbing media actually brings a few big topics together in one. People obsess over nitrate so having a media that removes nitrate sounds perfect. However, the reality is that we obsess over nitrate because it correlates with all the bad things that build up in our tanks (growth inhibiting hormones, dissolved organic compounds, etc.). Nitrate is the only one we can test for with hobbyist test kits. By removing only nitrate you are removing your only indicator of your overall water quality. You are basically intentionally making the water look better than it really is. Do not use nitrate absorbing medias. Do water changes. Water changes will remove all the bad things, not just nitrate. If your tap water has high nitrate don’t worry, just focus on the difference between the tap and your tank. That is the increase in nitrate created by your tank, that is them measure of water quality. Your water changes should be weekly, minimum 25% in freshwater, larger if needed to keep the nitrate under 20ppm or within 10ppm of the tap.
Biological Medias:
Biological medias (biomedia) are the filter media best suited to house nitrifying bacteria. They are there to do nothing more than provide a physical surface for the bacteria to grow on. Biomedias for submerged use are porous ceramic medias that have a lot of channels and pores in the media which create massive amounts of surface area for the bacteria to grow on. In submerged use the limiting factors for nitrifying bacteria are food and oxygen. Filters provide flow which provides food and oxygen. The surface area of the biomedia provides a surface for the bacteria to grow on where they can sit and allow the oxygen and food to come to them. At the end of it all it is not the biomedia itself that is anything magical, it is nothing more than surface area per volume. The bacteria are happy to grow on any surface, but they do not simply spread out evenly throughout the tank. Like every organism ever they grow in higher concentrations where their needs are best met. Organisms concentrate around the source of their limiting factors. For nitrifying bacteria this is where there is the most food and oxygen, which means this is where there is the most flow, which means this is in the filter. Although the surface areas in the tank (decor, glass, substrate, etc.) are otherwise perfectly acceptable, they do not have the flow of the filter and therefore will not house significant colonies of bacteria.
Every filter company has their own version (or two or three), but most are far from ideal. I prefer Seachem Matrix. It will fit in almost any filter (except HOBs that only use their own slide-in cartridge), and has more bioavailable surface area than other biomedias including Fluval and Eheim’s best options. The difference between surface area and bioavailable surface area is that in medias like Fluval and Eheim that actually have more surface area, most of it is in channels and pores so small that the very bacteria it is meant to house can actually clog and block off massive areas of the channels and pores. Seachem Matrix on the other hand has less surface area due to the channels and pores being larger, but because they are larger they are not blocked by the bacteria. This means all the surface area stays available for bacteria to use. Seachem claims, and some experiences support, that Matrix actually allows for the growth of denitrifying bacteria (the bacteria that need very low oxygen levels and consume nitrate, converting it to nitrogen gas). If it does it will certainly not replace the need for water changes, but even if it doesn’t it is the best option for a biomedia out there.
Pot scrubbers are something you may hear about on some forums. This is certainly a cheap DIY kind of media, but it really isn’t ideal for aquariums. Its proponents will talk about how it’s nice and cheap and has lots of surface area. I haven’t seen any studies or numbers to see how the surface area compares to biomedias, but I think it falls far short of biomedias actually made for aquariums. In addition, the right biomedia is a one time purchase. There is no reason to cheap out on something you only have to buy once. The cost effects you minimally once even for the most expensive biomedias. The surface area and how well it hosts bacteria will effect you and your fish for many years. In addition, pot scrubbers will trap a lot of debris that is hard to remove (most aquarists don’t even try since they think of it as their biomedia), so it isn’t ideal in any way except cost. Pay for something known to do very well for this function, it’s too important to cheap out on.
Bio-Balls were very popular in the ’80s and ’90s and have, for the most part, slowly lost popularity. Unfortunately at least one canister filter manufacturer (Marineland, and probably one or two cheapo knock-offs) has tried to bring them back and decided to use bioballs in their C-series canister filters. This doesn’t make any sense at all. Bioballs are specifically designed for use in trickle filters where their lack of surface area is more than compensated for by the massive amount of oxygen in the air which allows the fewer bacteria to be much more productive. To make it worse Marineland included a second biomedia, a ‘porous’ media like other canisters. I say ‘porous’ because when the rep showed it to us I said it didn’t look porous, he said you could break it and see, he tried to, and couldn’t. In the end they can’t both be the best biomedia so why use one ‘good’ one and one that isn’t as good? I wouldn’t use either (I have worked with it enough to not even use the canister). Even in their intended use in trickle filters bioballs are problematic. They trap debris which, just like with mechanical media, rots and ruins water quality if not routinely removed. Unfortunately almost no one routinely cleans bioballs. In addition there are simply much better sump designs out there these days, making trickle/bioball filters very obsolete. If you are interested in the freshwater sump please read the following article: Make Your Own Custom Sump.
Biomedia should be cleaned minimally, just enough to remove all visible debris. You can do this under tap water. I know everyone says to rinse it in tank water so that the chlorine doesn’t kill all your bacteria, but I have not found this worry to be justified. I have thoroughly cleaned biomedia in tap water on many occasions, really routinely, and never had this produce a single shred of evidence that it killed any significant amount of bacteria. You can’t take tap water and sterilize your counter tops, it won’t sterilize your biomedia in a couple minutes (which is far longer than the quick rinse to remove visible debris should ever take). In addition, ‘rinsing’ in still tank water in a bucker doesn’t provide the flow and pressure needed to clean the media quickly and effectively. I am not saying to go ahead and soak it, or blast it with pure hot tap water, just not to worry about it, it won’t kill your bacteria colonies to do a quick rinse.
In general you should never need to replace biomedia. Just clean it regularly. Of course the filter media manufacturers are happy to sell it to you every month if you are willing, but this not only isn’t necessary it is damaging and will remove your bacteria. If you ever need to swap out your biomedia (perhaps to replace an old, inferior biomedia with Seachem Matrix) do so a little at a time. Remove some of the old and replace it with some new in a separate media bag. Do this a little at a time over 3-4 times over a couple months. You will now have a superior biomedia without throwing off the balance of your tank.
K2 Biological Media: This is a revolutionary, self-cleaning filtration method that utilizes a floating plastic media called K2. It has been used in waste management and on fish farms for over 10 years, but has only recently been brought to the aquarium hobby. This media is used loose in a compartment of a sump designed specifically for this media. It is partially filled with the specially designed K2 media and then strong air stones at the bottom of the section keep the media tumbling and provide superior aeration. This tumbling action helps break down waste and keeps the media itself clean. The media then becomes an ideal site for beneficial bacteria because of the aeration and water flow. The best use for this is in a custom designed sump. This really is a vastly superior media and filter method. It is very effective at breaking down waste is self-cleaning. It is hard to get better AND easier, but this media is both. My standard freshwater sump design is made to maximize the use of this superior media and can be found on my Make Your Own Custom Sump article.
Just to play devil’s advocate for a moment, you don’t need to worry too much about how much biomedia you have. You don’t need to fill a Fluval FX5 with biomedia. In most cases filling the last tray of a canister is more than adequate. It is actually pretty hard to not have enough. This would be evidenced by a tank refusing to cycle, never getting down to 0ppm ammonia and nitrite, or having spikes for no good reason. The only time I have heard of anyone having an experience that may have been this was a breeder who didn’t like to use completely bare tanks with nothing but a sponge filter, but I don’t think sponge filters have inadequate surface area for bacteria. Perhaps he waited to long too clean them, at which point the bacteria were growing more on the debris and gunk trapped in the sponge than on the sponge itself, after cleaning the gunk the tank would be off balance. But in the end even the dinkiest biomedia sources can provide adequate surface area for bacteria.
Summary:
I hope this helps shine some light on which medias to use, when, how to order them, and how to maintain them. You should be able to save money by only buying the media you really need, and know which ones are worth spending a little extra money on. If you have any questions just contact me.Man accused of trespassing at Pine Gap allegedly went there to sing
Updated
A man accused of trespassing on Pine Gap, the joint defence facility outside of Alice Springs, was there to sing and pray for the Arrernte people, the Alice Springs Supreme Court has heard.
Cairns man Paul Christie, 44, is on trial this week accused of entering a prohibited property under the Defence Special Undertakings Act.
Lloyd Adams, who is a Protective Service Officer with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), told the jury Christie was carrying a satchel at the time of his arrest which contained a pocket knife, small stick and a map.
"He had no permission to be in that area," he said.
The court heard a person in a red-hooded jacket was first spotted inside the facility on CCTV at 6:30am on October 3, 2016.
Crown prosecutor Michael McHugh SC told the jury Christie was arrested inside the facility, about 1.5 kilometres from its northern boundary fence.
"The accused was found inside a prohibited area … and he was reckless to whether or not it was a prohibited area," he told the court.
Prosecutor McHugh said Christie entered via a dry creek bed and told police officers at the time Pine Gap was on stolen land and he was there to sing and pray for Arrernte children, the traditional owners of Alice Springs.
He did not hold a permit to be on the prohibited site but the court heard he did not resist arrest when AFP officers spoke to him, and voluntarily dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head.
An AFP officer who works at the Pine Gap facility, Matthew Gadsby, told the court Pine Gap was surrounded by a barbed wire fence up to three metres in height, with "no trespass signs" located every 40 metres.
Christie, who is self-representing himself in court, questioned Mr Gadsby on whether someone being on the site posed a threat to the facility.
"Yes, he did … he's in a prohibited area," Mr Gadsby responded.
Outside the Supreme Court, a small group of protestors had set up banners reading "Close Pine Gap" and were singing and chanting as court proceedings got underway.
The trial continues.
Topics: courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, defence-and-national-security, defence-industry, alice-springs-0870, nt
First postedADVENTURE TIME is one of the most iconic shows of the last decade. Its characters, storytelling and overall creativity is unlike any other mainstream animated show of its time. In celebration of the final season of this monumental show, tomorrow we will have a special capsule collection honoring Finn, Jake and the rest of our favorite denizens of the Land of Ooo with a pair of mathematical new posters by Dave Quiggle and George Caltsoudas, as well as five new enamel pins by JJ Harrison!
These posters and pins will be on sale at a random time tomorrow, Thursday (9/21).
Adventure Time by Dave Quiggle
18"x24" Screen Print, Edition of 250
Printed by DL Screenprinting
$45
Adventure Time by George Caltsoudas
24"x18" Screen Print, Edition of 225
Printed by DL Screenprinting
$45
Adventure Time (Variant) by George Caltsoudas
24"x18" Screen Print, Edition of 125
Printed by DL Screenprinting
$65
Adventure Time Enamel Pins
Designed by JJ Harrison
Tree Trunks, Judo Air BMO, Gunter & Jake the Dog
Snail Pin included with Set Only
$10 Each / $40 Set
"In conjuring up designs for ADVENTURE TIME pins there are certain givens. You've got to have Tree Trunks and Gunter. I grew up skateboarding and I'm so attracted to BMO's skating. It’s adorable. But what trick should BMO do? A mean judo air! Finally, you need a spectator for all this cuteness and that’s where Jake comes in. He can’t handle it! Finish it off with a bonus snail and you got yourself a handsome set of ADVENTURE TIME pins. I hope everyone enjoys collecting them all as much as I did drawing them."
- JJ HarrisonEngland have skilfully manoeuvred themselves into exactly the position they wanted to be in at this stage of the series - one down with three to play, the launchpad from which they rocketed to victory in 2014 in England and four years ago in India.
David Gower's 1984-85 tourists managed to beat India after being one down with four to play, but cricket was different then, and the absolutely critical key for England when playing India in the modern, 21st-century, contemporary, up-to-date era of today is to be one down with three to play.
The proof is in the numbers. Over the last one third of a century, England have won 100% of their series against India in which they have trailed by a Test with a trio of matches remaining; and a mere 50% of the rubbers which they have led with three Tests to play.
Admittedly, each of those samples only contains two series (England drew 1-1 after leading in 2002, and won 4-0 in 2011), and the other eight series between the two countries since 1986 were only three (or, in 2008-09, two) Tests long, but DO NOT ARGUE WITH THE STATS. I repeat: DO NOT ARGUE WITH THE STATS. Stats know all things. England have this series in the bag.
Nevertheless, despite the mathematical certainty of eventual victory, there will be some concerns in the England camp as the series moves to Mohali, after a slightly odd performance in Visakhapatnam. They played with resilience and determination, while at the same time managing to cram three collapses into a two-innings match. They fought hard, but abandoned most, if not all, hope as soon as the coin fell on day one. "It looks like a crucial toss to win - we have now nothing to lose," said Alastair Cook after being sentenced to field first, exuding the positivity of a mechanic looking under a car bonnet to see a tired-looking goat where the engine should have been. "Oooooh," his face said. "That's going to need some work."
The "nothing to lose" approach in the second innings consisted of obdurate defence in the face of a required run rate of 2.7 per over. It appears that victory did not enter much into England's thoughts, but by aiming only for wicket preservation, all pressure was removed from the Indian bowlers, when even a run rate of, say, 2.3 per over could have established a platform to challenge for victory, forced some of the close catchers back, and engendered some doubts in Indian minds.
England would almost certainly still have lost. They would probably have lost more quickly, and by approximately the same margin. India's bowlers, more skilled and confident than in 2012-13, applied an unremitting stranglehold in favourable conditions, and the difficulty that a world-class technician such as Joe Root had on the fifth morning suggests that England were essentially choosing between two different paths to defeat, between whether to fire up the engines of the Titanic or shut them down. The iceberg had already won.
The model for England's attempted escape was South Africa's epic one-run-per-over 143-over constipatogrind in Delhi last year, when India could only take five wickets in the first 138 overs, before a rapid denouement. There were similarities in the two scenarios, and perhaps if Cook had survived the final over on day four, England would have come closer to achieving their goal.
"Such controversies as the latest ball-tampering row could be easily avoided if an independent nurse were on hand to swab all the fielding teams' gobs at the end of each over, and force any player with an above-regulation level of slobber to eat a packet of extremely dry biscuits"
But there were significant differences too - the South Africans had been dismantled over four Tests, bowled out for 214 or less in six consecutive innings, crushed, defeated and confused. England were level in the series, after a strong first Test, and had been outplayed but competitive for most of this match. A year ago, India had declared in a position of near complete invulnerability, setting a target of 481; England had taken that decision out of Kohli's hands, impressively bowling India out to keep the target within the range of the massively-unlikely-but-precedented.
Will they regret not taking a bolder strategy, even if it would have resulted in the same defeat? Will they regret not taking more of a chance in their second innings in Rajkot? In all likelihood, they would still be one-nil down with three to play - perhaps they had indeed studied the numbers.
The advent of in-mouth salivometers cannot come soon enough for cricket, after the financial naughty-stepping of Faf du Plessis for allegedly sugaring the pill in the Hobart Test. Without him using confectionery-enhanced flobble, of course, Australia would have scored 680 for 4 and won by an innings or two. Until the spitologists invent the technology to measure and regulate cricketers' mouthic expectorances, such controversies could be easily avoided if an independent nurse were on hand to swab all the fielding teams' gobs at the end of each over, and force any player with an above-regulation level of slobber to eat a packet of extremely dry biscuits. The ICC must act fast before teams start tattooing their players' inner eyelids with pictures of succulent roast meats and amply loaded dessert trolleys to enable them to spontaneously slaver on demand. The very future of the sport is at steak. Sorry, at stake.
Ball-tampering, of course, is nothing new. Back in the old days, of course, before the intrusion of the prying lens of the camera, players would take the field with a bar of soap in their mouth, or in trousers slathered with beef dripping, or wearing sunhats made of beehives, giving a ready supply of honey to apply to one side of the ball.
Rumour has it that one 1920s England player was selected purely because he had unusually baggy cheeks, and could keep a pint of engine oil secreted in his floppy jowls for an entire session of cricket, while, in the county game, decades before Dennis Lillee's metal bat, a team was found to have tampered with the balls for their home matches by inserting a powerful magnet under the leather. That season, Albert "Metalgloves" Frockinghurst took a record 163 catches and 73 stumpings, while conceding zero byes.
In the early days of professional cricket, the great Frantshire spinner Carslake Stroughtmorden famously gelled his hair with wet cement every morning, then ran his fingers through his flowing locks before each ball so that the drying construction material would form an adhesive coating on his fingers, enabling him to spin the ball by anything up to eight yards off the straight. He could regularly be seen chipping the now-hardened substance off his hands at the end of play. Those were more innocent days, of course, when such things were unscrutinised by the media.
Jayant Yadav's debut may not leap off the scorecard in years to come, but he had an influential match in all three disciplines, with 62 runs, four wickets and a major role in the important run-out of Haseeb Hameed. The last Indian to score 50 or more runs and take three or more wickets on Test debut was Sourav Ganguly in 1996 (who took three wickets in each of his first two Tests, but only twice more in his last 111); before him, Venkatapathy Raju, the left-arm spinner who made 31 and 21 on debut, then only passed 20 once more in 27 Tests of certifiable rabbitery.
"Are you sure you ought to be wetting your mouth more, in the circumstances?" Getty Images
Cranking the stat-threshold up slightly, Yadav is only the 14th player to score 60 or more runs and take four or more wickets on Test debut; the first since Tim Southee in March 2008, and only the second Indian after Syed Abid Ali, the allrounder who took 6 for 55 and 1 for 61, and scored a pair of 33s, against Australia in Adelaide in December 1967.
● Hameed's run-out was only the ninth suffered by a top-five England batsman in Tests this decade, out of 725 dismissals, making England by far the team least likely to lose a top-five player to a run-out this decade (other than Zimbabwe, who have played the fewest Tests since 2010, and whose top five are yet to register a run-out but have proved adept at many other forms of dismissal).
Only one in every 80 dismissals of a top-five England player has been a run-out since 2010; leading the way in likeliest top-order run-out candidates are Australia - 24 out of 658, or one every 27 top-five innings. (Behind them: Pakistan 32; South Africa 33; India 34; New Zealand 34; Bangladesh 44; Sri Lanka 48; West Indies 54.)
English top-order batsmen have a long-established tradition of not running between the wickets as incompetently as their peers. In the 2000s, only West Indies (once every 46 innings) were less likely to suffer a top-five run-out than England (45). Perennial risk-runners Australia (24) were second only to Zimbabwe (22) in top orders most likely to be run out.
From 1980 to 1999 - not, it may fairly be said, an era of untrammelled batting success for England - not losing top-order wickets to idiotic top-order run-outs was the one area in which England led the cricketing universe - again, only one every 45 innings, well ahead of second-placed Pakistan (33.5), with all the other teams in the 25-30 range.
England lost all ten wickets for under 90 runs for the second time in three Tests, having only done so four times in 241 Tests since being skittled for 77 by Glenn McGrath at Lord's in 1997. Unsurprisingly, five of these six ten-wicket flumps have been in Asia (two in Sri Lanka, one in the UAE against Pakistan, and the two this winter), with the other being the 51-all-out cataclysm of batsmanship against Jerome Taylor and Sulieman Benn in Jamaica in February 2009.
● Stokes, Bairstow and Rashid became the first visiting Nos. 6, 7 and 8 to score 30 or more each in the same Test innings in India since AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel for South Africa in March 2008, 42 Indian Tests ago. It was only the sixth time in 352 away Tests since 1935 that England's 6, 7 and 8 all scored 30 in an away Test innings, the most recent of which was in the fifth Test in South Africa in 2004-05, since when they have accomplished the feat in home Tests on seven occasions, including three times last summer.Don't be fooled: this isn't a torture device, nor is it a geometric painting from one of the abstractionist masters. It is, somehow, a proposed seating arrangement for aircraft brought to you by the sadists at Airbus, who have now resorted to physically stacking passengers on top of one another.
What?
As near as I can tell, one "advantage" of this setup is that at least some of the seats can be configured to lie flat — but that doesn't change the fact that there are people on top of people. If there was any doubt in your mind that we are merely cargo when we board a flight, this should take care of that.
The airline industry's never-ending push for brutal efficiency has brought us ridiculous seating arrangements before, and I imagine this won't be the last of it. The silver lining, if there is one, is that this is only a patent application right now — there's no sign that this is making it into real aircraft, at least not any time soon.
The Onion had it right all along.City commuters who prefer to get from their homes to their offices by longboard will soon have a new, lighter option that works with their iOS device in the form of the Marbel electric skateboard, which is seeking last-minute funding on Kickstarter where it has already blown past its initial goal.
Touted as the world's lightest electric skateboard at just 9.9 pounds, the Marbel sports a custom-molded deck made of carbon fiber and kevlar. The board's batteries sit in a compartment inside the deck, while motors mounted on the rear axle are said to have enough power to propel the board uphill at up to 20 miles per hour for 10 miles.Riders can control the Marbel using a handheld remote throttle or via touch controls in a companion iPhone app. The app also allows owners to choose different "modes" for Marbel's power circuitry, such as a starter mode that limits the top speed to six miles per hour or an "eco" mode that dynamically adjusts power output to maximize range.Additionally, the app provides a number of convenience features. An antitheft mode prevents the board from being used when locked with the app, and a map will show riders exactly how far they can go before the Marbel's battery dies.Interestingly, Marbel appears to have chosen to build a Wi-Fi hotspot into the board, rather than connect via Bluetooth. That decision could prove problematic for riders who like to stream music or other media over a mobile data connection while riding.At press time, the Marbel team had raised just over $314,000 of its $90,000 goal from 476 backers with 31 hours remaining as of Wednesday afternoon.Member
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Member No.: 911
MemberGroup: RegularsPosts: 10,274Joined: Thu 1st Feb 2007, 10:21pmMember No.: 911
But Maxwell thinks
QUOTE We block accounts and IPs that are unable or are unwilling to control
themselves and behave in a productive manner.
If someone is enough of a harm to justify a technical block from "X"
then they really should be blocked completely. We are not so short on
people that we should be accepting harmful folks and trying to limit
them technically to the spaces where they will only do the least harm.
... Harmful users should be blocked.
It just seems like a very condescending attitude to me. It's so intolerant of dissent. And, the whole tone is one of "ownership" -- like Wikipedia is Greg Maxwell's personal web site. His use of the phrase "harmful folks" is a page right out of the George W. Bush textbook on terrorism, too -- folksy authoritarianism.
Maybe it's just that he drives pristine motorboats, and 99.8% of the rest of us don't, ergo...
Cars that are parked on a yellow stripe should be towed, impounded, and sold at auction, such that they may never double-park again.
People who litter should be jailed, such that they shall never deface our environment again.
Taxpayers who falsify their itemized deductions should forfeit all of their money to the government.
And, harmful users should be blocked.
Greg I don't have anything against User:Gmaxwell, but his recent post on a WikiEN-l discussion was unnerving. They are talking about setting up a "kinder, gentler" block, which would prohibit specific users from editing specific article pages. I.e., keep the intelligent design editors off the evolution pages, I presume -- even if they can be productive editors in the synchronized swimming pages.But Maxwell thinks it's a bad idea It just seems like a very condescending attitude to me. It's so intolerant of dissent. And, the wholeis one of "ownership" -- like Wikipedia is Greg Maxwell's personal web site. His use of the phrase "harmful folks" is a page right out of the George W. Bush textbook on terrorism, too -- folksy authoritarianism.Maybe it's just that he drives pristine motorboats, and 99.8% of the rest of us don't, ergo...Cars that are parked on a yellow stripe should be towed, impounded, and sold at auction, such that they may never double-park again.People who litter should be jailed, such that they shall never deface our environment again.Taxpayers who falsify their itemized deductions should forfeit all of their money to the government.And, harmful users should be blocked.GregI don't want spoilers, but I do want to see more of the game mechanics, animations, visual effects, etc. I've looked at what I could find, and it was good to see a little more gameplay and combat. I haven't seen anything too spoilery, mostly just the sort of things that they showed to the attendees at Quakecon and Gamescom. If Bethesda would just release that footage already, I could get my fix without risking story spoilers.
I don't know if any of the leakers are reviewers beholden to an NDA or just regular players who have managed to get a PS4 copy out the back door of an unscrupulous game shop. I don't care really, in another week everything will be fair game anyway.
Edited by lefty666, 02 November 2015 - 11:50 AM.You may recall that knife-wielding madman Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's new Chief of Staff, has a dad named Benjamin who used to be an Israeli terrorist! Back in the 1940s Benjamin was in a militant Zionist group that massacred some Arabs and did various other freedom-promoting actions. These things can be a little sensitive, so uh, hey Rahm, whatever you do, don't let your dad go giving racist quotes about Arabs to Israeli newspapers. Okay? Oh hell, it's too late: So Benjamin, will Rahm influence the White House to more pro-Israel?
“Obviously he’ll influence the President to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House.”
Hmm... ok. Apology forthcoming, Arabs! [via Ben Smith; Pic via]Back in the late 2000s, Nokia apparently found itself the target of a high-stakes extortion attempt from persons threatening to release code that could allow malware to spread across its Symbian operating system — then the leading smartphone OS. According to MTV Finland (unrelated to the music-focused MTV), Nokia paid several million euros in late 2007 or early 2008 to blackmailers who had obtained a key that would allow any developer to sign their Symbian apps, making their apps appear to have been properly vetted and granting them access to deeper areas of the phone. Both MTV and Reuters confirmed the extortion attempt with Finnish authorities. Nokia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The leak was potentially disastrous, and Nokia reportedly decided to pay up in hopes of both stopping and catching the culprits. MTV reports that Nokia was assured that paying would result in the key not being abused, but naturally Nokia brought in law enforcement as well. It reportedly paid the money by dropping it off in an amusement |
it in the mid-1920s, and his views on Zionism never changed. He viewed Zionism as a form of colonialism, and after the Israeli conquest of Jerusalem in 1967 Asad descried Israeli policies that he described as limiting Muslim access to the city’s holy places. In interviews late in life, including one shortly before his death in 1992, he returned often to this topic.
In 2011, two decades after Asad’s death, his son spoke at a conference in Saudi Arabia dedicated to Asad’s legacy. Seeking to distance his father from present-day claims about what constitutes a true Islamic state, he claimed his father was not a political thinker, but rather “a religious thinker for whom the Quran and Sunnah together formed what he called the most perfect plan for human living.” It was in this connection that he wrote on the idea of the Islamic state and prepared suggestions for an Islamic constitution in Pakistan in the early years of its existence. He believed that reasoned discourse was central to the way Muslims should treat disagreements between themselves. He did not attempt to establish a movement but sought influence through that same “reasoned discourse that he called on others to employ.”
And in the following year, 2012, Asad’s widow Pola Hamida (his third wife), assisted by the Pakistani scholar M. Ikram Chaghatai, published Home-coming of the Heart, a compilation of previously unpublished writing by and about Asad. Within that volume is Hamida’s memoir of the mid-1950s, the period in which Asad left the Pakistani U.N. delegation and wrote his best-selling book The Road to Mecca. Hamida notes that Asad’s political adversaries among the Pakistani elites spread the rumor that Asad, living in New York City, had “abandoned Islam and reverted to Judaism.” To clear his name of this accusation Asad wrote detailed and lengthy letters to Pakistani newspapers, where the controversy about him raged for a few months in 1954. Subsequently Asad was “exonerated” of this charge of apostasy and his good name restored. When I read of this episode I was able to make better sense of Asad’s reply to my 1978 greeting to him, a reply in which he said, “Tell Goldman I have no intention of returning to Judaism.”
Today, Asad has many readers and followers, particularly among the 200 million Muslim citizens of India. One can see and hear them interviewed in Georg Misch’s 2008 riveting documentary film A Road to Mecca: The Journey of Muhammad Asad. For these followers, Asad’s opinions and recommendations are more relevant than ever.
***
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Shalom Goldman is Professor of Religion at Middlebury College. His forthcoming book is Starstruck in the Promised Land: How the Arts Shaped American Passions about Israel.DUBAI (Reuters) - A mysterious Syrian wheat purchase signed last October with a little-known Russian trader has formally been called off, a government source has told Reuters.
FILE PHOTO:A farmer holds wheat in a field in Jdeidet Artouz, a suburb southwest of Damascus, Syria June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo
War-torn Syria had sought 1 million tonnes of wheat from trader Zernomir to feed government-held territories and prevent bread shortages.
Wheat exporter Russia supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s six-year-old war and has helped the government with wheat aid.
But there was scepticism about the ability of Zernomir to deliver on the deal from the start.
“The deal was canceled due to difficulties in banking operations and execution,” the government source said.
A Russian agriculture ministry official had told Reuters the main problem was that the supplier lacked experience and had set the price too low.
State grain buyer the General Authority for Cereal Processing and Trade (Hoboob) instead signed contracts in February with local traders for around 1.2 million tonnes of Russian wheat.
“We now have within our hands a lot of the quantities from those contracts and we will also evaluate the situation and see whether we need to go back to the market through tenders,” the source said.
Flat bread is a subsidized staple in Syria, where war is estimated to have killed several hundred thousand people and forced millions to flee their homes.
Hoboob has not named the Syrian firms that are helping it buy Russian wheat.
Russian customs data shows Russia supplied 125,200 tonnes of wheat to Syria in 2016/17, up from 47,000 tonnes in 2015/16.
Syria’s strategic wheat reserves stand at six months’ worth versus just 17 days of reserves last year, Internal Trade and Consumer Protection Minister Abdullah al-Gharb said last month.Gun buyback program annouced in Seattle/King County Seattle mayor and King County leaders teaming with local businesses
Seattle Deputy Police Chief Nick Metz, center, is shown on the monitor of a television video camera as he speaks Tuesday at a news conference to announce a new gun buyback program that will begin later in January, 2013 in Seattle. Behind him, is former Seattle mayor Norm Rice, left, and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, right. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) less Seattle Deputy Police Chief Nick Metz, center, is shown on the monitor of a television video camera as he speaks Tuesday at a news conference to announce a new gun buyback program that will begin later in... more Photo: Associated Press Photo: Associated Press Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Gun buyback program annouced in Seattle/King County 1 / 7 Back to Gallery
Seattle and King County leaders announced they'll hold the first of several gun buyback sessions on Jan. 26, offering $100 for handguns, shotguns and rifles and up to $200 for firearms classified by the state as assault weapons.
"No photos will be taken, no questions will be asked," Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said of those surrendering guns.
The announcement came nearly a month after 20 children and six educators were shot to death in Newtown, Conn., and as the president and other leaders discuss what steps should be taken to prevent such tragedies.
Seattle and King County leaders hope the gun buyback will be as successful as one held in Los Angeles in late December. Officers there bought 2,037 guns, including 75 assault weapons and two anti-tank rocket launchers, the LA Times reported. In Bridgeport, Conn., a town about 25 miles from the scene of the Newtown elementary school massacre, police exchanged $22,775 for 112 guns, including about 10 assault weapons, on Dec. 29.
"I want to be clear: this is just one tool in the toolbox," McGinn said. "This isn't going to solve our problems. But one gun tragedy averted is worth it."
This is the first gun buyback in Seattle since 1992 – a year that had 60 homicides in Seattle. The 1990s, a decade that saw an increase in gang violence, was the city's most deadly. There was an all-time high of 69 homicides in 1994, nearly triple the amount in 2012.
Norm Rice, the mayor during those years, spoke at a Tuesday morning briefing at Mount Zion Baptist Church supporting the buyback effort. He and Greg Nickels, Charles Royer and Wes Uhlman – all former mayors – are co-chairs of the program.
The first gun buyback event is scheduled for Saturday, January 26 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm in the parking lot underneath Interstate 5 between Cherry and James Streets in downtown Seattle. Seattle police also will be distributing trigger locks to people wanting to secure other guns safely.
The Seattle Police Department will also be distributing trigger locks for those who wish to secure their firearms safely. These will be available at each of the five precincts during normal business hours.
McGinn thanked sponsors – including Amazon, Pemco, the 5 Point Café and Big Mario's Pizza – for support of the campaign. He also said businesses or individuals who want to help should contact the Seattle Police Foundation. The Eli Lilly company also has contributed $1,500 in advertising, and McGinn said Nucor Steel has agreed to make an in-kind contribution and will melt down the guns turned in.
"The Sheriff's Office remains committed to providing a safe place for citizens to turn in guns they no longer want," Sheriff John Urquhart said. "It is a much better choice to remove an unwanted gun from your home than to leave it where it can be stolen and used in a crime."
Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or at caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com. Follow Casey on Twitter at twitter.com/mcnerthney.In a Chapman University poll of 1541 adult Americans about their fears and anxieties, number one by a country mile, with 58%, was the fear of corrupt government officials. This is yet another piece of the puzzle that explains why our media is so out of touch and why our pundits have been so wrong about everything for so long.
While our media overlords in Washington DC and Manhattan relentlessly push to further-empower government by presenting government as the solution to every problem, 58% of the American people see government as their worst fear.
This can’t be good news for Hillary Clinton.
How out of touch is our media? More people fear gun control (36.5%) and ObamaCare (35.7%) than they do illness (34.4%), a nuclear attack (33.6%) or — get this — Global Warming (30.7%).
People are more afraid of government bureaucrats, gun control, and ObamaCare than they are of unemployment (23.8%).
Here’s the real kicker. Despite the media’s attempt to paint their Global Warming hoax as an imminent catastrophe and illegal immigration as the bringer of candy-colored rainbows and chocolate rivers, people are almost as afraid of illegal immigration (29.7%) as they are of Global Warming (30.7%).
Moreover, despite a two-year propaganda campaign based almost exclusively on lies, only 12.2% named Hate Crimes.
Despite what the media tells you, losing faith in government is actually very healthy for our society. It breeds self-reliance, and there is nothing better for the human spirit than self-reliance.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNCExecutive Summary
Solar energy is on the rise. Over the course of the last decade, the amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the United States has increased more than 120-fold, from 97 megawatts in 2003 to more than 12,000 megawatts at the end of 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, solar energy accounted for 74 percent of all the new electric generation capacity installed in the United States. The cost of solar energy is declining, and each year tens of thousands more Americans begin to reap the benefits of clean energy from the sun, including energy generated right on the rooftops of their homes or places of business.
America’s solar energy revolution has been led by 10 states that have the greatest amount of solar energy capacity installed per capita. These 10 states have opened the door for solar energy and are reaping the rewards as a result.
The Top 10 states with the most solar electricity installed per capita account for only 26 percent of the U.S. population but 87 percent of the nation’s total installed solar electricity capacity.* These 10 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and North Carolina – possess strong policies that are enabling increasing numbers of homeowners, businesses, communities and utilities to “go solar.”
Other rising stars include New York, Vermont and Georgia, which have large or fast-growing solar energy markets and strong new solar policies or programs implemented since mid-2013.
Unfortunately, the success of solar power in these and other states has been threatened by recent attacks by fossil fuel interests and electric utilities on key solar policies, such as net metering. Despite those attacks, many states have reaffirmed and expanded their commitments to solar energy over the past year by increasing solar energy goals and implementing new policies to expand access to clean solar power.
By following the lead of these states, the United States can work toward getting at least 10 percent of our energy from the sun by 2030, resulting in cleaner air, more local jobs and reduced emissions of pollutants that cause global warming.
Figure ES-1. Cumulative U.S. Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Capacity
Figure ES-2, a-d. Solar Energy in the Top 10 Solar States versus the Rest of the U.S.
Solar energy is good for the environment, consumers and the economy.
Solar photovoltaics (PV) produce 96 percent less global warming pollution per unit of energy than coal-fired power plants over their entire life cycle, and 91 percent less global warming pollution than natural gas-fired power plants.
Solar energy benefits consumers by reducing the need for expensive investments in long-distance transmission lines.
Solar energy can lower electricity costs by providing power at times of peak local demand.
The cost of installed solar energy systems has fallen by 60 percent since the beginning of 2011.
Solar energy creates local clean energy jobs that can’t be outsourced. More than 140,000 people currently work in America’s solar energy industry, about half of them in jobs such as installation that are located in close proximity to the places where solar panels are installed.
Solar energy is on the rise – especially in states that have adopted strong public policies to encourage solar power.
The amount of solar photovoltaic capacity* in the United States has tripled in the past two years. (See Figure ES-1.)
America’s solar energy revolution is being led by 10 states which have the highest per-capita solar electricity capacity* in the nation. These 10 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and North Carolina – account for 26 percent of the U.S. population and 20 percent of U.S. electricity consumption, but 87 percent of total U.S. solar electricity capacity and 89 percent of the solar electricity capacity installed in 2013. (See Figure ES-2 and Table ES-1.)
Table ES-1. Solar Electricity Capacity in the Top 10 Solar States (ranked by cumulative capacity per resident; data from the Solar Energy Industries Association)
From 2012 to 2013, Arizona maintained its first-place ranking as the state with the largest amount of solar energy capacity per capita, with 275 Watts/person at the end of 2013. California and Massachusetts both advanced two spots in the rankings to fourth place and eighth place, respectively, significantly increasing their per-capita installed solar energy capacity. North Carolina continued its aggressive build-out of utility-scale solar energy, growing its per-capita capacity by more than 140 percent since 2012.
America’s leading solar states have adopted strong policies to encourage homeowners and businesses to “go solar.” Among the Top 10 states:
Nine have strong net metering policies. In nearly all of the leading states, consumers are compensated at the full retail rate for the excess electricity they supply to the grid.
. In nearly all of the leading states, consumers are compensated at the full retail rate for the excess electricity they supply to the grid. Nine have strong statewide interconnection policies. Good interconnection policies reduce the time and hassle required for individuals and companies to connect solar energy systems to the grid.
. Good interconnection policies reduce the time and hassle required for individuals and companies to connect solar energy systems to the grid. All have renewable electricity standards that set minimum requirements for the share of a utility’s electricity that must come from renewable sources, and eight of them have solar carve-outs that set specific targets for solar or other forms of clean, distributed electricity.
that set minimum requirements for the share of a utility’s electricity that must come from renewable sources, and eight of them have that set specific targets for solar or other forms of clean, distributed electricity. Nine allow for creative financing options such as third-party power purchase agreements, and eight allow Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing.
such as third-party power purchase agreements, and eight allow Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. States in the Top 10 are far more likely to have each of these key solar policies in place than other states, reinforcing the conclusion of U.S. Department of Energy research linking the presence of key solar policies to increases in solar energy deployment.
Beyond the Top 10 states for per-capita solar energy capacity, there are several “advancing” states that have accelerated growth of their solar energy markets by embracing solar-friendly policies.
With 250 MW of solar electricity capacity installed at the end of 2013, New York ranks ninth in the nation for cumulative solar energy capacity. New York recently expanded its commitment to solar energy by investing an additional $1 billion in its highly successful NY-Sun Initiative and extending the program through 2023. The state has also developed an innovative, market-based structure for solar energy incentives that will provide long-term funding certainty for solar energy developers.
Vermont ranked eighth for per-capita solar energy capacity installed during 2013. Though Vermont is the only state in the Northeast not to have a renewable portfolio standard, it has many other strong policies that drive solar energy development. The state continued its track record of solar energy leadership in 2013 by raising its net metering cap from four percent of a utility’s peak load to 15 percent.
Georgia’s per-capita solar energy capacity took a dramatic leap forward in 2013 after the state Public Service Commission voted to require the state’s largest utility to construct or procure 525 MW of solar energy capacity by the end of 2016. The state added 9 W per person in 2013 – more than eight times as much as it added in 2012.
Strong public policies at every level of government can help unlock America’s potential for clean solar energy. To achieve America’s full solar potential:
Local governments should adopt policies guaranteeing homeowners and businesses the right to use or sell power from the sunlight that strikes their properties. They should also implement financing programs, such as property-assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, adopt bulk purchasing programs for solar installations, and adopt solar-friendly zoning and permitting rules to make it easier and cheaper for residents and businesses to “go solar.” Municipally-owned utilities should promote solar by providing net-metering, Value of Solar rates, and by making investments in community-scale and utility-scale solar projects.
should adopt policies guaranteeing homeowners and businesses the right to use or sell power from the sunlight that strikes their properties. They should also implement financing programs, such as property-assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, adopt bulk purchasing programs for solar installations, and adopt solar-friendly zoning and permitting rules to make it easier and cheaper for residents and businesses to “go solar.” Municipally-owned utilities should promote solar by providing net-metering, Value of Solar rates, and by making investments in community-scale and utility-scale solar projects. State governments should set ambitious goals for solar energy and adopt policies – including many of those described in this report – to meet them. State governments should also use their role as the primary regulators of electric utilities to encourage utility investments in solar energy, implement rate structures that maximize the benefits of solar energy to consumers, and support smart investments to move toward a more intelligent electric grid in which distributed sources of energy such as solar power play a larger role.
should set ambitious goals for solar energy and adopt policies – including many of those described in this report – to meet them. State governments should also use their role as the primary regulators of electric utilities to encourage utility investments in solar energy, implement rate structures that maximize the benefits of solar energy to consumers, and support smart investments to move toward a more intelligent electric grid in which distributed sources of energy such as solar power play a larger role. The federal government should continue key tax credits for solar energy, encourage responsible development of prime solar resources on public lands in the American West, and support research, development and deployment efforts designed to reduce the cost of solar energy and smooth the incorporation of large amounts of solar energy into the electric grid.
should continue key tax credits for solar energy, encourage responsible development of prime solar resources on public lands in the American West, and support research, development and deployment efforts designed to reduce the cost of solar energy and smooth the incorporation of large amounts of solar energy into the electric grid. All levels of government should lead by example by installing solar energy technologies on all government buildings.
* In this report, “solar photovoltaic capacity” refers to installed solar photovoltaic systems, both distributed and utility-scale. “Solar electricity capacity” refers to all solar technologies that generate electricity, including concentrating solar power systems that use the sun’s heat – rather than its light – to generate electricity. The figures in this report do not include other solar energy technologies, such as solar water heating.(AP) — President Barack Obama is shifting senior White House staffers to his hometown of Chicago and opening a campaign headquarters there as he steps up preparations for the formal launch of his re-election bid this spring.
The moves, widely reported for weeks though confirmed by the White House for the first time Thursday, open a new chapter in Obama's presidency; he will juggle dual roles of candidate and president for the remainder of his first term.
As aides ramped up preparations for 2012, outgoing White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that the president will soon file papers with the Federal Election Commission to formally declare his candidacy. Officials say fundraising and grass-roots organizing is to begin in March or April.
"We've made progress on getting the economy back in order and I think the president wants to continue to do that," Gibbs said.
Thus, Obama is starting to execute a campaign plan that's been in the works for months. Under it:
Obama's deputy chief of staff Jim Messina will leave the White House to serve as campaign manager. Aides say he's looking for office space in downtown Chicago, and reaching out to potential campaign donors and consultants.
White House social secretary Juliana Smoot and Democratic National Committee executive director Jennifer O'Malley Dillon will serve as deputy campaign managers. Both are veterans of the 2008 campaign, with Smoot having served as finance director and Dillon focusing on battleground states.
As the campaign approaches, the White House plans to close its political affairs office and move its functions to the DNC. White House political director Patrick Gaspard will join the DNC as executive director; former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine will continue to serve as the committee's chairman.
Gibbs said dismantling the White House political wing was "a matter of duplication and efficiency that makes a lot of sense."
However, Gibbs said he doesn't expect the president to be hitting the campaign trail anytime soon.
"Just because the president sets up the machinery of ultimately running for re-election does not mean that you're going to see the president doing a ton of political reelection events," he said.
The developments are a part of broader White House changes as Obama prepares for his re-election race.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager in 2008, recently joined the White House; senior adviser David Axelrod plans to join the campaign in Chicago and Gibbs is to serve as a consultant.1 of 1 2 of 1
A daughter and mother who suffered injuries in an August 2008 motor-vehicle accident were awarded nearly $2.5 million in damages in a court ruling released earlier this month.
The daughter, Alissa Afonina, received a judgement of $1.53 million after Justice Joel Groves concluded that on the balance of probabilities, she suffered a "moderate brain injury".
In his written decision, the judge stated that facts support arguments that Alissa's decision to work as a dominatrix was a manifestation of her injury.
Her mother Alla was awarded $943,889.36. Her former boyfriend Peter Jansson was held liable for the accident on Highway 1 between Salmon Arm and Tappen.
Groves wrote that prior to the accident, Alissa was in some ways a typical student. The judge noted that he was impressed by a former teacher's testimony that she was in the top two percent in her level of engagement with assignments and activities.
At the same time, Groves stated that she had "quirks" to her personality, being a goth girl who challenged societal norms.
After the accident, she started to work as a dominatrix, which her lawyer argued was evidence of a "lack of correct thinking" and demonstrated that she was "prepared to engage in risky activities for money".
"Had it not been for the brain injury caused by the accident, I conclude that there is a real and substantial possibility that Alissa would have completed a college or university certificate program of approximately two years," Groves wrote. "This would likely have been in a field related to media arts and she would likely have been able to earn income consistent with that level of training in that area of activity."
Because of the accident, the judge concluded that she could only work 12 to 15 hours per week at a minimum-wage job or something close to that. In addition to the loss of income and special damages of $23,541.77, the cost of her future care was pegged at $376,863.
According to the ruling, Groves was "satisfied on a balance of probabilities that Alissa has suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident and that her current difficulties are the result of that moderate traumatic brain injury".
Alissa's mother Alla was a chemical engineer from Russia who moved to Canada in 2002 with her daughter and a son. Alla worked on a series of contracts with B.C. Housing, but her employment was not renewed after the accident.
"What is striking here is that Alla showed all the signs of being a hardworking new resident in Canada who was prepared, prior to the accident, to take courses and to work hard to succeed as a new Canadian," Groves wrote. "Prior to the accident, she clearly had an ability to do basic mathematics and grammar in that she successfully completed a Business Diploma program at CDI College and she completed a number of courses at Royal Roads University, working towards an Executive MBA degree."
After the accident, she couldn't pass a clerk-level basic arithmetic, grammar, and punctuation exam.
"I am satisfied that this loss of ability is directly related to the accident," Groves wrote.There’s an Elephant in the Room, Dan, and it’s name is Bitcoin Cash. First you say we’re not getting it, then you tell us a different story. I want to trade it, but even for those who hate it: the Bitcoin Cash situation is more important than segwit.
I have done 100s of thousands of dollars in transactions with you and I want the ability to buy and sell bitcoin cash.
With the state of transaction fees, bitcoin itself has become all but useless to me, and segwit offers a modest discount at best. I would know, I’m already using it on my hardware wallet. It’s not earth shattering.
Please add bitcoin cash trading soon. That would make my experience with you much better than segwit ever could.CLEVELAND -- Major League Baseball acknowledges an "improper call" was made by umpires in the ninth inning of a game between the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics.
Umpires failed to reverse a disputed tying home run by Oakland's Adam Rosales after a video review Wednesday. MLB executive vice president Joe Torre says the judgment call by umpire Angel Hernandez and his crew "stands as final."
Major League Baseball issued a statement nearly two hours after Thursday's first pitch in Cleveland and indicated the call will stand.
"By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief.... It was a judgment call, and as such, it stands as final," Torre said.
"Home and away broadcast feeds are available for all uses of instant replay, and they were available to the crew last night. Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the process of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last night's decision."
The umpires did not reverse their call despite watching video. TV replays clearly showed Rosales' ball went over the wall, and their decision shocked the A's, the Indians, 14,000 fans in attendance at Progressive Field and anyone watching the game on TV.
Athletics manager Bob Melvin brought his lineup card to home plate before Thursday's game, his first face-to-face meeting with the umpires since the ruling. Melvin was cordial and returned to the dugout after having joked earlier that he hoped he wouldn't get ejected.By Mohamed Issa
KISIJU PWANI Tanzania (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In this Indian Ocean port town, one of Tanzania's poorest villages, residents once starved of electricity can now watch television, listen to the radio or eat dinner at a well-lit outdoor food stall, thanks to the arrival of solar power.
Before the solar panels were set up last year, “the village was fast asleep”, admitted Kisiju Pwani's executive secretary, Sadiki Chande Matonela.
Now street lights let food vendors stay open into the evening and security lights at the port have helped curb once rampant theft, he said.
A stable power supply has also enabled Ramadhani Dau, 34, and his wife Zainabu Thabiti, a former health officer, to open a pharmacy, saving villagers a long journey to the nearest town. A shop for building materials and hardware has opened too since the solar energy arrived.
Kisiju Pwani was chosen to receive solar panels from a shortlist of a dozen of the poorest rural villages in Tanzania. The equipment was installed by the University of Dar es Salaam in collaboration with the University of Oslo, backed by $430,000 from the Norwegian development agency, NORAD.
The village contributed 20 percent of the cost by providing land for the mini-grid and security guards to protect it.
The new 12-kilowatt system includes 32 photovoltaic solar panels and a bank of 120 batteries that store the sun’s energy for use at night.
The mini-grid is big enough to benefit in some way about half of the 3,994 villagers, officials say. Its backbone is a power line running through half the village, with cables buried a metre underground for safety.
So far, the system powers 20 street lights and provides energy for 68 homes, 15 businesses, the sea port, the village government offices and two mosques.
LIGHTS, FANS AND PHONES
Now villagers in the coverage area can switch on their lights and fans, charge their mobile phones, listen to radio, watch television and say their prayers in well-lit rooms for just 10,000 to 20,000 Tanzanian shillings ($6-$12) a month, local officials say.
Villagers were involved in planning and implementing the project, and a village committee is responsible for managing the mini-grid, with a technical team in charge of operations and maintenance.
The project was also purposely sited near the most visible areas of the community “to attract the attention of many passersby” and help popularise the technology, said Bakari Mwinyiwiwa, an energy professor at the University of Dar es Salaam.
Kisiju Pwani lies in the Coast region, considered one of the poorest parts of the Tanzanian mainland in terms of access to services.
Located 50 km (30 miles) from Mkuranga, the closest town connected to the national grid, and 100 km (60 miles) from fast-growing Dar es Salaam, the village relied mainly on kerosene for lighting and wood for cooking before the arrival of the solar panels. It had little prospect of being linked to grid power, Mwinyiwiwa said.
Plans for the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO), the country’s sole power supplier, to extend grid services to remote rural areas have foundered, largely because of the high costs and inability of rural residents to pay.
Around 36 percent of Tanzanians have access to electricity. But in rural areas, where 80 percent of people live, only 7 percent can get electricity, government figures show.It’s not often that we see a fullback have a great afternoon statistics wise in the NFL nowadays. On Sunday though, we had a trio of fullbacks put up impressive performances that need to be recognized.
Kyle Juszczyk, Roosevelt Nix, and Patrick Ricard all showed that while fullbacks aren’t utilized nearly as much in today’s game, they can still play the game with the rest of the 21 guys on the field.
Here are our large talented sons and their best plays.
Kyle Juszczyk might have hands as good as anyone
The Jimmy Garoppolo era in San Francisco is underway, and apparently it includes fullbacks.
Juszczyk, better known as “Juice” was giving the Texans hell for a minute in Houston:
Texans are clueless on how to cover FB Kyle Juszczyk. He's had catches of 29 and 31 yards on this series, both down the field. First down at the 4. — John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) December 10, 2017
One of those catches included this beauty, that some wide receivers won’t even make. Two Texans were draped over him, and he still somehow came down with the catch:
Juice finished the game with three catches for 64 yards, which was third-best on the 49ers for the afternoon in Garoppolo’s 334-yard passing game.
Roosevelt Nix had a bruising goal-line TD catch
Nix didn’t have the biggest game, but he stole this touchdown from Ravens safety Tony Jefferson:
Earlier in the game, he made a great special teams tackle and paid tribute to Ryan Shazier, who was unable to play because of his scary injury last week against the Bengals:
The Steelers had to have late game heroics once again, but were able to sneak out the 39-38 win at home for Shazier, who would FaceTime his teammates after the game.
Patrick Ricard’s moment of glory
If there was going to be a game where we had two fullbacks getting in on the action, it had to be Ravens-Steelers, right?
This was his only catch of the game, but Patrick Ricard had a golorious rumble of a touchdown to put the Ravens up 31-20:
It was at that point where people started scratching their heads, because the (somehow) 7-5 Ravens looked like they might actually be 8-5 by the time the final whistle blew.
But of course, Antonio Brown and Chris Boswell had other plans, and the Steelers got the W.Buy Photo Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder speaks at the legislature in New City April 2, 2015 about the recent controversy stemming from a video that compared rising anti-Semitism in Rockland to Nazi Germany. (Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)Buy Photo
The backlash has begun.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders are rallying their constituents and denouncing a state monitor's request for powerful and sustained oversight of the East Ramapo school district.
On Monday, the Board of Regents approved the recommendations of a three-person monitor team, led by former New York City chancellor Dennis Walcott, and extended its stay in the district for an indefinite term. Tapped by Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia in August, the group spent four months scrutinizing the troubled district.
Of the 19 recommendations offered by the state-appointed monitor team, its proposal to install a monitor with the authority to override school board decisions is drawing the most attention and outrage.
The groundswell of rebellion against such a monitor includes the following groups:
Agudath Israel of America, a non-profit ultra-Orthodox umbrella organization is publicly condemning it as "an insult to the community."
A new group calling itself Local Rule Preservation in East Ramapo (LRPER) is gathering support for what it hopes will be a class action lawsuit against the state.
Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder D-Spring Valley urged his community to speak out at Tuesday board of education meeting with a letter declaring, "Our community is under attack."
Related stories
E. Ramapo critics, supporters announce next moves
E. Ramapo report exposes problems with no immediate cure
'Opportunity Deferred': 19 reforms for E. Ramapo
Level-headed religious leaders lash out
"There is no other School District in New York where a duly elected School Board, voted into office by a majority of the District's voters, may have its decisions over-ridden by a state-appointed monitor," said Agudath Israel's executive vice president, Rabbi David Zwiebel in a written statement.
When asked why a national non-profit religious group would involve itself with the affairs of a local school board, Avi Shafran, Agudath Israel of America's director of public affairs said that his group's mandate includes advocating "for the rights of religious Jews, and of all religious Americans" as well as countering "unfair negative images of the Jewish community, and in particular its Orthodox sector."
Shafran said that challenging a particular decision of a school board is fair game, but failing to trust an elected body to carry out its job responsibly, in this case, "to serve all the district's students fairly, and respect the mandates of the law – is deeply offensive."
"It's no different from insinuating that a Jewish Supreme Court justice is somehow compromised in ruling on an issue that involves a Christian institution; or that a Catholic public servant is less capable than someone else of treating Baptist citizens fairly. Is someone who is childless, and thus not invested personally in public schools, unqualified to be on a school board?"
Grassroots group organizes for lawsuit
NEWSLETTERS Get the Breaking News newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-888-426-6388. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Breaking News Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters
Through a new website, localrulepreservation.com, a group called Local Rule Preservation in East Ramapo (LRPER) is seeking signatures of people who might want to join in a planned "Class Action Lawsuit to Defend Citizens' Rights" against the state of New York. Citing passages from the Bill of Rights, the state constitution among other documents, the blog post dated December 15, decries Walcott's report and concluded," We – as parents and taxpayers – must do all we can to protect the integrity of our community, our children and their futures."
Laura Barbieri, an attorney who has filed several class action lawsuits for the nonprofit law firm Advocates for Justice, said the idea of a class action lawsuit at this point is premature because no monitor legislation has yet been passed.
"Asking the court to give an advisory opinion is not justifiable because the law is not in effect," she said. In addition, the constitution prevents one branch of government |
to have them take the firearm and destroy it. Later they wish that they could have passed along a loved ones hunting rifle to someone that would treasure it and use it to supply food for their family. Or firearms that have been cared for, and survived for nearly a century by their loved ones since war times that are still in museum or collector condition. These historical guns can be donated to museums or purchased by collectors and honoured for years to come instead of being crushed and rendered inoperable.
Did you know that instead of having the Police destroy your unwanted firearms/guns you can legally sell them or gift them?
We are a long standing firearms business with the legal licensing to allow us to purchase your unwanted firearms. Whether your FAC/PAL(Canadian Firearms Possession and Acquisition License) has expired or someone in the family has passed away leaving unwanted firearms behind. We can arrange to have them picked up or provide you with a pre-paid shipping label to facilitate removing them from the premises.
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Lately we have found a lot of interest in making a charitable donation in the name of your choosing for the amount the firearms yield. Use the form below to contact us, and schedule a free consultation to discuss your options.You no longer have to sell it to snatch the Grammy.
The Grammys will now allow albums streaming exclusively on major platforms to be submitted for award consideration. Previously, only albums for sale were eligible, but with the changing landscape of music consumption, for-pay streaming platforms will now be included in the rules.
According to a report by Billboard, albums that are only available on Tidal, Apple Music, Google Play and Spotify (because it has a premium paid subscription tier) will now be eligible for Grammy consideration. Music on Pandora’s not-yet-launched on-demand platform and SoundCloud Go will not be eligible until both platforms reach one-year old (both will be too new when the submission deadline on September 30 hits).
YouTube-only albums and mixtapes releases through DatPiff and Livemixtapes will all be ineligible since they are not available to everyone.
For those keeping score: Yes, Chance the Rapper’s “so-free-and-the-bars-so-hard-that-there-ain’t-one-gosh-darn-line-you-can’t-tweet” Coloring Book can be submitted for Grammy consideration. (It was also the first streaming-only release to hit the Billboard 200, debuting at no. 8.) Last month, Chance fans banded together to start a petition to convince the Recording Academy to allow Coloring Book to be nominated. Looks like it was unnecessary.
Earlier this year, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) amended their gold and platinum status rules to account for streaming, which included a rule where 10 plays of one song on an album counts as a sale. Albums like Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly immediately were awarded plaques after this change.Buy Photo Predators players Filip Forsberg, left, Mattias Ekholm and Calle Jarnkrok, right. enjoy dinner together on Dec. 2 in Nashville. All three players are from Sweden. (Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)Buy Photo
Inside of a West End apartment complex bordering Centennial Sportsplex, Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm slices into several slabs of thick-cut ham, preparing to try a new carbonara recipe. Forward Calle Jarnkrok dices tomatoes, peppers and onions, pouring the vegetables into a large clear bowl.
Attempting to push the pasta into a pot of boiling water with a potato masher, forward Filip Forsberg briefly leaves to retrieve a pasta fork after some light ribbing, or at least that's what it sounds like to those present who don't speak Swedish.
When the Predators' hectic schedule permits, Ekholm, Forsberg and Jarnkrok congregate for a weekly dinner. This particular meal in early December is hosted by Jarnkrok, who looks at his light-filled Christmas tree and admires his handiwork.
The three, simply known by their Predators teammates as "the Swedes," are virtually inseparable. They all live on the same floor, which they negotiated when re-signing their individual leases. They carpool to games at Bridgestone Arena — Ekholm always the driver, with Jarnkrok riding shotgun and Forsberg in the back.
"If you see one," Predators forward Eric Nystrom said, "you see three."
In order for many Europeans to fulfill their NHL dreams, they must leave their native countries and migrate to North America, often as teenagers who have never really been apart from their families. Of the 803 players that have appeared in an NHL game this season, 604 were born in either the United States or Canada. Swedes make up a sizable portion of the NHL's non-North American players, but there's still only 75 of them in the league.
Buy Photo Mattias Ekholm, Calle Jarnkrok and Filip Forsberg of the Predators prepare dinner together at Jarnkrok's apartment on Dec. 2. (Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)
Ekholm, 25, Jarnkrok, 24, and Forsberg, 21, have formed a family-like bond, which aided their transition to life far away from home.
"We've all been going through the same stuff over here," Forsberg said. "We've always had each other for support. Just going to the rink together and just hanging out all the time, it obviously creates a special thing."
Ekholm, a 2009 Predators draft pick, and Jarnkrok, acquired from the Red Wings in March 2014 as part of a trade involving original Predators forward David Legwand, had a previous relationship before the two became teammates in Nashville, playing on the same Swedish Elite League team during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. Forsberg was the centerpiece of a 2013 trade-deadline deal with Washington, which is considered to be one of the most lopsided NHL trades in recent memory.
"I went to (AHL) Milwaukee right away," Jarnkrok said. "Filip was there and (Ekholm) was up here, so I spent the first couple weeks in Milwaukee with Filip and it was good."
Predators general manager David Poile's main responsibility is to assemble the best possible on-ice product, but he is cognizant of players' personalities when doing so. According to Poile, having Ekholm on the roster was an "added bonus" in that it made Forsberg and Jarnkrok more comfortable upon their respective arrivals.
"They just seemed to hit it off," he said. "It was more natural because they're from Sweden. They decided when they came up here that this is where they would live and they all decided to live in the same place and it just goes from there, so it was perfect. They all have friends and they all go do things from going out together to eating together to driving to the games together, sitting together on the plane, rooming together, all that stuff. It's worked out great."
The challenges awaiting them were evident. Swedes typically have a better grasp of English than other Europeans, but developing a conversational command of the language was paramount, picked up through locker-room chatter and living with English-speaking teammates.
The Predators are proactive in easing the acclimation process, helping prospects set up bank accounts, acquire driver's licenses and find language tutors, among other things. Locating an apartment was initially a daunting task for Forsberg, who had always lived with his parents until he arrived stateside.
"I think my mom was actually more nervous about me moving away than just playing hockey," he said. "My dad, he's just about the hockey, but my mom was more worried than me probably about the living situation. Now, they've been here a bunch of times, they know the area, they know Nashville's a good city. They're now more used to it and more adjusted to it as well. I think they believe I'm at the best spot, so they're pretty satisfied."
Buy Photo Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg of the Predators prepare dinner at teammate Calle Jarnkrok's apartment on Dec. 2. (Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)
Ekholm, Jarnkrok and Forsberg's teammates like to tease them about their togetherness, but they inherently understand the importance of their relationship.
"These are young kids that are coming over from another country," Nystrom said. "They're not familiar with anything. If you've got a few people from the same country on your team, you're obviously going to gravitate towards them and have a familiarity and a comfort with them.... These guys are top-notch guys. They're great to be around. They're such nice kids and humble. I'm glad that they have each other and I'm glad that we have them."
Dinner is served, and Ekholm, Jarnkrok and Forsberg all help themselves to large plates of pasta and salad before sitting at the modest dining-room table. The home-cooked meal has become something of a tradition for the Swedes, no different than those of any other family.
"At home in Sweden, actually hanging out with my friends that I grew up with, I only get three months," Ekholm said. "These guys I almost see nine months. In those nine months, we drive together to the rink, we practice together, we come back from the rink, we go to lunch together. We cook dinner together. We know (about) each other pretty much everything.... We spend so much time together that that's just what it becomes.
"We're like brothers."
Reach Adam Vingan on Twitter @AdamVingan.Bolivia’s foreign ministry is condemning a request by the U.S. to extradite Edward Snowden, adding that it was outrageous for the request to be submitted on the same day the country’s president was held in Europe.
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A plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria on Tuesday after France and Portugal denied him access to their airspace. Morales was delayed for 12 hours after reports swirled that Snowden, who is wanted for leaking information about top-secret National Security Agency surveillance programs, was onboard.
In a statement released Wednesday, the foreign ministry repeated that Snowden never met Morales in Russia, where Snowden is reportedly camped out at an airport after fleeing Hong Kong last month. Snowden has applied for asylum in 20 countries, including Bolivia, and Morales has said he would consider Snowden’s request.
Bolivian officials said the “strange, illegal, unfounded and suggestive” extradition request would be returned to the U.S. immediately.
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), a regional trade block, released a statement on behalf of its 12 members that called the search of Morales's plane “dangerous.”The next level is an esoteric sort of thing, since there are no actual and physical levels in international soccer.
Absent some kind of system of treads and ladders, whereupon national teams can step up and down, like some Italian plumber in a 2-D video game, there's no telling where the "next level" ends or begins. It's ill-defined. A notion rooted in reputation more than reality. Something that's next-level, as an adjective, is ahead of its time. A team ascending to the next level is an even vaguer construct.
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Which is all a roundabout way of saying that if – when? – the United States men's national team gets to that next level, a higher plane of performance, play and prestige, it will be hard to say when, exactly, it got there.
If it didn't already by beating Ecuador in the quarterfinals of the Copa America Centenario on Thursday – the first American win in the knockout stage of a major global or continental tournament since the 2002 World Cup. Let's say it didn't. Then perhaps such a seminal achievement could come in Tuesday's semifinal against Argentina, the heavy favorites to win the tournament, not to mention the top-ranked team in the world by both the FIFA and ELO rankings. This is a team of such stupefying talent and depth as to create real lineup problems for its manager Tata Martino.
[ COPA AMERICA | Predictions | Scores/Schedule | Standings | Teams ]
The question of the next level is a loaded one for the USMNT's building band of fans. In a country lumbered with a communal soccer inferiority complex, the next level more or less equates to belonging. To being worthy of a place among the sport's elite. It means arriving.
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And it's famously what the Klinsmann era was supposed to usher in. When the German was installed as head coach five years ago – and also made technical director in late 2013 – the popular consensus was that he'd lift the program as a whole to a higher echelon, just as he'd modernized a dated German national team program and brought it back to the top.
For almost five years, we didn't see much to suggest that progress was really being made. If anything, it looked like regression. The Americans weren't any more technical than they had been, and in the meantime, their staples of defensive solidity, solid organization and can-do spirit had eroded. The Klinsmann Doctrine appeared to be DOA, if there ever was one at all.
But then this Copa America Centenario kicked off. And after a stumble against Colombia, three consecutive strong performances against very reputable opponents have turned narrative and expectation entirely on their heads. Against tough teams and in tricky situations, the Americans haven't just rediscovered their bite and poise, but they've also largely played good soccer, passing out of the back, building structurally sound attacks and generally refusing to take a total bunker mentality even when they were outnumbered or outgunned. Indeed, against some of the finest forward lines in the game, the U.S. has only conceded three goals in four games – and just one in the last three – and they came from a pair of corners and a penalty, rather than the run of play.
Most of all, they have a adopted the mindset of a team that still may not be able to compete with the very best technically, but no longer doubts that it can consistently get the results against them all the same.
On the Argentina showdown, midfielder Michael Bradley has said that his opposing captain Lionel Messi is "probably the best of all time" – a correct assertion – yet that there are ways of slowing him and disrupting the rest of his team. "Whoever is sharper and has more guys play well, compete at a high level and understand the moment, that's typically what team is going to have a better chance to win," he told ESPN.
"We are 100 percent going in with the belief that we can play with them," defender Matt Besler told the Washington Post. "We'll see on Tuesday night. But you can't go into a game conceding that belief already."
Klinsmann has framed the challenge of playing ever-improving teams as a task to be embraced, laying it out as the road to be traveled to the top. "We play one of the best teams in the world. And this is what we want," he said. "This is where you want to measure yourself and give them a real fight. All I will tell them is 'Go at them. Be courageous. Believe you can do it, absolutely.' Every team is beatable in the world."
This was the point of playing so many world powers in friendlies in recent years, and winning a fair few of those games against the likes of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Klinsmann wanted his players to understand that even the top teams only get to field 11 men, and that they make mistakes as well, that they tire towards the end of games.
"We are not scared of them at all," Klinsmann said of Argentina to the Post. "We are ready to bite, to fight, to chase them, to be all over them. If we repeat that and add a couple more percent to it, it's going to be fun."
"We don't want to make this out to be mission impossible," added Bradley to ESPN. "It's 90 minutes, it's a semifinal, it's a chance to get into a final."
It's hard to say if this is the culmination of Klinsmann's work. Or if it's at least the vindication after a waterfall of criticism that washed over him in the last year as results and optics deteriorated. In the long and slow march to national soccer self-betterment, there were plenty of stumbles.
"I think over time we always said we want to move this program to another level – I think we did that over time," Klinsmann said to ESPN. "There will be some setbacks."
Just maybe the blind squirrel has found a nut. But either way, the Americans look better than they have in years, as good as they have since the summers of 2009 and 2010, when they made runs in the Confederations Cup and the World Cup, respectively. Whether that means a next level is now within reach, of if it's just a level the Americans were already at, only to fall away from it, is a matter of interpretation.
Because maybe the next level was a state of mind all along.
"There is no reason at all why we can't win Copa America," Klinsmann said to the Post. "Dream big. Why not?"
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
Related Video:Merry Christmas: Kamala Harris Files Brand New Criminal Charges Against Backpage Execs After Last Ones Were Tossed Out
from the you-already-got-elected dept
Never let it be said that Kamala Harris gives up after being told her totally bogus legal crusade is totally bogus. She's now filed brand new charges against the execs who run Backpage.com -- despite having the very same lawsuit thrown out a few weeks ago. As you may recall, for years, Harris (and some other state Attorneys General) have been crusading against the classified website Backpage, because some of its users use it to post illegal prostitution ads. As has been explained dozens of times, the proper thing to do in those situations is to use that information to go after thosebreaking the law. Instead, Harris and others have whined about their desire to put Backpage execs in jail instead (which won't actually stop any illegal activity -- since it will just move to another site).Let's be crystal clear here: California Attorney General Kamala Harris (who in just a few weeks will become a US Senator)that she has no legal basis for arresting the execs behind Backpage. How do we know she knows this? Because three years ago she signed a letter whining about how she had no legal authority to arrest Backpage because it's (rightly) protected by Section 230 of the CDA, saying that you can't blame a site for the actions of its users. So it did seem weird, back in October, when Harris -- along with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton -- decided to arrest Backpage's execs anyway, and charge them with "pimping." As we note at the time, the criminal complaint against them was laughable and almost completely bogus. Not only was Backpage protected by CDA 230, but the actual investigation into Backpage undercut the case they were bringing, because it showed a willingness by Backpage to delete prostitution ads when brought to their attention by law enforcement, and to block those users from reposting.So it was no surprise at all when the court quickly tossed all the charges against the execs, and told Harris to take it up with Congress... which, of course, is where she'll be in a month. However, not content to just try to change the laws, Harris has chosen to file brand new charges against the three execs, Carl Ferrer, Michael Lacy, and James Larkin. The press release from Harris claims that the reason for the new charges is that she's "uncovered new evidence" but that's a load of hogwash.The new charges still include bogus "pimping" charges, but now also have a bunch of "money laundering" charges as well. And that sounds scary, but once again the details look to be complete bullshit. Basically, the "money laundering" is that Backpage set up a separate operation to handle billing, after American Express (under pressure from grandstanding politicians) said it no longer wanted to work with Backpage. So, the lawsuit argues, Backpage set up a sort of shell corporation to accept AmEx charges, without it looking like they were coming from Backpage. But in order for it to be money laundering, it has to involve a situation where the money itself is coming from illegal activity, and over and over and over and over again the courts have said that Backpage's activity. In fact, that's what a court told HarrisThis is a frightening abuse of power to harass a company just because Harris doesn't like how people use that company, and because she and her staff can't be botheredof using that information to go after the actual lawbreakers. It's shameful.
Filed Under: california, carl ferrer, cda 230, james larkin, kamala harris, michael lacy, money laundering, pimping, section 230
Companies: backpage, backpage.comImage caption The bright dots, or sparkles, seen by Hi-C are calculated to release huge amounts of energy
Scientists have obtained the sharpest view yet of features in the Sun's atmosphere using an experimental camera launched on a short-lived rocket.
The system returned just five minutes of data, but this was enough to identify a fascinating new phenomenon the researchers refer to as "sparkles".
These are bright points that appear along magnetic field lines where huge amounts of energy are released.
The discovery is being reported at the UK National Astronomy Meeting.
It may help to explain how the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, is so much hotter than the star's surface, its photosphere.
"The corona is millions of degrees hotter, and this has been a decades' long puzzle," said Prof Robert Walsh from the University of Central Lancashire.
"The sparkles - we actually call them extreme ultraviolet dots - we believe are evidence of very localised but frequent energy release that could build up and heat the corona very easily," he told BBC News.
Video of the scene, built from a series of images, can be seen on YouTube.
Pictures of the dots were acquired using Nasa's High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C).
This is a next-generation instrument that was tested briefly on a sounding rocket, a small vehicle that takes a payload into space for just a few minutes before falling back down.
The intention was to validate the design concept and performance of Hi-C so that it can be put forward for a future orbital mission.
The instrument was directed to look at an active region in the middle of the Sun.
As well as the sparkles, it saw huge clumps of charged gas (plasma) racing along "highways" sculpted by the star's magnetic field.
This speeding material was moving inside a so-called solar filament, a prominence of dense plasma that can on occasions erupt outwards from the Sun.
"The plasma was moving in opposite directions, back and fore, like on a motorway," said Prof Walsh
"We've never seen that before and that gives us an idea about the fundamental scale in the filaments."
The sparkles themselves were off to the left of the filament in a region of twisted magnetic field lines.
The dots were sporadic - they typically lasted about 25 seconds - and although they appeared small on the scale of the Sun, they were immense - equivalent in width to the UK.
But it is the energy released by the sparkles that is really impressive.
The team calculates it to be at least one million, million, million, million Joules in each dot.
"Consider the consumption of energy in the UK in an entire year - it gets released in one of these dots in about 20-30 seconds," explained Prof Walsh.
"When you add that up all over the surface of the Sun you are talking about something that could easily tackle the coronal heating problem. But to pin this down we'd have to fly Hi-C on a satellite."
Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center led the Hi-C launch with partners that included the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Lockheed Martin's Solar Astrophysical Laboratory, UClan, and the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The UK NAM runs all week at the University of St Andrews.
Image caption The "highways" in the solar filament are seen in the right-hand box. The sparkles are in the left-hand box
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmosDude is shameless. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Here are some things we have learned recently about Georgia Rep. Tom Price, Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of health and human services.
First, the congressman has a habit of trading stocks in medical companies while also writing legislation that could sway those firms’ fortunes. The Wall Street Journal recently found that Price had “bought and sold stock in about 40 health-care, pharmaceutical and biomedical companies since 2012, including a dozen in the current congressional session.” In total, he traded shares worth $300,000. Price, a former orthopedic surgeon who now chairs the extremely powerful House Budget Committee, regularly introduces bills on health care policy and sits on the House subcommittee that oversees Medicare.
Second, his investments have included at least one very nice bargain. In 2015 Price bought discounted stock in a small Australian biotech firm, Innate Immuno, that was attempting to win Food and Drug Administration approval for a new multiple sclerosis drug. Price purchased the stock in a private offering marketed only to “sophisticated U.S. investors” that Kaiser Health News referred to as a “sweetheart deal.” To be fair, all U.S. buyers received a 12 percent discount on their shares, which is reportedly standard in such a private placement. However, the stock price was also rising fast. Price has notched a 400 percent gain on the investment, Kaiser notes.
Finally, as CNN reported this weekend, Price introduced a bill that would assist a major medical device–maker less than a week after investing in it. Price bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Zimmer Biomet, which manufacturers products like knee- and hip-replacement parts. Within days, he introduced the HIP Act, which would have delayed a new Obama administration regulation that may have crimped Zimmer Biomet’s profits by changing the way Medicare paid for hip- and knee-replacement surgeries. After CNN’s story was published, Price’s aide told the news org that the congressman’s stock broker had made the investment without his knowledge and that Price didn’t become aware of the purchase until after introducing his bill. Nonetheless, “Price continued to hold about $2,000 worth of shares in the company, the source said, despite having introduced the bill that would have helped the firm just days earlier.”
Is Tom Price buying stocks based on the inside info he gleans as a congressman? I have no idea. Is Tom Price introducing legislation that he’s aware might affect his own investments? I have no idea. Ideologically, the man is predisposed to oppose any sort of regulations that would cut into doctors’ or medical device–makers’ profits. I can’t imagine he’s writing bills and letters to regulators purely to goose his portfolio’s returns. In any event, the Senate minority leader now wants the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate whether Price violated the STOCK Act, which was passed in 2012 and was designed to stop insider trading by federal elected officials. We’ll see if that yields anything.
But has Tom Price created the appearance of a massive conflict of interest by frequently trading stocks in companies whose bottom lines he might be able to influence as a member of Congress? Obviously. Could this have easily been avoided? Obviously. Assuming his official explanation about the Zimmer Biomet trade is true, he could have told his broker to avoid health care stocks. Or he could have just refrained from trading any individual stocks by investing his money in some diversified index funds (which is, frankly, what every member of Congress should be required to do). The fact that he did neither of those things means, at the very least, he wasn’t worried about looking corrupt.
All of that should be enough to disqualify someone from a Cabinet post (doubly so if you’re the sort of person who, say, thinks the Clinton Foundation was an unacceptable thicket of potential conflicts). But of course, it just means Price will fit in perfectly with the Trump administration.The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill. The bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha which envisages to amend 91-year-old Sikh Gurdwaras Act to exclude Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in elections to Sikh religious bodies.
Also read: Centre clears way for Sehajdhari vote debarment, and SGPC chief Makkar’s exit
The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 was a piece of legislation in British India, which legally defined Sikh identity and brought Sikh gurdwaras (houses of worship) under the control of an elected body of orthodox Sikhs.
The bill was introduced in the House by Union home minister Rajnath Singh. The bill proposes to remove the exception given to Sehajdhari Sikhs in 1944 to vote in the elections to select the members of the board and the committees constituted under the act.
First Published: Mar 16, 2016 16:12 ISTThe religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. A new poll by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Many say they attend worship services of more than one faith or denomination — even when they are not traveling or going to special events like weddings and funerals. Many also blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects. And sizeable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts.
One-third of Americans (35%) say they regularly (9%) or occasionally (26%) attend religious services at more than one place, and most of these (24% of the public overall) indicate that they sometimes attend religious services of a faith different from their own. Aside from when they are traveling and special events like weddings and funerals, three-in-ten Protestants attend services outside their own denomination, and one-fifth of Catholics say they sometimes attend non-Catholic services.
Among those who attend religious services at least once a week, nearly four-in-ten (39%) say they attend at multiple places and nearly three-in-ten (28%) go to services outside their own faith, according to the Pew Forum survey, which was conducted Aug. 11-27 among 4,013 adults reached on both landlines and cell phones. Attending services at more than one place and across multiple religious traditions is even more common among those who go to religious services on a monthly or yearly basis, with nearly six-in-ten (59%) saying they attend at multiple places and four-in-ten attending services from outside their own faith at least sometimes.
Religiously mixed marriages are common in the United States, and the survey finds that the link between being in a religiously mixed union and attendance at multiple types of services is a complex one. Overall, people in religiously mixed marriages attend worship services less often than people married to someone of the same faith. But among those who attend religious services at least yearly, those in religiously mixed marriages attend multiple types of services at a higher rate than people married to someone of the same religion.
Though the U.S. is an overwhelmingly Christian country, significant minorities profess belief in a variety of Eastern or New Age beliefs. For instance, 24% of the public overall and 22% of Christians say they believe in reincarnation — that people will be reborn in this world again and again. And similar numbers (25% of the public overall, 23% of Christians) believe in astrology. Nearly three-in-ten Americans say they have felt in touch with someone who has already died, almost one-in-five say they have seen or been in the presence of ghosts, and 15% have consulted a fortuneteller or a psychic.
Nearly half of the public (49%) says they have had a religious or mystical experience, defined as a “moment of sudden religious insight or awakening.” This is similar to a survey conducted in 2006 but much higher than in surveys conducted in 1976 and 1994 and more than twice as high as a 1962 Gallup survey (22%). In fact, this year’s survey finds that religious and mystical experiences are more common today among those who are unaffiliated with any particular religion (30%) than they were in the 1960s among the public as whole (22%).
Attendance at Multiple Types of Religious Services
Nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) say they attend religious services at least a few times a year, including 38% who say they attend at least once a week and 34% who attend once or twice a month or a few times a year. Roughly one-quarter says they seldom or never attend religious services (27%). These figures are roughly consistent with findings from recent years.
Of those who attend at least yearly, roughly half (37% of the public overall) say they always attend services at the same place, while nearly as many (35%) say they regularly or occasionally attend religious services at different places, aside from when they are traveling and going to special events such as weddings and funerals. To estimate the number of Americans who attend multiple types of religious services, the survey followed up by asking people who attend religious services at different places about the types of services (e.g., Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, etc.) they attend. Overall, about one-in-four adults (24%) indicate that they attend services of at least one faith other than their own, and roughly one-in-ten (12%) say they participate in the services of two or more faiths in addition to their own.
Three-in-ten Protestants say they attend multiple types of religious services, including those who attend services at Protestant denominations different than their own; 18% of Protestants indicate that they attend non-Protestant services.
More than four-in-ten black Protestants (42%) and roughly one-quarter of white evangelical and mainline Protestants (28% and 24%, respectively) regularly or occasionally attend services at a faith other than their own. Among all three groups of Protestants, the most commonly cited type of services attended (other than services of one’s own faith) are those of other Protestant denominations (40% among black Protestants, 24% among white evangelicals and 22% among white mainline Protestants). However, significant numbers within all three Protestant traditions report sometimes attending Catholic Mass; this includes nearly one-in-five black Protestants (19%), 13% of white evangelicals and 14% of mainline Protestants. Fewer say they attend Jewish synagogues or Muslim mosques.
Roughly one-in-five Catholics say they attend services of at least one faith other than Catholicism, with most of these (18% of Catholics overall and 16% of white Catholics) saying they attend Protestant services. About one-in-twenty Catholics report attending services at Jewish synagogues (5%) and 1% say they attend Muslim mosques.
Attending religious services at more than one place is most common among those who attend services only occasionally. Among those who attend services once or twice a month or a few times a year, fully six-in-ten (59%) attend services at more than one place, including four-in-ten who attend religious services of faiths other than their own. Among those who say they attend services on a weekly basis, fewer say they attend at more than one place (39%); still, more than a quarter of Americans who are regular, weekly attenders at religious services (28%) say they also attend services outside their own faith, not counting when they are traveling or special occasions like weddings and funerals. (Respondents who seldom or never attend religious services were not asked about where they attend.)
The survey finds a complex link between attending multiple types of religious services and being in religiously mixed marriages. The key distinction between those in religiously mixed versus religiously matched marriages is in the overall level of religious commitment, with those in religiously mixed marriages exhibiting lower levels of religious commitment, as measured by frequency of attendance at worship services. Among those in religiously mixed marriages, fully four-in-ten (43%) say they seldom or never attend religious services, twice as high as seen among those married to someone of the same faith (21%).
On the surface, people who are married to a spouse from a faith different than their own are neither more nor less likely than married people overall to attend multiple types of religious services (25% among all of those in religiously mixed relationships, 24% among those in religiously matched marriages). However, among those who attend religious services at least yearly, more than four-in-ten in mixed marriages attend services of faiths different than their own, compared with roughly three-in-ten of those married to someone of the same faith.
Worship Venues
In addition to asking about the types of religious services that people attend, the survey also asked about the locations or venues in which these services are held. Most people who attend services at least yearly do so at a church or other house of worship. But a significant minority of Americans (11%) say they go to services at other locations, either instead of (3%) or in addition to (8%) services in a regular house of worship.
Roughly one-in-six white evangelicals attend religious services in a place other than a church or house of worship (16%), as do 13% of black Protestants. Nearly one-in-ten white mainline Protestants say the same (9%), while the comparable figures among Catholics and the unaffiliated are 5% and 6%, respectively.
Homes are the most popular alternative venue to churches and other houses of worship. About 7% of Americans say they attend religious services in someone’s home. Attending services in homes is somewhat more common among Protestants (9%) than among Catholics (4%).
Eastern or New Age Beliefs, “Evil Eye”
Roughly one-quarter of adults express belief in tenets of certain Eastern religions; 24% say they believe in reincarnation (that people will be reborn in this world again and again), and a similar number (23%) believe in yoga not just as exercise but as a spiritual practice. Similar numbers profess belief in elements of New Age spirituality, |
the world and gameplay. The collectables are famous locations you can take selfies at using the ScoutX app. This takes you to most of the interesting places on the map and adds depth to the characters by having them all comment on your pics. Grand Theft Auto, on the other hand, mocks Facebook with the LifeInvader app but never allows you to use it. The collectables meanwhile are non-interactive pieces of a UFO. Finding these does next to nothing, no characters mention the existence of alien life and the world remains the same. Yes GTA5 is a very impressive game but sadly I find it’s only in the ways that don’t matter. When I play Watch_Dogs 2 I find myself invested in finding all the ScoutX landmarks just to get more interaction with the amazing cast. When I’m not photobombing tourist spots I’m on the Driver San Francisco app taking passengers on adventures. Listening to the well-written dialogue that tells me more about the world and backstory. Then we look at GTA 5 and after you’ve finished the main story it’s just the same cycle of going on a rampage, dying then doing it again. You can steal a taxi and drive people around but they never offer any interesting stories or world building. They barely even talk to you. The PC version of the game has mods which help a lot with the post-story longevity but only so much.
I’ve put this game down a lot in this review but this is just how I feel. Now I’m not a fool, lots of people love this game and I’m not here to tell you that you’re wrong. Continue to love this game and this series but please don’t make the same mistakes I made as a teen. This series is not perfect and it’s not above criticism. For me, Watch_Dogs 2, Saint Row 2 and even Retro City Rampage have bested the Grand Theft Auto series at its own game. I find GTA 5 dull with very little to offer. Now with a 97 on Metacritic, I know my score will feel low but it’s my honest opinion. I don’t think that Grand Theft Auto V is a good game and it’s far from a great game. At best it’s fun to mod but that’s about all I use it for now. I doubt I will ever play the PS3 or PS4 versions again as they offer me nothing that I can’t get in a higher quality elsewhere.
Recommendation Rating: 4 out of 10
DOOM VFR Review I played on: PSVR
I paid: £19.99
Available on: PSVR, Vive
Notes: N/A As the title would suggest DOOM VFR takes the brutal gameplay from 2016’s DOOM and moves it into VR. I can only really describe the result with the praise; Metal as fuck!
In some regards, I do mean Metal in terms of the music genre that has had a massive impact on the series. The soundtrack is amazing and makes taking on the hoards of Hell even more impressive. Mick Gordon’s music is one of the best parts of this game and with so much great stuff that’s really high praise. Tracks take a lot of inspiration from the original Dos games but with much more punch. When you have your headphones on this soundtrack is the audio equivalent of being in the middle of a mosh pit. Which most of the time you are with the number of enemies you will be taking on at once.
True to the original 1993 Doom most your time will be spent taking on hoards of demonic creatures. The thing that VR does really well is scale and that alone can make a lot of these monsters rather imposing. I’ve been playing the Doom games on and off for my entire life. Even so when I first saw creatures like the Baron or the Hell Knight in VR I was shocked at their massive size. When they’re standing next to you and you have to strain your neck to look up at them you gain a whole new level of respect for these beasts.
Most of these furious creatures are capable of easily killing you so it’s vital you keep moving at all times. This is done one of two ways. You can move in one of the 4 basic directions with the directional pad or use L2 to teleport around the area. Those that suffer from motion sickness might want to avoid using the directional buttons. I personally never had an issue with this myself but VR affects everyone differently. Seeing as DOOM VFR was my first VR game I found the movement a little jarring at first but by the end of the game, it felt as natural as walking in real life. You can also use the motion controllers during gameplay. Both the motion controllers and the standard PS4 controller have their ups and downs. The freedom to be able to fire where you point your gun instead of where your looking makes shooting easier with the motion controllers. On the other hand, the movement is much more manageable with the PS4 controller. I found myself switching between both depending on my mood and the types of enemies I had to take on.
Even after you’ve got the hang of the controls this game is difficult. I found myself dying quite a few times during my playthrough. Never enough to put me off the game as at no point does it feel unfair or unbalanced. If you die then it’s because you did something wrong. The most common mistake will be standing still. You always want to keep moving during this game. Stopping to line up a shoot or catch your breath is never a good idea. There is a wonderful balance between health and ammo pickups that ties in with the combat. If you kill an enemy via normal bullet-riddled means they will drop more ammo. If you stagger them and then teleport into them they will explode dropping more health items. This is known as Telefragging. Juggling your health bar and ammo via shooting and telefragging is the key to mastering this combat system. What DOOM VFR does is take rather simple systems and creates an intense act of carnage that it forces you to master. I very often found myself screaming with the crescendo of the music as the very last demon fell to my onslaught. Although hard when you manage to finish a level you will feel like the biggest badass in all of Hell.
Outside of the main campaign, you can play classic maps from the original games. Being able to explore these areas in virtual reality was a childhood dream come to life. I never imagined that I’d be able to explore the Moonbase from the original game like this. If childhood me could see this technology then I think my little head would explode. These classic maps are certainly more for fans of the old school games than they are fans of the modern ones. Still, if you’ve been playing this series as long as I have then you will really appreciate this bonus content.
All in all DOOM VFR blew my mind and rocked my socks. If you enjoyed id’s revival of the series in 2016 and own a VR headset then you will love this masterpiece!
Recommendation Rating: 8 out of 10.
The final minutes… Not gonna lie this is kinda exciting in a really depressing way. It feels like the end of an era. I’m not leaving Tumblr but it will change the site forever. Sex workers, kinksters and other people will lose their entire blogs and that could be a lot for some people. It’s horrible. While I’ll not be leaving my blog will be changing from January. My reviews will be only posted to my Blogger website which is http://www.mothgaming.co.uk/ so be sure to follow me and bookmark the site. I’ll have more info up soon. So ya, bye to those of you that will be leaving. And sorry to those that will be forced into leaving this hellsite.
A doodle of Claptrap that I did while watching some games of Poker Night 2. Really enjoying Borderlands 2 VR btwThe Swedish company has partnered with an architectural firm to bring customers miniature Ikea wonderlands
www.ideabox.us A view of the activ house's dining area and living room, complete with Ikea furnishing
Have you ever spent a Saturday afternoon strolling through Ikea, thinking, If only I could live at this magical place?
The Swedish company hasn’t begun renting its showrooms just yet, but it has partnered with Oregon architectural firm Ideabox to launch a line of prefabricated homes. Dubbed “aktiv,” the one-bedroom home will be decked out entirely in hip Ikea decor. Expected to sell at $86,500, the home is Swedish-inspired and “full of personality,” according to Ideabox.
(MORE: Ikea Starts ‘How to Build’ YouTube Channel to Help Frustrated Customers)
The aktiv line is reminiscent of trailers or motor homes — neat little 53 ft. x 14 ft. rectangles packed with funky, oddly named furniture. Ideabox says there’s no wasted space, which makes sense, since there’s not much space to be wasted. A combination of corrugated metal, fiber-cement siding and a metal roof house the mini Ikea wonderland, which comes equipped with a dual-flush toilet and energy-efficient electronics, PSFK reports. And don’t forget Ikea staples like tundra maple flooring, Pax wardrobes and Abstrakt cabinets.
And in case you were wondering — yes, aktiv is Swedish for active. See what they did there?
MORE: Ikea Redesigns Classic Bookshelf, Foreshadows the Demise of Books
PHOTOS: Modern-Day Castles in Need of a LordA lot of time and therefore money is being expended in creating Assange impostor accounts for Black Propaganda. Please consider to report them to twitter for impersonation to get them suspended then block. Although the Black Propaganda teams working on the impostor projects can create new impostor accounts, eventually with every suspension their job is becoming more difficult as handles suspended cannot be used again.
Impostor Account Example 1:
WikiLeaks @ JullianAsange – changed handle to @ _AssangeJulian
The second handle has been suspended. The first has been re-used under a new account created on the 28th of June (to reserve the name, so no-one else uses it) http://archive.is/QErgX (using Austrian footballer’s Julian Erhart photo as an Avatar) ID 880100132380786689
Impostor Account Example 2 (31/08/17 Update):
Julian Assange @Real_Assange changed to Julian Assange @JulianAssunge and then to @JulianAssanged adding a diamond symbol for verification, then changed again to @Julien_Assange and then to @JuliannAssange, @RealAssange always the same twitter ID 860223427180773376.
As the account changes handles any search for the pages produce “page does not exist” whilst the current page retains all the tweets and followers of the historic accounts from the day of creation. This is the way the account handlers avoid being suspended by twitter, leaving room to re-cycle the same handles in the future.
Impostor Account Example 3:
Wikileaks @WiliLeak ID 887461508267073536
Wikileaks @WikileaksTeam ID 887477583595655168
WL supporters have been busy reporting the account for impersonation, let’s hope Twitter suspends the account soon.
Useful Resources:
1.] Twelve Reasons Why You Should NOT Delete a Disused Twitter Account https://twirpz.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/twelve-reasons-why-you-should-not-delete-a-disused-twitter-account/ and http://archive.is/Aes9g
2.] How To Find Twitter Users’ Previous Usernames https://twirpz.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/how-to-find-twitter-users-previous-usernames/ and http://archive.is/dhMcT
3.] How to Report Impersonating account in Twitter: https://support.twitter.com/forms/impersonation
Happy Reporting!
Previous version archived here http://archive.is/ATFsLJon Bernthal is clearly excited about playing The Punisher on season 2 of Daredevil. A new picture he tweeted from the set focuses not on himself or his character though; instead, it focuses on the tools this character uses to go to work.
Yes, that means guns. Lots and lots of guns.
There are thirty-eight weapons in the image, mounted to a wall, and most assorted assault rifles and automatics. Bernthal's caption was short and sweet: "Punish," and every indication from the set is that he's ready to do just that. The Punisher as a Marvel Comics character has long straddled the line of good and bad, who thinks the only way to take care of a villain is to end their life. His mission, fueled by revenge more than justice, has made him run afoul of characters like Captain America, Spider-Man, and yes, Daredevil, many times throughout his run.national
In a reply to Manoranjan Roy, Central Railway said a charge of Rs 1,000 per page plus service tax would be levied for the information on reservation between Feb 11-15 that he had asked for
If you are thinking about filing a Right to Information (RTI) application for some information from Central Railway (CR), be prepared to cough up a lot of money. CR has told an RTI activist from Juhu, who was seeking information on reservation charts, to pay Rs 2.4 crore for the details.
Roy had filed an RTI application asking CR for reservation details for rail journeys originating from Mumbai between February 11 and February 15. Pics/Satyajit Desai
On February 16, 2015, Manoranjan Roy, an RTI activist from Juhu, filed an RTI application asking CR for reservation details for rail journeys originating from Mumbai between February 11 and February 15. Roy received the shock of his life when he received the reply in March.
Manoranjan Roy at the Santacruz railway reservation centre
CR wanted Roy to pay Rs 2,39,14,702 (including service charge of 12.36 per cent) for the details of reservation charts during the specified period. “This was a shock for me as I regularly file queries under RTI and get information. But this time I was asked to pay Rs 2.4 crore for getting the copies of details I have asked for.
The RTI reply
They have also added service tax to the amount,” said Roy. According to the RTI reply received by Roy, as per existing CR rules, a fee of Rs 1,000 per page plus 12.36 per cent service tax is collected for providing a reservation chart to any person.
The reservation chart details that Roy had called for spilled over to 21,284 pages. He was therefore asked to pay Rs 2,39,14,702 (Rs 2.4 crore) by way of demand draft or cheque issued in favour of Account Officer, CR, Mumbai. “The letter says that on payment of the amount specified, the copies of details asked in the RTI will be furnished immediately.
I am unable to understand that when the charge for getting copy of the details is between Rs 2 to Rs 5 per page. Why are they asking for crores of rupees for my information?” asked Roy. He added that it was the first time he was being asked to pay such a huge amount.
“It looks like they (CR) don’t want to furnish the details, hence they are charging so much. They know that nobody will pay in crores to get RTI details,” said Roy. Normally, when RTI replies spill over to a large number of pages, the information is provided in a digitised form in a CD, which costs only Rs 60. Roy is now in the process of filing an appeal for getting his information.
CR’s Chief Public Relations Officer Narendra Patil told mid-day that the charges for reservation charts were “very high” and he would confirm the same in a couple of days. “If the RTI activist who filed the query is not satisfied with the reply, he can always file an appeal,” said Patil.Airbus Group and Local Motors have officially kicked off the 'Cargo drone challenge', an open competition to identify and design a premium drone solution to transport quickly urgent medical supplies to people and places that are traditionally difficult to reach.
Ready for your idea to take flight? Join the Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge and submit designs for a drone that Airbus Group will consider putting into commercial production. It's time for civilian, cargo drones to make a leap into the mainstream, and your design could be the one to make it happen.
The Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge will identify the next generation of commercial drone technology. It seeks specifically to identify designs for drone aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and efficient forward flight.
Part of the inspiration behind this challenge is to identify better ways to transport medical supplies when time is of the essence and a life could be hanging in the balance. Imagine a doctor deep in the jungle having the ability to order urgently needed drugs from a hospital 100km away. We need your design ideas to help make this a reality. It's time for liftoff!
The starting design of this competition would be Airbus Quadcruiser’s hybrid concept, combining the VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) and hovering capabilities of the well-known quad-copter design with the speed and cruise efficiency of a fixed-wing aircraft by using an additional pusher motor.
The top selected projects will then be reviewed before potentially becoming part of an industrial program. Attractive incentives will be awarded along with many opportunities for the top winners.
Main Award, 1st Place
$50,000.00
As voted by Airbus executives. Also includes a trip to the Farnborough Airshow in England and 1-of-a-kind Cargo Drone Flight Jacket with personalized patch
Main Award, 2nd Place
$20,000.00
As voted by Airbus executives. Also includes a trip to the Farnborough Airshow in England.
Main Award, 3rd Place
$10,000.00
As voted by Airbus executives. Also Includes a trip to the Farnborough Airshow in England.
Cargo Prize, 1st Place
$15,000.00
As voted by cargo industry experts.
Cargo Prize, 2nd Place
$5,000.00
As voted by cargo industry experts.
Cargo Prize, 3rd Place
$2,500.00
As voted by cargo industry experts.
Community Prize, 1st Place
$10,000.00
As voted by community members.
Community Prize, 2nd Place
$3,000.00
As voted by community members.
Community Prize, 3rd Place
$2,000.00
As voted by community members.
Submissions will be accepted until May 22, 2016 and voting will begin June 5, 2016
For full details and to see current submissions or enter your own, visit the Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge page at https://localmotors.com/localmotors/airbus-cargo-drone-challenge/entries/The commercial district on Florence Avenue in Huntington Park looks like most others in the working-class towns of southeast Los Angeles County: a mix of panaderías selling fresh-baked pan dulce and coffee, mini-markets, pawn shops, party planning and quinceañera photography businesses, and botanicas selling home remedies and other esoteric items to the Latino-majority population.
A short walk away sits a storefront that traffics in a different sort of currency: miracles. At the Templo Mayor de la Santa Muerte, patrons gather daily to pray to the folk saint, whose name translates as “Holy Death.”
Temple leader Profesora Lucila, or Profe Lucila la Madrina, as regulars affectionately call her, mops the tile floors, which are so clean they reflect the images of the flowers that line the feet of the myriad Santa Muerte statues in the temple. Her black cat, Rigo, lies down on a wooden table near the entrance, where Lucila receives guests seeking Santa Muerte’s assistance in matters of love, guidance on legal affairs and protection from harm.
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"More people believe in Santa Muerte because we [the followers] are sincere," Lucila says. "We do not judge if you are a cholo or a lawyer. Everyone is welcome, and we do not discriminate."
Lucila credits Santa Muerte with helping her survive four heart attacks and lung cancer. She calls the folk saint an intermediary between God and the people, because according to Lucila, it is death that comes to collect people’s souls when God decides it is time for somebody to die.
“Here I teach everybody that they give a hug and a kiss to their loved ones before leaving our house, because we never know if that is going to be the last kiss or hug that we give to our loved ones,” Lucila says.
In Mexico, the skeleton saint is just as ubiquitous as the Virgin Mary. Miniature altars dedicated to the Virgin Mary dot highways, parks and bus stops. Unlike in Los Angeles, where people are reluctant to discuss the Santa Muerte altars they keep in their homes, devotees in Mexico City walk around showing silver Santa Muerte charms and medals the way people wear Jesus on the cross or medals depicting the Virgin Mary. Maids, businessmen and taxi drivers know of her, even if they do not believe in her.
In Mexico City’s Mercado de Sonora, a large market known for its vast collection of herbs, live animals, candles, books, statues of various saints and other items related to the occult and esoterica — many products related to Santa Muerte are available, including rosaries, on which the bony figure replaces Jesus on the cross. Manuel Valadez Fonseca is known among his fellow Mercado de Sonora vendors as an expert on the cult of Santa Muerte. He says Santa Muerte had a big resurgence in Mexico in the early part of the 20th century, when the country was deep in the middle of a revolution. Death began to play an important role in the armed struggle that transformed Mexico both culturally and socially. “People were looking for a way to survive,” Valadez says. “Many people stuck by religious figures such as the Virgen de Guadalupe, but also people prayed to other saints so that they would come out of battle alive. Among these saints was Santa Muerte. The cult of Santa Muerte is always around people who feel they are in danger.”
Her reach stretches into the Spanish-speaking communities of Los Angeles, where immigrants have brought her from Mexico and a new generation of American-born followers has arisen.
Devotees refer to Santa Muerte affectionately as La Niña Blanca (the white girl), La Flakita (the little skinny girl), La Huesuda (the bony lady) or La Niña Bonita (the pretty girl). With the second-largest population of Mexicans outside of Mexico City, Los Angeles is the hotbed of Santa Muerte devotion, says Andrew Chesnut, professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of Devoted to Death: The Skeleton Saint. Santa Muerte also has reached cities with large Latino populations such as Miami, New York City and Houston.
A skeleton at Templo Mayor de la Santa Muerte in Huntington Park Melanie Gonzalez
Yet Santa Muerte is controversial to some devoutly Catholic communities.
“All devotion to Santa Muerte contradicts Christian beliefs,” Chesnut says. “The Christian theological position is that veneration of death is tantamount to satanism because death is the antithesis of Jesus Christ, who offered believers the chance of eternal life through his sacrifice on the cross.”
For some, Santa Muerte also became known in the media as the symbol of narcocultura, or the drug culture. Chesnut writes in his book that Santa Muerte has followers on both sides of the drug war, from police and army officers to cartel members. His book details cases in which narcos were caught with Santa Muerte paraphernalia.
Santa Muerte was mostly underground until making headlines in 2009, when then-president of Mexico Felipe Calderon ordered the military to bulldoze about 40 shrines that were along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The first legal Santa Muerte church in Mexico City opened in 2003, but it was closed by the government in 2005 under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church, Chesnut says. (He says that the Santa Muerte temple’s leader, David Romo, is now serving 60 years in prison for being part of a kidnapping ring.)
But followers like Lucila see past the bad press.
She’s been leading the temple for the past five years. Lucila says that her position in the cult comes from a don, or gift, that Santa Muerte spiritual leaders have since birth, but that she is only a guide to help members of the temple.
“I always say, ‘First is God, then La Santa. You do not have to believe in me.’ I am just a guide who can help them raise their energy,” Lucila says. Because of the followers with whom she comes into contact daily, she wears a silver link chain with a Santa Muerte charm to protect her from negative energy.
The trust and confidence devotees have for Profesora Lucila are an example of women’s roles as leaders and importance in Santa Muerte worship, according to Chesnut.
“There’s an angle of women’s empowerment,” he says. “The top leader of [Santa Muerte in] Mexico is a woman. That doesn’t happen in the Catholic Church. Besides the obvious fact that she’s a female saint, you have all this room for female leadership. That’s an important aspect of her popularity.”
EXPAND Guillermo Gutierrez is a regular at Profesora Lucila’s Sunday rosarios. Melanie Gonzalez
Brisa Argelia and her husband, Guillermo Gutierrez, Huntington Park residents in their 30s, are regulars at Profesora Lucila’s Sunday rosarios, or rosary services. Argelia, a housewife, regularly visits the shrine during the week and helps with cleaning. Gutierrez accompanies her whenever he has time off from his day job as a manager for an automotive company. With her blue-and-pink hair, and his all-black clothing and tattoos, they look like the type of people who would be drawn to a robed skeleton folk saint.
On the side, Gutierrez has been tattooing for four years. He says he has done about 15 Santa Muerte tattoos, including a black-and-white portrait of her wearing a white lace veil for Profesora Lucila. (She says she doesn’t allow it to be photographed because it came out of a secret promise she made to the saint.)
“I promised the Santa that whatever design the Profe wanted, that I wouldn’t charge her so much,” Gutierrez says of the tattoo, which Lucila has on her forearm. “For other people the same design would be about $400.”
Devotees get tattoos with her image as promises for miracles she has worked for them. Gutierrez has three Santa Muerte tattoos: one on each arm and one that takes up his whole chest.
He says he first learned of Santa Muerte 12 years ago through a friend.
“I had always been atheist, but at first I was afraid of her because I didn’t really know much about her,” he says. “But through this friend I began learning more little by little.”
Gutierrez became a true believer, he says, after she granted him a big favor. He had about five traffic violations and a warrant was out for his arrest. He didn’t have the money to pay those five tickets, and he was getting nervous.
“It was either pay or stay in jail,” he says. Gutierrez prayed to Santa Muerte, asking her to intervene on his behalf. When he appeared in front of a judge, he was given six extra months to pay off his tickets. “It was incredible. I never heard of anyone getting a six-month extension to pay for all these tickets,” he says.
Since then, Gutierrez has maintained an altar in his home that includes a red, white, green and black Santa Muerte statue, with candy, bread, water and flowers as offerings. He keeps a white candle lit and replaces it when it burns out.
Santa Muerte candles at the temple Melanie Gonzalez
Argelia says she felt a mix of respect and fear of the image of Santa Muerte. When Argelia was pregnant with their first child, her physician told her there was a 70 percent chance that she would lose the baby because of liver disease she had contracted during the pregnancy. Gutierrez suggested that they pray together at the altar.
“I know God exists, but I don’t know if you exist. If you exist show me your power,” Argelia remembers saying to the little statue at their home altar. Argelia returned to the doctor a week later. “The doctor told me, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but your pregnancy is improving even though your liver is the same.’ The tears came to my eyes, and that’s when my devotion grew.”
The baby, Jared, was born in 2013. As a gesture of thanks, Gutierrez designed a Santa Muerte tattoo for Argelia. It is a rosary drawn in black ink, and in place of Jesus on the cross it depicts Santa Muerte dangling from black rosary beads in a robe.
Argelia says she found Profesora Lucila and the Templo Mayor de la Santa Muerte three years ago while driving around Huntington Park. Though she and her husband prayed and maintained an altar at home, Argelia felt the need to find an actual place of worship to feel that Santa Muerte really existed. Upon walking in and seeing the life-size figure of Santa Muerte at Lucila’s temple, she was overtaken with emotion.
“I cried and I said, ‘Finally, I am in front of you,’” she recalls.
Both Argelia and Gutierrez say they like the friendly atmosphere at the temple. The regulars know each other by name, and greet one another with a hug and a smile. Before the rosario begins, Lucila cleanses the temple by burning copal, a resin that comes from trees native to Mexico. (It has been used in ancient indigenous ceremonies and is often burned during Aztec dance performances and during Día de los Muertos observances.)
The thick smoke blankets the room, and Lucila begins to read from La Biblia de la Santa Muerte, or the Santa Muerte Bible, a book that contains prayers, rituals and the rosario. The devotees make the sign of the cross, and the rosary begins with an “Our Father.”
While leading the prayers, Profesora Lucila walks around the room, sometimes laying her hands on the back of one of the followers
“Everyone brings a different energy to the templo,” she says. “I do this to protect the others from any negative energy they might bring into the room. If I were doing the rosario for just one person, I would stand right next to them the whole time.”
The rosario is similar to praying a Catholic rosary, but along with reciting the “Our Father” and “Hail Mary,” the rosario to Santa Muerte includes prayers about her different healing powers: protection, love, prosperity, health, wisdom and purity.
In the middle of the rosario, Lucila stops and has the worshippers choose a Santa Muerte statue to pray in front of for an issue that concerns them at the moment. While she is leading the followers in prayer, she will occasionally stop and kiss one of the statues on the head.
Lucila takes note when one of the devotees begins to mess up the prayer.
“If you are making mistakes, your mind is in another place. How do you expect the Santa to help you if your mind is not with her?” she chides, speaking to all of those in the room. “If your mind is not with her, then neither is your heart.”
EXPAND An offering at Santuario Hogar de la Santa Muerte in MacArthur Park Melanie Gonzalez
On Whittier Boulevard in East L.A. sits a storefront that is only a fraction of the size of Lucila’s temple, the Basilica Santa Muerte. Devotee Angel Suarez is originally from Cuernavaca, Mexico, and comes from a family of believers. Once afraid of death, he recalls an experience he had on the streets of Los Angeles. One evening while walking home, Suarez says, a man with tattoos on his face pulled a gun and attempted to rob him.
“Hijo de la chingada,” Suarez recalls saying to his assailant. “I’m not going to give you anything, so you better shoot me or else I’m going to kick your ass.” Suarez claims that the man then shook his hand and left because nobody had ever stood up to him before.
“I said I was protected by my Santa Muerte, and he told me he kept an altar at home, too,” Suarez says.
Further west, in MacArthur Park, a neighborhood known for its mostly Central American immigrant families, lies the Santuario Hogar de la Santa Muerte. The temple is led by a woman whom followers call Profesora Cielo, who declined to be interviewed. Sunday rosarios are led by a man who calls himself Professor Lucio.
Lucio, a gardener by day, came to the United States from Oaxaca, Mexico, when he was 15 years old. He says he comes from a family that practices witchcraft. In addition to Spanish, he speaks Zapotec and Latin. As a boy, he spent time at a seminary, but he left the Catholic Church when he came to the United States because he found it to be hypocritical.
“The adoration of death comes many years before Christ,” he says. “The Egyptians and other cultures around the world all worshipped death, but the Spanish didn’t want us to continue with our traditions.”
Santa Muerte’s popularity is also evident in Los Angeles’ botanicas. Juan Perez, owner of the Botanica de Los Angeles in MacArthur Park, had a special altar to San Simon, a Guatemalan folk saint.
“This is a Central American community, so I still get people asking for San Simon, but most of my sales comes from Santa Muerte,” he says.
In his botanica, Santa Muerte shares space with red candles (decorated with a yellow hummingbird to attract love), statues of San Lazaro and the Virgin Mary, and packets of dried herbs. “I added Santa Muerte to stay in business,” Perez says.
Despite her increasing popularity, Santa Muerte and her brand of folk Catholicism are looked down upon by the Roman Catholic Church. In 2013, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi told Aciprensa, a Catholic news service from Peru, that Santa Muerte is a “sinister and infernal cult” that needs to be stopped.
"Most Mexican devotees still consider themselves Catholic even though the Vatican had denounced Santa Muerte and the church in Mexico rebukes her on a weekly basis,” Chesnut says.
In Los Angeles, the church echoes such concerns.
“We are in line with the Vatican, and we will not deviate from those teachings,” says Giovanni Perez, associate director of the Office of Religious Education with the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
Perez says folk saints not canonized by the church are not in line with the teachings of Jesus, especially since some, like Santa Muerte, are used by devotees to seek revenge.
“I don’t want to condemn the people. They don’t know any better,” Perez says. “They try to manipulate their luck by doing these rituals, these mandas. God does not want any of that. God’s love and protection will always be there. God doesn’t pick and choose based on who does the most prayers. What happens if you don’t get the favor? Did you light the wrong color candle?”
Perez points out that saints are not meant to be worshipped but rather to set an example of how to follow “the path of God.”
“These individuals are our heroes, our brothers on Earth, to tell us that it is possible to live our life for justice, love and charity,” he says.
The Archdiocese in Los Angeles has no plan of action regarding Santa Muerte.
But with economic hardship on both sides of the border, author Chesnut says, the cult of Santa Muerte will continue to grow.
“Her scythe is this great leveling scythe that takes everybody, even Carlos Slim, the richest man alive,” he says. “This is really appealing to many people. And increasingly in the United States, we see those kinds of levels of inequality as well."Prior Chapter Next Chapter
Tktktktktktktktktktk.
The scaled head hung, inhumanly still, and the tongue slashed the air again.
My mind was racing while I tried to keep my body locked completely motionless.
How big is it? I thought, while trying to stay level-headed enough to judge its length and girth. During one of the moments when the snake’s rattle was unmoving, I counted half a dozen rattle lobes on the tail. The snake’s main body was thicker than my upper arm, and I’d guess it was longer than I was tall. That made it an old snake, which meant it might strike to try and make me flee, as opposed to strike to try to inject poison and kill. That meant I might survive even if it struck. Considering that it would likely attack my face or neck, and could blind me or damage a neck artery or vein even if it didn’t release venom, I was not very relieved.
My low mass was a serious handicap. At a little over sixty kilos, a lot of that bone, rattlesnake poison could kill me when it would just make a much bigger person very ill. Full-grown adults rarely died from a bite. Children commonly did. I didn’t like my chances with a bite. Not in the slightest.
I heard Anu stepping back as I had asked, but didn’t dare turn my head to look. The snake might misread any movement from me as an attack. I was hoping that it would flee.
Tktktktktktktktktktk.
Other than the tip of its tail, the snake remained motionless, poised to strike.
I locked myself in place, refusing to move a muscle, not even blinking as I tried to use what I knew about rattlesnakes to put myself in its place. Considering the situation, I doubted it would flee. I was too close. It hadn’t seen my right hand, fortunately, or it might have struck reflexively at the small, warm target. My head, upper torso, and outstretched left arm were clearly visible to it, and would indicate that I was a target too large to eat. Because I was big enough to be a real threat, it wouldn’t leave its striking posture while I was too close for it to flee from safely. Getting away without the snake striking was entirely up to me.
Anu spoke, clearly afraid, and not really understanding what was happening. “Can… can I do something?”
No, you can’t, I thought. Not when I’m this close.
Tktktktktktktktktktk.
“O. o. no.” I managed, without moving my jaw. The first two attempts were clumsy, but on the third |
15:1; to put that in perspective, if you place a standard ruler on its end, it has a ratio of 12:1.
How do engineers continue to make more with less, and build up while also moving in? According to Baker and Stephen DeSimone, Chief Executive of DeSimone Consulting Engineers, a company that has worked on a string of supertalls with thin footprints, it's a matter of wind and weight.
A photo of the facade of China Merchants Tower, located in Shenzhen, China, and a graphic explaining how designers shaped the building, in part, to mitigate wind forces. Photo courtesy SOM / © Tim Griffith. Graphic courtesy SOM.
"Confusing the Wind"
Wind is the "dominant force" in tall buildings, says Baker. Over time, engineers and architects have become more and more sophisticated when it comes to shaping a building to account for gusts that can, on very rare days, reach 100 miles-per-hour at the crown of a 90- or 100-story skyscraper. Early in the design process, different shapes for a proposed tower are workshopped and run through wind tunnel testing to determine which one is most efficient. Computer simulations for complex wind patterns still take a long time, so model testing often works best to determine factors such as lift and cross-breezes. Baker says, "the wind tunnel is a giant calculator."
Skyscraper designers want to "confuse the wind," says Baker. Air pushing against the surface of a tall tower creates vortices, concentrated pockets of force that can shake and vibrate buildings (the technical term is vortex shedding). The aim of any skyscraper design is to break up these vortices. Facades often have rounded, chamfered or notched corners to help break up the wind, and sometimes, open slots are grooves will be added to let wind pass through and vent, in effect disrupting the air flow.
"It's interesting that the aerodynamics of the building are almost counterintuitive," says DeSimone. "We don't want smooth shapes, we want shapes that break up the air flow."
Dampers: Shock Absorbers for Supertalls
To help counter the shifting and swaying of building, engineers also utilize dampers, massive devices that shift and help stabilize tall structures like counterweights. Think of them like the weights in a grandfather clock; engineers attach 300-800 ton pieces of steel or concrete on a floor near the top of a tower, tuning and adjusting chains to balance them so they move out of phase with local wind patterns, steadying the tower. Two main types of dampers are used today; tuned mass dampers, which function like swinging pendulums, and slosh dampers, or slosh tanks, large pools of water that help absorb vibrations. The technology isn't new; it's been used on buildings such as the Seagram Tower, completed in 1958. But it's become more common and more sophisticated. Some tuned mass dampers even use actuators, or small motors, to shift and move in opposition to the wind. The engineers of the Shanghai Tower even devised a damper system with powerful magnets.
According to DeSimone, all this effort to limit the swaying of a building, which can cost upwards of $5 million per project, pays off. Top floors of buildings with these types of systems will only shift two-and-a-half feet during rare, incredibly strong, once a century gusts of wind, an amount that's imperceptible to the naked eye (though it can make people feel seasick).
"We Shouldn't Call It Concrete Anymore
Even with carefully engineered facades and vibration-canceling technology, supertalls still need to support massive amounts of weight. While we haven't moved past concrete and steel, technological advances means the elemental ingredients of skyscrapers can support much larger loads with much less material. "Concrete is amazing these days," says Baker. "We should call it something new, since it's so different than concrete from a few decades ago." More workable and up to five times stronger, concrete today has gained these powers due to a more complex chemical composition. In many cases, industrial by-products, such as fly ash, slag from steel mills and microsilica left over from silicon manufacturing, are added to strengthen the mix, allowing it to be stiffer and support heavier loads.
Baker says that many building engineers are experimenting with composite structures that combine high-strength steel and concrete in different ways (concrete-filled steel tubes, for instance) to find the right balance of strength and flexibility. Where builders may have been limited in the past, stronger materials means they can build taller while maintaining the same size structural elements, according to DeSimone.
The most exciting part about these technical advances is that they promote unique designs. To explain, Baker compares the design process of buildings against that of cars. Since vehicles are all trying to solve a similar engineering issue in regards to wind and aerodynamics, car shapes have tended to move towards a uniform middle, and bear a much closer resemblance than they did decades ago. The opposite is happening with tall buildings; the combination of site-specific environmental factors, and the desire to make each supertall a signature part of a city's skyline, means towers will continue to evolve in different and creative ways.
· SOM Debuts Stunning Twin Tapered Skyscrapers in China [Curbed]
· The Shanghai Tower is the World's New Sustainable Supertall [Curbed]
·New York Supertall Watch Coverage [Curbed]For the first few decades that LaCroix sparkling water existed, the Midwestern moms who drank it had it all to themselves.
Long before the girls wearing "LaCroixs Over Boys" T-shirts this summer were even born, LaCroix was beloved by health-conscious, budget-wise women in middle America. They knew a good thing when they found it, and they were a loyal audience. But most trends trickle inward from the coasts to the Midwest, not the other way around, and so LaCroix's first 30 years were spent under the radar.
Then sometime in 2015, LaCroix — lightly flavored, sugar-free carbonated water wrapped in a garish can — became an unlikely breakout hit. The New York Times published an essay raving about it. The Awl and Time Out New York ranked its flavors. If you say "LaCroix" to a youngish urban professional, be ready for a possible explosion of enthusiasm, as if you'd shaken up a can of carbonated water.
I was baffled: Who turned this humble Midwestern seltzer into a status symbol?
"I always say if I could ever have a fridge where all I had to do was fill it with my favorite beverage, it would be lime LaCroix," said Samantha Weiss-Hills, partnerships editor at the food website Food52. When Weiss-Hills's co-workers sampled 17 different water brands for a taste test, they challenged her to pick LaCroix out of the lineup — and she did.
Weiss-Hills describes her relationship with the water as "kind of an addiction," and she's not the only one. National Beverage, the company that makes LaCroix, has seen its stock soar. You can buy needlepoint depicting its neon cans. On Instagram, the word "obsessed" turns up again and again.
I remember LaCroix from my Kansas City childhood as the pastel cases of tasteless soda that my Girl Scout leader packed into her minivan for a weekend trip in the 1990s. A decade later, when I worked at a summer camp in a small northern Minnesota town, it was a rare treat we could easily find at the local Walmart.
So a few months ago, when friends and co-workers started enthusing about LaCroix and its cans appeared, to great fanfare, in our work refrigerator, I was baffled: Who turned this humble Midwestern seltzer into a status symbol?
I started playing hashtag archaeologist, sifting through thousands of #LiveLaCroix Instagrams. Somewhere, I was certain, there was a patient zero, a super-influencer who singlehandedly revived LaCroix, making its pastel cases proliferate at Whole Foods, in my sister's kitchen, even on my own desk.
But I was thinking about it backward. It turns out LaCroix isn't everywhere because it was trendy. LaCroix became trendy because it was easy for it to be everywhere.
LaCroix is succeeding as methadone for the soda addict
Over the past decade, Americans have done something that would have once seemed downright un-American: They've given up soda. And when you’re craving a can of pop, LaCroix is a decent substitute. Unlike tap water, it has carbonation and a little flavor. Unlike a countertop SodaStream, it's cheap, readily available, and portable. Close your eyes, wrap your hand around the perspiring aluminum can, and you could be holding a Coca-Cola. LaCroix is succeeding as methadone for the soda addict.
LaCroix isn’t the only brand to benefit from the sparkling water boom. But it’s the one that’s risen to the coveted status of lifestyle brand, not just generating loyalty but becoming part of how we define ourselves. The secret behind LaCroix’s rise is a mix of old-fashioned business strategy and cutting-edge social marketing. When Americans wanted carbonated water, LaCroix was positioned to give them them fizzy water. Then, sometimes by accident, LaCroix developed fans among mommy bloggers, Paleo eaters, and Los Angeles writers who together pushed LaCroix into the zeitgeist.
Don't be fooled by the name — LaCroix is from Wisconsin, and it's pronounced "la croy"
If you want to go to the source to unravel the mysteries of LaCroix, don't look for a remote European spring bubbling with natural minerals. Just head to Wisconsin.
LaCroix is Midwestern through and through, down to its pronunciation ("la croy"). Its name comes from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where a beer company started producing it in the early 1980s; you pronounce that name like the St. Croix River, which forms Wisconsin's western border.
These days, though, LaCroix comes from just about everywhere. National Beverage, which bought the LaCroix brand in 1996, fills its cans with carbonated water in 12 plants nationwide — an unglamorous origin story compared to San Pellegrino flowing from an Alpine spring or Perrier bubbling up in the South of France, but a key factor in LaCroix's success.
The downfall of soda was creating a craving for sparkling water
"The company itself had the kind of infrastructure that could allow to scale it up very quickly," says Jeffrey Klineman, the editor of the beverage industry publication BevNET. "When you get a little bit of momentum, if you can execute behind that momentum, it can really drive a brand forward."
About five years ago, LaCroix spotted an opportunity. The downfall of soda was creating a craving for sparkling water.
Americans historically wanted their carbonated water syrupy and sweet — bubbles belonged in soda, not plain water. Even during a brief Perrier craze in the late 1980s and early 1990s, sparkling water was a European drink, served in snooty restaurants. Most water Americans drank came out of the tap. The average person drank less than four gallons of bottled water, still and sparkling, per year in 1988.
Then bottled water began to boom. By 2015, the average American was drinking 37 gallons of bottled water per year. At the same time, they were losing their taste for sugary soda. Public health crusaders preached about the evils of sugar and yanked vending machines from schools and offices.
And, slowly, they made a difference. In 2015, people in the US drank 12.4 gallons less soda per person than they did in 2005, the equivalent of cutting out just over two 16-ounce sodas per week.
Bottled water dominates the market, but sparkling water is growing faster. The amount of domestically produced sparkling water Americans consume increased 58 percent between 2010 and 2014, according to the International Bottled Water Association. Between 2013 and 2014 alone, it grew 17 percent.
LaCroix went from seven flavors to 20, and they're still adding more
When Americans decided they wanted fizzy water, National Beverage and its 12 bottling plants were ready. They shipped the product to more stores nationally than ever before, including Whole Foods. But they had another a secret weapon: flavor.
National Beverage’s leading brand, in the pre-LaCroix days, was Shasta sodas, whose distinguishing features are being cheaper than Coca-Cola and offering, currently, a dizzying array of 36 flavors. National Beverage created demand for Shasta by constantly creating new flavors, many of them manufactured in house, and retiring old ones.
As seltzer sales started to creep up, the company bet that a similar approach could turn sparkling water from a sophisticated but tasteless European drink into an American hit.
Their bet was right. Dieters kicking soda and alcohol were among the first LaCroix devotees, happy to find something with a little more flavor. Louise Hendon, who wrote about the drink in 2012 on her Paleo diet blog, told me she was thrilled to find a healthy option that was readily available at Walmart and Target: "It was so rare to find something in those types of stores that’s not that bad for you to drink."
By 2015, LaCroix was on the approved list for the Whole 30 diet, a restrictive eating plan that, like Paleo, requires participants to give up sugar and alcohol.
Meanwhile, LaCroix’s flavor choices, which numbered just six in 2004, started to balloon. First came coconut, followed by apricot, mango, and tangerine. Next, the bottling plants churned out a new line of water called Cúrate, packed into taller cans festooned with bright illustrations of fruit and labeled with fruit blends in Spanish and French: "cérise limón" for cherry-lime, for example.
Offering 20 flavors gives LaCroix the ability to profit from ubiquity while keeping the cachet of scarcity. Most stores don’t carry every flavor, so stocking up on a favorite can require some persistence.
The proliferating flavor list also keeps loyal LaCroix drinkers from getting bored. Anjali Prasertong, who wrote about LaCroix for the cooking website the Kitchn, told me she and her husband go to Target and check out new flavors just for fun.
While National Beverage doesn't break out sales figures for individual brands, together LaCroix, Everfresh juices, and Rip It energy drinks grew 35 percent year over year in winter 2015, according to a recent financial disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (And that's in the winter. Given that LaCroix is really a summer drink, the biggest sales gains may be yet to come.)
LaCroix's stock — ticker symbol FIZZ — has soared from $12 per share in summer 2010 to $55 per share today. Its 80-year-old founder, Nick Caporella, is now a late-in-life billionaire. And he's not done yet. Caporella promised shareholders that 2016 will be the company's "break-out year":
Each and every month, momentum is fueled through magnifying distribution, controlled launching of theme extensions, healthier beverages and the luring into our fold... ‘cola converts’ – an immeasurable segment of the soft-drink industry.
For Caporella, whose writing reads like it’s ripped from the discursive labels of Dr. Bronner's soap, that's a fairly lucid sentence. But behind the eccentric, press-shy founder is a nimble marketing machine.
How TV writers' sparkling water preferences fueled LaCroix mania
LaCroix’s early sales pitch focused on the kinds of women who had long been loyal to the drink. The brand sponsored Susan G. Komen for the Cure walks to fight breast cancer and paid the authors of fitness-oriented motherhood blogs to write posts proclaiming their love for LaCroix. They offered Tory Burch bags as a giveaway.
Being approved by the Whole 30 program, whose dieters are encouraged to share their meals on social media, nudged more cans of LaCroix into Instagram feeds.
If you want to kill every LA writer, poison the La Croixs. — Cynthia Kao (@CynthKao) July 9, 2014
But it was another group of LaCroix drinkers, ones the company doesn't seem to have courted at all, who gave it prime cultural real estate.
The forces that shape our cultural references, deciding what will be a shorthand for trendiness on blogs and painstakingly documented in the New York Times style section, can seem mysterious. But the answer is stupidly obvious: If you want to be written about, win over a bunch of writers.
And starting in 2014, writers in Los Angeles began drinking LaCroix in droves.
"It's something I suddenly noticed at a job when I was a script coordinator and all the writers were going through it like crazy each day," Cynthia Kao, an actress and writer who's worked in production on several TV shows, told me over email.
At the time, Kao was working for a short-lived NBC comedy, but the LaCroix obsession was much broader. Joe Mande, a writer on Parks and Rec, promoted LaCroix so relentlessly in 2013 and 2014 that he begged the brand to make him their official spokesperson. (LaCroix not only declined but issued a cease-and-desist letter.) The CW's Vampire Diaries tweeted a photo of a fridge stacked high with LaCroix boxes. Stephen Falk, the creator of FX comedy You're the Worst, said its creation was fueled by a constant supply of LaCroix.
If you want to be written about, win over a bunch of writers
TV writers drank LaCroix because they’d always liked sparkling water, long before the rest of America caught on. Sparkling water "was like a HUGE part of my job at every place I've ever worked at," Ryan Rosenberg, who worked as an assistant in TV writers' rooms in the early 2010s, told me over email.
Rosenberg could detail the specific water preferences of every group of writers where he worked. Most drank bottled Perrier, an annoying task because the bottles were heavy and because when supplies ran low, assistants were expected to drop everything to order more.
Then in 2012, LaCroix made Rosenberg’s life a lot easier: National Beverage expanded its West Coast distribution and got onto the websites of office supply stores for easy ordering. That was a decisive moment. From then on, "we ordered LaCroix from OfficeMax and it saved my life," said Rosenberg, now a performer and writer for the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade.
I like to imagine that once LaCroix was easily available, some starry-eyed Midwestern transplants working low-level jobs jumped at the chance to stock a taste of home. But it's possible that, like Rosenberg, they were just grateful to stop lugging around heavy boxes of Perrier bottles.
Either way, LaCroix quickly became the drink of choice for Los Angeles writers. And in March 2015, one of them gave LaCroix its highest-profile endorsement yet. "I was introduced to them at work, the same place where most of us worry about contracting respiratory viruses," Mary H.K. Choi wrote in the New York Times Magazine. Her Los Angeles office stocked LaCroix: "The first time I cracked one open and took a swig, I understood. LaCroix sparkling water is absolutely delicious."
How LaCroix became a lifestyle brand
LaCroix has become more than just a popular sparkling water. It’s become part of the story people tell about who they are.
The internet bursts with ways for LaCroix devotees, like sports fans or SoulCycle converts, to declare their loyalty. You can buy a T-shirt for $25 that says in bold white letters on a black background LACROIXS OVER BOYS. If you want something a little more grown-up, artist Kate Bingaman-Burt sells a whimsical watercolor of a berry LaCroix can with "Can't Stop Won’t Stop" written beneath it, for $18.
Prasertong, the food blogger, ran across a website selling enamel LaCroix pins after she wrote that the seltzer was "taking over the world." She promptly bought them for herself and her friends.
This is the crux of LaCroix's success: People will spend far more than what a case of its cans cost to tell the world how much they love LaCroix.
For those not quite ready to shell out for a piece of LaCroix-themed art, there's Instagram. LaCroix feels made for the social network, and not just because a filter smooths out the cans' shine into a pop of bright color. A filtered photo of LaCroix can show that you're the kind of person who's both in touch with trends and a little ironic about them, or brag that you're healthily forsaking booze for bubbly water, or simply invite heart-eye-emoji comments from your equally LaCroix-dependent friends.
This is a tiny part of who I am, we're saying every time we share what we're eating or drinking or reading, and hope that someone nods back with a double-tapped heart.
All trends are, in a sense, bubbles
LaCroix has populated its own Instagram with photos taken by its followers — a cascade of pretty, laughing people; stacks of pastel LaCroix cases; and gorgeous, minimalist still lifes with artfully placed seltzer cans.
Oh hello, week. Let's do this! #LiveLaCroix ( :@bonnylynnn) A photo posted by LaCroix Sparkling Water (@lacroixwater) on Apr 4, 2016 at 6:42am PDTChâteauguay police turned up at Karla Homolka’s house on Wednesday after reporters knocked on her door hoping to speak to her.
Homolka shouted at reporters to get off her property and called the police the day after it was revealed she was living in the South Shore town with her husband and three children.
Homolka’s next-door neighbour said she didn’t know that the notorious schoolgirl killer lived beside her. She said Homolka, who has changed her name to Leanne Teale, seemed pleasant and her three children were very nice.
“I feel very sad for the children,” she said.
Several residents who were out walking said they were stunned to learn that Homolka was living so close. Some said they want her to move, but others said she has a right to privacy, especially now that she has three children.
No evidence Homolka is ‘real and imminent’ danger to the public
Upon her release from prison in July 2005, Homolka’s movements were restricted by 14 court-imposed conditions.
She was ordered to report her whereabouts to police, not associate with violent offenders and not contact the families of murdered schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
Four months later, a Quebec court lifted those restrictions, ruling there was no evidence Homolka remained a “real and imminent” danger to the public.
Mayor speaks out about negative attention
Châteauguay Mayor Nathalie Simon said she understands the concerns of some of her city’s residents.
“The fact that our city is making headlines for something like this is not pleasant,” Simon told the Montreal Gazette on Wednesday.
“I don’t know who buys houses in the city of Châteauguay, I don’t know who moves into my community – it’s the same for any municipality. Today it’s Châteauguay that’s making headlines. Tomorrow, it could be another city.”
She said she “understands people’s questions, the fears that are being expressed (but) I imagine that as a larger society, we have mechanisms in place to protect our citizens, to ensure they are safe.”“You’re actually the stupidest person” “Oh my god Tina, why can’t you do things right the first time” “Just get through this and everything will be ok”
These were some of the few phrases that the voices shouted at me on a daily basis. It all started when I moved to Alberta from Ontario. I was so excited to start a fresh new chapter in my life. After going through a terrible break up, I felt like Edmonton would help me to get back on track with my life and unfortunately I was wrong. In May 2012, I had finally mustered up enough courage to finally break up with my boyfriend of over three years. I found out during the summer of 2011 that he had been cheating on me for over 2.5 years. I did not catch him cheating with a woman in his home, no; I honestly think that might have been easier for me to comprehend. I found out via text message from my “Guardian Angel”. I kid you not, I received a text sent from an online text messaging service that read: “ This is your guardian angel, HE has been cheating on you for over 2.5 years, the b**** name is XXXX phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX”. That was it; I never received another text message from this person ever again.
My heart started to race, my palms were sweaty, and my head started to throb. What? What is this? Is this real? I then laughed, as I sat at my desk trying to get some paper-work done for my summer job at York but I couldn’t focus. I immediately called my friend Jas who told me to meet her in the Student Centre so we could talk. As I rushed there, so many thoughts ran through my mind- Is this a fucking joke? Someone is playing a huge prank on me right now right? RIGHT? RIGHT?! My hands were shaking while I kept re-reading the text message, hoping I would receive another one with some more information. I couldn’t text the number back because all that was shown was 99999. On my way to the Student Centre, I decided to call The Ex. This is exactly how the phone conversation went:
The Ex: Hey Babe Me: Hi The Ex: What’s up? Me: Uh.. I just got this super weird text from this 9999 number? The Ex: Oh what did it say? Me: It said this is your guardian angel, ____has been cheating on you for over 2.5 years, the b**** name is XXXX phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX The Ex: Oh that text, my friend got that same text today Me: Oh, did he? The Ex: Yeah, it’s just a prank ignore it Me: Oh, so you don’t know someone named XXXX? The Ex: Nope, babe just ignore it Me: You sure? You promise you would never cheat on me? The Ex: Of course, I love you, I swear on my moms grave I would never cheat on you Me: So I shouldn’t call her? The Ex: Just forget about it Tina! I gotta go, I’ll see you later tonight Me: Ok The Ex: Love you bye! Me: Bye!
I felt a bit of relief, surely The Ex was telling me the truth, I mean, I trusted him with my whole heart, why would he lie to me. RIGHT? WRONG! Fast-forward into the evening, The Ex came over and basically denied the entire thing. XXXX had sent me e-mails that The Ex had written her, showed me pictures of her and him together, which he said was photoshopped. And even though I had all this proof thrown at me, he still told me it was all a lie. For me, the most difficult part about learning that he had cheated on me was learning that the girl he had cheated with was transgendered. Instead of actually processing anything that was happening, I pushed everything into my subconscious. I decided it might be best to see the on-campus counselor to try and understand what was going on, I kept questioning myself trying to figure out who I was actually in a relationship with. XXXX was actually pre-op and this itself made me even more confused. I had learned in University that sexuality was fluid and is constantly changing but I just did not understand at that time what was going on.
I eventually took my ex back which was a big mistake. I pretended like nothing happened and tried to start fresh, which did not work in my favour. I became very paranoid, wanting to know where he was at all times, who he was with who was he calling. I then decided that it was all too much for me and decided it was time to finally break up with him for good. I moved to Edmonton in June 2012, before finishing my Human rights and Equity Studies degree. Instead of going back to York University to complete my last two classes, I decided that I’d rather move to Edmonton and see if I could get an early start into the career world. My older sister had let me know that there were lots of opportunities in Alberta. I convinced my parents that Edmonton would be a great place for me.
A few weeks before I started my amazing new job at a college, weird things were happening to me. I had a few hallucinations and heard a sentence from a voice. One night I was watching True Blood, I can’t fully recall the episode, but all I remember is that someone had signed a contract with the devil. Earlier in the year,I asked The Ex to lend me some money and ultimately, I made a deal with the devil. He insisted that we draft a contract stating that I would pay him the full amount by September 2012. I didn’t think much of it, as I knew that I would pay him back. But as soon as he had heard that I moved to Edmonton, he sent me a threatening email telling me that I couldn’t run away from him and that if I didn’t pay him he would take me to small claims court. I told him that it was only June and that I just moved and would pay him the remainder in September like the contract had stated. While watching that True Blood episode, I kept hearing a buzzing sound on the TV. I kept walking away from the TV, but I would hear a loud buzzing that would draw me back to the television. When I was near it, the sound would stop -when I walked away the sound would begin again. I didn’t understand what was going on and the episode kept reminding me of the contract that I had signed with my ex. I knew the date was quickly approaching and I had no money to pay him. I was very stressed about this and tried to forget about it, but I couldn’t.
A few days later, I saw an image of a man sketched into the bathroom mirror. This was not a simple sketch; this was a fully detailed drawing of a man. I found this to be very strange and still to this day, I can recall the image of the man in detail. Another few days passed, I was taking the garbage outside, and I thought I had heard a noise; I looked back and saw an image of my ex on the glass door. I immediately screamed and ran back inside. I didn’t understand what was going on, I was very scared and decided it would be best for me to go straight to bed. While grabbing my pajamas out of the closet, I hallucinated again, I saw a 3D image of what I thought at the time was the devil. I kept staring and then I decided to just change and go to bed. Before falling asleep, I heard the first voice say to me, “I love you”. I had only been at my new job for a mere two weeks before the voices became full blown and I went into psychosis. I will never forget the day the voices started to bombard me. I was working on a spreadsheet and I heard a voice say to me “The Ex is the devil, this is a test”… -To Be Continued
Peace, love, happiness -Augustina
Email: afuaonlove@gmail.com
Advertisements“…I know what you are.”
Veronica Lodge has turned into a bloodthirsty vampire – and now the smartest student at Riverdale High, Dilton Doiley, is about to uncover her deadly secret! Will he lend a helping hand or try to drive a stake through her heart?
On May 30th, join the team of Greg and Meg Smallwood and letterer Jack Morelli as they bring Riverdale’s rich girl to undead new life in the second issue of VAMPIRONICA, a horrifying new series for TEEN+ readers.
Variant Cover by Robert Hack Variant Cover by Francesco Francavilla Art by Greg Smallwood Art by Greg Smallwood Art by Greg Smallwood Art by Greg Smallwood
VAMPIRONICA #2 hits comic shops and digital platforms on May 30th, 2018 and features variant covers by Francesco Francavilla and Robert Hack.
Pre-order your copy of VAMPIRONICA #2 from your local comic shop or order online from the Archie Comics Store.
Subscribe to get copies of VAMPIRONICA delivered straight to your door!The Everglades gives us some of the nation’s cleanest drinking water T hank you, Everglades. Thank you, limestone. Every time you drink a glass of water, take a moment to appreciate its origins. South Florida has some of the best water in the nation, and some of the world’s most productive aquifers. It’s a miracle of nature that deserves more attention. “A lot of people don’t know where their water comes from,” says René Price, a hydrogeologist and associate professor at Florida International University. “They need to realize that the Everglades is the lifeblood of Miami.” That water you drink from the tap? It pooled in the River of Grass and percolated through the limestone beneath it. Have you thanked your ecosystem today? If you look at other places within a similar latitude -- Baja California, Saudi Arabia, Libya -- you’ll wonder why Florida isn’t a desert. These places, like Florida, have extensive shorelines, but they’re bone-dry. Many elements came together to create this unique peninsula with plentiful fresh water, the world’s most essential resource. The foundation comes from Africa. Eons ago, before the continents divided, Florida was wedged in between Africa and South America as part of the supercontinent Gondwana. It eventually drifted into North America. For most of history, sea level was much higher, and most of Florida was an oceanic ledge. Ancient marine organisms discarded or built their shells on the sea floor, and over millions of years, this layer became compacted as the sediment that traps and filters water far below our feet. At more than 1000 feet deep, this layer holds the Floridan Aquifer, which runs throughout much of the state and serves much of northern Florida. In South Florida, however, the aquifer runs too deep and salty to be of much use. But we may need it in the future to abate saltwater intrusion from sea level rise. Salt water has already ruined the freshwater supply of the City of Hallandale in Broward County, which must import its drinking water. Miami-Dade County was wise to place its supply wells far from the coastline and close to the Everglades. That investment, made a few decades ago, may have been Miami’s smartest moment. Across South Florida, the main source of drinking water is the Biscayne Aquifer, less than 250 feet below ground. Above it sits an incredible system of small caves and porous limestone that allow rainwater to settle in a matter of minutes. The same is true of the oil that spills from your car -- it flows through the cracks and into our supply of drinking water. You drink what you spill. (Well, not exactly, since it undergoes treatment, but who wants to start the process with dirty water?) As its name implies, the Biscayne Aquifer connects with the bay and the ocean. With less water pressure from above, owing to dry conditions or excessive usage, more saltwater seeps into the system from below. You can do your part to prevent saltwater intrusion by using water wisely. “Always try to conserve water,” says Price. “We just ended a six-year drought in 2012.” This six-year pattern, which follows the cycle of El Niño, suggests that the next six years should be relatively wetter. But such assumptions could be upended by climate change. To help us appreciate our source of water, Rice offers an experiment: Go outside and find a rock in the dirt. Clean it and break it into pieces or scrape it. Then look closely. Do you see tiny chalky dots everywhere? Those compacted dots are called oolites (pronounced oh-uh-lights). The spherical grains of calcium carbonate become exposed and solidify over time, and form oolitic limestone, the rocks in your backyard and under your building. While Miami’s oolitic limestone formed ages ago, today a similar process is happening in the sand banks of the Bahamas. Many residents mistakenly call Miami’s near-surface limestone “coral rock,” perhaps because its many pores resemble those of coral fossils. Local rock created primarily by coral skeletons is called Key Largo limestone. But most of the limestone below your feet comes not from coral, but from non-living oolites. Thank your lucky oolites today for doing such a good job of filtering your water. Lastly, we must thank the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department for delivering a consistently good product. Our tap water is high in quality and low in price, despite what your neighbors might say. Google it. Tap water deserves your support -- but bottled water doesn’t. Sitting inside a plastic shell for unknown amounts of time, bottled water creates waste that we can do without. Bottle your own tap water. Water is the ultimate renewable resource, and the Everglades watershed is one of the world’s greatest suppliers of clean, abundant fresh water. We should be grateful to be living near a swamp instead of a desert. Raise a glass (of water) to the River of Grass. Send your tips and clever ideas to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Feedback: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view itservant-persistent updated
Previously, I wrote a blog post on using servant and persistent together. servant has updated to the new 0.7 version, and I felt like it was a good idea to bring my tutorial up to date. I’d also noticed that some folks were using the repository as a starter scaffold for their own apps, which is great! To accommodate that, I’ve beefed up the application a bit to demonstrate some of the features of Servant, including a primitive client, as well as configuration for easy deployment with the keter package. Let’s dive in!
The code for all of this is on the GitHub repository. I’ll be keeping the 0.7 branch up to date with any edits to this post.
Take |
loved cheesecake! I would even say it has been my favorite kind of cake before I became vegan. But you don’t necessarily need dairy products to be able to enjoy delicious cheesecake. When I first started to make vegan cheesecake a couple of years ago, I used cashews instead of dairy. I was so surprised how creamy and delicious this vegan cheesecake turned out. I got a couple of cashew cheesecake recipes on the blog if you’d like to check them out. One is my mini strawberry cheesecakes and then I got another recipe for vegan matcha cheesecake. They’re both so yummy!
How to Make Vegan Cheesecake
I really love to use cashews for vegan and raw cheesecake. However, it can be pretty rich and you can’t eat too much of it. Like one small slice is definitely enough. So I started experimenting with other dairy-free products…
I used vanilla soy yogurt for this vegan cheesecake and I topped it with raspberries. The recipe is pretty easy and you don’t need any fancy ingredients. And boy, it’s SO delicious. I actually like it even better than all the cashew cheesecakes I tried. And you can have more than one slice of it. Haha! I mean that’s a big advantage as well, right?
The texture and the taste is so close to the traditional cheesecake I grew up with. It’s so creamy, delicious, and decadent! It’s perfect to bring along to your next birthday party or even for a date. Or maybe make a nice meal at home for Valentine’s Day and make this vegan vanilla cheesecake with raspberries for dessert.
I made it for the family when I visited my parents last weekend and they all loved it. They already now that vegan cakes are amazing and you don’t need eggs or milk for baking. But they were still kinda surprised that you could make vegan cheesecake. I mean “cheese”cake, right? But absolutely no dairy needed for this one!
As always, it was gone so fast. My dad even went for two extra slices because he couldn’t get enough of it. He sure loves his cakes! Haha!
I hope you love this recipe just as much as I do. It’s one of my all-time favorite vegan cakes!
Let me know if you give it a try…
Talk to you soon
Sina – xxClimate change and commercial fishing are luring endangered African penguins into an “ecological trap” that threatens their survival, a new study warns.
Warming sea surface temperatures and overfishing have made food scarce in the usual feeding areas for African penguins. But young penguins aren’t able to keep up with the shift in their preferred prey.
The results of the study, published in Current Biology, suggest that the number of breeding penguins is 50% lower than it would be if they were able to find the best spots for feeding.
The study is the first to identify an ecological trap in marine environments, other scientists tell Carbon Brief, but climate change is likely to cause more in future.
Ecological trap
African penguins (Spheniscus demersus), also known as “Jackass penguins”, live around the coasts of South Africa and Namibia.
Between the late 1970s and 2015, the number of breeding pairs in South Africa dropped from about 70,000 to less than 20,000. In Namibia, the number of pairs declined from around 12,000 to less than 6,000 over the same period.
It’s no surprise, then, that African penguins are listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN say the fall in numbers has been caused by food shortages as a result of “shifts in the distributions of prey species” and competition with commercial fishing.
The new study pinpoints exactly why the penguins aren’t coping with these changes.
African penguins explore thousands of square kilometres of the ocean, seeking out areas with cool sea surface temperatures and high levels of nutrients. These “highly productive” areas of the ocean would usually be teeming with fish.
But they are being fooled by their own instincts, the new study says:
“These were once reliable cues for prey-rich waters, but climate change and industrial fishing have depleted forage fish stocks in this system.”
The penguins are falling into an “ecological trap”, explains Dr Bruce Robertson, assistant professor of biology at Bard College in New York, who wasn’t involved in the study. He tells Carbon Brief:
“An ecological trap is when the visual, scent and other cues that are usually associated with good habitats, suddenly become associated with bad habitats.”
Stocks of the penguins’ preferred prey – sardines and anchovies – are instead in areas where the penguins wouldn’t expect them to be – and wouldn’t usually look.
In South African waters, for example, warming temperatures and changes in saltiness – as well as pressure from fisheries – have seen sardines and anchovies shift eastwards and around Cape Agulhas, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.
Overfishing off the coast of Namibia, meanwhile, has seen depleted populations of sardines replaced by lower quality food such as gobies and jellyfish.
Environmental cues
To test what impact the shift in prey was having on the penguin feeding habits, the researchers tracked 54 young penguins from eight colonies between 2011 and 2013.
The penguins consistently ventured northward and westward in search of food, the researchers find. You can see their prefered feeding grounds in the map below.
Top of the list were Swakopmund in Namibia (see “SW” on map), north of St Helena’s Bay on South Africa’s west coast (“SH”), and Cape Agulhas.
In the past, these locations were all key spawning areas for sardines and anchovies. For example, adult sardines used to be abundant in St Helena’s Bay and off Namibia’s coast during spring. The fish are now scarce in these areas, the researchers find, yet young penguins still return there to feed.
So, while the penguins are heading north and west for food, the fish are actually shifting south and east.
The young penguins seem to be particularly susceptible to falling into the trap of looking in the wrong place for food, the paper says:
“Foraging decisions [are based on] environmental cues that juvenile penguins have evolved to guide themselves to reliable food sources, but [these] are no longer reliable.”
As penguins can take many years to adapt their feeding patterns, young penguins aren’t necessarily surviving long enough to change their behaviour. And they’re not guided to the best feeding sites by adult penguins, the paper says, as they “actively exclude juveniles from foraging groups”.
Conservation worry
The study’s results show, for the first time, that this ecological trap is the key reason why so many African penguins aren’t surviving their first year.
The scarcity of sardines off South Africa’s western coast, in particular, is linked to low survival rates of both adult and young penguins from colonies on Dassen and Robben Islands, the researchers say.
And low survival of young penguins from Namibian colonies “seems to be limiting growth of the Namibian penguin population,” the paper says.
Using a computer model to simulate penguin population numbers, the researchers find the ecological trap causes the number of penguins to make it to breeding age to fall by half.
This “groundbreaking” study is “very concerning from a conservation point of view,” says Robertson:
“Birds, insects and all kinds of life forms are born with innate orientation and navigation programs that rely upon the use of environmental cues to guide them to profitable habitats at the correct time. This research illustrates a general mechanism by which these behaviors can become severely compromised by ecological traps.”
According to the IUCN, the recent population declines in African penguins show “no sign of reversing” and “immediate conservation action is required to prevent further declines.” In the short term, this could mean managing – and ultimately ending – the impact that commercial fishing adds to this ecological trap, the paper says.
The study is also the first where “climate change has been so clearly shown to create an ecological trap”, Robertson notes.
Climate change has been largely underappreciated as a cause of ecological traps, says Dr Robert Fletcher, an associate professor in the Wildlife Ecology & Conservation Department at the University of Florida, who also wasn’t involved in the study. He tells Carbon Brief:
“It is likely that we will see more and more examples of such effects in the future. Because of the potential for climate change to generate ‘mis-matches’ of organisms with their environment, there is great potential for ecological traps to emerge.”
Sherley, R. B. et al. (2017) Metapopulation tracking juvenile penguins reveals an ecosystem-wide ecological trap, Current Biology, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.054DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Google Inc. and MPEG LA, LLC announced today that they have entered into agreements granting Google a license to techniques that may be essential to VP8 and earlier-generation VPx video compression technologies under patents owned by 11 patent holders. The agreements also grant Google the right to sublicense those techniques to any user of VP8, whether the VP8 implementation is by Google or another entity. It further provides for sublicensing those VP8 techniques in one next-generation VPx video codec. As a result of the agreements, MPEG LA will discontinue its effort to form a VP8 patent pool.
“This is a significant milestone in Google’s efforts to establish VP8 as a widely-deployed web video format,” said Allen Lo, Google’s deputy general counsel for patents. “We appreciate MPEG LA’s cooperation in making this happen.”
“We are pleased for the opportunity to facilitate agreements with Google to make VP8 widely available to users,” said MPEG LA President and CEO Larry Horn.
MPEG LA, LLC
MPEG LA is the world’s leading independent provider of patent licenses offering wide access to important technologies. MPEG LA developed modern day patent pools. By assisting users with implementation of their technology choices, MPEG LA offers licensing solutions that create opportunities for wide adoption and fuel innovation. MPEG LA’s original license for digital video compression helped produce the most widely employed standard in consumer electronics history. It has become the template for addressing patent thickets. Today MPEG LA manages licensing programs consisting of nearly 8000 patents in 74 countries with more than 160 licensors and 5600 licensees. For more information, please refer to http://www.mpegla.com.
Google Inc.
Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google’s innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top Internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world.Five separate people were bylined on a Center for American Progress post about how many people AHCA will kill. The post is quite long, but all the authors really do is take the CBO estimates of how many people will lose coverage under AHCA and then divide that number by 830. They do this because there is a study that shows that 1 person dies unnecessarily for every 830 people who lack health insurance.
I have duplicated CAP’s efforts here, but rather than focus only on the AHCA, I have also included Obamacare and single payer into the mix. One other difference is that I track cumulative deaths between 2017 to 2026 rather than reporting an annual figure for each year.
Under AHCA, nearly 540,000 people will die in the next decade because of lack of health insurance coverage. For Obamacare, it is a more respectable 320,000 deaths.
If you enjoyed this content, please subscribe to the People’s Policy Project patreon. In the next month, the PPP will have its own website full of gems such as this.Is there a series more stubbornly console-bound than Final Fantasy? Thankfully, developing MMOs forced Squeenix’s hand and we got the exquisite Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on PC – plus a welcome redo of Final Fantasy VII on Steam, though it took a while to reach its full, musical potential.
Rather than sating our appetites for pointy hats and po-faced walking haircuts, however, these games have only served to bounce noisily about our otherwise empty stomachs. Across oceans, thankfully, the high-ups at Squeenix have heard our clamour.
Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitasetold Eurogamerthat Final Fantasy VII’s Steam re-release had been successful – and had likely opened the door for more launches on the platform in the future:.
“Final Fantasy 7 and 8 are now available on PC and they’ve been proving quite popular,” he said. “It’s an early stage for us. We haven’t got an awful lot of experience in this field. [But] when we have more know-how and experience in this market we would be very interested.”
He went on to point out that all three Final Fantasy 13 games began development on PC – though none were released that way.
“Then we had to port it to the consoles. As far as the technology is concerned, it would have been possible for us to make a PC version, but we decided against it for two reasons: we looked at the market situation and we didn’t think it would be a good idea, and also it would have involved lots of complex issues like security. So we decided not to do it this time around.”
Over the noise of millions of PC gamers grinding their teeth, Kitase then offered an olive branch of hope – noting that PC sales are “very strong” in “lots of regions”:
“We see potential in [Final Fantasy on PC],” he said. “So in terms of our hope of being able to deliver our games to every single country in the world and to as many gamers as possible, yes, we would definitely be interested in pursuing that route in the future.”
So which games are we going to get? Square Enix announced a Final Fantasy 15 for Xbox One and PS4 in the summer – and the three Final Fantasy 13s of varying qualities seem likely candidates. Or perhaps there’s an older iteration you’d like to see haytch-deed?
Thanks, VG247.Pablo Beltran, chief negotiator of the leftist National Liberation Army in Colombia, says a bilateral ceasefire is possible before Pope Francis visits the country in September
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Sangolqui (Ecuador) (AFP)
Now that Colombia's leftist FARC rebels have laid down their weapons under a peace accord ending 50 years of war, the country has one last guerrilla group that is still active, the National Liberation Army, or ELN.
It is in peace talks with the government and its chief negotiator says a temporary bilateral ceasefire is possible before Pope Francis visits Colombia in September.
In an interview with AFP at a Jesuit compound in Ecuador where the two sides have been meeting for the past four months, ELN chief negotiator Pablo Beltran, 63, also said he hopes to meet with the pontiff when he visits.
AFP: The government and the ELN have said they are seeking a bilateral ceasefire before the Pope arrives.
Beltran: We are close to a temporary bilateral ceasefire. There is no set date, but we want it to be around that time, before his holiness comes. We plan to finalize the accord in July and August.
AFP: What would this agreement consist of?
Beltran: There will be a definitive ceasefire in the final agreement. But this is a different kind, one that coincides with the early stages of the negotiations. It is a ceasefire between both sides, but we are also going to reach agreements of a humanitarian nature that make life easier for the non-combatant population. We are asking that there be an end to attacks against and persecution of social, environmental and human rights leaders.
AFP: But the government says a bilateral ceasefire is contingent on the ELN's stopping kidnapping people.
Beltran: Yes. When the ceasefire is reached, offensive operations stop. Defensive ones continue. In ELN territory, we will have to capture any strangers that wander in, as a security precaution. During this time we would only stop deprivations of freedom with economic purposes. This would be like a test. If it works, we will see about extending it.
AFP: How many people is the ELN holding?
Beltran: Very few, if you compare the number of deprivations of freedom that we do with the number of killings of social leaders that there have been this year. There have already been more than 50 such killings, and the deprivations of freedom that we have carried out do not reach even 10 percent of those 50.
- Pope comes 'every 20 years'-
AFP: Do you expect to meet with Pope Francis?
Beltran: That is our expectation. The cities he is going to visit include Villavicencio (in central Colombia). In that city there is going to be a special reconciliation ceremony and we hope to be present there.
AFP: To be present or be received?
Beltran: Both. A pope comes to Colombia every 20 years and if he is coming to encourage the peace process we would like to greet His Holiness. We would ask him to accompany the search for peace in Colombia and the rest of the continent.
AFP: If an agreement is signed with the ELN, will Colombia have "complete peace," as the government has stated after the accord with the FARC?
Beltran: Point 5 of the agenda we are discussing says we are going to remove violence from politics. There are two sides to that coin. On one hand it means the rebels stop trying to take power through the use of weapons. But at the same time it means the regime must stop trying to remain in power with weapons. That is the big challenge.
AFP: The ELN has been accused of financing itself at least in part with money from drug trafficking.
Beltran: In all parts of Colombia where the ELN is present, medium- and large-scale producers pay a tax in one form or another: livestock, palm oil, coca leaves. It is one thing to charge that security tax. It is another thing altogether to get involved in drug trafficking.
© 2017 AFP1. Water is the only substance found on earth naturally in three forms.
True (Solid, liquid and gas) 2. Does water regulate the earth’s temperature?
Yes (it is a natural insulator) 3. At what temperature does water freeze?
32 degrees F, 0 degrees C 4. At what temperature does water vaporize?
212 degrees F, 100 degrees C 5. How long can a person live without food?
More than a month
How long can a person live without water?
Approximately one week, depending upon conditions 6. How much of the human body is water?
66% 7. How much of the earth’s surface is water?
80% 8. How much water must a person consume per day to maintain health?
2.5 quarts from all sources (i.e. water, food) 9. Of all the earth’s water, how much is ocean or seas?
97% 10. How much of the world’s water is frozen and therefore unusable?
2% 11. How much of the earth’s water is suitable for drinking water?
1% 12. Is it possible for me to drink water that was part of the dinosaur era?
Yes - water is constantly recycled 13. What is the most common substance found on earth?
Water 14. How much water does the average residence use during a year?
Over 100,000 gallons (indoors and outside) 15. How much water does an individual use daily?
Over 100 gallons (all uses) 16. What does a person pay for water on a daily basis?
National average is 25 cents 17. How many community public water systems are there in the United States?
54,000 18. How much water do these utilities process daily?
38 billion gallons 19. What does it cost to operate the water systems throughout the country annually?
Over $3.5 billion 20. How many miles of pipeline and aqueducts are in the United States and Canada?
Approximately one million miles, or enough to circle the earth 40 times 21. What were the first water pipes made from in the US?
Fire charred bored logs 22. Where was the first municipal water filtration works opened and when?
Paisley, Scotland in 1832 23. Of the nation’s community water supplies, what percentage are investor-owned?
15 % 24. How many households use private wells for their water supply?
More than 13 million 25. How much water is used to flush a toilet?
2-7 gallons 26. How much water is used in the average five-minute shower?
15-25 gallons 27. How much water is used on the average for an automatic dishwasher?
9-12 gallons 28. On the average, how much is used to hand wash dishes?
9-20 gallons 29. How much does one gallon of water weigh?
8.34 pounds 30. What is the weight of water in one cubic foot?
62.4 pounds 31. How much water drops with an inch of rain on one acre of ground?
27,154 gallons, which weighs 113 tons 32. How much water does it take to process a quarter pound of hamburger?
Approximately one gallon 33. How much water does it take to produce one ton of steel?
62,600 gallons 34. How much water is used to produce a single day’s supply of U.S. newsprint?
300 million gallons 35. What is the total amount of water used to manufacture a new car, including new tires?
39,090 gallons per car
36. How much water must a dairy cow drink to produce one gallon of milk?
Four gallons 37. How much water is used during the growing/production of a chicken?
400 gallons 38. How much water is used during the growing/production of almonds?
12 gallons 39. How much water is used during the growing/production of french fries?
6 gallons 40. How much water is used during the growing/production of a single orange?
13.8 gallons 41. How much water is used during the growing/production of a watermelon?
100 gallons 42. How much water is used during the growing/production of a loaf of bread?
150 gallons 43. How much water is used during the growing/production of a tomato?
3 gallons 44. How much water is used during the growing/production of rice?
35 gallons 45. How much water us used during the production of an egg?
120 gallonsRound Table and Pedal Kart
Round Table raises money for Hong Kong and regional charities through a variety of fun events. The most visible of these events is the Annual Hong Kong 24 Hour Pedal Kart Grand Prix in which more than 20 teams from some of Hong Kong's biggest companies (E.g. Cathay Pacific, Haesl, Kerry Logistics, MTR...), as well as schools and clubs (E.g. KGV, HK PolyU, South Island School...), compete with each other for a range of prizes including most money raised, best built kart, fastest kart, most number of laps - and so on.
The event could not happen without support of our many partners, especially Ladies Circle, and many other organisations that regularly collaborate with us, like Victoria Park in Causeway Bay (venue for the event), Hong Kong Sea School (marching band and racing team), Hong Kong Police (barriers and support), Tom Lee (AV), Hong Kong Electric, School of Motoring (Cones and racing team), Tsunami (t-shirts), Cornerstone (book keeping), RedBox (Storage) and many others. Thanks so much to all!
Hong Kong Round Table is delighted to hear from charities seeking funding for capital intensive projects, where we can continue to deploy funds raised from events including HK Pedal Kart.I Will Always Love You
Please note: MP3s are only kept online for a short time, and if this entry is from more than a couple of weeks ago, the music probably won't be available to download any more.
The droplets fall in perfect order, each leaving the cloud at their appointed time. And the cloud position exactly, the wind kissing them into place. On the shore, the trees exhale their breath in synchronous motion, the grass blades cut the ground in rhythmic time. And cars on roads kick dust, exhausted, play tunes at necessary moments, metered out as planned. Old and young die and bear, just on cue, eyes open and close like levers. Books, alike, open, are started, finished and close, voices start just as mouths begin to gape, and stop just before they're shut. Chemicals surge at moments assigned, currents rise and rivers meet, and that is called contentment. Playing an instrument is easy, the hard part is being excellent, because only harmony exists, there simply are no mistakes.
Posted by Dan at July 17, 2012 2:05 AMThe Joseph Maley Foundation 2017 5K Run, Walk, Roll:
Here’s how you can help Indianapolis-area children & have a great time doing so
The spirit of service is the spirit of a community
A good measure of a community’s vitality is the willingness of its members to perform selfless service. The more people who, together and individually, contribute their time and themselves for the benefit of others, the more the community becomes a better place for all.
Not everyone is inclined to participate in this spirit of service. It is a gift that a relative few choose to give. And one of the ironies of life is that often these social pillars, who do so much worthy of recognition, go unrecognized. Much of what they do is not glamorous. Many of them do not seek attention for their service. But they and their activities are key to making Indianapolis such a great place to live, work and raise a family.
At Doehrman Buba, we admire those who give back to our city and its surrounding areas. That’s why we’re one of the sponsors for the Joseph Maley Foundation’s 2017 5K Run, Walk, Roll event, to be held on Saturday, July 15, 2017. And to further show our appreciation for those who do good things for others, we’re holding a contest to give away four participation tickets (value up to $140) to this event.
We’ll give more details on the contest in a moment. But first we want to highlight the important work that the Joseph Maley Foundation does for children in our community, so that if you win the contest you’ll better understand one of the important benefits of participating in the 5K event.
What is the Joseph Maley Foundation?
Joseph Maley was born with disabilities, both cognitive and physical. He could not speak. But he never let his physical limits become barriers to living a life of meaning. To those who met him, he was not disabled as much as he enabled: through his own contagious effervescence he demonstrated every day that love and acceptance for all exist in each of us. By his own example he encouraged everyone to find in themselves and to share that same spirit.
When Joseph died at the age of 18, his parents John and Vivian, along with their other four children, knew that his message of love and acceptance for all was worth keeping alive. They created the Joseph Maley Foundation toward this end. Today the Foundation serves children with disabilities and others through programs that raise disability awareness in schools, provide advocacy services for families and educators, offer emotional, physical and mental health services to disabled children and their families, and more.
The importance of the Foundation’s work is reflected by a simple statistic: five percent of school children in Indianapolis have some form of disability, with four of five having cognitive disabilities. Of these cognitive disabilities, the vast majority are “mild” in nature – meaning that far from being sequestered away from other students, many of these children are present in the same classrooms and participate in the same activities as their peers. They cannot be sidelined, ignored, or forgotten, and the Foundation sees to it that they are not.
Through its theme of “Serving children of all abilities,” the Foundation promotes the message that all children can make a positive difference in their communities and in the world. The 5K Run, Walk, Roll event in one way the Foundation spreads its message of acceptance and inclusion for every child, without regard to external “labels” that others might apply to them.
The 5K Event
The 5K Run, Walk, Roll is multiple events in one:
If you are a serious competitor (the event is the Indiana 5K Championship race for the USA Track & Field organization), the timed Elite Race begins at 8:00 AM.
If you want to participate but aren’t concerned about how fast you finish, the open event begins with the wheeled start at 8:30 and the everyone else at 8:35. The course begins at Michael Carrol Stadium, then follows a route through downtown Indianapolis on both sides of the White River before finishing back at the stadium.
Aside from the 5K course, the event will also have activities suitable for all family members as well as musical entertainment and refreshments. It’s the perfect opportunity to get outside and enjoy an active summer morning, while being able to participate in as worthy a cause as it gets (all event proceeds will go toward funding the Joseph Maley Foundation’s programs).
The Contest
Registration for the 5K event can cost up to $35 per person, depending on age or status as a student, but how would you like to join in for free? To win four tickets on us, participate in our contest. Here’s how:
We want to know more, and show more, about how members of the Indianapolis community are serving others, especially children. Tell us your answer to the following question by leaving a comment on our Facebook page –
“What is one thing that I do to empower children in the Indianapolis area, or to advocate on their behalf?”
If we like your answer the most, you win the tickets – and the chance to have your story told to the community.
We’ll choose the winner on Thursday, July 13th. If that’s you, you will be given a Promo Code on Friday the 14th.
Be There!
It’s not every day that you can be part of something that is an unmixed benefit to everyone, but even if you don’t win our contest the 2017 5K Run, Walk, Roll is still definitely worth being a part of: you can get outdoors, get some exercise, see and meet other members of the Indianapolis community who care about the welfare and development of its children as much as you do, know that your participation will not only raise money for a good cause but boost awareness of that good cause, and – not least importantly – have fun while doing all of the above.
Good luck in the contest! If you have any questions about it, let us know. We’re looking forward to seeing you on Saturday the 17th!The Gold Coast Titans are on their knees, with the NRL are under pressure to revoke the club’s licence, and saviour Darryl Kelly weighing up his investment amid the drugs scandal engulfing the club.
In the latest embarrassment for the NRL, the Gold Coast are officially homeless today, opting to sever ties with The Southport School following the charges against Titans duo Beau Falloon and Jamie Dowling.
Compounding their pain, a secret consortium considering investing in the Titans is now weighing up whether to walk away from a club lurching from one disaster to the next.
Under NRL rules, each of the 16 clubs must satisfy key criteria to remain in the premiership. Given Gold Coast’s ongoing financial concerns and struggle for sponsorship, NRL hierarchy may decide to wipe the slate clean, particularly if white knight Kelly formally cuts his losses.
Read more at Foxsports.com.auAbout twenty years ago one of my college housemates, Jerry, had an idea.
“What if you could send music over the internet?”
This was the age of 2400 baud modems that made crazy high pitched noised while they tried to connect to the internet. My 20 megabyte external hard drive for my MacPlus computer had set my parents back about five hundred bucks. High quality digital audio files were about the same size as they are now (about ten megabytes per minute of audio). In other words, I couldn’t even fit a single digital audio track on my expensive hard drive — I worked exclusively in MIDI.
So I forgive myself for my lack of vision at the time. I thought Jerry’s idea was ridiculous, and I let him know. Digital audio files were way too big, bandwidth was way too narrow. It would never happen.
Jerry persisted. What if a music file could be compressed? What if bandwidth increased? He pointed out that it would change everything about the way music was distributed, maybe even the way it was made.
Jerry didn’t go on to invent Napster, but he was absolutely right. Sending digital files over the internet would change everything. It would radically disrupt the music industry. It would also make producing, distributing, publishing, and even promoting music more accessible to the average musician and music producer. For the consumer, it would make music essentially free (illegally at first [early Napster], and now legally [YouTube, Spotify, etc.]). And a computer company would become the biggest music distributor.
Jerry saw it coming early on, but I actually lived through it. I co-founded Loöq Records with Spesh in 1998. For years we made and sold vinyl records and CDs. As soon as we could sell our music in digital download format, we jumped on the opportunity. Good thing, because dance music vinyl sales crashed (everywhere except Germany, but that’s another story). We never made much money selling vinyl, but we had to stop entirely when average sales dropped from the low thousands to the low hundreds.
Selling music digitally turned out to be more profitable, because production costs were so low. Also, we never ran out of inventory. On the down side, sales were much lower. People could easily make copies and share the music. In addition, the number of small independent music labels ballooned massively because the financial risk of putting out music was so low. In our vinyl days we were risking at least two grand on each release, often closer to four. Putting out a digital release costs, well … nothing. So the competition, and choices for the consumer, increased dramatically. As a record label, we had to completely reevaluate the reasons for our existence as a company.
Recently, we’ve seen streaming services (like Spotify and Pandora) and sharing services (like SoundCloud) cut into digital download sales the same way digital downloads cut into vinyl and CD sales. Music is now free, legally, for any reasonably tech-savvy consumer (less costs of internet and/or phone service).
Strangely, Loöq Records is more profitable than ever. Even as sales continue to plummet, other income sources increase or stay steady. We were lucky enough to enroll some of our catalog very early in YouTube’s AudioSwap program, and we’ve seen tens of thousands in revenue from AudioSwap shared ad revenue. We receive performance royalties from ASCAP for the dozens of tracks we’ve licensed to TV shows like CSI. Once in awhile we license a track to a videogame or film. So even though sales are terrible, business is good. I don’t know if this is due to good business acumen or freakish good luck, but I suspect the latter.
For the most part, file sharing (voluntary and involuntary) and music streaming have destroyed music sales revenue.
Open Source and Capitalism are Incompatible Systems
According to wikipedia, open source is a philosophy or pragmatic methodology that promotes free redistribution and access to an end product’s design and implementation details. It is usually used to describe the development process for large collaborative software projects, like Linux. More recently, the use of term has broadened to include any project where the methods and means of production are publicly shared. The Open Source Ecology project, which provides blueprints and detailed instructions for building heavy-duty farm and construction equipment from commonly available, inexpensive parts, is a great example.
So, a few bullet points to describe open-source in plain language:
the means of production, both material (stuff) and intellectual (techniques or methods) are free/cheap/easily obtainable
distribution is wide and decentralized (peer-to-peer or multi-node, not controlled by a single party)
the end-product is often free, or radically less expensive than proprietary options
The music industry still consists of proprietary players (including my company, Loöq Records), but music culture has been open-sourced, and this spirit now pervades the more enlightened aspects of the music industry. Music is radically less expensive to produce (a laptop with good software in capable hands can now compete, in terms of sound quality, with a multi-million dollar studio). For most musicians and producers (and many labels), getting their music heard and appreciated is more important than making money. To this end, artists are willing to share streams or files directly with their peers and fans. Many artists are also willing to share “remix parts” (the source sounds that make up a recording).
Does this reduce the amount of money exchanged? Yes, drastically. While open-source culture is great for the consumer, and even good for the artist in some ways, it’s terrible for the business of selling music.
Capitalism is based on scarcity. In order for the principles of supply and demand and “self-regulating” markets to function as expected, production and distribution channels need to be privately owned and tightly controlled.
Open-source destroys scarcity. When the means of production are free or very cheap, when distribution is free, and when producers prioritize values other than profit (things like social value, or status/bragging rights), then prices move quickly towards zero.
This is great for users. It’s terrible for capitalism.
Open Source Will Affect Everything
Open-source only applies to sectors where content can be digitally replicated and shared over the internet, right?
Wrong, it applies to everything.
When I shared this idea with a friend, he said “What about gasoline? Obviously open-source production and distribution methods don’t apply to extracting, refining, and distributing gasoline.”
True enough, but open-source can easily be applied to energy production. For example, here’s a video that demonstrates how to make your own solar panels. For now, this kind of thing only appeals to hardcore DIY nerds, off-grid survivalist types, and the like.
But imagine a scenario like this. Your neighbor knocks on your door.
“Hey J.D., do you want to join the local neighborhood energy co-op? We already have enough panels (made from an open-source design), so all you have to do is pay a $200 connect fee. At that point your electric bill will drop to about half of what it is now, and if you later decide to add some panels to your property the co-op might start paying you.”
It’s already happening. Both small and large-scale energy cooperatives already exist.
A single high-quality open-source product or service can invade and dominate a sector, like kudzu or Asian carp. It has a combination |
said, "It's a visceral ride, and by the time you get to the ending you're drained. [Director Neil] Marshall had a number of endings in mind when he shot the film, so he was open [to making a switch]." Marshall compared the change to the ending of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, saying, "Just because she gets away, does that make it a happy ending?" The ending is featured on DVD as an "unrated cut" in the United States.
Creature design [ edit ]
In the film, the women encounter underground creatures referred to as crawlers by the production crew. Marshall described the crawlers as cavemen who have stayed underground. The director explained, "They've evolved in this environment over thousands of years. They've adapted perfectly to thrive in the cave. They've lost their eyesight, they have acute hearing and smell and function perfectly in the pitch black. They're expert climbers, so they can go up any rock face and that is their world." Filmmakers kept the crawler design hidden from the actresses until they were revealed in the scenes in which the characters encountered the creatures, to allow for natural tension.[8]
Conception [ edit ]
Director Neil Marshall first chose to have a dark cave as the setting for his horror film The Descent then decided to add the element of the crawlers, describing them as "something that could get the women, something human, but not quite".[9] The crawlers were depicted as cavemen who never left the caves and evolved in the dark. The director included mothers and children in the colony of creatures, defining his vision, "It is a colony and I thought that was far more believable than making them the classic monsters. If they had been all male, it would have made no sense, so I wanted to create a more realistic context for them. I wanted to have this very feral, very primal species living underground, but I wanted to make them human. I didn't want to make them aliens because humans are the scariest things."[10]
The crawlers were designed by Paul Hyett, a makeup and prosthetics creator.[11] Production designer Simon Bowles said that the crawler design had started out as "wide-eyed and more creature-like", but the design shifted toward a more human appearance. Crawlers originally had pure white skin, but the look was adjusted to seem grubbier. The skin was originally phosphorescent in appearance, but the effect was too bright and reflective in the darkened set, so the adjustment was made for them to blend in shadows.[12] The director barred the film's cast from seeing the actors in full crawler make-up until their first appearance on screen. Actress Natalie Mendoza said of the effect, "When the moment came, I nearly wet my pants! I was running around afterwards, laughing in this hysterical way and trying to hide the fact that I was pretty freaked out. Even after that scene, we never really felt comfortable with them."[13]
The crawlers reappear in The Descent Part 2, a sequel by Jon Harris with the first film's director Neil Marshall as executive producer. For the sequel, Hyett improved the camouflaging ability of the crawlers' skin tones to deliver better scares. According to Hyett, "Jon wanted them more viciously feral, inbred, scarred and deformed, with rows of sharklike teeth for ripping flesh." A charnel house was designed for the crawlers as well as a set that the crew called the "Crawler Crapper".[11]
Description [ edit ]
Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald described the crawlers as "blind, snarling cave-dwellers, looking much like Gollum's bigger kin".[14] Douglas Tseng of The Straits Times also noted that the crawlers looked similar to Gollum, being a cross between the creature and the vampiric Reapers from Blade II.[15] David Germain of the Associated Press noted of the crawlers, "[They] have evolved to suit their environment—eyes blind because of the darkness in which they dwell, skin slimy and gray, ears batlike to channel their super-hearing."[16] The crawlers are sexually dimorphic, with males being completely bald, whilst females sport thick dark hair on their heads. They are nocturnal hunters which surface from their caves to hunt for prey and bring the spoils of their hunts to their caverns.[17]
Marketing [ edit ]
The skull of women motif used in some advertising material is based on Philippe Halsman's In Voluptas Mors photograph.[18]
The film's marketing campaign in the United Kingdom was disrupted by the London bombings in July 2005. Advertisements on London's public transport system (including the bus that had exploded) had included posters that carried the quote, "Outright terror... bold and brilliant", and depicted a terrified woman screaming in a tunnel. The film's theatrical distributor in the UK, Pathé, recalled the posters from their placement in the London Underground and reworked the campaign to exclude the word "terror" from advertised reviews of The Descent. Pathé also distributed the new versions to TV and radio stations. The distributor's marketing chief, Anna Butler, said of the new approach, "We changed tack to concentrate on the women involved all standing together and fighting back. That seemed to chime with the prevailing mood of defiance that set in the weekend after the bombs."[19] Neil Marshall stated in a review "Shauna was pretty upset about it; it was on newspapers all across the county" and cites the attacks as harming the film's box office, as "people were still trapped underground in reality, so no one really wanted to go see a film about people trapped underground...".[20] Many commentators, including writers for Variety and The Times, remarked on the rather unfortunate coincidence.
Due to these events there was some initial concern that the film's release might have been delayed out of sensitivity for the tragedy but Pathé ultimately chose to release the film on schedule, with a slightly retooled advertising campaign; however, the US promotional campaign managed by Lionsgate Films was significantly different from the original European version.
Release [ edit ]
Reception [ edit ]
“...When it was released in July [2005], this claustrophobic story of six women who stumble across something nasty on a caving trip got arguably the best reviews of any Brit pic this year. ” — Variety columnist Adam Dawtrey[21]
The Descent premiered at the Edinburgh horror film festival Dead by Dawn on 6 July 2005.[22] The film opened commercially to the public in the UK on 10 July 2005, showing on 329 screens and earned £2.6 million. The film received limited releases in other European countries.[23] The London bombings in the same month was reported to have affected the box office performance of The Descent.[21]
The film has received critical acclaim. Based on 174 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, The Descent received an 85% "Certified Fresh" overall approval rating, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film. In this low-budget import from Scotland, director Neil Marshall has masterfully created a caving nightmare, which doubles as a compelling meditation on morality, vengeance, and the depths to which we might go for survival."[24] By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 71 out of 100 from 30 reviews.[25] On its debut weekend in the US, The Descent opened with a three-day gross of $8.8 million, and finished with $26,005,908. Total worldwide box office receipts are $57,051,053.[2]
Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars. He wrote, "This is the fresh, exciting summer movie I've been wanting for months. Or for years, it seems."[26]
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times described The Descent as "one of the better horror entertainments of the last few years", calling it "indisputably and pleasurably nerve-jangling". Dargis applauded the claustrophobic atmosphere of the film, though she perceived sexual overtones in the all-female cast with their laboured breathing and sweaty clothing.[27] Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald thought that the film devolved into a guessing game of who would survive, though he praised Marshall's "nightmare imagery" for generating scares that work better than other horror films. Rodriguez also noted the attempt to add dimension to the female characters but felt that the actresses were unable to perform.[28]
Top-ten lists, 2006:[29]
Bloody Disgusting ranked the film third in their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article saying "One of the scariest films of this or any decade... Ultimately, The Descent is the purest kind of horror film – ruthless, unforgiving, showing no mercy."[30] In the early 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films.[31] The Descent placed at number 39 on their top 100 list.[32]
Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer thought a weakness of The Descent was the failure of the writer to explain the evolution of the creature, though he said, "Their clicking and howling, used for echolocation and communication, makes them more alien; this otherness gives humans permission to mutilate them without seeming too disgusting to be sympathetic."[33] Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune thought that the crawlers should have been left out of the film, believing, "Watching those gray, slithering beings chasing and biting the women makes it hard to maintain any suspension of disbelief."[34]
Home media [ edit ]
The Descent was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 26 December 2006.[35][36]
Sequel [ edit ]
A sequel to The Descent was filmed at Ealing Studios in London during 2008 and was released on 2 December 2009 in the UK.Stephanie Prem’s passion for Pilates stems from a 4 year rehab stint. A journey consisting of corrective exercise and Pilates. This all began in 2010, following a career ending back injury at the snowboarding World Cup finals in Italy.
The Accident
In 2010, on her last run of the snowboarding season, Stephanie Prem lost a little part of her soul at the World Cup finals in Italy. She had just recovered from a heavy fall at the Vancouver Winter Olympics a couple of months earlier, where she’d suffered some rib damage. But Steph was determined to finish the season on a high.
After training all morning and running the course four times, Prem decided to attempt the last 18-metre jump, which was quite threatening. She knew the minute her board left the jump that something was wrong.
“I was already in the air, and I had enough time to think to myself, sh*t. I’m in trouble,” described Prem.
Her Career
Stephanie Prem has trained and worked alongside some of Australia’s industry leaders, has 15 years dance experience and is clinically trained. She lives and breathes health, wellness and an active lifestyle. Smashed avo, froyo and heli-boarding enthusiast, Steph is a walking talking embodiment of survival.
My Life As… A Survivor – Stephanie Prem
In this episode of My Life As we chat with Stephanie Prem about her life, snowboarding career, phenomenal recovery from injury and her new career as a Pilates instructor.
Additional Information
Episode Length: 6:20 minutes
Sport: Snowboard Cross & Pilates
Producer: Michael Lynch
Executive Producer: Edris Toussaint
Production Company: More Than A Game Productions
Published on March 16, 2016Yesterday Deadspin revealed that Dan LeBatard of ESPN and the Miami Herald was the voter who turned his ballot over to Deadspin readers and cast it pursuant to their collective vote. He didn’t accept any money for it but, ever since Deadspin revealed it obtained a writer’s vote a couple of months ago, the person who gave it up has been the BBWAA’s public enemy number one. Maybe even in his own mind, as LeBatard himself went on the Dan Patrick show saying that he now regrets what he did.
Contrite or not, since yesterday the knives have been out for LeBatard. A small sampling:
If I had respect for Dan LeBatard I don’t anymore. If he didn’t want HOF vote should have declined it, not give away to non-qualified voter. — Tracy Ringolsby (@TracyRingolsby) January 8, 2014
Loser in any election is always upset. Most don’t pout and refuse to vote again/commit voter fraud, like LeBatard http://t.co/5WbJSIChzg — Bruce Hooley (@BHOOLZ) January 9, 2014
I don’t care how messed up the Hall of Fame voting process is. Dan LeBatard is a clown for giving his vote to @Deadspin @LeBatardShow. — Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzAJC) January 9, 2014
A longer take came from Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, who took great issue with LeBatard. But, interestingly, seems like he would have been OK if LeBatard had asked ESPN readers to fill out his ballot instead of Deadspin readers:
People are missing the point about my ESPN vs. Deadspin argument. I’m just saying that LeBatard could have made his point better and had a much greater impact had he written a column or ESPN.com that said, “I think the process is broken and I believe you fans can create a better ballot than most of these hacks. So here’s a ballot. Each of you fill it out, and whoever gets 75 percent, I’ll check on my ballot and send it in.” Few could have criticized him for that, and since he could have said that weeks ago, he could have directed a lot of attention to his cause. Instead, LeBatard was effectively saying, “The BBWAA sucks, so I’m going to hand over my ballot to a website that also thinks the BBWAA sucks so I can make my point.” And oh, by the way, Biggio got only 3.3 percentage points more on the Deadspin ballot than the BBWAA ballot. And you know what? Maddux wasn’t unanimous on their ballot either.
I understand the generalized discomfort with what LeBetard did. It was played up by Deadspin as a scam in certain respects — “look at us, we bought a vote!” — and that set off a lot of alarm buzzers. And of course, Deadspin said right up front that the idea was to, more or less, mock the process.
But in practice, this was no different than a writer allowing readers to inform his voting which many voters have done in the past. No, he didn’t say anything about it beforehand, and no, his protest, such as it was, was not as effective as if he had longly and loudly argued the grounds of it before the vote, but the end product — a fan vote and a very good ballot as far as these things go, with no payment or other ethical lapse — seems pretty harmless. But it’s not being viewed as such by the voters themselves. I predict LeBatard will have his BBWAA membership revoked as a result and I expect he will be treated as persona non grata for a long long time.
But a question: does this play out different if a website other than Deadspin is involved? If it’s ESPN, as Shulman suggests, or FanGraphs or Baseball Prospectus or Baseball America, does it draw this level of ire? I seriously doubt it. I believe that Deadspin is the reason so many voters are pissed off at LeBatard. A great deal of the establishment press hates Deadspin and its product. Views Deadspin as pranksters at best, Everything That is Wrong With Journalism at worst. And many use Deadspin as a placeholder for all online media, and many of these guys feel threatened by online media in a general sense anyway. At least when they forget that they work in online media themselves:
Shame on the santimonious attention seeker who turned his vote over to a website. #sad — Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) January 8, 2014
I dunno. LeBatard is a BBWAA member and any club has a right to police its membership, so if and when they bring the hammer down on him it’s not like we can say much. But I wonder why his particular protest is any more odious than the silly, look-at-me votes of Ken Gurnick, Murray Chass and many others in their ranks. Voters who, the BBWAA membership has told me quite loudly in the past week, are entitled to their opinions however silly and that we should — no, we must — respect them lest we be considered bullies or jerks or people of intemperate tone. I guess that doesn’t apply to LeBetard. He can be called a clown and a fraud until the cows come home.
He wouldn’t be, I’m guessing, if it wasn’t Deadspin involved. Even if the fact of Deadspin’s involvement was effectively no different than any other website’s would have been. And even if this particular protest was way less harmful to the actual voting results than the protests of the Ken Gurnicks and Murrays Chass of the world.Remember when the pro-abortion group NARAL lambasted Townhall’s own Guy Benson for suggesting women read Cosmo for fashion tips rather than political advice? Well, now the magazine has done something that is arguably much more offensive:
“On Election Day, a bus decked out with snacks, swag, and models (hi, this is Cosmo) will roll up to North Carolina State University, the winner of Cosmopolitan.com’s first-ever party bus contest,” the magazine said. “The bus will shuttle students back and forth to a nearby polling location so students can vote.”
Can you say hypocritical? I imagine women’s rights groups will be unleashing their fury on Cosmo just as they did Mr. Benson, right? To suggest that these female college students will only be interested in voting if a “hot guy” is waiting for them on a shuttle bus, is demeaning to the highest degree. Women are more than capable of voting with more worthy intentions than getting the chance to sit next to a hunky guy. Women know elections are not “parties,” but they are significant moments for the country when they get to vote for their leaders based on whether their ideologies align with their own. Does Cosmo think this is still the 1960s when some women admitted to voting for JFK because he was handsome?
North Carolina is an important swing state in this election. Perhaps Cosmo had this on their mind when they chose the university. The magazine has endorsed Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan and is undoubtedly hoping these young women will vote accordingly. In fact, Cosmo has only endorsed Democrats and they all happen to be pro-abortion.
Women care about more than birth control and access to abortion. Where in this magazine are the features on the importance of the economy and job creation? Oh right, the editors are too busy compiling a list of porn stars eating junk food.
Take my advice, ladies. Find you own transportation to the polls.If you’re a frequenter of Netflix or the college football corner of the internet, you’re doubtlessly familiar with this year’s Netflix documentary Last Chance U. Even if not, if you’re a diehard Southern football fan, maybe you’ve heard of the show’s subject, East Mississippi Community College, a junior college in Scooba, Miss.
We’re fans of this show. It’s a six-hour examination of the ups and downs that come with playing for a dominant JUCO program. JUCO is where players go to handle off-field business, perform on the field, and ideally get a shot to play at a Division I school.
EMCC has had a lot of talent over the years, and it’s turned out that three recent Lions quarterbacks are currently in the SEC. Their roles are drastically different, but with two of their teams playing each other this weekend, there’s no time like the present to:
Watch the show, and Talk about some EMCC quarterbacks.
Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly is the best of the bunch.
Kelly started his college career at Clemson, where he redshirted in 2012 and played sparingly in 2013. He left Clemson for a JUCO stint at EMCC in the 2014 season, where he threw for 3,906 yards and 47 touchdowns, won a national championship, and emerged as a four-star prospect.
He signed with Ole Miss before 2015, had a hugely prolific junior season, and is now arguably the SEC’s best quarterback in his senior year.
Kelly entered Ole Miss’ bye week with almost 1,600 yards and 13 touchdown passes.
Mississippi State’s Wyatt Roberts doesn’t play, but hey, he made it.
Roberts was the surprising starting QB for EMCC during Season 1 of Last Chance U, beating out a more athletic counterpart to lead the Lions’ offense. He had a great year, throwing 23 touchdowns against two interceptions and completing 65 percent of his passes.
When the show ended, Roberts didn’t have a football future set in stone. In a conversation with EMCC’s academic advisor, he seemed content with going to Mississippi State as a regular student instead of playing lower-division football offer.
But things have worked out. Roberts joined the Bulldogs in August in order to try and build toward a coaching career. He isn’t likely to ever see game action, but he’s on an SEC roster and going to the school he wanted to go to during the show. That’s great!
Auburn’s John Franklin III hasn't lived up to hype, but he plays a role.
Franklin originally signed with Florida State and played there as a backup in 2014. But Franklin was never going to get a chance to be a starting QB in Tallahassee, so he left for a year at EMCC, which coincided in 2015 with Netflix’s Last Chance U filming.
It turned out to be a weird year. Franklin, a running QB by trade, wasn’t even the Lions’ starter quarterback, instead sitting for most of the year behind a steadier but less skilled drop-back passer, Roberts.
When Roberts got hurt, Franklin came off the bench to run for a bunch of touchdowns and lead EMCC to a 48-0 halftime lead against Mississippi Delta. The game (and EMCC’s season) ended when it devolved into a brutal brawl just before halftime, but Franklin’s work got him an Auburn scholarship offer, where he was eventually expected to start.
Now, Franklin is Sean White’s backup at Auburn. He’s run 16 times for 203 yards in a touchdown, and he’s 6-of-10 passing for 73 yards and another touchdown. He’s appeared off the bench in each of the Tigers’ five games.
This week, Franklin and Roberts meet up again.
Auburn plays Mississippi State on Saturday (noon ET, SEC Network), so Franklin and Roberts will be competing against each other again, sort of. Roberts won’t play and Franklin won’t start, but they’ll both at least be involved. (It’s a home game for Mississippi State, so there’s no travel roster concern about Roberts being there.)
For two players who we just watched on Netflix dreaming of appearing in the big leagues, it’s kind of cool to see both of them doing it.
UPDATE: Academic advisor Brittany Wagner reunited with Franklin pregame. Neither QB saw the field in the 38-14 Auburn victory.As many of you already know, Hatsune Miku has been confirmed to appear in Global at the same time as Japan, this is the information from the Japanese News.
Thank you for your continued patronage on Brave Frontier!
From Oct. 9 (Thursday) Hatsune Miku Collaboration will appear in the vortex!
BGM of the quest will use the Theme Song of "MIKU-EXPO", "Sharing the world"!
If you're lucky, you can get a "Hatsune Miku" which will evolve up to ★ 5!
[Holding Period]
Held Oct. 9 (Thu) 15:00 to Oct. 23 (Thu) 14:59.
[Appearing Dungeon]
Dungeon Collaboration in the vortex "Diva of Light".
"Lv. 1 On the Shining Stage"
"Lv. 2 On the Shining Stage"
"Lv. 3 On the Shining Stage"
It is currently unconfirmed on how to get Duetto Megurine Luka in the Global Server.
Japanese Exclusive Part Starts Here
And more! If you pre-register for the Mikucollect app, you will get a serial code that will give you "Luka"!
Please check the MikuCollect site for more information on this event:
http://www.crypton.co.jp/mikucolle_app/index_pc.php
- Brave Frontier Management TeamA common picture of finance for the very poor involves moneylenders charging extortionate interest rates, perhaps with "white knight" microfinance organisations riding to the rescue. The reality is rather different. Poor people spend a significant amount of time managing money and use a wide range of financial instruments for a variety of ends. While their choices may not be optimal, apparently inefficient financial decisions often make sense on closer inspection.
Portfolios of the Poor is based on the analysis of financial diaries, tracking every financial transaction of individual households, taken from studies between 1999 and 2005 in rural and urban areas of Bangladesh, India, and South Africa. The authors are honest about the number of diaries — some 250 in total — being too small to support statistical analysis, but they are a broad enough sample to give a feel for what is going on and some guidance for policy-makers or financial operators. A strength of the approach is that it is "bottom up", starting with how people actually live, and not narrowly focused on the evaluation of interventions. (The opening chapter covers the background to the studies; it is supplemented by an appendix with more methodological details.)
No one actually receives $2 a day. Even those among the South African diarists with government grants had those paid monthly, "regular" employment is similarly lumpy and not always that regular, and casual employment and agricultural harvests are highly variable. So a central role for finance is in smoothing out income fluctuations to ensure that there is enough money to provide food and other basic requirements on a daily basis. To this end households use savings and borrowings simultaneously, mixing informal, interest free loans from friends and family, wage advances and rent arrears, semi-formal (microfinance) loans, and in occasional cases formal (bank) services. Here the cash flow analysis captures what matters, not the balance-sheet.
Finance is important for dealing with risks. Health problems are the most common source of unpredictable large demands, but funerals in South Africa are extremely expensive; these are funded using a combination of contributions from relatives, formal funeral plans and informal burial societies, which almost always needs to be supplemented with loans. General purpose loans are more flexible than insurance tied to particular risks, but there's clearly an unmet demand for insurance. The most obvious problem here is in trust, with concerns about the possible failure of insurers and moral hazard on the part of the insured exacerbated by the social divide between them.
Large sums are also needed for special occasions such as weddings and for opportunities such as purchasing land, starting a business or furthering education. This involves both borrowing, usually from multiple sources, and the use of savings "accumulators". Among the most sophisticated tools here are auction Rotating Savings and Credit Associations, where participants bid for use of the accumulated money, allowing savers and borrowers to negotiate an effective interest rate without middlemen or sophisticated accounting; these "could be considered the world's most efficient intermediation system".
With financial instruments for the wealthy the price of money — an interest rate or a rate of return — is central. The headline interest rates on some loans for the poor can look completely insane, but annualised interest rates don't make sense for loans of short duration, where charges are better seen as fees. And in practice interest is often not compounded or is waived after some period, or forbearance of other kinds is exercised. Apparently negative interest rates on savings can also be deceptive. One example highlighted is a "collector" who takes 20c a day from women for 220 days and then gives them back $40 at the end. This cycle has repeated so many times that it is no longer clear whether this is a loan or a savings plan. The convenience, flexibility and reliability of financial instruments are often more important concerns than their interest rates.
A later study, using the same diary methodology, was carried out on "Grameen II" households in Bangladesh, attempting to evaluate changes Grameen Bank made in 2001 to its microfinance products. This involved more flexible loans which could be "topped up" before completion of their term, a passbook savings account designed to make management of cash flows easier, and a long-term savings product that allowed access.
This leads into some suggestions for ways in which microfinance could be improved. There's demand for a cash-flow management facility that combines the ability to make small savings of any size at any time with loans of modest value that can be accessed quickly. There may be ways to replicate the best features of informal savings clubs but to improve on their reliability. And there's a space for the provision of general-purpose loans, not restricted to microenterprise as many microfinance loans have been. Products need to be reliable, convenient, flexible and have structure — regularities that promote self-discipline.
This analysis is heavily illustrated with examples from individual households. In addition, a second appendix presents summaries of fifteen of the portfolios, with a page describing each household facing another giving its financial net worth breakdown at the beginning and end of the study year, along with its turnover in each kind of financial instrument. This detail helps to give a feel for the way financial concerns are interlocked with the broader course of people's lives, rather than being abstract problems.
Though slightly more sophisticated terms like "debt-to-equity" occasionally occur in Portfolios of the Poor, no real knowledge of finance is assumed, just the ability to read a basic balance sheet or cash-flow breakdown. It might have been worthwhile including a brief explanation of this, however, since there are plenty of well-off people in developed countries whose understanding of finance may not go even that far. (A similarly detailed study of the finances of poor households in say the United Kingdom would make an interesting comparison.)
The authors of Portfolios of the Poor don't pretend that microfinance is a magic cure for poverty and don't claim that any particular financial instrument or service is going to have revolutionary effects. They do make a convincing case both for the importance of finance in the lives of the extremely poor and for there being room to improve the provision of financial services to them.
March 2012A cafe in Shanghai that was a popular meeting place for Jewish refugees during World War II has reopened.
The Zum Weissag Rossi’l Cafe, or White Horse Cafe, originally opened in 1939. It opened again in a ceremony Wednesday after being rebuilt, according to the news website Shanghaiist.
“A lot of people visited, Jewish people and non-Jewish people,” said Ron Klinger, 74, the cafe co-founder’s grandson, who grew up in the cafe, according to Shanghaiist. “It was like [a] cafe, bar and nightclub. It was very popular.”
The cafe was rebuilt about 100 yards from its original location, and is located next to the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. Shanghaiist reported that the city is applying to have the neighborhood, which was home to about 20,000 Jews duing the Holocaust, included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Registry.
This story "Iconic Jewish Cafe Reopens In Shanghai" was written by JTA.SilverHawks is an American animated television series developed by Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. The animation was provided by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation. In total, 65 episodes were made. It was created as a space-based equivalent of their previous series, ThunderCats.
As was the case with ThunderCats, there was also a SilverHawks comic book series published by Marvel Comics under the imprint Star Comics.
Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by Warner Bros. in 1989, and the rights to SilverHawks are now held by Warner Bros. Television Distribution.
Overview [ edit ]
Production and development [ edit ]
Rankin/Bass followed up their successful ThunderCats series with this series about a team of heroes in the 29th century who were given metal bodies and wings to stop organized crime in the Galaxy of Limbo. SilverHawks featured many of the same voice actors who had worked on ThunderCats, including Larry Kenney, Peter Newman, Earl Hammond, Doug Preis and Bob McFadden.
Plot [ edit ]
A bionic policeman called Commander Stargazer recruited the SilverHawks, heroes who are "partly metal, partly real," to fight the evil Mon*Star, an escaped alien mob boss who transforms into an enormous armor-plated creature with the help of Limbo's Moonstar. Joining Mon*Star in his villainy is an intergalactic mob: the snakelike Yes-Man, the blade-armed Buzz-Saw, the "bull"-headed Mumbo-Jumbo, a weather controller called Windhammer, a shapeshifter known as Mo-Lec-U-Lar, a robotic card shark called Poker-Face, the weapons-heavy Hardware, and "the musical madness of" Melodia who uses a "keytar" that fires musical notes.
Quicksilver (formerly Jonathan Quick) leads the SilverHawks, with his metal bird companion Tally-Hawk at his side. Twins Emily and Will Hart became Steelheart and Steelwill, the SilverHawks's technician and strongman respectively. Country-singing Bluegrass piloted the team's ship, the Maraj (pronounced "mirage" on the series, but given that spelling on the Kenner toy). Rounding out the group is a youngster "from the planet of the mimes," named "The Copper Kidd" and usually called "Kidd" for short, a mathematical genius who spoke in whistles and computerized tones. Their bionic bodies are covered by a full-body close-fitting metal armor that only exposes the face and an arm, the armor is equipped with a retractile protective mask, retractable under-arm wingx (except Bluegrass), thrusters on their elbows, and laser-weapons in their shoulders.
Characters [ edit ]
Silverhawks [ edit ]
The SilverHawks in the show's title sequence. Left to right: Copper Kidd, Bluegrass, Quicksilver (with Tally-Hawk perched on arm), Steelheart, Steelwill.
Main Silverhawks [ edit ]
Commander Stargazer (voiced by Bob McFadden) - A tough and grizzled old cop with bionic capabilities, he captured Mon*Star several years ago and had him imprisoned. Older than the other SilverHawks, he longs to return to Earth for either a vacation or for retirement. He chiefly serves as the SilverHawks "eyes and ears", keeping them apprised of their current situation. His first name is apparently Sinman. In the SilverHawks' first adventure, Stargazer is depicted as the keeper of Tally-Hawk, who subsequently was teamed with Quicksilver. His armor is gold, covering the upper left portion of his head as well as his body, and his left eye has been replaced by a telescopic lens. Stargazer wears a white button up shirt, loosened necktie, suspenders and slacks, making him resemble a stereotypical plainclothes police officer.
Quicksilver (voiced by Peter Newman) - Captain Jonathan Quick was the former head of Interplanetary Force H and is the field leader of the SilverHawks. Known for his quick reflexes (and even quicker thinking), Quicksilver is an accomplished tactician and athlete. His armor is silver in color.
Bluegrass (voiced by Larry Kenney) - He is second-in-command of the SilverHawks and the chief pilot of the group as well as a cowboy at heart. He is the only active SilverHawk who cannot fly, but he is the one that pilots the team's vehicle the "Maraj". He uses his weapon/instrument (portrayed in the toyline as his weapon-bird with the name Sideman) and his lasso. He has an interface with the Maraj's piloting system, which he has affectionately dubbed "Hot Licks". His armor has a blue-silver shade, and he wears a red bandana around his neck and a cowboy hat.
Steelheart & Steelwill (voiced by Maggie Wheeler and Bob McFadden) - Sergeants Emily and Will Hart are twin siblings. They became Steelheart and Steelwill respectively when they joined the SilverHawks. They had artificial hearts implanted during their transformation. Their armors are both a dark steel color. They are the "gearheads" of the team. Due to an empathic bond, when one sibling feels something, the other feels it as well. Physically, they are the strongest members of the team.
The Copper Kidd (vocal effects provided by Pete Cannarozzi) - He is the youngest member of the SilverHawks, and the only one not from Earth. A mathematical genius from the Planet of the Mimes, he "speaks" in tones and whistles. His skin is blue except for white markings on his face that resemble the makeup of a mime. His armor is copper-colored but the wings have a silver-like appearance similar to those his teammates. A natural acrobat, the Copper Kidd has two razor-edged discs (one mounted on each hip) which he throws like Frisbees. At the end of each episode, he was quizzed in astronomy lessons by Bluegrass as training to become the reserve Maraj pilot (a role he later infrequently filled).
Minor Silverhawks [ edit ]
Hotwing (voiced by Adolph Caesar in earlier episodes, Doug Preis in later episodes) - A gold SilverHawk of African American heritage who was added in mid-season. He is a magician and skilled illusionist. Hotwing received his powers from a mystical energy force that 'chose' him to bear the powers to fight against injustice. He has to recharge these powers every 14 years, otherwise he will die. One notable time was when Zeek the Beak tricked the mystic force into giving him these powers which would have resulted in Hotwing's death.
Flashback (voiced by Peter Newman) - A green time-traveling Silverhawk from the far future. When he meets the'much older' St |
vocalist and frontman Corey Taylor says it's time for the music industry to stop taking legal action against downloaders. He feels it is the labels themselves who are to blame for online piracy, since the quality of released music is so bad, no-one wants to buy it.
Slipknot vocalist and frontman Corey Taylor has launched an attack on recording labels, saying that instead of spending their time chasing downloaders, they should use their resources to find bands that produce better music.
Taylor told Kerrang: “Why would you blame (people who download music)? Half the f**king albums that are out there are s**t. I don’t download, but at the same time, I don’t buy new music ’cause it all sucks. Okay, there’s a handful of bands that I buy, but other than that, I just buy old s**t because old s**t is good. Sorry!”
Taylor, who recently collected a Kerrang award on behalf of the band saying “I just showed up for the booze,” says that it’s not fair to blame the fall in album sales on file-sharers, and lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of the labels:
“People wanna blame the decline of album sales on downloading – I think it’s actually the record companies’ fault.”
Of course, lots of people blame the labels for piracy but Taylor believes they aren’t doing their job properly since they promote acts which aren’t up to standard, resulting in people feeling the acts simply aren’t worth the money.
“I think it’s the quality of the product. If record companies would stop giving any f**king mook (idiot) on the street with a fringe a record deal or their own record label, maybe you would sell more f**king albums, dips**ts.”A new species of shark that "walks" along the seabed using its fins as tiny legs has been discovered in eastern Indonesia, an environmental group said Friday.
The brown and white bamboo shark pushes itself along the ocean floor as it forages for small fish and crustaceans at night, said Conservation International, whose scientists were involved in its discovery.
The shark, which grows to a maximum length of just 80 centimetres (30 inches) and is harmless to humans, was discovered off Halmahera, one of the Maluku Islands that lie west of New Guinea.
Bamboo sharks, also known as longtail carpet sharks, are relatively small compared to their larger cousins, with the largest adult reaching only about 120 centimetres (47 inches) in length.
They have unusually long tails that are bigger than the rest of their bodies and are found in tropical waters around Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Conservation International said the discovery of the shark, which was first disclosed in the International Journal of Ichthyology, "should help draw diver interest to this mega-diverse but largely undiscovered region".
Ketut Sarjana Putra, Indonesia country director for the group, said the Hemiscyllium halmahera shark could "serve as an excellent ambassador to call public attention to the fact that most sharks are harmless to humans and are worthy of our conservation attention".
Conservation International, whose scientists discovered the shark along with colleagues from the Western Australian Museum, added it came at a time when Indonesia was increasing its efforts to protect shark and ray species.Get the biggest politics 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
Someone held up a ‘Wenger Out’ banner behind Jeremy Corbyn as he was speaking.
A pair of cheeky pranksters smuggled the hand-scrawled sign into the background of his speech in Royal Leamington Spa, this afternoon.
The banner has become something of an internet sensation in recent months, with some Arsenal fans growing frustrated with embattled manager Arsene Wenger - and internet jokers 'photobombing' broadcast cameras with banners at any given opportunity.
Meanwhile, Corbyn has faced comparisons with the football boss, being branded the “Arsene Wenger of Politics” by GQ Magazine.
(Image: Aaron Chown / SWNS.com)
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And last month, in a frosty exchange on the Good Morning Britain sofa, Piers Morgan reeled off a string of similarities between the two leaders.
He said: “Blind dogma. A culture of laziness. Neither are bothered about actually winning. Both are un-sackable. They refuse to listen to their own people. They didn’t ‘see’ it. They have a recent blueprint of success that they’re not using - and both are dragging a once-great institution down with them.”
Corbyn brushed off the comparison as “nonsense” and denied being lazy, insisting: “Both of us are very hard working people.”
Life-long Arsenal fan Corbyn has described himself as a "Wenger man".
In another chat with Morgan in March, he said: "I'm an Arsenal supporter, as you know Piers, as indeed you are, you have a different position on Arsene Wenger than I do.
"Arsene Wenger is a very intelligent, very sharp, very thoughtful manager. He has kept Arsenal in the Champions League in every season since he became the manager of Arsenal despite the stadium move and everything else.
"We had a 2-0 win on Saturday - let's get behind the team. I'm behind Labour - you and I together can be behind Arsenal."Adorable concept, poor execution
The first time I played Poncho was at EGX around two years ago. Its unique visual identity, compelling set of gameplay mechanics, and endearing protagonist drew my attention among the crowd of other indie games playable at the show. Unfortunately, poor puzzle execution and technical issues marred my experience.
I was rather excited to see code for Poncho arrive in the Destructoid office. Having not looked at the game for almost two years, I was interested in attesting to how the finished product turned out. Unfortunately, my impression hasn't changed much in two years.
Poncho has a lot going for it, but it also has some pretty glaring caveats to any recommendation I might possibly give it.
Poncho (Mac, PC [reviewed], Vita, Wii U)
Developer: Delve Interactive
Publisher: Rising Star Games
Released: November 3 (PC, Mac), TBA (Vita, Wii U)
MSRP: $14.99, £10.99
Rig: Intel Core i5-4690K @ 3.5 GHz, with 8GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 960, Windows 7 64-bit
Having witnessed the end of the world, robotic protagonist Poncho sets out in search of a gigantic tower, in the hopes that tracking it down will allow the world to be saved.
Poncho is a side scrolling, pixel art, 2D platformer with a twist. While parallax layers are generally only aesthetic, in Poncho you play an adorable robot who can leap at will between foreground and background environment layers. Jumps between layers take into account your vertical height. Momentum is conserved during the layer jump, so the challenge is getting yourself into the perfect gap at the perfect time.
The biggest problem with Poncho, as well as the biggest strength it had going for it, is the way puzzles are designed to incorporate switching layers. When the puzzles work they are fantastic. Jumping off a foreground platform, timing your layer switch perfectly so you land on a background platform, continuing your movement to leap and mid-jump switch again to catch yourself in box, before switching forward one layer further to drop a small distance to safety. When layer switching puzzles are well thought out, they are a joy to play through.
When those puzzles fall apart in execution, the game tends to become a frustrating mess, where progress is arbitrarily slow, and lengthy twitch challenges are presented with minimal safety nets.
Vertical jump puzzles that go on far too long, with failure resulting in starting from scratch. Horizontal jumping challenges where numerous platforms switch layers at differing speeds, without the ability to study all of them in advance of attempting the challenge. Solid platforms that incorrectly register as having been landed on, causing infinite falling loops. A good chunk of Poncho's level design stopped being inventive and ended up simply frustrating.
Also of note, often Poncho feels like its reaction-based platforming and slow, methodical exploration gameplay are at odds. Keys hidden through the world need to be collected to progress, but often I missed hiding places in the world because I was too concerned with managing to complete a lengthy, safety net-free challenge. When the only chance to collect information on a puzzle is while half way through it, searching for progression-unlocking keys was the last thing on my mind.
Ultimately I'm left at a little bit of a loss with Poncho. It's a great concept, and when it's working it's a great inventive challenge, but when it goes downhill, it put a huge damper on my experience as a whole. I wanted to like it, but it was tough given some of the rough puzzle and level designs on show.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]
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Poncho reviewed by Laura Kate DaleDefining leadership, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell gave the wind industry its battle plan in a keynote address he delivered recently to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Fall Symposium.
“Your job is to inspire,” Powell told the captains of the wind industry in his audience, because “inspired is self-motivated.” The way to inspire, Powell told them, is to have not just goals but purpose. The wind industry’s purpose, beyond generating electricity with turbines, “is to make sure America and the world becomes more and more independent of fossil-based electricity generation.”
“We do know we’ve got challenges,” Denise Bode, AWEA’s CEO said at the Symposium’s opening session, detailing those challenges by describing the outcome of the November 2 election. “The 112th Congress will have fifteen freshman senators and 94 first-time representatives,” Bode said. “We’ve never had that big a change in our history.”
Iowa Governor Chet Culver, who lost his job November 2nd, was more specific about wind’s losses. “We have 29 new governors,” Culver said. “Unfortunately, we lost 24 members of the Governors Wind Energy Development Coalition.” Though 24 states remain in the coalition, many of the new governors are not yet certain the political climate will support their participation. This is particularly bad news, because governors are often sensitive to their states’ inclinations, and much that supports renewable energy happens at the state level.
But Culver was not finished. “Unfortunately, we lost 49 members of the U.S. House who voted for the RES,” he added. “In state legislative races, the Republicans gained 680 seats.” Polling data strongly suggest that Republicans are less supportive of renewables in general and wind in particular.
Culver said he remains hopeful. “I’m confident we can overcome the realities of this historic election but it’s going to take an even more concerted, focused effort because,” he said, “this is the right thing to do for our country, this is the right time, and we still have a lot of momentum. We just have to be aggressive.”
“With every change,” Bode pointed out, “comes an opportunity.” It is, she said, “a political landscape in which we have opportunities to frame the debate.”
Not everybody is as hopeful. “The situation is not going to get anything but worse,” Dan Haas, the Director of Strategic Development for Berkhalter Rigging and a seventeen-year wind industry veteran, confided recently. “I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Republican,” he explained, and was “pretty happy” about the election outcome “except for the fact that it’s going to kick my industry when it’s down. It’s going to take a while for this new group down there in D.C. to get around to dealing with the renewable energy issue.” By the time they do, Haas said, “We’re going to have another hole in the business because we’re going to hit year-end and everything’s going to expire and we’re going to be standing around wondering what’s next.”
In his keynote, Powell acknowledged that times are tough at present but noted that “the demand for energy of all types will keep growing, and whatever else happens, that demand will have to be met,” he said. “This year isn’t as good as last year. You’re waiting for the government to give you what you need to plan.” But, he said, “there’s no question in my mind that the curve is in the right direction.”
Fluctuations will continue, often “driven by the price of natural gas,” Powell said, coming back to the theme of purpose, “but you are in a stable growth pattern, not just for the purpose of making electricity but for the purpose of making America safer, making America more competitive and, even more importantly, making sure there’s enough energy not just for us but for the people of the world.”
Powell urged the wind industry to lead. “You’ll know you’re a good leader,” Powell said, paraphrasing one of his own mentors, when “your followers are anxious, afraid, nervous, wondering what’s going to happen next,” but “they stick with you just out of curiosity to see how you get them out of the hole.”
The wind industry, Powell said, is in a difficult place. “You’re not getting the answers you need,” he acknowledged. “You need answers. You need support. You need to know what your congressmen are going to do for you. The tax structure is a mess.” But, he said, “We don’t know what’s happening.”
Powell, like other commentators, believes the new Republican ascendancy could end in the breaking of political gridlock because it spreads the responsibility to get things done between both parties, giving both a reason to compromise and achieve.
But, Powell said more than once, this is a period of uncertainty in a tempestuous political system. “It’s always been tough in political life,” Powell said. “The founding fathers did not create a system that was supposed to be smooth and easy. It was always supposed to be a clash of ideas -- people believing in something and fighting for it.”The architectural and organizational/process advantages of containerization (eg., via Docker) are commonly known. However, in constructing images, especially those that serve as the base for other images, adding functionality via package installation is a double edged sword. On one hand we want our images to be most useful for the purposes they are built but—as images are downloaded, moved around our networks and live in our production environments—we pay a real speed and cost price for bloated image sizes. The obvious onus on image creators is to make them as practically small as possible without sacrificing efficacy and extensibility. This blog shows how we shrunk our images with a pretty simple trick…
The great impetus towards smaller images manifests in a few places:
OS distros, such a phusion (minimal, Docker-friendly Ubuntu), busybox (intended for embedded systems), and alpine. These provide operating systems that are minimally functional yet can be easily extended. Programming/Environments, such as microcontainers from Iron.io. Shrink wrapping, such as skinnywhale, docker export, strip-docker-image, work with existing image layers/containers and try to compress them by finding redunancies and commonalities.
When creating Wise.io‘s open version of the Python datascience base image I found that the OS distro choice does not affect the final image size much, since there are so many dependencies required to get a fully functional data science environment up and running. In advance of a focus on post-image creation shrink wrapping, I wound up looking for ways to shrink down the resulting image in the Dockerfile itself.
The essential point is that since each RUN creates a new layer, one needs to condense logical installation and tear down steps into one line. You can do this easily with chained double ampersands (&&) in the shell. By tearing down/cleaning up in another RUN, your final image will still have the bloat from the previous layers. We needed three major installation/clean up steps in our Dockerfile:
1. System level dependencies
=”//www.gistfy.com/github/wiseio/datascience-docker/datascience-base/Dockerfile?branch=master&slice=12:16&lang=dockerfile&style=github”
Here you’ll notice that in addition to updating the OS, installing new packages, and setting locales, we also purge the cache of apt installation files.
2. (Python) Conda distro and data science friendly Python packages like jupyter notebook, pandas, numpy, matplotlib, plotly, sklearn, scikit-image, nltk, gensim, psycopg2:
“http://www.gistfy.com/github/wiseio/datascience-docker/datascience-base/Dockerfile?branch=master&slice=19:24&lang=dockerfile&style=github”
Here we get the latest miniconda from Continuum.io, install our favorite data science packages for Python and then tidy up. Using “conda clean” in this layer leads to a major space savings.
3. All the Python packages we want that are not in the standard conda distro channel (e.g. gensim, plotly), but are available via pip:
“http://www.gistfy.com/github/wiseio/datascience-docker/datascience-base/Dockerfile?branch=master&slice=27:28&lang=dockerfile&style=github”
Here we make sure to remove the cache directory after we’re done.
The “trick” is really just two components:
Put all logically connected installations (e.g. from one package manager) into their own RUN, to produce fewer layers. Figure out what the tear down/clean up commands are for those installations/package managers and tack them on to the end of the RUN (e.g., conda clean, rm, …).
All told, we saved about 46% space (475 MB) just by setting up and tearing down in the same RUN.
If you’re a Pythonista/data scientist and would like to give our base image a shot just:
docker pull wiseio/datascience-docker
And get started with jupyter notebooks and more.
We’d love to hear from you if you’ve got any other tricks to strink down this image.
Thanks to Paul Baines and Henrik Brink for comments on earlier drafts.SCIENTISTS from several countries, including Russia and the US, will gather in the Kemerova region of Siberia to hunt down the Yeti, after alleged sightings of the legendary creatures increased threefold in the area over the past 20 years.
Scientists from Russia, the US, Canada, Sweden, Estonia, Mongolia and China were invited to evaluate evidence of the creatures - the existence of which has never been proven - at a conference later this week, according to Russian radio station the Voice of Russia.
Alleged sightings of Yetis in Kemerovo and the neighboring Altai region, about 3200 kilometers east of Moscow, are up three times compared to 20 years ago, with scientists estimating that there is a current population of at least several dozen in the area.
Other evidence of the existence of the creatures - such as basic twig huts, twisted branches and footprints of up to 35 centimeters - also has been found in the area.
A group of scientists from the conference will be sent out to search the region's mountains to examine the evidence and try spot a Yeti.
It will be the first expedition of its kind since 1958, when scientists from the Soviet Academy of Sciences scoured Western Siberia trying to catch a Yeti.
Igor Burtsev, who heads the Moscow-based International Center of Hominology, said, "When Homo sapiens started populating the world, it viciously exterminated its closest relative in the hominid family, Homo neanderthalensis. Some of the Neanderthals, however, may have survived to this day in some mountainous wooded habitats that are more or less off limits to their arch foes."Throughout, my mother told me how lucky I was to experience the “real world.” I did my best to believe her. I enjoyed feeling like I was part of a cause, even if I had only a vague sense of what that meant. At the same time, I hungered for stability.
In the end, my mother was devastated that I never became the radical she dreamed I’d be. “I have to accept that he is no revolutionary,” she wrote in her diary a decade after I left home. “I do need to deal with my grief over this.” She also wrote that she was having trouble sleeping because of “Peter’s betrayal of class struggle.”
My mother’s diaries made clear that she saw being a good mother and good revolutionary as the same thing, that there was no tension between the two and that those who thought otherwise just didn’t get it. She was angry that some of her friends and relatives thought I would be better off with my father and that she would feel unburdened, “as if delivering my child to the enemies of the revolution would ‘free me up’ somehow to make revolution.” That, she wrote, was “not the kind of revolution I’m into.”
She saw her rejection of traditional “good mothering” — constrained by the nuclear family and the creature comforts of capitalism — as proof itself that she was a good mother. Still, during the days I spent in an Ecuadorean hospital bed recovering from a serious bout of diarrhea when I was 7, she acknowledged in her diary what she would never have said to me: “I feel kind of guilty for exposing him to such hazards.” But then she continued: “If he gets through O.K. he’ll have some understanding that he may be glad for later. We have been living in one of the largest slums in South America.”
I did not know until going through the diaries how worried she was that others, including me, might judge her to have been a bad mother. She wrote that when I didn’t call her it made her feel that she needed to ask for forgiveness."Management tried to make a saving by cutting the staff welfare budget. They decided to cut our coffees. We took a really small issue, which pissed a lot of Italian people off – because, y'know, Italians really love their coffee – and managed to get better staff food. I'm talking like smoked salmon for breakfast. Stuff that our guests could eat! And then on top of that we managed to change the shoe policy. People were working up to 15 hours a day, running around. There had been instances where our feet had been bleeding. We had to wear trainers. Now we get to choose the shoes that we have to wear. And generally the atmosphere at work is brilliant – managers have to be nice to us."
As a wave of post-Brexit migrant-hate washes over us like a burst sewer, the tale of the bloody-socked Italians whose savage caffeine withdrawal symptoms meant they wouldn't take any shit should become a parable. We could all do with some smoked salmon in these times.
It was told by a hospitality worker, who preferred to remain anonymous, on Saturday at a conference in Willesden to mark 40 years since the Grunwick dispute. That was when East African Asian women working in film processing factories went on strike for two years between 1976 and 1978 following a dispute over union recognition. The "strikers in saris" were joined by thousands of trade unionists, who filled the small residential streets of North West London to join mass pickets and fight with the police. This made a change compared to other disputes by black and Asian workers in the 1970s, which were met with indifference or even hostility from unions.
It's something that needs to be remembered today, with racism on the rise and the Conservative Party and UKIP warning that immigrants are after your job. A racist brand of old Toryism is back, but it's not just those nasty old Tories being nasty old Tories that we should worry about.
Tuesday's Times carried an interview with Labour MP Dan Jarvis that takes place in a pie and mash shop in Essex – I guess we're supposed to infer that he is an ordinaryhardworkingfamilyman who doesn't like foreign muck like korma and kebabs. "It is clear to me that the Ukip fox is in the Labour henhouse," he said, "and we have got to make a decision about what we want to do about that fox."
On Wednesday, after Paul Nuttall became Ukip leader, Labour's Frank Field warned that many voters will see him as a man "on the right page at the right time" – a "gamechanger" who could attack Labour's northern heartlands. And at a meeting of Progress this week – a grouping on the right of the Labour Party – Stephen Kinnock MP said, "We must move away from multiculturalism and towards assimilation. We must stand for one group: The British People."
"It's about culture, identity and family and so on," said Field.
To be kind, the racist right is leading the conversation. To be blunt, Labour's centrists are sounding increasingly racist themselves. Culture. Identity. The British People.
Even the Labour left is questioning its support for free movement. Clive Lewis MP – much loved by Corbynistas – recently said: "We have to acknowledge that free movement of labour hasn't worked for a lot of people." That echoed a recent speech by TUC leader Len McCluskey, who said, "We can no longer sit like the three wise monkeys, seeing no problem, hearing no problem and speaking of no problem."
Hotel workers in London protesting (Photo: Simon Childs)
To be clear, the "problem" he was talking about was "working people's concerns" about immigration, rather than immigration per se – but those guys are coming at the conversation all wrong. Because of all the bullshit spoken in 2016, some of the worst has to be the idea that immigrants are fucking over British workers. As anyone who has been keeping an eye on bouts of workers vs. dickhead bosses will know: immigrants are on the frontline in the Battle of British Work.
Take probably the highest profile strike of the year after the Junior Doctors – the Deliveroo strike. Riders were protesting an attempt to put them on £3.75 per delivery, rather than a guaranteed hourly pay rate. Their picket of the company HQ was characterised by its not-whiteness and diversity of accents. Impromptu meetings had to be translated to take account of people from different countries. Within a week strikers had won concessions from their managers, sending shock-waves through the "gig economy".
Then there are the hotel workers who have been protesting against their appalling conditions. The union Unite's hotel workers' branch has many members who would probably take evening classes in English if they could afford it and weren't exhausted from over-work.
And as far as examples to capture the public imagination go, a single mum from Ecuador taking on one of Britain's richest pariahs isn't a bad one. That's the position that Susanna Benavides finds herself in, squaring up to Sir Philip "BHS destroyer" Green. She used to be a cleaner at Topshop via their contractor Britannia Service Group, but got the sack. Her trade union, United Voices of the World (UVW), is claiming that she was sacked for her campaigning activities in favour of a living wage. She told the Grunwick conference that "we had contracts that didn't reflect our working reality", and so she helped organise her colleagues to fight for "dignity". VICE understands that UVW is planning to take Britannia to an employment tribunal.
When I asked Topshop to comment, a spokesperson said, "All cleaners in Topshop stores are employed by Britannia Services Group and not by Topshop. Topshop is unaware of and unable to comment on any legal proceedings brought by Britannia's employees. Topshop requires all of its suppliers to pay legally compliant wages. Topshop values and appreciates all staff working for the Topshop business."
A spokesperson from Britannia told me, "No one has been dismissed for any union activity. One individual was dismissed due to contravening her contract of employment... We have other members of UVW working in that store who have been there for many years and are still in that store." The spokesperson also pointed out that they pay more than the National Living Wage (as distinct from the London Living Wage that the Living Wage Foundation campaigns for).
Back at the Grunwick conference, Susanna told the audience, "I'm not going to give up the fight and I'm going to carry on." She was applauded in two waves. The first: people who speak Spanish. The second: people who don't and had to wait for Petros Elia, who was translating to the room. Petros is the general secretary of UVW, which organises almost exclusively among migrant workers. I caught up with him on the phone after the meeting, and he said the case shows "how delicate the labour market is", because thanks to Susanna, "one of the largest retail empires in the world is shaking in its boots".
"I think the most impressive, inspiring and hard fought campaigns have been those led by migrant workers," he continued. To make his point, he listed all of the recent workers' struggles he could think of that have been led by – or largely made up of – migrants, off the top of his head. Let's take a deep breath, because here they all are: SOAS, Senate House, Birkbeck, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Kings College London, St George's University, the Barbican, Sotheby's auction house, Withers LLP, 100 Wood Street, LSE, John Lewis, Topshop.
"Quite a healthy list," he said.
That's off the top of one guy's head, and mostly carried out by two small, independent unions, the UVW and the IWGB. There are many more examples – the strike by impoverished NHS cleaning workers with the GMB union working for mega corporation Aramark, for instance.
Some of them could reverberate not only by vital inspiration, but precedent in employment law. In October, Uber drivers – and I think I've had an Uber driver with a British accent exactly once – with the GMB union won a court case to be recognised as workers with workers' rights, rather than thousands and thousands of individual entrepreneurs trying to make good.
Nigel Mackay from the employment law team at Leigh Day solicitors, which represented the drivers, explained the significance of the case: "Basically, what it means is that any company that's mislabelling workers as self employed contractors probably won't be able to get away it. Often migrants are scapegoated for that, but companies are often acting outside of the law in order to keep down wages." So one in the eye for the algorithmic overlords finding innovative new ways to fuck people over. "You can argue that what they're doing is helping non-migrant workers. They're taking on these struggles and these are rights that everyone is entitled to," said Nigel.
As watching the VICE film Undercover Migrant will make you aware of, there are a lot of bosses rubbing their hands at the prospect of getting someone to do work paid in chicken (literally). The problem isn't totally illusory. Olivier Vardakoulias, a Senior Economist with the New Economics Foundation, told me that because of immigration, "In the short term you may have some pressure on wages in particular professions. If you have a lot of inflow of migrants into particular professions that will put some pressure on wages."
But, he said, "We're talking about really small numbers... Down the line, in the medium term what you have is more people and more jobs in the economy as a whole." He said the real problems are de-industrialisation, low productivity and a focus on jobs that don't deliver good wages.
That being the case, why is the British left not harping on about those things? Why is it wasting time performing mental gymnastics about their sort-of support, sort-of jettisoning of people who might want to come here to make a better life for themselves?
The impact of migrants on wages has been "completely overblown", said Olivier. He pointed out that the actual threat to wages comes from the demise of trade unions. Even the IMF, not renowned for wearing Che Guevara T-shirts around the office or having Crass tattoos, have published papers saying saying pretty much that.
WATCH: 'Undercover Migrant'
The Grunwick strike was great for race relations in the UK. Local Irish people bought tea and snacks to the pickets, and black and white people braved police batons together. But the dispute ended in failure. The strikers demands were not met, union support waned and they ended their action two years after it started. Jayaben Desai, one of the leaders of the strike, attributed this partly to the established trade unions. Concrete support from them was "like honey on the elbow", she said. "You can smell it, you can see it, but you can never taste it."
Writing at the time of the Grunwick dispute, Ambalavaner Sivanandan – the director of the Institute of Race Relations – questioned why the unions were supporting Asian workers when they had failed to do so previously. He concluded that they were worried that rowdy Asian workers left outside traditional trade unions could actually win wage increases. This could "blow a hole, however small, in the Social Contract". The Social Contract was an agreement between the Labour government and the unions designed to control inflation: in return for some union-friendly laws, they wouldn't ask for big pay rises. The Asian workers needed to be brought into line with the Social Contract. To do that, "it is necessary to unionise the Asian strikers. To unionise a black workforce, it is first necessary to take a stand against racial discrimination." It was, said Sivanandan, "not a 'change of heart', but a change of tactics – to ordain, legitimise and continue the joint strategies of the state and union leaders against the working class – through the Social Contract."
Today, the context is different, but the opportunism is the same. The labour movement, or at least some of its leadership, is still prevaricating on the question for expediency's sake. It's enough to make you wonder if migrants should actually hope for support from union leaders wedded to a Labour Party full of Frank Fields and Dan Jarvises. (To give them their due, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has angrily rejected Dan Jarvis's suggestions.)
If "the problem" the left has to face up to is the concerns of working people about immigration, a good start would be to stop talking about migrants like they're some sort of inert gas that capitalists pump into the economy to asphyxiate workers' rights. Migrants are, in fact, human beings who are just as capable as anyone else as getting pissed off at bad pay and crappy conditions and fighting to change them. While the TUC leadership seems capable mainly of organising symbolic marches, and Labour MPs give navel-gazing speeches about how to placate racists, migrants are fighting the battles that are defining the British workplace.
Migrants are not a threat to British workers, but they are a threat to the government. They're also showing British workers' useless representatives up. They don't deserve to be sold out by the left. If anything, an ungrateful left doesn't deserve immigrants.
Update: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Dan Jarvis's constituency is in Essex. In fact he merely ate pie there in the company of a Times journalist. He is the MP for Barnsley Central.
@SimonChilds13
More from VICE:
It's 'Living Wage Week' and Workers Are Still Fighting for an incredibly Basic Level of Pay
Why Deliveroo Riders Are Protesting in London
Meet the Topshop Cleaners Fighting for the London Living WageIn British Columbia, the discussion about liquor laws has historically been about morality and social good.
The Victorian era saw the rise of the temperance movement, and the social and political campaign ultimately prompted prohibition, banning the alcohol that the movement blamed for society's ills.
In B.C., prohibition officially lasted just four years. The rationale that finally made it palatable during the First World War – our boys are sacrificing over there so we should be sacrificing over here – crumbled when the war closed, and the province passed the Government Liquor Act in 1921.
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But prohibition's legacy endured. The act placed liquor laws under strict government control to assuage moral queasiness. The drinking age was set at 21 and drinking in public was banned. Those who wanted to purchase alcohol first had to buy a $5 annual permit.
Last week, the province kicked off a review of what it characterized as B.C.'s "outdated and inefficient liquor laws." The government will launch a website in September that lets members of the public share their views, an element that was missing when the province last comprehensively reviewed liquor policy in 1999. The B.C. Liberals have said they want to bring in a new act next spring.
Loosening liquor laws is a bold gambit, both because of long-ago history and recent events. It was just two years ago that Vancouver received an international black eye due to an alcohol-fuelled hockey riot.
Despite that outburst, which was prompted by the hometown Canucks losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, a recent study by the Centre for Addictions Research of BC found the province is a leader when it comes to reducing alcohol-related harms.
The study found B.C. tied with Alberta when it comes to policies that restrict the physical availability of alcohol, trailing only Ontario. B.C. tied Ontario for top spot on policies regulating alcohol marketing and advertising.
B.C. has a legal drinking age of 19, while its neighbour Alberta is 18 (Manitoba and Quebec also have a limit of 18). Quebec allows alcohol sales in grocery stores, which B.C. does not.
The comprehensive review is far different from the patchwork solutions British Columbians have seen in recent years, when individual problems – such as having liquor in theatres, or bringing a bottle of wine to a restaurant – were solved only after they surfaced, leading to legislative changes.
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Some say B.C. has come a long way since prohibition and should tread carefully with its new act, since there are now, as there were then, health and safety aspects to consider.
But those who've long complained B.C.'s liquor laws are draconian see this as an ideal opportunity for the province to grow up, to shed the legacy of the nearly century-old act, and to join jurisdictions in Europe and the United States that have adopted more liberal policies when it comes to alcohol.
Since he opened his Vancouver convenience store in December, Tim Johnstone has routinely been asked by his Baylor's Groc |
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Related: AlphaDespite the ongoing armed conflict with Russian-backed separatists, rampant corruption and a lackluster economy, there may be hope for Ukraine’s future in the form of its civil society. In this piece to mark Ukraine’s independence day, Eamon Driscoll examines the crises that have gripped Ukraine since its independence in 1991, and the obstacles facing a nation with the potential to become a prosperous European power.
For an in-depth, bespoke briefing on this or any other geopolitical topic, consider Encylopedia Geopolitica’s intelligence consulting services.
When I had the great pleasure of living in Ukraine in 2012-13, my local friends in Odessa often told me that they had endured three crises since 1990. I understood these to be independence and the subsequent collapse of the economy from 1991-94, the Orange Revolution in 2004, and the global financial crisis starting in 2008. I was also told that there would be a fourth, which came much sooner than anyone had anticipated. In truth, Ukraine has never fully recovered from the effects of sudden liberation from the Soviet Union and its history since 1991 has been littered with corruption and suppression. In the country boasting the unhappy honor of the second-highest bribery rates in Europe after Moldova with 38% of households reporting a bribe paid, cynicism towards government is rampant. In November 2012 when smoking was made illegal on the streets and in restaurants and bars, the common joke was that it was just in time for policemen to collect bribes to buy their wives’ New Year presents.
Ukraine’s economy took a full decade from independence to begin to improve. The World Bank data tells the story: it fell to its lowest point in 2000 before rising dramatically to two peaks in 2008 and 2013, then falling due to the financial crisis and the revolution, respectively. Carbon dioxide emissions fell drastically after independence and have never recovered, not due to any environmentally-friendly policies but the simple fact that the country remains mired in the grip of the Soviet industrial economy. The modern world has largely passed it by, and even before the war in the Donbas, that region – the most productive in Ukraine – produced heavy machinery which only Russia would purchase. The population peaked in 1993 and has been falling ever since; its 2016 population of 45 million was roughly equivalent to the 1965 figure. Yet despite the statistics, Ukrainians remain an optimistic people. The country boasts some of the most fertile farmland in Europe, and many of the youth believe there is a future for their country in closer ties with the EU. And most tellingly, they have come out to support two revolutions. That optimism has suffered, though. The Orange Revolution failed, and Russian intervention in Crimea and the Donbas has caused the collapse of the Euromaidan Revolution as well.
I met a variety of people during my time in Odessa. I met people in their young twenties who were eager for opportunities in Europe. In fact, mere hours after the European parliament voted to introduce a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens, the passport website crashed, suggesting either than many were eager to travel, or eager to escape. I also met people who felt that Russia was forever the brother nation of Ukraine, and that closer ties would only benefit both, bona fide neo-Nazis who looked to Hitler as a role model, and far-right nationalists who felt the call of Stepan Bandera. It was plain that few in Ukraine wanted to develop a civil society that would help foster a genuine democracy and challenge the oligarchs. In the absence of a vibrant civil society, Ukraine has failed to develop into a modern European state, despite its best efforts to prove otherwise. Despite all its advantages and opportunities as a European country sharing a border with the Schengen Zone, Ukraine’s GDP (PPP) per capita is still just slightly above that of Bhutan, according to the IMF. Neighboring Belarus, Europe’s last dictatorship, has a figure more than double Ukraine’s.
Despite this, there is hope for Ukraine. The IMF’s sizable bailout program to the tune of $17.5 billion is providing the country with the funds necessary to make the necessary reforms and develop the foundation for a strong economy, but it comes at a price. Ukraine will be forced to repay its debt by handing over 40% of all its income over 4% of GDP growth, which is expected to take twenty years. Economic recovery has been slow, and Ukraine has consistently failed to uphold its end of the bargain and meet the mandated reforms. Regardless, the IMF still provides money, most recently $1 billion in April 2017, though the expected payment was $1.7 billion. In 2016, growth finally moved up for the first time since 2011, but not enough that the IMF loan would start being paid off. Moreover, Ukraine even owes Russia payments on a $3 billion bond, a sum which rises by $700,000 for each day of delinquency. Surprisingly, a London lawsuit ruled in favour of Russia over Ukraine’s delinquency, despite claims by Ukraine that this was brought about by Russia’s military annexation of Crimea.
The effects of the Euromaidan Revolution and the conflict with Russia will affect an entire generation of Ukrainians at the very least, and could have further effects on Europe as a whole.
Desperate for funds, Ukraine seems now to be on the verge of falling apart. Already a nation with a weak central government, the revolution that overthrew Yanukovich followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the rebellion in the Donbas has physically cloven the state and crippled its economy. The effects have even been felt in the Pacific, as North Korea’s newfound skill with ICBMs has been connected to a factory in Dnipro (formerly Dnepropetrovsk), in Ukraine. That factory made rocket engines for the Soviet Union and for Russia, but after conflict broke out, Russia canceled its contracts with the factory. While the Ukrainian government is unlikely to be involved, this sale of black market parts to a pariah state like North Korea strongly suggests that the state is incapable of securing itself. It is certainly possible that the relevant parts might have travelled to North Korea via Russia, but that would require them crossing the highly-monitored front line. It should be noted that the above-linked Newsweek article incorrectly places Dnipro in the separatist-controlled breakaway republics.
The economic issues have caused further issues. Bankruptcy has hit four-fifths of all state-owned agricultural companies, further complicating issues of where the IMF money will go. Corruption remains rampant across the country, and with a slow-burning war still being fought, President Poroshenko runs the risk of empowering paramilitary groups such as the Azov Battalion by allowing them to fight the war in place of conscripted soldiers. As the war drags on, meanwhile, Poroshenko’s poll rating continues to plummet. A Gallup survey in 2015 noted that his approval rating of 17% was lower even than Yanukovich prior to his removal from power the previous year. In March 2019, Ukraine will hold a presidential election; polls taken with prospective candidates show Poroshenko regularly receiving support of 12-15% of the population, seemingly low but given the wider range of possible candidates still good enough for second-place behind Yulia Tymoshenko, whose complex political resume in Ukraine includes heroine of the Orange Revolution, former Prime Minister, and former inmate.
The war in the Donbas is likely to coalesce into yet another frozen conflict in a post-Soviet state. Both the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have been recognized only by South Ossetia, itself a breakaway state in Georgia. Meanwhile the economy, showing little power to improve as long as the war is ongoing and corruption is unchecked, is draining the domestic support that Poroshenko had enjoyed in the aftermath of the revolution. In a sign of growing discomfort, the government has shown some signs of paranoia; Mikheil Saakashvili, former President of Georgia and former governor of Odessa region, was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship in July 2017 on the grounds of providing false information on his citizenship application regarding the fact that he is a wanted man in Georgia on the charge of exceeding his presidential powers. Those charges may well be politically-motivated, but stripping his Ukrainian citizenship is certainly politically-motivated. This was a known fact prior to his assumption of Ukrainian citizenship which only became a cause of concern after Saakashvili’s relationship with Poroshenko soured.
If Poroshenko is concerned about a political rival to the point where he is willing to deport him, it begs the question of the stability of Ukraine’s infant democracy. It has already shown to be shaky, with no president unaffected by corruption scandals or able to provide lasting economic growth. A weak central government enables the paramilitary battalions and oligarchs to claim more power for themselves, and Ukraine is unlikely to see the end of this crisis any time soon. The effects of the Euromaidan Revolution and the conflict with Russia will affect an entire generation of Ukrainians at the very least, and could have further effects on Europe as a whole.
What Ukraine needs more than anything is a vibrant civil society. It has shown flashes of one in the Orange and Euromaidan Revolutions, but the country needs to maintain this energy and focus it into developing an active and involved citizenry. The government would need to recognize the role civil society can play and allow it to be included in decision-making while not integrating it into the government. By extension, this will take power away from the paramilitary battalions and oligarchs, who are not likely to relinquish their hold on local authority. By holding local and federal government to account, the people as a whole can transform their country in the European nation they imagine themselves to be. Such a move will require a shift in perspectives away from the communist legacy of pervasive government, but the great interest the younger generations have in being part of Europe can be used as a tool to design a new and open Ukraine.
However, for civil society to flourish, the war must come to an end. This would likely mean abandoning the separatist-controlled land to fail of its own accord as Ukraine develops and prospers, or agreeing to preserve the autonomy of Russian-speaking regions as a constitutional guarantee, while paying pensions, collecting taxes, and providing basic services to reestablish the relationship between these regions and Kiev. As long as the war goes on, Ukraine will continue to be stuck in the mud and unable to find its way out of the crises that have plagued it for a quarter century. Ukraine’s future can be bright and successful, but will ultimately require that the country be lifted out of this cycle of crisis. By concluding the war and encouraging the growth of civil society, the country can begin to look forward to a future in which Ukrainians can be proud of their home as a modern and European state.
Eamon Driscoll is a graduate of the University of Ilinois who is currently completing his postgraduate studies in Geopolitics, Territory and Security at King’s College, London. Eamon has experience living and working in both Ukraine and Russia, and now focuses on issues in Russia and the wider Commonwealth of Independent States. His current academic focus is on the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and how its unique position has forced the region to develop differently from other Russian territories, especially in the shadow of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
For an in-depth, bespoke briefing on this or any other geopolitical topic, consider Encylopedia Geopolitica’s intelligence consulting services.
Photo credit: Taras Gren/Ukrainian Ministry of DefenceThe deputy assistant to President Trump, Sebastian Gorka, appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Update: Gorka is now saying his comments have been misconstrued and that he was merely saying the media shouldn’t ask Tillerson questions about military matters. “I said for reporters to force our chief diplomat — the amazing Rex Tillerson — to give details of military options is nonsensical. He is the secretary of state.... I was admonishing the journalist of the fake news-industrial complex... who are demanding that he make the military case for action.”
For those worried that President Trump might get into nuclear war with North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson provided some solace Wednesday. “Americans should sleep well at night,” Tillerson said, tempering Trump’s promise to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea if it continued to threaten the United States. Tillerson emphasized that no conflict was imminent.
But now another Trump administration voice is suggesting that we shouldn’t pay Tillerson much mind.
Sebastian Gorka appeared on BBC radio Thursday and delivered one of the most aggressive takes to date on what Trump might do — even allowing that a mere threat from North Korea could be construed as an act of war, as Trump seemed to do earlier this week. In doing so, Gorka played down Tillerson’s role in all of this.
“You should listen to the president; the idea that Secretary Tillerson is going to discuss military matters is simply nonsensical,” Gorka said in a recording shared with The Washington Post. “It is the job of Secretary Mattis, the secretary of defense, to talk about the military options, and he has done so unequivocally. He said, ‘Woe betide anyone who militarily challenges the United States,’ and that is his portfolio. That is his mandate. Secretary Tillerson is the chief diplomat of the United States, and it is his portfolio to handle those issues.”
The suggestion seems to be that Tillerson was out of his element when he provided those assurances Wednesday — that Tillerson wouldn’t even know how imminent such a conflict might be because it’s not in his purview.
The Washington Post revealed that U.S. analysts think North Korea has produced a nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles. Worried about what that means? Here are four things you need to know. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
And that’s a striking message from another member of the White House team. For a president who has publicly undermined his own attorney general and whose communications director railed against his two top White House aides in an interview two weeks ago, it looks like more backbiting and internal discord.
Trump on Tuesday seemed to be setting the red line for North Korea at any kind of threat — which Pyongyang, of course, makes often and would do again, soon after Trump’s comments, by threatening Guam. “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump said. “They will be met with the fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Tillerson seemed to scale back that red line Wednesday. But Gorka’s comments provide yet more conflicting information from the White House about precisely where that red line lies. Gorka seems to be saying it’s right back to where Trump suggested it was — or at least that Trump reserved the right to consider mere threats to be acts of war.
The interviewer pressed him on that point:
Q: But are you telling me, though, Mr. Gorka, that if there is an action by North Korea that is felt by the United States to be threatening, then that is war? Is that the understanding that the North Koreans should have? GORKA: If you threaten a nation, then what should you expect — a stiffly worded letter that would be sent by courier? Is that what the U.K. would do if a nation threatened a nuclear-tipped missile launched against any of the United Kingdom’s territories?
That’s very different from what Tillerson said.
The Fix's Aaron Blake looks at how President Trump's threats to North Korea contrast with the milder tone of his Cabinet secretaries. (Jenny Starrs,Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
As I wrote Wednesday morning, we may be witnessing a little “Good Cop, Bad Cop” here, with the administration providing different signals to keep North Korea guessing. It’s the “madman theory,” which says you want your enemies to think you’re capable of anything.
But this also seems to fit into a pattern of the White House not really having its story straight and figuring things out on the fly — which would be a perilous strategy, given the stakes of the North Korea situation. And it also fits into a long-running pattern of White House officials undermining one another, both privately and publicly. Having members of your staff undercut your own secretary of state doesn’t seem like a great way to do business.
(h/t Adam Taylor)ASHOK AMBARDAR
Warning: This man is on the run from Authority.
Last known sighting: EERC, Rm. 826, at the MTU
Correctional Educational Facility
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CASE HISTORY:
-Ashok Ambardar entered the US (legally) to pursue a higher calling. He was recruited by the badgers and his brain was thoroughly washed and cleansed after which he was branded MS (Mad Scientist Student). This spurred him to an even higher calling with the cowboys though it took a while to indoctrinate him with PhD (Phurther Damage).
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:
-Charged with pestering and heckling officials of MOAA.
-Charges dropped and payroll granted at Tech in 1976 with lots of time off for good behavior.
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-Made the 'Ten Most Wanted' list of the ECE Department since late 1983.
-During this time he was elevated to most wanted (ECE professor) on several occasions.
-Nabbed twice for University-wide Distinguished Cheating Teaching at Tech.
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-Granted tenure special immunity from prosecution in an unpublicized hearing in the 1980s.
-Shortly thereafter, he joined the infamous ‘EE Gang of Eight’. The gang members were sued for $50,000,000 by a disgruntled student. The suit was later dropped but details remain sketchy.
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-This man considers himself dangerous, possesses arms (two of them) and may not be pacified without the use of special treats. Approach with caution and always carry a stick or big bar (preferably dark chocolate, studded with almonds).
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-Ashok Ambardar has already been booked three times.
His most recent bookable offences are described yonder.
This page is under constant destruction. Please visit again.
ECE Home (you risk a return to instant sanity)
'All your base is belong to us'
Page last hacked on 11-01-2007Dead tissue caused by a bite from a Mediterranean recluse spider. (Credit: Marieke van Wijk et al)
– A 22-year-old Dutch woman came back from an Italian vacation with an unwanted souvenir…a bite from a venomous spider, according to LiveScience.com..
She sought treatment at an Italian hospital for pain in her ear and swelling on her face, but was unable to find relief.
Once she got back home to The Netherlands, her ear got worse: part of it turned black, meaning the skin and cartilage was dead.
Doctors determined the culprit was a Mediterranean recluse spider, whose bite is known to destroy skin and underlying fat.
Victims are often disfigured for life, but this is the first known case of the recluse spider’s venom causing damage to human cartilage.
In this case Dr. Marieke van Wijk was able to reconstruct the ear by removing the dead tissue and recreating the ear with cartilage from the woman’s rib cage.
The report appears in the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.One of the blessings (or plagues) or the “Web 2.0” revolution is heavy use of Javascript. Used properly, Javascript can enhance your user experience to nearly the level of a desktop application. Used poorly, and you’re browser is going to crash and burn. But this post isn’t about using Javascript, it’s about loading it.
You see, a large amount of web developers don’t think about how their web page is loaded. They think that no matter where scripts are included, its going to take the same time to load. Actually, this is true. What we’re after is an apparent decrease in load time. When you include Javascript files at the top of your HTML document, as soon as the browser encounters the Javascript it will load and execute it. The problem here is that loading a Javascript file is a blocking call in most web browsers. What does this mean to you? It means that while the Javascript is loading, the rest of your page isn’t. The apparent page load time has increased.
To get around this problem, some web developers have started including their scripts as the last element in the <body> tag. Done this way, your entire page loads on to the screen before the Javascript starts to load. The apparent page load time as decreased. Yes, the script will still take the same time to download and execute, but now people will see content almost immediately.
But why should you include some Javascript files if you aren’t sure the user is going to make use of them? Enter Lazy Load. Lazy Load allows you to easily include Javascript or CSS files on the fly. This is especially helpful when you have large files that need to be loaded. For instance, a sweet new carousel for your site. It’s probably pretty large, and the user is going to have to wait for it anyways. Using Lazy Load you can decrease your site’s apparent and actual load time. It’s also small (~800 bytes minified), so you won’t need to worry about the footprint. Oh, it’s really easy too…
LazyLoad. js ( 'http://example.com/foo.js', function ( ) { alert ( 'foo.js has been loaded' ) ; } ) ; LazyLoad.js('http://example.com/foo.js', function () { alert('foo.js has been loaded'); });The East Coast Basketball League (ECBL) began it inaugural season in March of 2015. Ten teams in two divisions made their way through the regular season and division playoffs. Now just two teams remain: Fayetteville Crossover will face PrimeTime Players in first-ever ECBL Championship.
Northern Division champion Fayetteville (12-2) lost just once to a division foe before cruising through the playoffs to earn their spot. The Crossover defeated the Carolina Gladiators (139-136) in the division semifinals before being crowned Northern winners. High Point Heat were to meet Fayetteville in the division final, but travel issues forced the Heat to forfeit.
PrimeTime (14-0) are looking to finish their season as undefeated champs. With victories over Fort Gordon Eagles (144-115) and South Carolina All-Stars (133-114) in the Southern Division playoffs, PrimeTime are looking for their fourth league title in four years. PrimeTime were winners of the Tobacco Road Basketball League from 2012-14.
The ECBL championship game is scheduled for Saturday, June 27 at 5:00 PM (ET). It will be played at Banks Street Gym in Fort Mills, SC. The game will also stream live via the ECBL YouTube channel.
Fans can follow the ECBL on Twitter at: @ECBLhoops
Fayetteville Crossover: @FayCrossover
PrimeTime Players: @PrimeTimeECBLEven before the season started, Bottas knew he was under pressure to prove he deserved to be chosen by Mercedes to replace Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg.
So far, aside from an “amateur” spin in China and admitting he “could have done a better job” of avoiding a first-corner crash in Spain, Bottas has been solid – but he trails teammate Lewis Hamilton by 29 points in the standings.
However, at least 15 of those were lost when his engine expired while running third in the Spanish Grand Prix, and he managed to take his maiden F1 win in just his fourth start for Mercedes in Russia.
And statistics suggest Bottas's start to life at Mercedes, which he signed with on a one-year deal, has been more than meets the eye.
In the races both Hamilton and Bottas have finished, the former edged his teammate 3-2, while in qualifying they are locked at 3-3.
And when you take a driver’s fastest lap from any session over the weekend for each of the first six races, converted to a percentage, with 100% representing the outright fastest, it is Bottas who leads the entire field so far this year.
Race-by-race supertime data (%)
Driver AUS CHI BAH RUS SPA MON Avg. Bottas +0.356 +0.204 100 +0.075 +0.283 +0.062 100.163 Vettel +0.326 +0.203 +0.538 100 +0.064 +0.060 100.199 Hamilton 100 100 +0.026 +0.607 100 +1.457 100.348 Raikkonen +1.028 +0.504 +0.899 +0.063 +0.366 100 100.477
When Mercedes struggled to get the Pirelli tyres, particularly the ultrasoft, into the right operating window in Monaco, it was Bottas rather than Hamilton who made the best of it.
The Finn was just 0.045s off pole and finished fourth, while Hamilton had to recover from qualifying 14th to salvage seventh in the race.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said: “Considering the fact we didn’t make the tyres work, it was an exceptional weekend [for Bottas].
“We analysed it over and over again and I think he outperformed the pace of the car this weekend, so all credit goes to him.
“When you have the slower car, you’re on the backfoot, and he did a super job in securing those points for P4. Under pressure he performs well - he showed with Sebastian in Sochi.
“He’s stepping up his game, with a great attitude. He keeps his cool and he’s a real pleasure to work with.”
Bottas appears to be growing in confidence, too, and is hopeful that he will continue to improve in the remaining 14 races.
“What gives me confidence is that there’s still 75% of the season left,” he said.
“That’s a lot of racing, a lot of possibilities for a lot of points and I know I’m only going to get better and will still improve.
“Definitely the points gap is bigger than I was hoping for but it’s only the beginning - things can change quickly.
“I feel my best races are ahead of me this year, I feel I have done a good job in some races but I feel there is more to come in getting into a consistent good level."WASHINGTON — Fired FBI director James Comey never recommended indictment for Hillary Clinton during the email investigation that dragged on through the presidential campaign and the first months of the Trump administration. Insiders felt that Comey was clearly protecting Clinton from the espionage and corruption charges that she would have faced from any objective FBI or Department of Justice.
Comey’s connections to the Clinton Foundation — the tarred nonprofit at the center of most Clinton corruption scandals — are shockingly close.
Former Bush administration official and Washington insider Comey served as general counsel of defense contractor Lockheed Martin until 2010, when he cashed out with more than $6 million including bonuses the very same year that Lockheed Martin became a member of the Clinton Global Initiative and won 17 contracts from the U.S. State Department, which was led by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Comey also joined the board in 2013 of the British bank HSBC Holdings, which is a Clinton Foundation partner.
Trending: Conservative Journalist Jacob Engels Suspended On Twitter For Calling Out Radical Islam
But the employment status of Comey’s brother Peter Comey is arguably the most egregious conflict of interest in the entire Hillary Clinton investigation, let alone in James Comey’s career.
Peter Comey works at the Washington law firm DLA Piper, serving as “Senior Director of Real Estate Operations for the Americas.”
Shortly before the election, my source called up DLA Piper’s offices in Chinatown and confirmed that the law firm immediately patches callers through to Peter Comey’s direct line there.
DLA Piper is one of Hillary Clinton’s top ten all-time career campaign donors.
DLA Piper also does the Clinton Foundation’s taxes. That’s right. In fact, when the Clinton Foundation scandal broke, it was DLA Piper that performed the 2015 audit on the Foundation, which was supposed to be an independent audit for the appearance of propriety.
Property records show that James Comey owns the mortgage on his brother Peter Comey’s house in Virginia. Therefore, James Comey had a direct financial relationship with a DLA Piper executive at the time he was investigating Clinton.
These relationships, though egregious, are symptomatic of the brazen culture of crony capitalism that exists in our nation’s capital. The public usually is prevented from learning these kinds of things, with the mainstream media blocking information from coming out. Sunlight is the only remedy.
When President Donald Trump finally fired James Comey as FBI director, Tucker Carlson said that everyone in Washington knows it was well past due.[np_storybar title=”Terence Corcoran: This is where real economic growth comes from” link=”http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/01/09/terence-corcoran-this-is-where-real-economic-growth-comes-from/”%5D
The heat of the great national angst over household debt and the risk of a consumer retreat from the economy appears to be masking some underlying good news on the future of the Canadian economy. There are no headlines yet, but the latest statistics on business credit suggest corporate investment may be taking off. This is where real economic growth comes from.
Read the full article here.
[/np_storybar]
Canadian banks have more loans out to Canadian businesses than ever before thanks to low interest rates and business owners hungry to grow.
At the end of November, the banks had $326.7-billion in loans to businesses on their books, up 9% from the same period last year, according to the Bank of Canada.
The banks themselves are no doubt pleased, but as an indicator of what to expect from the economy over the next few months the number is even more important, suggesting business owners may be in a hiring mood.
“From an economic point of view [the growth in business lending] is a real positive because small and medium-sized businesses are the real engines of job creation,” said Craig Alexander, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank.
Mr. Alexander says the rising demand for credit suggests an uptick in startups as well as capital investment by existing companies.
It also shows that lenders are keen to lend. For the past decade the entire sector has benefited enormously from booming consumer borrowing, especially for mortgages. But with household debt now sitting at record levels, that train is starting to slow and players need something to take up the slack. It’s no secret that businesses are seen as ideal candidates.
From an economic point of view [the growth in business lending] is a real positive because small and medium-sized businesses are the real engines of job creation
“There’s a strong willingness on the part of banks to lend [to this sector] and why wouldn’t you want to lend to businesses for a slightly better margin,” said National Bank Financial analyst Peter Routledge.
Business lending by the banks has been growing steadily over the past few years, hovering just below $300-billion for most of 2009 and 2010, the Bank of Canada’s statistics show.
Larger companies typically rely on the bond market when they need credit, and analysts say their issuance has risen significantly as well.
Another key factor is the record-low-interest-rate environment, which is prompting some businesses to borrow now even though the money may not be required immediately.
After collapsing in 2008 in the financial crisis, business confidence regained most of the lost ground by 2010 and since then it’s been tracking close to GDP growth, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s Business Barometer.
But the “generally positive” readings from the end of last year suggest that the Canadian economy may be on the verge of a rebound, said the report.
“Most businesses are coping reasonably well with credit conditions,” said Ted Mallett, CFIB’s chief economist. “We are seeing some worry about the overall business climate because of the instability of U.S. fiscal planning as well as the situation in Europe, but when you look into their operations and employment plans, things are reasonably good, and as a result we are finding businesses do have capital investment plans. They may not be opening the tap fully but we think they are poised to grow if the overall environment keeps picking up.”Sometimes you want to show a user a different feature. Or you want to test it in the production environment without affecting the other users. Or you have a group of beta testers for which you rely on early feedback to improve your app. Below is how I've managed that in a couple of projects with django-waffle.
Sometimes you want to show a user a different feature. Or you want to test it in the production environment without affecting the other users. Or you have a group of beta testers for which you rely on early feedback to improve your app. Below is how to do this using django-waffle.
Install django-waffle
Install the waffle package by running:
pip install django-waffle
Open your app's settings.py and:
add waffle to INSTALLED_APPS. add waffle.middleware.WaffleMiddleware to MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES.
And you're ready to go.
Create the beta testers group
Note: If you want to reuse an already existing group, just note its id for the next step.
Open a shell with:
./manage.py shell
and create a user group (adjust the first line if you use another group Model other than the one from django.contrib.auth ):
from django.contrib.auth.models import Group group = Group() group.name = 'Beta testers' group.save() group.id
Note the id of the new group for the next step.
Create a flag
Note: you can also do this on the admin site.
Reusing the previous shell:
from waffle.models import Flag flag = Flag() flag.name = 'new_feature' flag.group = 72 # replace 72 by the id from the previous step flag.save()
Use a flag in templates
Now that you have everything setup, it's time to use the flags in the code.
If you want to show a difference in a template, just add the waffle_tags and use the flag as you'd use an if :
{% flag flag_name %} Flag is active! {% else %} Flag is inactive! {% endflag %}
Use a flag in views
If you want to switch between different codes in views, just import waffle at the beggining of the file and then protect the differences with:
if waffle. flag_is_active ( request, 'new_feature' ): # Behavior if flag is active. else : # Behavior if flag is inactive.
Final notes
Don't overuse flags. Flags can be changed at runtime, so, for testing, you should test all the possible combinations. That adds a maintenance cost (in time and resources). As a rule of thumb I try to keep flags to a maximum of three at any point in time in a project.
Flags can also be used for phased roll-outs in Django. Check the documentation for that use case.
See the rest of the documentation at http://waffle.readthedocs.org/en/
Happy coding!Researchers at the John Innes Centre have made a discovery, reported this evening (24 July) in Nature, that explains how an organism can create a biological memory of some variable condition, such as quality of nutrition or temperature. The discovery explains the mechanism of this memory -- a sort of biological switch -- and how it can also be inherited by offspring.
The work was led by Professor Martin Howard and Professor Caroline Dean at the John Innes Centre.
Professor Dean said: "There are quite a few examples that we now know of where the activity of genes can be affected in the long term by environmental factors. And in some cases the environment of an individual can actually affect the biology or physiology of their offspring but there is no change to the genome sequence."
For example, some studies have shown that in families where there was a severe food shortage in the grandparents' generation, the children and grandchildren have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which could be explained by epigenetic memory. But until now there hasn't been a clear mechanism to explain how individuals could develop a "memory" of a variable factor, such as nutrition.
The team used the example of how plants "remember" the length of the cold winter period in order to exquisitely time flowering so that pollination, development, seed dispersal and germination can all happen at the appropriate time.
Professor Howard said: "We already knew quite a lot about the genes involved in flowering and it was clear that something goes on in winter that affects the timing of flowering, according to the length of the cold period."
Using a combination of mathematical modelling and experimental analysis the team has uncovered the system by which a key gene called FLC is either completely off or completely on in any one cell and also later in its progeny. They found that the longer the cold period, the higher the proportion of cells that have FLC stably flipped to the off position. This delays flowering and is down to a phenomenon known as epigenetic memory.
Epigenetic memory comes in various guises, but one important form involves histones -- the proteins around which DNA is wrapped. Particular chemical modifications can be attached to histones and these modifications can then affect the expression of nearby genes, turning them on or off. These modifications can be inherited by daughter cells, when the cells divide, and if they occur in the cells that form gametes (e.g. sperm in mammals or pollen in plants) then they can also pass on to offspring.
Together with Dr Andrew Angel (also at the John Innes Centre), Professor Howard produced a mathematical model of the FLC system. The model predicted that inside each individual cell, the FLC gene should be either completely activated or completely silenced, with the fraction of cells switching to the silenced state increasing with longer periods of cold.
To provide experimental evidence to back up the model, Dr Jie Song in Prof. Dean's group used a technique where any cell that had the FLC gene switched on, showed up blue under a microscope. From her observations, it was clear that cells were either completely switched or not switched at all, in agreement with the theory.
Dr Song also showed that the histone proteins near the FLC gene were modified during the cold period, in such a way that would account for the switching off of the gene.
Funding for the project came from BBSRC, the European Research Council, and The Royal Society.
Professor Douglas Kell, Chief Executive, BBSRC said: "This work not only gives us insight into a phenomenon that is crucial for future food security -- |
disdain for Mother Teresa. But we were unable to find any details to support their claims outside of Hitchens’ writings (many others have parroted what he wrote, of course). It is possible that Mother Teresa behaved badly in any number of ways (as much as one may admire her dedication to the poorest of the poor, she was still human, after all), but the shortcomings of a professed believer do not prove that Christianity itself is false. Their example could easily be turned back on them; it’s like saying because Hitler was an evolutionist, every evolutionist must be a genocidal maniac.
In fact, if any Christian acts in an unchristian manner, then that Christian would be acting inconsistently according to their belief system, but such actions would not necessarily falsify the belief system. See The Haggard tragedy; ‘Christianity must be wrong because of all the hypocrites in the church!’
But based on the atheists’ own belief system, how can they define what is good/moral or not except what they pick and choose for themselves? And moreover, why do they even care? If their claim about Mother Teresa is correct, wasn’t she doing them a favour and actually acting more in accordance with an evolutionist’s worldview? We are sure it would be very easy to find fault with many of the world’s charitable organizations. It seems to be only too convenient for these atheists in targeting one that claims to do its works under the banner of Christianity.
The only reason some atheist can point the finger at anyone else is because he was raised in an environment where such concepts prevailed—and these concepts came from the Scriptures in the first place.
We suggest that the prevailing concept of morality in the Western world is primarily composed of Christian virtues that come from the Bible, and which grew under a Christian worldview, i.e. “Love your neighbour as yourself.” In other words, the only reason some atheist can point the finger at anyone else is because he was raised in an environment where such concepts prevailed—and these concepts came from the Scriptures in the first place. Most of our moral codes and laws today had their origins in the Bible’s teaching about such things. See Biblical Christianity is the basis for Western Law and Freedom and the contrast, by the same author, who is a legal scholar, The Darwinian roots of the Nazi legal system.
One of us (GB) gave an example of the atheists’ own hypocrisy during the Haiti earthquake tragedy in January 2010. In recent years, atheists have been stung by comments that show they have no logical basis for their morality. So Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, Michael Shermer, said:
“It’s all well and good to say that we nonbelievers are just as moral as believers (we are, but that’s a philosophical point)—actions count more than words and real donations are where the theoretical rubber meets the practical road. This is our time to pony up and show the world our true character.” (Emphasis ours).5
Note that Shermer’s motivation was not necessarily to help the struggling Haitians, it was to show the world that atheists can be good too. The Lord Jesus had something to say about giving in such a way. He said:
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:2–4, emphasis ours).
Shermer was being a complete hypocrite. Christians should give based on the recognition that all people everywhere are human beings made in the image of God—displaying the same love and compassion that God had for us when He came to this earth to rescue us.
British politician and author Roy Hattersley had this comment to make about the Salvation Army:
“ … it remains a vibrant organization because of its convictions. I’m an atheist. But I can only look with amazement at the devotion of the Salvation Army workers. I’ve been out with them on the streets and the way they work amongst the people, the most deprived and disadvantaged and sometimes pretty repugnant characters. I don’t believe they would do that were it not for the religious impulse. And I often say I never hear of atheist organizations taking food to the poor. You don’t hear of ‘Atheist Aid’ rather like Christian aid, and, I think, despite my inability to believe for myself, I’m deeply impressed by what belief does for people like the Salvation Army.”3
In his classic treatise, One Human Family, Carl Wieland highlighted the failure of atheist aid organizations and their hypocrisy in publicizing their ‘good works’. He wrote:
“Other atheists, seemingly ‘stung’ by the increase in similar comments over the years, have launched their own charitable organizations, but mostly these just highlight the contrast. In preparing this book, I googled ‘atheist aid’, and the website www.atheistaid.org.uk popped up prominently. Under the heading “Compassion without Religion”, it stated on the front page (12 October 2010): ‘This site highlights current charity work and philanthropy by atheists and agnostics. Please mail me if you’d like to publicize your good works.’ “The rest of the page had two entries, one highlighting the Haiti Appeal by Richard Dawkins’ foundation and listing a good number of atheist groups that had declared their support for it. The other was an atheist writing in to tell of how she and other atheists were helping edit a book, The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas, in aid of an HIV charity. “That’s it. There was nothing else on the site. When I checked again on 19 July 2011, it seemed to have gone defunct.”4
Is there anything about Christmas that’s genuinely Christian?
Well, yes, but what does it matter anyway? The truth of Christianity depends on the historical facts of the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ, not on Christmas traditions. Many alleged pagan parallels are either nothing of the kind, or actually post-date Christianity, so were borrowed from Christianity. See Was Christianity plagiarized from pagan myths? Refuting the copycat thesis and Copycat copout: Jesus was not made up from pagan myths. But let’s take a few common claims:
December 25th
There is no evidence of a 25 December date for Mithraic mysteries, as liberal theologians once asserted. There was a 25 December date for Sol Invictus, or ‘Unconquered Sun’, but this did not specifically pertain to Mithraism, which had no unique public festivals. Furthermore, like the alleged Mithraic parallels, this celebration post-dates Christian celebrations of the same date. Observation of this date by Christians goes back at least as far as 202 by Hippolytus of Rome in his Commentary on Daniel:
“For the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, eight days before the kalends of January [December 25th], the 4th day of the week [Wednesday], while Augustus was in his forty-second year, [2 or 3BC] but from Adam five thousand and five hundred years. He suffered in the thirty third year, 8 days before the kalends of April [March 25th], the Day of Preparation, the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar [29 or 30 ], while Rufus and Roubellion and Gaius Caesar, for the 4th time, and Gaius Cestius Saturninus were Consuls.”
But it wasn’t until 274, 72 years later, that Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed a celebration of Sol Invictus, and there is no clear evidence that such a celebration on this date actually took place until 354. One article, “Calculating Christmas”, concludes:
“Thus, December 25th as the date of the Christ’s birth appears to owe nothing whatsoever to pagan influences upon the practice of the Church during or after Constantine’s time. It is wholly unlikely to have been the actual date of Christ’s birth, but it arose entirely from the efforts of early Latin Christians to determine the historical date of Christ’s death. “And the pagan feast which the Emperor Aurelian instituted on that date in the year 274 was not only an effort to use the winter solstice to make a political statement, but also almost certainly an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already of importance to Roman Christians. The Christians, in turn, could at a later date re-appropriate the pagan ‘Birth of the Unconquered Sun’ to refer, on the occasion of the birth of Christ, to the rising of the ‘Sun of Salvation’ or the ‘Sun of Justice.’5
So clearly the pagan date is the counterfeit, not the original. The real source of the 25 December date is an extra-biblical Jewish tradition, called the ‘integral year’. This means that a prophet’s lifespan would be an exact number of years, so he would die on an anniversary of his conception, the real beginning of life. Jesus’ death was calculated as March 25th by the Western church, and April 6th by the Eastern Church. Therefore this same date was celebrated as the date Christ was conceived. Nine months later is December 25th or January 6th, and the latter date is still celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox church (and many branches of the Western church celebrate ‘Epiphany’ on the same day, now to commemorate the arrival of the magi and their three gifts).
CMI doesn’t say that Christ was born on this day (we doubt that it’s possible to know for sure), or what we should or should not do then. But we do say that many common arguments against this date are fallacious (see Christmas and Genesis). And as shown above, the claim that the 25 December date stems from paganism is totally lacking in historical foundation.
Santa Claus
It’s often overlooked, but Saint Nicholas is a real historical figure. He was known for his generosity. Hanging stockings comes from an instance where he gave some girls money for their dowry by putting it in their stockings, which were drying by the fireplace. Of course, the mythology that has grown around this figure and the associated rampant commercialization distracts from any remembrance of the Saviour’s birth.
Gift-giving
This originated from both the gifts of the Magi and from Saint Nicholas.
Yule log
A modern tradition that has no origin in either Christianity or paganism—it never had any specific religious significance, pagan or otherwise. It was simply a festive decoration with a practical purpose.
Christmas tree
This is also a modern innovation that has no origin in either Christianity or Paganism. There is no evidence of this earlier than the 15th century, in what is now Estonia. Then in the next century, Christians in what is now northern Germany performed mystery plays with an evergreen “Paradise tree” hung with apples, and one apple was plucked. December 24 was a traditional “name day” for Adam and Eve. We can appreciate this link of Christmas to the Fall, which is the whole reason Jesus came to die, according to the New Testament (see 1 Corinthians 15, for example).
The Christmas tree was introduced to England by Queen Victoria’s German consort, Prince Albert. In fact, many of what we think of as ancient Christmas traditions began in Victorian England only a little over a century ago!6
Did priests and ministers really conspire with Hitler before WWII?
Once again, even if true, how do the actions of a few individuals falsify Christianity or make it an invalid belief system?
However, the usual charge is about the Reichskonkordat between the Third Reich and the Catholic Church under Pope Pius XII (1876–1958). While CMI is not Roman Catholic, we find that the book The Myth of Hitler’s Pope by Rabbi David Dalin7 argues convincingly that “the concordat was a pragmatic and morally defensible diplomatic measure to protect German Catholics and the relative freedom of the Catholic Church in Germany.” Dalin also provides incontrovertible proof of pro-Semitism in the Roman Catholic Church, and that Pius saved far more Jews than Oskar Schindler—Jewish historian Pinchas Lapide argued that Pius “was instrumental in saving at least 700,000, but probably as many as 860,000 Jews from certain death at Nazi hands”, compared to the 1200 on ‘Schindler’s List’. See also The Darwin Hitler connection.
In any case, Hitler hijacked churches by stacking them with his own priests and pastors, and invoked the name of God in his speeches and writings, although he was clearly not a believer. This even led to a disgracefully anti-Semitic and anti-Christian butchering of the Bible (see Did Hitler rewrite the Bible?). This was so that he could fool many Christians into believing that he was actually on their side. But at the same time he secretly killed real Christians or threw them into the concentration camps, including the Christian White Rose resistance movement that came out of University campuses in Germany. Led by Sophie Scholl,8 who is a modern-day hero in Germany, these Christians actively campaigned against the Nazis and became martyrs in the process when they were guillotined for their beliefs.
Also, see our review of The Swastika against the Cross, which shows how true Christians were persecuted under Hitler. Furthermore, during the Nuremberg trials of leading Nazis, Prosecutor William Donovan documented copious evidence that the Nazi regime planned to wipe out Christianity (see Nazis planned to exterminate Christianity).
Summary
If you look at these Free Inquiry arguments objectively, they are particularly weak—many are merely abusive ad hominem arguments. If this is the best they can do, then it really demonstrates the logical weakness of their own belief system.
Unfortunately, most people who receive this sort of mailing won’t have the motivation or resources to challenge these statements. And of course, by sending them to nursing homes, they are picking on the more vulnerable ones. The nature of the advertisement is such that they can just throw the assertions out there without the supporting data, to invoke the idea that ‘Where’s there’s smoke there’s fire’. That’s a really nice tactic if you are the one blowing all the smoke! Their hope is, of course, that one will shell out the money for a subscription to get the supporting information. That seems disingenuous at the very least.
So, why not forward (see the email button at the top of the page) this article to others to show the weakness of the atheists’ arguments? Print this out for your church family so they can be prepared with answers, and meet the challenge head on. You might need to visit your local nursing home too, and deliver a few copies!CLOSE San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick defended his stance on sitting during the national anthem. Players and fans responded with support and backlash.
G Alex Boone, left, and QB Colin Kaepernick were 49ers teammates for five seasons. (Photo11: Ed Mulholland, USA TODAY Sports)
MINNEAPOLIS — Alex Boone chose his words carefully, noting he’d been warned the question was coming.
But Boone, the Minnesota Vikings veteran guard, made abundantly clear Sunday he was upset by former San Francisco 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick’s recent decision not to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner.
“It’s hard for me, because my brother was a Marine, and he lost a lot of friends over there,” Boone told USA TODAY Sports. “That flag obviously gives (Kaepernick) the right to do whatever he wants. I understand it. At the same time, you should have some (expletive) respect for people who served, especially people that lost their life to protect our freedom.
“We’re out here playing a game, making millions of dollars. People are losing their life, and you don’t have the common courtesy to do that. That just drove me nuts.”
Kaepernick told NFL Network on Friday night that he chose not to stand because: "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
Boone, who played five seasons with Kaepernick in San Francisco, said he was upset and disappointed by Kaepernick’s actions but not surprised.
He spoke after the Vikings’ exhibition Sunday against the San Diego Chargers wearing a shirt bearing the name of Chris Kyle, the late Navy SEAL veteran portrayed in the movie American Sniper.
“You see all these pictures of these veterans that have no legs, and they’re standing up in a wheelchair,” Boone said after a small group of reporters gathered at his locker. “I had a brother that served, and he lost friends, and I know how much it means to him. It’s shameful.”
Asked how he would’ve handled it had he still been with the 49ers, Boone said: “See, I’m a very emotional person. So, I think if I had known that, my emotions would’ve been rolling — I think we would’ve had a problem on the sideline.
“And I get that he can do whatever he wants. But there’s a time and a place. Show some respect, and that’s just how I feel.”
***
Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero1 In 1871, the Surgeon General post was created as the top officer in the Marine Hospital Service, a quasi-military organization meant to battle diseases spread by merchant sailors.
2 The first SG was John Maynard Woodworth, who created a mobile body of physicians, the Commissioned Corps. Today it remains one of only seven uniformed services of our government. (No, the post office doesn’t count.)
3 Before 1977, all SGs served in the Commissioned Corps. Today the only requirement is that they agree with everything the president says.
4 The second SG, John B. Hamilton, really was a surgery professor. Rather than relocate to San Francisco with the Marine Hospital Service, he resigned in 1896 to run the Illinois State Insane Hospital, where he died two years later.
5 During World War I, under SG Rupert Blue, cigarettes were issued as part of each fighting man’s basic field rations kit.
6 In 1964, SG Luther Terry published a report that nailed cigarette smoking as a cause of cancer, triggering the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act. This sent the tobacco lobby into a frenzy of denial, bribery, and intimidation that continues to this day.
7 Antonia Novello, under George H. W. Bush, was a harsh critic of Big Tobacco. Her brother-in-law, Don Novello, played a chain-smoking priest, Father Guido Sarducci, on Saturday Night Live.
8 Surgeon General Hugh Cumming is remembered for the notorious Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, begun under his watch in 1930, to study the effects of untreated syphilis in African American men. The program continued under six successive SGs, being declared unethical only in 1973. The study proved that it’s unhealthy to leave syphilis untreated.
9 In 1981, Reagan’s ultraconservative SG, C. Everett Koop, brought the traditional full military regalia back to the office. But he was no dandy: His famous uniform was made of polyester.
10 Koop penned a brochure (PDF) explaining the risks of AIDS—writing frankly about sexuality—and had it mailed to every household in the United States. It was the first government mass mailing of its kind. He took a lot of flak for it.
11 He also performed a cameo in The Exorcist III.
12 Today the 90-year-old Koop is a pitchman for Life Alert, the emergency medical response service with the catchphrase, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
13 Joycelyn Elders was our first black SG. Like Koop, she advocated frank sex education in schools. Unlike Koop, she did not survive the flak; she was gone within 15 months, the shortest tenure of any SG.
14 She was forced to resign because, when asked about masturbation at a U.N. conference on AIDS, she responded in a positive way. There are no existing audio or videotapes of her response; the exact words that led to her firing remain unknown.
15 Under George W. Bush, SG Richard H. Carmona said officials asked him to censor his reporting on embryonic stem cell research, contraception, and the unrealistic proposition of abstinence-only sex education. He was also instructed to mention the president three times per page in every speech he gave.
16 Separated at birth? Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu also required scientists to sprinkle his name in their speeches.
17 Carmona, a high school dropout, earned his GED in the Army, was a decorated Vietnam Special Forces combat veteran, then won the “Gold-Headed Cane Award” as top graduate at the University of California Medical School. He also served as a paramedic and a nurse.
18 Resistance to Bush’s nomination of James W. Holsinger as 18th Surgeon General comes partly from his purported antigay bias. In a paper he wrote for the United Methodist Church in 1991—which some say is light on science and heavy on dogma—Holsinger declared that male homosexuality is unnatural and unhealthy.
19 On the bright side, PETA likes him: Acting SG Robert A. Whitney, who served in the interim between Novello and Elders, was a veterinarian.
20 The SG’s position has been vacant on many occasions. The longest vacancy was four years. During those times, the health infrastructure of the United States collapsed to dust. Just kidding.Kanye West has a new foe – outspoken former Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher.
The Beady Eye star was asked for his opinion on the rapper in a new interview with British GQ and he didn’t hold back.
Calling the father-to-be a “f—–’ clown”, Gallagher singled out West’s recent embarrassing encounter with a traffic sign as he tried to avoid paparazzi upon leaving a building with his pregnant girlfriend Kim Kardashian.
The rocker said, “Have you seen when he bumped his head? He’s coming out of the gym with that bird (woman) and there are geezers taking pictures. You have to put your head up and carry on walking.
“He’s gone and walked straight into a f**king pole. You hear it go ’dink’ and him tell people to stop taking pictures. Put your head up so you know what you’re doing! Smashed his head up. He’s a f—— idiot.”
The attack could not have come at a worse time for Kanye, who is preparing to release his new album Yeezus amid claims he cheated on his girlfriend with a Canadian model, who sold her story to America’s Star tabloid.
A spokesperson for Kardashian has denied Leyla Ghobadi’s allegations and West’s handlers have also shut down her story, stating, “This most recent attack on Kanye West and his family is totally without merit. It’s a blatant attempt by a misguided individual who is clearly seeking publicity, and another in a series of malicious stories drummed up by non-credible ’news’ sources. This is a sad attempt to hurt two people trying to live their lives.”
West and Kardashian are due to welcome a daughter together next month.Six weeks since Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE’s surprise loss in the presidential election, FBI Director James Comey is under pressure to justify the bombshell announcement that rocked the final days of the campaign.
Democrats, still smarting from the Nov. 8 loss, have lashed out at Comey as the architect of the Democratic nominee's defeat.
“James Comey cost her the election," former president Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonInviting Kim Jong Un to Washington Howard Schultz must run as a Democrat for chance in 2020 Trump says he never told McCabe his wife was 'a loser' MORE has said.
Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidBottom Line Brennan fires back at'selfish' Trump over Harry Reid criticism Trump rips Harry Reid for 'failed career' after ex-Dem leader slams him in interview MORE (D-Nev.) has accused the director of being a “Republican operative” who helped President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE win the White House.
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Now, speculation has begun to swirl that Comey will publicly address the charges of partisanship.
Several former FBI officials told The Hill that they have heard Comey is now weighing a possible press appearance after Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20 to tell his side of the story.
The FBI declined to comment for this report.
Eleven days before the election, Comey shocked the political world with a letter informing Congress that investigators had discovered new emails that could be relevant to its probe, then considered completed, of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of State.
Comey for months defended the integrity of the probe — first against Republicans when he declined to recommend charges against Clinton in the first place, and more recently against Democrats and internal critics who said his eleventh-hour disclosure unfairly damaged Clinton.
The former prosecutor has made few media appearances over the course of his career — he did sit for a “60 Minutes” interview in 2014 — but he has been forced into the harsh glare of camera lights throughout the past year.
He was thrust into the spotlight after Attorney General Loretta Lynch sparked outrage by meeting with Bill Clinton before the conclusion of the investigation this summer — a meeting they described as social — forcing her to announce that she would abide by whatever recommendation Comey made in the case.
Comey was then open publicly with the FBI’s reasoning in declining to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton, holding a detailed press conference announcing its conclusion and later appearing before Congress in an open setting multiple times.
But he has been notably silent since his Oct. 28 letter to Congress.
Democrats, appalled by the fallout from his letter to Congress, have argued that Comey’s disclosure in the final days leading up to the election was a massive break from bureau policy that blunted Clinton’s path to the White House. They say that although the FBI announced two days before the election that the new emails would not change its conclusion in Clinton’s case, the damage was done.
Critics hammered Comey’s vague letter for igniting a firestorm of speculation that the new emails contained a “smoking gun” — without providing any substantive information for voters to judge.
“Today's disclosure might be worst abuse yet. DOJ goes out of its way to avoid publicly discussing investigations close to election," former Department of Justice spokesman Matthew Miller said in a tweetstorm at the time. “This might be totally benign & not even involve Clinton. But no way for press or voters to know that. Easy for opponent to make hay over.”
Trump did in fact run with Comey's announcement on the campaign trail, repeatedly telling supporters that the emails must contain something truly damning.
"I have a feeling those emails are going to be — whoa, there are going to be some beauties in there. Can you imagine? She's been deleting all the time, deleting," he said at a Florida rally shortly after the announcement.
Clinton herself has since told donors that she believes Comey’s disclosure raised "doubts that were groundless, baseless, proven to be, stopped our momentum.”
It’s unclear how much of an effect the last-minute news had at the ballot box, but Trump’s narrow win in a number of battleground states and Clinton’s lead in the popular vote tally are giving fuel to those who say her loss could have been avoided.
One of Trump’s pollsters, veteran political strategist Tony Fabrizio, said just five counties made the difference: four in Florida and one in Michigan.
And post-election analysis from data guru Nate Silver and others has suggested that some voters shifted to Trump in the final weeks of the election, though he notes that the analysis is not cause-and-effect.
Comey himself was aware of the risks associated with the late October missive. In an internal memo to FBI employees, he acknowledged that “there is significant risk of being misunderstood.”
"We don't ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed," Comey wrote. "I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record.”
Comey has a reputation as an independent and principled lawman — which some critics say has led him to operate outside of important institutional norms.
Others say Comey had no choice but to inform Congress of the existence of the emails — when he chose to go public with the details of the investigation’s findings over the summer, he pinned himself in a corner when the bureau realized it might have more work to do.
But throughout, Comey has been strident in his defense of the probe.
“You can call us wrong, but don’t call us weasels. We are not weasels,” Comey said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing during which Republicans suggested he had caved to political pressure from above.
“We are honest people and … whether or not you agree with the result, this was done the way you want it to be done.”
Pressure to speak out is mounting as more details emerge about the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the new emails.
The search warrant used to go through the emails, unsealed Tuesday, confirmed that Comey delivered his letter to Congress two days before the warrant was granted — meaning that investigators didn’t yet know what was in them.
Investigators found emails they thought might be pertinent to Clinton's investigation when they sorted and scanned the header information of messages stored on a laptop seized as part of an investigation into former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).
The former New York congressman was under investigation for allegedly sending sexually explicit messages to a minor. Weiner is married to longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin, though the two are separated.
Some of the accounts used on the seized computer correlated with those used by Clinton and her aides during her tenure at Foggy Bottom — accounts that investigators previously concluded had been used inappropriately, the newly released documents show.
The FBI told a federal judge it believed that was sufficient to show there was probable cause that the computer contained classified information pertinent to the Clinton probe.If this entire planet, solar system and galaxy just doesn't hold enough excitement for you, be prepared to pick up some speed — because scientists have worked out that you need to be travelling at a staggering two million kilometres per hour to exit the Milky Way.
A team of researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam, Germany, have used data from the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey to work out the exit velocity required to leave our home galaxy. By analysing the motion of 90 high-velocity stars and using a series of complex theoretical models of the galaxy's mass calculate, they were able to calculate the speed at which objects can exit the Milky Way.
Their results suggest that a spaceship would need to hit 537km/s — that's 0.2 per cent of the speed of light — to escape the gravitational pull of our galaxy. For context, a rocket needs to reach 11.2km/s to escape Earth's gravity.
Is that ever going to be possible? Well, while current rockets would never make it, astronomer Joss Bland-Hawthorn explained to New Scientist that there's another way:
"I know it's a crazy idea, but if you had lots of matter and lots of antimatter, you could power a spaceship out of the galaxy."
Sounds like a challenge. [arXiv via New Scientist]This is the ninth in Entropy’s small press interview series, where we ask editors about their origins, their mission, and what it’s like to run a press. Find the other interviews from this series in our small press database here and under the Resources tab at the top of the page.
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Interview with Editor Eric Obenauf
How did Two Dollar Radio start?
Two Dollar Radio began in 2005, when I was 23 and didn’t know any better. I started it with my wife, Eliza. At the time, we were living in San Diego, reading back-issues of Punk Planet, a lot of Howard Zinn, and small press publications from Soft Skull and Akashic and Dalkey Archive. Those elements were the kindling.
We were camping in Big Sur with our dogs when we stumbled in the Henry Miller Memorial Library, where we bought a copy of Andre Schiffrin’s The Business of Books: How International Corporations Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read. That was the spark.
Tell us a bit about Two Dollar Radio. What are your influences, your aesthetic, your mission?
Some influences include Barney Rosset and the old Grove Press, and John Martin of Black Sparrow. I think they both believed in literature and its standing in the larger cultural conversation: that literature possessed the power to inspire or inform culture. Nowadays, especially at the corporate houses, it seems more like they believe that only the inverse can be true because of how slow and methodical the publishing process is.
In terms of steering the Two Dollar Radio ship, I’m much more influenced aesthetically and spiritually by the work of indie record labels. I read publishing news daily, because I maybe should. But publishing news is fucking boring! Indie record labels like Drag City and Jagjaguwar just do want they want, when they want to, which seems to create an extremely liberating environment creatively. I knew when we started the company, that we would eventually expand beyond publishing books, into film and maybe even music. Our first feature film will be released next spring, and we’re scheduled to begin production on the second feature in June.
We aim to champion bold work of literary merit, creative, striking, with a high level of authorial authority. I realize it’s not for everyone, but the last thing the world needs is another publisher releasing work that could just as easily be published by Penguin Little Brown House. And there’s a strong likelihood that if you enjoy one of our books, you’ll dig them all.
Can you give us a preview of what’s current and/or forthcoming from your catalog, as well as what you’re hoping to publish in the future?
We’ve just published the debut novel by Nicholas Rombes, which is a cinephile’s wet-dream. 3:AM Magazine said that “Kafka directed by David Lynch doesn’t even come close,” which I believe sums it up nicely. Rombes wrote it inspired to conjure up films that don’t exist but that he wishes did, told through the lens of a mysterious, eccentric, rare-film librarian. I wish they did, too, because they sound incredible!
This month, we’re out with Binary Star, a novel by Sarah Gerard, that is getting some great buzz. It’s an impassioned, lyrical rumination on stars, addiction, and obsession, by an exceptionally brave and gifted new voice. I hope you’ll hear a lot about this one in the coming months.
In March, we’re publishing the debut novel by highly-regarded rock critic, Carola Dibbell, who a month later turns 70. The Only Ones takes place in a post-pandemic world, and follows Inez, who is strangely immune to disease and makes her living as a test-subject. Mary Harron, Steve Erickson, and Charles Yu have all given us glowing endorsements.
Then, ideally, April/May-ish we’ll be releasing our first feature film, I’m Not Patrick, which I wrote and directed. In many ways it was the guinea pig for our production wing, but only in terms of testing our own limitations and capabilities. I’m very proud of how it turned out. The cast – which consists of neighbors, friends, family, and co-workers – did a killer job. It’s a black comedy about a teenager whose twin brother commits suicide, leaving him to answer the obvious questions and deal with overbearing family and school administrators. The lead actor, Lachlan Lipscomb, who is only 17, is destined for great things.
What about small/independent press publishing is particularly exciting to you right now?
Indie presses in this country are the primary force pushing our literary culture forward right now. Which is how it should be, I suppose. We have corporations to thank for this, and their expansion and operating procedures in the ’80s to the present. It created a rich environment for us and other indie presses to step up and make an impact.
Most editors you meet from a large press, their introductions are schizophrenic: “I publish [insert name of writer with a smidge of literary credibility], as well as [insert name of writer with mainstream/pop readership].” It’s not the editor’s fault. I’m really thankful to be in the position that I’m in, where I can feel proud of every author and book that I publish. No disclaimers here.
How do you cope? There’s been a lot of conversation lately about charging reading fees, printing costs, rising book costs, who should pay for what, etc. Do you have any opinions on this, and would you be willing to share any insights about the numbers at Two Dollar Radio?
There’s a lot to this question, so, you know, I’ll try my best.
We now charge a $3 reading fee. I think of it as if you want me to read your manuscript seriously, you need to buy me a cup of coffee. The reading fee isn’t meant to drive profit – it’s meant as a deterrent to writers (and there are hundreds of them) who carpet-bomb any publisher they can find an email address for. We also make agents pay the fee, which I think irks most of them, but whatever.
I don’t think most engaged or aware readers care quite as much about book costs as the popular masses who bargain-shop at Amazon or Wal-Mart. I bartend three nights a week. We have an incredible draft beer selection. I drink more than my share of craft beers, and I don’t mind paying more for craft beer because 1) it generally tastes much better; 2) it’s nice to have diversity. Imagine if every book cost $9.99 and then imagine every book tasting like Budweiser. That’s not a world I want to live in.
We got major distribution in January 2008. In the fall, the economy went to shit. It forced us to be really thrifty and to make every book count because we couldn’t afford for one not to. It toughened us up, and the last two years have been our two best ever, critically and financially. There are no |
black chamber" for decoding.
Shaping the war
The Chopmist Hill listening post soon became the largest and most successful of a nationwide network of 13 similar installations. Its ability to eavesdrop on German radio transmissions in North Africa, for instance, was so precise that technicians could actually listen in on tank-to-tank communications within Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s infamous Afrika Korps.
The Germans’ battlefield strategy was then relayed to the British, who under Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery eventually defeated Rommel at El Alamein.
The Chopmist station is also credited with saving the Queen Mary, the pride of England’s maritime fleet, as it was about to sail with 14,000 troops from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Australia.
The station intercepted orders from Germany to the Nazi’s submarine wolf pack operating in the south Atlantic to sink the ship. The radio station alerted the British, who ordered the ship to change course.
Cave, who supervised the Chopmist Hill station, told The Journal in November 1945 that virtually all the wartime messages sent by German spies working in the United States were intercepted in Scituate.
Often, those German spies were allowed to continue operating so counterintelligence officers could run down their sources of information.
One of Scituate station’s most important jobs was to intercept German weather reports from Central Europe.
The reports, broadcast at a frequency undetectable in England, flowed easily across the Atlantic to Chopmist Hill. The information proved vital for British bombing raids over Germany.
Occasionally the station assisted in air and sea rescue operations. On one occasion a plane carrying actress Kay Francis got lost off the coast of Florida en route home from a USO tour. No other radio installation on the East Coast had picked up the pilot’s distress calls, but the Chopmist Hill station did, guiding the plane home safely.
In 1981, George Sterling, who had been the FCC commissioner during the war, told a Providence Journal reporter that he never understood why the United States was caught by surprise in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor since the Chopmist Hill listening station had for months been intercepting Japanese messages in the Pacific indicating an impending attack.
Once war broke out, the station thwarted Japanese attempts to bomb the United States using unmanned hot-air balloons laden with explosives. The Japanese had placed radio transmitters on the balloons to track them as they rode the jet stream across the Pacific in the hope they reached the West Coast of America. Many did, and the Scituate eavesdroppers heard the balloon signals. They relayed the information to Washington. U.S. fighter planes intercepted and destroyed the balloons.
Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, a week after Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in Berlin. The Japanese agreed to surrender on Aug. 14, 1945, five days after the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb, on Nagasaki.
UN takes a look
The remarkable radio capabilities of Chopmist Hill captured world attention after the war when, in November 1945, the FCC permitted a Providence Journal reporter to visit the monitoring station.
Two months after her story ran, seven inspectors from the United Nations Organization were climbing an icy fire lookout tower on Chopmist Hill and scanning the rural landscape below for what might become their new headquarters.
The Jan. 26, 1946, issue of The Providence Journal carried the lead headline: “Chopmist Hill District is rated One of Top Potential Locations for UNO Quarters by Committee.”
The story described how inspectors were seriously considering the site as its headquarters because of area’s unmatched capability to reach every corner of the globe by radio.
“This is a possible site,” Dr. Stoyan Gavrilovic, of the Balkans and chairman of the inspection committee, told reporters during the tour. “It meets most of the technical points. It is good.”
During the tour the inspectors went into a room in the Suddard farmhouse where on one bank of radio equipment signs hung listing the cities of Lisbon, Madrid and Cairo — the cities the radios were tuned to.
One of the inspectors asked Cave, directing the tour, what was the range of the radio station?
“Well, Sydney, Australia,” replied Cave. “That’s about the farthest place there is.”
The inspectors said they were also looking for a wide tract of land to build an airport as well as a headquarters. Cave said the site offered about 50 square miles of property spanning Scituate, Foster and Glocester that could be available, although about 1,000 people would have to be relocated.
The inspectors were in town for only a couple of days before heading off to inspect possible sites around Worcester and Boston.
In the end, the United Nations officials settled on New York City after John D. Rockefeller Jr. offered them $8.5 million to purchase a six-block tract of land along the East River.
Today the Suddard house still stands behind the same ornate stone wall it did more than 70 years ago. But the hill around it, once mostly pasture and scrub, is covered with tall trees and dotted with new homes.
The house, privately owned again, reveals few clues to what happened there the last time the world went to war, save for a tall, thin radio tower in the yard, now covered in ivy, reaching for the clouds.
—tmooney@providencejournal.com
(401) 277-7359
On Twitter: @mooneyprojoMultiple news outlets' headlines parroted President Donald Trump’s false claim that the current proposed Republican health care bill includes protections for people with pre-existing conditions, when in fact the bill would end the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) prohibition on insurance companies charging people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums. The incorrect headlines continue media outlets’ unfortunate pattern of parroting false claims from Trump.
In a pre-recorded interview on April 29 with CBS’ Face the Nation, Trump discussed the current version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the House Republican bill that would dismantle the ACA, which was amended in order to gain support from the conservative House Freedom Caucus. During his discussion of the effort with CBS’ John Dickerson, Trump incorrectly claimed that “pre-existing conditions are in the bill,” and that “we've set up a pool for the pre-existing conditions so that the premiums can be allowed to fall.” From a transcript of the interview:
JOHN DICKERSON: Well, this is why I wanted to ask you. You said to Tucker, "We will take care of our people, or I am not signing it." You said you were going to negotiate. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, that's what I just said. JOHN DICKERSON: So tell me what in the bill you've been negotiating to get-- PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: But let me-- JOHN DICKERSON: --in that helps your supporters. I'm just trying to get the details of how your people-- PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Let me just tell you. JOHN DICKERSON: --will be helped. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Pre-existing conditions are in the bill. And I just watched another network than yours, and they were saying, "Pre-existing is not covered." Pre-existing conditions are in the bill. And I mandate it. I said, "Has to be." [...] PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This bill is much different than it was a little while ago, okay? This bill has evolved. And we didn't have a failure on the bill. You know, it was reported like a failure. Now, the one thing I wouldn't have done again is put a timeline. That's why on the second iteration, I didn't put a timeline. But we have now pre-existing conditions in the bill. We have -- we've set up a pool for the pre-existing conditions so that the premiums can be allowed to fall. We're taking across all of the borders or the lines so that insurance companies can compete--
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later clarified to The Associated Press that Trump was indeed referring to the current version of the bill. According to the AP, Spicer said that “under the current version people with pre-existing conditions who maintain coverage will not be impacted,” and that “waivers would change how states could treat those who don't maintain insurance and they could find ways to ‘incentivize people to obtain coverage before they fall ill.’”
According to Vox health care reporter Sarah Kliff, the latest version of the bill “would give states authority to let insurers charge sick people higher premiums.” Kliff added that the bill “caves to conservatives’ demand … to deregulate the insurance industry and let health plans once again use pre-existing conditions to set premium prices” by having “waivers that states can use to let health insurers charge sick patients higher premiums, a practice outlawed under current law.” Kliff also noted that, in his reference to pools, "It sounds like Trump may be confusing preexisting conditions with high risk pools."
But multiple outlets’ headlines did not point this out, instead highlighting Trump’s claim without noting it was false or misleading.
Politico:
CNN:
CBS News:
The Hill:
Fox News:
The latest error is yet another example of media outlets publishing inaccurate headlines about Trump’s false statements since his election. These have included Trump’s false claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, his false claim that media underreport terrorist attacks, and his baseless claim that Obama “is behind” numerous leaks in his administration and numerous protests against him.
Getting the headlines right is critical: The Washington Post reported on a study in 2014 finding “roughly six in 10 people acknowledge that they have done nothing more than read news headlines in the past week.” As such, outlets need to accurately report these stories so consumers who do not read past the headline have a correct understanding of what happened.In 1997 Bomberman 64 hit shelves in the U.S.. It was a transition to a new type of Bomberman, now he would interact in the THIRD DIMENSION, or 3D. Instead of just being a game where you would toss bombs at your friends and try to solve puzzles, a story was added as well. What was really great was the multiplayer, it was some good old bombing in 3D, with awesome power ups. The game sold pretty well and for the most part critics liked it. Sure it had its flaws, but it had a certain kind of charm to it. I sure as hell loved it and was excited for another one. That’s when Bomberman Hero came to play.
In September of the next year we got a brand new Bomberman. Now before we start, I just want to say that I really enjoyed this game, but that’s probably just the nostalgia I get from it… there’s a lot of stuff that pisses me off about it too. So lets just jump right into it.
So ya pop the game in, get to the tittle screen, and… WHAT!!! THERE’S NO MULTIPLAYER? What the hell? They do know what Bomberman is right? You know, that game whose selling point was its creative and fun multiplayer! Bomberman without your multiplayer is like having your cake, but instead of eating it a pack of wild Racoons swoops in and defiles the cake. Okay, maybe that is a bit of over kill there, but seriously what were they thinking? There are a multiple of theories as to why the game is like this: some say it wanted to be more like Mario 64, I mean that was a successful game with no multiplayer, so why not? The one I like to believe is, that the team was rushed by having to get the game published in under a year, so to save time they cut the multiplayer. There’s no proof that I know of to that theory, but it seems like the most logical. Alright, I can forgive the no multiplayer, because the one player mode is pretty good.
Next, since there are no other modes, we go to the story mode. The story isn’t anything special, a princess is captured and Bomberman has to save her… how creative. However, the game play and the actually fun mechanics are what carry the game. Bomberman travels from world to world, trying, at first, chasing Princess Milian, then collecting disks for Princess Milian. After you collect all the disks, in an epic plot twist, it is revealed you have been swindled into re-creating the evil villain Bagular, and the Princess was actually one of his henchmen in disguise. Bomberman then chases him down, while battling numerous bosses and mini bosses, to end up in one last fight. Once you beat him Burglar tries to blow up the planet and the game ends… unless you played the game perfectly collecting every thing needed, to see the real ending. The real ending show that, “Evil Bomberman” was behind the operation the whole time. Kill the guy, save the Princess, then ride off into the sun set victorious. Boom, Ending.
That’s one thing about the Bomberman games that always pissed me off: to get the actual ending, you have to collect EVERYTHING in the game. That just takes away the fun of it, having to go back through every level and play them perfectly, just to see what really happens to Bomberman. I find it overly repetitive and just a time wasting tactic.
The game play and feel is where this game thrives. The new platformer feel is done pretty well. The controls for the most part are tight, and easy to use. The level design and music create an ambiance, that makes the game a little bit deeper. The new bombs added are unique, such as the salt bomb, which is a bomb that can only kill slugs. The addition of power ups, like the jet pack, add different was to think about the levels and the way you solve them. The boss fights are challenging and very rewarding. If this game was just Bomberman Vs The Bosses, I’d be okay with that. The boss fights are some of the best I’ve ever fought.
Bomberman Hero falls short of being a great game. With the lack of multiplayer and average plot line, we are left with a sequel that can’t even tread water with its predecessor. While the game play and feel is there, the game as a whole just seems mediocre. I still love this game, but it can’t even compete with Bomberman 64. Bomberman Hero receives a 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
AdvertisementsThat's according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), whose preliminary figures suggest that the overall number of crimes reported in Sweden during the last year was around 1.5 million, only a marginal (6,470) increase compared to 2015.
When broken down to specific categories, reported crimes against an individual increased by seven percent, rising to 275,000.
But a criminology expert has warned The Local that reaching conclusions by analyzing figures for reported crimes is a tricky business.
“Reported crimes are a lousy measure of the development of crimes. The number of crimes reported tends to be dependent on the discussion going on in the country,” University of Stockholm criminology professor Jerzy Sarnecki said.
“What criminologists do is to look at the 10-year, 20-year development. Then we can see the trends. Year to year, it's impossible to judge why changes occur,” he added.
An example of a figure from Brå's statistics which paints one picture in isolation but a different one with further context is that the number of rapes reported in Sweden increased by 13 percent in 2016 to 6,560.
But when that number is compared to 2014, where the number of reported rapes was 6,700, then a slight decrease can actually be seen. In other words, the number of reported rapes in Sweden dipped in 2015 (down by 12 percent to 5,920) then in 2016 it returned to around the same level as 2014.
Seen over a ten-year period, the number of reported rapes has gone up from 4,208 in 2006, partly because of legislative changes in the previous year and in 2013 broadening the definition, according to Brå.
According to Brå's figures, 10,500 incidents of sexual molestation were reported in the country in 2016 – a striking increase of 20 percent on 2015 (when 8,840 were reported).
But once again, 2015 was a year when reported sexual molestation had dropped significantly – it was down by eight percent that year compared to 2014, when 9,640 incidents were reported.
“The number of crimes reported can depend very much on the propensity to report,” Sarnecki noted.
“In 2016 for instance there was a lot of discussion about sexual assault and the relation between sexual assault and immigration. We know through research that those kind of years with more discussion of those subjects see the number of crimes reported increase.”
"The problem with explaining these figures is that very many variables not necessarily related to crime impact the figures. You have to be very careful, in particular if you look at changes on a year-to-year basis," he concluded.An 87-year-old American man has been crowned World Porridge Making Champion at an event in the Highlands.
Bob Moore, from Portland, Oregon, won the coveted Golden Spurtle for his efforts at the 23rd annual World Porridge Making Championships in Carrbridge, in Badenoch and Strathspey.
The title is awarded to the contestant who makes the best traditional porridge using just three ingredients - oatmeal, salt and water.
Mr Moore, who used to run a wholegrain food business, said: "I couldn't believe it when my name was announced. It is so meaningful to me to win the Golden Spurtle.
"I've devoted my life to eating and producing good wholegrain food and this really has made me so happy."
There is also a speciality competition for sweet or savoury porridge dishes which was won by Norwegian Thorbjorn Kristensen for the second year running.
He combined eggs, butter, vanilla sugar, cream and liqueur with porridge in a dish titled 'Unexpected Guests'.
The event is organised by Carrbridge Community Council and sponsored by Hamlyns of Scotland.
Organiser Margarete Paschke said: "After 23 years, the Golden Spurtle continues to inspire porridge makers from across the world.
"It really has been a fantastic day, the pinnacle of a great weekend in Carrbridge, which celebrates one of Scotland's favourite national dishes with cooking, music and Scottish hospitality."Donald Trump was quick to congratulate American University Professor Allan Lichtman when he predicted Trump's election win. But in his upcoming book, Lichtman now predicts that Trump will be impeached.
American University Professor Allan Lichtman achieved a sort of grim fame when he correctly predicted Donald Trump’s presidential victory last fall, which also earned him a personal note from Trump saying “‘Professor — Congrats — good call.”
But in his new book, “The Case for Impeachment,” Lichtman makes another call that Trump might not appreciate so much: “that, after winning the presidency, he would be impeached.”
According to an advance copy reviewed by Politico, Lichtman cites lengthy historical precedents and allegories to Trump, and notes a long list of potentially impeachable offenses:
Lichtman’s list of possible offenses that could get Trump to that point are familiar: charges of treason with Russia, abuse of power and emoluments violations. Lichtman also cites now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then a senator, who argued that a president could be impeached for offenses committed before he took office. Among those potential offenses, Lichtman lists Trump’s housing violations, charity problems, potential violations of the Cuba embargo and Trump University.
Just since taking office, Trump has racked up even more entries on that list of offenses, including his possibly actionable lies about President Obama and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
Two other key factors are the already-high public support for Trump’s impeachment, and the prospect of a Democratic wave in 2018 that could put, say, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) in the majority, and the Republicans who protect Trump in the minority.
Of course, even more dramatic developments in the Trump/Russia investigation could speed that process along considerably, giving Republicans political cover to support impeachment, and with Mike Pence waiting in the wings, little incentive to die on Trump’s hill.
So far, though, Republicans have shown little interest in holding Trump accountable, and that failure will certainly be something for which they will answer in 2018.In the last one year since the launch of the NDA government’s ambitious programme to build houses for the urban poor, the Centre has not received any proposal from Delhi and UP.
The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) has not interested governments in Delhi and poll-bound Uttar Pradesh led by Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav respectively. In the last one year since the launch of the NDA government’s ambitious programme to build houses for the urban poor, the Centre has not received any proposal from Delhi and UP. The Centre can release its share of the funds under the scheme only after it receives proposals from the states.
The housing ministry has to provide financial assistance to the tune of over Rs 2 lakh crore over the next five years under the PMAY. This would allow the construction of houses for around two crore urban poor by 2022.
Providing houses to every poor person in the country by 2022 is also one of the many ambitious pro-people announcements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, HT reports sources as saying that the housing ministry has written 14 letters to the UP government led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Out the 14, four letters were written by Union Urban Development and Housing Minister M Venkaiah Naidu to Yadav, requesting UP to send proposals under the scheme.
The report says that Naidu had also invited Yadav for a discussion to find out the reason behind the delay, but there was no response. The Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also didn’t send any proposal under the scheme to the Centre.
HT quoted a housing ministry official as saying that Delhi didn’t send a single memorandum of agreement with the centre to undertake six governance reforms under the scheme. However, Sadakant, UP principal secretary (housing), said that the state government had asked all development authorities to send their proposals. They took some time in doing that but now a proposal from UP would be sent to the Centre soon.
Till now, the Centre has approved 10.95 lakh houses worth Rs 62,000 crore in urban areas of the country. Out of the total amount, the Centre’s share is Rs 16,289 crore. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra top the list of states that have got urban houses approved under the scheme.Available on VOD on February 3rd is the new horror film Eloise, about a group of four that break into an abandoned asylum in order to find a death certificate that will lead to one of them receiving a large inheritance. It is the feature length debut of VFX specialist Robert Legato, who has spent his career working with big directing names such as Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Ron Howard, and Robert Zemeckis. Despite delivering an excellent overall look, nice production values, and a fine cast that includes Eliza Dushku and a former Terminator in Robert Patrick, the picture sadly suffers from a poor script with a head scratching third act that viewers will either love or hate. Ultimately, it just didn’t work for me.
The story is a patchwork attempt at making an excuse for this group of four to venture into the actual closed asylum known as Eloise, located just outside of Detroit, Michigan. It feels like a mashup of different subgenres and styles; it has elements of a heist, an adventure, a Rain Man type of character, comedy and behavior that at times made me recall the Scary Movie franchise, the asylum and haunted house subgenre, ghost and occult movies, and finally some sci-fi elements that cannot be discussed further without spoiling the whole plot. The third act and its twist is bold and endeavors to step away from the traditional conventions that you would expect in this subgenre, but it was just too ridiculous for me to accept.
The directing, cinematography, and editing are all well done. Legato takes advantage of extravagant old antique cars, houses, and the actual Eloise buildings to up the production values and add some atmospheric shots throughout the motion picture. There is no doubt that he is talented and should continue to direct feature length films, he just needs something that is more grounded and has a polished script.
The acting is good and features a core cast that is relatively well known. Dushku and Patrick both have name recognition, which is most likely why they were brought onto this project. Patrick has minimal screen time as the main characters are Dushku and Chace Crawford, who is best known for his time on Gossip Girl. Crawford plays the lead role and is more than effective. Rounding out the group of four that venture into the asylum are Brandon Jackson and P.J. Byrne. Byrne is terrific as Dushku’s brother who suffers from a mental disability that has him being referred to as Rain Man. Some may find his performance over the top, but I thought he was the most enjoyable part of this picture. There is relatively no violence or gore and the cheap scare attempts aren’t likely to freak anyone out, leaving most horror fans feeling disappointed.
Did somebody say heist?
It’s hard to recommend that someone actually spend money to watch this on VOD or own it on Blu-ray/DVD, this is the type of movie that is best served to view on Netflix or Amazon Prime when it eventually makes it onto one of these platforms.
Spread the Dushku.NEW YORK (Reuters) - Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein pressed her case on Monday for recounts of U.S. presidential ballots in three states, and locked horns with President-elect Donald Trump over her motives.
Stein sued Pennsylvania election officials in federal court, demanding a statewide recount. Michigan workers began a Stein-requested recount after a federal judge there ordered one without delay. In Wisconsin, a recount that Stein requested continued into a second week.
Even if all three recounts are completed, they are extremely unlikely to change the outcome of the Nov. 8 election in which the three states, which had voted Democratic in recent presidential elections, helped seal a victory for Trump, a Republican.
On Sunday, Trump proclaimed Stein’s effort a failure and questioned her motives, saying on Twitter: “Just a Stein scam to raise money!”
At a news conference on Monday across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan, Stein said every dollar she raised for the recount was going to an account for that purpose. She has raised $7.2 million toward a $9.5 million goal, according to her website.
“We urge Donald Trump to look at the facts, not to make up the facts,” Stein said.
Stein said her recount push in the three “Rust Belt” states was not meant to change the election’s result but to focus attention on concerns about the integrity of voting systems in the three states.
Trump and his supporters have fought to end the recounts by filing lawsuits.
“We are here to assure Donald Trump that there is nothing to be afraid of,” Stein said. “If you believe in democracy, if you believe in the credibility of your victory, put down your arms, end your bureaucratic obstruction.”
Some voting machines in Pennsylvania lack a paper trail, making them vulnerable to hacking or other problems, she said.
TRUMP TOWER PROTEST
A few Trump allies protested Stein’s appearance with her supporters at Trump Tower, where Trump’s offices and apartment home are located.
“I think the people out here today don’t believe in democracy,” said Jim MacDonald, a 67-year-old actuary from the borough of Queens. He held a sign that read: “Dr Jill is a quack,” and said he voted for Trump.
Oakland County clerks count election ballots as challengers from the Green Party (2nd L) and the Republican Party (R) watch during a recount of presidential ballots in Waterford Township, Michigan December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
“He’s their president whether they like it or not,” MacDonald said.
Stein took about 1 percent of the popular vote, far behind Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Although Clinton won the national popular vote, she lost to Trump in the Electoral College, the 538-person body chosen state-by-state that actually selects the president.
Trump won a projected 306 electoral votes and is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 20. Stein won no Electoral College votes.
DEC. 13 DEADLINE
Federal law requires states to resolve disputes over the appointment of electors by Dec. 13, adding pressure on Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to wrap up any recounts.
In Wisconsin, the recount has produced only minor shifts because of human error, state officials said on Monday. In one county, Clinton gained 13 votes that were not counted on Election Day because voters used non-standard pens to mark their ballots.
An initial request by Stein for a recount in Pennsylvania failed on Saturday after a state judge ordered her campaign to post a $1 million bond. A federal lawsuit was her next best option, she said.
A spokeswoman for Pennsylvania election officials said they would not comment on pending litigation.
In Michigan, the state said on Monday that a recount of presidential ballots had begun after an order from a federal judge directing officials to complete the process by Dec. 13.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith issued the written order early on Monday after a Sunday night hearing in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan.
Goldsmith ordered that, once started, the recount “must continue until further order of this court.” The state had planned to wait until Wednesday to begin the recount.
In his ruling, Goldsmith wrote that “budgetary concerns are not sufficiently significant to risk the disenfranchisement of Michigan’s nearly 5 million voters.”
Slideshow (5 Images)
The Michigan Republican Party filed court papers to appeal Goldsmith’s ruling.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, sued on Friday to halt the requested recount in the state, which Trump won by about 10,700 votes. The Michigan Court of Appeals has scheduled a hearing on Schuette’s suit for Tuesday afternoon.
Although the Clinton campaign did not initiate the recount effort, it says it is participating to make sure the process is fair to all sides.Though it has been hard, we have been trying to avoid reporting on rumors about the death of Silverlight for quite some time. As in all things, rumors tend to be exaggerated or out-right false. A good example of this is the idea that Web Forms has entered maintenance mode and would never be updated to HTML5. Unfortunately the end of Silverlight is no rumor; if Microsoft doesn’t change course it, as well as Flash and other plugin technologies, will be effectively unusable when Windows 8 is released.
On September 14th just before 6 pm Steven Sinofsky and Dean Hachamovitch announced that the Metro-style browser in Windows 8 does not support plug-ins. The Metro-style browser is the full screen, chromeless implementation of Internet Explorer that most people are expected to use with Windows 8. While the Metro user interface has extensive touch functionality, it is designed to be the primary UI for all devices with a screen of 1024x768 or larger even when using a mouse and keyboard. The “desktop” mode is still available, but it is being positioned as something that is only to be used by legacy programs and a few complex applications such as Photoshop and Visual Studio.
According to Steven Sinofsky,
This post is about a big change in Metro style IE, which is the plug-in free experience. In Windows 8, IE 10 is available as a Metro style app and as a desktop app. The desktop app continues to fully support all plug-ins and extensions.
Dean Hachamovitch adds,
For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free. The experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match with Metro style browsing and the modern HTML5 web.
This means no Flash, no QuickTime, no PDF readers, and no Silverlight. He goes on to explain why plug-in free browsing is superior and that all sites should be transitioning to HTML5 anyways. And for the most part he is right, but that is a cold comfort when you can’t read your paystub because it is an embedded PDF. Nor does it help when you want to watch that video hosted by one of the various media players.
Why is this happening? Well the most likely reason is simply that the Metro-style browser can’t support plugins. Metro is not based on the Win32 libraries, it uses an entirely new OS-level API known as Windows Runtime or WinRT. Since the plug-ins are most likely built on Win32 components such as GDI they would have to be completely rewritten to run under Metro. And moving forward companies such as Apple and Adobe would have to maintain both a WinRT and a Win32 version for each of x86, x64, and ARM. And all of this can’t even start until Microsoft developers a new plug-in architecture that abides by WinRT’s runtime restrictions.
It should be noted that Flash and Silverlight will continue to run just fine using Internet Explorer in “desktop” mode. Likewise users can elect to switch to one of the other browsers such as Firefox, Safari, or Chrome. But again, those run in desktop mode.
With the proliferation of web-enabled devices, most of which don’t support plug-ins anyways, we should probably be thinking about moving away from this sort of technology anyways. But today, right now, HTML5 is not appropriate for the immersive applications that Flash and Silverlight are capable of creating. At the very least the standards for core functionality such as Web Workers and WebSocket need to be finalized and the resizable layout issue addressed. But even more pressing is JavaScript itself, whose syntax and dynamic nature make it very difficult to write large, modular applications.
The companies most invested in Silverlight are actually in the best position. These companies have been adopting Silverlight, and Flex, for use in internal applications. This sort of application generally have no HTML and simply use the browser as a delivery mechanism. As such these applications can be ported to the Metro runtime with surprisingly little effort. A new distribution mechanism will be needed, but something like the Windows app store for enterprises is undoubtedly in the works.
The companies that use Flash or Silverlight to augment their websites are going to have the most trouble. Since they cannot simply port their code to Metro they will need to need go rewrite the components from scratch using HTML and JavaScript.Silver Screen Partners refers to four limited partnerships organized as an alternative funding source for movies. The managing general partner for the partnerships was Silver Screen Management, Inc.[1]
Former U.S. President George W. Bush was a member of Silver Screen Management, Inc.'s board of directors from 1983 to 1993. This became a part of the campaign issue over Hollywood's "pervasiveness of violence", centered around Silver Screen Management Board's approval of the highly violent horror-suspense film The Hitcher, when Bush ran for president in 2000.[2]
History [ edit ]
The original Silver Screen Partners, L.P. was organized by New York film investment broker Roland W. Betts to fund movies for HBO in 1982.[citation needed] The limited partnership (13,000) sold through EF Hutton were oversubscribe and raised $83 million. HBO made a 50% guarantee on their investment for exclusive cable rights. Another 40% was guaranteed by Thorn EMI, a British firm, for foreign distribution and foreign TV and videocassette markets. Additional income was lined up for domestic videocassette sales.[3] HBO's film division was just starting out so film output was slow.[4] For the Silver Screen/HBO films, the partnership was active in the process from selecting film pitches and negotiating release dates with the distributor. In 1984, the first HBO/Silver Screen movie, Flashpoint, was released through TriStar Pictures as were all the HBO/Silver Screen films.[3]
Organized in 1985, Silver Screen Partners II, L.P. financed films for The Walt Disney Company with $193 million[5] from 20,000 limited partners. Silver Screen was hands off with Disney given its name and new management team led by Michael Eisner, formerly at Paramount. HBO was expecting that Silver Screen would return to them for its third limited partnership.[3] However in January 1987, Silver Screen III began financing movies for Disney with $300 million raised, the largest amount raised for a film financing limited partnership by E. F. Hutton.[5]
Silver Screen's fourth limited partnership was also set up to finance Disney's studios. On October 23, 1990, The Walt Disney Company formed Touchwood Pacific Partners which would supplant the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary source of funding.[6]
In 1991, Silver Screen Partners III, L.P. along with the other production companies were sued for copyright infringement over Who Framed Roger Rabbit's "End Title" song.[7]
Structure [ edit ]
The partnerships paid for the movie's production costs and shared in the gross dollars in all markets from theater to television. Limited partners received their return before the production company could defray any of their expenses. This is preferred by investors as it guarantees some return if the film fails or has budget overrun and from the producer's overhead. Nor can profits from a single film be used to cover losses on other films, but this makes the partnership somewhat risky.[4]
List of notable Silver Screen Partners films [ edit ]CommonSpace columnist and Common Weal director Robin McAlpine says Scotland now finds itself at an urgent crossroads, and previous No voters have big decisions ahead of them
SCOTTISH liberals, progressives, centrists, hopers, dreamers, idealists, internationalists, the civilised and the sophisticated, it is time to let go of your past and prepare for your future. You stand at a fork in the road in your lives and you must choose a path.
You may not yet have come to terms with independence. But there is no federal path. There is no devo-max path. There is no 'if only we all came together' path. There is no'reclaim power from the ground up' path. There is no 'one more push to reform Westminster' path.
I fear these have become fairytales you tell yourself to make you feel better about the ogres, warlocks and demons outside your window. But your stories won't protect you any longer. This time, the ogres and warlocks and demons are real.
Read more – Poll: Support for Scottish independence at a high as hard Brexit looms
If you take the first path, you must invite them in and try to accommodate them. If you choose the second, you must run and leave them behind.
These demons are now an integral part of British political life. They control Theresa May as much as she controls them. In fact |
), 40.Blake TUXFORD (Gk) (promoted - FNYL)
Outs: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (face – 1-2 weeks), 11.Labinot HALITI (knee – indefinite), 29.Andrew PAWIAK (omitted)
Unavailable: Nil
Melbourne Victory squad : 1. Danny VUKOVIC, (GK), 2. Jason GERIA, 3. Scott GALLOWAY, 5. Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6. Leigh BROXHAM, 7. Gui FINKLER, 8. Besart BERISHA, 9. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 11. Connor PAIN, 13. Oliver BOZANIC, 14. Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 16. Rashid MAHAZI, 17. Matthieu DELPIERRE, 18. Dylan MURNANE, 20. Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 21. Carl VALERI (C), 22. Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 24. Thomas DENG
**Two to be omitted**
Ins: 2. Jason GERIA (promoted), 3. Scott GALLOWAY (promoted), 6. Leigh BROXHAM (return from suspension)
Outs: 15.Giancarlo GALLIFUOCO (omitted)
Unavailable: 4. Nick ANSELL (injury), 10. Archie THOMPSON (injury)
Saturday, 24 October 2015
Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar FC
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-Off: 7:15 PM (Local) (5:15 PM (AEDT))
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Rule
Assistant Referee 2: Anton Shchetinin
Fourth Official: Alex King
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 5.00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 2 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast : 612 ABC Brisbane & ABC Local Radio Qld, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #WELvBRI
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au/tickets
Wellington Phoenix squad: 1.Glen MOSS (GK), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Justin GULLEY, 4.Roly BONEVACIA, 5.Troy DANASKOS, 6.Dylan FOX, 7.Jeffrey SARPONG, 8.Alex RODRIGUEZ, 10.Michael MCGLINCHEY, 11.Kwabena APPIAH, 12.Blake Powell, 13.Albert RIERA, 16.Louis FENTON, 17.Vince LIA, 18.Ben SIGMUND, 19.Tom DOYLE, 20.Lewis ITALIANO (GK), 21, Roy KRISHNA.
***Two to be omitted***
Ins: 5.Troy DANASKOS (promoted), 6.Dylan FOX (promoted).
Outs: Nil.
Unavailable: 22.Andrew DURANTE (calf injury - 1 to 3 weeks).
Brisbane Roar FC squad : 5.Corey BROWN, 6.Jerome POLENZ, 7.CORONA, 8.Steven LUSTICA, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 13.Jade NORTH, 14.Daniel BOWLES, 16.Devante CLUT, 17.Matt McKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT, 20.Shannon BRADY, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS, 28.Brandon BORRELLO, 32.George LAMBADARIDIS, 36.Andre JANNISE (gk)
***one to be omitted***
Ins: 20.Shannon BRADY (promoted), 36.Andre JANNISE (gk) (promoted).
Outs: 1.Michael THEO (gk) (quad strain, 1 week).
Unavailable: 3.Shane STEFANUTTO (calf, 3 weeks ), 10.HENRIQUE (knee, 2 months ), 11.Jean Carlos SOLORZANO (foot, 1 weeks), 15.James DONACHIE (quad, 2 weeks), 33.Luke DE VERE (quad, 2 months).
Saturday, 24 October 2015
Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers FC
Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Kick-Off: 7:30 PM (Local) (7:30 PM (AEDT))
Referee: Ben Williams
Assistant Referee 1: Ashley Beecham
Assistant Referee 2: Owen Goldrick
Fourth Official: Luke Withell
TV Broadcast : Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 2 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast : 702 ABC Sydney, 666 Canberra & ABC Local Radio NSW, Grandstand Digital & Online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #SydneyDerby
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au/tickets
Sydney FC Squad: 1.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 2.Seb RYALL, 3.Alex GERSBACH, 5.Matt JURMAN, 7.Andrew HOOLE, 8.Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 9.Shane SMELTZ, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Christopher NAUMOFF, 13.Brandon O’NEILL, 14.Alex BROSQUE (c), 18.Matt SIMON, 19.Jacques FATY, 20.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21.Filip HOLOSKO, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 24.George BLACKWOOD, 27.Mickael TAVARES.
***Two to be omitted***
Ins: 7.Andrew HOOLE (return from suspension) 21.Filip HOLOSKO (return from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 22.Ali ABBAS (Knee – indefinite)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 1.Dean BOUZANIS (GK), 3.Scott JAMIESON, 4.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (c), 5.Brendan HAMILL, 6.Mitch NICHOLS, 7.Romeo CASTELEN, 8.DIMAS, 9.Federico PIOVACCARI, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO, 17.ALBERTO, 18.ANDREU, 20.Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 21.Jacob PEPPER, 22.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 33.Josh MACDONALD
***Two to be omitted***
Ins: 17.ALBERTO (promoted), 22.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS (promoted)
Outs: nil
Unavailable: 2.Shannon COLE (groin – 1 week)
Sunday, 25 October 2015
Melbourne City FC v Central Coast Mariners
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 5:00 PM (Local) (5:00 PM (AEDT))
Referee: Chris Beath
Assistant Referee 1: Brad Hobson
Assistant Referee 2: Wilson Brown
Fourth Official: Lucien Laverdure
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 4.30pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 2 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast : 774 ABC Melbourne, 92.5 Central Coast, & ABC Local Radio Vic, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live. Coast FM (Gosford) SEN (Melbourne)
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #MCYvCCM
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au/tickets
Melbourne City FC squad : 1.Thomas SORENSEN (GK), 4.Connor CHAPMAN, 6.Erik PAARTALU, 7.Corey GAMEIRO, 8.Aaron MOOY, 15.David WILLIAMS, 16.Jason TRIFIRO, 17.Wade DEKKER, 18.Paulo RETRE, 19.Ben GARUCCIO, 21.Stefan MAUK, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI, 24.Patrick KISNORBO (C), 25.Jacob MELLING, 28.Steve KUZMANOVSKI, 30.Hernan ESPINDOLA, 36.Matt MILLER
***Two players to be omitted and One Goal keeper to be Added***
Ins : 7.Corey GAMEIRO (returns from injury), 15.David WILLIAMS (returns from injury), 19.Ben GARUCCIO (returns from injury), 25.Jacob MELLING (returns from injury), 30.Hernan ESPINDOLA (promoted), 36.Matt MILLER (promoted)
Outs : 11.Michael ZULLO (calf – 2-3 weeks), 10.Robert KOREN (calf - 2 weeks), 20.Tando VELAPHI (concussion - TBC), 22.Jack CLISBY (quad - TBC)
Unavailable : 3.Aaron HUGHES (calf – 1 week), 5.Ivan FRANJIC (quad – 3-5 weeks), 9.Harry NOVILLO (hamstring – 2-3 weeks), 14.James BROWN (foot – TBC), 26.Marc MARINO (knee – 3 months)
Central Coast Mariners squad : 1.Paul IZZO (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Josh ROSE, 5.Harry ASCROFT, 6.Mitch AUSTIN, 7.Fabio FERREIRA, 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (C), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 14.Daniel HEFFERNAN, 16.Liam ROSE 18.Glen TRIFIRO, 19.Josh BINGHAM, 21.Michael NEILL, 22.Jake McGING, 23.Eddy BOSNAR, 30.Adam Pearce (GK)
**two to be omitted”
Ins: 3.Josh ROSE (return from injury), 18. Glen TRIFIRO (promoted), 23. Eddy BOSNAR (return from injury), 30.Adam PEARCE (GK) (promoted),
Outs: 12.Liam REDDY (GK) (omitted), 26.Brian JAMBA (omitted)
Unavailable: 4.Jacob POSCOLIERO (hamstring – 1 week)
Sunday, 25 October 2015
Perth Glory v Adelaide United
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-Off : 4:00 PM (Local) (7:00 PM (AEDT))
Referee : Adam Fielding
Assistant Referee 1 : Mathew Cheeseman
Assistant Referee 2 : Josh Mannella
Fourth Official : David Bruce
TV Broadcast : Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 2 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast : 720 ABC Perth, 891 Adelaide, ABC Local Radio WA, ABC Local Radio SA, Grandstand Digital & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvADL
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au/tickets
Perth Glory squad : 1.Ante COVIC (gk), 3.Marc WARREN,, 5.Antony GOLEC, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Gyorgy SANDOR, 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 11. Richard GARCIA (c), 12.Jerrad TYSON (gk), 13.Diogo FERREIRA, 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Hagi GLIGOR, 16.Sidnei SCIOLA, 17.Diego CASTRO, 18.Mitch OXBORROW, 19.Josh RISDON, 20.Guyon FERNANDEZ, 21. Stefan VALENTINI 23.Michael THWAITE
***Two to be omitted***
Ins: 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC (return from injury), 11. Richard GARCIA (return from suspension), 21. Stefan VALENTINI,
Outs: nil
Unavailable:.Ruben ZADKOVICH (knee – indefinite)
Adelaide United squad: 2.Michael MARRONE, 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Osama MALIK, 7.PABLO SANCHEZ, 8.ISAIAS, 9.Sergio CIRIO, 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA (c), 11.Bruce DJITE, 12.Mark OCHIENG, 14.George MELLS, 15.Ben WARLAND, 16.Craig GOODWIN, 17.Mate DUGANDZIC, 18.Jimmy JEGGO, 20.John HALL (gk), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 28.Antoni TRIMBOLI, 30.John SOLARI (gk)
***two to be omitted***
Ins: 11.Bruce DJITE (return from injury), 12.Mark OCHIENG (promoted), 28.Antoni TRIMBOLI (promoted)
Outs: 19.Eli BABALJ (foot - 6 weeks)
Unavailable: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (knee – 5 weeks), 4.Iacopo LA ROCCA (foot – 4 weeks ), 19.Eli BABALJ (foot - 6 weeks), 23.Jordan ELSEY (knee – 1 week), 24.Bruce KAMAU (hip – 2 weeks)The Senate Finance Committee rejected two attempts by Democrats to attach a government-run health insurance plan to the panel’s healthcare bill, delivering a blow to liberals who say it is essential to reform.
The votes underscored the deep divide among Democrats over the most controversial aspect of healthcare reform, President Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaChicago's next mayor will be a black woman Obama portraits brought more than 1 million visitors to National Portrait Gallery in first year With low birth rate, America needs future migrants MORE’s signature domestic policy initiative.
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After more than four hours of debate, Democratic Sens. Max Baucus Max Sieben BaucusOvernight Defense: McCain honored in Capitol ceremony | Mattis extends border deployment | Trump to embark on four-country trip after midterms Congress gives McCain the highest honor Judge boots Green Party from Montana ballot in boost to Tester MORE (Mont.), Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) joined with all 10 of the committee’s Republicans to defeat separate amendments sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller John (Jay) Davison RockefellerSenate GOP rejects Trump’s call to go big on gun legislation Overnight Tech: Trump nominates Dem to FCC | Facebook pulls suspected baseball gunman's pages | Uber board member resigns after sexist comment Trump nominates former FCC Dem for another term MORE (D-W.Va.) and Charles Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerBrady gun control group gets rebranding Brennan fires back at'selfish' Trump over Harry Reid criticism Trump rips Harry Reid for 'failed career' after ex-Dem leader slams him in interview MORE (D-N.Y.).
Schumer’s fell on a 10-13 vote. Rockefeller’s was rejected, 8-15, with two other Democrats also voting no.
But the two votes hardly end the debate on the provision. Liberals are expected to push for more votes on the Senate floor, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is insisting the House bill include a public option and GOP centrist Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) is floating the idea of “triggering” a public option if the insurance industry fails to meet certain requirements.
Baucus, the panel’s chairman, said his “no” votes were born of a pragmatic view that a bill with a public option could not pass the Senate. Despite Democrats controlling 60 seats, several centrists have expressed opposition to, or at least skepticism over, the public option.
“My job is to get a bill that can get 60 votes,” Baucus said. “If this provision is in the bill coming out of the committee, it will jeopardize real, meaningful healthcare reform. I want a bill that can become law.”
The markup, which began on Sept. 22, is expected to finish this week, with a debate on the Senate floor to follow.
Obama supports the public option, but the White House has sent numerous signals that leaving it out would not be a deal-breaker for the president.
Sens. Baucus, Conrad and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) spent months in “Gang of Six” negotiations with Finance Committee Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley Charles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyOvernight Health Care: Senators grill drug execs over high prices | Progressive Dems unveil Medicare for all bill | House Dems to subpoena Trump officials over family separations Senate confirms Trump court pick despite missing two 'blue slips' GOP lawmaker says panel to investigate drug company gaming of patent system MORE (Iowa), Mike Enzi Michael (Mike) Bradley EnziWill Senate GOP try to pass a budget this year? Presumptive benefits to Blue Water Navy veterans are a major win If single payer were really a bargain, supporters like Rep. John Yarmuth would be upfront about its cost MORE (Wyo.) and Snowe. A public option was not included in the bill that came out of those talks.
In spite of the losing votes Tuesday, Rockefeller, Schumer and other liberals said the Finance Committee’s actions were just one step on a journey.
The public option will gain support among Democrats, Schumer said, though he acknowledged he still had work to do. “We don’t have the 60 votes on the floor for the public option,” Schumer said. “I will be the first to admit that.”
Baucus indicated that he has no objection to the proposal itself. “I see a lot to like in the public option,” he said. “The public option would help to keep the insurance companies’ feet to the fire. There’s no doubt about that.”
But Baucus defended his bill, pointing to new insurance market reforms requiring companies to sign up anyone regardless of pre-existing conditions and limiting insurers’ ability to charge higher premiums to older and sicker people. The bill also would assess $67 billion in fees on insurers over 10 years. “Some of your questions sort of leave the indication that the mark is easy on the insurance industry, and it’s not,” Baucus said to Rockefeller.
Schumer said that the committee’s liberals do not hold a grudge against Baucus. “We understand that his job is to pass a bill. I think we can show him that we can,” he said.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has already approved a bill with a public option. Pelosi is adamant that any measure that passes the lower chamber include a public option, though she faces resistance from a centrist Democratic voting bloc.
Schumer’s amendment would have established a so-called level-playing field public option that would negotiate payment rates for medical providers.
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Sens. Tom Carper Thomas (Tom) Richard CarperSenate Dems seek to turn tables on GOP in climate change fight Dems slam EPA plan for fighting drinking water contaminants EPA to announce PFAS chemical regulation plans by end of year MORE (D-Del.) and Bill Nelson Clarence (Bill) William Nelson2020 party politics in Puerto Rico There is no winning without Latinos as part of your coalition Dem 2020 candidates court Puerto Rico as long nomination contest looms MORE (D-Fla.) joined the three other Democrats in opposing Rockefeller’s amendment, which would have pegged pay rates to Medicare’s levels for two years. Such a policy would underpay providers and would “bankrupt every major hospital in my state,” said Conrad.
Schumer and his allies on the Finance Committee are not alone in their professed optimism.
“I have polled senators, and the vast majority of Democrats — maybe approaching 50 — support a public option,” said HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin Thomas (Tom) Richard HarkinThe FDA crackdown on dietary supplements is inadequate Wisconsin lawmaker refuses to cut hair until sign-language bill passes Iowa’s Ernst will run for reelection in 2020 MORE (D-Iowa), during an appearance on liberal commentator Bill Press’s radio show Tuesday.
Republicans were united in their view that the public option would ultimately eliminate the private health insurance industry.
“A new government plan is nothing more than a Trojan horse for a single-payer healthcare plan in Washington,” Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchThe FDA crackdown on dietary supplements is inadequate Orrin Hatch Foundation seeking million in taxpayer money to fund new center in his honor Mitch McConnell has shown the nation his version of power grab MORE (R-Utah) said. “The end result would be a government takeover of our healthcare system.”
Grassley, the panel’s ranking Republican, called the government “a predator” and “not a competitor.”
Rockefeller, however, issued a strong condemnation of the health insurance industry, saying those companies are dedicated to “protecting their profits” and that they “put their customers second.”
“It’s a harsh statement but a true statement,” he said.
Health insurance companies are “rapacious,” Rockefeller said, pointing to industry practices such as rescinding policies or jacking up premiums when people get sick.
“It’s a subject that ought to make us very angry,” he said, but “in the face of all of this, we’re giving them a half a trillion dollars in subsidies. I don’t understand that.”
The Finance Committee may not be finished with the public option debate, however.
Snowe — who did not speak up during the lengthy debate over the public option — could offer an amendment to establish a “trigger” that would institute a public option in states with too few private insurance choices. In addition, Democratic and Republican senators have filed amendments to modify or strip Conrad’s language in the bill to create not-for-profit healthcare cooperatives as an alternative to private insurance.
Regardless of what comes out of the Finance Committee, it will fall to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidSenate confirms Trump court pick despite missing two 'blue slips' Can Lindsey Graham take the politics out of judicial battles? Bottom Line MORE (D-Nev.) to hash out whether the bill that goes to the floor features a public option. Reid said last week that while he supports the public option, he thinks Snowe’s trigger proposal is a “doggone good idea” and preferable to Conrad’s co-ops.
Michael O’Brien contributed to this article.Allowing #MeToo To Go Viral Is The Biggest Mistake The Establishment Ever Made
Caitlin Johnstone Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 10, 2017
Louis CK has just released a statement on the sexual misconduct accusations that have been levelled at him by various women, and it goes pretty much exactly as you’d expect it to go if you’re familiar with his work. He changes things up from the standard stock response powerful men generally provide in these situations, says that the stories are true, explains why what he did was wrong, then launches into his “gosh I’m such an awful person” lovable loser schtick that his fans have already come to adore.
This came out maybe an hour before this writing, and a quick glance at my social media feeds says that some are buying and some are selling. For the time being he’s avoided a total destruction of his career. I’m sure it will make a good standup set someday. Oh, that Louie! He just can’t get it right, but he’s so meta and self-aware about it!
Whatever.
I was 19 years old the first time I was raped. The last time, I was 39. I am not unusual. I’ve been involved in a private ongoing discussion with some dear friends since last year in which we all share our rape stories with one another, and despite a deep awareness of rape culture’s ubiquitousness even I was surprised at how universal these experiences are among the women I know.
All women. Rape culture impacts all women. Severely. The only reason this is treated as less of an epidemic than it is is because there are longstanding mechanisms built into our society (shame, religion, power dynamics, a cultural taboo against shaming men for irresponsible use of their sexuality, etc.) to keep us from speaking out about them.
These mechanisms are now falling apart.
Human civilization is made of rape. For millennia, all over the world, women have been commodified and kept as property for the purpose of receiving male reproductive fluids and raising their progeny, regardless of our will. During this time we were kept at home while men invented religion, money, economics, war, government, hierarchy, class, culture, rules, laws and traditions, including the laws of the marital bed. Civilization has been arranged so that each man receives a woman to own, with whom he may have sex whenever he wishes, between building, fighting, destroying and conquering in accordance with the will of whatever ruler happened to be running the show at the time.
This is only just now beginning to change. A woman’s will for her own sexuality is only just now becoming culturally relevant, a blink of an eye from a historical perspective.
Spousal rape was not considered a crime in all 50 states until 1993, and there are still seven states where there is a marital exception to certain sex crimes. The full anatomy of the clitoris wasn’t recognized by western science until 1998. The G-spot was given its name in the 1980s after a male gynecologist, Ernst Gräfenberg, who spent time in the 1940s studying the stimulation of the urethra. Birth control pills kill sexual desire. A third of women reported pain in their last sexual experience. There is a little-known, virtually unresearched and untreatable condition called vulvodynia that causes such intense nerve pain that some women consider suicide, and it is more common than breast cancer.
Just sit with that. A third of women reported pain in their last sexual experience. They didn’t just not enjoy it, they gritted their teeth through it. Why? Because for a myriad of reasons, we don’t feel like we have a choice. That’s rape culture.
Given that interest in a woman’s will for her own sexuality is just barely beginning to enter social consciousness on a large scale, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that it is only just now in 2017 that sharing our experiences with rape culture is beginning to go mainstream.
Rape dynamics are woven into the fabric of society far more pervasively than anyone realizes, and by pulling this thread, the whole mad tapestry will necessarily unravel. This can only be a good thing.
Our species is at a crossroads. It’s become self-evident that we’re about to either collectively experience some kind of enormous transformation, or go the way of the dinosaur. Parallel to our unprecedented ability to network and share information and ideas with our fellow humans all around the globe is a death march toward either ecosystemic disaster or nuclear holocaust which so far shows no signs of slowing down, and one of these two factors will necessarily win out at some point in the near future. Thus far our attempts to shift trajectories have failed spectacularly. If something is going to save us, it’s going to come from way out of left field.
Women everywhere feel the significance of the #MeToo phenomenon. A lot of us are scared to say anything about it for fear of hurting the feelings of the men we love, fear of retribution, and fear of being eaten alive by the intimidating, debate-culture defenders of patriarchy, but there’s a widespread sense that this thing is much bigger than it seems. Some leaders of conventional feminist thought have been speculating about some kind of progressive political upheaval, but in my opinion this is infinitely more revolutionary than that. We are about to experience a plunge into completely unknown and uncharted territory.
I can’t even keep track of all the men who are facing sexual misconduct accusations anymore as women gain more and more confidence to call it out, but the hyper-politicized nature of the circles I move in tells me it’s entirely bipartisan. Liberal men rape and conservative men rape, all the way up the power structure. Democrats and Republicans are both accusing one another of hypocrisy today for focusing on one faction’s sex crimes and not the other’s, while ignoring the elephant in the room that rape is happening all over the place. What will happen when they can’t ignore it anymore?
What will happen when women begin really reclaiming their sexuality? What will happen when women everywhere flick on every light in the house, and all the perversions of men no longer have any darkness left to hide in?
It is unimaginable. Power structures will be disrupted from the basic family unit all the way up to the highest echelons of influence. Movement will happen. Cracks will appear. The will of women, which spent all those millennia forbidden from influencing the development of the civilization in which we now find ourselves, will finally have some space to get a word in edgewise.
Most elites remain blissfully unaware of what’s coming. The liberal think tanks in Washington still believe they’ll be able to manipulate the #MeToo phenomenon into some pussyhat-wearing rah rah Kamala Harris 2020 movement that they can use to their advantage. They have never been more wrong. Pandora’s box has been opened. They cannot manipulate this.
What is coming is not a new political movement, what is coming is a revolution against the very fabric of the profoundly sick society that our species has woven for itself. By shining a bright light on rape culture in each and every instance it rears its ugly head, we are actually re-tracing our footsteps back to the dawn of civilization and undoing every wrong turn that humanity has made which got us to the catastrophic point we now find ourselves. The fact that this is becoming a mainstream practice means that this societal alchemy will necessarily unfold, regardless of people’s old ideas about politics and revolution.
When the doors of the sexual revolution opened in the late sixties, the predators flooded in and quickly turned “You can have sex whenever you want!” to “You can have sex whenever I want.” Germaine Greer warned us at the time that thousands of years of relentlessly abusing our sexuality had made us into female eunuchs who had no idea what our sexuality was. Unfortunately, that’s still mostly true today.
We know our sexuality is our spark and our spunk, our creativity, our beauty and our healing. We know a raped woman will lose all these things in the months after the rape, often taking years to get them back. We know that when you scare a woman’s sexuality, you dim her light. And that’s Louis CK’s greatest crime right now, whether he knows it or not. All those female comics that he smeared his smelly sexuality all over? He made them less brave, less fearless, less funny.
In a time when we face human extinction, we need all the bravery and humor we can get.
There’s a certain type of personality that finds it deeply offensive that I talk about rape culture sometimes. Personally I found being raped rather offensive, myself. The people who find these discussions triggering are going to have to find a way to deal with it, because they’re only going to get more common. Sexual predation is no longer shrouded by any taboos against pointing at it and calling it what it is. Complain all you want — this upheaval is coming either way.
This is not a political or ideological revolution. This is a complete undoing of all that is sick in this world, coming not from our minds but from deep within our cells. A voice has finally been given to the heritage of pain which has been passed from mother to daughter from generation to generation as we taught one another how to survive in a world of sexual slavery since the dawn of civilization. It will not be pretty when it first comes out. It will not be sexy. It will not dance for male sexuality as it has been trained to do like a good little girl. It will roar, and it will destroy.
Change is coming. What looks like women talking about their experiences with rape culture is actually a vast area of endarkened human unconsciousness suddenly becoming enlightened into consciousness. A whole section of our collective consciousness which we have never previously had access to is now suddenly becoming available to us. The old structures will not be able to stand on this new ground, as they were built upon the old ground.
Buckle up.
______
Hey you, thanks for reading! My work is entirely reader-funded so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following me on Twitter, and maybe throwing some money into my hat on Patreon, on Paypal, or with Bitcoin: 1DguEVyWJU1eVDei25RH4Xj1eTLnxiS562So much has been made about the “bright” future of the Astros. Despite all of the new and promising changes, very little has been done to explain why the Astros’ organization is in the position they are in today, why they have had two back-to-back one-hundred loss seasons and what will be or is being done to change it.
Let’s start by looking how the organization got into this position in the first place. The Astros’ were one of the winningest franchises in baseball from the mid-90’s to the mid-2000’s. During this time, fans were treated to many successful seasons. After finishing second in their division in 1994 (in a strike year), 1995, and 1996, the Astros won consecutive division titles in 1997, 1998, and 1999. In the 1998 season, the Astros set a team record with 102 victories. They also made it to the NLCS in 2004 and finally to baseball’s promised land – the World Series – in 2005. Despite all of this success, it did not come without sacrifice, and this is where the “casual fan” definition comes into play.
The casual fan sees all of the big market teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and others with their free agent spending frenzies and get angry when the Astros are not doing the same. The Houston market simply cannot and will not be able to sustain or be a profitable organization by trying to do as the larger market teams do. Despite this, fans have quickly seemed to have forgotten Drayton McLane’s “win now” attitude that lasted for an entire decade. Do the names Randy Johnson, Carlos Beltran, Jeff Kent, Moises Alou, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Jose Valverde or Michael Bourn mean anything to you? Well, they should, because they were all players that McLane signed or traded for and these players did not come without cost.
Each time a player is acquired via trade or a free agent signing, especially big names, the loss of Minor League prospects or draft picks is inevitable. The Astros did this over a ten year period, while also failing to sign draft picks and tendering bad contracts to players such as Richard Hidalgo, Morgan Ensberg, Kazuo Matsui and Carlos Lee, just to name a few. All of these problems snowballed and suddenly the Astros had the worst farm system in baseball.
Now, let’s change gears from the past and why our team is currently in a state of disarray and let’s talk about why and how it is in the process of being fixed. In recent years, fan favorites (and aging veterans) such as Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman were traded. Some fans did not understand why and were upset with these trades. Upon further review, these trades were great for the organization. The Oswalt deal landed J.A. Happ (since sent to Toronto), Anthony Gose, who was immediately flipped for 1B prospect, Brett Wallace, and SS Jonathan Villar, who currently ranks somewhere in the top 4 in the Astros’ system depending on the source. In the Berkman deal, the Astros landed Mark Melancon, who was so effective while in Houston that he was traded for current shortstop, Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland who ranks around 9th in the Astros’ system.
Soon after, the younger and more productive Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn were traded and fans absolutely could not understand why. I wish I had a nickel for every time a “casual” fan expressed their concerns and malcontent with the Astros’ for these moves. The most-often cited reason is, “Every time a player gets good, they trade them” or simply, “They didn’t want to pay him.” This is far from the truth, because for years the Astros’ were toting the massive contracts of many players. Well, here’s why it truly happened – look at the return that we got for them – particularly Pence. The Astros netted arguably the two best prospects in the Phillies organization. The two primary players, Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart immediately jumped to 1st and 2nd on the Astros’ Minor League depth chart. The Player to be Named Later, Domingo Santana, is also doing quite a job at the Minor League level and currently ranked around 7th on the Astros’ Minor League depth chart. Four players were acquired in the Bourn trade — Jordan Schafer, who since has been sent back to Atlanta, Paul Clemens (ranked around 5th prospect in the Astros’ Minor Leagues), Brett Oberholtzer (ranked around 8th) and Juan Abreu (ranked around 17th). If your math adds up like mine does, those two players netted the Astros six of their current top twenty prospects. That is a good return for players (specifically Bourn) who would have surely been gone via free agency after this 2012 season.
After multiple unsuccessful drafts, the Astros drafted and inked OF George Springer who has |
, this means that the quality is poor or that there is strict limitation as to the bandwidth offered).
In the light of such issues requiring immediate action to tackle with, Google appears to have taken the initiative of installing built-in Google VPN to the newest releases of software and products, like Nexus 6. Android Lollipop 5.1 has got the basis on which the built-in VPN is going to be put into effect towards providing a safe environment on open Wi-Fi connection. As we read from the pop up window appearing at the Android 5.1 (after navigating from Settings to Apps and then All): “To help protect you on open Wi-Fi networks, your data will be transmitted securely through a Google VPN”.
As you can see, Google Connectivity Service has addressed the problem and seeks to provide a solution. At the same time, Google has been discussing of launching MVNO and being placed among the leading companies in the wireless industry. There are of course those who do not trust Google and its troubled privacy as a VPN service provider or as a protector of anonymity online. Since Google can keep track of and monitor your traffic, it seems almost like an oxymoron that Google will provide the means to wipe these tracks off. That being said, even with the VPN you will be expected to visit HTTPS sites in avoidance of having your traffic monitored and analyzed.
If we combine the knowledge gained by the currently hidden special feature of Google VPN and the suspected launch of MVNO that has been rumored over time, we can see the pattern; when there is no available connection otherwise, Google will turn to Open Wi-Fi and will provide all the means for ensuring that such a connection is always kept safe and risk-free. Much debate has already been initiated on the subject, although there has not been any verification on behalf of the company as of now. Perhaps the non-functional feature remains as it currently is and the whole play reminds us of “Much Ado about Nothing”.
In the meantime, should you wish to see the feature on your own you can do so pretty easily; you download and install QuickShortcutMaker from Google Play and then you link to the following activity:
“com.google.android.apps.gcs/com.google.android.apps.gcs.WifiAssistantOptInActivity”
Top/Featured Image: By DWilliams / PixabayRavenBrick
RavenBrick is developing a window that knows when it's hot enough for shade.
The Denver-based company has been working on a window coating that creates a heat-blocking tint triggered by the outdoor temperature. The company is in the process of raising $3 million in venture capital with plans to build a factory that will start operating in about a year, according to co-founder and President Wil McCarthy.
One of the trends in building design is to use large windows to bring in daylight, which creates a pleasing workspace and lowers the need for artificial lighting. One of the challenges with floor-to-ceiling windows, for example, is excessive heat from sunlight, or "solar gain."
Five-year-old RavenBrick has developed a material that's embedded as a liquid into a plastic film laminated over windows, McCarthy explained. When the window temperature reaches a certain point, the film begins to change from clear to dark to cut glare and block the sunlight's heat. How quickly the tinting occurs depends on how heat spreads through the glass, but it generally takes about 10 minutes, McCarthy said.
There are already a number of "smart glass" products available or under development. Sage Electrochromatics and Soladigm, for example, last year received funding to manufacture electrochromatic windows with glass that tints from an electrical signal.
RavenBrick's technique, which has its roots in McCarthy's research on sensors for space missions, is driven by heat rather than electricity. That makes it less cumbersome to install since no wires are needed and he expects the products to be cheaper and able to get a return on investment within a few years.
"Ours is liquid crystal based. With a TV you have a set of liquid crystals that get switched electrically. Every pixel has a transistor where you can apply a voltage across it or not to switch it to light or dark," he said. "We are doing essentially the same thing with one big pixel, but it's activated by temperature rather than an electrical signal."
The company's film has been installed on a building at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and on a large company's offices. The temperature that starts the tinting process can be tuned during manufacture, but 94 degrees at the window's surface (not inside) works in many climates.
Rather than sell directly to consumers, RavenBrick's plan is to sell to window manufacturers, which would add the film to their products, McCarthy said. Another company called Pleotint is also testing thermally driven self-tinting windows.
RavenBrick's founders decided to focus first on self-tinting glass, but its core thermally driven nanomaterial technology can be adjusted for different purposes, McCarthy said. In the future, he expects to develop a window coating that can absorb and reflect some of the heat from sunlight and to create walls that transfer solar heat in a building.Roy Spencer's Junk Science
Posted on 5 March 2012 by bbickmore
This is a cross-post from Barry Bickmore's blog
Roy Spencer recently posted an article on his blog called “Ten Years After the Warming,” in which he argues that there’s no excuse for a decade without much warming, because the radiative forcing is supposedly higher than it’s ever been. Steve Milloy has also reposted the article on his aptly titled blog, JunkScience.com. (In case you don’t remember, Steve Milloy is a Fox News commentator who goes about labeling as “junk science” any environmental issues that might precipitate some government regulation. Yes, that includes links between second-hand smoke and cancer.) Spencer’s main point is this:
"You cannot simply say a lack of warming in 10 years is not that unusual, and that there have been previous 10-year periods without warming, too. No, we are supposedly in uncharted territory with a maximum in radiative forcing of the climate system. One cannot compare on an equal basis the last 10 years with any previous decades without warming."
This is the same Roy Spencer who is constantly claiming that he can explain most of the warming trend over the last 100 years by appealing to various modes of natural variation in the climate, e.g., the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the El Niño Southern Oscillation. These climate oscillations depend on complicated stuff like deep ocean currents that are hard to predict, given that we don’t have that many observations of what the state of the system is like at any given time. (In other words, it’s expensive and hard to measure deep ocean temperatures and currents, so we don’t have that many observations.) Since these kinds of things are hard to predict exactly with a model, climatologists usually talk about long-term trends caused by external “forcing” (by things like CO2 emissions and variations in solar output), overprinted by random “natural variation”. The main difference between Roy Spencer and the rest of the climatologists is that he thinks that natural variation is important over much longer time periods, whereas the others generally think it’s mainly important over about a decade or less. For example, he complained in his book,, The Great Global Warming Blunder,
"The IPCC has taken for granted that there are no natural variations in global average temperatures once one gets beyond a time scale of ten years or so. (p. 16) The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change does acknowledge that there is natural climate variability on a year-to-year basis, and maybe even decade-to-decade. After all, we have clear evidence that events like El Niño and La Niña cause some years to be warmer than others. Yet the IPCC refuses to accept that the global warming (or cooling) on time scales of thirty years or more can also be caused by Mother Nature. That, apparently, is humanity’s job. (p. 1)"
In this latest article, however, Roy seems to be saying that the temperature should have kept going up pretty steeply because the external forcing from greenhouse gases has continued to rise. The problem is that this is true ONLY if you ignore natural variation that might temporarily offset the external forcing.
Spencer’s newfound suspicion of decadal-scale natural variations is unfounded. Foster and Rahmstorf (2011), for example, statistically removed the effects of El Niño/La Niña cycles, volcanoes, and solar variation, to produce the temperature evolution that WOULD HAVE occurred if these random, natural variations hadn’t happened. Here’s what they got (Fig. 1).
There is still random variation evident in Fig. 1, so we obviously haven’t removed all the noise, but the trend is much more consistently upward, including during the last decade. The fact is that natural variation can EASILY account for a leveling off of the temperature rise for a decade or so, and what’s more, even though climate models aren’t very good at predicting when these natural variations will occur, they do at least predict that they WILL happen (Santer et al., 2011).
The bottom line is that Roy Spencer has been arguing all along that natural variation can cause the temperature to go up or down for a while no matter what the external forcing is doing, and no matter how long the time period, but now he suddenly can’t imagine that this could happen over a single decade!
It’s also funny that Steve Milloy passed on Spencer’s assertions, but then just two days later he was promoting a paper in which Spencer argued that standard climate models are uncertain because “alternative hypotheses for the cause(s) of the warming, such as natural climate cycles or indirect forcing by the sun, have seen relatively little research.” (And of course, Roy cited his book, The Great Global Warming Blunder to support this point.) Milloy likes to label as “junk science” any science that leads to conclusions that might precipitate government regulations, but the fact is that he doesn’t have the expertise to understand the science he pans or the “alternative” science he promotes.The Financial Times' headquarters in London | Getty Financial Times reshuffles senior editors First reshuffle of Nikkei era sees new deputy editor appointed.
LONDON — The Financial Times has appointed a new deputy editor in the first reshuffle of the newspaper's senior editorial ranks since it was taken over by Nikkei.
Roula Khalaf, the foreign editor, has been promoted to replace John Thornhill, who is moving into a new digital "innovation" role, the FT's editor Lionel Barber announced in an internal memo on New Year's Eve.
The newsroom is buzzing with talk of other senior moves. "More changes are to come," Barber said in the note, which was obtained by POLITICO Monday.
Khalaf, an experienced foreign correspondent who has spent years reporting on the Middle East, will take up her role on February 1. She will be the first female deputy editor at the newspaper since Chrystia Freeland, who is now Canada's minister of international trade.
Thornhill, who has served as deputy since 2012, becomes innovation editor. "John will lead our efforts to develop next generation digital comment and put technology at the heart of our editorial coverage," Barber wrote in the email to staff.
With Barber thought to be staying in the editor's chair for another year or so, the reshuffle is seen by newsroom insiders as an attempt by the newspaper's executives to keep a group of potential successors from getting too restless — and to promote more women.
"We need to adapt the leadership structure to acknowledge those charged with the most operational responsibility and to promote digital skills," Barber wrote. "I am fortunate to have around me some of the most able editorial managers I have known during my career in journalism. I intend to recognise this."
Paul Murphy, founder of the FT's Alphaville financial blog, and Brooke Masters, the companies editor, have been promoted to assistant editor as part of this reshuffle.
The FT confirmed the changes that have been announced internally, but would not comment on whether other senior figures are also in line to be moved. A public announcement is expected Tuesday.
Nikkei, the Japanese financial publisher, struck an £844 million deal to buy the FT from Pearson last summer. The deal was completed late last year. (Axel Springer, the co-owner of POLITICO's Europe edition, unsuccessfully bid for the company.)
One of Barber's first priorities under the new owners is to bolster the FT's online comment section. It hired Sebastian Payne, an online editor at the Spectator magazine and regular contributor to POLITICO Europe, to run the revamped section.
This article has been amended to reflect that Paul Murphy and Brooke Masters have been promoted to assistant, not associate, editor.I’m sure that a lot of veteran Google Analytics Ninjas would be familiar with the Google Analytics Query Explorer.
This wonderful tool, allows you to create and compile URI calls relatively quickly, and in my humble opinion, I prefer it over using the Google Analytics interface to get some data.
The query explorer compiles an API Query URI that would look something like this:
The eagle-eyed analysts would have realised that the access_token expires generally around 60 minutes so this blog will teach you how to re-generate the access_token in 7 easy steps!
Most of the tokens in this example have been changed or disguised.
Part 1: Create an oAuth ID (Other)
Go to: https://console.developers.google.com Create a new project Enable the “Analytics API” Go to credentials Create “oAuth Client ID” Configure (Other) and save Give it a name Save the client ID and client secret Download the JSON
Part 2: Compile the following URI call from the JSON
https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?scope=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/analytics &redirect_uri=YOUR_REDIRECT_URI_HERE &response_type=code &client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID_HERE 1 2 3 4 https : //accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?scope=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/analytics & redirect_uri = YOUR_REDIRECT_URI_HERE & response_type = code & client_id = YOUR_CLIENT_ID_HERE
Copy the client ID from the JSON into the URI to become:
https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?scope=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/analytics &redirect_uri=urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob &response_type=code&client_id=390486569115-blq2iuvpkt5kmipgnben5ij.apps.googleusercontent.com 1 2 3 https : //accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?scope=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/analytics & redirect_uri = urn : ietf : wg : oauth : 2.0 : oob & response_type = code & client_id = 390486569115 - blq2iuvpkt5kmipgnben5ij. apps. googleusercontent. com
Call the above URI.
Part 3: If done right… you will get this screen. Answer ALLOW!
Google will then issue you with this token – it may only be used once.
Part 4: Open up Postman – or download it at www.getpostman.com
Make a POST call to: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token
With the following parameters:
HEADER:
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
BODY:
grant_type: authorization_code
code: 4/XP1d0cQSjFFW0GTvroHSKTtheZfX-lXhyeFEBE71uxQ (important code from before)
client_id: YOUR CLIENT ID from setup
client_secret: YOUR CLIENT SECRET from setup
redirect_uri: urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob
Part 5: If done right, you will get a happy POSTMAN
Part 6: Use the access_token to access any Google Analytics API URI
For example, you may now call, and the data will come back in JSON format.
https://www.googleapis.com/analytics/v3/data/ga?ids=ga%3A663604&start-date=2015-01-18&end-date=2015-02-17&metrics=ga%3Ausers &access_token=ya29.igIHPjsPS9zFqtqqsh 1 2 https : //www.googleapis.com/analytics/v3/data/ga?ids=ga%3A663604&start-date=2015-01-18&end-date=2015-02-17&metrics=ga%3Ausers & access_token = ya29. igIHPjsPS9zFqtqqsh
Part 7: You can refresh the token using the refresh_token
Tokens usually last for around 60 minutes so be sure to build an error handler.
https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token?client_id=CLIENT_ID &client_secret=CLIENT_SECRET &refresh_token=REFRESH_TOKEN &grant_type=refresh_token 1 2 3 4 https : //accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token?client_id=CLIENT_ID & client_secret = CLIENT_SECRET & refresh_token = REFRESH_TOKEN & grant_type = refresh_token
For the lazy, below is what the code could look like. Of course, the implementation could be done in many other ways.Bony, whose 20 Premier League goals during 2014 made him the leading scorer in the competition during the calendar year, is understood to be close to agreeing in personal terms of a basic £100,000-a-week in order to complete a move to the Etihad before focusing on the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.
Currently in Abu Dhabi with the Ivorians at the pre-tournament training camp, Bony will be unable to play for City until he returns from Africa – which may yet be mid-February should Ivory Coast reach the final in Equatorial Guinea.
City have driven through the deal for the 26-year-old after being urged to bolster their strike-force by Manuel Pellegrini, who has operated with just three forwards in his squad following the season-long loan of Alvaro Negredo to Valencia last August.
Negredo’s move to the Mestalla Stadium will become permanent in the summer for a fee in the region of £24m, enabling City to push forward on their bid for Bony this month.
Despite suggestions that the deal could be worth up to £35m to Swansea, who spent a club record £12m when they signed signed from Vitesse Arnhem in the summer of 2013, it is understood that the Welsh club will receive an initial payment of £25m for their striker.
Swansea could earn as much as £28m, however, should City win the Premier League, Champions League or FA Cup during the course of his four-and-a-half year contract.
Bony would also have to figure in 60 per cent of City’s games in a successful run in any of those competitions to trigger the extra payment to Swansea.
With the deal still subject to a medical, Bony’s move to City could lead tom Montenegro forward Stevan Jovetić leaving the club this month.
The former Fiorentina striker, 25, has struggled for consistent form and fitness since arriving from Italy 18 months ago, but his reputation in Serie A remains high, with Roma, Napoli and Inter Milan all keen to sign the player.A few months ago I reported on “banana evangelists” Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort and their project to distribute a new version of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”, including an added 50-page creationist-minded introduction that, in their own words, “reveals the dangerous fruit of evolution, Hitler’s undeniable connections to the theory, Darwin’s racism, and his disdain for women.”
But now there is a new development. It turns out that they plagiarized parts of the introduction directly from a biography of Charles Darwin (here is a side-by-side comparison). And the author of that biography, University of Tennessee professor Stan Guffey, is considering legal action.
It is ironic that many religious conservatives believe that morality cannot exist without religion. And yet, these ardent evangelists, while trying to defend religious doctrine against science, can’t remember the eighth commandment against stealing.
RelatedRecognizing emotional facial expressions, an ability already impaired in many of those with autism, tends to get worse over time, according to new research from Georgetown University.
“Our findings suggest that while neurodevelopmental processes and social experience produce improvements in facial emotion recognition abilities for children without autism, autistic children experience disruptions in these processes,” said Dr. Abigail Marsh, associate professor of psychology in Georgetown College.
The researchers found consistent facial-emotion recognition deficits — particularly in expressions of anger, fear, and surprise — by analyzing data from more than 40 previous studies of facial-emotion recognition deficits in children and adults with autism.
“A major take-home message of this research is that impairments in recognizing emotional facial expressions get worse over time,” said researcher Leah Lozier, who just received her Ph.D. in neuroscience.
According to Marsh, there has been an ongoing discussion among researchers on whether or not facial expression recognition impairment even exists, and, if it does exist, whether it applies to only a few or many different types of emotions.
“It’s surprising how little consensus there has been on autism and its effects on facial expression recognition,” said Marsh, “because difficulties in nonverbal communication are a big part of an autism diagnosis.”
The researchers noted that since these difficulties become worse later in life, that adults with autism could have even more problems in social settings due to their inability to read nonverbal cues. They say their findings support the importance of developing treatments for people with autism long before they become adults.
“Autistic adults have even more trouble recognizing facial expressions than autistic children do,” said Marsh. “Given how important facial expressions are for regulating social interactions, this reinforces the importance of early interventions that may help prevent this gap from widening during development.”
It is estimated that about one in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to the latest findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disorder is characterized by social and communication difficulties as well as repetitive behaviors.
“There is a snowballing effect,” Lozier said, “which underscores how important it is to develop targeted treatments and interventions for very young children in order to mitigate the developmental consequences before more severe impairments in affect recognition have set in.”
The research is published in the journal Development and Psychopathology.
Source: Georgetown University
In Autism, Facial Expression Recognition Tends to Worsen with AgeA major donor to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee was granted a direct audience with the White House to discuss overhauling the tax code. And in a rare bit of candor, he not only admitted it but put out a press release trumpeting the meeting.
Julio Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive of Engineered Tax Services, which is described as “the largest specialty tax firm in the United States,” met this month with top administration officials, including a senior policy adviser to Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief economist, and the official U.S. Treasurer.
The White House does to appear to have publicly revealed the meeting, though it does appear that it took place at the White House itself (the meeting was described as a “White House roundtable”). Nor did the White House return a request for comment about it.
The revelation that it took place came in the form of a press release, in which Gonzalez said that the Gonzalez Family Office, a private entity that, according to its website, “serves the Gonzalez Family interests,” hosted a roundtable along with The Hispanic 100, a group of top Latina leaders.
According to that press release, attendees included Jennifer Korn, the Republican National Committee’s deputy political director; Andrew Koenig, a policy special assistant at the White House; Jovita Carranza, the Treasurer of the United States; and Mark Calabria, chief economist to Pence. The press release also gave a surface-level readout of what was discussed, including that administration officials detailed deductions they wanted to eliminate in order to offset a reduction in personal and corporate tax rates.
Gonzalez is a member of the Hispanic CEO Roundtable and part of the administration’s task force on Hispanic affairs. He’s an active player in political circles despite being based in West Palm Beach.
His company also has interest in the tax-overhaul debate playing out in Congress and he himself has opened up his checkbook for key players in that fight. Engineered Tax Services gave $25,000 to Trump’s inaugural. Gonzalez himself gave $2,500 to Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is leading the tax overhaul effort. That donation took place in April. A week later, Gonzalez gave another $2,500 to Rep. Steve Stivers, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and his wife, the vice president of Engineered Tax Services, gave the same amount to Stivers that same day.
Gonzalez’s press representative deferred requests for comment to Gonzalez himself, who subsequently did not return multiple emails.
Gonzalez is hardly the first donor to have gained access to the top rungs of government. The Obama presidential campaign was caught advising the Obama White House on how to give big-time donors a sense of access during their White House visits.
Trump, however, promised to be immune from granting access to donors—because he was so rich he didn’t need them. Beyond that, government ethicists say it is uncommon for a private family office to host a White House event, and problematic for someone with direct interests before the government to be doing so. They did, however, find it oddly refreshing that Gonzalez issued a press release about it.
“I’ve never seen it as a press release before. Usually when they brag about it, they do it in a small circle of business associates and clients who they are trying to impress. It is odd to issue a press release. Sometimes they will put out a photo from their meeting,” said Larry Noble, senior director of ethics and general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center. “I would actually like to see them all put out press releases where they describe what was discussed. Maybe this should be the new standard.”
With reporting by Lachlan MarkayTypes of computer viruses
Adam and Eve virus: Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple.
Airline virus: You're in Dallas, but your data is in Singapore.
Anita Hill virus: Lies dormant for ten years.
Arnold Schwarzenegger virus: Terminates and stays resident. It'll be back.
AT&T virus: Every three minutes it tells you what great service you are getting.
The MCI virus: Every three minutes it reminds you that you're paying too much for the AT&T virus.
Bill Clinton virus: This virus mutates from region to region and we're not exactly sure what it does.
Bill Clinton virus: Promises to give equal time to all processes: 50% to poor, slow processes; 50% to middle-class processes, and 50% to rich ones. This virus protests your computer's involvement in other computer's affairs, even though it has been having one of its own for 12 years.
Congressional Virus: Overdraws your computer.
Congressional Virus: The computer locks up, screen splits erratically with a message appearing on each half blaming the other side for the problem.
Dan Quayle virus: Prevents your system from spawning any child processes without joining into a binary network.
Dan Quayle virus: Simplye addse ane ee toe everye worde youe typee..
David Duke virus: Makes your screen go completely white.
Elvis virus: Your computer gets fat, slow, and lazy and then self destructs, only to resurface at shopping malls and service stations across rural America.
Federal bureaucrat virus: Divides your hard disk into hundreds of little units, each of which do practically nothing, but all of which claim to be the most important part of the computer.
Freudian virus: Your computer becomes obsessed with marrying its own motherboard.
Gallup virus: Sixty percent of the PCs infected will lose 38 percent of their data 14 percent of the time (plus or minus a 3.5 percent margin of error).
George Bush virus: Doesn't do anything, but you can't get rid of it until November.
Government economist virus: Nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine.
Jerry Brown virus: Blanks your screen and begins flashing an 800 number.
Madonna virus: If your computer gets this virus, lock up your dog!
Mario Cuomo virus: It would be a great virus, but it refuses to run.
Michael Jackson virus: Hard to identify because it is constantly altering its appearance. This virus won't harm your PC, but it will trash your car.
New World Order virus: probably harmless, but it makes a lot of people really mad just thinking about it.
Nike virus: Just Does It!
Ollie North virus: Turns your printer into a document shredder.
Oprah Winfrey virus: Your 200MB hard drive suddenly shrinks to 80MB, and then slowly expands back to 200MB.
Pat Buchanan virus: Shifts all your output to the extreme right of your screen.
Paul Revere virus: This revolutionary virus does not horse around. It warns you of impending hard disk attack---once if by LAN, twice if by C:.
Paul Tsongas virus: Pops up on December 25 and says, "I'm not Santa Claus."
PBS virus: Your PC stops every few minutes to ask for money.
Politically correct virus: Never calls itself a "virus", but instead refers to itself as an "electronic microorganism".
Richard Nixon virus: Also known as the "Tricky Dick Virus", you can wipe it out but it always makes a comeback.
Right To Life virus: Won't allow you to delete a file, regardless of how old it is. If you attempt to erase a file, it requires you to first see a counselor about possible alternatives.
Ross Perot virus: Activates every component in your system, just before the whole thing quits.
Ted Kennedy virus: Crashes your computer but denies it ever happened.
Ted Turner virus: Colorizes your monochrome monitor.
Terry Randle virus: Prints "Oh no you don't" whenever you choose "Abort" from the "Abort, Retry, Fail" message.
Texas virus: Makes sure that it's bigger than any other file.
UK Parliament virus: Splits the screen into two with a message in each half blaming other side for the state of the system.
Warren Commission virus: Won't allow you to open your files for 75 years.Dipa Karmakar returned empty handed from the Vaults final at the Gymnastics event of Rio 2016 Olympics after she finished the event at fourth position. Karmakar scored 15.066 points in the final.
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USA’s Simone Biles won the gold medal with a score of 15.966 while the silver went to Russia’s Maria Paseka after her score of 15.253. Bronze was bagged by Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber for her score of 15.216.
Karmakar’s final score of 15.066 gave her the fourth position in the final. Her first vault fetched her 14.866 points but her Produnova gave her 15.266. She was second after her two vaults but Russia and USA were the last to go and that pushed Karmakar out of the top three position.
Gymnastics final: As it happened (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
0000 hrs IST: Simone Biles of USA wins the gold with a vault of 15.966. This pushes Dipa Karmakar to fourth position. She misses the bronze medal by 0.150 points
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2355 hrs IST: Russia’s Maria Paseka scores 15.253 to jump into lead. Dipa slips to 3rd position
2349 hrs IST: Dipa Karmakar scores 14.866 in first vault and then averages 15.066 and is currently in second posiotn
2346 hrs IST: Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber with a brilliant vault. She gets 15.533. In the second she gets 14.900. She leads with 15.216
2342 hrs IST: China’s Yan Wang completes her first vault and gets 14.866 as the score. Her second vault fetches her 15.133. She jumps into the lead with 14.999
2337 hrs IST: Uzbekistan legend Oksana Chusovitina trips over in her produnova. But completes the second vault. She gets an average 14.833
2336 hrs IST: Olsen’s first vaults fetches her 14.966 and the second gets her 14.666. Average score is 14.816
2335 hrs IST: Canada’s Shallon Olsen with two magnificent vaults and she will get a good score here. Only 16 years of age
2322 hrs IST: Korea’s Un Jong Hong performs her first vault and gets a good score of 15.400. She falls in the second but still manages a score of 14.400. She scores 14.900 in her final
2320 hrs IST” Dipa Karmakar’s event begins in Rio Olympics. She will perform at the fifth position
2300 hrs IST: Are you ready for the historic event at the Olympics for India? Dipa Karmakar will perform in the vaults final
Karmakar vaults into history
India’s Dipa Karmakar created history on Monday after she became the first Indian to qualify for the apparatus finals of artistic Gymnastics at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Karmakar, who hails from Tripura, finished eighth in the qualification event of the Vaults and scored 14.850 to qualify. She could not repeat her performance in three other events, namely uneven bars, balancing beam and floor exercise. Though Karmakar was sixth before the final round, a strong performance from Canada saw her slip to eight but that was the last position to qualify.
In a total of five subdivisions, the gymnasts tried to qualify by finishing in top eight. After three subdivisions, Karmakar was sixth and her qualification depended on performances from gymnasts from USA, Japan, Canada and Russia.
The finals of the artistic Gymnastics will be held on August 14, Sunday at 2315 hrs IST.
USA’s Simone Biles, the flying American, who said she “didn’t want to die doing Produnova” tallied a monstrous 16.050 to top the qualification.
The subdivision five, which had six gymnasts – Saw Miyakawa (Japan), Marcia Vidiaux (Cuba), Alexa Moreno (Mexico) and Canada’s Brittany Rogers, Elsabeth Black and Shallon Olsen, saw only one qualification.
Two Dipa Karmakar somersaults, one giant leap for India at Olympics
IT’S seductive to be caught up in the whirl that surrounds Dipa Karmakar and her stupendous journey to become the first Indian to enter the gymnastics finals at the Olympic Games. It’s tantalising to forget the precise moment — a field of eight of the best contemporary women on the vaulting horse, all cut-throat competitors with razor-sharp focus and a greedy need to win that medal — and barter it for the warm, fuzzy story of a girl who was born flat-footed but went on to become a vault sensation.
Dipa’s giant leap isn’t complete, she continues to fly. Gazing at her is better than looking back. India needs to wait for the night of August 14 when Dipa will stromp up the runway, summon raw power to launch herself in the air and stake her claim to gymnastics’ ultimate prize. Dipa wants the country to make the metaphorical journey with her, each thudding step of the way, and like her pet move, fly into the future. It’s not called a double-front somersault for nothing.
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Many in India would have made it to office on Monday morning, sleep-deprived and wondering if Dipa had made it to the final. Sunday night, on Twitter, they had cursed the broadcaster for not keeping the cameras on the lone Indian gymnast at the Olympics. Dipa, lying sixth in the standings till three-fifth of the field was done, was pushed by some seriously skilled vaulters who didn’t concede one inch just because she’s India’s first ever to fetch up. From two attempts, one of which was a clean ‘Produnova’, Dipa averaged 14.850. The dawn in India brought with it clarity and good news. Dipa had made it.Missile Defence Agency/U.S. Department of Defense
With North Korea launching two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) over the summer and the continuation of its nuclear development program, many observers believe that the “hermit kingdom,” as it is often called, is within 18 months of being able to deploy nuclear-tipped ICBMs aimed at the continental United States.
This crisis spans some four presidencies, with the North Koreans making steady progress toward both a useable nuclear weapon and a workable ICBM. It is a gross exaggeration to lay the blame at the feet of the current occupant of the White House, and there is literally nothing that Canada could have done to intercede in North Korea’s steady march to nuclear status. For a decade at least, Canada has studiously avoided comment on these developments and action by way of asking to join the United States in its Anti-Ballistic-Missile (ABM) umbrella, which is stationed in Alaska and has been under development for a long time.
How much longer will we hold ourselves back from joining the U.S. ABM effort?
Almost no one is certain that an ABM system would work. There have been numerous tests and simulated tests conducted by the U.S. with its own system—with mixed results. Some have worked; others have not. With all the technological advances of the past two decades, it is still exceedingly hard to hit a bullet with a bullet that has been fired at an intercontinental target.
There are some systems that work. At the most primitive level is the Israeli/American Iron Dome system that proved itself extremely effective during the last Israel-Hamas war around the Gaza Strip in 2006. But the missiles that Iron Dome targeted were short-range, low-rise and relatively slow tactical missiles which were easily tracked and just as easily intercepted in almost every case.
Then there is the U.S. Navy-designed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which has been deployed and tested aboard U.S. warships. For the most part, THAAD works, as shown by a variety of successful tests. But THAAD is most useful for intermediate-range missiles which, again, are fired at a relatively low angle and, although they may reach the boundary between Earth and space, do not rise above the atmosphere and do not achieve astounding altitudes and speeds before re-entry.
In contrast, an ICBM rises well into space, achieves at least 27,000 kilometres per hour and plunges back into the atmosphere at a sharp angle. At best, an ICBM must be intercepted above the atmosphere before it begins |
booster — part of our life’s routine but not our daily routine.
The Meaning Map
Once you’ve tracked your week, you need to view the percentages. If you use aTime Logger 2, you can switch to ‘week view’ and click the ‘details’ button.
Now, get a notepad and pen and write a list of all the activities you took part in during the week. Then, sort them by meaning.
Next to the activities you find meaningful in that list place a ‘+’ symbol. Next to the actives you find the most meaningful to your life’s purpose place ‘++’.
Repeat the process for activities you don’t find meaningful. Place a ‘-‘ next to those that don’t provide much meaning and a ‘- -‘ next to the actives that you deem a waste of time.
You’ll probably see that the time you spend on each activity doesn’t correlate with the meaning you gave it. Perhaps you gave watching soap operas a ‘- -‘ yet spent more time on them than writing your ‘++’ novel.
The point of the meaning map is simply to gain inner perspective on what matters, what doesn’t, and whether or not you’ve been living your life in accordance with your ideals.
Imagine you were a coach for someone identical to yourself. What advice would you give them after analysing their meaning map?
Creating The Perfect Daily Routine
I wasn’t entirely honest with the title of this post. I can’t show you how to make a perfect routine because, well, life isn’t perfect. Some days things come up, and that’s just the way it is. What then? Give up on our routine and start tomorrow? We know how that works out…
We need to strive for excellence, not perfection.
If you’ve ever tried to follow a perfect daily routine and failed after a couple of days, that’s probably because you didn’t place enough emphasis on two essential components of any successful daily routine: flexibility and ritualization.
Searching for perfection is a waste of time. What we need is to understand the principles of a perfect daily routine/diet/training programme so we can create the best we can with the tools we have.
Read this article on hierarchies for an alternative to the 80/20 rule.
In their book, The Power of Full Engagement (see cliff notes here), Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz show an alternative to the ‘self-discipline’ paradigm: ritualization. While rituals are difficult to introduce, they are often easy to maintain.
In the creation of our perfect daily routine, we need to find rituals and systematically employ them to best suit their context. Watching television or playing a video game all day is obviously unproductive. But as a ritualised recovery or a reward, such pastimes can improve productivity.
Everyone will have different meanings for different activities but as a general rule of thumb, all activities fall into four categories: biological needs, meaning, rewards, and happiness boosters.
To create your optimal daily routine, you’ll need to figure out what goes where.
I’ll give you a run down of each category and provide an example for each.
1. Biological Needs (Layer 1)
We are animals, and we have needs that are neither meaningful nor pleasurable, but needs none the less. Examples include:
Sleeping
Showering
Brushing teeth
Flossing
Eating
These biological needs will act as the glue that holds your daily routine together. The reason? You’ll do them every day, regardless what else you get up too. That said, different people may categorise these biological needs differently, and that’s fine.
If you love showering, you can use it as a reward. If you love having a long lie-in, you can use sleep as a happiness booster. If you’re bodybuilder, sleeping and eating might have more meaning to you. Figure what your biological needs are and what other categories they share.
I lift weights so I need 8-10 hours sleep each night and multiple showers each day. I also view meditation as a form of mental hygiene — something that must get done. I don’t judge these rituals, and I don’t care how much time they consume. They are my needs and the things everything else is built around.
I’m self-employed, and my work comes into the ‘meaning’ category. If you have a job you don’t find meaningful but you need to work there to pay the bills, your job will be a biological need.
2. Meaning (Layer 2)
From here on, the layers of your daily routine are optional, unlike your biological needs.
This is where the meaning map we made earlier comes in. Remember those activities you marked with ‘++’? You need to rank each one in order of importance. This way, if you’re ever pushed for time, you’ll know exactly which activity to pursue first.
The rituals in this category typically have the most long-term benefit and cover things like working on your business, reading, creating art, exercising, and so on. Again, there are no set activities. You decide.
Buddhists might put meditation in this area. A model might place grooming in this section. A film student might place watching films in this section. A new mother, her baby. What one person views as a reward, a need or a happiness booster, another might see as a life’s purpose.
And you don’t need to get all philosophical. Maybe you feel your meaning is to change the world, connect to others and achieve enlightenment. That’s dandy, but I can’t see any rituals in that list. We are working with concrete actions here.
My meaning hierarchy is:
Work on my business Pursue knowledge (study/read/absorb) Create art
Create your meaning hierarchy but don’t let the list get too big. 2-6 is enough. 3, in my opinion, ideal.
3. Reward/Pleasure (Layer 3)
Ritualized recoveries lead to more overall happiness and productivity. The people who tell you to spend every minute of every hour working on your goals are misinforming your with their misinformed minds. There is nothing wrong with watching TV, playing video games and going on Facebook. The problem with these pastimes is how and when we do them.
As a general rule, no pleasurable activity should be unearned. When we reward ourselves after unproductive behavior, we reinforce that behaviour as positive.
Moreover, we also enjoy our pleasurable activities more if we work for them. When you work every day and get a week off it’s extremely pleasurable. The unemployed don’t experience this euphoria on their days off.
You can set yourself your ratios of meaningful activity-to-reward. I like the ratio of 3:1. Work for 3 hours and get an hour reward, work for 90 minutes and get 30 minutes. It’s important that you enforce the reward/pleasure aspect of your daily routine on yourself. It won’t be easy at first, but it’s worth spending the effort implementing.
My current rewards are watching an episode of The Walking Dead, browsing the web, watching YouTube videos and making a cup of Yerba mate tea (it helps with creativity).
If you decide to combine biological needs like eating and going to the toilet with rewards/pleasure, know that the biological need gets cancelled. If you watch an hour-long TV episode while eating a bowl of cereal, you’re rewarding yourself for nothing… unless it comes after a meaningful/productive activity.
4. Happiness Boosters (Layer 4)
Happiness Boosters are activities like going to the cinema, a nightclub, a friend’s house, a restaurant or just staying home and watching 5 episodes of Breaking Bad back to back with a tub of Ben and Jerrys.
Happiness Boosters are not going to be part of your daily routine, but they should be part of your weekly routine. You don’t have to plan them out but getting at least one in each week is paramount to your happiness and productivity. Don’t neglect these.
Pro tip: I don’t like reading entire productivity and time management books because in my experience they contain too much padding. No time management book needs to be four hundred pages long… So I get most of my productivity ideas from I don’t like reading entire productivity and time management books because in my experience they contain too much padding. No time management book needs to be four hundred pages long… So I get most of my productivity ideas from Blinkist, a company which reads thousands of non-fiction books each year and breaks down each book’s key insights into fifteen-page summaries. Access thousands of best-selling productivity book cliff notes on Blinkist here, for free
Putting The Perfect Daily Routine To Practice
Because our biological needs are the most inflexible layers of our daily routines they will be the scaffolding that holds it together — specifically sleep. If you go to bed at a particular time and wake up at a specific time every day, then your daily routine is going to be much more efficient.
If you know your sleeping times are going to be different because of work or other late night obligations, that’s fine, just make sure to prioritise your most meaningful activities.
This article, mainly, was intended to give you a new framework of designing a daily routine. I’m obsessed with finding the methods of artists and trying to learn from them. But after years of studying them, I’ve come to the realisation that theoretical conceptions of your perfect daily routine rarely work out in the real world.
You have to design it, live it. Tweak it, live it. Fall off the routine, and get back on. You might be more productive at night, you might need only 4 hours sleep, you might be a party animal that gets up at 3.00PM. It doesn’t matter.
The best daily routines are highly individualistic.
What My Perfect Daily Routine Looks Like…
9.00AM – Wake Up/weigh myself/shower/brush teeth
9.45AM – Make a cup of Yerba mate tea and do a 25-minute guided meditation
10.15AM – Read 20-30 pages of a non-fiction book (I prefer pages over a set time)
11.00AM – Breakfast/pre-workout meal while watching TV/Youtube
11.45AM – Write for health magazine
1.45PM – Take pre-workout supplement/leave for the gym
2.00PM – Train/listen to podcasts or music
3.30PM – Change/shower
3.45PM – Work on eCommerce business/listen to informative YouTube
8.00PM – Eat food/spend time with family
10.00PM – Create art/listen to music
12.00AM – Floss/brush teeth/gratitude journal
12.10AM – Read Fiction
1.00AM – Sleep
That’s my perfect daily routine. But it’s not my actual routine. If this were my actual routine, I’d be reading in bed right now, but instead I’m at my computer writing this article.
I don’t go to the gym every day. I attend life-drawing classes in the week and go out some evenings for a happiness boost. I said at the start of this article happiness is the balance of meaning and pleasure. Overly restricted daily routines are like uncompromising diet plans — they lead to disorders, which leads to depression which leads to having a terrible life.
Just keep these principles in mind when you’re thinking about your daily routine, and you’ll have everything you need…
Design it, live it, tweak it. Repeat.
Designing The Perfect Daily Routine Key Principles
Track your existing routine to see areas to improve. Design your perfect week then reverse engineer your perfect daily routine. Create a meaning map as a guide for when your days feel lost. Perfection is an ideal, not the goal. Life is messy, strive for excellence. Rituals always beat self-discipline. Pleasure is a reward. Rewarding yourself for being lazy reinforces laziness. Happiness is vital to optimal productivity — throw in happiness boosters.Recently our dear friend Shane Legano, affectionately known by his friends as "Legan" was in a very dire car accident while in his work truck. He has bruised ribs, bruised lungs and a bruised kidney. His right arm also suffered some damage. Legan is constantly working overtime to provide for his wife and two children. Due to this accident he has high medical bills and will be out of work for sometime. What we ask of, is that the community that loves him and has known him for decades give back to this man that would give anyone he cares about the shirt off his back. We are starting this fundraiser to help legan pay his bills and give him money to support his family while he is out of work. Please donate anything you can. On behalf of Legan and everyone that knows and loves him, we thank you.
Share Tweet 390 shares on Facebook shares on FacebookIt appears as though Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is going home again.
A light-heavyweight bout between Rua and Corey Anderson is being targeted for UFC 198 on May 14, MMAFighting.com has learned. The event, scheduled to take place in Rua's hometown of Curitiba, Brazil, will be held at 40,000-seat soccer stadium Arena da Baixada.
The 34-year-old Rua (23-10) pulled out of his UFC on FOX 19 fight against Rashad Evans last week due to a knee injury. He hasn't fought since his August win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 190. This would mark the third time in Rua's illustrious career that he fights in his hometown, however, he hasn't done so since his second pro fight in May 2003.
"Shogun had a knee injury for a while, and felt it again training jiu-jitsu," Rua's coach Rafael Cordeiro told MMAFighting.com last week. "He went to the UFC doctor to check and continued training, but the UFC contacted him and cancelled the fight. Shogun said he would still fight despite the injury, but the UFC called and decided to cancel. That came directly from Lorenzo [Fertitta]. Lorenzo saw the exams, saw it was an old injury, and the UFC decided to remove him from the fight. He’s out of this one."
Anderson (8-1) won his third fight in a row earlier this month when he defeated Tom Lawlor via unanimous decision. The 26-year-old "Beastin 25/8" made his MMA debut less than three years ago.
UFC 198 will be headlined by Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight titleViewed through realpolitik’s disinterested prism, the central place that the protection of Israeli interests occupies in American foreign policy priorities seems counterproductive, even a liability. Smaller than New Hampshire, with fewer inhabitants than New Jersey, ringed by mostly hostile neighbors, fighting repeated wars like the latest bloody conflagration in Gaza, entangled in an apparently unsolvable territorial dispute, Israel consumes vast amounts of manpower, expertise, and diplomatic and intelligence resources, if not whole presidential careers, as Patrick Tyler demonstrates in “A World of Trouble,” an authoritative, richly detailed account of American policy in the Middle East. The Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio warps the United States’ relations with the Arab (and wider Muslim) world, Arab leaders faithfully tell every new occupant of the White House. Midwife a meaningful Palestinian state, they claim, and all would be sweetness and light from Rabat to Riyadh.
If only the Middle East, as so many American presidents chronicled here seem to believe, were that simple; indeed, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is a most useful alibi for the region’s creaking dynasties and dictators, diverting domestic attention from their own sclerotic economies and dismal human rights records. A democratic Palestine, plugged into the global economy, is the last thing they want, for fear their restive populations will demand the same.
George Tenet, the former director of central intelligence, also blamed the Jews for many of his troubles, if the extraordinary scene Tyler describes in the book’s prologue is to be believed. He recounts how in 2004 a furious Tenet, dressed in his underwear, drank half a bottle of Scotch, supplied by Prince Bandar bin Sultan at his palace in Saudi Arabia, in a few minutes, while raging at the Bush administration’s duplicity. “They’re setting me up,” he said, but “I am not going to take the hit.” The hit that needed to be taken was for the missing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, over which the United States had gone to war. The White House, Tyler writes, expected Tenet “to fall on his sword to protect the president.” Tenet raged against the “bastards” in the administration and mocked the neoconservatives who supported Israel’s right-wingers as “the Jews.” He then jumped into the swimming pool and did impressions of Yasir Arafat and Omar Suleiman, the chief of Egyptian intelligence. (Tyler’s report is based on the recollections of three witnesses, but Tenet denies making the comments.)
“A World of Trouble” covers 10 American presidencies, from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s to George W. Bush’s. An experienced foreign correspondent who has reported from across the Middle East for The New York Times and The Washington Post, Tyler draws on decades’ worth of notebooks, numerous interviews and declassified documents. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict runs like a thread through the narrative, but Tyler also ranges much wider, to Suez, the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq conflict and both Iraq wars. He writes vividly, allowing the reader access to White House meetings, huddles in the corridors of power, seats at international summits.
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There are finely drawn pen portraits of the key players. Few of the presidents impress: Jimmy Carter dithers, Ronald Reagan and his advisers are clueless, Bill Clinton is distracted by the Lewinsky scandal. The local leaders seem more serious: Menachem Begin, who equated Arafat with Hitler; Yitzhak Rabin, who made peace with Arafat; and Benjamin Netanyahu, who — along with Hamas suicide bombers — helped destroy any chance of a peace agreement. Here too are crucial Arab figures: the party-loving Prince Bandar, confidant of numerous presidents; the brave but doomed Anwar Sadat; King Hussein of Jordan; and Saddam Hussein, the onetime ally against whom America eventually went to war.
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It may not be a surprise to learn that the White House — like every government in history — is always riven by factions, duplicitous advisers pushing their own agendas and secret cabals plotting in the washrooms. But it still makes for delicious reading to discover, for instance, the power of Mathilde Krim, a fiercely pro-Israel Swiss Calvinist who was a former member of Begin’s right-wing underground, the Irgun. Krim, along with her husband, Arthur, had the ear of Lyndon B. Johnson, apparently more so than did Dean Rusk, his secretary of state, and Robert McNamara, his defense secretary. On Memorial Day in 1967, while Israel and Arab countries were preparing for imminent war, President Johnson was “cavorting” at his Texas ranch with the Krims and other friends.Before New York State politics was turned upside down and shaken all around today, we had noted that Hillary Clinton had hinted at the possibility of trying to woo Barack Obama’s pledged delegates over to her side. She also trotted out the neologism or seldom phrased “caucus delegates” in order to contrast to “pledged delegates.” But an old pal of mine gave me a call today that gave me an idea of something else that may be afoot here.
“Caucus delegates” are different from primary delegates. But not quite in the sense that people are saying. Not in the sense that they’re any less legit or meaningful than those produced by primaries. But they are less fixed.
Here’s what I mean. Caucuses rarely if at all vote directly for national convention delegates (I’m going to hedge here a bit because I don’t know the ins and outs of every states rules.) Generally speaking, they choose delegates to a state convention, which in turn chooses delegates to the national convention. In some states I think there are even intervening county conventions. But the key point is that unlike in primaries where the delegates really get picked on primary night, that’s not what happens with caucuses. When you have a caucus in state such-and-such and they say Obama got X number of delegates, that’s just an estimate. He doesn’t really have them yet. What it really means is that he got X number of delegates and if they all go to the state convention and vote for Obama then he’ll get the estimated number of delegates, or something very close to that number.
The point is that there’s a lot of potential haggling and funny-business possible between what’s actually set in stone now and what people are expecting come convention time. TPM Reader AO sent in this AP article from February which notes that back in 1984 Gary Hart actually lost delegates through the course of this sifting process.
In Nevada, Obama won 13 delegates and Clinton won 12. But if one side is unable to rally its supporters at any step along the way, it risks losing national delegates, much like Gary Hart did in 1984. Hart fared well in initial party caucuses when he ran for the Democratic nomination in 1984, only to see some of those delegates go to Walter Mondale at the state conventions, said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist who counted delegates for Mondale.
People often ask me if national convention pledged delegates can switch candidates. And the answer is yes, they can. But in practice, it’s highly, highly unrealistic because the people who the candidate chooses to be their delegates are the staunchest of supporters, the absolute campaign true believers. So as long as that candidate is still in the race, the idea that they’re going to get wooed away is highly unrealistic.
But way down at the county convention level we’re talking really big numbers of delegates. You don’t know these people quite as well. Some of them may be new to politics. You’ve got to be certain they all show up at the different conventions. As the same AP article notes, if at any point one campaign or another can’t manage or control their delegates, they can lose some national delegates.
Don’t get me wrong. Hillary isn’t going to come out of Kansas with more delegates than Obama. Any changes would be small. But every little bit helps at this point. I heard twenty or thirty possible new delegates tossed around as a possibility today — a number that strikes me as a tall order. But I’ll defer to people who know more about the mechanics to decide whether that’s credible or not.
The key point to remember is that on balance, the party regulars tend to be Hillary supporters, at least disproportionately so. And they’re the ones most familiar with the process, possibly most likely to show (though that’s very debateable). On the other hand, it would be surprising if the Obama campaign which has proved so skillful at working caucuses would drop the ball in the subsequent stages of the process. It’s not the biggest part of the equation. But it’s another moving part you should have your eye on.
Late Update: This post at Daily Kos has some anecdotal evidence (of course unconfirmed) that some of this shaking out is already happening.In the interim, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, “current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place.” | Paul Handley/AFP/Getty Images Mattis allows transgender troops to serve as Pentagon studies Trump's ban
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that transgender troops would continue serving in the military while the Pentagon studied the issue, a decision that delays the implementation of President Donald Trump’s recently signed directive.
Mattis said he would establish a “panel of experts serving within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security” to provide advice and recommendations on putting into effect the president’s order to bar transgender individuals from serving in the armed forces. The presidential guidance, which Trump signed on Friday, gave the defense secretary until Feb. 21 to submit a plan for implementing the new policy.
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In the interim, Mattis said, “current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place” with interim guidance from him, including “any necessary interim adjustments to procedures to ensure the continued combat readiness of the force until our final policy on this subject is issued.”
Members of the panel he intends to appoint will bring “mature experience, most notably in combat and deployed operations, and seasoned judgment to this task,” he said in a statement, adding they will “assemble and thoroughly analyze all pertinent data, quantifiable and non-quantifiable.”
As directed by the president, Mattis said he would “develop a study and implementation plan, which will contain the steps that will promote military readiness, lethality and unit cohesion, with due regard for budgetary constraints and consistent with applicable law.”
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“The implementation plan will address accessions of transgender individuals and transgender individuals currently serving in the United States military,” he said. “Our focus must always be on what is best for the military's combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield.”
Once the panel makes its recommendations and he confers with the secretary of Homeland Security, Mattis said, he’ll advise the president on implementing the order.Cramming a full Windows PC inside of a cheap, $150 HDMI dongle sounds like a great idea—but Intel’s first attempt really fell flat. The Intel Compute Stick was underpowered, frustrating, and failed to live up to the hype. It wasn’t good enough to be a do-everything PC that fits in your pocket. No sweat: a leaked Intel roadmap shows how it’s going to get a lot better.
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The current Compute Stick has underpowered Intel Atom processor, only 2GB of RAM and needs an external power source (your TV’s USB plug) to boot up. The next version won’t: Later this year Intel apparently plans to introduce a Compute Stick running a more powerful Core M-based CPU with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, USB 3.0 ports and support for 4K displays. It’ll also have MHL support, meaning the stick will be able to draw power directly from the TV’s HDMI port. Fewer cables, less fuss. Sounds good.
Intel is also working on a new Atom-based Compute Stick using its next-generation Broxton architecture, which promises all of the same perks as the Core M model, but less performance and the same 2GB RAM restriction as the current model. If Intel Atom is your preferred flavor though, you’ll have to wait: that model won’t be out, apparently, until early 2016.
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All in all, it’s good news for folks that found the original Compute Stick to be underwhelming. More importantly, it shows that Intel is serious about pocketable PC platforms.Allison Joyal – I Am a Progressive
On Sunday Vermont Democrats were clear that superdelegates no longer represent the populace.
The Vermont Democratic Convention was low key compared to many around the country. Bernie was clearly the home-town hero and nearly every speaker sang his praises. Gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter said she was thrilled to have the issues of low wages and poverty addressed by Bernie on a national stage.
With nearly a third of the room identifying as first time attendees to a democratic caucus, energy was high and all about Bernie. In a state in which Bernie took 100% of the delegates there was little to debate. Delegates and national representatives were elected and it was resolved Vermont democrats would endorse Bernie Sanders for President of the United states.
But the biggest surprise was the resolution to remove ten superdelegates ability to vote at the national convention in Philadelphia in July. Vermont has 16 pledged delegates who are required to vote in-line with the populace. Because Bernie won Vermont by a landslide he earned all pledged delegates. The issue was the state also had ten “superdelegates.” They include members of the state party, senators, congressmen, the governor and former governor. A few superdelegates had publicly stated they intended to cast their vote for contender Hillary Clinton despite public outcry. Two such superdelegates are lame duck Governor Peter Shumlin and former governor Howard Dean. Senator Patrick Leahy had initially endorsed Clinton but when outcry turned to threats of refusal to vote for Leahy he promised to back his constituents.
A superdelegate vote in Vermont held the weight of 10,000 votes. Several speeches by party nominees mentioned the unfairness of this. Prior to this convention Maine had eliminated superdelegates at their state convention. Maine was another state Sander won by a landslide.
Vermont democrats removed the rights of superdelegates with a unanimous vote and almost zero debate.
The resolution does not affect the July National convention. It is set to begin in the 2020 race. Vermont Public Radio says “Sanders won all 16 of this state’s pledged delegates since he took more than 85 percent of the vote in the primary. With only four of Vermont’s 10 superdelegates choosing Clinton, the resulting 22-4 allocation mirrors precisely the proportion of the vote in March.”Living in a community that recognizes gay marriage can improve the mental health of all teens, according to a new study.
State marriage equality laws enacted in the years before the 2015 Supreme Court ruling were linked to lower rates of suicide attempts among all high school students but especially among teens who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure. Ultimately, the researchers found, for every year that same-sex marriage laws were in place, 134,000 fewer teens attempted suicide.
This is noteworthy because queer teens are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide as their straight peers.
While the study doesn’t demonstrate that these laws actually caused a reduction in suicide attempts, lead study author Julia Raifman theorized that having equal protection under the law may account for much of the change.
“These are high school students so they aren’t getting married any time soon, for the most part,” said Raifman, a post-doctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a statement about her research.
“Still, permitting same-sex marriage reduces structural stigma associated with sexual orientation. There may be something about having equal rights ― even if they have no immediate plans to take advantage of them ― that makes students feel less stigmatized and more hopeful for the future.”
Raifman’s theory is an important measure in this new political climate. Same-sex marriage is now federal law, thanks to the 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, but there are worrying signs that Republican politicians may start to undermine the right to marriage and LGBTG protections in general, both at the state and federal levels.
Studies like this one show that equal marriage rights benefit those who want to marry someone of the same gender but also improve mental health for everyone, especially queer teens.
“Policymakers need to be aware that policies on sexual minority rights can have a real effect on the mental health of adolescents,” she concluded. “The policies at the top can dictate in ways both positive and negative what happens further down.”
The link between equal marriage and teen suicide attempts
Before 2015, only 35 states had legalized same-sex marriage. During this era, Raifman surveyed nearly 800,000 students of all sexual orientations from 1999 to 2015 about suicide attempts both before and after 32 states had legalized same-sex marriage. She also compared teen suicide attempts in states that legalized marriage to those in states that didn’t.
Before the passage of same-sex legislation, nearly 9 percent of all teens and nearly 29 percent of queer-identifying teens had attempted suicide. After states enacted same-sex marriage laws, suicide attempts dropped to 8 percent among all teens and 25 percent among queer teens.
That might not seem like a lot, but based on these reductions, Raifman estimates that every year of same-sex marriage policies was linked to about 134,000 fewer teens attempting suicide.
Alissa Scheller/The Huffington Post In states with same-sex marriage policies the percent of students reporting a suicide attempt in the past year decreased especially among LGBT youth.
How the right to marry affects mental health
Raifman’s study adds to a body of research demonstrating links between same-sex marriage laws and mental health in the queer community. For instance, a 2010 study suggested that psychiatric disorder diagnoses among queer people increased significantly in states that banned same-sex marriage in 2004 and 2005, and that spending on mental health services decreased among gay men in Massachusetts after the state legalized same-sex marriage in 2003, no matter their relationship status.
Laws that speak to the core of a person’s identity can have the effect of making someone feel included in wider society, says Dan Reidenberg, director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education in Minnesota.
The right to marriage also signals a right to experience love, to be a part of a romantic relationship and the right to a certain social status and benefits. This makes people feel more included and lessens shame about their status as a sexual minority, he said.
Reidenberg wasn’t involved in Raifman’s analysis, but he praised it for emphasizing a reduction in the number of suicide attempts.
“Any time we lessen the potential for death by taking away the number of attempts, we’re literally saving people’s lives.”
“The more that people feel that they are accepted and that people are not going to ostracize them or stigmatize them or put them in a separate category and make them feel different and uncared for, the better off we’re going to be in terms of keeping people alive,” Reidenberg continued. “We’re not just talking about reducing suicide, as you can see in this study, but we’re talking about general mental health and well being.”
On the other hand, laws that bar same-sex couples from legal marriage can have negative psychosocial effects, both on the couples themselves and the children they are raising together. A 2006 article written by members of the American Academy of Pediatrics (and published the same year the anti-LGBT Defense of Marriage Act went into effect) argued for more inclusive public policies for LGBT relationships because of their potential to strengthen family ties between parents and children, and also to protect the children legally, financially and emotionally from the insecurity of an uncertain legal status.
Raifman’s study was published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
This reporting is brought to you by HuffPost’s health and science platform, The Scope. Like us on Facebook and Twitter and tell us your story: scopestories@huffingtonpost.com.Uber’s founders didn’t invent Uber for drivers. They invented it for themselves, a couple of guys in San Francisco who wanted to be ballers by summoning limos from their phones. Then they invented it for ballers like themselves—upscale urbanites, mostly. Then they invented it for anyone who wanted to get anywhere by “pool” or “x” or “SUV” or “helicopter,” even if they didn’t care about being baller. Push a button, get a car. On the other end of that button there have always been drivers, picking up rides from an app that has looked and functioned pretty much the same since the company launched. And for drivers, the Uber app was decidedly un-baller.
That changes today, as the company rolls out its first redesigned app for its partners. It’s the culmination of a massive, yearlong design process to which nearly 100 Uber employees contributed. The new app will transform Uber’s driver software into a management platform offering tools to help its drivers tend and grow their businesses. “We’ve had this fragmented communication with drivers over email and we just didn’t have information available for them,” says Jeff Holden, the longtime Amazon executive who joined Uber last year as head of product. “We wanted to completely re-invent the driver app.”
The new app reflects how the company’s take on design has evolved in the six years since it was founded. From the start, Uber’s simplicity was its selling point. And that approach was easy to maintain when the product was new and the team was small. “There’s this core principal of seamless design, there was that magic associated with pushing a button and getting a car,” says Nundu Janakiram, who, as Uber’s Head of Core Experience, first championed the redesign. “How can you apply that same magic to more things? That’s the Uber design philosophy we try to pull through all the products that we build.”
Maintaining a commitment to simplicity in an increasingly complex environment is the ultimate design challenge. Uber’s partner app is a case study in how the company approaches that challenge.
Uber, however, is getting more complex. Consider that, six years in, Uber has more than 4,500 employees in 61 countries. It’s worth more than $50-billion. In addition to moving people around, it’s taking a stab at moving packages, couches, and pizzas—among other things. It has a team in Pittsburgh, PA building self-driving cars and it's working on its own mapping software. And unlike Facebook, Google, and other large software companies operating out of the Bay Area, Uber runs a local logistics business. In light of this, maintaining a commitment to simplicity in an increasingly complex environment becomes the ultimate design challenge. Uber’s partner app offers a case study in how the company approaches it: “Finding that core nugget of magic amid the complexity is how our design philosophy is evolving,” says Janakiram.
The redesign began just more than a year ago, shortly after Janakiram came over to Uber from Google, where he’d spent several years working on Search and YouTube. As his title suggests, he was in charge of every experience integral to Uber’s core product, from rider safety to ratings to Uber Pool. One of the first things Janakiram did in his new role was check in with folks working on everything from design research to on-the-ground operations. What he heard back indicated Uber could do a much better job providing useful information to its drivers. The app at that time, for example, provided heat maps to show drivers where they were most likely to get rides, but only when surge pricing was in effect and demand was strong. This was great for passengers, who wanted the rides. But it didn’t help drivers figure out how to optimize their business during the doldrums, when demand was normal or low.
In January, the redesign team convened its first meeting in what came to be known as the “war room,” a conference room with whiteboard walls large enough that dozens of designers and engineers could congregate in it at one time. In addition to the usual suspects, Uber added a new appointment to the mix: "Product operations specialists" are employees who start their careers in local city offices and transfer to headquarters; they’re critical to helping Uber understand the challenges of rolling out the service in individual markets.
Janakiram convened a team of people whose job it was to review copious amounts of research pouring in from around the globe. They’d sit in on focus groups and attend driver-led meetups |
been sexually abused by a teenage relative. The bishop also told the girl not to seek a protective order against the teenage boy and the boy’s mother when the girl came to him for counsel, according to Duchesne County prosecutors. During her interview with a sheriff’s investigator, the girl said she told the bishop she wanted to obtain a protective order against her abuser and his mother so she wouldn’t be “terrorized,” according to the interview transcript. The teen boy was no longer living in the community, however, and Moon questioned whether a protective order was necessary, the girl said. “And then he said that I need to think about what (the boy) is going through, and I don’t need to start telling the cops or anything because he’s already going to have to go through a bunch of repentance and all that stuff,” the girl told the investigator.” (Source) After the Steubenville rape cases became public, this was said on an CNN news reports:“Incredibly difficult, even for an outsider like me, to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believed their lives fell apart…when that sentence came down, [Ma’lik] collapsed in the arms of his attorney…He said to him, ‘My life is over. No one is going to want me now.’ Very serious crime here, both found guilty of raping the sixteen-year-old girl at a series of parties back in August.“ (Source) “The dress of a woman has a powerful impact upon the minds and passions of men. If it is too low or too high or too tight, it may prompt improper thoughts, even in the mind of a young man who is striving to be pure. Men and women can look sharp and be fashionable, yet they can also be modest. Women particularly can dress modestly and in the process contribute to their own self respect and to the moral purity of men. In the end, most women get the type of man they dress for.” (Source: Elder Callister’s March 2014 Ensign Article)
Alright. Let’s take those examples apart. In example 1, a woman was in a bar. A drunk police officer enters, and gropes her. The police officer gets punished. However, the judge also tells the woman that if she wouldn’t have been in the bar, this may not have happened.
Now, you may nod your head in agreement. It’s true. Bad things CAN happen at bars. People drink at bars. And drunk people do not always make the best decisions. Like that drunk police officer. And if the woman wouldn’t have been at that bar, that particular drunk police officer probably wouldn’t have groped her (he might have just groped another woman who was foolish enough to be out and about as an adult). Those things are certainly true.
Here’s the problem though. The comment by the judge implies that the woman was somehow partially at fault for what happened. She somehow could have or should have made a different/better choice. And somehow that different/better choice would have led to a different/better outcome. It suggests that if she would have been, oh, let’s say at a nice little restaurant, or the public library, this wouldn’t have happened. This is false! Women have gotten and get assaulted in all kinds of places, but most typically they actually get assaulted at home or in work places (sources here). This woman could have been just walking up to her house, while the drunk police officers was leaving a neighbor’s house, and could have gotten groped. To suggest that a different choice would have kept her safer puts some of the blame on her (because she didn’t make the better/smarter/safer choice). We call this victim-blaming. But further, we believe that this tendency to not put the responsibility of the violation squarely and solely on the perpetrator rape culture. The truth is that no one was responsible for the groping other than the police officer. The woman did not ask to be groped. Her presence in a bar was not an open invitation for that behavior. Her attractiveness is not an open invitation. Her wearing a skirt is not an open invitation. Unless she says “please grope me”, nothing indicates that she wants to be groped. She is not at fault for being groped, just because she’s at a bar.
Think about it this way. You’re visiting friends on New Years Eve. While driving home with your family in your nice family minivan, you’re hit by a drunk driver. You were going about 5-10 miles over the speed limit, but road conditions were good, and you paid attention to your surroundings. Your family and you survive the crash, but some of your kids are in critical condition. The whole thing ends up in court. The drunk driver is found guilty. He loses his license. But now you’re being asked why on earth you were on the road. ON NEW YEARS EVE! Why did you not stay home? Why were you going 5 miles over? They tell you that if you would have stayed home, your kids wouldn’t be in the hospital.
Imagine how you would feel? Interestingly, even though we have a fair number of drunk driving incidents, we never blame those being hit by drunk drivers for being on the road. Yet, when women go out at night, or go out alone, or go to a bar, or go anywhere where something could happen (which can be anywhere), we ask them what they were doing. Like it’s somehow their fault. THIS IS RAPE CULTURE. We’re not asking the perpetrator what he was doing out assaulting or raping. We don’t ask the police officer what possessed him to get drunk, and then grope a woman on top of it. No. We expect that women somehow make sure they do not cross the path of someone who will harm them.
Example 2 is the story of a bishop who advised a teenage girl to not seek further action against a boy who had sexually assaulted her. I’m sure the Bishop meant well. But there are two aspects that could be displaying rape culture. The first one is very subtle, and could be argued to be a legalistic matter. The news report states that the man was “accused” of not reporting the sexual abuse. Maybe that is the proper term when someone has not officially been found guilty. However, at the point of the report it had already become evident that the Bishop in fact did not report the assault. Yet, the article is not clearly stating the failures of the Bishop, and its potential implications for the victim. Its language is cautionary on the side of the offender. This offender though has failed a young woman who was assaulted. Who should get more consideration? A young teenager who became a victim of assault, or an adult man who failed (even if out of ignorance) to properly assist this young woman?
When our language subtly implies that someone’s ignorant mistakes are more important to consider than the person who was sexually assaulted – THAT IS RAPE CULTURE. It’s a mindset where what happened isn’t bad enough for us to side clearly, firmly, and obviously with the victim rather than anyone else who was involved in the situation. The Bishop’s advice to the young woman further shows that at least this particular Bishop does not value what happened to the girl as serious enough to demand serious consequences for the young man. The thought that Church discipline is enough of a consequence for that teenage boy fails to consider the harm done to the girl. He did not just break a spiritual commandment. He also broke the law and violated personal boundaries in a very serious and harmful way. Yet the Bishop felt no need to take action. He did not show in his actions that he understood or contemplated the harm that had come to the young woman, and the seriousness of violating someone’s boundaries in that manner. This lack of attaching serious actions to something that should be seen as serious – THAT IS RAPE CULTURE.
Not convinced? Ok, let’s talk about example 3. This was an exchange between two anchors on CNN after the trials of the Steubenville rape cases. If you’re not familiar with the Steubenville rapes, google it or read this.
When you read the words from the anchors it may have resonated with you. It is indeed rather sad when someone who’s had a promising future ahead has done something that will permanently and negatively alter the course of their lives. Yes, that is a tragedy. But when we’re more distraught over the ruined lives of the perpetrators than the ruined life of the victim – what does that say about our focus? What does it say about how we view the act that was committed?
Let me put this in perspective. Imagine you’re reading a news article where a father decapitates his disabled 7-year old son over the kitchen sink (this just happened, but it was such a gruesome story, I won’t even link to it). Imagine that up to this point, the father seemed like a decent guy, who has never broken the law. And BAM! Suddenly this. You read this, and you’re shocked. Who are you grieving for in that moment? The poor innocent child who died a violent death? Or the “poor father” who now has permanently ruined his life? Do you see what I’m getting at? It’s certainly tragic that a father would murder his kid. Yes. And it’s certainly tragic that not only did we lose the life of a beautiful child, but also have another person who’s life is basically over. It’s certainly true that horrible acts have wide-reaching effects. All that is true.
However, when we’re talking so much about the poor dad, or in the example I gave, those young kids who were so great, and now just ruined their lives, and we’re not talking about the ruined life of the victim, we’re indirectly communicating that what happened to the victim isn’t that bad. That somehow rape is bad, because it ruins your own life, and that’s sad. It indirectly communicates or silences the deep harm and damage that has been inflicted on the victim as if that’s not the real tragedy that occurred. It makes assault survivors think that they do not matter as much, and perpetrators feel like it’s just a tragic misstep, and not a violent crime against another human being that will ruin those peoples’ lives irreversibly. THIS IS RAPE CULTURE! It’s subtle. And it’s usually not done willfully. It’s just a subconscious expression about what place rape (or sexual assault in general) plays in our society. It’s bad, but it’s not that bad, and it’s mostly bad for those who get caught doing it.
Alright. Now let’s go to example 4 – a quote from Elder Callister’s article. I know some people were seriously stumped as to what this has to do with rape culture. After all, he isn’t even talking about rape, or anything close to it. Right. So, why would anyone say this quote is related to rape culture.
In the first example I tried to show how rape culture happens when we attach a sexual behavior to the victim – in this case it happened when it was suggested that the woman would not have gotten groped if she had been somewhere else. In the second and third example I tried to show that rape culture is also when our language or actions seem more concerned with the perpetrator, either by pitying them and thinking about their pain vs. the victim’s, or simply by not using language that clearly states the wrong they have done.
With that in mind, read the fourth quote again. Elder Callister is suggesting several things. He implies that:
women can help men keep their thoughts pure by dressing modestly
women have a powerful influence on men’s minds
women will get the men they dress for
It’s probably true that we’re impacted by others’ dress to some degree. We’re all human, and are all impacted in some way by other humans around us. So, I’m not going to argue that how we dress has 0 impact on anyone. The issue is that Elder Callister does not make it clear that despite any impact, the responsibility of how we act on any distractions (whether that’s an attractive woman, or man, or chocolate on the table, or a new video game, or a stash of cash dropping out of someone’s pocket) is on us, and us alone nor does he account for the fact that ALL of us are influenced by others (regardless of sex). When you say that women have a powerful influence on men’s minds, it sounds like men can be overpowered by women, that they could become victims of our influences. When it’s tied to clothing in particular, along with rhetoric that suggests that our clothes elicit sexual thoughts in men, it eventually implies that a woman who gets assaulted may have contributed to this by overpowering a man with her attractive influence. She looked too sexy, too pretty, too…and the man could not help himself.
The wording itself that women influence men with their clothes, implies that women are directly connected to men’s behaviors and thoughts. He could have said that men’s minds can easily be distracted by what they see. But he’s not speaking about men’s easy distractability, because that’s not the problem to him. Instead of addressing the issues from an approach that puts the problem with the men (men are easily distracted), he makes women the source of the problem (women are distracting). And rape culture is when we free perpetrators to some degree of their responsibility and put some of the blame with the victim. In this case, we’re making women responsible for what men end up thinking. Women are not responsible for men’s thoughts. Men are. And men are not responsible for women’s thoughts. Women are. Our culture often still looks at women in a case of rape and inquires about their dress, and wonders if the woman could have avoided rape if she would have dressed differently. This very thinking has been defined as rape culture. And it’s the same thinking Elder Callister displays – that if women dress a certain way, the men will not think bad things. But if they do wear something too tight or short (and who gets to define what “too short/tight” is?), men will probably think bad things – as if men have no control in the matter, or no responsibility.
At this point you may still think that as considerate human beings, we should still seek to do our part by striving to be less distracting in our clothing choices if we can. Ok. Let’s look at that (because I’m a fan of being considerate). Try to imagine a setting where there’s a family with a dad who has a real anger problem. He’s hit his spouse before. He’s lashed out at his kids. This family is now trying to help dad not lose it. They try to get a sense for his mood when he comes home. They try to have the house clean, not yell, not make any noise or do anything else they can think of that may potentially set Dad off. Yet, they keep failing, because Dad’s mood is erratic and what sets him off one day, does not set him off the next day. In such an abusive home, would you ever think that it was right and proper of the family to try and guess the things they need to do to not set Dad off? They may have to do this to survive, and in some instances it may work and help keep Dad calm – that we’d probably all agree on. But I think anyone would also agree that the problem is the Dad. He needs to learn to not get angry. He has to learn to not beat his wife when the house is a mess (or the kids are crying, or the dinner is gross, or whatever else). He, and he alone has to learn to get a grip on his behavior. It is not reasonable, nor fair, to ask everyone around him to somehow guess all the time what they need to do in order to not trigger Dad’s anger. Likewise, I don’t think we can expect women, or anyone really, to figure out how to dress so it does not trigger someone else’s inappropriate thoughts. It would be so different from person to person – for one man it may be just knee-length shorts, and a t-shirt, for the next it’d have to be red heels and a see-through top, and for another one, it’s a shoulder bag that is strapped over a woman’s chest. We’re not responsible for making sure we don’t set others off. If we have family members or close friends of whose needs we are aware, and we try to work around them, then that’s very considerate and kind. But to try to guess what will set of random people is completely unrealistic, nor appropriate.
Elder Callister’s last comment is the most damaging though. By stating that a woman gets the man she dresses for, he basically says that if you dress modestly, you will get a man who treats you with respect. It is completely ignorant of all the women who may have dressed modestly, and still got raped. Or women who have been modest and virtuous, but are married to abusive and violent husbands (who are returned missionaries and/or bishops/stake presidents). It essentially says that you reap what you sow. And if you’re being treated badly, if you’re being ogled, ignored, groped, assaulted, raped or married to a jerk – it’s probably because you did not dress modestly. It says it’s your fault if you’re being mistreated, because of what you wore. Because you get the guy you dress for. And that is the epitome of rape culture.
He may not have meant to communicate that. But that is the message that filters through. It’s a message of rape culture – a thing where we blame the victims for some of the horrible things that happened to them. And this culture, with its victim blaming, is what pushes many victims of assault and rape into cycles of depression, drug abuse, and sometimes even suicide. They drown in guilt and shame over what happened to them, because their environment subtly tells them that somehow it was their fault, too. Instead of us rallying around those who need our support now to heal, we push the ugliness of the act aside, by pointing at least some fingers at the victim – sometimes without realizing it.
THIS IS RAPE CULTURE. And it’s time we stop perpetuating it.
Additional resources:
What is rape culture?
Misconceptions about rape culture
Rape Culture 101
Some Statistics on Sexual Violence
Understanding Victim Blaming
Thunderchicken Sister Thunderchicken is a Relief Society teacher, and former Gospel Doctrine Teacher, counselor in the Ward Young Women's Presidency, Ward Missionary, Youth Sunday School Teacher, Ward Pianist, Ward Librarian, Sunbeam Teacher, and missionary in one of those missions in Europe where people hate you, and you never baptize anyone. She has no mentionable work experience, because she's always understood her gender rolls, and strove from an early age to be at home with her kids, thus never held down a "real job" (but has taught at the MTC, done translation work for some bigger company, worked for one of those Utah-based direct marketing schemes, and gained a testimony of housewifery when she worked as a day-care teacher). She was born across the Atlantic in one of those European countries where you never baptize anyone to a father and mother who probably do not want to be publicly associated with this blog. Thunderchicken enjoys good food, good discussions, good board games, good books, good people and traveling. She would like to pursue more education when she isn't feeling as crazy with taking care of her kids. While she has had some serious concerns about cultural and doctrinal aspects of Mormonism, and is troubled by the gender inequalities of the Church, she retains a love for the gospel, and knows with every fiber of her being that the gospel and feminism fit together like bread and butter. Or jello and carrots. Or nutella and crepes. More PostsBiden mixed high praise with pointed warnings for Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to start actively curbing and punishing corruption in the nation.
Yatsenyuk sat in the audience of 150 people and took it all in.
Biden invited him to a private meeting in his office afterwards, joined by U.S. President Barack Obama. Participants said that Obama reinforced Biden’s message that the United States will continue to strongly support Ukraine, but Ukraine’s leaders need to make progress on corruption and rule of law. The meeting lasted more than an hour and, besides Yatsenyuk, was joined by Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey R. Pyatt and other U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
In his speech, the American vice president called corruption an “affront to the dignity of the people of Ukraine,” and said: “Ukrainians know in their bones, it’s not enough to talk about changes, we have to deliver change, you have to deliver change.
“Ukraine has a strategy and new laws to fight corruption,” Biden said. “Now you have to put people in jail.”
Investigating, prosecuting and trying Ukrainian officials and ex-officials for crime and corruption at all levels, ranging from murder to multibillion-dollar theft and even smaller crimes, remains a glaring weakness of the tandem of President Petro Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk.
Biden, who visited Ukraine three times last year and made 36 calls in the last months with Poroshenko, said corruption has been the “topic of almost all of our calls.”
Failure to take action and create accountable, transparent institutions may cost Ukraine its chance to become a prosperous democracy, Biden said. To do so, he said, Yatsenyuk and other political leaders in Ukraine need to govern transparently and take into account civil society’s interests.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Ukranian Prime Minister Arseniy Tatsenyuk and Ukranian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko attend a U.S.-Ukraine business forum at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce July 13 in Washington, DC. The conference, titled U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum: Choices for Growth, brought together business leaders from the two countries for high-level talks aiming to advance the Ukrainian economy. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
But prosperity will not come from soldiers or activists, Biden said. “It will come from investors. Any experiment in democratization not followed by economic growth has failed.”
Transparency, rule of law, an independent media, an accountable judiciary and consistent enforcement of laws are needed. Without these institutions, business leaders are “unlikely to invest in Ukraine or anywhere else.”
“The changes being enacted now have to be real and lasting,” Biden said. “It cannot be reforms on paper. It has to be tangible for business leaders, civil society and ordinary citizens.”
Creating a Ukraine that is “unable to be bribed, coerced or intimidated,” is the goal, Biden said. “Imagine what that kind of success will mean for the rest of central and eastern Europe.”
Biden described Ukraine’s post-EuroMaidan Revolution government (which replaced ex-President Viktor Yanukokvych) as having “one last chance” and, talking to Yatsenyuk directly from the stage, said: “This is it Mr. prime minister. The next couple years, the next couple months will go a long way to telling the tale… Success in Ukraine will tell a story about what Europe will look like in the next 10 or 15 years.”
Biden also singled out two people for individual praise: Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, who he asked to stand up and be recognized and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt.
He praised Jaresko for her excellent work in guiding Ukraine’s economy. “You’re doing a great job,” he said. He praised Pyatt as “the best we have in the entire foreign policy establishment.”
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who co-hosted the event with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in America, made it clear that the Obama administration will be supportive, but watching for results. She said her next visit (following one last September) will be to review accomplishments and “to celebrate publicly anybody progress that has been made.”
Biden, who is believed to favor supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons for help in defense against Russia’s war, did not raise the issue. U.S. President Barack Obama is against arms supplies to Ukraine.
Biden said that America would, however, continue supporting sanctions against Russia until the Kremlin follows the Minsk peace agreements in February and returns to Ukraine full control of its eastern borders by year’s end.
Biden also recounted the American aid package — $2 billion in loan guarantees with another $1 billion this year if Ukraine makes progress on reform; $470 million in direct financial aid.
He leavened his criticism by sprinkling his speech with numerous accomplishments that Ukraine has made, including cutting its consumption of Russian gas from 60 percent of its total in 2010 to 15 percent today. He urged Ukraine to keep doing so “to reduce that reliance and thereby the stranglehold that Russia has on Ukraine.”
He said that “the prime minister and I have become friends and I mean that seriously,” and said Yatsenyuk performed a difficult job “increasingly well and formed a great partnership with the president and, God willing, we will continue to do that well.”
But he frequently returned to his caveats.
“As long as you keep faith with the community, build a more democratic, just and prosperous Ukraine, you will never be alone…America will always be by your side.”
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at bribonner@gmail.comThe outgoing United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone, John Hoover informed newsmen in Freetown yesterday that, the US Government does not provide direct funding for the conduct of elections. “What we do is that, we provide indirect support to ensure that free, credible and peaceful elections are held”, Ambassador John Hoover said.
The outgoing US Ambassador said that, he was optimistic that Presidential, Legislative and Local Council elections will be held as scheduled on 7th March, 2018.
Ambassador Hoover who is expected to depart Sierra Leone in July this year after almost three years said, “I wish the people of Sierra Leone a very successful Presidential and Parliamentary election in March next year”.
The US Ambassador disclosed that, he arrived in the country at a time when the Ebola Virus Disease was ravaging the country. “With our support and the support of other countries and institutions, the Ebola Virus Disease was defeated in Sierra Leone”, Ambassador Hoover said.
The outgoing US Ambassador said that, he has enjoyed working with President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, members of his Cabinet and several other people and institutions in Sierra Leone.
At a Press Roundtable in Freetown yesterday, Ambassador Hoover said, “Let me start by saying it’s been an incredible honor for me to represent Presidents Trump and Obama, the US Government, and the American people here in Sierra Leone over the past two years and eight months. And it’s been both an honor and pleasure to get to know and to work with so many Sierra Leoneans, including President Koroma and leaders of government, members of religious communities, academia, the media, civil society, and the private sector, and last but not least, ordinary citizens. I may be leaving Sierra Leone soon, but as long as I live, I will never forget the warmth, the dignity, the harmony, and the resilience of Sierra Leone and her people”.
The US, he said, will continue to support civic education and encourage voter participation.The owner of a pizza parlor in Tampa, Florida received criticism after he banned children from his restaurant for being too rowdy.
Manager at the Hampton Station beer and food joint, Troy Taylor, made the controversial decision last week when he plopped a straight-forward sign up on the front door which read: 'NO CHILDREN.'
Local parents spoke out shortly after the notice was placed outside, expressing both distaste and approval for Taylor's new child-free environment.
In one lengthy post shared to the Tampa Bay Moms Group on Facebook, one member said: 'Some parents are upset that a place near family neighborhoods, a place they say they've been before with their family to eat, is no longer admitting minors.'
The owner of the Hampton Station Beer Garden, Troy Taylor, posted a sign to the front door last week which read: 'NO CHILDREN'
Local parents spoke out shortly after the notice was placed outside, expressing both distaste and approval for Taylor's new child-free environment
She added: 'If this place was once a family dining place it seems to now be catering to a more mature crowd. While it seems some may say this isn't fair or is some sort of discrimination or are simply upset about the change to the demographic they are looking to bring in.
'I'm thinking I'd like to have a date night or moms night out here... Am I the odd mom out?' she inquired.
While the decision received negative reactions from some, other mothers who are members of the Facebook group expressed their understanding.
One woman even blasted those who were offended by the decision, saying: 'Clearly they have changed their business model and want everyone to know they are officially a BAR! Don't take your kids to a bar - are you drinking and then getting in the car with them?!?!'
In one post shared to the Tampa Bay Moms Group on Facebook, one member said: 'Some parents are upset' by the decision
Despite the pizza parlor also operating as a watering hole, another social media user argued the ban could be considered as'some type of discrimination.'
She said: 'If a business had a sign stating they did not allow people of a certain age, sex, or ethnicity to enter their establishment it would be splashed all over the news, heavily fined, and probably shut down.'
The bar's owner, Taylor, has since spoken out on his difficult decision this week in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times.
He said the ban came after several incidents happened that involved disruptive children who were not made under the control by parents.
The bar's owner said the decision came after several incidents took place inside the joint that likely could have led to a lawsuit
Taylor said: 'A kid was in danger and could have seriously been hurt... It's a liability and safety issue. After the incident, I thought, this can't happen again'
Taylor, who opened the parlor just two years ago, said he was'sure he would have been sued had the worst happened.'
He said of one event: 'A kid was in danger and could have seriously been hurt... It's a liability and safety issue. After the incident, I thought, this can't happen again.'
The owner revealed he's mostly steered clear of social media - adding the children ban at the bar was 'one of the toughest things' he's ever done.
According to the newspaper, the federal law says businesses have the right to determine whether or not an environment is suitable for minors.
'Businesses are allowed to call their shots when it comes to kids,' the report said.
'The law forbids discrimination regarding race, religion and other categories, but there’s not the same broad protection for children.'The drone noise test is kind of weird thing to do, right!? I know everybody is testing flight range, flight time and other stuff. But we haven’t really seen many videos testing the drone noise level. So we decided to make something interesting and original this time.
The Drone Noise Test:
Unexpected results? If yes, please let us know in the comments on facebook or @WeTalkUAV on Twitter.
Now let’s take a look at what we got here:
Phantom 2 ~75.8 dB
~75.8 dB Phantom 3 Pro ~76.3 dB is only a little bit louder than P2
~76.3 dB is only a little bit louder than P2 Phantom 4 Pro ~ 76.9 dB -0.6dB of difference is really not too much, especially considering that the drone got more efficient and can stay on the air longer than P3P.
~ 76.9 dB -0.6dB of difference is really not too much, especially considering that the drone got more efficient and can stay on the air longer than P3P. Inspire 2 ~79.8 dB – Not much of a surprise here… The biggest drone is also the loudest one.
There are also 2 more things that we have tested the noise level of, so please make sure you watch this video till the end.
What Do All Those Decibels Mean?
So the drone noise is actually not that loud if you compare it to the music band or a motorcycle. We all understand that the drone noise is not something that people would consider when buying a new drone, as the price, brand, camera quality, and features are more important, but it is still a good piece of information to know.
Thank you for watching!
Please subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more videos about drones!A scene from the mobile hit 'Draw Something.' (Photo: Zynga)
One year after Zynga scooped the creators of mobile hit Draw Something, the studio's former CEO is on his way out.
Dan Porter, who served as vice president of Zynga's New York office after the acquisition of studio OMGPOP, is leaving the company and will be replaced by Sean Kelly, who has worked on titles such as CityVille and FarmVille.
Zynga's New York studio is working on Draw Something 2, the follow-up to the hit game for Android and iOS platforms. The Pictionary-style social game features one person drawing an image while an online partner tries to guess the image.
"Our follow up to the original hit is even more social and engaging, and we're excited to get it into the hands of our players globally," says Zynga COO David Ko in a statement.
The first game topped 50 million downloads in less than two months after launch, the company revealed last April. Zynga snagged OMGPOP and the rights to Draw Something for a reported $200 million.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/YtOuNWAfghan officials say Latif Mehsud was snatched from NDS operatives by US troops in Logar province.
The United States have senior Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Latif Mehsud in custody after snatching him from Afghan intelligence operatives who had spent months trying to recruit him as an interlocutor for talks, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Latif, a senior deputy of TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud, was seized by US personnel after they intercepted an Afghan government convoy in Logar province, the Post quoted Afghan officials as saying.
Afghan officials described their contact with Latif as one of the most significant operations conducted by their country’s security forces.
“After months of conversations, a top Taliban commander had agreed to meet with operatives of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS),” it quoted Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, as saying. Faizi declined to identify Latif by name in the report.
“The Afghan officials were en route to an NDS facility, where they expected to start debriefing the Taliban leader when a US contingent stopped the vehicles,” Faizi said, adding that the Americans forcibly removed him and took him to Bagram.
TTP confirmed Latif was captured by Afghan forces initially.
Quoting sources in the TTP and Pakistani intelligence, Associated Press (AP) said the Taliban leader was arrested by Afghan army personnel at the Ghulam Khan border crossing in Khost province on October 5 as he was returning from a meeting to discuss swapping Afghan prisoners for money.
The Pakistani intelligence officials said American forces seized Latif while he was with the Afghan army, adding that they no longer knew where he was.
Spokesmen for the Pentagon and the CIA declined to comment on the Afghan account of Latif’s detention, which had not been disclosed publicly. According to Washington Post, two US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Latif is in US custody, but declined to provide details.
Although he has not spoken out publicly about Latif’s arrest, the Taliban leader’s capture by US forces has reportedly enraged President Hamid Karzai.
There were reports that talks on a bilateral security agreement, which have been ongoing in the past two weeks, were delayed because of the incident. American and Afghan officials have been meeting in recent days to negotiate the final details of the deal.
The move may have also contributed to his emotional outbursts earlier this week alleging that the US and Nato forces inflicted suffering on the Afghan people and repeatedly violated the country’s sovereignty.
“On the security front, the entire Nato exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, and no gains because the country is not secure,” the Afghan president told the BBC in an interview this week.
Latif Mehsud, believed to be around 30 years-old, once served as Hakimullah’s driver but eventually worked his way up the ranks to become a trusted deputy. Taliban fighters who spoke to Washington Post on the condition of anonymity said he had recently been serving as the right-hand man for the TTP chief.
Latif also has become an increasingly influential commander, acting as an intermediary between cells of TTP fighters along the border and the group’s reclusive leader. Hakimullah is thought to be in hiding, fearful of a drone strike like the one that reportedly killed his deputy in May.
TTP’s ranks have been decimated in recent years by the CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2013.
Read full storyIf you have information about a death that occurred in a jail or police lockup between July 13, 2015 and July 13, 2016, or further details about a person listed in our database, you can contact us using the form here.
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Jonathan Velazquez Pending Investigation He was charged with criminal sexual assault and solicitation of murder for hire, according to the Chicago Tribune. Velazquez was found with a strap wrapped around his neck.
Jail or Agency: Lake County Jail
Lake County Jail State: Illinois
Illinois Date arrested or booked: UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN Date of death: 7/13/2016
7/13/2016 Age at death: 34
34 Sources: www.chicagotribune.com
Unknown Pending Investigation The man had served about 11 months of his sentence, according to the Durango Herald.
Jail or Agency: La Plata County Jail
La Plata County Jail State: Colorado
Colorado Date arrested or booked: UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN Date of death: 7/10/2016
7/10/2016 Age at death: 67
67 Sources: www.durangoherald.com
Kenneth Wallace White Unknown
Jail or Agency: Piedmont Regional Jail
Piedmont Regional Jail State: Virginia
Virginia Date arrested or booked: UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN Date of death: 7/7/2016
7/7/2016 Age at death: UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN Sources: Virginia Department of Corrections
Unknown Natural Causes / Medical Emergency Died within 28 days of arrest or booking The unnamed man was booked on parole violation and possession of a controlled substance, |
SWAT team and a guard at the front door at the ready if the officer in a guard booth on the North Lawn was unable to reach the intruder.
A panel of outside security and operations experts is reviewing the breakdowns at the direction of the Department of Homeland Security and is expected to recommend reforms by mid-December.
The decision not to release the dog last month is part of that review. Some people familiar with the incident say the handler probably felt he could not release the dog, because so many officers were in pursuit of Gonzalez and the dog may have attacked them instead.
Of Wednesday night’s incident, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the episode “underscores the professionalism of the men and women of the Secret Service. These are individuals who literally at a moment’s notice are prepared to spring into action to protect the White House, to protect the first family, and to protect those of us who work here every day.”
Earnest added, “I do think it would be fair for anyone to conclude that the results of last night’s efforts were better than the results that related to the incident that occurred last month here.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security, praised the Secret Service in an interview for defending the president so effectively Wednesday.
“The swiftness of the response was impressive. They’re obviously dealing with a difficult situation, and they got him out of there in a rapid and professional manner,” Chaffetz said, adding that his only outstanding question is how closely agents were monitoring Adesanya before he jumped the fence. “Was he on a watch list? Was the Secret Service aware of this individual?”
But when it comes to the K-9 unit, Chaffetz added, “I can’t say enough about how valuable they are.”
“I love the dogs,” he said, adding that having watched a video showing Hurricane and Jordan being assaulted, “I hated to see him punch the dogs, but obviously they could take a punch. I was thrilled to see they’re back on duty.”
Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States, helped craft the 2000 law that made it a crime to wound a law-enforcement animal in the line of duty. It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and is the basis for two of the felony charges Adesanya now faces.
They are not just instruments or mounts or attack mechanisms or tools. They’re living breathing creatures, and there are many cases over time where suspects or criminals injured or killed dogs or horses in the conduct of their duty,” Pacelle said in an interview, adding that he and others pushed for the law “to send a signal that that behavior would not be tolerated.”
After being deluged with media requests, on Thursday afternoon the Secret Service tweeted out two separate photos of the Belgian-born, male pooches, tongues wagging as they posed in front the U.S. and agency’s flags. Hurricane is a “black Belgian Malinois, brown eyes, age 6, enjoys playing with his Kong toy, ready to work,” the agency tweeted, while Jordan is a “black/tan Belgian Malinois, brown eyes, age 5, enjoys walks around White House, ready to work.”
No word whether they were feted with extra treats for their heroic work.
The Secret Service’s K-9 unit is operated by the uniformed division, which is separate from the special agents who are assigned to the presidential detail. The dogs are trained at the agency’s James. J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel, Md., a complex spanning 500 acres and 31 buildings.
Former Secret Service officials said the Belgian Malinois are selected because of their unique characteristics; they are smart, strong, agile and obedient. An adult male weighs more than 60 pounds and can run in bursts twice as fast as the swiftest human. Its short hair makes it ideal for work in heat, and the Malinois are more compact, agile and higher-energy than German shepherds.
The dogs are trained for specific skills — some are assigned to the bomb squad and are used during security sweeps at hotels and other buildings where the presidential entourage will be staying.
The attack dogs on the White House grounds do not have any other duties than to subdue intruders, the officials said.
“Once you release the dogs to their objective, there’s not much that can stop them,” said former Secret Service director Ralph Basham, who oversaw the agency from 2003 to 2006. That objective, he added, is “take them down, slam into them. There are certain parts of the body they are trained to attack. They are trained to stop the intruder and give the handler time to respond.”
The Secret Service has 75 canines in all. Each dog costs $4,500, according to “In the President’s Secret Service,” a 2010 book by journalist Ronald Kessler.
The agency, which began its K-9 program in 1975, puts the canine candidates through 20 weeks of training. After they are cleared for duty, they remain with their handler around the clock and undergo at least eight hours a week of refresher training.
“They become part of the family,” according to the Secret Service Web site.
Most Secret Service dogs work until they are about 10 years old. “When a canine is ready to retire,” the site said, “it is retired to the handler.”
The canines are just one component of security on the White House grounds. Heavily armed SWAT team members with rifles and black riot gear patrol the grounds, while sharpshooting anti-sniper units are positioned on the roof. Cameras and guards are positioned at the perimeter, along with other officers inside the building.
The dogs are carefully handled. They “live, breathe, sleep and eat with their handlers,” Basham said. “They are constantly training; they go back for refresher courses.”
They don’t have a spotless record, however. In April 2012, Secret Service agents on a presidential trip to Cartagena, Colombia, reportedly allowed the dogs to defecate on the property of the Hotel Caribe, near the hotel manager’s room — angering the staff.
The friction helped persuade the hotel management to intervene later in the trip after a late-night altercation in a hotel hallway between a Secret Service supervisor and a local prostitute who accused him of not paying her. The resulting scandal cost 10 Secret Service members their jobs and has been one of the most embarrassing episodes for the agency in recent years.
Other government agencies also use the Belgian Malinois. Perhaps the most famous is the Navy SEAL-trained Belgian Malinois that operated as part of the team that cornered and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
And fallen K-9s merit full honors. Homeland Security bestowed an official commemoration for Maxo, a 3-year-old Malinois who fell to its death in 2013 from the sixth floor of a parking area in New Orleans while doing advance sweeps for a visit by Vice President Biden.
Although the dogs are thoroughly trained and disciplined, one former George W. Bush administration official recalled some trepidation among Secret Service staff about whether the dogs might inadvertently cause harm to the president’s dog Barney, a Scottish terrier.
Perhaps attesting to the Belgian Malinois’ sophisticated training — or perhaps to a carefully negotiated bilateral canine detente — Barney made it through his eight years in office safe and sound. The former first pooch died in 2013, at age 12, of lymphoma.
As for the White House staff, they have little contact with the canines.
“I think that there’s probably a good reason why these animals are kept somewhat removed from employees and others who frequent the grounds at the White House,” Earnest said during his daily briefing, adding, “I think the individual last night probably saw pretty vividly why we all keep our distance.”
Brian Murphy contributed to this report.Image caption The pacemaker was named one of society's 10 most important recent engineering contributions
The man who invented the first practical implantable cardiac pacemaker, Wilson Greatbatch, has died in Buffalo, New York, aged 92.
His pacemaker was first implanted in humans in 1960 and keeps the heart beating in a regular rhythm.
Now, hundreds of thousands of people receive pacemakers every year.
Greatbatch's cause of death is not known. But Larry Maciariello, his son-in-law, told reporters his health had been "intermittent".
He held more than 150 patents.
The first successful implant of the Greatbatch pacemaker took place in April 1960 at the Buffalo Veterans' Affairs Hospital, after extensive animal testing.
The 77-year-old patient lived for 18 months after the device was implanted.
He was not the first to come up with a surgically implanted pacemaker. That happened in 1958 in Sweden, using a device designed by Rune Elmqvist.
But the pacemaker failed after three hours and was replaced with a second one that lasted two days.
An improved version of the Elmqvist pacemaker was implanted in February 1960, in Montevideo, Uruguay. That device functioned successfully for nine months, until the patient died.
The Greatbatch pacemaker featured a mercury battery that last for two years. He later acquired the rights to a newly developed lithium-iodine battery, which proved even more effective.
In 2010, Greatbatch marked the 50th anniversary of the medical device.
His company Greatbatch Ltd - formerly Wilson Greatbatch Ltd - was founded in 1970 and manufactures batteries for the implantable pacemaker.
Inventing was Greatbatch's lifelong passion. In 1998 he was admitted to the National Inventors' Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.
In 1983, the implantable pacemaker was named one of the 10 great engineering contributions to society in the part 50 years, by the National Society of Professional Engineers.
"Nine things out of 10 don't work," Greatbatch told the Associated Press in 1997. "The 10th one will pay for the other nine."
In his later years, Greatbatch worked on possible cures for Aids.
He was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize for lifetime achievement in 1996, aged 76.
He also challenged the next generation of inventors to develop nuclear fusion using a type of helium found on the moon.
Fossil fuels, Greatbatch believed, will be exhausted by 2050.
Greatbatch studied electrical engineering at Cornell University and the University of Buffalo, where he then taught engineering between 1952 and 1957.
Greatbatch served in the Navy as a rear gunner and dive bomber during World War II. He also taught in the Navy's radar school.
Greatbatch was married to his wife, Eleanor for more than 60 years. They had five children together.Barack Obama is apparently planning to write his memoir about his time in the White House while staying on a South Pacific private island once owned by legendary actor Marlon Brando.
After signing a multi-million dollar book deal with Penguin Random House alongside his wife, Michelle, the former president is now set to write his memoir while staying on the exclusive island of Tetiaroa, the Washington Post reported.
The island is part of the Society Islands in French Polynesia and is an atoll composed of a dozen small islands surrounding a lagoon about 30 miles northeast of Tahiti.
It once served as a summer residence for former chiefs and kings of Tahiti until Brando purchased it in 1967 after falling in love with its beauty while filming 'Mutiny on the Bounty' in 1962 on the nearby islands of Tahiti and Moorea.
Barack Obama (above in March) is apparently planning to write his memoir about his time in the White House while staying on a South Pacific private island once owned by legendary actor Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando (pictured above on Tetiaroa with his original villa concept) purchased the island in 1967 after falling in love with its beauty while filming 'Mutiny on the Bounty' in 1962
Tetiaroa is now owned by The Brando estate, who operates the ultra exclusive resort on the island (file above)
Obama is now set to write his memoir while staying on the exclusive island of Tetiaroa, where he will apparently stay at The Brando resort in one of 35 beachfront villas (file above)
The Brando (file above) holds a maximum number of 84 guests and can only be accessed by a private plane flight from Tahiti
The price for a one bedroom villa (file above) for just one person begins at roughly $3,000-a-night in U.S. dollars during low season, which is from April to June
Brando felt that the island brought him closer to paradise, as he settled there with the Tahatian actress who starred as his leading lady in 'Mutiny on the Bounty' Tarita Teriipia.
'My mind is always soothed when I imagine myself sitting on my South Sea island at night,' he once said.
'If I have my way, Tetiaroa will remain forever a place that reminds Tahitians of what they are and what they were centuries ago.'
The actor owned the island for more than three decades, and now after spending years being inaccessible to the general public, an ultra-luxurious expensive resort that's eco-friendly changed that in 2015.
Named The Brando, the resort is barely visible if spotted from the sea as it's unobtrusive and only holds a maximum number of 84 guests.
The resort charges up to $10,000-a-night during low season for other villas (file above)
The resort was designed to reflect Polynesian lifestyles and culture, while also keeping the actor's vision in mind. Above is the layout of two bedroom villa at The Brando
The resort (file above) was built to the highest environmental standards and aims to be 100 percent energy independent in the future
To access the resort, one must arrive on a private plane, a roughly 20-minute flight from Tahiti before being escorted to one of the 35 extravagant beachfront villas containing between one to three bedrooms.
The price for a one bedroom villa for just one person begins at roughly $3,000-a-night in U.S. dollars during low season, which is from April to June.
The resort, which is owned by the Brando estate, was designed to reflect Polynesian lifestyles and culture, as guests can surely relax on the white-sand beaches that are often frequented by manta rays, exotic birds and sea turtles.
In addition, it was developed by the Pacific Beachcomber Group with the goal of keeping the actor's vision in mind.
There's a 3-mile-wide lagoon that is encircled by a rectangular reef and roughly 12 small islands.
It's unclear if the former president will be joined by his wife during his stay on the island. It's also unknown how long he will stay on Tetiaroa at the resort (file above)
The island is part of the Society Islands in French Polynesia and is an atoll composed of a dozen small islands surrounding a lagoon about 30 miles northeast of Tahiti
It was built to the highest environmental standards, as it's powered by solar energy and coconut oil.
It's unclear if the former president will be joined by his wife during his stay on the island or exactly when he plans to travel back to Tetiaroa.
Obama reportedly took some downtime at the luxurious resort last week, that offers a plethora of activities for guests including, snorkeling, scuba lessons, exploration of the lagoon by kayak, tennis, biking, deep-sea fishing and much more.
In November, actor Leonardo DiCaprio celebrated his birthday at The Brando, which was also voted the 'Best Resort in the World' by Condé Nast Traveler readers.(CNN) Imagine this is your first election. It's the first time you have a real voice and your choices are Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. You think, "Really?"
It's a feeling that binds a lot of first-time voters -- many of them millennials -- left, right and center, who are looking for inspiration and not finding it.
They'll sway elections when they start to vote. Both millennials and baby boomers make up about 31% of the population, although the younger group slightly outnumbers the older. But the more senior generation traditionally votes in much greater numbers. In 2012 only 46% of eligible millennial voters cast a ballot, but 63% of boomers told Pew Research they went to the polls.
We visited three of this election's "battleground" states -- Ohio, Florida and North Carolina -- and sat down with millennials whose futures are at stake. Most said they are not excited to vote and are unhappy with their choices in 2016, which for many is their introduction to politics.
Young Republican in Florida
Devon Leasure is driven; she is on track to graduate from college in the middle of her junior year and hopes to start on her master's degree in business immediately thereafter. She is poised, smart and personable. She is a Republican with a capitol R and is a proud member of the Selfie Generation, another term for millennials.
"As a generation we are individualistic, we are concerned with ourselves, our job security, our paycheck. What's good for me? Not what's good for everyone, what's good for me right now, today?" Leasure explained to us at her sorority house, where she's vice president. "A lot of people forget that that's what the Republican party is about."
This sentiment was echoed by some of her friends and sorority sisters at the University of Florida. While Leasure has left-leaning friends, most of the ones we met grew up in GOP homes, are themselves Republican and plan to vote for Donald Trump. They aren't thrilled by his campaign and say his rhetoric is extreme and can be offensive. But they are impressed by what they describe as Trump's solid track record of creating jobs -- something this group, which will soon be on the job market, finds particularly appealing.
A job should be a realistic thing. And it's not right now.
"We are graduating and it's almost like a congratulatory thing when you graduate with a job. After all the money we put into schooling, a job should be a realistic thing. And it's not right now," Brianna Frey, one of Leasure's sorority sisters, explained.
Leasure agreed. "I'm really concerned with being able to find a job, secure that job and then really reap the benefits of my hard work," she said. "A candidate's tax plan is very important to me because I believe that you should work hard and earn what you deserve."
But they differ from much of the GOP platform on social issues. They described themselves as "socially progressive;" they don't oppose gay marriage and were not definitively against abortion. They didn't think the federal government should meddle in those kinds of issues and they didn't think that Trump, if elected, would be able to uproot the social policies that were already in place.
Leasure says a lot of her peers described their generation as "fiscally conservative but socially liberal." She argued that growing up with an African-American president, albeit a liberal, really changed her generation's perspective on what is possible in the world.
"As a woman I feel like there is opportunity for me and that there aren't as many barriers in my way," she argued. "We are just as a whole more tolerant, more accepting, more willing to negotiate change on a humanitarian basis."
Young Democrat in Ohio
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Elizabeth Oestreicher is quirky, sharp as whip, and is " with her," as they say. She voted for President Obama in 2012 and says she is excited to vote for Hillary Clinton in this election.
Oestreicher and the other young Democrats we spoke to in Cleveland, Ohio, shared many of the same concerns about job security voiced by Leasure and the young Republicans in Florida. But Oestreicher and her pro-Hillary friends were more concerned about how a strong, united and well-treated workforce can make an economy stronger.
"I think that focusing too much on the economy, and not the people who drive that economy and their human rights, is the opposite of where I think we should be focusing," Oestreicher says.
"I think a lot of times millennials are labeled as really lazy," she says, but she and her friends are active, both politically and socially. They canvass, phone bank and send out thousands of text messages to fellow millennials to get the word out about climate change.
There's more action for the left saying that climate change is real.
Oestreicher's working at NextGen Climate, a super PAC primarily created to motivate millennials to vote based on climate change influences. "I think that climate change is one of the biggest issues that we're going to have to think about and look for in the future," she said. "These huge storms and tsunamis that are happening all over the world. Everyone's kind of saying, like, oh, like, these huge disasters are happening all the time. And it's just because of a lot of the things that we've done."
This is one of the main reasons that Oestreicher and her friends are voting for Clinton this November.
They believe Clinton when she says she is more committed to helping the health of the planet. "There's more action for the left saying that climate change is real. And that it has to have something done about it," Oestreicher explains.
On top of working at NextGen Climate and canvassing for the election, Oestreicher is studying nonprofit administration with a minor in urban studies at Cleveland State University. She and several of her siblings were adopted and she is a vocal member of the LGBT community. Oestreicher believes that Clinton really cares about protecting the interests of the people for whom she's advocating. Beyond that, she believes that because of Clinton's decades of experience, she knows how to work her way around Washington.
"I think she has an ability to look beyond her own personal thoughts on things and see the facts and see what's right," Oestreicher says. "She can be as progressive as she wants to be and as centrist as she wants to be. I think she's the most qualified candidate we've ever had."
Young Independent in North Carolina
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You can't wipe the smile off 19-year-old Dal Davis' face until you get him started on the state of the current election. He is frustrated and feels disenfranchised, like a fake. That's because like so many young voters, he was feeling the Bern.
"I was sold a golden dream with Bernie Sanders. And now since the DNC really screwed him and cheated him we are only left with Hillary Clinton," he says, referring to hacked emails that suggested Democratic National Committee staffers preferred Clinton over Sanders.
We have two candidates who are not representative of the population as a whole.
Like Sanders, Davis is a self-proclaimed independent. But while Sanders has endorsed Clinton, Davis describes her as "criminal" and Trump as "evil." He believes that the Electoral College is corrupt and that neither Clinton or Trump will protect his rights as an African-American gay man.
Davis grew up on welfare in Durham, North Carolina. His mother was just 19 years old when he was born and she fell ill when he was in grade school. They moved around a lot, at one point living in a shack that he described as a "tool shed" with an outhouse in back. His hard childhood characterizes why he feels so strongly about social issues like welfare and student loans. He fears not being able to climb out of the pit of student debt he's accumulating from his undergraduate degree.
"I have scholarships and such and I've worked really hard for those. It's still not enough to make me feel secure about my life and the future. And then I still have graduate school to go on," Davis said.
Davis is studying music at Brevard College, a small liberal arts school, nestled just outside Pisgah National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. He wants to get his master's in production and to one day to write music for pop stars. Davis has a tight-knit group of friends there who also has mixed feelings about casting their ballot this November:
"We have two candidates who are not representative of the population as a whole," his friend Amanda McBriar explained.
Davis' friends describe themselves as being "robbed" of their first voting experience but they still plan to cast a ballot this November for Clinton, who they see Clinton as the "lesser of two evils."
"I don't feel passionately about what Hillary stands for but at the same time I feel very passionately against what Trump stands for," McBriar said.
Ultimately, Davis has also decided to vote for Clinton this November. He sees her as the "most predictable" option.The YouCompleteMe (YCM) code-completion plugin for Vim has been a resounding success. It’s one of the most popular Vim plugins, if not the most popular one. The main YCM logic is now available as ycmd, an independent HTTP+JSON server. Client plugins for different editors can easily be written.
Work on splitting YCM into a client-server model started about a year ago. I’ve written on this topic before; suffice it to say that the new architecture brought extra performance, stability and fixes for long-standing problems.
YCM switched to this new implementation back in October 2013. Ever since then I’ve been tweaking ycmd to remove Vim-specific cruftiness so that it’s more generic. I’ve also added some docs and written the example client which demonstrates how to talk to ycmd.
Why make the server generic?
I’ve learned a lot over the last two years since YCM came out. I’ve integrated several different semantic engines into YCM, from libclang for C/C++/Objective-C to Jedi for Python and OmniSharp for C# (more will be added with time). There’s a pretty simple ycmd-internal API for adding semantic support for other languages. YCM has also moved past code-completion and is now targeting code-comprehension features like GoTo and integrated diagnostic errors.
Of the things I’ve learned, an important lesson is that there’s a lot of common ground between languages when it comes to tools that provide semantic understanding of code. Much infrastructure is built over and over again for no benefit.
For instance, there are many Vim plugins that provide semantic code-completion for a specific language (like jedi-vim for Python, OmniSharp for C#, gocode for Go etc). They all need to have the following, even though some don’t:
A semantic engine that can provide a list of available function/class names for a given location in a source code file. A filtering system that can intelligently remove completion strings that aren’t relevant. A ranking system that will (hopefully) put the most useful completion at the top of the completion menu. Process-level separation between the semantic engines and the editor so that engine crashes don’t take down everything. Also makes it much harder to block the editor’s GUI thread. Vim integration that will provide a UI that auto-shows the relevant completions. Vim integration for showing diagnostic messages (errors and warnings) that undoubtedly arise from their semantic engines. Tons of other stuff too annoying to enumerate.
And then we repeat all of it not just across languages but also across editors like Emacs and Sublime Text which have entirely different plugins that implement (or fail to implement) all of the above as well.
This doesn’t scale and is a massive waste of effort.
In the above list, everything but the first point is common infrastructure. This isn’t a theoretical notion, this is how YCM already works. Integrating a new semantic engine into ycmd is borderline trivial; don’t take my word for it, take a look at how the Jedi engine for Python is integrated. It’s ~120 lines of code and provides both semantic code-completion and GoTo. Everything else is provided on top of that and is common to all the engines.
With ycmd now a server independent of Vim, a simple client can be written for any editor; as soon as a new semantic engine is plugged into ycmd, the old clients Just Work™ with it.
This is the point of ycmd: to sit between the clients written for a specific editor and the semantic engines written for a specific language while providing a simple API on both ends. The semantic engines don’t have to worry about anything beyond “which names are available at this line & column location in this file,” all the common plumbing is built on top of that. The clients on the other hands don’t have to worry about anything beyond “this is the line & column location in the buffer the user is editing.”
So what’s ycmd’s value-add?
It all comes from the shared infrastructure. Other than simplifying APIs for the semantic engines and the editor clients, ycmd for instance also has an identifier-based completion engine that’s language-agnostic; it’s triggered when semantic engines aren’t needed (more details in ycmd docs). There’s also smart caching so that the engines aren’t queried too often (they can be slow), a filepath completer, integration with snippet engines like UltiSnips and the aforementioned completion filtering and ranking (which is neither simple nor easy to implement right).
In case anyone is worried about the overhead of the client-server architecture, I’ve debunked that myth quite throughly (with benchmarks, no less). Even better than benchmarks, this has been implemented for YCM and has been battle-tested over the last 10 months. For a server running on localhost, the communication overhead is effectively zilch.
Conclusion
Let’s stop reinventing the wheel.
For semantic engine writers: expose your engine as a server that talks HTTP+JSON if at all possible; don’t worry about anything beyond listing completions at a specific location in the file. Plug the server into ycmd (it’s easy). All ycmd clients instantly work with your engine.
For editor plugin developers: implement a client for ycmd. Most code is already written for you in the example client, you just need to write the editor-specific parts. Hell, since the example code is all licensed under the Apache License v2, you can copy-paste most of it. Enjoy good code-completion and code-comprehension features.From the past few years, I am researching about the benefits of vitamin B12. Being the fitness freak, there are a lot of benefits of including cobalamin a.k.a vitamin B12 in your diet regimen. I couldn’t decide what should I start with this community. But without further ado, I just want to some info about the vitamin B12 and its role in our body functions.
It is one of the vitamins of the all-important B complex. Its functions are quite varied, so many people are concerned just to get good levels of this vitamin every day.
Its role in the formation and repair of cells makes the benefits of vitamin B12 extend over various body systems, and is even important for gaining muscle mass.
There are, however, a number of myths about vitamin B12 supplementation and Lipotropic Liquid Supplement like oral Vitamin b12 shots. There are, in fact, no signs that especially high levels of vitamin B12 bring benefits to the body, especially with regard to weight loss.
Let us understand below what is the purpose of vitamin B12, where to find and what are its main benefits and functions in our body.
Source: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamin-b12-or-folate-deficiency-anaemia/symptoms/
1. Cell Formation and Repair
Among the benefits of vitamin B12, the most comprehensive is its role in the formation and repair of cells. In the same context, there are multiple functions of vitamin B12, which participates in the formation and maintenance of red blood cells.
Vitamin B12 fits into this process by benefiting the formation of DNA during cell division, avoiding undesired mutations. Without this protection of vitamin B12, red blood cells are most affected by mutations that generate megaloblasts (abnormally large red blood cells) as well as deformed red blood cells.
This same protection is relevant for the cells of the nervous system, which are healthier and more efficient because of the benefits of vitamin B12.
2. Prevention of Anemia
In protecting the red blood cells, vitamin B12 takes as one of its functions the prevention of several types of anemia. In addition to preventing common anemia, vitamin B12 still avoids the complex anemia caused by genetic mutations such as sickle cell anemia and megaloblastic anemia.
3. Protection of the Nervous System
With regard to the nervous system, it is noted, for example, that patients with Alzheimer's disease are often deficient in vitamin B12. This relation points to a possible role of this vitamin in preventing this degeneration of the nervous system, which in any case has not yet been proven.
However, it is true that the benefits of vitamin B12 influence the health and performance of the nervous system in general by working towards correct myelination of the neurons. In this way, the functions of memory, concentration and reasoning take place more effectively.
In addition, cobalamin protects the nervous system from the negative effects of stress, as well as shrinkage of the brain along aging, in addition to reducing the risk of depression.
4. Resistance and Energy
The maintenance of red blood cells, for which vitamin B12 is responsible, binds to its functions in metabolism to relieve or avoid the sensation of fatigue. On the one hand, with numerous and healthy red blood cells, the muscles receive an adequate supply of oxygen. As vitamin B12 aids in the transformation of carbohydrates into glucose, the muscles are supplied with the required amount of energy.
In this way, vitamin B12 provides a sense of energy and vitality, adequate to withstand great physical or mental efforts, as well as stress and pressure in general.
5. Cancer Prevention
According to the studies point to the cobalamin deficiency found in many women who develop breast cancer, it is believed that the prevention of this type of cancer is one of the benefits of vitamin B12. Similar results point to the same likelihood for lung, colon, and prostate cancer.
6. Cholesterol and Triglycerides
Among the benefits of vitamin B12 is also the maintenance of low cholesterol levels, which is extremely beneficial to the circulatory system, as it prevents or at least significantly relieves high blood pressure and the process of arteriosclerosis.
The same control effect is exerted by vitamin B12 on triglycerides, whose accumulation in the body has effects similar to that of high cholesterol. In addition, triglycerides also lower HDL cholesterol levels ("good" cholesterol), making the problem worse.
7. Skin, Nails and Hair
For its functions in cell reproduction, vitamin B12 encourages the constant renewal of skin cells, hair and nails. This constant renewal ensures quick recovery from any damages, which creates healthier and better looking fabrics.
8. Male Fertility
Cobalamin is also capable of increasing the number of spermatozoa in semen. This function is not trivial, since the low number of spermatozoa is one of the main causes of male infertility, which in many cases can be treated by normalizing vitamin B12 levels.
9. Weight Loss
The belief that vitamin B12 contributes to weight loss is based on the idea that this vitamin is able to stimulate the metabolism to function faster as well as increase the energy supply to the body. In fact, these effects are extremely beneficial for weight loss, but there are no signs that they occur in people who already have healthy levels of vitamin B12.
The conclusion, is that maintaining healthy levels of vitamin B12 can be of great help, but going beyond these levels has no effect whatsoever. The very high doses of vitamin B12, usually administered with the promise of intense and rapid weight loss, are no more than delusions. In this case, it is worth remembering that there is no single solution: good levels of vitamin B12 only help in weight loss, which is produced by diet and exercise.
10. Muscle Mass Gain
For people looking to gain muscle, cobalamin is important because of its functions in the nervous system. Through the benefits of vitamin B12 to the nervous system, the connection between this system and the muscles becomes more effective, which makes the muscle contraction movements better performed, resulting in better quality training.
In addition, the correct metabolism of carbohydrates ensures the energy supply to the muscles, making the workout even more effective. After training, vitamin B12 functions in cell regeneration become valuable, stimulating a quick and efficient recovery of muscles.
When Vitamin B12 Lacks In Our Body
Cobalamine deficiency occurs because of an irregular diet, deprived of food with this important vitamin. In addition, there are risk groups that suffer from the deficiency more regularly, such as vegetarians, since the sources of vitamin B12 are mainly of animal origin, and the elderly, whose digestive system suffers because of the lower acidity in the stomach.
The same danger exists for those who use antacids frequently, for those who have digestive diseases, for HIV-positive people and for those who suffer from alcoholism.
The lack of vitamin B12 manifests itself mainly through anemia, which brings symptoms such as weakness and fatigue, as well as marked pallor of the skin. Severe breaks can cause bleeding gums as well as a vulnerability to bruising and bleeding from the body.
Digestion is also affected by vitamin B12 deficiency, so that poor digestion is accompanied by diarrhea or constipation, which in the long run can lead to weight loss. In addition, effects on the nervous system can be perceived through poor memory and slow thinking.
How Much Vitamin B12 Is Enough?
Daily vitamin B12 requirements increase throughout growth, from the initial level of 0.0004mg per day, valid for children up to six months of age. The daily dose increases regularly until it reaches the level of 0.0024 mg per day at 14 years, a quantity that must be maintained for the rest of life.
There are no differences in the recommended amount for men and women, except in the case of pregnancy or lactation. Pregnant women need 0.0026 mg per day, while infants have a daily requirement of 0.0028 mg.
It should be noted, however, that vitamin B12 is water soluble: excess is easily eliminated by the body without any storage. Thus, it is necessary to consume the recommended amounts of vitamin B12 every day.
Where to Find Vitamin B12
The natural sources for finding vitamin B12 are especially of animal origin. In this way, foods with good amounts of vitamin B12 are mainly oysters and salmon, but also turkey and lean beef. Egg yolks and dairy products are also significant sources of the vitamin.
It is possible, however, to obtain the necessary levels from grains and cereals fortified with vitamin B12, so that vegetarians are not doomed to suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency.
Vitamin B12 Supplementation
Vitamin B12 supplementation is unnecessary for those who can get healthy levels through food with it. It is recommended, however, for groups that are most at risk of suffering from disability, such as vegetarians, seniors and people with gastric problems |
11] The poverty rate for households that are led by a married couple is 6.8 percent. For households that are led by a female single parent, the poverty rate is 37.1 percent.
New Honey Maid Commercial Celebrates Divorce as 'Wholesome'. According to a Honey Maid commercial, divorce is now "wholesome." "You know, I never thought I'd get divorced," says a dad, as pictures of a smiling, blended family flit across the screen. "But the way I look at it, there are just more of us to love the kids now," he says.
End of the traditional familyin America. Less than half of U.S children under the age of 18 live at home with two married, heterosexual parents in their first marriage, new research has revealed. The figures reveal the ever-changing make-up of the family structure. In the 1960's, 73 percent of children had what is considered a traditional family structure but by 1980 that figure had dropped to 61 percent.
Family fragmentation: Can anything be done? The facts are easy to state. About 40 percent of babies born in America these days are born outside of marriage. That's true of about 30 percent of non-Hispanic whites, more than 50 percent of Hispanics and more than 70 percent of blacks. Back in 1965 Daniel Patrick Moynihan was prompted to write his report on the black family when the out-of-wedlock birth rate of blacks was 25 percent. He believed, correctly, that this spelled trouble ahead. Half a century later that's the figure for supposedly privileged non-Hispanic whites.
Black Progression and Retrogression. [Scroll down] Black illegitimacy is 75 percent. Close to 50 percent of marriage-age blacks never marry. Close to 70 percent of black households are female-headed. If one thinks family structure doesn't matter, consider that the poverty rate among black female-headed families is about 47 percent but among married families it has been in the single digits for more than two decades. It's not just poverty. Children raised by single parents are likelier to be physically abused; use drugs; engage in violent, delinquent and criminal behavior; have emotional and behavioral problems; and drop out of school.
When Black Lives Don't Matter. Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and countless others like them grew up in broken families, their lives haunted by fathers and stepfathers with gang ties. The only masculine culture they had was that of the thug and that culture eventually killed them. Criminal culture is even more fatal to criminals than it is to their victims. If you attack enough people, eventually one of them will fight back. Eventually one of them will kill you.
GA:"We is teenagers, don't shoot me". Has the use of the word "teenager" by the old media given criminal teens a sense of immunity? You see it again and again. Trayvon Martin is constantly referred to as a teenager, as though that somehow absolved him of his crimes. Most male children, who are brought up in intact families, do not become predatory creatures in their teens. But for those who do not have strong, moral, male role models in their lives, especially if this is the default position in their community, predation is a common role. [...] The "progressive" position seems to be that "children" are inherently good. That is not true. Children are inherently selfish and amoral. In Christianity, this is recognized as original sin. Each child is a wild animal that must be civilized and taught moral virtues. This is much harder to do in a single parent home.
It's Time to Save the American Family; A Joyless Experiment Strained to the Limit. Perhaps the most obvious, deleterious and heart-rending change in American culture of the last 50 years is the deterioration of the traditional nuclear family. But why would this be the result of liberalism? Since liberalism is the default pseudo-religion of the mass media, it goes without saying that these ideas are driven daily into the minds of the credulous, who simply act out what they are taught, like secular zombies. For example, in 2012 the NY Times reported that amongst women under 30, more than half of the children are born to unmarried women. The concern here is not just emotional. For example, the number one cause of US poverty is female single parents. [...] The impact of fatherlessness on children is so epic that billions of dollars a year are lost dealing with the consequences, such as drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse, prosecutions and incarcerations, and other institutionalization.
The Leftist and Islamic War on the Family. The unspoken truth of the War on Women is that the breakup of the family has made life more dangerous for women and men. It's a statistical fact that crime rates increase for children from single parent households. Sixty percent of rapists grew up in single parent households. The real War on Women began with the War on the Family. That is also where it ends.
Contraception Won't Fix Fatherlessness. The institution of marriage among America's poor has been totally destroyed, and this has had devastating effects on our ability to fight poverty. For 40 years after the family's breakdown in the 1960s and '70s, leftists have claimed that, as far as child-development and child-poverty are concerned, marriage matters little. Further, according to the Left, if having a second parent in a child's life did make a difference, this was merely due to a second paycheck — a role government could easily fill. To a point, the Left still makes the arguments outlined above. Yet modern social science is heavily stacked against this decrepit statist worldview, especially when it comes to the importance of a father.
Marriage rates hit new, all-time low. New data shows more young people are waiting to marry — and there's no shortage of opinions on why that's happening. According to the latest available census data, the percentage of U.S. adults who have never been married has hit a new, all-time high.
More Americans than ever have never married: survey. A record 20 percent of adult Americans, or 42 million people, have never married, marking a U.S. demographic and social shift, according to an analysis released on Wednesday [9/24/2014].
Single adults now outnumber married adults. Unmarried American adults outnumber their married counterparts for the first time since the federal government began tracking that data in 1976, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 124.6 million single Americans in August, accounting for 50.2 percent of the 16-and-over US population, BLS data showed.
Poverty Is Not The Cause of Criminal Behavior. Liberals have all reached a consensus that Ferguson's rioting and looting are the results of poverty. [... but] According to the Heritage Foundation, the real cause of crime is the breakdown of the family:
• High-crime neighborhoods are characterized by high concentrations of families abandoned by fathers.
• State-by-state analysis by Heritage scholars indicates that a 10 percent increase in the percentage of children living in single-parent homes leads typically to a 17 percent increase in juvenile crime.
• The rate of violent teenage crime corresponds with the number of families abandoned by fathers.
• The father's authority and involvement in raising his children are also a great buffer against a life of crime.
Anyone raised during the mid-1970s and before can agree with the Heritage Foundation's conclusion. No politician or government program can replace fathers in the home. In fact, laziness and idleness contribute more to crime than anything else does.
The absence of fathers matters. We have evolved a society wherein we pretend the opposite is true. The disappearance of fathers is now nearly the norm. Almost one in four American children lives in a household without their biological dads. For brown kids, that number stands at about 28 percent. For black kids, it's a little better than half. Mass incarceration and the War on Drugs have certainly played a role in this. But just as surely, a role is also played by the new social more which says it's okay for a man or a woman to be feckless, for him to wander away because he is immature, selfish and young, for her to have a baby on her own because the clock is ticking and really, she doesn't need a man for anything more than sperm. This is the new morality, the new American mindset.
Ignoring an Inequality Culprit: Single-Parent Families. Suppose a scientific conference on cancer prevention never addressed smoking, on the grounds that in a free society you can't change private behavior, and anyway, maybe the statistical relationships between smoking and cancer are really caused by some other third variable. Wouldn't some suspect that the scientists who raised these claims were driven by something — ideology, tobacco money — other than science? Yet in the current discussions about increased inequality, few researchers, fewer reporters, and no one in the executive branch of government directly addresses what seems to be the strongest statistical correlate of inequality in the United States: the rise of single-parent families during the past half century.
America in Decline. [Scroll down] Increasingly, America is becoming a nation of dysfunctional families. 41% of babies are born out of wedlock. Under America's first black president, American blacks are increasingly unemployed, and 72% of black kids are born out of wedlock, a terrible indictment of American society. The corrosive results of government hand-outs are now rampant in America. A nanny-state produces a population of dependency, not independence or an entrepreneurial spirit.
In Defense of Normal. Letters home to school kids now read, "Dear Parent," whereas they might have formerly read "Dear Parent(s)," and even further back, "Dear Parents." Then again, as illegitimacy and broken homes become more frequent, we have to allow that non-nuclear families have become "more normal," if only statistically so." But do they seem more normal because of the statistical fact, or has it become a statistical fact because they have been made to seem more normal by the left? It's impossible to know whether the de-stigmatization occurred first, or whether this social pathology came about spontaneously.
Young Fatherless Elephants. Thanks to the cold-blooded murders in Oklahoma and Washington, black teenage thugs have been much in the news lately. But they've been newsworthy for quite a while now. [...] What's easy to forget, especially if you're a liberal, is that it's all an inevitable consequence of Lyndon Johnson's policies. It was he and his stooges in Congress that made welfare to black women conditional on there not being a man on the premises. With a swipe of his presidential pen, Johnson ended black families, as America had known them. Until he put his welfare policy in place, the rate of marriages was higher among blacks than among whites.
The Breakdown of Family and the Degradation of Society. Carmen Solomon-Fears, Specialist in Social Policy, reported that the percentage of non-marital births has remained steady at 41 percent for the past six years, a dramatic increase from 1940 when such births were a low 3.8 percent. What changed? Societal attitudes about fertility, contraception, abortion, and marriage driven by the "sexual revolution" made it acceptable and legal to use abortion as a contraceptive, while men evaded the responsibility of marrying the women they've impregnated. More than half of non-marital births are of couples who live in a cohabiting relationship. The shame of producing offspring out of wedlock disappeared when churches started celebrating pregnant teens on Mother's Day and the federal government became the Daddy and gave generous welfare and medical care to single mothers.
Census: Marriage rate at 93-year low, even including same-sex couples. The Census Bureau reported Thursday [9/18/2014] that the nation's marriage rate is the lowest since 1920, and the first-time inclusion of same sex married couples did little to reverse the decline. According to Pew Research Center analysis, the marriage rate of Americans 18 and older hit a bottom of 50.3 percent in 2013, down from 50.5 percent in 2012.
TV Reporter Suspended After Rant About Fatherless 'Young Black Men'. News 12 reporter Sean Bergin made a controversial statement about "young black men" on TV Monday [7/14/2014] and now he has reportedly been suspended. The regional News 12 Networks, which serve New York and New Jersey, ran a story (above) about Jersey City Police Officer Melvin Santiago, who was fatally wounded in a shootout at a Jersey City Walgreens on Sunday. The network interviewed angry residents in the segment, many of whom weren't very sensitive to the police officer's death.
TV Reporter Suspended for On-Air Comment About 'Young Black Men'. News 12 New Jersey reporter Sean Bergin has reportedly been suspended for comments he made on-the-air Sunday evening about the black community. [...] The segment itself has also apparently been scrubbed from the News 12 website.
Dissolving the Institution of Marriage. For years, opponents of same-sex marriage fretted that the unleashing of gay nuptials would open the door for all types of sexual decadence. Last presidential cycle, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was panned heavily for comparing gay marriage to polygamy at a New Hampshire stop on the campaign trail. After a college student questioned his vigorous opposition to same sex couples being wed, Santorum responded in turn: "If it makes three people happy to get married, based on what you just said, what makes that wrong?" The remark was met with boos from students and condemnation from the liberal press. Less than two years later, Santorum ran a victory lap after a federal judge struck down a ban on polygamy in Utah.
Senate Bill Would Allow Unmarried to Collect SS Spousal Survivor Benefits. Two Senate Democrats want to change the way a valid marriage is determined under the Social Security Act so that same-sex couples living in states that do not recognize their unions can still collect spousal survivor benefits. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) introduced the Social Security and Marriage Equality (SAME) Act on May 8th. The bill aims to "ensure all same-sex spouses receive equal treatment under the Social Security Act when applying for Social Security benefits, regardless of where they live," according to Senator Murray's website.
California Bill Allows 'My Two Dads' on Birth Certificates. In the most recent California effort to "modernize" family convention, the state Assembly on Thursday passed AB 1951, a new bill that would allow all California parents to list themselves as "mother," "father," or "parent" of a child in order to reflect same-sex marriages, according to a report from the Associated Press. The bill passed by a vote of 51-13, with several Republicans voting in favor. No Republicans spoke in opposition.
An iPad does not make a good babysitter.
Infants 'unable to use toy building blocks' due to iPad addiction. Rising numbers of infants lack the motor skills needed to play with building blocks because of an "addiction" to tablet computers and smartphones, according to teachers. Many children aged just three or four can "swipe a screen" but have little or no dexterity in their fingers after spending hours glued to iPads, it was claimed. Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers also warned how some older children were unable to complete traditional pen and paper exams because their memory had been eroded by overexposure to screen-based technology.
The Democrats Have a Marriage Problem. Despite all the talk among Democrats and the media about the "gender gap" that has supposedly resulted from what they say are Republicans' anti-women policies, the real gap is between married and single women. IBD/TIPP's monthly survey finds that, on issue after issue, single women are more liberal than their married counterparts — often by wide margins. Single women are more content with the current state of affairs, more approving of Obama and far more likely to support his big-government policies.
The Decline of the African-American family. In reaction and repentance sparked by Dr. King's nonviolent civil disobedience and the systemic introspection of social norms by whites, Americans overcompensated with sweeping entitlement programs under President Johnson's "War on Poverty," and by turning a blind eye to accountability on longstanding values and principled behavior within the African American community. While affirmative action and desegregation jump-started social change, the unintended consequences of shifting the cultural incentives upside down were ignored. [...] And with Civil Rights Act of 1964 giving legal credence to making any sort of behavioral judgment toxic, the cultural glue that held together the African-American family was fundamentally changed.
Utah governor signs bill giving fathers new rights in adoption cases. The bill, Adoption Act Amendments, was sponsored by Utah state Sen. Todd Weiler. He told Fox News: "It sends a strong message that Utah respects fathers' rights and will not allow its laws to be used to perpetuate fraudulent adoptions." The bill would require a biological mother to live in Utah for at least 90 days or file information with the court about the birth father. The court then may order the mother to notify the father, before she can put her baby up for adoption.
'My Brother's Keeper' Ignores the Collapse of the Black Family. On Monday [3/3/2014], black conservative commentator Crystal Wright penned a column in The Guardian where she criticized President Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" plan he announced last week as part of an effort to lower crime in the black American community. Wright immediately scolded Obama's plan as "offensive" for holding black Americans to a lower standard than white Americans, enshrining a further sense of entitlement.
Pelosi Dismisses Family Values: 'Why Would Anybody Get Married?'. In an interview with Now This News, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) discussed marriage, whether it is traditional or same-sex, and seemed to dismiss the sacred tradition.
Why women still need husbands. Over the past several decades, America has witnessed a profound change in the way women view men and marriage. It began with the baby boomer adage "never depend on a man." This message resulted in a generation of women who turned their attention away from the home and onto the workforce. They did what their mothers told them to do: they became financially independent so they'd never have to rely on a husband. In time, "never depend on a man" turned into the full-blown belief that men are superfluous.
How to Fight Income Inequality: Get Married. If President Obama wants to reduce income inequality, he should focus less on redistributing income and more on fighting a major cause of modern poverty: the breakdown of the family. A man mostly raised by a single mother and his grandparents who defied the odds to become president of the United States is just the person to take up the cause.
Escape Poverty: Graduate, Work, Get Married, Have Kids. Fifty years ago today, in his State of the Union Address, President Lyndon Johnson declared an "unconditional war on poverty in America." Over the next two years, he massively expanded the federal government, creating Medicaid, Medicare and the food stamp program, and increasing federal involvement in public education. What impact did this have on poverty?
Camille Paglia: War on Men Destroying American Culture. In October of 2012, Salon veteran, art historian, culture critic, and provocateur Camille Paglia returned to Salon for an interview in which she raved about Bravo's Real Housewives series because, to her, the episodes were "authentic old-time soap opera," a television genre she once adored and has since pronounced "dead."
Christmastime and the Family Structure. It's a subject that many people are uncomfortable with. "Everyone either is or knows and has a deep personal connection to someone who is divorced, cohabiting, or gay," [Nick] Schulz writes. "Great numbers of people simply want to avoid awkward talk of what are seen as primarily personal issues or issues of individual morality." Nonetheless, it is an uncomfortable truth that children of divorce and children with unmarried parents tend to do much worse in life than children of two-parent families.
Sons of Divorce, School Shooters. Another shooting, another son of divorce. From Adam Lanza, who killed 26 children and adults a year ago at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Conn., to Karl Pierson, who shot a teenage girl and killed himself this past Friday at Arapahoe High in Centennial, Colo., one common and largely unremarked thread tying together most of the school shooters that have struck the nation in the last year is that they came from homes marked by divorce or an absent father.
Knock Out Black Self-Hatred. The "knockout game" is a prime example of the demise of black families across America. The goal of the "knockout game" is to catch someone off guard and try to knock him or her out in one punch. Many media outlets initially highlighted youth as the common denominator among the attackers. Other media outlets reported that the majority of the perpetrators were Black males. [...] How does an individual come to think it's fun to harm another human being, capture the attack on film, and share it with the world through social media? One has to wonder what is (or is not) going on in the households of the attackers.
Brown signs bill to allow children more than two legal parents. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that will allow children in California to have more than two legal parents, a measure opposed by some conservative groups as an attack on the traditional family. Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said he authored the measure to address the changes in family structure in California, including situations in which same-sex couples have a child with an opposite-sex biological parent.
Bill Cosby Tells Don Lemon Black Men Need To Raise Their Kids. CNN anchor Don Lemon has, of late, turned the focus of his frequent conversations on race to the idea of personal responsibility in the African American community. On Saturday night's [9/14/2013] edition of CNN Newsroom, Lemon continued that controversial trend with comic legend Bill Cosby, who has also felt the heat of controversy on the subject.
The Hood Comes to Duncan, Oklahoma. The nation's hoods and increasingly, barrios are modern-day reservations, where independence, initiative, self-worth, and self-respect have been stripped from residents. Where family, community, and church have been debased in favor of the government handout machine... and minority leaders who pimp their own people for gain. [...] Gangs are replacements for families; they lend identity, security, and worth.
The Close Connections between the Economy and the Family. [Scroll down] Worse, we are discovering that ObamaCare really will "destroy marriage for the middle class the same way that the Great Society welfare state destroyed the black family — with financial incentives for staying single." ObamaCare's marriage penalty could possibly cost couples over $10,000 a year. This intentional disparity means that U.S. government policy will encourage singleness and create increased disincentives for marriage.
The Tales of Three Bankrupt Cities. Why did so many people move out of Detroit? The quick answer: crime abetted by welfare. During the decade from 1965 to 1975, crime and welfare dependency roughly tripled in the United States and rose even more in Detroit. There was a connection between the two trends. Welfare encouraged single parenthood; fatherless boys often grew up to commit violent crimes. Most violent crimes were and are committed by (and against) blacks, whose numbers in Detroit during the great northward migration rose from 149,000 in 1940 to 660,000 in 1970.
Trayvon Martin, where's your daddy? Last Friday [7/19/2013], President Obama made the comment again: "If I had a son..." We all know the story. Only this time Obama in reference to the Zimmerman verdict went further: "It could have been me." This is not very tasteful, especially from a sitting president. Chris took exception to what the president said; as he put it, "if Trayvon Martin had had a daddy in the family, he might not be dead today."
What Do You Do When the Oppressed Are Their Own Oppressors? The leaders of what used to be a civil rights movement want to talk about everything but the main problem afflicting black people in the United States. That is the breakdown of the black family. Just 29% of black women over the age of 15 were married in 2010, according to the Census Bureau's comprehensive Current Population Survey. That compares to 54% of white women. At all ages, black women were about half as likely to be married as white women. That is an astonishing number.
Family Disintegration In Freefall Since 1965 Report. Nearly half a century after the 1965 Moynihan Report on black family disintegration, a prominent liberal think tank finds things "have only grown worse." Its clueless recommendation: more government.
'Sesame Street' to teach kids about when Mommy goes to prison. It's brought to you by the letter P — for prison. PBS's "Sesame Street" is moving from ABCs and counting numbers to offering its young viewers a bigger lesson in life: how to cope when Mommy or Daddy lands behind bars. Called "Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration," the program is distributing "tool kits" to schools, community centers and even jails in 10 states — including New York — starting today to help kids ages 3 to 8, organizers said.
The Editor says...
Apparently they presume that Daddy is either a complete unknown or he's already in prison.
Deadbeat dad has 22 kids with 14 women, sued for child support. Orlando Shaw guessed he had fathered 18 children with 17 women, but he really has 22 children with 14 women, making him the "most expensive deadbeat dad" in Tennessee history. Shaw appeared in court in Nashville when Child Support Services sued on behalf of the mothers for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid child support over the years.
Census Report Shocker. It is depressing yet unsurprising that with median age of women at first marriage approaching 27 years of age, 62 percent of women ages 20-24 who gave birth in 2011 were unmarried. Among new moms ages 25-29, 32 percent are unmarried, with 17 percent of those in their late 30s not married.
The Top 50 Liberal Media Bias Examples. [#29] Stupid Fathers: Fatherhood is constantly looked upon as either a needlessMakeup mogul, celebrity tattoo artist, and vegan activist Kat Von D announced last week that she will launch a vegan shoe line. “Final sketches of shoes I’m designing for my vegan shoe line are due tomorrow!!” Von D posted to her Facebook page. “Been drawing all day non-stop!” Von D is rumored to have partnered with Los Angeles-based vegan shoe company Mink in this venture and created a video tour of her own shoe closet—filled with a huge selection of unique shoes—as a glimpse into the type of footwear that will be available. The shoe line will be the newest vegan venture for Von D, who has been actively reformulating her makeup brand Kat Von D Beauty to be completely vegan—launching the carmine-free Shade + Light Contour Palette in August. Additionally, Von D recently raised more than $200,000 to benefit chimps rescued from laboratories by Project Chimp, expanded her makeup line to Ireland and the United Kingdom, and fed turkeys dinner for Thanksgiving (alongside fellow celebrities Moby and Jamie Kilstein) to raise awareness of the millions of turkeys slaughtered for the holidays.
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Get our award-winning magazine! SubscribeSo Mr Arijit Singh, you posted a detailed apology to Mr Salman Khan (the only detail it didn't have was what you were apologizing for!) and then deleted it after it was widely shared and circulated. What did you hope to gain from that so-called public apology? You mentioned in your note that you regretted an unintentional insult to Salman Khan and tried numerous texts and calls to say "sorry". Not just this, you wrote you did your best to meet him in person and explain your actions. When all your efforts failed, you posted this apology on Facebook.
It is due to sycophants and cowards like you that ordinary, talented people turn into gods and rule over other accomplished artistes in this unsparing film industry.
I don't have any problem with you seeking an apology, even when you are not wrong. But when did you turn into an attention-seeker? Honestly, your grovelling apology before a superstar, whose sheer arrogance has created or destroyed several careers, is sickening. It is due to sycophants and cowards like you that ordinary, talented people turn into gods and rule over other accomplished artistes in this unsparing film industry.
Tell me, what is the role of Salman Khan in your career? Is he your godfather? Do you owe your career to him? Did he train your vocals? What is his contribution to your list of hit tracks? How many songs have you sung for Salman that turned into chartbusters? We know the answers to all these questions. You're a self-made guy who stitched his career using the threads of rejections and challenges.
Stars, superstars or Bhais of the industry run after talents like yours when they find them commercially useful.
So instead of turning into an insomniac and posting guilt-ridden late-night messages, I advise you concentrate on your vocals which have got you so far. Let me tell you something: real talent works on its own terms and conditions. Stars, superstars or Bhais of the industry run after talents like yours when they find them commercially useful. These Khans stood in queue to rope in Yo Yo Honey Singh when his sexist rap songs were the rage. Once he'd exhausted his appeal, they moved on to other things. But your melodious voice is not some passing fad nor is it a stepping stone for anybody else's success.
Do you know that Lata Mangeshkar, the biggest songstress of all time in India, had refused to work with geniuses and the then 'gods of the industry' such as Raj Kapoor, Mohammad Rafi, SD Burman and others due to matters of principle? It was these producers, actors and composers who bowed down before her talent and reconciled with her as there was no substitute for the nightingale. She ruled the industry for a good 50 years and never begged anyone to keep her songs in a movie or album. That's how you retain your dignity.
[Lata Mangeshkar] ruled the industry for a good 50 years and never begged anyone to keep her songs in a movie or album. That's how you retain your dignity.
After your public apology, certain websites and writers are saying that one cannot get into the bad books of Salman Khan if one wants to survive in the industry. Really? Hell no! Just look at Kangana Ranaut. She became one of Bollywood's most successful actresses with no help from the Khans at all. In fact, she refused to work opposite Salman in Sultanand recently said that the Khans played no role in her meteoric rise.
Dear Arijit Singh, you have millions of fans who love you. Today, there are multiple platforms to sell your craft. You are not dependent on any Bhai! Just focus on your talent.
Sincerely,
Your fan Karan BhardwajPhotographer Dina Boyer captured a few photos of the aftermath of an ebike/car collision in San Francisco:
Bicyclist vs car accident at Octavia and Market streets in #sanfrancisco bicyclist is seriously injured. pic.twitter.com/MtxaMIotFc — DB (@BoyerDina) August 11, 2015
The photo appears to show a black Stromer ST1 with its handlebars bent 90 degrees from where they would normally rest, likely as a result of the collision with the vehicle or with the pavement. Early reports indicate that the ebike’s rider sustained serious injuries in the collision. We are praying that the rider will recover fully.
The collision comes during a contentious period of time for San Francisco cycists, who are increasingly chiding the San Francisco Police Department for ticketing cyclists who slow down and yield at stop signs instead of focusing on the 5 most dangerous driving behaviors that lead to the most cyclist and pedestrian injuries.A WRANGLE over one of the world's best-selling snacks has come to the crunch.
The makers of Pringles were yesterday celebrating a High Court ruling that the snack is not a crisp.
Mr Justice Warren's judgment means that, unlike regular crisp-makers, Pringles manufacturer Proctor & Gamble is exempt from paying VAT on its snack.
The firm had successfully challenged the ruling of a VAT tribunal that Pringles should be standard-rated at 17.5 per cent as the product fell within the definition of "potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch".
The Pringles case comes several years after McVities successfully argued that Jaffa Cakes were cakes rather than biscuits. Marks & Spencer was involved in a similar wrangle more recently over its tea cakes, which HM Revenue & Customs officials insisted were biscuits.
Proctor & Gamble went to the High Court in London to argue against the VAT tribunal's decision in May this year.
P&G, which sells more than 500 million worth of Pringles every year, pointed out that, unlike potato crisps, their product had a regular shape "not found in nature" as well as a uniform colouring and texture and a "mouth-melt" taste.
The firm said crisps did not contain non-potato flours like Pringles do, and were not normally packaged in tubes.
It insisted that its customers did not regard Pringles as potato crisps.
After an exhaustive inquiry into the ingredients, manufacturer and packaging, the judge said Pringles were not "made from the potato" within the definition laid down by the 1994 VAT Act. He said that to fall within the exception, a product "must be wholly, or substantially wholly, made from the potato".
Pringles, he said, were made from potato flour, corn flour, wheat starch and rice flour, together with fat and emulsifier, salt and seasoning, with a potato content of around 42 per cent.
The judge determined: "This appeal is allowed because Pringles are not, on the facts found, products'made from the potato, or from potato flour or from potato starch'."
A spokeswoman for Proctor & Gamble said: "We are pleased with this High Court ruling that Pringles should be appropriately categorised for VAT alongside other savoury snacks with which it competes."
A spokesman for HM Revenue & Customs said: "HMRC will consider the judgment carefully, with a view to deciding whether or not to appeal."
The recipe for Pringles was created by Alexander Liepa, of Ohio, in 1956. The creator of their iconic packaging, Fredric Baur, famously requested his remains be buried inside a Pringles box after his cremation.
Pringles first went into production in the United States in 1964, but it was another four years before they were launched officially. More than 45 flavours are produced and Pringles are on sale in more than 100 countries.After suffering a brutal attack 11 years ago that left her with permanent double vision, Dublin woman Suzanne Devitt has struggled ever since to rebuild her life.
After suffering a brutal attack 11 years ago that left her with permanent double vision, Dublin woman Suzanne Devitt has struggled ever since to rebuild her life.
'I rebuilt my life after woman stamped on my face and 6-inch heel tore through my eye' - Dubliner left with double vision to support others
Last July, she moved to Lurgan for a new start after enrolling in a college course. To afford the move she lived in a tent for five weeks, but days before starting, she was devastated to be told a computer qualification she attained did not make her eligible.
"There have been days when I just wanted to sit here and cry," she said.
Despite her difficulties, Suzanne (49) has now found a new purpose after setting up online support groups for visually impaired people across Northern Ireland. The aim is to tackle the social isolation those with visual impairment like Suzanne can experience, and informing members of local events such as walking trips.
She initially set up a Facebook page for Armagh and was soon asked by the RNIB charity to create groups for all six counties in Northern Ireland.
Members make use of voiceover software to hear the updates.
Suzanne is now hoping to start evening classes to work towards her goal of becoming a disability assistance officer for college students.
"I was out on New Year's Eve and this girl on drink and drugs stood on my face, and jumped on it with her six-inch stiletto heel," she said.
"It tore through my left eye, leaving me with double vision and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I lost about five years of my life after that. I got really depressed and I didn't want to cope."
Suzanne's injuries still cause her to see double, making everyday obstacles like steps hard to navigate. To help, her 21-year-old son Stephen moved to Lurgan this week and sold his Playstation to pay for his mum's internet costs to allow her to continue the support pages.
"If I can reach one person and help them I'm happy," she said.
"If I can get over the problems with my sight that happened 11 years ago, if I can get back out and retrain and attain my goals, so can you."
The support pages can be found on Facebook by searching the county name followed by 'visually impaired persons' - for example, 'Armagh visually impaired persons.'
Belfast TelegraphImage copyright Ittiz Image caption Earth has been through a cycle of ice ages and warm periods over the past 2.5 million years
The next ice age may have been delayed by over 50,000 years because of the greenhouse gases put in the atmosphere by humans, scientists in Germany say.
They analysed the trigger conditions for a glaciation, like the one that gripped Earth over 12,000 years ago.
The shape of the planet's orbit around the Sun would be conducive now, they find, but the amount of carbon dioxide currently in the air is far too high.
Earth is set for a prolonged warm phase, they tell the journal Nature.
"In theory, the next ice age could be even further into the future, but there is no real practical importance in discussing whether it starts in 50,000 or 100,000 years from now," Andrey Ganopolski from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said.
"The important thing is that it is an illustration that we have a geological power now. We can change the natural sequence of events for tens of thousands of years," he told BBC News.
Earth has been through a cycle of ice ages and warm periods over the past 2.5 million years, referred to as the Quaternary Period.
This has seen ice sheets come and go. At its maximum extent, the last glaciation witnessed a big freeze spread over much of North America |
point. Sakurai, with support from Nintendo of America, managed to keep both Marth and Roy in the game.[14] The growing base of tactical role-playing games including Advance Wars, in addition to the interest garnered by the appearance of Roy and Marth in Melee, meant that Nintendo were more willing to bring Fire Emblem overseas.[24][25][26] Speaking in a later interview, localization producer Tim O'Leary said that localizing the title was more difficult than its successor The Sacred Stones, but was smaller in scale than Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.[28]
A Western release was first hinted at in mid 2003, when it was listed on a leaked release list from Nintendo of America.[29] It was first shown at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo, along with a playable demo.[30] For its Western release, the subtitle was removed, with it simply being dubbed "Fire Emblem".[24] The game released in North America on November 3, 2003;[31] in Australia on February 20, 2004;[32] and in Europe on July 16.[33] It was later re-released on Virtual Console for Wii U on August 21, 2014 in Europe;[34] and in North America on December 4 of that year.[35]
Reception [ edit ]
Reception Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 88/100 (31 reviews)[36] Review scores Publication Score Eurogamer 9/10[7] Famitsu 34/40[37] GamePro 4.5/5[38] GameSpot 8.9/10[9] GameSpy [8] IGN 9.5/10[10] PALGN 9/10[39]
Fire Emblem met with generally positive reviews from critics. On aggregate site Metacritic, Fire Emblem garnered a score of 88/100 based on 31 reviews. It was the 6th best-reviewed GBA title of 2003.[36]
Japanese magazine Famitsu praised the characters and felt it was a suitable addition to the Fire Emblem series,[37] while Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell cited the storyline as being similar to better examples within the Japanese role-playing genre and its near-seamless integration with gameplay mechanics.[7] GamePro reviewer Star Dingo called the narrative "a complex (but not convoluted) classic fantasy yarn",[38] while GameSpot's Bethany Massimilla called the story standard while praising the writing and character development.[9] Christian Nutt of GameSpy praised the writing as highly enjoyable for both the Japanese and Western releases,[8] and IGN's Craig Harris believed that the game was superior to Advance Wars through its portrayal of characters despite some minor complaints about characters that remained alive for story reasons despite falling in battle.[10] PALGN reviewer Andrew Burns commented that the story gained a serious edge once Lyn's opening story arc was completed.[39]
Speaking about the gameplay, Famitsu was slightly mixed about some aspects; one critic praised the added tutorial for allowing new players to be eased in the series gameplay, while another compared the tutorial to a nagging mother and said it and the unseen Tactician representing the player might grate with series fans.[37] Bramwell praised the integration of RPG elements and tactical gameplay, in addition to finding the permanent death of characters a suitable fit for the game's world.[7] Dingo was positive about the level design and controls, but warned that it was quite short and lacking in depth when compared to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.[38] Massimilla found the gameplay both accessible and challenging as she made her way through the game,[9] while Nutt was skeptical about the permanent death system and critical of the in-game economy despite generally enjoying the experience.[8] Harris again compared it to Advance Wars, but said that Fire Emblem had enough unique elements to make it its own product, and generally praised the title's accomplishments.[10] Burns, who had experience of earlier Fire Emblem titles, praised the game as a worthy entry in the series and a good entry for the West to experience.[39]
Sales [ edit ]
In its debut week, Rekka no Ken entered Japanese gaming charts at #2 with sales of 93,880 units.[40] The following week it had dropped to #4, selling a further 47,550 and bringing total sales to 141,430 units.[41] The following week it had reached #3 with further sales of 23,296 units.[42] The game continued to steadily into July, reaching #21 in the top 100 best-selling games for that half of 2003 with total sales of 223,575 units.[43] As of 2012, Rekka no Ken has sold 272,000 units in Japan.[44] While no exact sales figure are available for Western territories, developers later stated that Fire Emblem was a commercial success overseas, and prompted the development of Path of Radiance for the GameCube home console.[45]
Accolades [ edit ]
Fire Emblem was named "Editor's Choice" by both IGN and GameSpy as part of their reviews.[8][10] During its 2004 awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named Fire Emblem "Handheld Game of the Year".[46] In the same year, the International Game Developers Association awarded the game for "Excellence in Writing" alongside titles including Beyond Good & Evil and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.[47] In lists compiled by IGN, GamesRadar and Game Informer, Fire Emblem was ranked among the best games for the GBA.[48][49][50]
Notes [ edit ]
^ Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken Japanese: ファイアーエムブレム 烈火の剣, Hepburn: Faiā Emuburemu: Rekka no Ken, lit. Fire Emblem: The Sword of Flame[1][2] or The Blazing Blade[3]), lit.or Known in Japan as ^ [4] and 8th[5] entry in the series. Sources disagree on the exact numbering: it is variously called the 7th,and 8thentry in the series.At the Verizon Center for a recent Wizards game, I found it odd that G-Wiz was leading the crowd in the “De-fense” chant in the fourth quarter. Not only because G-Wiz was horribly offbeat as he banged the drum, but also because that job is usually reserved for G-Man, the more serious Wizards mascot. When I thought about it, I couldn’t remember the last time I saw G-Man, though I’ve been to at least 12 games this season. Something is definitely up.
Looking through G-Wiz’s social media accounts, which he officially shares with G-Man, G-Man is surprisingly absent. He last tweeted from the account before the season and he’s not in any pictures since then. I remember seeing him at the arena on opening night, but I haven’t seen him at any games since then. It’s also peculiar that G-Wiz has taken over his chant-leading duties, and that the Secret Service Dunkers are now performing without their leader.
G-Man is the perfect complement to the goofy G-Wiz. While G-Wiz dresses up silly and picks fights with Robin Lopez, G-Man is all about business. His toned physique reveals his discipline, and he must be one of only a few mascots that can do flip dunks. Just two years ago, G-Man reached peak awareness, when he helped John Wall take home the Dunk Contest trophy. And now he’s nowhere to found.
What’s behind this? Is G-Man being phased out of the organization? Is he beefing with G-Wiz? Is he in Randy Wittman’s doghouse? Is in Oklahoma actively recruiting Kevin Durant? Is Robin Lopez holding him hostage? Is Ted Leonsis refusing to pay his salary? We need to start asking these questions before it’s too late and we never see G-Man again. #freeGManAstronaut training requirements
The astronaut selection process is based on criteria matching the requirements of the various missions foreseen. Astronaut candidates are pre-selected in ESA Member States and finally selected by ESA. Major aspects taken into consideration are psychological suitability, scientific and technical competence and fulfilment of medical criteria. The selection is based on the following criteria :
General requirements
Applicants, male or female, must be nationals of an ESA Member State. The preferred age range is 27 to 37 and applicants must be within the height range of 153 to 190 cm. They must speak and read English and have a university degree (or equivalent) in Natural Sciences, Engineering or Medicine, and preferably have at least three years postgraduate professional experience in a related field. Flying experience is welcome.
Medical requirements
Applicants should be in good health, have a satisfactory medical history, be of normal weight and have a sound mental disposition. Specific tests are performed to evaluate applicants' bodily systems (muscular, cardiovascular and vestibular). These tests use facilities such as centrifuges, rotating chairs, pressure chambers and aircraft.
Psychological requirements
The general characteristics expected of applicants include good reasoning capability and memory, concentration, aptitude for spatial orientation and manual dexterity. An applicant's personality should be characterised by high motivation, flexibility, gregariousness, empathy with fellow workers, a low level of aggressiveness and emotional stability. For long-term flights on the Space Station ability to work as a team member in an intercultural environment is of high importance.
Professional requirements
The candidate should be knowledgable in scientific disciplines and should have proven outstanding ability in applicable fields, preferably including operational skills.Over the last 4 years we've tracked the annual growth of fungus on the trees in front of my house, but the time for tracking was over. The time for chewing was here.
I was never interested in eating the Tree Brain because wild mushrooms can kill people. So I'm going to start off by saying: DO NOT EAT ANY MUSHROOMS YOU FIND GROWING IN THE WILD. I have no interest in being an accessory to your untimely death. Even if you think you've found a mushroom similar to mine, don't eat it. YOU WILL DIE. You'll be a dick and you'll die. So don't do it.
I'm serious. Pretend this is a PSA with a well-respected celebrity, such as -- I don't know... Jeremy Gelbwaks. And in the PSA he looks to camera and says "Hi, I'm TV's Jeremy Gelbwaks. You may know me better as the kid who was the first Chris Partridge on the Partridge Family. Don't eat mushrooms you find in the wild." And then off-camera we hear: "He's right." And, oh my God, it's BRIAN FORSTER, Chris Partridge #2! The two Chris's laugh, high-five and we're all a little bit safer.
That said, I totally ate the tree brain.
At some point a small residual nubbin finally did grow on the original tree. It seemed a waste to not do SOMETHING with it. And as much as I like writing this site for you guys, hot man on mushroom sex wasn't going to happen.
My wife has been the real force behind me not eating it over the years, but I caught her at just the right time. I reminded her that a professional mycologist had identified it and that I was well-read on all the potential pitfalls. It was still "young," it was not growing on a type of tree that could potentially make me ill (such as eucalyptus) and I was going to cook it thoroughly. I also found it hard to believe it would want to hurt me after all I've done for Tree Brain awareness.
I was 99.7% sure I'd be fine and I even made a deal with her that I'd just chew it and spit it out. Luckily, she was feeling sick and had a headache. I was given some vague "Do whatever you want," approval.
It really is heartwarming to know that my wife is devoted and loves me and doesn't want me to die. Unless her head hurts a little.
I tried to think of some perfect words to say before removing the brain. This was a historic moment and I wanted to come up with something fitting. Then my neighbors across the street drove up. I felt silly and hid behind my car until they went inside. Eventually I cut off the brain and ran back into my house. Historically.
It was weird to see it in my kitchen. I took a few pics like a geeky fanboy...
then unceremoniously hacked it to pieces.
The raw brain didn't smell like much of anything. If I was going to taste this thing, I didn't want to mask the flavor so I just went with a little olive oil.
The hunks got more intensely orange as they cooked down and soon it was go time. As I promised my wife, the plan was to chew it and spit it out. BUT IT WAS SO GODDAMN DELICIOUS IT HAD TO BE SWALLOWED. IT WAS THE BEST MUSHROOM I'VE EVER HAD.
I had read over and over that these Sulfur Shelf mushrooms (sometimes called "Chicken of the Woods") were supposed taste like chicken or even lemony chicken. But it didn't just "kind of" taste like lemony chicken. It was as if Willy Wonka branched out from chocolate to work on a lemony chicken mushroom and when he let you try it you'd be like, "Holy shit, this REALLY tastes like lemony chicken, Bill!" (Although it wouldn't kill you to treat Mr. Wonka with a little more respect.)
I waited awhile to see if I got sick. I didn't, so I went off zombie-style on the remaining brains. Even my wife, who was still feeling like crap, tried it and had to admit to its deliciousness.
Lest you doubt that the tree brain was consumed, I've decided to include an up close and personal picture of my sloppy food hole, chewing it up. I've always felt you didn't need to actually see these types of pix of food literally being mashed up in my mouth, but I figured on such a momentous occasion, it should be documented -- saliva, taste buds, 4 days of stubble and all.
I can't wait until next year. I will eat the shit out of that tree.
I have to say, it's weird to watch something grow for 4 years and then all of a sudden you're eating it. It really made me think... Maybe I should... EAT MY SON.
"Hi, I'm Jeremy Gelbwaks. Remember -- never eat your son."
But think about how tender he'll be, Jeremy Gelbwaks!
"Oh, he'd be tender for sure. But, Jeremy's right."
BRIAN FORSTER?! What are you doing here?!
"I'm here to say eating your kids is not cool."
"But-- I have a website, and-- Fine, whatever. I won't eat my son." Stupid Chris Partridges and their voice of reason.
(All Steve, Don't Eat It! posts can be found here.)
Posted by Steven | Archive(CNN) -- The social networking site Twitter again stole a march on traditional media when it was the first outlet to publish dramatic pictures of the Turkish Airlines crash.
iReporter Laura Eekhos went to the crash site after hearing about it on TV. The area "was swarming with people from our town," she said. more photos »
Moments after the plane crashed at Amsterdam's Schipol airport on Wednesday morning the news was appearing on Twitter, CNN International correspondent Errol Barnett said.
"This is a story that broke on Twitter first and continued to unfold from there. Eyewitnesses were posting comments about the shock of seeing the plane 'dive' and amazement of passengers walking out of the wreckage," Barnett said.
"It was a dramatic image of a fractured plane posted on Twitter.com that was the first worldwide view of the Turkish Airlines crash." iReport: Send your videos, stories
Barnett said that when CNN saw the image it moved quickly to confirm with Dutch officials that a crash had happened.
"Within minutes we were reporting on the story.
"This proves that social networking sites can be a real asset in covering breaking news and gathering eyewitness accounts but the web should always be treated with extreme caution," Barnett said. See where the plane crashed »
"We make a concerted effort to reach out to people posting on the Internet to verify what they say matches up with official accounts."
All About Air Disasters • Turkish Airlines Inc. • Turkeyby
PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Paul Jay. President Obama released his budget, and the most controversial piece of it is he wants to make some cuts to Social Security. Now here’s a little bit of what he said: “Most economists agree that the chained CPI provides a more accurate measure of the average change in the cost of living.” This chained CPI is at the heart of the controversy, because critics are saying this is in fact a cut to Social Security benefits in the future.
Why is President Obama doing all this? Well, the logic for it is given more or less by The New York Times in their report on the budget. Here’s what they wrote:
“Social Security benefits would increase from $860 billion next year, less than the projected $743 billion in payroll tax revenues for the program, to $1.4 trillion in 2023 fiscal year, about equal to the entire amount of discretionary spending, Medicare and Medicaid, which would total $504 billion and $267 billion, respectively, next year. Each would be nearly double those amounts in 2023, and interest on the federal debt, projected to be $222 billion next year, would be four times that in 2023.”
Now joining us to talk about all of this is Michael Hudson. He’s a distinguished research professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His two newest books are The Bubble and Beyond and Finance Capitalism and Its Discontents.
Thanks very much for joining us, Michael.
MICHAEL HUDSON, RESEARCH PROF., UMKC: Thank you, Paul.
JAY: So first of all let’s start with the New York Times quote, where they give a fairly apocalyptic sense of where we’re heading in terms of debt and Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid not being able to be paid for. What do you make of that?
HUDSON: It reminds me of The Hound of the Baskervilles, where Sherlock Holmes said the important thing is that the dog didn’t bark. When the government printed $13 trillion to give to the banks after the 2008 breakdown, nobody complained at all about the fact that the government can simply print the money and pour it into the economy. Nobody is complaining about the increased war spending that we’re doing, the waste that the Pentagon itself is complaining to congress about.
Why is it that these complaints focus on one particular small part of the budget, Social Security and medical care and health care? And the reason is this is pure, naked class war. There’s no other word for it. You can’t believe that people are being honest when they don’t talk about the whole budget or the overall economy when they’re singlemindedly tunnel-visioned, focused only on how do we pay retirees less, so that we can give the bankers more when President Obama continues the bank deregulation he’s sponsoring. The idea is to cut back Social Security in order to gear up for the next big bank bailout that’s going to result from current policies.
JAY: So what do you make of the prediction that deficit spending will lead to interest on the debt becoming four times what it is now? Isn’t that some kind of danger?
HUDSON: Not necessarily, for a number of reasons that the Obama administration is doing its best to obscure. First of all, when advocates of cutting back Social Security lobbyists use scare tactics to talk about the debt, they talk about a $16 trillion super-total. But of this, about $4 trillion, is owed by the government to the Federal Reserve, and another $2.5 trillion is owed to the Social Security fund. So for the $6.5 trillion the government pays interest to itself. This interest credit is a bookkeeping accounting fiction. This is not really paying a penny interest than the government receives as revenue on another part of its budget. It is not paying interest to bondholders or into the economy. When people start by talking about $16 trillion, you know that they’re not being honest.
JAY: Is the argument they would give that when the Fed gives money to the banks, as you were talking about in the bailout, they do eventually get paid back, don’t they? And in a sense it doesn’t create more debt. That’s the argument they give, whereas these payments on Social Security …
HUDSON: That brings up the second point I want to make. Every government’s debt tends to grow steadily over time. The Federal Reserve has rarely reduced its debt to the United States Government apart from the World War I and II debt. The debt it holds does not involve banks, you’re quite right. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury can simply create money on their own computer keyboards, just like banks can do electronically. It doesn’t cost a penny for them to create the money to pay Social Security recipients. They could simply print greenbacks, to make a long story short.
The debt is never paid back, but becomes in effect part of the money supply. Over two hundred years ago, already in 1776, Adam Smith wrote that no government ever has repaid its debt. So the debt doesn’t have to be repaid. It’s not like a private-sector account book where, if you run into debt, you have to keep paying the banks more on your credit card and your bank loan. This is zero-interest money. You’ve had Bill Black and my other University of Missouri-Kansas City colleagues on your show explaining this.
When people refuse to acknowledge what universities teach in their money and banking courses, you know that they’re pulling a con job on you.
JAY: There’s two sides to this. There’s the side of the money the Fed just simply creates. And then there’s the part where the government borrows money from outside sources. They borrow money by selling T-bills. At the moment this borrowed money is costing the government practically nothing, but that could change at a point.
HUDSON: It could, in which case there would probably be a shift away from borrowing from the public to simply monetizing it, which is what the U.S. government has always done in a pinch, as have the British government and the Chinese government. Any government that has a central bank has the option of
doing that. So this to pretend that the debts to the banks and the bondholders are the whole thing just avoids looking at the real overall budget situation.
But to pick up your point, it also assumes that, “Okay, we’re going to be paying the rich much more interest.” Remember, the bondholders – the 1% – own maybe 75 percent of all the bonds. So if the government pays them a lot more interest and doesn’t tax them more, this is a pure giveaway to the 1%.
So what they’re really saying, The New York Times and the others, is that we’re running a probability of giving a huge amount of money to the wealthiest 1% in the future. In case we indeed do have to pay them more, we have to screw the Social Security recipients, screw the Medicare recipients, screw Medicaid. We have to squeeze the 99 percent more to pay higher interest to the 1% that are the bondholders.
JAY: Now, President Obama in this budget proposal wants to raise taxes on the wealthy, he says. Anyone over making more than $1 million he wants to pay, I think, a minimum of 30 percent tax. Is that something?
HUDSON: Yes. It’s a fraud. It’s doubletalk. Rich people don’t make income if they help it. To paraphrase Leona Helmsley, income is for the little people. Rich people make capital gains.
So they fill out your tax returns, they don’t say that they’re earning income. They report capital gains, taxed at a much lower rate. So what Obama is doing is flimflam. The Congressional Budget Office has shown that the wealthy people get most of their rise in net worth by capital gains, not income. He’s not making a peep about that.
JAY: The other argument I guess you hear from Obama supporters is that he’s dealing with a Republican-controlled House. I think the New York Times headline of the coverage of this was President Obama’s budget meant to engage the Republicans. So this is more about the politics than about the economics.
HUDSON: When they say “engage the Republicans,” this means that Mr. Obama realizes that as a follower of Rubinomics – Robert Rubin at Citibank – that he’s going to do something that most Democrats don’t like, He’s advocating a policy that most voters don’t like. So he’s trying to blame it on the Republicans. He’s “engaging” them simply in order to put the blame on them.
JAY: Just quickly dig into this CPI chained cost of living. Why are people criticizing this, and what does it mean?
HUDSON: It’s not really a cost of living index. It’s a “cost of lower living standards” index. Yves Smith calls it the catfood index.
Here’s what it does. Suppose that you have to switch away from eating steak or eating meat or eating fish to eating canned tuna fish or canned beans. That’s considered a price reduction.
If the chained index is done “properly,” anti-labor economists can cut Social Security by 50 percent. Here’s how. If people stop taking cabs and begin to take buses, that’s considered a lower cost of living. Well, what if they buy a bicycle? All Obama has to say is, “Look, folks! If you really want to save money, get a bike.” That’s what Margaret Thatcher said. That was one of her campaign slogans: “Get a bike!” So all of a sudden, the transportation in the cost of living goes down to zero.
People pay between 25 percent and 40 percent of their income on rent. Let them live out on the street. Let them live in a homeless shelter [crosstalk]
JAY: Because the point of this chained ….
HUDSON: … about 15 percent of their income is spent on medical care. Let them do what George Bush said: Go to the emergency ward. That’s free. So the cost of living goes down!
If living standards are ground down and down because people are poor, then the government can say, “Because you’re getting poorer and poorer, your living standards have declined, so we don’t have to pay you so much to live.” This is no longer a price index. This is an index of declining living standards. Poverty will cascade downward, and so will the chained CPI. This gives new means to the working class being put in chains.
JAY: And that’s because the concept behind this chained CPI is that people are finding cheaper ways to do things, ways that supposedly are not being reflected in the current system.
HUDSON: That’s right. People are having to walk to work instead of taking buses. They’re having to eat tuna fish and canned beans instead of buying fresh food on the table. Of course they’re finding cheaper ways. We call that declining living standards.
The starting point for Obama’s budget “reform” is to find the path of least resistance in screwing Social Security recipients, how can we pay them less to pay our campaign contributors, the 1%, more? They start by putting the class war back in business. They sugar-coat it by calling it a price index instead of a catfood index or declining living standards index. This is the politics of deception.
JAY: All right. Thanks for joining us, Michael.
HUDSON: Okay.
JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.Looking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
It’s an argument we hear frequently from gun rights activists and conservative lawmakers: Mass shooters select places to attack where citizens are banned from carrying firearms—so-called “gun-free zones.” All the available data shows that this claim is just plain wrong. As I reported in an investigation into nearly 70 mass shootings in the United States over three decades, there has never been any known evidence of gun laws influencing a mass shooter’s strategic thinking. In fact, the vast majority of the perpetrators have indicated other specific motivations for striking their targets, such as employment grievances or their connection to a school.
Most recently, the marquee villain used to decry gun-free zones is James Holmes, who is currently on trial for the July 2012 massacre in Aurora, Colorado. “Out of all the movie theaters within 20 minutes of his apartment showing the new Batman movie that night, it was the only one where guns were banned,” Fox News pundit John Lott wrote not long after the attack. “So why would a mass shooter pick a place that bans guns? The answer should be obvious, though it apparently is not clear to the media—disarming law-abiding citizens leaves them as sitting ducks.”
Now, with the release this week of a detailed handwritten diary that Holmes kept before the attack, we know that there is no evidence to support Lott’s widely parroted claim.
The diary includes five pages in which Holmes laid out his strategy for attacking the Cinemark theater complex. Under the header “Case the Place,” he drew maps and diagrams accompanied by many tactical notes regarding where victims would be located and how they would potentially react. “South side of theater optimal,” he wrote, noting its “15 screens.” He zeroed in on theaters 10 and 12 as the “best targets in complex” and marked the “best parking spot” for his car. Among his lists of “pros” and “cons,” he observed that theater 10 would have “many initial persons packed in single area.” He assessed the many doors and hallways through which people would try to escape.
Nowhere in any of this extensive planning did Holmes make reference to gun regulations at the theater or the potential for moviegoers to be armed. Moreover, he had every expectation that he would not get away with his crime. In one sketch, he drew two other locations not far from the theater: the Aurora Police Department and a Colorado National Guard facility. “ETA response [approximately] 3 mins,” he noted. In his list of possible methods of attack, where he checked off mass murder using firearms as his choice, he also wrote “being caught 99% certain.”
Additional evidence from the trial underscores that Holmes clearly was not planning to avoid getting shot, killed, or apprehended. On an AdultFriendFinder.com profile he filled out shortly before the shooting, he wrote: “Will you visit me in prison?”
Here are the five diary pages filled with Holmes’ plans, followed by the full document:
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Full diary:This week, Famitsu provides yet another feature on Switch. The magazine interviews Satoshi Hamada from Hamster about the company’s Arcade Archives plans and more.
Hamster received requests from fans to bring the Arcade Archive series to portable devices. Since Switch acts as a handheld in addition to a console, they thought this would fulfill these wishes.
The Arcade Archive series has a feature to rotate the screen to play vertically-displayed arcade games. With Switch, you can easily stand the display vertically, so he think it’ll well fit for the system.
Programmers have said that it’s easier to port on Switch than expected. Hamda thought that coding around the Joy-Con might be peculiar, but doing so isn’t actually that difficult. Speaking only to titles currently in development, the hardware specs on Switch are sufficient. Hamada has a good impression about the device as a result.
Hamada thought about implementing the Joy-Con steering wheel for arcade racing games, but an actual steering controller is better. Currently Hamster is collaborating with HORI to make their arcade stick capable to play the Arcade Archive series. Also, they are discussing possibility of releasing unique arcade sticks with control panels such as twin levers, track ball, and a loop lever.
Note that the arcade stick is not announced for Switch, so he might be talking about the PlayStation 4. It’s still vague as to whether these special controllers will also come to Switch or not.
Hamster is now trying to release new titles for Arcade Archive every week, and Hamada thinks it would be nice for fans if they can find new titles when they visit the eShop on a weekly basis. But this is just their target and there might be a week they can’t release new title for some reason. The dev team is trying hard to achieve this.
Currently they are only announcing five Neo Geo titles from the Arcade Archives and haven’t announced the (standard) Arcade Archives series. They are currently focusing on keeping the series on track with continuous releases of Neo Geo Arcade Archives. However, they will definitely bring (standard) Arcade Archives in the future.
Considering its internal storage size, the Switch version has a lower file size compared to other platforms. It was originally 600 MB in average, but the Switch version is planned to be reduced to 200 MB.
Hamada also claimed that on Switch, it is easy to distribute downloadable titles globally.
Other than Arcade Archives, Hamster also wants to bring over the Nikoli puzzles series, including Sudoku. They are already talking about it with Nikoli, so they probably will be able to announce something soon.
Finally, there are actually some projects planned aside from Arcade Archives and Nikoli, but Hamster can’t announce them yet.
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PocketKamal Haasan, 62, has accused AIADMK in Tamil Nadu of being seeped in corruption.
Highlights Actor Kamal Haasan says terror has infected right-wing groups Hindu terror exists, cannot challenge those who say it does: Mr Haasan He is prepping to launch a new party in Tamil Nadu
Kamal Haasan hosted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his Chennai home in September
Tamil mega-star Kamal Haasan, revving up for a political career, has said today that terrorism has infected right-wing groups, provoking a likely confrontation with the BJP. "In the past, Hindu, right-wing groups would not indulge in violence. They would hold a dialogue with opponents. But now they resort to violence," Mr Haasan said.In his regular column in a popular Tamil weekly news magazine, he writes, "The right wing cannot challenge talk of Hindu terrorists because terror has spread into their camp as well.""Hindus are losing faith in'satyameva jayate' and instead subscribing to'might is right'," he says.His comments were made in response to a question by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who asked the superstar about what he described as recent communalisation which seeks to destroy the Tamil Dravidian tradition of peaceful co-existence.Mr Haasan, 62, who has accused the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu of being seeped in corruption, visited the Kerala Chief Minister in September and said " saffron is not my colour " to signal an aversion to any affiliation with the BJP.The BJP objected stridently to the term "saffron terror" introduced by the previous Congress-led government when alleging terror attacks by extremist right-wing groups."Kamal Haasan must apologise for hurting Hindu civilisation, defaming it, trying to create provocation for his petty political end," tweeted Rakesh Sinha, who is from the BJP's ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS.For months, Kamal Haasan has been talking of launching his own political party; last week, he asked fans to be ready for " a big announcement " on November 7, his birthday.He also lunched last month with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his home in Chennai; the actor said he sought Mr Kejriwal's views on crowdfunding and recruiting "young, fresh faces" for his political outfit."World over, there is a move towards fascism and a leaning toward the right-wing. But this is a temporary trend, it won't win," he says. "There is an attempt to bring back regressive thinking in music, art, to make it right-wing, not just in Tamil Nadu but throughout the country." Two weeks ago, BJP leaders demanded that references to the new national sales or GST be edited out of a Tamil film called "Mersal", alleging it misrepresents the facts about the reform.Image copyright PA Image caption London Mayor Sadiq Khan has ordered a review of the ticket office closures
London Underground office staff have voted for industrial action in a row over ticket office closures.
Nearly 68% of members of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association voted for strikes on a 44% turnout.
The Union has said its members had been subjected to "unprecedented" levels of abuse since ticket offices closed.
A survey for the TSSA found most staff felt less safe since moving from offices on to station concourses.
Tom Edwards, BBC London Transport Correspondent
The ticket office closures were one of the biggest changes on the tube for generations.
With the rise of automatic payments methods such as the Oyster card and contactless, the idea was to get staff from behind the glass screens and on to the ticket gate lines. But the unions have always opposed it and say the redeployment has led to more lone working and staff shortages.
The TSSA, which represents station staff, says it will decide, probably tomorrow, what industrial action it will take in the dispute.
Strikes aren't being ruled out, although it could be an overtime ban.
Other forms of industrial action were backed by nine to one.
The union said staff were being targeted by frustrated passengers if ticket machines do not work.
TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said the vote was about "our members being prepared to take part in a strike to let the world know that the Tube they are using is not fit for safe purpose".
"Our customer service assistants are overwhelmingly trying to warn the public that the Tube they use is not safe. We no longer have enough staff," he said.
Steve Griffiths, London Underground's chief operating officer, said: "We urge the TSSA leadership to work with us constructively on the issues they have raised rather than threaten to disrupt our customers with strikes. "
The ticket offices were closed as part of the Fit for the Future programme introduced by former London mayor Boris Johnson.
His successor Sadiq Khan has ordered a review of the project.
Tube drivers are to stage 24-hour strikes on 6 and 7 December, coinciding with a walkout by Southern Rail guards.Are you sitting down? Okay, good, because if you weren’t, I would tell you to sit down, because what you’re about to hear will knock you over. Also, I’d recommend putting on some flame-retardent outer wear. Hell, if you’ve got asbestos-lined underwear and a Kevlar lo |
to this article, Bob Reselman wrote a counterpoint, "Why Messages Queues Might Not Suck." Make sure to check it out after you finish reading the original.
The word around the water cooler is that a queue has yet to be created that I don’t like. Whether it’s RabbitMQ, AWS SNS/SQS, or Google Cloud Pub-Sub, regardless of the implementation, I love queues to death, gobble, gobble...I’ll eat ‘em up. I mean, what’s not to like?
Not too long ago at a due diligence review, I was presenting my idea for a mission-critical enterprise architecture. The Pub-Sub pattern played a critical role in my thinking. So I did my dog and pony presentation and things seemed to have gone swimmingly well, then later that day one of the attendees at the presentation stopped by my desk and told me, “I like your thinking, but I gotta tell you, I hate queues. I think they suck.”
I was dumbstruck. My world shook. I felt as if I were a five year old and someone had just told me there was no Santa Claus, and I could not imagine a world with no Santa Claus.
My immediate reaction was to flip the bozo bit and dismiss his comment as one made by a guy who had no idea as to what he was talking about, but, I knew the background of the person. He was no dope and he had a boatload of experience. He’s worked in telecom for a very long time, on very large systems. Given his background and expertise, I’d be dumb not to consider his position. Going against every impulse had to defend my ego, I said, “Oh, why?”
And he told me.
Using a Queue is Lazy
“Basically using a message queue to facilitate interservice communication is lazy,” he said. “You should just have one service send a HTTP POST to the other service that wants the information. For a little more work, you get a lot more bang. Let me show you on the whiteboard.”
Figure 1 shows what he drew.
Figure 1: A typical Pub-Sub pattern using a message queue subscribed to a topic.
“In a typical Pub-Sub pattern you have a service that sends a message to a topic (1). If there are no queues subscribed to the topic, the messages accumulate, eating storage resource. Yes, you can configure a topic to delete a message after a time, but still, the topic is responsible to store the message.
“Luckily, in this case I’ve diagrammed, we have a queue subscribed to the topic. The topic could be a list that's populating quickly such as real-time stock transactions for a stock brokerage firm. The topic will send a copy of the message to the subscribers it knows about (2). For example, the brokerage's accounting system as well as another system belonging to the brokerage's official auditor. Then, once all subscribers get the message, the topic will flush the message.
“Now we have the message sitting in the queue waiting for the Service bound to the queue to pull the message (3). That’s a lot of work. Not only do we have to devote resources to getting the message from the publishing service to the ultimate consuming service(s), but the consuming service has to create the queue and then subscribe the queue to the topic.[Update posted at 10:20 a.m. PT on June 6, 2015]
Investigators have concluded that the reported attempted kidnapping of an 11-year-old boy did not occur, according to a news release issued Friday by the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department.
[Original story, updated at 4:59 a.m. on May 29, 2015]
Police Seek 2 Men Who Attempted to Kidnap 11-Year-Old Boy in Palos Verdes Estates
Police asked for the public’s help Friday in locating two men who allegedly attempted to kidnap an 11-year-old boy walking to his Palos Verdes Estates home the previous day.
The boy was approached by a man in a 1980s-style Chevrolet van around 3:30 p.m. Thursday near Coronel Plaza and Via Margarita (map), according to a news release from the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department.
The driver asked the boy for directions to “the promenade,” at which time the boy tried to look up the information on his cellphone.
The man then said he could not hear the boy, prompting the victim to approach the front passenger door.
The victim then heard the van’s sliding door open, and felt someone grab his backpack from the rear and attempt to pull him inside, according to police.
The boy broke free and was able to run home as he heard the van quickly speed away.
Upon further investigation, the boy recalled seeing the van in the same area on Wednesday around the same time.
The van was described as a full-size, 1980s-style Chevrolet van. The paint was a faded, medium-brown color with a light-colored horizontal stripe running down both sides of the van and miscellaneous areas of chipped paint on both sides. It had oval windows on the sides and mini, horizontal blinds covering the rear windows, the news release stated.
The driver was described as a white man, appearing to be 40 to 50 years old, with a medium build; “buzz cut,” dark-brown hair; dark, tan skin and an unknown color tank top.
The boy did not see the man who grabbed him, police said.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Detective Charles Reed at 310-378-7522, extension 4.I think The Aristocats is tha bomb. I’d lay back and watch it every day if I wasn’t so busy makin’ my own hits. I’d never dis this funky video about a downtown alley cat who smooth-talks a fine feline and ends up livin’ large in the land of croissants. That’s my dream, too.
O’Malley the alley cat is awright — he’s no Dr. Dre, but hey, that homey’s got a place in my dogg pound anytime. Ya gotta give him a big bowwow for getting his boys together to off that gangsta Edgar, the butler who’s after the cats’ big-bucks inheritance.
And ya gotta love mama kitty Duchess — she knows how to take care of her babies, and, meoww, she’s cavvy. She’s got that ooh-la-la accent and her nose is high in the air, but once she gets an earful of Scat Cat — voiced by the man, the great Scatman Crothers — she loosens up and shakes it out. Talk about cool jazz cats. Tha’s right.
The tunes don’t leave your head. I sho’ have a bone to pick with the lyrics to ”Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat,” but just try to stop hummin’ it. Can’t do it. I got my own ideas for doin’ a Disney soundtrack — maybe the live-action 101 Dalmatians? I’d do it on the spot. Ha! Call my man and let’s do lunch.
Ya don’t like this movie, stay outta my tilt. Ya got the wrong attitude. The kids in the hood — who know French as the language of fries under the golden arches — will have as good a time watching this fine flick as those who can dig the meaning of, ahem, ”Scales and Arpeggios.” And mamas and daddies, including yours truly, just may find themselves tuned in to this tape even when the pups are napping.
These cats sho’ age well. My homeys don’t look as good at 26 as this movie does. These cats got a lot more lives to live. A
Snoop Doggy Dogg, the father of one son, Corde, is currently working on his new album, Tha Doggfather.Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
The first weekend of the Premier League starts tomorrow.
Excitement levels are through the roof across the world as the 2013-14 PL season promises to be the most exciting in the league’s history.
And you can watch every single second of every single game live via NBC Sports Group platforms.
Below is where and when you can watch every game in Week 1, and you will definitely want to bookmark the NBC Sports Live Extra page, as that’s where you can watch every single Premier League game.
And via you TV you can watch the games live on Premier League Extra Time. We will have a post explaining all that later, but for more information on Premier League Extra Time click this link. You can also watch every game live on the internet or on your phone via NBC Sports Live Extra.
We also have all the information on Match of the Day, Match of the Day 2 and Premier League Goal Zone, so check out all of that info below.
So folks, sit tight, here’s where it all begins. We have some 10 scintillating matches coming up exclusively across all of our channels. Here is the TV schedule for the opening weekend of the Barclays Premier League.
Saturday’s matches:
7:45 am EST: Liverpool v. Stoke (Anfield) *NBCSN
10:00 am EST: Arsenal v. Aston Villa (Emirates) *NBCSN
10:00 am EST: Norwich City v. Everton (Carrow Road) *Premier League Extra Time
10:00 am EST: Sunderland v. Fulham (Stadium of Light) *Premier League Extra Time
10:00 am EST: West Bromwich Albion v. Southampton (The Hawthorns) *Premier League Extra Time
10:00 am EST: West Ham United v. Cardiff City (Upton Park) *Premier League Extra Time
12:30 pm EST: Swansea City v. Manchester United (Liberty Stadium) *NBC
Sunday’s matches:
8:30am EST: Crystal Palace v. Tottenham Hotspur (Selhurst Park) *NBCSN
11:00am EST: Chelsea v. Hull City (Stamford Bridge) *NBCSN
Monday’s matches:
3:00pm: Manchester City v. Newcastle United (Etihad Stadium) *NBCSN
For full schedules of the matches going forward, bookmark this link.
Additional Programming
In addition to all the live action, NBC Sports will air pre-match, halftime and post-match studio shows.
Then on Saturday night at 11:00pm EST (set your DVRs), NBCSN will roll out its Match of the Day show, a two hour program featuring cut-down highlights of all the games, studio analysis and soundbites from players and managers across the league.
Immediately following the matches on Sunday, NBCSN will feature Barclays Premier League Goal Zone showing all the best goals from Saturday and Sunday. Then at 11:00 pm EST on Sunday, check out the Match of the Day 2 show for 90 more minutes of highlights, analysis and interviews.
Premier League Coverage and Video Highlights
Throughout the season Pro Soccer Talk will provide one-stop shopping for all your Premier League news, highlights and analysis. We will be posting all video highlights of the matches, which can also be found here. The only catch is that per Premier League rules, highlights will not be released until early evening on the day of a match.
Follow @JPW_NBCSportskoalathebear @ 03:31pm
“You’re a good person, Amos.”
“Nah, I’m not. I just hang with good company…”
- Abaddon’s Gate, The Expanse, James S.A. Corey
"I want to say thank you. You know, for helping me all those times you did. You're a good person."
"I could've been better."
Avasarala laughed at that. “True. But if he’s sending his hired killer to Earth, we —”
“Wait, what?”
“If Holden was —”
“Forget Holden. You called me his hired killer. Is that how you guys think of me? The killer on Holden’s payroll?”
Avasarala frowned. “You’re not?”
“Well, mostly I’m a mechanic. But the idea that the UN has a file on me somewhere that lists me as the Rocinante’s killer? That’s kind of awesome.”
“You say that kind of thing, it doesn’t make me think we’re wrong, you know.”
“I’m just a grease monkey,” he said. “I push tools. And I mostly wait for Naomi to tell me when and where to push ’em. I got no desire to run anything bigger than that machine shop. You’re the talker. I’ve seen you face down Fred Johnson, UN naval captains, OPA cowboys, and drugged-up space pirates. You talk out your ass better than most people do using their mouth and sober.”
“No, I’m not going to bully you,” Holden said. “But I have had it right up to here with idiots profiting from misery, and I’m going to make myself feel better by having my big friend Amos here beat you senseless for trying to steal food and medicine from refugees.”
“Ain’t bullying so much as stress relief,” Amos said amiably.
Holden nodded at Amos.
“How angry does it make you that this guy wants to steal from refugees, Amos?”
“Pretty fucking angry, Captain.”
Holden patted his pistol against his thigh.
“The gun is just to make sure ‘port security’ there doesn’t interfere until Amos has fully worked out his anger issues.”
“I know who you are,” Amos said.
The big man had been so quiet that both Murtry and Holden started with surprise.
“Who am I?” Murtry asked, playing along.
“A killer,” Amos said. His face was expressionless, his tone light. “You’ve got a nifty excuse and the shiny badge to make you seem right, but that’s not what this is about. You got off on smoking that guy in front of everyone. You can’t wait to do it again.”
“Is that right?” Murtry asked.
“Yeah. So, one killer to another, you don’t want to try that shit with us.”
“Amos, easy,” Holden warned, but the other two men ignored him.
“That sounded like a threat,” Murtry said.
“Oh, it really was,” Amos replied with a grin.
Holden realized both men had their hands below the table. “Hey, now.”
“I think maybe one of us is going to end bloody,” Murtry said.
“How about now?” Amos replied with a shrug. “I’m free now. We can just skip all the middle part.”
Amos has done the same thing with Naomi, then Holden.
He’s loyal like a dog.
Especially to people who can act as an external conscience for him because he knows he hurts people without knowing it if he lacks that.
He is a very conscientious sociopath.
“Naomi’s a good person,” Amos said. “I like her, you know? Like my kid sister, only smart and I’d do her if she let me. You know?”
“Yeah,” Miller said. “I like her too.”
“She’s not like us,” Amos said, and the warmth and humor were gone.
“That’s why I like her,” Miller said. It was the right thing to say. Amos nodded.
“So here’s the thing. As far as the captain goes, you’re dipped in shit right now.”
The scrim of bubbles where his beer touched the glass glowed white in the dim light. Miller gave the glass a quarter turn, watching them closely.
“Because I killed someone who needed it?” Miller asked. The bitterness in his voice wasn’t surprising, but it was deeper than he’d intended. Amos didn’t hear it or else didn’t care.
“Because you’ve got a habit of that,” Amos said. “Cap’n’s not like that. Killing people without talking it over first makes him jumpy. You did a lot of it on Eros, but… you know.”
“Yeah,” Miller said.
“Thoth Station wasn’t Eros. Next place we go won’t be Eros either. Holden doesn’t want you around.”
“And the rest of you?” Miller asked.
“We don’t want you around either,” Amos said. His voice wasn’t hard or gentle. He was talking about the gauge of a machine part. He was talking about anything. The words hit Miller in the belly, just where he’d expected it. He couldn’t have blocked them.
“Here’s the thing,” Amos went on. “You and me, we’re a lot the same. Been around. I know what I am, and my moral compass? I’ll tell you, it’s fucked. A few things fell different when I was a kid. I could have been those ass-bandits on Thoth. I know that. Captain couldn’t have been. It’s not in him. He’s as close to righteous as anyone out here gets. And when he says you’re out, that’s just the way it is, because the way I figure it, he’s probably right. Sure as hell has a better chance than I do.”
“Okay,” Miller said.
“Yeah,” Amos said. He finished his beer. Then he finished Naomi’s. And then he walked away, leaving Miller to himself and his empty gut.
Peaches took a bite of her ration bar and sipped the water from her self-purifying canteen. “Is it bothering you?”
“What?”
“What we did.”
“Not sure what that was, Peaches.”
She looked at him, her eyes narrowed like she was trying to decide if he was joking. “We invaded a man’s home, killed him, and took his stuff. If we hadn’t come through, he might have made it. Lived until the sun came back. Survived.”
“He was gonna shoot me for no reason except that I had something he wanted.”
“He wouldn’t have done it if we hadn’t gone there. And we lied to him about wanting to trade.”
“Seems like you have a point to make, Peaches.”
“If he hadn’t been ready to pull the trigger, would you have let it go? Or would we still be here, with these guns and this food?”
“Oh, we were taking his shit. I’m just pointing out both sides of the argument had the same plan.”
“Then we’re not exactly the good guys, are we?”
Amos scowled. It wasn’t a question that had even crossed his mind until she said it. It bothered him that it didn’t bother him more. He scratched his chest and tried to imagine Holden doing what they’d done. Or Naomi. Or Lydia.
“Yeah,” he said. “I should really get back to the ship soon.”
Daniel said that Amos is not a sociopath, but “profoundly dissociative,” so my feeling on him taking action on his own as the series progresses is that he has always been capable of those caring acts, but couldn’t access that part of himself. His time on The Roci in the company of people who love him and help him feel safe may have made more able to reach out and be that protective and caring person he has been deep down all along.
“He’s not staying on the Roci for me,” Naomi said. “He’s staying for you.”
“Me?”
“He’s using you as his external, aftermarket conscience.”
“No, he’s not.”
“It’s what he does. Finds someone who has a sense of ethics and follows their lead,” Naomi said. “It’s how he tries not to be a monster.”
“Why would he try not to be a monster?” The sleep-slurred words were like a blanket.
“Because he is one,” Naomi said, her consciousness flickering across the line. It’s why we get along.
“Sorry I didn’t know to ask. What brings you down here, anyway?”
“Was in the neighborhood saying goodbye to a bunch of my past, mostly. Don’t see how I’m coming back this way, so thought I’d better say hi now if I was going to at all.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she took his hand. The contact was weird. Her fingers felt too thin, waxy. Seemed rude to push her away though, so he tried to remember what people were like when they had an intimate moment like this. He pretended he was Naomi and squeezed Clarissa’s hand.
Amos looked at his hands and tried to think what to do next. His first impulse was to laugh at Erich’s maudlin bullshit, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t going to be a good idea. He tried to think what Naomi would have said, but before he came up with anything good, Peaches stepped toward Erich, her arms out to him like she was going to give him a hug.
“I know,” she said, her voice choked with some emotion Amos didn’t place.
“You know? What the fuck do you know?”
“What it’s like to lose everything. How hard it is, because you keep thinking it can’t really be gone. That there’s a way to get it back. Or maybe if you just act like you still have it, you won’t notice it’s gone.”
Erich’s face froze. His bad hand opened and closed so fast, it looked like he was trying to snap the tiny pink fingers. “I don’t know what you’re talking —”
[Clarissa empathises with Erich]
Erich bowed his head. His sigh sounded like something bigger than him being released. Peaches took his good hand in both of hers and the two of them were silent for a long moment.
Amos cleared his throat. “So. That means you’re in, right?”
“When we go, are we taking them with us?” Peaches asked.
“Yup,” Amos said.
She smirked. “Because they’re tribe?”
“Shit no. My tribe is the crew on the Roci, maybe you two, and a dead woman. I don’t actually give a shit if every damned one of ’em dies.”
“So why take them?”
One of Erich’s people called out. Another one laughed, and one of the servants tentatively joined in. Amos rubbed the raw spots on his knuckles and shrugged. “Seems like the sort of thing Holden’d do.”
“We have to go,” Holden said to Wendell, meaning We can’t help him. If we stay, we all die. Wendell nodded but went to one knee and began taking the man’s light armor off, not understanding. Amos pulled the emergency medkit off his harness and dropped down next to Wendell to begin working on the wounded man while Paula watched, her face pale.
“Have to go,” Holden said again, wanting to grab Amos and shake him until he understood. “Amos, stop, we have to go right now. Eros—”
“Cap,” Amos interrupted, “all due respect, but this ain’t Eros.” He took a syringe from the medkit and gave the downed man an injection. “No radiation rooms, no zombies puking goo. Just that broken box, a whole lotta dead guys, and these black threads. We don’t know what the fuck it is, but it ain’t Eros. And we ain’t leaving this guy behind.”
The small rational part of Holden’s mind knew Amos was right. And more than that, the person Holden wanted to believe he still was would never consider leaving even a complete stranger behind, much less a guy who’d taken a wound for him.
The voices were coming from the galley. Feeling a little like a Peeping Tom, Holden moved closer to the galley hatch until he could make out the words.
“It’s more than that,” Naomi was saying. Holden almost walked into the galley, but something in her tone stopped him. He had the terrible feeling she was talking about him. About them. About why she was leaving.
“Why does it have to be more?” the other person said. Amos.
“You almost beat a man to death with a can of chicken on Ganymede,” Naomi replied.
“Gonna hold a little girl hostage for some food? Fuck him. If he was here, I’d smash him again right now.”
“Do you trust me, Amos?” Naomi said. Her voice was sad. More than that. Frightened.
“More than anyone else,” Amos replied.
“I’m scared out of my wits. Jim is rushing off to do something really dumb on Tycho. This guy we’re taking with us seems like he’s one twitch from a nervous breakdown.”
“Well, he’s—”
“And you,” she continued. “I depend on you. I know you’ve always got my back, no matter what. Except maybe not now, because the Amos I know doesn’t beat a skinny kid half to death, no matter how much chicken he asks for. I feel like everyone’s losing themselves. I need to understand, because I’m really, really frightened.”
Holden felt the urge to go in, take her hand, hold her. The need in her voice demanded it, but he held himself back. There was a long pause. Holden heard a scraping sound, followed by the sound of metal hitting glass. Someone was stirring sugar into coffee. The sounds were so clear he could almost see it.
“So, Baltimore,” Amos said, his voice as relaxed as if he were going to talk about the weather. “Not a nice town. You ever heard of squeezing? Squeeze trade? Hooker squeeze?”
“No. Is it a drug?”
“No,” Amos said with a laugh. “No, when you squeeze a hooker, you put her on the street until she gets knocked up, then peddle her to johns who get off on pregnant girls, then send her back to the streets after she pops the kid. With procreation restrictions, banging pregnant girls is quite the kink.”
“Squeeze?”
“Yeah, you know, ‘squeezing out puppies’? You never heard it called that?”
“Okay,” Naomi said, trying to hide her disgust.
“Those kids? They’re illegal, but they don’t just vanish, not right away,” Amos continued. “They got uses too.”
Holden felt his chest tighten a little. It wasn’t something he’d ever thought about. When, a second later, Naomi spoke, her horror echoed his.
“Jesus.”
“Jesus got nothing to do with it,” Amos said. “No Jesus in the squeeze trade. But some kids wind up in the pimp gangs. Some wind up on the streets …”
“Some wind up finding a way to ship offworld, and they never go back?” Naomi asked, her voice quiet.
“Maybe,” Amos said, his voice as flat and conversational as ever. “Maybe some do. But most of them just … disappear, eventually. Used up. Most of them.”
For a time, no one spoke. Holden heard the sounds of coffee being drunk.
“Amos,” she said, her voice thick. “I never—”
“So I’d like to find this little girl before someone uses her up, and she disappears. I’d like to do that for her,” Amos said. His voice caught for a moment, and he cleared it with a loud cough. “For her dad.”
Holden thought they were done, and started to slip away when he heard Amos, his voice calm again, say, “Then I’m going to kill whoever snatched her.”
“All this bullshit they’re saying about you and the kid? That’s all just bullshit, right?”
“Of course,” Prax said.
“Because you know, sometimes things happen, you didn’t even mean them to. Have a hard day, lose your temper, maybe? Or shit, you get drunk. Some of the things I’ve done when I really tied one on? I don’t even know about until later.” Amos smiled. “I’m just saying if there’s a grain of truth, something that’s getting all exaggerated, it’d be better if we knew it now, right?”
“I never did anything that she said.”
“It’s okay to tell me the truth, Doc. I understand. Sometimes guys do stuff. Doesn’t make ’em bad.”
Prax pushed Amos’ hand aside and brought himself up to sitting. His knee felt much better.
“Actually,” he said, “it does. That makes them bad.”
Amos’ expression relaxed, his smile changed in a way Prax couldn’t quite understand.
“All right, Doc. Like I said, I’m sorry as hell. But I did have to ask.”
“It’s okay,” Prax said, standing up. For a moment, the knee seemed like it might give, but it didn’t. Prax took a tentative step, then another. It would work. He turned toward the galley, but the conversation wasn’t finished. “If I had. If I had done those things, that would have been okay with you?”
“Oh, fuck no. I’d have broken your neck and thrown you out the airlock,” Amos said, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Ah,” Prax said, a gentle relief loosening in his chest. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“Amos will make sure you’re not interrupted,” [Holden] finally said.
…
“Oh. Well, when Amos is angry he’s the meanest, scariest person I’ve ever met, and he’d walk across a sea of corpses he personally created to help a friend. And one of his good friends just got murdered by the people who are going to be trying to take this office.”
“I heard about that,” Anna said. “I’m sorry.”
“Yes,” Holden said. “And the last people in the galaxy I’d want to be are the ones that are going to try and break in here to stop you. Amos doesn’t process grief well. It usually turns into anger or violence for him. I have a feeling he’s about to process the shit out of it on some Ashford loyalists.”
“Killing people won’t make him feel better,” Anna said, regretting the words the second they left her mouth. These people were going to be risking their lives to protect her. They didn’t need her moralizing at them.
“Actually,” Holden said with a half smile, “I think it might for him, but Amos is a special case. You’d be right about most anyone else.”
Anna looked across the room at Amos. He was sitting quietly by the front door to the broadcast office, some sort of very large rifle laid across his knees. He was a large man, tall and thick across the shoulders and chest. But with his round shaved head and broad face, he didn’t look like a killer to Anna. He looked like a friendly repairman. The kind who showed up to fix broken plumbing or swap out the air recycling filters. According to Holden, he would kill without remorse to protect her.
You don’t process grief well, another voice said. Holden, this time. That was the truth. That’s why Amos trusted the captain. When he said something, it was because he believed it. No need to analyze it or figure out what he really meant by it. Even when the captain fucked up, he was acting in good faith. Amos hadn’t met many people like that.
“Yes, and our job is not to escalate that. Put all this shit away. Sidearms only. Bring clothes and sundries for us, any spare medical supplies for the colony. But that’s it.”
“Later,” Amos said, “when you’re wishing we had this stuff, I am going to be merciless in my mockery. And then we’ll die.”
Holden started a snarky reply, then stopped himself. Had anything ever gone the way he planned? “Okay, one rifle each, but disassembled and in a duffel. Nothing visible. And light torso armor only. Something we can hide under our clothes.”
“Captain,” Amos said with mock surprise. “Have you actually learned from your past? Is this a new thing you do now?”
“Why do I put up with your shit?”
“Because,” Amos said, starting to strip an assault rifle down to its component parts, “I’m the only one on the ship that can keep the coffee maker running.”
“The Mao girl. Clarissa. She flew with us for a few months back after she stopped trying to kill the captain. And I have to admit, she grew on me a little.”
“You know, Peaches, it’s nice how we got all this help and stuff, but I kind of liked it better when it was only you and me.”
“You say the sweetest things. I’m going to track down some coffee or tea. Or amphetamines. You need anything?”
“Nope. I’m solid.” He watched her walk away. She was still way too thin, but since he’d stepped into the room in the Pit at Bethlehem, she’d taken on a kind of confidence. He wondered, if she had to go back, whether she still wanted him to kill her.
“Burton? You make goddamned sure there isn’t any trouble from this, and you get her the fuck off my moon without anyone seeing her.”
“You got it, Chrissie.”
“Don’t fucking call me that. I’m the acting secretary-general of the United Nations, not your favorite stripper.”
Amos spread his hands. “Could be room for both.”
“I mean… Clarissa Mao?” Jim said. “How does anyone think that’s a good idea?”
“Amos isn’t afraid of monsters,” she said. The words tasted bitter, but not completely so. Or no, not bitter. Complex, though.
“I won’t go back there.”
“Peaches, there’s no there to go back to. And anyway, I’m pretty sure Chrissie knows you’re on board here. She’s not pushing the issue, so as long as we stay cool and act casual —”
Her laugh was short and bitter. “Then what? You can’t take me with you anymore, Amos. I can’t go on the Rocinante. I tried to kill Holden. I tried to kill all of you. And I did kill people. Innocent people. That’s never going away.”
“In my shop, that’s just fitting in,” Amos said. “I appreciate that seeing the crew again could leave you feeling a little antsy, but we all know what you are. What you did. Including all the shit you did to us. This isn’t new territory. We’ll talk it through. Work something out.”
Great read, great analysis. Trying to add my thoughts without referencing spoilers… I totally see what you’re saying about Amos clearly having goodness inside him; he wants to do the right thing, and he has some admirable motivations that are all his own. Rather than having no moral compass of his own, he has one that he admits is “fucked,” most obviously in the direction of finding little inherent value in human life. This leads him to often choose solutions to problems that involve killing - which often seems like the easiest solution when you don’t have the threat of guilt hanging over your head.
But I agree this doesn’t mean he has no capacity for caring. People in his “tribe” and children - he’ll do anything to alleviate their suffering. It’s the “anything” that he’s willing to do that makes him “bad.”
One day I’ll make my long meta about Amos & Relationships, but the short version is: he has to piece social connection together differently than NTs because he doesn’t consciously feel his own emotions (ask me for citations) and therefore can’t understand others through the process of empathy that NTs use (my extrapolation). He has to cognitively figure out what others are feeling and then think of actions or words to respond with that would be helpful or appropriate… that’s a lot of work so he doesn’t do it unless you’re really important to him and you really need it.
He wants to “do right” but he can’t FEEL “right,” he has to think and remember facts about “right,” so that’s why he likes to use people like Naomi and Holden as examples. So I think the external moral compass reading is still valid, with the caveats you laid out so beautifully. He has one, but it needs a little help sometimes. He is a good person at heart but he wants to be better, and uses his crew to see how to do that.
I love all of this. It upsets me so much when people dismiss him as a psychopath or sociopath. He is not. He’s more nuanced and complex than that, look deeper, beyond the words he’s using and the violence he so readily threatens - he’s using that for a reason, so no one gets too close.
Some links to interesting discussions on reddit
I’ve been re-reading parts of all of the books. Initially, the purpose was because I wanted to write about Amos Burton and Clarissa but as the re-read progressed, I found myself re-reading just for the sake of it.This post has ended up being mostly about Amos Burton, though. I’ll cut because there are spoilers for books 1 through to 5. When I first started reading the books, I was influenced by the television series so my focus was on Holden as the leader and the hero, if you will.As I read more and went past the point in the books that the series has covered, I discovered to my surprise that my favourite character (TV version pictured) was fast becoming Amos Burton.The reason that this was a surprise to me was because:1. In terms of physical appearance, he's not the 'type' I normally find attractive, so it wasn't that.2. To date, the show has made Amos look like a violent sociopath, loyal to Naomi Nagata but probably dangerous to everyone else.For instance, we've seen him as almost being like an attack dog but then in, there's this conversation initiated by Amos with Naomi:Based on this exchange we know that she's helped him out in the past and as a result he's grateful and loyal to her, but behaves very differently towards other people.He's willing to kill for Naomi without a second thought - asking Naomi if he should'smoke' Holden, almost strangling Alex until Naomi tells him to release him and then at the end of season one he kills Semitimba without hesitation simply because he's threatening Naomi.Book Amos is more complex, much more humorous and much more layered than we've been permitted to see in the series. As he himself says in: "."Also inBut his external persona is that of a thug, the crew's muscle. In, there's this exchange:Amos also describes himself in simple terms inBut you can totally see why people think Amos is Holden's attack dog based on this scene inAnd also inBut Amos is so much more than his trope. His character has unexpected layers. In the books we learn quite quickly that he’s fiercely loyal to Holden and Alex as well and he’s a very integral member of the crew of the. He's family.A while back, there was ain which someone named werewomble said:A good example is this conversation between Amos and Miller |
one of the Flivvers from Michigan all the way down to Miami on a single tank of gas in January 1928. Although rough weather forced a landing in Asheville, NC, the flight still set an American distance record for light planes. Brooks reported that the efficient little plane still had plenty of fuel to finish the trip; when the storm passed, he continued on to Florida.
Brooks' trip to Florida turned out to be the tragic end for the Flivver project. In late February 1928, Brooks was cruising over the ocean just south of Melbourne, FL, when the Flivver's engine locked up, smashing both plane and pilot into the water. The wreckage of the plane eventually washed ashore, but searchers never found Brooks' body.
Although Henry Ford moved quickly to announce that Brooks' death wouldn't alter the company's planes for the Flivver, the project quickly went south. Ford and the young test pilot had become friends, and reports surfaced that the mogul was distraught over Brooks' death. As Ford's guilt grew, he decided to end the Flivver project and get out of the light plane business entirely.
Ford's company later got back into the small aircraft business with projects like 1931's Stout Skycar series, but Ford was never able to put the common man in the air.
This post originally appeared in 2011.In Turkey, nearly every politician with the leftist, pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is facing trial this fall. Of the party's 59 members of parliament, 54 have been charged with alleged links to terrorist organizations.
One of them is Ayse Acar Basaran, an MP representing the southeastern city of Batman, who is facing 14 court cases.
Her charges range from "spreading terrorist propaganda" for condemning the treatment of a captured female guerilla, whose dead body was stripped naked and left a city street, to "aiding a terrorist organization" for acting as a human shield with other protesters in an effort to stop a battle between Kurdish militants and state forces in one of her districts.
"When I reveal crimes or try to prevent crimes, they issue cases against me," Basaran told DW. "Apparently, massacres, torture, and war are okay in this country, but standing against them is wrong."
Following her party's policy, Basaran has refused to appear in court, claiming she is unlikely to face a fair trial and that traditional legal procedures have been sidestepped. But she may not have a choice. In recent weeks, Basaran has received three court orders stating she will be taken to trial by force if she refuses to attend voluntarily and will be issued an arrest warrant if she evades police.
Nationalists have been targeting the Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party
Similar notifications are being sent out to other HDP members facing arraignment. If found guilty, the MPs could be stripped of their positions and imprisoned, threatening the viability of the nation's third-largest opposition party.
Lifting legal immunities
The prosecution of politicians is not commonplace in Turkey. Normally, elected officials are shielded from legal proceedings until they finish their terms. Yet if a crime is deemed extraordinary, the Turkish parliament and Supreme Court can choose to lift legal immunities on specific individuals.
This is what happened on May 20, 2016, when the Turkish parliament voted to lift such immunities after initial discussions led to fist fights between the various political groups. The move paved the way for legal proceedings against nearly 150 MPs, with the first cases due to begin in October.
While the HDP has the highest percentage of indicted members, the second-largest opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), has 51 of its 133 members facing trial, while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has 10 of 40 members implicated. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will have 27 of 317 MPs arraigned.
All indictments are based on charges filed before the May 20 vote. Government officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Dissolving the opposition
During a recent interview in Diyarbakir, HDP co-chair Figen Yuksekdag said the lifting of immunities was presented as a "one-time" opportunity to cleanse the parliament by removing criminals from all parties, but she has always seen the vote as an operation to dissolve the HDP.
Dozens of HDP politicians have been arrested on terrorism charges
"The AKP can't stand to share a parliament with us," Yuksekdag told DW. "Most cases are based on statements we made against the state in our speeches and revolve around questions of free speech," which Yuksekdag said have been less tolerated under Erdogan.
Like previous Kurdish-majority parties, the HDP has sustained repeated attempts to undermine its presence in the political arena. After winning 80 seats in elections last June, taking away the AKP's majority vote in parliament, another election was called in November 2015.
The HDP received fewer votes in the second runoff, but still surpassed the 10-percent threshold required of political parties, despite the implementation of round-the-clock curfews and military operations in the Kurdish-majority southeast during the same time period.
Missteps on both sides
Still, the HDP is not without its own missteps. Party members sang the anthem of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the parliament building, and one MP attended funeral proceedings of a Kurdish suicide bomber who killed 28 members of Turkish security forces.
HDP members have acknowledged such mistakes, but still claim many cases filed against the party are based on false accusations.
A proceeding against Faysal Sariyildiz, an HDP MP representing Sirnak, states he used his car to transport weapons for guerillas. Speaking by phone from Belgium, Sariyildiz said a government investigation of his case found the evidence to be falsified, but he still faces trial for the indictment.
Sariyildiz believes he is being targeted for bringing to attention incidents where 85 civilians were fire-bombed while taking shelter in basements during military operations in Cizre this winter.
"If I had stayed in Turkey, I would be put in prison like many of my friends that have been trying to expose the crimes [of the state]," he told DW, saying employees at the Cizre morgue had been arbitrarily arrested for bearing witness to such incidents.
In total, HDP members face more than 400 court cases, with 93 directed at party co-chair Selahattin Demirtas alone.
With her first court date set for Oct. 26, Batman MP Ayse Acar Basaran remains adamant, saying she will not testify willingly. Citing a recent government move to replace 24 HDP mayors with state-appointed trustees, Basaran said the state is now moving swiftly against the HDP.
"In Batman, they know very well that if they call elections 10 times, they'll lose 10 times," Basaran said. "They can't take us down with elections so they are using other methods."#AntiCanadaDay Lazors go Pew Pew Pew OpCyberPrivacy Jul 1st, 2015 4,344 Never 4,344Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 1.46 KB Greetings Citizens of Canada, peoples and Anons of the world. We are #OpCyberPrivacy and this is #AntiCanadaDay. On this day we protest against the passing of C-51 and it's royal assent to law. We protest against the systemic invasion of privacy by government and corperate entities around the world. We stand ardent in our defiance to all those who would take away our rights and freedoms. Today we #TakeBackCanada. It's our party, and we'll pwn if we want to. At 12 noon ET / 09:00 PT #AntiCanadaDay kicks off, Go out into the world and hand out fliers, engage the public, speak truth to power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those that would listen the anounciation of truth. We encourage disobedience. Take your stand IRL or in Cyberspace. No effort is wasted on this day of days. Our voices will be heard to spite their efforts to silence our dissent. For we are the people and these governments work for us! Today, we remind them of that fact. All Canadian government web assests are fair game. Lazors free on all federal, provincial and municpal services. We will be posting a target list shortly before kick off. #AntiCanadaDay is an all day affair. To be ceased at 00:01 hours July 2nd. BYOL/BYOB There will be a small after party on IRC. Yes you are invited. irc.anonops.com/6697 #OpCyberPrivacy because what's #AntiCanadaDay without a party? We are Anonymous We are Legion United by One Divided by Zero To the government of Canada U mad yet bro?
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Greetings Citizens of Canada, peoples and Anons of the world. We are #OpCyberPrivacy and this is #AntiCanadaDay. On this day we protest against the passing of C-51 and it's royal assent to law. We protest against the systemic invasion of privacy by government and corperate entities around the world. We stand ardent in our defiance to all those who would take away our rights and freedoms. Today we #TakeBackCanada. It's our party, and we'll pwn if we want to. At 12 noon ET / 09:00 PT #AntiCanadaDay kicks off, Go out into the world and hand out fliers, engage the public, speak truth to power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those that would listen the anounciation of truth. We encourage disobedience. Take your stand IRL or in Cyberspace. No effort is wasted on this day of days. Our voices will be heard to spite their efforts to silence our dissent. For we are the people and these governments work for us! Today, we remind them of that fact. All Canadian government web assests are fair game. Lazors free on all federal, provincial and municpal services. We will be posting a target list shortly before kick off. #AntiCanadaDay is an all day affair. To be ceased at 00:01 hours July 2nd. BYOL/BYOB There will be a small after party on IRC. Yes you are invited. irc.anonops.com/6697 #OpCyberPrivacy because what's #AntiCanadaDay without a party? We are Anonymous We are Legion United by One Divided by Zero To the government of Canada U mad yet bro?LEARN COLDFUSION TODAY
Learn CF in a Week is a community driven training program that teaches all the basics you need to be a ColdFusion Developer in one week.
This course was created by community experts who specialize in the different fields they wrote about, and cover all the essential skills. Completing this course will help you on your way to be hired as a ColdFusion developer, should that be a chosen career path. If you do not wish to work as a ColdFusion developer but wish to gain some ColdFusion knowledge, then this course is also for you.
Comprising of written information about different ColdFusion features and matching hands on chapters that show you how to use the concepts that were just covered. Throughout the course, you will take a basic HTML web site and add ColdFusion logic to it until you have a fully functioning ColdFusion web site that is ready to be launched.
The focus of this course is for you to learn all the skills you need to be a developer using real world scenarios. The content taught in the course is not designed to tell you about everything to do with ColdFusion, but to give you the knowledge you will need in day to day programming and for tasks you will come across on a daily basis. There is no teaching for teaching's sake in this course; even the sample application you will build is a useful application.
Start the course today! View the course online, download the PDF or even view the eBook. There is nothing stopping you from being a ColdFusion developer within a week!Behind the La Crema Winery, in the wine-growing region of Sonoma County north of San Francisco, sit three white refrigerator-sized boxes that are an example of how the wine making here has gone high-tech. At least the winery’s use of energy has. This winery is a pioneer for what a certain electric car company run by Elon Musk hopes will become the norm for many others around the world.
Inside the white metal boxes sit thousands of Tesla batteries. While Tesla is better known for making luxury electric cars, it recently started selling batteries to businesses, utilities and home owners to help them save electricity and store solar energy.
At the winery the batteries store energy from the sun generated by solar panels on the winery’s rooftop. Tesla’s algorithms are also shifting the winery onto battery energy when electricity rates from the power grid are high, helping the wine makers save money on their energy bill.
Tesla is banking on turning its nascent battery push into a huge new business — one day it could even eclipse the company’s car sales. To succeed, Tesla will need to attract businesses like the winery as customers and convince them that batteries can save them money, make solar panels more efficient, and make the owners look cool.
This Tesla battery installation is just one of six that the Jackson family, which owns Jackson Family Wines has installed at their wineries around Northern California including Kendall-Jackson, their most well-known brand. The group was an early pilot customer for Tesla and started working with the electric car maker two years ago.
The batteries started operating in January of this year, several months before Tesla made its big announcement about its new battery products. Tesla is only selling these types of batteries in limited supply right now and the company says its sold out until mid-2016.
Below the scorching summer sun and 90-degree weather, the Tesla batteries rapidly charge and discharge energy at La Crema Winery, in Windsor, Calif. several times a minute, based on Tesla’s software and the power needs of the winery. The boxes routinely emit a clicking noise, which is the sound of the inverters converting the electricity from the batteries into usable energy.
Tesla batteries installed at a winery in Windsor, Calif. Photo courtesy of Katie Fehrenbacher, Fortune
The batteries at the wineries are among Tesla’s largest battery installations to date, and its first for a winery. There are 21 Tesla battery boxes, with 4.2 megawatts or 8.4 megawatt hours, of storage capacity, scattered across the six wineries.
For a company that traditionally makes Pinot Noirs, not electrons, that’s a whole lot of batteries. The Tesla batteries at the La Crema Winery alone are enough to power 18 Model S cars.
There’s a handful of reasons why the Jackson family is using Tesla batteries at its wineries. On Thursday during a tour of the site, Julien Gervreau, Jackson Family Wine’s senior sustainability manager, explained to Fortune how the batteries work and how the winery has been trying to conserve energy and water.
The cellar at the La Crema Winery in Windsor, Calif. Photo courtesy of Katie Fehrenbacher, Fortune
At the wineries that have solar panels on the roofs, like the La Crema Winery does, the company can use the batteries to increase the solar generation at times when wine production is at its highest. Wineries use about half of their annual energy during the two and a half months of harvest from August to late October, when grapes are being processed and put into tanks. The rest of the year, most of the wineries’ energy goes to refrigeration.
During the harvest season, the Tesla batteries will regularly charge and discharge electricity from the solar panels when the winery’s electricity use starts to peak. That way the winery is using less power from the grid and more power from the sun.
Across the Jackson family wineries, solar panels and Tesla batteries are expected to lower the company’s electricity bill by nearly 40% in 2016, which is a savings of about $2 million. But Gervreau also says the family is willing to invest in some energy and water savings technologies that don’t have a quick payback.
One of the reasons Tesla’s grid batteries have gotten so much attention — aside from the company’s high-profile CEO —is that they’re some of the lowest cost lithium ion batteries available for these purposes. Tesla (TSLA) is selling a small version of the batteries, called the Powerwall, to installers for small businesses and home owners for $3,500 for a 10 kilowatt hour battery and $3,000 for 7 kilowatt hour battery. A larger version called the Powerpack, which is what the winery is using, will likely have comparable or lower per battery prices.
The Jackson family spent about $10 million installing a collective 6.5 megawatts of solar panels across their wineries, with a goal to get half of their electricity from clean energy. The company is at about 30 to 40% clean power currently. Gervreau says the pay back time on their panels is about six years, and called it “an easy decision” for the company.
Julien Gervreau, Jackson Family Wines Senior Sustainability Manager, talks about energy and water efficiency in the cellar of La Crema Winery in Windsor, Calif. Photo courtesy of Katie Fehrenbacher, Fortune
When harvest season is over, or if a winery doesn’t have solar panels, the Tesla batteries switch into what’s called “peak shaving” mode. When the power grid is being heavily used in the county, like on a hot summer afternoon, and electricity rates are high, the winery switches to battery power to avoid the expensive grid electricity. In that way the winery can lower its energy bill by close to 10%.
Tesla’s sophisticated algorithms are constantly “shaving” away at the grid energy use during these peak times. That’s why during the tour, the batteries were rapidly charging and discharging several times a minute. Later that afternoon the winery would cut much of its grid-based energy through an agreement with the local utility to curb energy use during peak grid times.
Tesla’s algorithms use data like historical temperatures, energy use, time of day, electricity rates, and many other factors. Over time, Tesla’s algorithms learn what the winery’s power needs are and figures out the best way to use the storage to save energy and money.
The wine making industry is both energy and water intensive. Sustainability is a core need for many wine makers, partly because it makes good business sense.
Jackson Family Wines was founded in the early 1980’s by former San Francisco attorney Jess Jackson, and the Jackson family still runs much of the business. They have adopted a number of techniques to reduce both their energy and water use, beyond just the Tesla batteries.
Grape processing machines at the La Crema Winery in Windsor, Calif. Photo courtesy of Katie Fehrenbacher, Fortune
Inside the cellar at La Crema, the winery refrigerates and houses 8,000-gallon tanks that are filled with wine during certain months. A lot of water and energy goes to cleaning those so that they are ready for the next season.
The company is using various energy and water efficient systems to clean them. One made by Aurratech mixes water with peracetic acid to create micro fog bubbles that can sanitize the tanks using less water and energy. It’s like a fog machine for the inside of the wine tanks.
Another sanitizer made by BlueMorph uses only ultraviolet light to clean the tanks. The winery plans to install a computerized system to monitor and manage the tanks as well as the heating and cooling systems in the cellar. Wherever the winery can eek out energy and water savings they try to and they’re willing to experiment on new technologies.
Outside of the cellar, and to the right of the Tesla batteries, there’s an ultra efficient natural gas water heater. Next to that the company plans to install a forward osmosis water treatment system which cleans water by pushing it through membranes under high pressure. A hundred feet away there’s a wine bladder press that discharges the leftover grape goop from wine making, which is fed to cows in the area.
But not everything is so high-tech. In the cellar, the Jackson execs point to a broom and a squeegee. Bang for buck that might be the cheapest and fastest way to save water.OK, below is my first review. This is just a bit of info after completing the 12 weeks of TFBR: I have dropped another dress size, 8 cms from my waist and 9 from my hips (pear shaped woman I am, this is very special to me). Feeling great and have started a second round. Love love love this!
Having cut out carbs 3 months ago, I'd lost weight and dropped two dress sizes. Finally had a healthy BMI bit I still didn't like the way my body looked. There's a difference between losing weight at 20 or 40.
I started to research what would be best for me. Turned out that was a combination of weight lifting and High Intensity Interval Training. I had never exercised before (well, not for more than once or twice in a gym every now and then, and some Zumba that got really boring after a few weeks) and didn't really feel like it. Still, something had to be done.
Looking for something that was clear, practical, truthful, allowed for me to do the exercises at home and not in a gym with lots of sweaty people, didn't require lots of expensive equipment and had lots of variety (I get easily bored), I came across this book. Very sceptical, as always when trying a new work out, I started to read and had a look at the Facebook group. I knew almost right away this was going to work for me.
The workouts are very, very hard but they don't take long. You need to measure and count, the progress you make is incredible (and measurable) so you start looking forward to the work outs (I didn't think that was even possible).
Another thing I like is that the book is well written and honest about what to expect and what to do. Also, this 12 week programme consists of several phases, each one more difficult than the previous one, so your body doesn't just adapt.
The facebook group is, well, truly amazing. One day I knew I wouldn't be able to do my work out in the evening, so I got up really early to work out, feeling very sorry for myself. One post on FB and tataaaa. I did not feel alone anymore. That group is supportive, gives advice on work outs and food and cheers you on. Julia Buckley herself is also active on the FB group, which I quite like. I know that if I have a question, I can easily get in touch.
I've bought the kindle version via Amazon.com several weeks ago, but I'm also going to buy the paperback,. Easier to flick through the exercises and yes, this book is worth paying twice for. Or, to quote a well known cosmetics brand, I am worth it.The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey‘s August 2016 decision that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services must pay the attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred by what now is Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
Laughrey also had permanently blocked the state from revoking the Columbia clinic’s abortion license, concluding that the challenge of the license likely was at least partly due to “political pressure.” The opinion Thursday by the three-judge 8th Circuit panel did not address that matter, declaring it moot.
The legal fight over the clinic came after the department warned it would revoke its license when its only doctor performing abortions — a nonsurgical type, induced with a pill — lost needed privileges with University of Missouri Health Care in 2015.
Under Missouri law at that time, the state’s restrictions involving abortion included requirements that doctors who perform such procedures have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and that clinics meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery. Without a physician with those privileges, the Columbia clinic stopped performing abortions.
But earlier this year, a federal judge in Kansas City issued a preliminary injunction blocking Missouri’s restrictions at the request of Planned Parenthood affiliates with Missouri health centers.
U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs said he was bound by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Texas case and that Missouri has been denying abortion rights “on a daily basis, in irreparable fashion.”
The state has asked a federal appellate court to intervene.
As of Thursday, St. Louis’ Planned Parenthood is the state’s only licensed abortion provider, though that soon may change.
Planned Parenthood’s Kansas City center has offered medication-induced abortions and has said it would resume doing so if Missouri regulations in question were deemed unconstitutional. Planned Parenthood regional affiliates have said the agencies have applied for licenses for their clinics in Kansas City and Columbia. They’re hoping to offer abortion services at those locations by this summer and are preparing related applications to the state for the Joplin and Springfield sites.
[image via Shutterstock]Growth in Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the buzz this year. According to CB Insights, as of June 15, this year, more than 200 AI venture financing deals have been completed already totaling $1.5B in dollar volume. If the latter half of the year continues at this pace, 2016 will be a record year. 2015 saw 397 AI venture financings totaling $2.3B. Based on analysis by CB Insights, most of the deals being done are at a series B or C stage, indicating that startups in this space are beginning to see success.
AI, as most people now know, has several applications in health technologies, marketing & sales, business analysis and financial services. Not surprisingly, these are also some of the most data-rich sectors and functions. And data is the life-blood of AI. Adrian Lawrence, Partner at Baker & McKenzie expects access to data to play a central role in the scope and impact of AI systems, noting that “Data, and the various rules and processes which both enable and regulate access to and use of that data, stand at the heart of disruptive fintech businesses. Even the most advanced and intelligent algorithms and models are useless without efficient, secure and legal access to detailed, accurate and up-to-date data sets.” Without accurate and sufficient data, artificial intelligence becomes a garbage-in, garbage-out proposition.
Automation vs. Artificial Intelligence
While businesses in major sectors are eager to embed artificial intelligence into their processes and services, there have been some exaggerated claims about the usage of artificial intelligence. Companies are using automation to create efficiency and accuracy in business processes. Automation and artificial intelligence are terms that have been thrown around interchangeably by some business people, but there is a distinction. Automation is about replacing mostly repetitive tasks, with machines. Automation has been in heavy use in factory processes for almost a century. Software has also automated many tasks such as matching data records, looking for exceptions and making calculations. Artificial intelligence is about replacing human decision making with more sophisticated technologies. These are not repetitive tasks, but rather judgment-based work which requires a more complex set of algorithms and machine learning which can use a variety of inputs to recognize patterns, predict future outcomes and make decisions.
Fintech AI
The fintech sector is starting to use artificial intelligence in several ways. Most recently, the California-based robo-advisor, Wealthfront, has added artificial intelligence capabilities to track account activity on its own product and other integrated services such as Venmo, to analyze and understand how account holders are spending, investing and making their financial decisions, in an effort to provide more customized advice to their customers. Sentient Technologies, which has offices in both California and Hong Kong, is using artificial intelligence to continually analyze data and improve investment strategies. The company has several other AI initiatives in addition to its own equity fund. AI is even being used for banking customer service. RBS has developed Luvo, a technology which assists it service agents in finding answers to customer queries. The AI technology can search through a database, but also has a human personality and is built to learn continually and improve over time. The technology is being evaluated to understand its potential to directly interact with customers.
Concerns Going Forward
While artificial intelligence holds the promise of efficiency, better decision-making, stronger compliance and potentially even more profits for investors, the technology is young. Banks need to find ways to lower costs and technology is the most obvious answer. As Arun Srivastava, Partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie explains, “A logical response by banks is to automate as much decision-making as possible, hence the number of banks enthusiastically embracing AI and automation. But the unknown risks inherent in aspects of AI have not been eliminated.” According to a Euromoney Survey and report commissioned by Baker & McKenzie, out of 424 financial professionals, 76% believe that financial regulators are not up to speed on AI and 47% are not confident that their own organizations understand the risks of using AI. Additionally an increasing reliance on artificial intelligence technologies comes with a reduction in jobs. Many argue that the human intuition plays a valuable role in risk assessment and that the black box nature of AI makes it difficult to understand certain unexpected outcomes or decisions produced by the technology.
With AI technology still nascent, perhaps the best bet for banks is to use it in conjunction with staff. While we live in the age of AI, we’re not quite ready for auto-pilot just yet.Half of the proceeds from an apparently errant bitcoin transaction, in which 291 BTC (then $136,000) was sent as a fee, has been given away by the recipient mining pool.
The Bitcoin Foundation said today that it received 146 BTC ($65,000) from BitClub, which on 27th April received the fee as part of block 409,008 on the network. The transaction drew notable industry attention and media coverage, given that the average transaction fee at the time was 31 satoshis, or less than $0.01.
Following the incident, BitClub issued a public call for the individual behind the transaction to come forward. Should no users step forward to identify themselves, BitClub said, it would seek to donate the funds, with the Bitcoin Foundation being named as one of the possible recipients.
At press time, it remains unclear which additional entity or entities received the remaining 145 BTC. Further, analysis of the transaction suggests the actual bitcoins sent to the Foundation were not those received in the original fee transaction. Representatives for BitClub were unresponsive to attempts for additional clarity.
Bitcoin Foundation executive director Bruce Fenton said the funds will go toward the organization’s existing efforts, including funding education and public outreach as well as its DevCore conference series.
“The Bitcoin Foundation funding will be used for existing projects as well as new initiatives that will foster community dialogue and encourage an efficient development process of bitcoin technology,” the organization said.
Additionally, the donation will help fund a research grant on the study of bitcoin security issues, to be conducted by Nick Szabo, the cryptographer credited with coining the term “smart contracts” as well as the tech’s key underlying concepts.
The funding follows a tumultuous period for the foundation in which two board members resigned or were replaced, and as the organization was said to be running out of funding for operations.
Pennies image via ShutterstockImage copyright Malc McDonald/Geograph Image caption The man was set alight while walking through Waltham Abbey Gardens, described as "peaceful" on a visitor website
A man has suffered serious burns after being covered in an unknown substance and set alight, police have said.
A 31-year-old man was walking through Waltham Abbey Gardens in Essex at 08:00 BST on Saturday when he was approached by a group of men.
They threw over him an "unidentified substance" according to police and then set him ablaze.
Detectives have said it was not yet understood why the man was targeted and it was a "fast-moving investigation".
The victim, believed to be from the area, went to hospital after making his own way to a nearby friend's house, where an ambulance was called.
He is now being treated for "serious burns" at an undisclosed hospital, said police.
Det Insp Jim Adams, of Essex Police, who is leading the inquiry, said: "We are making extensive enquiries in the area to find out exactly where and why this assault happened.
He added that any witnesses to the attack or any suspicious activity beforehand should contact officers.
The victim has described his attackers as being of "Turkish appearance".
Police said forensic tests are being carried out to identify the substance thrown over the man.Tech & Science
A woman in the U.K., Bahar Mustafa, has ignited a virtual firestorm after she tweeted out controversial hashtags, including #KillAllWhiteMen and #Misandry, and blatantly excluded white people and men from diversity events at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her outspokenness has prompted petitions, harassment, death threats, organized calls for her resignation, an abundance of crude and unusual comments on Reddit and now a A woman in the U.K., Bahar Mustafa, has ignited a virtual firestorm after she tweeted out controversial hashtags, including #KillAllWhiteMen and #Misandry, and blatantly excluded white people and men from diversity events at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her outspokenness has prompted petitions, harassment, death threats, organized calls for her resignation, an abundance of crude and unusual comments on Reddit and now a formal investigation from authorities at Scotland Yard.
Mustafa, the welfare and diversity officer for the student union at Goldsmiths, faced immediate backlash after she specifically barred white men from an event intent on diversifying the university’s curriculum. Mustafa posted on Facebook, pleading for men and/or white people to “PLEASE DON’T COME,” adding that she hoped people would respect the “BME women and non-binary event only.”
Following criticism that the diversity event was exclusionary, Mustafa responded by saying that as an ethnic minority woman, she is incapable of being racist. In a statement read out to students, she said: "I, an ethnic minority woman, cannot be racist or sexist towards white men, because racism and sexism describe structures of privilege based on race and gender.
"Therefore, women of colour and minority genders cannot be racist or sexist, since we do not stand to benefit from such a system.”
Critics have noted that Mustafa’s tweets—which are difficult to find, given that she has disabled her personal and professional social media accounts—were likely ironic, part of an Internet-driven movement poking fun at men and identifying with misandry (a prime example: these best-selling mugs intended to hold “ Critics have noted that Mustafa’s tweets—which are difficult to find, given that she has disabled her personal and professional social media accounts—were likely ironic, part of an Internet-driven movement poking fun at men and identifying with misandry (a prime example: these best-selling mugs intended to hold “ male tears ”). Mustafa herself identifies as a “queer anti-racist feminist killjoy,” descriptors that alone cause the Internet to bubble with controversy.
Still, the vitriol against Mustafa has been extraordinary to witness. Graphic rape threats have been made against her, and a petition on 4Chan calling for her resignation garnered more than 19,000 signatures. While people will debate her response to accusations of racism and her refusal to change her stance, Mustafa’s outspoken effort to empower women and “non-binary” individuals is undoubtedly bringing up pressing questions of expression in today’s social media sphere, a place that in theory is safe but where women and minorities continue to face similar threats.MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Local Jewish community groups were speaking out Tuesday about a controversial holiday party held at a popular Minneapolis restaurant.
Gasthof’s took heat after a picture showing Nazi flags at the party appeared in City Pages this week.
Those who were there say it was an event for World War II historical re-enactors. One re-enactor said it was not meant to invoke or promote any racial hatred.
In a letter to the restaurant’s owner, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas wrote: “Glorification and/or celebration of Nazi Germany would appear to be incongruous with the nature of a family restaurant and its surrounding neighborhood.”
The group has offered to help Gasthof’s find a different way to honor Minnesota’s World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors.Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe says he's impressed by the sincerity of Labour leadership favourite Jeremy Corbyn
The Labour leadership ballot may have closed, but that hasn’t stopped Jeremy Corbyn securing some magical new backing.
The favourite to take over the Labour party has had an endorsement from Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe.
Jeremy Corbyn buys The Big Issue from a vendor in Newcastle in 2015
The actor told The Big Issue that he warmed to Corbyn because he reminded him of a favourite teacher. However, despite the beard and an attachment to old ways of doing things it’s not Dumbledore Radcliffe is thinking of.
“In the only sit-down, casual interview I have seen with Jeremy Corbyn, he talks about his allotment and making jam,” said Radcliffe, “so he reminds me in the loveliest way of my English teacher, who is someone I am very, very fond of – so he has a fast track to my heart!”
It is just so nice to have people excited about somebody
Corbyn has energised politics, he added.
“It is incredible. It is just so nice to have people excited about somebody. It seems to be more or less because they are excited about sincerity. I think we all suddenly realised that we are so used to politicians lying. Even when they are being sincere, it feels so scripted that it is hard to get behind them.
“I feel like this show of sincerity by a man who has been around long enough and stuck to his beliefs long enough that he knows them and doesn’t have to be scripted is what is making people sit up and get excited. It is great.”
Radcliffe is back in the UK to promote a new BBC2 drama, The Gamechangers, in which he plays Sam Houser, videogame producer and one of the creative forces behind the Grand Theft Auto gaming phenomenon. He also stars alongside James McAvoy in a new film version of Victor Frankenstein.
For a full interview with Radcliffe, more on Corbyn, Trump and living with the legacy of Harry Potter, see The Big Issue on Monday (September 14).DENVER (CBS4) – U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, is responding to backlash from a comment he made last Friday to CBS4.
Gardner said “paid protesters” from California and New York are contributing to a flood of phone calls and emails to his office since the election of President Donald Trump.
After the story aired there were Facebook posts urging people to call Gardner and let him know they weren’t paid protesters. Gardner said the comment wasn’t directed at his constituents.
“I hope that Coloradans continue to reach out to our office. It’s important that we hear from Coloradans,” Gardner told CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd.
Gardner says he |
worth it. They also have Reference the Field Guide as a (0) just like Freikorpsmen to guarantee a specific suite while using a low card, but you generally won’t be using this unless you absolutely need a trigger.
These ladies are superstars and I have taken 1 in every list I’ve made, outside of Hoffman, since getting them. They do excellent work at denying enemy scheme runner and hiding with their Disguised and Manipulative goodness. Be wary of shooters because they WILL get blown off the table if you’re not careful.
Guild Good Stuff
The Peacekeeper
The Peacekeeper is a walking tank and a nightmare for anything made of soft fleshy bits. It’s only weakness is being on the slower end of things, but give it Fast and a push or two from Propaganda and watch it tear apart enemy crews. The go-to Enforcer beater for Guild, Nellie can feed this behemoth enemy models at will. Hold territory and kill, it’s the Guild way.
Francisco Ortega
Franc is great. There are several reasons why he is a staple in many crews from Lady Justice to McMourning. Nellie doesn’t require his services like those melee fighting Masters often do, but in a Guild-centric crew he is one of my first picks to beat some faces. Unfortunately GG2017 hates killy Guild Henchmen with FFM, Tail’em, etc, but if you need a solid model for 9-10 stones he’s your huckleberry. You put Wade In on him. That isn’t a statement but a fact.
Executioners
With their recent Errata Upgrade giving them a single use Walk+Charge (or Charge+extra attack) these big boys have really opened up. It starts getting crazy when Nellie starts giving them Fast and heals like candy, not to mention extra free attacks from Propaganda. They’re excellent flankers that will annihilate enemy scheme runners and can really put a damper on Gremlins or Collete with their anti-Df trigger shenanigans. Definitely a consideration if you want a cheaper, but more fragile beater compared to the Peacekeeper.
Austringers
Solid even after the recent errata nerfing, these falconers still have an excellent role to fulfill in Guild. Nellie doesn’t need to bring them all the time but when you have an interact heavy pool or strats like Headhunter these bad boys are worth their weight in gold.
Watchers
The Watcher trick. These mechanical bats have the attack action Sky-Eye with zero damage on minimum. Attack Nellie early in the game with this and rack up the Evidence thanks to Guild Funds. You’ll need Evidence +4 to get two extra Soulstones so that’s two successful hits from a Watcher, one from the Printing Presses’ (0) and one from discarding a card when Nellie activates. Bam, instant profit. Note that you can NOT relent the duel with the Watcher as the defender of a relenting attack duel cannot declare Defensive triggers.
Aside from that trick these models were the go-to scheme runner for Guild until Field Reporters were released. Armor, Stubborn, with a Walk6 and Flight made them fast and tough for their cost. Taking one is still a solid pick, especially if you want those scrumptious stones.
Witchling Thralls
The Guild’s newest Big Beef Boy™ these badasses are currently not released at the time this article was written but I’m one lucky SOB that ordered them last Black Friday, and they are amazing. 12 Wounds with Impossible to Wound, auto-pass Horror duels and get extra attacks when scheme markers are placed near them? And min3 damage with a solid ranged Ca attack and extra movement besides?! I’m in heaven. Arguably best when paired with Lucius but lugging two of these things around, giving them Fast and extra attacks ON TOP OF the extra attacks from Propaganda mean these unfortunate souls are monsters with Nellie. GG2017 favors Minions overall and these boys deliver.
I fully expect the Guild to have a resurgence when they are finally released, just be careful you don’t lose any friends afterward.
WAVE 5 SHENANIGANS (5/10/17 Playtesting rules)
With the very recent release of the Wave 5 models available for Public Playtest, it’s time to speculate on the new shiny. Please note: the rules for these models are NOT final and things may change when they are officially released. This section will be updated and corrected while egg gets thrown at my face after I write it. I wont get into too much detail for that reason, until after things become official. Head over to the Wyrd forums to find all of the current cards and community feedback.
Jury
Mentioned back in first edition and promptly forgotten about, the Jury makes a return to the Malifaux world. Implications and assumptions being that Jury is a person instead of a group of peers seems very Guild-like overall. Jury brings a competitive niche to the Guild Henchman slot that will definitely be seeing a lot of play with and without Nellie.
Guild Investigator
A very solid anti-scheming model, these Guardsmen should see plenty of play upon release. Apart from Disguised these guys are fairly fragile but should work well with Allison Dade and Guild Sergeants to get in the way and become a nuisance.
Thalarian Queller
A new Witch Hunter buff and de-buffer, the Queller may find itself built into a few niche situations. Turning off all suits on any actions can be amazing against the right target and having non-reducible damage is stellar. With no direction synergy with Nellie, but moreso her beaters, we’ll have to get some practice in with these.
Monster Hunter
Duel-Pistol wielding Family members with Stalk and solid anti-charge tech these chaps (or chapettes) should be very nice scheme runner hunters/interceptors, operating independently on their own.
Andador De Cadaveres
The new Governor General is definitely shaking things up by bringing literal Necromancers on the payroll. These models currently allow Guild to hire Undead Minion models costing 6 or less as Mercs. This means Belles, Necropunks, Dead Doxies, etc. Expensive but worthwhile by far, this can open up a lot of options that the Guild currently lacks. Playtesting needed for sure.
Riot Breaker
An Anti-Gremlin piece if there ever was one. This stompy bot can dish out blasts and Insignificant while also denying additional enemy AP (such as Fast or Reckless). Slower than average, these bad boys will want to focus where you know the enemy will be concentrated. Definitely a boon for the Hoff, I can totally see hiring one or two of these in the right pool.
Guild Honorable Mentions
Onto the Guild models that deserve some discussion but might not be your first choices.
Ryle/Judge/Dr. Grimwell/Pale Rider
Nellie can make any expensive model deliver more by increasing their AP and giving them extra attacks. The Guild have access to more beat’em’up models than any other faction, especially our henchmen. A lot of the time it comes down to personal preference. Phiona, Francisco, and the Judge make an excellent henchman kill team for Extraction. Ryle and a Peacekeeper work well together as they do with Hoffman. Making Dr. Grimwell Fast means his Lobotomy just leapt up in its threat range. That’s just a few examples.
Mounted Guard/Wardens (Allison Dade)
While not necessary for Nellie, Guardsmen models work well with Allison Dade for that extra damage output. I can see her working well with McCabe and all of his Guardsmen puppies running around, or alongside Dashel and his Warden cronies to hold down a flank. Allison, a Mounted Guard, and an Executioner make for a terrifying flanking force that can really hold their own.
Samael Hopkins
Oh, Sam… Arguably one of the worst models in the game for his cost, Sam has insane damage output when models have Burning on them. Guess what can do that while placing models in his threat range? Nellie’s Hot off the Presses. This is more of a fun gimmick than a strategy, but the possibilities are there to eliminate a huge enemy threat on turn 1. Just watch that Nekima be the FFM target and give up points immediately…at least you’ll make some back when Sam dies soon afterward.
Mercenary Good Stuff
With the Embedded upgrade Nellie can hire four Mercenaries at their base cost. Let’s take a gander at some solid options.
Aionus
The Time Lord himself, Aionus brings scheme and other marker shenanigans, relatively easy access to more gifts of Fast and Slow and even another Bury attack with those bony fingers. His Bony Fingers attack also ignores armor and is a Ca attack to boot. Aionus won’t be brought solely for his offense however, as his abilities to move various non-Strategy markers around and hand out Slow easily can be game winners. He’s expensive but brings a lot of control and support that can be unfamiliar to a Guild crew.
Strongarm Suit
The Strongarm fills a similar role to the Peacekeeper in an Embedded list, that being a tank who punches things to death. Although the Strongarm deals slightly less damage than a Peacekeeper they are faster with slightly better stats, can’t be bogged down in melee, and have a better ranged attack. He’s definitely a consideration in Interference or any strategy where you need to hold quarters. As usual be mindful of those little armor-ignoring enemies that will ruin their day.
McTavish
Ignoring cover is so good. I can’t emphasis enough how taking away a model’s primary defense against shooting hurts so much, and with a Fast McTavish shooting three times he can wipe models out from a very safe 14″ away. His (0) action Gator Snack is fantastic in GG2017 for scheme denial, and the occasional Summing denial by eating Corpse or Scrap markers, while also giving him four very useful triggers after discarding that marker. Overall an excellent choice in almost every situation.
Hannah
The Freikorps’ Chief Librarian makes the cut into the good stuff for Arcane Reservoir, Counterspell, and the Make a New Entry actions. She’s very dependent on what other models you are taking in the crew but one notable Ca to copy is Phiona’s Command Stone tactical action. You can create a Hannah Wall with that extra stone or block a larger area with Hannah and Phiona both doing so. It can get somewhat card intensive (everything needing 6’s) but surprising your opponent by blocking off all LoS to your crew can be worthwhile. I would definitely only take her in specific pools when you don’t need to move up too far, but a second Arcane Reservoir is a mighty advantage on its own.
Sue
Sue brings a lot of utility while also having a min3 gun with a positive flip to attack (goodbye cover). Hurt gives extra cards which Nellie loves and can show her appreciation by healing him back up after giving him Fast. His (0) actions are both good and useful in almost every game. Relentless is a rare option in Guild so having that in your pocket is excellent. The Man in Black is a great generalist model that will always perform well, just don’t laugh when you hear his name.
Burt Jebsen (and Gracie)
Burt is one of those rare models that can get 4AP after a Reckless and Fast from Nellie, and either rocket up the board or do 3/4/5 damage with his Lucky Knife. An excellent, and obvious, FFM sucker, Burt can also travel alongside your true FFM target and slide the damage onto them with Slippery and score you points even easier. His gun is fine but somewhat lacking with that Sh5, you’ll more often than not just be stabbing enemies. Burt is a super solid model for 7 stones, and can be turned to 11 with a little help from Nellie. Add Gracie into the mix with all of her synergy with Burt and these two will annihilate anything close by with all the extra attacks from each other, and Nellie’s Propaganda. Expensive, but worthwhile if Gracie takes your Peacekeeper/Strongarm spot as the tank and a damage dealer.
Johan(na)
Arguably the most cost-effective model in the game even AFTER paying for Merc tax, Nellie can bring her for even cheaper or slap Debt on her to get a min4 Relic Hammer Flurry turn. I don’t find it necessary to keep spouting how good she is, she’s in almost every Embedded list I take. Being on the slower side is fine, I usually have her protecting a Performer or Field Reporter to make sure they aren’t interrupted during their scheme running.
Ronin
Armor ignore is a rarity in Guild, and is an overall faction weakness. Our biggest threat to ignore Armor is Perdita who is automatically neutered by Mei Fang. When you expect a lot of armor shenanigans, three of these ladies with Nellie becomes an unexpected and immense threat. Fast Ronin that can walk up and flurry on big armored targets will eliminate those threats quickly. Their average Ml5 is often offset by their primary targets being Df4-5 (think Rail Golem or Howard) and once they’ve done their job they can Seppuku to give you two precious stones or cards back.
Performers
The Showgirls of Star Theatre aren’t above getting paid by the Guild for their expertise in scheme running. Don’t Mind Me is amazing for multiple schemes and strats in GG2017 and Manipulative 13 is huge with a crew that can delay their activations so much. Siren Call is an excellent pseudo-Lure which I will often use early to pull Johanna up or another slow model, and keep the Performer a little further back and safe. Then they can run schemes while being protected by that Relic Hammer. Seduction is also excellent for denying schemes and giving out double negatives to Wp duels. For their base cost they are one of the best scheme runners in the game. The Guild normally shies away from hiring them outside of McMourning because their merc tax bumps their cost up a bit too much, competing with Field Reporters and Watchers. Nellie solves this issue.
Big Jake
Another Don’t Mind Me model (which is the best), Big Jake is so huge that he counts as two models for the purposes of the Strategy. The Guild has few resources to do Interference well and Big Jake is one of them. His biggest gimmick is to come back from the dead on turn 5 without gaining Slow and can Interact after being Summoned. He has a (0) tactical action to take two damage to look at the top two cards of your fate deck and put them back in any order. Since he will come back again anyway it’s a pretty handy thing to have in your pocket to set up your next activation or to set up Jake’s Tomahawk attack. For his points he fills an excellent role as an independent scheme runner for Nellie and should always be a consideration for Interference or Extraction.
MERCENARY WAVE 5 SHENANIGANS (5/10/17 Playtest)
Currently there are only three Merc models in Wave 5, let’s see if Nellie likes the look of these…
Bayou Smuggler
A Gremlin Merc who brings some card draw and a lot of card discard, this is your scheme and marker denial piece. Not cheap but not too expensive, I could see bringing one against Ressers to remove pesky Corpse Markers and could work well with the new Guild Investigator to deny ALL the schemes!
Prospector
Another variation on scheme marker shenanigans, this guy can get you cards and additional scheme markers in spades. A little fragile but fairly mobile, the Prospector seems like a niche hire, but a fun one.
Charm Warder
One more Merc to mess with Scheme Markers (there appears to be a theme with this new book), the Charm Warder also helps annoy Summoners and keep things even on the battlefield. Another pick to take against specific opponents, the jury (but not Jury) is still out on this one.
Merc Honorable Mentions
There are a ton of mercs out there. Some don’t always make the cut right away, but can become solid choices in niche builds.
Anna Lovelace
While she may not be utilized through Embedded, Anna brings a lot to a crew for her cost+tax regardless. Her push and place denial can be key for a section of the board, say against Ten Thunders who love that, and her Ca attacks are excellent. Add in a little Summoning and Rush of Magic into the pool and you have an expensive, but useful tool in your arsenal. It should also be noted that Seishin are great little summons that can help keep Nellie healed as well as supply a little more activation control into the mix too.
Killjoy
The Undead Nephilim butcher plays a strong gimmicky game with several Ronin to pop out of. His strategy doesn’t change much when brought into Guild but giving him extra attacks and Slowing enemy models so they can’t retaliate, plus heals and Fast can make for a very mean clobbering for this big lug. Minimum 5 damage on that Cleaver with Debt is also a true treasure to behold. Just be careful not to miss play your positioning and get your own stuff charged! The aforementioned Ronin and Field Reporters will help a lot here. You could even shepherd him around with Reporters from the beginning of the game if you don’t expect a lot of shooting.
Bishop
I love Bishop. Mostly because he can have 4AP from Nellie and then Paralyze two models with his Haymaker attack. Or double Flurry. That’s pretty cool too. He has solid stats but tends to die fairly easy, so he becomes an amazing sucker for FFM because if the opponent leaves him alone they’ll have a champion cage fighter mucking up all their plans. Bishop is a great take in the right pool but is a bit too expensive to always bring him along.
Ama No Zako
Ama is often a giant scheme runner and interceptor. All of her abilities need specific suits so she can become resource draining if you want to use her fun stuff, but she’s solid enough to hold down a flank on her own. She becomes a nightmare against Gremlins with their majority of Ht1 models and has a solid Obey-like action which helps her utility. Ml5 is her biggest downside, but hopefully she’ll be fighting stuff with the same Df or less and you won’t need to worry about it too much. She’s definitely a niche pick but can do the job you hire her for well.
The Crossroads 7
Having Nellie lead the Band is an interesting proposition but their own weaknesses still bleed over and become an amusing romp instead of a competitive crew. Jack Daw is still the best frontman for them, but if you just have to play with five members (4 mercs and Greed) it would be a fun game, at least. Envy and Lust are the best of the seven by far and are worth considering for their own merits.
Freikorp Trappers/Hans
Snipers have an interesting position in Malifaux. If the board is not set up properly they will dominate and blow the enemy crew off the field, but if there is enough terrain as there should be they then do just OK on their own. Without easy access to I Pay Better or Hans’ errata upgrade they lose some of their effectiveness by just having the one shot per turn after focusing, but adding one in with Nellie can assist an area of the board by keeping the enemy wanting to hug cover. Definitely a consideration, but in GG2017 hanging back and shooting generally does not score VP.
Examples in Practice
Now let’s take a look at some example lists and how they can operate together. Nellie is flexible enough to allow any crew to succeed with solid play, but her crew buffing and synergy is used best to make good models even better.
Guild Sample List
Nellie Cochrane – Misleading Headlines, Delegation, Guild Funds, 4 cache
Printing Press
Phiona Gage – Transparency, Debt to the Guild
Francisco Ortega – Wade In, Debt to the Guild
Peacekeeper – Numb to the World
Field Reporter
Field Reporter
Watcher
This list will use Nellie to maximize your beaters’ efficiency while delaying activations to allow your scheme runners to get up and complete objectives. Nellie, the Printing Press, and Phiona should stick together with Franc and the Peacekeeper being flexible in their placements to protect your flanks or push through an area. This list will suffer with FFM in the pool so adjust accordingly.
Embedded Sample List
Nellie Cochrane, Embedded, Misleading Headlines, Delegation, 5 cache
Printing Press
Phiona Gage – Transparency, Numb to the World
Sue – Debt to the Guild
Burt Jebsen, Debt to the Guild
Johan, Debt to the Guild
Big Jake
Field Reporter
This list will operate fairly similar to the Guild example but with a bit more flexibility in the crew’s application. The maximum amount of Debts give you some wiggle room for another Field Reporter or a Watcher but these will provide some extra punch and cards when you need them. Nellie can provide all the extra activations you may need, anyway. This crew will have different options and deny various opponent plans if they go heavy into Casting or really gun for schemes like Tail’em or FFM.
SLOW EVERYTHING List
Nellie Cochrane, Embedded, Misleading Headlines, Delegation, 5 cache
Printing Press
Aionus – Numb to the World
Allison Dade – Transparency
Hunter
Austringer
Field Reporter
Field Reporter
This list’s gimmick is to Slow as many enemies as possible with Nellie, Aionus and Allison while your other models run schemes. The Hunter and Field Reporters can also dish out the Slow if needed so there are even more options. This list follows the idea that if you have more general AP in your crew than the opponent you will win the game, probably. Being light on killing and focusing on schemes is a hard pill to swallow in Guild but it can prove to be unexpected and surprise opponents who were expecting a fight. The odd leftover stone can be used for another upgrade or just to help your two henchmen stay alive longer.
Strategy and Schemes
Nellie has so many options for crew selection that she can hire a crew to fit into almost any pool and excel. Guild’s weakness is Interference for a lack of solid summoning but at least the inclusion of Big Jake and activation control help mitigate these disadvantages. Nellie is an enabler for your crew and a thorn in the side of your opponent to help deny what they want to do. Control the flow of the game and come out with a win.
Overall Nellie has more options while taking Embedded instead of Guild Funds or any other upgrade. The Mercenaries of Malifaux are so varied in function and application that you can truly field a cavalcade of different models who all excel at their specific job.
What Nellie Hates
If you find yourself on opposite ends of the table as Nellie, just remember that she is weak to getting killed. Many people will read her card and decide she isn’t worthwhile to spend the resources on killing her. However, I can you tell you firsthand that if she is concentrated on, or smashed by a big beater early, she will go down. There is only so much Evidence, low cards in hand, and Soulstones to prevent damage with before she’s taken out. Nellie should be target priority #1. Without her the crew can still function, but they don’t function as well and you aren’t hampered by the bologna she dishes out.
One way to cancel out a lot of Nellie’s effectiveness is by bringing anything that gives negatives to Ca actions or strips suits from the duel totals. Suddenly she has to spend a lot more resources trying to do her normal actions, which are ALL Ca actions. Just be mindful that Interact+Walk+Interact can still score points so she should also be locked down if able. Anything that drains cards in hand will also help you control the Nellie shenanigans. Unlike most masters who don’t care about ditching the weak cards in hand, every card Nellie has is another activation or damage mitigation for herself. If she doesn’t have a hand all of her AP spent on attack actions are at the mercy of her deck.New to Old Old to New A to Z Z to A
26 pages Tagging Public Spaces Billboard advertisers 'tag' our public spaces in the same way that graffiti artists 'tag' walls with their marks. Billboards comic #2.
14 pages The Crudest Form of Advertising Billboards are the crudest form of advertising possible. Billboard advertisers invade our fields of vision with unavoidable images for us to tolerate. Billboards comic #1.
13 pages Deprived of Religion It is inconceivable that I could ever become religious. Becoming religious would contradict principles that I value more highly.
23 pages I Used to Be Racist Growing up in regional Australia in the 1990s, I adopted the casual racism of the schoolyard. As an adult, I had to educate myself out of these racist attitudes.
11 pages Not Talking About Capitalism Capitalism is the single dominant force that shapes our lives today. But for some reason it is taboo to discuss the system that contains us.
22 pages Notel In 1973, researchers visited the last remaining Canadian town without TV reception.
15 pages First Got the Internet In my Nineties kid childhood, internet access was a scarcity. Today, the internet is ubiquitous and is a major distraction.
17 pages Defending Dumbphones I don't own a smartphone, and still choose to use a 'dumbphone'. By doing this, I intentionally limit the time that I am connected to the internet.Meowsu! Gunzou here. This story is made at the suggestion of GAT-X105VividPanzer. This is my first story and it will serve as a platform for more LL stories.
Love Live! School Idol Project and Star Wars belong to their respective owners.
On a certain fiery planet, below the red thunder of a volcano, the purple-haired Dark Lord of the Sith, Toujou Nozomi, had already recovered from sand of black glass the burnt torso and head of what once had been a female Sith warrior, and had already leapt for the cliff bank above without any difficulty.
"Bring the medical capsule immediately!" the shrouded woman ordered to her guards.
She lowered the limbless girl tenderly to the cool ground above, and laid her hand across the cracked and blackened mess that once had been her beautiful face with black hair in twin tails, and she set her will upon the half-dead protégé.
Live, my apprentice. Live.
The injured former Jedi Knight was then transported back to the Imperial Medical Center. A hyper sophisticated prototype DD-13 surgical droid moved away from the patient that it and an FX-6 medical droid had spent many days operating. It turned to a dark-robed shadow that stood at the edge of the light.
"My lord, the repair is finished. She lives."
"Good. Good." Emperor Nozomi walked into the pool of light.
Droids stepped back as she approached the surgical table. On the table, strapped, was Yazawa Nico, the very first patient of the Imperial Medical Center. If someone were to witness the scene, it might have been a pieced-together hybrid of droid and human, encased in a life-support shell of gleaming black that winked against the Lord Nozomi's cloak. The featureless lines and curves of jet-black that served it for eyes appeared inhuman, and the grillwork of its respirator might have suggested the jaws of a predator built of polished blast armor, but to her— it was beautiful. A magnificent jewel box, created to protect her beloved apprentice, the number one Sith in the galaxy. It was terrifying. Mesmerizing. Perfect. The table slowly rotated to vertical, and the Dark Lord leaned close.
-Darth Nico's POV-
The feeling was strange.
"Lord Nico? Lord Nico, can you hear me?"
My breathing comes hard, and harsh. Mechanisms hardwired into my chest breathe for me. They pump oxygen into my bloodstream forever.
"Lord Nico? Lord Nico, can you hear me?"
And I can't, not in the way I once did. A sensor in the shell that covers my head sends information directly into my brain. I slowly open my burnt eyelids. Optical sensors integrate light and shadow into a reddish hue around the place.
"Yes, Master. Where is Maki? Is she safe? Is she alright?" I tried to say, but another voice spoke for me, out from the vocabulator that serves for my burned-away lips and tongue and throat.
My once beautiful voice is now gone… It was replaced by a dull mechanical tone.
"It seems, in your anger, you killed her." The Emperor said.
This burns hotter than the lava had.
No... No, it is not possible!
"I... I couldn't have! She was alive! I felt it!"
I loved her. I will always love her. I could have never killed her. Never. But I suddenly remembered... I remember all of it. I remember my own fury, and the black hatred of seizing her throat to silence her lying mouth.
I did it. I killed her.
I killed her because, finally, when I could have saved Maki, when I could have gone away with her, when I could have been thinking about her, I were thinking about myself... It is in this blazing moment that I finally understand the deceit of the dark side – I went blind and had killed her because I was overpowered by my negative feelings.
I mustered all the anger and hatred that I have been building over the agony of her death… All that I wanted is to destroy everything – Even I wanted to slay the shrouded Dark Lord with her turquoise eyes gleaming at me.
I can't take this anymore.
I let out a scream.
-Emperor Nozomi's POV-
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
My apprentice let out a long wail of agony as she broke free of her bonds in the operating table and slowly trudged forward. Her movements are slow and unsteady, because she is practically using mechanical legs for walking. Her sinister shape is the result of the joint work of the latest medical droids of the Empire's newest medical facility.
I can clearly sense her anger. Her hate. Her pain. All of these feelings are mixing into one dark mass – the Dark Side of the Force. Her Force powers destroyed the medical droids and the equipment surrounding her. Darth Nico will develop into one of the most feared rulers of the galaxy after me. I will use her as I see fit – to enforce our will and influence.
Finally. After all the long time of preparation and struggle, the Dark Side wins.
I found myself grinning cruelly while watching the scene. I know that Nico wants to destroy me after learning what happened to her lover. But she cannot touch me, nor destroy me, because I am the only one she has.
I am her shadow.
I am the only one who understands her. I am the only one who will forgive her, and I am also the only one who will be my stalwart in my schemes.
As Darth Nico continues to anguish I let out an evil laugh.More than a few people have left comments on our Twitter posts related to the Iranian situation wondering if they weren’t really articles by the satirical site, The Onion. Here are two that come to mind, Twitter Reschedules Maintenance To Allow Iranian Protests To Continue and Bush Advisor: Twitter Founders Should Get Nobel Peace Prize. Well, The Onion finally has one of its own. And as you might expect, it’s good.
The post is short, sweet and to the point. But the best parts are the fake quotes by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey:
“Twitter was intended to be a way for vacant, self-absorbed egotists to share their most banal and idiotic thoughts with anyone pathetic enough to read them,” said a visibly confused Dorsey. “When I heard how Iranians were using my beloved creation for their own means—such as organizing a political movement and informing the outside world of the actions of a repressive regime—I couldn’t believe they’d ruined something so beautiful, simple, and absolutely pointless.” Dorsey said he is already working on a new website that will be so mind-numbingly useless that Iranians will not even be able to figure out how to operate it.
In all seriousness, Twitter has been proving to be an amazing tool during this crisis, but I’ll admit that the headlines here and elsewhere often do read like Onion headlines unintentionally.Jerome Bettis explains why there has been so much animosity between the NFL players and Roger Goodell. (1:24)
Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman said that he thinks NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is "straight horrible" and that he has no problem with the nickname of his new team in the cover story in the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine.
ESPN The Magazine
"I'm part Native American on both my mom's and my dad's side. It's kind of a funny thing, though. A redskin playing for the Redskins," he said, in a story written by senior writer Kevin Van Valkenburg.
Norman also said he's the "best cornerback on Earth" and asked when New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. would "grow up."
The issue, which has Norman on the cover, will be available on newsstands Thursday.
Norman's franchise tag was rescinded by the Carolina Panthers this past offseason, and he then signed a five-year, $75 million deal with Washington in April. He told The Magazine that he felt constrained in Carolina, that he was asked to cut down on his trash talk but wouldn't because "I'm not a fake."
He said the team's conservative nature made him expendable.
"They kind of shunned me," he said. "They turned down a lot of stuff for me, interviews, sponsorship deals, stuff I didn't even know about. They wanted it to be about the two main guys, Cam [Newton] and Luke [Kuechly]."
In Washington, he said he thinks he can "grow."
"...[I]t feels like everybody can say whatever they want," he said. "It's a free-flowing kind of place. It's like going from a dictatorship to freedom."
Norman saved some of his most pointed comments for Beckham, whom he scrapped with during a late-season game last season in which both players drew five personal fouls (two against Norman).
Norman, who was head-butted by Beckham, said the effects of that lasted for more than a week.
"Everybody saw what he was," Norman told The Magazine. "People from around the league were coming up to me afterward and saying, 'He does that crap all the time.' He lost so much respect from people for that little tantrum. I've already got a couple people telling me, 'OK, I've got a hit out on him.' It's going to be rough for him this year. And he brought it on himself.
"He's skilled and talented. I won't take that away from him. But he's never been through any adversity in his life. It's like, when are you ever going to grow up?"Defeat is never easy in politics, but it seems especially hard for Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, which has steered Zimbabwe through 28 years of ruinous and often brutal rule.
Harsh crackdowns against dissent, starting with the "Gukurahundi" massacres that left more than 20,000 people dead in the early 1980s to the crackdown against university students in 1988 to the land invasions against white commercial farmers in the late 1990s have created a long list of potential human rights violations by senior members of ZANU-PF.
Prosecution for involvement in these alleged crimes – and for rampant corruption – has given many top ZANU-PF leaders another compelling reason to hang on to power in the wake of Zimbabwe's disputed March 29 elections.
Recent examples of former African dictators – most notably Liberia's former President Charles Taylor who's now on trial for war crimes in The Hague – provide caution for any official facing defeat.
Small reason, then, that ZANU-PF officials and top military commanders are expressing reluctance to hand over power to the opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai, who has pledged a clean sweep of government and a redress of past crimes.
"We cannot allow our liberation war hero [Robert Mugabe] to be humiliated like [former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein]," says a senior ZANU-PF politburo member in Harare, who requested anonymity.
The official claims that the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), plans to send Mr. Mugabe to The Hague to face human rights and war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court in order to please Western countries. He says some countries have already pledged financial support to the opposition party should it emerge victorious.
While much of the international community seems baffled by the two-week long delay for releasing Zimbabwe's election results – in which preliminary tallies show the opposition party to be the winner – the reason for ZANU-PF's intransigence may be a simple matter of staying rich and avoiding prosecution.
Twenty-eight years of unquestioned power is a hard thing to leave behind, and having a military – especially one that is equally implicated in crime and corruption – seems to give the Zimbabwe ruling elite the capacity to hold onto power, no matter what the polls say.
The question now is whether the MDC will give the ruling party confidence that they will receive fair treatment in court.
"Robert Mugabe is a person who is surrounded by idiots, fools, thieves, criminals, unemployable people," says Innocent Kala, one of the founding members of ZANU-PF. Mr. Kala served as Mugabe's minister of home affairs in the 1980s until a falling out. "These crooks are holding him hostage. If he leaves, who will protect them?"
The signs of ZANU-PF's distress are seen in the fact that the once all-powerful party is suddenly negotiating with smaller parties in expectation that when the results from the March 29 election are finally released, neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai will have the 50 percent majority and will have to face a runoff. This outreach stands in stark contrast with Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, which continues to insist that it has |
FILE PHOTO: A restricted area sign is seen outside of the White House in Washington November 27, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
The breaches have further eroded the credibility of the service, whose reputation was already damaged when it was revealed in 2012 that members had hired prostitutes while in Colombia in advance of a trip by then-President Barack Obama.
Joseph Clancy, who replaced Pierson during Obama’s administration, said last month he planned to step down in March, allowing Trump to name his own security chief.Take a cue from Rihanna: If you want to show where your political loyalties lie, put the candidate on your shirt so we know it’s real!
Hours before the third and final presidential debate Rihanna stepped out into the streets of New York City to not-so-subtly announce that #ImWithHer. Rihanna could wear a burlap bag and we would probably yell “slay!”, so her outfit of choice is obviously a winner in our eyes.
Rihanna paired her micro denim Levi’s Vintage shorts with Heritage 6-Inch Waterproof Timberland Boots in Brown Burnished Full Grain, and grey Puma socks peeking out the top. Effortlessly thrown over her arm is a navy Vetements long coat and tightly gripped in her hands is her enviable Louis Vuitton x Frank Gehry box bag. But her accessories aren’t what caught our eye right away; it was her endorsement of Hillary via her t-shirt.
Unfortunately Ms. Bad Gal RiRi can’t vote in the election, but she is doing everything she can to express her support throughout the campaign trail. On the front of her TRAPVILLA limited release t-shirt is a photo of then New York Senator Hillary Clinton rocking a Yankees baseball cap.
Now if you’re thinking that the picture of Hillary Clinton rocking a Yankees cap in a power suit is fake, it is not! This iconic photo was taken back in 1999. Even though Clinton was born and bred in Chicago, she has always been a Yankees fan according to her 1999 interview with Katie Couric on NBC’s “Today Show” before the championship team visited the White House.
"I am a Cubs fan," said Mrs. Clinton. "But I needed an American League team because when you're from Chicago, you cannot root for both the Cubs and the Sox. I mean, there's a dividing line that you can't cross there. So as a young girl, I became very interested and enamored of the Yankees."
Step aside Jay-Z, Hillary Rodham Clinton is making the Yankee cap more famous than even a Yankee can.Obama takes control of climate change policies with executive order that will bypass Congress
President Obama used his executive powers on Friday to create a 'Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. '
Obama's plan would be put in place through executive order, bypassing Congress, which has stalemated over climate legislation in recent years.
A year after Superstorm Sandy devastated the East Coast, the President signed the order which is designed to make it easier for states and local governments to respond to weather disasters.
Trick or treat? President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama give Halloween treats to children at the White House. On Friday Obama used executive powers to create a 'Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience'
The executive order establishes a task force of state and local officials to advise the administration on how to respond to severe storms, wildfires, droughts and other potential impacts of climate change.
The task force includes governors of seven states - all Democrats - and the Republican governor of Guam, a U.S. territory.
Fourteen mayors and two other local leaders also will serve on the task force. All but three are Democrats.
The task force will look at federal money spent on roads, bridges, flood control and other projects.
It ultimately will recommend how structures can be made more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and warming temperatures.
The White House said the order recognizes that even as the United States acts to curb carbon pollution, officials also need to improve how states and communities respond to extreme weather events such as Sandy.
Destruction: Satellite image from October 2012 of Superstorm Sandy on the eastern seaboard. A year after Sandy devastated the East Coast, President Obama signed an order which is designed to make it easier for states and local governments to respond to weather disasters
Building codes must be updated to address climate impacts and infrastructure needs to be made more resilient, the White House said in a statement.
The task force includes Govs. Jerry Brown of California, Jay Inslee of Washington and Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, as well as Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.
The panel also includes several big-city mayors, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Houston Mayor Annise Parker. All three are Democrats.
An administration official who asked not to be identified said the White House asked several organizations, including the National Governors Association, to recommend task force members.
Members were chosen based on those who were recommended or who nominated themselves, the official said.
The official asked to not be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the task force makeup.
Flood: Inundated farmland next to the Mississippi River in Tennessee. The new task force will ultimately recommend how structures can be made more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and warming temperatures
The task force builds on efforts Obama announced in June to combat global warming, including the first-ever limits on climate pollution from new and existing power plants.
Obama's plan is intended to reduce domestic carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent between 2005 and 2020.
The plan also would boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures.Press Release - Wellington Service Disruption
January 22, 2014
Disruption to bus services
On Friday 24 January 2014, some GO Wellington and Valley Flyer bus services will operate a reduced service due to a scheduled Annual General Meeting of the Wellington Tramways Union.
The union represents the majority of GO Wellington, Valley Flyer and Runcimans drivers.
Some GO Wellington and Valley Flyer bus services will be affected between 9am to 3pm. Normal services will operate until 9am and resume after 3pm.
Go Wellington
Normal timetable until 9am
Reduced timetable from 9am to 3pm:
Route 1, 2, 3, 7, 11 services will run a 30 minute frequency (times vary – contact Metlink for further information)
services will run a frequency (times vary – contact Metlink for further information) Route 20 and 21 services will run every 2 hours
and services will run every Route 14 services will run every 1 hour (times vary – contact Metlink for further information)
services will run every (times vary – contact Metlink for further information) Route 9, 10, 14 (Molesworth shuttle only), 29 and 44 services will NOT operate
(Molesworth shuttle only), services will Normal timetable will resume from 3pm.
Routes 8, 17, 22, 23, 24 and 43 services will run to normal timetable.
Route 18 services will run to normal timetable with the exception of two trips – the 9:42am service from Miramar will terminate at Kelburn and the 9:37am service from Karori Park will terminate at Kilbirnie Shops.
Valley Flyer
Normal timetable until 9am
Reduced timetable from 9am to 3pm:
Route 110 and 120 will run a 30 minute frequency (times vary – contact Metlink for further information)
and will run a frequency (times vary – contact Metlink for further information) Route 130 will run a 40 minute service
will run a service Route 150 will run a 45 minute service
will run a service Route 83 will run every 1 hour
will run every Route 121 will run a 2 hour service
will run a service Normaltimetable will resume from 3.00pm
Routes 81, 111, 112, 114, 115, 154, 160 and 170 services will run to normal timetable.
Airport Flyer, Mana and Newlands Coach Services are NOT affected.
We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused to our customers during this time.
For timetable information please visit www.metlink.org.nz or call Metlink on 0800 801 700.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Rachel Drew - NZ Bus Chief Operating Officer, Southern Region
DDI: 04 802 4103
Email: Rachel.Drew@nzbus.co.nzGlam American actresses Emma Stone and Dakota Johnson adorned their pricy Oscars ceremony gowns and handbags with golden Planned Parenthood pins in the shape of the group's logo.
I believe there should be truth in virtue signaling. But bloodied miniature forceps would have clashed with the Givenchy and Gucci outfits worn by the abortion giant's pinup gals.
Since President Trump's reinstatement of the so-called "Mexico City policy" barring taxpayer funding of international nongovernmental organizations that perform and promote abortions, Hollywood progressives have turned up the volume on their abortion radicalism — and opened their wallets.
Golden Globes winner Tracee Ellis-Ross plans to hock 10 massive, red-carpet rings and donate the proceeds to Planned Parenthood. Pop songstress Katy Perry chipped in $10,000. The author of the "Lemony Snicket" children's book series, Daniel Handler, and his wife showered the peddler of harvested fetal organs with $1 million.
"We've been very fortunate," Handler explained, "and good fortune should be shared with noble causes."
"Noble?"
That's not how outspoken health professional Obianuju Ekeocha, an African-born biomedical scientist who grew up in Nigeria and now lives and works in England, sees it.
"The Africans are grateful for the Mexico policy!" she wrote me. Are you listening, Tinseltown?
In response to a campaign by Western feminists and liberal European governments called #SheDecides to raise global funding for abortions, Ekeocha published a bold and informative YouTube video excoriating elitists hellbent on funding and terminating unborn children in Africa -- in defiance of how Africans actually feel about abortion.
Ekeocha noted that a recent Pew Research Center survey on global attitudes about abortion found that the vast majority of those polled in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria believe the practice to be "morally unacceptable."
Ekeocha actually traveled to African neighborhoods and interviewed women about the "noble cause" of elitist abortionists.
Catholic nuns, Muslim schoolgirls, millennial-age young women and elderly grandmothers all made their position clear:
"No to abortion!"
"We love babies, so we do not support abortion."
"We don't need any safe abortion as not[h]ing is safe in killing."
Beneath their costumery of progressive benevolence, liberal Hollywood "helpers" and global do-gooders exhibit a cold indifference toward the actual wants and needs of their supposed beneficiaries in the Third World. They're raising hundreds of millions for abortions, not for food, water and education.
This, Ekeocha accurately diagnoses, is "cultural imperialism."
And, remember, it's marinated in racist eugenics: Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood in 1916 "to stop the multiplication of the unfit." It would be "the most important and greatest step towards race betterment." In an essay included in her writing collection held by the Library of Congress, Sanger urged her abortion clinic colleagues to "breed a race of thoroughbreds." Nationwide "birth control bureaus" would propagate the proper "science of breeding" to stop impoverished, nonwhite women from "breeding like weeds."
Planned Parenthood activists blanketed the Third World with population-control propaganda preaching "the fewer, the merrier" and "Why carry more burdens?"
Outside of the privileged Hollywood bubble, Obianuju Ekeocha speaks for millions in condemning the butchers, predators and enablers of Planned Parenthood.
"They have not helped or furthered the cause and well-being of women in any way at all both in the developed countries and also in the developing countries," she told me. "Yet, they continue to get enormous funding from many western governments and also most unfortunately they get the support of celebrities like Emma Stone and Dakota Johnson who choose to be blinded by extremist (liberal) views that portray the killing of unborn babies as a women's right, progressive, health care, reproductive justice."
Take off your glittering abortion pins and open your minds.
"The truth is that abortion in all its forms is an abhorrent practice. Most people in Africa understand this very well," Ekeocha passionately explains.
"Whether a pre-born baby is killed in a back alley clinic or in an air-conditioned PP clinic, the killing of an unborn child is always barbaric. This is the one lesson we can teach Emma Stone, Dakota Johnson and all the other celebrities who are falling over themselves to support an abortion giant whose only legacy is that of death."The world is awash with bots these days — applications the run either partly or entirely using natural language processing, machine learning, computer vision and other artificial intelligence technologies to help consumers ask and answer questions, buy things and get other stuff done. In the enterprise equivalent, a company that is building something akin to this for large companies and their back-office functions has raised a sizeable round of funding.
UiPath, a startup out of Romania that builds apps for businesses to automate repetitive functions like processing insurance claims, or going through employee onboarding, has raised $30 million in a Series A round of funding led by Accel. The company has been around since 2012 and until now had not announced any funding. This $30 million also includes a $1.6 million seed round it raised last year from Earlybird, Credo Ventures and Seedcamp.
The money will be used to add more sales staff and build out the product more to meet existing demand. “This investment will allow us to introduce the benefits of intelligent RPA [the abbreviation for robotic process automation] to even more businesses around the world and remain at the forefront of a rapidly-advancing industry,” said Daniel Dines, CEO and founder of UiPath.
In its relatively short time in the market, UiPath has tapped into a window of opportunity, as more companies that employ tens of thousands of employees are looking for ways to cut costs and also reorient staff in a more efficient way.
The darkest view of this is that the humans will all eventually get replaced, creating very big questions about where we are going as a society and economy. The more optimistic is that these companies are looking for ways to free up its workers from more mundane things to focus on tasks that require more human interaction and intelligence.
If the former is a question that we’ll inevitably have to ask ourselves in good time, right now it’s the latter that is driving business opportunities for UiPath, and interest from investors. (“At Accel we believe in human-aided AI and our investments have been around that topic, very much a combination,” Accel partner Luciana Lixandru stressed to me.)
UiPath currently counts about 200 large enterprises among its customers, including Lufthansa, Generali, Telenor and Dong Energy, and more widely works with companies in a number of verticals: banking and financial services; insurance; manufacturing; utilities; healthcare and government. About 30 percent of its customers are in the US, with another 40 percent in Europe and 30 percent in Asia.
While business process automation is not a new area — IT companies have been building ways of speeding up paperwork and busywork since the start of what we could even call IT, and even before (let’s call the abacus the first example of business process automation) — we can look at what UiPath is doing as the next generation of how these sorts of services are being built. In short, they are bringing more and more “human” features into the equation.
“In the area of finance, for example, a lot of teams spend time creating reports but don’t require them using as much of their judgment skills, leaving the human employees with little time for the analysing part of their jobs,” noted Lixandru. “A software robot that understands what is happening on the screen using computer vision and performs the task as a human would do it becomes a useful tool.”
“We are making work more inspiring and effective for the people that drive our businesses and economies forward, and the potential that remains untapped for organizations is what makes this such an exciting market to work in,” added Dines.
UiPath provides a platform that brings in various AI tools — ranging from computer vision and machine learning through to natural language processing — that businesses can use to start and develop full-blown software bots.
Things like processing insurance claims usually require more than just basic facts, and that is a good example of the kind of task that is increasingly now getting treated as yet another form that can be processed more automatically. These are usually customised to the task at hand, so unsurprisingly, UiPath also has a large network of partners, some 150 companies that help sell and implement its services. They include integrators like Accenture, Deloitte and Capgemini.
Most of these are for internal processes rather than external, customer-facing tasks, although that is obviously an area that UiPath potentially can develop.
While this is all still an emerging area, there is already competition. They include Automation Anywhere from the US, which appears to have never disclosed any funding but has been around since 2003; among a host of others that cover aspects of the same challenge.
To me, there is a lot of opportunity here if you think that the automation trend is an inevitable one. In addition to the host of companies that are out in the market building solutions like UiPath’s, there are also companies like Amazon that are already using processes like this internally and have been increasingly looking of ways of productizing their own internal tools via their AWS business. That spells competition, but also potentially acquisitions, for the likes of UiPath.What are natural flavors really of?
Why do food companies list “Natural Flavors” as an ingredient? Probably because it sounds more appetizing than “Flavor Extracted From A Beaver’s Ass.”
For some unknown reason, the largest food flavoring company in the world recently revealed a number of revolting secrets to CBS News. Among other things, the story confirmed that “natural flavors come from nature, but not necessarily from what the label implies. For example, strawberry and vanilla flavor can come from the gland in a beaver’s backside.”
That gland is filled with Castoreum, described on Wikipedia as the “yellowish secretion of the castor sac in combination with the beaver’s urine.” According to a study published in the International Journal of Toxicology, the substance has been “used extensively in perfumery and has been added to food as a flavor ingredient for at least 80 years.”
The bottom line is, natural flavor can come from anything in nature, no matter how grotesque. Artificial flavor, meanwhile, refers to a chemical additive that is 100 percent man-made, from scratch. These food flavors are designed from the ground up to be irresistible, addicting, and short-lived, to ensure that once we pop, we can’t stop.
Watch the video below to learn more about faux natural flavors:“When Iraqi forces closed in, IS (Islamic State) militants told us Shia soldiers would murder us and rape our women,” said Fatehi Mohammad, a 64-year-old farmer in a remote desert village in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh province.
Before IS took over his village of Bashmana, there were neither military forces nor minority citizens of any kind in the tiny Sunni enclave, so the villagers had no reason to doubt the IS warnings. “But we told them, we would stay in our home or die,” Mohammad said.
Some families retreated with the militants, but most remained as IS fled to another, more militarized village, he added.
“The first day we were liberated, the Iraqi Army brought biscuits and water to the children,” Mohammad continued, describing the re-capture of his village by Iraqi forces nearly two months ago. “The next day the Hashd Shaabi came in with food and cooking oil.”
Hashd Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units, is the local term for Iraq’s Shia militias, a label soldiers often resent, saying they are neither informal militias nor solely Shia. The units were established as an official government entity last month and have Sunnis, Christians and other minorities making up more than 30 percent of their ranks, according to Ammar Almusawee, a Hashd Shaabi spokesperson.
‘Stay in your homes’
Hashd Shaabi officials also insist they are firmly allied with the Iraqi Army, Kurdish peshmerga forces and the international coalition against IS militants. In the past two months, Hashd Shaabi forces have recaptured more than 80 villages and cut IS' main supply and escape routes, according to commanders.
“We believe in what we are doing,” added Almusawee, who said IS “wants us to go back to sectarian violence.”
Despite their initial defiance, Mohammad said, the IS warnings preyed on the minds of some of the villagers, who told the Hashd Shaabi militiamen they wanted to leave the village.
“Hashd Shaabi soldiers told us, ‘It’s okay, stay in your homes’ and then provided us with food and medicine,” he said.
Nearly two months later, Hashd Shaabi flags flutter at the entrance to Bashmana while, on the main road nearby, small groups of children wave and flash victory signs at passing Hashd Shaabi vehicles.
Task ahead
Winning over villagers' hearts, however, is a small task compared to the next challenge for the Hashd Shaabi forces. They have been tasked to lead the charge toward Tal Afar, a northwestern city strategically located between Mosul and the Syrian border, where IS is expected to put up fierce resistance.
The Tal Afar airport is already held by Hashd Shaabi, and fighters have gradually closed in on the city since the operation to re-take Mosul began in mid-October.
“Tal Afar is between Mosul and Syria,” said Sheikh Kareem al-Kharkani, a Hashd Shaabi brigade commander. “The liberation of Tal Afar will mean Islamic State in Mosul is finished.”
But the battle for Tal Afar may be long and arduous as local families and civilians forced to retreat with the militants are expected to be used as human shields, says al-Kharkani.
“We, as Iraq forces, use airplanes and mortars,” explains al-Kharkani. “Because IS in Tal Afar uses civilians as shields we can’t use our heavy weapons. We are asking civilians to flee the city any way they can.”
Winter delays
In recent days, some operations on the Western front have halted as forces contend with winter in the desert, where the dusty terrain has turned into vast fields of cold mud.
However the weather has not deterred the extremists from attacking their lines with munitions-laden cars. Several soldiers were wounded in the past week in attacks involving at least eight car bombs.
“We fought with them and the militants ran away,” said 25-year-old Mohaned, a Hashd Shaabi soldier stationed on top of an earthen berm that extends out of eyesight.
Witnesses say the battle lasted for hours, with heavy fire coming from both sides. But this fight, soldiers say, was small compared to the battles behind and in front of them.
“I’m willing to sacrifice anything,” said Morthana, another soldier outside a Hashd Shaabi base. “Not just for Shia, but for everyone.”The heart is located under the rib cage, to the left of the breastbone (sternum) and between the lungs. Your heart is an amazing organ. Shaped like an upside-down pear, this fist-sized powerhouse pumps five or six quarts of blood each minute to all parts of your body.
The Heart and Blood Vessels
Large red vessel (the aorta) - Large artery that carries blood from of the left ventricle to the arteries of the body.
Large blue vessel (vena cava) _(includes the superior and inferior vena cava) - _Large vein that empties blood into the right atrium of the heart.
Front View (Anterior) of the Heart
Outside View of the Back (Posterior) of the Heart
Coronary veins (in blue) - take oxygen-poor ("deoxygenated") blood that has already been "used" by muscles of the heart and returns it to the right atrium.
Circumflex artery - supplies blood to the left atrium and the side and back of the left ventricle.
Left coronary artery - divides into two branches (the circumflex artery and the left anterior descending artery).
Left anterior descending artery (LAD) - supplies blood to the front and bottom of the left ventricle and the front of the septum.
Pulmonary veins - bring oxygen-rich blood back to the heart from the lungs.
Right coronary artery (RCA) - supplies blood to the right atrium, right ventricle, bottom portion of the left ventricle and back of the septum.
Inside the Heart
The heart is a four-chambered, hollow organ.
It is divided into the left and right side by a muscular wall called the septum. The right and left sides of the heart are further divided into:
Two atria - top chambers, which receive blood from the veins and
Two ventricles - bottom chambers, which pump blood into the arteries
The atria and ventricles work together, contracting and relaxing to pump blood out of the heart.
As blood leaves each chamber of the heart, it passes through a valve. There are four heart valves within the heart:
Mitral valve
Tricuspid valve
Aortic valve
Pulmonic valve (also called pulmonary valve)
The tricuspid and mitral valves lie between the atria and ventricles. The aortic and pulmonic valves lie between the ventricles and the major blood vessels leaving the heart.
The heart valves work the same way as one-way valves in the plumbing of your home, preventing blood from flowing in the wrong direction.
Each valve has a set of flaps, called leaflets or cusps. The mitral valve has two leaflets; the others have three. The leaflets are attached to and supported by a ring of tough, fibrous tissue called the annulus. The annulus helps to maintain the proper shape of the valve.
The leaflets of the mitral and tricuspid valve are also supported by tough, fibrous strings called chordae tendineae. These are similar to the strings supporting a parachute. The chordae tendineae extend from the valve leaflets to small muscles, called papillary muscles, which are part of the inside walls of the ventricles.
Learn more about your heart valves or valve disease.
The normal aortic valve
The normal mitral valve
Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email PrintI’m sure most of you are familiar with the wondrous Japanese toilet, especially since Tofugu has written before about some of the specialness that is the Japanese potty. However, no matter how much you’ve read, you might find yourself unprepared with the reality of trying to use a Japanese toilet. Thus, I’m going to walk you through where to find the restroom in Japan and some of what might be in store for you once you’re inside.
So let’s say you’re in Japan, and you find yourself in need of the facilities. You’ll reliably find restrooms in department stores, other large stores, large facilities (e.g., the Tokyo International Forum), and museums or other tourist facilities. You can usually also find restrooms in restaurants and transportation facilities like train stations. And speaking of transportation, bathrooms are generally available on long-distance trips (i.e. on trains and some buses), but not necessarily on shorter distance subway trains and the like. So how do you choose which facility to give your “business” to? Personally, I recommend avoiding outdoor tourist attractions and transportation stations – my worst experiences with unpleasant bathrooms have been at these locations. My best experiences have been at department stores and other large commercial facilities. Keep in mind that if you’re disabled or otherwise need assistance, you’ll need to pick your facilities carefully — and allow plenty of time to do so — as Japan is far from barrier-free.
Asking About The Bathroom
Taking our hypothetical Japanese visit a step further, let’s assume you’re at Mitsukoshi, a large department store, getting your shop on, when you realize that the six cups of tea you drank at the sushi restaurant is catching up to you. You’ll probably find signs indicating where the restrooms are, but if you can’t find any, you can just ask where the restroom is. You want to say something along the lines of:
すみません、トイレはどこですか？
Excuse me. Where is the restroom?
“Toire” should work, but a Japanese bathroom can also be referred to as “otearai”, “keshoushitsu”, or “benjo.” If you’re not having any luck with “toire”, try subbing in one of these other words in its place. If that doesn’t work, just say all the words in succession without any of the other stuff. When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Enter The Bathroom
Once you do find the restroom, don’t worry: although you’ve probably heard stories about Japanese bathroom etiquette and how you’ll horrify people by wearing shoes into the restroom, the vast majority of public facilities will not expect you to change into bathroom slippers. If you’re at an inn or someone’s home, or if you see plastic/rubber slippers inside the bathroom, take your shoes off and put on the slippers (they’re there for a reason, after all). If there are no slippers then your shoes should be just fine.
Using The Toilets
Inside the restroom, you’ll probably encounter a mix of Western toilets and traditional Japanese toilets. Rarely, you’ll find only the (apparently) intimidating Asian squat toilet. For a moment, let’s pretend you’re in the countryside, and the only facility in front of you is said squat toilet. This is the kind of toilet that tends to give Westerners the most pause, but the process here is pretty simple. Face the hood of the toilet, lower your pants (or lift your skirt), squat, and take care of things.
As intimidating as the hood may appear, being close to it is important; what you definitely don’t want to do is miss the toilet, which can happen if you don’t get close enough to the hood. Sometimes there is a bar or other plumbing that you can hold onto to help your balance while squatting or standing up. Once you’re done, you flush – there shouldn’t be any strange buttons. Congratulations on successfully defeating the squat toilet!
What you are more likely to encounter in restrooms are Western style toilets, which come in two flavors: plain and Enterprise. I feel confident you can manage the plain toilet on your own. But let’s imagine the very common scenario where you roll into the bathroom and find a throne complete with an electronic panel with fifteen buttons. The common Japanese term for this style of toilet is the “washlet,” but I like to call this the Enterprise, because the quantity of buttons sometimes makes it feel like you’re piloting a starship.
That panel can be intimidating, so let’s walk through some of the more common buttons that you’ll see:
“ビデ” activates the bidet
“おしり” activates the bidet nozzle, but angles it toward your bottom
“水勢” adjusts the pressure of the bidet functions
“音姫”, literally the “sound princess”, makes a noise to conceal the sounds you’re making
“音量” adjusts the volume of any music the toilet makes
“止” stops whatever the toilet is doing
“乾燥” activates a blow dryer to help you out
“強” makes the spray stronger
“弱” makes the spray weaker
“ノズル” changes things related to the bidet nozzle
“前” moves the nozzle forward
“後” moves the nozzle backward
“脱臭” activates a deodorizer
“暖房便座” warms the seat (and is amazing)
“マッサージ” activates a massaging function
“流す” flushes the toilet
“準備中” indicates whether the toilet is in a power-saving mode
I’d love to tell you that this is an exhaustive list of the things you might see on a Japanese toilet, but I’d be lying to you. Knowing these will go a long way to helping you get by, but you’ll see lots and lots of variations.
Flushing & Washing
So, you’ve finished your business, used the bidet, and had the toilet seat dry you off (how decadent!). Now you need to flush. You look at the panel of buttons, but there’s no flush button. Take Douglas Adams’s advice and don’t panic. First, stand up and examine the toilet (note that standing may cause the toilet to flush: success!). Even complicated Enterprise toilets frequently have a standard chrome flush handle like you’re used to, although the handle might be smaller or it might be in a not-so-obvious place. But… let’s say you don’t find a flush handle. Your next move is to look for a sensor to cover up that will flush the toilet for you. If there’s a sensor, it might be on the back of the toilet, or it might be near the panel. If you can’t find a sensor, my final piece of advice (and one that should be your last resort) is to start pushing any buttons that you don’t recognize. I recommend doing this last, because occasionally these buttons summon a person to the bathroom: not the best end to your Enterprise experience.
Now that you’ve finished with the toilet, you need to wash your hands. You exit the stall and you’re looking for a place to wash up, and… wait, let’s back up. For some Japanese toilets, you can omit the step of exiting the stall, because there will be a faucet on top of the toilet. I’ve never seen one with soap, but if you carry your own soap, you have the option of washing your hands on your toilet at this point. If that freaks you out too much, you’ll need to find a sink. This part is really easy, because sinks generally look the same as they do back home.
The most complicated setup I’ve encountered involved a fully automated sink where you had to wave your hand in one place for soap, another for water, and then somewhere else for the hand dryer, all in a row. So, if there’s no obvious way to turn on the tap, be prepared to look silly and wave your hands around. Soap is frequently, but not always, provided in public restrooms in Japan. Even when soap is provided, my experience has been that a lot of the soap is thin and doesn’t smell nice. Between the occasional lack of soap and the not-so-great quality of some of it, my suggestion is to carry soap if you’re going to be out and about in strange places. You’ll probably also want to carry some sort of cloth to dry your hands with and maybe a bit of toilet tissue as well. Hand dryers or paper towels are common but not universal. I read a lot of guidebooks before my first trip to Japan, and it was pretty common for them to act like toilet tissue isn’t provided anywhere in Japan. As a result, I carried a travel roll of Charmin (they do make such a thing) with me all over Japan, but I never had a reason to use it. Having said that, carrying a small packet of tissue with you just in case isn’t a terrible idea; just don’t worry that you’re going to have to use it everywhere. Or, you can be like a lot of Japanese and carry a handkerchief or small towel around with you to dry off your hands.
Congratulations, Toilet Graduate!
Now that you’ve read this, you are fully equipped to carry out bodily functions in Japan. If you’re curious about just how wacky Japanese toilets can be, you should check out these:
Oh and we can't forget something for the kids!
In short, Japanese potty options encompass things like jeweled toilets, poop-powered motorcycles, and toilets that examine your output for medical information. Useful, but perhaps a little creepy. If you’re in Tokyo and you want to tour the toilets of the future, head over to Toto’s showroom in Shinjuku. Toto is the pillar of Japanese toilet creations; they developed the poop motorcycle and trademarked the term “washlet”, to give you an idea of how important they are. Their showroom contains the latest and greatest in Japanese bathroom fixtures.
Whether you visit the Toto showroom, conquer your first squat toilet, or accidentally summon a helper to your stall, I hope you have great experiences with your Japanese facilities. Good luck out there!Photograph by Evan Mah
No Atlanta burger packs as much star power as the one Linton Hopkins debuted at Holeman and Finch Public House in 2008. Local and national publications fell over each other praising this double-stack, and I counted myself as one of its most ardent fans. For two years, I averaged two a month, back when the restaurant cooked only 24 a night and you had to arrive at 8 p.m. to reserve a patty that wouldn’t see a flattop for another two hours. Today, there’s no scarcity of H&F cheeseburgers, available in unlimited supply at the pub, Turner Field, and Ponce City Market.
Recently I told Hopkins that I thought I knew how he made his cheeseburger. Kindly, he offered a few pointers on my recipe. After a few trial runs, I landed on what I believe to be a near-identical reconstruction. Sourcing the right ingredients takes more time than the actual cooking part, so plan ahead. You’ll need a mandoline (which yields precise, near-translucent slivers of onion) and a flattop griddle (which gives you control over the temperature and offers enough room to cook multiple burgers at once). And ask the butcher to double-grind the brisket, if you can sit tight for 15 minutes. The wait is worth it, and you’ll never have to leave your house for a burger ever again.
Ingredients for 4 burgers
1 pack H&F hamburger buns, available at H&F Bakery
1 jar H&F bread and butter pickles, available at H&F Burger in Ponce City Market
1 pack Kraft American Singles
1 large red onion
1 pound grass-fed ground chuck (85/15 blend)
1 pound grass-fed double-ground brisket
Butter, melted
Kosher salt
Special Equipment
Black+Decker Griddle
Mandoline
Instructions
Ask your butcher for 1 pound each of grass-fed ground chuck (85/15 blend) and grass-fed ground brisket. I went to |
alglish (Shadowdance)
Mur Lafferty (Shambling Guide)
Jeff Wheeler (Muirwood)
B.V. Larson (Unspeakable Things)
Stephen Leather (Nightingale)
Christian Cantrell (Kingmaker)
Aaron Pogue (Godlander’s War)
Robert Kroese (Mercury Series)
There are of course many more, but these are the fantasy authors that immediately pop into my head. On this list there are several who earn in excess of seven figures (Howey & Hocking), a number I know are in the six-figure ranges (Sullivan, Ryan, Mallory, Dalglish, Wheeler, Larson) and the few remaining do “quite well.” So these hybrids who have had a foot in both worlds have essentially been “double vetted” once by the readers, and once by their acquisition editors and their success reflects this.
The Bottom Line
Here’s how I see the whole self verses traditional in terms of success and failure. They are pretty darn close to identical.
Most books will fail (not make it out of the query-go-round or sell very few copies)
Only a few will hit the bestsellers classification (Howey & Hocking in self and Sanderson & Rothfuss in traditional)
A fair number will be good mid-list performers and in this midlist area, they will sell relatively similar number of books. The self-published sales will be lower priced and almost exclusively ebooks, the traditional will be a mix between print and ebook.
As to earnings…my take is this
The truly “unworthy books” hurt the self-published author as they are likely to incur out of pocket costs that will never be earned back, while those going the traditional route will only lose time (as they constantly flail on the query-go-round).
Books that are “good but not great” are probably better off self-published. These are the ones that will earn a small profit $500 – $2,000. Not enough to live off of but their investment costs will be recouped. The same book if sent the traditional route would probably be turned down by agents/large publishers but might get picked up by a small press which will sell a very few number of books and provide little in terms of royalty.
The books with blockbuster potential – will do the best in traditional. It has the infrastructure to move the large quantity of books required and people like Rowlings, King, Patterson will do well even with their small percentages.
For those in the midlist (if considering a purely financial decision) self-publishing will do better in self than traditional. The reason for this is the income earned per book is much higher even though the overall price may be lower. Also rankings of self-published books tend to be higher as it’s an easier to get someone to pay $3.99 rather than $6.99 – $9.99.
So, self or traditional has equal chances of success or failure. Which one an author should choose will come down to their goals and abilities. There is no universal “right” choice…just one that will best fit a particular author at a particular time, and as the hybrid movement continues to grow, I think we’ll find that what may have been the “right choice” at one point in time may mean “going the other way” later on. A savvy author keeps their eyes and options open and flexibility will be the thing that works the most in their favor.ST. PAUL -- The NHL issued a memo to all teams on Tuesday requiring that their goaltenders become compliant regarding new, smaller pants. In an effort to help boost scoring by making the size of goaltender's equipment smaller, all goaltenders will be required to make the switch no later than Feb. 4.
While some goalies around the League have already began using the new pants, others, like Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kuemper, have only experimented in practice.
While not all goaltender equipment is equal -- some around the League have gained a reputation for wearing bigger equipment than others -- Dubnyk is one that should have an easier time adjusting because he is known to wear reasonably sized pads.
The struggle for both him and Kuemper will come from making the adjustment mid-season, instead of having time during training camp and in the preseason to get used to the new pants and stretch them out a bit.
"It's just the principle of doing it midseason," Dubnyk said on Wednesday. "For myself personally, I'm not big on changing gear. I wear gear for a long time and I've never switched a pair of pants mid-year in my whole career. It's just frustrating to be forced to do it."
Dubnyk praised the work of Kay Whitmore, the man in charge with signing off on all equipment used by goaltenders League wide, on making sure goalies are wearing safe equipment.
"It's not about the specs or anything like that," Dubnyk said. "Kay is doing a good job making sure the protection is there. It's just being forced to change equipment in the middle of the season when we're playing every other day."
Kuemper said he has worn the new pants for "eight to 10 practices" and may try them out in a game before the Feb. 4 deadline.
While the pants fit differently along the hips -- Kuemper said he's noticed pucks are bouncing differently off the sides of the new pants -- the biggest difference is in the groin area.
The front of the pants are not expected to be provide any less protection, but Kuemper said he was clipped on the inside of his leg by a shot in practice Wednesday, an area that would have been padded before but no longer is.
With no padding there, it could increase the size of a goaltender's five hole, but could also post safety risks that the League will have to keep an eye on moving forward.
"Just the way certain pucks come in and hit you, there's not as much padding as there used to be," Kuemper said. "I think they're trying to figure out ways to make it better. Hopefully they'll come up with something soon."The Iowa State Patrol said the driver of a semi-truck that disobeyed a posted weight limit on a Winneshiek County bridge that collapsed could face charges.
A small bridge with a 3 ton weight limit collapsed after a feed truck drove over it on Friday, May 5, 2017. It now sits in the Upper Iowa River in Winneshiek County. (Courtesy: DecorahNews.com)
The patrol said round 9:15 a.m. on May 5, 29-year-old Justin Hippen of Parkersburg was driving a Sinclair Milling truck west on Cattle Creek Road when he crossed the Upper Iowa River on Daley's Bridge.
The truck made it almost across before the bridge collapsed into the river. The truck ended up stuck on the westside concrete support. Hippen was not injured.
The patrol said damage to the bridge was about $775,000 and about $1,700 to the truck.
The county engineer determined the truck weighed more than 30 tons, but the bridge had a posted weight limit of 3 tons. It's located between Coldwater Creek and Chimney Rock, east of Cresco.
Following the collapse, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources closed that portion of the Upper Iowa River to canoes and river rafters until the river is cleared of debris. The DNR said that should be sometime this weekend.
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PREVIOUS STORY:
Canoes and river rafters are barred from an area along the Upper Iowa River. That's because the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office wants to make sure it's safe.
Friday morning the Winneshiek County Engineer's Office contacted the Sheriff's Office to warn them of a bridge collapse. When deputies arrived, they found the bridge on Cattle Creek Road which was once over the Upper Iowa River, now sitting in the water.
The bridge is located between Coldwater Creek and Chimney Rock, east of Cresco.
DecorahNews.com reports a feed truck carrying at least 15 tons of grain drove over the bridge, which clearly had a 3 ton weight limit. Pictures show the truck stuck, with part of it hanging over the collapsed bridge.
County Engineer Lee Bjerke later determined the feed truck to weigh more than 30 tons.
No one was hurt.President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE’s son-in-law Jared Kushner flatly denied colluding with the Russian government during the 2016 election, saying in prepared remarks released early Monday morning that he had no improper contacts with Russian officials and did not know of anyone in the Trump campaign who colluded with Moscow.
The remarks, which run 11 pages and were released just hours before Kushner met with Senate Intelligence Committee staff, describe several encounters with Russian representatives, including the now-infamous meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and a woman described as a Russian government lawyer offering dirt on Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE.
But in each case, Kushner downplayed the interactions. He pushed back on press reports of his dealings with Russian officials, denying that he tried to organize a “secret back channel” with the Russians and saying that he is “skeptical” two particular reported calls with the Russian ambassador during the campaign took place.
“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government,” Kushner said.
Kushner will also appear before the House Intelligence panel on Tuesday. Both committees are probing Russian interference in the election.
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Throughout the document, Kushner paints himself as a hard-working campaign aide sometimes operating beyond his experience level.
“My experience was in business, not politics,” Kushner wrote, describing his role in the campaign as including finance and scheduling, as well as serving as a point of contact for foreign government officials. “All of these were tasks that I had never performed on a campaign previously.”
His actions, he said, “should be viewed through the lens of a fast-paced campaign with thousands of meetings and interactions, some of which were impactful and memorable and many of which were not.”
Kushner, now a senior White House adviser, said that he is "happy to share information" with investigating bodies and has "nothing to hide."
"The record and documents I am providing will show that I had perhaps four contacts with Russian representatives out of thousands during the campaign and transition, none of which were impactful in any way to the election or particularly memorable," he said.
Kushner said he did not even recall having the June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer and the president’s oldest son until he came across documents and emails at the request of congressional investigators. The meeting, which was also attended by a handful of other people, including top campaign aide Paul Manafort and a well-known Russian-American lobbyist, has become a flashpoint in the speculation surrounding the Trump campaign’s relationship to Moscow.
Kushner attended the meeting at Trump Jr.'s request, he said, describing this as a standard courtesy between the two men.
But upon arriving late to the meeting, he said that the conversation had already turned to Russian adoptions. Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2012 blocked adoptions from Russia by U.S. citizens in response to sanctions imposed on Moscow over human rights violations. Both the lawyer and the Russian-American lobbyist had been working to remove those restrictions.
Kushner said he had no idea why the subject had been raised, and that he believed the meeting would be a waste of his time.
"Reviewing emails recently confirmed my memory that the meeting was a waste of our time and that, in looking for a polite way to leave and get back to my work, I actually emailed an assistant from the meeting after I had been there for ten or so minutes and wrote 'Can u pls call me on my cell? Need excuse to get out of meeting,’ ” he wrote.
Kushner said he had no followup to the meeting, there was no exchange of documents and he did not recall all of the people present.
He also pushed back on press reports that he tried to set up a back-channel line of communications with Moscow.
After Trump won the election, Kushner said the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, contacted him for a meeting. The meeting eventually occurred on Dec. 1 at Trump Tower, and was also attended by Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Kushner said he wanted Kislyak to identify the best person to start a dialogue about improving relations between Moscow and Washington, something he told investigators is a sign that the campaign had no previous contact with Russia on the matter.
"The fact that I was asking about ways to start a dialogue after Election Day should of course be viewed as strong evidence that I was not aware of one that existed before Election Day," he wrote.
During that meeting, Kislyak told Kushner that he wanted to convey information from what he called Russian “generals” that would “help inform the new administration.”
According to Kushner, Kislyak asked if there was a secure line in the transition office to conduct a conversation with those generals. The transition office did not have that capability, and Kushner says he asked if there was “an existing communications channel” at the Russian embassy that they could use to talk to Flynn. Kislyac said no, according to Kushner, and the matter was postponed until after the inauguration.
“Nothing else occurred. I did not suggest a ‘secret back channel,’ ” Kushner wrote. “I did not suggest an on-going secret form of communication for then or for when the administration took office. I did not raise the possibility of using the embassy or any other Russian facility for any purpose other than this one possible conversation in the transition period. We did not discuss sanctions.”
He also denied any meaningful relationship with Kislyak, who has become a key figure in the ongoing drama surrounding Trump’s transition and Russia.
Although he allows that he met him briefly at an April campaign event at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, where Trump gave a foreign policy speech widely seen as friendly toward Russia, Kushner said he could not even remember his name the day after the election.
Kushner says that he has scoured his phone records but that he is “skeptical” that he participated in two other phone calls with Kisylak, reported by Reuters to have taken place between April 2016 and November.
After meeting with Kislyak on Dec. 1, he says that he did accept a meeting with another Russian individual, Sergey Gorkov, identified by Kislyak as someone with a direct line to Putin. He took the Dec. 13 meeting on Kislyak’s insistence, Kushner said.
Gorkov presented Kushner with two gifts — a piece of art from the village where Kushner's grandparents had come from and a bag of dirt from that village.
While Gorkov discussed his hope that relations between Russia and Washington would improve, Kushner said there was no discussion of sanctions imposed by the outgoing Obama administration.
Kushner also defended the numerous edits he has been forced to make to disclosure forms filed with the government to acquire a security clearance.
He has faced scrutiny for omitting several of the encounters he described with Russian officials, omissions that if intentional would be a felony. Some lawmakers have called into question whether he should have his privileges revoked in light of those corrections.
Kushner characterized the omissions as an honest mistake made by an assistant, not an effort to hide Russian contacts. The mistakes were quickly corrected, he said.
All of his foreign contacts were initially missing from disclosure forms filed with the government, he said, not just the encounters with Russian officials.
"Over the last six months, I have made every effort to provide the FBI with whatever information is needed to investigate my background," he wrote. “I have tried to be fully transparent with regard to the filing of my SF-86 form, above and beyond what is required.”
Kushner added that he has made it a practice not to appear in the media or "leak information in my own defense."
"I have tried to focus on the important work at hand and serve this President and this country to the best of my abilities," his statement said.
“Hopefully, this puts these matters to rest.”
—Updated at 11:03 a.m.The time to prove your skills on the battlefield has finally come!
We are setting up a great Gary Grigsby’s Operation Torch Tournament and we are inviting you all to take part in this event! Please note that the base game Gary Grigsby’s War in the West and the Operation Torch expansion are required for participation, as this tournament uses a scenario from Operation Torch.
The first round will start on December 14, 2015 so sign up and start practicing!
It would not be right to have a tournament without prizes, so of course you will not only be fighting for glory and bragging rights! To make things more appetizing, some nice prizes are also up for grabs!
To apply you have only to reply to the forum thread here
Please read through the rules below:
1. We are accepting a maximum of 16 players for this tournament. You may sign up for the tournament through the forum. Applications will be accepted in the order received.
2. There will be three rounds total, the initial round, a semi-final round for the top 4 players, and a final round for the winners of the semi-finals.
3. The tournament scenario will be played twice in each round, once per side against the same opponent (thus 2 games in each round). These games should be played simultaneously.
4. The scenario to be played is Rommel Attacks 43 (5 turns) using the PBEM++ (server) system. Upload and Download ratios will be monitored to ensure fair games.
5. Unless arranged with your opponent and the tournament staff beforehand, Players must complete their turns within 48 hours of the time that their opponent completed their last turn or they forfeit. If your opponent forfeits, you will receive the minimum “Minor Victory” level for the scenario in terms of your victory point ratio.
6. Players must provide their user login names so tournament officials can check final scores on the server.
7. Players are welcome to post AARs of any of their games on the Matrix forum.
8. Prizes to be awarded:
1st place: $ 100 Matrix Games Store voucher
2nd place: $ 50 Matrix Games Store voucher
Two runners up: $ 25 Matrix Games Store voucher
The First Round (16 Players)
1. The first round games will begin no later than December 14, 2015, and must be completed by January 4, 2016
2. Each player will be matched randomly with an opponent for the first round
3. The top 4 players from the first round will be determined by comparing the total number of points scored during both games as a ratio of friendly points to enemy points. The players with the 4 highest ratios will advance to the semi-final.
The Semi-Final Round (4 Players)
1. The player with the highest ratio from the First Round will play the player with the 4th highest ratio, with the 2nd and 3rd highest players playing each other.
2. The semi-final round will begin by January 6, 2016 and must be completed no later than January 26, 2016.
The Championship Round (2 Players)
1. The winners of the 2 semi-final matches will face each other in a final round match that will begin by January 29, 2016 and be completed by February 12, 2016.The United States has ruled out a separate trade deal with UK if it leaves the European Union, in a major blow to Brexit campaigners.
President Obama’s most senior trade official said that America is “not in the market” for a free trade deal with Britain alone, and warned British firms could face crippling Chinese-style tariffs outside the EU.
The comments come as David Cameron pushes the EU to complete a major transatlantic free trade deal that could slash the cost of American food, clothing and computers for British consumers, as well as making it easier for British firms to export.
Downing Street says the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could be worth £10 billion a year to the British economy, or £400 per family, and will revive the entire European economy.
Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
The intervention – a hint that the White House is alarmed at the tightness of the polls – was cheered by pro-EU campaigners. The ‘Out’ campaign has always claimed that Britain would quickly win new deals around the world.
Mr Froman said: "I think it's absolutely clear that Britain has a greater voice at the trade table being part of the EU, being part of a larger economic entity.”
"We're not particularly in the market for FTAs [free trade agreements] with individual countries. We're building platforms that other countries can join over time."
"We have no FTA with the UK so they would be subject to the same tariffs – and other trade-related measures - as China, or Brazil or India.”
Photo: Getty
Hours later, however, John Key, the New Zealand Prime Minister, said that Britain could probably retain any deals his country secured with the EU following a Brexit.
Mr Key, who was in Brussels to launch talks for a free trade deal with the EU, said after a British exit, “we would want to preserve both our existing position with Great Britain and continue to grow that relationship.
“We would need to find a way through that,” he said. “The reality is there are a number of mechanisms where that would be possible.”
Sir Nigel Sheinwald, the former British Ambassador to both the United States and the EU, said: “Michael Froman's comments present those wanting to leave the EU with an inconvenient truth: that a major trade and investment partner, the US, sees no influential role for the UK in international trade negotiations if we go it alone.
“Outside the EU we would stand in line behind the big trading blocs. The US Trade Representative has done us a service by telling it like it is.”
The US bought more than £35 billion in goods from British firms last year. The EU falls under the United States’ "most-favoured-nation tariff" group, with an average rate of less than three per cent of a product’s value.
By contrast, China-made products such as car tyres and solar panels face tariffs more than 80 per cent of the products’ value in order to protect American manufacturing jobs.
Hardest hit would be the flourishing British car industry, with the US its second-largest export market after the EU.
If Britain left the EU and was not in TTIP, manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover would be hit by a 2.5 per cent tariff and at a disadvantage to German and Italian-made competitors.
Downing Street has warned that Britain would lose access to 52 separate EU trade deals after a Brexit, with no guarantee of replacing them.
Robert Oxley, of the Vote Leave campaign, said: “If we leave the EU there would be no change to our trade with America, but we would take back control over trade policy and would be able talk to Washington directly, instead of hoping that the EU will do it for us.”
Photo: GETTY IMAGES
William Dartmouth, the Ukip trade spokesman, said: "The US is nothing if not pragmatic, and when situations change, so do their positions."
The Prime Minister has used a visit to Iceland, a member of the EEA free trade zone but which is not in the EU, to warn that Britain would lose access to more than 50 trade agreements between Brussels and the rest of the world if it quit, with no guarantee they would be restored.
China last week called for Britain to stay in the EU. Beijing has been worried about the implications of free trade-supporting Britain leaving the EU, and of any weakening of a grouping which it views as a vital counter balance to the United States, diplomats say.
Peter Mandelson, the former British EU Commissioner, last week warned that India and China would be in no rush to sign deals with an independent Britain, as they have “bigger fish to fry”.
“How would we start negotiating with China, India and other countries, which are way bigger than ours, with whom there would be a very severe negotiating imbalance? We would essentially be supplicants. We would be begging to go nearer the top of the queue.”Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week.
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Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted into a courthouse in Fort Meade, Maryland, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, before a pretrial military hearing. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Ad Policy
Today begins the court-martial of Private First Class Bradley Manning, Wikileaks’ source inside the US military. Because Manning was arrested over three years ago, the global news media have already written much about the young soldier from Crescent, Oklahoma. And though news accounts have frequently gotten the facts right (he’s 25, was deployed to FOB Hammer in the Mada’in Qada desert of Iraq, is 5 foot 2), most reports have written about the big issues that collide in this case without the slightest sense of context and perspective, leading to all kinds of basic errors and distortions—for instance that the leaks were “top secret”; that Wikileaks is on a “utopian” quest for “total transparency,” that Manning did what he did not for political but for psychological (or sexual!) reasons. As Pfc. Manning’s court-martial proceeds over the next three to four months in Ft. Meade, you can bet that media reports will continue to put across the same funhouse distortions. So to kick off my blog coverage of the court-martial for The Nation, here’s a quick debunking trip through the thickets of folklore that have sprung up around this case.
First, it is routinely asserted or implied that Manning declassified the field reports and diplomatic cables because he is a nut job, or because he is gay, or because he is a gay nut job. In fact, Manning’s motive was expressly political: “I want people to see the truth…regardless of who they are…because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” People can disagree about the consequences of Manning’s leak, but his motive for declassifying the documents is plainly stated, and it has nothing to do with his mental health or sexuality. As former infantry soldier Ethan McCord (seen through the helicopter gunsight camera in the leaked “Collateral Murder” video rescuing wounded children from a shot-up van) wrote, to fixate on Manning’s sexuality “erases Manning’s political agency.”
Another common smear, Myth #2, is that Bradley Manning and Wikileaks are “utopian,” probably the worst curse word in educated English, carrying as it does connotations of extremism and intolerance wrapped in naïveté, or that they are “idealists,” almost as bad. But is there anything “utopian” about declassifying less than 1 percent of what Washington classifies in a given year (92 million documents at last count)? Manning’s leak, though the largest security breach in US history, has not put us on the precipice towards “total transparency,” a mystical condition which neither Manning nor Wikileaks has ever called for or even mentioned. The young soldier’s act is best seen as a very practical, defensive move against dystopian levels of government secrecy—again, the classified material that Manning leaked is less than 1 percent of the 92 million documents that Washington annually declares a state secret. (According to the feds’ own Information Security Oversight Office, the annual cost of all this classification is about $11 billion.)
A corollary (Myth #3) is that Wikileaks is “anti-American,” perhaps because it palpably disapproves of the US invasion of Iraq—but then this opinion is now shared by a supermajority of us Americans. Wikileaks’ mission statement quotes Jefferson and Supreme Court Decisions—an odd kind of anti-Americanism—and its ideology of tech’ed-up classical liberalism comes straight out of Silicon Valley. Digging through Manning’s and Wikileaks’ public (and private) statements reveals no bias against the USA.
On the level of straight fact, there is the common, false assertion, Myth #4, that Bradley Manning leaked “top secret” material. It is true that Pfc. Manning did enjoy top-secret security clearance, a distinction he shared with the 1.4 million other people who are eligible for Top Secret security clearance. (And how, by the way, can any secret accessible by a population the size of all of Vermont and North Dakota together, a group larger than the population of Washington, DC, itself, be a secret?) It so happens that not a single one of the documents that Pfc. Manning declassified was “top secret” status. (By contrast, every last one of the thousands of documents comprising the Pentagon Papers was Top Secret, yet many of Manning's critics claim to love Daniel Ellsberg.) More than half of the diplomatic cables are not classified in any way, and neither was the infamous helicopter gunsight video that shows an Apache gunship slaughtering a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters news agency employees.
Although the US government has not embraced much responsibility for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died in the past ten years, it is frequently assumed (Myth #5 ) that Manning’s leaks have gotten people killed or at least damaged US national interests. But in the three-year span since these leaks came out, there is no evidence of a single civilian or soldier or even spy being harmed by the documents’ release. (I've written at greater length for TomDispatch about the accusations of Manning and Wikileaks having "blood on their hands" come loudest from the same pols and hacks who backed the Iraq War and Obama's Afghan Surge.) Yes, two US ambassadors were recalled from Latin American countries, but this is hardly the diplomatic Armageddon that then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton luridly promised us.
A very different charge (Myth #6), and equally false, is that Manning’s leaks have been insignificant. In fact, the leaks played a small but significant role in the Tunisian rebellion and they prevented the extension of American troops’ increasingly unwelcome deployment to Iraq. The declassified documents supplied hundreds if not thousands of front-page stories in the world’s leading newspapers and magazines from Berlin to Delhi to, yes, Washington. If Manning’s leaks have been “insignificant,” then all journalists should aspire to publish such bagatelles.
The foundational ur-myth behind all of the above, its Genesis 1:1 and Myth #7, is that knowledge puts us at risk and that cluelessness will bring us security. It cannot be emphasized enough that the American military and humanitarian debacle in Iraq could never have been possible without extreme levels of government secrecy, distortion and even some lies. The same could be said about our even more catastrophic wars in Southeast Asia a generation and a half ago—dystopian levels of state secrecy entail a very heavy cost in blood (and money), both of the United States and several orders of magnitude more on the foreign nations we invade. It should be no surprise that major foreign policy decisions wind up in catastrophe and failure when made without the benefit of essential information.
These are the myths that have misshaped and deformed so much of the media coverage about Pfc. Bradley Manning and Wikileaks—and will continue to do so as the court-martial progresses through August and September to its inevitable conclusion.
Chase Madar is a civil rights attorney in New York and the author of The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story behind the Wikileaks Whistleblower (Verso). He tweets @ChMadar.
Don’t miss Greg Mitchell, also following the Bradley Manning case.A fire last weekend at the construction site of a future mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has been determined to be arson, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman said Friday.
Lab reports indicate that accelerants were used to start and spread the fire, which destroyed an earth mover and damaged three other vehicles at the future site of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, ATF spokesman Eric Kehn said.
There are no suspects in the arson, which occurred early Saturday morning, Kehn said. The investigation is ongoing and the ATF and FBI are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect or suspects, authorities said at a Friday press conference at the construction site.
"Somebody here in Rutherford County knows what happened here," said Keith Moses, an FBI assistant special agent based in Nashville, at the press conference, which featured representatives from the Islamic center.
"Whether or not we have a civil rights hate crime will be determined once we have a suspect or suspects and a motive," Moses said.
The FBI, ATF, and Rutherford County Sheriff's Office are conducting an ongoing investigation. Federal authorities and members of the Islamic center had suspected that the fire was intentionally set.
"We were expecting to hear it but in the back of our minds we were hoping for the best, that it was some kind of electrical fire," Camie Ayash, a spokeswoman for the Islamic center, told CNN on Friday. "It ingrained into our heads that this is definitely arson and that somebody did intentionally go out and do this."
The Islamic center's board has decided to hire private security for the site, Ayash said, after the contractor for the project suggested it. She expects a private security firm to start monitoring the site after hours beginning next week.
The Rutherford County Sheriff's Office has stepped up patrols of the site since the fire, driving by about every 30 minutes, she said.
The blaze has "really raised the fear factor" among area Muslims, Ayash told CNN earlier this week.
"We see the different type of fear with our children," she told CNN's "American Morning."
"It is very hard to explain to children what is going on. It is hard to explain to the little kids when they ask you, 'Mommy, are these people for us or against us?' "
A candlelight vigil, organized by Middle Tennesseans for Religious Freedom in response to the fire, drew about 100 people to the Rutherford County Courthouse on Monday night.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has existed in the Murfreesboro area for more than a decade, according to its website, and currently meets about a mile from the site of the future mosque.
The congregation purchased a 15-acre plot in 2009 and announced plans for a center that will include a mosque, educational facilities, a gym, cemetery and various recreational areas, including tracks, pavilions and a playground.
The project has provoked controversy in Murfreesboro, about 35 miles southeast of Nashville, and statewide.
In July, several hundred opponents of the mosque staged a march against the project. Some objected to Islam itself, carrying signs like "MOSQUE LEADERS SUPPORT KILLING CONVERTS," while others opposed the project for environmental reasons.
Last month, Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey publicly criticized the project. "You could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, a cult, whatever you want to call it," Ramsey, then a candidate for Tennessee governor, said at a rally.
Ramsey placed third in Tennessee's Republican primaries last month.Story highlights The memo was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget
The move would likely be controversial
Washington (CNN) The White House is considering a proposal to move both the State Department bureau of Consular Affairs and its bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration to the Department of Homeland Security, a senior White House official tells CNN.
The move, which the White House official cautioned was far from becoming official policy, would likely be controversial among diplomats and experts in State Department matters.
The bureau of Consular Affairs is one of the largest sections of the State Department. Its many responsibilities include issuing passports and assisting citizens overseas by putting out travel alerts and helping with emergency services. The bureau is also tasked with granting temporary visas to foreigners who want to visit or work in the United States.
"It would be a huge mistake," said Anne Richard, who led the bureau of Population Refugees, and Migration during President Barack Obama's second term.
The proposals were written in a memo submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget from the White House Domestic Policy Council as part of President Trump's March executive order pushing for ideas for Government Reorganization.
Read MoreA US-based lithium-ion battery developer is testing Talga's graphite for use in its batteries, while Germany's JenaBatteries is testing the company's graphene for flow batteries.
"We are taking our cues from industry and it is all starting to accelerate really fast," Mr Thompson said.
Confidence
"Our confidence not only comes from what we do, it also comes from the customers we talk to … they are all not just trialling graphene, some of them have got their own production works and they are just waiting for production efficiencies and they are going to roll out products over the next year or two."
Among those companies reportedly eyeing graphene are Dyson, Samsung, Apple and of course, electric vehicle manufacturers.
Henrik Fisker, the founder of former Tesla Motors rival Fisker Automotive which collapsed in 2013, said last week he planned to launch a new electric car company, called Fisker Inc, in 2017 powered by a battery that uses graphene.
Graphene has the potential to increase battery life and charging capacity – an appealing prospect for everything from smartphones to electric cars.
Deutsche Bank analysts said in March tests involving adding graphene to battery cathodes seemed "very promising and a breakthrough is widely expected".
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Veteran stockpicker Warwick Grigor, executive chairman of Far East Capital, has long |
update we post for the backer beta, so if you have any feedback you would still like to give us, make sure you head to our forums and let us know.
PAX East
The Pillars of Eternity crew gave a panel at PAX East. We were able to show off some companions, discuss the Stronghold system, and explore a cool new dungeon. If you weren't able to catch it, you're in luck because it was streamed. Check out the footage on YouTube.
Kickstarter: Seven Dragon Saga
If you are like me, I am sure you are a huge fan of the Gold Box Dungeons and Dragons games. We have some pretty exciting news for you. TSI, the spiritual successor to SSI, has just launched a brand new Kickstarter.
In Seven Dragon Saga you shape the wild and dangerous Drakelands with your choices. Impress with noble deeds. Coerce with threats and violence. Or simply lay waste to the empire's enemies without mercy or regret.
The game will feature tactical, turn-based combat and a dramatic storyline with plenty of side content to explore.
Show those guys some love and let's get a great new game funded.
Okay, that's it for now. Next you hear from us we will explain how to redeem your rewards in detail.Irving Goodman, 7, has abandoned his hat he always wore. His last chemotherapy treatment was over a month ago and his hair his coming back. He sits with the Torrey Pines lacrosse team during their meeting after defeating visiting Canyon Crest Academy, 18 to 2. (Charlie Neuman)
Irving Goodman, 7, has abandoned his hat he always wore. His last chemotherapy treatment was over a month ago and his hair his coming back. He sits with the Torrey Pines lacrosse team during their meeting after defeating visiting Canyon Crest Academy, 18 to 2.
Torrey Pines High School’s boys lacrosse team, nattily attired in khaki slacks and team polo shirts, meets inside the school media center on a chilly evening in December. The matter of business: welcoming a new member to the team. Wanting to check out the kid’s skill level, rubber balls are spread on the carpet, a goal set up and the boy, wielding a hockey stick, fires slap shots at the net. “He’s got like a 100 mph slap shot,” junior Caden Wolfson says in admiration. Players test the youngster’s hand-eye coordination, tossing him Wiffle balls. Swinging a plastic bat, the boy belts line drives off bookshelves. “The guy’s going yard,” says senior Chase Fanning. At 3-foot-8-inches tall and weighing 40 pounds, the lad is a little on the small side. The newest Falcon is Irving Goodman, a 6-year-old battling a rare form of cancer. The Falcons are adopting Irving, his three brothers and the entire Goodman family as part of the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. The "I" in Team The "I" in Team SEE MORE VIDEOS Friends of Jaclyn is a New York-based organization that pairs children battling cancer with high school and college sports teams. “There’s no chemotherapy, there’s no radiation treatment or clinical trial drug better than love, support and friendship,” Friends of Jaclyn President Denis Murphy tells the players after flying cross-country to attend the adoption. Mimicking a star high school athlete signing a scholarship with a college team, that night the Falcons sign Irving and two of his brothers — Robert, 8, and Asher, 4 — to “letters of intent” to play lacrosse at Torrey Pines. The boys are given Torrey Pines jerseys. Irving wolfs down pizza and cake. Charlie Neuman Irving Goodman, left, plays with his older brother Robert, 8, on the Torrey Pines High stadium field after Torrey Pines' boys lacrosse team defeated visiting Grossmont High. Irving Goodman, left, plays with his older brother Robert, 8, on the Torrey Pines High stadium field after Torrey Pines' boys lacrosse team defeated visiting Grossmont High. (Charlie Neuman) “You guys have a million other things you could be doing,” Joe Goodman, Irving’s father, tells the team. “For you to be here, showing us attention and playing with (my boys), I can’t tell you how meaningful it is to us. We’re overwhelmed with your love and support.” Irving Goodman is the second child fighting cancer that the Torrey Pines lacrosse team has adopted through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. The first was Jose Montaño. / Don Norcross Photo of the mantel at the Montano family. Jose Montano was the first boy the Torrey Pines lacrosse team adopted. In the photo is a framed picture of Jose with the Torrey Pines lacrosse team. Photo of the mantel at the Montano family. Jose Montano was the first boy the Torrey Pines lacrosse team adopted. In the photo is a framed picture of Jose with the Torrey Pines lacrosse team. (/ Don Norcross) In a modest Nestor home just minutes north of the border, atop the mantel rests a framed No. 11 Torrey Pines lacrosse jersey, autographed by Falcons players. Four lacrosse sticks frame the fireplace. Resting on a tripod in front of the fireplace is a framed picture of 12-year-old Jose Montaño, standing on the sideline with Torrey Pines players for the national anthem before a 2013 game. Jose was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011. That same year, Torrey Pines lacrosse coach Jono Zissi was told by a childhood friend about the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. “You’ve got to do this,” said the friend, the men’s soccer coach at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Zissi contacted Murphy. Arrangements were made, and the Falcons were paired with the Montaño family. Torrey Pines became the first high school team in the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation to adopt a child. Created in 2005, the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation has paired nearly 700 children fighting cancer with college and high school teams. It was founded by Murphy, whose daughter, Jaclyn, was diagnosed with brain cancer and later was befriended by the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team. 7 year old inspires high school lacrosse team Jose Montaño met the Falcons for the first time before a game early in the 2012 season and there was an almost immediate bond. Despite battling cancer, Jose, then 11, exuded happiness. He was selfless, too. Approached by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Jose didn’t ask for a trip or to meet a celebrity. Instead, he requested that his elementary school be given a new playground. “He never let his personal struggles affect his radiating smile,” says Beau Botkiss, a Harvard-bound senior and captain of this year’s Torrey Pines team. “He was contagious with laughter and happiness.” Across the next three seasons, the Montaño family piled into the family pickup truck, battled Interstate 5 traffic and drove 33 miles to Torrey Pines home games. The Falcons gave lacrosse sticks and jerseys to Jose, plus his younger brothers, Ismael, Miguel, Alex and Joel. “(The players) would play with my kids on the sideline,” says Jose Sr. “It wasn’t for the cameras. It wasn’t for a résumé. We found them sincere, down-to-earth people.” The team attended birthday parties for Jose, played kickball with the Montaños at Mission Bay Park, took the family to play laser tag. During the course of his cancer fight, Jose was often hospitalized. Torrey Pines players visited him regularly at Rady Children’s Hospital. “We always saw Jose as another teammate, a brother on our team,” says Botkiss. Jose Montano, with hand on chest, lines up with Torrey Pines high school lacrosse team. Jose Montano, with hand on chest, lines up with Torrey Pines high school lacrosse team. Sitting at home, next to the fireplace that bears a tribute to her son’s friendship with the Falcons, Veronica Montaño says, “When they arrived at the hospital, my son’s face would suddenly change. He would be so happy they were with him.” By the 2014 season, Jose’s health was deteriorating. On April 13, 2014, Jose Montaño died. He was 13 years old. More than 40 Torrey Pines players and coaches attended Jose’s wake. A small number of people eulogized Jose, including Rich Rosales, a former Falcon who graduated the year before. “We all looked up to him and he was a leader to us,” says Rosales, now a student at Santa Monica Community College. “He taught us about how to treat other people, how to spend our lives when we’re on this Earth.” Torrey Pines’ black helmets include a sticker with the initials JM and the number 11. When the Falcons adopted Jose, they gave him that No. 11 jersey that sits atop the Montaño fireplace. Zissi says that as long as he’s the Falcons’ coach, no one will wear the number. “Jose’s forever etched in our program,” he says. On April 8, 2015, Kristina Goodman took Irving to the doctor for his annual checkup. Her son celebrated his sixth birthday the day before. The checkup turns out to be anything but routine. A lump is found near his waist. Two days later, the mass is removed. On April 14, a pediatric oncologist tells the Goodmans that Irving has been diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer seen mainly in children that usually develops in a muscle. “One of the worst days of our life,” says Joe Goodman. Adds Kristina at the family’s Carmel Valley home, sitting in a living room strewn with books and toys, her voice choking, “You just start bawling.” Charlie Neuman Joe and Kristina Goodman talk at their home about their son Irving's cancer condition. At left is son Isaac, 1, and at right is son Asher, 4. Joe and Kristina Goodman talk at their home about their son Irving's cancer condition. At left is son Isaac, 1, and at right is son Asher, 4. (Charlie Neuman) On May 1, Irving began chemotherapy, 40 treatments spread across 48 weeks. Meanwhile, Torrey Pines’ lacrosse program had spent the past year mourning Jose’s death.
“For many of them,” says Zissi, “it was the first time they’d dealt with death.” But as players graduated in 2014 and 2015, the roster turned over and Zissi felt it was time for the Falcons to adopt another child battling cancer. An acquaintance of the Goodmans’ whose son had been adopted through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation told the family about the program and that Torrey Pines was looking to adopt a child. There was one problem. When Joe and Kristina told their son about the opportunity, Irving, who was shy even before he was diagnosed with cancer, says he didn’t want to be adopted by the team. “After a few months of treatment, in a lot of situations, he would kind of go into a shell,” Joe says. “He would not be responsive, especially to adults.” Joe emailed the foundation, saying Irving wouldn’t be a fit for the program. Charlie Neuman 6 year old Irving Goodman wakes up late on a Saturday morning. He had a difficult chemotherapy session the day before. Reaching for Irving's bagel is one year old brother Isaac. 6 year old Irving Goodman wakes up late on a Saturday morning. He had a difficult chemotherapy session the day before. Reaching for Irving's bagel is one year old brother Isaac. (Charlie Neuman) A couple weeks later, Joe opened an email from the foundation, which asked if Irving might reconsider. In the interim, the family watched a video about Jose Montaño’s story, plus videos on the foundation’s website about other children who benefited from the program. “I asked Irving again,” Joe says. “I was surprised he changed his mind. I didn’t expect it. I thought he’d say no.” Torrey Pines’ lacrosse program became the first high school team to be granted a second adoption by the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. Charlie Neuman Kristina Goodman holds her son Isaac as she comforts son Irving getting his last chemotherapy treatment at Rady Children's Hospital. Kristina Goodman holds her son Isaac as she comforts son Irving getting his last chemotherapy treatment at Rady Children's Hospital. (Charlie Neuman) Having been warned by Joe Goodman that Irving was shy, Zissi wanted to make the initial meeting last November small and casual. “If he had walked into a locker room with 45 players, he probably would have been terrified,” Zissi says. Irving, his brother, Robert, and their father met Zissi and a few seniors for the first time in November. The boys, who had never played lacrosse, were given sticks. After introductions, the group headed to the football field. The players showed the boys lacrosse basics — how to cradle the ball in the webbing, pass and catch the ball, fire shots. Robert eagerly joined in the fun. Zissi remembers Irving virtually cowering behind his father’s leg. Joe, an attorney, is also quiet and reserved. After dealing with the outgoing Jose Montaño Sr. and effervescent Jose, Zissi wondered if the adoption would work with the Goodmans. Charlie Neuman Irving Goodman, front, with brothers Asher and Robert behind him, stands with the Torrey Pines lacrosse team during the National Anthem prior to their 18 to 2 victory over visiting Canyon Crest Academy. Irving Goodman, front, with brothers Asher and Robert behind him, stands with the Torrey Pines lacrosse team during the National Anthem prior to their 18 to 2 victory over visiting Canyon Crest Academy. (Charlie Neuman) “You have to open your family to our team,” Zissi said months ago. With three championships in the past five seasons, Torrey Pines boasts the most successful boys’ lacrosse program in the San Diego Section. But in 2016, the Falcons faced two significant challenges: winning another title and winning over Irving. As adopted members of the Torrey Pines lacrosse team — an adoption that lasts for the rest of the cancer patient’s life — the Goodmans are granted front-row seats, standing along the home sideline at Ed Burke Field. Before the 2016 home opener on March 10 against Grossmont, players approach Irving, who’s lugging his lacrosse stick and decked out in his No. 14 jersey. Squatting so he’s at Irving’s level, midfielder Ara Suhadolnik says, “What’s up, Irving? How you doing? You having fun?” Irving says nothing, keeping his head down, his face virtually hidden by a baseball cap. Charlie Neuman 6 year old Irving Goodman watches from the sideline as Torrey Pines boys lacrosse team defeats visiting rival Poway High. 6 year old Irving Goodman watches from the sideline as Torrey Pines boys lacrosse team defeats visiting rival Poway High. (Charlie Neuman) “All right. See you later,” says Suhadolnik. “He’s really shut down,” says Joe. “… I don’t like to use the word irritable. But I can’t describe what it feels like (to be 6 years old and going through chemotherapy). I’m sure he doesn’t feel right.” Playing by himself most of the game, Irving passes time with stick in hands, firing balls into a miniature net. The Falcons rout Grossmont 20-1. “Thank you guys for coming,” goalie Max McGuire tells Irving and Robert after the game. “Later, boys,” says midfielder Spence Small, bending down to get a fist bump from the brothers. “Gimme some.” The brothers bump their small knuckles against Small’s. “Can I get some fist bumps?” chimes in Wolfson. The boys oblige. Charlie Neuman Joe Goodman walks with sons Robert, 8, left, and Irving, 6, after getting snacks during halftime at the Torrey Pines/Poway boys lacrosse game at Torrey Pines High. Torrey Pines won. Joe Goodman walks with sons Robert, 8, left, and Irving, 6, after getting snacks during halftime at the Torrey Pines/Poway boys lacrosse game at Torrey Pines High. Torrey Pines won. (Charlie Neuman) Minutes later, the Falcons complete their postgame cleanup. Goals, balls, banners, warmup jerseys are packed. The team climbs the hill opposite their sideline and walks to the team room. With the lights still illuminating the field near 9 p.m., Irving and Robert command the artificial turf, darting about, passing to each other, sticks colliding when battling for a loose ball. Joe smiles, a difficult task unfolding in front of him: convincing the boys it’s time to go home. Twelve days later, the Falcons play Poway at home, a rematch of last year’s section Open Division finals, which Poway won 9-8. The Falcons exact a measure of revenge, winning 8-4. Again, Irving spends the bulk of the game by himself on the sideline, wielding his stick, firing shots against a wall or at a miniature goal. “What’s up, Irving?” senior attacker Marc Lefferdink asks after the game. Irving says nothing, but later knocks knuckles with players. The Falcons are making inroads with the boy who’s nearing the end of his 48-week chemotherapy treatment. Charlie Neuman After Torrey Pines High's boys lacrosse team victory over visiting Grossmont High Torrey Pines player Ara Suhadolnik bumps fists with 6 year old Irving Goodman. At right is his little brother Isaac, 1, and mom Kristina. After Torrey Pines High's boys lacrosse team victory over visiting Grossmont High Torrey Pines player Ara Suhadolnik bumps fists with 6 year old Irving Goodman. At right is his little brother Isaac, 1, and mom Kristina. (Charlie Neuman) Before the game, when Joe pulled into the driveway after work, Robert and Irving darted out the front door and jumped in the car, ready to head to Torrey Pines 90 minutes before opening faceoff. Joe needed to change clothes, plus help Kristina round up Asher and 17-month-old Isaac. Recalls Joe, “And Irving’s angry at me for taking so long.” Irving sits in a bay on the second floor at Rady Children’s Hospital in the clinic where patients are administered chemotherapy. Joe is seated to his right, Kristina to his left. A white board on a partition lists Irving’s name and the drugs he’ll be administered. In capital letters there’s another message: LAST CHEMO. Charlie Neuman Irving Goodman gets comforted by his mom Kristina as he gets his last chemotherapy treatment at Rady Children's Hospital. Irving Goodman gets comforted by his mom Kristina as he gets his last chemotherapy treatment at Rady Children's Hospital. (Charlie Neuman) The Goodmans limit the time Irving and Robert can play on computers but on days Irving undergoes chemotherapy, the restriction is lifted. He’s tapping away on Joe’s iPhone, playing an NFL video game. As nurses attach lines to the port in his chest, first to administer premeds to fight nausea, then the chemotherapy, Irving doesn’t say a word. His head is tucked down, buried in the video game. His pale face is stoic. His lips pursed. From a nearby bay, a young voice cries out, “Oh, no, no, no mamma! I don’t want it!” When Irving’s 40th and final chemotherapy treatment is complete on March 25, a staff member rings a bell in celebration. He’s given gifts and a huge placard signed with personal messages by the staff. To the tune of “Happy Birthday,” nurses sing to him. “No more chemo for you, No more chemo for you, No more chemo for Irving, No more chemo for you” Charlie Neuman Irving Goodman relaxes after finishing his final chemotherapy treatment as nurse Kate O'Malley holds a sign celebrating it was his last one. With Kate is nurse Stephanie Feiring. Irving Goodman relaxes after finishing his final chemotherapy treatment as nurse Kate O'Malley holds a sign celebrating it was his last one. With Kate is nurse Stephanie Feiring. (Charlie Neuman) After every chemotherapy treatment, patients are allowed to pick out a gift from a toy box. The toys are donated by the Jose Montaño Foundation. According to Dr. Leo Mascarenhas, the oncologist who recommended Irving’s chemotherapy protocol, because of the site where Irving’s tumor was located, that it was surgically removed and followed by successful chemotherapy, Irving’s chances of being cured are more than 99 percent.Originally published in Tikkun Daily |
Michael Bloomberg's legacy was written this week by Mireya Navarro of The New York Times. Her painful profile of New York City residents who are both employed (some with multiple jobs) and living in homeless shelters revealed the narrative, human costs of the nation's worst income inequality gap.
Navarro begins her piece with this heartbreaking snapshot:
On many days, Alpha Manzueta gets off from one job at 7 a.m., only to start her second at noon. In between she goes to a place she’s called home for the last three years — a homeless shelter. “I feel stuck,” said Ms. Manzueta, 37, who has a 2 ½-year-old daughter and who, on a recent Wednesday, looked crisp in her security guard uniform, waving traffic away from the curb at Kennedy International Airport. “You try, you try and you try and you’re getting nowhere. I’m still in the shelter.”
You try, you try and you try and you're getting nowhere. This could very easily encapsulate the American economic experience for a majority of U.S. citizens. And not just during the last ten years.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual report on such things as poverty and income levels. That report showed that lower- and middle-class Americans have experienced what the New Yorker's John Cassidy called "four lost decades."
Here's Cassidy:
Since its founding, the United States has been a country based on enterprise, hard work, and material progress. But for forty years now, the engine that generates across-the-board rises in living standards has been stalled, with incomes stagnating at the bottom and in the middle while growing rapidly at the top. It’s not a new story, of course. Still, for anybody seeking to comprehend modern American politics, its importance can’t be overstated. Here are some of the Census Department’s figures: In 1973, a typical American household—one squarely in the middle of the income distribution—earned $48,557 in inflation-adjusted dollars. In 2012, the typical household earned $51,017. Over forty years, that’s an overall gain of roughly five per cent. To put it another way, it’s a difference of about $47 a week, which equates to an annual rise of about $1.18 a week. [...] At the top of the income distribution, things look very different. Forty years ago, a household in the ninety-fifth percentile of the income distribution—i.e., a family with nineteen families below it for every one above it—earned $133,725. In 2012, a household at the same spot in the income distribution earned $191,156. That’s an increase of forty-three per cent.
It's no wonder that Cassidy's editor chose, for his column's photo, the image of a homeless man asleep on a city bench, using an American flag as a blanket. The extreme income inequality chronicled by Navarro in New York City has been a work-in-progress for our Nation as a whole – work that was simply accelerated under Bloomberg's watch.
New York is currently 'enjoying' a homeless shelter renaissance, with a record 50,000 New Yorkers making shelters their primary residence. But here's the most frightening statistic from Navarro's article:
More than one out of four families in shelters, 28 percent, include at least one employed adult, city figures show, and 16 percent of single adults in shelters hold jobs.
These statistics should be enough to rip the heart out of anyone who cares about the welfare of our country and its citizens. But these numbers should also serve as a forecast for what this country will look like should NYC's income inequality levels become the national norm.
It's a forecast that appears quite likely unless our representatives step in and change course, or unless we rise up and demand that they do so on our behalf.
--§--
David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, now out from Oneworld Publications.
Follow @David_EHGWhile Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Interim Police Chief Chester Logan explore a restructuring of the city’s police department, some residents are expressing frustration with how their calls are being handled.
Detroiter Rachelle Guyton said she called 911 around 6:30 a.m. Saturday to report that her 2003 Chrysler Town & Country minivan had been stolen from an apartment building in Palmer Park — but it wasn’t the van she was worried about.
“I have a gun under my car seat, and when I called the police department to explain this to them and try to have them help… they didn’t give me any attention. They told me I had to wait until 8 o’clock to call back. What if someone gets shot with this? What if a child gets this in his hand? I’m responsible, and I just can’t have that on my conscience,” Guyton told WWJ’s Terri Lee.
Guyton, who has a CCW permit for her 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson, said she’s disappointed in how her call was handled, especially with all the talk about guns surrounding the city’s recently released crime statistics for 2012 — numbers which show the highest murder rate in the city in nearly 20 years.
“They’re not trying to make anything a top priority, they won’t send a car out here to investigate, they won’t do anything. So, I’m stuck here not concerned about the car whatsoever. I will take the bus, you know, that’s not important. The importance here is the gun and the safety for other people,” said Guyton.
Detroit police declined to comment on the situation.
Guyton said her minivan has a Michigan license plate number “3HZH63” and is midnight blue in color. Anyone with information is asked to call police.
RELATED: Mayor, Police Chief Respond To Shocking Murder Rates In Detroit
Detroit Records More Than 400 Murders In 2012Carolyn Yeo was 16 weeks pregnant and scared she may have a miscarriage when she decided to get a 3D ultrasound at a clinic in Pickering, Ont. as a way to commemorate her pregnancy. Little did she know, she was one of more than a dozen expectant mothers who appear to have been given an identical ultrasound photo from the same clinic.
“I wanted to get a picture in case something did happen and I’d have something tangible of the baby,” she said, adding she felt reassured when she got the photo back and her baby looked healthy.
“I thought the baby looked advanced for 16 weeks in the picture. … So I was a little surprised but I didn’t question anything because at the time everything seemed fine.
“But that wasn’t my baby and now I’m left with that uncertainty that I was hoping to not have after that ultrasound.”
Jenn Cusimano says she went to the same clinic, the BabyView 3D Prenatal Imaging, earlier this month to have a 3D ultrasound done, roughly a month after Yeo’s visit.
“It was amazing. I’ve even had family members say, ‘Oh it looks like the dad,'” she said. “I was so happy with the picture and I had been staring at it since I got it.”
Cusimano said she posted the picture on Facebook and then to an international group of about 1,500 women with babies due in September 2016, when someone noticed the similarities.
“I posted mine and then a few comments down Caroline posted her picture and said, ‘Didn’t I just see this picture posted above?’,” she said, adding that she also saw the same 3D image posted on the clinic’s website.
“So me and her started talking and it was very clear the picture was the exact same — everything, the nooks, crannies, everything.”
Cusimano said she was devastated but thought perhaps it was a mistake and has since started a Facebook group for other mothers to come forward with similar experiences. She added she had paid about $160 for a gender determination, two photos and a heart monitor.
“But I thought back to my experience waiting in the waiting room and there was just something not sitting right,” she said.
“So I posted the two pictures online and just asked other people’s advice, like ‘What do you think?’ And shortly after that my phone just blew up and people started coming forward saying, ‘I have that picture too.'”
READ MORE: How to have a baby: Fertility clinic founders share 5 dos and don’ts
Both mothers said they would be filing a police report, and Durham Regional Police Service spokesman Sgt. Bill Calder confirmed they were aware of the complaints.
“I’m very angry, I’m very frustrated. I think that taking advantage of people like this is terrible,” Yeo said.
“A lot of women pay a lot of money to go in and make that connection with their baby or to feel reassured that things look good.”
Yeo said she had a good experience with the clinic in 2013, but had heard the clinic had come under new management which may have played a part in the incident.
“I think ethically there has been something done wrong. I don’t know medically, because it’s not a medical ultrasound, but I do question,” Yeo said.
“I feel violated because I was given a false reassurance by this that the baby looked normal. I know it’s not a guarantee, I know that it’s not a medical ultrasound but at the same time it did provide reassurance for me, especially as a mom who was going through a lot of issues with the pregnancy.”
For its part, BabyView put out a statement on Facebook that apologized for the situation and blamed it on a computer glitch.
“Due to a technical issue with the printing services provided (which has been resolved), several of our clients have become concerned regarding their babies images,” the statement read.
“Babyview is more then happy to adjust the situation and offer a re-scan of the services which were provided or a refund the value of the package which included the pictures that they purchased during their visit. … Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience.”
The company declined a request for further comment from Global News when reached by phone Wednesday.
Yeo said she doesn’t know whose baby appears in the 3D ultrasound image and said her and her husband are in shock and disbelief that this could happen.
“I think that’s part of the ethical issue as well, that some child is being shared, their picture’s being shared and being given to strangers as someone else’s baby,” she said.
“We don’t know whose child this is so that’s upsetting to think that’s happening.”
With files from Angie SethSweet potato and roasted cauliflower soup
4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
4 cups of water
3 medium sweet potatoes
1 medium head of caulifower
4 large carrots
1 medium onion
olive oil
spices
Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut cauliflower into bite sized pieces and place on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and seasoning of your choice. I used a homemade version of Garam Masala. Roast cauliflower in over for 30 minutes. Continue to check it to avoid burning as oven temps may vary.
Bring broth and water to a boil. Cut sweet potatoes and carrots into 1" cubes and place in boiling liquid. In the meantime, mince onion and add to boiling pot. At this time, add your favorite seasonings. Once the cauliflower is finished, remove from oven and add to your soup.
Next, I removed the desired amount of solid ingredients (read carrots that I cut in to darling heart shapes during prep) and set aside. Using an immersion blender, puree the remaining ingredients until smooth. Add solids back to soup and enjoy! -Ruth-All photos by the author
Despite what your beloved great-aunt believes, queer people weren't made in a lab in 1996 to piss her off and infiltrate the soaps. A new group have organised a walking tour of queer culture landmarks in London, to make visible history often overlooked rather than let right-wing politicians take credit for magically solving The Gay Problem under David Cameron.
The tours don't properly kick off until February 2017, but on Saturday the 26th of November a group of activists from Russia and its former satellite states were treated to a preview. Tour guide Dan Glass rattled through a breakneck history of London's queer dives, electro-shock clinics and cottaging toilets. "Is there a manual to the cruising spots we can see?" a Ukrainian activist asked with a grin.
A Belorussian delegate enthused about a defunct factory floor in her home city, taken over by queer youths and turned into a community centre. "But maybe you don't need such a space in London?" she asked.
"We absolutely do," said Dan.
The queer tour crew estimate that one-third of London's queer spaces have been closed in the last two years – and the project grew from drunken conversation in the smoking area of a now-shuttered gay bar, The Joiners' Arms. Two more gay venues may be in their final days, according to Dan's tour introduction. London has no queer museum, and no longer has a dedicated queer centre.
Saturday's tour headed to a legendary drag venue, the Black Cap. Since closing its doors in 2015, it plays host each week to a sombre vigil of former regulars. Britain's first transgender MEP, Nikki Sinclaire, picketed outside the forlorn pub front. "I used to come here back in 1983, when I was only 15," she said. "We're very fortunate in this country to have won employment rights and marriage rights: but our next fight is for our history."
This is the battle the Queer Tour crew are preparing to fight. Next year is the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, when the government finally permitted 21-year-old men to have sex with each other in private. "Those who suffer from this disability carry a great weight of shame all their lives," then-home secretary Roy Jenkins famously said.
In defiance of their persistent opposition to LBGT rights legislation, the Tories have a track record of trumpeting themselves as Macklemore-level queer allies. So it seems likely they will try to piggyback next year's celebrations. "Fuck them if they're going to pat themselves on the back without recognising the problems they caused all over the world," Dan said. "And if you look at cuts in services, the rise in queer youth homelessness, the rise in HIV... we are still not free."
Nikki Sinclaire MEP talking to the gathered tour participants outside the Black Cap
As Dan observed, the peddling of easily-digestible, pro-gay schtick by corporations and careerist politicians means "most people probably think Gay Pride started in Tesco". The queer tours are countering that narrative, with pink tiles planted at the sites of historic shags, dildos inscribed with the 1533 Buggery Act popping up across the city, and "cruise your MP day".
Future tours will travel from Mother Clap's molly-house, where 18th century cross-dressers canoodled, to the Admiral Duncan pub, where a neo-Nazi nail bomb which killed three queer revellers in 1999 has been refashioned into a chandelier.
And organisers say tours will honour those radical queers who gave their lives in the ongoing struggle for liberation. Some will star the Lesbian Avengers, the "caped crusading dykes" who abseiled into Parliament and stormed a BBC studio. Others will remember the Gay Liberation Front, the "radical drag" connoisseurs who were chased by police after snogging in full ecclesiastical garb. Homeless youths, one in four whom are queer, will be given work speaking to tour groups. So will sex workers, LGBTQ* people of colour, and queer activists currently battling deportation.
As many as 98 percent of queer asylum-seekers to the UK are deported, according to research by the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group. Closer to home, austerity cuts have slashed queer service funding by a third. Yet Theresa May – who oversaw these lethal deportations as home secretary – is painted as an "unsung hero" of gay rights, and David Cameron won this year's Ally of the Year award from LGBT website PinkNews.
This is why the real history of London's living, breathing, fighting, fucking LGBT community must be made visible – in all its messy glory. "It's been so fun to research, but I keep bumping into old flames," Dan said, with a rueful grimace. "I've signed up for a lifelong walk of shame."
@hashtagbroom
More on VICE:
Remembering the 1980s Lesbian and Gay Centre That Didn't Last a Decade
What I Learned from LGBT People's Stories of Coming Out in Ireland
Here Are a Few Simple Reasons Why We Still Need UK Black PrideOn Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver knew he was on deadly ground when he blasted one of the biggest coal mining companies in the country, having already been hit with a cease-and-desist letter prior to the segment's airing. Dedicated and dogged, Oliver nonetheless ran a scathing critique of the firm's practices.
True to their word, Murray Energy Corp. and its CEO, Robert Murray, have filed a suit against the late-night comedian, HBO and Time Warner for defamation, according to The Washington Post.
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Oliver's segment centered on the decline of the coal mining industry in recent years, and how President Donald Trump has misled much of his voter base about bringing back jobs. The host specifically discussed the ways Murray, 77, often mistreated his employees, describing him as a "geriatric Dr. Evil."
"Bob Murray, I didn’t really plan for so much of this piece to be about you, but you kinda forced my hand on that one," Oliver said during his 24-minute rant. "And I know you’re probably going to sue me over this. But, you know what? I stand by everything I said."
The complaint was filed in a West Virginia circuit |
not in the music either.”
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Outside the boom of loud firecrackers can be heard, the first test rounds for the annual cacophony here that leaves New Year’s revelers ears’ ringing. Kreuzberg has been home for decades to large populations of Turks and Kurds, many of whom have very conservative religious values. Yet they have had to share the neighborhood that formerly abutted the Berlin Wall with many counterculture types, artists and anarchists and also gays and lesbians.
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According to the city’s Schwules Museum, partly devoted to the history of gay people in the city and the country, “a lively homosexual subculture had developed in Berlin by the second half of the 18th century or perhaps earlier.” It was known as an oasis for gay men and lesbians in the Weimar period immortalized by the writer Christopher Isherwood and in the period when West Berlin was surrounded by the wall. Today, the city has an openly gay and highly popular mayor, Klaus Wowereit.
But gay men and lesbians from Muslim families say they face extraordinary discrimination at home. A survey of roughly 1,000 young men and women in Berlin, released in September and widely cited in the German press, found much higher levels of homophobia among Turkish youth.
“These differences are there,” said Bernd Simon, who led the study and is a professor of social psychology at Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel. “We can’t deny them. The question is how do we cope with them.”
“The answer is not to replace homophobia with Islamophobia,” he added, pointing out that homophobia is also higher among Russian immigrants and in other, less urban parts of Germany.
Kader Balcik, a 22-year-old Turk from Hamburg, said: “For us, for Muslims, it’s extremely difficult. When you’re gay, you’re immediately cut off from the family.”
He had recently moved to Berlin not long after being cut off from his mother because he is bisexual. “A mother who wishes death for her son, what kind of mother is that?” he asked, his eyes momentarily filling with tears.
Hasan, a 21-year-old Arab man, sitting at a table in the club’s quieter adjoining cafe, declined to give his last name, saying: “They would kill me. My brothers would kill me.” Asked if he meant this figuratively, he responded, “No, I mean they would kill me.”
“I’m living one life here and the other one the way they wish me to be,” Hasan said, referring to his parents. He said he still planned to marry, but when he turned 30 rather than right away, as his parents wished. “I have to have children, to do what Islam wants me to do,” he said. “I would stop with everything in the homosexual life. I would stop it.”
He stood up from the table and called to his two friends. “All right, boys, let’s go dance,” he said. “We’re here to have fun.” And they marched off to the dance floor, smiling.TagPro Analytics Capture the Game
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Filter by first letter: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMy kids and I used to have a small Lionel train set in a corner of my tool room. Ten years ago we dismantled the small set with dreams of a bigger and better train set in a newly created basement room called the Train Room.
We dreamed of the perfect train layout with switches, freight yards, and realistic scenery; with a moving crane, sawmill, draw-bridge, and coal dump; and with cities, tunnels, mountains, and farms. It would fill the new 15 by 18 foot Train Room.
Our quest for perfection derailed us. We dreamt of glory, and for ten years we did nothing. We ran out of steam. The Train Room became the junk room, a closet in which to hide things that belonged nowhere else.
It also stored the dusty train set that we dismantled ten years ago.
The day before Christmas, my kids suggested we re-assemble the train set in the new Train Room. We cleared the “closet” out (never mind where all that junk went), we put the table up, we rewired the accessories, and we set the trains back on track once again.
It was a blast. Doing something adequately was far better than doing nothing perfectly.
What was our problem?
Our ten-year derailment arose from a blend of exposure and comparison. The internet (and a small library of train books) exposed us to the world’s greatest train sets. We saw realistic landscapes that rivaled a Rembrandt, and we saw wiring diagrams that would have shamed Star Trek’s Enterprise.
Exposure to the world’s greatest layouts made our plans—in comparison—seem puny, hardly worth the effort. So we improved our plans. Soon the train set was to be so elaborate—so magnificent—that it was hard to know where to begin.
So we didn’t begin, and the set collected dust in the corner of the forgotten dream closet. Until the day we decided to do something—even though that something was small.
I see this pattern everywhere
At the end of my life, my train set will matter very little, but the ten year dust collection got me thinking.
How many other desires—some of real significance—do I let gather dust because my standard is too high or because I compare myself to others? How many times have I failed to take the first step because I feared it wouldn’t be magnificent?
Which makes no sense. Do I really think da Vinci’s first painting was the Mona Lisa or that Michelangelo’s first sculpture the Pieta? My longing for perfection—or magnificence—creates in me the inaction of apathy.
For years I have wanted to write a book about Hearing God, but the ideal of perfection left this dream to collect dust next to my neglected train set.
I’ve let what I can’t do stop me from doing what I can do. Which is stupid. This year I’ll write my Little Book About Hearing God. I’ll offer what I’ve been given, not held back by what all there is yet to learn.
The first step
I’m an optimistic guy, yet there is much I don’t do because “it” won’t be glorious. My desire for doing something great, coupled with seeing others do “it” brilliantly, leads me to inactivity. Or hiding my dream in a closet. I am sidetracked by insignificance.
In the Parable of the Talents, three servants are given three different sums of money to manage. The first receives five talents (a huge sum of money), invests it, and doubles it. The second receives two talents, invests it, and doubles it. The last receives one talent (still much money), and he hides it in a closet (oops, I mean he buries it).
I’ve always felt sorry for that last guy. To begin with, he is given the very least, and to end with, even the little he has is taken away. Would he have done better if he had more to begin with?
I now realize the parable is not about a once in a lifetime chance; the parable is about a process. The guy with five talents once had only two; before that, one; and before that, maybe only a denarius. As he used what he’d be given, he was given more.
As we use what God has given us—as we actually drive it down the tracks—more is given. Whereas when we don’t use what God has given us—as we let it atrophy—we lose the little we have. Waiting for perfection makes a train wreck of our talents.
I’m not talking about a mere bucket list
Something ordinary (a train set) triggered my thoughts, but I’m not concerned with mundane goals. I’m not suggesting we plan to visit the Grand Canyon, learn to fly, or climb Mt. Everest. Life is not a game of trains; it is a wild adventure of really living.
We each have a call from God, a special gifting, something the world desperately needs; we have something to offer to the world. We can start by offering a cup of cold water.
God wants us to give of ourselves and out of ourselves: maybe to compose a song, write a book, care for a poor person, offer some wisdom, or bring an insight.
Let’s not allow what we can’t do prevent us from doing what we can do.
Join me this year by coming out of the closet. (Hmmm … maybe another metaphor is needed.) Join me in un-burying what’s been given to us and then bringing it to the world, unapologetically, unreservedly, and without shame at its smallness.
This year let’s begin to do something worthwhile—one step at a time. Let’s get back on track.
SamFor thousands of years, Aboriginal Australians burned forests to promote grasslands for hunting and other purposes. Recent research suggests that these burning practices also affected the timing and intensity of the Australian summer monsoon.
It is perhaps difficult for some of us to imagine that a single species, Homo sapiens, can affect the Earth’s climate system. But a cursory view of satellite images of the Earth emphasises the scale of the environmental changes that we have brought about. Most of us are aware of our contribution to the pollution of the Earth’s atmosphere, rivers and oceans; to severe land degradation, salinity, and so on.
During the last few decades, human-induced climate change has been a pervasive theme in the scientific literature. Central to the concept is the role of greenhouse gas added to the atmosphere during the industrial era.
Lesser-known is the idea championed by Bill Ruddiman. This describes the role early farming played in climate change during the last several thousand years through land clearing, raising livestock, and irrigating rice paddies. Ruddiman’s research, while not without its critics, suggests that these resultant climatic changes set the Earth on a different, unnatural climate path.
Ruddiman’s findings led to the “early anthropogenic hypothesis”. This is the idea that early agriculturalists caused an anomalous reversal in natural declines of atmospheric carbon dioxide 7,000 years ago and methane about 5,000 years ago.
As long ago as 1975, Jules Charney recognised climate feedbacks caused by land-surface modifications. He showed that vegetation clearing, overgrazing and burning may have had an impact on the devastating drought experiences of semi-arid areas such as the Sahel region of West Africa.
Additionally, it is well known that different vegetation types can alter evaporation, roughness, and surface reflectivity, leading to changes in the weather and climate.
The Australian scene
Europeans’ impact on the Australian environment exemplifies the role of human modifications on the Earth’s land-surface. Tom Lyons’ “bunny fence” experiments have drawn attention to likely climate impacts and feedbacks Europeans may have caused. “Clearing the woodland” has been part of the European historical environmental geography literature for a long time.
Pre-historians and ecologists have been long concerned with the possible effect that Aboriginal vegetation burning practices may have had on the Australian ecology. Bill Gammage has recently published a very readable overview of the concept in “The biggest estate on Earth: how Aborigines made Australia”.
Vegetation burning remains a pervasive theme in Australian prehistory, but what impact has it had on the climate regime of the continent? An answer to this question can be found in two ways.
We can investigate the archives of vegetation changes associated with charcoal, recorded in geological sequences. Or we can take a more direct approach and use elements of the suite of climate models that are now available. For the Australian scene, previous climate model experiments have indicated a likely climatic response to changes in vegetation cover.
More recently, our research group, consisting of members from The University of Western Australia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, approached this theme through a comprehensive modeling effort using a global scale coupled ocean-atmosphere model. As part of a wider study of the climate history of the northwest Australian monsoon region, funded in part by Kimberley Foundation Australia, we posed the direct question: “Did Aboriginal vegetation burning practices impact on the function of the northwest Australian summer monsoon?”
We showed that the climate responded significantly to reduced vegetation cover in the pre-monsoon season. We found decreases in rainfall, higher surface and ground temperatures and enhanced atmospheric stability. In other words, there was a decline in the strength of the early monsoon “phase”.
The results of the experiment lead us to suggest that by burning forests in northwestern Australia, Aboriginals altered the local climate. They effectively extended the dry season and delayed the start of the monsoon season.
More than anything else, our results are a further reminder, if needed, of the sensitivity of the global climate system.Earlier this week, we read a fascinating article over at The New Yorker that asked the question, “why is literary fame so unpredictable?” Apparently, in 1929, the readers of The Manchester Guardian were asked to vote on the authors they thought would still be read widely in 2029, and their top choice was John Galsworthy, who — though he won the Nobel Prize for The Forsyte Saga in 1932 — is now relatively unknown, or at least not very popular. The article goes on to discuss the difficulty in making predictions of literary prestige over long periods of time, noting a couple things that might give clues (a staunch but small readership of fellow authors, for one). While we concur that this kind of thing often rests on chance, fashion and unforeseeable future circumstance, we thought we’d take a stab at rounding up a few of the contemporary (read: living) authors we think we might still be reading in 100 years. Click through to see our predictions, and let us know your own in the comments.
Gabriel García Márquez
In addition to having written several beautiful novels (and, you know, having been awarded the Nobel Prize), Márquez is the figurehead of magical realism, a literary style that he popularized with the success of One Hundred Years of Solitude. So if nothing else, the author will at least be forever remembered and studied in conjunction with that stylistic trend, and his popularity will likely shift along with it.A small Christian college has added its voice to a national debate on kneeling during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The College of the Ozarks said in a news release on Friday that it would boycott any game if it detected that “disrespect is exhibited toward the American flag or national anthem.”
The announcement followed the recent controversy over the decision by National Football League players and others to kneel as a form of protest during the performance of the national anthem before games.
The college said it had changed its contracts for athletics competition, adding a rule that all players and coaches involved show respect for the American flag and the national anthem. “It’s a shame sporting events are being used to communicate disrespect for this great country,” the college’s president, Jerry C. Davis, said in the news release. “It’s time for colleges and universities to be positive role models. We need more emphasis on character and unity and less emphasis on political correctness.”
The college, with an enrollment of about 1,500, is located in Point Lookout, Mo. On its crest, five words are in a ring: academic, vocational, cultural, patriotic, and Christian. Patriotic events and memorial services are arranged by an administrator who serves as dean of admissions and vice president for patriotic activities.Exclusive
Alvaro Arbeloa has joined the growing list of Irons players heading for the exit door this January.
Slaven Bilic has decided the 33 year old former Real Madrid defender is no longer part of his plans and he will be allowed to leave.
Arbeloa has joined Gokhan Tore and Simone Zaza on the ‘surplus to requirements’ list after making just one EFL and two Premier League appearances.
He appeared against Accrington Stanley and received yellow cards in his two Premier League outings against Southampton and Middlesborough.
Arbeola was signed on deadline day as the club’s need for a right back became urgent but the manager has decided that he will be looking elsewhere in January.
A club insider confirmed the details to us this morning saying: It’s true that Arbeola would be allowed to move on if a club comes for him.”
Meanwhile, the club are continuing to explore the options with Tore and Zaza and both are likely to be leaving in the window as reported.House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) speaks at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research on June 22. Appearing on a Wisconsin radio show Thursday, Ryan criticized GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign but did not abandon it. (Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images)
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan repeated Thursday that his endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was “not a blank check” and delivered a sharp critique of Trump’s flailing campaign two days after Trump declined to endorse Ryan for reelection to his Wisconsin congressional seat.
“He’s had a pretty strange run since the convention,” Ryan said on WTAQ radio in Green Bay. “You would think that we want to be focusing on Hillary Clinton, on all of her deficiencies. She is such a weak candidate that one would think that we would be on offense against Hillary Clinton, and it is distressing that that’s not what we’re talking about these days.”
Ryan’s comments came in his first live interview in more than a week, and they followed a near-constant string of Trump controversies, including his attacks on the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim American Army officer who was killed in Iraq War combat in 2004.
The Washington Post's Philip Rucker explains how unusual it is that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is withholding his endorsements of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in their primary races. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
[Mike Pence ‘strongly’ endorses Paul Ryan, as Trump refuses to do the same]
Ryan repeated some of his previous comments on Trump, telling host Jerry Bader that he was not inclined as a leader of the Republican Party to question the choice of the voters who made Trump the GOP nominee. “We are a grass-roots party; we aren’t a superdelegate party,” he said. “We are a party where the grass-roots Republican primary voter selects our nominee. And that’s as it should be…. And I think there’s something to be said about respecting those voters.”
“He won the delegates,” Ryan added. “He won the thing fair and square.”
But he made clear that he is deeply uncomfortable with Trump’s performance since becoming the nominee. He said Trump’s comments on the Khan family “were beyond the pale.”
“You don’t do that to Gold Star families,” he said. “If anyone has earned the right to say whatever they want, it is Gold Star families.”
Bader pressed Ryan on whether a moment would ever come where he would abandon Trump. Ryan repeated a line he has given previously — “none of these things are ever blank checks” — while acknowledging that he would remain behind Trump even after the Khan controversy while continuing to speak out against his various controversial utterances.
“I don’t like doing this; I don’t want to do this,” Ryan said. “But I will do this because I feel I have to in order to defend Republicans and our principles so that people don’t make the mistake of thinking we think like that.”
In a separate interview later in the day on Wisconsin Public Radio, Ryan was confronted with criticism he has received from fellow conservatives — including a Wall Street Journal column that argued Ryan was “doing his personal reputation and his party’s fortunes no favors with these evasions.”
Ryan called those critics “friends” but said they are situated differently: “They’re not the speaker of the House,” he said. “They’re not the highest elected Republican official representing Congress and the party. And I feel I need to respect our rules. The delegates voted for him. It’s a democratic system.”
He also emphasized the presidential power to nominate Supreme Court justices and referred to a “binary choice” between Clinton and Trump: “I know Hillary Clinton will put a bad judge from my perspective on the Supreme Court. I believe that Donald Trump won’t.”
Trump, meanwhile, has shown less adherence to the standard rules of party loyalty. On Tuesday, he told The Washington Post that he would not endorse Ryan in his primary fight against Paul Nehlen, a pro-Trump businessman who has slammed Ryan for his past support of trade deals and immigration reform. Then on Wednesday, Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, broke with Trump and gave Ryan an unalloyed endorsement.
Speaking to ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said “there’s a conflict within the Trump campaign” about the Ryan primary.
“Of course, he’s going to work with Paul Ryan,” Manafort said. “Of course, he’s tried to bridge the party together with Paul Ryan, but Ryan is also running against somebody who’s not going to win but nonetheless, he’s a strong supporter of Mr. Trump’s.”
At a rally later in the day, Trump called Ryan “a good guy” and suggested that he had assented to Pence’s endorsement, but he did not explicitly endorse Ryan himself.
Speaking on WTAQ, Ryan on Thursday dismissed Nehlen’s campaign as “desperate” and “powered by these scam PACs and with a lot of out-of-state people.”
“I don’t think Wisconsinites take kindly to this,” he said. “I feel very good where I am. The people here in Wisconsin know me and know me well.”Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the Canucks have re-signed forward Sven Baertschi to a one-year, one-way contract.
Baertschi, 22, appeared in two playoff games as well as three regular season games with the Canucks, where he registered two goals (2-0-2). He also split time this season between the Utica Comets, the Calgary Flames and the Adirondack Flames. With Utica, he collected 15 points (7-8-15) in 15 regular season games and notched a team-high eight goals (8-7-15) in 21 playoff games during the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs. Prior to joining Vancouver and Utica, Baertschi appeared in 15 games with the Calgary Flames this past season, recording four assists (0-4-4) and six penalty minutes. He also appeared in 36 games with the Adirondack Flames, collecting 25 points (8-17-25) and six penalty minutes.
The Bern, Switzerland native has appeared in 69 regular season NHL games split between Vancouver and Calgary collecting 30 points (10-20-30) and 26 penalty minutes.
The 5’11”, 190-pound forward was originally selected by Calgary 13th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He was acquired by Vancouver from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Vancouver’s second round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft on March 2, 2015.
Career Regular Season Statistics
Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S% 2006-2007 SC Langenthal U17-Swiss-U17 13 15 23 38 16 2007-2008 SC Langenthal U17-Swiss-U17 17 16 22 38 22 2007-2008 SC Langenthal Jr.-Swiss-Jr. 18 3 3 6 4 2008-2009 SC Langenthal U17-Swiss-U17 3 4 4 8 0 2008-2009 SC Langenthal Jr.-Swiss-Jr. 37 21 32 53 40 2008-2009 SC Langenthal-Swiss-2 2 0 0 0 0 2009-2010 SC Langenthal Jr.-Swiss-Jr. 2 3 0 3 2 2009-2010 EV Zug Jr.-Swiss-Jr. 9 10 13 23 4 2009-2010 SC Langenthal-Swiss-2 37 6 6 12 8 2009-2010 Switzerland-WJ18-A 6 1 2 3 -3 2 1 0 0 2010-2011 Portland Winter Hawks-WHL 66 34 51 85 74 2011-2012 Flames 5 3 0 3 2 4 0 0 0 10 30.0 2011-2012 Portland Winterhawks-WHL 47 33 61 94 15 36 10 5 2012-2013 Flames 20 3 7 10 0 6 0 0 0 28 10.7 2012-2013 Abbotsford Heat-AHL 32 10 16 26 -1 16 3 0 1 80 12.5 2013-2014 Flames 26 2 9 11 -4 6 1 0 0 30 6.7 2013-2014 Abbotsford Heat-AHL 41 13 16 29 1 18 4 0 1 87 14.9 2013-2014 Switzerland-WC-A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2014-2015 Flames 15 0 4 4 -3 6 0 0 0 11 0.0 2014-2015 Canucks 3 2 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 4 50.0 NHL Totals 69 10 20 30 -5 26 1 0 0 83 12.0
Career Playoff StatisticsJust need a fuse
XHerakleitos - 6/21/11 "And the decor on the ceiling
Has planned out their future day" "We tell the other side of the story", says Chris Wallace at least three times in his interview with Jon Stewart on Fox News Sunday. There is "no single marching order, not some kind of command", he says again later. But it's already shown itself - at least three times. Stewart's got his game on enough to deflect Wallace's absurd suggestion that he's a partisan hack with an agenda, that there is no comedic/artistic impulse not already totally manipulated by the fingers of ideology, and that the New York Times is just as much of a "propaganda delivery system" as Fox News. But when it comes to the deeper problem, he seemed slightly off and stumbling for purchase. And it's so right in front of our faces we can't see it any more. It's right there. It's everywhere. It's the idea that there are two sides of the story, literally and only two sides. It's not just Fox News marching to this order. The conjuring trick elevates cliché and anecdote to an unassailable mindwrap, a suffocating transparency where the dubious refracts into the obvious, and we buy into this fate by reflex. Locked in the punch of an absurd spacing, we've bought this meta frame where there's only two sides, Fox exuding the conceit, all pumped with an heroic harrumph, of a tenacity in representing half of what is. Maybe, early in the interview, there was something in that cup. You want to think a properly caffeinated Stewart would have lanced this boil. And in doing so, he'd have shown the difference between artist and hack in one gesture. We need art to somehow pinch the scene and make this frame flutter evanescently, perhaps bringing it into view even if by analogy with the simple, dorky irreverence of lighting a fart. Even just imagining such a moment, it doesn't last long. Soon habits threaten to occlude the opening. But hopefully we can ask in the echo: is there a more apt way of characterizing the political landscape? Is everything opposed to Fox News and its demographic "Leftist" and "Liberal"? I'm not trying to covertly suggest the store be opened to a comic book rack of Libertarian fetishism. Far from it. I don't have a ready answer. I only have the sense that the realities we face are begging us to ask, and that our condition justifies groping for something, anything beyond a scene where, as I wanted once to say, "parody is the propaedeutic". Notable in the interview was a moment where Wallace asserted that Fox viewers "are not disappointed" in the product, to which Stewart leaped into the established point that "Fox viewers are the most consistently misinformed." Maybe there's a clue here, since both can be true at the same time. Perhaps, then - if to limit ourselves to two sides, recast the bivalent framework in a different way, i.e., the happily misinformed versus an amorphous constellation of those who defer gratification for the sake of being informed. Maybe Hedges has a point in recasting it in terms of a print based, literate culture at home in complexity up against a throng absorbed in imagery, retreating from a reality-based world into magic and illusion. Could be something to this, though it doesn't sound as catchy and simple as the frozen pantomime of Right versus Left. All I'm left with at the moment is an old faith that, as Plato traces in the 7th letter, holds out the potency of rubbing names and definitions together - whereby, a flash may supervene and illuminate the matter at hand. Nowadays as we're caught in the boiling upshots of ideologies past, in a simultaneity of wreckage and success propelling Benjamin's Angel of History, can we summon a spark that breaks the spell of Liberal and Conservative, Left and Right - and put ourselves in front? "It's the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
All ready to use
It's the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging
I just need a fuse"
Update: Turns out it didn't take Stewart too long to find that bic lighter.US military commanders have warned their Israeli counterparts that any action against Iran would severely limit the ability of American forces in the region to mount their own operations against the Iranian nuclear programme by cutting off vital logistical support from Gulf Arab allies.
US naval, air and ground forces are dependent for bases, refuelling and supplies on Gulf Arab rulers who are deeply concerned about the progress Iran has made in its nuclear programme, but also about the rising challenge to their regimes posed by the Arab spring and the galvanising impact on popular unrest of an Israeli attack on Iran.
The US Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain and the US air force has major bases in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Senior US officers believe the one case in which they could not rely fully on those bases for military operations against Iranian installations would be if Israel acted first.
"The Gulf states' one great fear is Iran going nuclear. The other is a regional war that would destabilise them," said a source in the region. "They might support a massive war against Iran, but they know they are not going to get that, and they know a limited strike is not worth it, as it will not destroy the programme and only make Iran angrier."
Israeli leaders had hinted they might take military action to set back the Iranian programme, but that threat receded in September when the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told the United Nations general assembly that Iran's advances in uranium enrichment would only breach Israel's "red line" in spring or summer next year.
Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, said this week in London that it was the Iranian decision this year to convert a third of the country's stock of 20%-enriched uranium into fuel (making it harder to convert to weapons-grade material if Iran decided to make a weapon) that had bought another "eight to 10 months".
Barak's comments appear to signal that Israel's new red line is an Iranian stockpile of about 200kg of 20%-enriched uranium in convertible form, enough if enriched further to make one bomb. Western diplomats argue the benchmark is arbitrary, as it would take Iran another few months to enrich the stockpile to 90% (weapons-grade) purity, and then perhaps another year to develop a warhead small enough to put on a missile. Even then Tehran would have just one nuclear bomb, hardly enough to make it a nuclear weapons power.
France's president, François Hollande, met Netanyahu in Paris on Wednesday but rejected the push for military action.
"It's a threat that cannot be accepted by France," Hollande said, arguing for further sanctions coupled with negotiations. A new round of international talks with Iran are due after the US presidential elections, in which Tehran is expected to be offered sanctions relief in return for an end to 20% enrichment.
Netanyahu argued sanctions had failed to stop Iran's nuclear programme and claimed Arab nations would be "relieved" if Iran was stopped from building nuclear weaponsa bomb.
Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies office in Bahrain, disagreed, saying: "I don't believe the Gulf states are praying for an Israeli attack.
"An attack would create difficult problems for them on the political level. They will be called on to denounce Israel, and they will want to stay out of it. The risk of regional war to them is huge," he said, but added that if Iran responded to an Israeli attack by lashing out at the US and its Arab allies, those restraints on the Gulf states' own response would be lifted.
The UK government has told the US that it cannot rely on the use of British bases in Ascension Island, Cyprus, and Diego Garcia for an assault on Iran as pre-emptive action would be illegal. The Arab spring has also complicated US contingency planning for any new conflict in the Gulf.
US naval commanders have watched with unease as the newly elected Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, has made overtures towards Iran. US ships make 200 transits a year through the Suez canal. Manama, the Fifth Fleet headquarters, is the capital of a country that is 70% Shia and currently in turmoil.
Ami Ayalon, a former chief of the Israeli navy and the country's internal intelligence service, Shin Bet, argues Israel too cannot ignore the new Arab realities.
"We live in a new Middle East where the street has become stronger and the leaders are weaker," Ayalon told the Guardian. "In order for Israel to face Iran we will have to form a coalition of relatively pragmatic regimes in the region, and the only way to create that coalition is to show progress on the Israel-Palestinian track."The holiday battle over iPhone sales left Best Buy with $65,000 in losses, the company said on Friday. The Wall Street Journal cited Best Buy's claims as part of a piece on Walmart's advertising practices, pointing out that Best Buy was "compelled" to price-match Walmart's aggressive iPhone 5 discounts, leaving the big-box electronics retailer in the red.
Both chains offered up discounts on the iPhone 5 ahead of the 2012 holiday season—Best Buy started in early December with a $50-off offer, taking the lowest-end iPhone 5 down to $149.99. But Walmart was quick to follow with its own discounts, dropping the price to $127. (The WSJ claims Walmart advertised $150 for the iPhone 5, but the numbers posted on Walmart's Facebook page on the day of the promotion said $127.)
Because of Best Buy's price-matching guarantee, the retailer was essentially forced to offer the iPhone 5 |
guru and a genius -- did he make the playoffs last year? Does he get the players up? Do you want to play in the Eagles' locker room knowing everyone is expendable? Other coaches hate him. They hate him because all they hear is how great he is. That was a disgrace.... He's a fraud of a coach and he should go back to Oregon where he could beat up on teams 68-2 that suck."Fans who once supported the ouster of LeSean McCoy are now clamoring about his superior yards-per-carry mark in Buffalo. They're digging up advanced statistics on offensive-line pass-blocking efficiency when it comes to jettisoned veterans Todd Herremans and Evan Mathis. Nick Foles (traded to the Rams in the offseason) wouldn't have thrown that pick against Dallas in the end zone. Jeremy Maclin (who signed with the Chiefs this offseason) and DeSean Jackson (released after the 2013 season) could take the top off a defense. Offseason addition Byron Maxwell, meanwhile, is a quitter.Kelly's ancillary changes, like the massive investment in sports science, exercise science and nutrition, once served as an example of true genius -- and now serve as a landing pad for punchlines about miracle recovery smoothies.if and when the city turns?In his four years at Oregon, he never once lost consecutive games. In his first year as the Eagles' head coach, he started 1-3, including three straight losses, but that was not his team. Last season, the Eagles lost three straight at the end of the season, but with a backup quarterback under center.This year, there are no excuses. Even injuries cannot be blamed, because Kelly knowingly loaded up on players with spotty histories, including Bradford, Murray, Ryan Mathews and Kiko Alonso. Former general manager Howie Roseman was cast into a non-personnel front office role so that Kelly could handle the roster. His scouting department was tailored in his vision from top to bottom. At the Veteran Combine in March, the Eagles had by far the largest contingent of scouts, most of whom spent long hours under the brutal Phoenix sun interviewing players that had little to no chance of finding a place on an NFL roster.Some rival scouts pointed to that moment as just one of the many glaring examples of Kelly's vise grip on the Eagles' future; maybe the task feels pointless, but it's the way Kelly wants it done, right down to height and weight requirements and knee circumference standards. One executive from another team described Kelly's end game as ascenario, where he can eventually earn unquestioned organizational shot-calling power.The all-in attitude of Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie underscored a humbling press conference Kelly gave two weeks ago after his team was manhandled by the Cowboys, a performance that included a perfect 7-of-7 relief appearance by Dallas backup Brandon Weeden against Kelly's hand-picked secondary."I was embarrassed," Kelly said. "That's not the way we're supposed to play football and that's not what we're all about. We didn't play well yesterday. It was embarrassing how we played yesterday."Embarrassing is not a word often associated with Kelly. His early years as an offensive coordinator at New Hampshire -- seasons where the Wildcats went 5-6, 6-5, 4-7, 3-8 and 5-7 -- are often treated like the early stages of a radical pharmaceutical study. By 2004, the miracle drug had been discovered, the Wildcats were 10-3 and Kelly was on his way to bigger and better things.But insight into how Kelly will handle failure and mounting pressure is sparing. Those who know him offer the same banal platitudes that are associated with every coach ---- mostly because Kelly prefers to operate with the secrecy, focus and intensity of a Navy SEAL.endings, and Rendell thinks he epitomizes this. If you ask, he'll cite an independent poll of likely voters published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in May in which 75 percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of him. He thinks his honesty, brutal at times, is probably the main reason.Rendell’s radical plan to balance the budget worked in that he was able to instill a sense of optimism around the city again, according to "A Prayer For The City." Business and wage taxes fell, and he was able to achieve five years of budget surplus. The population decline slowed but did not diminish altogether. Poverty rates were still high, but he left having seen a gain in jobs for the first time in Philadelphia in nearly a decade. Developers were crawling through town with plans to build hotels and restaurants.After his eight-year stint as the city's mayor, Rendell became the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and eventually was elected as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania, a job he held until his term limit ran out in January of 2011.At least for the moment, Rendell is no longer picketed or protested. He enjoys his unity with Philadelphia.Coaching the Eagles is not as serious as saving the city, and maybe that is why Kelly smiles -- or smirks -- more than Rendell ever could, even with a miserable record, and even with Rendell stepping up his constructive criticism of Kelly's offensive line and usage of explosive back Kenjon Barner lately on the radio.Winning also helps, and the Eagles avoided falling into the bottomless pit that is an 0-3 record by upsetting an undefeated Jets team on the road in Week 3. For once, Kelly's ownplan showed some promise.But it doesn't mean Kelly wasn't curious at all about the last true radical to run this town.After Kelly's press conference on that Sunday in May, the two met again in the hallway, and in a brief moment before Kelly breezed off, he asked Rendell a simple question."How'd I do?"New 3D animations: Realistic Earth, Exploding Text, Dissolving Text
New effects: Sharpness, Vignette, Lens Correction, more (10+)
New transitions: 6 bars, boxes
New dark theme
Improved Timeline Snapping for Transitions
Improved Drag & Drop features
Apply Effects to Tracks
Adjust Speed of Animated Titles
Lots of bug fixes
Install OpenShot 1.4.3 in Ubuntu
The latest OpenShot 1.4.3 is available in its stable PPA, for Ubuntu Quantal, Precise, Oneiric, Natty and Lucid. Add the PPA and install it using the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:openshot.developers/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install openshot frei0r-plugins
With OpenShot 1.4.3, you'll also need Blender 2.6.2 (or newer) for getting the animated 3D titles to work. In Ubuntu versions older than 12.04, you can use THIS PPA, or follow the instructions available HERE
For other Linux distributions, see the OpenShot downloads page
via OpenShot
Below you can watch a video created using OpenShot 1.4.3, by its developer:Josh Duggar, the Christian TV personality who admitted to molesting several of his younger sisters, has lost his privacy lawsuit against the publishers of In Touch Weekly.
He joined the lawsuit, filed by the sisters he abused, saying the magazine wrongfully published their personal information (which they legally obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request). A federal judge tossed both suits against Bauer Publishing, which owns In Touch, citing First Amendment rights, according to Arkansas Online.
[U.S. District Judge Tim] Brooks said neither Duggar nor his sisters made allegations in their lawsuits that Bauer ever published untruthful information about them. He said the police documents were given to Bauer pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Brooks said it is “clear that the Bauer defendants cannot be held liable.” He also dismissed nearly all of Josh Duggar’s claims against city officials and the police, leaving only the Arkansas Department of Human Services as a defendant, though they haven’t been served with any lawsuit.
But what about Duggar’s sisters, who were actually victims of something (their own brother)? The judge dismissed Bauer from both cases, but left claims against former Springdale Police Chief Kathy O’Kelley, Springdale City Attorney Ernest Cate, and Maj. Rick Hoyt of the Washington County sheriff’s office in the sisters’ lawsuit.
Brooks said that while the claims were almost identical in Duggar’s case and the sisters’ case against the three individuals, the circumstances were very different. The judge said Josh Duggar was named in an article by In Touch Weekly magazine prior to the police documents being released, but the sisters were not identified. “This fact alone is fatal to nearly all of Joshua Duggar’s claims against Springdale and Washington County defendants,” the judge wrote.
The ruling comes a month after the sisters asked the court not to merge the two cases, saying it would further traumatize them. That court filing also recognized the differences in the lawsuits, which the judge picked up on right away.
At the end of the day, Josh Duggar tried to play the victim card, and he still lost the game. He decided to join a lawsuit filed by the girls he abused, saying he was harmed in similar ways (he actually said he was caused mental anguish and humiliation through this ordeal), and it didn’t stand up in court.
I’d like to say I hope he’ll learn a lesson from all this, but that may be too much to ask.For a girl who loves her vegetables, I haven’t shared many salad recipes on this blog! I dunno, I guess I figure it’s boring to share a pile of leaves unless it’s a really exceptional pile of leaves. Of course, a truly fantastic salad dressing can take any array of cold veggies to the next level. So I decided to share one of my favorites today: vegan avocado ranch dressing.
This avocado ranch dressing is creamy (duh), full of flavor, and ready to stand up to a hearty mix of fall-appropriate salad ingredients. In a couple of days, I’ll be sharing a salad to pair it with that would be welcomed at a Thanksgiving table. In the meantime, just slather it on everything. Do it. Or eat it as a dip. Or use it as as base for a super decadent chickpea salad (guilty as charged).
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Lately my recipes have been more indulgent, but this avocado ranch dressing is completely plant-strong and free of refined ingredients. But you wouldn’t know it from the flavor or texture! Avocados are such a useful ingredient in the vegan kitchen arsenal… and full of amazing healthy fats.
You know, salad dressing is something that I find rather difficult to photograph. But I hope these photos do justice. Be back soon with the whole salad!
5 from 1 vote Print Avocado Ranch Dressing Creamy vegan avocado ranch dressing recipe, made with whole food ingredients. Delicious anywhere regular ranch dressing is used! Prep Time 15 minutes Total Time 10 minutes Total Yield 1 cups Calories Per Serving 68 kcal Author Yup, it's Vegan Ingredients 1 ripe avocado
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/3 cup plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk
2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp white vinegar
2 tsp brown rice syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice; I don't recommend maple syrup, though, as the flavor is too strong)
1 tsp cayenne pepper hot sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (¼ tsp. if freshly ground), plus more to taste
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp salt plus more to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
3 tbsp chopped fresh chives
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley Instructions Add the avocado, garlic, nondairy milk, vegan Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, brown rice syrup, pepper, paprika, and salt (and hot sauce, if using) to a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Add more nondairy milk a tablespoon at a time, if needed to blend. Add the chopped fresh herbs and blend for a short time, until the herbs are incorporated throughout (but not completely pureed). For the best flavor, refrigerate for 30 minutes before using. This avocado ranch dressing is best enjoyed the same day you make it, but will keep for up to 2 days in an airtight container in the fridge. To slow the process of oxidization, top it with a thin layer of water or oil. Recipe Notes For a gluten-free version, substitute tamari or liquid aminos for the vegan Worcestershire sauce (most brands contain wheat). The ingredients list starts with a low amount of salt, since salt content in Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce may vary. Nutrition Facts Avocado Ranch Dressing Amount Per Serving (0.25 cup) Calories 68 Calories from Fat 36 % Daily Value* Total Fat 4g 6% Saturated Fat 1g 5% Polyunsaturated Fat 1g Monounsaturated Fat 2g Sodium 113mg 5% Potassium 231mg 7% Total Carbohydrates 8g 3% Dietary Fiber 2g 8% Sugars 3g Protein 2g 4% Vitamin A 7% Vitamin C 31% Calcium 3% Iron 5% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Sources consulted: this Food Network ranch recipe.Just days after the horrific massacre in Las Vegas, and just 5 miles away from the scene, a University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor told her class that President Trump is to blame.
In a video obtained by Campus Reform, UNLV Assistant Professor Tess Winkelmann is seen addressing her History 407 class.
"Professors are in a position of trust, and they’re abusing it to promote their political ideology."
Referring to Trump, Winkelmann noted that “when he got elected, I told my classes three semesters ago, some of us won’t be affected by this presidency, but others are going to die. Other people will die because of this.”
[RELATED: Prof: ‘People are going to die’ because of white Trump voters]
“I don’t know whether these events would have inevitably happened whether or not he got elected, but he has the same rhetorical powers every president has, to encourage or discourage,” she continued. “So far, all he has done is to encourage violence.”
Winkelmann also charged President Trump with equating “right nationalism” with “anti-racism,” referring to the president’s comments on the violence in Charlottesville, VA.
She then asserted that Trump has “threatened nuclear violence against North Korea, and other places,” proclaiming that “words, especially coming from someone who is the President, have consequences.”
Some students weren’t happy with Winkelmann’s comments.
One UNLV student, who spoke with Campus Reform on condition of anonymity, called the speech a “politically-driven rant” to make the point that “President Trump somehow incited this violence.”
[RELATED: Prof: Trump’s election an ‘act of terrorism’]
“We just experienced one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. History. It’s a mile [sic] away, and we don’t know what happened, we don’t know why it happened, and we’re pushing political agendas, and that’s what this is about, taking advantage of the situation for political belief, when we should be uniting, healing as a community,” the student remarked.
“At every chance the President got, he condemned this violence. The professor is taking away from the dialogue that should be happening to attack the President,” the student added. “Professors are in a position of trust, and they’re abusing it to promote their political ideology or agenda. I think it’s dangerous when you blame the President for a massacre, and basically shut down students who disagree.”
“I think it is despicable that a professor at an institute of higher learning, one that is located in the same city in which this attack occurred, would use her platform to spew such hatred and divisive rhetoric,” agreed another student, who also wishes to remain anonymous.
The second student did, however, say the incident was not entirely surprising because “this professor had previously made comments in opposition to Trump.”
Campus Reform reached out to Assistant Professor Tess Winkelmann, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @rMitchellGunterThe creators of the Jeebu$™ fable are celebrating yet another scam.. as usually they where fiddling around in the graveyard for marketing purposes.. they supernaturally dug up some old priests grave, who had been in the grave for 30 years.. and what did they “find”, the poisonous tongue of the priest was still intact BANG they ran to the church and told the flock of sheep.. The tongue was intact, the tongue was intact; Magic is real, it’s a sign from the master of the universe; Come and worship the Skeletor idol; Join us or burn. 😉
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About 200,000 devoted pilgrims will pass by the skeletal remains of St. Anthony of Padua this week.
The saint’s bones are on display until Saturday in a glass case in the chapel of his tomb in the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua, Italy, in honour of the anniversary of the transfer of his remains to his final resting place in the Chapel of the Relics in February 1350. The anniversary is known as the “feast of the tongue.”
St. Anthony, the patron saint of Padua, is known for his gifts as a preacher. When his coffin was moved 30 years after his death, his tongue was discovered intact – a sign of his oratorical gifts. The tongue was then kept in a separate reliquary.
The saint’s remains were last displayed in 1981, according to Neil MacCarthy, director of communications for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto.
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Delicious – Digg – reddit – StumbleUpon – MoreThis page is a comprehensive listing and detailing of the various characters who appear, from time to time, in the television series House. The list is divided episode-wise, as well as character-wise, and includes recurring characters, such as Rachel Taub, and Dominika, as well as characters who appear in only a few episodes, such as Juan Alvarez (House) and Steve McQueen (the rat).
Main characters [ edit ]
Senior doctors [ edit ]
Diagnostic team [ edit ]
Seasons 1–3 [ edit ]
The original diagnostic team consisted of Dr. Cameron, Dr. Chase and Dr. Foreman. While both of their tenures had brief interruptions, Chase and Cameron still appeared semi-regularly on the show. They advise the newer fellows in the Diagnostic Department in seasons 4–5, or participate in cases directly when appropriate.
Seasons 4–5 [ edit ]
Following the events of the season 3 finale, House began a long-running competition to select a new diagnostic team, progressively eliminating "contestants" from an original pool of 40 applicants. This story arc ran throughout the first half of season 4, from "The Right Stuff" through "Games". His final team consists of Dr. Foreman and the three successful "contestants": Dr. Taub, Dr. Kutner, and "Thirteen".
Season 6 [ edit ]
Season 7 [ edit ]
Season 8 [ edit ]
Recurring characters [ edit ]
Edward Vogler [ edit ]
Chi McBride
Edward Vogler (Chi McBride) is the billionaire owner of a pharmaceutical firm and, in a season 1 story arc, became the new chairman of the board of PPTH, a position he gained through a $100 million donation to the hospital. Vogler sought to reshape PPTH into a testing facility for his firm's new drugs and saw House's maverick ways and blatant disregard for rules and authority figures as a substantial legal and financial liability. When House refused to conform to Vogler's increasingly capricious demands (including an order for House to fire one of his fellows) and even publicly bashed Vogler's company at a press banquet, Vogler gave the board an ultimatum: fire House, or lose Vogler's grant. After losing Wilson from the board, and a last ditch and impassioned motion from Cuddy for the board members to put the hospital's independence ahead of Vogler's donation, the board voted to retain House, therefore losing Vogler and his $100 million.
Fox demanded a bad guy to be added to the show, a few months before House went on a Christmas hiatus.[2] Shore opposed Fox's request, because he thought adding such a character would be a bad idea.[2] Although Shore thought he managed to convince the producers not to add the character, during his vacation in Israel, he was informed that Jeff Zucker, the head of the Universal studio, had threatened to cut the season short by six episodes unless the character was added.[2] To prevent this from happening, Shore created the character.[2] McBride was hired to film five episodes.[3] However the producers decided not to extend the character's story arc.[2] In a video David Shore said: "Chi McBride is so larger than life. He’s literally just a physically imposing person, and we just wanted someone who could really clash with House, somebody who could be emotionally and physically and psychologically imposing as he is and could go head to head with him."[4]
Stacy Warner [ edit ]
Sela Ward
Stacy Warner (Sela Ward) was Dr. House's former live-in girlfriend (for five years), a Constitutional lawyer and Duke University graduate. Two years after their breakup, she married Mark Warner. She appears in 9 episodes during the run of season 2, taking a job at PPTH (after asking Cuddy to make sure it was okay with Gregory House) to be close to her husband during his recovery.
House and Stacy's relationship has been strained due to his relentless attempts to prove she still has feelings for him. Mark aided House's cause by driving a wedge between himself and his wife when he suspects a brewing affair. Mark was eventually proven correct, as Stacy fell for House all over again and they slept together. As Stacy prepared to leave her husband for House, he then rejected her (stating that he could not make her happy, because he could not change). She quit her job at the hospital and went back home to Short Hills with Mark. An enraged Wilson believed House broke her heart not out of guilt for Mark (which is not his modus), but as a last-ditch resort to ensure that House does not allow himself happiness. The aftermath of this botched affair left House in a stark depression. Stacy did not appear on the show again, until the series finale "Everybody Dies".
In the episode "Son of Coma Guy", when playing a questions game with a patient to make a diagnosis, House admitted that he had been in love once. He said they met when she shot him in a game of paintball, Doctors vs Lawyers. Presumably, House was talking about Stacy. When the patient asked if that was the only time he'd ever been in love, House avoided answering and changed the subject.
Stacy made her final appearance, her first in six seasons, in the series finale "Everybody Dies" as both a hallucination of House and an attendee of his funeral. Here, Stacy revealed that she had "never stopped loving" House.
Michael Tritter [ edit ]
David Morse
Detective Michael Tritter (David Morse) is one of House's clinic patients. After House refuses to run tests at Tritter's request and insults him, Tritter trips House. House agrees to the tests and tells Tritter he has to check his temperature to rule out infection. House proceeds to use a rectal thermometer, and his supposed reason for using the rectal thermometer over a normal mouth thermometer is Tritter's chewing of nicotine gum, since oral readings can be affected by food and drink. House then leaves the room on a pretense with the thermometer still inserted in Tritter's rectum; House intentionally never returns and Tritter endures the rectal thermometer for two hours.
Afterwards, Tritter demands an apology from House for deliberately leaving the thermometer in him. House refuses, apparently spurred on by the patient's attitude, which is as bad as House's. Caught speeding and arrested for possession of allegedly unprescribed medication, House is thrown in jail overnight by Tritter, who searches his house the next week and finds a large amount of Vicodin. He also interviews House's staff looking for inconsistencies in their stories. He proceeds to tighten his vise grip on Wilson by freezing Wilson's bank account, towing his car, and revoking his drug prescription rights because he wants Wilson to testify against House in court.
After Tritter discovers that Wilson refuses to betray House, he turns on to House's assistants, freezing Foreman and Cameron's accounts, before talking to each one of them in turn. Foreman and Cameron refuse to testify in court about House, but when Tritter talks to Chase, he makes it appear to the hospital staff as though they had had a pleasant lunch together. Chase is concerned that this makes Foreman and Cameron think that Chase has told Tritter something, although he had refused to, his only stated reason being that he would lose his job.
Tritter finally succeeds in his goal when Wilson comes to him, requesting "thirty pieces of silver" in a symbolic statement of his decision to betray House, whom he has come to see as spiraling out of control. In the final days leading up to House's trial, House enters rehab. Tritter confronts him in rehab to see if he was really going through with it. When the charges against House were dropped at the trial, because Cuddy fabricated evidence that acquitted House, Tritter wished House good luck and said that he hoped he was wrong about him. Tritter did not appear on the show again.
Amber Volakis [ edit ]
Anne Dudek in 2011
Dr. Amber Volakis (Anne Dudek) is an interventional radiologist featured in the 4th and 5th seasons as House's main antagonist. In House's competition to hire a new team, she is #24. Volakis is willing to do anything to get the job, including acts of dishonesty. This is first seen when she apparently quits the competition and convinces a group of applicants to imitate her, rather than be humiliated by House; she returns moments later admitting it was a ruse to thin the herd. She is subsequently referred to as "Cutthroat Bitch" and "Bitch" by House throughout the season, and is even referred to as such on House's caller I.D. After the characters stop using this nickname, she is still almost always called by her first name, unlike the rest of the characters. She sometimes coerces Chase and Cameron, now reassigned to different departments of the hospital, into helping her. Her persistence and unorthodox approaches initially win her praise, but she is ultimately eliminated because House feels she cannot accept being wrong, something he says she would need to be able to accept on a regular basis if she were to work for him.
Amber returns in "Frozen", when House discovers that she is Wilson's new girlfriend, a fact Wilson had been trying to conceal from House. House and Amber quickly develop an adversarial relationship, bickering over "shared custody" of Wilson. In the two-part season 4 finale (episodes "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart"), Amber is involved in a bus crash alongside House, who noticed symptoms of an unknown disease in her immediately before the crash. House later realizes that she is suffering from poisoning from her use of flu pills containing amantadine, along with the kidney failure caused by the crash. She dies in Wilson's arms due to multiple organ failure. Amber is absent from only two episodes in the fourth season.
Amber re-appears as House's hallucinated helper at the end of the episode "Saviors," and in the succeeding episode "House Divided," where House continues to see her. She is revealed to have become a part of his unconscious, now risen from his insomnia and his guilt over failing to foresee Kutner's suicide and over her death earlier. House first seeks to shut out his hallucinated friend with sleeping pills, but later engages proactively with her to figure out a case. A misdiagnosis is almost fatal to the patient; as is Chase's case of anaphylactic shock at the bachelor party House throws for him, when Chase, strawberry allergic, licks a stripper covered in strawberry flavored body butter. House imagines "Amber" may have been trying to murder Chase, he takes the sleeping pill at the end of the episode, but he finds he is still seeing her, and in the next episode "Under My Skin" it appears his hallucinations are due to his use of Vicodin and he must detox. In the season finale, after it is exposed that House hallucinated his detoxification, Amber re-appears.
Amber made her final appearance, her first in three seasons, in the series finale "Everybody Dies", as a hallucination of House and not able to participate in the team.
Critic Kelly Woo, from TV Squad, placed her on #3 on her list of "Seven new characters that worked" just below Lost's Benjamin Linus and Desmond Hume.[5]
Lucas Douglas [ edit ]
Michael Weston
Lucas Douglas (Michael Weston) is a private investigator. He is hired by House in the fifth-season episode "Not Cancer" to spy on House's team and gain information about them. Among other things, he finds out about a secret bank account started up by Taub's wife of which Taub is unaware. Impressed by his thorough efforts, House decides to put Lucas "on retainer."
Next, in "Adverse Events", House uses Lucas to gain information about Cuddy's personal life. Lucas, though, had also begun to take a romantic interest in Cuddy. In "Lucky Thirteen", House uses him to spy on Wilson because he suspects he was lying about where he was one morning. Lucas finds out that he's dating a hooker and that he's doing drugs. House then figures out Wilson was trying to throw him off because he knew Lucas was following him. It is also revealed that Lucas got the keys to all of his fellows' houses. House also used him to dig up info about Foreman, but could not find anything interesting.
Michael Weston reprises the role of Lucas during season six in the episode "Known Unknowns".[6] Lucas had begun dating Cuddy. In the season 6 finale, Cuddy breaks off her engagement with him and ends their relationship so that she can be with House.
Rachel Taub [ edit ]
Rachel Taub (Jennifer Crystal Foley) is Chris Taub's wife and has appeared in several episodes, mostly dealing with her husband's infidelity. She reveals to Chris that she is pregnant in the seventh season. In season eight, she wants to move across country with her new boyfriend and her and Taub's daughter, but Taub tries to stop them.
Sam Carr [ edit ]
Sam Carr (Cynthia Watros) is Wilson's first wife, whom he starts dating again in season six. They break up in season seven.
Dominika Petrova [ edit ]
Dominika Petrova (Karolina Wydra) and House get married so that she can be allowed to live in the U.S. Dominika first appeared in the season 7 episode "Fall from Grace", where in an effort to make Lisa Cuddy jealous, House announces that he will be marrying Dominika, in order for her to get her green card. Their marriage ceremony takes place in House's apartment, with James Wilson and Lisa Cuddy as witnesses. Although this ceremony causes Cuddy to break down, their ceremony is a success, prompting Dominika to reveal to House that she actually does like him, to which House replies that he doesn't sleep with married women.
Dominika is not seen for almost a season, however she returns in season 8's "Man of the House", due to her upcoming marriage status interview. In order to successfully appear to be a married couple, House and Dominika spend more time together, learning information about each other's lives. Although they are successful, a slip-up involving Wilson results in their getting caught. However, they make a deal resulting in Dominika being legally obligated to live in House's apartment.
For the next four episodes, House and Dominika grow close and it appears that both of them share some level of romantic affection for one another. Dominika aids House in his efforts to find out more information about his favorite prostitute in "We Need the Eggs" and their relationship only grows stronger, leading House to throw away the letter informing her that she has been approved for U.S. citizenship. In the following episode, "Body & Soul", before Dominika discovers House's deception, she seduces House, revealing the magnitude of her feelings for him. After she learns of his deception, she leaves him, in tears.
Dominika makes her final appearances in the series finale, "Everybody Dies". Here, a hallucination of House reveals his desires regarding love. It is revealed through House's subconscious that it was his desire to enter a true romantic relationship with Dominika, although House never reveals his true feelings to her. She is last seen at House's funeral, delivering a eulogy.
Unsuccessful applicants for fellowship [ edit ]
Edi Gathegi
Dr. Jeffrey Cole (a.k.a. Big Love, Black Mormon) (Edi Gathegi) is #18. A graduate of Brigham Young University, Cole is a practicing Mormon which draws the ire of Dr. House, who is atheist. Cole eventually punches House when House calls Joseph Smith a "horny fraud." This impresses House. Dr. Cole is also African-American, and a surrogate for House’s racial epithets towards Dr. Foreman. Cole refused to drop out of the running when Amber deceitfully encouraged candidates to quit rather than be humiliated by Dr. House. Cameron believes Cole is a decent and principled man, and gives him advice on how to gain House's respect. In the episode "Guardian Angels" it is revealed that he is a single father, and does not know where his child's mother is. In the episode "You Don't Want To Know", Kutner mentions that he has babysat for Cole's son. He is nicknamed "Big Love" in reference to HBO’s popular series about Utah polygamists. House fires him because he was willing to compromise with Cuddy instead of subverting her authority. His medical specialty is Medical Genetics. Andy Comeau
Dr. Travis Brennan (a.k.a. Grumpy) (Andy Comeau) is an epidemiologist. He is #37. Brennan was invited back for the second round of cuts, and survived again when the females' team was eliminated for failing to properly supervise the patient, resulting in his death. He offered the final (though incorrect) diagnosis of eosinophilic pneumonia of this patient, and House authorized treatment. House nicknames him "Grumpy", and he tends to be gruff and straight to the point. It is revealed he worked with Doctors Without Borders for eight years, making his experience in third world countries provide him more awareness of exotic pathologies. He interviewed for this job to settle down to a life in New Jersey with his fiancée, though from his own testimony and the mirroring of a patient he would rather be back working in third world countries. He was forced to quit in the episode "Whatever It Takes" after House discovered that he was poisoning a patient in order to provoke studies into cures for polio. When House confronted him with this, he told Brennan he had no intention of firing him, but ordered him to quit instead. House gave him a few moments to leave and then had Foreman call the police. Carmen Argenziano
Henry Dobson (a.k.a. Scooter/Ridiculously Old Fraud/Bosley) (Carmen Argenziano) was a former Medical School Admissions Officer. He is #26. Dobson refuses to perform even basic tests on patients, saying that, with his advanced age and the other applicants' inexperience, they have more to prove; however, he shows a very gifted medical mind. House pulls Dobson aside and reveals the truth: Dobson is not even a doctor, and never even graduated from medical school or learned to do medical procedures. Dobson admits that during the 30 years that he worked in the admissions office of Columbia University's medical school, he audited every one of its classes. House, impressed by his gall as well as his knowledge, allows him to stay on to compete for a job as an "assistant". Dobson argues age should not matter (jokingly claiming he is 21) and demonstrates he is as effective as any of the real doctors by finding a way to break into a patient's home to acquire key information and offering a diagnosis of cancer for a patient that House agreed with and scheduled surgery for. However, in "97 Seconds", House does reveal to the remaining team members that one of the remaining "applicants" is not even really a doctor, although they have yet to realize who this is. Ultimately he is dismissed when House finds that Dobson's thought processes are too similar to his own, illustrated when Dobson explains that "you don't need someone to tell you what you're already thinking" before House can explain the dismissal. Nicknamed "Scooter", "Ridiculously Old Fraud", and "Bosley", after the Charlie's Angels character in an episode where House was pretending to be Charlie and the other applicants the Angels.
Minor characters [ edit ]
Family members [ edit ]
R. Lee Ermey
Hospital workers and patients [ edit ]
Hospital Pharmacist (Marco Pelaez) is the hospital pharmacist seen in several early episodes. He was first seen in the episode "Occam's Razor" and was last seen in the episode "One Day, One Room".
Hospital Pharmacist (Marco Pelaez) is the hospital pharmacist seen in several early episodes. He was first seen in the episode "Occam's Razor" and was last seen in the episode "One Day, One Room". Nurse Brenda Previn (Stephanie Venditto) is the Head Nurse seen in many earlier episodes. She was often snarky toward House and his team. She was first seen in the episode "Kids" and was last seen in the episode "Que Sera Sera".
Leighton Meester
Ali (Leighton Meester) is House's "teenage stalker", a seventeen-year-old whose father was treated by House for a cold during "Informed Consent". She then became obsessed with him, going as far as stalking him during work, and encouraging the two of them to have sex. House recognized her behavior as a symptom and had her treated. The theme would be repeated between Meester and Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) in the 2011 film The Oranges, when Laurie's character enters into an affair with Meester's character, the 20-something daughter of his best friend.
Ali (Leighton Meester) is House's "teenage stalker", a |
or under.
For the time being, of course, they cannot hope to take part in the latter stages of the Champions League. Van der Sar calls it “a playground for the rich and famous” and Ajax know to their cost how much money talks in the modern era, how market forces have conspired against them and benefited the biggest clubs in the richest leagues. “For a club of the stature of Ajax, it’s been too long that we were away from the international podium,” he says.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Edwin van der Sar, once a goalkeeper and now the CEO of Ajax, and the club’s manager, Peter Bosz. Photograph: Chris de Bode/Panos Pictures for the Guardian
One of the finest goalkeepers in Europe during his playing days, now Van der Sar is one of the Ajax greats striving to turn Cruyff’s vision of how the game should be played into a reality. Bergkamp, Richard Witschge and Aron Winter are on the coaching staff, and Marc Overmars is the technical director. Jaap Stam worked with the defenders before moving to Reading. “He taught me how to use my arms,” Joël Veltman, a veteran in this team at the age of 25, says. “I was too shy in duels. He said don’t smash in but use your arms.”
They are a fascinating group who regularly collaborate and debate football. There is no shortage of opinions. “That’s the funny thing,” Van der Sar says. “It is not always easy but we speak as one voice. We have a technical heart.”
Intriguingly, however, Van der Sar’s role is not on the pitch. Marketing, rather than coaching, appealed to him after he retired. Now the former Manchester United No1 is responsible for increasing Ajax’s financial competitiveness. They do things differently here.
“When I got a call from Johan Cruyff and Dennis Bergkamp two months after I retired, this was the idea that they had for the club, to bring an ex-player into the directors’ office and eventually as the main man,” he says. “Those six years at United showed me what a club needs. You need commercial revenue and exposure. I have brought that a little bit, getting three Chinese sponsors. It’s trying to connect two worlds. That’s why we want a footballer as a CEO.”
While Van der Sar watches training from a distance for 10 minutes, Bosz eventually emerges from the main building shortly after midday. He is looking like an inspired appointment. His predecessor, Frank de Boer, won the title in each of his first four seasons but Ajax faded in his final two campaigns and made little impact in Europe. Bosz has energised the team since his arrival in the summer and is popular, despite spending five years at Feyenoord as a player.
Ajax’s hated Rotterdam rivals are likely to win the Eredivisie, despite their 3-0 defeat at Excelsior last weekend. They are a point above Ajax with one match left but optimism fills the Amsterdam Arena these days. Bosz’s young team started nervily against Lyon but the noise never died down during an awkward opening 20 minutes. The fans love what they are watching.
Bosz cannot stand negative football. He was a defensive midfielder – “a destroyer” – but that is not his managerial style. “When I see my team only defending and destroying like I did I will not enjoy it,” he says. “I thought when I’m on the bench at least I will give myself a happy afternoon. If I give myself a happy afternoon, I can give it to the fans.”
In an echo of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, Bosz favours a feverish pressing game. “Barcelona have a three-second rule,” he says. “We’re not Barcelona, so I put two seconds on.”
Bosz laughs. “The five-second rule is something that if you lose the ball, this is the best moment to get the ball back again. The opponent needs more or less five seconds to get in the right positions. We have to get it back right away.”
The 53-year-old is an admirer of Guardiola. His favourite book is Pep Confidential, Marti Perarnau’s account of Guardiola’s first season at Bayern Munich. He learned from Guardiola’s attention to detail, how he would work out in advance which opposition player was always free on the counterattack. “I always thought Bayern Munich is such a strong team that you don’t have to watch for the opponents for two or three days,” Bosz says.
Sometimes I’m on the pitch just enjoying it like a fan on the side. Then I get goosebumps Joël Veltman
There are similarities between Bosz and Guardiola. Bosz’s critics believe his high-risk strategy asks for trouble but his principles have not changed since his first job at lowly AGOVV, from where he went on to enjoy success at Heracles and Vitesse Arnhem.
“What they call naive is that my defence was on the halfway line with a lot of space at the back,” Bosz says. “But you have to organise really well. If you do that, you have the five-second rule. You lose the ball and press them immediately, then it’s possible. If you look at our performances in Europe, yesterday was [only] the second time we have conceded in our stadium.”
That level of intensity requires mental sharpness as well as physical fitness. Any player who allows his head to drop after possession is lost finds himself on Bosz’s wrong side. “Don’t be disappointed in yourself,” he says. “Don’t be disappointed in your team-mate. You have to press. This is the moment. Not one player. The whole team. If you do that right, you will not concede. We have young players, so when we lose the ball, in their mind, they go back immediately because they have to defend. My way of thinking is we go forward immediately because we want the ball back.”
Bosz should not be mistaken for a misguided idealist. He is focused on maintaining organisation and spends hours poring over matches to find seemingly innocuous mistakes. He does not smile much and his mother tells him to laugh more on television but he insists he is a positive guy. “But I am also critical,” he says. “There is no such thing as a perfect game. It doesn’t exist. It will never exist.”
What about when Barcelona … “Beat Real Madrid 5-0? There were a lot of things in the game that they didn’t do well. I look on the computer and I write down the right-back, ah, he is too high.”
The five-second rule works only if Ajax are alert to danger when they have the ball. Bosz calls this rest defence. “There may be 50 things we have to do well,” Bosz says. “First I explain to my players how we will play. Then I will show them an animation of rest defence. Then clips of training and the game. Then we show them the mistakes we make and what we have to do better. You also show them when the pressing game was amazing. We show them clips from big teams in Europe. Then the idea is in the heads of the players.”
His approach stems from his appreciation of Cruyff. “I had only one idol,” Bosz says. “I knew from the age of 16 that one day I will become a coach. So I was preparing by writing down what my coaches were doing right but also reading a lot from Johan. With some friends, we more or less wrote our own book. Every article, all his interviews were in there. We collected them and tried to organise them – this is for attacking, this is how you defend, this is tactical.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ajax’s eye-catching young winger Justin Kluivert leaves the training pitch. Photograph: Chris de Bode/Panos Pictures for the Guardian
At the start of last year Bosz joined Maccabi Tel Aviv, whose technical director is Cruyff’s son, Jordi. “Just before Johan died, he came to Israel,” Bosz says. “We spent a week together. It was just amazing. Instead of the book that you made, he is talking to you. I was just listening. In one week I learned enough for 10 years. He saw two Maccabi games and he was there at every training session.”
Bosz’s head was brimming with ideas but he is aware that not every player is a football obsessive. “This is dangerous for a coach,” he says. “If I want to give all my knowledge to my players, they will get bored. My speech before the game is not more than five minutes. It’s important from those 50 things that I pick the right ones.”
His players took some convincing at first, especially the defenders, and Ajax dropped costly points early on. Veltman says: “It was tough. If the left winger goes to the area, you go with him. I was like: ‘Ninety minutes man, it’s impossible.’ But it is fun. Sometimes I’m on the pitch just enjoying it like a fan on the side. Then I get goosebumps.”
Veltman is a product of Ajax’s academy, along with the captain, Davy Klaassen, and a younger generation is emerging. Kluivert turned 18 last Friday. Matthijs de Ligt, a 17-year-old defender, recently made his Holland debut. Van der Sar says: “It has intensified in the last five or six years. We have changed the academy and put an even bigger emphasis on training and development hours and facilities and coaches. We train more in the first year. Then the teachers come here and then they train again – instead of first going to school and then training. So we have two or three more training moments than before. Hopefully that will pay off.”
Van der Sar knows that avoiding a talent drain will not be easy. Klaassen is being linked with a summer move. Ajax cannot compete financially with the leading clubs in England, Germany, Italy and Spain. Can they hold on to Kasper Dolberg, their lethal Danish striker, or Hakim Ziyech, their brilliant Moroccan attacking midfielder? Can Overmars keep finding cheap gems such as the outstanding Colombian centre-back Davinson Sánchez?
Van der Sar says: “We don’t have the spending power of other clubs. We want to bring our own players through – of course there is money to spend but ideally we want to develop players. If they’re good enough for the top European level, you see the average ages of the players who join the big clubs.
“You touch everything in this club. As a player I always had a look at the people doing the laundry or the guy cleaning the boots or the security guards. It’s important to feel that everyone is pulling in the same way. That’s reflective in how the club works. You need a good right-back, a good centre-half, a No10 – I need a good operational director, a financial guy. It’s making sure everyone goes forward. There’s the goal – we need to score. Everything behind me was bad because that’s a goal. We need to push.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Ajax players in training. Photograph: Chris de Bode/Panos Pictures for the Guardian
Ajax’s scouting must be clever. Selling Arkadiusz Milik to Napoli for £27m last year enabled Overmars to break the £10m barrier for the first time when David Neres, a 19-year-old Brazilian forward, joined from São Paulo in January.
Bosz’s tough three-year spell as Feyernoord’s technical director not only allowed him to broaden his mind by travelling the world but also offered him an insight into Overmars’s job.
All Bosz asks from Overmars is that he brings him clever players. “I don’t care what they did at school,” he says. “I met some guys who went to university and were not intelligent players. Intelligent players anticipate. Unintelligent players react. Always. If you think faster, you are faster on the field. If you react, you are always too late. Know what’s going to happen, not what’s already happened.”
This is the Ajax way. It goes back to Cruyff. “We have to be different,” Bosz says. “It’s the only way we have a chance.”Since John McCain so desperately and obviously wanted to change the subject, permit me to begin by not taking the bait and not changing the subject.
Wednesday was the worst day of the campaign for McCain. The revelations about Rick Davis' firm doing lobbying work for Freddie Mac had the potential, and still may have the potential, to cost Davis his job. Certainly the story had the potential to eat up a lot of cable television time over the next two days. Over the long term, and most importantly, the story has the power, if used properly by the Democrats, to dissolve any morsel of credibility McCain had on the subject of dealing with the current fiscal crisis.
So keep that straight. The cable coverage of McCain's ridiculous gambit about suspending his campaign and delaying Friday night's debate is not making that link explicit, because that's just not the sort of thing television does except when it really slaps them in the face, like when Bill Clinton bombed Sudan the night the House of Representatives voted the impeachment articles.
But I can guarantee you, if you think the McCain brain trust wasn't manically trying to conjure up a way to wriggle out of the Davis mess and hand the media a new story to yak about, then I have a non-bridge in Alaska to non-sell you.
This was also the day when the Washington Post and ABC released a poll showing McCain nine points behind Barack Obama. On Hardball, Chris Matthews is, to his credit, making this connection: that McCain is changing the subject because he's dropping in the polls. In fact the desperation of McCain's move makes one think that maybe his own internal polls show a gloomier picture still.
What a joke. What an unserious and contemptible joke. And so typically dishonest. Now that Obama has spoken, we know that it was Obama who called McCain, first suggesting that the two issue a bipartisan joint statement on the crisis. This obviously got McCain and Steve Schmidt thinking. Hey, maybe we can put country first here and … oops, scratch that. Since we're in such a tight spot today anyway, maybe we can put naked politics first here and go public, steal his thunder, act like we were the white hats who came up with the idea. Yeah! And while we're at it, let's take it a step further. Let's don the sack cloth of piety and insist that we feel this is so important we even think the debate should be suspended.
Think about the kind of mind that's required to even think up something like this. I could never think up something like this. Most average people, of whatever political persuasion, could never do it. Some pundits are talking about desperation and Hail Mary passes and so on, but that doesn't really begin to describe the deviousness at work here.
This is like a man who gets caught cheating on his wife and then, with his back against the wall and with confrontation looming, goes out and intentionally wrecks the car, contriving to break a few ribs and get rushed to the hospital, all to delay the inevitable conflict and in the cynical knowledge that, in front of the doctors and until the wounds are bound, the wife will be forced to offer sympathy. Males are messed up creatures, but believe me, only a rather small percentage of us is really capable of thinking this connivingly.
Will it work? I don't think so. Granted, 98% of Americans don't know about the Rick Davis story, and probably around 90% don't know about the Washington Post poll. So some people may buy it. But I don't believe most will. It just looks too sneaky. Even if one doesn't smell desperation, the odor of weirdness is all over the move.
And it looks unpresidential. Obama came out and looked presidential. Presidents need to be able to handle two problems at once, he said. Now is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from us. We both have big planes. They can get us from Washington to Mississippi pretty quickly if need be. His press conference offered, in fact, a good look at how he would be as president. He seeks non-confrontation. But he slips his points in steadily and coolly. Pretty smooth performance.
And he seems to be winning. Perhaps inevitably, one polling outfit did a snap poll on all this. Results?
Hold the debate as scheduled: 50%
Hold it but focus on the economy not foreign policy: 36%.
Postpone: 10%. Suspend campaigns: 14%
Continue campaign: 31%
Re-focus campaign: 48%
Oopsie.
The commission on presidential debates stated shortly after Obama spoke that the debate will go on. If the commission says it and Obama says it, it will go on, I suspect. But we have yet to see which chess piece McCain moves next. Who can imagine that? Think of the most cynical thing you can think of, then double it.
Abraham Lincoln ran for re-election while leading the Union troops in the civil war. Franklin Roosevelt ran for re-election in the midst of terrible depression in 1936, a far worse economic crisis than we have right now, and in 1944 while prosecuting the second world war.
If John McCain can't debate while thinking about the country's economy, then he's even more ill-equipped to hold the job than I think he is. But of course he is capable of doing both. His proposal is not serious. It is just a rancidly political act. That he goes before cameras and tries to pass it off as nonpolitical, hoping that people will buy it, is what makes it contemptible.
When Mario Cuomo was governor of New York, he devoted a speech to improving the lot of children in New York state. He declared "The decade of the child." When, after a year or two, it became clear that somehow child poverty rates had stayed more or less the same, a joke began circulating around Albany: but he didn't mean this decade.
We've reached a similar point today, but far worse, because Cuomo's intentions were at least decent. John McCain's intentions have to do with nothing loftier than the next news cycle. He is the man who said country first. He just didn't mean this country.The Regency Hotel in Dublin that's used partly to house homeless families.
The Regency Hotel in Dublin that's used partly to house homeless families.
THERE ARE NOW here are now almost 1,000 families living in emergency accommodation Dublin.
Latest figures show that there were 998 families homeless and living in hostels, hotels or B&Bs across Dublin in the month of August.
The figure marks a 60% increase on the 607 families that were living in emergency accommodation at the same time last year.
The figures come from the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) – the organisation that manages homeless services across the four Dublin local authorities.
The DRHE said that this month represents the first major reduction in the net increase of families in homelessness.
72 families were placed in emergency accommodation last month, while 67 families left homelessness, giving a net increase for this year of five.
This is compared to an increase of 54 families in July and 26 families in June.
“The Dublin Region Homeless Executive welcome this first significant recorded reduction in the net increase,” the organisation said.
However, the number of families in emergency accommodation is now at record level.
Speaking to RTÉ News at One this afternoon, director of advocacy with homeless charity Mike Allen, said that their was no leadership at national level to tackle the crisis.
The DRHE said that 825 households moved from homeless accommodation into their own tenancies this year.
Read: Woman at risk of being made homeless brings court action against Dublin City CouncilA brawl that erupted at a suburban Tampa Publix supermarket when a customer used a racial slur while ordering chicken wings was caught on tape and has been seen by thousands.Leon Lightbody, 25, was arrested for simple battery after fighting with other customers at the Temple Terrace Publix deli, including the man who ordered the wings, according to WFLA-TV The incident happened Sept. 16 when a man identified as Raleigh Harris, 59, placed an order for chicken wings about 8:30 p.m. Witness Jessica Jordan told WFLA-TV that Harris was rude and used a racial slur toward one of the employees."Well I was in shock," said Jordan, adding that employees told Harris to back off because of his actions. "I was like, 'Ugh, great, rude people.' I just felt like he was kind of, um, loud and obnoxious.""(Harris) got really outraged and told him to mind his f****** business and kinda threw the n-word in there a few times. The guy that was ordering chicken was like running around the deli being chased by these other customers," said Jordan.Temple Terrace Police Capt. Greg Pauley told the Tampa Tribune that is when Lightbody confronted Harris, punching him multiple times. As the two fought and went to the floor, Publix employees tried to break up the fight.Police said they don't know how the incident escalated into the fight and Pauley said the Publix employees appeared to be acting as peacemakers and probably wouldn't face any charges."(Publix is) disappointed in the behavior of those involved, but thankful no one was injured," said Brian West, a spokesman for Publix. "A couple of our associates placed themselves in harm's way attempting to break it up. Fortunately, no injuries occurred. The safety and well-being of our associates and customers is our first priority."At noon Eastern, Chevrolet unveiled two commercials on YouTube: one for the all-new Chevy Traverse, the other for Chevrolet, the brand.
"Why should that matter?", you ask. "Don't automakers post clips to the web on a daily basis?" They do, but these are special: they're intended for TV, and they include images of LGBT families and same-sex weddings. According to an email from Chevy's communications team, this is "a first for Chevrolet in a television spot".
That in itself may not seem like much of a big deal, either. LGBT characters, spokespeople, and families are increasingly common in ads, movies, TV programs, and everywhere else. Plus, Chevrolet's parent company, General Motors, is a longtime supporter of LGBT rights, earning perfect scores on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. So, is it really that surprising that Chevrolet would drop some LGBT-friendly imagery into a couple of TV commercials?
ALSO READ: Buy American: Ten 2014 Vehicles That Wave The Stars And Stripes
What moves this from the category of "banal" to "ballsy" is the timing: the two clips will debut on television tonight, during the broadcast of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, have taken lots of flack for the country's new laws that ban "gay propaganda". Those laws have been criticized for being unfairly vague, and Putin has been accused of creating a national environment in which homophobia isn't merely tolerated, but encouraged (like, say, Iran or Uganda).
In other words, these two ads are clearly meant to make a statement -- one declaring Chevrolet's unequivocal support for LGBT equality and criticizing the climate of homophobia being fostered in Russia and elsewhere.
This is also a savvy marketing move on Chevy's part. Many sponsors of the Winter Olympics have been attacked in the media for not speaking out against Russia's new laws. Now, a number of those companies -- including heavy-hitters like AT&T and Coca-Cola -- have begun making statements in support of the LGBT community, and so far, public opinion seems to be on their side. Chevy surely hopes to be in that number, too.
You can see the clip for the all-new Chevy Traverse below, and the branding ad for Chevrolet below.
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Follow The Car Connection on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.Washington (CNN) Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that the Democratic race for president could drag on for months -- and possibly to the Democratic National Convention in July.
In an interview with CNN, Reid said that the race between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton shows no signs of dying down, even as the former secretary of state had hoped the upcoming Nevada caucuses and South Carolina primary would be her launching pad to the Democratic nomination.
"These races go on for a long long time," Reid said. When asked if that included a brokered convention, he responded "Sure, seriously some of the old conventions produced some good people."
Reid also said, "It would be kind of fun."
Reid's comments reflect the party establishment's growing uncertainty about Clinton's viability and lingering questions about whether she can hold off the Sanders surge. But Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz says she sees a contested convention as unlikely.
"I do think that this will continue to be a robust primary that will play out over the course of the next several months," Wasserman Schultz told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead" Thursday. "But there were predictions of a brokered convention, a fight that would go all the way to the convention, in 2008, if you recall, Jake, and that didn't happen. It didn't happen because this was wrapped up in a timely process through the normal primary schedule, and I think that will be the case here."
In the wide-ranging interview in his office, Reid raised concerns about both Sanders and the Clinton camp, criticizing the Vermont independent's proposal to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for his policy ideas. And he ridiculed Clinton's campaign for suggesting that 80 percent of the Nevada electorate is white, suggesting that her team was out-of-step with his state's ethnic diversity.
"Well, it appears to me they've been reading one of the old yearbooks from my high school," said Reid, 76. "They're way behind the times."
JUST WATCHED What is a brokered convention? Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH What is a brokered convention? 01:29
Reid spoke just days before the next presidential contest, which will take place in his home state of Nevada on February 20. Coming off a huge victory in New Hampshire, Sanders has been spending big bucks on TV both in English and in Spanish, while adding at least 50 staffers and 11 offices in the state.
Reid, who is neutral in the race, said that his state will be a toss-up, a potential warning to Clinton who had hoped that the Sanders bubble would burst after New Hampshire.
"I think it'll be very close," said Reid, who still runs the state's political machine even as he prepares to retire at year's end.
Reid added: "Clinton won one of the states already, Sanders won another state already, there's one more state, Nevada, then South Carolina. No matter what happens in Nevada or South Carolina, the race is going to go on."
Reid: Trump'reminds me of me'
Just as Reid is paying close attention to the Democratic race, he's not afraid to lay out his views of the Republican side as well. And the blunt-speaking Nevada Democrat, who usually lays out brutal attacks against his political enemies, offered a surprising take on the GOP frontrunner, Donald Trump, saying the two are relatable.
"He's a person who is authentic," Reid said. "You may not agree with his authenticity but he's authentic. People like that. He speaks his mind, which reminds me of me once in a while. I think that's something that's refreshing. He just says whatever he thinks is appropriate. I think some of the stuff is not so good but he does that. People identify with that. It wouldn't sell very well with Democrats but he's selling pretty well with Republicans."
Reid declined to handicap Trump's chances against the eventual Democratic nominee, but he pushed back hard on Marco Rubio, ridiculing the Florida senator for consistently saying that Democrats are terrified to run against him.
"Ha, ha," Reid chuckled when asked if Democrats were worried about Rubio. "He came in third in one election, in Iowa. He came in fifth in New Hampshire. I'm not quaking in my boots I'll tell you that."
Attack ads threaten Clinton's chances
Exit polls out of New Hampshire showed Clinton badly damaged over questions over trustworthiness, and Reid said there's a reason for that: The influx of attack ads trying to "denigrate" Clinton.
"The Koch brothers and all their minions that are not only spending huge amounts of money trying to denigrate Hillary Clinton, but other candidates we have around the country," Reid said. "You guys don't do a very good job of reporting about that."
Asked if that ad money would be detrimental to Clinton in a fall campaign, Reid said: "Of course, of course -- it already is. Why do you think her numbers are changed around? Because of all the millions of dollars spent against her. That's been so unfair."
Still, Reid said he thought Sanders or Clinton could beat the GOP nominee -- and he downplayed concerns from moderates in his party that Sanders' socialist views would be devastating for down-ticket races.
"Whoever wins the election, and you know it's going to go on for a while, as I've already indicated, we're, it'll turn out fine," Reid said.
With his thumb and index finger extended, he said: "My worry is this small compared to any Republican that sees either Trump or (Ted) Cruz being their nominee."
Reid on Sanders' tax plan: Let's leave the middle-class alone
Unlike Clinton, Reid would not say if Sanders' plan to create a single-payer health care system is unfeasible, saying, "anything is possible." But he pushed back on Sanders' proposal to raise taxes across the board, including the middle-class, to pay for his sweeping domestic policies.
"Well I'm a big fan of having the richest of the rich pay more, and the sad part about it is that they don't mind paying more, it's just the only people in America that don't believe they should pay more are the Republicans in Congress," Reid said. "Republicans around the country, the vast majority agree with me. So I'm in favor of doing that, but let's leave the middle class alone--they're really struggling."
Iowa 'doesn't represent America'
Despite Sanders' close-second place finish in Iowa and resounding victory in New Hampshire, Reid said the first test will be in Nevada, given the ethnic makeup of the state -- with its large influx of Latinos -- makes it more representative of the Democratic coalition.
"Iowa doesn't represent America," Reid said. "New Hampshire, first of all very few people live there, and Iowa and New Hampshire are basically white states. Nevada is part of the Great West."
Reid added that Iowa and New Hampshire should "absolutely not" have such power in choosing the parties' nominees.
"That's why I pushed hard for Nevada and South Carolina so that then we go across the country after we get out of these states," Reid said. "But previously we never, we never stepped foot in Nevada or South Carolina. We did it all in New Hampshire or Iowa -- that was wrong."
As he winds down his three-decade Senate career, Reid has made it a top goal to keep his Senate seat in Democratic hands, bring his party back to power into the chamber and help elect a Democratic president. But, he also knows his limitations. He suffered a brutal eye injury last fall, leaving him blind in his right eye.
Asked how his eye was doing now, Reid dead-panned: "Still blind."Hide Transcript Show Transcript
WEBVTT NERAL.>> HE WILL FOREVER BE MISSED. REPORTER: OFFICER LARGO'SSISTER, READ THE EULOGY IN FRONTOF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ♪PACKED INSIDE A HIGH SCHOOLGYMNASIUM IN REHOBOTH >> THIS WILL BE THE MOSTDIFFICULT ADJUSTMENT WE WILLHAVE TO ENDURE AND ACCEPT.REPORTER: A DIFFICULT ADJUSTMENTFOR FAMILY, AND LAW ENFORCEMENTACROSS THE NAVAJO NATION AND NEWMEXICO.>> BEYOND THAT UNIFORM, BEYONDTHAT BADGE THERE IS ANINDIVIDUAL THAT IS LOVED BYSOMEBODY.REPORTER: NAVAJO NATIONPRESIDENT RUSSELL BEGAYEADDRESSED THE CROWD.>> NO OFFICER SHOULD EVER HAVETO LOSE THEIR LIVES TRYING TOPROTECT OUR FAMILIES.REPORTER: HE ASKED EVERYONETHERE TO STAND, AND CLAP FOR THEOFFICERS IN THE ROOM, THANKINGTHEM FOR PUTTING THEIR LIVES ONTHE LINE EVERY DAY, AS OFFICERHOUSTON DID.GOVERNOR SUSANA MARTINEZ ALSOPAID HER RESPECTS HONORING THE FALLEN OFFICER MY HEART TRULY BREAKS FOR YOUMRS. CHARLIE, I CANT BEGIN TOIMAGINE THE LOSSREPORTER: THEN, PRESENTINGOFFICER HOUSTON'S FAMILY WITHTHE NEW MEXICO STATE FLAG.TODAY ACROSS NEW MEXICO FLAGSWERE AT HALF STAFF INCLUDINGHERE AT KOAT IN HONOR OF THISFALLEN OFFICER.JUSTIN MATTHEWS, KOAT, ACTION 7
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Navajo police Officer Houston Largo's family, friends and fellow officers came together Thursday to remember his life. Largo's sister read the eulogy in front of hundreds of people inside a packed high school gymnasium in Rehoboth, New Mexico. It’s a difficult adjustment for family and law enforcement officers across the Navajo Nation and New Mexico. The Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye addressed the crowd. “Beyond that uniform, beyond that badge, there is an individual that is loved by somebody,” Begaye said. “No officer should ever have to lose their lives trying to protect our families.” He asked everyone to stand and clap for the officers in the room to thank them for putting their lives on the line every day, as Largo did. Gov. Susana Martinez also paid her respects and honored the fallen officer, and presented Largo’s family with the New Mexico state flag. New Mexico flags were at half-staff in honor of Largo.US President Barack Obama delivered his eighth and final speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, combining appeals for greater international cooperation with denunciations of religious extremism, a self-congratulatory review of his own foreign and domestic policies, and thinly veiled criticism of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
The address, coming just four months before his term of office ends, was delayed by his late arrival at the heavily guarded UN headquarters in Manhattan. It touched on everything from nuclear disarmament to right-wing populism, income inequality and climate change. Despite the headlines, he asserted, the human condition is improving. “A quarter century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before, and yet our societies are filled with uncertainty, and unease, and strife,” he said. “This is the paradox that defines our world today.”
Scientific and medical advances, technology, accountable government and free global markets, he continued, had led to reductions in extreme poverty, longer lifespans and greater opportunity than at any other time in history. But at the same time, he acknowledged, these advances “fueled religious fundamentalism; the politics of ethnicity, or tribe, or sect; aggressive nationalism; a crude populism -- sometimes from the far left, but more often from the far right.”
“The answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are broadly shared, and that the disruptions -- economic, political, and cultural -- that are caused by integration are squarely addressed.” In a clear dig at Donald Trump and his campaign promise to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, Obama noted that, “today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself.”
Rich versus poor
Reducing income inequality within and among nations was a major theme of the speech – and an unusual one from the head of state of one of the world’s wealthiest and most unequal countries. Mr. Obama deplored the decline of trade unionism in industrialized countries, and criticized the use of tax havens by corporations and rich individuals to hide an estimated $8 trillion in wealth from the tax collector. “A world in which one percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never be stable,” he told the assembled heads of state, creating a “pervasive sense of injustice” that undermines public confidence in the existing order.
He encouraged his listeners to adopt economic and social policies similar to his own – policies that he claimed had ended the economic collapse that began in 2008 and created some 15 million jobs since 2009. Globally, he said, his government had worked with other countries to close tax shelters, combat corruption and “curb the 'excesses of capitalism'" – a phrase that might have been borrowed from the socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran a strong but unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this year. Globally, Mr. Obama noted, supporting weak states and investing in their economies would prevent conflict for a fraction of the cost of the decade-long US occupation of Iraq. “It’s not just the right thing to do, he noted. “It’s the smart thing to do.”
Obama called for concerted international action on climate change, but without making new commitments. He returned instead to the theme of open versus closed societies, arguing that there was a “growing contest” between authoritarianism and liberal democracy around the world. Post-colonial countries with inherited ethnic and cultural divisions, he said, had particular difficulty building democratic societies and were attracted to what he called the “strongman, to-down model” of government. He insisted, however, that democracy was the “better path” to prosperity and development, and listed a number of policies his government had adopted to promote democracy around the world. Conspicuously absent from that list was US support for the coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Honduras in 2009, the overthrow of the elected Ukrainian government in 2014 and close economic and military ties to autocratic regimes in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia.
He condemned what he termed “any forms of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority” and called for a concerted effort to confront religious, racial and social intolerance: “I do not believe progress is possible if our desire to preserve our identities gives way to an impulse to dehumanize or dominate another group. If our religion leads us to persecute those of another faith, if we jail or beat people who are gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls from going to school, if we discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or ethnicity.”
He defended US and NATO military operations in Iraq and Syria aimed at terrorist groups |
White Noise
Just because he's dead doesn't mean he can't be part of this. Everyone's favorite racist TV repairman is back! 87% 7 Sovereign/David Bowie
Not only is he the leader of the Guild but he can also shapeshift and writes a pretty good song on occasion as well. vs. 13% 26 Brainulo
In his hey-day he was a formidable opponent and today he's still pretty capable, though possibly fed up with this time period. 46% 9 Baron Underbheit
The good Baron may not be in the best position of his life, but he isn't an opponent you should overlook just yet. vs. 54% 24 Grand Galatic Inquisitor
Little is known about this figure except that he might be able to destroy the world. Of course he's dead now but that's okay. 86% 3 Henchmen 21 & 24
The Monarch's top henchmen have quietly crept to the top of the rankings and could surprise everyone. vs. 14% 30 Tiger Shark
Little is known about this villain aside from this his wife is not overly loyal. Also he's got a shark fin on his head and stuff. 78% 13 Prof. Incorrigible
The good guy turned bad, the former Prof. Impossible is made of living rubber, which can be totally annoying. vs. 22% 20 Manotaur
Manotaur's whereabouts are currently unknown but I'm sure he'll turn up. Probably. 73% 5 Kevin & Tim-Tom
Not only are they completely awful and terrifying but they're highly formiddable opponents. Watch out for these two! vs. 27% 28 Scorpio
One of the potentially many arch enemies of Captain Sunshine, at the very least this guy has a pretty sweet car, right? 64% 11 Torrid
The arch of the Order of the Triad, Torrid is cunning, ruthless and possibly magic. Not to be taken lightly. vs. 36% 22 Plug-Face
That's not even his official name (which is still unknown), but Plug-Face is a big fan favorite and could use that to his advantage maybe. 88% 2 Phantom Limb
Phantom Limb can be a bit of a wild card but he's certainly capable of winning it all. vs. 12% 31 Helicoptro
Those blades can probably hurt a guy, so that's something to worry about. 50% 16 Tigeriffic
With the suit, of course. The poor guy can't really do anything without his suit. vs. 50% 17 Mr. Monday
Mr. Monday may be dead but that won't stop him from entering this competition! He'll be president of calendars yet. 83% 8 Dr. Henry Killinger
This mystery man is a force to be reckoned with and should not be underestimated by anyone. vs. 17% 25 Scaramantula
Still spry even in his old age, this vintage bad guy is still a force to be recoked with, even post-retirement. 76% 10 King Gorilla
Before he got lung cancer KG was a heavy favorite to win it all. Now he's not very heavy at all really. Poor guy. vs. 24% 23 Chairman Wow
It remains to be seen how big the Chairman's armies are, but that could be a big factor down the road. 78% 4 Sgt. Hatred
He may not be evil any more, but Sgt. Hatred has a lot of of experience that could prove useful in these matchups. vs. 22% 29 Dr. Phage
This infectious opponent not only has his doctorate but he can also fly and has a bunch of sidekicks. Very scary! 41% 14 Red Mantle & Dragoon
Two heads are better than one! Don't underestimate these two because of their age! vs. 59% 19 Zero/Henchman 1/Scott Hall
Seemingly back from the dead, nobody ever sees Scott Hall die, so we can only assume that he can't be killed. 38% 6 Watch & Ward
While they don't get out into the field much, Watch and Ward have a lot of street smarts that could be extremely useful. vs. 62% 27 Monstroso
Creeping in at a low rank, this mastermind of both crime and the legal system should not be underestimated. 72% 12 Truckulese
Little is know about Truckulese except that he's pretty big and dresses like a truck I guess. vs. 28% 21 Manic 8-Ball
Where is he anyway? Still stuck in Underland answering questions for an eternity? Not the best gig.
74% 1 The Monarch & Dr. Mrs. The Monarch
Teamed up the Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch are heavy favorites to win it all. vs. 26% 15 The Intangible Fancy
A foe that you can't grab is a deadly foe indeed. His weaknesses include vacuums and fog horns. 74% 7 Sovereign/David Bowie
Not only is he the leader of the Guild but he can also shapeshift and writes a pretty good song on occasion as well. vs. 26% 24 Grand Galatic Inquisitor
Little is known about this figure except that he might be able to destroy the world. Of course he's dead now but that's okay. 68% 3 Henchmen 21 & 24
The Monarch's top henchmen have quietly crept to the top of the rankings and could surprise everyone. vs. 32% 13 Prof. Incorrigible
The good guy turned bad, the former Prof. Impossible is made of living rubber, which can be totally annoying. 44% 5 Kevin & Tim-Tom
Not only are they completely awful and terrifying but they're highly formiddable opponents. Watch out for these two! vs. 56% 11 Torrid
The arch of the Order of the Triad, Torrid is cunning, ruthless and possibly magic. Not to be taken lightly. 76% 2 Phantom Limb
Phantom Limb can be a bit of a wild card but he's certainly capable of winning it all. vs. 24% 17 Mr. Monday
Mr. Monday may be dead but that won't stop him from entering this competition! He'll be president of calendars yet. 80% 8 Dr. Henry Killinger
This mystery man is a force to be reckoned with and should not be underestimated by anyone. vs. 20% 10 King Gorilla
Before he got lung cancer KG was a heavy favorite to win it all. Now he's not very heavy at all really. Poor guy. 63% 4 Sgt. Hatred
He may not be evil any more, but Sgt. Hatred has a lot of of experience that could prove useful in these matchups. vs. 37% 19 Zero/Henchman 1/Scott Hall
Seemingly back from the dead, nobody ever sees Scott Hall die, so we can only assume that he can't be killed. 49% 27 Monstroso
Creeping in at a low rank, this mastermind of both crime and the legal system should not be underestimated. vs. 51% 12 Truckulese
Little is know about Truckulese except that he's pretty big and dresses like a truck I guess.
27% 1 The Monarch & Dr. Mrs. The Monarch
Teamed up the Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch are heavy favorites to win it all. vs. 73% 7 Sovereign/David Bowie
Not only is he the leader of the Guild but he can also shapeshift and writes a pretty good song on occasion as well. 77% 3 Henchmen 21 & 24
The Monarch's top henchmen have quietly crept to the top of the rankings and could surprise everyone. vs. 23% 11 Torrid
The arch of the Order of the Triad, Torrid is cunning, ruthless and possibly magic. Not to be taken lightly. 33% 2 Phantom Limb
Phantom Limb can be a bit of a wild card but he's certainly capable of winning it all. vs. 67% 8 Dr. Henry Killinger
This mystery man is a force to be reckoned with and should not be underestimated by anyone. 45% 4 Sgt. Hatred
He may not be evil any more, but Sgt. Hatred has a lot of of experience that could prove useful in these matchups. vs. 55% 12 Truckulese
Little is know about Truckulese except that he's pretty big and dresses like a truck I guess.
71% 7 Sovereign/David Bowie
Not only is he the leader of the Guild but he can also shapeshift and writes a pretty good song on occasion as well. vs. 29% 3 Henchmen 21 & 24
The Monarch's top henchmen have quietly crept to the top of the rankings and could surprise everyone. 52% 8 Dr. Henry Killinger
This mystery man is a force to be reckoned with and should not be underestimated by anyone. vs. 48% 12 Truckulese
Little is know about Truckulese except that he's pretty big and dresses like a truck I guess.
53% 7 Sovereign/David Bowie
Not only is he the leader of the Guild but he can also shapeshift and writes a pretty good song on occasion as well. vs. 47% 8 Dr. Henry Killinger
This mystery man is a force to be reckoned with and should not be underestimated by anyone.Ted CruzÂ’s Trump Strategy
RUSH: Rex in Penns Creek, Pennsylvania. Great to have you on the program. I’m glad you waited. Hi.
CALLER: Hey, Rush, good talking to you. Mega dittos from Steelers country.
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: Hey, I had a commented sort of along the line of the last caller. I’m a Ted Cruz supporter. I saw a couple of weeks ago that Ted Cruz said that if Trump were to get out of the race, then he thinks that he would get the lion’s share of Trump’s supporters. I just wanted your opinion on that. I found it interesting, the way that Cruz has treated Trump. He’s almost gone out of his way not to attack him. I don’t know if that’s because of Cruz’s style and character or if it’s a political calculation. And I actually think that Cruz probably is, in many ways, the most similar candidate that we have in the GOP to Trump, even though there are obviously other stark contrasts.
RUSH: Why do you think Trump is gonna get out of the race?
CALLER: I don’t think he is.
RUSH: Oh, I thought —
CALLER: I was just… And I’m not necessarily anti-Trump. I would put him about fourth on my list. But I was just… The article that I saw actually on Ted Cruz’s Facebook page, it quoted him as saying that he thought that he would get most of the Trump supporters at that time.
RUSH: Well, I think… Again, just off the cuff here. I’ve not spoken to Ted Cruz about this. But you’re right. Cruz has refrained from joining the crowd piling on Trump. And I do think it’s strategic, because I think Ted Cruz sees himself as the Donald Trump of the Republican Party. He’s an outsider inside. He has hit them and hit them hard, as though he is an outsider, even though he’s in the Senate, is an elected Republican.
And I think he thinks that he is probably in the same vein as Trump and is not exactly running a similar kind of campaign, but is occupying the same place. I’ve seen stories, too — I forget where and I don’t remember authorship — that some people think Cruz would be the natural heir to the Trump constituency if Trump ever got out. That talk is gonna have to stop at some point, Trump getting out. And I know you said you didn’t say that.
Trump is building his lead and Carson is staying right with him, and then the lower tier is fluid. The whole thing remains fluid, and the reason it does is because of Trump. Trump is clearly running the daily news cycle of the Republican presidential campaign. The media is not. And that is another reason why there is overwhelming support for Trump, is that he’s running the agenda. He’s in charge of it, he’s putting the media through hoops, and he’s the first candidate on the Republican side that’s coming along and been able to do this.
I know a lot of Ted Cruz fans, and they’ve been curious why Trump — Cruz (I’m sorry to conflate them) — why Cruz hasn’t done better in the polls than he is, and it’s because Trump has come along and basically occupies that position, but he genuinely is an outsider. Anyway, I’m up against it on time here so I have to interrupt myself. But, Rex, I appreciate the call.Be courtside for LIVE immersive Virtual Reality games all season long
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Full League Pass VR Game Schedule >Looks almost legit. (Photo: Ceres Police Department/SF Gate)
Now it just feels like scammers are running out of ideas. Police in California say people are being duped into buying what they think are iPads and flat screen televisions until they open up the boxes and find out it's anything but.
Recently, a rash of victims in Central Valley are reporting that people are being approached outside of stores and are offered name brand electronics for discounted prices. Because nothing about that equation sounds sketchy at all.
So, instead of opening up Apple-branded boxes to find the pricey tablets they're finding standard floor "tiles masquerading as iPads." In another instance, a victim found a large piece of wood instead of a flat screen television.
And the scammers were really into tricking their victims, reports SFGate.com:
The perpetrators went so far as to fill boxes with packing peanuts, while including recognizable logos and accessories that usually come with such products.
Police say they don't know who is behind these scams. That sounds similar to a case in December where Beats headphones were replaced by tins of tuna, but at least you could eat that.Another day, another article about a child who is being taught that she is the opposite sex because she likes the wrong things. May 18th’s victim of gender roles is Shanice/Shane, who is a girl who likes “boys’ things,” and is therefore being transitioned to a boy. The 1950s-style sexism in this article is enough to make me vomit. I swear, somebody somewhere is being paid to churn out these articles daily and they’re required to include as many sex stereotypes as possible. It’s all part of the public relations campaign for traditional gender roles and expensive surgeries.
From the Daily Mail:
“Shane was just six-years-old when he first told his mother that he hated his long hair and girly dresses. From an even younger age, mother-of-two Leanne, 31, noticed he would never play with toys designed for girls and preferred the likes of dinosaurs and Lego. As he grew older he shunned dresses and his mid-length locks, and even begged his mother to let him wear a suit instead of a bridesmaids dress to his sister’s wedding. He finally broke down in tears two years ago explaining that he hated his life because he was a girl on the outside but a boy inside. Now 12 and he goes by the name Shane and goes to school in male clothing.”
So she doesn’t like long hair and dresses, big deal! Let her cut her hair short and wear pants. That doesn’t mean she’s a boy. For heaven’s sake, millions of women and girls walk around wearing pants every single day. Are all of us men? And lots of women have short hair—even heterosexual women sometimes cut their hair short! What are “toys designed for girls”? Like, seriously, are we admitting out loud now that girls should only play with dolls and tea sets? Are we that open about our sexism? I was a normal girl when I was a kid (meaning no gender dysphoria) and I played with Legos. That’s because Legos are fun. Remember this Lego ad from the 1970s, created before the religion of gender roles was forced down our throats?
This little girl from the 1970s wore pants and played Lego, and nobody took her to a gender identity clinic, because it’s normal for girls to wear pants and play with Lego! If you ask me, the gendered marketing of toys is a capitalist plot to get parents to buy more stuff. If there are separate toys for girls and boys, then parents need to buy two of everything instead of just one. I will blame absolutely anything on capitalism, but honestly, tell me I’m wrong on that. If any kid can play with any toy then capitalists sell fewer products because siblings are sharing toys.
“All of his classmates and teachers have been hugely supportive of his change and the youngster has never felt better.”
I don’t think anyone is being supportive of this girl if they’re telling her she’s really a boy. The supportive person in this situation would explain to her that girls can do anything they want, including wear pants, build stuff, and wear a suit to a wedding. They would explain to her that it’s sexist to tell girls that they can’t do something just because they’re girls. They would teach her that sexism is wrong. Instead, they are locking her into a jail of compulsory gender roles and telling her that she has to fit into one box or the other, and if she can’t fit into the role that was assigned to her based on her anatomy, then she will need to modify her body so that she can perform the other role. This is child abuse.
“Leanne has now redecorated the room Shane shares with his sister, replacing the pink walls with comic book-themed décor. She said: ‘Shane used to have a pink room before but he hated it, so now we’ve just finished covering it in Marvel wallpaper and he has lots dinosaurs and boy toys in there. Even before becoming Shane he hated the colour pink because he felt it was too girly and used to say it felt like he was walking into a Barbie house.”
Are you fucking serious?? That’s what you think little girls are? Little people who like pink and Barbies? Little girls are young females of the human species, and they can have all sorts of different favourite colours and favourite toys. They put up comic book and dinosaur decor in her room, and now she’s a boy?? What.The.Fuck.
“The brave schoolboy is currently receiving counselling and will be referred to Children and Adult Mental Health Services later this year where he will be able to discuss future plans. Leanne said: ‘A lot people thought Shane would grow out of wanting to be a boy, but he’s been the same since he was six.”
Oh, great. She’s in gender identity therapy, where they teach kids that they can have any biological sex they want (which isn’t true) and where they reinforce gender roles so that young people think they have to become the opposite sex in order to express their personalities. This is outrageous. Are there no sane and responsible adults left in the world?
When this girl told her mother she wanted to cut her hair, her mother should have said, “Sure, sweetie” and allowed her the hair cut. When she wanted to wear a suit to a wedding, the mother should have said, “You will look dashing! Let’s get you a suit.” When she said she thought she was really a boy, her mother should have said, “Nonsense, you are a girl. Girls can like any sorts of things, and that includes all the things that you like.”
Here is a kick-ass video of Janelle Monae performing in a suit on the American children’s show Sesame Street. It will make you feel better after reading this horrible article. Janelle Monae is not a boy, and neither is this kid.
A lot of girls like this who identify with the sex stereotypes assigned to boys turn out to be lesbians. There is a suspicious comment in this article when they mention the one classmate who was rude to her.
“The only problem we had was when one child called Shane a ‘he-she’, but he got into trouble straight away and was given lessons on homophobia. Since then it’s been brilliant.”
Why did they use the word homophobia here? Isn’t it transphobia, since they believe this kid is trans? It’s almost like they’re admitting something inadvertently through the word homophobia, a word which doesn’t fit since nowhere in this article has sexual orientation been mentioned. I suspect an awareness that the likelihood is strong that this girl will turn out to be a lesbian.
Telling lesbians that they are really men is homophobia. Lesbians are women.
And for gawd’s sake, people, this is 2016. WOMEN WEAR PANTS.
AdvertisementsBy Joe Sandler Clarke
The lead author of a major study which found that neonicotinoid pesticides harm honey bees has hit back against criticism from the chemical companies that part-funded the work.
Dr. Ben Woodcock from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), said Bayer and Syngenta, which produce the controversial pesticides, had looked to undermine his work after it was published, despite providing $3 million in funding.
Speaking exclusively to Energydesk, he said:
"From a personal perspective, I don't really appreciate having them accuse me of being a liar. And accusing me of falsifying results by cherry-picking data. That's not what we've done. I've got little to gain from this and it's been a major headache. We just present the results we get."
'Utterly Unfounded'
Both companies have accused the scientists of overstating the threat posed by neonicotinoids to both honey and wild bees, adding that the data, as they saw it, did not reflect the conclusions from CEH.
After the study was published a Bayer spokesperson told Energydesk:
"This study is one of a number of landscape studies carried out recently. The results of the CEH study are inconsistent and therefore inconclusive with variability of effects over both the bee species and the countries in which they were studied."
The company's head of UK government media relations, Dr. Julian Little, told Energydesk: "We're quite frustrated about how these results have been portrayed. The reality seems to be a long way away from the headline."
Syngenta's environmental specialist Peter Campbell told the press that CEH had misrepresented the study and argued that full results of the experiments showed neonicotinoids had no effect in the vast majority (238 of the 258) of the 258 potential effects measured.
Quoted in The Times, Campbell also suggested the results had been talked up in order to get published in a prestigious journal.
He said: "There is a pressure to get papers published. Any journal, particularly journals like Nature and Science, it has to be an interesting story. We don't get into Science and Nature with a study which says, for example, no effect of oilseed rape treated with [neonicotinoid] on solitary bees. It's not that interesting a story."
Woodcock said the accusations made by Bayer and Syngenta were "utterly unfounded."
"I'm intrigued to know what they would've wanted us to do. If you find negative results on key metrics—number of bees in hives, number of bees surviving after winter—how would they want us to present that? How could we interpret this in what they see as an unbiased way?
"Science papers are short. There about 1,500 words. The discussion is tiny on this. It's like a paragraph. So it's not like we spent vast amounts of time discussing the details of this. You literally present the results more or less as they are, along with some broad statements on what you observed."
The study, which was part-funded by Bayer and Syngenta, with the rest paid for by the UK government-backed Natural Environment Research Council, examined the impact of two neonicotinoids—clothianidin (made by Bayer) and thiamethoxam (made by Syngenta) on wild bees and honey bees in three European countries: Germany, Hungary and the UK.
The experiments occurred in the field, with bees feeding on oilseed rape crops, treated with the neonicotinoids. From the start of the work in 2014, the research was hailed as significant. It was the first time neonics had been tested on such a large scale.
The results differed from country to country, with bees largely unaffected by the chemicals in Germany, but badly hit in the UK and Hungary. Overall, the scientists concluded that the chemicals had a negative impact on the ability of wild bees to reproduce, while also showing, for the first time in real world conditions, that neonicotinoids harm honey bees.
Bayer and Syngenta have both highlighted the results from Germany.
"They're trying to reduce the size of our experiment, by putting it into individual countries. And when you do that you reduce the replication to such a level that it's basically impossible to find a difference between an effect of neonics or no neonics," said Woodcock.
"Bayer and Syngenta said that if you look at each country individually, then you don't get the effects you see in our study. If you do any experiment, you have to think about replication.
"Think about tossing a coin in the air: if you tossed a coin once in the air and you got heads, would you assume that you would get heads every time? No, you would do it again and again until you understand there is a 50:50 chance of the coin landing on heads. And every experiment is like that. The more times you replicate something, the more chance you have of understanding what's going on.
"This is a problem that is well established in the literature. Previous studies have been criticized for having very poor replication because if you don't have the replication you could report the absence of an effect of neonics even when one was present.
"They're trying to muddy the waters. Because people aren't aware of how the regulations work and what the regulatory body wants to focus on. They're trying to say look at everything, rather than saying actually what they've presented here are the core metrics by which pesticides are regulated. That's a bit cynical."
'Statistically Flawed' Studies
Neonicotinoids have long been controversial, with recent research showing that the chemicals have a negative impact on bees and other pollinators.
In 2013, the European Commission decided to issue a temporary ban on the pesticides in the EU, citing the risk the chemicals pose to bees.
After taking evidence on the impact of the chemicals on bees for the last few years, the commission is reportedly likely to call for an outright ban on the chemicals at the end of 2017.
Bayer and Syngenta have repeatedly funded research showing that the agricultural chemicals do not harm bees and other pollinators.
Woodcock highlighted a number of papers from the last few years and accused both companies of putting out "statistically flawed" studies.
He said: "What shocks me is how they can put out statistically flawed or massively under-replicated studies that show no effect and don't bat an eyelid. But then they tear apart any study that shows a negative effect as statistically wrong and unrepresentative."
During the interview, Woodcock cited research published in 2013 by Plos as being particularly flawed.
The study, which credits Syngenta's Peter Campbell as an author, examined the impact of repeated exposure to thiamethoxam on honey bees and found the chemical posed a "low risk" to the insects.
An assessment of the work published earlier this year in Environmental Sciences Europe by scientists from St. Andrews University found the study to be "largely uninformative," "misleading" and based on "inadequate" data.
Asked for a response to Woodcock's comments of the quality of its research, Bayer referred to previous comments made after the release of the CEH study.
Syngenta told us: "We stand by our position that this is an inconclusive study that asks more questions than it answers. It should be noted that a number of other independent scientists who have reviewed this paper expressed similar concerns via the UK Science Media Centre.
"The data generated in the study whilst variable, provides valuable and unique insights that help to better understand the ways in which neonicotinoid pesticides can be used safely. The report is a helpful contribution to the ongoing debate about pollinator health."
'I'm Not Surprised They Weren't Happy'
Sunday Energydesk revealed that while the research was being carried out, Bayer and Syngenta made repeated attempts to get hold of the raw data from the experiments on wild bees which were funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, only to be rebuffed by the scientists.
Email correspondence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also showed that both companies also sent their own studies to the scientists showing that the chemicals were a low risk to bees, but were largely ignored.
After publication, Syngenta sent us a statement which read: "CEH appear to have responded to funding, interaction, and requests for data by drawing an even stronger negative conclusion regarding the impact of neonicotinoids on bees."
"This study is not conclusive… but it is sufficient to show there is something going on." Holger Weber / Greenpeace
Woodcock, an ecological entomologist at CEH who has in the past been commissioned to do research by the UK government, told Energydesk he was not surprised that Bayer and Syngenta had reacted negatively when the results from the experiments came in.
"I'll be honest, it wasn't a surprise to me that they weren't happy. We knew as soon as the results came back as being negative, they weren't going to be happy and I understand that.
"They've got a massive commercial interest in this. They pay for the data and the data is appended to the end of the paper. It's freely available and the idea is that other people can have a look.
"This is our interpretation and we believe it a robust interpretation. It's open to other people to look at. But the way they're doing this seems to be focused on getting a result they want, rather than doing it in a robust manner."
Future of the Debate
Looking ahead at what impact the research might have on the future of the neonicotinoids debate, Woodcock said he doesn't believe it can be proved conclusively that the nicotine-based chemicals harm bees, but he said: it is sufficient to show there is something going on."
He added that there is some evidence, as shown in the experiments in Germany, that a high-quality natural environment for bees, can increase their chances of surviving not just neonics but also climate change and other factors that are thought to have led to declining bee populations.
"If you can create high-quality habitats and resources in an agricultural landscape that helps bee populations, they are more likely to take a lot of the impacts of environmental change exposure to something like neonics. This is not something that's been conclusively shown, but good habitat is likely to help.
"It's easy to say ban neonics, but you've got to take into account what the alternatives are. Simply saying there's no effect of neonicotinoids is not the way to go. There needs to be a sensible acknowledgment that there is a problem so we can work out a solution that best serves society and the natural environment."Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Firefighters are battling a pair of fast-moving brush fires that consumed some 4,500 acres in the San Gabriel Mountains, prompting the evacuation of about 685 homes as triple-digit temperatures hit the region Monday.
The two fires started midday within an hour of each other and just a few miles apart above the cities of Azusa and Duarte, where it was 109 degrees early Monday evening.
The first blaze erupted shortly after 11:15 a.m. along Highway 39 by the Morris Dam after a vehicle went over the side of the road and caught fire. Flames quickly spread up the canyon, U.S. Forest Service Fire Chief Robert Garcia said.
That fire, burning in the Angeles National Forest in steep terrain above Azusa, had charred 1,500 acres and was 0 percent contained at 9 p.m.
Dubbed the Reservoir Fire, the blaze prompted the evacuation of San Gabriel Canyon, a popular recreation destination. Azusa police issued mandatory evacuation orders for Mountain Cove and Rainbow Ranch. Voluntary evacuations were issued for Crystal Canyon and Mirador.
Soon after the Reservoir Fire broke out, another blaze -- the Fish Fire --started less than 4 miles away. It began above homes in neighboring Duarte in the area of Brookridge and Opal Canyon roads.
As intense flames and thick black smoke spread, a person with a hose was apparently attempting to defend a home on the flaming hillside. Police vehicles soon showed up and aircraft dropped water and fire retardant in the area.
Horse stables at the Encanto Equestrian Center were in flames, which spread uphill, away from structures, video from Sky5 showed.
“It immediately started burning away from homes toward the forest. That was extremely fortunate for us because we did not have those houses in immediate peril,” Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief John Tripp said.
The Fish Fire fire grew to 3,000 acres -- at 0 percent containment -- by about 9 p.m., according to a tweet from the Fire Department.
Authorities on scene said they were concerned winds would cause the two wildfires to merge into one large fire.
A sheriff's deputy suffered minor injuries due to smoke inhalation at the Fish Fire, a county fire official said. Tripp later said the injury was for a bee sting.
In Duarte, new mandatory evacuation orders were issued around 7:30 p.m. for homes north of Markwood Street between Westvale Road and Greenbank Avenue, and north of Deerlane Drive between Greenbank Avenue and Mountain Crest Road, according to an advisory from the Sheriff's Department.
"Residents in the Mount Olive Drive area just northwest of Conata Street, including those residents in the Spinks Canyon Road, Rim Road, Goldenmeadow Drive, High Mesa Drive, and Tall Pink Drive areas are also mandated to evacuate the area for safety purposes," the alert stated.
About 685 homes were evacuated in both fires, according to the city of Duarte. Additional evacuations could be ordered overnight, Tripp said at an early evening news conference.
Structure protection efforts will be in effect through the evening, Tripp said. At least one water-dropping helicopter with night vision will work after dark, he said, and the air attack will continue overnight.
An evacuation center was set up at the Duarte Community Center on Huntington Drive. Small animals may be taken there.
Large animals were initially being housed at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center in Sylmar, but should now be taken to Gate 12 at the Pomona Fairplex, the Sheriff's Department stated Monday night.
Macelda Ramos and her three daughters packed up their vehicle with belongings and were getting ready to leave their home along Tall Pine Drive in Duarte Monday afternoon.
“We’re not taking any chances -- we’ve been through this before,” she said, explaining that her family’s house burned down in 1979. “We just want to make sure we have our pictures and things that mean a lot to us.”
Duarte City Councilwoman Margaret Finlay said her parents have lived in the neighborhood near where the fire is burning for nearly 40 years.
“This area behind me hasn’t burned for 35 years, so there’s a lot of dry tinder out there and it’s certainly burning now,” Finlay said.
Her son lives along Opal Canyon and was under mandatory evacuation.
Both electrical transmission and distribution lines were threatened, a spokesman for Southern California Edison said. About 105 customers were without power due the fire in Duarte, Edison spokesman Robert Villegas said.
The Duarte Unified School District is closely monitoring the fire, which was burning north of Valley View and Royal Oaks Elementary schools, the district said in a statement.
School is not in session, and no students were at either campus, according to the district. Staff members were instructed to evacuate.
Multiple mountain roadways were closed by the fires, including Glendora Mountain road at Big Dalton Canyon Road; Glendora Ridge Road from Mount Baldy; and Mount Laurel Way at San Gabriel Canyon Road.
The brush fires broke out in the fifth year of a statewide drought and on the hottest day of a heat wave in Southern California; the triple-digit temperatures coupled with lower humidity levels had prompted the National Weather Service earlier in the day to warn of extreme fire danger in the region through Tuesday.
It was 112 degrees in the the Morris Dam area just after noon, with humidity at 8 percent, according to the National Weather Service. A southwest wind of 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high 15 mph in the evening, was forecast.
The two fires were burning in the same general area as last year's Cabin Fire, which erupted Aug. 14 roughly 3 miles north of Highway 39 and Rincon-Red Box Road, according to the wildfire's InciWeb page. The Cabin Fire scorched 1,723 acres.
KTLA's Jennifer Thang, Cindy Von Quednow and Scott Williams contributed to this story.
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Smoke from the fire above Azusa, Ca is visible from Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. #LA #fire pic.twitter.com/gPjt55okfK — Francine Orr/LATimes (@francineorr) June 20, 2016
#ReservoirFire Video of the Fire from the Command Post pic.twitter.com/0lmTEqCiRg — Angeles_NF (@Angeles_NF) June 20, 2016As Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee |
for a future which contains extra-sensory experience as a widespread attribute.’3 These initial experiences by the few earlier on is part of a natural process of acclimatizing the human being to a reality/state so that these realities can become actualized and normalized later.
New Dimensional Perspectives
Consciousness researcher Dr Strassman believes that communication with transpersonal realms may help humanity along its own evolution, as well as with the problems we are currently facing here on Earth:
Establishing – with a sober, altruistic intent – reliable and generally available means of contact with these different levels of existence may help us alleviate some of the pressing issues we are facing on this planet in this time-space continuum. It may be that the information and resources we gather in these noncorporeal realms are more important to our survival – and ultimately our evolution – than that which we obtain via strictly physical means.4
The idea of contact with ‘non-corporeal’ realms having a function in our evolution offers a new, and potentially significant, dimensional perspective for human life. The existence of non-corporeal realms of reality has been known for millennia amongst various traditions. Likewise, the practice of communication/interaction with other non-human intelligences has been widely known across human cultures for centuries.
What I sense may be happening through a variety of socio-cultural phenomena and anomalies – drug experimentation, transpersonal states, wisdom traditions, out-of-body practices, alien abduction, and more – is the preparation of humanity for its next phase of evolutionary development. These earlier stages utilized individuals as channels – or transceivers – by which to affect the collective energetic/vibratory state of our species for purposes of transformation. Furthermore, part of this transformation involves the creation of new organs of perception with which to perceive aspects of a newly emerging reality that is multi-dimensional. In other words, we have been working towards normalizing the multi-verse, and thus assisting to bring it into being through the perceptual faculties of the human species. In modern vocabulary, we are beginning to download the bigger picture.
As mentioned previously, the idea that we live in a multidimensional universe populated by other intelligences and life-forms is not new to many non-western, non-orthodox traditions and to many indigenous peoples of the world. Yet in the past, means of access – the discipline to train the body and mind to be able to sustain this communion – has been available to the relative few. Now, all that is likely to be changing. The next step, it seems to me, is a major planetary roll-out – a massification of the evolutionary process. It may well be that the new generation of children arriving upon the planet will be amongst the first wave to engage more fully with this developmental impulse, in a natural and organic way.
Re-Calibrating Reality
The capacity to access non-ordinary states of consciousness is the natural heritage of humankind. Yet, on a physiological level, we may need preparation so that we are able to sustain the energetic state related to heightened perceptions. This was the intention of the Integral Yoga work of Sri Aurobindo, in preparation to receive the immanence of the Overmind. According to consciousness researcher Gopi Krishna, humanity ‘will be brought in touch with another level of creation, other intelligences and states of being pervading the universe, a universe now completely shut out from our sight because of the limited capacity of our brains.’5 The human species may thus be on the verge of breaking free from its perceptual quarantine.
The younger generations, with their inherent intuitive intelligence, will be the initial wave in this transformation occurring through the received consciousness of the human species. They will come to recognize – as if second nature – that humanity shares a cosmic neighborhood with a radiant profusion of other intelligences. We were never alone, and we will look back at our antiquated thinking and laugh at our short-sightedness and lack of vision. In the early days of black and white television and silent movies, we knew the real images existed in color, yet we didn’t have the transceivers capable of receiving the ‘bigger picture.’ Through the new generations coming into the world, we will introduce the re-calibrated consciousness patterns into the collective blueprint of the human species.
Our latest scientific discoveries are finally catching up with a body of knowledge that has been known for centuries amongst certain wisdom traditions. Quantum biology, for example, now reveals that a multidimensional energy exists within the innermost core of the human body. A state of quantum coherence is achieved as each of the 100 trillion molecules in the human body emits its own magnetic field, each one overlapping with the next. This creates a nonlocal energy field that allows for instant communication throughout the body. With trillions of overlapping DNA fields – each with a mini electromagnetic field – a unified quantum state is created which is suggested to have multi-dimensional properties. It is known that there are magnetic fields at the centre of atomic structure that physicists refer to as inter-dimensional fields. Physicists are also debating whether inter-dimensional energy exists at the centre of galaxies, and whether galactic centers exist in a quantum state. This relates to the information Ken Carey received:
‘the fully activated human sensory system is more than just an interdimensional communication device. In miniature it replicates in the structural pattern of its biogravitational field the same pattern found in planetary, solar, galactic, and universal fields.’6
The old consciousness patterns were not sufficiently conducive to transceiving the multi-dimensional aspects of the living intelligence field. However, the new generation(s) of humans to arrive on the planet will encounter an environment with a different energetic signature and their DNA will re-calibrate accordingly. This shift will, I speculate, facilitate a greater access to the living intelligence, leading to expanded patterns of received/expressed consciousness. This greater resonance with the living intelligence field will also grant partial access to the reality of multi-dimensional existence.
This new understanding of being a part of multi-dimensional existence will be humanity’s shared inheritance; and not the preserve of a few. We will undergo the transition from a time when we thought we were alone in a ‘dead universe’ to the understanding that we are part of a vast, inconceivably rich living universe – one amongst many multi-verses teeming with intelligent life. We will have begun our journey to join the neighborhood of cosmic L.I.F.E. – in Living a more Integrated and Fulfilling Existence. This will mark the beginning of living in resonance with a new sacred reality:
‘…all creatures inhabit and live within a single field of shared consciousness, that all are projections of a single Being, and that all of us – angels, humans, animals, vegetables, microbes and minerals – are differentiated aspects of one conscious and coherent whole. This recognition is the cornerstone of the new Sacred Reality….’7
When this new perception of life – planetary, cosmic, and dimensional – is integrated and normalized in the psyche of humanity, far-reaching and revolutionary change will occur in every sphere of human life. Humanity will form a sacred connection with all forms of life and with a living cosmos. We will collectively recognize the evolutionary impulse in humankind, and seek to nurture self-development and well-being. Human values will no longer be based upon a paradigm of materialism – matter realism – but will foster human dignity, compassion, tolerance, unity, and the actualization of our higher morality. Eventually, through this new awareness and understanding, we shall work as a collective species toward the formation of a genuine planetary society upon the Earth. It will not happen overnight, nor within a single generation – yet it will eventually come to pass over extended time. This is the expression of the developmental impulse within the creative consciousness of living intelligence. In time, profound transformation will occur on planet Earth. The impulse of love will nurture our collective spirit and creative intention to make a future for humanity within the cosmos.
Kingsley L. Dennis – 2,800
References
1 Cited in Pfeiffer, T & Mack, J E (eds) (2007) Mind Before Matter: Visions of a New Science of Consciousness. Winchester: O Books, p96
2 Crick, Francis (1981) Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature. New York: Simon & Schuster
3 Scott, Ernest (1985) The People of the Secret. London: Octagon Press, p237
4 Strassman, R., Wojtowicz, S., Eduardo Luna, L., Frecska, E. (2008) Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, p80
5 Krishna, Gopi (1993) Higher Consciousness and Kundalini. Ontario, CA: F.I.N.D. Research Trust, p197
6 Carey, Ken (1996) The Third Millennium: Living in the Posthistoric World, New York, HarperCollins, p94
7 Carey, Ken (1988) Return of the Bird Tribes. New York: HarperCollins, p169
[i] See ‘Part II – Living in Valis’
[ii] This is known as Cymatics – see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics
[iii] Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty (Wikipedia) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_event
[iv] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia
[v] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directed_panspermia
***
Read Part 1 – The Rise of an Intuitive Humanity
Read Part 2 – Living in Valis
Artwork by Android JonesAl Horford said there is a chance his dislocated right pinky finger will prevent him from playing in Game 2 Wednesday.
The Hawks All-Star center suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Nets Sunday. He returned for the final six minutes of the Hawks’ 99-92 win with his pinky and ring fingers taped together. X-rays were negative for a fracture but Horford said there is considerable pain.
“I think there is still some question about it,” Horford said Monday when asked directly if he would play Game 2. “But I’m going to keep treating it and hopefully I’ll be ready to go.”
The Hawks held a film session and players went through treatment. Horford said his wife even acted the trainer treating him with ice and Epsom salts at home after the game. He said he got little sleep once the adrenalin wore off hours later. Two days off between the first two games in the series will help.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer would not commit to Horford being able to play.
“We’ll see how he makes progress today and again tomorrow, see what he can do in practice,” Budenholzer said. “We’ll continue to monitor him and hope for the best.”
Horford finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in Game 1. However, he was 1 of 6 from the field in the second half. Horford said the taping on his fingers, which will need to continue, had the most impact on his shot. He worked on getting comfortable with his shot Monday.
“The way I shoot the ball it disrupts how I grab the ball,” he said. “I just have to get used to that.”By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad publicly agreed Thursday to a Russian plan to secure and destroy his chemical weapons, but said the proposal would work only if the U.S. halts threats of military action.
Assad also said his government will start submitting data on its chemical weapons stockpile a month after signing the convention banning such weapons.
Syria's U.N. ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told reporters Thursday that he presented Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with "the instrument of accession" to the Chemical Weapons Convention making his country a full member of the treaty banning the use of chemical weapons.
U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said that while secretary-general welcomes the development, Syria will only become a member 30 days after its instrument of accession is deposited and that the documentation is still being studied.
American officials, meeting with their Russian counterparts in Geneva, insisted on a speedier Syrian accounting of their stockpiles.
Assad's remarks to Russia's state Rossiya 24 news channel were his first since the Russian plan was announced Monday as a way to avert a potential U.S. military strike in response to the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds near Damascus.
He said that Syria is relinquishing control over its chemical weapons because of Russia.
"We agreed to put Syria's chemical weapons under international supervision in response to Russia's request and not because of American threats," Assad said.
"In my view, the agreement will begin to take effect a month after its signing, and Syria will begin turning over to international organizations data about its chemical weapons," Assad added. He said this is "standard procedure" and that Syria will stick to it.
"There is nothing standard about this process," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry retorted in Geneva, because Assad has used his chemical weapons. "The words of the Syrian regime in our judgment are simply not enough."
Syria had long rejected joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, which requires all parties to the treaty to declare and destroy whatever chemical weapons they may possess.
Assad said the Russian deal was a two-sided process. "We are counting, first of all, on the United States stop conducting the policy of threats regarding Syria," he said.
Syria's Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil also suggested on Thursday that the Russian proposal will succeed only if the United States and its allies pledge not to attack Syria in the future.
"We want a pledge that neither it (the U.S.) nor anyone else will launch an aggression against Syria," Jamil told The Associated Press in Damascus.
But Kerry cautioned that a U.S. military strike could occur if Assad doesn't agree to dismantle his chemical arsenal properly. "There ought to be consequences if it doesn't take place," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, however, said the dismantling "will make unnecessary any strike against the Syrian Arab Republic."
Syria's top rebel commander, meanwhile, slammed the Russian proposal, calling for Assad to be put on trial for allegedly ordering the Aug. 21 attack. Many rebels had held out hopes that U.S.-led punitive strikes on Assad's forces would help tip the scales in their favor in Syria's civil war, which has claimed over 100,000 lives so far.
Gen. Salim Idris' statement was broadcast on pan-Arab satellite channels hours before talks in Geneva between Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"We call upon the international community, not only to withdraw the chemical weapons that were the tool of the crime, but to hold accountable those who committed the crime in front of the International Criminal Court," Idris said.
He added that the Free Syrian Army "categorically rejects the Russian initiative" as falling short of the expectations of rebel fighters.
The U.S. accuses Assad's government of being behind the attack in the suburb of Ghouta. The U.S. says the attack killed 1,429 people; other estimates of the deaths are lower.
Assad has denied responsibility and accuses U.S. officials of spreading lies without providing evidence.
In the interview Thursday, he charged that the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack was a "U.S.-organized provocation."
"The threats (of a military strike) are based on a provocation. It was arranged with the use of chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta," he said.
In Geneva, Kerry and a team of U.S. experts will have at least two days of meetings with their Russian counterparts. The Americans hope to emerge with an outline of how some 1,000 tons of chemical weapons stocks and precursor materials as well as potential delivery systems can be safely inventoried and isolated under international control in an active war zone and then destroyed.
In Washington, officials said the CIA has been delivering light machine guns and other small arms to Syrian rebels for several weeks, following President Barack Obama's decision to arm the rebels.
The agency also has arranged for the Syrian opposition to receive anti-tank weapons like rocket-propelled grenades through a third party, presumably one of the Gulf countries that has been arming the rebels, a senior U.S. intelligence official and two former intelligence officials said Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the classified program publicly.
Loay al-Mikdad, a Free Syrian Army spokesman, told the AP that they have not received any weapons from the U.S. although they expect some in the near future.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels fighting Assad's forces on Thursday captured the village of Imm al-Lokas in the southern region of Quneitra near Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Britain-based activist group added that rebels also captured several army posts in the area in heavy fighting that caused casualties on both sides.
It also said that in the northeastern province of Hassakeh, clashes pitting Kurdish fighters against members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in the past two days killed 13 Kurdish gunmen and 35 militants.
The two sides have been fighting in northern Syria for months in battles that left scores of people dead on both sides.
Syrian state media said government troops advanced in the predominantly Christian village of Maaloula near Damascus, capturing the main square as well as the Mar Takla convent where several nuns were staying.
A resident in the village told the AP that troops were trying to capture a rebel-held hotel on a hill overlooking the area. The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said most of the fighting Thursday was taking place in the western part of the village.
Government troops are trying to flush out rebel units, including two linked to al-Qaida, from the hilltop enclave the rebels broke into last week.
Most of the village's 3,300 residents have fled to safer parts of the country, although some have remained, hunkering down in their homes, activists said.
Maaloula, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Damascus, had until recently been firmly in the regime's grip despite being surrounded by rebel-held territory. The village was a major tourist attraction before the civil war. Some of its residents still speak a version of Aramaic, a biblical language believed to have been used by Jesus.
___
Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.As nations around the world celebrate International Women’s Day, the number of countries that have had a female leader continues to expand. But the list is still relatively short, and even when women have made it to power, they’ve rarely led for a long time.
Fifty-six of the 146 nations (38%) studied by the World Economic Forum in 2014 and 2016 have had a female head of government or state for at least one year in the past half-century. In 31 of these countries, women have led for five years or less; in 10 nations, they have led for only a year. The Marshall Islands, which is not included on the WEF list of countries, has also had a female leader for one year.
At least 13 additional countries have had women leaders who held office for less than a year, according to a separate analysis by Pew Research Center. Of these countries, Ecuador and Madagascar had women leaders for a total of just two days. In South Africa, a woman was president for a 14-hour stretch, but she had briefly served as acting president before; in all three countries, women leaders were replaced by men.
There are 15 female world leaders currently in office, eight of whom are their country’s first woman in power, according to our analysis of data from WEF and other sources. While the number of current female leaders – excluding monarchs and figurehead leaders – has more than doubled since 2000, these women still represent fewer than 10% of 193 UN member states.
The list of women currently in office includes nine heads of state and eight heads of government. (Some leaders are both, and President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard is neither on her own – Switzerland’s Federal Council collectively heads both state and government and leadership rotates between its seven members.)
Including Switzerland, three-fifths of the countries now under female leadership are in Europe. Last year, following the United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union in June, Theresa May became the seventh woman currently leading a European country when she replaced David Cameron as the country’s prime minister. May is the second woman in the position after Margaret Thatcher, who served from 1979 to 1990. May was followed by Kersti Kaljulaid, who became president of Estonia in October 2016, and Doris Leuthard, who is serving as president of the Swiss Confederation for 2017.
Three notable female politicians are not included on the list of current leaders. Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma (Myanmar), a Nobel Peace Prize winner celebrated for her human rights advocacy and political activism, led her National League for Democracy party to a landslide victory in 2015. But because her late husband and children are foreign citizens, she is constitutionally barred from becoming Burma’s president; she instead holds the newly created position of state counsellor.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is not included on the list because of historical ambiguity about Taiwan’s territorial sovereignty. And South Korean President Park Geun-hye is currently going through impeachment proceedings and has been stripped of her presidential powers and duties.
When Indira Gandhi became the first and, to date, only female Prime Minister of India in 1966, just one modern-day country – Mongolia – had previously seen a woman in power. By 1991, the number of countries that had some experience under female leadership had reached 20. Today, 70 countries have had some sort of female leadership (elected, appointed, interim or other), including six of the 10 most populous countries in the world.
Bangladesh, which has the eighth-largest population in the world (156.2 million), has had the longest stretches with female leaders in the past 50 years. Current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her rival Khaleda Zia have collectively – but separately – ruled over Bangladesh for 23 years since 1992, according to the WEF data.
India, which has the world’s second-largest population, follows its eastern neighbor with a total of 21 years under female leadership. Ireland also has had 21 years of female leadership, while the Philippines and Sri Lanka have had 16 and 13 years, respectively.
Nordic countries – with the exception of Sweden, which has never had a female head of government – also stand out for their length of female leadership. As of 2017, Iceland has had a female president or prime minister in 20 of the past 50 years, the fourth-most in the world. Norway and Finland rank close behind, with 13 and 12 years, respectively.
The U.S. and its neighbors have had little or no time under female leadership. The U.S. and Mexico have never had a woman as chief executive, and Canada’s first and only female prime minister served for just four months.
Note: Figures are current as of March 8, 2017. This is an update of a post originally published July 30, 2015.
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Topics: Non-U.S. Political Leaders, Gender, International Governments and InstitutionsImage copyright EPA Image caption The violence that has caused thousands to flee is the worst to hit the Kokang region since 2015
At least 20,000 people from Myanmar have fled across the border to China after violence erupted between ethnic rebels and the security forces.
Thousands entered border camps and are receiving humanitarian assistance, China's foreign ministry said.
Earlier this week, about 30 people were killed on Myanmar's border with China after rebels launched a surprise raid.
The violence is a blow to efforts by Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to end decades of conflict.
The latest clashes, which involved artillery and small-arms fire, took place in the town of Laukkai in the Kokang region in the northern part of Shan state.
Chinese foreign spokesman Geng Shuang said aid was being offered to those looking to "temporarily avoid the war", and called for an immediate ceasefire, adding that China supported Myanmar's peace process.
He said that all sides needed to find a peaceful solution through dialogue and urged restraint to "prevent further escalation" and "to restore peace and stability to the border areas".
Image copyright EPA Image caption Refugees fleeing the conflict at the China-Myanmar border receive water
On Monday, fighting erupted after the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched a surprise raid while dressed in police uniforms, officials said.
The attack targeted police and military posts. A separate group of fighters later attacked other sites in Laukkai.
Five civilians, five police officers and at least 20 rebel fighters are said to have died.
This week's violence is among the worst to hit the Kokang region since 2015.
Kokang has close ties to China, with locals speaking a Chinese dialect and using the yuan as currency.
The worsening conflict in the borderlands has raised tensions between Myanmar and Beijing.
Ms Suu Kyi's government is desperate to end the decades-long violence, amid fears it could spark a major new refugee exodus.We finally have a reason as to why the default green leotard outfit that Cammy has been wearing in Street Fighter games since her debut in Super Street Fighter II back in 1993, was banned during the live broadcast of the Top 8 EVO 2017 finals for Street Fighter V on ESPN 2: It was due to broadcast standards on cable television.
We reached out to ask if the outfit change during the middle of the match between NuckleDu and Kazunoko was something that the EVO organization enacted or if it was something that ESPN had put into place as part of their broadcasting standards. According to an e-mail from the representative, it was due to broadcasting standards…
“Yes, [ESPN] were simply abiding by broadcasting standards”
We recently reported that regular Cammy player, Kazunoko, was asked in between sets to change Cammy’s outfit while he was going against NuckleDu during the live broadcast on cable television. Masked Gaming Entertainment recorded the segment, and it takes place at the 6:50 mark in the video below.
A staff member from EVO raced up on stage after Kazunoko finished the match and quickly advised him to go back to the character select screen. Kazunoko was clearly confused at first. The staff member then advised him to swap out outfits to something more suitable for the broadcast, so Kazunoko picked Cammy in her Capcom Pro Cup Tour dress with spandex shorts underneath.
Some people have claimed that this is a double standard given that ESPN hosts lots of sporting events with women in leotards, such as gymnastics, as well as beach volleyball, which also features women in rather skimpy two piece bikini swimsuits.
However, this wasn’t the first time that a character’s outfit had to be censored for the live broadcast on national cable television. R. Mika’s default outfit was also banned from being used during the Top 8 finals during EVO 2016, which was also broadcast on one of ESPN’s channels.
Worries are now mounting that perhaps this could lead to less sexy outfits for the female fighters in the future as attempts are made to make fighting games and the FGC more mainstream. A similar thing happened with Dead or Alive 5 in the tournament scene, where players were banned from using some of the more risque outfits for the female fighters, thus killing off a lot of the interest in the game in the e-sports scene, as reported by Reaxxion.
If Street Fighter V or any other top fighting game manages to make it back to air on ESPN next year during EVO 2018, expect the standards to stay in place and for the female fighters to only appear in their more covered-up attire to avoid any controversy.This Blueberry Banana Bread is so moist and perfect that I actually think it might be the best one I have ever made. On top of that it is simple and fast.
Don’t you just love banana breads? They are such an easy quick bread and always turn out good. This time I have done a Blueberry Banana Bread. It is so moist and perfect and I actually think it might be the best one I have ever made. How can that be possible?
Well, sometimes I think I might be crazy but it is really really good. I crack myself up. All these conversations going on in my head. Well, who else am I going to discuss my recipes with? Haha! Anyway, I digress. Make this banana bread because it is simple and, quite frankly, delicious!Remember when your character was called into question for not having this?
Just how deep is the GOP hypocrisy on Captain Khan? Consider some recent history.
I was the first able-bodied adult male in my family for generations not to serve in the military and I have complicated feelings about that as I grow older and start to take stock of things I never got around to. But for my entire life, I can remember the obligatory political arguments at Thanksgiving surrounding which party was actually better for the military or whether the criticisms of war fomented hatred of those who served. You know how it goes. The legendary stories of troops coming back from Vietnam being spat upon.
You may remember that the entire strategy of the 2004 Presidential election was to tar John Kerry—who served honorably in Vietnam—and his military record. At the time, everyone was hanging yellow ribbons and putting bumper stickers saying they supported the troops. (That some of us thought it would be a good way to support them by not getting them shot at for a pointless war in Iraq was besides the point.)
In fact, this issue goes to the very core of the two parties’ current identities with Democrats ever fearful of repeating the electoral mistake of McGovern doing things like constantly appointing Republicans as Secretary of Defense and trying, like John Kerry did, to run on his military record. Maybe Iraq has changed that? I don’t know.
But you cannot hold out the pretense of being the “pro troops” party and allow your Presidential candidate to insult the John McCains and the Captain Khans and the Gold Star parents this way.
And issuing a Sternly Worded Statement® is not enough. As a prominent Republican once said, “you’re either for us or against us.” This is actually true in first past the post electoral systems (and not true in foreign relations).
So, are you going to have the courage of many Republican campaign operatives and now elected leaders like Rep. Hanna? I’m looking at you Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell. I’m looking at you too, George H.W. Bush and Jeb Bush. There’s only one way to stop Trump, and that’s elect Hillary.
Honorable Republicans have always had a role in the governance of Democratic presidents, including President Obama’s and President Clinton’s. If you can bring yourself to stand up for your country, you will have a role too.
Otherwise, you will permanently lose your status as the party of the troops.LONDON — For hundreds of years, the royal prerogative has allowed Britain’s leaders to mint coinage, requisition ships, send troops into battle or authorize the mining of precious metals.
But should a set of archaic rules also be used to take Britain out of the European Union?
At the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, that question was being tested last week at the start of a legal case that could — just possibly — keep Britain inside the 28-nation bloc, at least pending a more comprehensive plan for withdrawal, known as Brexit.
To date, the Conservative government has dismissed the case as legal “camouflage,” a thinly disguised effort to frustrate the will of the people expressed in a June plebiscite.
Dominic Raab, a Conservative lawmaker and Brexit supporter, told the BBC that the challenge was designed to “steal the referendum by the back door.”Bitcoin certainly has a love-hate relationship with banks.
In recent months, they have tended to show some support for the technology that powers bitcoin (blockchain) but have dismissed bitcoin as being a legitimate option for the banking industry. But that hasn’t allowed them to ignore the attention that’s been placed on the rise of bitcoin.
That’s leaving central bankers across the globe looking into how they could implement their own virtual currency that would, unlike bitcoin, be regulated and embraced by governments. The benefits, of course, are the faster payments possibilities and more cost-effective systems that put the central banks more in control of transactions and how money moves. But then there’s the security issues.
As reported in a Wall Street Journal article, there hasn’t been a central bank that has formally devised a system to use or develop a digital currency, but there has been plenty of chatter going on in the industry.
“We have to envision a world in which people mostly use eMoney,” Carolyn Wilkins, senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, was quoted as saying in a speech last month. “We need to anticipate this and manage the risks and benefits that could arise.”
The trick for central banks is determining what system would be secure, efficient and able to get the backing of the government. But with the help of digital FinTech startups, there could be a changing tide for traditional financial service providers.
Take, for example, eCurrency Mint (eCM), a Dublin startup that’s working with central banks to discuss how they could actually look into the concept of the technology needed to implement a digital currency. Jonathan Dharmapalan, founder and CEO of eCM, told WSJ that his company has had conversations with several countries’ central banks and formed agreements with two of them to implement the tech needed to envision their digital currency plans.
What eCurrency Mint’s technology is designed to do is use existing digital transaction systems to transfer payments between consumers, merchants, banks and even payment companies. What this means is the tech would be used to alter the digital currency without needing to drastically change how the system already operates.
Two central banks that have shown interest in developing digital payment technologies are those of Canada and Ecuador, sparking conversations across the globe. Even the Bank for International Settlements, which includes members from 60 global central banks, noted in a paper that the concept of bitcoin should be explored in order to give banks more control.
“One option is to consider using the technology itself to issue digital currencies,” the group wrote in a paper. Conversations are likely to continue on a global scale, despite developments not formally moving forward.
Across most use cases for which digital currencies have been discussed, the conversations have centered on the fact that the option would reduce costs and streamline the payments process, thereby making financial services more efficient across the board. In the U.S., for example, it could help consumers move money faster and cheaper.
In the WSJ article, Andrew Haldane, chief economist of the Bank of England, was cited for his thoughts on what digital money could do for the global economy. He noted the benefits of getting away from physical cash for a variety of reasons, including working with financial policy tools.
“Perhaps central bank money is ripe for its own great technological leap forward,” he was quoted as saying in a past speech.After more than a century of popular sci-fi fantasies that feature deadly energy weapons, including War of the Worlds, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Star Trek and Star Wars, it looks like the ray gun has finally arrived in the real world.
And even if the first ray guns out of the lab can barely fit on the bed of a 30-ton off-road truck rather than in a soldier’s palm, the novel, "speed-of-light" capabilities that lasers could bring to the battlefield has drawn the keen interest of the Pentagon brass, which spends about $400 million a year on directed-energy beam weapons.
At the end of this year, which marks a half-century of amazing progress in lasers, defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Boeing plan to test-fire a prototype mobile laser weapon against examples of the lethal ordnance—rockets, artillery, mortars—that insurgents in Afghanistan and elsewhere shoot at U.S. troops every day, says Mark Neice, director of the Department of Defense's High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office in Albuquerque, N.M. As long as such an area-defense system is fed electrical power (from the grid or battery packs), its 100-kilowatt, solid-state, or electric, laser should be able to use its “unlimited magazine” of low-cost shots and ultra-precision tracking/targeting system to zap out of the air multiple inbound munitions from several kilometers away, he explains.
Weapons engineers will use the live-fire tests of the one-micron-wavelength (infrared) beam, which will take place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, "to validate our notional models of beam propagation," Neice says. These results, “will allow us to determine what targets we can take on, at what power levels, what ranges and so forth.” The U.S. Army hopes that laser cannons can shield its bases from insurgent attacks while minimizing the risk of collateral damage to the civilian populations among which guerrillas often hide. A cannon’s powerful beam will be able reach out to incoming weaponry, and either detonate, disable or knock them off-course, whereas its ultra-precision aiming capability would presumably enable troops to pick off ground targets without hitting nearby non-combatants.
The U.S. Air Force has in the meantime taken the lead in a project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop even more powerful and compact solid-state lasers that could fit on combat aircraft. Such systems could provide the nation’s air arm with what Michael W. Zmuda, manager of the Air Force Research Lab’s Electric Laser on Large Aircraft (ELLA) program, calls the “game-changing capability” to carry out beyond-the-horizon, air-to-air engagements and precisely targeted, air-to-ground strikes. “It would open up a raft of new tactical and defensive roles, such as defeating targets that are close to our own troops while avoiding collateral damage to civilians and property, as well as a range [of] rapid-response missions against a whole new set of targets,” he says.
The Air Force plans to fit a B1-B bomber with a new 150-kilowatt solid-state laser that will be built by the winner of a contract competition between General Atomics Aeronautical (GAA) and Textron Defense. The original DARPA effort arose when “we realized that a laser beam propagates much more efficiently 1,000 meters off the ground, where atmospheric distortion and scattering effects are much less pronounced,” according to Michael Perry, vice president at GAA. To fit in a fighter jet, one of the chief Pentagon goals, the airborne laser weapon will need to generate around five kilowatts per kilogram which means the technology “has to be reduced in size and weight by a factor of 10 over the current |
turn things around, the rotation’s hopes will be on Tillman. Which is to say, the team’s hopes are on him. Building a homer-happy, all-or-nothing lineup is great, but only as long as it’s not supporting a homer-happy, nothing-or-nothing pitching staff.
Boston Red Sox — Mitch Moreland*
Mitch Moreland is seemingly one of the least important members of a strong lineup. If he succeeds, he would be found money, a completely unexpected windfall for a team that didn’t necessarily need one. And, look at that, he’s demolishing baseballs, leading the American League in doubles and slashing.351/.431/.579. The Red Sox aren’t even bothering to platoon him right now, he’s so hot.
However, be careful about the idea that a team can afford to go cheap with a position because the rest of their roster is so strong. All it takes is one injury here, and one disappointment there, and suddenly that’s not the 1-through-9 that danced with sugar plums in your head. There are holes and soft spots. And if/when that happens, if Moreland is the Moreland of old, he’ll be another soft spot, except playing at a position that’s traditionally supposed to provide most of the power.
Put it this way: If Moreland decided to retire right now — just leave and open an antique store — his 2017 season would be the second-most valuable of his eight-season career. He isn’t quite to 1 WAR for the season, which would be the second time in his career, but he’s close. This suggests that there might be a little regression coming.
If it doesn’t, or if it isn’t especially violent, the Red Sox are probably winning a lot of games. For all we know, they could have spied a simple fix for Moreland’s swing or approach, and they got him for what he could be, not what he has been.
If they just hoped they could make do with him at first and let the rest of the lineup make up the difference, though, there are a lot of ways to second guess their offseason decision to hand the job to him on the cheap.
* It’s really David Price, but that would read like the Chris Tillman section, except with a very nice condo for the analogy and a competent HOA.
New York Yankees — CC Sabathia
In this odd era of newfangled Yankees austerity, the former big-market bullies are relying on what they have on hand. They can’t, or refuse, to go out and get the modern equivalent of CC Sabathia. They have to keep driving the one they got years ago with 170,000 miles on it.
So it would help an awful lot if that old workhorse was quietly excellent again. After three painful, expensive seasons in which Sabathia was competent at best, a drag on the team at worst, he came back and had a fine 2016. That likely has to do, at least in part, with him confronting his personal demons and a fresh mental slate, which is inspiring. In simple baseball terms, though, the Yankees had a solid starting pitcher, and that’s exactly what they needed.
They need that again. Through three starts, they’ve had one, with Sabathia pitching about as well as could possibly be expected. The 36-year-old is something of a quiet Hall of Fame candidate, and a couple more outstanding seasons at the back of his career could make a huge difference. While that’s nice, the Yankees just care that they have something more than a warm body to support with their homers and large young sports participants.
Sabathia has been much more than a warm body. He’s been a revelation in this third stage of his career. If he keeps rolling, so will the Yankees.
And don’t forget, he can always call for help if he needs it:
Tampa Bay Rays — The whole danged lineup
There’s no sense picking one. The Rays clearly have a type, or an idea of what they want their low-cost roster to look like. Corey Dickerson is young and athletic, and he has a ton of power. Brad Miller is young and athletic, and he has a ton of power. Steven Souza is young and athletic, and he has a ton of power. Derek Norris is young and... has a ton of power.
A couple of them need to pan out, then. At least a couple. The pitching should be strong, both in the rotation and the bullpen, but if they aren’t overwhelmingly dominant, they’ll need the lineup to chip in. This was the scenario last year, and, well, it didn’t turn out so well.
It was A. Bartlett Giamatti who probably said, “The definition of insanity is to keep using that stupid quote about the definition of insanity,” so I can’t really fault the Rays for trying again. Dickerson is probably better than he was last year. That goes for Souza, too. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that both of them are thriving early in the season — it’s not like the Rays pick their names out of a hat.
If the Rays are going to win, they won’t need to outslug the other team. They’ll just need to slug enough to support their pitchers, who will be busy de-slugging the other team, in theory.
(And if you’re upset that I’m not picking a single player, fine, it’s Souza. The Rays picked him as their return for Wil Myers, and it’s far too easy to dwell on what they could have had instead. If he keeps playing like this, though, there will be a lot less dwelling.)
Toronto Blue Jays — Jose Bautista
“Remember all that stuff you did for us? Do it again, but more of it.”
That’s not exactly what the Blue Jays said when they brought Bautista back but not Edwin Encarnacion, but it was close. The vaunted lineup of death from the end of 2015 became the less-vaunted lineup of “Say, is that Justin Smoak?” so quickly, we haven’t had time to process it. The Blue Jays still have talent in their lineup, but they’re relying on Troy Tulowitzki, who is frequently injured, and Josh Donaldson, who is currently injured.
They’ll need Bautista, then, if not at full strength, than at the strength he showed for much of last season. What they certainly don’t need is for Bautista to crumble into a sad pile of memories and regret, and if there’s a scariest part of the Blue Jays’ 3-12 start, it’s that he’s hitting.109/.242/.145. On one hand, that’s over 66 plate appearances. On the other hand,.109/.242/.145. That’s appalling.
The Blue Jays were able to get Bautista back without messing up their future, so it’s a little over-dramatic to suggest this has ramifications for subsequent seasons, but it’s another reminder that the fun dinger-mashing Blue Jays of late ‘15 aren’t coming back, at least in their funnest possible form. They’ve built a rotation that could contend, in theory, in the meantime, so not all is lost. They’ll need to thump a little bit like they used to, though, and they’ll have to count on a 36-year-old slugger to do a lot of that thumping.
It’s... not going well. I reached out for comment, but I haven’t heard back.
I never do.
If you know a Blue Jays fan, bake them some zucchini bread or something. The season just started, but it sure is getting late in the season.FCC Keeping Watchful Eye On Usage Caps, May Act Over the years the FCC hasn't paid much attention to usage caps, despite their potential to be used to hamper the development of Internet video. Worse, the agency has been oblivious to the fact that many ISPs' usage meters simply don't work (like when users are charged for usage when their modems were off), opening the door to additional abuse.
quote: "An operator the size of Comcast absolutely will draw scrutiny,” said our source. “If Comcast decides to impose its currently tested market trial plans on Comcast customers nationwide, the FCC will take a closer look. Under Title II, the agency is empowered to watch for attempts to circumvent Net Neutrality policies. Usage caps and charging additional fees to customers looking for an alternative to the cable television package will qualify, especially if Comcast continues to try to exempt itself." Carriers used to claim usage caps were necessary to manage congestion, but as the cost of bandwidth in the States and engineering advances made this excuse untenable, the industry in 2013 finally With usage caps really just a symptom of limited competition here in the States, sources tell Stop The Cap the FCC may act if ISPs begin to notably expand usage limitations:Carriers used to claim usage caps were necessary to manage congestion, but as the cost of bandwidth in the States and engineering advances made this excuse untenable, the industry in 2013 finally admitted congestion had nothing to do with it. The industry still contends that imposing usage caps (usually ranging from 150 GB to 300 GB) is about "fairness," though critics still suggest it's about one thing: protecting legacy TV revenues from the encroaching Internet video threat. As more and more customers drop digital voice services to go cell only, and drop traditional TV services for Internet video, the temptation to impose usage caps to recoup that lost revenue is only going to grow -- especially in less competitive markets. An FCC that's actually paying attention to the potential competitive problems with caps and unreliable meters as this occurs would be an interesting change of pace.
News Jump Tuesday Morning Links Monday Morning Links TGI Friday Morning Links Thursday Morning Links Wednesday Morning Links Tuesday Morning Links Friday Morning Links Thursday Morning Links - Valentines Edition Wednesday Morning Links Tuesday Morning Links ---------------------- this week last week most discussed
Most recommended from 111 comments
miser
join:2004-01-16
Sandusky, OH 7 recommendations miser Member Shills Wow. The anonymous shills are sure out today! Looks like someone is scared of the FCC!
-Miser
Jim721
join:2014-07-31
Belleville, MI 3 recommendations Jim721 Member Awesome!! What else can I say but it's about time this was looked into and hopefully be banned.With the Dec. 23 deadline looming for signing up for health insurance under Obamacare, consumers rushing to purchase new coverage may be in for a rude shock if they focus principally on finding the least expensive premiums, according to experts.
That’s because many people buying coverage on the federal exchanges either to replace old policies or to obtain coverage for the first time could get hit with deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs much higher than is typical in employer-sponsored health plans.
Related: Obamacare Fixes Hide a Big Mess on the Back End
Perhaps more importantly, they may find themselves excluded from some of the best hospitals in the country and their affiliated doctors.
Deductible Sticker Shock
Gail Wilensky, a senior fellow for Project HOPE and the Medicare director for the first Bush Administration, said on Monday that consumers should be as mindful of deductibles and the hospitals and doctors in network as the monthly premium costs in shopping around.
“What you’re buying is not just the benefits specified in the law but whom you will have access to in getting the service delivered,” she said in an interview. Many of the policies being offered on the federal and state exchanges carry annual deductibles that often top $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a couple, according to The New York Times.
“Right now, most of the focus has been on the cost of the monthly premium and occasionally people have remembered to...look at what the deductible and the co-insurance is, because that is as important as the premium,” she added. “Whether a hospital is in or out of network is really the third piece: don’t forget to look at what you’re buying.”
Related: Millennials Jump Ship Over Obamacare Bait and Switch
Like most insurance policies, the lower the premium the higher the deductible. For example, in El Paso, Tex., for a couple both age 35, one of the cheapest plans on the federal exchange, offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has a premium of less than $300 a month but an annual deductible of more than $12,000, according to the Times. In the case of a 45-year-old couple purchasing insurance on the federal exchange in Saginaw, Mich., a policy with a premium of $515 a month carries a deductible of $10,000 a year.
Some of the Best Hospitals Are Off Limits
Americans purchasing health insurance on the federal and state exchanges may be in for an even bigger shock when they discover some of the best hospitals in the country out of reach, even when those hospitals were previously available to them under their personal policies. That’s because most of the top hospitals in the country will accept insurance from only one or two companies operating under Obamacare.
Obamacare regulations and government subsidies are likely to make insurance more affordable for millions of Americans, as President Obama and senior aides have repeatedly boasted. But many insurers have responded to Obamacare caps on premiums by offering top-tier hospitals and physicians far less money for services rendered. And they’re responding by strictly limiting the number of policies they will accept.
Related: Will Obamacare Tech Fixes Plug Political Fallout?
Watchdog.org recently looked at the top 18 hospitals nationwide as ranked by U.S. News and World Report for 2013-2014 – contacting each hospital to determine their contracts and policies. The government watchdog group found that many of the best hospitals in the country were simply opting out of Obamacare – much to the detriment of people in search of the best or most specialized health care.
Both Ohio and California have a dozen insurance companies on their exchanges, yet two of the states’ premier hospitals — Cleveland Clinic and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center — have only one company in their respective networks.
A few, such as top rated Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, are mandated under state law to accept all insurance companies. Other than that, the hospital with the largest number of insurance companies is University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland with just four. Fully 11 of the 18 hospitals had just one or two carriers, according to Watchdog.org.
Amid a drive by insurers to limit costs, the majority of insurance plans being sold on the new health care exchanges in New York, Texas and California will not offer patients access to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City or MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, two top cancer centers, according to the Financial Times.
Story continuesPete Carroll said Monday that the Seattle Seahawks' offensive line might have had its best performance of the season in the team's 24-7 win over the Giants. That marked a step forward for a unit that very much remains a work in progress.
But Justin Britt's ankle injury could mean a step back.
Carroll said Seattle's starting center sprained his ankle Sunday and that he was dealing with soreness on Monday. It's not a high-ankle sprain, according to Carroll, but a less-severe "lateral" sprain. And Britt was able to return to the game after going down in the first quarter. Still, the team won't know about his status for next Sunday's game against the Houston Texans until later in the week.
"Each day will tell us something, but I wouldn’t think he’d have a chance to practice until Friday or something like that, if he can," Carroll said. "We’ll see.”
Britt is the leader and best player on Seattle's offensive line, and he became even more important when left guard Luke Joeckel had knee surgery that is expected to sideline him for at least three more weeks.
Rookie Ethan Pocic is Seattle's backup center, but he and Mark Glowinski are competing to replace Joeckel at left guard. Pocic started there against the Giants but Glowinski ended up playing more snaps -- 48 to 34 -- as the two alternated possessions. Six of Pocic's snaps came at center when Britt left the game with his ankle injury.
Carroll was encouraged by the way Pocic looked in those six snaps at center, which, even with a small number of plays, is a tough spot for a rookie to be thrown into, especially after starting at another position. Carroll had a so-so review of the way he and Glowinski played left guard.
“They both did OK and I was really fired up for Ethan that he played two spots," Carroll said. "He was forced to jump in at center and did well and jumped back at guard and did fine. He did a good job. I'm excited for him. Glow played like he plays and hung in there and did fine. That's good for us. We got a little better because we have two guys playing there that haven’t played a lot.”
Pocic was a jack-of-all-traits at LSU, where he started 27 games at center, nine at right guard and one at right tackle. His versatility carried a great deal of appeal to the Seahawks when they drafted him late in the second round, and it could be useful now that Britt's status is up in the air.
"Ethan is a very special player now," Carroll said. "For a rook to come in here and be able to play all across the board and do all he can do and hang in there and make calls and communicate well and play good solid football, that's a lot to ask of him. We aren’t slowing down on it. We're going to continue to hold him responsible for all that stuff because he can do it, but it was why we were so excited about drafting him. We thought and we were hoping that he would be that guy, and he has been that.”
Carroll said running back C.J. Prosise's status is uncertain this week. He returned Sunday after missing the last two games with an ankle injury, but he tweaked the same ankle on his second play against the Giants and didn't return.0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
Democrats are sending in the big guns during the last week of the Kentucky Senate race as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will both take part in rallies for Alison Lundergan Grimes.
The Grimes campaign announced that Sen. Warren will rally with Grimes on Tuesday in Louisville, “Senator Elizabeth Warren will join Alison Lundergan Grimes to rally Kentuckians who are ready for a Senator who will put hardworking families before millionaires and billionaires – as Mitch McConnell has done for far too long.”
After Warren leaves the Bluegrass State, Hillary Clinton will be campaigning with Alison Lundergan Grimes in Northern Kentucky and Lexington on Saturday November 1.
Grimes campaign manager Jonathan Hurst said, “Just days before the election, Alison is honored to have Hillary Rodham Clinton join her for campaign stops in Northern Kentucky and Lexington. Her recent visit to Kentucky drew thousands of grassroots supporters to hear her endorse Alison’s plan to get Washington working for Kentucky. As she said in that speech, ‘more than any other race in the country, this election in Kentucky is a referendum on the future.’ It’s a privilege that she will be making the case for Alison on the final weekend of this campaign.”
Sen. Warren has been out to defeat McConnell since he blocked her student loan bill.
In June, Warren said,
Well, accountability is exactly the right word. I plan on fighting back on this, and I hope that everybody else does too. One way, I’m going to start fighting back is I’m going to go down to Kentucky and I’m going to campaign for Alison Lundergan Grimes,. She’s tough. She’s feisty. She endorsed the student loan bill, said she wanted to bring down interest rates for Kentuckians, and so my view is, I’m going to get out there and try to make this happen for her. I hope lots of people give her money at alisonforkentucky.com. I hope people will support her, because it’s really a way to say Alison is a candidate who’s there for all of us. For trying to make sure that everybody gets a fighting chance. It’s one way to deal with this. I gotta tell you, given what Mitch McConnell’s has been doing in the United States Senate. The way it’s just block, block, block, no, no, no. We get Alison Lundergan Grimes, in there and I feel like she could almost single-handedly get rid of some of the gridlock here in Washington.
Sen. Warren has been true to her word. The Massachusetts Democrat has been actively campaigning for Alison Lundergan Grimes.
It is a brilliant strategic move for the Grimes campaign to feature both Warren and Clinton in the final week. Sen. Warren will help get the hardcore left out to support Grimes. Clinton will be able to target the moderate Democrats, Independents, and Republicans who could be learning towards supporting McConnell.
The contrast between the two campaigns is stunning. McConnell is paying people to attend his rallies, while Grimes is drawing thousands of Kentuckians who are craving change.
Democrats smell blood in the water. Mitch McConnell is limping towards the end of the campaign while Alison Lundergan Grimes has the momentum in Kentucky. As Election Day draws near, Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton are heading to Kentucky in a push to seal the deal and send Mitch McConnell off into retirement.
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:Sperm cooperation has evolved in a variety of taxa and is often considered a response to sperm competition, yet the benefit of this form of collective movement remains unclear. Here, we use fine-scale imaging and a minimal mathematical model to study sperm aggregation in the rodent genus Peromyscus. We demonstrate that as the number of sperm cells in an aggregate increase, the group moves with more persistent linearity but without increasing speed. This benefit, however, is offset in larger aggregates as the geometry of the group forces sperm to swim against one another. The result is a non-monotonic relationship between aggregate size and average velocity with both a theoretically predicted and empirically observed optimum of six to seven sperm per aggregate. To understand the role of sexual selection in driving these sperm group dynamics, we compared two sister-species with divergent mating systems. We find that sperm of Peromyscus maniculatus (highly promiscuous), which have evolved under intense competition, form optimal-sized aggregates more often than sperm of Peromyscus polionotus (strictly monogamous), which lack competition. Our combined mathematical and experimental study of coordinated sperm movement reveals the importance of geometry, motion and group size on sperm velocity and suggests how these physical variables interact with evolutionary selective pressures to regulate cooperation in competitive environments.
1. Introduction
The factors that contribute to reproductive success are numerous and complex, yet across vertebrates, relative sperm motility is often the best predictor of male fertility [1–7]. When competition among males intensifies, adaptations that improve sperm swimming performance are therefore expected to be strongly favoured [8,9]. Indeed, comparisons between related taxa reveal that sperm of polyandrous species, in which females mate with multiple partners during a reproductive cycle, swim faster than sperm from closely related monogamous species [10,11]. Among the many strategies that improve sperm swimming performance, perhaps the most intriguing mechanism involves cooperation or association with other motile cells [12]. Even without direct attachment, sperm of some species interact with one another via flow fields that result from hydrodynamic interactions [13]. These associations, however, are magnified when multicellular groups form by conjugation, ranging in size from sperm pairs to large aggregates containing hundreds of sperm (reviewed in [14,15]). Sperm aggregation is often assumed to improve motility, yet comparative studies have shown inconsistent results (reviewed in [14,15]), and the underlying mechanics of the associations remain largely unknown.
Like most muroid rodents, sperm from mice in the genus Peromyscus typically possess an apical hook on the head (figure 1a–c) [16] that is thought to facilitate the formation [17] and/or stabilization [18] of sperm groups (but see [19]). Aggregations of Peromyscus sperm cells are formed by secondary conjugation [12]: sperm are ejaculated as solitary cells, but quickly begin to form multicellular aggregates by adhering to one another at or near the hook (figure 1d) [20]. Overall, these motile sperm groups have a larger average velocity (straightline velocity, VSL; figure 2) than single cells; however, the largest groups, those over twenty cells, are often not motile at all [20]. Understanding how sperm aggregates achieve greater average velocity than single cells, whether by increasing their speed (curvilinear velocity, VCL; figure 2) or travelling in a straighter trajectory (linearity), and how group size can hinder motility, is key to understanding how post-copulatory male–male competition may be acting on sperm behaviour to drive and constrain group formation. Figure 1. Scanning electron micrographs of (a) whole Peromyscus sperm cells, and head morphology of a single (b) P. maniculatus and (c) P. polionotus sperm. (d) Head orientation of sperm in a typical aggregate with hooks facing inward, and aggregates consisting of (e) two, (f) seven and (g) thirteen P. maniculatus cells. Figure 2. Schematic of the average velocity (VSL) and speed (VCL). VSL is calculated by dividing the distance between the initial and final position in a sperm trajectory (dashed line) by the time Δt employed to move; VCL is found by dividing the length of the actual curvilinear trajectory (solid line) by Δt. (Online version in colour.)
In the genus Peromyscus, sperm competition is predicted to be greatest in P. maniculatus, because both sexes mate with multiple partners, often in overlapping series just minutes apart [21], and females frequently carry multiple-paternity litters in the wild [22]. By contrast, its sister species, Peromyscus polionotus, is strictly monogamous on the basis of both behavioural [23] and genetic data [24]. The sperm of both species form aggregations with similar geometry and cell orientation, probably owing to analogous morphology of their sperm heads [25], yet the competitive environments experienced by P. maniculatus and P. polionotus sperm represent divergent selective regimes, which is believed to shape how cooperative sperm groups assemble [20]. Here, we use a minimal mathematical model to predict how sperm can improve their average velocity by forming aggregations and then use fine-scale imaging to test these predictions and gain a deeper understanding of how sexual selection has acted on this unique form of cooperation in Peromyscus sperm.
2. Material and methods
(a) Mathematical model
A simple mechanistic picture of how the average velocity of sperm is a non-monotonic function of aggregate size is suggested by the geometry of the aggregates shown in figure 1e–g. As sperm cells form small oriented clusters, their motive force and cluster geometry can increase owing to the collective beating of their flagella that leads to a greater dynamical persistence. However, in large clusters, the geometry of the aggregate approaches that of an isotropic cluster so that their collective ability to move is severely hindered. A minimal model described below allows us to quantify the advantage of cooperation in a competitive environment using observable physical variables.
Our approach follows a set of models originally developed for flocking behaviour of organisms [26,27], which have been used successfully to describe collective motion in a variety of natural and artificial systems, including fish and birds [28], insects [29], bacterial colonies [30] and robots [31] (for details, see appendix). In this spirit, we treat sperm as individual self-propelled particles [32] that can interact with each other geometrically and mechanically, consistent with the biology of Peromyscus sperm aggregation [20]. We restrict our attention to the dynamics of the aggregates once they form, not attempting to address the process of hydrodynamic self-organization itself. Our method relies on three basic assumptions: (i) although the flagellum is responsible for propulsion, it does not contribute to mechanical interactions between sperm; (ii) the main physical mechanism associated with aggregate formation is due to adhesion between sperm heads, consistent with our understanding of sperm morphology [12,20]; and (iii) hydrodynamic interactions between sperm in the aggregate are negligible. Thus, although hydrodynamic interactions among neighbouring sperm are important in creating self-organized patterns of swimming [33–35], in our minimal model that focuses on the dynamics of the aggregate, these interactions do not play a critical role.
With the aim of characterizing the empirical system using a small number of experimentally measurable parameters, we consider exclusively those features of sperm mechanics that are essential for the formation of motile aggregates. Thus, we note that individual sperm occupy space, are able to move and can link to other sperm. Single sperm cells are then represented as two-dimensional tailless elliptical particles that self-propel at constant velocity v 0 in a plane in the direction of their major axis n while being subjected to random planar rotations. Each particle is assumed to have a given number of ‘keys’ and ‘locks’, representing the adhesion complexes on the sperm head. When the key of a particle is within a certain distance r a from the lock of another particles, a link, represented by a linear spring of stiffness k a, is formed (figure 3a). If the key–lock distance eventually becomes larger than r a, the link breaks and the two sperm unbind (i.e. an individual adhesion complex can withstand forces up to a stall force F a = k a r a ). Finally, the particles are themselves assumed to be hard and unable to overlap, so that when in contact they pack as dictated by their geometry. Figure 3. (a) Schematic of the adhesive interactions modelled in equation (2.2). Sperm heads are treated as self-propelled elliptical particles whose major and minor semiaxes have length a and b, respectively. Each particle is equipped with a given numbers of keys and locks, representing the adhesion complexes where the sperm can bind. When the key of a particle is within a certain distance r a from the lock of another particle, a link represented by a linear spring is formed. The geometry of the aggregates affects their motility, so asymmetric aggregates (b) move fast and maintain a straight trajectory, whereas star-shaped aggregates (c) move slowly, because the velocities of the individual cells in the aggregate cancel each other. Average velocity (d–f) and speed (g–i) versus aggregate size obtained from a numerical integration of equations (2.1)–(2.5) for various aspect ratios a/b (d,g), scaled adhesion range r a /a (e,h), expressed in units of the particle major semiaxis length a, and the scaled propulsion velocity v 0 τ c /a (with τ c = 1/D the timescale associated with the rotational noise) (f,i). (Online version in colour.)
The above-described behaviour leads to equations of motion for the position of the ith sperm given by r i (t) and its orientation θ i (t) relative to the x-axis of the laboratory frame given by
2.1
n
i
i
i
F
i
2.2
i
2.3
i
i
s
a
ij
N
ij
L
ij
f
ij
d
ij
i
2.4
where theth sperm has its major axis along= (cos, sin),is the total force acting on theth particle resulting from the short-range steric interactions with the neighbours and adhesion:andis total torque acting on theth particle:whereis the number of neighbours of theth particle,is the number of adhesive links,is the elastic constant associated with steric interactions,is the adhesive spring elastic constant, withFurthermore,andrepresent the length of the springs associated with the steric and adhesive interactions, withandunit vectors in the direction of the springs,andare translational and rotational drag coefficients,is any of the force between theth andth cell appearing in equation (2.2) andthe associated lever arm,is the normal to the two-dimensional plane of motion andis a zero-mean delta-correlated Gaussian random variable:whereis a rotational diffusion coefficient. Here, we assume that the motion of the sperm is inertialess, consistent with the low Reynolds number regime they operate in, and further have ignored the effect of randomness in the translational degrees of freedom for the sake of simplicity.
Our minimal mechanistic model of interacting sperm captures the geometry of the individual sperm, their autonomous movement and finally their ability to interact with each other adhesively without overlap. While there are many possible variants of these models, the critical parameters in all of them will be qualitatively similar: the aspect ratio of the sperm head, the scaled ratio of the rotational Brownian motion to the interaction torque between cells, the scaled ratio of the adhesive bond strength to random fluctuations and the relative orientation of the adhesive bonds. These parameters together characterize the dynamics and persistence of movement in aggregates.
(b) Sperm imaging and analysis
Captive stocks of wild-derived Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii and Peromyscus polionotus subgriseus were obtained originally from the Peromyscus Genetic Stock Center and have been maintained at the Harvard University in accordance with guidelines established by Harvard's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. We used adult (age more than 90 days) sexually mature P. polionotus (n = 9) and P. maniculatus (n = 9) males for cross-species comparisons.
After sacrifice, we immediately removed the left caudal epididymis of each male, made a single small incision in the tissue, submersed it in 1 ml of warmed Biggers–Whitten–Whittingham media [36], and incubated the tissue for 10 min at 37°C to release motile sperm. After the 10 min incubation, we removed the epididymal tissue, gently swirled the media and incubated for another 5 min. We collected 20 µl of media containing live sperm just below the surface of the aliquot, to reduce the number of dead cells, which sink to the bottom. We placed the aliquot on a plastic microscope slide and covered the sample with a plastic coverslip (plastic reduces adhesion of sperm to the slide compared with glass products), and recorded three 5 s videos (30 frames per second) of live sperm at 100× magnification under phase contrast conditions on an upright microscope (AxioImager.A1, Zeiss, Jena, Germany).
To examine the dynamic performance of sperm aggregates, we quantified the speed and velocity of both single cells and aggregated groups. The speed, also referred to as VCL, characterizes the rate of change of the two-dimensional projection of an aggregate's trajectory over time (figure 2). The average velocity, or VSL, is defined as the rate of change of the projected distance along the vector connecting the initial and final point in the trajectory (figure 2). We acquired VSL and VCL data from video using the computer-assisted sperm analyser plugin for NIH ImageJ [37], which tracks motile sperm cells or groups to calculate VSL and VCL. We then estimated average linearity (VSL/VCL) for each track. Specifically, for each video recorder, we first used the ‘find edges’ and ‘threshold’ functions to isolate sperm images from the background and imposed a filter to discard tracks with VSL < 5 µm s−1 or VCL < 25 µm s−1 (cut-offs imposed to avoid non-progressively motile sperm cells or groups). We then used the first 50 tracks (including both single sperm cells and sperm groups) recorded from each donor male in subsequent analyses for all but two males: in the case of one male of each species, fewer than 50 tracks met our criteria (P. maniculatus male, n = 30 tracks; P. polionotus male, n = 27 tracks). Sperm group size was then subsequently counted for each track and verified on at least five different frames per track.
We used two-factor (group size and donor male), two-tail ANOVAs to assess the effect of each factor on sperm average velocity (VSL), speed (VCL) and linearity (VSL/VCL) within each species. After identifying the sperm aggregate size that achieved the greatest average velocity (n = 7 cells), we then compared the average velocity of seven-celled aggregates (the null) with the average velocity of all other sizes for each species using a one-sample two-tailed t-test. Next, we split the P. maniculatus and P. polionotus data into two groups and used a linear regression (with donor male as a covariate) to test the significant relationship between group size and average velocity at or below the optimum (n ≤ 7 cells), and above the optimum (n > 8 cells). To identify how sperm aggregate size varies between species, we first averaged group size over each donor male, then used a two-sample two-tailed t-test to compare means, and an F-test to compare variances, of P. maniculatus and P. polionotus sperm aggregates. Finally, we used a two-way ANOVA (species and donor male) to compare difference between average linearity achieved by P. maniculatus and P. polionotus males. All statistical analyses were performed in R [38].
3. Results
(a) Mathematical model
We integrated equation (2.1) numerically for a wide range of parameter values. Our model sample consists of 100 cells in a square domain of size L = 500 (in units of the particle minor semiaxis b) with periodic boundary. For all choices of parameters, aggregation always leads to a prominent increase in the average velocity, VSL (but not speed, VCL), for small aggregate size, whereas large aggregates suffer from both reduced velocity and speed (figure 3d–i). The origin of this behaviour can be explained by noting that sperm can associate with each other via soft adhesive bonds, modelled here as finitely extensible springs (see §2a). Once they are linked, they form aggregates whose structure is predominantly dictated by the geometry and the spatial distribution of the adhesive patches. The structure of the aggregates affects how the velocity of the individual sperm determines the final velocity of the aggregates. Thus, radially symmetric aggregates consisting of many sperm (e.g. figure 3c) are likely to be non-motile, because the velocities of the individual cells effectively cancel each other. Smaller aggregates, on the other hand, are asymmetric and maintain the typical head/tail directionality of individual sperm (e.g. figure 3b). More importantly, their close packed structure reduces the random fluctuations in the swimming direction of the individual cells, |
course, if we have a Democratic Congress, we will go to $15," she declared. It's impossible to imagining a reversal that big and sudden happening without pressure from Sanders.
Sanders is also helping shape a younger generation of Democrats, pushing them to the left and leading them to take economic inequality more seriously. John Della Volpe, the polling director at Harvard's Institute of Politics, told the Washington Post that voters 18 to 29 were moving left under Sander's influence: "He's not moving a party to the left. He's moving a generation to the left. Whether [...] he's winning or losing, it's really that he's impacting the way in which a generation — the largest generation in the history of America — thinks about politics."
That's only the beginning of his campaign's influence. Sanders's small-dollar donation strategy proved it's possible to run a viable national campaign without large-scale bundling from wealthy individuals in elite industries. That's huge, and could permanently change the way Democratic campaign fundraising is conducted. His success has inspired a number of down-ballot insurgents who could push the legislative Democratic Party leftward in an enduring way.
Sanders won't be living in the White House next year. But whoever is will have to reckon with the Democratic Party he helped create, one that is more populist, more left-leaning, and more skeptical of business than it was only a year ago. That's what real change looks like.
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Winner: The Democratic establishment
Andrew Burton/Getty Images Consummate establishmentarian Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).
Democratic elites haven't exactly been happy about the rise of Sanders. He's supporting primary challengers to prominent figures like DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. He's made it harder to solicit donations from Wall Street. He has an organized following that could be mobilized to make Hillary Clinton's life difficult if elected, by blocking appointments of figures like Larry Summers or trying to kill deals Clinton cuts with Republicans.
But what they would have hated most of all is a fight that ended ambiguously, with Clinton not officially clinching the nomination even after all the votes are counted, or with Sanders even ahead a bit. Every day the primary contest kept going was a day that couldn't be spent attacking Donald Trump, where Barack Obama could not endorse Clinton, where Clinton could not pivot her messaging toward the center for the general.
With Clinton clinching the nomination, and with notable Sanders allies like Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) declaring that party unity must "begin today," there will be no more delays. Sanders will likely concede in the next few days. Even if he doesn't, there are no more primaries (save DC, which is tiny) in which Clinton can campaign. There is no trade-off in campaigning between primary states and November swing states. She can safely ignore Sanders and move on to her general election effort.
If Sanders does wrap things up and pivot to supporting Clinton, that's even better for the establishment. It means Obama can endorse her with no risk of alienating a major Democratic voting bloc at all. And it means that down-ballot candidates can start to benefit from Sanders's fundraising prowess, if he chooses to direct his powers that way for the good of the party.
Loser: Donald Trump
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
If you dig into the guts of the most recent Quinnipiac national poll, which overall finds Clinton beating Trump 45 to 41 percent, you'll find that only about 75 percent of Sanders's primary supporters say they'll back Clinton. Eleven percent say they'll support Trump, and 12 percent say they'll vote for someone else or stay home.
That's a portion of the electorate that should be at least partially persuadable by the Clinton campaign, especially if Sanders plays ball, drops out, and endorses quickly. It's not a huge number of people — about a quarter of the two-fifths of Democrats/Democratic-leaning independents supporting the losing candidate — but it nonetheless could prove significant in a race as close as this one is looking to be.
Indeed, as Vox's Andrew Prokop explains, this is one common theory for why recent polls have shown the race tightening: Trump has sewn up his party's nomination, whereas Clinton still hasn't. That means Sanders supporters might be understating their eventual level of support for Clinton, while no equivalent group of Trump-wary Republicans is depressing his numbers. Back in 2008, John McCain got a brief boost while Clinton and Obama were still duking out the Democratic contest, only to fall to earth once Obama sealed up the nomination in early June.
So that's strike one for Trump. Strike two is that Clinton and the entire Democratic establishment — including the increasingly popular incumbent president — will now be freed up to attack him and run an honest to goodness general election campaign, free of Sanders-related distractions.
At the moment, Trump is trailing, but only slightly. But don't be shocked if Sanders's exit leads him to fall still further behind.
Loser: California Republican Senate hopes
Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Defeated California Republican Senate candidate Ron Unz.
Here's an embarrassing fact: There will be no Republican US Senate candidate on the November ballot in California.
Ever since Proposition 14 passed in 2010, California has used a nonpartisan blanket primary system, in which every candidate, regardless of party, runs in the same primary and then the top two vote getters (again, regardless of party) duke it out in November.
The system is supposed to counteract the tendency of base voters in each party to pull nominees to the left and right, respectively. If a moderate candidate who'd lose a traditional primary can appeal to enough members of the other party, she can make it through. It's great news for moderates — but not for the party whose members are being poached.
So it was in the 2016 Senate primary. The general election in November will take place between two Democrats: Kamala Harris, the state's attorney general and former head prosecutor for San Francisco who'd be only the second black woman in US Senate history and is considered a rising star within the party; and Loretta Sanchez, a moderate longtime Congress member from Orange County.
Sanchez made exactly the kind of successful appeal to Republican voters that the blanket primary system is supposed to reward. Even before the primary, prominent California Republican strategists were telling Bloomberg Businessweek's Josh Eidelson that they thought no Republican stood a chance, and that Republicans' best shot would be to back Sanchez, who, Eidelson notes, has fought regulations on for-profit colleges and voted to shield gun companies from civil liability.
Fair enough: The three most prominent Republicans in the race (anti-immigration businessman Ron Unz, former state GOP Chair Tom Del Beccaro, and fellow former state GOP Chair Duf Sundheim) raised a combined $900,000, next to Harris's $11 million and Sanchez's $3.6 million. All of their candidacies were duds. Sanchez is a much more viable option.
that moderate of one either. The left-leaning All the same though, she's definitely a Democrat, and notmoderate of one either. The left-leaning Americans for Democratic Action gives her a score of 75 percent — the average for House Democrats was 77, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz got a 70. And now that Sanchez has made it through the primary, she's the rightmost candidate who can win in California.
Republicans' odds of retaking the Senate seat were never great, even if they put forward a top-tier candidate like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But their failure to even make the top two in an open seat election in the nation's largest state is, nonetheless, kind of humiliating.
Watch: Hillary Clinton's 4-minute case against Trump×
A little history. The state DOT picked a general route for the Southeast High-Speed Rail line from Richmond to Raleigh eight years ago, when nobody was paying any attention and there was no prospect of it being funded in anybody's lifetime. The general route: Right through Raleigh; details to follow (or they don't matter).
So two years ago DOT showed up at City Hall and said the specific routes they had in mind would requiring closing and/or screwing up the streets that connect Raleigh's first successfully revitalized downtown neighborhood — Glenwood South — to the second revitalizing downtown neighborhood, which is the downtown itself.
These were the so-called NC-1 and NC-2 routes, both of which followed — with slight variations — the CSX rail corridor.
No, no, no said the city planning staff, the City Council and Mayor Charles Meeker. PLEEZE consider going through Raleigh another way. They wrote an official letter to that effect.
So DOT went away and studied the city's proposed alternative, now known as the NC-3 route. It follows the Norfolk-Southern rail corridor.
A few weeks ago, DOT was back with NC-1, NC-2 and NC-3, putting Raleigh officialdom in a box. Everybody in Raleigh is "for" high-speed rail. But almost nobody's in favor of the only three options for HSR that DOT has thus far presented.
All of which is prelude to the City Council's hearing on the subject next Tuesday, Aug. 31, 6:30 pm at City Hall.
Remember, the city has already, in effect, said no to NC-1 and NC-2.
Well, last night the vote at the Five Points CAC meeting on NC-3 was 0-81, meaning zero in favor and all 81 of the folks still there three-plus hours after the start of the meeting opposed. (About 150 opponents were there altogether; everybody who left signed anti-NC-3 petitions on the way out, it seems.)
NC-3 may be better than NC-1 or NC-2 in the Glenwood South area, you see, but north of Peace Street NC-1 and NC-2 are rather benign, while NC-3 would do real damage to the neighborhoods in the Five Points area. Or so the residents there believe — and they believe it unanimously.
(Just to be polite, Five Points also voted 65-27 in favor of HSR "being constructed in the Raleigh-Triangle area." But, of course, that assumes DOT can come up with an acceptable route somewhere in the Raleigh-Triangle area. Nobody wants to be against progress, after all.)
From a standing start three weeks ago, when all of Five Points was still blissfully unaware of what DOT and the city had in mind for them, an opposition campaign has arisen and is gaining steam. And, oh, it may be worth mentioning that it's in no way partisan — it's riled-up Democrats and riled-up Republicans joining hands and wondering why the city has forsaken them.
***
So what will Mayor Meeker and the Council do? They've already said they don't like NC-1 or NC-2.
Will they now:
1) Relent on NC-1/NC-2, while perhaps asking DOT to consider tunneling the project or, if it stays at-grade, to let the cross streets remain open?
2) Endorse NC-3 over the growing chorus of opponents in the Five Points, Roanoke Park and Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhoods?
3) Telll DOT that none of the three alternatives are acceptable, and that unless a better way through town can be found, either the HSR line should go around Raleigh or the city will be forced to advocate for the "no-build alternative" that, as Planning Director Mitch Silver told the CAC last night, is inherent in any transportation alternatives process.
***
On the periphery of the meeting, meanwhile, an unofficial "NC-4" idea was floating around in the form of a map showing HSR coming into Raleigh from the north on the CSX tracks but then cutting over to the N-S tracks via a railroad bridge/rail platform that would span Capital Boulevard. Like this:
(Or, to see it in all its glory: FINAL_TheMap_FivePager_Option1SEHSR.pdf)
If you're following along at home, the best way to get such an NC-4 alternative on the table now, it seems, would be to suggest that NC-1 or NC-2 could be acceptable if "mitigated" — that's government-speak
for why didn't we think of this in the first place? — by the addition of a cross-Capital Boulevard RR bridge.
***
What's interesting to me is that nobody on the city planning staff seems to know whether Raleigh took a position for, against or neutral eight years ago when DOT made the call to punch the HSR project through the center of town. Nine alternatives were studied back in 2001-2, we're told, before the "go through the middle" alignment was picked instead of, for example, using the current Amtrak route that comes to Raleigh via Rocky Mount. I'm trying to find out more about that, not that it matters much now.Selig: Reds can have Pete Rose in All-Star festivities
Pete Rose watches a UC men's basketball game in January. (Photo: Enquirer file)
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Reds will be allowed to include Pete Rose in All-Star Game festivities next season, even if it is on a limited basis, commissioner Bud Selig said Tuesday.
Speaking exclusively to the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday, baseball's outgoing commissioner was asked if Rose would be allowed to be included in All-Star celebrations next year when Cincinnati hosts the game.
"That'll be up to the Cincinnati club, and they know what they can do and they can't do," Selig said. "They've been very good about that. We haven't had that discussion."
Rose: I didn't alter baseball statistics
Quiz: Reds and the All-Star game
Photos: 11 great Reds moments before the break
Rose, banned from baseball in 1989, has been officially recognized twice at Great American Ball Park -- in 2010 on the 25th anniversary of his record-breaking 4,192nd hit and last season at the dedication of the statue of Big Red Machine teammate Joe Morgan, when the entire "Great Eight" was honored.
Selig would not answer a question about specific guidelines the Reds would have to follow.
"It's sort of subjective, they've done some things with Pete, but they've been very, very thoughtful and limited," Selig said. "That's a subject that I'm sure they'll discuss in the next year. They're all here, but that's not a subject that's come up."
As for Rose's overall status with Selig, who is scheduled to step aside at the end of the year, the commissioner said there has been no change in Rose's status.
"It's a matter under advisement. That's my standard line," Selig said. "I'm the judge and that's where it'll stay. There's nothing new."
However, the role of Rose becomes a bigger issue with the All-Star Game coming to Cincinnati in 2015.
Every All-Star Game is a celebration of not just Major League Baseball, but baseball's history in the host city. Here in Minneapolis, many former Twins -- the likes of Tony Oliva and Frank Viola -- to native Minnesotans like Dave Winfield and Jack Morris -- have been part of festivities, from throwing out first pitches, to autograph signings and appearances. Two years ago in Kansas City, Royals legend George Brett was a spokesman for the city and the All-Star Game following the final out of the 2011 All-Star Game in Arizona.
How do you tell the story of baseball in Cincinnati or the story of the Cincinnati Reds without Rose?
"You don't," Reds owner Bob Castellini told The Enquirer on Tuesday.
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"We plan on using him wherever Major League Baseball is comfortable with, but we're certainly going to include him," Castellini said.
PETE'S PAST APPEARANCES
If Pete Rose is permitted to take part in on-field ceremonies in connection with the 2015 All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park, it wouldn't be the first time since Rose accepted a lifetime ban in 1989 that he's taken the field:
Joe Morgan statue dedication
When: Sept. 7, 2013
Back story: The Reds' "Great Eight" (Rose, Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo, Ken Griffey Sr. and Davey Concepcion) reunited for the unveiling of a statue of Morgan at Great American. Morgan said he had approached Selig during Hall of Fame weekend about Rose's participation, and the commissioner agreed.
Rose said: "I appreciate Joe asking, and I appreciate Bud saying yes."
25th anniversary of Rose's 4,192nd hit
When: Sept. 11, 2010
Back story: Allowed to take the field but not to address the crowd as part of ceremonies commemorating the hit that broke Ty Cobb's record, Rose stomped on the first-base bag as fireworks exploded above Great American Ball Park. The following night at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Rose issued a teary apology to teammates, many of whom were moved.
Rose said: "I couldn't have wrote a script any better. Just like the night I broke the record. The Reds are in first place now, and I enjoyed shaking hands with Mr. Castellini."
Baseball's All-Century team
When: Oct. 24, 1999
Back story: Rose was allowed to appear at the World Series in Atlanta as part of Major League Baseball's All-Century Team. In an interview on the field afterward, NBC reporter Jim Gray asked Rose about betting on baseball and refused to drop the subject. "Are you willing to show contrition, admit that you bet on baseball and make some kind of apology to that effect?" Gray asked. Rose didn't, of course, but later would admit in a book to betting on baseball.
Rose said: "I'm surprised you're bombarding me like this. I'm doing the interview with you on a great night, a great occasion.... Everybody seems to be in a good mood, and you're bringing up something that happened 10 years ago."
Read or Share this story: http://cin.ci/1meG8RmAs the very best animated Disney films often do, Moana marries mythology and musical to depict a princess struggling to find her place. However, Moana blasts beyond this tried-and-true method by introducing a transformative detail: Moana is more concerned with following her own values than she is on cozying up to a love interest and ruling as a princess. The film sports wonderful songs that are used in crucial bits of storytelling, the voice-acting is incredibly strong, and the plot features some interesting beats and develops a potent theme. There are interesting tweaks to the humor and animation styles as well, which keeps the film looking and feeling fresh throughout. Moana herself practically overflows with heroism, and she is perhaps the most complete and realistic Disney princess to date.
The film opens with a sort of cold-open that provides the mythological basis for the resulting plot (think Hercules). In this case, it is a Polynesian tale about the island goddess Te Fiti, who rose the islands from a vast ocean. However, when the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole her magical heart, the Te Fiti stopped creating new islands, and the ones she made in the past began to decay. As a young child, the daughter of the chief Moana (Auli’I Cravalho) is enraptured by this story, and it is quickly established that she is drawn to the ocean, against her father’s wishes. As she grows older and begins to accept her place as leader, she realizes some crucial truths about the history of her people, the reasons why her father forbids travel beyond the reef, and the only true remedy for her people’s troubles. She answers the call to action, and sets off on an adventure to find the demigod Maui and take him to restore Te Fiti’s heart so that the ocean can flourish once again.
This plot is stretched over the structure of a musical, and features some great songs. With music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina, the score does a fantastic job of providing essential characterization and exposition. The plot turn which ends the first act and essentially launches Moana’s adventure is particularly rousing, and sports some of the best visual and musical storytelling in recent memory. Of course, the usual beats are all hit. We open with an expository song that provides the context of Moana’s home island and her presumed place in that world. We get a sense for Moana’s wanderlust and wayfaring in a brilliant show-stopper that enjoys reprisals at key thematic moments. And, just to cut the seriousness a bit, there are some goofier numbers as well. As previously mentioned, Moana don’t need no man, so there is nary a romance number in the score, a refreshing and overdue alteration to the Disney formula. Do not be surprised if you find one or more of these songs up for a “Best Original Song” Oscar, with “How Far I’ll Go” the perennial favorite at this point.
The voice acting and singing in Moana is perfect, as we’ve come to expect from Disney. This attribute is often under-appreciated in the world of animation, as most films are content casting famous voices over actual voice-acting talent. In some cases, like The Secret Life of Pets, it is a sign of laziness that fits well with the quality of the overall film. But, in a film like Kubo and the Two Strings, poor voice acting can actually severely damage the film. It is remarkable that Disney is able to find the perfect balance of these two problems: they can cast well-known voices and elicit capable performances (and sometimes even extraordinary ones). That Disney rarely fails in this endeavor is noteworthy, and they’ve done well again here by casting Dwayne Johnson as Maui. Though eminently recognizable and with few voice acting credits to his name, Johnson performs ably here and does not distract from the scene-stealing prowess of newcomer Auli’I Cravalho.
One aspect of a Disney film that is never under-appreciated is the gorgeous animation, and Moana may be on an entirely different level. The animation style is almost overwhelming in its beauty. It is a vivid and flowing CGI style that fits perfectly with the restlessness and movement of the ocean, but there are other more subtle elements that catch the eye, too. For example, one tricks that the film uses is to inject wildly different animation styles into certain sequences. The introduction of Maui features some 2D hand-drawn animation elements that are totally different from the CG animation. This makes Moana more intriguing visually than something like Zootopia or Frozen, which are both technically infallible but rather uniform. Moana seems to like playing around with its own animation – a beautiful stylistic ode to the eponymous heroines’ own exploration.
Though ostensibly about exploration, Moana is a more nuanced film that one would expect. In the beginning, Moana doesn’t feel compelled to abandon her desire to explore the ocean out of a resigned sense of duty. Instead, her decision is cased in a more subtle feeling that she wants to be strong for her people, and that she will be capable of the challenge. There is a particularly poignant symbol in the film that expresses this idea: her father shows Moana a tall stack of flat rocks at the peak of Motunui, her island. As her father explains, since the island was settled, each chief added a rock to the stack. As a result of principled and strong leadership, the island grows taller each generation. Soon, Moana will get to grow the island herself.
But, something is rotten in the state of Motunui. A blight falls over the coconuts, the fish populations are thinning, and the lush paradise begins to decay. With the help of her grandmother, Moana learns a secret: her ancestors were wayfinders, exploring the ocean for new islands to settle but always keeping their own home island in their heart and returning later. Generations ago, when sailors stopped returning from these voyages, the large ocean ships were retired and hidden, to prevent anyone else from venturing into the open ocean and the limitlessness and danger it represents. Thus Moana’s attraction to the ocean and exploration is not in conflict with her desire to rule and help her people. In a magnificent marriage of plot and theme, they are one-and-the-same.
Of course, this being Disney, the mythological cold open is actually true, so Moana tracks down Maui and the two seek to restore Te Fiti’s heart to her. Along the way there are palpable hardships for both Moana and Maui, and the two share a fresh dynamic that is absent in most Disney films which usually resort to meet-cutes and romance. Moana has none of this. She wants to restore the heart of Te Fiti to return the natural way of things and release her people from their self-imposed bondage. Through her ingenuity, courage, and understanding, she travels to the ends of the ocean in service of this quest, and it is an incredibly rousing and entertaining ride.
Moana does something truly great, perhaps more so than any other hero in the history of Disney. She is challenged by monsters and gods in her restoration of the natural state of things. Then, by following her true desires, she recognizes something greater than even this success. Returning triumphant, Moana teaches her people that the sea belongs to them again. Here the visual metaphor of the stone stack pays off in a twist of brilliance. Rather than placing a stationary stone atop the tower and cementing her peoples’ stagnant position on the island, Moana places a conch shell. Instead of an existence of “happily ever after” with her sweet prince and castle, Moana heroically corrects the rotten state of her island and then by extension allays the lethargic, self-imposed caging of her people’s hearts. She has done more than restore paradise – she has reminded them that they can find their own paradise.Sept. 11, 2017: Wab Kinew endorses Jagmeet Singh
Manitoba NDP leadership candidate Wab Kinew has thrown his support behind Jagmeet Singh in the federal NDP leadership race.
Kinew, a Manitoba MLA and former CBC broadcaster who appeared as a panellist on Canada Reads, said Singh is “showing Canadians that everyone, regardless of skin colour, race, or religion has a place in our circle.”
Competing with Kinew in the Manitoba NDP leadership race is Steve Ashton — the father of
Singh’s campaign highlighted the endorsement in a email circulated to supporters.
“Jagmeet represents the progress we have made, and is showing us the path ahead we need to take. I want my kids to grow up in a country where a talented, turban-wearing Sikh can be Prime Minister,” said Kinew.
Singh made global headlines last week after a campaign event was interrupted by a woman claiming he had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sept. 1, 2017: Caron scores major union endorsement
United Steelworkers, a major union that supports the NDP, is endorsing Quebec candidate Guy Caron for leadership.
“This is huge for us. USW is a big and close union of the NDP. They have been there with us for a long time,” a member of Caron’s campaign said. “This endorsement gives a lot of credibility to our campaign.”
The nod comes on the heels of former leader Alexa McDonough’s endorsement of Caron this week. A longtime NDP strategist, Karl Bélanger, had told the Post on Wednesday he felt Caron has some “momentum.”
A statement from leaders of the steelworker union, national director Ken Neumann and district directors Marty Warren and Stephen Hunt, said Caron is “the best choice for the future of the NDP.” He is best-positioned to win in Quebec, and introduced the strongest policy ideas in the race, the union leaders said.
— Marie-Danielle Smith
Aug. 10, 2017: Singh adds to growing list of caucus endorsements
Jagmeet Singh has added two more names to his growing list of caucus endorsements this week.
Ontario MP Tracey Ramsey threw her support behind Singh on Thursday.
“Rooms full of people across Canada are calling, texting and signing up people by the thousands to vote for Jagmeet as our leader,” she said in a statement.
Singh’s path to victory may depend on his success at signing up new members to the party before Aug. 17, as Mainstreet Research polling shows him trailing other candidates among existing members.
On Tuesday, Ontario MP Brian Masse also endorsed Singh. Masse is the longest-serving NDP MP in Parliament.
Masse and Ramsey are the first Ontario MPs to back Singh. Most of his caucus support to date has come from B.C.
Aug. 4, 2017: Caron secures another caucus endorsement
Guy Caron has secured another caucus endorsement, from Quebec MP Anne Quach.
In a statement, Quach said she supports Caron because of his opposition to the Energy East pipeline and because they both come from rural ridings — Caron from Rimouski and Quach from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
“It’s very important to me to ensure the next leader will grow the party in Quebec,” she said. “When the NDP competes in Quebec we compete nationally for government.”
Quach was first elected in 2011. Her endorsement is Caron’s second from a sitting member of Parliament, after Quebec MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau threw her support behind him in June.
Aug. 3, 2017: Ashton goes after Singh over sex-ed comments
Niki Ashton went after Jagmeet Singh during a leadership debate in Victoria, B.C. on Wednesday, questioning comments he made as an Ontario MPP about the province’s new sex-ed curriculum.
In March 2015, as debate over the sex-ed reform was in full swing, Singh rose in the provincial legislature and said the government “must respect the diversity of beliefs when it comes to educating our children.”
He said the “lack of inclusive consultation” about the new curriculum was disrespectful and “a mistake.”
In the debate, Ashton said Singh’s comments were “the kind of language I expect from Conservatives.”
Singh said he was simply addressing concerns his constituents had raised.
“Many people agree that health education is important, but my constituents have sought clarification about the age appropriateness of some materials,” Singh said. “My constituents deserve to have their voices heard, and the government has a responsibility to address their concerns.”
Brampton, Singh’s home base, has a large South Asian population.
On Wednesday, Ashton raised doubts about Singh’s support for the new curriculum, which begins teaching students about puberty in Grade 4 and gender expression in Grade 6.
But Singh insisted his concerns were only about consultation — not about the reform itself.
“As deputy leader of the province, I repeatedly endorsed the curriculum,” he said.
The B.C. debate also focused on affordable housing, the opioid crisis and the disagreement between the Alberta and B.C. NDP over pipelines, which Guy Caron said could have been avoided with better communication.
“We have the same members all across the country, but we don’t talk,” he said.
Charlie Angus was not present for the debate, as his sister is currently in palliative care.
Aug. 2, 2017: Singh, Angus net new caucus endorsements
NDP Justice Critic Alistair MacGregor has added his name to the growing list of MPs endorsing Jagmeet Singh for the federal leadership.
“We need a leader who can generate excitement, grow our party, and generate a buzz about our policy ideas. Jagmeet Singh is that leader,” MacGregor said in a news release.
From Vancouver Island, MacGregor is the latest B.C. MP to throw his support behind Singh, following Randall Garrison, Kennedy Stewart and Jenny Kwan.
Singh is leading the pack with five endorsements from current MPs. Rival Charlie Angus won his first caucus endorsement this week, from Quebec MP Christine Moore, whose Abitibi-Témiscamingue riding borders on Angus’s in northern Ontario.
“As a francophone, I’ve been watching Charlie closely over this leadership race. I’ve been impressed by the progress he’s made and I know that he’ll be a strong voice for Quebecers, in English and French,” she said in a statement.
July 31, 2017: Caron gains support of longtime Ontario politicians
Guy Caron has been endorsed by former Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton and former Ontario MPP Shelley Martel.
“At a time when we are so often subjected to superficial media photo-ops, and ‘selfies’ as the solution to our challenges, Guy Caron is an original thinker who dares to speak the truth, and he does it eloquently in both official languages,” Hampton said in a news release.
Hampton was an MPP for northwestern Ontario from 1987 to 2011, and led the party from 1996 to 2009.
Martel was a Sudbury MPP from 1987 to 2007.
Caron now has eight endorsements. His sole endorsement from a sitting MP comes from Quebec MP Ruth Ellen Brousseau.
July 31, 2017: Ashton to scrap “No Fly” lists in new racial justice policy
Niki Ashton wants to end police carding by the RCMP and eliminate “No Fly” lists, according to a new racial justice policy released over the weekend.
Ashton is also proposing to increase the power of the missing and murdered Indigenous women inquiry to investigate police forces, though the current deadline for the national inquiry’s final report is in 2018, and the next election will likely not take place until 2019.
The Manitoba MP’s policy also includes a number of proposals adopted by the NDP caucus, including promises to repeal Bill C-51, which extended Canada’s anti-terror laws, to create a path to citizenship for temporary foreign workers, and to release and pardon people convicted of marijuana possession and consumption.
Ashton’s rival Jagmeet Singh released a video last week promising to remove children from Canada’s “No Fly” list.
He has also fought to end carding in Ontario as a provincial MPP.
July 28, 2017: Singh gets fourth caucus endorsement from Jenny Kwan
NDP MP Jenny Kwan has thrown her support behind leadership hopeful Jagmeet Singh.
“When Jagmeet tells his story, diverse communities across the country see themselves in a way they never have in Canadian federal politics,” Kwan said in a statement Thursday. “Put that together with his charisma and passion and you get a unique ability to connect with voters the NDP has traditionally failed to reach.”
Kwan represents Vancouver East, an NDP stronghold that includes Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
She joins B.C. MPs Randall Garrison and Kennedy Stewart in backing Singh, as well as Quebec MP Hélène Laverdière.
July 27, 2017: Singh pledges to keep kids off “No Fly” list
Jagmeet Singh has promised to immediately remove all children from Canada’s “No Fly” list in a new video.
July 27, 2017: Ashton announces $100K raised in July
Niki Ashton will announce Thursday she has fundraised more than $100,000 in July alone, well above the $65,000 her campaign raised from January to March.
The announcement comes ahead of Elections Canada’s release of second-quarter fundraising numbers for all the NDP leadership campaigns on July 31. Those numbers will not include money raised in July.
Leadership rival Charlie Angus raised $110,000 in the first quarter. Campaign officials for Jagmeet Singh, who did not officially enter the race until May, have boasted that he raised more in his first six weeks than all the other candidates combined in the first quarter.
But Ashton’s team says first-time donors to her campaign doubled after a debate hosted by the United Steelworkers in late June.
“We don’t have the access to the deep pockets that other campaigns may have, but our median donation is $30 which shows that our campaign is the one from the people and the grassroots,” a spokesperson said.
July 26, 2017: Caron promises more spending, shorter workdays in new jobs plan
Guy Caron wants to spend $90 billion on green infrastructure, lower the threshold for employment insurance, and shorten the workday to seven hours for federally regulated industries.
The NDP leadership candidate outlined the proposals in his “Workers First” plan, released Wednesday.
Caron is proposing to invest $32 billion in renewable energy, $30 billion in building retrofits, $18 billion in public transit and $10 billion in high-speed rail.
He also wants to reduce the number of hours required for employment insurance to 360 from 900, and to allow workers who lose their jobs in the transition to a green economy to receive full Canada Pension Plan benefits starting at age 60. He’s also proposing a $15 federal minimum wage, like rivals Charlie Angus and Jagmeet Singh.
The proposals complement one of Caron’s signature policy planks, a guaranteed basic income.
Caron plans to pay for the spending with carbon tax revenue and by increasing the corporate tax rate from 15 to 19 per cent and the inflation target from two to four per cent. He also concedes deficit spending may be required.
July 25, 2017: Singh gets special mention at Assembly of First Nations annual meeting
NDP leadership contender Jagmeet Singh got a shout-out from Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde during his opening remarks at the AFN general assembly Tuesday.
Bellegarde took time to welcome politicians of different stripes during his speech — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, various Liberal cabinet ministers, including Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, and Singh.
Singh was the only New Democrat Bellegarde mentioned, though several federal MPs are attending the event, including Romeo Saganash, Erin Weir and Sheri Benson.
The Ontario MPP was also seated at a table near the front of the room, beside Wilson-Raybould and Goodale. His campaign said Bellegarde invited him to sit up front.
The other NDP leadership candidates are not attending the general assembly, which runs until Thursday.
July 20, 2017: Ashton promises new Crown corporation, carbon budget in environmental platform
Niki Ashton has released her “environmental justice” platform, which promises a new Crown corporation called Green Canada and a public investment bank to fund green projects.
The Manitoba MP says she would reduce greenhouse gases to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025, five years earlier than the Liberals’ 2030 target, which rival Jagmeet Singh has also promised. Ashton has also proposed a carbon budget, as has leadership contender Charlie Angus.
Ashton also wants to give low-income families interest-free loans to buy electric vehicles, and to give grants instead of loans to developing countries to decarbonize their economies through the Green Climate Fund.
Quebec MP Guy |
their communications strategy.
Will the marketing money work? Obama is, after all, the one with the final say — but it looks like the Canadian government, seeing what a fractious issue the pipeline has become, is counting on the president’s tendency to take what he assumes to be the politically safe route.
But when half of Americans don’t even know what the Keystone XL pipeline is [PDF], any information campaign — for or against — has its work cut out for it.When Sydney gets that branch of the skilltree totally filled out, the PPO’s selective fire switch is going to have a lot of settings. Rapid fire, Cutting Beam, probably a stun Phaser, maybe a land mine or proximity bomb? Some sort of targeting laser slash gravity beam that pulls asteroids down on your victim? I’m just spitballing here. I mean, I obviously know what all the pips do but that last one does sound pretty cool. Hmm.
Speaking of training, someone should probably reinforce with Sydney that she should concentrate on her target, and not diddling with her weapon while firing. One lesson of MANY that Sydney needs to learn. Like who to inform that of out of control fires she starts on clandestine missions. In this instance, Harem is right there and knows what to do.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like. Patreon donations might count as some kind of tax write off. I don’t know. Definitely ask a tax professional about that. But in the meantime, donate like you’re trying to get into a different tax bracket!St John the Forerunner, the cousin of Christ and last of the prophets.
The glorious Prophet and Forerunneris also referred to asbecause he was the forerunner of Christ. He was an ascetic and great prophet, who baptized Christ and became one of the most revered saints in the Orthodox Church. John is a cousin of Christ through his mother Elizabeth who was the daughter of Zoia. Zoia is the sister of Christ's grandmother. He was later beheaded by Herod in the first century to satisfy the request of Herod's stepdaughter, Salome, and wife Herodias. Because he baptized Christ, he is the patron saint of godparents. He is sometimes called the; because of this title, he is sometimes depicted with wings.
Isaiah 40:3-5 is commonly read as a prophecy of John. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr. 24:10), and his mother, Elizabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5). John held the priesthood of Aaron, giving him the authority to perform baptisms of God.
His birth took place six months before that of Jesus, and according to the Gospel account was expected by prophecy (Matt. 3:3; Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1) and foretold by an angel. Zacharias lost his power of speech because of his unbelief over the birth of his son, and had it restored on the occasion of John's circumcision (Luke 1:64).
John was a Nazarite from his birth (Luke 1:15; Num. 6:1-12). He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judea lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (Matt. 3:1-12). He led a simple life, wearing rope (gamla) fiber clothing and eating "locusts and wild honey" (Matt. 3:4).
As an adult John started to preach in public, and people from "every quarter" were attracted to his message. The essence of his preaching was the necessity of repentance and turning away from selfish pursuits. He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees as a "generation of vipers," and warned them not to assume their heritage gave them special privilege (Luke 3:8). He warned tax collectors and soldiers against extortion and plunder. His doctrine and manner of life stirred interest, bringing people from all parts to see him on the banks of the Jordan River. There he baptized thousands unto repentance.
The fame of John reached the ears of Jesus in Nazareth (Matt. 3:5), and he came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John, on the special ground that it became him to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15). John's special office ceased with the baptism of Jesus, who must now "increase" as the King come to his kingdom. He continued, however, for a while to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. He pointed him out to his disciples, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God." His public ministry was suddenly (after about six months probably) brought to a close by his being cast into prison by Herod, whom he had reproved for the sin of having taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip (Luke 3:19). He was shut up in the castle of Machaerus, a fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, and here he was beheaded at the instigation of Herodias; later tradition also implicates Salomé. His disciples, having consigned the headless body to the grave, went and told Jesus all that had occurred (Matt. 14:3-12). John's death occurred apparently just before the third Passover of Jesus' ministry.
Jesus himself testified regarding John that he was a "burning and a shining light" (John 5:35). John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, thus serving as a bridge figure between that period of revelation and Jesus. They also embrace a tradition that, following his death, John descended into Hell and there once more preached that Jesus the Messiah was coming.
Feast days
Nativity of St John the Baptist
The Orthodox Church remembers Saint John the Forerunner on six separate feast days, listed here in order of the church year which begins on September 1:
Also, St. John's parents Zechariah and Elisabeth, are commemorated on September 5.
Relics
Menologion of Basil II, 10th c.). Miniature of the Finding of the head of St. John the Baptist ().
The First Uncovering of the Head of St. John the Baptist took place in the fourth century at the time when Saint Constantine the Great and his mother, St. Helen, began restoring the holy places of Jerusalem.
The Second Finding of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist of took place on on February 18, 452, at Emesa.
After the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787), which reestablished the veneration of icons, the head of St. John the Baptist was returned to the Byzantine capital in around the year 850. The Church commemorates this event on May 25/June 7 as the Third Finding of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist.
His relics are kept in several places including:
St. Demetrios Church, Neo Phaleron, Piraeus
Benaki Museum, Athens
Sacred Relics Room, Topkapi Museum, Constantinople (entire right arm and cranium)
Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria
Cetinje Monastery, Montenegro (right palm)Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with planting a webcam in a Rutgers dorm and broadcasting a classmate's sexual encounter. The classmate is believed to have committed suicide. Here's what Dharun did, step by step.
Dharun and Molly have both been charged with invasion of privacy for broadcasting a classmate's September 19 sexual encounter. (It's illegal to create pornography without the subject's consent in New Jersey.) Local sources report that the victim "was believed to have jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge" (which connects New Jersey to Manhattan) shortly thereafter. Out on a $25,000 bail, Dharun has deleted his Twitter account, but by the magic of web caches, we found it—and Dharun's tweets about how he turned on his webcam when his roommate asked for privacy, then went to Molly's room and caught his roommate "making out with a dude." Local reports say iChat is the tool Dharun used to stream the video.
Click image to enlarge.
Prosecutors released Molly on her own recognizance, suggesting Dharun is considered the primary conspirator. The whole affair is ludicrously, tragically simple: If Dharun told the truth on his Twitter feed, then he essentially reenacted the scene from American Pie where Jason Biggs tricks Shannon Elizabeth into becoming an amateur porn star. Except he may have outed a gay kid and caused a suicide—funny how these things are so much less humorous in real life, right? Anyway, the maximum sentence for Dharun's and Molly's charges is five years. In the meantime, it looks like Dharun has locked down his Facebook profile.
We emailed Dharun and Molly; they have yet to respond. Know more? Email us. [Fox5, Star Ledger, CBS NY]
Updates:
Is This Webcam Spying Victim Tyler Clementi's Last Call for Help?
The Tragic Story of Tyler Clementi, Rutgers' Webcam Voyeurism Victim
Related:
What It's Like to Be a Gay TeenMy vision of Altdorf the capital city of the Empire on Warhammer. The river featured on the picture is the river Reik. In the background it can be seen also the royal castle in a privileged position over the city. As little reference to imagine the city I took this map ( [link] ) however I have used more my imagination than the map. Hope you like it and comment it, however I think that people only comment pics with boobs xD===============In the following lines I attach you some info regarding the city (extracted from here: [link] Altdorf is the Imperial capital, the seat of Karl-Franz; home to the Great Cathedral of Sigmar, the Colleges of Magic and the School of Engineers. The city is a centre for trade and learning; its docks teem with merchants, its taverns with students. From the strange creatures housed in the Imperial zoo, to the majestically solid, dwarf-built walls, Altdorf is a city of great beauty and variety.The citys official ruler is Karl-Franz; Emperor, Elector Count of Reikland and Prince of Altdorf. Naturally, the Emperor has other duties to occupy him; as a result, Altdorf is really governed by an oligarchy of rich merchants and minor nobles. Corruption is rife; if the Emperor is aware of it, he does nothing.Though far inland, the river Reik is still phenomenally deep and wide at Altdorf. Even ocean-going war vessels can dock here, and do so at the Reiksport. The ships of the Imperial fleet lack the grace of those of Bretonnia or Marienburg; they are boxy, practical constructs laden with heavy weaponry. Of particular note are the Hellhammers wargalleys that mount a solitary, massive cannon capable of sending a Man oWar to the bottom with a single shot.Altdorf is one of the Empires oldest cities, built upon the site of the ancient Unbegoren settlement, but has not always been the capital. For example, Emperor Mandred Skavenslayer made his capital at Middenheim after becoming Emperor in 1124, and Magnus the Pious had his capital at Nuln.During the Wars of the Vampire Counts, Altdorf was besieged by both the armies of Vlad von Carstien in 2010, and Mannfred von Carstein, many years later. In the former case, the seige was ended when the Grand Theogonist Wilhelm III threw himself, and Vlad von Carstein, off of the walls onto stakes at the base of the wall, ending the seige as the undead army began to disintegrate, while in the latter case, the Sylvanian army was defeated as Kurt III, the Grand Theogonist at the time, recited the Great Spell of Unbinding, causing Mannfred's army to disintegrate before Mannfred's very eyes.Altdorf has been the capital ever since Wilhelm III became Emperor in 2429. The Colleges of Magic were founded in the city after the Great War against Chaos with the help of Teclis and the High Elves in 2304.By
With time and age your wood burning and pyrography designs appear to fade into the wood, losing those sharp, dramatic contrasts and very pale tonal values. Recently, while cleaning our studio, I came across several of my very first wood burned projects, which are perfect examples of how as wood ages it develops a distinct patina which directly affects to look of our wood burning tonal values.
This Country Church, right, was burned in 2004 for the Great Book of Woodburning. It is worked on birch plywood using a variable temperature burning unit and a looped tip pen. The image that you see is from the original scan made for this book.
Notice how clean and white the background wood appears. The burning shows as a neutral dark brown to pale beige hue, and there is a wide range of tonal values throughout the burning.
Here is a scan, made this morning, of the same wood burning, ten years later. The birch has taken on a rich pale red hue and a darker tonal value in the grain lines. With age and time, wood naturally darkens in tonal value, and the results of that darkening process is called patina.
When the wood grain is exposed to air the wood literally begins to rust through oxidation. The minerals in the natural oils and sap begin to darken into deep orange, red, and rust tones, changing the coloring of both your wood and your wood burning.
In the 2014 scan of this Country Church pyrography you can see the red tones of the oxidized patina. Because that patina is behind the burned lines and shading of the pyrography work, the burned design has also taken on a reddish tone.
Since all of us wish for our pyrography projects to last the test of time, at the very start of your next project you need to consider and adjust for the patina that your wood will develop in the years to come. Sugar pine will darken to a deep, rich orange coloring. Your fresh white basswood will move into the yellow-beige tones, and the neutral beige of your birch will become a medium rusty-red with time. Poplar can move into golden-yellow hues and a freshly cut piece of pink-beige mahogany can become almost black-red within a decade or two.
By knowing what patina color your wood will finally develop, you can plan ahead to work your tonal values in the darker ranges to adjust for aging. You may also need to adjust your pale tonal values. Notice in the two images, right, that the fine grass in the foreground, just below the church door is beginning to disappear. The original temperature setting for this grass created a pale burn line that now is close to the patina tonal values of the wood.
While the two burned images, above, may not seem that dramatic, when I do a side-by-side comparison of the ten-year old Country Church burning against a new, fresh piece of birch plywood you can see it’s not the burning that has faded but the wood that has darkened.
You can not avoid a wood developing a darker patina with time, but you can delay it. Which wood finish you use can change the coloring of the wood. Oil finishes and some varnishes create a pale yellow cast, polyurethane and acrylic sealers then to be very clear. Use a sealer that has UV light protection.
Do not hang or display your finished projects in direct sunlight, nor directly near a heat source as the furnace vent or under a high wattage lamp.
Normal accumulation of dirt and oil can added to the effects of aging. Lightly wash the surface of your projects with a damp, slightly soapy cloth, then rinse with a lightly dampened cloth. For heavy dirt use Murphy’s Oil Soap. It’s excellent for both wood burnings and wood carvings.Looking for news you can trust?
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It’s one thing to expand executive powers when your guy is in the White House—but what if the other party holds the Oval Office? That’s what elite conservative legal minds were mulling at an American Enterprise Institute event Friday headlined “Founders betrayed? New threats to US democracy and rule of law.” Conservative luminaries, including Bush-era torture-justifier John Yoo, warned of a grave constitutional threat in the Obama administration’s use of executive power.
CATO institute fellow Nicholas Rosenkranz said Obama had seized a “vast amount of executive power” by allowing people who entered the country illegally as children to stay (though as my colleague Adam Serwer pointed out last summer, presidents from both parties have long claimed the authority to grant stays of deportation). He was also concerned about the possibility that the DOJ may decline to enforce federal drug laws in states that recently legalized pot. (This coming from the same school of thought that says the 10th amendment allows states to ignore federal laws they don’t like.) “For those of you who are nervous about some of the tendencies of of this particular president,” Rosencranz said, “I would keep your eye on the executive choices like declining to execute law.”
He said Congress should clarify that the president must enforce federal laws. Would this, then, apply to Obamacare under a “President Ryan in 2017,” asked moderator Henry Olson, director of AEI’s National Research Initiative. Well, yes, Rosencranz said—yes, it would.
Yoo argued that the “progressive movement’s” usurpation of power in the executive branch has been snowballing for years, starting with Woodrow Wilson’s wartime mobilization, and expanding with FDR’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. He labeled the Obama administration the “4th wave” of progressivism, its “pinnacles” being Obamacare and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Yoo said that in order to counter a liberal expansion of executive power, conservatives needed to abandon their own, Reagan-era tactic of broadening the president’s authority:
The “‘Reagan Revolution in law’ was built on certain kinds of assumptions about the way government worked, where the primary enemy to reducing the burden on liberty was Congress, and the primary protector was going to be the presidency, particularly through using the president’s power to centralize control over the agencies. So that led to a number of doctrines that the Reagan administration and those that followed pursued, such as trying to keep strict barriers on the way Congress could enact legislation, trying to protect a fairly large area of exececutive discretion… and keeping the courts out of the business of reviewing regulations.”
It only so happened that at the time, the White House was in Republican hands and Congress was dominated by Democrats. Some legislative fixes Yoo floated: backtracking on the 1984 Chevron doctrine that the courts must defer to “reasonable agency interpretations” of the law; enacting legislation to require Congressional review for major agency rules; and putting new regulations through a cost-benefit analysis.
He offered other, “more mischievous” options too:
“Why not have agency budgets subject to reduction in proportion to the amount it costs the economy? If you enact a rule that costs a certain amount to the economy, then the agency’s budget also falls by a similar amount. Or the number of jobs lost in the economy that year—that’s the amount federal employment as a whole will go down. This will focus the… bureaucrats.”
To be clear, though, all this talk of hemming in the White House? It doesn’t apply to things like going to war, Guantanamo, or, presumably, torturing detainees. “I’m not taking about executive power in regards to foreign affairs,” Yoo said, “which I think is wholly different.”This post contains spoilers for the episode The Pandorica Opens. You have be warned.
Inspired by a Pandoricake @Benjamin_Cook made ( http://twitpic.com/1y9n7p ) last week and encouraged by @DoktorWatson I decided to make my own Pandoricake to hold a gingerbread Doctor.
It ummmmm was a slight disaster to begin with and ended up having to be cut down in size massively……
(or it experienced a Big Bang as one of my tweeps decided to point out)
Anyways after much stressing I managed to fix it (sort of). Here’s the result:
I also made a little gingerbread Doctor, Amy, Rory the Roman, and River Song to go with the cake:
The Pandoricake Opens……
So, that’s the Pandoricake. I shall be munching it on it during The Big Bang tonight. Hope everyone enjoys the finale!
xxxxxx
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RICHMOND, Va. – The person who shot a 23-month-old girl in Richmond’s Hillside Court neighborhood on Sunday night, June 1, surrendered himself to police.
The male who surrendered has been identified as Dontrell M. Mason, 21, of the 2100 block of Mimosa Street. Mason has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and additional charges are pending.
He turned himself in Thursday afternoon with his lawyer. This shooting was accidental, according to the suspect. Police sources said he was playing with the gun when it discharged. The male is not related to the child.
The child was shot Sunday night, about 10:00 p.m., along the 1400 block of Harwood Street.
Richmond Police detectives have investigated throughout the week, and the Richmond Police Chief and city of Richmond Mayor held a special meeting to discuss violence against children.
Police have been in touch with Child Protective Services regarding other children in the home.
The one-year-old shooting victim was taken to the hospital with injuries that were considered "non life-threatening,” according to police. She wasn't released until Thursday.
Mason has a lengthy criminal record with past cases in Chesterfield, Henrico and Richmond. But from what we've dug up none of his felony convictions was for a violent crime.
Police credit the community and investigative work in the identification of Mason, who has had some trouble in his past. That means he likely faces mandatory jail time, according to CBS-6 legal expert Todd Stone.
"The accidental shooting is usually the reckless use of a firearm charge and that's a misdemeanor,” said Stone. “But when it's done by a felon in possession of a weapon, that aggravates it. So the possession charge will get him from two to five years of mandatory time, if his previous convictions were violent offenses.”
Police say Mason could also face additional charges.
Neighbors, many of whom refused to speak on camera, said they were fed up with crime in the neighborhood.
“It’s just mind-blowing, you know? You just always have to keep your eyes on your child at all times,” said Quachaunda Meredith, who pointed out that her daughter is always within arms reach when she plays outside.
“It’s just that bullets has everybody’s name on it,” said Darzell Tucker, a mother of two. “That’s how I look at it.”
Detectives still ask anyone with any information about this crime to please call Crime Stoppers at 780-1000 or text Crime Stoppers at 274637, using the key word “ITip” followed by your tip. Both methods are anonymous.By Brad Kallet, WFAN.com
On July 2 the Mets were dead and buried.
They had just lost four straight games to the Braves, were 11 games under.500 and sat double-digit games out of first place. There was no reason to believe that things would get any better anytime soon.
Then the Amazin’s returned home for their final homestand before the All-Star break and caught fire. They went 8-2 over the 10-game stretch, taking two of three from the Rangers, three of four from the Braves and three in a row from the Marlins.
New York finished the season’s first half 45-50, seven games out of first in the National League East and seven games out of the second NL wild card berth.
This team still has a ton of ground to cover and a lot of teams to leapfrog. But believe it or not, it’s still breathing.
As presently constituted, the Mets are not good enough to make a run in the second half. The starting pitching and bullpen have both been excellent, and should continue to be. But the offense, which has clicked on all cylinders over the last week-and-a-half, can’t be counted on to produce consistently on a nightly basis.
That’s why general manager Sandy Alderson needs to roll up his sleeves, get on the phone and acquire a bat that can solidify the lineup.
I’m not advocating for Alderson to mortgage the future, but after five losing seasons it’s time to take a chance. With a surplus of talented pitcher, this organization can afford to ship a big-time arm (or two) — be it a top prospect or a veteran — in a package for a stellar hitter.
No, I don’t want to see Jon Niese or Dillon Gee go. And I want Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler to be staples of the starting rotation for years to come. But it’s time for this front office to take a serious chance and go for the gold. Hurlers such as Rafael Montero, Jack Leathersich and Steven Matz are also valuable trade chips.
An obvious — and ideal — fit for the Mets is Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. He’s one of the best middle-of-the-order bats in the league and plays exceptional defense. Most importantly, New York likely has the pieces to get him. The Rockies (40-55) figure to be sellers at the trade deadline, and Tulo could be on the block.
The four-time All-Star is having an MVP-type season, batting.345 with 21 homers, 52 RBIs and a.435 on-base percentage. His home-road splits aren’t pretty, but the 29-year-old has proven that he can hit — and hit well — away from Coors Field. He’s under contract until 2020 and, after 2014, is owed a minimum of $118 million. Of course it would ultimately come down to whether the Wilpons would be willing to open their wallets and commit big bucks to Tulowitzki. But the two-time Gold Glove Award winner would instantly be the shortstop of the future and the best player on the team.
Imagine a lineup consisting of David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Tulowitzki, Curtis Granderson, Juan Lagares, a coming-into-his-own Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud 2.0. Just like that, the Mets would be able to score runs with any team in baseball.
Making such a move would not only help the Mets in the second half and keep them relevant — all the while putting butts in the seats, I might add — but it would put them in excellent position moving forward.
I’m not about to begin suggesting potential trade proposals for such studs as Tulo, Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Gonzalez. It’s not my job. Trades are supposed to be Alderson’s bread and butter, and he and his supposedly brilliantly lieutenants get paid to evaluate and measure risk versus reward. Part of building a sustainable championship team, of course, is taking calculated risks.
Other possible trade targets include Starlin Castro, Allen Craig and Matt Kemp. (The Dodgers would have to eat a huge portion of Kemp’s contract to make a deal work.) These players would cost less and wouldn’t merely be rentals, but rather fixtures in Queens for the long haul.
Sure, Alderson could wait until free agency for the sake of not parting with assets. But the GM doesn’t have a good track record with major free agents, with Granderson being the only high-priced signing of his tenure. And unlike in years past, successful teams aren’t built though free agency anymore. Between more teams inking players to long-term extensions and a reduction in PED use, there are far fewer options on the market, and the big names available tend to be leaving their respective primes (see the Yankees).
The Mets have some momentum heading into the second half, and things are actually looking up. They desperately need offensive firepower to complement their steady pitching, and the way to land a young, impact player under team control is via trade.
There’s no reason to wait anymore. We’ve waited long enough.
Make your move, Sandy, and let’s see what this club can do.
Brad Kallet is an editor and columnist for CBSNewYork.com. He has written for TENNIS.com, MLB.com and SMASH Magazine, among others. You can follow him on Twitter @brad_kallet.
You May Also Be Interested In These StoriesEnvironmental group Wildlands League says it helped come up with a plan five years ago to help protect the boreal caribou in northeastern Ontario.
The group is responding to a new federal report that says the provinces aren't moving fast enough to come up with strategies to protect the woodland caribou habitat.
Wildlands League spokesperson Anna Baggio says the plan involves First Nations, municipalities and forestry company Tembec and was submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in 2012.
Baggio says they are still waiting to get a green light from the province.
"We've been saying, look, we've given you guys a potential solution here. This is really good. Why don't you work with us and help us make this a reality in northeastern Ontario?"
The Wildlands League is a chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. It is a not-for-profit charity that has been working in the public interest to protect public lands and resources in Ontario.
Tembec first reached out 10 years ago
Tuesday's report states the caribou's habitat "in the majority of ranges has worsened since 2012."
"They have done a lot of plans on paper but they haven't protected any habitat and they continue to be handing out permits and licenses for development and they haven't been meeting their own requirement of their own endangered species act," said Baggio.
"You know, Tembec reached out to us 10 years ago and said, 'We know caribou is declining, we know it is a threatened species. We know it's a priority for you. It's a priority for us. What can we do together to try and figure this out?" said Baggio.
Caribou are found in the boreal forest that stretches like a ribbon across nine provinces and territories. The majority of their habitat falls on provincial Crown land.
"We think this can be done and we are hoping Ontario sees the light and joins us," Baggio said.
CBC News contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources, but they haven't yet responded.
Read the Wildlands League's most recent report on the state of boreal caribou habitat here:A man walks in front of a burning building after a Syrian Air force air strike in Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/Files)
Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) issued quite a response to President Obama's announcement on Saturday that he would seek congressional approval for limited military strikes against Syria. Here it is, in full:
President Obama is abdicating his responsibility as commander-in-chief and undermining the authority of future presidents. The President does not need Congress to authorize a strike on Syria. If [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad's use of chemical weapons against civilians deserves a military response, and I believe it does, and if the President is seeking congressional approval, then he should call Congress back into a special session at the earliest date. The President doesn't need 535 Members of Congress to enforce his own redline.
There are a few different ways to read this. King's surface meaning would appear to be an argument about separation of powers, although one that oddly downplays the power and role of his own legislative branch pretty significantly. That's not something politicians often do.
But King, here, is going beyond saying that Obama doesn't need to consult Congress. He's saying that Obama actually shouldn't consult Congress. Maybe he's thinking about military tactic and worries that any more delays on U.S. strikes will lessen their ability to harm the Assad regime, although after a week of back-and-forth it's reasonable to conclude that Assad is probably as ready as he's going to be.
It's difficult to escape the sense that King, and perhaps other members of Congress who have demurred from calling for Obama to seek their approval, just might not want to have make this call.
The decision about whether or not to launch limited, offshore strikes against Syria is really difficult and complicated with strong pros and cons. It's risky, although so is inaction. And beyond just the debate on offshore strikes, most people agree there are no good options; whatever we do or don't do, the killing is going to continue and it's going to stay very bad.
Sure, the United States might be able to improve things a little around the margins. But it can mostly just watch helplessly. There's not much of a voter constituency for marginally improving a far-away civil war. And anyone who plays some role in U.S. policy toward Syria can look forward to being blamed by some future opponent for failing to solve it.
An elected official might reasonably conclude that he or she has very little or nothing to gain by taking even a small amount of ownership over U.S. policy toward Syria, but has a lot to lose. Of course, a number of them surely care about it as human beings, and some are probably eager to engage with the issues regarding separation of powers. But members of Congress are also political animals, and Syria is, for them, a giant bear trap.FAIRFIELD — How not to make a good impression on the first day at a new job? Steal from your new employer.
Fairfield Police said a business named Garda reported one of its employees was captured on surveillance video stealing $100,000 in cash. The employee was identified as Larry Brooks, 19, of Elizabeth, who had just been hired. Before police were called, Garda staff found nearly $86,000 in Brooks' car parked in Elizabeth.
Brooks was charged with a second-degree theft. He was released on his own recognizance and the matter will be forwarded to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office for prosecution.
According to its website, Garda is a security company that offers armored truck transport, cash vault services, and ATM services.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com.
More from New Jersey 101.5:The Heritage Foundation released a wish list for the next administration on Tuesday, calling for the elimination of research and development funds for clean energy, expanded fossil-fuel production and exports, a sale of federal lands to private interests, and an end to greenhouse gas regulations.
Heritage hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate, but it has closer ties to Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton, in terms of both ideology and personnel. Ed Meese, a fellow at Heritage, and Ed Feulner, the group’s former president, are both members of Trump’s transition team. Stephen Moore, a distinguished visiting fellow at Heritage, was named to Trump’s economic advisory team. Trump also thanked Heritage for helping compile his list of potential Supreme Court nominees.
In May, Heritage President Jim DeMint said the group hoped to “push him to carry some conservative ideas into the election and win it.”
On Tuesday, the group released a “blueprint” for the next administration, without naming Trump directly. Recommendations for the Departments of Energy and the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency largely push for the drawdown of liberal priorities on energy and the environment.
For the DOE, the report recommends eliminating all spending on research, development, and commercialization of energy technologies. It suggests appointing an undersecretary to phase out the department’s offices of Fossil Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Electricity Deliverability and Reliable Energy, and Nuclear Energy. It recommends drawing down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, approving all liquefied natural gas export projects, and says the department should “refrain” from developing any new energy-efficiency standards.
For Interior, the report says the department should make no additions to federal lands, and work with Congress to give states responsibility for leasing and permitting on federal lands. It says the department should revoke the Bureau of Land Management’s fracking regulations. It pushes for more offshore drilling. It says there should be no new purchases of land through the Land and Water Conservation Fund or additions to the National Wildlife Refuge System.
The report also says the department should “use to the fullest extent the department’s authority to sell lands to the private sector and nonprofits, using the proceeds to cover the cost of sale and pay down the national debt, by the close of FY 2017.”
It also recommends several ways to narrow the effect of the Endangered Species Act, including taking the “maximum permissible account of the countervailing needs of man as a species,” when weighing human needs’ against endangered species, including economic and military benefits.
For the EPA, the report calls on the next administration to “cut spending for all greenhouse gas regulations” and work with Congress to pass legislation clarifying that the Clean Air Act “does not provide authority to regulate greenhouse gases.” The CAA is used to justify the Obama administration’s greenhouse gas-cutting Clean Power Plan, and was found by the U.S. Supreme Court to cover greenhouse gases among other pollutants.
It also suggests eliminating all EPA funding for categorical grants, revolving funds including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, Superfunds, sustainable and livable communities programs, indoor air quality programs and environmental education, and environmental justice programs.
The report also says the next president should revoke Obama’s executive action on the Chesapeake and Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives, reduce the Renewable Fuel Standard to zero, withdraw the social cost of carbon, withdraw the Waters of the United States rule, and withdraw all global warming regulations on vehicles, power plants, and airline emissions.Lately the concept of polyamory is all over the media. The basic concept: having more than one relationship. But what does that mean for those involved, how does it feel – and what makes people begin doing it?
Loving more than one person – not in itself problematic. It works in families, and it’s also possible to have more than one friend. But as soon as it’s a question of relationships, many people become sceptical. Can the people in question be ‘multiple’ in this context too? Those who live polyamorously don’t see it as a problem.
The word polyamory stems from the Greek word for ‘many’ (poly) and the Latin word for ‘love’ (amor) – Wikipedia can tell you that. But it doesn’t say anything about the really interesting part: how does it feel to have several partners? When your own boyfriend sleeps with other women? Why would people do this?
The underlying concept, the possibility of ‘many loves’, is inherent in the word itself. But the way in which such an idea works on practice depends on |
from the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag by adding a blue circle to the center of the Survey flag, with a stylized, diamond-shaped map of the world within the blue circle. The blue circle containing the map lay entirely within the red triangle.[46][47]
The NOAA flag, in use today, also was adapted from the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag by adding the NOAA emblem – a circle divided into two parts by the white silhouette of a flying seagull, with the roughly triangular portion above the bird being dark blue and the portion below it a lighter blue – to the center of the old Survey flag. The NOAA symbol lies entirely within the red triangle.[48]
Ranks [ edit ]
Relative rank of officers 1918
Grade Title Rank with and after 1 Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineers Colonels 2 Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineers Lieutenant Colonels 3 Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineers Majors 4 Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineers Captains 5 Junior Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineers First Lieutenants 6 Aids Second Lieutenants Source: [49]
Ranks 1943
Commissioned Officers Ship's Officers Rear Admiral - Captain - Commander - Lieutenant Commander - Lieutenant Chief Marine Engineer
Surgeon Lieutenant Junior Grade Mate Ensign Deck Officer Source: [50]
Petty Officers were Chiefs, First Class, Second Class, and Third Class.[50]
Ships [ edit ]
The Survey of the Coast's first ship, the schooner Jersey, was acquired for it in 1834 by the U.S. Department of the Navy. By purchasing commercial vessels, through transfers from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, and later through construction of ships built specifically for the Survey, the Coast Survey and later the Coast and Geodetic Survey operated a fleet of ships until the formation of NOAA in October 1970.
The first of the Survey's ships to see U.S. Navy service was the brig USRC Washington during the Mexican War. During the American Civil War, Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II, some of the Survey's ships saw service in the U.S. Navy and United States Coast Guard, while others supported the war effort as a part of the Survey's fleet.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey applied the abbreviation "USC&GS" as a prefix to the names of its ships, analogous to the "USS" abbreviation employed by the U.S. Navy. In the 20th century, the Coast and Geodetic Survey also instituted a hull classification symbol system similar to the one that the U.S. Navy began using in 1920. Each ship was classified as an "ocean survey ship" (OSS), "medium survey ship" (MSS), "coastal survey ship" (CSS), or "auxiliary survey vessel" (ASV), and assigned a unique hull number, the abbreviation for its type and its unique hull number combining to form its individual hull code. For example, the ocean survey ship Oceanographer that served from 1930 to 1942 was USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS 26), while the Oceanographer that served from 1966 to 1970 was USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS 01).
When NOAA was created on 3 October 1970 and the Coast and Geodetic Survey was dissolved, its ships were combined with the fisheries research ships of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Bureau of Commercial Fisheries to form the new NOAA fleet. For a time, NOAA continued to use the Coast and Geodetic Survey's classification system for its survey ships, but it later abandoned it and instituted a new classification scheme.
A partial list of the Survey's ships:
Pacific Marine Center, the USC&GS ship base
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
^ The formal title given these officers in reports is for example: "Lieut. Commander John A. Howell, U.S.N., Assistant in the Coast Survey" with "Assistant" being a title for both high office and topographic survey management positions and ship's commanding officers.WASHINGTON — The Anchorage-based 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, known as the "4-25," has officially evaded shrinking its force size, as planned under the Obama administration, the Army announced Friday.
In July 2015, the Army announced that more than 2,600 soldiers housed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) were among 40,000 slated for elimination across the country, part of a long-term effort to shave 120,000 troops off of the Army's overall force numbers.
But after demonstrations, a series of visits from top-ranking generals and dogged pressure from Alaska's congressional delegation, particularly Sen. Dan Sullivan, the cuts never came to be. The soldiers at JBER were the only ones, nationwide, to escape the fate they once feared. The cuts were first postponed, then delayed indefinitely and now are officially off the table, the Army announced. Instead, 1,500 soldiers from the 4-25 will deploy to Afghanistan later this year.
All three members of the Alaska delegation played some part in the effort to convince the Army that the 4-25 was too important to let go. But Sullivan is one of a small number of active-duty military members in Congress (Marine Reserves) and a member of the Armed Services Committee, where he mentioned the 4-25 at just about every hearing for the last two years.
By Friday, Sullivan said many of his Senate colleagues knew more about the 4-25 than most people living in Alaska. He said he was getting high-fives from Armed Services Committee members in the hallways.
"If you look at the 40,000 troops the Army cut when they made these announcements about two years ago — every one of those soldiers, with the exception of ours, are now gone. Every one of them," Sullivan said.
"I've been working tirelessly along with Sen. Sullivan and Congressman Young to reverse the proposed downsize of the 4-25 since it was first announced in 2014," Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Friday. "As a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I will work to ensure the 4-25 is adequately funded."
The Army said Friday that the final decision to retain the 4-25 after deployment to Afghanistan "is dependent on receiving an appropriation from Congress commensurate with the increased end strength outlined in the (National Defense Authorization Act)."
Back in Anchorage, Mayor Ethan Berkowitz had formed a group to review the economic prospects for the city if the troops were cut at JBER. They found the potential for "significant impacts to the small businesses and general economy of North Anchorage and Chugiak/Eagle River," he said Friday.
"It is great news that our friends and neighbors in the 4-25 are here to stay," he said, touting their contributions to the city.
Sullivan heard about the Army's decision early, during a chance encounter with Gen. Mark Milley, the chief of staff for the Army, at a White House event for Wounded Warriors on Thursday.
"I found out then," Sullivan said Friday. "You know, we were hearing rumors but I hadn't heard officially, and he gave me the word — not only the word about them staying indefinitely, the full brigade combat team, but also about their upcoming deployment."
During Sullivan's two-year fight to keep the 4-25, he stuck to a few key arguments as to why the Army needed to rethink its efforts.
First, he reasoned that their training was unusual and valuable, dealing with mountainous regions and very cold weather, and there aren't many units that are equipped to handle those conditions.
Second, he focused on Alaska's proximity to the Asia-Pacific region (think North Korea), and to America's Arctic.
"As the Russians were building up four new brigade combat teams in the Arctic, and a new Arctic military command, we're going to get rid of our only brigade combat team based in the Arctic? I think that would have been a really bad signal to send to Vladimir Putin and the Russian military," Sullivan said.
Gov. Bill Walker said he thought the decision to keep the soldiers at JBER is a "powerful recognition" of Alaska's "unique and strategic geopolitical location."
"Not only are they the only airborne brigade in the Pacific and the only Arctic-capable airborne brigade in the U.S. Army, they are one of the finest light infantry units in the entire military," Rep. Don Young said Friday.
And third, Sullivan set out to undo a part of the Army's review that he felt was faulty: The facilities in Alaska were rated low for training.
On Friday, Maj. Gen. Bryan Owens, the commanding general of U.S. Army Alaska, touted the brigade's rigorous training "in a wide range of climates and environments."
Along the path between the announcement that the JBER troops were on the chopping block and Friday's reversal, there were a series of meetings and events that led to Army officials' about-face.
Sullivan got the ball rolling in Washington, D.C., when he put a hold on the nominations of several incoming military leaders who were going through the Senate confirmation process. The "commitment I got from them was to put a hold on the decision," and an agreement that they would come up to Alaska and see the troops for themselves, Sullivan said.
Sullivan and Murkowski also inserted language into a Defense authorization bill that encouraged a formal review of the nation's Arctic needs.
The senator pointed to demonstration exercises at Fort Polk in a Joint Readiness Training Center exercise in February 2016, a live-fire training scenario where troops demonstrate their work in combat-like conditions.
"Ever watch 1,000 members of an airborne combat team drop out of the sky? It's impressive," Sullivan said. He attended, as did Gen. Milley.
And Sullivan touted the support of the local community, which he said even impressed one of the many military officers who visited Alaska to review the troops.I remember when we fought the war over video games' status as art. We lost a lot of good women and men to the Battle of Citizen Kane of Video Games, and I still grimace on the anniversary of the Three Day Siege of Ludonarrative Dissonance. I vowed to never forget the sacrifices countless anonymous commenters made, only to be wiped from this earth by the cold, unsympathetic ire of rogue moderators. To think, while we champions of the video game medium poured blood, sweat, and tweets into the pell-mell of so many forums, an easy solution was laying in wait.
Video games are art if you just turn art into video games. The following creations come from a prompt at B3ta to "turn famous works of art into video games." A painting by Piet Mondrian becomes Pongdrian. The work of Francis Bacon is aching to be Quakeon. Mona Lisa is, um, Mona Croft: Art Raider. Humor me.
Here are a handful of my favorite mashups from B3ta.
(Via Andry_R)
(Via Ya What)
(Via Ninj)
(Via Zoroastermouse)
Now, obviously, there's another way to solve the question "Are video games art?" and that is with a poll on a website.Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island Interview
We sat down with Leo Toivio - Programmer and Eric Valentine - Narrative director and level designer for Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island.
GameGrin: There’s a clear influence from the buddy platformers of yesteryear. Do you have any favourites that you’ve drawn inspiration from?
Leo: Every person in the team has their own favourite game. I actually don’t think anyone of us have the same since we have so different gaming backgrounds. Eric always brings up Jak and Daxter, Kevin (audio design & music composer) takes inspiration from Banjo Kazooie, Jakob (3D artist / environment artist) usually mentions the amount of polish in Ratchet and Clank, I am a huge fan of the snappy controls in Super Mario Galaxy and Johan is just an all around guy that loves a good challenge independent of what game it’s in.
GameGrin: What is Skylar? We can’t work out if she’s a cat, a fox or a whole new creature in herself.
Eric: She is a member of a feline species that roams the galaxy. Visually she’s inspired by a mix between a snow leopard and a lynx, but her species is just space-cats in any combination basically.
GameGrin: And thinking of Skylar, you’ve gone with a strong female protagonist, something not seen all too often in games - what made you choose this direction?
Eric: We recognized that most of 3D platforming heroes are dudes, as if this genre was some kind of boys club. We wanted to change it up a little. Skylar is just herself, not too concerned by her gender. I believe we’re all a mix of masculine and feminine and so many other things that define us. As a boy I looked up to Link, Jak, Ratchet and other heroes, and these days I wish I had a “digital big sister” to look up to. I want Skylar to be that role model.
GameGrin: Platformers are a much less common genre than a few years ago - what do you think has caused this? Do you think you could be the ones to bring the genre back to glory?
Eric: Eric: I think it became too much of a formula, and it got exceedingly difficult to keep it fresh. Maybe the genre needed to die, so we could appreciate it in retrospect? We tried to distill what we loved the most about those games, and make Skylar & Plux all about that. Platforming, puzzles and some combat. And that’s what we’re trying to achieve, a pretty focused experience. With the Ratchet and Clank remake, as well as Yooka Laylee, it seems like the genre is resurging and we’d love to play a part in that.
GameGrin: You recently showed the game at Rezzed - how did it go down?
Leo: Grip Digital, the distributor for Skylar and Plux, had the opportunity to show the game at the event. The feedback was very positive! Kids, girls, hardcore players and even elders loved the game which is great sign for us because we can see that the game is popular for representatives of all generations. It was great experience for us!
GameGrin: When you’re not playing Skylar and Plux, what are your favourite games in the Right Nice Offices?
Eric: Currently we are way into The Witcher 3, Dark Souls 3, the new Ratchet and Clank, Path of Exile and a couple of us love to play Super Smash Bros. Melee with great fervor! Leo: After I’ve played through the latest Nintendo title or hot indie game, the latest being The Witness, I always fall back to Esports. League of Legends, CS:GO and Super Smash Bros. Melee all the way!
GameGrin: Speaking of Ratchet and Clank, who do you think would win in a fight between Skylar and Ratchet?
Eric: First of all, I don’t think they would ever need to fight each other. At least I hope not, they’d make a great team since they are both on the good side. But playing with the thought, we’d have to consider Ratchet’s ginormous arsenal of weapons and gadgets, extra years of experience, and different sets of armour. Skylar has just set out on her adventure, but she’s already accrued a couple of nifty tools. Her entire right arm is a kinetic weapon, and an upgrade of which let’s her manipulate magnetic objects such as robots and ammunition. All that in combination with slowing down the flow of time around her, and blasting through the air with her jetpack, Skylar makes a pretty tough opponent. It could be a pretty close fight, well, in my dreams at least.
GameGrin: Given an unlimited budget, unlimited time, and infinite developers, what one feature would you add to the game?
Eric: Infinite resources is quite the dream scenario, so adding only one feature would be hard. Maybe more cowbell?London Mayor Sadiq Khan has suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump should not be welcomed to the U.K. because his policies are incompatible with British values, as a planned state visit approaches. The mayor’s comments follow criticism from Trump on Twitter over Khan’s response to a terror attack Saturday that left seven people dead in the British capital.
Speaking to Britain’s Channel 4 News on Monday, Khan said the U.S. President was wrong about “many things.” According to the Guardian, he added that he doesn’t think Trump should be welcomed to the country.
“I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the President of the U.S.A. in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,” he said.
President Trump criticized Khan on Sunday after the mayor told Londoners that an increased police presence on the streets was “no cause for alarm.” Trump misleadingly suggested that Khan was downplaying the act of terrorism, which saw a van crash into pedestrians on London Bridge before three men exited the vehicle and attacked several people in nearby Borough Market.
After the mayor’s office contextualized Khan’s remarks, Trump went on the offensive again, tweeting on Monday that the explanation was a “pathetic excuse.”
Read more: President Trump’s Attack on London Mayor
Prime Minister Theresa May told British tabloid The Sun on Tuesday that even though Trump was “wrong in what he said about Sadiq Khan” his official state visit to Britain will still go ahead. “The relationship with America is our deepest and most important defence and security relationship” she told the newspaper. “Having said that, I think Donald Trump is wrong in what he said about Sadiq Khan, in relation to the attack on London Bridge.”
Trump’s attack on Khan has drawn sharp criticism not in the U.K. but also from American officials. The acting U.S. Ambassador in London, Lewis Lukens, issued a statement on Twitter offering praise and support for Khan: “I commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack,” it read.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents 1,400 communities across the country, also sent Khan an unequivocal message of support.
“[Khan] has risen above this crisis of death and destruction, as mayors continue to do, to alleviate fear, to bring comfort to his people of London and to give support to the first responders who continue to protect, defend and provide emergency care to his people of London,” the statement read. “Thank you, Mayor Khan, for your leadership during this crisis.”
[Guardian]
Contact us at editors@time.com.Omaha, Nebraska—Denizens, feast your eyes on one bad-ass extortionist. Scary lookin’, isn’t he? Not exactly the face that pops into my mind when I think shakedown, extortion, or protection. When I look at Robert Peck, I think, ‘Opie: The Teenage Years.’ If you don’t agree to pay him for his ‘protection,’ he’ll aim his pretend gun at you!
Opie Robert, 19, and three of his thugs entered the China Garden restaurant and said, ‘We can provide better protection than the cops do.’ For their services, the crew was asking for $75 a week. Employee Will Wang said, ‘No.’ I wonder if he was able to say it with a straight face? Opie Robert and his crew left the eatery, only to return with the same proposal, three or four more times. Kahlil Amin, owner of Mediterranean Foods, Inc., said Opie Robert came into the store four times and demanded $75 per week. Amin pretty much told the kid to take a flying leap, and the two got into a scuffle. ‘I grab him from his shirt and just kind of wrestle with him and hit him.’ Amin punched the kid and wrestled his shirt off. That sent the little punk running…but he had these departing words, ‘I will get you.’ With that, he held his hand in the shape of a gun and pointed it at him. Detectives linked the shirt to the suspect.
Between March 31 and April 11, a total of 6 businesses were targeted by the wanna-be mobsters. Some of the businesses were vandalized, their windows smashed. Amin and Wang believe the stores were targeted because all six stores are ethnic. ‘They didn’t go to our American neighbors,’ Amin said. ‘They didn’t break their windows.’ Police arrested Robert Peck Jr. on suspicion of six misdemeanor counts of attempted extortion and one felony count of making terroristic threats. Opie, you crack me up! Extortion tactics in Omaha, that makes me LOFL. Dude…it’s friggin’ OMAHA!
Source
Related articles by ZemantaPresident Trump on Thursday launched an extraordinary attack against conservative Republicans who thwarted the party’s healthcare plan, escalating an intraparty feud that could threaten the rest of his legislative agenda.
In a string of tweets, Trump threatened to back primary challenges against members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus if they continue to oppose party leaders. He also named and shamed the group’s chairman, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), and two other prominent group members for what he said is their efforts to derail ObamaCare repeal and tax reform.
“If @RepMarkMeadows, @Jim_Jordan and @Raul_Labrador would get on board we would have both great healthcare and massive tax cuts & reform,” the president tweeted.
“Where are @RepMarkMeadows, @Jim_Jordan and @Raul_Labrador? #RepealANDReplace #Obamacare.”
House conservatives fought back, furious at the president for picking the fight at a time when congressional Republicans are trying to move past last week’s bitter legislative defeat.
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“Most people don’t take well to being bullied,” Rep. Justin Amash Justin AmashHouse to push back at Trump on border Ex-GOP lawmakers urge Republicans to block Trump's emergency declaration This week: Congress, Trump set for showdown on emergency declaration MORE (R-Mich.), a Freedom Caucus member, told reporters. “It’s constructive in fifth grade. It may allow a child to get his way, but that’s not how our government works.”
Freedom Caucus members argued Thursday that they did Trump a favor by sinking the American Health Care Act, which was reviled by grassroots conservatives and failed to attract support from even some moderate members of the GOP conference.
Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), who was named by Trump, shot back over Twitter.
@realDonaldTrump Freedom Caucus stood with u when others ran. Remember who your real friends are. We're trying to help u succeed. — Raúl R. Labrador (@Raul_Labrador) March 30, 2017
“The bill's polling at 17 percent," added Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), another Freedom Caucus member. “The American people are not in support of this bill. And we represent them, so we can do better.”
Trump’s deteriorating relationships with conservatives in the House could make it harder for him to pass his top agenda items, including an overhaul of the tax code, an infrastructure package and money to build his proposed wall along the southern border.
It could also complicate GOP leaders’ efforts to approve a must-pass spending bill to keep the government open beyond the April 29 funding deadline.
But Trump was angered with the failure of the healthcare bill, the first major legislative initiative of his presidency.
And he decided to act on his initial instinct to cross some of his staunchest allies on the right, against the wishes of establishment figures like Speaker Ryan (R-Wis.) and activists in the conservative movement.
Tea Party leader Mark Meckler told The Hill he was “disgusted” by Trump’s attacks against the Freedom Caucus.
“The man who promised to ‘Drain the Swamp’ now appears to be the ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon,’ ” said Meckler, who co-founded the Tea Party Patriots and whose new group, Citizens for Self Governance, has a database of 2 million conservative activists.
“He is now on the side of the swamp monsters,” Meckler added.
Meckler and others on the right have warned that Trump risked losing his grassroots base by backing the healthcare bill.
Many conservatives have so far directed their anger at Ryan and GOP leadership, who they say misled the president on the legislation.
But Trump’s attack on the Freedom Caucus could open up a rift with grassroots conservatives.
Even some of the president's most loyal supporters, like conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, said Trump’s broadsides against the Freedom Caucus could prove counterproductive.
Attacking the Freedom Caucus won't win @POTUS any plaudits from Dems; could alienate those R's who stood by him when so many others ran. — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 30, 2017
Thursday’s intraparty drama came as the White House struggled to respond to a new report in The New York Times claiming that two White House officials played a role in passing classified information to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).
Press secretary Sean Spicer was besieged with questions about whether the White House was the source of information Nunes obtained about incidental surveillance of the Trump transition team.
The Times report appeared to contradict repeated assertions from Nunes that the White House was not the source of his information, giving Democrats new leverage to argue that the House investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election has been compromised.
Stories about Nunes rolled endlessly on cable news on Thursday, even as the GOP’s public battle over who is to blame for the healthcare failure forced members to take sides.
Ryan said at a news conference that he understood why the president was frustrated but broke with Trump in a separate interview by stating that he did not want to work with Democrats on healthcare.
And Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), a Trump ally and member of the centrist Tuesday Group, affirmed at a meeting Wednesday that it will not meet with the Freedom Caucus to negotiate changes to an ObamaCare replacement bill.
“It was just reiterated that next time one of those calls comes in [from the Freedom Caucus], just hang up,” Collins said.
In another sign of possible fallout from last week, Ryan on Thursday morning hosted more than a dozen conservative free-market and anti-abortion leaders in his office, including Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union and Douglas Holtz-Eakin of American Action Forum.
Noticeably absent from the meeting were any representatives from four outside conservative groups that opposed the healthcare bill: FreedomWorks, Club for Growth, Heritage Action and Americans for Prosperity.
Scott Wong and Cristina Marcos contributedIn 1910 Davis was the first to report the use of fetal membranes as surgical material in skin transplantation.1Since then the use of amniotic membrane in surgery has been expanded.1-9 It is now utilised as a biological dressing for burned skin, skin wounds, and chronic ulcers of the leg,9-16 as an adjunctive tissue in surgical reconstruction of artificial vagina,9 17-19 and for repairing omphaloceles.9 20 It has also been used to prevent tissue adhesion in surgical procedures of the abdomen, head, and pelvis.9 21 22 In the 1940s several authors reported the beneficial role of amniotic membrane in treating a variety of ocular surface disorders.5-7 23 However, its use was abandoned for decades until recently, when it was reintroduced to ophthalmologists. Several studies have addressed this subject and the scope of the application of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) in the management of ocular surface disorders is ever increasing.
Certain characteristics make the amniotic membrane ideally suited to its application in ocular surface reconstruction. It can be easily obtained and its availability is nearly unlimited. The tissue can be preserved at −80°C for several months, allowing sufficient time to plan surgery or consider a trial of other options. Amniotic membrane does not express HLA-A, B, or DR antigens and hence immunological rejection after its transplantation does not occur.24-26It is also believed to have antimicrobial properties, reducing the risks of postoperative infection.27 Antifibroblastic activity28-30 and cell migration/growth promoting activity31-33 have also been demonstrated with regard to the amniotic membrane.
The purpose of this paper is to review the characteristics of amniotic membrane that make it potentially useful to treat ocular surface abnormalities and to discuss the current indications, the surgical technique, and the outcome of AMT.
Histology and physiology Mammalian embryos lie within a fluid filled sac (fetal membranes) that arises from extraembryonic tissues. At full term of gestation, the fetal membranes are composed of two principal layers. The outer layer or chorion which forms the outer aspect of the sac and is in contact with maternal cells. It consists of compressed trophoblastic tissue of chorion laeve and mesenchymal tissue. The inner layer or amniotic membrane consists of a single layer of ectodermally derived columnar cells firmly fixed to an underlying layer of mesenchyme which contains large amounts of collagen.34 35 The amniotic membrane is bathed by amniotic fluid. According to Shimazaki et al,31 the epithelium of the amniotic membrane survives for up to 70 days after preservation. We have noted that after freezing the amniotic membrane at −70°C for 6 months to a year the epithelial cells appear very vacuolated but remain attached to the underlying basement membrane and mesenchyme (unpublished data). The apical surface of amniotic cells have many microvilli (Fig 1). At the base, cell processes or pedicels extend into the basement membrane in podocyte fashion. The basal cell processes have a hemidesmosome type of attachment to the basal membrane with tonofilaments, and the subjacent basement membrane substance is partly amorphous and partly microfibrillar. The cytoplasm contains many pinocytic vesicles, abundant organelles including cisternal endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi apparatus. The nucleus has a very irregular configuration, with a number of indentations of the nuclear membrane. The nucleolus is often large and homogeneous suggesting nucleolar activity. Overall, the ultrastructure of the epithelium suggests that the amnion has multiple specialised functions. It has been specifically adapted to perform three major functions—as a covering epithelium, as an active secretory epithelium, and for intense intercellular and transcellular transport.34 35 Figure 1 Transmission electron microscopy of the amnion. The apical border of the amniotic epithelial cells contains a great number of microvilli. The cytoplasm contains numerous vesicles. Basal cell processes (pedicels) extend into the basement membrane. The underlying connective tissue has a homogeneous structure.
Amniotic membrane in ophthalmology MECHANISM OF ACTION Promoter of epithelialisation The presence of a normal substrate in the cornea is essential for normal proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells. Basement membrane facilitates migration of epithelial cells33 36; it also reinforces adhesion of basal epithelial cells,37promotes epithelial differentiation,38 39 and prevents epithelial apoptosis.40 The amniotic membrane, by serving as a “transplanted basement membrane”, acts as a new healthy substrate suitable for proper epithelialisation. Additionally, the amniotic membrane produces various growth factors such as basic fibroblast growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor, and transforming growth factor β, that can stimulate epithelialisation.31 41 However, it has been demonstrated that cryopreservation of amnion results in a decrease of growth factors.41 Amniotic membrane also inhibits protease activity.30 42 It has also been shown that in some instances the amniotic membrane, rather than providing a substrate, acts as a “bandage contact lens” allowing epithelialisation to occur under its cover.43 Inhibitor of fibrosis Several factors are involved in the antifibrotic effect of the amniotic membrane.28 29 It has been shown that amniotic membrane induces a downregulation of transforming growth factor β signalling, responsible for fibroblastic activation in wound healing.28 The amniotic membrane may also function as an anatomical barrier, keeping the potentially adhesive surfaces apart. The stroma of the amniotic membrane is normally avascular and is believed to inhibit the incursion of new vessels.
Indications for AMT in ophthalmology Amniotic membrane transplantation has been successfully used in patients with persistent epithelial defects unresponsive to medical treatment,43 44 and as an alternative to conjunctival flaps, botulinum toxin injection, or tarsorrhaphy. The frequency of success in two recent series was 10 of 11 cases44 and four of five cases,43 respectively. In our experience, the amniotic membrane, by virtue of its transparency, allows the patient navigational vision and is particularly useful if the affected eye is the better seeing eye. The use of more than one layer may be effective in covering ulcers with substantial stromal depth. However, the use of AMT as a tectonic procedure in cases with impending or recent perforation appears to be unsatisfactory, and failure was reported in five consecutive cases.43 Amniotic membrane has been used as an alternative to conjunctival autograft during the removal of pterygia. The recurrence rate of pterygium after AMT (10.9% for primary pterygia) was lower than the bare sclera technique (45%), but higher than autologous conjunctival graft (2.6%).45 Multiple surgical approaches have been used to treat pterygium. Although conjunctival autograft is considered to be the most efficient, AMT appears to be a reasonable option in cases with diffuse conjunctival involvement and patients in whom the bulbar conjunctiva must be preserved for a prospective glaucoma filtering procedure. AMT has been successfully used in the treatment of recurrent pterygium associated with severe symblepharon and diplopia.31 In Shimazaki’s series, all four patients had a favourable functional and anatomical outcome after AMT. Similarly, AMT has been used successfully in 13 of 16 eyes in the reconstruction of conjunctival defects created during surgical removal of large conjunctival lesions.33 Corneal stem cell deficiency is associated with conjunctivalisation of the cornea and can be complicated with persistent epithelial defects, vascularisation, scarring, calcification, ulceration, melting, and perforation of the cornea. Patients with these abnormalities are poor candidates for conventional corneal transplantation. Lamellar or penetrating keratoplasty provides only a temporary replacement of the host’s corneal epithelium and does not permanently restore limbal function. In cases with diffuse corneal stem cell deficiency, limbal transplantation (allo or auto) is now considered essential for corneal surface reconstruction.46-53 AMT combined with limbal transplantation has been successfully used in patients with diffuse limbal stem cell deficiency and severe ocular surface disease, including Stevens–Johnson syndrome, advanced ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, chemical and thermal burns.32 46Alternatively, autologous limbal-corneal epithelium can be cultured on amniotic membrane and used for corneal surface reconstruction.54 Notwithstanding the encouraging and successful results reported thus far it is important to caution against the overenthusiasm in the use of amniotic membranes that is beginning to emerge of late. The beneficial effect of amniotic membrane in the management of ocular surface disorders has not always been validated with controlled clinical trials. In some series the favourable outcomes could well be attributed to concurrent surgical procedures. Shimazaki et al 46 stated that “we do not know exactly in which case the amniotic membrane should be used and how much the current procedure (AMT and limbal transplantation) is superior to the simple limbal autograft transplantation.” Similarly, Tsenget al 32 recently reported successful management of patients with sector limbal stem cell deficiency treated with removal of conjunctiva-like epithelium from the corneal surface combined with AMT. They did not, however, have any controls, where amniotic membrane was not used. In a similar group of patients Dua55 and Dua et al 56 also reported excellent outcome following removal of conjunctiva-like epithelium, without AMT, suggesting that AMT is probably not required in such patients. Following observations on the healing of corneal epithelial defects involving the limbus, Dua and Forrester57 had observed the migration of conjunctival epithelium on to the corneal surface and reported that mechanical debridement could prevent the manifestation of conjunctivalisation of the cornea (partial stem cell deficiency). Fujishima et al 58 recently used amniotic membrane in guarded filtration procedures supplemented with mitomycin C to inhibit scarring and promote filtration. Amniotic membrane was placed underneath the scleral flap. In this small series the mid term outcome of trabeculectomy was satisfactory in 13 of 14 eyes. After filtering operations the extraocular changes (that is, subconjunctival fibrosis) account for the majority of failures. Antifibrotic agents, mitomycin C and 5-fluorouracil, are currently used to improve the chances of success, although the complication rate also rises.59 A controlled clinical trial will be needed to evaluate whether amniotic membrane helps to improve the outcome of filtration procedures. Bleb leaks after filtration surgery can be associated with hypotony, shallow flat anterior chamber, and choroidal detachment and may increase the chances for bleb infection and subsequent endophthalmitis. Leaking filtering blebs usually require prompt treatment. Therapeutic options include bandage contact lens, Simmons’ shell, injection of autologous blood, cryopexy, thermal Nd:YAG laser, cyanoacrylate glue, fibrin tissue glue, and surgical revision.59 Budenzet al 60 recently reported favourable use of human AMT for revision of leaking blebs after glaucoma surgery in five patients. AMT compared favourably with conjunctival advancement. Anecdotally, AMT has been successfully used in three patients to treat myopic regression with corneal opacity after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in high myopia.61 Excessive corneal haze and myopic regression are associated with excessive healing response, which might be inhibited by amniotic membrane. In rabbits the corneal haze was reduced by AMT in excimer laser photoablation.62 63
Surgical principles PREPARATION OF AMNIOTIC MEMBRANE Amniotic membrane is obtained under sterile conditions after elective caesarean delivery from a ser |
6, 2019.In which details will be discussed, quotes will be quoted and our insatiable hunger for all things Stormlight will be mitigated, if not ever fully sated.
The time has come; the Everstorm approaches. The Way of Kings has been reread, questions have been asked and destroyed by answers, and much unfocussed discussion has taken place in the spoiler thread for Words of Radiance. Now we eagerly await news from Brandon Sanderson regarding the third book of his Stormlight Archive, which he plans to start writing late this summer. To satisfy the hunger that only Stormlight can satisfy, we turn our attention to a detailed reread of Words of Radiance.
This reread will be a collaborative effort between Tor.com’s own editorial assistant Carl Engle-Laird and long-time Tor.com commenter and Sanderson beta-reader Alice Arneson. This new partnership promises to be as potent as that between spren and Radiant. We are excited to dig deeply into the events on Roshar with this community, hanging out in the Storm Cellar to evaluate, discuss, question, and generally kibitz our way through this 1087-page WMD.
To that end, we are making some changes to the reread. We’ll begin each chapter entry with the chapter icon from the book, to enable discussion of the various graphic clues therein. The summary, as demonstrated at the very beginning of this post, will be much shorter, giving us more time to dig in to the commentary. We’ve shamelessly cribbed the summary style from beloved bear-creator A. A. Milne, since that guy seemed to know what was up. We’ll continue to make note of the POV character(s) and setting(s), adding a few more quick items to the heading to point out the character and Heraldic icons before the commentary begins.
The current plan is to cover one chapter per week, though that may be adjusted occasionally if there are two chapters that really, really need to be together. We expect this to apply to the Interludes as well; they’re much beefier now than they were in The Way of Kings. We’ll discuss the epigraphs for each part at the end of each part, though in some cases they’ll also be discussed in the chapters where they appear.
Finally, there are a number of recurring themes we’ll be watching as we wade through this behemoth. We’re implementing a modular system, similar to that employed by the Star Trek Rewatch. Here’s our current list of units, with more to be added as they spring to mind:
Quote of the Week: As in Tor.com’s reread of The Way of Kings, we will take the time each week to pick out a piece of wisdom or dialogue that we found especially interesting. This section will recur every week.
Stormwatch: We’ll be tracking the countdown here whenever a new glyph scratching is found, as well as whenever we have sufficient clues from the text to determine exactly when we are. We’ll also make note of the dates of highstorms as they occur.
Sprenspotting: Carl’s Complete Spren Catalogue is no longer complete; we’ll note each occurrence of a new kind of spren, or a new individual spren. We’ll also use this to note anything new and cool that we see a spren do on its (his? her?) own.
All Creatures Shelled and Feathered: Anything with hide, too, for that matter. We’ll be tracing the flora (which mostly seems to be shelled!) and fauna of Roshar as they show up on the pages. Any sketches of plants or animals will also go here
Ars Arcanum: Discussions of magic involving humans, Parshendi, Aimians, or other humanoid races, with or without spren involvement. Any examples of the Nightwatcher’s Old Magic will also be discussed here.
Ars Mechanica: Discussions of fabrials—the magical/mechanical engineering of Roshar. If you take Clarke’s third law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” turn it inside out and backwards, and squint a little, it makes sense that fabrial construction on Roshar is the technology of Investiture. Mechanical engineering is also magic.
Haven’t We Met Somewhere Before?: Notes about worldhoppers or other off-world connections. If you are concerned about spoilers for other books, this might be a section to avoid, although most of these Easter-eggs aren’t really very spoilery; they’re just fun things to note together.
Heraldic Symbolism: While we’ll be identifying the Heralds on the chapter arch each time, this section will contain any thoughts we may have as to why those Heralds are particularly relevant.
Shipping Wars: The romantic situation gets positively fraught in Words of Radiance. In this space we will track the development of the various romantic entanglements and rivalries, and attempt to lash our community into a frothy furor of shipping factions. (Carl still ships ShallaSyl, and is dying of alliteration.)
Well, that’s the plan. Are you ready? Then let’s dive right in with the Prologue.
Alice Arneson is a long-time Tor.com commenter and Sanderson beta-reader. She has been a fantasy lover since the age of eight, when her third-grade teacher loaned her his copy of The Hobbit. (Thanks, Mr. Hamilton!)
Carl Engle-Laird is an editorial assistant at Tor.com, where he acquires and edits fiction both for the Tor.com Originals program and for Tor.com: The Imprint. You can follow him on Twitter here. If you ask nicely he might even tell you how to find his Brooklyn Nine-Nine podcast.Coming Soon
Sharkey The Bounty Hunter
Bounty hunter Sharkey tracks criminals across the galaxy in his converted, rocket-powered ice-cream truck -- with help from his 10-year-old partner.
Mr. Iglesias
Stand-up phenom Gabriel Iglesias stars in this series as a good-natured high school history teacher who tries to help gifted misfit kids.
Charlie's Colorforms City
Loveable, hilarious Charlie leads you on unpredictable and imaginative shape-filled story expeditions alongside a colorful cast of characters.
River's Edge
High schooler Haruna befriends loner Yamada, then is drawn into the tangled relationship between him, a model and the girl who loves him unreasonably.
15 August
Veteran Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit turns producer for this lighthearted snapshot of life in the chawls of Mumbai.
Wu Assassins
The last in a line of Chosen Ones, a wannabe chef teams up with a homicide detective to unravel an ancient mystery and take down supernatural assassins.
The Panama Papers
The true story of two journalists whose work set off an international firestorm by revealing how easily the wealthy hid billions of dollars offshore.
Kid Cosmic
In this animated series from the creator of "The Powerpuff Girls," an odd, imaginative boy acquires superpowers after finding five cosmic rings.Brexit architect Nigel Farage has slammed George Soros over his alleged backing of the European project.
Farage, speaking at the European Parliament, said the billionaire’s influence in Brussels and Strasbourg was ‘really extraordinary’.
Philanthropist Soros, originally from Budapest, recently gave $18 billion (15.2 billion euros) to the foundation Open Society, which he set up in 1979 to back human rights causes, promote liberal values and build “vibrant and tolerant societies”.
Farage, speaking during a debate about the Paradise Papers scandal, a huge leak of financial documents that shed light on the world of offshore finance, said: “When we are talking about offshore money, when we are talking about political subversion, when we are talking about collusion, I wonder if we are looking in the wrong place?
“And I say that because George Soros recently gave Open Society, which of course campaigns for freedom of movement of people and supranational structures like the European Union, $18 billion.
“And his influence here and in Brussels is truly extraordinary.
“I fear we could be looking at the biggest level of international, political collusion in history.”
Farage – whose opening words were met with cries of ‘so what?!’ – claimed Open Society boasts of more than 40 meetings with the European Commission last year and have published a book of reliable friends within the European Parliament.
He has called for an investigation and said he will write to his fellow MEPs and ask if they have received funding from Soros.
Open Society said in a statement to Euronews: “Pluralistic democracy requires debate and dialogue among a wide range of stakeholders including elected representatives, public officials, and civil society actors. Far from being a nefarious activity, as Mr Farage seems to think, such conversations are an important part of democratic policy debates. George Soros has never funded individual MEPs.
“The Open Society Foundations and George Soros, Chairman, are proud of our work over several decades, including in the UK, to advance human rights, strengthen the rule of law and hold governments accountable to the people they serve.”
Soros remains a controversial figure in Hungary, especially for the supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Orban, recently chosen to lead the Fidesz party into elections next year, has accused Soros of whipping up hostility towards him.
“Some countries in Europe decided to transcend Christianity and their own national character,” he said. “They want to step into a post-Christian, post-national era.”
“To execute Soros’s plan they want to root out governments which represent national interests around Europe, and that includes us,” he said. “They act like Soviet agitprop agents once did. We old war-horses know them by their smell.”The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed a new rule that will extend protection from discrimination, in programs and activities conducted by the Department, on the basis of gender identity and political affiliation. Last revised in 1999 to add sexual orientation, this amendment to the USDA’s non-discrimination regulations will protect transgender and gender nonconforming people seeking loans and assistance in agriculture and rural communities.
NCTE is proud to be joining hands with a number of other LGBT and human rights organizations, in applauding the USDA for their thoughtful steps towards transgender inclusion. The current proposal will extend protections to programs and activities that the USDA directly administers in thousands of communities throughout the country. NCTE is joining many others in urging the United States Department of Agriculture to take the next step and include protections for LGBT people across all the programs they finance. This would mean explicitly banning anti-LGBT discrimination in the food stamp program and many other federal nutrition programs that collectively serve millions of people.
The USDA is setting a great example of the actions that can and should be adopted all across the United States government. These are actions that protect LGBT people wherever federal funds are being used. For example, NCTE is also imploring the Department of Health and Human Services to add these protections in hospitals and other federally funded health facilities.
Here is our official comment to the USDA here.
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Like this: Like Loading... RelatedWriter George Monbiot’s recent Peak Oil article entitled “If Nothing Else, Save Farming” included this comment:
There are no obvious barriers to the mass production of electric tractors and combine harvesters: the weight of the batteries and an electric vehicle’s low-end torque are both advantages for tractors.
I read this and immediately tweeted the question “Where are the electric tractors?”
Well, scientist-turned-farmer John Hewson has responded to Monbiot’s assertion with an explanation that lacks Monbiot’s, shall we say, sanguinary spirit:
[T]o anyone who has worked with farm machinery, especially on smaller and poorer farms, the idea of electric tractors will seem ridiculous. So far, electric traction has been developed only for transport, and most successfully in railway trains. The development of batteries and control systems has been directed at the needs of passenger cars, which do not have to pull heavy loads at low speeds for long periods. Electric tractors do exist, but are light machines similar to ride-on lawn mowers, with power outputs of around 40kW. Typical farm tractors have outputs of 100kW-200kW, and no currently available batteries could provide anything like this amount of energy, or anything approaching the working life of a diesel engine. The best lithium-ion electric car batteries and motors work at high voltages (500V for example). As an engineer, I would blench at the idea of maintaining a 100KW, 500V system in a damp and muddy farmyard, let alone carrying out running repairs in the middle of a 50-hectare field, in the rain. As far as I know, electric traction for farm machines has not yet been even considered as an option. If it ever reaches the stage of production, it will be very expensive indeed – far beyond the budgets of even large farms.
But here’s the good news. Hewson appears to be, to a large extent, wrong! It didn’t take much digging for me to find an article singing the praises of electric tractors as perfectly suited for small-scale agriculture at least. It comes from a 2003 issue [PDF] of the Northeast Organic Farm Association’s Natural Farmer newsletter, republished here. Yes, it’s true, says the author, electric tractors are designed for mowing and light work. But people have also been converting diesel tractors to electric for real farm use with great results:
Ron Khosla, a small-scale organic farmer in New York state has converted an Allis Chalmers G to electric and told me “Our electric ‘G’ is absolutely the most important tractor on the farm. It has three times the power of the original ‘G’ which is huge and [has] enough battery life to do everything we need to on our diversified 8-acre farm… It’s totally silent. You can creep along MUCH more slowly than we could with gas. It’s silent. It doesn’t smell. It’s NO MAINTENANCE… “It also has changed the way we operate the tractor. This is a psychological thing, but it’s real. With the gas tractor, we were less likely to stop in the middle of the row to adjust things, or clean a shoe, or whatever. With the [electric] tractor… somehow there is psychologically less inertia… And we stop ALL THE TIME to make final adjustments which has resulted in a better job. When you stop, you are stopped. No engine running. It’s just quiet and silent, no cloud of white smoke drifting over your head… nothing… Perfect silence. THIS is what sustainable farming is supposed to be about!” His initial conversion was fairly simple, using a common series wound DC motor, golf cart controller, and regular lead-acid batteries. After learning the hard way how to care for the batteries, he has added meters, deep-cycle golf-cart batteries, and a better charger. He is planning to do a second conversion as part of SARE grant, which will include documenting the process via a web site.
Photo: cwalker71 via FlickrMaybe Hewson’s concern about muddy mid-field electric tractor maintenance is a bit misplaced. An important element in all this (and overlooked by Hewson) is this fact that weight and low torque are advantages for tractors. In practice that appears to mean that heavy, low-voltage “old-fashioned” lead acid batteries will do just fine. No need for high-end, high voltage and pricey lithium ion batteries after all. Anyway, it does indeed appear that a small farm can manage with an electric tractor.
That said, even the Natural Farmer piece suggests that electric drivetrains aren’t [yet] suitable for industrial scale tractors or combine harvesters. And here we get to modern farming’s elephant in the field. Most of the “innovations” in industrial agriculture, from diesel tractors to pesticides to GMOs, have been about getting people (and animals) off the farm. But even the International Energy Agency, the group charged with estimating the world’s oil reserves (and the one recently accused of inflating these estimates on orders from nations like the U.S.) admits the possibility of oil production plateauing perhaps as early as 2020. In an environment of flat oil production, biodiesel will likely be prohibitively expensive as well — liquid fuel of any kind will be hard to come by. But the harvest will still need to come in — in a depopulated rural America, how will we manage that?
It may turn out that the only replacement for the workhorses of industrial ag like the large tractor and the combine harvester will be … workhorses — the four-legged kind. Wouldn’t that be something.
Granted, a return to real horsepower is unlikely to come to pass. But what may happen is that as those enormous thousand acre corporate farms become unmanageable, they get broken down into smaller holdings that more modestly-sized electric tractors can handle. Wouldn’t that be something.
Whatever we do, it will take creativity and commitment to come up with a replacement for diesel fuel on the farm — in Monbiot’s bit of anecdata, a farmer who’s been trying since the 70s has only managed a fuel-use reduction of 25 percent — and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Though perhaps we don’t have to reach quite as far back into time as the horse (or the human hand, for that matter) to save farming. According to the Natural Farmer article, farms in Latin America experimented in the late 19th century with stringing catenary, i.e. overhead wires, above fields to power tractors. Given that buses, not to mention high-speed trains, still run that way, maybe large tractors and combines could manage it. Old-time streetcar technology saving production agriculture? Well, that would be something, too.OCT 3 2017 BY JAY COLE
Let the good times roll!
After years of build up, September marks the start of “something big” for plug-in vehicle sales in the US. And sure, this past month also marks a full 2 years/24 months* worth of consecutive gains (an impressive accomplishment for sure), but we haven’t seen anything yet.
During the month, a new year high was set, as an estimated 21,325 plug-ins were sold, up 24% from the ~17,225 moved a year ago.
All-time, September of 2017 was the 2nd best result, trailing only last December’s tally (24,785).
Once again, strong results were put up by the familiar faces, as Tesla once again did its ‘end of the quarter’ US delivery explosion (after virtually taking July and August off) leading the gains, while at the same time cementing the Model S as the 2017 sales champion, selling an estimated near 5,000 copies in September – a 2017 high.
Unfortunately, while Tesla notched record Q3 sales overall (full details), production of the new Model 3 didn’t go so well, with the company only managing to build 260 copies (about 1,400 light of Q3 guidance), and deliver 220.
Previously in August an estimated ~16,639 overall plug-in sales were made (details).
Taking the “Tesla surge” out of the picture, the Chevrolet Bolt EV outshone all others, logging more than 2,600 sales, a new all-time high for the model; unfortunately the bright light on the Bolt cast a shadow on GM’s Volt, as the 53 mile extended range EV failed to meet year-over-year numbers for the 4th month in a row.
After 9 months, more than 140,000 plug-ins have been sold, and the 200,000 mark will easily fall before the year closes as we still anticipate big numbers for the Tesla Model 3 in the last month or two of the year, as well as much deeper inventory for the Toyota Prius Prime…and maybe even a handful of new, longer range 2018 Nissan LEAF sales.
Questions entering September (with answers in brackets as they come in):
Can the Chevrolet Volt, seemingly under sales pressure from stablemate Bolt EV, snap a 5 month sales losing skid? (No, and once again – it wasn’t close)
, seemingly under sales pressure from stablemate Bolt EV, snap a 5 month sales losing skid? (No, and once again – it wasn’t close) The Chevy Bolt EV is on a 6 month sales growth streak, can GM make it 7 in a row in September as the car finds itself in more states (more deeply) this month? (Big time yes)
Will this be the month that the Toyota Prius Prime shakes its inventory woes in the US and breaks the “2k barrier” for the first time? (Close, but no cigar)
shakes its inventory woes in the US and breaks the “2k barrier” for the first time? (Close, but no cigar) The next generation Nissan LEAF debuted at a special event earlier in September (details/watch here). Will the news the updated/long ranger LEAF hitting the ears of mainstream buyers slow current generation sales, and stop the (somewhat inexplicable) streak of 7 consecutive months of sales in the 4 digit range? (Surprisingly, it did not)
debuted at a special event earlier in September (details/watch here). Will the news the updated/long ranger LEAF hitting the ears of mainstream buyers slow current generation sales, and stop the (somewhat inexplicable) streak of 7 consecutive months of sales in the 4 digit range? (Surprisingly, it did not) In the continuing battle of “new 2018 offerings that aren’t stocked so well”, who will manage to sell more – the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, Cadillac CT6 Plug-In Hybrid, Honda Clarity Electric, Volvo SC60 PHEV or the new Mini Countryman Plug-In? (The new Volvo takes home the crown in September, with just under 100 sales)
Also of note: Toyota sold 184 Mirais, good for 1,044 in 2017 (vs 710 a year ago), while 14 Clarity FCV sales were noted.
Last update: Wednesday, October 4th, 7:25 PM
*On year of monthly sales improvements: We know someone is going to look at the chart and say, “hey, only ~11,467 sales were made in May of 2016, when 11,540 were logged in 2015! What gives InsideEVs?” What gives is – through an odd scheduling quirk, only 24 selling days were reported in May 2016 (versus 26 in 2015)
Below Chart: A individual run-down of each vehicle’s monthly result and some analysis behind the numbers. (Previous year’s monthly results can be found on our fixed Scorecard page here)
Individual Plug-In Model Sales Recap For Major Models:
(limited to vehicles with ~500 sales/or potential for 500 sales in a given month)
Chevrolet Volt:
When the Chevrolet Bolt EV first arrived on the scene, many wondered if its electrified cousin, the original GM plug-in Chevy Volt would be affected adversely.
The early returns were in the negative, as the Volt continued to sell decently enough, perhaps the two would augment each other?
However, as the Summer as arrived, and the Bolt inventory deepened and stretched out over the country, it appears that assumption was incorrect.
For the fourth consecutive month, Volt year-over-year sales have fallen, as 1,453 cars were sold in September, off 28.5% from the 2,031 sold a year ago.
Which trend will ultimately prove correct? Only time will tell.
With the slightly lower than expected sales, inventory levels of the Volt have also come down somewhat. After cresting ~6,000 units as Summer began, the plug-in Chevy has settled at a more reasonable ~5,000 unit level heading into the Fall.
The 2018 MY Volt (now at dealers) is mostly unchanged from the 2017 edition (details).
Chevrolet Bolt EV:
The Chevrolet Bolt EV was finally available nationwide in August (well, technically anyway – many states still have little-to-no inventory).
And after selling 2,107 copies in August, the all-electric Chevy set the bar even higher in September, selling a record 2,632 cars in September!
September’s result put the Bolt EV within striking distance (1,046 units) of its stablemate Chevy Volt on the 2017 sales leaderboard – a result which now seems inevitable.
Also to note, the 238 mile EV has seen increasing sales month-over-month for the past 7 months.
Thanks to stronger sales, and an extended shutdown this Summer of the Bolt EV’s production facility in Orion, Michigan (mostly due to plummeting Sonic sales), inventory of the Bolt has leveled off/decreased somewhat at 5,000 units in August and actually dropped by a few hundred units in September, which is a little odd as the 238 mile EV is expected to be a hot seller into the 2017 year-end.
With national distribution widening more evenly over the next few months (and the end of the 2017 tax season – for claiming the $7,500 EV fed credit), we expect to ultimately see the Bolt EV hit the ~3,000 level before the year’s end.
Nissan LEAF:
The Nissan LEAF entered September as the oldest offering on the US market – going on 82 months now.
And as everyone knows by now, it will be replaced in about 3 months time, as the updated 2018 Nissan LEAF debuted earlier this month (full details here).
Is the new LEAF better? Yes, in every way…including ~43 more miles range (up to 150 miles from 107) for $700 less. Not enough? A ~225 mile, higher performance trim level arrives later in 2018 (as a 2019 MY car).
Despite the buying public long knowing the new (and better) LEAF was coming (we had been pounding the table that both a 40 kWh and a 60 kWh offering was to arrive going on two years), the ‘old LEAF’ has continued to sell well, thanks primarily to deep discounting. In fact, LEAF sales had notched year-over-year gains in all 8 months of 2017.
However, that is all over now, as the 2017 MY production taps are shutdown, and Nissan has near-perfectly managed inventory levels; moving from 2,000 units on average in stock in July, to 1,300 in August, to just over 600 units in September.
For last month Nissan did still manage to keep one streak active, as the company crossed into “4 digit land” for the 8th consecutive month with 1,055 deliveries, an impressive result (all things considered).
For the year (through August), 10,740 LEAFs have been sold, a gain of 16% over 2016 when 9,238 were moved over the same time in 2016.
Production of the new LEAF is underway now, with the first few copies of the 2018 LEAF reported to arrive in the US regionally in late December, with the first wave of depth arriving in January.
Toyota Prius Prime:
After 18 months of waiting for the first generation Prius plug-in to be replaced, the Toyota Prius Prime (details) arrived on US dealers lots on November 8th, and sales have not disappointed.
After setting a new high of 1,618 sales in March, Prius Prime sales has defied very low inventory levels for almost the whole year – selling a peak 1,908 in May!
Unfortunately, the Summer brought ‘really low’ inventory from Japan and sales dropped into the 1,600 range. However that situation started to change in August, as dealer stock moved from under a 1,000 units to more than 2,000 exiting September.
The result was that 1,899 Prius Primes were moved in September – a whisker off the 2017 high, and based on this deeper inventory that seems to be arriving now, we look for the Prius Prime to note year-highs throughout the Fall/Q4 selling season.
The Toyota not only features its own unique look, but 25 miles of all-electric range.
How high could sales go? It really is hard to say, we speculated before the model’s arrive last year we felt it could touch 4,000 or 5,000 units…and given that estimate was just eclipsed in May (5,369 sales) in the Toyota’s home market in Japan, (and followed by more than 4,000 in June) it seems like a realistic number, now more than ever.
When will enough inventory arrive to fill the demand void? It’s still hard to say – for sure ~2,000 units is not near enough, but perhaps by year’s end – after the 2018 model year production is well underway in Japan this Fall.
Why the high acceptance? The plug-in Toyota is priced right – from $27,950, which after the $4,500 federal credit is applied gives the Prime an effective price of $23,450, a price-point that is actually more than $1,000 cheaper than the base hybrid version…which should eventually translate into very strong sales once the EV is well stocked, as the standard version of the car can sell upwards of 10,000 units in a month.
BMW i3:
The BMW i3 entered the US market with a bang in 2014, but it is too bad that the initial fireworks display of sales back then was the peak – we just didn’t know it at the time.
For 2017, things started rough, with just 182 sales logged in January, and 318 in February. The tune changed drastically in March (which given the i3’s track record is not all that surprising), with 703 sales made, a 118% gain over March of 201 – but that was the lone bright spot. Since then sales have languished in the ~500 range.
For September specifically, sales continued to be depressed, with 538 deliveries during the month, roughly the same as the month prior.
For the year, 4,635 i3s have been sold, off 20% from last year when 5,763 had been sold through the first 9 months.
Quite frankly, the i3 as it stands today is likely too expensive for plug-in vehicle buyers, so if BMW wants to sell the EV in volumes like it did in the past, it is going to have to sharpen its pencil…and by a lot.
In late August, BMW underlined they still really didn’t understand the issue behind lackluster sales or the i3 itself, by releasing a new, slightly sportier trim level – the i3s (full details here). The car gets some new styling details, some wider tires and some extra performance (+10 kW), but what the public really wants is a price cut (the new i3s is ~10% more in most markets), and a longer range option.
Tesla Model S: Tesla does not give out exact monthly sales (apparently because the public can’t handle the concept of regional allocations and delivery lead times)… so we never know for sure what the monthly numbers total up to until Tesla’s quarterly (or annual) updates add more clarity, but we do our best to keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening.
To come to an estimated monthly, number, we don’t simply take the quarterly estimate given by Tesla and divide it by 3 and hope it all works out…it just doesn’t work like that in the real world. We simply report from the data we accumulate ourselves, the first hand accounts available from the factory and from the community itself when available – and the number is what it is (see below)
Revisions/disclaimer to accuracy of prior estimates: The 2016 Model S chart has been adjusted (via US Q3 data leaked directly from Tesla) by 469 units in Q3, and 525 units in Q4. The 2015 chart was adjusted (one time) by 498 units to compensate for confirmed full year numbers. The 2014 sales chart was adjusted (one time – again after the end of the full year of estimates) 611 units to compensate for full year numbers. While past success is no guarantee of future results, InsideEVs is quite proud of its sales tracking for the Model S over the years.
That being said, we only estimate this number because Tesla does not, and to not put a number on Model S sales would be to paint an even more inaccurate overall picture of EV sales. Despite our fairly accurate track record, we are not analysts, portfolio managers and we do not own any positions in Tesla the company.
Over the past two month, we noted the almost complete lack of focus on domestic Model production by Tesla, which truthfully isn’t all that uncommon, but this quarter had been especially dry after July and August, as Tesla seemed to be focused on selling down older/discontinued models and blowing out built inventory.
In fact, those suspicions were confirmed eary in October, as Tesla reported more deliveries overall in Q3 than vehicles produced – something that hasn’t happened in years.
By late August however, we noted that all that had changed, and the Fremont production facility was churning out record numbers of Model S sedans, almost all headed to US customers…and that didn’t stop in September.
We estimate that a 2017 high 4,860 copies were sold.
Further to those numbers, with the first real US production volume in months, we got our first real look at the model trim level distribution with just the 75 kWh and 100 kWh batteries being offered.
With Tesla “anti-selling” the Model 3, and promoting a Model S purchase ‘you can get today’ over the less expensive new model, sales of the entry level 75 kWh car well outpaced the 100 kWh offering. From the data we could collect, the 75 kWh Model S outsold the 100 kWh version by a rate of more than 5-to-1 in September.
Is this the new norm with US customer? Or just an obscure one-off given the high level of attention given to the Model 3’s arrival (in very limited/controlled numbers) in late July, and the realization of some of the ~450,000+ reservists that there is still a long wait ahead? We tend to believe the latter, and expect the balance to equalize some in the coming months.
Tesla Model X: Like the Model S, Tesla does not itself report Model X sales, so we do our best – with all the data at our disposal to estimate monthly results for North America as best we can (For more info on that, check out our disclaimer for the Model S)
Historical accuracy/Sales Update (Oct 11th):
Tesla recently leaked US sales data for Q3 2016 put US deliveries at 5,428. Our own Q3 estimate was 5,800 for North America, which includes Canada (which ended Q3 with 389 registrations for the quarter), meaning 5,787 were actually sold – and not to brag…but that means we were only off by 13 units in Q3.
Previously in Q2 2016, Tesla reported 4,625 Model X deliveries…our estimated scorecard got within about ~55 units of the actual number (accounting for just a handful of international Model X deliveries). In Q1 we where within ~200 units.
As with the Tesla Model S, we noted very little customer orders for the Model X were actually delivered during July and August.
What we did see was a fair shake of discounted inventory and demo SUVs finding new homes in the US, and trend which continued somewhat in September, as Model X custom-built orders appeared to get off to a bit slower start to end the quarter than the S.
While the Model S production and delivery for the US went into hyper-drive by late August, the Model X appeared to diverge somewhat from the sedan in September – after a year of posting very similar results.
However to be fair, the Model S was squarely in focus late in Q3, as we suspect a fair number of the ~450,000+ reservists for the Model 3 considered a S purchase, once they received their personalized “estimated delivery” dates for the less expensive Tesla – some of which indicated over a year’s worth of wait for certain trims and regions.
With that said, we still estimate a very robust 3,120 Model X utility vehicles were delivered, a 2017 high.
Tesla Model 3: It has arrived!
Just ~16 months after orders opened, and ~10 years since it was first announced (then known as the “Bluestar”), the first Model 3s were delivered on July 28th, 2017! One can check out the full delivery ceremony, and all the newly released specs (220-310 miles range, 0-60 mph in 5.1-5.6 seconds) on our full recap here.
As with Model S & X sales, Tesla is not planning to release monthly Model 3 sales in the US at this point time. Until then we do our best – with all the data at our disposal to estimate monthly results for North America as best we can (For more info on that, check out our disclaimer for the Model S).
Thankfully, in these early days (Q3 2017), pegging Model 3 sales in the US is a pretty easy task, as the complete delivery volume for July took place live at the July 28th delivery event in Fremont, California, as the first 30 cars were delivered to Tesla employees/stakeholders in the US, and one could almost count the individual cars as they left Tesla’s Fremont factory in August.
Unfortunately, these early Model 3s are a virtual captured fleet as deliveries are only going to the Musk “family of company” employees and ‘friends’ of Tesla. And as part of the deal, no external, mass-media has been granted extended access to the car as of yet.
As for deliveries and production of the Model 3 in Q3 we had this directive from Musk to go by from July:
“Handover party for first 30 customer Model 3’s on the 28th! Production grows exponentially, so Aug should be 100 cars and Sept above 1500.”
Again, no sleuthing is necessary on our part to get September’s results, as the company discloses overall sales numbers at the end of each quarter. With all the Model 3 sales going to the US, and knowing that just over ~105 cars were delivered in July and August…it is simple math.
Unfortunately, Tesla whiffed on its production estimates for the Model 3 in Q3 (details), and managed to build just 260 copies, selling 220 over the three months. Meaning that ~115 deliveries were made during September – a disappointing result for sure.
The company said it was aware of the issue and it was not going to impede its progress with the Model 3.
“Model 3 production was less than anticipated due to production bottlenecks. Although the vast majority of manufacturing subsystems at both our California car plant and our Nevada Gigafactory are able to operate at high rate, a handful have taken longer to activate than expected. It is |
such as allowing those diagnosed with GID to undergo sex reassignment surgery and gender correction. Sara, a transgender woman, decried the hypocrisy of such statements: One minute they say we shouldn’t be imprisoned, the next minute they’re on TV saying that the police need to clean the streets from such filth…. Who is going to hold them accountable for their words? Kuwaiti human rights organization Sout Al-Kuwait has argued that the amendment to article 198 contravenes article 10 of the Kuwaiti constitution, which stipulates that the “state cares for the young and protects them from exploitation and from moral, physical and spiritual neglect.”It argued that punishing an individual for a medical condition violates her basic rights and that the state failed to recognize that many of those accused of “imitating a member of the opposite sex” suffer from gender identity disorder, treatment of which “can only happen through sex reassignment surgery.” Although the state-run psychiatric hospital has issued GID diagnoses, the Kuwaiti police, courts, and other government branches do not recognize it to be a legitimate reason not to arrest and convict people. According to lawyer Abbas Ali, who has defended several cases involving transgender women and has spoken publicly about the issue, innocent verdicts are issued in court cases where there is evidence of a GID diagnosis, although one transgender women told Human Rights Watch that the court ignored her GID diagnosis and sentenced her to six months in prison. Like many other transgender women, Tharwa has a document from the governmental Psychological Medicine Hospital, with seal from the Ministry of Health, stating that she has GID. Not only does this document not protect her from arrest, but the police refused to include it in her file. Human Rights Watch found this refusal to acknowledge medical reports repeated in all 19 cases we documented where the reports were presented to the police. In one instance that Human Rights Watch recorded, the Kuwaiti criminal court issued a suspended six-month jail sentence to Tharwa in November 2009, even though she submitted her medical papers confirming her GID diagnosis to the judge. Fatwas Islamic legal opinion in both Sunni and Shia jurisprudence is divided on the matter of sex reassignment surgery and gender correction, although several high level fatwas (rulings on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority) condone it. The leading Sunni school of theology led by Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo has issued at least one legal interpretation recognizing the legitimacy of seeking sex change operations. In a 1988 fatwa, the late Egyptian Grand Mufti of the Al-Azhar, Mohammad Sayed Tantawi, issued an edict in response to a request by Sally (Sayid) Abdallah Mursi, a transsexual woman student Al-Azhar’s Medical School for Boys in Cairo. One year shy of graduation, Mursi underwent surgery and attempted to transfer to the girl’s school, but was rebuffed. She won two subsequent legal rulings, but the school ignored them. It also blacklisted her from admission to other medical schools. Tantawi issued a fatwa that recognized that Mursi’s change was necessary for her health, but required her to dress, behave, and comply with all obligations of Islam for women, except for marital obligations, for one year before the operation. The fatwa was the first positive Sunni ruling about sex changes, allowing them in cases where there is a clear medical condition, which a GID diagnosis would seem to constitute. The most prominent Shia fatwa on sex changes came in 1987 from Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, an Iranian religious leader and politician and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. For years before, transsexual rights activist Maryam Hatoon Molkara, previously known as Fereydoon, had been lobbying him to grant her religious authorization to legally become a woman. After finally being granted an audience with the ayatollah, he issued a fatwa condoning both SRS and legal gender correction. This fatwa is widely regarded as the edict that authorizes such operations in Iran. In 2008 in Kuwait, senior Sunni cleric Sheikh Rashid Sa’ad al-Alaymi issued what initially appeared to be a fatwa in a local newspaper in which he stated that SRS should be allowed in cases where gender identity disorder is diagnosed. Al-Alaymi’s statement, which came on the heels of the Kuwait National Assembly’s passing the amendment to article 198, claimed it was a mistake to accuse those with GID of “imitating a member of the opposite sex,” because “they did not choose this of their own will or because it gives them pleasure, but it is something that comes from God in his infinite wisdom.” However, after heavy attack from the Kuwaiti religious establishment, Sheikh Rashid claimed the newspaper misunderstood and misattributed the document it published in his name. In a letter to Al-Rai newspaper, Sheikh Rashid said that the statement was not a fatwa, but research he had compiled to send to a medical doctor. Religious figures in Kuwait have not issued further legal pronouncements on the matter since the ruling.
II. Police Abuse Against Transgender Women The evidence and statements gathered by Human Rights Watch from transgender women all contain similar and harrowing tales of abuse by police. The most common complaint made by the women to Human Rights Watch was of police sexual violence and humiliation. The following sections outline the main findings arising from the evidence gathered and detail police abuse of transgender women, as well as procedural violations during arrest and detention. Sexual Violence, Physical Abuse, and Torture If anyone touches me, I have no right to complain. My body is there to be violated. This is what the government did: it turned my body into a receptacle for depraved Kuwaiti men. And then they call me deviant? They punish me? —Samira, 26, Kuwait City, February 11, 2011 They have turned us into prey for society; we have become victims to anyone’s whims just to avoid prison. Everyone is a threat. Every time we go out, we take a risk. —Rima, 27, Kuwait City, February 10, 2011 The ramifications of article 198 go beyond unfair detention and imprisonment, opening the door to a number of other violations, all with little recourse for redress. Every one of the 40 transgender women interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported that she suffered some form of sexual abuse at the hands of police, most of them unreported due to fear of reprisal. The ubiquitousness of these stories among Kuwait’s transgender population and the manner in which the abuse was carried out suggest that this sexual violence is a result of both the vague wording of the law (criminalizing an unspecified appearance) and the way police apply it arbitrarily. Transgender detainees have consistently reported beatings, torture, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, humiliating and degrading treatment, sexual assault, and harassment by police. Transgender women have reported that the sexual assault they endure at the hands of the police can take several forms, including harassment such as touching and groping, rape, and blackmailing them into non-consensual sex by threatening to arrest them if they did not comply. Articles 53, 159, and 184 of the Kuwaiti Criminal Code forbid torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and Kuwait ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in March 1996. In its concluding observations published in June 2011, the UN Committee Against Torture recommended that “a crime of torture, as defined in article 1 of the Convention, be incorporated into the penal domestic law of the State party ensuring that all the elements contained in article 1 of the Convention are included.” The committee also recorded 632 trials of cases of torture, ill-treatment, and corporal punishment in Kuwait. In 248 of those cases perpetrators were punished, although Kuwait’s government failed to give information about the exact penalties applied to the convicted. However, Kuwaiti law still does not clearly define torture, and torture by police and other security forces continues, according to Geneva-based human rights organization Al-Karama. Moreover, on January 22, 2007, the Committee against Torture published a decision, V.L. v Switzerland, concluding that sexual violence committed by police officers acting in an official capacity constitutes torture. The committee’s conclusion stated: The acts concerned, constituting among others multiple rapes, surely constitute infliction of severe pain and suffering perpetrated for a number of impermissible purposes, including interrogation, intimidation, punishment, retaliation, humiliation and discrimination based on gender. Therefore, the Committee believes that the sexual abuse by the police in this case constitutes torture even though it was perpetrated outside formal detention facilities. Several torture scandals involving police rocked Kuwaiti society in early 2011. The most notorious, a case involving the death of a detainee due to torture while in police custody, resulted in the resignation of Minister of Interior Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah. A parliamentary committee that investigated the death of the citizen, Mohammed al-Mutairi, said that he had been tortured for six days before dying in the Ahmadi Criminal Investigation Department on January 11, 2011. The public prosecution investigated 20 individuals for involvement in the incident, 18 of them policemen. The court case is ongoing. This incident received extensive media attention due to the brutality of events leading to al-Mutairi’s death and the heated debates it caused in the Kuwaiti parliament between opposition and pro-government MPs. Most other cases go unnoticed. Transgender women have also reported degrading and humiliating treatment by the police, such as being forced to strip and being paraded around the police station, being forced to dance for officers, sexual humiliation, and verbal taunts and intimidation. A common complaint among transgender women is police blackmail for sex on threat of arrest, an act that constitutes sexual assault. Rima, 27, recounted a typical encounter: In October 2009 I passed a checkpoint right outside my university’s gate. I got scared of course and turned back, but the policeman got suspicious. I stayed on campus for five hours until I was sure that the checkpoint moved. The next day I saw the same checkpoint and the same police officer. He found out which car was mine and as I was walking towards it he stopped me and asked me for my ID. I gave it to him, and immediately the sexual harassment started. He forced me to take off my top so he could see my breasts, right in the middle of the parking lot. When I told him he had no right to treat me like this, he said, “Either you take my number and meet me for sex or I will take you to prison.” I had no choice. For the rest of the time I was in college I had to keep seeing him. Khouloud said that she was disappeared for two weeks after police stopped her at a checkpoint and subjected her to a range of abuses: When the police officer took out IDs, he said he couldn’t believe I was a male. He forced his arm through the car window and grabbed my bag. I tried to explain to him that I am a woman, I feel like a woman. He asked me if I had transitioned, and I told him I hadn’t. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Oh, so it still works?” I couldn’t believe it. He asked if I would come with him to his apartment. I asked him why, and he just said, “You know why.” I was so frightened, but I knew I had to get out of it somehow, so I agreed to meet him later. He took my number, and before letting me leave he felt up my crotch. He kept calling me after that but I never answered. He found out where I worked. One day after leaving work, I found him standing right outside my office building waiting for me. He was furious, he wanted to punish me for not having sex with him. He gave me one last chance: his apartment, or the police station. I refused to go home with him, so I ended up in handcuffs. He called the police station and told them that he’s bringing in a third sex for them to “make a man of.” There were five officers total with me at the station. They took me to a small room with no cameras. They beat me, made me take my clothes off and touched me everywhere. One of them took his pants off and tried to make me touch him. I was crying the whole time, begging them to stop. They put music on and made me dance naked for them. They would touch me and tell me how pretty I was, then beat me and tell me to be a man. They kept asking me to have sex with them but I kept refusing so they would hit me more. They punched me, beat me with canes on my legs and then forced me to walk around so the blood wouldn’t coagulate and if I faltered they would hit more. Khouloud spent two weeks detained in the Criminal Investigation Department never being brought before a judge—as required by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)— without her parents knowing where she was, she said, and during which police regularly beat and sexually abused her: For two weeks I did not see the sun, I didn’t know if it was night or day. They tortured me psychologically, telling me that I would be released soon, in two hours, in one hour, and then they would tell me I’m going to prison for a year. Every day they paraded me around in my underwear and touched me. In the end I just started showing them my tits myself to spare myself the humiliation of them forcing me to strip. I saw the worst things possible. They would torture people in front of me and tell me that’s what they were going to do to me. They finally released me after shaving my head and making me sign a paper that said that they had caught me on the street in full makeup with a throng of men behind me, causing a disturbance. The frequency with which transgender women told researchers that police gave them the choice of having sex with them or going to prison suggests this population serves as easy sexual prey for police, who have allegedly employed threats, intimidation, and physical violence to ensure that these incidents go unreported. Samira, for example, was arrested four times, the last time in the beginning of 2010, when she said that four police officers raped her while in detention and then threw her from a moving police car onto the street. She was not charged with any crime, and did not file a complaint for fear of reprisal. Farah, 25, told Human Rights Watch another all-too common story of sexual assault at the hands of police. In October 2009 two policemen stopped her and a friend as they left a mutual friend’s apartment early in the morning. According to Farah, the policemen took a liking to her friend, and told them that they would not arrest either, and would let Farah go on condition that her friend go with them in their car: She had been arrested twice before, and did not want to go through the pain and humiliation of it again. So she went with them. When I called her that evening to ask what had happened, it was as I suspected: they both raped her in the police car. Haneen suffered terribly at the hands of the police. She recounted one incident where two police officers attempted to break in to her apartment and rape her in June 2009: As I was opening my door they grabbed me and I lunged myself inside. Half of me was inside the apartment and half outside, so they tried to pull me out completely. They know they have no right to arrest me inside my apartment without a warrant. What were they going to do, arrest my legs? They tried to reason with me, telling me that they find me pretty and just want to talk to me. That was before they got really angry and yelled at me that they were both going to fuck me. I managed to push them off and enter my apartment. One of them was yelling at me to come out or he would get a warrant to arrest me. When I pulled out my camera to take a picture of them they ran away. As they left one of them said that they would be watching for me downstairs to arrest me when I walk into the street. The second time Ghadeer was arrested, in 2008, she said she was dressed in a track suit outside a restaurant in broad daylight. She reported that the arresting officer let her go after he forced her to give him her number to arrange for a date. That same year, she said a police officer followed her into a mall and threatened to arrest her: I begged him not to but he started to pinch me on my ass and breasts and pressed himself up against me…. His hands were all over me. He said he wouldn’t arrest me if I agreed to go up to the roof where there was no one and have sex with him there. The roof turned out to be locked so he got flustered and decided to take my number instead, telling me he would come to my apartment after his shift was over. After that I changed my number. Abeer, 29, recounted how police arrested and abused her and her friend for appearing dressed in women’s clothes, including detaining them in an informal place of detention: Before the law was passed in 2007, I was detained twice because of the way I look, and the police never even told me what law I had broken. I was kept in the station for four hours, beaten, and then released. I was arrested for the third time in March 2008 with a friend of mine. We were stopped at a checkpoint and arrested after they saw that our driver’s licenses state our sex as male and we were dressed as women. By law, we were supposed to be transferred to the police station to be investigated or charged. Instead, they took us to their friends at the garage next to the Salmiya police station where police patrol cars are parked. Inside, they took pictures of us with their personal camera phones, probably to make fun of us to their friends and brag that they had arrested transsexuals. They told us they were going to use the pictures for our criminal files, but they had no right to take them in the first place; it’s only at the station that they can do that. They kept us there for an hour and half humiliating, ridiculing and cursing us. They beat my friend with a heavy stapler; she was bruised for weeks after that. She stood strong, so they punched and kicked me even more because they could tell I was afraid. After they saw my friend’s shoulder turn blue from the beating, they made sure to hit us in places where there would be no bruises, so I got punched in the stomach a lot. One of them touched my friend’s breasts, and when she told him that he can’t do that, he said it’s not sexual harassment because she is really a “man.” Ghadeer, 22, is a working class transsexual Bidun—one of a group, now estimated to be 106,000 stateless persons who claim Kuwaiti nationality but have been in legal limbo for the past fifty years. All Bidun have the status of “illegal residents.” Over time, their precarious position has contributed to poverty, and limited access to education and health care. The combination of Ghadeer’s gender identity, statelessness, and poverty has amplified her vulnerability at the hands of the police and society at large. The dual stigma attached to being Bidun and transsexual greatly increased her vulnerability to extortion and violence. Since 2008 Ghadeer said that police had arrested her nine times for allegedly violating article 198 and detained her each time between four and twelve days. In 2009, a Kuwaiti court fined her 1000 KD ($3000) for “imitating the opposite sex.” She said that she has been unable to find and keep a job due to her gender identity and lack of citizenship, and has had to leave her apartment several times because of continued harassment by both police and civilians in her neighborhood.The first time Ghadeer was arrested was in March 2008, while she was driving with two Kuwaiti citizens and two Bidun men, wearing a unisex training suit covered by a dishdasha(traditional Kuwaiti male garment): As soon as the police saw us at the checkpoint they pulled us aside and searched us. They searched the trunk, even though they have no right, and found my lipstick and makeup. They dragged me from the car by my hair, kicked and punched me and took us all to the Salmiya police station. There they asked me if I was a man or a woman. I replied that I am a man, and then they beat me yelling at me to confess I was “third sex”. In the end I had to confess from all the beatings even though outwardly I was dressed like a man. The issue is inside me: I am a woman in a man’s body. They took my phone and started going through my text messages and personal pictures of myself and my family. When I tried to object one of the policemen threw a stapler at me. Then he asked me, “Why are you Bidun?” What kind of a question is that? Ghadeer and her friends suffered doubly because of their Bidun status. She said that police singled them out for abuse and humiliation that they spared their two Kuwaiti friends: They abused me and my two Bidun friends and did nothing to the Kuwaitis. They even took a trash can full of dirt and cigarette butts and dumped it over my Bidun friend’s head, and forced another Bidun to do push-ups with a radiator on his back. One of the policemen then told me to strip, but I refused. He forcefully lifted my dishdasha and when he saw the training suit underneath he asked to see my underwear. The other police officer beat me and forced me to take everything off in front of everybody, made me turn around to see my ass, my breasts. At one point, Ghadeer said, her mother called her phone. The police officer answered her and told her, “Your son is third sex,” and then hung up, just like that. My mother is old, she is sick, she is a Bidun. Why would he torture her like that? Both Kuwaiti citizens were let go without any criminal charges. The Biduns were taken to the Criminal Investigation Department. Ghadeer’s mother visited “every hospital and every police station in Kuwait” but was simply told there was no one there with her child’s name. Ghadeer’s time in detention was punctuated by abuse and humiliation. They would call us to the door just to spit on us and walk away. We'd sleep on the floor without any covers and they would purposely turn on the air conditioning on the highest setting. They took the makeup and the clothes they had found in the trunk of the car and forced me and my Bidun friend to put them on. In the police report they wrote that they caught us red-handed in full impersonation of the opposite sex and included photographs they took of us in the women’s clothes they forced us into as evidence. When I asked to pray I wasn’t allowed to change from the women's clothing they forced me to wear. The clothing is inappropriate for praying as it is figure-hugging and they refused to let me change. Finally they took us to the investigating officer, and while we waited outside his office policemen passing by would just hit us or spit on us on their way. We pleaded with the officer not to call in our fathers. My friend's father is religious, my family is Bedouin, they are a simple, proud, and honorable people. They called them in anyway and beat us in front of them and showed them the pictures they had taken of us after they forced us to wear women’s clothes. They swore at us and made derogatory comments in front of them, which was humiliating to our fathers. Before they were released, Ghadeer and her friends were forced to sign a declaration saying they would never imitate the opposite sex or be found in suspect places. “In the report they wrote down that I was stopped in a ‘suspect place.’ Is the 5th circle highway a public place or a suspect place?” she asked. After that my whole extended family found out. My sister was divorced by her husband because of this and my friend had to repeat the school year because he missed his exams in the time we were in detention. And my mother got even sicker. In mid-2008, Ghadeer was arrested for the third time in a coffee shop in the busy Salmiya district while she was with an older Lebanese woman and her grandchild: The police officer who saw me called in a patrol, and eight officers came to pick me up. Eight, just for me. They took the child from my lap, placed him on the table, and then cuffed my hands and my feet and walked me out in front of everyone as if I were a murderer. I was in a track suit and had my long hair tucked under my baseball cap. When they arrested me, they took my cap off so that everyone could see my hair. Ghadeer was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department, where she was detained for four days. I had just had breast implants so I was bleeding the entire time from sleeping on the floor and from the way they grabbed and pinched me. I was in so much pain. They saw the blood but didn’t clean it up or call in a doctor. Procedural Violations Interviewees frequently cited procedural violations in police arrests and detentions of transgender women. Some of these violations appear to be rooted in lack of clarity in the amendment to article 198—specifically, its failure to explain what constitutes “imitating the opposite sex”—among its central provisions—allowing police complete freedom to define what violates the law. According to Kuwaiti lawyer Abbas Ali, who has defended a number of transgender women and who has spoken about the issue in the media, most arrested transgender women are not prosecuted by the state, but are detained and released with a warning, keeping them in jail for any time between a few hours to over a week. Furthermore, despite Kuwaiti and international laws requiring due process guarantees for detainees, transgender women have reported arbitrary detention with no regard to their due process rights. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Kuwait acceded in 1996 guarantees everyone the “right to liberty and security of person” and protection from arbitrary arrest or detention. The right to security obligates the state to take reasonable steps to protect individuals against threats of physical violence whether from agents of the state or third parties. Article 9 requires that anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge be brought promptly before an independent judge. Article 31 of Kuwait’s Constitution also protects against arbitrary arrest and detention, a right supported by article 60 of Kuwait’s Code of Criminal Procedure, which limits police custody to four days without judicial authorization. Despite these legal requirements, 12 out of the 39 transgender women who had been arrested and whom Human Rights Watch interviewed said that police detained them illegally for more than four days, sometimes up to 20. Seven were also not allowed to communicate with their families or inform anyone of their arrest, and the police refused to acknowledge the detention of four of those to their families, act that constitutes an enforced disappearance, a serious human rights violation. Additionally, all 39 arrested individuals whom Human Rights Watch interviewed said that police did not allow them access to a lawyer during interrogation or inform them of this right, a direct violation of article 75 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to Ali, police have no right to conduct body inspections without permission from the public prosecutor, yet it is common practice for them to force transgender women detainees to strip in front of them to determine, for example, whether they are wearing female underwear or whether they have had breast implants, particularly if they were arrested while wearing male or gender neutral clothing. Such behavior is often accompanied by humiliating sexual harassment. Unless police actually catch someone in a clear case of “imitation” (a biological male wearing obviously female clothes), they have no legal right to call in a forensic doctor for a bodily inspection). Yet 15 of the transgender women interviewed reported that police subjected them to such inspection regardless of their state of dress at the time of arrest. Ban, 22, said police caught her wearing a dishdasha while in her car, then forced her to undress on the street to reveal she was wearing female underwear. They arrested her on that basis. Article 17 of the ICCPR guarantees that, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy” and further guarantees the right to protection from such interference. Forcing an individual to undress in public to assess her undergarments constitutes a clear violation of the right to dignity and privacy. All of the transgender women we spoke to also reported that police forced them to sign a statement that they would not “imitate the opposite sex again.” They also claimed that police accompanied these forced confessions with humiliation, abuse, torture, sexual harassment, and sometimes sexual assault before releasing them. For Tabtabai, the author of the law, arresting and forcing transgender individuals to sign these declarations ought to constitute an effective deterrent, although the facts say otherwise. Approximately half of the 39 arrested transgender women interviewed for this report were arrested more than once, some up to six times. Twelve of the transgender women interviewed were arrested wearing gender-neutral or male clothes, including the traditional dishdasha, while three were arrested for “wearing a feminine watch,” “having a smooth face,” and “having a soft voice”. Ghadeer, the 22-year-old transsexual woman who was arrested nine times, told Human Rights Watch: Every time they catch me they expect me to repent. If I wear women's clothes, I get caught. If I wear men's clothes, I get caught. If I wear something in between, I get caught. And in all these situations I get sexually harassed. You begin to understand that getting arrested becomes part of your everyday life. In fact, transgender women trying to pass as men are often at even more risk of arrest because their male attire clashes considerably with their overall female appearance, attracting police suspicion. Khouloud, 26, said: “When we wear men’s clothes, we become more conspicuous. It is obvious we are hiding something, with our caps, sunglasses, shoulders hunched down. We attract even more attention; we look like women in drag.” Amira’s Story Amira, a 26-year old transgender woman, told Human Rights Watch: In March 2008 I went to visit my friends wearing a tracksuit. I had long hair. A man began following me in his car trying to flirt with me. When I realized he was from the criminal investigation department, I pulled over. He called a five-car police patrol to come get me. Five cars, just for me, as if there are no real problems in the country. When they put me in one of their cars, a police officer told me that if I showed him my chest he would let me go. I had no choice, so I lifted my shirt. He played with my breasts, but still took me to the Criminal Investigation Department anyway. I was put in a room full of policemen and forced to take off all my clothes, but I refused to take off my underwear. They beat me, and took pictures of me naked and crying with their personal cell phone cameras; they eventually forced me to take off my underwear. They stood there laughing, making me pose for them and taking pictures. There were no questions, no investigation, and they refused to let me call my parents. They just threw me in a cell and insulted and humiliated me. I spent two days in detention. Every hour someone would open the door, laugh and humiliate me, and then leave. The next morning I was taken to the vice unit and paraded from office to office just to be put on display. Even the questions they asked were ridiculous: “How long have you grown your hair?” One of the policemen finally took pity on me and called my parents. When my brother came to pick me up they humiliated him for having a brother like me and telling him his sister must be a whore. One of the policemen emptied my wallet on the floor to make me bend over and pick the contents up in front of my brother to humiliate him even more. They made me sign a declaration stating that I would never imitate a member of the opposite sex again. Fear of arrest, and the actual experience of arrest and detention, is so strong that many transgender women live in what amounts to self-imposed house arrest. In Amira’s words: After that experience, I do not leave the house anymore. I go to work and come straight back home. Every time I leave the house I can never guarantee that I will come home. My parents call me to check on me if I am even two minutes late, even they live in fear now. The impunity and arbitrariness with which police arrest and mistreat individuals has placed Kuwait’s transgender population, and in particular transgender women, under constant threat. Seventeen transgender women we interviewed have reported being stopped at checkpoints, asked for their ID cards, and then arrested because the police determined that their gender presentation did not match their stated sex, regardless of what they were wearing. Abeer, 29, says that when the police arrested her and her friends in March 2008 for the third time, they transferred them to the Criminal Investigation Department in Salmiya for five days, even though the law only allowed them to be detained for four without instruction from the public prosecutor to extend detention pending investigation. For the first two days they didn’t allow us to call anyone or inform our families or lawyers. On the third day they interrogated us and charged us with violating amended article 198. Then they shaved our heads like sex offenders and released us on a bail of 100 Kuwaiti Dinars (US$360). Of course we had to sign a declaration that said that we would never imitate a member of the opposite sex or frequent “suspect” places or be seen after midnight in public, even though they had caught us at 10 a.m. on a Friday in our car. The court fined Abeer and her friend 1000 dinars each ($3,600) and sentenced them to three years probation. Transgender women are police targets just by being in public. Because of numerous checkpoints and police patrols around the city, some transgender women have said that the risk of arrest is often too great to venture out. After being arrested twice in the space of 18 months, Maha, 26, fears going out at all because of her own experiences and those of the transgender people around her: I am a human being. I need to go to the supermarket to buy necessities for my house. If I get sick, I need to go to the hospital. I have to go to work to make a living. But now every time I leave the house I think that I may not come back. Things people take for granted, like going to a restaurant, seeing friends, going to the cinema, these are all things I cannot do anymore. These fears are not unfounded. In October 2010 Abeer said that police arrested her for a fourth time outside a supermarket at 11 a.m., while she was wearing Western-style men’s clothes and a baseball cap: A police car pulled over right behind me as I was parked outside the supermarket to buy cigarettes. The policeman went in the store and then approached my car. I was afraid of course, but I thought I was safe because I was dressed as a man. He asked me for my ID and then told me I had to come with him to the police station in Adan. He gave me two options: either he rides in my car to the station or he humiliates me in front of everyone and forces me into his patrol car. I was scared, so I told him to drive my car as he requested. I was stupid. Of course he didn’t take me to the directorate; instead he took me to the police patrol car parking garage right next to it. He told me that he would let me go, but on condition that I show him my breasts. I protested, but he told me that I’m nothing but filth and that anyway it’s OK because I’m a boy like him. I was afraid of what would come next, so in a last effort I showed him my medical document that said I have GID. He looked at it and said, “Oh, so you’re crazy. I clean the streets from filth like you.” I refused to show him my breasts and begged him to let me go, so he hit me and pulled me by the hair into a police car to the criminal investigation department. For three days my parents did not know where I was. In a clear violation of the rights of detainees, many transgender women said police refused to allow their families and lawyers to visit them in detention and at times even denying to them that their relatives were in custody: They had taken my mobile phone at the station, but I had another one that I hid. The second day I called my mother and told her what happened. My father and brother came to the station every day for the nine days I was there, but the police told them that they had no one there by my name. They didn’t even let my lawyer in. My father was able to sneak in once. I saw him, but I hid because I didn’t want him to see me like this. I made a mistake, I should have spoken to him. One of the officers saw him and kicked him out again. Then the investigating officer asked me if my father was in the Ministry of Interior or the police or army, because in those cases they let the detainees go. My father is retired. My father brought my medical papers with him, which were official documents from the government psychiatric hospital stating that I have gender identity disorder. This paper has the stamp of the Ministry of Health. The police refused to take them and add them to my file. Sara said police placed her in solitary confinement in the Salmiya station for nine days: On the first floor, there are detention cells for men, women, and minors. On the second floor, there were around 40 solitary confinement cells. This is what they call the “hotel.” Each room was about two by one meters. It was terrifying. I was really cold, and they didn’t give me any blankets, I would sleep bare on the floor. There were only transsexuals in solitary [confinement] when I was there. In solitary [confinement] they would rarely allow me to go to the bathroom. They gave me an empty water bottle to urinate in. The food was disgusting; they would throw it on the floor. I didn’t eat anything, for nine days I lived on water and juice. They let me out twice just to leer at me and make fun of me. Every time the shift changed I would be asleep, and a new policeman would kick on the door until I woke up; they would make me stand, turn around for them to leer and gawk at me and insult me, and then leave. They have a room in the Criminal Investigation Department that they call the “VIP room.” It has a bed and a private bathroom. It’s one of the only places that doesn’t have a camera. I would hear heels clicking |
$1.99" }, }; //... }
Databind HubTile
Step1. Define HubTile in XAML
We will add a ListBox which will be used to display a collection of TileItems using a HubTile control for each. The HubTile and its binding to TileItem properties is defined in the the ItemTemplate. We will also change the ItemsPanel of the list box to WrapPanel so that its items will be rendered appropriately. Here is how the code should look like:
<ListBox Grid.Row="0" x:Name="tileList"> <ListBox.ItemsPanel> <ItemsPanelTemplate> <toolkit:WrapPanel Orientation="Horizontal" /> </ItemsPanelTemplate> </ListBox.ItemsPanel> <ListBox.ItemTemplate> <DataTemplate> <toolkit:HubTile Title="{Binding Title}" Margin="3" Notification="{Binding Notification}" DisplayNotification="{Binding DisplayNotification}" Message="{Binding Message}" GroupTag="{Binding GroupTag}" Source="{Binding ImageUri}"> </toolkit:HubTile> </DataTemplate> </ListBox.ItemTemplate> </ListBox>
Step2. Populate the ListBox with data through its ItemsSource property:
public MainPage() { InitializeComponent(); //... this.tileList.ItemsSource = tileItems; }
Step3. Build the project and run it. Here is how the result should look like:
NOTE: The HubTile background color is determined by the PhoneAccentBrush. I.e. if your phone/emulator uses the Red theme, which is the default one in Mango RC, then your tiles will be red.
Here is a demo video with the emulator theme changed to green:
That was all about data binding HubTile from the Windows Phone Toolkit - August 2011 (7.1 SDK) in depth. In the next post I will talk about freezing and unfreezing HubTiles, so stay tuned.
The source code is available here:
I hope that the article was helpful.
You can also follow us on Twitter: @winphonegeek for Windows Phone; @winrtgeek for Windows 8 / WinRT
Comments
Cool thats what i can say!!! posted by: Arun vamadevan on 9/30/2011 7:14:02 PM This control is absolutly brillint and this artile also looks good. thanks for sharing...
Click on HubTile posted by: mokmap on 12/20/2011 2:20:47 PM Hello, I want to know how to open a new page when you click on a hubTile? For example, when I click on the tile Chicken opens a new window it there or get the recipe using chicken? thank you
make tile faster posted by: Zipo on 11/1/2012 9:26:01 PM Hello everyone, HubeTile are working fine for me but they are really slow in the animation part for changing to picture or the title, is there anyway to make this quicker? Thanks :)
hubtile posted by: pankaj on 1/17/2013 8:26:48 AM hi, can i change the font size of the title in the hubtiles
getting selected tile text programmatically posted by: Kaos- on 4/22/2014 12:37:45 PM hello thank you for this tutorial, however i would like to ask how do i get the HubTile title text that i selected on the list box e.g on the example we have a Chicken tile, Chicken Bucket tile etc. all of which are in the tilelist now lets say i select on the Chicken Bucket tile on the tileList, how would i extract that selected tile's title on the code behind so i may direct the user to the bucket sizes page etc.?
pin to start hubtiles posted by: Spy on 5/8/2014 7:09:34 PM Hey. Nice tutorial. I'm working on a project for school and I'm getting data dynamically from an online xml file and my problem is how to be able to pin to start the tiles on the start screen of the phone. Can you help? Thanks.Hiya lovely readers! I have so much to show you and would wanna blurt it out all at once but I have to be patient. In meantime I can reveal that there is still four lingerie reviews to come in the next couple of weeks and a dress review next week. Today I am reviewing a lingerie set that has been in my possession for quite a while. I took part in the Lepel’s #SelfieLove competition with a picture of me and my sister and for my surprise, won one of their sets as a prize. I chose the lovely Iris set first in a size 30G but as it arrived, I noticed the band was way too tight – closing but causing my back to bulge horribly. I changed the size to 32FF and now that I’ve tested it for grand three months, I think it’s time to review it properly.
The Design: Iris is a full-cup style bra which means it covers the breasts fully and the edge of the cup comes quite high up my decollete. I don’t have a lot of experience of full-cups except my old trusty Jasmine bra so it was a nice thing to try though I do love my balconettes. This style is very popular among people who want a more modest look and not too much cleavage. Many women also think it provides the most support since there is a lot more fabric going on than with plunges and balconettes.
Iris has a three piece cup-construction meaning it gives a very nice lifted shape. I love my Iris for this reason exactly – even though it’s an unpadded bra it gives me a lovely natural shape and great uplift. The materials are also pretty thin which makes it a great bra when you wanna feel less bulky – this is the kinda bra you want to wear on a hot summer day to make you feel less clothed. The pale pink shade is also spot on for summer. It works well as a “nude” bra for me since I am very pale, almost white most of the time (except I have a class reunion tomorrow so now I’m definitely getting me tan on). It works really well under t-shirts and doesn’t show through at all. The lace of the bra is very beautiful and classy which makes it look a bit more romantic than your other everyday bras.
The Fit: Most of my friends love unpadded cups for their fit – they accommodate one’s bust shape nicely and don’t show size differences too drastically. I however have always preferred padded cups as a more secure option, but again, an unpadded bra amazes me with it’s lovely fit. It seems that Lepel fits me pretty much like Gossard – a band size up and a cup size down from what I’m used to wearing. This means good news for everyone who needs a GG-cup or a 28 band even though the brand is not offering them. I would gladly recommend to try Lepel out if you fit in their size range. The company has a long history of making bras and they produce fashionable yet well-fitting styles that are reasonably priced as well.
The band is not too stretchy, as said I needed a bigger size of it than with eg Panache and Curvy Kate. It features two hooks and eyes but feels still very supportive. The cups are very stretchy meaning they can easily accommodate size fluctuations. I would definitely recommend this bra especially to women whose breast size changes due to their monthly cycle. The cups are quite big all over so I would also recommend sizing down, at least one cup size. I believe that if I would go up a cup size, this bra would still be nice to me and fit well. The straps are quite long and I have to almost fully adjusted them, so this might be a problem to someone more petite. However, they are fully adjustable so it should not cause too much trouble with women of average height (I’m 5″6).
Comfort: Now, pay attention. First this bra was not the best for its comfort. But don’t make hasty conclusions! After only a couple of wears it softened a great deal and the center gore became a lot more flexible. First the center and the wires felt really stiff and almost a little painful but after wearing the bra and washing it, it now feels really comfortable and is one of my everyday bras for its great shape and comfort. The wires are an average width meaning it’s a great fit but also quite comfy. The wires aren’t poking me anyway and definitely sit on a right spot to encase all my breast tissue. Also the materials feel very soft against my skin and don’t cause any irritation.
I was sent the short-style panties that belong to the set and I quite like them as well. If I could say something that Lepel could improve, would be the rise of the panties – it’s quite high so for me so it’s not the most flattering style. If however you have a bit more booty (I have none) this might be just the right style for you. Say, if you hate Cleo panties, these are right up your street! I got mine in a size 10 which is pretty true-to-size so a bit roomy for me as I would need something between 8 and 10.
All in all Iris has worked lovely for me as a “skin tone” shade bra and I will most definitely get even more wear out of it when the summer finally comes (18 C tomorrow, think about that!). The size range is 30-38 A-G (panties 8-18) and the price for it is about £24 for the bra and the £13 for the panties – an absolute bargain I say! You can it at Figleaves, Brastop and Mio Destino.The face of a forgotten 17th century Fife witch has been revealed, thanks to the work of a Scottish artist.
Karen Strang from Stirling has managed to reconstruct the weathered features of Lillias Adie, one of 141 accused women who died in custody in Scotland during the witch hunts.
Using only photographs of the Fifer’s lost skull, the Glasgow School of Art graduate has captured how Adie would have looked, complete with hideously bucked teeth, before she died in a Culross jail cell in 1705.
Karen was commissioned by Fife author Leonard Low, who uncovered the story of the tragic Torryburn woman as he carried out research for his next book, The Lowdown on Witches.
Leonard, 49, who has already published three books — The Weem Witch, St Andrews Untold Stories and Largo’s Untold Stories — said Lillias’ body had been buried in sand off Culross, where it remained for 80 years until it was found by a local weaver.
The weaver’s son, skilled artist Sir Noel Paton, enjoyed displaying “curiosities” and took Lillias’ skull and some other bones for display.
They were then bought at auction in 1874 by St Andrews University doctor William Dow, who studied and photographed the skull for research purposes.
But when he retired, the bones vanished and only the photographs remain.
Leonard managed to get his hands on the pictures and passed them to Karen to see if there was anything she could do.
“You could see from the photos that her teeth stuck out almost horizontally from her face,” said Leonard.
“Karen’s finished work shows a well weathered face, sporting those remarkable teeth.”
He added: “Of course, we have no idea of her hair and Karen has painted that to the period’s fashion.
“With Lillias’ head still missing, this is the nearest we are going to get to a recreation.
“I feel Karen Strang has done a fine job to put a face back on Lillias and give her a bit more dignity.”
The illustration will feature in Leonard’s new book when it is published later this year.RDAs come in a variety of sizes and styles. They range in size from a diminutive 14 mm in diameter to 40 mm or more, with the most common diameters being 22 mm and 24 mm. The build deck may allow for one up to 8 coils, though most are single or dual-coil designed. Many RDAs work well for both horizontal or vertical coil builds. Airflow may be suitable for mouth to lung (MTL) or direct lung (DL) vaping styles. They are available in a variety of metal types, from stainless steel to brass or copper, and most offer several color options.
Build decks can also be found in a great variety of configurations. In the past, most RDAs had three posts, two on the sides of the deck and a shared post in the middle. Two-post Velocity style RDAs were the first big evolution of the triple-post, and many of the RDAs that came out in the previous years implemented some variation of this deck. We have seen a plethora of innovations in the build deck department since then, with drop-down and post-less RDA decks becoming very popular, and even more interesting designs appearing every day.
Most RDAs nowadays come with an optional hollow positive pin, to allow their use on special bottom-feeding mods called squonkers. A squonk mod has a plastic bottle for e-liquid that a vaper squeezes to channel juice to the bottom-fed (BF) atomizer. Although they have always been used to alleviate the constant dripping of juice, they have spiked in popularity in 2017, and a huge number of squonkers have come to market recently by several manufacturers.By a vote of 14 in favour, with Venezuela abstaining, the Council adopted a resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which authorizes the use of force, through with countries and regional organizations could board ships for inspection, seize and even dispose of vessels suspected of being used by migrant smugglers.
The Council deplored the continuing maritime tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea that have resulted in hundreds of casualties, and noted with concern that such casualties were, “in some cases, the result of exploitation and misinformation by transnational criminal organizations which facilitated the illegal smuggling of migrants via dangerous methods for personal gain and with callous disregard for human life.”
As such, countries, through the new resolution, are authorized to inspect vessels on the high-seas off Libya which they “have reasonable grounds to suspect are being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from Libya,” provided “good faith efforts” are made to obtain the consent of the vessel's flag State.
The resolution however states that such authorization does “not apply to vessels entitled to sovereign immunity under international law” and applies “only in the situation of migrant smuggling and trafficking of human beings high seas off the coast of Libya.”
Calling on Member States to help Libya, when requested, to strengthen the means available to it to secure its borders and prevent migrant smuggling and human trafficking, the Council also urged States, “in the spirit of international solidarity and shared responsibility,” to cooperate with the Libyan Government, and each other, including by sharing information about acts of smuggling and human trafficking in Libya's territorial sea and on the high seas off the country's coast.
Council members also underscored that the aim of the resolution is intended to disrupt the organized criminal enterprises engaged in migrant smuggling and human trafficking and prevent loss of life, “and is not intended to undermine the human rights of individuals or prevent them from seeking protection under international human rights law and international refugee law.”Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Wednesday admitted to sexually abusing teenage boys during his time as a high school wrestling coach in a Chicago suburb before his career as an elected official.
Struggling to stand in federal court Wednesday, 74-year-old Hastert gripped his walker, approached the microphone and said that he "mistreated" some of his wrestlers and apologized.
"They looked to me, and I took advantage of them," Hastert said as he awaited his sentencing after pleading guilty last fall to breaking federal banking laws in a hush-money case. "I apologize to the court and to the people of the United States."
Judge Thomas Durkin sentenced Hastert to 15 months in prison, a $250,000 fine, along with two years of supervised release on the condition that he get sex offender treatment. Prosecutors had recommended a six-month sentence. Durkin called Hastert a "serial child molester" and said he must not contact any of his victims.
"That's necessary to protect the victims," the judge said.
One of the men who has accused Hastert of sexual abuse years ago identified himself in the courtroom Wednesday before Hastert spoke.
The man, previously known only as "Individual D," identified himself as Scott Cross, 53, who lives in Chicago and works in finance. He has a wife and two children.
"Coach Hastert sexually abused me," said Cross, who teared up at times as he identified himself publicly for the first time.
The allegations stem from the time Hastert worked as a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in a Chicago suburb between 1965 and 1981.
Scott Cross, dressed in a business suit, recounted that he was alone in the locker room with Hastert, who told Cross he could help him lose weight by giving him a massage. Cross said that after a few minutes of a massage, Hastert tried to perform a sex act on him and Cross said he then jumped up and ran out of the room.
Cross said he felt alone and embarrassed and never told anyone about the incident and never discussed it with Hastert.
"I've had trouble sleeping and working," he said, and called the decision to come forward a "huge personal struggle."
He is the younger brother of longtime Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, who served in that leadership role from 2002 to 2013 and retired from the legislature last year. The Chicago Tribune notes that Cross has credited Hastert with introducing him to politics and helping him move up the ladder.
In court, Hastert's lawyer said the former speaker had suggested that the elder Cross could write a support letter on his behalf. But the Tribune reported that by the time the request was made, Cross was aware that his younger brother was "Individual D" and he "did not respond." Hastert's lawyer mentioned the request in order to suggest that Hastert's mental health is severely diminished and could explain why he has lied throughout the investigation.
Prosecutors also called Jolene Burdge, the sister of an alleged Hastert victim who died in 1995. Burdge testified first and read aloud a letter her late brother wrote to their mother five months before he died of AIDS, and she accused Hastert of "sexually molesting" her brother.
"You took Steve's right to develop his sexual identity in a normal, healthy way," Burdge said directly to Hastert, who arrived to court Wednesday in a wheelchair. "Don't be a coward, Mr. Hastert. Tell the truth. What you did wasn't misconduct; it was sexual abuse of a minor."
Admonishing Hastert from the stand, she said, "You were supposed to keep him safe, not violate him," and she continued, "You took his innocence and turned it against him," turning him toward a life of high-risk behavior that eventually killed him.
"I will make you accountable for molesting my brother. I knew your secret and you couldn't bribe your way out," she added.
Hastert, an Illinois Republican, served in Congress from 1987 to 2007, and is the longest-serving House speaker, holding that post from 1999 to 2007.
Cross and Burdge's brother are among at least four victims who have made "credible allegations of sexual abuse," according to a report earlier this month in The Chicago Tribune.
There is also "Individual A" who remains anonymous. That man is suing Hastert for $1.8 million, his attorneys said Monday. He has also accused Hastert of sexually abusing him when he was a teenager.
According to a complaint filed in court Monday, in 2008, the man learned of someone else who had accused Hastert of abuse and confronted Hastert directly. Hastert agreed to pay the man $3.5 million to keep him quiet about the sexual abuse and from June 2010 to December 2014, Hastert paid the man $1.7 million of the total compensation. His withdrawals of the money is what led to the federal investigation that led to him being charged with breaking banking laws. Because Hastert breached the agreement, the man is now seeking $1.8 million.
Hastert pleaded guilty to the charge last October and suffered a stroke soon after that. Prosecutors recommended that the judge sentence him to six months in prison.
Attorneys for "Individual A" said in the complaint that the man suffered for years of severe panic attacks, bouts of depression, unemployment, careers changes, hospitalization and long-term psychiatric treatment.
In a recent memo, Hastert's attorneys said he is "profoundly sorry" for what happened and they asked that he only receive probation instead of a prison sentence.
On Friday, Former Senate Majority Leader Tom DeLay and a number of other former lawmakers and a onetime CIA chief wrote a letter asking for leniency in Hastert's case.
CBS News' Steven Portnoy and Paula Reid contributed to this report.Oleg Kashin’s open letter to president Vladimir Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev is both a personalised cry of anguish about the failure to arrest the man he believes responsible for an attack that nearly killed him, and a searing indictment of the current Russian political system.
The attack on the journalist in 2010 left him with a broken jaw, fractured skull, broken leg and broken fingers, one of which had to be amputated. None of his valuables were taken.
When the attack took place, there were any number of potential suspects: as one of Russia’s most prominent independent journalists, Kashin had offended a lot of people.
Russian journalist 'nearly killed' in doorstep beating Read more
A few months later, while Kashin was recuperating in an Israeli hospital, he was visited in person by the then-president, Dmitry Medvedev, who wished him a speedy recovery and promised that the case would be solved.
There have been a number of high-profile murders or attacks on journalists in Russia, with few of them solved. Even when the direct assailants are put on trial, as in the case of Anna Politkovskaya, the trail stops before it reaches those who ordered the attack; critics allege because if government officials are involved, they are untouchable.
Last month, Kashin named the men he believed were responsible for the attack, including the governor of Pskov region, Andrei Turchak. Kashin had criticised the politician in a blog post two months before the attack.
He claimed that while the men who allegedly carried out the attack had been arrested, the fact that their testimony appears to implicate Turchak meant the case was too politically sensitive.
Turchak has not commented on the allegations against him, while one of his deputies denied the allegations in an interview with the BBC.
In a statement released on Monday, Putin’s spokesman reportedly confirmed the president’s office had read the letter, but that no comment would be made on the allegations. Medvedev has not responded.
In the letter below, Kashin elaborates on those claims, in an angry tirade against Putin and the system he has built over the past 15 years.
Dear Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev,
My colleagues have already written you open letters about my case. You haven’t responded (and, more importantly, neither has your Investigative Committee), though this actually makes perfect sense: you were asked to “sort it out” but there’s no need for anything like that.
You have complete and absolute control over the adoption and implementation of laws in Russia
I understand perfectly well that you “sorted it out” a long time ago, and you’ve known for just as long that it was your little Governor Turchak who was behind this crime against me. My case was solved a long time ago. You know this and I know this. And I see no reason to pretend that the problem here is that you still need to “sort it out”. Your decision not to act is clear.
You’ve decided to side with your Governor Turchak; you’re protecting him and his gang of thugs and murderers. It would make sense for somebody like me – a victim of this gang – to be outraged about all this and tell you that it’s dishonest and unjust, but I understand that such words would only make you laugh.
You have complete and absolute control over the adoption and implementation of laws in Russia, and yet you still live like criminals. Consider Inspector Vadim Sotskov, who’s been handed my case.
Sotskov put it elegantly when he said recently: “There’s the law, but there’s also the man in charge, and the will of the boss is always stronger than any law.”
Put bluntly: he’s right and that’s reality. Your will in Russia is stronger than any law.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Oleg Kashin in 2009. Photograph: Maxim Avdeyev/AP
I’ve known Sotskov for over a year now. He and I belong to the same generation. At one time, he was even a journalist at Narodnoe Radio. I can easily imagine him in his first year of law school, studying Roman law, still full of enthusiasm, honesty and dreams about changing the world. And what’s become of him now? He’s a terrified bureaucrat, dreaming about keeping his job long enough to earn a pension. Who made him this way? It was you.
For some reason, we weigh the last 15 years of your reign purely in certain materialist terms. Oil costs so much, the dollar is worth so much, GDP rose so many percentiles, and so on.
But it’s not about oil or GDP. History will judge these 15 years precisely on the fate of men like Sotskov.
It was you who turned an enthusiastic young man – someone who hurried to the studio from lectures to read the news on an opposition radio station – into a uniformed cynic, who admits openly that the will of his superiors is more important than any law.
Don’t flatter yourself: the last 15 years haven’t been a revival for Russia – the country hasn’t risen from its knees
But don’t flatter yourself: the last 15 years haven’t been a revival for Russia, and the country hasn’t risen from its knees. This time has been a monumental moral catastrophe for our generation. And both of you, Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev, are personally responsible for it.
In Russian society today, even obvious questions about good and evil have become impossible. Is it OK to steal? Is it OK to cheat? Is murder ethical? With each of these questions, it’s become customary in Russia now to answer that things aren’t so simple. All your good works have left the nation demoralised and disoriented.
But you carry on, managing your problems without even realising that you’re digging the hole yourselves. “Things aren’t so simple” is what the angry crowd will tell you in unison, when it comes time for you to run away. I suspect that you’re afraid of this crowd, but just remember that it was you who created it, and you’ve got nobody to blame but yourselves.
Having cut yourselves and your elites off from society, you’ve also cut yourselves off from reality. There’s a wall separating you from the rest of us, and everyone on our side shudders each time the next one of your goons decides to show what a thinker he is by stepping up to a podium and talking about how the population is being controlled by computer chips, about the “Euro-Atlantic conspiracy,” or about how the Americans are weaponising cellular research.
Anti-Soviet joke
Whoever comes after you will have to create Russia all over again, from scratch. This is your only service to history– what you’ve spent 15 years achieving. Your favourite justification for all this (the only one, there are no others) are the troubles of the 1990s, but it’s important to understand that you preserved and strengthened everything about this period that we’ve come to hate today. You didn’t fix anything. You only made it all worse.
You like to think of yourselves as the heirs to two empires, Tsarist and Soviet. You take pride in your neo-Soviet militarism, but if anybody told Dmitriy Ustinov [who created the USSR’s military-industrial complex] that a man was beaten with steel pipes and it was paid for with official state funding [according to evidence presented in court proceedings in St Petersburg], Ustinov would have thought he was hearing a nasty anti-Soviet joke.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Russian president Vladimir Putin leaves the Elysee Palace on 2 October after talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images
Veterans of Turchak’s factory told me that, 20 years ago, the young future governor would ride around the grounds in a black Volga, firing from a pistol at stray cats. The portrait of your era and your elites will be full of details like this, and you’ve got no reason to expect anything more.
Your main problem is that you simply don’t love Russia. You treat it like another disposable resource that’s fallen into your lap.
Oleg Kashin: 'Men who nearly killed me charged but not their paymaster' Read more
In recent days, I’ve heard many times that all the noise around my case is getting kicked up thanks to some war among the factions who surround you. This is another feature of the system you’ve imposed: nothing just happens, someone is behind everything, and there are conspiracies everywhere.
As a participant in this so-called conspiracy, I can say that a battle among the factions is certainly raging, but the shared goal of all the factions [appears to be] to save your Governor Turchak and his associates from criminal prosecution. I suspect this battle is won.
I can see perfectly well that the worst thing Turchak faces now is a quiet resignation, timed long after any developments in my case. This is the only justice citizens can expect, and it means that your system isn’t capable of any kind of justice at all.
You do what you want, but I wonder how comfortable life can be, when you know that you yourselves won’t be able to count on justice or the law, sooner or later.
Oleg Kashin
Introduction by Shaun Walker. Translation by Kevin Rothrock for Global Voices onlineDoug Cross
UK Council Against Water Fluoridation
July 22, 2009 UK Council Against Water FluoridationJuly 22, 2009
Fluoridated water must be treated as a medicine, and cannot be used to prepare foods. That is the decision of the European Court of Justice, in a landmark case dealing with the classification and regulation of ‘functional drinks’ in member states of the European Community. (HLH Warenvertriebs and Orthica (Joined Cases C-211/03, C-299/03, C-316/03 and C-318/03) 9 June 2005)
Functional drinks are those products that have two different purposes – for example, nutrition and exerting a positive effect on some medical condition. They include ‘near-water drinks with added minerals’ and, in view of the properties claimed for fluoridated water by fluoride advocates, it must be classified as a ‘funtional food’, and therefore falls within the scope of the relevant legislation.
Medicinal law takes precedent over food law.
The Court ruled that, where two different sets of rules appear to apply to a product, medicinal legislation must take precedent, and the product must be regulated as a medicine. It emphasised that medicines regulators in member states do not have the power to exercise discretion on the classification of such dual-function products. The repeated refusal of the British and Irish Regulators to recognise fluoridated water as a medicinal product is therefore an unlawful misuse of their powers, and one that requires immediate reversal.
ECJ rulings do not establish new laws, but clarify how existing ones should be applied, and are enforceable in the domestic legislation of all member states of the EC. In effect, this decision at last confirms the claim that I have made for many years – that existing medicinal law has always required that fluoridated water be regulated as a medicine. Fluoridated water has no medicinal marketing authorization (‘product licence’), and because of this it is – and always has been – illegal to supply it to the public, as the 1968 Medicines Act confirms.
As a ‘medicinal water’, the protection afforded by the water quality regulations that shield consumers from hazardous substances in drinking water does not apply. Its use in the processing of foodstuffs is also prohibited, under the food safety legislation. Aa a direct result of this ruling, all English and Irish legislation providing for water fluoridation are at last exposed as having been in violation of that fundamental prohibition, and must now be repealed.
Prohibition of use of fluoridated water in foods
[efoods]But the Court also ruled that such functional food products must not be used in the preparation of foods. As a ‘medicinal water’ the fluoridated product cannot be regarded as equivalent to the mandatory ‘water for human consumption’ specified for drinking and food preparation. So now every food wholesale and retail outlet in fluoridated areas of the UK and Ireland, from the corner chip-shop to the largest brewery, from the small high-street bakery to the largest supermarket retailers – all will now have to either cease production or install an alternative water supply.
Implications for international trade in food products
But the ruling also has an equally profound implication for export trade in processed foods and drinks. The Court stated that even if a functional food product (or a food containing it) is legally marketed as a food in one member state, it cannot be exported to any other member state unless it has a medicinal licence. So any company making a consumable product using fluoridated water in its preparation or as an ingredient cannot now export that product to any other state in the EC, even if their product is permitted in their home state.
The economic implications are enormous. Not only does the ruling ban the use of fluoridated water for all retail catering and wholesale food processing in the UK and Ireland, it also prohibits such trade from these states to other member states of the EC. But it goes much further than even this, because if British and Irish processed foods from fluoridated areas cannot be exported to the EC, this prohibition must also apply to the importing of such products into EC member states from any other country that practices water fluoridation. The decision effectively bans all processed food products from countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand, unless they can be positively proven to have been prepared using only water that was not fluoridated.
What does this mean for water undertakers who fluoridate their product?
Before British water undertakers allow Strategic Health Authorities to order them to start fluoridating their water they need to be fully aware of the implications to them and their shareholders should they agree to do so. Not only are medical damages compensation claims likely to be far higher, with charges of negligently supplying an unlawful product forming the basis of class actions, food processers who lose their markets will certainly hold their water undertaker accountable in law for their losses. This ruling means that Courts in other member states of the EC must support demands from competing food processors that an embargo be placed on British and Irish products unless they can be proven to have been manufactured using only non-fluoridated water.
I have previously warned that this illegal product substitution cannot be permitted to continue, and that members of the public are entirely entitled to demand to be supplied with water that complies with, and is regulated under, the drinking water quality standards that are enforceable under both EC and UK (and Irish) law. Since the ruling must be enforced in all EC member states, water companies will now have to come off the fence and accept that fluoridated water is not an acceptable alternative drinking water.
The only way out – repeal all fluoridation laws and ban the product.
This decision completely supports the challenge that I have issued repeatedly to the UK Regulator, the MHRA – identify the case law that justifies your perverse claim that this product is not a medicine. Ironically, it was the MHRA itself that finally gave the game away, in a formal response to another Regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). In what I can only assume was a deliberate attempt to mislead the ASA, the MHRA actually cited this case in support of its continued perverse refusal to implement the medicines legislation that it is obliged to enforce!
The beginning of the end – fluoridation must now be banned, worldwide.
This ECJ ruling effectively puts the final nail in the coffin of water fluoridation, not only within the EC but worldwide. It establishes a very substantial but entirely justified obstacle to trade in food products that are prepared without proper regard to the protection of the public that is enshrined in law. The ruling must be recognised and enforced not only in every memebr state, but also in any external state that wishes to trade with the EC in processed foods. So just what can be done to resolve the present unacceptable situation?
One solution would be to grant a medicinal licence to fluoridated water. But the Court ruled that any evaluation of a functional drink may only be done under the rigorous procedures required to scrutinise any pharmaceutical product. In the present state of scientific concern over the evidence of its lack of efficacy and safety it is impossible to imagine that such a licence could ever be granted. If it were, it would immediately result in a world-wide denunciation from the scientific community that is fully aware of the improper commercial influence that is at the heart of the international promotion of fluoridated products.
The only acceptable response is to call a halt to this controversial practice now. The experience of the past half century has shown that it is completely unjustified – indeed, it is responsible for what may reasonably be described as a pandemic of avoidable chronic fluoride poisoning. In ruling that this type of product must be regulated under medicinal law, the Court has taken the final step towards bringing this disreputable practice to a long-delayed end. Let us hope that national Governments all over the world will heed this decision – the economic consequences will be dire for those who continue to attempt to continue this discredited and illegal practice.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Trump threatened a response 'like the world has never seen'
US President Donald Trump says North Korea "will be met with fire and fury" if it threatens the US.
His comments came after a Washington Post report, citing US intelligence officials, said Pyongyang had produced a nuclear warhead small enough to fit inside its missiles.
This would mean the North is developing nuclear weapons capable of striking the US at a much faster rate than expected.
The UN recently approved further economic sanctions against the country.
The Security Council unanimously agreed to ban North Korean exports and limit investments, prompting fury from North Korea and a vow to make the "US pay a price".
The heated rhetoric between the two leaders intensified after Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in July, claiming it now had the ability to hit the US.
Mr Trump told reporters on Tuesday: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the US. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."
Analysis: Words with consequences?
Anthony Zurcher |
, "why are they staring at me?" And sure enough, they’ll say, "hey, aren't you a Cylon?" They developed a huge following, and to this day they are a well-respected show.R: Yeah, if you turn on a radio in California, you'll probably hear my voice for the California Highway Patrol. I'm doing a “Don't Drink and Drive” campaign. And if you are in my small group of friends, you would know that you don't drink and drive with me. If we are going to go out, I'll be the designated driver and make sure everyone gets home safe. A couple of good people that I liked died because of drunk driving, so I'm happy to help them out with that.Another project is a sci-fi animated film which I put together last year. I'm not in it as an actor but I produced it. And I did voiceover for one of the characters. But it's all animated, and what my buddy and I are doing now is shopping it around trying to get people interested. And what can I say, that's not fun. Its business and its phone calling and e-mailing and all that sort of junk.R: I do. Even now I'm still a rookie, maybe not a rookie because I'm more well-connected. When I did Chicago last year, that was my second convention. But I did do Jersey last year only because an actor couldn’t make it. And I don't have an agent for conventions, so Creation got hold of my phone number and called me. They said they were Creation and they do conventions for “Supernatural” and a few other shows that you may have heard of, like "Star Trek." (Laughs) They said another actor couldn't make it to New Jersey and wanted to know if I was interested. I said, "are you serious? I'd love to go. What do I need to do?" They said, "nothing. Just bring yourself we'll take care of the plane and everything else." It was awesome. I didn't do karaoke there, I chickened out. But in Chicago, I did karaoke and loved it. I think Creation liked having me be there, and they asked me if I'd like to do Los Angeles/Burbank convention. And it just so happened to be a week before my 45th birthday. I was overwhelmed and happy that they had invited me.R: I thank everyone so much for your incredible support of "Supernatural." And I'm overwhelmed by the response to the Alpha Vampire. I'm touched tremendously in my heart, and it makes me feel alive again. And I can't thank you guys enough. This character has managed to make me feel like an actor again and to be back in the game again. And that's all I ever really wanted.=============================================================So ended an absolutely wonderful interview. I enjoyed my time immensely, and if Rick gets to Chicon this year, we have a date for drinks. So Creation, GET HIM THERE!!!!I want to thank him again for taking the time to talk with me. I know he had just stepped off a plane, so I really appreciate the interview.Phil Spencer once said at the Microsoft’s January 2015 event that Windows 10 will make “new ways to extend gaming across devices,” and we have yet another.
With the first release of Windows 10, Microsoft announced its Xbox app which would be bundled with the operating system. This addition allowed gamers to buy games for their devices, communicate and interact with their friends, and the most exciting aspect – the ability to stream their Xbox to their PC. This feature allowed users to continue their existing Xbox experience and game progress on any PC or tablet on the same local network, and with a pretty decent connection and a paired controller, your computer turned into a remote Xbox.
There have been rumors for a while that Windows 10 Mobile might be able to jump in on the Xbox action, and with the remote devices prompt that was included in an update to the Xbox app a while back, the excitement was real – only to be foiled by a DPI compilation bug that that particular update had since the app was universal.
Now, Ethan Alvarée and I have been able to test a Microsoft app that WalkingCat posted about recently. The app, aimed at developers creating apps for the Xbox platform, allows for the streaming of your console to your PC, similar to the functionality of the included Xbox app on the PC. The app has also been compiled for Windows 10 Mobile, and it works flawlessly.
Continuum is not necessary to use this app or the streaming functionality, and thanks to the Anniversary Update, works with Xbox controllers as well (we tested this with a Bluetooth controller for the Xbox One S).
Gallery
It should be interesting to see if Microsoft plans to include this feature within the existing mobile variant of the Xbox app, as the awesome feature isn’t currently included.More than a year ago, four Houston Police Department officers were relieved of duty as part of an investigation for potentially falsifying citations, allegations that accused them of listing themselves as witnesses on incidents they did not see or that did not occur. That same day, one of the officers was found dead in an HPD parking garage from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Thursday, 15 months after an internal affairs investigation led to the administrative action, the last officer to go to trial in the case admitted guilt.
Robert Manzanales, the senior officer with 20 years on the job, pleaded guilty to tampering with an official document and aggravated perjury. He was given deferred adjudication, a form of probation. If he successfully completes three years of probation, he will not have the conviction on his record.
His plea on Thursday mirrored those of his former colleagues Gregory Rosa and John R. Garcia, who also admitted guilt and were given the same terms of punishment. Rosa was also charged with perjury. Garcia was not.
Manzanales, 47, did not comment Thursday after he was sentenced by state District Judge Michael McSpadden during a brief hearing.
His attorney, Scott Siscoe, said the former officer just wanted to put the matter behind him.
The Houston Police Department did not answer questions about the scam but on Thursday released a statement from Chief Charles McClelland saying Manzanales' conduct was thoroughly investigated by the department.
"It is important to remember that one person's actions are not reflective of the vast majority of the men and women of the Houston Police Department that conduct themselves professionally," McClelland said in the statement.
Ray Hunt, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, said the union did not represent any of the officers in the legal proceedings and declined to comment further.
The four officers were involved in a scheme to claim overtime for appearing in court outside of regular work hours, according to a source familiar with the investigation. It was not known how much money was claimed.
Typically, officers can collect overtime in traffic cases when they are subpoenaed to appear in municipal court at a time that is outside of their duty hours. If an officer assigned to an overnight shift wrote a ticket during his work hours, then appeared for a daytime court date, he would be compensated with overtime.
By falsely listing each other as witnesses, they could all claim overtime for coming to court.
After the investigation, city prosecutors dismissed hundreds of traffic tickets written by the four officers, who worked in the traffic enforcement division, saying the allegations and an internal probe made the integrity of the citations questionable.
The four were relieved of duty on Aug. 19, 2014. Later that day, Rudolph Farias III was found dead in a patrol car in a downtown police parking garage. Farias, who had been with the department since 1993, was dressed in uniform.
In January, Rosa and Garcia resigned, and Manzanales retired. The same month, a Harris County grand jury indicted them.
After the indictment, McClelland said an investigation did not show any evidence that a systemic problem exists in the police department.
The ticket rigging case was the second within two years at the department. In 2012, four veteran officers who collected nearly $1 million in overtime pay over several years were suspended for listing one another as witnesses on traffic tickets. Their punishments ranged from 20 to 45 days off without pay.Amber is often prized not just for its golden beauty, but also for the tiny creatures it contains, many of them millions of years old. Now, a chunk of this fossilized tree sap found at a market in Myanmar has turned out to contain a very rare treasure indeed: a slender piece of feathered tail that belonged to a small bipedal dinosaur that lived about 99 million years ago.
“Since Jurassic Park came out, paleontologists have joked about finding dinosaurs in amber, since it would contain so much extra information. And now we have a piece of one,” says Thomas Holtz, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Maryland in College Park who was not involved in the study.
Researchers aren’t using ancient blood from the belly of preserved mosquitos to recreate dinosaurs, as in the movies. But the finding does reveal a feathered dinosaur tail in 3D for the first time, and offers a unique glimpse into the early evolution of feathers. Amber is a uniquely useful fossilizer, notes Michael Engel, a paleontologist and entomologist at the University of Kansas in Lawrence who was also not involved in the study. “It preserves things in lifelike fidelity.” Although it’s rare to find larger animals preserved in the sticky flow, researchers have found everything from frogs to lizards to ancient bird wings, likely entombed after death.
The amber deposits of northern Myanmar harbor one of the most diverse arrays of animals from the Cretaceous period. Paleontologist Lida Xing of China University of Geosciences in Beijing was hunting through an amber market in Myanmar for lizard and insect specimens when a particular chunk caught his eye: Along with the usual scattering of insects, it contained a 3.6-centimeter-long section of a flexible, finely feathered tail. Right away, he knew he had something special.
Xing contacted paleontologist Ryan McKellar of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina, Canada, and the team used photographs taken through microscopes and computerized tomography scanning (computer-processed combinations of images taken by x-rays at different angles to reveal interior details of the fossil) to study the eight preserved vertebrae and their feathers.
Unlike Archaeopteryx (a 150-million-year-old creature thought by many researchers to be among the very earliest birds) or modern birds, the vertebrae were not fused into a solid rod at the tip of the tail. Instead, the tail in amber is whiplike and flexible, bending in several places at once. That, the researchers report online today in Current Biology, suggests that its owner was not a bird but in fact a dinosaur, and likely a member of a group of small two-legged dinosaurs called coelurosaurs. (Jurassic Park fans, take note: Compsognathus—nicknamed “compys” in the movies—are a member of this group.)
Plumage pigments preserved in the amber suggest the theropod was colored chestnut-brown along its dorsal side (the top of the tail), and lighter on its underside. The amber also allowed the researchers to study the structure of the animal’s plumage in 3D. Many well-known feathered dinosaur fossils—such as those of the “Jehol Biota,” a fossil deposit in northeastern China dating to about 130 million years ago—are “squashed flat, so that we have to deconstruct what the original shape of the feathers was,” Holtz says. “Here we can see them in the round, and this gives a better sense of some of the shapes.”
The feather of the bird you see out your window today has a central shaft, or “rachis,” that branches out into a series of barbs that branch again into fine barbules. In the new specimen, the rachis is relatively thin and flexible compared with the thick, rigid central rachis of modern birds; however, the structure of barbules is complex, with fine tiers of branching as in modern feathers, distributed evenly across the length of the feathers. In all, the structure of the feathers suggests that the animal wasn’t capable of flight, although “it may have been a glider,” McKellar says.
That combination of features—weak rachis and evenly spaced barbules—has not previously been directly observable in the flattened 2D fossils, Holtz says. He agrees that the bird likely couldn’t fly with this configuration—and notes that the discovery thus further reinforces the idea that feathers “evolved in a context other than flight,” such as for warmth or for mating.AT THE beginning of April international investors made two whopping bets by snapping up the first ever 100-year bond denominated in euros. The first bet was that the euro would still exist a century from now. No bookie would give short odds on that. The second was that the issuer, Mexico, which suffered three long cycles of boom and bust in the past century, would continue to be creditworthy for the next 100 years.
Mexicans, whose country has, as one economic historian puts it, lived longer in moratoria than with access to capital markets, reacted with bemusement. A typically gloomy columnist predicted that, since Mexico will have run out of oil by 2115, it will have to sell off the country’s extremities to repay the bondholders.
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Foreign creditors are more bullish. Over the past five years they have extended the equivalent of more than $5 billion of 100-year bonds to Mexico in three currencies: dollars, sterling and now euros. It is the only country to have tapped the so-called centennial market since China and the Philippines in the 1990s, and it has done so at relatively low yields—of 6.1% on its dollar bond in 2010 and just 4.2% on its euro bond last month. Those are extraordinarily good terms given Mexico’s distinctly spotty credit record (see chart), which raises two questions. How has Mexico managed to pull off this “sale of the century”? And what are the chances of investors, or their grandchildren, getting their money back?
The answer to the first question is a combination of salesmanship and timing. The finance ministry’s bright, American-educated technocrats know how to attract attention from investors who may not have considered Mexico before. The euro-denominated bond, for instance, was sold largely to insurance companies and annuity firms. One advantage of its long life, for borrower and creditors alike, is that it helps avoid the sort of overcrowded redemption schedules that contributed to Mexico’s debt crises in 1982-83 and 1994-95.
But in an era when the yields on the bonds of many rich countries are negative, Mexico’s main selling-point is a relatively high return for a borrower that last year received an “A” rating from Moody’s. On the day Mexico issued its euro-denominated centennial bond, Switzerland sold a ten-year bond at a negative yield—a first.
Mexico also stands out from other emerging markets in several ways. Although the halving of the oil price has hurt the public finances, the peso has done better than many of its peers. Agustín Carstens, the governor of the central bank, says Mexico has an “arsenal” of $195 billion of international reserves and a $70 billion credit line from the IMF in case of financial-market volatility. That has helped to attract outsiders: foreigners hold 2.2 trillion pesos ($144 billion) of domestic debt.
The government has further impressed investors by tightening its belt before times get tougher. It has cut spending in an election year and is attempting to implement a string of reforms aimed at bolstering competition in areas like energy and telecommunications that have the potential to attract large sums of foreign direct investment. “Mexico is a bright spot among emerging markets. It is one of the few countries that has been fixing the roof while the sun shines,” says Andrew Stanners of Aberdeen Asset Management, a big investment fund.
So why are few Mexicans so sanguine? Gerardo Esquivel of El Colegio de México, a university, describes the government’s approach with a different home-improvement analogy. He likens it to “putting a bright coat of paint on the exterior of the house, while the inside is rotting away”. The problem, he says, is that the 20 years of macroeconomic stability and flexible exchange rates that have endeared Mexico to foreign creditors have been accompanied by meagre, narrowly based growth that depends heavily on exports.
Growth in output per person has averaged about 1% a year since 1995. Poverty levels have remained stagnant. President Enrique Peña Nieto initially promised his reforms would bring annual growth of 5-6%; his government has since had to lower its forecasts repeatedly. Private-sector economists think growth will average 3.8% over the next decade, according to a poll from the central bank.
The strength of Mexico’s exports to America—especially cars—has not translated into booming domestic demand due to decades of miserly wages, economists say. A huge, unproductive informal sector and general lawlessness also drag the economy down. The “pressure cooker effect” of low growth, low wages and rising inequality of income and opportunity could explode, according to Mr Esquivel. “The Peña Nieto administration doesn’t understand this. They still talk in terms of trickle-down.”
The government disputes this. Alejandro Díaz de Léon, the finance ministry’s point man on the latest 100-year bond, acknowledges that Mexico has underperformed in terms of growth. “Productivity, job creation and wealth creation are the key issues for the future,” he admits. But he says the president’s reforms aim to address them. Moreover, he argues, the lessons learned from Mexico’s past booms and busts are so embedded among politicians and officials that there is little chance of a slide back into financial chaos. He points to Mexico’s independent central bank, open financial markets and free-trade agreements as guarantors of stability.
Demography is another card played by the optimists. A whopping 46% of the population is under 25. Luis de la Calle, an uncharacteristically upbeat Mexican economist, says this alone could turn Mexico into one of the world’s biggest economies within the next few decades. He believes that the country will soon rue its 100-year issuance at 4%, because it will be able to borrow far more cheaply. “We’ll prepay that bond, no doubt,” he says.
Whether countries repay their debts comes down to questions of political will as much as economic performance, however. Some fret that Mexico’s past will return to haunt it. The country inherited a habit of default from the Spanish empire, which reneged on its debts more than a dozen times between the 16th and 20th centuries. Mexicans have also alternated repeatedly between an embrace of globalisation and a reversion to an inward-looking nationalism.
For the first decade of the 20th century, for instance, international bankers threw money at Mexico because of its macroeconomic stability, its railway boom and a global liquidity glut. Then came the murderous revolution of 1910, which erupted partly because the fruits of that prosperity had not been shared. Mexico defaulted on its debt in 1914. It was shut out of capital markets for most of the next three decades. It did not become a big borrower again until the 1970s. For bondholders to get their money back in 2115, Mexico must defy its history and remain open to trade and foreign capital.written by Tara Haelle
I’m back! My apologies for the long absence — the summer time travel schedule becomes quite hectic, especially when combined with work deadlines. In addition, our family also took a one-week vacation to Costa Rica the week before last, during which I outlawed myself from the Internet (unless needed for hotel bookings or travel-related utility), including email, Facebook and blogging. (Then, of course, I spent the subsequent week recovering and catching up with work!)
But ironically, the first thing I’m writing about relates to our week in Costa Rica — the way our circadian rhythms are influenced by natural light-dark cycles. A study published in the journal Current Biology yesterday describes an interesting experiment whose results are quite timely in light of what I experienced while in Central America and what a friend recently told me about her experience now that her family has gotten rid of the television.
First, some background: both the now-TV-less friend and I are natural night owls. The technical terms is that we favor “eveningness,” and people with severe eveningness may have delayed sleep phase disorder. Given that my 3 am pretty much always naturally feels like others’ 11 pm for going to bed, and my 7 am pretty much always feels like others’ 3 am for waking up (I’m truly worthless before 9am, regardless of my bedtime), I strongly suspect I have delayed sleep phase disorder.
Except when I’m camping. Or in Costa Rica. I found that on our vacation, I naturally felt like going to bed most nights between 10:30 pm and midnight. And although I set an alarm for our exceptionally early mornings (like an ill-fated 6 am fishing trip or a 5 am shuttle to the airport), I generally felt fine getting up between 7:30 and 8:30 am, even though I normally D-R-A-G myself from bed between 9:30 and 10:30 am in real life. Meanwhile, my friend Anna’s toddler recently sent their TV to the grave, and they decided not to replace it. She told me she’s feeling tired earlier in the night now, falling asleep more easily, sleeping less restlessly (she often suffered insomnia or took forever to fall asleep) and feeling more refreshed in the morning. She believes — and there is research to back this up — that the light from the television had been disrupting her sleep cycles.
Which brings up to the study today that looked at exactly that: the influence of natural light-dark cycles on people’s biological clocks, compared to the influence of artificial light.
Circadian rhythms, or humans’ internal biological clocks, determine when we naturally go to sleep or wake up. When they’re out of whack, it may indicate a circadian rhythm disorder. Or, it might just indicate that we live in the modern world that has been revolutionized by the ubiquity of artificial electric light, especially since “the 1930s when electrical power grids in North America and Europe provided electricity to power electrical lighting for the masses, permitting humans to spend more time being active in indoor constructed environments,” the study authors noted.
Our clocks are “reset” by light, and while sunlight has the strongest effect, any kind of light can jack with our cycles. One of the hormones involved in circadian rhythms is melatonin. Its onset induces the sleepiness that makes us want to crawl into bed; its offset allows us to greet the world the next morning. In this study, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder studied six men and two women (average age 30) during a two-week experiment in which they compared participants’ melatonin onset/offset, bedtime, wake-up time, hours of sleep, sleep efficiency and light exposure in two different environments.
During the first week, the eight participants went about their normal daily lives in their home environments, which contained the same artificial lighting that dominates the life of most people in the world today where electricity is widespread. During the second week, the eight went camping with no flashlights, no cell phones, no iPads, no lanterns and no other kind of artificial light (though they did have campfires).
Several of the findings were not necessarily surprising, but I was still struck by them, including the fact that the participants were exposed to more than four times as much light during the camping week. During their waking hours in “regular life,” the participants were exposed to an average 979 lux, which the authors note is actually higher than typical, perhaps because the participants were outdoorsy types who lived in the sunny Rocky Mountains of Colorado. While camping, their daily average light exposure during waking hours was a whopping 4487 lux.
More importantly for the body’s clock, however, is the light the participants were exposed to in the first two hours after waking up. Light exposure during those two hours is the most crucial for “resetting” the body’s clock, much like winding it up for the next 24-hour cycle and, in a sense, telling your body how much time should pass before you should go to sleep again. In the artificial lighting environments of everyday life, the participants were exposed to an average 934 lux in the first two hours after awakening. While camping, their morning light exposure was an average 3074 lux.
There was, however, one time frame during which the participants were exposed to more light in their everyday, artificially lit environment than in natural light: between sunset and bedtime. During this time, the participants were exposed to about 21 lux in their everyday lives and about 8 lux while camping. Again, this is significant because artificial light during this time period is the most influential on circadian clock delays. While the morning light winds your clock up, light during the nighttime before going to bed slows it down, telling your body it’s… not… quite… time… for… bed… yet… and so you stay up later than you would have if you’d stayed on track from the morning reset. (Hence my friend Anne’s observation that she was appropriately tired at bedtime and falling asleep better when she was no longer watching TV so close to bedtime.)
In fact, the researchers also found that the individual differences among the participants in terms of their morningness or eveningness became less pronounced when they were camping. The night owls became a bit more like early birds, even though their average hours of total sleep and their average sleep efficiency (the number of minutes of sleep divided by the number of minutes in bed) remained similar during both weeks. During their week of regular life, the participants slept an average 6.7 hours a night with 87.6% efficiency ; while camping, it was 6.8 hours with 87% efficiency.
Of course, “social behaviors, removal of electrical lighting and increased physical activity” while camping could have all played a part in when the campers went to bed. But the effects of natural sunlight made a difference too, “resulting in larger circadian advances for those with later chronotypes.” In plain language, those who had typically stayed up later saw bigger changes in their (earlier) bedtimes when camping because their biological clocks were getting or reset (advanced) earlier.
The researchers observed that night owls’ biological clocks tend to run even later than early birds’ clocks do when exposed to less sunlight. This may seem obvious: they’re night owls, so of course they see less daylight. But the researchers suggested the direction runs the other way: it’s because they get less daylight that they’re night owls. And the daylight may worsen sleep/circadian problems like delayed sleep phase and jetlag, they wrote. (Hence the use of sun lamps to treat delayed sleep phase disorder.)
And the bottom line to all this is that — surprise! — humans are like any other animal in how our bodies react to sunlight cycles. The researchers wrote, “Our findings demonstrate a fundamental physiological principle of human circadian timing — internal biological time under natural light-dark conditions tightly synchronizes to environmental time, and in this regard, humans are comparable to other animals.”
While fascinating, most of these findings simply confirmed what biologists and sleep doctors already knew about how circadian rhythms were influenced by artificial light. What I found more compelling were the changes in the participants’ melatonin onset and offset during the two different weeks.
In their everyday, artificially lit lives, the participants’ melatonin onset was about two hours before they went to sleep, which was typically around 12:30am. The melatonin hit its midpoint during the second half of “solar night,” which is the full period from sunset to sunrise. The melatonin switched off about 8 am — more than an hour after participants had woken up.
After spending a week camping, however, the melatonin pattern shifted two hours earlier: onset about sunset, midpoint exactly in the middle of solar night and offset just after sunrise — about 50 minutes before participants woke up.
Aha! That groggy morning drudge out of bed to make coffee, during which it takes you more than an hour to really “wake up” once you’re out of bed? Yea, your melatonin is still going strong, baby. But while camping, the melatonin offset occurs nearly an hour before you open your eyes to greet the world. Hence the reason I felt refreshed each morning on my Costa Rica trip, when I was more or less following the natural daytime/nighttime cues for my sleep. I also wasn’t using my computer late into the evening as I usually do (and am right now, actually). The one night I remember staying up late in Costa Rica, I was actually playing a stupid game on my iPhone.
Now, before I get too carried away extrapolating this study to you and me, I’ll mention again that it only involved eight participants, which is hardly more than a case study. Yet these findings support much of what past circadian rhythm research has already revealed, as the authors discuss. Our cognitive performance is lowest at the “circadian low point in brain arousal,” which research has shown occurs about two hours after people habitually wake up. But that sleepiness we experience after waking up might exist primarily because we now live in artificially lit environments. Potentially, “if human circadian and sleep timing was in synchrony with the natural light-dark cycle, the circadian low point in brain arousal would move to before the end of the sleep episode, making it easier to awaken in the morning.”
Aside from the small number of people in the study, another limitation is that it was conducted in sunny Colorado during July. Folks living through the long, dark Alaskan winters or the endlessly sunny Norwegian summers would get too much or too little sleep if their bodies followed the cues of the natural light-dark cycles, and this study does not address what the body does do in those circumstances (nor in places like rainy Seattle, where the sunlight is muted through the clouds much of the time).
But clearly, the study shows that, yes, electrical light messes with our body clocks, having “altered human circadian physiology, leading to a major change in the timing of our sleep and wakefulness.”
But the findings do offer suggestions for people trying to straighten out their biological clocks: “exposure to the natural light-dark cycle may help to obtain a desired earlier timing of the circadian clock and sleep for patients with delayed sleep phase. In addition, increased exposure to sunlight combined with a fixed earlier sleep schedule may help adolescents and young adults who need to awaken early for school and work to maintain earlier sleep and wake timings.” So, if your clock isn’t quite ticking right, or you’re coming off shift work, or you just need to get your butt out of bed earlier, get thee outside to soak up the sun. It might help “reduce the physiological, cognitive and health consequences of circadian disruption.”
Now if only I could get it to work with a newborn, I would so totally go camping in my backyard for those first two months after birth!As the upper house voted on a bill that will ban vilification and intimidation against LGBTI people during the government's same-sex marriage survey, Labor Senate leader Penny Wong, who is gay, pointed out that although "sometimes prejudice comes in very polite forms" it still causes hurt.
In the same debate, senator Louise Pratt held back tears as she spoke about her "rainbow family" being handed an anti-marriage equality pamphlet at a shopping centre.
The government passed the emergency protections bill through the Senate on Wednesday morning with the support of Labor, the Greens and cross benchers. It will now go to the House of Representatives this week, where it is expected to pass.
The legislation will make it illegal to vilify, intimidate or threaten harm against people on the basis of them being LGBTI, having religious convictions, or for their views on the survey. The bill could see people in violation slapped with a $12,600 fine, and will cease at the end of the survey.
Acting special minister of state Mathias Cormann made a point of rejecting the argument that offensive and objectionable comments mostly come from the "no" campaign, saying it had been ugly on both sides for many years.
"This bill is not about protecting advocates or supporters of 'yes' side from those arguing in favour of the current definition of marriage," Cormann said.
"This is about ensuring this process is fair to both sides."
The survey has begun — with forms posted out yesterday — but the for and against campaigns cranked into gear weeks ago. Australians have already seen acrimonious arguments between "yes" and "no" campaigners play out in the media, as well as countless flyers and posters denigrating LGBTI people pop up in city streets and mailboxes.
Wong told the chamber a story about her Malaysian father, who came to Australia in the 1960s when the White Australia policy was in place, and who was invited to the homes of well-to-do, educated people in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide as a Colombo Plan scholar.
"He said, 'They were very polite to me and gave me cups of tea. But they didn't want me to take their daughter out'," Wong told the Senate.
"I'm often reminded of that in this debate. Sometimes prejudice comes in very polite forms. Sometimes a lack of acceptance and disrespect comes with a great deal of courtesy. But it lands nevertheless."
Wong said she was used to the debate, but the constant barrage of articles and comments saying her family is somehow less good than others was wearing even her down.
"If I feel like that, how do you think it feels for the children in same-sex couple families, or to LGBTI Australians everywhere, to be told, politely and courteously, 'Actually you're not quite normal. Your families aren't as good'."
She also slammed the "no" campaign for discussing everything but same-sex marriage itself: "They want to talk about a whole range of quite odd, bizarre and unconnected things because they don't actually want to say what they mean, which is: 'We don't think gay people should be equal'. That's actually what they think."The Revolution will face the Charlotte Independence in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup after the USL side edged the NASL’s Carolina RailHawks 1-0 during Wednesday’s third round match at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
Former Crew first-round pick Ryan Finley scored the game-winner in the 81st minute to send the Independence through to the fourth round date with the Revolution, which will take place on Jun. 17 at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.
A number of former Revolution participated in Wednesday’s third-round clash, including 2007 first round pick Wells Thompson and one-time preseason trialist Blake Wagner, both of whom started for Carolina. Bilal Duckett and Paolo DelPiccolo both started for Charlotte.
The Revolution won the U.S. Open Cup tournament in 2007. Incidentally, Thompson scored the game-winner in the championship final vs. FC Dallas.You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters
NASA announced Thursday that the Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed the boundary between our sun's influence into interstellar space. The spacecraft is still on duty, still sending back data. Even at the speed of light, it takes nearly 19 hours to cross the 11.7 billion miles. The signal is very weak as it reaches Earth. For comparison, Voyager 1's signals are 10 quadrillionth the 1 watt of energy cellphones operate on.
Scientists expect Voyager to continue functioning for many years. On-board memory (a single 8-track tape recorder, remember this was launched in 1977) is expected to last another two years. Mission managers aren't even planning to begin shutting down science instruments until 2020 and anticipate another 5-10 years of operations in a reduced power consumption mode.
Even after the final instrument is powered down, a project led by the late astronomer Carl Sagan will ensure that Voyager 1's mission continues as a "bottle into the cosmic ocean."
A team led by Sagan created "Messages from Earth," a recording of images, music and other sounds of Earth including greetings in 55 languages. The resulting 12-inch, gold-plated (for longevity) copper record was mounted on the side of Voyager 1 and 2 along with instructions and a stylus. Instructions show how to playback the sounds on the record and decode the 115 images of Earth and its inhabitants. A map to our solar system using pulsars as guideposts is also included with the instructions. An atomic clock of sorts was included with a small disc of an ultra-pure source of Uranium-238, half of which will decay over the next 4.51 billion years.
The project originally envisioned United Nations members recording greetings in their native languages. However, the concept of "short greetings" was lost on the delegates as each either made a speech or recited poetry from their homeland.
Sagan turned to the sizable linguistics department at the university where he taught astronomy. On the morning of June 8, 1977, a group grad students arrived on a few hours notice at Cornell University's administration building for a very unique recording session.
The only instruction given to the collection of students was to come up with a "greeting to the universe" in their language and to write the greeting and an English translation. Sagan explained that recordings would placed aboard a spacecraft and participants were asked to sign a release that granted NASA the right to use the session "throughout the world and extraterrestially."
The Portuguese greeting was provided by Janet Sternberg, a graduate student in linguistics and a teaching assistant in Portuguese. She was third to record and had only minutes to think of how she would represent the planet's Portuguese speakers, a heavy responsibility for a 23-year-old. In just a few words, she spoke for Rio de Janeiro where she grew up, Brazil as a whole and for Portugal and numerous African nations where the language is spoken.
I talked with Dr. Sternberg about her experiences that day. She recalled the day fondly, speaking of a sense of camaraderie that quickly developed. She also shared her greatest concern then and now, "What will other Portuguese of the world think of what I'm saying?"
Most greetings expressed best wishes.
The Gujarati reached out with "Greetings from a human being of the Earth. Please contact."
The Amoy reflected common greetings of that culture: "Friends of space, how are you all? Have you eaten yet?"
The Swedish greeting was a mini-resume: "Greetings from a computer programmer in the little university town of Ithaca on the planet Earth."
The last greeting was recorded in English, by Carl Sagan's 5-year old son Nick: "Hello from the children of planet Earth."
Today Nick Sagan is a science-fiction novelist and screenwriter.
As Sternberg listened to her colleague David Owen record "May all be well" in Sumerian and Frederick Ah |
“an effective movement of the unemployed will have to look something like the strikes and riots that have spread across Greece,” and that “protesters need targets, preferably local and accessible ones,” led Mr. Beck to ask on Fox this week, “Is that not inciting violence? Is that not asking for violence?” Videos of fires in Greece played behind him.
“That is not a call for violence,” Ms. Piven said Friday of the references to riots. “There is a kind of rhetorical trick that is always used to denounce movements of ordinary people, and that is to imply that the massing of people itself is violent.”
That, she said, is what Mr. Beck is doing, trying to frighten his viewers.
The Nation, which has featured Ms. Piven’s columns for decades, quoted some of the threats against her in an editorial this week that condemned the “concerted campaign” against her.
One such threat, published as an anonymous comment on The Blaze, read, “Somebody tell Frances I have 5000 roundas ready and I’ll give My life to take Our freedom back.” (The spelling and capitalizing have not been changed.)
That comment and others that were direct threats were later deleted, but other comments remain that charge her with treasonous behavior.
Mr. Beck generally does not have guests on his hourlong Fox program, and Ms. Piven has not been invited to defend herself on the program. Neither Mr. Beck nor any of his producers have ever contacted her, she said.
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The Center for Constitutional Rights said it took exception to the sheer quantity of negative attention to Ms. Piven.
“We are vigorous defenders of the First Amendment,” the center said in its letter to Fox. “However, there comes a point when constant intentional repetition of provocative, incendiary, emotional misinformation and falsehoods about a person can put that person in actual physical danger of a violent response.” Mr. Beck is at that point, they said.
Ms. Piven, for her part, said she was amazed that she was still being brought up on Mr. Beck’s show as recently as Wednesday.
“There are hundreds and hundreds of people who are just boiling with anger and hate,” she said.News > CALL OF DUTY > The DreamHack Call of Duty Nordic Championship announced
The DreamHack Call of Duty Nordic Championship announced
Open qualifiers – DreamHack invites all Swedish players to join the tournament
STOCKHOLM – May 11th, 2015 - It is time to determine who the best Call of Duty® team in the Nordics is with the start of the The DreamHack Call of Duty Nordic Championship. DreamHack in collaboration with Activision and Xbox One, today invites all Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare players in Sweden to create teams and sign up for a chance to compete head-to-head for the honour of being named the “Call of Duty Nordic Champions.”
“There is an amazing Call of Duty community in Sweden and we really wanted to give all players a chance to compete at the highest level. We are inviting all Swedish players to compete head-to-head in intense objective-based game modes and face off against invited Nordic pro-teams, and we can’t wait to see all the action.” says, Magnus Leppäniemi at DreamHack
The tournament consists of open qualifiers for Sweden and Nordic pro-team invites. The live events Swedish Championship Finals and Nordic Championship Finals are taking place in the Monster Energy® DreamHack Studios in Stockholm. The DreamHack Nordic Championship tournament matches will be played on Xbox One and live streamed worldwide on the DreamHack Official Twitch channel. The DreamHack Call of Duty® activities from Monster Energy® DreamHack Studios and DreamHack Summer 2015 in Jönköping will feature a world’s class eSport production.
Read more and sign up for The DreamHack Call of Duty Nordic Championship here:
http://www.dreamhack.se/dhs15/esport/cod/
View The DreamHack Call of Duty Nordic Championship here:
www.twitch.tv/DreamHacktv
The DreamHack Call of Duty Nordic Championship – Dates:
May 11th – Swedish Championship – Open qualifier sign up begins for all Swedish Call of Duty players
May 24th – Swedish Championship – Finals
June 7th – Nordic Championship – Finals
June 15th – DreamHack Summer – Nordic Champions vs. International Pro-team
In the Nordic finals, the Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Danish teams will be battling it out for the title Nordic Champions. The winning team will receive an invite to DreamHack Summer 2015 covering the team’s hotel and travels to get a chance to face off one of the World’s best Call of Duty® pro-teams in an intense show match on June 15th.
About DreamHack
DreamHack is the world’s largest computer festival. DreamHack’s core, and origin is the LAN party, with the two major festivals DreamHack Summer in June and DreamHack Winter in November. The events are a platform for eSport, knowledge and creative competitions, music acts, lectures by game developers, Internet & game culture, cosplay, the fair DreamExpo and much much more. DreamHack is also a production company with a focus on gaming, eSports, music and arena productions for both traditional TV and the Internet. During 2014 DreamHack had 104,000 visitors to its events and more than 15 million unique viewers who followed the live broadcast online. More information is available on www.DreamHack.se
About Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Activision maintains operations throughout the world. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com or by following @Activision.
ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, and CALL OF DUTY ADVANCED WARFARE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
MORE INFORMATION
Tickets: bokning.dreamhack.se
Prize Money Policy: www.dreamhack.se
Event rules: www.dreamhack.se
Contact: esport@dreamhack.se
Phone: +46 76 800 13 36 (Office hours)Throughout his career, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick kept a list of potential movie titles that they called “Titles in search of a script.” Kubrick’s personal assistant Tony Frewin revealed the fun list, along with commentary explaining where the titles came from, in the comprehensive book The Stanley Kubrick Archives:
I MARRIED AN ARMENIAN : Said matter-of-factly to us by a woman publicist. Stanley thought it a great title for a 1940s-style Warner Bros. musical.
: Said matter-of-factly to us by a woman publicist. Stanley thought it a great title for a 1940s-style Warner Bros. musical. IF ONLY THE FÜHRER KNEW! : This was a common saying in Germany in the 1930s whenever something went wrong or somebody did something wrong. Used mockingly with the eyes looking upwards.
: This was a common saying in Germany in the 1930s whenever something went wrong or somebody did something wrong. Used mockingly with the eyes looking upwards. HOT SHEETS, LEG CANDY, LEG MAGIC, FEEL TIGHT, PARTITION MAGIC : Five vehicles for Sharon Stone. Partition Magic was the name of a software package in the days of DOS that almost allowed you to run two programs concurrently.
: Five vehicles for Sharon Stone. Partition Magic was the name of a software package in the days of DOS that almost allowed you to run two programs concurrently. ONLY MINISTERS OF THE THIRD REICH MAY USE GREEN INK : Stanley read somewhere that this was, in fact, true. He thought it would make a great art house double bill with Wim Wender’s 1971 film, The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick.
: Stanley read somewhere that this was, in fact, true. He thought it would make a great art house double bill with Wim Wender’s 1971 film, The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick. COFFIN NOT INCLUDED : A 1940s noir thriller. When I was researching props for the morgue scene in Eyes Wide Shut I had a catalogue from a company that supplied funeral parlour equipment. One of the illustrations showed a bier with a coffin on it. The caption read: “The Excelsior Bier (coffin not included.)”
: A 1940s noir thriller. When I was researching props for the morgue scene in Eyes Wide Shut I had a catalogue from a company that supplied funeral parlour equipment. One of the illustrations showed a bier with a coffin on it. The caption read: “The Excelsior Bier (coffin not included.)” DR STRANGLE-GLOVE : Stanley’s title misunderstood by a switchboard operator at Shepperton Studios while he was making the film.
: Stanley’s title misunderstood by a switchboard operator at Shepperton Studios while he was making the film. OSMIROID AND OBLIVION and OTHER BARRELS, OTHER NIBS : Two art house films about European writers. Lots of sensitivity, lots of angst. Osmiroid made some of Stanley’s favourite fountain pens. Oskar Werner in the lead?)
and : Two art house films about European writers. Lots of sensitivity, lots of angst. Osmiroid made some of Stanley’s favourite fountain pens. Oskar Werner in the lead?) TWIG THE ENHANCER : Heroic quest and Tolkien-type fantasy. Stanley’s house was in a sink as regards mobile phone reception, so, the company put in an enhancer to boost reception and transmission. After a few weeks it went down. An engineer turned up and fixed it. We asked him what he had done. He replied, “I had to twig the enhancer.”
: Heroic quest and Tolkien-type fantasy. Stanley’s house was in a sink as regards mobile phone reception, so, the company put in an enhancer to boost reception and transmission. After a few weeks it went down. An engineer turned up and fixed it. We asked him what he had done. He replied, “I had to twig the enhancer.” NIGHTCLUBS, MORGUES, HOSPITAL : A comedy with Steve Martin.
: A comedy with Steve Martin. IN THE PENILE COLONY : Not penal … Kafka meets Marilyn Chambers?
: Not penal … Kafka meets Marilyn Chambers? ONE BAG, ONE NOTEBOOK : Art house angst, Oskar Werner again.
: Art house angst, Oskar Werner again. THE WIZARD OF AUSCHWITZ : A concentration camp film with a feel-good ending.
: A concentration camp film with a feel-good ending. AUSCHWITZ AND ME! : A musical. The follow-up to Springtime for Hitler?
: A musical. The follow-up to Springtime for Hitler? SHARP SHADOW ON THE WALL : Arty noir film set in the 1940s with not a lot happening.
: Arty noir film set in the 1940s with not a lot happening. THE TWO WALLYS : From Wally Veevers and Wally Gentleman, two of the SFX supervisors on 2001: A Space Odyssey.
: From Wally Veevers and Wally Gentleman, two of the SFX supervisors on 2001: A Space Odyssey. SIGHT GAGS FOR PERVERTS : How Dr. Strangelove was described on its release in a review in the Bulletin of the American Film Institute! Stanley cherished this.
: How Dr. Strangelove was described on its release in a review in the Bulletin of the American Film Institute! Stanley cherished this. SOME LIKE IT COLD and JACK THE SNIFFER : An intriguing double-bill for forensic science buffs.
and : An intriguing double-bill for forensic science buffs. SPEAKING ALARMS : Low budget Brit film seen by nobody.
: Low budget Brit film seen by nobody. KIRA THE KARAOKE GIRL: A low budget art house film from somewhere in the Balkans. Lots of tears. Depressing ending.
(Found via reddit)Fred Ensinger (Photo Credit: Bastrop County Sheriff's Office) Fred Ensinger (Photo Credit: Bastrop County Sheriff's Office)
Bastrop County Sheriff's deputy Fred Ensinger was on the other side of the handcuffs Friday morning after his supervisor arrested him for D.W.I.
"Our dispatchers noticed that one of our officer's, over the radio, appeared to have some slurred speech seemed to be a little disoriented and they were worried about his well-being," Charlie Littleton, Chief Deputy at the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office, said.
Ensinger's supervisors were dispatched to check on him and when they arrived, they found him sitting inside of his patrol car on the 100 block of Navasota Street with the motor on.
"When he went to talk to him to ask him how he was, was something wrong, he detected an odor of alcohol," Littleton said. "On further checking of the vehicle, the sergeant found a backpack with a bottle of vodka in it and some of the vodka had been consumed."
Supervisors also found an empty bottle of prescription medicine. Ensinger was arrested and charged with D.W.I. He was taken to the Bastrop County Jail where he later posted bond.
This isn't the first on-duty, alcohol-related incident concerning Ensinger. In September 2015, when he showed up for work a sergeant smelled alcohol on his breath. According to the Sheriff's Office, Ensinger told supervisors he had been drinking the night before and that the smell of alcohol was residual. Ensigner added that he "had a mental lapse." Something the Sheriff's Office said they addressed.
"We had taken action on that." Littleton said, "The officer was in counseling, if you will, he was making some meetings and reporting back to us. We've been monitoring that as we go."
Ensinger has been with the Sheriff's Office since May of 2015, first working as a jailer. He moved from the jail to patrol in September of the same year. Just days prior to his first alcohol incident.
The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office said Ensinger will remain on administrative leave until an internal investigation has been completed. Stating that could take less than a week to complete.
Not only is his future as a deputy in question so too are his chances in the upcoming election, where he is running for the Precinct 3 County Commissioners seat. As of Friday night, he is still running for office.
FOX 7 obtained the following press release from The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office.
On 01-29-2016 at approximately 8:30am Sheriff’s Office dispatchers alerted the on duty patrol supervisor, Sgt. James Davenport, as to concerns about the welfare of patrol deputy Fred Ensinger who was on duty at the time. Dispatchers stated that Deputy Ensinger’s speech was slurred and he was not making sense in his conversation.
Sgt. Davenport and Deputy Hurtado promptly responded and met with Deputy Ensinger near 143 Navasota Street in Bastrop County.
Sgt. Davenport made contact with Deputy Ensinger who was sitting in the driver seat of his assigned marked patrol vehicle and detected an odor of alcohol emitting from Ensinger’s breath as he spoke.
Sgt. Davenport conducted a search of the county owned Sheriff’s patrol vehicle and discovered an open quart sized bottle of vodka in an open backpack, belonging to Ensinger, in the front passenger seat. Also found with the alcohol was an empty bottle of prescription medication.
Deputy Ensinger was relieved of duty and transported to the Sheriff’s Office where a search warrant for a blood specimen was obtained and executed. Deputy Ensinger was subsequently booked into Bastrop County Jail for the charge of Driving While Intoxicated w/ Open Container.
Bail was set at $10,000 and he was released on his own recognizance (PR Bond).
Deputy Ensinger has been employed with the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office since May 2015 where he started as a jailer. He transferred to the patrol division in September 2015 and is currently assigned to the 6:00am – 6:00pm patrol shift.
At a time prior to working for the Sheriff’s Office Ensinger was a Game Warden for Texas Parks and Wildlife.When Claude Lévi-Strauss died a little over a year ago at age 100, he left behind a curious and contested legacy. For the French, he was the intellectual equivalent of royalty. In 2008, editions of his works were published in the gilt-lettered Pléiade collection, an act of canonization rare for a living French author; in his last appearances on television, he was less a commentator than an object of veneration; shortly before the end, President Nicolas Sarkozy paid him court to wish him happy birthday. "All French anthropologists are the children of Lévi-Strauss," proclaimed Le Monde in its obituary—which was an understatement, as there is scarcely a field in the humanities and social sciences Lévi-Strauss left unaltered. His ideas about myth dramatically collapsed the distinction between European high culture and so-called primitive society, and weaned a generation of French thinkers off Marxist orthodoxy and Sartrean existentialism. Though he did not like to claim intellectual patrimony, the careers of Jacques Lacan, Roland Barthes, Louis Althusser and Michel Foucault are impossible to imagine without him. Ad Policy Claude Lévi-Strauss
The Poet in the Laboratory.
By Patrick Wilcken.
Buy this book.
But for readers outside France, including many Anglo-American critics, the nature of his achievement is harder to define. No one doubts Lévi-Strauss was the author of important works and the purveyor of powerful insights, but the suspicion remains that behind his fantastically rigorous analyses of Amerindian culture there operated a deeply impressionistic and idiosyncratic mind at odds with any general theory. Some accused him of reducing the meaning of human existence to an arbitrary stock of contrasting flavors: the raw and the cooked, the fresh and the rotten, the wet and the dry. Others took his structuralist program to be a scientific alibi that concealed his fundamentally artistic enterprise. This was a man, after all, who once, while in the middle of the Amazon, wrote a tragedy about Augustus, and whose magnum opus, the four-volume Mythologiques (1964–71), was composed in a series of musical movements that promised a key to all mythologies. For such critics, the very scale of Lévi-Strauss’s ambition belongs to a particularly heady moment in French thought.
Patrick Wilcken’s new biography, Claude Lévi-Strauss: The Poet in the Laboratory, is an ambitious attempt to navigate between these two extreme perspectives. An Australian historian of Brazil with a background in anthropology, Wilcken is well positioned to deliver a coolheaded account of Lévi-Strauss’s life and career. He interviewed Lévi-Strauss twice for this book, and while his subject remained almost comically aloof during their sessions—"My emotional states weren’t that important to me," he once remarked—Wilcken is alive enough to his dissembling ironies to read him profitably against the grain. If Lévi-Strauss was able to make scientific discoveries about aboriginal cultures, it was not despite his artistic predilections, Wilcken convincingly argues, but because of them. Countless anthropologists combed through the remains of the last aboriginal societies in the course of the twentieth century, many of them with more experience in the field than Lévi-Strauss. But they lacked his trained sensibility: the sharp eye for cultural patterns, the novelistic feel for the shape of a story, the patience for synthesizing masses of abstruse data into meaningful wholes. This is what Wilcken means when he calls him "the poet in the laboratory," even if, as Lévi-Strauss liked to joke, his lab was inconveniently located 6,000 miles outside Paris.
* * *
Claude Lévi-Strauss was groomed to be an artiste. He grew up in a secular Jewish household on the edge of Paris’s sixteenth arrondissement, surrounded by his father’s exotic curios and half-finished projects. Raymond Lévi-Strauss was a portraitist with a weakness for pastels. His livelihood was endangered by the rise of photography, and when his commissions dried up in the 1920s, his son helped him use scraps around the house to make a series of haphazard, artful knickknacks to pay the bills (a homegrown example of what the anthropologist would later call "bricolage"). Despite his limited means, Raymond gave Claude a rich grounding in the arts. He schooled him in the grand masters at the Louvre, immersed him in the operas of Wagner and encouraged his sketching of set designs for the theater.
But the young Lévi-Strauss was also tempted by the world beyond his father’s ken. He admired the novels of Louis-Ferdinand Céline and André Breton and made the rounds at the studios and galleries of avant-garde painters. In an early article published in Georges Bataille’s journal Documents, he made a case for Picasso as the greatest painter of the age but criticized Cubism for pretending to be a break from Impressionism when it was simply another manifestation of bourgeois art tailor-made for a band of insiders. By age 21, Lévi-Strauss was already playing the detective, deciphering the clues of culture.
Lévi-Strauss’s early academic experiences were less exhilarating than his extracurricular escapades. In his memoir Tristes Tropiques (1955), he bitterly recalled the "claustrophobic, Turkish bath-like atmosphere" of the French university system and its scholastic pretensions. After choosing to study philosophy—"the result less of a genuine vocation than of a dislike for the other subjects"—he prepared for the "inhuman ordeal" of the Aggregation, the competitive examination that allows students in France to become university lecturers. "I was confident that, at ten minutes’ notice, I could knock together an hour’s lecture with a sound dialectical framework, on the respective superiority of buses and trams," he remembered. Wilcken’s retelling of the period offers glimpses of the coming attractions of postwar French thought: we see Lévi-Strauss brush shoulders with Simone Weil, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Simone de Beauvoir ("Very young, with a fresh, bright complexion, like a little peasant girl," he remembered). Like many of his generation, Lévi-Strauss was intimately involved in politics: he served as the secretary general for the Socialist student union, worked for a Socialist deputy and became president of a left-wing advocacy group dedicated to mobilizing students worldwide. But with these solid leftist credentials came remarkably conventional views. The young Lévi-Strauss emerges in Wilcken’s portrait as an advocate of the sort of mild paternalistic colonialism he would later abhor, and a champion of a vague kind of gradual social change he called "Constructive Revolution." If Lévi-Strauss was a radical in anything, it was in his course of study. He eventually decided to abandon his pursuit of a doctorate in philosophy—the traditional rite of passage for France’s intellectual elite—and cast about for an escape route.
The relatively uncharted waters of anthropology made it an appealing refuge for the intellectually adept but rudderless Lévi-Strauss. In later years, he made it seem like he was hard-wired for the match:
I sometimes wonder if anthropology did not attract me, without my realizing this, because of a structural affinity between the civilizations it studies and my particular way of thinking. I have no aptitude for prudently cultivating a given field and gathering in the harvest year after year: I have a neolithic kind of intelligence. Like native bush fires, it sometimes sets unexplored areas alight; it may fertilize them and snatch a few crops from them, and then it moves on, leaving scorched earth in its wake.
For Lévi-Strauss, anthropology was a vocation akin to music or mathematics: you had to discover the aptitude for it within yourself. It was perhaps an advantage that he barely had any formal training in the field. He was too young to have signed on to the first major French ethnographic expedition across North Africa, undertaken by Marcel Griaule and Michael Leiris, and he neglected to attend the seminars of Marcel Mauss, who did pioneering work on reciprocity and gift exchange, at the Collège de France. Instead, he imbibed a mixed brew of the latest field reports by American anthropologists along with the Surrealist accounts of French writers who had made contact with indigenous peoples. Inspired by the travel books of the contemporary novelist Paul Nizan and the sixteenth-century missionary-explorer Jean de Léry, Lévi-Strauss dreamed of the possibility of not only philosophizing about Rousseau’s noble savage but of actually going out to find him. In 1934, when an opportunity came his way to teach at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, he jumped at the chance.
* * *
It is astonishing how much of Lévi-Strauss’s reputation still hinges on a nine-month voyage through the Mato Grosso of western Brazil that was, in many respects, a failure. The objective was to travel along an abandoned telegraph line and conduct a rigorous survey of the little-known Nambikwara tribe, but a series of setbacks meant Lévi-Strauss could spend only a few days among them. His account of his sole sustained fieldwork experience—which makes up the bulk of Tristes Tropiques—presents a challenge to any biographer who wants to cover the same territory with matching vividness. But it’s in Brazil that Wilcken is at his best, providing the missing parts of Lévi-Strauss’s narrative, including his on-the-spot field notes, and filling in the supporting cast barely mentioned in the book. We watch as Lévi-Strauss, low on money and bartering supplies, placates a planted spy from the Brazilian government in the convoy, and copes with broken recording equipment and unreliable mules. After his young ethnographer wife, Dina, contracts a sight-threatening eye infection, he wastes no time dispatching her back to São Paulo. For a thinker who would be an armchair anthropologist for the rest of his life—"I realized early on that I was a library man," he once told an interviewer—Lévi-Strauss displayed a remarkable toughness in the bush. Wilcken treats us to a digression on the fate of another member of the expedition, a young Columbia graduate student named Buell Quain, who would later commit suicide from the pressures likely related to fieldwork.
When Lévi-Strauss at last reached the Nambikwara after an 800-mile trek, the encounter shattered his romantic expectations. "I had been looking for a society reduced to its simplest expression," he wrote, and "that of the Nambikwara was so truly simple that all I could find in it was individual human beings." The men of the tribe greeted him laughing; the women tried to steal his soap as he washed in the river. Malnourished, and on the brink of a breakdown, he nevertheless started to gather the material he would use to shatter a generation-old consensus in anthropology. Whereas functionalist anthropologists following Bronislaw Malinowski believed the social lives of indigenous peoples were determined by basic needs like sex and hunger, Lévi-Strauss found something close to the opposite in the tribes he encountered: even in the most dire conditions, they were driven above all by an intellectual need to understand the world around them. When Amerindians chose animals for their totems, it was not because they were "good to eat," Lévi-Strauss argued, but because they were "good to think." The Nambikwara were every bit as scientifically minded as the ethnographers who studied them (their mental inventory for honey, for instance, included thirteen different varieties). The only major difference, Lévi-Strauss claimed, was the "totalitarian ambition of the savage mind," which operated on the assumption that if you couldn’t explain everything, you hadn’t explained anything. Lévi-Strauss witnessed this rage for order in everything from their face-painting to the layout of their camps, and most especially in their myths, which they pieced together with borrowed scraps of older ones in the same way a computer programmer might patch together code.
Lévi-Strauss left the Nambikwara with a hoard of impressions about their culture, but he hadn’t yet cracked their riddles. The major theoretical breakthrough would come from an unexpected source during his wartime exile in New York City. He spent the war years teaching at the New School, having barely scrambled out of occupied France alive. It was there that his colleague Alexandre Koyré introduced him to Roman Jakobson, a globe-trotting Russian linguist who specialized in the structural analysis of language developed by Ferdinand de Saussure. Jakobson thought he had found a dependable drinking partner in Lévi-Strauss; he was disappointed on that front—Lévi-Strauss was a teetotaling early riser—but their friendship blossomed into a rich intellectual exchange.
Lévi-Strauss learned from Jakobson how language could be broken down into simple components called phonemes. As Wilcken explains, the "r" in "rat" and the "m" in "mat" operated like control gates on a circuit board, indicating alternate meanings. It was not the phonemes themselves that held the meaning of words but the relationship among them. This shift from studying single objects—whether it be a syllable, a sentence, a family or a culture—in favor of analyzing the relations among them was the essence of structuralism. Lévi-Strauss applied its logic to the workings of myth, which he took to be another form of language. Mythology, in his view, is an elaborate attempt to make cognitive sense out of our chaotic impressions of the natural world. We respond to our envi ronment by breaking it down into manageable dualisms, which makes it possible to orient our existence in the world. By "cooking" the "raw" material of nature, we translate it into culture. Lévi-Strauss came to consider indigenous myths, as a form of aesthetic creation, superior to the West’s precarious investment in more dubious expressions of individual artists, since individual-centered meaning was almost guaranteed to pale in comparison to the power of a myth that had been fashioned by an entire community over time. There may have been no Tolstoy of the Nambikwara, but the culture and language they had made and shared was more fecund than War and Peace.
Jakobson’s structural method became Lévi-Strauss’s prize intellectual tool and brought anthropology closer to becoming a hard science. Lévi-Strauss could now process the huge amounts of data in his colleagues’ field reports by plugging their findings into his elaborate charts and tables. He wrote The Elementary Structures of Kinship (1949) in the now-vanished North American reading room of the New York Public Library, where he shared a table with a Native American chief taking notes in a buckskin jacket and full feather headdress. The Elementary Structures remains the most forbidding of Lévi-Strauss’s major works, but it revolutionized the way anthropologists understood kinship and caste systems. Instead of focusing on lineage and descent, Lévi-Strauss showed how indigenous families developed on a horizontal plane, with men exchanging their sisters and daughters in order to avoid the incest taboo, which Lévi-Strauss interpreted as humanity’s most basic attempt to rein in the randomness of nature.
When he was not unraveling the mysteries of kinship systems, Lévi-Strauss led a cheerful bohemian existence in New York. He spent weekends prowling antique shops, surprised to find museum-quality Indian artifacts and pottery available for next to nothing. Anthropologists and Surrealists shared a passion for cultural fragments and provocative juxtapositions. With his friends Max Ernst and André Breton, he sought out the most enchanting pockets of the city’s flourishing cultural ecosystem, stumbling on communities that preserved traditions long ago abandoned in the old country. In his mini-memoir "New York in 1941," Lévi-Strauss fondly recalled attending Chinese Operas under the first arch of the Brooklyn Bridge, conducting a mock-ethnography of Fire Island and reading out translations of President Roosevelt’s speeches on Free French radio (the clarity of his diction made him a good fit for the job). He easily could have made a career for himself in his adopted homeland, but after the war he took a post at the École practique des hautes études, where he rejoined his old tribe as a more formidable member.
* * *
Back in Paris in the early 1950s, Lévi-Strauss wrote Tristes Tropiques—a memoir of his voyage to Brazil disguised as an anti-travel book—in a moment of despair, when he felt his academic career had stalled and he could risk a wider audience. From its opening line ("I hate traveling and explorers") to its disenchanted declarations ("the tropics are less exotic, than out of date"), the book dealt in the cultural pessimism that would become his trademark. While Lévi-Strauss rails against the Western myth of the self-authorizing individual, he allows his subjectivity to shimmer throughout Tristes Tropiques. The prose bears a heavy Surrealistic stamp: two mountains outside Rio de Janeiro are like "stumps sticking up here and there in a toothless mouth"; the precipices between the skyscrapers of New York are "sombre valleys, dotted with multicoloured cars looking like flowers." Lévi-Strauss shares with Proust the ability to cycle through the styles of great French writers, whether he is teasing out the colors of a sunset à la Chateaubriand or sharpening an insight to the fine point of a Pascalian pensée. Wilcken, a beautiful stylist, is well attuned to these shifts but also alert to the places where Lévi-Strauss feigns nonchalance or veers into preciousness.
The question remains: how did a relatively obscure, taciturn anthropologist, who had written an unsupervised dissertation on a recondite subject and maintained only minimal ties with the French intellectual establishment, manage, within the course of a decade, to dethrone the leading thinker of the age? Jean-Paul Sartre hardly considered Lévi-Strauss a threat. He sent the anthropologist an inscribed copy of his Critique of Dialectical Reason (1960) "in testimony of a faithful friendship," and cited The Elementary Structures approvingly in the course of his argument. But Lévi-Strauss was in no mood to return favors. By then installed at the prestigious Collège de France, he devoted a yearlong seminar to a detailed study of Sartre’s Critique, and when his Savage Mind appeared in 1962 it ended with a twenty-page assault on the fundamental underpinnings of Sartre’s thinking. "Power was passing from a chain-smoking, pill-popping haunter of Left Bank café society to a sixteenth-arrondissement aesthete," writes Wilcken. But how exactly, and under what conditions, did the exchange take place?
Sartre was an early hero of postwar French intellectuals for a reason. By articulating a philosophy based on acting responsibly in the face of history, he restored the confidence of a damaged intellectual elite and helped it prepare for its confrontation with the nation’s colonial past. The impossible ambition of the Critique was to reconcile Sartre’s existentialist ethics with the Marxist dictates of historical necessity. In Sartre’s system, history presents us with a limited range of possibilities and we act within them, which in turn gives rise to a new set of possibilities. For Lévi-Strauss, this blend of historical determinism and personal agency was doubly problematic. First, it put the individual front and center in the historical process, whereas, as Lévi-Strauss believed he had shown, the underlying structures of society left little room for the whimsy of subjectivity. "The self is not only hateful," he wrote in Tristes Tropiques, channeling Pascal, "there is no place for it between us and nothing." Second, Sartre was still propagating the old European idea of history as a progressive narrative, whereas Lévi-Strauss held up indigenous cultures as examples of other, possibly more appealing ways of organizing human experience. The myths of tribes such as the Nambikwara and the Bororo were designed to insulate their seemingly unchanging social orders from the disruptions of history. By making history always be "for" something, and privileging the breakneck speed of Western history over the slow, recycling world of indigenous peoples, Sartre was committing "a sort of intellectual cannibalism much more revolting to the anthropologist than real cannibalism."
* * *
For French academics and intellectuals coming of age in the 1960s, it was difficult to avoid the impression that Lévi-Strauss, by painstakingly drawing lessons from indigenous peoples from across the world, was working on a much grander scale than Sartre. "Bus-stop queues, strikes, boxing matches—the examples out of which Sartre built his ‘philosophical anthropology’—seemed provincial in comparison to structuralism’s global reach," writes Wilcken. While Sartre concentrated on working out the problem of individual emancipation within the narrow confines of the Western philosophical tradition, Lévi-Strauss, by peeling back the divergent expressions of a common human nature all over the world, was able to reveal how much of Western culture was an unhealthy aberration. This self-critical stance in the face of other cultures became a more compelling form of anticolonialism than Sartre’s calling for third world revolution from his table at the Café de Flore. Ours was the only civilization, argued Lévi-Strauss, whose attempts to release humanity from the bonds of nature led to gross delusions that have underwritten everything from the destruction of the environment to the Holocaust. To Sartre’s "Hell is other people," Lévi-Strauss answered: "Hell is ourselves."
The other reason for Lévi-Strauss’s unlikely triumph was that structuralism served as a convenient halfway house for disenchanted Marxists. Those who had lost faith in the iron laws of historical materialism during the war now placed their bets on structuralism as a more credible form of social criticism for resisting the advances of Anglo-American liberalism. Structuralism also exercised a hold on their minds because its core concept of social codes was a closed system invulnerable to empirical testing. Its "imperial |
— undead sorcerer dragons — for DMs that really hate their players.
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8) The Drow
It can be easy to forget that the Drow, also known as Dark Elves, were one of D&D earliest bad guys. These obsidian elves live underground in caves, have white hair, worship a spider goddess, and hate everybody, including themselves. Then came Drizzt Do’Urden, the good-hearted Drow who abandoned his evil people to become the Forgotten Realms emo version of Wolverine — an intense, brooding loner who still managed to team up with everybody all the time. Soon, everybody wanted to a Drow, and TSR made a jillion different classes and variants of this supposedly super-rare race, including a Werebat Drow. Now you can’t swing a dead Displacer Beast without hitting some goodhearted Drow who has abandoned his evil society to wander the surface as a mopey outcast. [Art by HELMUTT]
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9) Mind Flayer
Do you remember the squid-headed dude from Return of the Jedi? Imagine that guy with a penchant for eating your brain, and you have a Mind Flayer, a.k.a. an Illithid. These mini-Cthulus are powerful psychics, who can paralyze men or drive them insane with their psionic blasts; their four face tentacles are used to reach into people’s heads to access the brains and eat them. Mind Flayers are prevalent throughout the galaxy and most planes of reality, and consider themselves the supreme race in the universe, although they hate the undead, mostly because they have no brains to control (or eat).
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10) Tarrasque
The biggest, most dangerous and the most ludicrous of D&D creatures, the Tarraque is basically a cross between Godzilla and Galactus — its giant, tyrannosaurus-esque creature that does nothing but eat and kill. It’s impervious to most things, and it regenerates super-quick. The only way to kill a Tarrasque is to remove all its Hit Points and then use a Wish spell — just doing one or the other doesn’t work. The Tarrasque is basically what adventurers fight when the Dungeon Master has given them way too much XP and treasure and magical gear and they’ve gotten too powerful for everything else. If you have ever killed a Tarrasque in any of your D&D campaigns, you probably had a shitty DM.Before:
One provision that troubles me a great deal is a provision that permits the government under FISA to compel the production of records from any business regarding any person, if that information is sought in connection with an investigation of terrorism or espionage. Now we’re not talking here about travel records pertaining to a terrorist suspect, which we all can see can be highly relevant to an investigation of a terrorist plot. FISA already gives the FBI the power to get airline, train, hotel, car rental and other records of a suspect. But under this bill, the government can compel the disclosure of the personal records of anyone — perhaps someone who worked with, or lived next door to, or went to school with, or sat on an airplane with, or has been seen in the company of, or whose phone number was called by — the target of the investigation. And under this new provisions all business records can be compelled, including those containing sensitive personal information like medical records from hospitals or doctors, or educational records, or records of what books someone has taken out of the library. This is an enormous expansion of authority, under a law that provides only minimal judicial supervision.
During:
Lawmakers who are now expressing outrage over the government’s surveillance of phone records and Internet activity should have paid closer attention when they were voting to reauthorize provisions in the Patriot Act, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said Sunday. Reacting particularly to fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s assertion this week the programs amount to an “assault on the Constitution,” McCain told CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley that members of Congress had not been left in the dark on what powers to government has in monitoring Americans. “The Republican and Democrat chairs, and … members of the Intelligence Committee have been very well briefed on these programs,” McCain said. “We passed the Patriot Act. We passed specific provisions of the act that allowed for this program to take place, to be enacted in operation. Now, if members of Congress did not know what they were voting on, then I think that that’s their responsibility a lot more than it is the government’s.”
After:
OMG- DID YOU HEAR? THE NSA IS DOING PRECISELY WHAT THOSE WHO WERE AGAINST THE PATRIOT ACT SAID THEY WOULD DO AND THOSE WHO SUPPORTED IT HOPED THEY WOULD!
I am so sick of this bullshit. Now let’s play the typical American political game. Some Dems will rush to the defense of Obama and help to make sure these policies are not undone because, well, Republicans and evil civil libertarians are saying bad things and tribalism, even though the issue is not Obama or the need to defend Obama, the most POWERFUL FUCKING MAN IN THE WORLD WHO IS NEVER RUNNING FOR OFFICE AGAIN. BUT HEY, WHEN YOU ARE A PARTISAN, YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO.
Right wing douchebags, who were completely ok with WARRANTLESS wiretapping (NOT TO MENTION TORTURE AND RANDOMLY INVADING COUNTRIES TO BRING THEM OUR FREEDUMBS EVEN THOUGH THEY SPENT EIGHT YEARS TELLING US THEY HATED US FOR OUR FREEDUMBS) during the Bush years and jammed through the Patriot Act legalizing this in the first place can now pretend that Obama is worse than Nixon/Stalin/Joffrey Baratheon. This Patriot Act and the NSA are doing EXACTLY what they intended for it to do.
And then the media can sit there with there thumbs up their collective asses trying to figure out what exactly is going on, because the j-school flunkouts who make up our media are dumb as a sack of hammers and half of them don’t know the difference between FISA and a wallflower or PRISM and a popsicle, and we will continue like this until a cute white girl is kidnapped and we can move on to substantial issues.
And for the record, Obama is not the villain here, he’s just dealing with the laws as they were passed, and it looks like they did everything correctly and followed the letter of the law. If he hadn’t done everything to the extent of the law to implement the patriot act and something happened, they same jackasses now feigning outrage on the right would be flaming him for being soft on terror. Snowden is not the villain here, he just felt this needed to be out there, and if one more jackass all-in Obama supporter tells me he endangered national security, I swear to ALLAH I will start punching babies. The only thing he endangered were the talking points for the permanent security state. The NSA is not the villain here- they are just doing what we allowed them to do. Glenn Greenwald is not the villain here, he’s a civil libertarian who has warned about this and is now reporting the excesses of the program.
No, you want to see the villain, look in the mirror. It’s the pants-wetting populace of the United States, who votes for these assholes who pass bad laws in moments of crisis, because we have to do something and because Americans, unlike every other nation in the world, have a god given right to be safe at all times from all things.
Fuck you all. The only thing that might save this country from a couple more weeks of this partisan bullshit obscuring important issues is maybe we’ll get lucky and a cute young blonde girl will get kidnapped and we can move on to something else.A Jefferson County sheriff's deputy was wounded by gunfire this evening during a drug raid in southwest Birmingham.
Update 8:29 p.m. Chief Deputy Randy Christian tells AL.com the deputy injured in the" shooting was the first one through the door when the warrant was served.
"The deputies were immediately met by fire,'' said Sheriff Mike Hale. "One of my deputies, an undercover deputy, was shot. We returned fire and pulled him to safety."
Authorities said the deputies were fired on by "an unseen suspect shooting through a wall."
3 jailed, 5 pounds of pot recovered after Jefferson County deputy shot in drug raid Authorities said today at least two people fired shots at deputies with Jefferson County's Vice and Narcotics Unit.
Deputies returned fire after the suspect shot the injured deputy. Three suspects fled the house on foot at that time. Two were taken into custody immediately. One of them had been shot in the shoulder.
Christian said it was learned that the third suspect that fled was shot in the ankle and was able to get a ride away from the area. He remains at large. He asked one motorist for a ride, but that motorist refused. That suspect is described as a black male wearing a purple shirt.
Three suspects remained inside the house and refused to come out. Birmingham Police along with other deputies and surrounding agencies arrived on the scene and established a perimeter. The Sheriff's Office SWAT team arrived. Tear gas was put into the house and two of the three remaining suspects came out and were taken into custody. The final suspect was taken into custody as the SWAT team entered the home.
Three adult males and one adult female are being questioned by detectives at the Sheriff's Office. One suspect remains at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. A sixth suspect with a wounded ankle remains at large. Charges have not yet been announced.
Detectives and evidence technicians remain on the scene and in the area conducting the investigation. Several guns and drugs have been located.
In all, Christian said, there are six suspects - five of whom are in custody.
Hale and Christian were with the wounded deputy at the hospital.The deputy, a husband and father with more than a decade on the force, is expected to undergo reconstructive knee surgery on Friday.
Other top ranking sheriff's officials were on the scene of the shooting, where roughly 100 officers converged, including the ATF.
The injured deputy is awake and his family is by his side. "The deputy is in good spirits,'' Hale said. "I had a chance to visit with him. I'm so proud of him."
Hale said said it's tough to have one of his deputies wounded and described it this way: "My heart is in my throat." But, he said, their work is crucial, despite the risks.
"I understand that taking down these drug houses mean so much to the community,'' he said. "There's guns money and drugs in these places. We're prepared, we train for this. My deputies go in harm's way every day"
Sheriff's officials said it's unclear how many suspects will be charged. He said they've been in communication with Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls.
The shooting happened just before 5 p.m. on Dowell Avenue, west of Interstate 65. More than fifty police vehicles blocked off the intersections of neighboring streets as law enforcement continued the investigation.
Residents of the neighborhood, and those who lived across town, congregated near the crime scene to witness the standoff.
Uneeko Hall was on the phone with her sons who were walking in a park near the crime scene when she heard gunfire in the background. She heard someone tell the boys that if they ran, they would live.
Then her son hangs up the phone.
She said her heart raced as she grabbed her husband and jumped in the car to go pick up her son's. They were found unharmed.
"Bullets don't have no names. You can aim one way, but a bullet can go anywhere," Hall said. "I was praying, 'Lord, please protect my babies.'"Sheryl Aldeguer left behind two young children and a husband when she was electrocuted by a faulty USB phone charger in her rented room in Gosford in April.
The 28-year-old, from the Philippines, was to start work as a theatre nurse at Gosford Hospital within days of her death.
Authorities used Ms Aldeguer's death to warn consumers against buying rip-off USB-style chargers. The young woman was wearing headphones and holding her laptop when she was found dead with burns on her ears and chest, in an apparent electrocution.
She had spent six months in Melbourne converting her nursing training to Australian standards and she had hoped her young family would join her within months.
A report will be prepared for the coroner after her body discovered about found 4pm on April 23.By Katya Adler
BBC News, Madrid
A marriage vow could include agreeing to take turns with chores
MPs in Spain have drawn up a marriage contract for use in civil ceremonies which obliges men to share household chores and the care of children and elderly family members.
The new law, which will be introduced this summer in Spain, promises a revolution in a country where nearly half of all men admit to doing no housework at all.
Puffing and panting and swearing under his breath, 36-year-old Santi Risco tries to put up an ironing board. He doesn't have much success and it's a pretty painful sight watching a previously undomesticated Spanish male trying hard to change with the times.
"Spanish law is changing so men have to do 50% of the housework," Santi tells me, rather red-faced. "I am getting married this autumn so I am learning things I've never done before: ironing, cleaning floors and doing the washing up.
"It's not that I'm a macho man. It's just that I've never been taught these things before."
Upbringing
Santi's trying to make up for lost time. He gives up on the ironing board and heads for the bathroom, ready to clean the mirrors. He is a man with a mission. The contract he will sign at his civil wedding ceremony this September will oblige him - by law - to share domestic responsibilities with his partner.
Failure to do so will affect the terms of a divorce settlement, should he ever find himself in that position. But even as Santi cleans up his act, Aintzane, his wife-to-be, says she remains sceptical about the new law.
I love macho men. They are more masculine and I don't care about doing some housework
Patricia,
schoolteacher
"It's good that Santi is beginning to do things in the house. Well, he has to. I told him about the consequences if he doesn't. But it's not just men. Women in Spain are also part of the problem.
"Our mothers tell us to do the housework when we are little girls. So when we go to a relationship we do the housework."
So can this "housework law" as it has been dubbed here really change Spanish cultural traditions? Statistics show that Spanish women spend up to five times longer on housework than their husbands.
If they have a full-time job, they still do three times more housework.
A study five years ago by the Centre for Sociological Investigation concluded that Spanish fathers spent an average of 13 minutes a day looking after their children. And only 19% of Spanish men thought it was right for mothers of school age children to have a full-time job.
Margarita Uria is the MP who set up the new law.
"It's all a question of education", she says. "Starting with this law, but we should also teach children in schools. Men have to learn to start taking more responsibility in the home and women have to help them do it. This is beginning to change. After all, the Spanish parliament was unanimous in approving this law."
Sceptics
At a nearby Madrid bar though, the view shared over a few draughts of beer was that there was little chance of change, law or no law.
Did General Franco press his own collars and cuffs?
"My husband wouldn't iron a shirt to save his life," says Berta, who described herself as an exasperated housewife. "It's not that he can't. It's just that he won't. He'll never change."
Eduardo, a waiter at the bar, says he thinks the law "is ridiculous".
"It's up to couples to work out the balance of relationships for themselves," he says. "This law gives the impression that all Spanish men are machos, which we're not."
"I already cook at home," says banker Miguel. "I also pick up the kids from school."
"Liar!" his wife interjects. "Yes I do," insists Miguel. "There was that time when you had to go to work early and took the children to school..." The couple dissolve in to laughter.
Iron will
"I don't like the new law at all," says Patricia, a schoolteacher. "I love macho men. They are more masculine and I don't care about doing some housework."
A number of women's rights groups in Spain say they oppose the housework law because it belittles the issue of sexual equality, making it laughable.
The law is aimed at turning Spanish machos into real iron men
"What is a woman going to do if her husband doesn't help her at home? March to the local police station and report him? You can just imagine the expression on the faces of the officers on duty, can't you?"
But while the law has been criticised by some, it has inspired others. The Barcelona-based inventor, Pep Torres, has designed a washing machine called Your Turn. It uses fingerprint technology so that it is impossible for the same person to use it twice in a row.
The idea, he says, is that men will be forced to share washing duties with their partner. And Pep has not stopped there.
He has also come up with a cunning idea to persuade even the most macho of men to do the ironing - heavy weights hanging down from the iron. Every time you sweep the iron across the board, you build some fabulous muscle!
"Basically my aim was to stop macho men sitting around the house doing nothing except drinking beers," says Pep.
One man who has already put down his beer and put on an apron is Santi. Hard at work at the kitchen sink and with Aintzane keeping a watchful eye, I found him practising his new marriage vows: To love, to cherish and to do the washing-up.Strong leadership can build a learning culture—one in which failures large and small are consistently reported and deeply analyzed, and opportunities to experiment are proactively sought. Executives commonly and understandably worry that taking a sympathetic stance toward failure will create an “anything goes” work environment. They should instead recognize that failure is inevitable in today’s complex work organizations.
Failures fall into three categories: preventable ones in predictable operations, which usually involve deviations from spec; unavoidable ones in complex systems, which may arise from unique combinations of needs, people, and problems; and intelligent ones at the frontier, where “good” failures occur quickly and on a small scale, providing the most valuable information.
Many executives believe that all failure is bad (although it usually provides lessons) and that learning from it is pretty straightforward. The author, a professor at Harvard Business School, thinks both beliefs are misguided. In organizational life, she says, some failures are inevitable and some are even good. And successful learning from failure is not simple: It requires context-specific strategies. But first leaders must understand how the blame game gets in the way and work to create an organizational culture in which employees feel safe admitting or reporting on failure.
The wisdom of learning from failure is incontrovertible. Yet organizations that do it well are extraordinarily rare. This gap is not due to a lack of commitment to learning. Managers in the vast majority of enterprises that I have studied over the past 20 years—pharmaceutical, financial services, product design, telecommunications, and construction companies; hospitals; and NASA’s space shuttle program, among others—genuinely wanted to help their organizations learn from failures to improve future performance. In some cases they and their teams had devoted many hours to after-action reviews, postmortems, and the like. But time after time I saw that these painstaking efforts led to no real change. The reason: Those managers were thinking about failure the wrong way.
Most executives I’ve talked to believe that failure is bad (of course!). They also believe that learning from it is pretty straightforward: Ask people to reflect on what they did wrong and exhort them to avoid similar mistakes in the future—or, better yet, assign a team to review and write a report on what happened and then distribute it throughout the organization.
These widely held beliefs are misguided. First, failure is not always bad. In organizational life it is sometimes bad, sometimes inevitable, and sometimes even good. Second, learning from organizational failures is anything but straightforward. The attitudes and activities required to effectively detect and analyze failures are in short supply in most companies, and the need for context-specific learning strategies is underappreciated. Organizations need new and better ways to go beyond lessons that are superficial (“Procedures weren’t followed”) or self-serving (“The market just wasn’t ready for our great new product”). That means jettisoning old cultural beliefs and stereotypical notions of success and embracing failure’s lessons. Leaders can begin by understanding how the blame game gets in the way.
The Blame Game
Failure and fault are virtually inseparable in most households, organizations, and cultures. Every child learns at some point that admitting failure means taking the blame. That is why so few organizations have shifted to a culture of psychological safety in which the rewards of learning from failure can be fully realized.
Executives I’ve interviewed in organizations as different as hospitals and investment banks admit to being torn: How can they respond constructively to failures without giving rise to an anything-goes attitude? If people aren’t blamed for failures, what will ensure that they try as hard as possible to do their best work?
This concern is based on a false dichotomy. In actuality, a culture that makes it safe to admit and report on failure can—and in some organizational contexts must—coexist with high standards for performance. To understand why, look at the exhibit “A Spectrum of Reasons for Failure,” which lists causes ranging from deliberate deviation to thoughtful experimentation.
Which of these causes involve blameworthy actions? Deliberate deviance, first on the list, obviously warrants blame. But inattention might not. If it results from a lack of effort, perhaps it’s blameworthy. But if it results from fatigue near the end of an overly long shift, the manager who assigned the shift is more at fault than the employee. As we go down the list, it gets more and more difficult to find blameworthy acts. In fact, a failure resulting from thoughtful experimentation that generates valuable information may actually be praiseworthy.
When I ask executives to consider this spectrum and then to estimate how many of the failures in their organizations are truly blameworthy, their answers are usually in single digits—perhaps 2% to 5%. But when I ask how many are treated as blameworthy, they say (after a pause or a laugh) 70% to 90%. The unfortunate consequence is that many failures go unreported and their lessons are lost.
Not All Failures Are Created Equal
A sophisticated understanding of failure’s causes and contexts will help to avoid the blame game and institute an effective strategy for learning from failure. Although an infinite number of things can go wrong in organizations, mistakes fall into three broad categories: preventable, complexity-related, and intelligent.
Preventable failures in predictable operations.
Most failures in this category can indeed be considered “bad.” They usually involve deviations from spec in the closely defined processes of high-volume or routine operations in manufacturing and services. With proper training and support, employees can follow those processes consistently. When they don’t, deviance, inattention, or lack of ability is usually the reason. But in such cases, the causes can be readily identified and solutions developed. Checklists (as in the Harvard surgeon Atul Gawande’s recent best seller The Checklist Manifesto) are one solution. Another is the vaunted Toyota Production System, which builds continual learning from tiny failures (small process deviations) into its approach to improvement. As most students of operations know well, a team member on a Toyota assembly line who spots a problem or even a potential problem is encouraged to pull a rope called the andon cord, which immediately initiates a diagnostic and problem-solving process. Production continues unimpeded if the problem can be remedied in less than a minute. Otherwise, production is halted—despite the loss of revenue entailed—until the failure is understood and resolved.
Unavoidable failures in complex systems.
A large number of organizational failures are due to the inherent uncertainty of work: A particular combination of needs, people, and problems may have never occurred before. Triaging patients in a hospital emergency room, responding to enemy actions on the battlefield, and running a fast-growing start-up all occur in unpredictable situations. And in complex organizations like aircraft carriers and nuclear power plants, system failure is a perpetual risk.
Although serious failures can be averted by following best practices for safety and risk management, including a thorough analysis of any such events that do occur, small process failures are inevitable. To consider them bad is not just a misunderstanding of how complex systems work; it is counterproductive. Avoiding consequential failures means rapidly identifying and correcting small failures. Most accidents in hospitals result from a series of small failures that went unnoticed and unfortunately lined up in just the wrong way.
Intelligent failures at the frontier.
Failures in this category can rightly be considered “good,” because they provide valuable new knowledge that can help an organization leap ahead of the competition and ensure its future growth—which is why the Duke University professor of management Sim Sitkin calls them intelligent failures. They occur when experimentation is necessary: when answers are not knowable in advance because this exact situation hasn’t been encountered before and perhaps never will be again. Discovering new drugs, creating a radically new business, designing an innovative product, and testing customer reactions in a brand-new market are tasks that require intelligent failures. “Trial and error” is a common term for the kind of experimentation needed in these settings, but it is a misnomer, because “error” implies that there was a “right” outcome in the first place. At the frontier, the right kind of experimentation produces good failures quickly. Managers who practice it can avoid the unintelligent failure of conducting experiments at a larger scale than necessary.
Leaders of the product design firm IDEO understood this when they launched a new innovation-strategy service. Rather than help clients design new products within their existing lines—a process IDEO had all but perfected—the service would help them create new lines that would take them in novel strategic directions. Knowing that it hadn’t yet figured out how to deliver the service effectively, the company started a small project with a mattress company and didn’t publicly announce the launch of a new business.
Although the project failed—the client did not change its product strategy—IDEO learned from it and figured out what had to be done differently. For instance, it hired team members with MBAs who could better help clients create new businesses and made some of the clients’ managers part of the team. Today strategic innovation services account for more than a third of IDEO’s revenues.
Tolerating unavoidable process failures in complex systems and intelligent failures at the frontiers of knowledge won’t promote mediocrity. Indeed, tolerance is essential for any organization that wishes to extract the knowledge such failures provide. But failure is still inherently emotionally charged; getting an organization to accept it takes leadership.
Building a Learning Culture
Only leaders can create and reinforce a culture that counteracts the blame game and makes people feel both comfortable with and responsible for surfacing and learning from failures. (See the sidebar “How Leaders Can Build a Psychologically Safe Environment.”) They should insist that their organizations develop a clear understanding of what happened—not of “who did it”—when things go wrong. This requires consistently reporting failures, small and large; systematically analyzing them; and proactively searching for opportunities to experiment.
How Leaders Can Build a Psychologically Safe Environment If an organization’s employees are to help spot existing and pending failures and to learn from them, their leaders must make it safe to speak up. Julie Morath, the chief operating officer of Children’s Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota from 1999 to 2009, did just that when she led a highly successful effort to reduce medical errors. Here are five practices I’ve identified in my research, with examples of how Morath employed them to build a psychologically safe environment. Frame the Work Accurately People need a shared understanding of the kinds of failures that can be expected to occur in a given work context (routine production, complex operations, or innovation) and why openness and collaboration are important for surfacing and learning from them. Accurate framing detoxifies failure. In a complex operation like a hospital, many consequential failures are the result of a series of small events. To heighten awareness of this system complexity, Morath presented data on U.S. medical error rates, organized discussion groups, and built a team of key influencers from throughout the organization to help spread knowledge and understanding of the challenge. Embrace Messengers Those who come forward with bad news, questions, concerns, or mistakes should be rewarded rather than shot. Celebrate the value of the news first and then figure out how to fix the failure and learn from it. Morath implemented “blameless reporting”—an approach that encouraged employees to reveal medical errors and near misses anonymously. Her team created a new patient safety report, which expanded on the previous version by asking employees to describe incidents in their own words and to comment on the possible causes. Soon after the new system was implemented, the rate of reported failures shot up. Morath encouraged her people to view the data as good news, because the hospital could learn from failures—and made sure that teams were assigned to analyze every incident. Acknowledge Limits Being open about what you don’t know, mistakes you’ve made, and what you can’t get done alone will encourage others to do the same. As soon as she joined the hospital, Morath explained her passion for patient safety and acknowledged that as a newcomer, she had only limited knowledge of how things worked at Children’s. In group presentations and one-on-one discussions, she made clear that she would need everyone’s help to reduce errors. Invite Participation Ask for observations and ideas and create opportunities for people to detect and analyze failures and promote intelligent experiments. Inviting participation helps defuse resistance and defensiveness. Morath set up cross-disciplinary teams to analyze failures and personally asked thoughtful questions of employees at all levels. Early on, she invited people to reflect on their recent experiences in caring for patients: Was everything as safe as they would have wanted it to be? This helped them recognize that the hospital had room for improvement. Suddenly, people were lining up to help. Set Boundaries and Hold People Accountable Paradoxically, people feel psychologically safer when leaders are clear about what acts are blameworthy. And there must be consequences. But if someone is punished or fired, tell those directly and indirectly affected what happened and why it warranted blame. When she instituted blameless reporting, Morath explained to employees that although reporting would not be punished, specific behaviors (such as reckless conduct, conscious violation of standards, failing to ask for help when over one’s head) would. If someone makes the same mistake three times and is then laid off, coworkers usually express relief, along with sadness and concern—they understand that patients were at risk and that extra vigilance was required from others to counterbalance the person’s shortcomings.
Leaders should also send the right message about the nature of the work, such as reminding people in R&D, “We’re in the discovery business, and the faster we fail, the faster we’ll succeed.” I have found that managers often don’t understand or appreciate this subtle but crucial point. They also may approach failure in a way that is inappropriate for the context. For example, statistical process control, which uses data analysis to assess unwarranted variances, is not good for catching and correcting random invisible glitches such as software bugs. Nor does it help in the development of creative new products. Conversely, though great scientists intuitively adhere to IDEO’s slogan, “Fail often in order to succeed sooner,” it would hardly promote success in a manufacturing plant.
The slogan “Fail often in order to succeed sooner” would hardly promote success in a manufacturing plant.
Often one context or one kind of work dominates the culture of an enterprise and shapes how it treats failure. For instance, automotive companies, with their predictable, high-volume operations, understandably tend to view failure as something that can and should be prevented. But most organizations engage in all three kinds of work discussed above—routine, complex, and frontier. Leaders must ensure that the right approach to learning from failure is applied in each. All organizations learn from failure through three essential activities: detection, analysis, and experimentation.
Detecting Failure
Spotting big, painful, expensive failures is easy. But in many organizations any failure that can be hidden is hidden as long as it’s unlikely to cause immediate or obvious harm. The goal should be to surface it early, before it has mushroomed into disaster.
Shortly after arriving from Boeing to take the reins at Ford, in September 2006, Alan Mulally instituted a new system for detecting failures. He asked managers to color code their reports green for good, yellow for caution, or red for problems—a common management technique. According to a 2009 story in Fortune, at his first few meetings all the managers coded their operations green, to Mulally’s frustration. Reminding them that the company had lost several billion dollars the previous year, he asked straight out, “Isn’t anything not going well?” After one tentative yellow report was made about a serious product defect that would probably delay a launch, Mulally responded to the deathly silence that ensued with applause. After that, the weekly staff meetings were full of color.
That story illustrates a pervasive and fundamental problem: Although many methods of surfacing current and pending failures exist, they are grossly underutilized. Total Quality Management and soliciting feedback from customers are well-known techniques for bringing to light failures in routine operations. High-reliability-organization (HRO) practices help prevent catastrophic failures in complex systems like nuclear power plants through early detection. Electricité de France, which operates 58 nuclear power plants, has been an exemplar in this area: It goes beyond regulatory requirements and religiously tracks each plant for anything even slightly out of the ordinary, immediately investigates whatever turns up, and informs all its other plants of any anomalies.
Such methods are not more widely employed because all too many messengers—even the most senior executives—remain reluctant to convey bad news to bosses and colleagues. One senior executive I know in a large consumer products company had grave reservations about a takeover that was already in the works when he joined the management team. But, overly conscious of his newcomer status, he was silent during discussions in which all the other executives seemed enthusiastic about the plan. Many months later, when the takeover had clearly failed, the team gathered to review what had happened. Aided by a consultant, each executive considered what he or she might have done to contribute to the failure. The newcomer, openly apologetic about his past silence, explained that others’ enthusiasm had made him unwilling to be “the skunk at the picnic.”
In researching errors and other failures in hospitals, I discovered substantial differences across patient-care units in nurses’ willingness to speak up about them. It turned out that the behavior of midlevel managers—how they responded to failures and whether they encouraged open discussion of them, welcomed questions, and displayed humility and curiosity—was the cause. I have seen the same pattern in a wide range of organizations.
A horrific case in point, which I studied for more than two years, is the 2003 explosion of the Columbia space shuttle, which killed seven astronauts (see “Facing Ambiguous Threats,” by Michael A. Roberto, Richard M.J. Bohmer, and Amy C. Edmondson, HBR November 2006). NASA managers spent some two weeks downplaying the seriousness of a piece of foam’s having broken off the left side of the shuttle at launch. They rejected engineers’ requests to resolve the ambiguity (which could have been done by having a satellite photograph the shuttle or asking the astronauts to conduct a space walk to inspect the area in question), and the major failure went largely undetected until its fatal consequences 16 days later. Ironically, a shared but unsubstantiated belief among program managers that there was little they could do contributed to their inability to detect the failure. Postevent analyses suggested that they might indeed have taken fruitful action. But clearly leaders hadn’t established the necessary culture, systems, and procedures.
One challenge is teaching people in an organization when to declare defeat in an experimental course of action. The human tendency to hope for the best and try to avoid failure at all costs gets in the way, and organizational hierarchies exacerbate it. As a result, failing R&D projects are often kept going much longer than is scientifically rational or economically prudent. We throw good money after bad, praying that we’ll pull a rabbit out of a hat. Intuition may tell engineers or scientists that a project has fatal flaws, but the formal decision to call it a failure may be delayed for months.
Again, the remedy—which does not necessarily involve much time and expense—is to reduce the stigma of failure. Eli Lilly has done this since the early 1990s by holding “failure parties” to honor intelligent, high-quality scientific experiments that fail to achieve the desired results. The parties don’t cost much, and redeploying valuable resources—particularly scientists—to new projects earlier rather than later can save hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention kickstart potential new discoveries.
Analyzing Failure
Once a failure has been detected, it’s essential to go beyond the obvious and superficial reasons for it to understand the root causes. This requires the discipline—better yet, the enthusiasm—to use sophisticated analysis to ensure that the right lessons are learned and the right remedies are employed. The job of leaders is to see that their organizations don’t just move on after a failure but stop to dig in and discover the wisdom contained in it.
Why is failure analysis often shortchanged? Because examining our failures in depth is emotionally unpleasant and can chip away at our self-esteem. Left to our own devices, most of us will speed through or avoid failure analysis altogether. Another reason is that analyzing organizational failures requires inquiry and openness, patience, and a tolerance for causal ambiguity. Yet managers typically admire and are rewarded for decisiveness, efficiency, and action—not thoughtful reflection. That is why the right culture is so important.
The challenge is more than emotional; it’s cognitive, too. Even without meaning to, we all favor evidence that supports our existing beliefs rather than alternative explanations. We also tend to downplay our responsibility and place undue blame on external or situational factors when we fail, only to do the reverse when assessing the failures of others—a psychological trap known as fundamental attribution error.
My research has shown that failure analysis is often limited and ineffective—even in complex organizations like hospitals, where human lives are at stake. Few hospitals systematically analyze medical errors or process flaws in order to capture failure’s lessons. Recent research in North Carolina hospitals, published in November 2010 in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that despite a dozen years of heightened awareness that medical errors result in thousands of deaths each year, hospitals have not become safer.
Fortunately, there are shining exceptions to this pattern, which continue to |
errymandering may be that it’s a violation of the First Amendment. Previously, these kinds of cases have been argued as violations of the 14th Amendment, which covers “equal protection of the laws.” The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, religion and assembly, and it has been interpreted as protecting Americans’ freedom to associate with whatever groups they choose, including political parties.
Kennedy’s other main question also came straight out of his 2004 opinion. He proposed a hypothetical, asking whether it would be unconstitutional if a state wrote a law explicitly saying that “the overriding concern is to … have a maximum number of votes for party X or party Y.”
At that point Ginsburg, Alito and Kagan all jumped into the debate. It was a hotly contested hypothetical and is likely key to the case, as Kennedy wrote in 2004:
“If a State passed an enactment that declared ‘All future apportionment shall be drawn so as most to burden Party X’s rights to fair and effective representation, …’ we would surely conclude the Constitution had been violated. If that is so, we should admit the possibility remains that a legislature might attempt to reach the same result without that express directive.”
Kennedy didn’t speak during the Wisconsin Democrats’ arguments, but they were clearly speaking to him. Their attorney cited him twice during his arguments, and, as one of their attorneys in lower court, Nicholas Stephanopoulos, told FiveThirtyEight, “Our first Supreme Court brief … cites Anthony Kennedy all over the place and that’s not purely for tactical reasons, it’s actually because he’s said a lot of things that we think our test is consistent with.”
Of course, some of the other justices had plenty to say during the Wisconsin Democrats’ arguments. The most junior justice, Neil Gorsuch, dismissively compared their legal test to the hodgepodge of spices in his steak rub, and Chief Justice Roberts called it “sociological gobbledygook.” But Kennedy sat in silence, taking in a case that was tailor made for him.Mars Orbiter To Investigate 'Lumpy Potato' Moon
toggle caption ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Phobos is a bit of an enigma. It looks like a lumpy potato, barely 17 miles across. Its small size and low orbit around Mars once made people wonder if it wasn't a moon at all, but a space station put in orbit by an advanced Martian civilization.
Now scientists are reasonably sure it is a moon, but they'd like to know more about it.
Since the end of February, the Mars Express spacecraft has been orbiting ever closer to the tiny moon.
The closest approach will have the spacecraft a mere 42 miles from the surface, but instead of taking pictures, scientists will monitor radio signals from the spacecraft as it flies by. Tiny shifts in frequency will be caused by changes in the gravitational pull of Phobos... and those changes can be used to measure the distribution of mass inside the moon.The baobab is one the most iconic African trees. The species, Adansonia digitata, is widespread across the continent, and its fruit is an important traditional food. The trees are huge, often growing to many meters in girth. Scientists have difficulty determining the age of these behemoths, though — they stop forming rings and often have large, hollow interiors. The only way to figure out a tree’s age is through radiocarbon dating.
In 2005, Adrian Patrut of Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and colleagues began an investigation into the age of a large baobab located along the Lebombo Eco Trail in Mozambique, near the border with South Africa. The tree had a circumference of 21.44 meters and an inner cavity, lined with bark, that was large enough to hold several people. The researchers took several small samples from various places on the tree’s exterior and within the cavity, each time being careful to disinfect and seal the holes to prevent infection. They then used radiocarbon dating to determine the age of various parts of the tree. The results of their study appear January 26 in PLOS ONE.
Usually when a tree is hollow, the opening is the result of some sort of wood removal, such as fungal decay, fire or animal damage. And if you took a core from the tree, the oldest part would be next to the hollow and the youngest beneath the bark.
The baobab, though, had a curious age pattern: The youngest wood was found both on the outside of the tree and right next to the hollow center. “The only explanation for this anomaly, which represents a reproducible experimental finding, is that such inner cavities are in fact natural empty spaces between fused stems disposed in a closed ring-shaped structure,” the researchers write. “We named them false cavities.”
The Lebombo baobab, they discovered, was actually composed of five fused stems, and they found evidence that a sixth had also once existed. The oldest part of the tree was 1,355 years old, and the youngest stem was a meager 900 years old. In the hundred or so years after that youngest stem began growing, the stems fused together, forming the false cavity, which itself reached its current size and stopped growing about 500 years ago.
Since analyzing this one tree, the researchers have since visited another 50 baobabs, including 20 that they dated. All of the trees showed the same pattern in ages of the wood, indicating that they were also made of fused stems. One of the trees was even older than the Lebombo tree, dating to 1,750 years ago.
Young trees, the researchers note, are usually single-stemmed. But as the trees grow, they produce new stems from roots or fallen stems. And over time, those stems grow and fuse with the older ones, producing the mammoth trees now found across Africa.Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian arms manufacturer best known for its eponymous line of rifles used by militaries and militants alike the world over, has developed a new riot control vehicle which looks like something straight out of a dystopian hellscape, but is unfortunately extremely real.
Photo: AP
The vehicle, dubbed the "Shchit" or "Shield" in English, vaguely resembles a bulldozer except with an armoured shield instead of a blade attached to its arms, Popular Mechanics wrote. When the Shield arrives, it lowers the shield into place in front of it, creating a tall barrier to impede crowds and projectiles.
Photo: AP
The shield contains a raised platform for law enforcement or troops to stand behind, with slits for observation or — more ominously — firing projectiles on rioters or protesters from behind cover. The vehicle also boasts a water cannon.
Frankly, this thing is terrifying and looks like nothing more than the infamous "scoop" riot-dispersal vehicles from 1973 dystopian sci-fi movie Soylent Green — though it kind of makes the original concept look quaint. It'd be easier to get out of the way of a slow-moving garbage truck with a scoop attached than escape a mobile, mechanical shield wall lined with riot police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and god knows what else.
The Shield does not even appear to be the most advanced vehicle of its type. A few months ago, Slovakian company Bozena introduced a remotely controlled mobile shield wall with extendable walls that Autoblog reported was capable of shielding 36 armoured riot police and being controlled from over 1.6km away.
Massive, nationwide anti-corruption protests spearheaded by Russian opposition leaders this year drew the attention of authorities and eventually culminated in a crackdown. At the same time, President Vladimir Putin took steps to strengthen internal security forces loyal to the Kremlin, which might have something to do with the plum market in riot control tech.
In the US, President Donald Trump has promised to lift a Barack Obama-era ban on the military gifting out surplus equipment such as rifles and grenade launchers, armoured vehicles designed to withstand roadside bombs, and weaponised aircraft to state and local police. So while the Shield itself might not come rolling down US streets any time soon, stuff designed to dish out even more damage might.
[Popular Mechanics]Ubuntu users can also view select Google Now cards on the desktop
After what feels like forever in the making, Google has today released the first stable version of Chrome for Linux to use Aura, the search giant’s in-house graphics stack.
Aura, which replaces GTK+, is used to draw the bulk of the Chrome UI on screen, including menus and window frames (and yes, it works fine with both locally integrated and global menus).
The “shell” is already in use on Windows and Chrome OS builds and, as it’s largely cross-platform, enables Google to develop new features faster and ensure feature parity across different operating systems.
An accelerated interface, Aura is better able to leverage GPU features in Chrome/Chromium on Linux than GTK+ builds. Notably, it is able to use OpenGL on a per-window rather than per-tab basis.
Its arrival also brings additional features to the desktop, including the Chrome Notification Centre, an optional App Launcher and support for displaying select Google Now cards.
Other Changes
Chrome 35 stable also comes loaded with a bunch of cross platform changes, including a number of new extension APIs for developers to toy around with; new touch input controls; and undefined ‘new JavaScript features’.
Keeping to the road-map, support for NPAPI plugin support is retired as of this release, meaning a number of browser plugins, including Java and Adobe Flash, will no longer work. Pepper Flash is not affected.
As with every release there are a bunch of stability, performance and security updates bundled in.
To download Google Chrome 35 for Linux just hit the button below.
Download Google ChromeBangladesh building death toll passes 1,000
Updated
The death toll in Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster has passed 1,000 after more bodies were found in the rubble of a collapsed nine-storey building outside the capital Dhaka.
Army spokesman Captain Shahnewaz Zakaria said the "death toll now stands at 1,006" as the recovery operation in Savar town, 30 kilometres south-west of Dhaka, entered its 17th day.
He said workers armed with "cranes, bulldozers and excavators" had pulled out 130 bodies from the rubble since early Thursday morning.
Some of the bodies, which are badly decomposed, could only be identified by the mobile phones in their pockets or factory identity cards around their neck, he added.
"Of the total dead, most are female garment workers," Captain Zakaria said.
The authorities are taking DNA samples from all the victims for future compensation claims.
More than 3,000 garment workers were in the building's five garment factories, which made clothing for Western retailers such as Benetton, Mango and Primark, when the structure collapsed.
At least 2,437 people were rescued, around 1,000 suffering serious injuries, including scores whose limbs had to be cut off to free them from the rubble.
Efforts to identify the victims are being hampered by the decomposition of bodies.
Recovery workers, who are drawn from the ranks of the army and fire service, are having to wear masks and use air freshener.
Preliminary findings of a government probe have blamed vibrations from four giant generators on the compound's upper floors for triggering the collapse.
Police have arrested 12 people including the plaza's owner and four garment factory owners for forcing people to work on April 24, even though cracks appeared in the structure the previous day.
Factory workers have held protests calling for tough punishment for those responsible for the disaster, and demanding improved safety regulations.
Bangladesh has suffered a string of deadly accidents in the textile industry.
On Thursday, disaster struck again as a fire in another garment factory in Dhaka killed eight people, including its owner.
The cause of the fire was not known, but authorities said it broke out during the night on the third floor of an 11-storey building that housed garment factories of the Tung Hai group.
AFP
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, textiles, bangladesh
First postedChanneling Ebola virus entry into the cell The current outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa highlights the need for antiviral therapies. One strategy would be to block the Ebola virus's ability to enter host cells. Cells engulf Ebola virus particles, which then traffic into the cell in structures called endosomes. Sakurai et al. now report that the Ebola virus requires calcium channels called two-pore channels (TPCs) in endosomal membranes for successful entry (see the Perspective by Falzarano and Feldmann). The Ebola virus could not enter cells lacking TPCs or cells treated with a TPC inhibitor. Blocking TPCs therapeutically allowed 50% of mice to survive an ordinarily lethal Ebola virus infection. Science, this issue p. 995; see also p. 947
Abstract Ebola virus causes sporadic outbreaks of lethal hemorrhagic fever in humans, but there is no currently approved therapy. Cells take up Ebola virus by macropinocytosis, followed by trafficking through endosomal vesicles. However, few factors controlling endosomal virus movement are known. Here we find that Ebola virus entry into host cells requires the endosomal calcium channels called two-pore channels (TPCs). Disrupting TPC function by gene knockout, small interfering RNAs, or small-molecule inhibitors halted virus trafficking and prevented infection. Tetrandrine, the most potent small molecule that we tested, inhibited infection of human macrophages, the primary target of Ebola virus in vivo, and also showed therapeutic efficacy in mice. Therefore, TPC proteins play a key role in Ebola virus infection and may be effective targets for antiviral therapy.
Ebola viruses (EBOVs), together with Marburgvirus, are a highly diverse group of viruses that constitute the Filoviridae. Almost all of them, including the strain responsible for the latest outbreak in West Africa, cause a highly lethal, rapidly progressing hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates (1, 2). However, there is currently no licensed drug treatment or broadly active vaccine (3), making them important public health threats and potential biothreat agents. Because, like most viruses, EBOV depends on host cell factors to complete its life cycle (4), blocking such interactions may have a large impact on infection and disease outcome. Recent successes in cell culture and some animal models suggest that this approach holds promise for rapidly bringing new drugs to the clinic (5).
EBOV binds to several types of cell surface proteins to initiate host cell entry (6–8), after which it is internalized by macropinocytosis and follows an endosomal route to reach acidic compartments (9, 10). There, host proteases such as cathepsins cleave the viral glycoproteins (GPs) (11), which bind to the endosomal membrane protein, NPC1, and eventually facilitate the release of the viral core to the cell cytoplasm, where replication begins (12, 13). Previously, we showed that host calcium signaling proteins were important for EBOV host cell entry but were unable to identify the functional mechanism nor address whether they could be therapeutic targets (14).
To identify and characterize upstream effectors regulating calcium signaling in the context of EBOV infection, we tested the importance of calcium channels using antagonists for each of the four common channel types (Fig. 1, A to C, and fig. S1). Only compounds blocking L-type channels inhibited EBOV infection in HeLa cells, which is consistent with previous reports (15, 16). Verapamil, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat cardiovascular diseases, efficiently inhibited EBOV infection with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of 4 μM (Fig. 1A). Similarly, two other structurally distinct L-type channel antagonists, nimodipine and diltiazem, also reduced EBOV infection efficiency (fig. S1, A and B). Tetrandrine, originally isolated from Chinese and Japanese herbs but now produced synthetically, was especially potent, with an IC 50 of 55 nM (Fig. 1B). By contrast, gabapentin, representing a fifth distinct class of L-type channel inhibitor, had no effect, even at high concentrations (Fig. 1C). This finding suggested that classical L-type channels were not the upstream factor in EBOV calcium-channel dependence. Recently, verapamil, nimodipine, and diltiazem were shown to also inhibit calcium signaling triggered by nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) (17). NAADP is a highly potent intracellular calcium–mobilizing agent and stimulates intracellular calcium channels to release Ca2+ from endosomes and lysosomes (18). This pathway is specifically blocked by the small-molecule antagonist Ned19 (19). We found that Ned19 also blocked EBOV infection (Fig. 1D). All inhibitors tested showed no cytotoxicity at the highest concentration used (fig. S2). Like verapamil and Ned19, tetrandrine was also a potent inhibitor of NAADP-stimulated calcium release (Fig. 1E and fig. S3). These results suggested a role for NAADP-stimulated calcium channels in EBOV infection and that tetrandrine could block this host factor.
Fig. 1 Inhibitors of NAADP signaling block EBOV infection. Dose-response curves for verapamil (A), tetrandrine (B), gabapentin (C), and Ned19 (D) were determined by pretreating HeLa cells with the indicated doses of each compound and then infecting the cells with a recombinant EBOV encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a marker of infection (EBOV-GFP). Infection efficiencies were calculated by dividing the numbers of GFP-positive cells by those of total cells and normalizing the infectivity to untreated cells (mean ± SD, n = 3). Each data set is representative of three independent experiments. (E) The effect of the indicated compounds on NAADP-stimulated calcium release was measured by stimulating cells with 1 μM NAADP-AM (30, 31) or control dimethyl sulfoxide and imaging cell fluorescence after addition of the calcium-sensitive dye Fluo-4. Cells showing F max /F 0 > 2 (F max : maximum fluorescence intensity; F 0 : mean fluorescence intensity before stimulation) were counted as responsive cells. At least 800 cells were analyzed for each treatment, and data averaged over three experiments ± SD. (F) Pseudotyped viruses bearing the glycoproteins of EBOV (rVSV-EBOV-GP) or VSV (rVSV-VSV-G) and encoding firefly luciferase as an infection marker were used to show entry dependence of EBOV on NAADP signaling. Cells were treated with tetrandrine (2 μM) or Ned19 (100 μM) and then infected with either pseudotyped virus. Luciferase activities were normalized to those of untreated controls.
NAADP has been suggested to regulate endosome maturation through vesicular fusion and trafficking (20). This would suggest a role in virus entry into cells, which was tested with pseudotyped viruses. Infection of cells by recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus bearing the glycoprotein of EBOV (rVSV-EBOV-GP) was highly sensitive to tetrandrine, verapamil, or Ned19 (Fig. 1F and fig. S4A). This suggests that NAADP-stimulated channel activity specifically affects the GP-mediated entry step of EBOV. Moreover, tetrandrine and verapamil potently inhibited infection of recombinant VSV bearing Marburgvirus glycoprotein, but inhibited infection only weakly for VSV, Lassa virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, or Rabies virus (Fig. 1F and fig. S4, B and C), suggesting that filoviruses are much more dependent on this pathway than are other virus types.
To gain further insight into the connection between the NAADP-mediated pathway and EBOV infection, we sought to identify the effector calcium channel required for the infection. Recent studies have shown that two-pore channels (TPCs) are the major calcium channels activated by NAADP (21). They are also activated by the phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate [PI(3,5)P 2 ] and are highly conserved proteins with both TPC1 and TPC2 present in humans, mice, and other animals (22). We found that mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) lacking TPC1 or TPC2 expression (Tpcn1−/− or Tpcn2−/−) resisted EBOV infection (Fig. 2A). Overexpression of human TPCs in the mutant cells significantly recovered the infectivity (fig. S5), suggesting the specific effects of gene knockout. Similarly, even though suppression of TPC expression by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) was incomplete (fig. S6), EBOV infection was reduced in HeLa cells transfected with either TPC1 or TPC2 siRNAs (Fig. 2B). In addition, overexpression of a dominant-negative form of TPC2, which was reported to efficiently block NAADP-stimulated calcium release (23), inhibited EBOV infection (Fig. 2C). Furthermore, Ebola virus-like particles (VLPs) incubated with cells localized to TPC1- and TPC2-positive endosomal compartments (Fig. 2D). Whole endolysosomal patch-clamp analyses showed that tetrandrine blocked both TPC1- and TPC2-mediated current elicited by PI(3,5)P 2 as well as NAADP (Fig. 2, E and F, and fig. S7). In contrast, gabapentin, which did not inhibit virus infection, had no effect on TPC2 function. Together, our data showed that TPCs, the effector channels of NAADP and PI(3,5)P 2 -mediated signaling, are important for EBOV infection, probably while virus is inside endosomes. Calcium channel inhibitors targeted TPCs, with tetrandrine being the most potent.
Fig. 2 The endosomal calcium channels TPC1 and TPC2 are necessary for EBOV infection. (A) MEFs from wild-type (WT), Tpcn1−/−, or Tpcn2−/− mice (25, 32) were infected with EBOV-GFP. The frequency of GFP-positive cells in the total cell population was normalized to that of total cells. (B) HeLa cells were transfected with either two independent nontargeting, TPC1-specific, or TPC2-specific siRNAs and infected with EBOV-GFP. The frequency of GFP-positive cells in the total cell population was normalized to that of mock-transfected cells. (C) HeLa cells overexpressing a dominant-negative form of TPC2 (L265P) tagged with GFP were infected with WT EBOV. Cells expressing GFP alone were used as a control. Infected cells were detected with antibody against EBOV GP. The proportion of cells showing GFP fluorescence that were infected was calculated. All data for (A), (B), and (C) are the mean ± SD (n = 3) and representative of three independent experiments. (D) Colocalization of Ebola VLPs with TPC1 or TPC2 was determined by incubating VLPs (red) for 2 hours with cells transfected with TPC1 or TPC2 tagged with GFP (green). Colocalized particles were indicated by arrowheads. Scale bars, 10 μm. (E) Whole endolysosomal currents were recorded from TPC2-expressing human embryonic kidney 293T (HEK293T) cells by using modified conventional patch-clamp with PI(3,5)P 2 (33–35). Current-voltage relations were recorded in the presence or absence of tetrandrine (500 nM). (F) Bar diagram summarizing data of current amplitude of TPC2 or TPC1 in the presence of gabapentin (100 μM), Ned19 (200 μM), or tetrandrine (500 nM), normalized to those before drug application. *P < 0.001 using analysis of variance, compared to current in the presence of gabapentin for TPC2 or without inhibitors for TPC1. Data are the mean ± SEM.
During host cell entry, EBOV is transported to acidic endosomes, which express lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1) (9). We found that VLPs still localized to LAMP1-positive vesicles in Tpcn1−/− and Tpcn2−/− MEFs, as well as inhibitor-treated cells (fig. S8), indicating that this step was unaffected. The EBOV GP is then cleaved by endosomal cysteine proteases before virus-endosome membrane fusion can occur (11), and so we next examined whether precleaved GPs could overcome the action of the inhibitory drugs using rVSV-EBOV-GP pretreated with the protease thermolysin. Treatment with Ned19, tetrandrine, or verapamil still efficiently blocked precleaved virus infection, but a control cysteine protease inhibitor, E-64-D, did not (fig. S9), indicating that the calcium channel inhibitors affect a late entry step after GP proteolysis in endosomes. When membrane fusion was evaluated, with a virus contents release assay (24), these inhibitors significantly reduced the contents mixing signal (Fig. 3A and fig. S10), indicating that virus-endosome membrane fusion and virus capsid release into the cell cytoplasm were arrested.
Fig. 3 Blocking TPC function affects EBOV entry through endosomal compartments. (A) VLPs loaded with β-lactamase were used to measure membrane fusion and virus capsid release into the cytoplasm after each treatment (as for fig. S10). The number of cells showing signal was divided by the number of total cells. (B) Evaluation of EGF trafficking in TPC knockout cells. Representative confocal images of WT, Tpcn2−/−, and Tpcn1−/− MEFs incubated with AlexaFluor555-EGF. (C) Evaluation of EGF trafficking in tetrandrine or U18666A-treated cells. Representative confocal images of HeLa cells incubated with AlexaFluor555-EGF (red) in the presence or absence of tetrandrine or U18666A. (D) Colocalization of Ebola VLPs and EGF. HeLa cells were incubated with AlexaFluor555-EGF (red) for 30 min followed by Ebola VLPs (green) for 3.5 hours in the presence of tetrandrine. VLPs were stained with a GP-specific antibody. Examples of colocalized particles are indicated by arrowheads. Scale bars (B to D): 10 μm. (E) Effect of tetrandrine on colocalization of Ebola VLPs with TPC2- and/or NPC1-positive endosomes was measured. HeLa cells overexpressing GFP-tagged TPC2 (green) and Myc-tagged NPC1 (red) were pretreated with inhibitors and incubated with VLPs (blue) for 4 hours. Insets show magnified areas of the image, and arrowheads indicate examples of VLPs that are associated with the TPC2(+)/NPC1(–) compartment (left panel) or the TPC2(+)/NPC1(+) compartment (right panel). Scale bars, 5 μm. (F) In the presence of the indicated inhibitors, the ratio of VLPs colocalizing with the TPC2(+)/NPC1(+) compartment (left) or the TPC2 (+)/NPC1(–) compartment (right) was calculated. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.005, using unpaired Student’s t test to compare treated to untreated cells. Data are the mean ± SEM (n = 3 or 4).
A recent study showed that blocking TPC2 function resulted in accumulation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in LAMP1-positive endosomal compartments, suggesting a block of endosomal trafficking in these acidic compartments (25). We found that tetrandrine-treated HeLa cells showed a similar accumulation of EGF, as well as Tpcn2−/− MEFs, whereas Tpcn1−/− MEFs showed less EGF accumulation (Fig. 3, B and C). Moreover, Ebola VLPs and EGF colocalized in tetrandrine-treated cells (Fig. 3D), suggesting that both use or converge upon a common endosomal trafficking route that is regulated by TPCs. Previously, EBOV entry was shown to be dependent on another endosomal protein, NPC1 (12, 13). The small molecule U18666A induces a phenotype that mimics NPC1 deficiency, leading to cholesterol accumulation in endosomes. When cells were treated with U18666A, the pattern of EGF accumulation was similar to that seen after treatment with tetrandrine (Fig. 3C). Moreover, treatment of rVSV-EBOV-GP–infected cells with verapamil or U18666A revealed similar inhibitory kinetics, with each becoming ineffective when the drug was added 1.5 to 2 hours after infection (fig. S11), suggesting that each affected virus infection close to the same time. To further study this relationship and characterize the infection step affected by TPCs, we investigated viral colocalization with NPC1 or TPC2 (Fig. 3E). In untreated cells, VLPs were found in compartments containing both NPC1 and TPC2, as well as a distinct compartment containing only TPC2. However, treatment with tetrandrine significantly (and with other channel inhibitors less potently) increased accumulation of VLPs in the TPC2(+)/NPC1(+) compartment while proportionately decreasing TPC2(+)/NPC1(–) compartment colocalization (Fig. 3F). These results suggest that disrupting endosomal trafficking with tetrandrine potently alters viral distribution such that VLPs are retained in the NPC1(+) compartment. Because decreased colocalization with the TPC2(+)/NPC1(–) compartment correlated with reduced infectivity, EBOV likely uses this compartment to enter host cells. Treatment with U18666A again resulted in VLP localization similar to that seen with calcium channel inhibitors (Fig. 3F). This may be explained by a recent report showing that U18666A treatment caused endosomal calcium depletion. Moreover, cells carrying a defective NPC1 were shown to have a loss of NAADP response, suggesting a close association of TPCs and NPC1 in host cells, which may affect EBOV infection (26).
Finally, we addressed whether TPC function could be targeted for anti-EBOV therapy. First, primary macrophages, an initial target of virus infection in humans and other animals, were evaluated. Similar to its effect in HeLa cells, tetrandrine potently blocked EBOV infection in human monocyte-derived macrophages, with verapamil and Ned19 being effective but requiring high doses (Fig. 4A and fig. S12) that did not show cytotoxicity. Of these, tetrandrine was the best candidate for animal testing because of its high potency and low cytotoxicity in culture. Moreover, the dose of tetrandrine needed to inhibit virus infection (IC 50 = 55 nM) was at least a factor of 40 less than safe plasma concentrations achieved in mice and was reported to have good pharmacological properties, being well tolerated and having a long circulatory time (27). We therefore assessed therapeutic efficacy in the mouse model of EBOV disease (28). Mice were challenged with mouse-adapted EBOV and then given tetrandrine or saline every 2 days for 1 week. Starting tetrandrine treatment soon after infection significantly enhanced the survival of mice without any detectable side effects (Fig. 4B). Clinical scores in treated mice remained low compared to the control group (Fig. 4, C and D, and fig. S13). Virus titers in sera measured at day 3 after inoculation showed a factor of 1000 decrease (Fig. 4E), and by day 9 virus was undetectable. Furthermore, when the treatment was started 1 day after virus challenge, half the mice survived (Fig. 4F). These results indicate that tetrandrine is highly effective against disease in mice.
Fig. 4 Tetrandrine inhibits EBOV infection both in vitro and in vivo. (A) Macrophages were treated with tetrandrine (8 μM) and then infected with EBOV-GFP. After 48 hours, the frequency of GFP-positive cells was calculated and normalized to that of untreated controls. The data are the mean ± SD (n = 3) and representative of two independent experiments. (B) Female Balb/c mice injected intraperitoneally with mouse-adapted EBOV were treated with 30 mg of tetrandrine per kilogram of body weight or control saline on days 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 (n = 8 for each group). Survival curves are shown. *P = 0.0008 by log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. (C and D) Clinical scores of EBOV-infected mice. Disease signs included weight loss, rough hair coat, squinty eyes, hunched back, moderate unresponsiveness, labored breathing, and persistent prostration. Based on these criteria, a clinical score for each day was calculated and plotted (individually indicated by symbols) for the untreated animals (C) or tetrandrine-treated animals (D). (E) Virus titer in sera of infected mice was measured by plaque assays. *P = 0.006 by unpaired Student’s t test. (F) Delayed treatment of EBOV-challenged mice. Female Balb/c mice injected intraperitoneally with mouse-adapted EBOV were treated with tetrandrine (30 or 90 mg/kg) or control saline on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 (n = 7 for each group). Survival curves are shown. *P = 0.04 by log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test comparing treated to untreated animals.
Taken together, we identified a role for TPCs in EBOV infection. These calcium channels appear responsible for controlling movement of endosomes containing virus particles. By disrupting TPC function, we prevented EBOV from escaping the endosomal network into the cell cytoplasm, halting infection. TPCs proved effective targets for existing drugs, with the bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, tetrandrine, being the most potent. This may be due to its ability to block both TPC1 and TPC2, which regulate different stages of endosomal trafficking (22). Tetrandrine is one representative from this drug class; other members are found in plants around the world (29) and may also block EBOV infection. Because the entry of Marburgvirus, a distantly related filovirus, was also affected, it is likely that all filoviruses require TPC function to infect cells and that tetrandrine is a broad-spectrum filovirus inhibitor.So, I’m drawing up a city for the upcoming Dead Rat Productions magazine. Instead of just posting the final work, I figured I’d let you all in on the process involved.
This particular map I’m drawing in a medium-sized booklet – roughly 8.5 x 5.5. The goal is to have a map that sits nicely horizontally on half of a page, so I can then put an ad on the page also. Or text. But really, it’s for the advertising space. Honest.
Here’s the beginning of the city. I drew out the coastline, roads and major fortifications in pencil first, and then starting inking. I don’t bother roughing out the buildings as they will fall into place as I ink. So this scan is slightly after the inking has begun – the coastline and fortifications have all been inked, and I’ve started on the city proper, within the city walls for now.
This part was drawn while half-watching the original season of Dr Who (100,000 BC). The city has filled the city walls and is starting to reach out beyond them. Some farmland is making an appearance, and I’ve re-drawn the coastline much thicker and added water.
You’ll also note that roads are starting to appear that didn’t appear in the pencil rough. These are the ones that are formed just by the shapes and placements of buildings – alleyways, paths, and minor roads that aren’t part of the city plan or the “recognized” roads of the city.
Not really a lot of change here. I’ve finished off the coastline finally, and most of the details of the areas outside the city wall are done, and I’m finally working on the areas on the other bank of the river. I decided to go without a bridge in this city – probably a choice the city planners made in order to make the city more easily defended.. but then the damned civilians started using boats to cross the river and are living on both sides of the river now. The western side of town is clustered around a port fortress, but is definitely less safe than the main town within the city walls.
That said, the city hasn’t seen much conflict for a few generations now. This is evident by the number of buildings outside the walls in general. While the region may be dangerous, the dangers have learned to leave a wide swath of safety around the city… probably because at some point there were some powerful adventurers based here who taught the local bad guys a lesson or two in how to keep their heads down.
And here’s the final product as I sent it off to Dead Rat Productions for approval. I’ve added a screen for the water, more details of hills, beaches, trees, grass and farms, and a few more buildings.
If this draft is approved, expect to see it or something quite like it in the upcoming inaugural issue of Dead Rat Production’s magazine!By Alec Hogg
While digging around on the web yesterday, I came across some fascinating data compiled by global network news channel CNN. The Atlanta-based team scoured through Government accounts to compare salaries paid to heads of State. What drew my attention to the results was how South Africa’s |
pounding on me and I ended up having to run for it after losing all my... everything xD. BUT! I entered this room with full matter and it looked like maybe I could make a last stand and potentially rebuild? (Definitely not from what won't be left of my pursuers, though...)You guys followed the WRONG bot!The main thing I was worried about was the Archangel, which could intercept the bombs, but it only got one of them, so two volleys, six bombs later and everything inside and outside the room was toastI did manage to rebuild a bit before attracting too much attention (yes, in the same area...) and also getting more programmers dispatched, but I also found some new sources of AOE destruction. Decided it would be more fun to fight the losing battle than try to hightail it again.Oh well, I know I could've played better but it was a fun run, in any case. That and as you can see the build I used was all over the place! And I beat my previous score by like... 30 pointsOn Friday, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison admitted to several inadvertent intrusions into Indonesian waters as part of Operation Sovereign Borders, but said it was sticking to its policy designed to halt the arrival of asylum-seekers on unauthorised boats.
"We will not again see an inadvertent breach of Indonesia's territorial waters, we've taken steps to ensure that that doesn't happen again," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters in Perth on Saturday.
The incursions prompted a furious response from Jakarta, with Indonesia's Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs saying they "constitute a serious matter in bilateral relations of the two countries".
Jakarta has demanded a suspension of operations and pledged to step up navy patrols along its southern maritime borders.
"We welcome cooperation from Indonesia in patrolling the waters where these people-smuggling boats are being launched," Bishop said, when asked about the increased Indonesian patrols.
"It is in their interests, it is in our interests to stop this evil trade," she added.
Asylum-seekers arriving on unauthorised boats in Australia are a sensitive issue for both sides, and Canberra's Operation Sovereign Borders to stop them has been received coolly in Jakarta.
Under Australia's so-called tow-back policy, asylum-seeker boats -- often wooden fishing vessels -- can be pushed back towards Indonesia, a move which Jakarta had previously suggested could infringe its sovereignty.
Asked whether the government would reconsider this element of the policy after the breaches, Bishop said: "We are absolutely committed to stopping people making that hazardous journey that has already led to over 1,000 deaths at sea.
"We are determined to stop the people-smuggling trade, we are determined to stop the boats and that's what happening."
Australia has offered an unqualified apology for the unintended incursions, but Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Friday the government's "stop the boats" policy would remain in place.
Morrison said Saturday he had noted the response from Jakarta.
But he said: "The Australian government will continue to discuss these matters, including any response Australia may wish to provide, directly and privately with the Indonesian government through the appropriate channels."
The Australian government has refused to detail the incursions, beyond saying they were committed by a vessel or vessels on several occasions.
But The Weekend Australian newspaper said it understood there had been five or six breaches of Indonesian waters involving two vessels from the Royal Australian Navy and one from the Australian Customs Service.
Morrison said the country's respective chiefs of navy had spoken about the incursions and the Australian government would keep Indonesia informed of progress in the joint military and customs review into the incidents.
"Our commanders have already taken immediate operational steps to ensure there is no recurrence of these incidents," he added.
Morrison said Australia's clear policy was to not breach Indonesia's territorial waters.
"We have given a clear commitment that we will be ensuring strict compliance with this policy, so as to ensure there will be no recurrence of these events, which we deeply regret," he said in the statement.
The revelations about the Australian naval incursions have added to tensions between the neighbours, already strained by a row over spying.Not only does Kershaw boast one of the greatest pitching resumes in history, but we saw him roar back from lower back pain in similar fashion just one year ago. The Dodgers' ace allowed only four earned runs over 28 innings in September 2016, after he'd missed 10 1/2 weeks with a sore back. If Friday's performance against San Diego was any indication, L.A.'s ace might be poised for a carbon-copy run this month.
Clayton Kershaw was dominant in his return to the Dodgers, tossing six scoreless innings and striking out seven Padres in Los Angeles' 1-0 win on Friday. No one should be surprised.
Clayton Kershaw was dominant in his return to the Dodgers, tossing six scoreless innings and striking out seven Padres in Los Angeles' 1-0 win on Friday. No one should be surprised.
Not only does Kershaw boast one of the greatest pitching resumes in history, but we saw him roar back from lower back pain in similar fashion just one year ago. The Dodgers' ace allowed only four earned runs over 28 innings in September 2016, after he'd missed 10 1/2 weeks with a sore back. If Friday's performance against San Diego was any indication, L.A.'s ace might be poised for a carbon-copy run this month.
Kershaw's start Friday lowered his ERA to 1.95, well ahead of Washington's Max Scherzer's 2.21 in second place in MLB. While Kershaw's focus is presumably on leading the Dodgers toward securing home-field advantage and, potentially, a spot in the World Series, there will be some added motivation for Kershaw down the stretch: His fifth National League ERA title.
The list of pitchers who have captured five league ERA titles includes some of the best to ever throw a baseball: Lefty Grove (nine), Roger Clemens (seven), Grover Cleveland Alexander (five), Walter Johnson (five), Sandy Koufax (five), Pedro Martinez (five) and Christy Mathewson (five).
Kershaw sat atop the official 2017 ERA leaderboard even before Friday's start, as he had already pitched 141 1/3 innings before going on the DL. Now, the lefty only needs to throw 14 2/3 more innings to officially qualify for the crown.
Video: LAD@SD: Kershaw fans Solarte for first K since injury
Kershaw has done the same things in 2017 that he's always done. Entering Friday, he had opened 68.9 percent of at-bats with a strike, the highest rate among all starting pitchers this year (min. 500 batters faced), according to Statcast™. He had fired a strike on 80 percent of his pitches thrown while behind in the count, also the game's highest rate (min. 400 pitches). Opponents had averaged an exit velocity of 84.4 mph on balls they put in play against him, third lowest among starters (min. 300 batted balls).
All of those factors and more gave Kershaw a.251 expected weighted on-base average allowed, fourth behind Scherzer, Boston's Chris Sale and Cleveland's Corey Kluber.
Kershaw re-enters play as an underdog behind Scherzer to win the NL Cy Young Award, but Scherzer's issues with neck pain has left the door open. Yet another ERA title, and a workload robust enough to meet the qualifications for that title, could help Kershaw change the conversation. In the meantime, the Dodgers -- who were historically great even in Kershaw's absence -- could rise to another level with their consummate ace back in the fold.Police are asking the public to help identify a man who shoved a female cyclist into oncoming traffic in east London.
The assault, which happened on Sidney Street, off Whitechapel Road, was captured on the cyclist's headcam.
In the video the cyclist, in her early 40s, turns a corner into Sydney Street as a man crossing the junction approaches from her right.
The man crosses the road in front of the cyclist (Met Police)
"Please don't try and knock me off," the woman is heard saying.
"Shut up," the man retorts and continues to cross the road.
The cyclist continues on when suddenly the man, believed to be in his 40s, approaches her from the side.
He forcefully shoves the woman from her bike (Met Police)
"Come on then!" he shouts at her. "You want to put your finger up at me, you mug?"
He then shoves the woman hard, sending her flying from her bike.
The camera shows an approaching van as she hits the ground (Met Police)
She cries out and a van is seen to her left as she lies on the road.
Thankfully, the woman didn't require medical treatment and managed to get out of the road, despite being shaken by the assault.
The incident occurred shortly after 6pm on Friday 1 May, but the footage has only just been released.
Metropolitan Police are appealing to anyone who can identify the man, asking them to contact police on 101 quoting images 180410, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Close up of the man who assaulted the female cyclistEarlier this year, I introduced six female artists of the Hudson River School, an important landscape painting movement in nineteenth-century America. There were so many talented ladies to choose from, that I couldn’t possibly feature all of them in one post. So here are five more artists whose works you will enjoy!
Susie Barstow (1836-1923)
Susie Barstow painted many landscapes during her well-regarded career, but unfortunately, few survive. She preferred to depict forests thick with foliage, often illuminated by radiant light. She travelled through harsh conditions to observe her scenes up close, climbing to the top of American and European mountains in the snow and ice. It’s difficult enough to imagine doing this today, never mind in the nineteenth-century wearing a massive skirt! Barstow’s hiking prowess attracted her much attention both in her day and now, as have the paintings she made of these sites.
Julie Hart Beers (1835-1913)
Julie Hart Beers is sometimes credited as the only female professional Hudson River School artist. Of course, we know that’s not true! Nonetheless, she achieved a then-rare feat of maintaining a successful artistic career while married, and she used her art to support herself and her daughters after her first husband’s death. She often worked alongside her brothers William Hart and James Hart, who were also Hudson River School painters. Unlike some of the other women we’ll talk about here, many of Beers’s vibrant northeastern landscape paintings survive today. They use rich colors and bold brushstrokes. In addition to working on traditional rectangular canvases, she had the unusual habit of painting on round panels.
Harriet Cany Peale (1800-1869)
Harriet Cany Peale painted a variety of different subjects and styles. She made detailed landscape paintings like Kaaterskill Clove, where she emphasized atmospheric effects such as fog. She also made portraits and still lives in style inspired by old masters. As the second wife of Rembrandt Peale, Harriet was a member of America’s first artistic dynasty. The Peale family was full of skilled artists of both genders. Harriet was no exception, and that’s how she met her husband. The two of them worked and travelled together, and she often worked on reproductions of his most popular paintings. Her own works hang in several major American museums.
Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923)
Fidelia Bridges was a commercially successful artist best known for her watercolors, especially of birds and flowers. These pieces were usually small but full of little details drawn from her close observation of nature. She frequently sold them to publishers to be printed in books, magazines, and cards. Bridges began painting in her twenties after befriending sculptor Anne Whitney. The two of them banded together with other female artists throughout their careers, sharing studios and visiting Europe together. Bridges was a member of the National Academy of Design and the American Watercolor Society – both prestigious institutions.
Elizabeth Gilbert Jerome (1824-1910)
Elizabeth Gilbert Jerome had an evil stepmother who took some pretty drastic actions to prevent her from becoming an artist. So Jerome waited a few years, then pursued her art anyway. Like her eventual neighbor, Frederick Edwin Church, she made beautiful paintings of tropical landscapes. It’s nice to think that they had some sort of artistic camaraderie, but there’s no evidence to support this. Jerome gave up art for a while, but she took up miniature painting in her later years. She made hundreds of tiny works in the last six years of her life.
There were many more women who worked in the Hudson River School. We don’t know very much about many of them, but you can see their works at the links provided below.
Sources: “Fidelia Bridges”. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries.
MacLean, Maggie. “Fidelia Bridges”. History of American Women. September 2016.
“Harriet Peale”. Dallas, TX: Roughton Galleries, Inc.
Weiss, Jerry N. “Elizabeth Gilbert Jerome (American, 1824 to 1910)”. Internet Antique Gazette.
MacLean, Maggie. “First American Women Painters”. History of American Women. November 13, 2015.
Dobrzynski, Judith H. “The Grand Women Artists of the Hudson River School”. Smithsonian.com. July 20, 2010.
Kahn, Eve M. “These Women Refused to Stay in the Kitchen”. New York Times. April 19, 2012. Accessed online.
Lynch, Courtney A. Soaring Sights: Luminist Landscapes by Female Hudson River School Painters (1825-1875). New York: Hawthorne Fine Art, 2017.
Siegel, Nancy & Jennifer Krieger. Remember the Ladies: Women of the Hudson River School. Catskill, NY: Thomas Cole National Historic Site, 2010.
Jopp, Alexandra A. “Julie Hart Beers (1835-1913)”. New York: Questroyal Fine Art Inc.
Siegel, Nancy. “’We the Petticoated Ones’: Women of the Hudson River School”. In The Cultured Canvas: New Perspectives on American Landscape Painting. Nancy Siegel ed. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire Press, 2011. p. 148-184.It’s rare for Jack White to sit down for a television interview, but the White Stripes frontman is willing to make a concession when Stephen Colbert calls. On last night’s episode of The Colbert Report, the host chatted with singer-guitarist as part of his music-themed week, and the resulting interview is one of the funniest things to broadcast on a talk show in months. Check it out here (via The Audio Perv).
In a segment dubbed “Stephen Colbert Presents, 2011: A Rock Odyssey With Jack White,” Colbert travels down to White’s Third Man Records headquarters in Nashville, TN. Evidently, he’s looking to jumpstart his music career — he wants White to help turn him into the next Bob Seger — so who better to assist than the guy who’s running one of the hottest new independent labels?
Of course, the conversation quickly devolves into the absurd, with Colbert prodding White about why he won’t license his music for commercials and the brilliance of Seger’s catalog. Surprisingly, White, for the most part, willingly plays along with Colbert’s silliness. Best part: seeing the two turn the Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” into a jingle for a yogurt commercial.
As an added bonus, Colbert had Florence + the Machine on last night as his musical guest; check out the British pop star performing her single “Cosmic Love” below.Part two of White and Colbert’s conversation continues tonight on The Colbert Report at 11:30 P.M. EST on Comedy Central.
Watch It: Jack White on The Colbert Report
Watch It: Florence and the Machine, “Cosmic Love”The New York Jets have extended the contracts of general manager Mike Maccagnan and head coach Todd Bowles.
“We are very happy to have extended both Mike and Todd. During their time here, they have worked together to help the organization build a foundation on which to grow,” Jets CEO Christopher Johnson said. “They are identifying, developing, and getting productivity out of our players. I believe we are headed in the right direction. This provides us continuity and stability as we continue to move this team towards sustained success. We still have a lot of work to do and I am excited to work closely with both of them as we move forward.”
Maccagnan, hired to his position on Jan. 13, 2015, is focused on building the team’s foundation through the draft. Named the 16th full-time head coach in franchise history on Jan. 14, 2015, Bowles instilled a culture change in 2017 and players continually praised the improved chemistry in the locker room. Working together, the Jets’ football leaders have drafted and developed key players including Leonard Williams, Darron Lee, Jamal Adams, Marcus Maye and Robby Anderson. The roster was also bolstered with trades for Demario Davis and Jermaine Kearse in the offseason as they both became key contributors for the defense and offense respectively.
“It’s a credit to Mr. (Christopher) Johnson. He came in and oversaw everything,” Bowles said. “Obviously Mike Maccagnan. We have a plan that we’re going forward with and everybody’s on the same page, so we’re going forward.”Content FAQ
Q. So you drew and wrote all of this by hand?
A. Yep—with the exception of the (exact same) copyright information and title text—every page, image, and word was drawn by me. Actually, the script in the titles is a digitised version of my handwriting.
Q. Why would you do such a thing?
A. Because I'm apparently some sort of masochist. I type things now—the last time I wrote this much was when I was in school and my hand's not used to it any more.
Basically, this was a crazy idea that occurred as I was making notes for the first Sketchy Setups. Hand-drawn guides seemed like they would be a more fun, friendly, and accessible way in for people new to doing their own setups.
Q. How do you do it?
A. Partly old-school and partly, erm… new-school. All the pages are hand-drawn with pencils. Then, they’re inked with black ink before being scanned into the computer. Once in, the pages are cleaned up and coloured digitally. Finally, they’re packaged up as a PDF and are ready to be absorbed into the minds of eager, guitar and bass setter-uppers.
Q. Can I just buy one guide and use the information for a different guitar?
A. Well, sort of. It depends a little.
While the ‘concepts’ for some steps will be common across a number of instruments, the practicalities of *how* you perform these steps often differs.
If you’re confident transposing steps from one type of hardware to another then sure, just get one guide.
However, the purpose of these guides is to make setups *easy* and that might not be the case if you’re trying to apply your Gibson’s bridge information to your Strat’s tremolo.
And of course, if you've only got a Tele, just buy the Tele book — that's the reason there are separate guides.
Q. So, is there some information overlap between the guides?
A. Yes—like I said above, the ‘concepts’ for certain steps are certainly similar across many instruments and, if you buy all the guides, you will see an amount of familiar information in each.
However, each guide contains specific information relevant to its subject instrument that can really help you get to grips with it much more easily than ‘generic’ information could.The Conservative government wraps virtually everything it does these days in the magic cloak of "jobs and growth."
Trade deals, infrastructure spending, business subsidies and tax breaks for families and small businesses. Everything on the economic front gets the familiar J-and-G spin – even if there's scant evidence these efforts generate much of either.
And yet in one vital area where governments really can make a difference – innovation – Ottawa's commitment has been inconsistent and its investments wanting.
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A new report on science and technology policy from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development paints a grim picture of Canada's place in the world. Canada has tumbled out of the top 10 research and development (R&D) spenders since the Great Recession, steadily ceding ground to more aggressive nations on a host of innovation measures.
Canada now ranks 12th in overall spending, according to the report, released last week. It invested less in R&D in 2012 ($21.8-billion U.S.) than it did in 2004 ($22.7-billion). Four countries that Canada handily outspent a decade ago – Russia, India, Taiwan and Brazil – have all jumped ahead.
Taiwan, which spent half of what Canada did in 2002, now tops this country by nearly $3-billion a year.
Canada's R&D "intensity" – spending as a percentage of gross domestic product – is equally worrying. The rate has been on a steady decline for more than a decade and now stands at 1.69 per cent of GDP, well below the OECD average of 2.4 per cent. In 2012, 20 other countries outspent Canada relative to the size of their economies.
The R&D intensity leader is South Korea, a country with which Canada is now bound in a free-trade agreement, creating new competitive pressures for Canadian businesses.
Most remarkable is the ascent of China, which the OECD says is now on a course to become the world's biggest R&D spender by 2019, outpacing even the current No. 1 spender, the United States.
Canada is the only developed country with an intellectual property deficit – meaning we spend more to acquire other peoples' technology than the world buys from us.
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And most disappointingly, the private sector continues to underinvest, in spite of repeated warnings about the consequences. Business spending on R&D stands at 0.88 per cent of GDP, near the bottom among OECD countries.
Given all this, the federal government might be expected to be angst-ridden, and grasping for remedies.
But there's no obvious sense of urgency. The last time Ottawa drafted a science and technology strategy was in 2007. At the time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed to make Canada "a world leader in science and technology and a key source of entrepreneurial innovation and creativity."
The government promised to deliver an updated innovation strategy more than a year ago, following months of consultations. Two ministers of state for science and technology later, and the government has yet to produce anything. The current minister, former insurance broker Ed Holder, is promising something "soon."
But expectations are low that the Conservatives will do anything ambitious, or costly, given the government's determination to eliminate the budget deficit next year, while simultaneously delivering targeted tax breaks.
Short of a radical rethink and significant amounts of cash, it's not clear what will fix the problem. The government has already tinkered with many of the key levers at its disposal, to little effect. It has put more money into direct R&D grants for smaller companies, invested $400-million (Canadian) in various venture capital funds, refocused the mission of the National Research Council on commercialization, and tightened the rules of its flagship R&D tax credit – the $1.5-billion Scientific Research and Experimental Development program. Ottawa also pledged $1.5-billion over a decade to universities, by way of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
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But these efforts fall short of what many other countries are doing, condemning Canada to falling even farther behind in the global science and technology race.
Innovation policy is complicated, and expensive. And it can't be neatly wrapped in election slogans.
Until the government shows it's serious about fixing the problem, Ottawa's jobs-and-growth mantra will be just that – an empty slogan.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Len McCluskey says he now believes Labour has "a real chance" of winning
Unite leader Len McCluskey insists he is "now full of optimism" about Labour's general election hopes despite saying in an interview he could not see the party winning.
The union boss had told Politico a Labour victory would be "extraordinary" and suggested winning just 200 seats would be a "successful" result.
But speaking on Wednesday morning, he distanced himself from the comment.
Labour launched its general election manifesto on Tuesday.
Mr McCluskey, one of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's closest allies, had told Politico that, while he supported the manifesto proposals, he was not "optimistic" about Labour's chances on 8 June, given the hostility which he said it faced in large sections of the media.
But on Wednesday morning he said the interview had been a "conversational piece" against the backdrop of "if the opinions polls are to be believed".
"I am now full of optimism. If I was having that interview now I would not be making those comments," he said.
Mr McCluskey said he was now convinced the polls would change and that Labour was "in with a real chance", describing the party's campaign as "brilliant".
The BBC understands the Unite leader spoke to Politico website at 12:02 BST on Tuesday - an hour after the Labour manifesto was published - and that he had attended the party meeting where the proposals were agreed.
He was quoted saying winning the general election would be a "huge task" given the "imagery of Jeremy".
He told the website: "He's got now just under four weeks to try to see if you can break through that image and it's going to be a very, very difficult task... whether that breakthrough can happen, we'll wait and see."
He added: "People like me are always optimistic… things can happen. But I don't see Labour winning."
He went on to suggest that if Labour emerged with 200 seats - which would be about 30 fewer than Ed Miliband secured in 2015 - it would represent a "successful campaign" given the circumstances it found itself in, despite the fact that in terms of seats it would be Labour's worst result since 1935.
"It will mean that Theresa May will have had an election, will have increased her majority but not dramatically," he said.
After the original interview was published, another union leader, Unison's Dave Prentis, tweeted that success equalled a Labour government, adding: "That's what care workers, nurses and teaching assistants need."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jeremy Corbyn: "This is a manifesto for all generations. We are providing hope and genuine opportunity for everybody"
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Laura Kuenssberg on three key points from Labour's manifesto launch
Mr McCluskey's comments came as Labour and the Conservatives clashed over the cost of Labour's manifesto pledges.
The Conservatives said bringing the National Grid and the water industry back into public ownership - which would require a future Labour government to compensate existing shareholders - would add £14bn to the national debt in one year alone. They said there was a £58bn "black hole" across all of Labour's manifesto plans.
Labour said this was "absolute rubbish" and that the Tories were trying to "avoid scrutiny of their own spending plans".
The party, which has also pledged to nationalise the railways and Royal Mail, said it could be done at no net expense to the public purse and that consumers would see their utility bills come down by as much as £220 a year.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The prime minister said Labour's promises would be "paid for with imaginary money"
Chancellor Philip Hammond led the Conservative attack on the proposals, describing the manifesto as a "blueprint for crashing the economy".
Labour said it was "extremely worrying" that Mr Hammond "can't tell the difference between capital spending and revenue spending", adding that the Tories had "failed on every fiscal target they have set themselves".
On its utilities nationalisation plans, it said it would exchange government bonds for shares in the companies - which would mean extra borrowing - but, since profits currently used to pay dividends would be used instead to pay interest on those bonds, there would be "no net cost" to the exchequer.
Mr Hammond defended the Tories' calculations, saying capital investment would need to be paid for either by increasing taxes or borrowing.
He also said reports of tensions between him and Downing Street were "media tittle tattle".
Asked about reports of swearing and angry phonecalls, he laughed and said: "I'm not going to say I've never occasionally sworn but I work extremely well and closely with Theresa May's team."It was only a matter of time after the dev units shipped out that we could expect to see a thorough walkthrough on the part of a new owner, and here it is. Some of what we're seeing in this trio of videos, we've already seen in the official Ouya unboxing. However, a few new details have been highlighted. For starters, in the top center of the controllers, there are touchpads that can be used for cursor control. Also, as we learned before, they will require two AA batteries. Well, that's a bummer.
Of course, what we all really want to see is the interface.
As we saw in the screenshot before, the menu looks a lot like Windows Phone. What we could not see, however, is that the UI is also thoroughly incomplete. On one of the very first screens we see a Gingerbread-style dialog box, but later we see the WiFi menu in full-blown Jelly Bean garb. This leads us to believe that this isn't finalized at all, which should be good news to those who are hoping for a bit more than a Microsoft knock-off.
That's not the only thing that isn't final. As was mentioned in the previous unboxing video by the company itself, the dev console is made of plastic, but the final consumer version will not be so. There are also going to be some adjustments made to the controllers, particularly in the area of the trigger buttons which, in this walkthrough, seem loud and clunky.
For those of you who were wondering why the dev consoles cost so much, well, as we said, it's because this is a first-run product. It's likely that a lot of the molds and materials that were used for these only went to the 1,200 or so that have all shipped out by now and were never meant for mass production. Since the company can't recoup the costs in volume, it must do so in price. This is pretty typical for development kits.
The upside to this is that there are a full three months between now and the launch of the console, so game developers have plenty of time to get their ducks in a row. And then, once they're done playing with their waterfowl, they can build games.
If anything, we can probably take this either as further confirmation that there is not much to learn from this dev kit that is reflective of consumer units, or that the company may just be missing the mark. If I were a betting man, I'd place money on the former. While most attempts at enhancing Android gaming haven't exactly been a huge hit, Ouya at least seems intent on providing a decent experience, and they have the funds to do it. Mixing Gingerbread, Jelly Bean, and aped Microsoft interfaces just seems like a huge oversight.
What do you think, though? Hopeful or skeptical?
Source: YouTube
Thanks, Nick!Lubo Moravcik has admitted he would be open to returning to Celtic in some capacity and work for the club to help their recruitment across Europe.
The Slovakian arrived to snide remarks from some and was completely unknown to Celtic fans in 1998. However, the fans and club alike respect and adore him for his four-year tenure at Paradise.
So much so that he could be given the challenge of unearthing the next star to play in the green and white Hoops.
The playmaker was part of the Celtic side that won the domestic treble in 2001, the last time Celtic achieved such a feat.
Ronny Deila has expressed an interest in exploring the Eastern Europe and Scandinavian markets for talented players ready to make the step-up to a club like Celtic.
Jozo Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko are two examples of this plan coming to fruition, but there’s still the possibility of finding more talent – and Moravcik has offered to find it.
As quoted by the Daily Express, he said:
I have spoken to Peter Lawwell about maybe helping the club in the future. He knows I am always ready for Celtic. I have known him a long time and I can help get players. I work for a bigger agency in Slovakia now. There is more money to invest. But it is hard to find the very best players. With the money that Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have, how can you compete and get these players at 16? Even in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the best teenagers are already with the biggest clubs. But Celtic do have a chance of getting players between 18 and 21. They are not the biggest talents but there are good players who are ready for a step to Europe. They are not ready for the biggest clubs. They are not like Martin Odegaard going to Real Madrid. But they can do well at Celtic.
Moravcik also offered an insight into one player they have been keeping a close eye on for some time – Matus Bero.
The 20-year-old central or defensive midfielder has made 20 appearances this season for AS Trencin, scoring 12 goals and adding three assists.
Hailing from Moravcik’s home nation of Slovakia, the former Celtic player knows all about this highly touted youngster.
The wages are affordable. The transfer fees are not high and it is possible to get these players. Celtic can give them European football, they can give them big games in front of a lot of fans. Matus is interesting clubs and Celtic are watching him. But maybe he will go to the Czech Republic because he has that choice and the language will be easier for him.
With the increasing gap between the top European teams budgets and Celtic’s, Moravcik could hold the key to finding some of the best young talent, and if they are anything like the “Gift from God”, fans would welcome them with open arms.One of the things that newcomers quickly learn about the Orthodox Church is that it is a Church with various rules. Everyone who takes their Orthodoxy seriously makes some attempt to observe the rules of fasting, and of course the rules governing the reception of Holy Communion (though these vary slightly from place to place). Marriages can only be celebrated at certain times of the year, and there are even a few directions (some of them merely advisory) relating to funerals. There is also a whole book of rules called the Typicon which prescribes in minute detail how the church services are to be performed.
This emphasis on rules sometimes puzzles and worries the non-Orthodox. Nowadays religion tends to be thought of as a private affair, to be practised on one’s own terms, and in some denominations any constraints are apt to provoke the retort: ‘And you call yourself a Christian!’ More significantly, Christianity is supposed to be a religion of grace, not of ‘the Law’. Why then are rules considered necessary?
In the first place, rules help a community to preserve its identity and cohesion (as an extreme example, think of the Jews). Particularly nowadays, when secularism and materialism have invaded every aspect of life, a religion with sane and sensible rules has a better chance of surviving with its essential teachings and insights unimpaired. Other Christian bodies once had rules too, but they were allowed to lapse, or were modified or progressively ignored. Arguably some of them were bad rules, but when the rules went, other things went too, and belief, worship and ethical teachings were all radically affected. Change became the order of the day. Orthodoxy has been very successful in preserving its traditional character, its liturgy, its music, and its essential beliefs. Of course there is more to this than the simple keeping of rules; but the rules have played their part.
Another thing which increasingly distinguishes Orthodoxy from other forms of Christianity is a lively sense of the sacred. Orthodox churches look and feel like holy places; icons and relics are venerated and their powers believed in, and worship is still, for the most part, quietly fervent. Emphatically Orthodoxy is not a Church where ‘anything goes’.
(It is easy to think of rules as things which the clergy impose on the laity. Actually, within the Orthodox Church, it is the clergy who bear the brunt of canonical rules and canonical censure – and that is as it should be. It protects the laity from clerical whims, false teaching, and – as far as rules can do so – from the abuse of priestly power.)
Finally, moderate rules are good for the spirit. They help us to acquire humility and self-discipline and they keep us in touch with reality. Rules jolt us out of that perpetual tendency to put ourselves at the centre of the universe and to make our Christianity easier and more ‘convenient’. Observance of the rules helps us to live Orthodoxy as it is meant to be lived.
Yet although it involves rules, Orthodoxy is not a rule-book: it is new Life in the Spirit. There are people who know and observe every Orthodox canon but who never acquire the true spirit of Orthodoxy. They cling to rules because they offer a refuge from doubt or insecurity, or from the awful burden of personal responsibility. Rules are for normal situations and must always be subordinated to people’s deepest needs and the Great Law of love. People are more important than rules, and it was for this reason that Jesus did not hesitate to heal on the sabbath.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side because they were too anxious to observe the rules of their office. Priests and Levites, if they were to serve in the Temple, had to be free from the taint of blood, and the injured man was bleeding from many wounds. Yet in preserving the law of purity they violated the much greater law of humanity. Here as in the case of David and the showbread (Luke 6:1-5), there are times when the ritually sacred must take second place.
Another thing about Orthodox rules is that they are there to help people; not as instruments of condemnation. A priest may find himself having to say to a person: ‘What you have done is against the teaching of the Church.’ But a good priest will not leave it there. He will add, ‘However, |
told investigators he sprang into action when his friend "began to change into a zombie" and attempted to bite him.
He said an initial investigation found Perry, a father of two, had no history of mental illness.
He has been charged with murder and is being held on an $US800,000 cash bond.
AFP
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, murder-and-manslaughter, united-statesSix months ago, an Army veteran began building silhouettes as a tribute to service members who lost their lives in the war.James Krupa then decided to do something special for a fire station a few houses down from his home."[It was] a token of appreciation and in memory of the fallen firemen," he said.In February, he built a silhouette of a firefighter kneeling over a cross and then he gave it to the station. A Los Angeles County Fire spokesperson said they were thankful and put the work on display.But recently, an anonymous neighbor complained about the symbol of the cross. Because it is against policy to show a religious figure at a public building, the department ordered that the cross be taken down.Eventually the whole silhouette was taken down. Krupa was upset by the decision and chose to display the tribute in his yard."It really hurt. One person who doesn't like a cross shouldn't have control over all the rest of us," he said.Krupa said the cross represents a grave stone, nothing else. Many neighbors came to his defense, including one who sent the story out to Eyewitness News using the hashtag #abc7eyewitness on Facebook.While L.A. County Fire reviews the decision to remove the silhouette, one neighbor said several people want to put duplicates of it in their yards.Krupa said he is already making plans to make miniature versions of the silhouette to give to his neighbors.Elephants could help prevent bushfires, expert says
Updated
Australia could introduce large herbivores such as elephants as part of a radical biological solution to the problem of bushfires and invasive species, says one expert.
The argument is laid out in a provocative commentary from Dr David Bowman, a professor of environmental change biology at the University of Tasmania, and is published in today’s issue of Nature.
"I'm being as provocative as possible to try and wake everybody up to say, 'Look, what is currently happening is not sustainable. We have to think outside the square,'" Dr Bowman said.
He says the short-term programs designed to address Australia’s serious problems with bushfires and invasive species are piecemeal, costly and ineffective.
For example, he says, they are not succeeding in controlling the invasive gamba grass that leads to frequent intense fires in Australia's north.
"It's out of control," he said. "Last year we had a fire in the outback in Central Australia the size of Tasmania. These things are very bad."
Dr Bowman says the sheer magnitude of the landscape makes short-term slashing and aerial spraying programs impractical, and biological solutions are needed instead.
"Biology doesn’t sleep. Biology is a 24/7 program," he said.
The article proposes that large herbivores like elephants be used as "grass-eating machines" and, used alongside traditional Aboriginal patch burning, could help manage fire risk in the north.
Dr Bowman argues that short-term programs designed to poison feral animals, fence them out of sensitive areas or shoot them from helicopters are expensive and ineffective.
Instead, top predators like dingoes could be reinstated to control foxes and cats, and Aboriginal people should be encouraged to hunt feral animals.
"We could pay Aboriginal people to hunt and burn... not for a program, but forever," Dr Bowman said.
He says research suggests the health of Aboriginal people would also improve if they were given these important tasks.
Dr Bowman spent 20 years working as a wildlife biologist in northern Australia, often with Aboriginal people, managing weeds, fire and feral animals.
He acknowledges many will think his idea is stupid and he says he is not committed to elephants, but says the challenge is on to find a more holistic solution to problems like grass fires.
"It might be a stupid idea, but is having a world-famous, out-of-control grass-fire cycle a clever idea?" he said.
He says past mistakes call for confronting solutions that need to be based on science, not emotion and cultural prejudice.
He says people need to ask themselves why it is okay to shoot donkeys and camels but not horses, and says people need to accept there is no such thing as "pristine nature".
"Buffalo, pigs and cane toads are now part of the landscape and we need to work with them," Dr Bowman said.
In fact, the article argues that evidence suggests low levels of camel and buffalo are beneficial because their tracks form firebreaks.
Risk assessment
Dr Bowman emphasises any animals introduced would need to be managed properly with their spread controlled by, for example, GPS collars, sterilisation or contraceptives.
"I'm not saying let's pull up with a barge and randomly release a whole lot of African animals," he said.
The article says that while the case of the cane toad is used to scare people about biological control, adaption of wildlife suggests reactions to biological controls may not be as bad as we expect.
"If we stand back and do nothing, it’s just as bad as making a mistake," he said.
Dr Don Driscoll, a fellow at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, says Dr Bowman’s idea of introducing elephants will be unpopular because the animals are a threat to trees and would be difficult to confine behind fences.
"Introducing elephants to Australia would likely be rather quickly rejected as a method for controlling invasive gamba grass," he said.
But Dr Bowman’s proposal to reinstate dingoes appears to have met with some support.
"Evidence is mounting that dingoes have enormous environmental benefits with little increased risk to the cattle industry," Dr Driscoll said.
"It is crucial to consider all of the management options for dealing with invasive species, even ideas that might seem crazy at first."
Dr Ricky Spencer of the Native and Pest Animal Unit at the University of Western Sydney describes the dingo proposal as "irresponsible" as there is not enough evidence available to support it.
Dr Charles Krebs from the University of Canberra’s Institute for Applied Ecology emphasises the need for caution in the face of Dr Bowman’s "interesting" suggestions.
"Beware the law of unintended consequences," he said.
He and others say more should be done to make current approaches more effective.
"Maybe we need to come to terms with the fact that some of our ecosystems may remain changed because of the species we’ve already introduced, rather than introducing more in the hope that they can fix things for us," Professor Richard Hobbs, an Australian Laureate Fellow with the School of Plant Biology at the University of Western Australia, said.
A leading environmental group has also labelled the idea as too radical.
The Pew Environment Group's Patrick O'Leary says Australia has a bad track record of introducing animals.
"We certainly don't need a 10-tonne cane toad in the Top End or anywhere else in Australia - and that's the kind of risk that you run with introducing new species into the environment," he said.
"I don't think we can treat that as a serious option. We know how to control some of these species like gamba grass, but we have to apply the science, we have to apply the funding."
Topics: ecology, science-and-technology, biology, bushfire, fires, animals, australia, qld, nt, tas
First postedA new competition launched today will award a $100 million grant to a single proposal designed to help solve a critical problem affecting people, places, or the planet. The Foundation’s competition, called 100&Change, is open to organizations working in any field of endeavor anywhere. Applicants must identify both the problem they are trying to solve, as well as their proposed solution. Competitive proposals will be meaningful, verifiable, durable, and feasible.
“Solving society’s most pressing problems isn’t easy, but we believe it can be done,” said MacArthur President Julia Stasch. “Potential solutions may go unnoticed or under resourced and are waiting to be brought to scale. Every three years, we plan to award $100 million to help make one of these solutions a reality. Through 100&Change, we want to inspire, encourage, and support other people’s ideas, here in our hometown Chicago, across the nation and around the world, about how to address major challenges and enable real progress toward a solution.”
The selection process for 100&Change is rigorous, fair, and transparent. Each valid proposal will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges from a variety of fields, and evaluated according to a strict set of criteria designed to favor proposals that maximize measurable impact in their chosen areas. Information about the judges and their evaluation methodology will be shared publicly via the competition website. Participants will receive feedback on their proposals from the judges.
“We believe that 100&Change can have a ripple effect beyond what a single $100 million grant enables,” said Cecilia Conrad, MacArthur’s Managing Director leading the competition. “Setting audacious goals is inspiring. Clear evidence of impact can encourage other funders to invest in solvable problems more broadly, and applicants who do not receive the $100 million grant will still receive valuable feedback on and attention to their ideas.”
100&Change will consider applications from across the United States and around the world. Nonprofit and for-profit organizations can apply, subject to eligibility rules. The competition will not accept applications from individuals or government agencies.
To participate, applicants must first register on the website by September 2, 2016. Then they must complete a substantive online application, detailing the problem, solution, and budget, along with posting a video pitch. Proposals will be accepted through October 3, 2016. Semi-finalists will be announced in December. Each semi-finalist will receive assistance from an expert team to identify and address questions about technical and organizational capacity required to implement each proposed solution, including specific plans to monitor, evaluate, and learn during implementation. Each semi-finalist will also be asked to show significant, authentic engagement with affected communities. MacArthur’s Board of Directors will select finalists in the summer of 2017. Finalists will present their solutions during a live event in the fall of 2017, after which the Board will make the final decision about the $100 million grant recipient.Syria's ambassador to India has said that "Indian fighters" are waging "Islamic jihad" against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria alongside fighters from Afghanistan and Chechnya.
Related: Top US Republicans back Syria strike as refugee crisis mounts
Ambassador Riad Kamel Abbas told The Indian Express Wednesday that some of these Indian nationals had been killed in the war, but some had been "caught alive".
Related: No-win in Syria
Abbas said he had shared this information with the Indian government, and the government had been "surprised". However, Syria had not been able to pass on any evidence, because no Indian official had visited Syria in the last two years, he said.
Syria: Assad behind chemical attack, report French intelligence services
"Indian fighters are waging Islamic jihad, along with fighters from Chechnya, Afghanistan and other countries," the ambassador, who was handpicked by Assad for the India job two years ago, said.
UN official supports India's call for political solution over Syria
Asked who these Indian fighters were, Abbas said, "They are Islamic people, not Hindus, because Hindus don't wage Islamic jihad... Why are you surprised?
"There are people in India who support Muslim brotherhood's ideology... They are very dangerous," Abbas said.
Syria will defend itself against any aggression: Bashar al-Assad
According to Abbas, the fighters travelled to Turkey from India before entering Syria. "Some of them have been killed, some have been caught alive," he said, adding, "One of them has been shown on Syrian TV, caught with an Indian passport."
While refusing to give details of the identity of these alleged Indian jihadis, the ambassador said, "One of the families called me up to get back their boy's body, and I told them it was not my duty."
On New Delhi's response, he said, "When we told the Indian government, they were surprised.
"The Indian government and the Indian intelligence agencies should find out about them," he said with a shrug.
Asked if the Syrian government had provided any proof to India of the involvement of Indian fighters in the war, Abbas said, "How can we share the evidence when no Indian official has been to Syria for the last two years? If they go there, we can produce evidence.
"What is going on in Syria is cross-border terrorism, and India knows what is cross-border terrorism... And India has good experience of fighting against terrorism," he said.
"There is no Free Syrian Army... We are fighting al-Qaeda... Aspirations of which people is the world talking about? The aspirations of al-Qaeda?
"Will India support them (the West) to execute their plans (to strike Syria)? I think no. India is a great country," he said, adding, "We are fighting terrorism on behalf of our friends."
On the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime against the rebels, the ambassador said, "We have evidence to prove that the chemical weapons came from Saudi Arabia and Qatar... But how can we share the evidence with India when no Indian official has visited us? We have shared it with the Chinese and Russians."
Abbas said Syria was grateful to India for supporting it on non-intervention. "We expect more from our friend at the UN to stop American aggression.
"India has to decide whether you are with terrorists or against terrorists... Now is the time to talk about fighting against terrorism," Abbas said. "We don't want military support, we want political support."
Please read our terms of use before posting commentsArmed robbery in parking lot by Winco on Friday night
Elk Grove responded to the call of an armed robbery outside of Winco on Friday night around 10:40 pm. A victim was walking to his car when an older black, 4 door sedan pulled up. A man got out of the car and asked the victim a question, then pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim asking for his property. The suspect then removed the victim’s property while holding him at gunpoint.
The suspect then got back into the car being driven by a black female wearing a pink hat. The male suspect was described as a black male in his 20’s wearing a grey sweatshirt and light colored jeans. The victim was no injured in the robbery.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Elk Grove Police Department Detective Bureau at (916) 478-8060 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at (916) 443-HELP (4357). Callers to Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.00. Tips can also be sent via SMS text message by entering CRIMES (274637) on a cell phone, followed by Tip732 (agency identification number) and the message.Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week.
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Nearly one in three women in the United States will have had at least one abortion by the time they reach menopause. Some will have had more than one. Where are they? In a recent piece on the New York Times op-ed page, I called on them to break their silence. Thanks to clandestine videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion outfit, Planned Parenthood is in its hour of need. Independent clinics all over the country are closing due to laws that purport to protect patient safety but are actually intended to put clinics out of business. Ostracism, death threats, bombings, and arson are driving providers out of the field and discouraging new ones from entering it. Restrictions intended to shame women and raise the cost of abortions are heaping up. As Rabbi Hillel famously asked, “If not now, when?” Ad Policy Don’t all political movements, at some level, ask people to to get out of their comfort zones and be a little brave?
It didn’t take long for pro-choice activists to remind me that many women cannot tell their story. They would be disowned by their families, shunned in their communities, beaten by their men, and subject to all kinds of harassment, online and off. At Cosmopolitan.com, Renee Bracey Sherman writes, “We cannot ask people to share a vulnerable story when the atmosphere is filled with so much vitriol.” Point taken—there are reasons why people keep their secrets. Stigma works. After all, there are still plenty of gay men and lesbians who are in the closet, or are out to some people but not others. Bracey Sherman reminds us that we can’t put everything on the backs of women who have had abortions: “We cannot eradicate abortion stigma without the support of those whom society deems ‘good’ mothers because they didn’t choose abortion.”
So, to clarify: I would never suggest that any woman endanger her safety or livelihood to tell her abortion story. But there are plenty of women for whom the stakes are nowhere near so high. After my op-ed came out, I got a number of e-mails, some from women explaining why they were silent, but also from women declaring that now they would go public. One in three women is a lot of people. Don’t all political movements, at some level, ask people to get out of their comfort zones and be a little brave?
I also don’t mean to suggest that only women who have had abortions have a responsibility here. If you or your child or your boyfriend (8 percent of Planned Parenthood’s patients are men) ever visited a Planned Parenthood clinic for birth control or STI treatment, you owe them. If you have had sex without intending pregnancy; or a pregnancy scare that didn’t send you completely over the wall; or made education, career, or life plans that depended on postponing childbearing, you owe Planned Parenthood, because undergirding all of those choices is the ready availability of birth control and abortion, whether or not you think you would actually end an ill-timed pregnancy. DEFEND PLANNED PARENTHOOD AGAINST REPUBLICAN ATTACKS TAKE ACTION NOW!
For women who have had abortions, storytelling is just one possibility. If you can’t tell your story, you can still stand up for reproductive rights. You can talk to your friends and neighbors about the issues; you can vote for pro-choice candidates (anti-choicers are much more likely than pro-choicers to be single-issue voters, which is one reason we are where we are today); you can stay on top of the news—I meet so many pro-choice people who think this issue doesn’t affect them, because they live in a blue state. You can lobby your state legislature about the millions of tax dollars pouring into so-called crisis pregnancy centers. You can switch to a pro-choice church. You can write a thank-you note to your abortion provider. If every woman who received care from Planned Parenthood put just $10 in an envelope every year and mailed it to their local affiliate, that would be a game changer. If $10 is too much, how about $5? Or $1?
B.J. Isaacson-Jones, who ran an abortion clinic in St. Louis for many years, wrote “An Open Letter to 21 Million Women” in 1988, 15 years after Roe. This year, Roe turns 42, and it’s truer today than ever. It appears in full below.
Where are you?
For over 16 years we have provided
you with choices
Painful choices
I remember—
I sometimes cried with you.
Choices, nevertheless, when you were desperate.
Remember how we protected your privacy
and treated you with dignity and respect
when you
were famous
had been brought to us in shackles
with an armed guard, or
were terrified
that you would run into
one of your students?
I remember each of you.
Our clinic was firebombed.
Do you recall?
Exhausted and terrified we had
been up all night.
We rerouted you to another clinic
because you wanted an abortion that day.
Where are you?
Priding ourselves on providing abortions for
those who cannot pay, we have spent millions
of dollars that we never really
had caring for you. We wanted
to give a choice.
I also gave you cab fare and
money for dinner from my own pocket.
Have you forgotten?
I remember you cried and asked me how
you could carry this pregnancy to term when
you were abusing the children you had,
were having an affair,
tested positive for AIDS,
could not handle another,
were raped by your mother’s boyfriend,
pregnant by your father and
shocked and torn apart when
your very much wanted and loved
fetus was found to be
severely deformed.
Your mother picketed our clinic
regularly. We brought you in after dark.
Have you mustered the courage
to tell her that you are pro-choice?
You are.
Aren’t you?
I recall shielding your shaking body, guiding you
and you husband through the picket lines.
They screamed adoption, not abortion!
You wondered how you could explain your
choice to your young children.
You broke our hearts.
You had just celebrated your twelfth birthday
when you came to us. You clutched
your teddy bear, sucked your thumb
and cried out for your mom who asked
you why you had gotten yourself pregnant.
You replied that you just wanted to be grown.
You’re twenty today.
Where are you?
I pretend I don’t know you in the market,
at social gatherings and on the street.
I told you I would.
After your procedure you told me that you would
fight for reproductive choices (parenthood,
adoption, and abortion) for your mother, daughters,
and grandchildren. You will... won’t you?
I have no regrets. I care about
each and every one of you and
treasure all that you’ve taught me.
But I’m angry. I can’t do this alone.
I’m not asking you to speak about your abortion, but
You need to speak out and you need to speak
out now. Where are you?In association with the First Great Expedition and the Institute of Galactic Exploration and Research (IGER), Cmdr Wishblend has formally announced the next Cryptic Location Search will be held right here in Colonia at the start of the New Year.
The first such search was held earlier this year and tasked pilots with finding nine separate locations based on a particularly complex set of clues provided at the start of the event. Pilots shot in from all over the galaxy, and from all reports the experience was certainly one to remember.
Determined to keep pushing the concept forward, Colonia seemed like an obvious choice for running the next event. It may have something to do with the way so many people have found themselves here, but it seems that pilots around Colonia just can’t resist a good mystery. This, coupled with the massive influx of new pilots already on the way as part of the Christmas Carriers Convoy, should combine to make this event both exciting and popular.
Kicking off on January 10th 3303 at 19:30 hours (IGT), pilots will be asked to meet at Colonia Hub where all the necessary clues will be provided and the participants sent on their way. These clues will send Commanders all over the Colonia Nebula in search of interesting locations specially selected for the event.
The Nebula is quite a big place and locations won’t be limited to space or stellar bodies either; participants will also be required to get down and dirty on planet surfaces, so along with a fuel scoop, pilots will certainly want to have their SRVs fuelled up and ready.
The aim is to provide not only a fascinating little mystery for pilots to solve, but also a chance for both old faces and new arrivals to see some of the most fascinating sights that our home has to offer.
Wishblend had this to say regarding the event:
“I created it for two reasons. One, to get Commanders to look at the nice things to be discovered, and two, to have some fun while doing it. I am hoping that everyone who will take part will have a great time trying to crack the cryptic locations.”
There will be a total of twenty cryptic locations for pilots to discover, with the first pilot to crack the code and report their findings receiving not only some well-earned prizes in the form of a mission patch and some cool new paintwork, but also the prestigious title of Cryptic Location Master!
The first two runner up placers will also be receive some new paint work and decals for their ships as well.
This is a fantastic opportunity for all pilots looking to see the sights around Colonia and participate in a unique experience, all while hopefully making some new friendships and possibly winning some swag to boot!
You’ll find all the relevant information and sign up procedures here.
Good luck Commanders and happy hunting!
AdvertisementsAn independent senator has called for recreational drugs to be legalised and for the State to control the sale of substances. Senator James Heffernan made the remarks as emergency legislation was rushed through yesterday to re-ban the possession of ecstasy, magic mushrooms and other drugs.
Health Minister Leo Varadkar indicated that he wants to liberalise aspects of the laws on drugs.
The Dáil and Seanad passed the emergency legislation after a landmark court ruling this week found a key drug law was unconstitutional. The president signed the emergency measure into law yesterday.
Mr Heffernan, formerly of Labour, said the Government could pilot a scheme and issue “substances in a responsible manner to certain people”.
“While all these drugs remain illegal, the profits from their sale and supply go to criminal organisations and spawn every sort of social ill that one can imagine,” he said.
“It may be time for democratically elected governments to get control of that. I see how the issue of alcohol is dealt with in Nordic countries where the sale is conducted by state-owned off-licences, which works very well. Perhaps, it is an idea that can be thrashed out here,” he said.
Senators debated how to deal with drug addiction yesterday, with some calling for the position of a specific drugs minister to be reinstated.
Mr Varadkar said, while he welcomed extra help, this was a matter for the Coalition leaders. He said he was unsure if the post worked well in the past. “By their very nature, ministers of state do not have the type of clout senior ministers do because they are not at the cabinet table,” he told senators.
Mr Varadkar also signalled he wanted to liberalise aspects of the drug laws.
“A number of senators called for a more health- focused, addiction-focused approach rather than a criminal-justice one to deal with the drugs crisis. My own instincts are in that direction too,” he said.
Labour’s Ivana Bacik said debate was needed on the control of drugs.
“We need to examine, in a considered and careful fashion, other countries which have adopted different approaches to the regulation of what we call controlled drugs. Generally speaking, billions have been spent to prevent drug addiction and the drugs trade, but it is not working. We have to look at the whole drug situation and have a national conversation to see where we go in future,” she said.
Mr Varadkar said the Court of Appeal ruling this week would be examined by the Attorney General with “a view to considering its implications and what future amendments to the legislation may be required and whether an appeal to the Supreme Court is warranted”.
Fianna Fáil’s Diarmuid Wilson said discussion was needed on a new national drugs strategy, on supports for addicts and the need to beef up garda resources. There was also concern drugs units were being disbanded. “I would like to have the primary focus of the latter on the Mr Bigs, not the Mr Smalls,” he said.William Stewart Boyd drove to a South Side church 13 years ago to turn over his late father’s handgun to Chicago police as part of a buyback program aimed at keeping derelict firearms off the streets.
A Cook County judge in domestic relations cases, Boyd expected the weapon to be inventoried and destroyed like thousands of others over the years. He was wrong.
Instead, the gun mysteriously turned up eight years later next to the body of a young man shot to death by a Cicero police officer. The cop – with a history of discipline problems – is now off the force collecting a disability pension because of post-traumatic stress from the incident.
But it is the life and times of Boyd’s Smith & Wesson.38 caliber revolver, serial number J515268, that is raising new questions about potential police malfeasance that stretches across city lines.
The Chicago Police Department has launched an internal affairs investigation after learning from the Better Government Association that a gun it was supposed to have destroyed instead turned up at the scene of a police shooting, the latest episode in a widespread problem with confiscated guns disappearing from police custody.
And after five years of contentious litigation in the federal civil rights case over the shooting, Cicero officials are now poised to write a $3.5 million settlement check to members of the dead man’s family who claim police planted the gun to cover up an unjustified shooting. The Cicero Town Council agreed this July to approve the settlement and is expected to take a final vote soon.
Underlying both developments is a central question: How did the gun of Boyd’s father find its way from what was supposed to be a locked Chicago Police custody room to a tiny patch of pavement next to the body of 22-year-old Latin Counts gang member Cesar A. Munive.
Boyd, a judge for nearly 20 years, is understandably upset that his gun was involved in someone’s death.
“I’m doing the right thing and in the process, someone didn’t do what they were supposed to do,” Boyd said in an interview with the BGA. “That calls into question the process — what’s happening after you turn these weapons in?”
In a June 29 affidavit filed as part of a federal lawsuit in the case, Boyd detailed his history with the gun, including how he purchased it 40 years ago so his father would feel safer.
The allegations that it ended up a police “throw down” is one Cicero police have adamantly denied in court filings.
Munive — who had a rap sheet including convictions for sexual abuse of a minor, battery and unlawful use of a weapon — was shot dead by Cicero Police officer Don Garrity in a residential neighborhood on July 5, 2012, records show.
Garrity and another officer had just responded in separate patrol cars to reports of a gang fight, and spotted Munive riding a bicycle away from the police arriving at the scene.
According to reports from the investigation, Garrity said he got out of his squad car and chased Munive on foot to the northeast corner of 13th Street and South 57th Avenue.
That’s when Garrity said he saw Munive aim the gun at the windshield of the white, unmarked squad car that was driven by the other officer, Dominic Schullo. Garrity told investigators he ordered the young man to drop the gun, Munive (pictured below) refused, and the officer opened fire.
Neither Garrity nor Schullo responded to requests for comment for this report. Schullo is the son of a former Cicero police chief who served prison time for a corruption conviction.
During the investigation, Schullo backed up his colleague’s story. In one interview with state police just days after the shooting, Schullo dramatically described to investigators “staring straight down the barrel of the handgun” in Munive’s left hand.
“He was gonna shoot me through the window,” Schullo told Cicero police. “If it wasn’t for Garrity, he would have shot me right through the glass!”
The bullet pierced Munive’s right lung, according to the autopsy. As he struggled to breathe, he complained to police that “it burns,” records show. He died of a gunshot wound to the back, the Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled.
In a recent interview with the BGA, Garrity’s attorney Craig Tobin denied the lawsuit’s allegation that Cicero police planted the gun on Munive. He claimed that Munive was given the gun by another member of the Latin Counts gang.
Jon Loevy, the Munive family attorney, has a dramatically different theory, asserting that Garrity shot an unarmed man and the gun was planted by police to cover up an unjustified shooting. BGA attorney Matt Topic works for Loevy’s firm but has no connection to the case and was not consulted for this story.
Loevy said the gun’s journey clearly raised questions about what happened after Boyd handed it over to Chicago police as part of the gun buyback program.
“Our guy is dead, we can’t ask him, but we do know it was last seen in the possession of law enforcement,” Loevy said.
Not until nearly two years after Munive’s death did state police ask for a federal trace of the gun. That trace, by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, identified Boyd as one who bought it from an Oak Lawn dealer in 1977.
Don Garrity (Sun-Times)
The Illinois State Police and Cicero each said it was the other's responsibility to investigate the history of the gun. But that didn’t matter anyway because Munive had it, according to Matt Boerwinkle, a state police spokesman, who says his agency stands by its findings that Munive pointed the gun at Garrity before being shot.
"Anybody could allege anything after the fact and file a lawsuit," Boerwinkle said of the allegations the gun was planted near Munive’s body by police.
Based on the state police findings, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office closed its review of the shooting with a letter that read in part: “We have completed our review of the matter and found no conduct by the officer which would give rise to criminal charges.”
Boyd told the BGA he was not contacted by police about the gun — only by private investigators and attorneys from both sides connected to the lawsuit.
Cook County Judge Boyd (YouTube)
In his affidavit, Boyd described giving the gun to plainclothes Chicago police officers, who wore their badges and guns on their belts. In exchange, he was given a prepaid VISA card for less than $100.
Chicago police recover thousands of guns every year, many through buyback programs but also many that are seized during arrests. So far this year, Chicago police said they have confiscated more than 5,000 guns. And gun buybacks from 2006 to 2012 yielded more than 23,000 weapons, according to a 2013 audit of the gun buyback program by Chicago’s inspector general.
Hundreds of such guns mysteriously disappeared in the past decade from police agencies nationwide from Florida to California, Alabama to Michigan, according to published reports. Suburban Chicago police departments in Harvey, Elmwood Park, and Dolton have all had guns vanish in recent years.
And long before Boyd’s gun disappeared from custody, a different city audit showed the Chicago Police Department lost track of more than 130 guns stored at an evidence warehouse in the 1990s, news reports show. Four guns that were stored at the warehouse were later seized during arrests.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi described the latest case as “extremely abnormal and troublesome…”
“We are opening an internal affairs investigation today to trace this gun, verify that it was taken into police custody during a turn in and investigate how it possibly ended up back on the street,” he said.
Garrity left the department a little more than two years ago after he developed post-traumatic stress disorder, said Jerry Marzullo, the attorney for Cicero’s Police Pension Board.
After the shooting, he was promoted from patrol officer to detective. He left making $84,707 annually, nearly $27,000 more than he did as a patrol officer. That pay hike boosted his annual disability payments to $55,000.
Cicero Town Attorney Mike Del Galdo said Garrity went on disability after depositions in the lawsuit revealed he omitted key facts about his work history when he first applied for a post with the Cicero police.
Before joining the Cicero force, Garrity resigned as a Berwyn police officer in May 2008 after he was arrested by North Riverside Police who pursued him in his own private car on an early morning high speed chase down Cermak Road.
Records show Garrity, while still on the Berwyn force, also was once investigated for violating orders by wielding a high-powered rifle during a felony traffic stop.
“This police officer should not have been a police officer,” said Loevy, the Munive family attorney. “They are going to pay a substantial settlement as a result of this...shooting.”Image: B612 Foundation
A nonprofit organization that many have looked at as our best chance to detect potentially Earth-destroying asteroids has just been dropped by NASA, apparently because it missed a series of deadlines the agency set up for it.
The B612 Foundation's mission is to launch Sentinel, an infrared space telescope that would trail Venus and point at Earth in order to detect potentially dangerous asteroids and meteors. Unlike many startup space projects (most of which are little more than pipe dreams), Sentinel is largely made up of former astronauts and space industry veterans, so many thought it would actually happen.
B612 had signed on the makers of the Hubble Space Telescope to develop Sentinel, tentatively had a SpaceX launch lined up, and signed an "unfunded Space Act Agreement" with NASA in 2012 that would have provided B612 with technical consulting and access to NASA tracking facilities for Sentinel.
Things are apparently not going well, however: Space Policy Online reported that NASA canceled the agreement because the foundation has not even started development of the Sentinel, which was originally supposed to launch in 2016 (that date had already been delayed twice, to 2019).
The foundation blamed crowdfunding issues for the missed deadlines, and it's unclear how much of the estimated |
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The Pyle'S ound B ase' Speaker System The Pyle Sound Base Bluetooth Tabletop TV Stand Speaker System is what your entertainment system has been missing. Quick and easy setup, simple operation and best of all, it creates an intimate audio environment in your living room! Place it right under your television and connect to your existing home theater system to amplify the experience. Enable wireless streaming audio with exceptional full-range sound reproduction -- instantly! Add cinema-style sound in the comfort of your own home and take movie night to the next level with the Pyle PSBV600BT Sound Base System. Click here to learn more.
Find Pyle on Amazon! Sep 23, 2014 Find Pyle on Amazon! This week, Amazon highlights Pyles new line of Steam Cleaners and Steam Presses. Make your home more inviting with natural and chemical-free cleaning power. Disinfect your living space, blast away unwanted wrinkles and make it safer for children and pets. Achieve a new level of clean with the Pyle Pure Clean Steam Systems. Click here to learn more. Visit Pyle Audios Amazon Store to view a wide range of electronics and accessories. With more than 40 years of consumer electronic industry experience, Pyle has established itself as the premier source for entertainment and electronic solutions. We provide every day audio and video options for product categories including, but not limited to, Home & Office, Car & Truck, Sound & Recording, Sports & Outdoors and more! Choose form practical and next-generation technologies that aim to enhance the overall experience. Learn more and find what you're looking for, with Pyle! Don't forget to visit www.PyleAudio.com
New Items Online Catalog - Part 2 Aug 21, 2014 2014 New Item Online Catalog - Part 2 Click on the image below to view the NEW Model Online Catalog Pyle Audio is back with more everyday electronics and accessories. Click on the catalog below to view exciting new models featuring the PIPCAM series digital IP cameras. These smart IP camera and recording systems feature built-in Wi-Fi connectivity and the ability to connect to the Pyle IP Cam app to unlock more security monitoring and surveillance capabilities. Also new for 2014, the Pyle Health line further expands its personal and family health selection. Models include blood pressure monitors and thermometers that feature built-in Bluetooth technology -- paving a healthy way for the next generation. Pyles making it easier than ever to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle. Visit PyleAudio.com to learn more! Pyle Audio Inc. www.PyleAudio.com support@PyleAudio.com 718.535.1800
New Models: Wi-Fi IP Cameras Jul 29, 2014 New Product Line: Wi-Fi IP Cameras
PIPCAM5 PIPCAM8 PIPCAM15 Pyle's new line of IP Camera systems put you in control! The PIPCAM model series provide surveillance and video recording ability in the palm of your hand. Connect the IP cameras then use the free downloadable Pyle IP Cam app to monitor the situation from a remote location. Unlock more security capabilities and get connected with integrated Wi-Fi connectivity. The built-in web servers make the Pyle IP Cameras, and digital wireless camera system surveillance, easy! Learn more about the PIPCAM Series IP Cameras With more than 40 years of consumer electronic industry experience, Pyle has established itself as the premier source for entertainment and electronic solutions. We provide a wide range of audio and video options for product categories including, but not limited to, Home & Office, Car & Truck, Sound & Recording, Marine & Watercraft, Sports & Outdoors and more! We provide practical and next-generation technologies that aim to enhance the overall experience. Come visit us and learn more! Pyle Audio Inc. www.PyleAudio.com support@PyleAudio.com 718.535.1800
2014 New Item Catalog May 07, 2014 2014 New Item Online Interactive Catalog Click on the image below to view NEW products! Pyle Audio Inc. www.PyleAudio.com support@PyleAudio.com 718.535.1800
Pyle Street Blaster Mar 11, 2014 Pyle’s Street Blaster Bursts onto the Scene with 1000 watts of Supreme Sound Bluetooth and NFC compatible boombox packs a powerful sound that’s perfect for DJs, bands or partygoers looking to make an impression New York, NY – (March, 2014) – Pyle Audio introduces Street Blaster, a boombox packing a massive 1,000 Watts of power. The Street Blaster is a full range stereo speaker system offering a high output music listening experience, as well as Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology using any iOS and Android device. To expand the listening options even further the Street Blaster has an added 3.5mm input jack. Designed specifically for maximum bass response and performance, the Street Blaster features a high-powered cylindrical speaker housing, built-in digital amplifier and LED lights that blink and pulse to the music for a top-notch listening and visual experience. Portable and rugged, the Street Blaster is a perfect grab-and-go option for bands or DJs who need powerful, easily transportable sound. The boombox offers wireless convenience for easy use in outdoor areas where electrical power isn’t always an option. When fully charged, the Street Blaster provides four hours of playtime, and includes battery level indicators so users always know when it needs to be charged again. The Street Blaster offers a wide range of playback options including Bluetooth and NFC wireless technology so users can stream their favorite Pandora stations, Spotify playlists and other music applications from iOS and Android devices. The AUX input allows users to connect iPods, tablets, MP3 players, PCs and various other devices for even more play options. The Street Blaster offers microphone and guitar inputs so bands can play anytime, anywhere. Users can adjust treble, bass, echo, volume, microphone and guitar levels in order to produce a perfect sound during every performance. Street Blaster Features Include: Bluetooth and NFC Technology Multiple inputs for microphones and 3.5mm devices USB port provides charging for smartphones and other devices Po wer: 100V-220V AC, 50/60Hz Dimensions: 24.5" (W) x 10.0" (D) x 10.0" (H) Weight: 21.7 lbs Model #: PBMSPG100 The Street Blaster is available now at www.PyleAudio.com for MSRP $571.99. About Pyle Audio: With more than 40 years’ experience in the manufacturing of high-quality audio products, Pyle has established itself as a premier source for car audio, home audio and professional audio and musical instruments. Product lines include Pyle Pro, Pyle Car and Pyle Home. The company has recently expanded into outdoor recreational gear with its Pyle Sports line. For more information, please visit www.PyleAudio.com. # # # Media contact: Andrew Felix
Account Manager for Pyle Audio
Max Borges Agency
(305) 374-4404 x136
andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com
Pyle Rocket Torch Mar 11, 2014 Pyle’s Rocket Torch Shines a New Light on the Bluetooth Speaker Market
A multi-functional speaker with Bluetooth and FM radio capabilities, LED flashlight, AUX-IN jack, and mini-SD card slot New York, NY – March, 2014 – Pyle is bringing audio to multiple levels with the introduction of their PWPBT30 Rocket Torch, a multi-functional speaker and flashlight equipped with Bluetooth technology, FM radio, mini SD card slot and AUX-IN jack. Perfect for nearly any activity such as camping, traveling or relaxing on the beach, the Rocket Torch is water resistant and weighs less than a pound. Rocket Torch is available at www.pyleaudio.com for $97.99. Bluetooth technology allows users to connect to any iOS, Android or PC device and listen to music and phone calls up to a distance of 32 feet. For users who prefer to preserve their phone battery but still enjoy music, Rocket Torch provides FM radio broadcasts and stations, as well as a receiving slot for a mini SD card, where users can play their favorite MP3s. Splash proof buttons let users to control FM Radio, play and pause, scan through tracks, adjust volume and answer or reject calls. Featuring a bright, energy efficient and eco-friendly LED flashlight, the Rocket Torch goes a step above audio and offers safety and convenience. Clip it to a purse, backpack or bike and turn on the light while traveling at night. In addition, keep it charged and ready during an approaching storm. This flashlight is equipped with a rechargeable lithium battery that recharges directly from the computer USB port. When it’s time to return home or head to the office, Rocket Torch makes the transition simple by offering an AUX-IN jack for your favorite devices that aren’t equipped with Bluetooth. Users can amplify the sound on their television, computer, or any other device equipped with an AUX input. Available in red, orange, green, blue and black, Rocket Torch looks stylish indoors and out. “We’re always looking for ways to create quality products that take audio to the next level,” says Abe Brach, Product Specialist at Pyle Audio. “The Rocket Torch brings together numerous ways to listen to music with the added bonus of a flashlight, making a product that’s not only inventive, but also convenient.” The Rocket Torch is available for $97.99 at www.PyleAudio.com. About Pyle Audio: With more than 40 years’ experience in the manufacturing of high-quality audio products, Pyle has established itself as a premier source for car audio, home audio and professional audio and musical instruments. Product lines include Pyle Pro, Pyle Car and Pyle Home. The company has recently expanded into outdoor recreational gear with its Pyle Sports line. For more information, please visit www.PyleAudio.com. # # # Media contact: Andrew Felix
Account Manager for Pyle Audio
Max Borges Agency
(305) 374-4404 x136
andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com
New Bluetooth Digital Health Scales Dec 27, 2013
Pyle Health Announces New Bluetooth Smart Scale: Monitoring your health via body trackers and smart scales has become all the rage. Many of these gadgets are great and continue to improve as the integrated apps evolve. In other words, your purchase today will get better over time… in theory anyways. The folks at Pyle Audio are throwing their hat in the ring with their latest Pyle Health (PHLSCBT4GN) Bluetooth Fitness Scale. This innovative scale and integrated app are designed to provide the most critical data points for any workout regimen including body fat, hydration levels, muscle level and bone level percentages. Simply step on and let the Bluetooth Fitness Scale do the rest. The Bluetooth Fitness Scale from Pyle Audio is available in black, grey, green, pink or orange for around $59.99 here.The stylish, modern design features a tempered glass surface to effectively distribute weight evenly across the scale. The Bluetooth Fitness Scale provides high-quality, accurate results in customizable measurements (pounds, kilograms, or stones). Utilizing Bluetooth Smart technology, the scale wirelessly sends data to your mobile device and combines with the free Pyle Health Fitness Tracker app to create user profiles and chart progress. Source: http://www.gadgetking.com/2013/12/19/pyle-health-announces-new-bluetooth-smart-scale/
CES 2014 - Sound Around Dec 19, 2013 PyleAudio.com Lanzar.com LegacyCarAudio.com PyramidCarAudio.com Sound Around is Back! Visit us at the Biggest Electronics & Technology Expo in the World! The show starts January 7 at Booth # 11608! To setup an appointment and more product information contact: abraham@soundaroundusa.com, jerryb@lanzar.com or mikeE@lanzar.com Sound Around Inc. 1600 63rd.Street Brooklyn N.Y. 11204 1-888-318-PYLE Visit us on:
New Item Gift Guide Aug 28, 2013 To find more great products, pricing information and model availability contact: mikeE@lanzar.com or abraham@soundaroundusa.com Sound Around Inc.
1600 63rd.Street
Brooklyn N.Y. 11204
1-888-318-PYLE
718-535-1800 Visit us on:
Pyle® Helps You Go Wireless with Bluetooth Apr 25, 2013 Transform Your Favorite Speaker Dock into a Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Pyle’s BlueReach Bluetooth receiver turns your 30-Pin dock into an Apple and Android-Friendly Wireless Speaker System NEW YORK – April 25, 2013 – Pyle®, manufacturer of home, car and pro audio equipment, launches BlueReach (PBTR70), a Bluetooth wireless-based music interface. The BlueReach is a user-friendly adapter that connects directly into 30-pin standard speaker docks that instantly converts them into a wireless Bluetooth audio device, making the speaker compatible with iPhone 4/4s and earlier Apple mobile devices, but also iPhone 5, the new iPad and Android smartphones and tablets. Transforming your speaker into a virtually universal audio device, the BlueReach connects with any Bluetooth-enabled tablet, phone or MP3 player including the iPhone, iPad, and most Android smartphones. The BlueReach Adapter is available for $66.99 at pyleaudio.com With a working range of up to 33 feet, the BlueReach adds wireless functionality and does not interfere or restrict access to apps, emails, texting and internet use. The innovative plug-and-play interface allows the user to simply connect the 3-inch receiver and wirelessly play music throughout the home or while on the go. Additionally, the user is able to connect any device that uses a 3.5mm plug to stream music via Bluetooth. With its three level LED illumination, setting up your BlueReach device is simple and convenient. Of particular importance is the BlueReach's ability to operate outside of the Apple platform, which makes it the ideal choice for Android and Blackberry users who can easily connect using their Bluetooth. “We wanted to create a product that allows consumers to utilize their existing sound systems and easily convert them to Bluetooth capable music players,” says Abe Brach, President of Pyle Audio. “Instead of spending more money to update your entire system, we’ve provided a solution that’s affordable and easy.” BlueReach Adapter Features Include: Easily connect the adapter to transform a common 30-pin docking station into a wireless Bluetooth audio device and control the system from your portable device 33-foot wireless range to play your favorite songs on your device through a Bluetooth connection Supports Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices, such as iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Bluetooth, Personal Computers, gaming consoles and many more Complies with Bluetooth 2.0, Plug and Play. Support A2DP V1.2, compatible with all devices enabled with A2DP Stereo Bluetooth 3.5mm input allows for direct audio input into an Apple only 30-pin docking source 3 Level LED illumination to confirm visual Bluetooth Interface (Red/Blue/Flashing Blue) Model # PBTR70
Dimensions: 2.15" x 2.15" x 0.45" (H x W x D)
The BlueReach Adapter is available for $66.99 at pyleaudio.com. For more information on the BlueReach (PBTR70) or to request high resolution images,
contact PR representative Andrew Felix at (305) 374-4404 x136 or andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com. About Pyle Audio: With more than 40 years’ experience in the manufacturing of high-quality audio products, Pyle has established itself as a premier source for car audio, home audio and professional audio and musical instruments. Product lines include Pyle Pro, Pyle Car and Pyle Home. The company has recently expanded into outdoor recreational gear with its Pyle Sports line. For more information, please visit www.PyleAudio.com. Media contact: Andrew Felix
Account Manager
Max Borges Agency
(305) 374-4404 x136
andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com
Pyle® Revives the Rotary Phone, with a New Line of Retro Style Home Telephones for your Smartphones Nov 14, 2012 Retro Telephone Collection delivers a classic design, functionality, and modern technology while reducing 99 percent radiation absorbed
November 14, 2012 – Pyle®, manufacturers of home, car and pro audio equipment, unveils its Retro Home Telephone collection for Smartphones. Designed to resemble antiques, the retro series is anything but, featuring simple-to-use buttons for answering landline and smartphone calls, easily switching between the two devices, and a button for the redial/flash function. Shipping today, the Retro Collections is $89.99 to $109.99 (MSRP). These classically designed rotary desktop telephones ( PRT55I, PRT35I, PRT15I, PRT25I), handcrafted from real wood and adorned with brushed copper parts, work with landlines allowing for normal telephone functions, as well as smartphones. In addition to letting you talk on your smartphone in style, using the handset also helps shield you from up to 99 percent of the radiation absorbed when speaking directly into cellular phones. The collection is compatible with all 3.5mm jack mobile phones and tablets, including iPhone, Android, Blackberry, iPad and the latest MacBooks. “We are excited to bring the classic style rotary phone back to the 21st century,” says Abe Brach president of Pyle Audio. “Using a handset not only helps eliminate 99% of the radiation absorbed by your body while using a cell phone, but also looks good while doing so.”
Pyle’s Retro Telephone Collection Features Include: · Retro-style telephone with handcrafted wood base and brushed copper parts · Standard telephone features and functions including last number redial flash function, and ringer high/low selection. · Compatible with any mobile device with a 3.5mm jack · Eliminates up to 99% of the radiation absorbed from direct cellphone use · One button pick-up/hang-up · One button transfer between landline and smartphone · PRT35I model also charges your mobile device
Availability The Retro Telephone series from Pyle is available online at www.PyleAudio.com. For more information on the Retro Home Telephone series or Pyle’s various product lines, including high resolution images, contact PR representative Andrew Felix at (305) 374-4404 x136 or andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com. Media contact: Andrew Felix Account Manager Max Borges Agency (305) 374-4404 x136 andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com
Pyle Audio Drums up Partnership with Award-Winning Publisher to Create First Drums For Dummies Kits Oct 30, 2012 Pyle Audio partners with John Wiley & Sons, Inc., combining its advanced audio and music technology know-how with the acclaimed For Dummies® book series – Pyle, manufacturers of home, car and pro audio equipment, has announced its new partnership with Wiley to create two new Drums For Dummies Kits: Electronic Tabletop Drums For Dummies™ and Electronic Drum Kit For Dummies™. “Pyle Audio’s reputation for quality audio products and feature-rich, easy-to-use musical instruments makes the company an ideal partner for our first-ever Drums For Dummies Kits,” said Marc Mikulich, Vice President, Brand Management at Wiley. “We are thrilled to help our loyal readers learn drum skills in a hands-on way and know they’ll be pleased with the results.” The Electronic Tabletop Drum For Dummies comes packaged with Pyle’s PTEDO5 7-pad digital drum kit, which boasts a variety of features, such as 100 pre-set songs and five editable beats allowing users to effortlessly create studio quality sound. It comes with seven touch sensitive drum pads, two foot pedals and two drum sticks. Additionally, users can enjoy 25 pre-set drum beats, 215 percussion sounds and a USB port for users to combine their unique beats with their favorite tunes. For users looking for a more rock-star drum set, the Electronic Drum Kit For Dummies comes packaged with Pyle’s PED07 professional drum kit, which features a drum rack that sets up just like a natural drum-set. Other features include five natural response drum heads, two drum sticks, two foot pedals, a sound module, cables and drum lock. Of course, it also comes with the Drums For Dummies book and CD, like the Tabletop kit. Additionally, users can supplement their experiences with 11 pre-set drum beats with up to four variations, 16-bit sample sound fidelity, headphone jack, built-in metronome and a MIDI in/out cable. “Partnering with Wiley in the popular For Dummies series further solidifies our place in the audio and musical instrument marketplace, and we couldn’t be happier,” said Abe Brach, Marketing Manager at Pyle Audio. “We not only have products for music professionals but for novices as well, and this partnership is the perfect way to help new musicians get their feet wet.” Available:
The Electronic Tabletop Drum For Dummies, available for $179.99, and the Electronic Drum Kit For Dummies, available for $229.99, can be purchased now on Amazon. For more information on the Drums For Dummies series or other product offerings from Pyle, including high resolution images, contact PR representative Andrew Felix at 305-374-4404 x136 or andrewfelix@maxborgesagency.com About For Dummies® After 20 years, more than 250 million copies printed, and millions of ebooks downloaded, For Dummies is the world’s bestselling reference series, well known for enriching people’s lives by making knowledge accessible in a fun and easy way. Loyal customers around the globe agree that For Dummies is “more than a publishing phenomenon … [it is] a sign of the times,” [The New York Times]. With more than 1,800 active topics covering everything from health to history, music to math, sports to self-help, technology to travel, For Dummies is dedicated to Making Everything Easier. The For Dummies brand presence continues to expand wherever there is a need to know, including, mobile apps, e-learning courses, a corporate custom publishing program, a robust consumer website and a licensed product line that includes consumer electronics, culinary, crafts, video, software, musical instrument packs, home improvement, automotive, game and more. For more information, visit Dummies.com. For Dummies is a branded imprint of Wiley. About Wiley Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and Web sites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wileys global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Companys Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.
Pyle's Holiday Gift Buying Guide 2012 Oct 24, 2012 Get ready for the holiday season — our waterproof cases & vintage telephones make great gifts!
Were gearing up for the holiday season at Pyle. This year were offering some products that we think make great gifts because they pair well with something you, your friends and family use every day: your smartphone and tablet. Pyle is proud to introduce our new waterproof cases for smartphones and tablets. These cases are completely sealed off from water and can prevent other harsh elements, like the sand from a beach, from getting in your devices or scratching them. Theyre designed to work with your devices multi-touch screen — so you dont need to take off the case when you want to change a song or switch apps! And, with a headphone jack plug, you can listen to music while keeping the case sealed. Youll have the full multimedia experience of your device at your fingertips by the pool, beach, or on the water. For hanging out at the beach or by the pool, check out the PCIC45 for smartphones and PWSIC30 for tablets. Our waterproof cases let you operate your multitouch tablet or smartphone while keeping it protected from water, sand, and the elements. The PCIC45 even comes with a carabiner clip — youll always know where your device is, and youll know its safe. For the more adventurous, check out the PSIC40 and PSIC55. They come with a clamp for securing to your bicycle, ATV, or other vehicle, or a suction cup for your car or boat dashboard or windshield. * Note that our smartphone cases are compatible with iPhone (except iPhone 5) and some Android phones. Check the dimensions of your phone and the specifications of the case before purchasing. Our vintage telephones also make great gifts. They having the styling of the early 20th century, handcrafted with real wood and brass, but with todays technology, including compatibility with any smartphone with a 3.5mm plug. That means all iPhones, Android, and most BlackBerry phones are compatible. You can talk, make & answer calls through your landline and cellphone with these vintage phones. They even have classic landline features like flash for call waiting and redial. Great for the kitchen, living room, even bedroom — anywhere you want a splash of retro flavor. Check out the PRT15I, PRT25I, and PRT55I. The PRT35I also has a dock for your iPod or iPhone (30-pin dock connector - not compatible with iPhone 5 or new iPods). Lastly, the PRT45: a very special phone. Its an authentic reproduction of the classic early American Heritage telephone — seen in houses throughout the United States starting in the 1920s. It works with your traditional landline telephone only. This phone is handcrafted from wood, veneered, and features bronze-plated hardware for a truly retro look. Theres even a little compartment at the bottom to store important notes.
Pyle® Presents the Ultimate Affordable Digital Personal Trainer – the PHRM38 Sports Watch and Heart Rate Monitor Aug 30, 2012 Stylishly count calories and monitor current, average and minimum/maximum heart rate when jogging, hiking, biking, climbing and more – for just $29.99
New York, N.Y. – August 30, 2012 – Pyle®, manufacturers of home, car and pro audio equipment and outdoor recreational sports gear, brings its PHRM38 Sports Watch and 2.4 GHz digitally coded wireless Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) chest strap to fitness enthusiasts and health conscious community worldwide. Users can affordably and stylishly track their workout analysis and receive important information on physical condition, including heart rate zones, during strenuous indoor and outdoor activities. Main features include: Time/date function
Present, average and maximum heart rate display
Target zone setting
1/100 second stopwatch
Calories burnt calculator
Daily alarm
User setting
LED backlight
Energy saving function The HRM chest strap features a special conductive contact pad to retrieve heart rate stats and the adjustable elastic band keeps the monitor in place while remaining comfortable and breathable during sweaty workout routines. Once the strap and the watch are successfully paired, the heart rate data will automatically be transmitted to the watch display for quick and easy viewing. Water resistant up to 33 feet and operated by two lithium batteries, the PHRM38 Sports Watch and Heart Rate Monitor combo is currently available for just $29.99 in Black, Silver, Green and Pink at www.PyleAudio.com.
Pyle and Lanzar Launch New Summer Products For 2012 Jul 05, 2012 Portable speakers, headrest video, Bluetooth headunits, desktop smartphone docks, and our newest PA systems! Pyle and Lanzar present the 2012 summer lineup with a lot of new hot products for this sweltering summer. Its a fact -- you spend more time outdoors during the summer than any other season. And when youre outdoors grilling, at the beach, or just hanging out, having your favorite music playing adds to your enjoyment. Pyles new portable speakers are perfect for listening and broadcasting your music wherever you go. Our new speakers are equipped with SD and USB ports to play your favorite digital music files -- or connect your MP3 player or smartphone using the 3.5mm jack inputs. The PSPFM1 also comes in a variety of colors, so pick your favorite and blast those tunes! Pyle and Lanzar are launching a series of marine headunits featuring the latest technology -- 3.5mm aux-in ports to connect virtually any digital music player, USB and SD card slots to play back your favorite digital music, and Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio playback for a completely wireless experience. Of course, theyre also equipped with everything youve come to expect from Pyle and Lanzar headunits, including CD players, AM/FM radio with 30 presets, and detachable faceplates. Every year, we upgrade our world-famous PA systems. After listening to customer feedback and integrating the latest technology, were proud to present the PPHP128AI and PPHP158AI, our most fully featured amplified PA systems ever. Theyre equipped with a wealth of input options, including an iPhone/iPod dock to charge and play back your music, XLR and 1/4" mic inputs, USB/SD card inputs, and RCA inputs to connect virtually any device. These two-way speakers feature huge, powerful subwoofers for the lows and mids, and titanium compression drivers for rich, accurate highs. Finally, the PIRTR60, a series of multicolor desktop docks for your cell phone or smartphone. Smartphones may be fun to touch, but theyre not always great for talking on. The PIRTR60 solves that problem by providing you with a handset that you can hold up to your head like a traditional phone, plus a convenient desktop docking station to rest your phone. Easily view texts and emails as they come in, and answer the phone with a single button touch. The high quality speaker and microphone paired with the built-in noise reduction system ensures voice clarity. Plus, using this device reduces the amount of radiation emitted by your cell phone to your body by 99%. Its all in a luxurious, soft-touch frame, and comes in eight different colors. For more information on these products, check out the sell sheets by clicking the images above.
Pyle's Home Theater Towers Are Now iPad-Ready! — Plus, More Vintage Turntables Sep 13, 2011 Pyle Home is proud to introduced a new line of home theater towers that are compatible with the iPad. Of course, theyre also perfect for use with your iPod and iPhone. Plus, weve got a new line of vintage turntables with USB-to-PC connections, so you can turn your favorite old vinyl hits into digital music files. The PHST94 series is our flagship iPad/iPod/iPhone home theater tower. To fit in with your home decor, its available in three finishes: matte black, cherry wood, and piano black. The PHST94 home theater tower brings a beautiful, powerful sound system, iPod/iPhone/iPad player and charger to any room of your home. The 600 watt system booms with power, thanks to dual 1” tweeters, dual 3.5” mid-range drivers, and an 8” subwoofer that packs a massive punch. Simply plug in your iPad, iPhone, or iPod, and you’re ready to go – plus, this unit charges your iDevice, so the party only stops when you run out of music! But when you do, just turn on the built-in FM radio to keep the music flowing. Use the alarm clock so you can wake up to your favorite music. This unit is also equipped with a stereo RCA aux jacks on back – so you can plug in another digital music player. Use the front panel touch controls or the included remote to adjust the volume, bass, treble, and even remotely control your iDevice. Also available is our PHST96 series, available in the same colors. These updated towers are also compatible with your iPad, but have a smaller profile and footprint. Perfect when space is at a premium. Lastly, check out the additions to our line of vintage turntables. Theyre available with a variety of styles and features, including AM/FM radio, cassette deck, and belt-drive options. Theres even a turntable with a classic-style phonograph horn. Check out our full line of tuntables here. For a flyer with full specifications and information, click here.
Mount Your iPad and Broadcast To Crowds With These New Items Aug 10, 2011 Pyle Pro has two more new products for you this August. Were keeping busy this summer with new additions to our lineup -- the PMKSPAD1 and the PAMP75. The PMKSPAD1 is an innovative new stand adaptor that allows you to use a microphone stand to hold your iPad. It securely holds your iPad with sure-grip touch points, preventing scratching or marring. Easily snap it in or out with the quick-snap clips. And to install, you just have to screw it on to your microphone stand. Use it on the boom for increased mobility, or place it vertically on the stand for stability. The iPad can be used in portrait and landscape modes. Use it to display lyrics, video, or even use the iPad as a touch controller for your electronic music equipment -- the possibilities are endless. The PAMP75 is a powerful self-contained PA system perfect for getting the word out at large events, indoors or outdoors. It’s equipped with ¼” mic jacks for plugging in an external mic or other audio source. The powerful 150 watt horn delivers up to 108 dB over the 450 Hz to 4 kHz audio range, so you can easily reach crowds up to 3,000 people. Rechargeable battery makes this PA perfect for athletic and other outdoor events. 110 V AC adaptor included. For full specifications click here.
Stay Secure With Pyle Pro's New Speaker and Microphone Stands Aug 03, 2011 Pyle Pro products are designed with the professional in mind. That's why were proud to announce these new heavy-duty speaker and microphone stands. The PSTND25 is a 6 foot tripod speaker stand. The black anodized aluminum stand with metal lock keeps your speaker secure -- perfect in the studio or on stage. Max load capacity 110 lbs. The PSTK105 includes two of our PSTND25 stands and a convenient gig bag for easy transportation. The PSTK106 is another dual-stand kit, but these stands are built even tougher. They can support speakers up to 136 pounds, and they set up from 4 to 6.6 feet. Lastly, the PMLSLT10 is a dual microphone stand kit. It includes 2 stands with microphone holders, a gig bag, and two 20 foot XLR-to-1/4" cables -- a perfect on-the-go starter kit. Boom length extends up to eight feet. Click here for a flyer with full specifications.
Get Great Sound From Pyle Home Receivers, Wireless iPhone/iPod Docks, and Noise-Cancelling Headphones Aug 02, 2011 Pyle Home has a whole new bunch of home theater receivers for you to check out. Plus, an innovative new wireless iPhone/iPod speaker and a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Easily play music and charge your iPod or iPhone with the PIWPD3. Plus, you can detach the speakers and put them somewhere else up to 100 feet nearby -- for a truly wireless, room-filling sound system. There’s a 3.5mm aux in jack, so you can use these wireless speakers with any digital music device. And video out allows you to hook up the PIWPD3 to a TV for video playback. Upgrade your home theater system with our new line of receivers. Our base model, the PT530A, is a two-channel, 350-watt receiver with AM/FM radio storing 12 presets, 2 microphone inputs, and 3 stereo RCA inputs. A fully functional wireless remote is included. Step up to the next level with the PT570AU -- its equipped with everything tht the PT530A has, but with 5.1 audio, plus USB and SD card inputs for playback of your favorite digital music. The same receiver is available in a home theater package -- the PT598AS -- including 4 satellite speakers, 1 center speaker, and a subwoofer. For the family with lots of HDMI equipment, check out the PT980AUH. Its equipped with the same features as the PT570AU -- but has a 7.1 channel capacity, plus 4 HDMI input ports and one HDMI output port -- so you can use the PT980AUH as a video switcher, too. Finally, check out the PHPNC45, our new high-fidelity noise-cancelling headphones. They reduce ambient noise by 95%, neutralizing up to 20 dB of frequencies between 70 and 1200 Hz. Plus theyve got huge bass response, thanks to the 40mm Mylar cones. Its a must have on those long airplane trips. For full specifications and a printable flyer, click here.
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Moyes being brought in for a brief an unsuccessful spell, eventually finishing the season seventh, 22 points adrift of champions Manchester City.
And Scholes feels that the coming campaign will be a measure of whether Woodward is the right man to identify and secure the players needed to restore United to their previous position.
"The first player I'd bring in is Toni Kroos," Scholes wrote in his blog for Paddy Power.
"He's a top-class central midfield player but United need five or six to get anywhere near the top of the Premier League again.
"No player at Manchester United can take much credit after last season's performances, bar David de Gea. It was a disaster. The keeper being player of the year says a lot.
"Edward Woodward has an awful lot to prove this time that he's good enough at his job. He has to bring the players in that the new manager wants.
"It's obvious that last year he didn't manage to do that. If he doesn't we are not going to get anywhere near the top."
And Scholes has admitted he does not expect to have a coaching role at Old Trafford next season.
Scholes returned last month to help out Giggs after his former team-mate was temporarily placed in charge following the departure of Moyes, with the Welshman now assistant under new boss Van Gaal.
"I've not spoken to Edward Woodward," Scholes added.
"I came back for Ryan Giggs for the last few games of last season to try to help out but I'm not waiting for a phone call and don't expect to be at United next season."
Scholes, who hung up his boots last year after playing over 700 games for the club, believes Moyes should not be held solely responsible for the problems last term.
"The players did not perform last season," added Scholes.
"The manager was a little negative with the teams he put out but I wasn't around the place in training until Ryan asked me back, so I can't judge properly.
"David Moyes took a lot of stick, but I believe he's a top manager. I'd question if 10 months was enough time."OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said it's unlikely he returns to roaming the sidelines in time for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, he didn't completely rule it out.
"As of right now, I will not coach Thursday night," Kerr said after practice Monday. "It's still up in the air."
Kerr addressed the media because acting head coach Mike Brown was under the weather and did not attend practice. ESPN was told that assistant coach Jarron Collins ran much of the session, and that Brown had food poisoning from a bad salad and would be fine going forward. Brown didn't want to get the team sick and stayed home in case his illness was a virus. Brown is expected to be at practice Tuesday, a source told The Undefeated.
"I told the team the good news is the team is really healthy," Kerr joked. "But the bad news is the coaching staff is dropping like flies."
The last time Kerr addressed the media prior to Monday was in between Games 2 and 3 of the opening round of the playoffs. It was then that he announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence to find a remedy for the migraines and nausea he has experienced stemming from back surgery almost two years ago.
Earlier this month, Kerr visited a specialist at Duke University to undergo a procedure to repair a spinal fluid leak. Since then, he has had his good and bad days. As Kerr sat in his chair addressing the media, he was visibly in some level of discomfort.
"I'm ready, but I'm not ready to coach yet," he said. "I'm still feeling a lot of the effects of what I've got going on."
If he's unable to return for Game 1, Kerr said he expects a final decision on his status to be made shortly after. Either way, he will travel to Cleveland after the Warriors host the first two games of the series.
"I'm not well enough to coach games, and I know that [because] I coached all 82 games and I did OK," Kerr explained. "I was uncomfortable and in a lot of pain, but I did fine. I could make it through. The first two games of the Portland series, whatever happened, things got worse. You saw me in the fourth quarter of Game 2. I could not sit still in my chair. It was that much pain. I would say that I've gotten a little bit better. That's why I'm here talking to you now. But you can probably tell I'm not sitting here happy-go-lucky."
Kerr also raved about how Brown has handled this "awkward situation." Golden State has gone 12-0 this postseason.
"I'm taking part in practices, helping with the messaging, taking part in coaching meetings, but I'm not on the sidelines during games. So he has to make those [in-game] decisions," Kerr said. "It's his team, but he's also taking my advice and counsel from behind the scenes. It's not easy, but he's obviously doing a good job. There seems to be a theme when I'm out. I think the team is like 108-2. So I'm not sure what it is."
Information from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Marc Spears was used in this report.Rony Jason’s failed UFC Fight Night 67 post-fight drug test has cost him more than a victory and nine months of his career. It’s also taken $50,000 out of his bank account.
Following news that Jason (14-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide following his first-round submission of Damon Jackson (9-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on May 30, UFC officials have rescinded the fighter’s $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award.
The award will not be reissued to a different fighter on the card, a senior UFC official told MMAjunkie.
There has been a precedent in the past for another fighter on the card to receive a bonus should one of the original winners fail a drug test. At UFC 159 in April 2013, Pat Healy tested positive for marijuana following his victory over Jim Miller.
Healy’s “Submission of the Night” award was taken away and redistributed to Bryan Caraway, who submitted Johnny Bedford at the event.
Despite UFC President Dana White once saying $10 million per year is allocated by the company for fight-night bonuses and that he wants “every dime of that $10 million to go out to the fighters,” that apparently will not be the case for the $50,000 bonus set aside for Jason at UFC Fight Night 67.
For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 67, check out the UFC Events section of the site.Reposted with permission from the Claremont Review of Books.
I admit to a bit of disappointment at the reaction to my two prior articles. I went into the agora with the hope of getting flayed by good arguments. Instead I got ankle-bitten on Twitter. What is it with conservatives and Twitter anyway? The enstupification of the movement long predates that platform, but it hasn’t helped. Conservatives who lament declining intellectual standards and lack of seriousness can’t peel themselves away from their iPhones to write anything longer than 140 characters. Even people who run their own magazines or write for prestige platforms just couldn’t be bothered.
Some might be tempted to rejoin that the silence of a wise man is evidence of his disapproval or judgment of the subject’s irrelevance. Except the heavy hitters of the movement were not silent. They just didn’t have anything to say.
Ross Douthat—who knows how to make a serious argument when he wants to—Tweeted that I am calling for tyranny. One suspects that he felt he had to say something, because silence might be interpreted as weakness (or worse, acceptance), and of course that something had to be negative, and this was the best he could do on the fly.
Here is his actual attempt to summarize my argument: “The republic died with Woodrow Wilson, so now we need a tyrant to refound it.” It is wrong in every respect, but cleverly wrong, in a way calculated to mislead and slander while broadcasting Douthat’s moral superiority. Not only is he against tyranny, he is courageous enough to call out those who are!
Now, I did not mention Wilson even once. However, as Douthat apparently knows (from a summer fellowship?), Wilson and the Progressives began the process of building the administrative state, which I did discuss at length. Note: “began.” Because I also did not say that the republic died with Wilson or even that it is dead now. I did say that I expect it to die if Hillary is elected in 2016.
My argument was simple. Every year the electorate becomes more Democratic, both in absolute numbers and in the Electoral College math. The Democrats understand this and their immigration policy is designed to accelerate the trend. The chance of defeating an incumbent Democrat in 2020 will be significantly smaller than that of winning in 2016, hence the Republicans’ next opportunity will be 2024—after eight more years of unfavorable (to them) demographic change, fueled by amnesty, no border enforcement, and refugee inflows stoked by deliberate Democratic and administrative state action (and inaction). The idea that an antediluvian conservative like Ted Cruz can win with that transformed electorate is preposterous. The only “Republican” who might have a shot would be one virtually indistinguishable from a Democrat. I forgot who said it (and Google failed me), but it’s indisputable that “Republicans need to change their position on immigration or change their positions on everything else.”
The deeper danger is that one-party rule will spell the final triumph of the administrative state—“final,” that is, for as long as that system could last. While it does last, there will still be elections, but they will determine only which Democrat or (every 24-36 years perhaps) RINO gets which office and rides in which limo. The fundamental direction and behavior of the government will not change. Except to become larger, bossier, more intrusive, expensive, and expansive, and less competent. Neither Douthat nor anyone else even attempted to refute this argument. Maybe they just lacked the space?
I would not call the above scenario “republicanism.” Perhaps Douthat would. But in my view, if it comes to pass, then yes, the republic will have died. It is my hope that this does not happen. For that, Douthat calls me an advocate for tyranny.
The identification of “tyrant” with “founder” originates with Machiavelli. It’s an intriguing argument with great explanatory power over much of history. But not the current circumstance. The question on the table today is not founding or re-founding. It is whether, through the supremely republican act of voting, we can reassert some semblance of control over our government and make it serve the interests of the whole people rather than the administrative state, the transnational managerial class, and foreigners. To assert that I have in any way called for tyranny is so off-the-charts wrong that one must call it dishonest.
Michael Gerson, by contrast, roused himself to write a whole column. Perhaps conservative thymos is not completely dead after all. The column is useful as a crystalized example of a certain strain of “conservatism,” which we might call “compassionate” or “bleeding heart” or “Kempist.” This strain remains important and influential, not merely in the person of the Speaker of the House, but also among the alumni of the last Republican administration—which it dominated—who hope to regain office someday, and among those think-tankers and columnists whom the mainstream media and the left hold out as “good” or “acceptable” conservatives, in contrast to the rest of us trogs. Gerson, with the authority that comes from experience as a high-level White House aide and a column of ten-year’s standing in the Washington Post, may well be this strain’s most important spokesman. It is tempting to call Gerson’s brain ground zero for “conservative” sanctimony, except that there’s nothing whatever conservative about any of his positions or arguments, and from what I can tell, there never has been. For Gerson, moral posturing trumps (heh) political philosophy every time. To the extent that he has the latter, it is distinguishable from managerial liberalism only by the layer of ostentatious pseudo-Christianity that he trowels on to show that all his sneers, smears, and straw-mannings arise from the purest motives.
It takes Gerson four paragraphs to arrive at any substance and his objection amounts to: things are not that bad, and even if they were, Trump cannot fix any of them. Gerson gives an accurate list of the ills that I laid out without making any attempt to affirm or deny whether he thinks things are as bad as I implied they are. I say “implied” here in order to be precise, which Gerson is not. The argument that Gerson cites was phrased as a conditional: if the things conservatives claim to believe are true, then mustn’t they admit not only that things are bad but also that they and their project have failed?
For the record, I actually do think things are pretty bad—outside of the tonier parts of the blue cities and suburbs. A 40 percent illegitimacy rate—which conservatives have been telling me to worry about for at least 20 years (National Review has called it “a disaster”)—seems very bad to me. Declining employment and spiking opium addiction in the heartland also seem worrisome. As do decades of wage stagnation. And so on.
Is Gerson worried about any of this? He doesn’t say either way, but we can assume he is because he offers a cure, something one typically doesn’t do for a body one does not consider sick. What’s his cure? Why, “civic renewal”—which Gerson falsely claims I reject—and “incremental policy changes.” To repeat for the record: to the extent that “civic renewal” is more than a slogan, I’m all for it. Let’s do it! But how? What I said—which Gerson ignores—is that conservatives have no credible plan for achieving civic renewal and, besides, have been in charge of selling and implementing their non-credible plan for a generation to little effect. The “civic” has not only not been “renewed” under conservative leadership; it has deteriorated. Conservatism has failed at the task it set for itself.
As for “incremental policy changes,” one must wonder if Gerson means that seriously. Conservatives haven’t been able to enact any of their incremental policy changes in years, certainly won’t be able to in a second Clinton Administration, and—if the scenario I laid out above comes to pass—never will again. But Gerson is nonetheless vehemently anti-Trump. On some subconscious level, does he believe that “incremental policy changes” just aren’t going to cut it? Is he thinking: what difference, at this point, does it make?
I guess I am just more optimistic than Gerson. Let me try to cheer him up. I actually see value in many of the “incremental policy changes” he and his friends in the so-called “reformicon” movement have cooked up. I’d like to see them implemented and believe they could help. But for that to happen, first we’ve got to do two things: elect Trump and enact the big, non-incremental policy changes—build that wall!—that are much more urgently needed than the incremental ones. Ironically, then, a bright future for the reformicon agenda requires the total rejection of reformicon political advice.
Gerson resorts to the rather lazy and commonplace strawman that I see Trump as a “savior.” No. What I said is that Trump offers us the opportunity to save ourselves. We the People still have to do the real work.
Gerson further accuses me of “a despairing contempt for our country.” As noted, I am worried, but the worry arises from love, not contempt. I don’t want to see the country die—or be “fundamentally transformed” any more than it already has. Gerson apparently has no problem with the latter, which is why he is not worried about the former. He declares himself “a traditionalist with a healthy respect for the achievements of modernity.” He defines modernity not in the philosophic-historical sense of a movement to reground political legitimacy in “the laws of nature of and of nature’s God” but in the liberalizing impulses of the recent past. The only praise Gerson can muster for the actual America is his horror at imagining himself “in the position of a woman, a gay person or a minority 50 years ago” and his thankfulness for how far we have progressed beyond that dark age. Leaving aside any possible tension between Gerson’s alleged Christianity and his announced affinity for the gay-left agenda, this is almost the textbook definition of modern liberalism. America was bad until 1964, when it began to redeem itself, not by ending injustice and securing natural rights equally, but by launching the ever-accelerating process of redefining justice in terms of how well it delivers preferential treatment for the favored and exacts retribution on their past oppressors. Gerson—like so many of his contemporary “conservative” brethren—accepts this interpretation wholesale and tries to appropriate it as a “conservative” achievement. But the liberals aren’t buying and never have, while the genuine conservatives—those few who can still think—are understandably skeptical.
I am reminded of an exchange between the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan and David Dinkins. When the former gave his famous “defining deviancy down” speech, the mayor was in the audience and became irate. Crime may have been lower in the past, Dinkins pouted, but life for blacks was still worse because they had to sit at the back of the bus. Of course, no New Yorker of any color ever had to sit at the back of any bus—unless all the seats up front were taken. But the larger point is: what is the necessary connection between the two? Couldn’t we have had freedom of seating without higher crime? I pose a similar question to Gerson, whose logic is the same. Couldn’t we have corrected the genuine injustices in place before the annus mirabilis 1964 without the crime wave, orgy, intellectual rot, governmental overreach, and societal decay that followed? Or is Gerson saying that would have been impossible and the only moral choice was to accept the bad with the good? Personally, I think we could have done better at implementing the good while preventing the bad but, as noted, I am more optimistic than he is.
On most things. Gerson can be touchingly Pollyanna-ish when he really puts his mind to it. Case in point:
I fully expect the next generation to be a source of renewal, because I am confident that certain core ideals and institutions best fit human beings and allow them to flourish. I believe that our children and grandchildren will be brave, free and daring in pursuit of ageless ideals—and that teaching them to despair would be the true source of national ruin.
Aren’t those the lyrics to a Whitney Houston song? I know writing a column is a grind, but come on. Anyway, if we unpack those words a little, we see Gerson again acknowledging that things are not quite hunky dory. Why else would “renewal” be necessary? He does not say why he expects this renewal. He just does. Like all the conservative Hegelians, he implicitly accepts rational historicism: history has a direction, which is “forward.” The future will be better than the past and truly tragic outcomes are all behind us. All the #NeverTrump “conservatives” who denounced Francis Fukuyama back in 1990 and continued to use him as a punching bag for years after owe him an apology.
As for my alleged counsel of despair, I said precisely the opposite. I offered an exhortation to do something: vote for a man who promises to protect the interests of the lower, working and middle classes, and reassert control over our government so that republicanism may live.
Note also the reference to “ageless ideals”—something I also favor, if they are the right ideals properly interpreted—but no reference at all to the particular circumstances in which those ideals can flourish. Here, again, is “conservative” idealism in all its rootless abstraction. Trump and his voters have risen to defend the actual, physical America and its actual, physical people. This is anathema to the managerial class for which Gerson is a spokesman.
Hence his next move is to play the race card, the ground for which he prepares via his denunciation of “the nostalgia of conservative white men.” From his photo, Gerson looks like a white man and he calls himself a “conservative” (though I wouldn’t). He must then exempt himself from this charge by not being “nostalgic.” I admit to being a little nostalgic. My defense is that I prefer the good to the bad and America is in many respects worse today than it was in the past. It also appears to be in decline. I would like to see that reversed, and I believe it is possible to do so, by making the right political decisions through proper Constitutional means.
Gerson “wish[es] the critique could end here,” to intimate that the really scurrilous charges which follow are said more in sorrow than in anger. I don’t want to call Decius a racist, but he forced me to! The rest of that paragraph consists of quotes without context, explanation or attempts at refutation. Except one, which is not a quote at all. Gerson nonetheless puts the German word “volk”—which I did not use—in quotes to make the subtle point that my arguments are indistinguishable from Hitler’s. Christian charity in action.
Gerson points and sputters at my objection to foolish immigration policies that undercut wages, undermine cohesion, and spread violence. I would call it ironic that I wrote this response on a day during which there occurred three separate terror attacks, in three separate states. Except that in the annus horribilis 2016 such attacks are all too frequent. They don’t seem to bother Gerson much. If they do, he must think they are a necessary price we must pay for endlessly more “diversity.” He doesn’t say why all this diversity is good or why the inevitable downside is necessary. Apparently he considers those points self-evident. If you are a moral person like him, you don’t need to have them explained to you, and if you don’t understand or—worse!—reject them, you are ipso facto bad.
If this is “conservative” then it should be well beyond obvious that conservatism is dead. Not dead in the epistemological sense. Truth is true. Conservatism’s genuine insights will live on, no matter what shallow, false ideology appropriates its name. You can call gravity a force of repulsion rather than attraction, but naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret. But it’s dead as a currently constituted intellectual and political force—for certain. That Gerson claims to speak in conservatism’s name is proof enough. His whole oeuvre is nothing but Davoisie managerial liberalism: open borders, free trade, lift foreigners out of poverty (whatever happens to Americans is acceptable collateral damage) and democratize the world by force.
Conservatism as we have known it is over. The battle for its future has begun. I relish the coming debate. I hope to learn something. I expect to have my errors corrected, or at least be given things to think hard about, and to be dragged a little bit in the other side’s direction. This debate will not be free of acrimony (though I’ll do my best to be as polite as possible). Feelings are going to get hurt and passions will occasionally run high. For myself, I’ll try to be magnanimous in victory and honest in defeat.
Personally, to the extent that errant current-cons move in my direction, I’m eager to rejoin forces. But in the final analysis, there is going to be a line. Some will be on one side, some on the other. If we must use today’s terminology because tomorrow’s has not yet been invented, then people like Gerson are going to be on the “liberal” side—which, let’s face it, he already is. There can be no accommodation with him and his like. As fellow citizens, yes, but as political or intellectual compatriots, no.
For everyone else, it will be time to join the side you’re on.Late on Friday, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics released a 98-page financial disclosure form according to which President Trump reported income of at least $594 million for the period from 2016 and through April 2017 and assets worth at least $1.4 billion; he also had personal liabilities of at least $315.6 million to German, U.S. and other lenders as of mid-2017 implying a net worth of just over $1.1 billion. The disclosure form was Trump's first since taking office.
"President Trump welcomed the opportunity to voluntarily file his personal financial disclosure form," the White House said in a statement, adding that the form was "certified by the Office of Government Ethics pursuant to its normal procedures."
On the income side, the largest component was $115.9 million listed as golf-resort related revenues from Trump National Doral in Miami, down from $132 million a year ago. Income from his other hotels and resorts largely held steady according to Reuters. Revenue from Trump Corporation, his real-estate management company, nearly tripled, to $18 million, and revenue from Mar-a-Lago grew by 25%, to $37.25 million helped perhaps by the doulbing of the club's initiation fee to $200,000 after Trump's election.
While royalties for his book "Art of the Deal" at least doubled, revenues for condo sales in his properties decreased. At Trump Park Avenue, for example, condo sales in 2015 totaled $44.3 million. Last year, those sales only reached $29.9 million, a 33% drop.
Trump had roughly $20 million in income from his new marquee Washington hotel, which opened just down the street from the White House last September. The president also earned $11 million from the Miss Universe pageant, after selling the beauty contest back in 2015, while revenue from television shows like "The Apprentice" tumbled to $1.1 million, down from $6 million a year earlier.
The disclosure reflects income of between $2.5 million and $15.5 million from stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Trump sold all of his stocks in June 2016, a spokesman said in December.
In 2015, Trump's airline — Tag Air — which leases a 757 from one of his businesses, earned $3.7 million in revenue. The next year, it reported earning $7.7 million in revenue and travel reimbursements. Trump used Tag Air to travel during the campaign, according to The Hill. The president also disclosed $10.8 million from two entities affiliated with the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, which he co-owns with entrepreneur Phil Ruffin. The figures, described as development fees and a sponsor fee, are attributed to companies for which the previous disclosures show no income. There has been an uptick in hotel condo purchases at the tower by limited liability corporations during the past year, where Trump and Ruffin still own more than 300 units.
On the liability side, Trump reported debt of at least $130 million to Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, a unit of German-based Deutsche Bank AG. Of this, Trump disclosed a liability to Deutsche exceeding $50 million for the Old Post Office, a historic Washington property where he has opened a hotel. Trump also reported liabilities of at least $110 million to Ladder Capital Corp, a commercial real estate lender with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Boca Raton, Florida. In total, Trump has five liabilities worth $50 million or more, such as the lease on his Washington D.C. hotel.
His assets were reported to exceed $1.4 billion because the disclosure form provided ranges of values. Last May, Trump released a disclosure form that his campaign at the time said showed his net worth was $10 billion, a number many said was overblown. Trump also disclosed three checking and savings accounts holding a total of at least $57 million.
Furthermore, The document showed Trump held officer positions in 565 corporations or other entities before becoming U.S. president. His tenure in most of those posts ended on Jan. 19, the day before his inauguration, and in others in 2015 and 2016. According to a Reuters breakdown, most of the entities involved were based in the United States, with a handful in Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Bermuda and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Trump has refused to release his tax returns, which would give a much clearer indication of his wealth and business interests; they would likely also indicate his extensive use of NOLs to minimize his tax liability. Trump has, however, submitted federal forms disclosing the ranges of his and his family's income, assets and liabilities.
The full filing is below (pdf link):Virginians created and may end the right of impeachment
By David Swanson, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
CHARLOTTESVILLE-- A recent national poll on impeachment, conducted by the American Research Group last November, found that 52 percent of Americans believed Vice President Dick Cheney had committed impeachable offenses.
The numbers for President George W. Bush were only slightly lower.
The governor of Virginia has spoken up for impeachment, saying "Guilt wherever found ought to be punished."
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Sadly, that was Gov. Edmund Randolph in 1787, arguing for making impeachment central to the system of checks and balances in the new U.S. Constitution. Our current governor has not said a word about impeaching our current president.
Two other Virginians, George Mason and James Madison, worked out the language for what would constitute an impeachable offense: "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
"No point is of more importance," Mason said of the Constitution, "than that the right of impeachment should be continued."
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Jefferson's fear was of "elected despotism." Leaving an impeachable president in place for months or years because eventually there would be another election (the plan openly advocated by some members of Congress today) would have seemed to Jefferson to mean the end of the republic.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has published a book on Bush and Cheney's alleged impeachable offenses, but refuses to hold impeachment hearings.
The Richmond City Democratic Committee, the Virginia Antiwar Network, and activist groups all over the state have been holding rallies for impeachment for years now. Planes have flown impeachment banners back and forth over Virginia Beach. Larry Wilkerson, a William & Mary professor and former chief of staff to Colin Powell, has spoken up for impeachment at events in Virginia. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul spoke in support of impeaching Bush up until he became a candidate, and many of his supporters believe he would support impeachment if Democrats led the way.
Paul's campaign advisor and former Justice Department official under President Reagan, Bruce Fein, has been a leading advocate for impeachment. Dennis Kucinich, at the time a Democratic presidential candidate, packed a large hall in Charlottesville in December to speak on the need for impeachment. And candidates for Congress across the commonwealth this year are using the failure of the Congress to impeach as a talking point in their campaigns, including Andrea Miller in the 4th District, Sam Rasoul (6th), and Matthew Famiglietti and Ron Fisher (both in the 8th).
The movement to impeach Cheney and Bush has almost no support from Virginians now in Congress. Since Rep. Kucinich, D-Ohio, introduced a resolution to impeach Cheney in April 2007, 24 members of Congress have signed on, only one from Virginia: Jim Moran, D-8th.
Since Judiciary Committee member Robert Wexler, D-Fla., drafted a letter to Conyers last month urging him to begin impeachment hearings; 14 members of Congress have signed on, with only Moran from Virginia. Of the 35 members of Congress either co-sponsoring articles of impeachment or expressing support for impeachment hearings, Moran is the only one from Virginia.
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Within the House Judiciary Committee, nine members led by Wexler are urging the initiation of hearings on the possible impeachment of Cheney. Among the alleged offenses mentioned are: misleading the public and Congress about Iraq and Iran, outing a CIA agent, torture, spying programs that violate the Fourth Amendment, refusing to comply with subpoenas, and promoting the use of signing statements to unconstitutionally claim the right to violate laws.
Virginia's four members of the Judiciary Committee, including two Democrats, all oppose impeachment hearings. The two Democrats, Bobby Scott (3rd) and Rick Boucher (9th), support non-impeachment hearings into some of the same abuses.
One drawback to that approach is that witnesses now routinely refuse to comply with subpoenas. Another is that several of these hearings have been conducted over the past 12 months, with no consequences. If Scott, Boucher, and one more were to join their nine colleagues, there would then be a majority of Democrats on the committee in favor of impeachment hearings.A Giant Japanese Internet Company is Set to Begin Paying Thousands of its Employees in Bitcoin
Cryptocurrencies continue to grow exponentially and become more mainstream with each passing day. More and more companies are accepting Bitcoin and other digital coins as a form of payment—but what about actually paying employees in Bitcoin?
A multi-billion dollar technology conglomerate in Japan has decided to do just this.
GMO Internet Group has announced that starting February 2018, they will give the option for employees to receive part of their salaries in Bitcoin. This means their 4,710 full-time employees will be able to get paid between 10,000 and 100,000 yen (about US$88 to US$881) in the form of Bitcoin each month. The amount will simply be deducted from their normal yen salary.
GMO has been increasingly involved in blockchain this year. In May, the company launched its very own cryptocurrency trading platform. Then, in September they announced plans to begin a Bitcoin mining business. They have invested $3 million to build a mining farm, which is set to begin actively mining Bitcoin in January 2018. And in October, GMO revealed that they plan to start selling mining boards using token sales.
In a recent announcement, the company said:
The GMO Internet Group will contribute to the development of virtual currencies in the world by promoting efforts related to virtual currency throughout the group.
GMO isn’t the first company to start paying employees in Bitcoin. Some blockchain-related companies have been doing it for years already.
So What is it Like to Get Paid in Bitcoin?
According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin earners handle their digital paychecks in different ways. Some cash out their cryptocurrencies immediately. “I hold a certain percent of my bitcoin and sell the rest. I try to do that on a regular basis,” said Lindsay Holland, assistant director of the Bitcoin Foundation.
Others keep their Bitcoin and use it as payment for everything from paying rent to shopping online to reimbursing friends for dinners out. “I try to stay within the bitcoin economy as much as possible,” Olaf Carlson-Wee, an employee at CoinBase, explained.
Now, GMO employees will soon be able to decide what they want to do with their own Bitcoin salaries. This is great news for the crypto community as a whole, as it shows that the adoption of cryptocurrency is increasing.
This move by GMO will further strengthen virtual currency and put it in the hands of even more people. By setting this example, we could see many other companies follow in GMO’s footsteps in the near future.Image copyright Getty Images
A new approach to preventing migraines can cut the number and severity of attacks, two clinical trials show.
About 50% of people on one study halved the number of migraines they had each month, which researchers at King's College Hospital called a "huge deal".
The treatment is the first specifically designed for preventing migraine and uses antibodies to alter the activity of chemicals in the brain.
Further trials will need to assess the long-term effects.
One in seven people around the world live with the regular agony of migraine
Migraine is up to three times more common in women than men
The Migraine Trust estimates there are more than 190,000 migraine attacks every day in the UK
People with headaches for fewer than 15 days a month have episodic migraine
If it is on more than 15 days it is classed as chronic migraine
Research has shown a chemical in the brain - calcitonin gene-related peptide or CGRP - is involved in both pain and sensitivity to sound and light in migraine.
Four drug companies are racing to develop antibodies that neutralise CGRP. Some work by sticking to CGRP, while others block the part of a brain cell with which it interacts.
Clinical trials on two of the antibodies have now been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
One antibody, erenumab made by Novartis, was trialled on 955 patients with episodic migraine.
At the start of the trial the patients had migraines on an average of eight days a month.
The study found 50% of those given the antibody injections halved their number of migraine days per month. About 27% did have a similar effect without treatment, which reflects the natural ebb and flow of the disease.
Another antibody, fremanezumab made by Teva pharmaceuticals, was trialled on 1,130 patients with chronic migraine.
About 41% of patients halved their number of migraine days compared with 18% without treatment.
Prof Peter Goadsby, who led the erenumab trials at the NIHR research centre at King's College London, told the BBC: "It's a huge deal because it offers an advance in understanding the disorder and a designer migraine treatment.
"It reduces the frequency and severity of headaches.
"These patients will have parts of their life back and society will have these people back functioning."
He said other data, not published in the latest studies, suggested a fifth of patients had no migraines at all after treatment.
Better option?
The antibodies are not the only preventative drugs for migraine. Others include former epilepsy and heart disease pills as well as botox.
But Simon Evans, the chief executive of Migraine Action, said those drugs came with a lot of side-effects and did not work for everyone.
"Some doctors give patients a choice of being angry or fat-and-dosey and the drug they give them depends on their answer," he said.
The hope is discovering CGRP and precisely targeting it with antibodies should lead to fewer side-effects. Both studies say long-term safety data still needs to be studied.
The problem with |
up to nr threads waiting on the futex located at address addr up. Typically, nr is either:
1 to wake just one thread up, or
to wake just one thread up, or INT_MAX to wake all threads up.
int futex_signal(atomic_int *addr) { return (futex_wake(addr, 1) >= 0)? 0 : -1; } int futex_broadcast(atomic_int *addr) { return (futex_wake(addr, INT_MAX) >= 0)? 0 : -1; }
As previously, FUTEX_WAKE_PRIVATE is a shorthand for FUTEX_WAKE|FUTEX_PRIVATE_FLAG.
Implementing a condition variable with a futex
Lets assume we already have a mutex implementation. How do we implement a condition variabe with a futex?
Simple but very wrong
The most obvious solution would be something as follows:
typedef struct cnd { atomic_int value; } cnd_t; /* Our static initializer */ #define CND_INITIALIZER_NP { ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(0) } int cnd_init(cnd_t *cv) { atomic_init(&cv->value, 0); return thrd_success; } void cnd_destroy(cnd_t *cv) { (void) cv; } int cnd_wait(cnd_t *cv, mtx_t *mtx) { mtx_unlock(mtx), futex_wait(&cv->value, 0, NULL); mtx_lock(mtx); return thrd_success; } /* cnd_timedwait() omitted for simplicity */ int cnd_signal(cnd_t *cv) { futex_signal(&cv->value); return thrd_success; } int cnd_broadcast(cnd_t *cv) { futex_broadcast(&cv->value); return thrd_success; }
Did you spot the outrageous bug there?
There is a very good reason why cnd_wait() requires a pointer to a mutex: to avoid lost signals. In this overly simplistic implementation, if cnd_signal() calls futex_wake() before the waiting thread actually starts sleeping in kernel, the call will be a no-op. Then when the sleeping thread actually gets to sleep in futex_wait() it gets stuck since it missed the wake-up.
That is why futex_wait() has a second parameter: to deal with contention in corner cases. The expected futex value in race-free cases must be determined by cnd_wait() before it unlocks the mutex. If there is a race with cnd_signal(), the futex value should have changed such that the kernel does not put the thread to sleep in futex_wait(), and returns immediately.
Counting waiters: too good to be true
So lets try to use the futex as a counter. If it worked, it would have two benefits:
the futex_wake() system call could be optimized away when there are zero waiters, and
system call could be optimized away when there are zero waiters, and cnd_destroy() could detect invalid attempts to destroy a condition variable still in use (non-zero waiters).
int cnd_wait(cnd_t *cv, mtx_t *mtx) { unsigned refs = 1u + atomic_fetch_add(&cv->value, 1); /* Add 1u for add-and-fetch semantics instead of fetch-and-add */ mtx_unlock(mtx), futex_wait(&cv->value, refs, NULL); atomic_fetch_sub(&cv->value, 1); mtx_lock(mtx); return thrd_success; } int cnd_signal(cnd_t *cv) { if (atomic_load(&cv->value)!= 0) futex_signal(&cv->value); return thrd_success; }
The bugs are bleedingly obvious there. The same problem as in the first shot still remains. And there are other problems too. If you did not already spot them, here is a hint: wait if there are more than one concurrent waiting thread?
Sequence counter, close but no cigar
Given the semantics of futex_wait(), one essential requirement to avoid losing signals is for cnd_signal() to modify the value of the futex before waking any thread, so that it is different from the value before the waiting thread unlocked the mutex.
That way either of the following happens:
The waiting thread computes the futex value then, unlocks the mutex. It then goes to sleep before the futex value changes. The waking thread changes the value (with no effects), then wakes the waiting thread with a system call.
The waiting thread computes the futex value then unlocks the mutex. Then a race happens with the waking thread. The waking thread changes the futex value. The waiting thread call to futex_wait() is a no-op because the futex value does not match.
Either way, the waiting thread is not staying asleep.
The simplest way to implement this is a sequence counter. The Bionic C library used by Android works that way (simplified for clarity):
int cnd_wait(cnd_t *cv, mtx_t *mtx) { int val = atomic_load(&cv->value); mtx_unlock(mtx), futex_wait(&cv->value, val, NULL); mtx_lock(mtx); return thrd_success; } int cnd_signal(cnd_t *cv) { atomic_fetch_add(&cv->value, 1); futex_wake(&cv->value); return thrd_success; }
The bug here is almost as well documented as the implementation. To be honest, it is extremely unlikely to occur in real use.
...
If cnd_signal() is called exactly 4294967296 times in a row before the waiting thread makes progress, the sequence number wraps around, gets its original value, and the signal is lost.
To be precise, that would occur for exactly a non-zero multiple of two to the power CHAR_BIT * sizeof (int) (which equals 32 on all Linux systems, to my knowledge). To avoid that issue or any variant thereof, we need to ensure that the futex value set by cnd_signal() is never equal to a value computed by cnd_wait().
Toggle
In the race-free scenario, the futex value must be unchanged so the thread goes to sleep. In the race scenario, as we just saw, the futex value must be changed to a value never used for sleeping.
Those two requirements can only be accommodated by making both cnd_waitl() and cnd_signal() modify the futex.
There is another requirement in case more than one thread is sleeping on the same condition variable. That takes us back to the other problem with the waiters counting approach.
...
If more than one thread goes to sleep in a row, the second one must not change the futex value. Otherwise, the first thread would potentially fail to go to sleep due to the changed futex value. The more threads wait on the same condition variable, the more likely the problem. With enough threads, it could degrade into a live loop.
With that in mind, I think that the simplest solution would be as follows:
int cnd_wait(cnd_t *cv, mtx_t *mtx) { atomic_store(&cv->value, 1); mtx_unlock(mtx), futex_wait(&cv->value, 1, NULL); mtx_lock(mtx); return thrd_success; } int cnd_signal(cnd_t *cv) { atomic_store(&cv->value, 0); futex_wake(&cv->value); return thrd_success; }
And correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it works it still does not work. This time the issue is not so trivial (credits to Jilles Tjoelker for pointing it out):
First thread sets the futex value to waiting. Second thread sets it to signalling before first thread actually goes to sleep. Third thread sets the futex value back to waiting state, goes to sleep. First thread goes to sleep, misses the wake-up from second thread.
It turns out modifying the futex value in waiting path does not work well. If all waiters set it to the same value, wake-up can get lost (like here). If each waiter set it to a different value, then multiple waiters can keep each other running in a live loop.
Back to sequence counting
At this point, it seems adding a new parameter to our condition variable structure is unavoidable. Lets revisit the sequence counter approach:
typedef struct { atomic_int value; atomic_uint previous; } cnd_t; /* Our static initializer */ #define CND_INITIALIZER_NP { ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(0), ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(0) } int cnd_init(cnd_t *cv) { atomic_init(&cv->value, 0); atomic_init(&cv->previous, 0); return thrd_success; } int cnd_wait(cnd_t *cv, mtx_t *mtx) { int value = atomic_load(&cv->value); atomic_store(&cv->previous, value); mtx_unlock(mtx), futex_wait(&cv->value, value, NULL); mtx_lock(mtx); return thrd_success; } int cnd_signal(cnd_t *cv) { unsigned value = 1u + atomic_load(&cv->previous); atomic_store(&cv->value, value); futex_wake(&cv->value); return thrd_success; }
This variant works in lock-step to avoid needlessly incrementing the futex value, and potentially overflowing. So long as the total number of threads sleeping concurrently on a single futex cannot reach 232, the futex value will not wrap around, then back to a value that a waiting thread is currently expecting.
Note that the value can overflow and wrap about from positive INT_MAX to negative INT_MIN, if the futex is used many times enough. Luckily, atomic operations use two complements. Unlike normal non-atomic signed integers, which is undefined behaviour, signed atomic overflow is well defined.
Relaxed memory barriers
For simplicity, implicit barriers were used so far. In practice, atomic operations can be explicitly relaxed ( memory_order_relaxed ). The necessary memory barriers are provided by the mutex, not the condition variable, so do not need to add any, e.g.:
int cnd_wait(cnd_t *cv, mtx_t *mtx) { int value = atomic_load_explicit(&cv->value, memory_order_relaxed); mtx_unlock(mtx), futex_wait(&cv->value, value, NULL); mtx_lock(mtx); return thrd_success; } int cnd_signal(cnd_t *cv) { unsigned value = 1u + atomic_load_explicit(&cv->previous, memory_order_relaxed); atomic_store_explicit(&cv->value, value, memory_order_relaxed); futex_wake(&cv->value); return thrd_success; }
Outstanding issues
Timed wait
We did not provide an implementation for cnd_timedwait(). This can trivially be added. The third parameter to futex_wait() should be a non- NULL pointer to a struct timespec providing the time-out duration.
Also the return value must be checked to distinguish time-outs from wake-ups.
Note that the time-out would follow the monotonic clock. If you want true UTC clock semantics (as in ISO C11), you need to use FUTEX_CLOCK_REALTIME flag to the futex system call.
System call optimization
We did not optimize the waking system call away when there no waiters. A new member would have to be added struct cnd, e.g. an atomic waiter count variable. Be careful with ordering of atomic operations though.
Mutex contention
We did not spend much time looking at cnd_broadcast(). We assumed that we can substitute futex_signal() with futex_broadcast() in cnd_signal().
All waiting threads will wake up at the same time, and compete for the mutex in mtx_lock(). Only one thread gets it, all other go immediately back to sleep.
Linux provides the futex requeue operation to deal with that problem. due to contention on the mutex.
Priorities and fairness
We did not look at waiter fairness at all here. This is not usually a problem, but you should keep that in mind if you plan to make your own futex-based operations.
We also did not consider thread priorities. Again, this is not a problem in typical applications, but it is obviously an issue in real-time use cases. For those, Linux has priority-inheritance (PI) futex operations.
Windows support
With Windows 8, futex-like operations are possible. In general, the Windows support is a strict subset of Linux support: it only provides wait, timed wait, wake one and wake all operations. There are no flags to distinguish private and shared addresses, and to support the UTC clock. There are also none of the advanced operations that we did not go through.
In all due fairness, Windows has one feature that Linux does not have. The futex do not have to be int. Any data type of 1, 2, 4 or 8 bytes is supported.
#include <windows.h> int futex_wait(atomic_int *addr, int val, const struct timespec *to) { if (to == NULL) { WaitOnAddress((volatile void *)addr, &val, sizeof (val), -1); return 0; } if (to->tv_nsec >= 1000000000) { errno = EINVAL; return -1; } if (to->tv_sec >= 2147) { WaitOnAddress((volatile void *)addr, &val, sizeof (val), 2147000000); return 0; /* time-out out of range, claim spurious wake-up */ } DWORD ms = (to->tv_sec * 1000000) + ((to>tv_nsec + 999) / 1000); if (!WaitOnAddress((volatile void *)addr, &val, sizeof (val), ms)) { errno = ETIMEDOUT; return -1; } return 0; } int futex_signal(atomic_int *addr) { WakeByAddressSingle(addr); return 0; } int futex_broadcast(atomic_int *addr) { WakeByAddressAll(addr); return 0; }
Conclusion
Futexes are tricky as says the title of the controversial former glibc maintainer. Thus, condition variables or other OS-provided such as barriers, read/write locks and semaphores should be used as far as possible. However, with the advent of standardized atomic operations for C/C++, assembler or architecture-specific intrinsics are no longer needed.
Futexes have become available not only on Linux and Android, but also recent Windows versions, making them a more attractive target for somewhat portable code. (It is presumably a building block for the Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux.)
P.S.: click here part the follow-up article.Front-end languages and frameworks are changing significantly over years. The trend is towards light-weight, modular architecture. Functional programming has influenced JavaScript and its frameworks a lot. For beautiful single page web applications, Elm is a framework that can be chosen. It gets compiled to efficient JavaScript code. But when to use Elm instead of JavaScript? If you are building complicated single page applications Elm can do better.
Elm is a functional programming language created by Evan Czaplicki in 2012 for building reliable Web Applications. Elm is simple to use and offers much quality. Its architecture is a simple pattern for building web apps, that help you to add features quickly. Also, we can use Elm in existing projects as it can be used along with already written JavaScript code.
Why Elm?
Switching to functional programming languages makes it a better environment for multi-threaded applications. For example, immutability is a powerful functional concept that JavaScript lacks. But in Elm, once created value cannot be changed, thus making a thread-safe environment. Each thread need not worry about other threads when they act on data since these data are represented by immutable objects in Elm.
While in other languages it’s hard to catch production errors, Elm offers ‘no run time exceptions’ guarantee.
Friendly error messages
Elm has a reputation for great error messages, being statically typed.
Consider the following Elm code
import Html exposing(..) view orders = div [] (List.mapp viewOrder orders) viewOrder order = span [] (text order.name) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 import Html exposing (.. ) view orders = div [ ] ( List. mapp viewOrder orders ) viewOrder order = span [ ] ( text order. name )
Here’s an example for an error message after compiling the Elm code:
This is what errors look like in the command line
--NAMING ERROR-----------------------------------------------------list-mapp.elm Cannot find variable 'List.mapp'. 6| div [] (List.mapp viewOrder orders) List does not expose'mapp'. May be you want one of the following? List.map List.any List.map2 List.map3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 -- NAMING ERROR -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - list - mapp. elm Cannot find variable 'List.mapp'. 6 | div [ ] ( List. mapp viewOrder orders ) List does not expose'mapp'. May be you want one of the following? List. map List. any List. map2 List. map3
shows the line number in the code which caused the error
shows the actual line of code
lists the maximum possibilities for correct code
If you have a nice editor with Elm language integration, these error messages can be seen as a pop-up when hovering over the line of code which causes the error. This line of code can be identified easily as it will be red underlined.
To start with Elm, we don’t have to worry about the huge libraries as in case of other frameworks. Just install Elm CLI and start coding. In a JavaScript application, we are probably putting together some collection of tools as below.
React
Redux
npm/yarn
Webpack
Immutable.JS
But Elm addresses these issue by providing all of them built in a single installer.
JavaScript languages and browser engines are subjected to constant changes always. It’s not feasible to refactor the application accordingly. Building our application in Elm enables to get more efficient JavaScript code when newer versions of the language are released with compiler updates.
Start with Elm
Elm is a delightful language meant for developer happiness. When you write an Elm app, you write a number of modules in separate files and feed those files to Elm compiler. It gets compiled to JavaScript that’s ready to run the program.
Architecture
Whenever we write an Elm app this architecture will be following. All Elm apps in practice are structured this way.
So, we start by writing an init function, whose job is to generate the initial model for our app. This is the complete model for the current state of the front end as it’s running in the browser.
The second function is the view that takes the model and generates the Html interface for your web app. In React like frameworks, it lets you generate a virtual DOM. So every time front end is rendered it will calculate the entire user interface and the framework takes responsibility for efficiently updating the changes in the actual browser. Elm also has its own virtual DOM implementation that is really faster compared to React, Angular etc.
As part of our interface, we will declare the events we are interested in. If the user does something like click a button, Elm will send the program a message. So we need to write a third function to handle those messages and that’s the update function. This function will take that message and the program’s existing model and put them together in order to generate the new updated model for the program. Then it feeds to the view function to generate the updated interface. This is how Elm looks like.
Install on Rails
Elm is officially supported in Rails 5.1 via the webpacker gem.
Be sure to install yarn and Node.js first. Node.js version should be >6.4.0+
Then, to use Webpacker with Elm,
rails new elm-on-rails --webpack=elm 1 rails new elm - on - rails -- webpack = elm
If Rails application is already setup with webpacker, run
./bin/rails webpacker:install:elm 1. / bin / rails webpacker : install : elm
within the app.
If it’s not setup with webpacker, add gem ‘webpacker’ to your gemfile and then install Elm.
Navigate to app/javascript/packs directory. A file named Main.elm that displays “Hello Elm!” text is generated there, along with a companion file hello_elm.js
#hello_elm.js import Elm from './Main' document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => { const target = document.createElement('div') document.body.appendChild(target) Elm.Main.embed(target) }) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 #hello_elm.js import Elm from './Main' document. addEventListener ( 'DOMContentLoaded', ( ) = > { const target = document. createElement ( 'div' ) document. body. appendChild ( target ) Elm. Main. embed ( target ) } )
Now, we need a page to display the Elm output.
We’ll create a new file app/views/application/index.html.erb in order to render the layout:
Use the javascript_pack_tag helper to import hello_elm.js file:
<%= javascript_pack_tag "hello_elm" %> 1 <%= javascript_pack _ tag "hello_elm" %>
Add this line in application.html.erb or index.html.erb since hello_elm.js file embeds the output in the current document.
Then add a default route
#config/routes.rb get '/', to: 'application#index' 1 2 3 #config/routes.rb get '/', to : 'application#index'
Before firing up Rails server, do
bundle exec rails webpacker:compile 1 bundle exec rails webpacker : compile
Then run rails server and you will be seeing the “Hello Elm!” greeting.
Immutable Data and Pure Functions
Elm programs are made up of immutable data and pure functions. This contributes to the simplicity of the language.
In Ruby, if I say,
user.update(params) 1 user. update ( params )
Calling an update method will change that user object in place. The initial value in user object is gone now if we do not have a copy of it before method call.
In the same controller,
new_hash = hash.merge(params) 1 new_hash = hash. merge ( params )
Calling hash.merge doesn’t modify the hash in place but returns a new_hash with updates applied to it.
The above examples are two different APIs designed in different ways.
This can be confusing to beginners if they find it difficult to understand why different functions work in different ways. But it’s not an issue in Elm as its values are immutable.
In Elm,
newUser = update params user 1 newUser = update params user
user object can be passed to update function but that can’t change its value; it’s immutable.
What we can do is to create a new value with some changes applied to it. Thus, the update function will return the newly updated user. That’s just how all Elm functions work, so there’s little situation of confusion as explained first.
The update function we explained in Ruby can have side effects. It brings changes to the database. If a function does nothing but provides the same return value based on its arguments, then only it can be called side-effect-free. The function should not make any impact on anything else; that’s pure function in terms of functional programming.
Elm functions cannot have side effects because all Elm functions are pure functions – a strong reason why Elm defined as a functional programming language. The only thing the functions do in Elm is calculating its return value by the arguments that we passed to and constants. They cannot have side effects. The advantage is that we get more predictable programs.
Elm Platform
To develop our Elm applications, four tools will be essential.
elm-repl
To quickly execute a small piece of Elm code from the command line without having to create a file. To start using the REPL, execute elm-repl in the terminal.
elm-reactor
Creates a server that will compile your elm code and will be able to see the result directly on the browser. Also, we can set a different port and custom address.
elm-reactor -a 0.0.0.0 -p 3000 1 elm - reactor - a 0.0.0.0 - p 3000
elm-make
We can use elm-make to translate the Elm code to native files for the web(HTML, CSS, and JavaScript)
elm-package
Tool to install and publish Elm packages.
Type elm-package in your command line to make it available, and to install a package:
elm-package install <package-name> 1 elm - package install < package - name >
Elm having a solid architecture enables to build our projects with a guarantee that we have things under control even when application increases in complexity.
ReferencesWHILE LAMENTING THEIR own side’s disappointing performance, the English media were largely impressed by Ireland’s performance at the Aviva Stadium yesterday.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mick Cleary even went so far as to suggest they could win the World Cup — provided Jonathan Sexton stays fit.
“Ireland have Jonathan Sexton,” he writes. “And they have Schmidt. Playmaker and coach as one, an umbilical cord that cannot be ruptured. Sexton is Schmidt incarnate, scheming, assessing and wholly persuaded of the merits of the case as well as the cause.
“That is both Ireland’s greatest strength and their greatest weakness. In clover, Sexton can deliver that World Cup for Ireland. Without him, their prospects plummet. So much is dependent on his prowess. That much was evident on Sunday.”
BBC Sport’s Tom Fordyce also praised Ireland, while suggesting their style was less than sophisticated.
“This was hardly tales of the unexpected. For all the modern alchemy of coach Joe Schmidt, it was an assault familiar from the history books: sleet in the sky, a hail of high balls; out of the traps like rodeo bulls, into the tackle with eyes on stalks.”
Meanwhile, like many others, Dean Ryan in The Guardian chose to single out Ireland’s kicking game.
“Not until Ross departed after close on an hour’s hard graft did England get a nudge on. The Irish scrum won a couple of penalties — one when that was clearly the way they saw of getting themselves out of a bit of rare territorial trouble. Rare indeed, because when Ireland were in a spot of difficulty their exit strategy — getting away from their own line — was as polished as the kicking game which has become a real attacking tool, much as it is for the All Blacks.
“If Sexton doesn’t hoof it away with his right foot, Rob Kearney does the business with his left or Conor Murray takes bite-sized pieces of territory with his box kicking in his burgeoning role as Sexton’s half-back partner.”
Chris Foy of The Daily Mail was similarly generous in his praise of Ireland, suggesting they were the much better team on the day.
“Ireland remain on course to retain their RBS Six Nations title and they will go to Cardiff for a seismic showdown with Wales in the next round as the last remaining unbeaten team. They emphatically deserved to dispatch England, to match a national record with a 10th successive victory. A final-quarter dip could not disguise the extent of their supremacy in most areas.”
In The Independent finally, Sexton again was the man for whom special praise was reserved, with Chris Jones effectively labelling him the best out-half in the world.
“But let us be clear: an English triumph today would have been a travesty. They were outmuscled on the floor, finished a distant second at the line-out at the most important moments and were not even that close when it came to the kicking strategy, all of which led to costly breakdowns in discipline. Only when Sexton, the international game’s finest practitioner of the outside-half’s art, left the field midway through the third quarter with a hamstring injury did the balance of the contest shift towards the visitors.”Hey Veeam fans, today we are back with another blog post! This time, let’s have a look at some basics of Hyper-V Storage management. As this is a big topic, I’m going to limit the scope of this post to the management of Hyper-V.BIN files and their impact on your environment. So, are you ready? Then let’s get started with the most basic concept of a Hyper-V Host and some basic storage to place the virtual machines as seen in the illustration below.
When a VM is created, it has some core components that are required for it to start in Hyper-V:
Hyper-V configuration files
Hyper-V virtual hard disks
Hyper-V.BIN file (page file)
Snapshots (checkpoint) files
Note: Although when creating a VM these locations can be split up into different locations it is not my best practice. It’s a lot easier to manage Hyper-V VMs if they are stored in a single, consistent location.
Digging in a bit deeper, what you are looking at in the image above is a VM called TC-HQ-VEEAM01. It’s running on a standalone Hyper-V Host and has a single, fixed 99 GB VHDx. There are currently no snapshots (checkpoints) created for it, so you can assume this VM will consume approximately 99GB of space. However, this is only true if the VM is off. Now I know you are asking yourselves why is there a difference between a VM that is off and a VM that is turned on? The answer lies in the Hyper-V.BIN file, which will always equal the amount of RAM that is being consumed by the VM. In our example, this VM utilized Hyper-V Dynamic Memory, where it can consume between 1500 MB to 1048576 MB (assuming this much RAM was available on the Host).
When planning your Hyper-V environments, it is imperative to build in the amount of space required for the Hyper-V BIN files and leave enough reserve on your volumes to account for this. What we see in the field is a scenario like this. Customer X is running a small standalone Hyper-V Server and it has been running great for the past year. He started with a 600 GB volume to store his 10 VMs on this host. The Hyper-V Host Server itself has a single processor and 128 GB of memory. Each VM uses approximately 10 GB of statically assigned memory. This means, as we learned above, we would require a minimum of 100+ GB of free disk space on the volume to start the VMs.
When our administrator configured this environment, there was 50% free space available after the VMs were configured and everything was running. Over time, on any server things get copied onto volumes, file servers grow in size and we run ourselves out of disk space. This is a common occurrence that I still find my Hyper-V administrators dealing with today.
Fast forward this discussion to 18 months ahead — now his volume looks something like this:
As you can see from the screenshot above, we are down to 3.32GB of free space on this volume. Funny enough though, Hyper-V is working just fine. We haven’t taken any outages nor has the business complained of any outages. This is because the Hyper-V Host Server hasn’t had the VMs turned off. When the VMs are turned off, this 100+ GB of disk space is released and as you can see in the screen shot below we have quite a different picture.
What our Hyper-V administrator is about to do is a very common mistake when managing Hyper-V Storage. That is copying additional files to this volume like.ISO or additional VMs including their VHD files. As he does this, he is going to run out of his reserve space, and suddenly our admin finds himself unable to start VMs because there isn’t enough space left on the volumes to recreate the Hyper-V BIN files.
Now that you have finished reading this short post on Hyper-V Storage Management, I hope that you remember to leave enough reserve space on your Hyper-V Host Servers and can avoid ever having this issue.
Thanks, and happy learning.
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loading...NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn continued to throw his support behind the Republican U.S. presidential candidate on Tuesday, saying Donald Trump would reduce the regulation of U.S. companies.
Carl Icahn gives an interview on FOX Business Network in New York, February 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Icahn also said that nutrition and weight management company Herbalife would be a strong candidate to go private, saying such a move would allow it to avoid the kind of criticism aimed at it from Pershing Square hedge fund founder William Ackman.
“If you look ahead three years, this economy will be a lot better if Trump gets elected” rather than Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Icahn said, speaking at the CNBC “Delivering Alpha” event in New York.
Trump has said that Icahn would be a great U.S. Treasury secretary though whether the 80-year-old hedge fund manager would commit to such a role remains unclear.
Icahn expressed his frustration at U.S. regulators on Tuesday, specifically the Environmental Protection Agency which he says has neglected to speak to him about his concerns regarding ethanol blending requirements for the fuel refineries in his investment portfolio.
Icahn said that fear of “irrational” government regulations are a main reason why chief executives are not re-investing in their businesses and instead buying back stock. Trump would aim to reduce such regulations, Icahn said.
Icahn also addressed his ongoing feud with Ackman, who in 2012 claimed Herbalife was running a pyramid scheme, and made a huge wager against the stock. Icahn emerged later as a buyer of the shares.
Herbalife settled a probe of its sales practices with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in July. Icahn has continued buying shares, and the feud with Ackman has continued.
“I think that Herbalife is certainly a candidate to go private. In fact, frankly, wearing my shareholder hat, I think Herbalife is a lot better private and getting away from this Ackman-type criticism,” Icahn said at the CNBC event. “Ackman is out there driving everybody crazy, which is his right to do. He’s obsessed with this.”
An Ackman spokesman did not immediately return an email seeking comment.Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January and just six days after the Reichstag fire. Nazi stormtroopers had unleashed a widespread campaign of violence against the Communist Party (KPD), left-wingers,[1]:317 trade unionists, the Social Democratic Party of Germany,[1] and the Centre Party.[1]:322 They were the last multi-party elections in a unified Germany until 1990.
The 1933 election followed the previous year's two elections (July and November) and Hitler's appointment as Chancellor. In the months before the 1933 election, brownshirts and SS displayed "terror, repression and propaganda [...] across the land",[1]:339 and Nazi organizations "monitored" the vote process. In Prussia 50,000 members of the SS, SA and Stahlhelm were ordered to monitor the votes by acting Interior Minister Hermann Göring, as auxiliary police.[2]
The Nazis registered a large increase in votes in 1933. However, despite waging a campaign of terror against their opponents, the Nazis only tallied 43.9 percent of the vote, well short of a majority. They needed the votes of their coalition partner, the German National People's Party (DNVP), for a bare working majority in the Reichstag.
This would be the last contested election held in Germany before World War II. Two weeks after the election, Hitler was able to pass an Enabling Act on 23 March with the support of all non-socialist parties, which effectively gave Hitler dictatorial powers. Within months, the Nazis banned all other parties and turned the Reichstag into a rubberstamp legislature comprising only Nazis and pro-Nazi guests.
Background [ edit ]
The election took place after the Nazis came to power on 30 January, when President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor. The latter immediately urged the dissolution of the Reichstag and the calling of new elections. In early February, the Nazis "unleashed a campaign of violence and terror that dwarfed anything seen so far."[attribution needed] Stormtroopers began attacking trade union and Communist Party (KPD) offices and the homes of left-wingers.[1]:317
In the second half of February, the violence was extended to the Social Democrats, with gangs of brownshirts breaking up Social Democrat meetings and beating up their speakers and audiences. Issues of Social Democratic newspapers were banned.[1]:318–320 Twenty newspapers of the Centre Party, a party of Catholic Germans, were banned in mid-February for criticizing the new government. Government officials known to be Centre Party supporters were dismissed from their offices, and stormtroopers violently attacked party meetings in Westphalia.[1]:322 Only the Nazis and DNVP were allowed to campaign unmolested.
Six days before the scheduled election date, the German parliament building was set alight in the Reichstag fire, allegedly by the Dutch Communist Marinus van der Lubbe. This event reduced the popularity of the KPD, and enabled Hitler to persuade President Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree as an emergency decree according to Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. This emergency law removed many civil liberties and allowed the arrest of Ernst Thälmann and 4,000 leaders and members of the KPD[1]:331 shortly before the election, suppressing the Communist vote and consolidating the position of the Nazis.
Although Hitler could have banned the KPD outright, he opted not to do so. Not only did he fear a violent Communist uprising in the event of a ban, but he also believed the KPD's presence on the ballot could siphon off votes from the Social Democrats. Instead, he opted to simply have Communist functionaries jailed by the thousands. The courts and prosecutors, who had already been hostile to the KPD long before 1933, obligingly agreed with the line that since the Reichstag fire was a Communist plot, KPD membership was an act of treason. As a result, for all intents and purposes the KPD was "outlawed" on the day the Reichstag Fire Decree took effect, and "completely banned" as of the day of the election.[1]:335-336 While the Social Democrats (SPD) were not as heavily oppressed as the Communists at that time, the SPD were also restricted in their actions, as the party's leadership had already fled to Prague and many members were acting only from the underground. Hence, the Reichstag fire is widely believed to have had a major effect on the outcome of the election. As a replacement parliament building, and for 10 years to come, the new parliament used the Kroll Opera House for its meetings.
The resources of big business and the state were thrown behind the Nazis' campaign to achieve saturation coverage all over Germany. Brownshirts and SS patrolled and marched menacingly |
the troops. I’m talking about the moron sending them to war.
EDWARD SNOWDEN: Mm-hmm, you mean our commander-in-chief?
LINDSAY MILLS: Yeah, whatever you want to call him, he’s still wrong.
EDWARD SNOWDEN: How do you know he’s wrong? You’re just lashing out.
LINDSAY MILLS: No, I’m not lashing out. I’m questioning our government. That’s what we do in this country. That is the principle that we are founded on.
EDWARD SNOWDEN: OK, but how about questioning the liberal media? I mean, you’re just buying into what one side is saying.
LINDSAY MILLS: Maybe I am, because my side is right.
EDWARD SNOWDEN: See, that’s funny, because my side’s right. So—
LINDSAY MILLS: Oh, really?
EDWARD SNOWDEN: Yeah.
LINDSAY MILLS: Huh, why is it smart conservatives always make me so mad?
EDWARD SNOWDEN: Probably because you don’t like hearing the truth.
LINDSAY MILLS: You are a very frustrating individual, you know that? How am I going to make you see?
EDWARD SNOWDEN: I can see just fine, thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Edward Snowden, played by our guest here today, Joe Gordon-Levitt, and Shailene Woodley playing the longtime girlfriend of Ed Snowden, Lindsay Mills. Talk about what happens in Hawaii when Ed has come to this decision that the American people should understand what’s happening to them, being surveilled.
OLIVER STONE: In movie terms or in real life?
AMY GOODMAN: Both.
OLIVER STONE: Because in real life, you know, it’s hard for Ed to define the moment. It’s a growing phenomenon. It starts in Geneva, when he serves, and then it increases through Japan, goes through Maryland, and then he ends up in Hawaii, because he wants to go there. He has a case of epilepsy that comes up late in the movie, which is accurate to that time period. It was quite shocking, when you’re that age, 29, to encounter the limits of your life. A mortality sets in. So, you have to make your decisions, to a certain degree. His relationship with Shailene has turned—in a sense, she’s brought him to a new awareness against his previous conditioning.
And when he gets to Hawaii, he sees the worst of it, some of the worst of the offensive cyberwarfare particularly, not just the eavesdropping. We’re past the eavesdropping at that point, because he’s seen plenty of that in Japan and Geneva. But in Hawaii, he sees the capability. It’s always pictured to the American public as a defensive capability, but it’s not. It’s an offensive one. The Chinese are always hacking us, per the news. In reality, people like this were hacking them, and quite efficiently. So, in Hawaii, he comes to this—you’ll see. I mean, I don’t want to spoil the movie, but there comes to be—when he lifted these materials and helped get them out to the public, it is not done in the realistic way that it was done. It was—we gave it a little juice, because it’s a drama, and because, frankly, it’s probably much more banal than you think, the way he did it.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: What about the process of getting the film made, when you first went to the folks in Hollywood to try to talk about this film, and you ended up going with an independent—with an independent distributor?
OLIVER STONE: No luck, no luck. We really were disappointed. No, we really—you know, the film required some hardware and some budget, and we had a good cast, and it made sense at the price. They all said no. We don’t know why; you never do. But we suspect it did go up to corporate boards, because the heads of the studios liked the script, for the most part. It went upstairs, you know, three or four days go by, you don’t hear anything. So, the lawyers—as I said, you know, “no” is the easiest word in the English language, and it’s—they passed. We were—we went to Open Road, is a brave, young distributor, new in the business. Spotlight last year, Spotlight, the movie. And they’ve done a terrific job. Very, very courageous of them.Google today introduced a number of new products around Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in an effort to challenge Apple’s iBeacon ecosystem.
These new products include a new open beacon format, tools and APIs for building apps and services on top of beacons, and a new developer-centric service for managing and monitoring large beacon deployments.
It’s no secret that Google has long been interested in Bluetooth beacons. About a year ago, we first heard about Google’s Nearby project, for example, which is also launching as an API today. While Nearby also uses other signals (WiFi, audio, etc.), BLE beacons are clearly at the center of Google’s efforts.
The first of Google’s new beacon products — and the cornerstone of its other initiatives — is the Eddystone format (named after an English lighthouse, in case you were wondering). This new format, which the company is releasing under the Apache 2.0 open source license on Github today, is meant to give developers a more robust and extensible way for working with beacons, as Google product manager Matthew Kulick told me earlier this week.
Google has already worked with beacon hardware vendors like Bluvision, Estimote, Kontakt.io, Radius Networks and Signal360 to build the Eddystone format into their devices. The new format is completely platform agnostic (as long as the device supports BLE, it will support Eddystone) and any existing beacon can be made Eddystone-compatible with a firmware update.
On the API side, Google is launching two new APIs today for developers who want to use beacons for their apps. The Nearby API for Android and iOS now makes it easier for apps to find and communicate with devices and beacons that are — well — nearby. That may be an art exhibit or a bus stop (Google already worked with the transport authorities in Portland, OR to implement this).
The Proximity Beacon API then takes this a step further and helps developers associate a location and related data with beacons. That data is stored on Google’s servers.
Also new is Google’s new tool for beacon fleet management. “We want to make it easier to move from piloting your beacon-assisted apps to getting to scale,” Kulick said. When you use a lot of beacons in a stadium, for example, things quickly get challenging. Just getting access to the status of each beacon can be hard, Kulick noted. This new service sits on top of Google’s Eddystone telemetry framework and developers can then take this data and build their own services and dashboards on top of the data they get from this. For now, though, Google won’t offer it’s own dashboard. The company tells me it has no plans to charge for this service.
Google’s own products, of course, will also make use of this new technology. Google Maps users in Portland have been able to get beacon-based transit notifications since earlier this year and soon, Google Now will also be able to use this service to bring up contextual information, so when you are in a restaurant, you will be able to see the menu in Google Now, for example (though you should really, really put that phone down when you are in a restaurant…).On the heels of news that the Obama administration Department of Justice was spying on reporters at the Associated Press, Monday brought the startling disclosure by the Washington Post that the DOJ had also targeted Fox reporter James Rosen for surveillance in an effort to plug up leaks.
Additionally, the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza obtained the full application for a search warrant of Rosen’s personal email account, in which the DOJ accused him of being “an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator.” As Lizza put it, “Rosen was not charged with any crime, but it is unprecedented for the government, in an official court document, to accuse a reporter of breaking the law for conducting the routine business of reporting on government secrets.”
These investigations are shocking when taken alone, but as as Reason’s J.D. Tuccille notes, it’s important to consider these events in their broader context of the Obama administration’s long-running war against the free press. Last year, Bloomberg reported that Attorney General Eric Holder “has prosecuted more government officials for alleged leaks under the World War I-era Espionage Act than all his predecessors combined, including law-and-order Republicans John Mitchell, Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft.” The administration has also received a failing grade for its ignoring of Freedom of Information Act requests.
Taken together, all such actions have a toll. They mean that federal officials are less likely to blow the whistle on government wrongdoing and that journalists are less likely to obtain damning information that they can pass along to the public. The suggestion by the DOJ that Rosen broke the law, if followed to its logical conclusion, would mean the end of investigative journalism in America.
During his first term, liberal journalists often remarked at how “scandal free” the administration was, despite Solyndra, Fast and Furious and other revelations. But maybe what really happened is that the administration’s concerted effort to suppress the reporting of news was actually quite successful.WASHINGTON -- Progressive Democrat Russ Feingold announced Thursday that he will run for Senate in 2016, hoping to win back the seat he lost six years ago.
Feingold made his announcement in a video that was provided in advance to The Huffington Post. In it, he cites issues near and dear to his heart, like taking on corporations and big money in politics, as his justification for running.
"People tell me all the time that our politics and Washington are broken. And that multi-millionaires, billionaires and big corporations are calling the shots," Feingold says in the video. "They especially say this about the U.S. Senate, and it’s hard not to agree. But what are we going to do? Get rid of the Senate?
“Actually, no one I’ve listened to says we should throw in the towel and give up -- and I don’t think that either," he adds. "Instead, let’s fight together for change. That means helping to bring back to the U.S. Senate strong independence, bipartisanship and honesty."
Watch Feingold's announcement video above.
The race will be a rematch between Feingold and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who defeated him during the tea party wave of 2010. Feingold ran what was widely considered to be a lackluster race that year, and many Democrats have stressed that 2016 needs to be different.
But there are several factors working in Feingold's favor this time around: Democratic turnout tends to spike in presidential election years, and recent polls have underscored that Johnson is one of the most vulnerable sitting GOP senators.
A Marquette Law School poll released in mid-April found Feingold leading Johnson by 16 points in a hypothetical match-up, and a March poll by Public Policy Polling found Feingold ahead of Johnson by 9 points.
Johnson brushed off the poll results during an interview last month, saying, "I'm not worried about it. I'll leave other people to do the evaluation. I think it's pretty much meaningless at this point in time."
A longtime opponent of special interests in politics, Feingold co-authored the landmark campaign finance law that the Supreme Court gutted in 2010's Citizens United decision.
Feingold was also known for staking out sometimes lonely positions on national security. In 2001, he was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, which greatly expanded the federal government's surveillance powers. He was also one of the 23 senators who voted against the war in Iraq.
After his Senate loss, Feingold started Progressives United, a group dedicated to combating corporations' influence on the political system. From July 2013 until March 2015, he served as the State Department's special envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
Anticipating a tough race, Republicans began attacking Feingold even before he announced he was running. The Wisconsin GOP launched a website called RadicalRussFeingold.com and told reporters that he has a "voting record of supporting one disastrous policy after another."
Have a tip or story idea to share with us? Email us at scoops@huffingtonpost.com. We'll keep your identity private unless you tell us otherwise.
Want more updates from Amanda? Sign up for her newsletter, Piping Hot Truth.Researchers call it the Fly Mind-Altering Device (aka "FlyMAD"), and to demonstrate the system's effectiveness, they've shown that firing a laser at the head of a fly can compel it to flirt, and attempt to copulate, with a ball of wax. (Come on. You know you want to watch this.)
Photo Credit: Alex Wild | A female D. melanogaster, and one bearing a white- rather than TRPA1-mutation, but a beautiful photograph
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FlyMAD works by tracking a fly's movement and firing an infrared laser directly at its head. The heat from the laser triggers neural circuits in the fly's brain that have been genetically engineered to activate when heated. Conceptually, the technique is similar to optogenetics (which triggers neurons with light), but while optogenetics has been successfully demonstrated in mice, it's proven difficult to implement in flies, whose heads are too small to accommodate the fibre-optic cables necessary to deliver light to the brain.
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Heat activation can be engineered into neural circuits by outfitting them with a heat-sensitive protein called TRPA1. Previous studies have studied how fly behavior can be altered by adding TRPA1 to neural circuits involved in mating. When TRPA1 flies are placed in a hot box, the neurons are activated, and the flies get randy.
But triggering neurons with a hot box can be slow-going, and that's why researchers led by HHMI Janelia Farms neuroscientist Barry Dickson – in collaboration researchers Dan Bath, John Stowers, Dorothea Hörmann and Andrew Straw – developed FlyMAD. FlyMAD's laser channels heat quickly and directly to the flies' heads, allowing them to trigger behavioral changes almost immediately. Nature News' Sara Reardon explains the video demonstrating the technique featured above:
As proof that the FlyMAD works, the group made flies with TRPA1 in a neural circuit involved in courtship. When the researchers activated the TRPA1 neurons with the laser, the fly began trying to mate with a ball of wax, circling it and'singing' by vibrating its wings (see 'Laser love'). The fly continued courting for about fifteen minutes after the laser was shut off, suggesting that the heat had triggered a lasting, complex behavioural state. The researchers also made flies with TRPA1 in neurons involved in muscular coordination. Switching the laser on instantly made the flies walk backwards. They immediately stopped when it was switched off.
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Dickson's group is in the process of submitting its work to peer-reviewed journals, so we'll have more details on FlyMAD when the publication lands. Until then, you can read more over at Nature News.
HT Sian!Subsequently in 2001 a case came before the Family Court involving asylum seeker children where it was argued that the court in its welfare jurisdiction should order their release from detention in light of evidence as to their extreme psychological deterioration. The trial judge dismissed the application on the basis that the court lacked jurisdiction, but on appeal the Full Court over which I presided, held that the court did have jurisdiction to make such an order and adjourned the further hearing to enable the presentation of further evidence.
Subsequently another Full Court directed the minister to release the children. The minister did so but appealed our decision to the High Court, which unanimously held that we lacked jurisdiction to make the order.
Normally one might feel chastened by a unanimous defeat in the High Court but I think that I can say that I have never been as proud of any decision that I have made as a judge as I am of that one. I still think that it was morally and legally correct, even though the High Court thought otherwise.
A practical result of our decision was that the children were not returned to detention and revulsion against the practice of detaining children gained force to the point where for a time, both major parties adopted the policy, but not the practice, of refraining from doing so.
However, this has now changed markedly. The media has reported the Gestapo-like tactics of the Department of Immigration in removing mothers and children sent to Australia for medical treatment in the early hours of the morning to Christmas Island. Others are being sent to Nauru in similar circumstances and I understand that work is in progress to house families on Manus as well.
Speaking of such tactics the Abbott government has adopted another practice of totalitarian regimes of shrouding its activities in secrecy and applying a false patina of military necessity. What they are doing is now hidden from the public and the media. Goebbels, Stalin and similar types would be proud.
This indefensible policy continues, fuelled by what I believe to be the immoral attitude of both major parties. The Howard government's policy of turning around the boats and reintroducing temporary protection visas was a combination of refined cruelty and criminal disregard for human life, despite the crocodile tears shed in Parliament by its proponents then and now. The revival of the so-called Nauru and PNG solution that both parties continue to support was a pathetic return to morally bereft policies of the past.
Let us not forget that it was under the Gillard and Rudd governments that this revival took place but it has been enthusiastically supported and worsened by the Abbott government and its indescribable Minister for Immigration, Scott Morrison. His hypocrisy was demonstrated once again when he said that the only Iraqi refugees who would be returned were those who wished to do so. He failed to mention that the whole policy of his government is to treat them so abominably that they will have no choice but to do so.
As for temporary protection visas, these are also morally repugnant and designed to act as a deterrent by separating families. Those promoting them should pay regard to the possibility that boats such as the SIEV X were so full of women and children because that was the only chance of them joining their husbands in Australia. In my view the use of these visas is an evil policy that has no possible redeeming feature.
It seems that what both parties really want is to appeal to xenophobic views rejecting the arrival of these people in Australia when the solution of receiving them in a humane fashion and processing their applications quickly and efficiently, where necessary after their arrival in Australia is so obvious. The calumnies heaped on the Greens in relation to their immigration policy are pure exercises in hypocrisy because they are the only party with a decent and humane policy towards refugees.
I believe that we must continue to oppose the government and opposition policies which, taken together or separately, are the real reason that people find it necessary to expose themselves to the horrible risks associated with travelling by boat to Australia.
It is also time that we put the "problem" in proportion. As The Age columnist Tim Soutphommasane noted in a 2011 St James Ethics Centre paper, Australia received 15,226 boat arrivals, compared with Greece's 56,180, Italy's 91,821 and Spain's 74,317. These are European countries in dire economic circumstances in sharp contrast to ours.
It is more than time that we got rid of such pejorative and inappropriate terms such as "queue jumping" and "border protection" and brought some humanity to bear on this issue. These are human beings, many of them families with children who are affected so let us stop talking nonsense about "stopping the boats", and "processing" people and get on with helping them.
How did we get ourselves into this state? Australia is rapidly becoming an international pariah, riding roughshod over solemn treaty obligations into which it has entered like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Refugee Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It may surprise you to know that successive governments have been able to get away with this by never importing these conventions into domestic law. Thus we show an international face as a good international citizen while ignoring these conventions and the rights conferred by them at home and on the high seas.
This is the height of hypocrisy, which in the past has been justified by saying that as a democracy applying the rule of law, Australia would never act contrary to international law in this way. For obvious reasons this can no longer be said with a straight face.
Another reason for this situation is that unlike most major democracies in the world, Australia has never enacted a Bill of Rights. The conservatives have always opposed it because it acts as a brake on the power of governments to act as they please. Labor has a policy of introducing such a constitutional guarantee but has shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm for doing anything about it.
In its absence we are all extremely vulnerable to the abuse of power by our governments which have and are engaging in such abuse but directing it to a small and unpopular minority of non-citizens that they are able to demonise.
Let there be no mistake however that legally, there is little to stop our government treating us in this way as well. The current behaviour by successive governments to asylum seekers should be a salutary lesson of the dangers lying in the path of us all.
What then must we do? I think that we must work together to show governments that this situation will not continue to be tolerated. I believe that there is a slow beginning of a groundswell in the community of distaste for these policies and with the leadership of people like Malcolm Fraser the wheel will turn, but not before much human misery will be suffered by some of the most vulnerable people of all. Perhaps the move against these policies by a minority of the Labor caucus in the federal Parliament is a harbinger of change.
We must bring it home that the people that we are mistreating in this way are people just like us with the same hopes and aspirations. We must stand up to the Abbotts, Morrisons and sadly, the Shortens of this world.
Alastair Nicholson is a former chief justice of the Family Court, a University of Melbourne law professor and chairman of Children's Rights International. This is an edited extract of a speech he gave last month.More stats: Alcohol: o 140 million Americans use alcohol o 18 million of these abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. o 100,000 deaths are due to alcohol, and an additional 100,000 deaths are alcohol related. Cocaine: o 12.2 million Americans used cocaine at least once in 1985. o 250,000 used it weekly. o In 1986, there were almost 1000 cocaine-induced deaths. Now let's recalculate. Deaths per user: Alcohol = 100,000/140,000,000 =.07 % or 70 per 100,000 Cocaine = 1,000/ 12,200,000 =.008 % or 8 per 100,000 Deaths per abuser: Alcohol = 100,000/18,000,000 =.56 % or 56 per 10,000 Cocaine = 1,000/ 250,000 =.40 % or 40 per 10,000 So even considering abusers, with advantage to alcohol (probably should be over 1%), cocaine is still healthier. By the way, you reported earlier the number 6000 for illegal drug deaths. But: o National Council on Alcoholism estimated that in 1985 all illegal drugs combined killed 3562 Americans [Most of these numbers are gleaned from an essay by Ethan Nadelmann called The Case for Legalization. It is found in: The Drug Legalization Debate. (ed. Inciardi, James A.), Sage publications, 1991. ISBN 0-8039-3677-{X or 8pbk}. It is a good book and should be referenced in our FAQ file.] ============================================================================= From: glo@globox.Eng.Sun.COM The exact numbers vary, depending on the source and their methodology. I have presented several sets of numbers here. In general you will see that the vast amount of money/energy/etc. applied to "illicit" drugs is quite misplaced if one is counting deaths or death rate per user. You may have access in your library to things like the Center for Disease Control Mortality and Morbidity reports and yearly summaries. The last one I looked at listed 800 something deaths a year for aspirin (and more for acetominephin (sp?) and ibuprofen) - verses 0 for cannabis (hemp/pot/marijuana/...). ============ (on the back cover of The Emperor Wears No Clothes) "How Dangerous is Marijuana in Comparison to Other Substances?" Number of American Deaths per year that result directly or primarily from the following (selected) causes nationwide, according to World Almanacs, Life Insurance Actuarial (death) Rates, and the last 18 years of the U.S. Surgeon General's Reports. Tobacco....................................340,000 to 395,000 Alcohol (not includeing 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders).....125,000+ Aspirin (including deliberate overdose).... 180 to 1,000+ Caffeine (from stress, ulcers and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.)........ 1,000 to 10,000 'Legal' drug overdose (deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol e.g. Valium/alcohol... 14,000 to 27,000 Illicit drug overdose (deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs................................ 3,800 to 5,200 marijuana (including overdose)........................... 0 (zero) ------------ The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer available from: H.E.M.P. Publishing 5632 Van Nuys Blvd suite 210 Van Nuys CA 91401 (213) 392-1806 ============ from Thinking About Drug Legalization by James Ostrowski Cato Institute Paper # 121, May 25, 1989 $2.00 to order or for information, write Policy Analysis Cato Institute 224 Second St. SE Washington DC 20003 pg 47 reprinted without permission (I didn't find "Copyright..." or circled-C, but they did say to contact them... I guess if you want to reprint the whole thing - what the hey - at $2.00 for 64 pages why reprint, just buy the whole thing from them! [ my (glo's) the posters notes in [] - glo] [ glo note: *xxx* used in place of underlines - glo] =============== pg 47 Table 4 presents the estimated per capita death rates for each drug. (While a number of people have died as a result of marijuana *enforcement*, there are apparently no confirmed deaths traceable to marijuana *use*.) The figures for cocaine and heroin have been adjusted downward, in accordance with the previous analysis, to include only those deaths due to drug use per se. The unadjusted death rate for these drugs is in parentheses. [glo note: the "previous analysis" details how overdose due to] [ variable strength and toxic reactions and infections due to] [ the uncontrolled black market in drugs causes most of the] [ deaths due to "heroin and cocaine" use - glo] Estimated Per Capita Death Rates by Drugs ---------------------------------------------------------- Drug Users Deaths per Year Deaths per 100,000 ---------------------------------------------------------- Tobacco 60 million 390,000 (a) 650 alcohol 100 million 150,000 (b) 150 Heroin 500,000 400 (c) 80 (400) Cocaine 5 million 200 (c) 4 (20) ---------------------------------------------------------- [ glo note: the astute reader will notice that even contaminated] [ street heroin is safer than cigarettes, and cocaine is much safer] [ than even alcohol. (the crack form is apparently more addicting] [ than alcohol - but not nicotine, powder is less addicting than alcohol -] [ see "Hooked Not Hooked") Pot is, well..., "absolutely safe" in] [ terms of causing death itself. And how many traffic deaths per] [ year: 20,000+? - glo] (a) "Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years of Progress" Surgeon General's Report (1989). (b) Estimates vary greatly, depending upon whether all health consequences, or only those traditionally associated with alcoholism, are considered. The Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcoholism and Health from the Secretary of Health and Human Services contains two references indicating a death toll of 200,000: The report states, first, that alcohol "plays a role in 10% of all deaths in the United States," which comes to about 200,000 deaths each year. P. vi. It further states that present estimates of the death toll from alcohol abuse are as high as 93.2 per 100,000. Ibid., p. x. This ratio translates into a total of about 210,000. (c) These figures were determined as follows: Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) heroin and cocaine fatalities for 1984, 1985, and 1986 were averaged. The number of suicides was subtracted. The figures were discounted to account for deaths in which both heroin and cocaine played a role. Since DAWN covers about one-third of the nation's population but almost all major urban areas where drug use florishes, totals were doubled to arrive at yearly estimates of 2,000 for heroin deaths and 1,000 for cocaine deaths. Finally, these figures were dis- counted by 80 percent in accordance with the analysis presented in the text ========== end of table 4, pg 47====================== and if you want to get some info on addiction, find this magazine article: (and its references) Hooked Not Hooked by Deborah Franklin In Health (ISSN 1047-0549) November/December 1990 Volume 4 Number 6 (no address for back issues listed, main address:) In Health c/o Hippocrates Partners 475 Gate 5 Road suite 225 Sausalito CA 94965 ============================================================================= From: hagerp@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu Date: 7 Sep 91 19:25:39 GMT Newsgroups: alt.drugs Subject: For your perusal -- U.S. Surgeon General's Actuarial info The following is a list of deaths by substance for 1990. Tobacco............ 360,000 [legal] Alcohol............ 130,000 [legal] Prescribed drugs....... 18,675 [legal] Caffeine........... 5,800 [legal] Cocaine............ 2,390 [illegal] Heroin............ 2,147 [illegal] Aspirin............ 986 [legal] Marijuana........... 0 [illegal] ============================================================================= Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1993 14:35:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Leora Lawton Subject: drug survey results To: Multiple recipients of list DRUGABUS Message-id: <01GZPZ3KAOYQ8WW43H@YMIR.CLAREMONT.EDU> WASHINGTON (AP) _ Illegal drug use is off sharply among American teen-agers and adults with one glaring exception: those 35 and older. Those were the key findings from an annual survey on drug abuse released Wednesday by federal health officials. Some 11.4 million Americans age 12 or older were classified as current users of illegal drugs in 1992, down 11 percent from almost 13 million drug users a year earlier. That means they had used drugs in the month before the survey. The number has been declining steadily since 1979, when the same survey indicated that 24 million Americans had used illicit drugs. Adults 35 and older _ including the baby boomers who grew up in the permissive 1960s _ are bucking the trend. Use of drugs in that age group is the same now as it was back in 1979. The older adults now comprise 23 percent of illegal drug users, compared to just 10 percent in 1979. The number of current cocaine users plummeted 31 percent from 1.9 million in 1991 to 1.3 million in 1992. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which conducted the survey, said that was down from a peak of 5.8 million in 1985. Occasional cocaine use _ less than once a month _ was down by 900,000, to 3.4 million. But the number of frequent users _ at least weekly _ stood unchanged at 640,000. Marijuana remains the illegal drug of choice, used by 78 percent of those who tried illegal drugs in 1992. An estimated 98 million Americans drank alcohol in the month before the survey; 10 million were defined as heavy drinkers _ five or more drinks on five or more days in the past 30 days. The survey also indicated that 54 million Americans, or 26 percent of the population, were cigarette smokers. Some 7.5 million used smokeless tobacco. Other statistics: _Six percent of 12-to-17-year-olds were current users of illegal drugs; 13 percent of 18-to-25-year-olds and 10 percent of 26-to-34-year-olds used drugs. _Most illegal drug users were white (8.7 million or 76 percent); 14 percent were black (1.6 million); 8 percent were Hispanic (900,000). _More men than women used illicit drugs: 7.1 percent versus 4.1 percent. _Almost 21 percent of unemployed 18-to-34-year-olds were illegal drug users, nearly double the rate for those with jobs. The survey was based on in-person interviews of 28,832 people who were promised confidentiality. ============================================================================= From: Charlie Ksir Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 10:31:10 -0600 Subject: Re: choices >Richard Hammersley writes: > >>Surely traffic accidents are the most common fatal result of drug abuse >>and I hope this list doesn't separate off alcohol from drugs. > Dan Drumm replies: > >I thought it was lung cancer, then traffic accidents. >I don't know what comes next, but I sure would be interested if >anyone can reference any research on this. > In this context, I expect it's really heart disease first. I assume Danny was talking about tobacco. A table published in 1991 by the US Centers for Disease Control, based on 1988 data, estimates something called "Smoking-Attributable Mortality" as follows: All heart diseases : 150, 320 Cancer of lung, trachea, & bronchus: 111,985 Other non-cancerous respiratory diseases, including bronchitis, emphysema, chronic airways obstruction, pneumonia, & influenza add up to 81,339. And let's not forget the circulatory problems other than coronary heart disease: add up smoking-attributable deaths from hypertension, strokes, atheroschlerosis, aortic aneurysm, and "other arterial disease", and you get 50,682. I just grabbed the 1987 Alcohol & Health report to the U.S. Congress off my shelf ('m sure there's a newer one around here somewhere, but can't lay my hands on it). Estimated mortality data in it were based on 1980 numbers, and had motor vehicle traffic accidents attributable to alcohol at 25, 965. That estimate would be smaller today, because total traffic accidents are down from over 50,000 in 1980 to under 40,000, and the proportion of fatally-injured drivers with a BAL > 0.10 declined from over 50% in 1980 to about 40% (last stuff taken from Ray & Ksir, 1993). Let's say about 20,000. If the question was, what's the "most common fatal result of drug (ab)use", including alcohol and tobacco, then heart disease is the winner, especially when you consider that heavy alcohol use also contributes to heart disease. Various cancers would be next, since smoking is associated with other kinds of cancer besides lungs (mouth, esophagus, pancreas, etc), and alcohol is too (mouth, stomach). The total would approach the heart disease total. Next would be other respiratory diseases, to which alcohol contributes a few thousand extra pneumonia and influenza deaths, and then circulatory problems (alcohol adds a few here, too). All of these are way above the number of alcohol-attributed traffic accidents. There are other differences, of course. The average age of an alcohol-related traffic fatality is much younger than the avergae age of those dying from these "diseases of chronic exposure", and may be seen therefore as more tragic in that same way that a drug overdose death or suicide of a young person is seen. On the other hand, these younger victims have a greater chance of dying quickly, whereas most of the deaths attributable to chronic smoking or drinking result in long, painful, and expensive illnesses before death. Hope this morbid thread doesn't have too long a life, but I thought I could contribute some official US Government data..... Charlie Ksir The opinions herein are my own,.... University of Wyoming so leave my employer alone.Comment: Vaporwave and the pop-art of the virtual plaza
This is the first of a two part feature. The second, on the movement’s darkside, can be found by clicking here. We hope you enjoy the read.
Global capitalism is nearly there. At the end of the world there will only be liquid advertisement and gaseous desire. Sublimated from our bodies, our untethered senses will endlessly ride escalators through pristine artificial environments, more and less than human, drugged-up and drugged down, catalysed, consuming and consumed by a relentlessly rich economy of sensory information, valued by the pixel. The Virtual Plaza welcomes you, and you will welcome it too.
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